I feel like girls who drink whiskey tell good stories.
~ Atticus
Track 41; Wonderland by Natalia Kills
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It had been maybe five days since you almost died trying to protect your bar, and thankfully it hadn't been stepped on. Your building had been saved by the distraction you created. You also helped save lives in those crucial moments since you led the giant down a street where no civilians were.
Originally the giant user could only grow to be ten feet tall at max, but there's been a quirk-enhancing drug sifting through the streets like nobody's business. From what you had heard the drug had primarily been distributed from the Yakuza, but soon after it was taken down there were less sightings of the drug.
Of course there were those who tried to imitate it and the failed experiments usually turned into horrible self mutilation, but apparently a few of the original copies had been located and dispersed among criminals. The giant had been one of them.
Thanks to Keigo coming to save your ass, you were able to live to see another day. It also meant that you could finally reopen Treasure Wing.
You were behind the new counter of the bar when the front door slammed against the wall aggressively. It made you jump and you were ready for a fight, knowing that you were the only one in the bar at the moment. To your pleasure it was only Aizawa and Hizashi.
They were fighting about who was going to get through the door first, both halfway in and pressed against each other. Mic opened his mouth and you clapped your hands over your ears, knowing what was about to happen so the blond man could win. He shrieked and you watched Aizawa stumble backwards covering his ears.
"You fucking asshole!" He shouted, watching his friend run up to you and sit down on a stool.
Even though you covered your ears, there was still a ringing sensation left behind so you smacked Hizashi with a damp towel on his shoulder. "That's for deafening me, you dunce."
He gave you an apologetic grin and Aizawa sat down next to him with a nasty side eye.
"Where's your bouncer?" The tired man asked, turning his full attention to you.
"Apparently Hawks is bringing him here." You replied. "He didn't tell me who it was, though."
"How's set up going?" Hizashi asked, resting his chin in the palm of his hand after he propped his elbow on the table.
"Good, actually. I'm almost finished with dishes." You answered, turning back around to dry the shot glasses you had just cleaned. Everything purchased was new, but for your own concerns and the well-being of your customers that would be arriving within the hour you washed and sanitized them. "I open in an hour, how long are you two sticking around?"
"I have the night off." Hizashi said with a grin.
"I have to patrol tonight with Shinsou." Aizawa sighed, casting a glance at the bottle of sake sitting in your glass-front fridge.
"Tell the purple people-eater I said hi, will you?" You filled a glass with cold sake and slid it across the counter towards your mentor.
He responded with a nod and took a sip of his drink, a sudden look of relief crossing his face. "I don't like drinking at other bars."
"It's not the same." Hizashi added with a frown, looking for his own glass of sake. To appease him you gave him one.
Your heart soared in your chest. "I love you guys, too." After your mother had passed, the two of them became frequent fliers at your bar. If they didn't show up together, at least one of them would come to check in on you every night. It was mainly Aizawa since the original Treasure Wing resided in his regular patrol area. Hizashi would stop by as much as possible, but he was assigned to the other side of the city when he was working.
"How are your classes going?" You asked, lining up the shot glasses that you'd just dried with the others.
"It's strange not having a full class when they're needed for their internships." Mic stated, swishing his sake around before taking a sip.
"They need the experience though, and none of those who've missed class for their internships have fallen behind thankfully." Aizawa spoke up, turning on his rotating stool to scan the empty area behind him. "You really have a dance floor?"
"Hawks and Tokoyami chose the blueprint for that one. I couldn't make up my mind." You shrugged. "Besides, it gives Mic a chance to DJ like he used to."
The blond's jaw dropped. "You'd let me DJ?"
"You always were the best at drunk karaoke." You teased, which was an obvious "of course".
He smiled widely, yet bashfully. "I'll have this place booming in no time."
"What would you ask as a pay rate?" You inquired, not wanting to cop out on him if he was going to run your dance floor.
"Shit, you don't have to pay me." He took a sip of his drink. "I'll do it for free alcohol."
"Sounds like a deal." You returned his smile with one of your own.
Before you could continue your idle chitchat with two of your favorite people, the door opened again and all three of you looked to see who it was. As soon as Keigo stepped through the door, Aizawa looked away and finished the last of his drink before scooting the glass to you in ask of another.
"Hey! I thought you wouldn't be here for a little while longer." You chirped up as soon as you recognized him, the flutter of your feathers going unnoticed by you; Aizawa definitely noticed.
"Surprisingly we didn't come across any criminals on our way here." Keigo responded, putting his hands behind his head. He stepped out of the doorway and the last person you thought would ever come to your bar lumbered in.
Endeavour scrutinized the place before he gave Hawks a knowing look. "You lied to me."
"Wha—" Keigo dropped his arms. "No I didn't. I said I had a security job I needed help with."
"I'm not going to bounce a bar with you, Hawks." The #1 Pro Hero replies tartly.
"Please don't feel like you have to stay, if you don't want to." You sweat-dropped from behind the counter. "If I had known that he was going to ask you to help I would've told him not to."
Endeavour turned to look at you and you wanted to drop off the face of the earth. He wasn't that scary looking at all, but he sure as hell held an intimidating aura about him. No wonder he was All Mights replacement.
"You're Star Breakers daughter, aren't you?" He asked.
Your wings flopped behind you and you opened your mouth to reply but no words came out. You cleared your throat and swallowed hard, pinching your thigh to bring you back down to earth. "Uh, yes." You hadn't heard your fathers hero name in a long time.
"I worked with him when he was still around." He replied bluntly. "He was a good man. You're jumping ranks just like he did." He gave a look to Keigo who was idly ogling at you.
"I didn't think I'd become #42 so quickly, to be honest. I've only been a Pro-Hero for about three months."
"I'm aware. You deserve your rank." He scanned your empty bar once more, drifting over Aizawa and Hizashi who were paying attention with sincere interest. "I suppose I'll stay. Until I'm needed elsewhere."
"Thank you." You expressed your gratitude. "Can I get you a drink?"
"A Red Eye will do." He surmised, and you turned to the fridge to grab tomato juice and a cold beer for the hero. Add a dash of vodka and his drink would be complete.
It only took you a moment to prepare the alcoholic beverage and you set it before an empty bar stool away from Aizawa and Hizashi.
"Do you want anything, Hawks?"
His wings fluttered cutely behind him as he rushed to the bar and threw himself on a stool next to where you put Endeavors drink. "A beer, please."
As they went about drinking and having their own conversations, you were making sure you had everything prepped for your first night back at work. You wondered how long you'd be there. The latest you'd stay was 4 am, you told yourself. Your sleeping schedule would probably become erratic again, but as long as you got up to feed Yoshio at his breakfast time everything would be okay.
There was one window at the front of the bar to the right of the door that would let you see a patron as they approached. It also gave you an opportunity to see if they looked familiar or suspicious. If there was anybody you didn't want in the bar, all you had to do was whisper it to the feather that Keigo would leave behind for you.
Soon enough it was ten minutes to 18:00 and you were officially opening the doors. Your heart was pounding in your chest from excitement, and your hands were shaking slightly with nervousness. It had been too long, and you were hoping the first night was a busy one. A full bar for you meant a good night, and hopefully lots of tips.
"Okay, it's about time to open." You mentioned, wiping your hands on your apron.
Keigo drummed his hands on the counter before turning his stool around and jumping off, pleased with his beer. Endeavor put his empty glass down and wordlessly followed, wondering how the night was going to go.
The #2 Pro-Hero opened the door with a smile on his face, but it dropped slightly. "(Y/N)?"
"Yeah?" You asked, walking towards him. Endeavor stepped back to let you approach the winged hero. "What's wrong?"
"Oh nothing." He chirped, the smile returning to his face. "You should see all the people lined up."
You doubted him for a moment before peering around the corner. Your jaw dropped.
All of your regulars were lined up, some leaning against the wall and others chatting with their friends. It seemed like the line went around the block.
A man walking down the street was passing the line, a puzzled look on his face. He stopped by somebody you didn't recognize, but you knew it was a pro-hero.
"What are you all lined up for?" The man asked.
"Booze!" A person in line replied. "Good booze, too!" You didn't see who responded to the bypasser, but you recognized the voice when you noticed tall white bunny ears twitch.
"Is...is that Mirko?!" You felt like you were going to faint. She had never shown up at your original bar. "How in the—"
"I may have made fliers and dropped them on people as I passed." Keigo rubbed the back of his neck, knowing you were either going to yell at him or thank him.
"—Hawks" you almost said his real name instead of his hero one but thankfully you caught yourself. "Why?"
"Because this is your dream, isn't it?"
You'd expressed to him on multiple occasions how something you'd always wanted was to have a bar full of pro-heros. He had decided that he needed to help that, and what better day to do that than your opening night? You felt like you were going to cry, but instead you grabbed the collar of his jacket and made him kiss you.
"Thank you." The smile on your face was so wide and stunning that he felt his heart do somersaults in his chest.
His feathers ruffled slightly. "I told you, I'd do anything for you."
"Then you better start letting them in!" You pivoted on your heels and zoomed back behind the bar, the smile never leaving your face.
He stepped outside, and Endeavor did the same. You heard shrieks from the people lined up outside and you giggled.
"We helped, you know." Aizawa mused, nursing his sake.
"How so?" You inquired, prepping glasses to make drinks.
Hizashi pulled a crumpled flier from his pocket. "After Hawks made these we gave them to U.A. teachers, and some other pro-heros that we work with."
"You really didn't have to." You replied softly, flattening the creases in the flier.
"But we did." Aizawa spoke up again. "You've been dying to get your bar back up and running, so why not start with a bang?"
"Anyways." Hizashi drew out the vowels before getting off his stool and stretching his arms over his head. "Are you ready? It's gonna be a long night, you know."
"Do I have wings on my back? Of course I am!"
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