Chapter 5: Endeavor Party

The sidekicks of the Endeavor Agency looked between Midoriya and Burnin'. The analyst was sitting at his desk, trying to sink into it. The heroine was standing behind him with a big satisfied smile directed at the sidekicks. The others had expressions ranging from abject shock to complete disbelief.

"You!?" one of the sidekicks exclaimed while pointing at Burnin'. This was after spending a fair few minutes in silence at the revelation. "And him?" he pointed at Izuku. "How!?"

"Yeah," another one spoke up, "I mean, I thought you hated when people flirted with you."

"No, I hate when people get handsy with me," Kamiji explained. "I also don't like it when people flirt when they should be working. Midoirya, however, was a perfect gentleman who waited for me to finish my shift before trying the absolute cheesiest pickup lines I've ever heard. Cards and everything. He was too adorable, and was a smash during dinner. How could I say no? Just needs to work on his alcohol tolerance."

At that declaration, Izuku sighed and buried his face in his hands. That was it? Him waiting for Burnin' to clock out was one of the biggest determinants? If he had known that, he might have tried on the clock. Then again, with how smart the heroine was, she might have realized something was going on.

"Does this mean you two are gonna have matching costumes for the party this Friday?"

"Maybe? Up to him, though." At this point, Izuku looked up at the heroes. He felt a bit nervous when he saw a few were looking at him, but he pushed past it.

"Costume party?" Izuku asked.

"Yeah, the annual costume party for the agency," another sidekick replied. "It's technically the anniversary of the agency's founding, but we managed to convince Endeavor to let us make it a costume party a few years back."

"...Isn't it kinda weird to throw a costume party in the middle of summer?"

"Dude, we heroes wear costumes all the time," Kamiji laughed. "Wait a minute, how could you not know about the party? We've been throwing it longer than you've been working here!"

"Err, I've been stuck with working on paperwork and stuff," Izuku looked aside. "I haven't been paying any attention to special events like that."

"...What paperwork?"

"AY-YAI-YAI-YAIIIIII!"

Izuku flinched at the noise. He knew that noise. It haunted him for years, and was one of the major reasons he'd been trying to get fired. He didn't even need to look at the door to know who just stepped in.

The triplets from accounting. He didn't memorize their names, because they both angered him and because he remembered their names did not match their appearance at all. Then again, it was kinda hard to think of names that would fit super muscular men who were almost as tall as Endeavor himself. They'd probably be heroes too, except for their quirks. One could make things glow if he touched them, another could make his hair float, and the last one was basically a walking stereo. He provided the music for their little group. In all honesty, their quirks stood out more than their names, which was why Izuku remembered them as Glowstick, Waves and Stereo.

The sidekicks were used to their noise, so they ignored the triplets as they walked into the room. All three were busy talking about something Izuku didn't care to hear about. He was keeping his eyes on the stacks of paper in Glowstick's arms. As they passed Izuku's desk, none of them paid any attention as Glowstick just dropped the stacks on it.

This was why he wanted to leave. Izuku was an analyst, not an accountant, but these jerks always ordered him to do their work. That was why he ate lunch at his desk. Why he never went to any agency functions or parties. These jerks always used their seniority to make him do their work for them and the other sidekicks would just-

"HEY!"

Everyone in the room froze at the shout. Stereo's music came to a warped halt. Slowly, everyone in the room turned to look at Burnin', who in turn was glaring at the triplets. When no one spoke up, the heroine pointed at the papers the accountants just dropped on Izuku's desk.

"The hell is that?" she asked.

"Oh, it's the financial reports for next quarter," Waves replied.

"And why did you drop it on Midoriya's desk?"

"Oh, Midoriya does it for us every quarter. He's a good employee that way." Waves gave a smug sneer at Midoriya as he said this. The sort of sneer that flaunted superiority.

The sort of sneer that disappeared the instant 3 kilograms of paper impacted his face.

"Do your own damn paperwork!" Kamiji Moe roared after hurling said paper at the triplets. "Izuku's an analyst, not an accountant!"

"Come on!" Stereo whined. "This is the sorta work that takes days to fill out! We'll miss the party if we gotta do this!"

"Then you'd better get started! Now piss off before you lose more than time!" The triplets looked like they wanted to complain, but Burnin's hair flaring up scared them away. After they left, the heroine scoffed. "Assholes. I assume that's the 'paperwork' you were talking about?"

"...Y…yeah…" Izuku nodded. No one had stood up for him like that since he started working. Hell, the last time anyone stood up for him was his third year in UA, when Hatsume, Mineta and his other two friends defended him from that one entitled brainwasher kid. Seeing Burnin' protect him here was astounding, considering he was still coming to terms with the fact he was dating her, let alone how she took his-

"You might not wanna finish that sentence, hun," Burnin' whispered into his ear. Izuku squeaked and went stiff as a board when he realized he muttered that aloud. He thought he kicked that habit ages ago. At least Burnin' was there to stop him before he said something truly embarrassing.

"Th-thanks," Izuku nodded. "S-so, about the costume party…"

"Dress up however you want," the first sidekick pointed. "If you can't think of anything, just dress normal and say you're a homicidal maniac. They look like everyone else, after all."

"You don't gotta match me," Burnin' smiled. That smile and statement filled Izuku with a warm feeling he couldn't remember feeling before.

…It also gave him an idea.

"Alright, I'll try to make it," Izuku declared. "In the meantime, I need to handle some of my own work." He rose from his desk and rushed off. He was in such a hurry he didn't notice Kamiji watching him with a determined, yet worried, expression.

—

The night of the costume party arrived. It was the usual hustle and bustle of good food and bad costumes. Some people were just dressed in their hero outfits, others were dressed like other heroes. Even Enji himself seemed to be in a good mood, dressing in a nice suit. Burnin' was waiting by the door, dressed like a biker. She was checking her phone when one of the other sidekicks walked up.

"Where's Midoriya?" he asked. "I thought he'd be here."

"He volunteered to grab the pizza," the heroine replied. "He should get here any minute."

"Hope he makes it!" another sidekick exclaimed. "Never seen him at one of-"

"A-HAHAHA! I AM HERE!"

All chatter ceased in an instant. Every person in the room turned to the doorway, their faces ranging from complete shock to outright horror. Standing in the doorway was All Might in all his bulky glory. He was wearing one of his older outfits, possibly his Silver Age uniform. It took a minute for Burnin' to notice the stack of pizzas the hero was holding.

"...Midoriya?"

"Yes! I am here…with the pizza!" At this point, everyone got a closer look at All Might. They saw his outfit was padded to add buck. His legs were actually the sort of high-end stilts movie actors would use to look taller. His hair was a wig, and the sidekicks could see one or two locks of green hair poking out from underneath. His face had to be the most convincing mask any of them had ever seen. Overall, it was a pretty good costume. However…

"Midoriya, are you crazy?" Kamiji Moe hissed. "You know Endeavor hates All Might, remember? I know you're a prankster but-" She was about to go into greater detail about why this was a bad costume idea before Endeavor seemed to just appear right in front of Izuku. No one uttered a word as Endeavor looked at Izuku. The analyst was just smiling back, holding the six pizzas. After a brief silence, Endeavor reached up and poked his face.

"...This is not a mask," Endeavor observed. Izuku just smiled and nodded. There was another half minute of silence before Endeavor shrugged and took the top pizza from the stack. "Impressive." Without another word, Endeavor walked away with the pizza. No rage, no demands to change. Everyone watched in shock confusion as the Flame Hero just went into his office with the pizza.

"...Ballsy," one sidekick whispered while looking at Izuku with newfound admiration. Izuku just sighed and set the pizzas on the table. He thought for sure Endeavor would fire him for coming in dressed up as All MIght. Instead…he didn't really seem to care? That dampened Izuku's mood a fair bit, but he was cheered up as the party continued. The sidekicks all spoke compliments about his impression while Burnin' joked about this being the only time she'd have to look up at Izuku.

Overall, Izuku found the party to be really enjoyable, despite not getting fired.

—

The day after the party started nice and calm like usual. Izuku was in a happy mood, despite the fact his most recent firing attempt failed. Maybe he just needed to drop a water bucket on Endeavor? Maybe that would work.

"Oi, Midoriya!" a voice called. Izuku turned to see the heavily-bandaged sidekick come running up.

"Morning, um…Kido, right?" Izuku pointed.

"Yeah, that's me," the sidekick nodded as he skid to a stop. "Listen, the boss is thinking of sending you on an extended assignment out of town. You'll be gone for about a week, and you'll get overtime pay."

"...What sorta job?"

"I dunno yet. But the thing is…" Kido leaned close and whispered. "I need you to teach me how to make the sorta coffee you make."