(4) Ayanokouji, Ryuen & Albert meet Yang

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<ᴋɪʏᴏᴛᴀᴋᴀ ᴀʏᴀɴᴏᴋᴏᴜᴊɪ ᴘᴏᴠ>

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Wiping the glass in my hands, I look around the club, watching everyone dance on the stage, before glancing at the clock behind me. 10 more minutes till my shifts over. While I'm grateful for Ryuen getting me this job, being able to experience working as an ordinary person, it gets a little tiring to work this late.

Hearing a ding sound coming from my scroll, I set down the glass and towel before taking it out. It's a message from Ryuen;

─═ Just like you asked for, Roman's coming over to hire some of Junior's men. I also recommended the mug to rob Dust till Dawn. Any reason why that particular dust store? ═─

Seems like everything will be going to plan tomorrow. Looking up, hearing someone call out to Junior, I respond to Ryuen the reason why before pocketing my scroll.

"Junior, Junior. It's been a while, hasn't it." Roman says as he approaches the bar with his arms out. Junior simply crosses his arms in response. "What? No hug for your old buddy?"

"What do you want, Roman. Last time you were here, the boss almost chopped your hand off." Junior says as Roman grimaces at the memory.

Junior's words were referring to Ryuen who almost cut off Roman's hands because his mute friend, Neopolitan, almost killed the Malachite sisters. The sisters, Miltia and Melanie, like to have 'fun' with their boss and since they belong to Ryuen, he promised them protection.

There seemed to be some history between them as the duo looked at Roman with a betrayed expression while Neopolitan hated them because the sisters almost killed Roman.

"Right, right, no need to remind me. Aaaanyway, how about we get to business huh? Barkeeper!" Roman turns his attention to me as he calls me out. "If you wouldn't mind, a scotch on the rocks please."

Nodding my head, I turned to pick up the glass I was cleaning before and dropped two ice cubes in there. Choosing one of the bourbon bottles on the shelf behind me, I grab it and pour it in the glass over the cubes. Filling it halfway, I stop and place the drink in front of Roman with a coaster underneath.

"Thanks!" The orange haired criminal says before taking a sip.

"So Roman, what's this business you wanna talk about?" Junior asks.

"Ah well—"

"It's gonna cost you by the way." Junior interrupts Roman.

"Ahaha, Yeah I thought so. But your almighty boss said I could borrow your men for a job. Free of charge!" Roman smiles

Junior raises an eyebrow at Roman before turning to me. Nodding my head, Junior turn back to Roman and says;

"Alright, just tell me when you need them."

"9pm tomorrow should be okay. It's a small job, so around 10 of your finest."

Snorting, Junior responds, "Yeah right." Before sticking out his hand. Shaking it, Roman turns to me with a curious expression.

"I have to know, what's so special about you?"

"Excuse me?" I respond with a tilt of my head.

"Well, the infamous Kakeru Ryuen holds you in high regard. Like, do you have a special Semblance or something?"

Staring at the thief in front of me, I think of his up and coming job. Ryuen mentioned Roman is planning to steal dust, but hadn't picked a time and place until I gave it. Him doing this job is proof he has a new contract, since the one with Ryuen expired a month ago. What's interesting is I haven't been informed of who's he working for, which means it isn't by choice, but he's being forced to.

Looking at Junior, I see him signaling if he should intervene, however I slightly shake my head no.

"I'm just a simple bartender trying to make money." I responded.

"Someone he took pity on then?"

"...Yes."

"Aha! So I was right." Roman nods to himself.

"Just like you took pity on Trivia Vanille and are using her."

Once those words came out of my mouth, his smug look froze before it completely vanished and he glared at me.

He has a mean look for a thief, it's impressive.

"How do you know that?" He asks with a threatening tone as I see him grip his cane harder. "No one knows about her, and yet you do." His words come to a halt as I notice him hesitating to ask something.

"If you're asking if Ryuen knows, don't worry. I haven't told him because he simply doesn't find her interesting." Once I finished speaking, he grabbed me by the collar and pulled me towards him over the counter. I glance at his cane as the bottom of it is against my temple. "If I were you, I would unhand me, or else you won't be able to carry out that job of yours." I state as he grits his teeth.

Choosing the right decision for him, I grab his wrist and squeeze it slightly as he winces and loosens his grip on my collar. Even though he's using his aura to protect himself, that doesn't mean he can't feel pain. Pushing him away from me, I fix my bow tie.

"Just who are you?" I hear Roman ask as I look up at him.

"Me, I'm just a simple bartender trying to make money."

"Tch, sure you are. I've got my eye on you." Roman clicks his tongue at me as he turns to Junior. "Pleasure doing business with you again Junior, I'll be seeing you soon." His attitude does a 180 as he says this, tipping his hat.

Roman begins to walk out of the club, but he sadly forgot to finish and pay for his drink. I was going to stop him but I decided to let him go. His reaction let me know everything I wanted. While he indeed uses Neopolitan for her semblance as he lacks one, he still shows genuine care for her and accepts the girl unlike her parents.

"Never seen Roman that upset before. That girl you mentioned must be special." Junior says as I look at him.

"To him she is." I simply say before putting Roman's drink away.

"Heya handsome." I look up and I see a blonde haired girl with lilac eyes. She seemed to be about my age. "How about you make me a drink? Strawberry sunrise with no ice and I'll pay you back in more ways than one. Oh and one of those little umbrellas." She orders with a playful look.

"Why don't you deal with her." I tell Junior.

Sighing, he turns to her, "Aren't you a little young to be in this club, Blondie?"

Giggling, she responds. "Aren't you a little old to have a name like Junior?"

"So you know who I am. You got a name, sweetheart?"

"Yes, Junior, I've got several. But instead of sweetheart, you can just call me sir." The girl then grabs Junior's groin and squeezes it painfully causing Junior to cry out in pain.

May his son rest in peace.

"People say you know everything." He does. Just not as much as me. Bringing a scroll up to his face with a picture on it, she continues. "Tell me where I can find her and I'll let you go."

"I've never seen her before, I swear!" Junior says in pain as his face is red.

I stare at the scene amused as he looks to me for help, but I look away. I started to pour myself a drink as she continued to pry information out of him.

"Excuse me?"

"I swear, sir!"

As Junior cry's out with a desperate plea of wanting the pain to end, a question comes into my head as

I'm surprised they haven't popped yet.

Is he using his aura to protect them?

Taking a glance at the girl's scroll, I recognise the person in the image. Raven Branwen. So this girl is the daughter she left, Yang Xiao Long.

"Let's see what she's capable of." I mutter as I watch Junior's henchmen run up to us.

"Hmm, looks like we have an audience. This must be kind of embarrassing for you, huh? Awkward...." Yang says with an amused tone.

"Listen, blondie sir. If you want to make it out of this club alive, I suggest you let me go. Now!"

Yang seemed to take a few seconds to decide before letting go of Junior, causing the man to sigh in relief as he glared at me, to which I shrugged my shoulders in response.

Looking back at the girl, he shouts, "You'll pay for that!" Before putting on his sunglasses and walking away.

Yang turns to me and winks before following after Junior with her hands behind her back as she apologises to him;

"Oh Junior, I was just playing with you! Don't be so sensitive! Come on, let's kiss and make up, okay?"

The way the Yang said it reminded of what Ichika says to me sometimes; "Have I been a bad, bad girl senpai~"

Shaking off these thoughts, I look back to Junior as he stops and turns around.

"Huh? Uh, okay."

Seriously? He's actually falling for it. Sighing in disappointment, I take a sip of the drink I poured myself as I watched Junior lean in for the kiss, but get punched instead. My eyes follow his body, flying through the air and crash into a pillar.

As everyone in the club starts running away in fright; I look back at Yang as Junior's henchmen run at her.

Seeming to reload that gauntlet of hers, she jumps into the air and pulls back her arm as and punches the floor, creating a shockwave, which sends everyone near her flying. The damage she's causing right now probably isn't good for business.

Running at the standing henchmen who are stunned, she starts punching them and dodges, jumping out of the way from their attacks. Observing her, I realised that she fights hand to hand like her father instead of using a weapon like her mother.

That gauntlet of hers is also a gun and every time she punches a henchmen, she shoots in the opposite direction to use the recoil for more power. While it's smart, it takes years of practice to fluently remember which way you want to shoot when punching someone.

Or in her case as a huntress in training, Grimm.

But I get the feeling she's more attuned to fighting against people.

"What's going on here?" Turning my head, I see Melanie and Miltia walking to me.

"Some girl wanted information, but Junior wouldn't give her it." I responded.

"Your not going to do anything?" Miltia asks.

"I'm observing the situation, waiting for the right moment to strike." I say as I take a sip of my drink.

They both deadpan and mutter an 'uh huh', before walking to Yang. Looking back, I see Yang dodge all the shots coming from the DJ, who's wearing a teddy bear suit, she shoots the ground to launch herself up at the teddy and strikes him in all his vital spots before slamming his head on the table.

Watching her go against everyone of those henchmen was impressive, but she shouldn't be so smug as many people have done the same. Yang takes two belts of ammunition before throwing them into the air and somehow it clips itself onto her gauntlets.

Hearing the sound of cars revving outside the club, l look towards the sound before sighing. He's already here. Finishing my drink, I get up and jump over the counter and start walking to Yang from the side.

I watch as she jumps down and starts shooting at the twins. As she uses her gauntlet to launch herself at the twins, I immediately appear between the girls.

"Huh?!"

I grab Yang's arm before her fist could even touch one of the two behind me. Standing side by side, facing opposite directions, I give her a side eye look before looking to my left.

"Took you long enough." I say.

Laughing is heard as a figure walks into the club with a few others behind him. Everyone looks to see Ryuen walking in with Albert behind him.

"Boss!" With gleeful expressions, the Malachite twins run to him.

"How's my favourite girls." Ryuen says as he wraps his arms around them and walks to me and Yang. My hand was still holding Yang by the arm in a tight lock as she tried to yank my hand off. "So, what's going on here? My club is trashed and you only decide to intervene after I come. An amusing situation don't you think, Ayanokouji?"

"Ah, well it was fun to watch." I say as I let go, Yang immediately jumps away while rubbing her arm.

"Hey, that's no way to treat a lady." Yang says to me.

I merely ignore her as I continue talking to Ryuen. "Anyway this girl wanted information on someone, Junior didn't want to give it."

"Hmm. Well, do you mind dealing with her."

Looking at the clock on the wall, I shake my head no as I respond;

"Sorry, I'm off the clock." Not really, I had another 2 minutes left.

"Why am I not surprised? At least pour us a drink, we've got a lot of talking to do."

"Sure, why not. That took a lot out of me."

"Took a lot out of me my ass!" Junior says running up to us with a bazooka.

"Haha! Now there's no need for that Junior." Ryuen said, waving at him to put the gun down. "Albert, take care of her."

Nodding, he walks to Yang as me and him walk to the bar and I get 2 cups out, pouring us a drink. He tells the girls to set up his bed upstairs as he sits down on a stool and they leave.

"Sorry, Bosses orders." Albert says.

"Ah, it's no biggie, big guy. But I won't lose because of size!"

I look to see Yang charge at Albert and start punching him repeatedly. However, all her attempts were futile as Albert had activated his Semblance. Yang looked up to see no change in his expression, and only to see him become metal.

Chuckling nervously, she speaks; "Maybe we could talk this out man."

She tried to negotiate, but her response was a punch she was able to dodge by an inch.

"Woah! Maybe not." She mutters.

Albert puts on his knuckle dusters before throwing a series of punches, some Yang was able to dodge, the rest she blocked with her arms. Jumping away she pants. Even though she has blocked, each of Albert's punches are like a truck. They'll take a chunk of your aura.

Running at her, Albert grabs her by the arm and throws her into a pillar. Crashing into it, I could tell her aura was low as it seemed close to shattering. Dragging her by the leg, Albert brings her to us before letting go.

I look back at Ryuen to see him watching the video footage our surveillance cameras recorded. Taking a sip from the drink I poured, he turned to the girl on the floor.

"You know, your one feisty blonde. How about you apologise to me upstairs." Ryuen smirks as he grabs her by the chin, forcing her to look at him.

Not sure Melanie and Miltia will like that.

"Sorry good looking, but mama has her priorities straight." Yang says as he slaps his hand away and stands up, stretching.

"Too bad. Now you mind telling me what you were doing, trashing my club?" Ryuen says with a mean look.

"Ahaha, no need to get your panties in a twist. Look, I just wanted information on this person." She says bringing out her scroll again.

"Right." Ryuen says, looking at it for a few seconds. He discreetly glanced at me before looking back at her. "Am I supposed to know her? She looks a little like you actually. What, you lost your mum?" Ryuen asks with fake sarcasm.

"Haha." Yang fake laughs before sighing in dismay. "Well thanks anyway." She mutters before walking away.

"Just so you know, I'm sending you a paycheck."

"Hmph." Yang turns around with a smirk. "Catch me if you can." She says before running out the club.

"Should we chase after her?" One of Ryuen's bodyguards asks.

"No need. All of you, leave the three of us." Ryuen responds before turning to the henchmens. "You lot clean up this mess."

"Not the smartest move looking for her." I speak up.

"You don't say. She's looking for a mother that wants nothing to do with her."

"Well, it brought an amusing show to the club."

Chuckling, Ryuen agrees, "It sure did." Before clinking glasses with me. "Hey, you know your plan to get Amasawa into school, is there another reason for it?"

Closing my eyes in thought, I answered in Japanese. "I simply want to see what the silver-eyed warrior is capable of."

Choking and coughing on his drink, Ryuen looked up at me in surprise, even Albert snapped his head to me.

"You're saying you found him?" Ryuen asks in Japanese as well.

"It's a her."

"A girl. Well that doesn't matter. I wanna see what those special eyes of hers are capable of."

"You won't be able to." I say calmly.

"What? You gonna tell me the bitch ain't got that special power. She just has silver eyes." Ryuen says with an upset tone.

Opening my eyes and blinking twice, I answer;

"No, she just doesn't know what she's capable of."

"Hm, that's better than nothing. Even though it takes the fun out of it."

"I'm surprised you're upset, I'm the one who's been looking for them along with the maidens." I say in confusion.

"Exactly!" He slams his glass down as he points at me. "The last few months have been boring and you're too busy with this history shit. I haven't felt the same excitement you gave me since back in ANHS."

"Ah... Should I say sorry?" I ask, switching back to English. Ryuen simply frowns in response to my question. "Relax, come with me tomorrow and you'll be entertained. I promise."

"Fine." Ryuen grumbles as he reaches over the counter and pulls a bottle of whiskey out and gulps it down.

I'll have Amasawa observe the silver-eyed warrior.

Or more commonly known as, Ruby Rose.