Chapter Text
Neon lights flashed by as a dark jeep with a black metal grill clinging to the front drove through the entertainment district. It turned into an alley before parking in the large blacktop lot behind a building that was lit with a few yellowing lamps in the back. The door opened and the figure, clad in gray sweatpants and a black hoodie, slid out of the front seat. Slinging a backpack over their shoulder with the name “Eden” embroidered in swirly letters, they locked the car while slamming the door and made their way to the back entrance of the building. A quick tap on the pad with a key card turned the tiny dot from red to green, giving a small buzz before the door was yanked open.
Once inside, the hood was pushed back to reveal a youthful face framed by brightly colored hair pulled into a ponytail. The girl’s nose wrinkled at the stench of sweat and perfume that hit her. Digging into her bag as she walked towards the dressing rooms, Eden bumped into a familiar face.
“Oh, sorry, Gyutaro,” she looked up, the slightest bit of fear pooling in her gut when the bouncer’s yellow eyes dropped to meet hers. The demon replied with a grunt.
“I actually have something I wanted to give you,” she rustled through her bag and pulled out a small plastic-wrapped bundle. “I made orange bread.”
Aside from wanting to be on good terms with all her coworkers, Gyutaro was well known both in and out of the club as “the Debt Collector” for the Oni. He was one of the Upper Moons, or Kizuki, that worked for the head of the demon gang. While the snack may not do much, Eden hoped it would at least keep her in his good graces. His temper was a fickle thing.
Eating humans had long been a big no-no ever since integrating with society almost a hundred years ago, but demons still needed a fuckton of iron and protein to regenerate. Their main diet consisted of meat and eggs, but they ate other foods as well. As a whole, demons were always a little hungry, and snacks between meals were appreciated.
“This is… for me?” Gyutaro asked, taking the small sweetbread and looking at it through narrowed eyes.
“Yeah, I hope you’re okay with orange. I was gonna make lemon poppy seed muffins but didn’t have any lemons.”
She slung her backpack back over her shoulder. “Gotta go; see you later!”
She hurried past, ducking into the dressing rooms and breathing a sigh of relief as she opened her locker to put her bag away. Eden pulled off her hoodie and stuffed it inside with her backpack. The back room where all of the dancers prepared for the night and stored their things was packed with humans and demons. It wasn’t usually this crowded, but tonight was amateur night, which meant potential new coworkers and an overabundance of new smells.
Despite the strides forward in integration, there were still some places that would refuse to hire demons, worried their human customers would be harmed and thus put them out of business and in legal trouble. As demons couldn’t go out in the sun, night clubs, bars, and strip clubs were popular jobs for the nocturnal beings.
“Who was in my drawers?!”
Eden recognized the shriek and turned to see Daki fuming as she yanked open all the drawers at her station, rummaging through them. The other dancers had made themselves scarce after the initial outburst, knowing how the demoness’s temper was. The new faces followed suit, some of them looking downright frightened.
Kyogoku House was a well-known club in the entertainment district, and one of the few that hired both demons and humans; though few humans applied to a strip club where the potential to be disemboweled was higher than average. Kyogoku House had a few incidents with Daki causing injuries to coworkers and clients, but the Oni gang leader, Muzan, was fond of her. Not only that, her brother Gyutaro was a part time bouncer, and both of them were Kizuki, so the club would turn a blind eye as much as they could.
“What’s wrong?” Eden shut her locker.
“Someone took my lipstick! I bet it was one of those ugly bimbos who came for amateur night!” Daki made a noise of disgust in her throat as she slammed drawers shut.
Eden’s eyes flickered to the floor, running along the fake wood laminate until she spotted a black tube.
“Is this it?”
She held up the lipstick for Daki to inspect. After a moment, the older girl snatched the makeup and huffed.
“People shouldn’t be touching my stuff,” she snarled and twisted the tube open.
Not wanting to rile Daki up further, Eden slipped a small loaf onto the table in front of her.
“I made orange bread. I brought some for you.”
As if a light switch had been flipped, Daki’s eyes lit up and she grabbed the bundle, barely pausing to unwrap it before eating half of the hand-sized loaf in one bite. Her eyes rolled as she sighed.
“A little too heavy on the orange,” she mumbled through the mouthful, reluctant to give praise.
Eden smiled. Daki had an enormous sweet tooth, and she was using that to her advantage. If Daki didn’t like you, she would make your life an absolute hell and there was nothing you could get the owners to do about it as the busty demon brought in a large chunk of the club’s revenue. Eden made sure to bring frequent treats and snacks with her to appease the spoiled girl.
“Apparently there’s a Hashira here,” Daki said as she reapplied her lipstick, mood stabilized for the moment.
“Oh?” Eden sat down at her station and pulled out her makeup.
It wasn’t unheard of for Hashira to show up in the demon-choked entertainment district, but it did cause mild alarm whenever it occurred.
Hashira were the highest rank of a rival gang that had originally been started centuries ago to kill demons and protect humans. With the integration, their demon-killing operations were banned, leaving them to operate a grisly by-contract killing business behind the scenes. When not engaged in illegal single contract demon killing, they would hire themselves out as bodyguards to wealthy clients or assist the police with the occasional investigation case into demon-specific crimes. In return for their services, the police (and the general public) turned a blind eye to their unsanctioned operations. As a whole, the Slayers were almost openly accepted by society, unlike the Oni.
Learning about the mafia was one of the first things Eden was taught by the others in the club, as both Daki and her brother Gyutaro worked at Kyogoku. Eden wasn’t exactly sure initially how she felt about either gang and was more concerned with keeping her head down and her house dues paid.
“I was hoping Master Muzan would come tonight,” Daki fretted, pulling and patting her hair.
“I’m sorry,” Eden snapped her eyeshadow palate open and dabbed a brush in. “Maybe he’ll come anyway?”
“You know he hates them,” Daki grimaced as she referenced the Hashira.
“There’s always tomorrow.”
Daki worked almost every day. She was indebted to Muzan through Douma, another one of the Kizuki. Aside from having to earn her keep, she actually enjoyed working at the club. Eden had a sneaking suspicion it had to do with whatever was going on between her and Muzan. Daki always seemed to be in a better mood after seeing the crime lord.
“I wish he’d come by more often,” Daki finally stopped preening and began putting her things away.
“He’s the head of the Oni, not to mention he has the pharmaceutical company to run on top of it. He’s a busy guy.” Eden said. “I’m sure he’ll make time to see you, though. He seems to really like you.”
Daki puffed up, her cheeks darkening. “Master Muzan does like me!”
“I know,” Eden couldn’t hide the smile on her face as she watched her coworker mutter and huff, face ablaze as her eyes grew dreamy.
“Either way, it’ll be a hot second before you can go onstage if it’s amateur night,” Eden commented. “What’s the plan until then?”
“On the prowl tonight.”
Eden laughed at the devious look in Daki’s eyes. The girl lived for the chase. Seducing, ensnaring, and pulling men in, again and again. Demon or human, Daki just wanted to be in control and powerful. Eden assumed that was part of the reason she was so drawn to the attention showered on her from the criminal overlord Muzan.
“If you get hungry, I brought a bunch of mini orange breads,” Eden told her. “You’re welcome to grab them from my bag.”
Daki rolled her eyes and gave Eden a swift head-pat before striding out of the dressing room. The younger woman finished and gave herself a once-over in the mirror before nodding. A few dancers had trickled back into the dressing room, touching up makeup in the mirror, or changing into their outfits. One of Eden’s coworkers stormed in and began to rifle through her locker angrily as she muttered to herself.
“Where are you going?” Eden asked as she pulled on sweatpants and a fur coat. “The nights barely started.”
“It’s ridiculous!” the girl, Candy, straightened. “Not only is it amateur night, meaning I have to SHARE my regulars with the fresh meat, but Hashira AND Kizuki showed up. I’m not dealing with this tonight.”
“Kizuki?”
“Yeah, Douma and Akaza are here for some goddamn reason. You’d think the pimp would pick someone else to bring along. Akaza hates him.”
“Fuck.”
“That’s exactly what I said when I saw them,” Candy shook her head. “I’m not staying here to get caught up in whatever shit they start with the Hashira.”
“They know better than to start anything,” Eden said.
“Doesn’t mean it won’t happen. I’m not risking my neck.”
Eden could understand. Candy was one of the few humans working at Kyogoku house. Besides her and Eden, the only other humans on staff were a backup bartender, and the owners, who were rarely around as they left the club’s operations to a couple older demons they trusted (at least as far as any human trusted demons). Staying and potentially getting hurt because a gang fight broke out wasn’t something Candy could risk: she was taking care of her mother who had cancer.
Eden didn’t have those kinds of responsibilities. She had debt. A mountain of debt. That’s why she wasn’t going to go home. She needed to pay it off, the sooner the better. Even after working for only eight months, she’d managed to cut it down to half by putting every spare penny towards it. If a fight broke out, she’d flee. If she got hurt… Eden didn’t usually think that far ahead.
“I get it,” Eden nodded. “Tell your mom I said hi. Oh! And I have some bread you can take her.”
Candy left the room with one of the original six small loaves Eden had brought to bribe Daki into mellowing out. Eden left a moment later, checking one last time to make sure there was nothing in her teeth before plunging into the loud music and overwhelming stench of debauchery.