"Hello, Can't Stop Sparkling Hero Agency. How can I help you?"
Midoriya felt his face contort into a fake smile as he forced out his customer service voice. Technically speaking, he was in merchandising, not customer support, but the latest line of Can't Stop Sparkling: Forever Sparkle dolls had a serious defect and they'd called in pretty much everyone to man the phones. He burbled through the required script, barely listening.
That morning there had been a thin envelope under his door. He'd opened it, far enough to read the heading on the form inside- divorce by mutual consent. And something inside him had broken a little. He'd put the envelope on the side, form still inside, and carried on with his morning routine. He'd ironed his shirt, shaved his face and run his fingers through his hair before he walked out to catch the 7am commuter train to the agency in Jakku.
"Midoriya." His boss, Ms Yamagawa, a short woman in her mid forties who reminded him far too much of his mother, waved a hand in front of his face. "Midoriya!"
"Huh?" Midoriya blinked.
"You're zoning out again. Go take a break."
"S-sorry." Midoriya mumbled, sliding off his headset. Ms Yamagawa took his place with a scowl and continued his conversation with the customer.
The hallways of the agency were quiet with the department so busy on the phones, and Midoriya headed for the nearest bathroom to splash some water over his face, and it was blessedly empty. His face looked old, crows feet around his eyes. His body ached, and his knuckles stung where he had broken the skin. Since when had he been old? He pulled an All Might face on a whim.
"Young Midoriya," he murmured, in his best impression of the hero's voice. "You can get through this, Young Midoriya."
It was no use. The voice wasn't quite right, and the face was clearly his own. Midoriya gave a sigh, and splashed a little more water onto his face. The least he could do was stay awake through the work day, for Ms Yamagawa's sake.
Midoriya stepped out of the bathroom, right into a meeting of the Agency's sidekicks. There were three of them in total, all light or refraction themed in keeping with the Shining Hero's own powers- Discoball, Footlights and Jazzler.
"We have a guest. And Can't Stop Sparking's not back yet. You!" Discoball pointed a finger at Midoriya. "Fetch them some tea!"
"Me?" Midoriya froze, panicked.
"Yes, you." Discoball scrunched her mirror-studded face at him, each of the facets showing Midoriya's startled face. "I don't see anyone else standing there."
Midoriya scrambled to attention. "Yes ma'am!"
The decor in the Can't Stop Sparkling Hero Agency staff kitchen left a lot to be desired. There was a picture of the Shining Hero himself over the sink, and some enterprising person had plastered fragments of a mirror over the water heater. There were glitter particles ground into the lino, but that was more a hazard of working in the Can't Stop Sparkling hero agency than any particular design choice.
Midoriya fetched the tea from the cupboard, and set the water heater running. Making tea wasn't hard at least- a step up from explaining to customers why their new Can't Stop Sparkling doll screamed constantly instead of talking.
He went to lift the tray to bring it to the meeting room, but someone caught his wrist.
"Your knuckles are bleeding."
Midoriya twisted, looking up to see the man who had grabbed him. He was unmistakable- tall and thin, with grey streaks in his yellow and black hair. Most striking was his stern expression- the man who had been All Might's sidekick. Midoriya swallowed, and he might have saluted if the man hadn't been holding his wrist. "Sir Nighteye!"
"Please, I'm retired. I'm just here as a consultant. You should call me Sasaki."
"Mr Sasaki," said Midoriya, looking up at the man. His hero stats listed him as six foot seven, but he looked shorter than that, perhaps because he stopped.
Nighteye's yellow eyes stared intently at Midoriya from behind the narrow glasses he wore. "Let me… fix your hands for you."
Before Midoriya could object, Nighteye was on one knee, reaching into his jacket for something. A small case with a pharmacy symbol on the side.
"You have a first aid kit on you-" Midoriya breathed. "Do you carry it all the time?"
Nighteye looked at him sharply, taking cotton balls and disinfectant from the case. "Of course. Why wouldn't I?"
Midoriya held still as Nighteye cleaned and bandaged the wounds on his hands. His movements were incredibly efficient, as if he was a trained medic- he probably was. He didn't even throw the cotton he'd used to clean Midoriya's knuckles into the regular trash, just packed it back into a compartment in his kit, presumably to dispose of it properly as medical waste. He really was conscientious.
"I saw you," said Midoriya. "At the ceremony yesterday."
"You were there?" asked Nighteye, and Midoriya kicked himself mentally.
"No. I watched- on the television." Midoriya felt embarrassment rise from his gut. Of course Nighteye wouldn't want to talk about the memorial. All Might had been his ally, and his close friend.
"There." Nighteye finished up the bandages and got to his feet, towering above Midoriya again. "All done."
"Thank you, Sir." Midoriya flushed, bowing deeply. "I mean, Mr Sasaki."
"Sasaki!" Yuga Aoyama, the Shining Hero Can't Stop Sparkling, rounded the corner into the kitchen area. "I hope my staff aren't bothering you!" He was a huge man, not as tall as Nighteye but heavy set, his love for rich food such as cheese having caught up with him in his mid twenties, and his torso-protecting armour doubled as a girdle. Midoriya was surprised to see the trim figure of Permafrost trailing behind Aoyama, in full hero gear and icy half face mask.
Nighteye grinned, showing too many teeth. "To the contrary. Your interns are very interesting." Interesting? Midoriya swallowed. If he remembered correctly, Sir Nighteye's quirk was Foresight, the ability to look into someone's future when he touched them. Had Sir Nighteye just used his quirk on him? And if so, what had he seen?
"He's not an intern." Aoyama scowled at Midoriya. "He's no-one. He doesn't even have a quirk. He's in Marketing."
"Merchandising," said Midoriya, staring at the floor.
He felt two intense gazes on him in that moment. Nighteye, his gaze one of interest from behind his glasses, and Permafrost, whose mismatched eyes were inscrutable.
"Is that so," said Nighteye, taking one of the cups of tea Midoriya had made, and handing another to Permafrost. "We should get back to the meeting room. The others will be waiting for us."
Aoyama shook his head, turning to Midoriya once Nighteye and Permafrost were out of the kitchen. His gaze fell to Midoriya's bandaged hands, and his lips pursed in disapproval. "Wait in my office," he said.
Being fired wasn't really a surprise. He'd been on thin ice for a while, with the time he'd spent in hospital, and the time a video of him getting beaten up had made it onto the internet. Coming in with injuries on his hands had been the last straw. Midoriya had always imagined himself begging to keep the job, throwing himself on Aoyama's greaves, but he found he couldn't muster the energy for it. Not with the anniversary, and the divorce, and the rest of the world pressing down around his ears. He felt heavy, as if he would sink, and Aoyama's words washed over him like white noise from a radio. They handed him a cardboard box with the stuff from his desk as a couple of the sidekicks escorted him out. Inside was a picture of him and Fumiko from their honeymoon, and a faulty Can't Stop Sparkling doll. He carried it numbly through the lobby and dumped it in the trash outside.
A/N- thank you so much everyone who has commented and followed so far. I hope I surprise you guys, and in a good way.