Blossoms of the Dark Continued

CCX Shouto: Gold

Trigger Warning:

- mention of abuse

I would have dressed Selene in black if it were not for my recurrent theme of making the main leads wear matching outfits at public events.

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I stand in front of the bathroom mirror, fidgeting with the cuff links of my suit.

A light green three-piece suit with a red tie.

Given the risk I am about to undertake, I figured I should wear auspicious colors for fortune.

And we Japanese heavily regard green as lucky.

I'm not a particularly religious person, but I do pray from time to time. Especially for my deceased brother. Now, I pray for myself. And for her. To any ancestor or god out there, give me your blessing just for tonight. I'm going to step into the lion's den. Please let me free her from the beast's maw.

If everything works out, Selene and I will be back at the dormitory tonight, with all her luggage in hand and no one the wiser. Although, it wasn't easy getting to this point. I recall all the cards I had to play to get Dad to agree to this dangerous yet meticulous plan.

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"Look, I don't have much respect for you," I argued, slamming down a gold bar recovered from the raid at a mafia hideout. "You know it, too. But I promised to give you a chance to redeem yourself. Now I'm literally offering you a golden opportunity." I look at the second bar in my hand. "Pun intended."

Dad shook his head. "You know I resent that man. I agreed to invite him and his daughter to our home on your insistence that one time but this is too much. You want to flee with the girl? Absolutely not."

One more block. "I hate the bastard, too. Because she is being abused by him. She's not like him."

He shook his head and began calculating the total market value of the riches. Endeavor offered to guarantee that all the loot was recovered before handing them to the police because Tsukauchi-san - the officer in charge of the raid - was already preoccupied with the triple murder case, Selene's sexual assault, the impending financial crime trial, and finding out the League of Villain's plans. I thought it was a good chance to bring up the subject with him, so I suggested staying behind while Bakugou and Midoriya went home.

"Shouto," he said. "Rebelling me is one thing. You are my son; my anger will be tempered toward you." I raise an eyebrow, remembering all the consequences of his 'tempered' anger. He sees it, since I make no effort of hiding my dubiousness. "Okay. Stop accusing me like that. You get my point. The problem is that that girl's father will not be as restrained as myself."

"Her name is Selene," I mutter. "When will you start calling her by her name?"

"Maybe when you get her out of your head," he replies.

I nearly threw the next gold bar at his face. "How can you say that? She is not some sort of plague or madness. Selene's my friend. My best friend."

Dad glared at me. The signature glare he gave villains. My fury was still incited, but his scorn knocked enough sense into me to just bang the metal onto his desk. "You think I don't notice the way you look at her? Talk about her? Try to protect her? My marriage with your mother may have been strained, but I am not an idiot at reading behavior. You love her. That's why you're ready to go to such lengths."

There was no point in denying it then.

"Yes," I confirmed. "I am in love with her. Which is all the more reason you should help me."