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CHAPTER START---
"So did you come here with a date, or are you available tonight?" An older man asks.
He had a head of salt and pepper hair with a matching mustache, a well-tailored suit, like every man in this massive ballroom, and was surely respected in whatever field he worked in.
But even as he hovers above the beautiful woman in front of him, he was anything but appealing or refined, the way he clearly drank in her appearance with his eyes.
Viewing her as a piece of meat.
Worse, an easy to get piece of meat.
But Ms. Midnight was used to these looks, even as tonight she's Nemuri Kayama.
She gives him a polite smile and takes a sip of her champagne, and he takes a moment to keep staring at her.Her dark purple gown, deep neckline barely showing any cleavage, long gloves, a matching and fur-lined scarf.
Her outfit was much more conservative than what she usually wears out as Ms. Midnight, but all the men and women here knew exactly what hid beneath it.
Her Hero Costume made sure the world knows exactly what her body offers.
"Sorry but I'm only here on business, maybe some other time," she says politely before sauntering off, her habit of swaying her hips making his eyes track her across the room.
'So shameless,' she thinks, recalling the wedding ring on his finger, and his wife who was chatting across the room.
Contrary to what the media and people may believe, she actually hasn't had more than a handful of partners.
Her reputation keeps any men worth involving herself with at bay, quite the double-edged sword she's placed at her own throat.
Without her Hero Costume she wasn't easy to recognize, especially behind her regular glasses, but her would-be admirers would always spot her.
As yet another person takes the stage to give a speech she grabs a fresh drink and makes her way to the empty balcony.
Pushing open to door and feeling a cold winter breeze cash against her face, light snow falls onto Tokyo as she shuts the door behind her.
But the thankfully heated balcony wasn't unbearable, and happened to be entirely empty.
Looking up she sees the entire top half of the large skyscraper this ballroom is in looming above, and looking around there are some shorter buildings around them.
But the other skyscrapers block the true beauty of the Tokyo Skyline at this time of year.
All the Christmas decorations and lights were hidden away by monuments of glass and concrete.
Taking out a phone she sees a text from her manager, asking how the night is going, but she doesn't bother to respond.
Simply sipping her champagne and waiting for the night to be over.
After a few minutes, she hears a chorus of people trying to speak over each other.
Quickly turning around she sees a younger man step onto the balcony and close the door behind him before the crowd could enter.
A larger man steps between the crowd and the door, preventing them from following him outside, and he sighs in relief.
He turns around and gives an unapologetic smile, "Sorry about that, they're just...annoying."
"That's one way to put it," she nods and goes back to looking at the street below.
Glancing back she sees the man taking a phone call and realizes that's why he had to get away from the crowd.
Minutes later, as she's nearly finishing her drink she suddenly feels a gentle tap on her shoulder, and looks back to see him offering his jacket.
"Avoiding annoying people probably isn't worth freezing out here, at least not for the entire event."
As he's standing closer she gets a proper look at him, short dark hair, bright blue eyes, knuckle tattoos, and his suit was black and gold of all things.
Quite a strange person.
"Thank you," she says while allowing him to drape the jacket over her. "I didn't realize there were actual gentlemen at this event."
"There aren't," they both chuckle as he's joining her at the railing. "I hope you don't mind me interrupting your escape."
"You're the best company I've had all night, it's a welcomed change."
"Are the other guests that bad?"
"Well, I'm Ms. Midnight, so they think I'm just that easy."
Looking at the man she sees him staring at her, squinting as he observes her, "huh, never would have recognized you," he lies. "And I didn't think there would be any Pro Heroes here."
"Well, apparently whoever is running this event invested in the company that owns my fashion line and brand, so they thought it would be good if I said hello in person."
"You don't sound excited to meet him."
"Excited to meet some rich man who will expect me to act like a wh---" she cuts herself off. "To act unladylike, just because he has money...why would I ever be that."
"Well that's a relief," he says. "Finally a beautiful woman here that isn't trying to seduce me for money," he laughs.
"Seduce you?" Midnight turns to look at him, only getting a mischievous grin. Then it slowly dawns on her, "Oh, you're Law Matani..."
"The one and only, and what should I call you?"
"So you aren't mad about---"
"---There isn't anything to be mad about, and honestly it's a nice change from people always trying to flatter me."
She visibly relaxes at that, "well, I'm Nemuri Kayama, Pro Hero Ms. Midnight, so you can call me Ms. Midnight."
"Mmm, no," he shakes his head. "I don't really care for Ms. Midnight, so I'll call you 'Nemuri', and you can call me 'Law', sounds fair?"
Nemuri isn't quite sure how to react to that, so she just nods, "Yes, I suppose that sounds fair."
They share a comfortable moment of silence just observing the streets below.
Then she speaks, "So were people hounding you for money, is that why you ran away?"
"Pretty much, that's always the case, how about you, Nemuri?"
Nemui takes a sip of her drink, almost finishing it. "My reputation as Ms. Midnight isn't exactly, flattering. So men only come around for one thing, and they expect it to be easy."
"Well, I can somewhat relate," he raises his hand to show her the tattoos. "People always think I'm some kind of Yakuza or Mafia boss. The reputations we chose define how the world sees us, and it seems like we've both chosen a bit...prematurely."
"I'll drink to that," Nemuri down the rest of her drink. "And now every day I can't stop thinking about it, what a life, right?"
"Indeed," Law says. "I assumed it started as a publicity stunt maybe, something to separate you from other young aspiring female Pro Heroes, was it?"
"Not exactly," Nemuri gathers her thoughts for a moment. "Pro Heroes, we aren't just about punching villains in the face..."
Law raises a brow at that.
"At least for me, part of it is inspiring the other people, and younger generations. So naturally I chose to most extreme aspect I could, just to show people that no matter what you are, you shouldn't let society shame you and keep you caged.
You owe it to yourself to be yourself...but the message got a bit lost along the way. Now I'm just 'Ms. Midnight the dominatrix Pro Hero', which was never the intention."
"People find it hard to hear and focus on a message when a body like yours is almost naked in front of them," he says jokingly. "But I see what you mean, you tried to make yourself a martyr, it just got the wrong message across."
Nemuri relaxes, and gives him a softer smile, finally getting that invisible weight off her chest, finally feeling like someone understands.
After a few more minutes of surprisingly deep conversation, Law checks his watch, then they both look over at the gathered crows waiting for him to enter the main room again.
"Your money-hungry public awaits," Nemuri jokes.
"Yes, but, it's New Year's Eve, so how about we actually get a nice view."
Nemuri raises a brow at that, "what are you saying?"
He offers her his hand, "How about a simple deal, you save me from the masses as any Pro Hero would, and we'll go up to my penthouse where you can actually enjoy the skyline, and the fireworks that are about to start..."
Nemuri looks around at all the buildings still looming over them, then at the man she's become fast friends with.
And with no further hesitation, she takes his hand. Onto an adventure of breaking in the new year with her new friend...
END CHAPTER---
Next up, Volume 8-Horizon: Ascension