Shoto Todoroki isn't what you'd call a happy boy. Far from it in fact. Powerful? Yes. Skilled? True. But happy? Not in the slightest by any means. Well...maybe not at all times at least. You see, while Todoroki was a hero in training, he never really followed all the rules. Not all the time. Especially if said rules were set in place by his father. 

Todoroki climbed out his window carefully using a path his older brother used to sneak out. Eventually he landed on the ground and moved silently past the gates as he had done time and time again. He kept the hood over his hair in order to avoid weird looks from people whom knew who he was. Being the son of the Number Two Hero wasn't all it was cracked up to be. He moved like a ghost among the streets. No one giving him a second glance. He just wanted to get out of that house for a bit. He needed to get out of that house. He continued walking for a while. Stuck in his own mind. Misery and loneliness eating away at the edges of his mind. "Heya there. You look depressed." Someone said. Todoroki turned his head slightly to see what appeared to be a masked man. "And what if I am?" Todoroki asked, lowering his voice to make himself sound older. The man held out a small folded up piece of paper. Todoroki glared at it in a suspicious manor, getting on guard. "If you truly wish to have a little fun and forget about who or what you are, go to this address." He said. Todoroki hesitated for a minute, weighing his options, before taking the paper. The man smiled. "You won't regret it." He said. And in the blink of an eye, the man vanished. Todoroki unfolded the piece of paper, and noticed the address would led him into the shady part of town. He thinks for a minute before changing his course. Having a destination in mind.  

Todoroki stood in front of what looked like an abandoned building. He doubled checked the address before sighing. Well that was an elaborate prank. He thought to himself. Suddenly he noticed someone else walking towards the building. He was about to call out to the person, telling her it was a joke, when she walked closer and the air around her rippled. She disappeared. Todoroki's eyes widened and he walked a bit closer before sticking his hand out, watching the air ripple and his hand disappear. He continued forward feeling the air around him change. Once it was back to normal, he was standing in front of, not an abandoned building, but rather a fixed up old building. It didn't look too flashy but it wasn't the run down appearance it was outside. He heard faint music playing from inside as more people walked into the building. He followed, noticing the jazzy theme of the music. What is this, Swing? He thought. Once he walked into the building he continued following the other people as they walked into an underground passage. The sign that was pointing down said, 'Lucifer's Casino'. A Casino? Isn't that illegal? Todoroki thought. He didn't get much time to dwell on it as more people began flooding in and pushing him along until he was inside. He was met with loud music and bright lights. The decor was flashy with multiple tables of card games, board games, and he even noticed a few people throwing darts. Multiple slot machines and other games doted the small establishment. Todoroki found himself drifting around, not sure where exactly he should be going. 

"Heya there. Never seen you around here before." A male voice spoke behind him. He turned to see a green haired male with black feathered wings. He was wearing a suit and on the top of his head was a dark grey halo with horns underneath it. He noticed a small devil tail swishing back and forth behind him. The male's eyes were a bright emerald green but held a weird sense of enchanting. There was something about those eyes, eyes that spoke of experience and knowledge beyond their years. "Um...yeah. First time here." Todoroki responded. The boy smirked a bit. "In that case, allow me to treat you to a game. Please, follow me." The boy started walking towards an empty booth in the corner of the Casino. Todoroki followed after him, not wanting to get lost in the lights, music, and ever growing crowd. The boy took a seat and gestured for Todoroki to set across from him. Once he did the male smiled, leaning on one hand. "So, ever play Poker before?" He asked, snapping his fingers. A dealer approached them swiftly with two sets of Poker chips and a pack of cards. "No...I was never really allowed to play games growing up." Todoroki responded, looking away. "Hm. Well that's too bad. Guess I'll have to teach you. Bring us a cheat sheet too." The boy said to the dealer. The female dealer nodded before leaving, returning shortly with a folded up piece of paper. She passes the paper to Todoroki, before placing the chips down and cracking open the box of cards. She started shuffling them. 

"We'll play a practice round to help you learn the basics. We'll also be using Five Card Draw rules. Since I find it the easiest version of Poker to learn for beginners." The boy said. The dealer dealt out the cards until both the boy and Todoroki had five cards. "This game works by trying to have the better hand. If your hand beats your opponent's hand, you win. Simple as that. With Five Card Draw, you get a change to get a better hand incase you didn't get something good first round." The boy explained, picking up his cards. Todoroki mirrored his movements. "Open up that paper you have." The boy said. Todoroki nodded before doing as told. He opened the paper and found a list of cards in order from weakest to strongest, and a list of hands from least to strongest. "I'll let you keep that paper during your first few games. Now then. The discard portion. Look at your hand, discard the weaker cards, keep the stronger ones." Todoroki observed his hand. An Ace...two Jacks...a two of hearts and ten of spades. Todoroki thought. He shot a look at the paper. Ace and jacks are my high cards so... His thought trailed off as he took the two and ten, placing them face down in front of him. The boy nodded, discarding three cards of his own. The dealer dealt out more cards, three to the boy and two to Todoroki. Todoroki kept a neutral expression, trying to hide the surprise that flashed in his eyes. Another Jack and Ace. He thought, looking at the paper. Full House is what it says here... The boy smiled. "Then we bet." He said, holding up a white chip. "These are low betting chips. We use these to say, 'I'll play this round'." He said, placing the white chip in front of him. He then held up a blue chip. "These are medium bets. Say if we were using money right now, the white chips would be One Yen. The blue ones are Five Yen. And then these red ones here, our high bets, would be Ten Yen. Sometimes betting will get higher. Reaching into thousands and millions. But we aren't playing with money right now. Its your first time after all." He explained. Todoroki nodded, placing a white chip in front of him. "Alright. We're both playing then. I'll lead the bet." The boy said, placing down one blue chip and a red one. "You can either say, 'call' and place the same number of chips. Or you can say, 'raise'. Placing those chips and then adding to it. The betting phase will end once someone leaves it at a call. Got it?" He asked. Todoroki nodded. He grabbed a blue and two red chips. "Raise." He said. "Call." The boy responded, placing down a red chip. "Then we reveal our hands." He said. Todoroki nodded, showing his hand. "I believe this is a Full House, correct?" Todoroki questioned, smirking ever so slightly at the boy's reaction. He laughed a little. "Correct. And as a bonus, you called my bluff." The boy said, showing his hand. "I had a pig. As  you can see on that paper, worst hand you can get. I was trying to bluff. Which is another important part of this game." He explained. Todoroki nodded. "That means you win. Your hand beats mine so you keep all the chips." He said, sliding the chips closer to the red and white haired male. Todoroki hummed a bit, placing the chips in their separate stacks. "I can see why people would like this game. Especially if its involving money." Todoroki said. The boy nodded. "Quite. And by the way, color me impressed with that Poker face of yours." "Poker face?" The boy blinked a little before smiling. 

"Poker face. A term often used for an expression that shows no emotion at all. Its one of the things most beginning players have trouble mastering along with bluffing. Masking your emotions is key in this game. Even the slightest flash in someone's eyes can hint to what kind of hand they have." He explained. "Hm. Interesting. But this is just my face on a normal day to day basis." Todoroki said with a shrug. "That reminds me. I never did catch your name. They call me Lucifer. You?" Todoroki's eyes widened slightly. "U-um...Shoto. Just call me Shoto." He said. Lucifer nodded. "Let me guess, family issues? I can tell that's not a last name or codename." Todoroki gave the male a look of shock. "You c-could tell that easily!?" He asked. "I'm gifted with reading people. Its why I'm a master at this game." Lucifer said. "W-wait. You said your name is Lucifer?" Todoroki asked. The green haired male smirked. "Yep. I'm the owner of this establishment. Surprised?" He asked. "S-surprised is an understatement..." Todoroki said, sweat dropping. Lucifer smirked. "I get that a lot. I look a bit young to be running a Casino, no?" He said. "Y-yeah...And you do realize this whole thing, gambling and what not, is illegal right?" Todoroki asked. Lucifer shrugged. "Oh I know. But its only illegal if you get caught. And the Casino is well hidden if you couldn't tell. Donna, call over a waiter, I'd like some wine. Shochan you want anything?" He asked. "U-um...sure. Doesn't matter what. W-wait, what did you just call me?" Todoroki asked. The female dealer bowed a bit before calling over a male waiter and asking for two orders of red wine. "A-ah. Sorry. Its an old habit. Before I became the person you see in front of you I'd do that to the names of close friends. I used to have a friend I called Kacchan." Lucifer said. The dealer, Donna, started cleaning up the cards and shuffling them again. "Oh? Well that's odd. Why call me that though? You just met me." Todoroki said. "Like I said. Habit. I've been trying to break it since I've called a few other people something similar when I first learn their names." Todoroki chuckled a bit. "Old habits die hard, eh?" He questioned. "Very..." Lucifer agreed. The male waiter returned with their drinks. "Thanks." Lucifer said. He nodded with a smile before leaving. However Lucifer didn't miss the blush on Donna's face. "Just ask him out already Dochan. Geez. You two are hopeless." He said. "S-s-sir!" The brown haired female said, blushing violently. Lucifer chuckled. "You don't ask him out soon I swear I will push you two in a closet." He said. Donna's face grew even more red and she made a squeak noise. Todoroki chuckled a bit. 

He took a sip of the red drink only for his eyes to widen at the extremely sweet taste. "First time drinking wine too? Geez...you need to get out more my friend." Lucifer said, taking a sip of his own drink. Todoroki ended up downing the wine in less than a minute. "D*mn kid." Donna muttered. "And how old are you again?" Lucifer asked. "Fifteen." Todoroki responded. "Ah. Same as boss then." Donna muttered. "Donna don't you have cards to be dealing out? And call Rai back here. Something tells me a few bottles are gonna go down tonight." Lucifer said. She nodded, blushing again before dealing out the cards and calling the black haired waiter back. The two males continued drinking and playing until Todoroki could barely see straight. "Ah boy. Shochan, we need to know where ya' live." Lucifer said. But the half and half male couldn't even form coherent sentences. Lucifer sighed, tapping his forehead and searching for the memory. "Alright. Got the address. I'll take him home." He said. He turned to Donna and Rai. "Make sure that the Casino doesn't fall apart while I'm gone." He grumbled before casting a spell to make Todoroki weightless and carry him out of the Casino. As they were flying back to Todoroki's house the male fell asleep. Lucifer flew all the way to the male's window at his house and put Todoroki in his bed. He left a bottle of headache pills on the nightstand with a note that they would help with the hangover. He flew out of the room and looked at the house. "Endeavor's kid huh? No wonder he ended up at the Casino..." Lucifer muttered. Shoto Todoroki then. Feel sorry for the kid. Hm...maybe one day I can save him from this place. I doubt he wants anything to do with his father from what I've heard. He thought.

From that night forward Todoroki became a regular at the Casino. Showing up on weekends and late at night. He ended up spilling his life story to Lucifer more times than the green haired male could count, the poor kid being an emotional drunk when he's wasted and everything. Todoroki made friends at the Casino. Not just with Lucifer but with the staff as well. And heck, a few of the Casino's customer's knew about Todoroki. A lot of them found him to be a pleasant gambling buddy. Needless to say, he was having fun. And he kept up these visits more often than anyone would've expected.