Yuri left the building with a frown.
Valentine, who was following not far behind him offered him a pack of cigarettes, Yuri plucked one from the box and lit up as he stepped into the car.
Yuri took a long drag before he breathed out as Valentine got behind the wheel and drove off.
"How is he?" Yuri questioned.
"He's working with one of his student's quirks at the moment, their floating at the moment according to the Vespas, seems to be having fun." Valentine answered, passing a folder back to his boss.
"And during the conference?" Yuri pressed opening the file, pictures of his Сын and a young girl floating and laughing together in the photos.
A smile curling on his face as he went through them.
"He handled the questions far better than we expected, bared his fangs once or twice when they hit a sore spot." Valentine replied as Yuri got to the flash drive in the folder, frost crept up the seat.
"Which 'sore spots'?" Yuri inquired with a frown.
Valentine paused before he asked "Well, one woman implied that it was their job to police the students' morals, and said woman also questioned his ability to judge who should be heroes." he answered making the frost in the back worse.
"Did they catch the woman's name and company?" Yuri questioned.
"Yes, I've already instructed our people to drop all of our shares in the paper and the Vespas will likely have a complete file on all of the blackmail we can use on your desk once we get back to the house." Valentine replied.
"Did anyone else question my Сын?" Yuri asked closing the file and putting it aside so he didn't ruin the pictures inside.
"One man turned the conference around so that they were focused on the 'prank' instead of Мидортия." Valentine told him.
"Who does he work for?" Yuri inquired easing up some.
"He was there on behalf of Asahi but he's a freelancer so we can't reward him the traditional way." Valentine answered and Yuri huffed.
"Shame." Yuri commented "What about the Meta member? How did she act during the conference?" Yuri questioned drumming his fingers on his leg.
"She remained silent and didn't move to approach your Сын, but he went out of his way to get a moment alone with her, and made his boundaries with their group clear after he returned what the Vespas took from her." Valentine said.
Yuri smirked at that "Good, I don't want them anywhere near him if it can be helped." Yuri commented as he thought of the modern face of the Meta Liberation Army.
Chikara would've been sorely disappointed and disgusted with the way people have twisted his words.
Yuri hadn't had the pleasure of knowing the man that well but they had met a couple of times, the young man asking for his help with fighting against the government that wanted to use them like dogs.
They had a… bond of sorts from spending so long fighting the oppressive government regimes of the time, he even had one of the original copies of the man's book since Chikara was worried about people taking him out of context.
A very reasonable fear considering the zealots that changed his book's structure so that his greatest fear was the 'goal' of the crazier groups like in Japan.
Yuri never allowed the 'alternate' copies made by people to sell more books to be put on shelves in Russia, it wasn't much but he could do that much for a man that also fought for their freedom and died for it.
The kratocracy they were pushing for was absolutely the antithesis of what he wanted, it was Chikara's greatest fear that they would use him as a reason to attack others and an excuse to make the quirkless suffer unnecessarily for their ancestors actions against them.
And with the Slaughter of 2297 he had to admit that Chikara had good reason to be afraid of such things.
Yuri only wished that those disgusting bigots hadn't further sullied the name of Chikara's movement with their actions.
He could only comfort himself in the fact he paid for the mass graves needed for the victims and that the people behind the violence hadn't lived for much longer after the fact.
Yuri scowled groaning as he pinched the bridge of his nose, hating to even give those scum even the slightest amount of acknowledgement.
"Valentine, take me to the nearest bar I can go to." Yuri ordered letting his head fall back.
"Of course sir, it will only be ten minutes." Valentine promised.
As Valentine said they arrived at one of the places he drank at often, it was in the business district and one of the nicer places that wasn't explicitly under his control but also not fully neutral either.
Yuri walked inside and left his jacket with Valentine, the man could drop it off after he talked with the valet about the car.
He wasn't impressed by the 'ritzy' air the place was going for, the gleaming metal and jewels having long lost their luster back during his second century of life, at least it was a touch more tasteful than some places he had been to.
Looking over the tables with a few people there discussing business he focused on finding the bar and ordering a drink.
Spotting it after a moment and he almost as quickly clocked someone he hadn't expected to see there.
Kyūryū Geten, the MLA's very own Iceman was sitting at the bar wearing what was clearly a work suit, though the top part was unbuttoned, his tie was loosened and his hair was let down.
He was the one that his Сын was trying to poach from the cult, to aid in his plans to tear down the number two hero that played a part in his daughter and granddaughter's demise.
Well, Geten did work for a company that was well off enough to send the man here on business but that hardly explained his… demur look currently.
Perhaps a business deal gone bad? No, he would not have stuck around in the restaurant then.
His Сын wouldn't stand for him meddling but as important as the man was to his plans Yuri would like to get a personal feel for the man himself.
So, Yuri walked over to the bar and settled himself on a stool next to Kyūryū.
The man's pale blue eyes flickered over to him but then returned the plastic cup of alcohol he was nursing with small sips.
"What can I get you?" the bartender asked, Yuri slid his card discreetly over to her since Kyūryū hadn't seemed to recognize him.
"Vodka if you have any, white rice sake if not. Warm it up and put it in plastic." he requested getting a raised eye since warming liquor wasn't a normal desire, but once she looked at his card she quickly nodded, saying a quick 'right away sir' before leaving to get what he wanted.
"Should try a salt-licker." Kyūryū suddenly said and Yuri raised an eye at him.
"The salt is a bit of a turn off taste-wise but it keeps the alcohol from freezing as fast." Kyūryū elaborated "Though you should stick to harder liquor if you try it, dulls the salt's kick." he added a second later.
Yuri hummed "I shall keep that in mind Mr?" Yuri said offering his hand, putting on a bit of an accent.
"Can just call me Gen." Kyūryū told him shaking his hand "You?" the other ice-quirked user asked in return.
"Yuri." He gave knowing it was a common enough name the buzzed man wouldn't immediately connect the dots if he still hadn't yet.
The bartender returned with a cup appropriate for his size and he quietly motioned for her to scram while Kyūryū took another sip and was distracted.
Alone for the moment Yuri gave his drinking 'partner' another look over now that he was up close, and the other man did seem troubled by something though just what exactly was up for debate.
So, since Kyūryū had so generously started a line for dialog Yuri would be more than happy to take advantage of that.
"Things at work causing problems?" Yuri innocently inquired before taking a sip from his cup.
Kyūryū scoffed "Could say that, but ain't nothing I wasn't prepared for, shit with my family on the other hand... " Kyūryū trailed off shooting him a look, clearly contemplating on whether or not drunkenly rambling to a complete stranger was something he wanted to do.
Yuri could respect that hesitance but he wanted to know what was on the man's mind and pressed "My company is based in Russia." he mentioned, leaving out the fact he had all but moved to Japan at the moment and let him think that he wasn't going to be around for much longer.
Even then Kyūryū seemed to be very reluctant to speak to him but broke down after another moment "I've… recently reconnected with my nephew." Kyūryū begrudgingly admitted swirling his cup.
Yuri blinked at that, taking a second to remember why Kyūryū was important to his Сын's plans, the oldest Todoroki son must have been the one Kyūryū was referring to.
"And there are some growing pains between you?" Yuri guessed.
"Yep." Kyūryū confirmed then he sighed putting his head in his hands "And I have no idea what to do about it." he muttered.
Yuri hummed in acknowledgement.
In a way he could sympathize with the young man, it wasn't quite the same between him and Anya but when she called him after so long he certainly felt a tension in the air that made talking once again difficult.
Connecting with a family member of whom you've never personally met before would take a difficult toll on someone, similar pasts between the two young men notwithstanding.
Yuri internally huffed bemused by how many people his Сын collected, people that had bad relationships with their parents, especially those closer to his ребёок's inner circle.
Turning back to the other man Yuri tilted his head "Would you like a few words of wisdom from a stranger?" Yuri offered leaning forward onto his arms on to the bar's countertop.
Kyūryū blinked and then gave a soft scoff of disbelief.
"You know what, sure, I'd love to hear what you'd say. Can't be worse than what my coworkers would tell me if I asked them." Kyūryū said, grumbling the last part under his breath.
Yuri gave the man a kind smile "Take some time to speak with him, not about anything of major importance but that stuck out either way. Pay attention to the smaller things, and every once in a while give him something of yourself." Yuri told the young man.
"Maybe start with giving him your number without asking for his, so that he can contact you on his own terms, without any pressure." Yuri added with less vagueness.
"One of the worst things you could do in this situation is to not show enough interest in building or maintaining a relationship with them, and alternatively you can't force them to do more than they want to do." Yuri further elaborated.
"If you're a constant and stable presence, then he'll be more willing to come to you because of that, my daughter certainly could've used a bit more of that before she passed." Yuri told him as one last part before he downed the rest of his drink.
Kyūryū smiled back, though it wasn't as nice since it was tipped with bitterness "I probably could've used someone like that too." Kyūryū commented.
Yuri stood up from his seat and placed his hands in his pockets "As would I when I was younger, you'll figure it out though Gen." Yuri said before turning away and heading for the other end of the bar where the bartender was.
"I'd like my card back now, oh," Yuri glanced back to Kyūryū "Add whatever the young man gets to my bill." Yuri instructed the woman as he wrote down his name on the bill before taking his card and leaving.
Valentine waiting for him there "A good drink Sir?" Valentine asked falling in step with Yuri once again.
Yuri hummed "In a manner of speaking," Yuri answered.
Kyūryū wasn't fully out of the cult's mindset but his Сын had certainty made quite a crack in the indoctrination, and there was a spark of the man the boy could be.
"How long would it take to make a sales position in one of our branches here Valentine?" Yuri questioned.
His Сын wouldn't approve of his meddling but further getting him away from the cult would only help get the young man away from those people.
Especially since there would be backlash from the cult who likely got him his current job.
Сын/ Son
Мидортия/Midoriya