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Endeavour was really bad at taking no for an answer.
Not even when the person denying him what he wanted - a meeting to bitch about the recent changes, Tenko was sure - was the son of Midoriya Hisashi and the CEO of the All For One Industries.
“He’s here,” Toga, Tenko’s brilliant secretary despite - or perhaps because of - her young age, chirped through the phone. “And he looks mightily pissed.”
“He can hear you,” Endeavour’s voice was easily picked up by the microphone.
Tenko sighed heavily before pressing the button to respond. “Let him up.”
Seems like Endeavour was determined to be personally present for the moment when he was made redundant.
It wasn’t long before the doors to Tenko’s office swung open, the flaming garbage can in a bespoke suit stomping in through the door.
Eyeing the smoke sensors, Tenko surreptitiously put the documents he had been working on inside his desk. It was everything-proof, they’d be safe there.
Endeavour stalked forward. A disinterested-looking man with a multitude of staples trailed in behind him, and Tenko pretended very hard that he wasn’t surprised to see him there.
Who would have thought Dabi, of all people, would have such a close connection to Endeavour?
A drug dealer with a soft spot for children, always ready to help them out… And a man who ruthlessly made an example of anyone who refused to bend to his will.
Though now, the context offered an unpleasant connection between those extremes.
“What brings you here?” Tenko said, once it became clear he wouldn’t be getting any sort of a greeting.
“You violated our deal,” Endeavour ground out, clearly more used to talking with his fists.
Tenko raised an eyebrow. That particular deal was made void a month ago. And Endeavour only noticed it wasn’t being adhered to now? Clearly the decision to drop his service was the right one, if he had such a poor handle on his own organization.
“Oh?” Tenko said, lacking absolutely any interest in the topic.
At least Dabi seemed faintly amused at that reaction.
Endeavour gestured at the young adult - rather rudely, in Tenko’s opinion - prompting him to leisurely pop his suitcase open on a side table, slowly extracting a stapled sheet of paper out of it.
Displeased with the speed at which Dabi was retrieving the papers, Endeavour snatched them from his hand, slamming the whole bundle down on Tenko’s desk.
“I want you to explain to me why the deal was not kept,” he said, pushing his finger into the pile of paper.
Tenko glanced down at it, making sure it was what he thought it was, before placing his hand down on the top page, his fingers splayed wide.
The paper turned to dust, only the small used staple remaining on his desk.
“What deal?”
Endeavour’s flames sprung higher as he stared at the pile of dust incredulously.
Tenko simply waited, scooping the dust into his bin. Dabi had his back turned to the both of them, ostensibly very occupied with closing the briefcase. His shaking shoulders betrayed his amusement.
“How dare you-!” Endeavour yelled, regaining his voice.
“No,” Tenko smiled, the motion stretching out the tiny scars covering his face. “How dare you waste my time?”
Endeavour stayed quiet, only betrayed by his steadily growing flames.
“Do not come back unless you have something important to say,” Tenko turned to his monitor, making sure no changes he’s made before were unsaved. “And pick your words wisely. I do believe the underground learning you’ve been unsuccessfully trying to deal with the AFO Industries might bring forth some more… permanent problems for you.”
The smoke detectors finally reached their limit, dousing the giant man - and only him - in a mixture of water and foam.
Dabi gave up any pretense of seriousness in favour of filming the entire thing. How long did he have his camera out? No matter; if the video is leaked, there’s nothing incriminating for Tenko, and Endeavour’s problems are his joy.
Endeavour was already stalking towards the exit, pointing at Tenko angrily. “I’ll be back!” He warned. It was hard to take him seriously when he looked like a cat who had just escaped a bath. “You’ll regret it yet!”
Tenko tilted his head slightly.
“Hm,” he says. “I don’t think I will.”
Endeavour left. Dabi followed at a far slower pace, taking a moment to offer Tenko double thumbs-up with the widest, most shit-eating grin Tenko has ever seen.
***
The idiot returned the very next week, a young woman in tow. She didn’t look much younger than Dabi, and seemed about as interested in the proceedings as he did.
This time, Endeavour was not on fire. Well, he wasn’t excessively on fire, only sporting his ridiculous firemask and firestache.
He sat down in the only visitor’s chair, the woman settling herself behind him.
It reminded Tenko uncomfortably of a yuino, and he was most definitely not in the mood for a marriage offer.
He stilled, carefully masking the fact, as he remembered the - unheeded, of course, - request to have Hisashi himself present during this meeting.
"I believe we've started out on the wrong foot," Endeavour was saying. "Perhaps we can come to an understanding."
Oh, so apparently now that Tenko proved he wasn't as stupid or as pliable as Hisashi's previous choice of a CEO, Endeavour was willing to play nice.
It was cute how he thought he had anything to offer.
His organization might have been currently the largest one on the streets, but that kind of a reputation was easily lost with just a few well-spread rumours.
"Don't waste my time," Tenko warned, perfectly willing to watch Endeavour dig out his own grave.
“My daughter, Fuyumi, is of an appropriate age-”
Right. Nope. The way the woman's face froze into a well-practiced mask, her shoulders stiff, was simply too painful to bear.
"Let me stop you right there," Tenko interrupted. "I'm not interested."
"You didn't let me finish-"
"No."
“She may have a weak quirk, but she’s proficient at cooking and cleaning, knows how to stay quiet, isn’t the worst looking-”
Tenko rolled his eyes, slouching in the chair, the back of his head hitting the top of the backrest.
“What a glowing recommendation,” he sneered. “Regardless, even if she were the most eligible bachelorette in the world, I would not interested for two very very important reasons.”
Endeavour took a moment to breathe, clearly attempting to calm himself down.
“And those are?” He forced out eventually.
“One,” Tenko straightened out, slamming his forearms on the desk. “I am not interested in buying a spouse. I don’t know the kind of circles you run around in, but we in the civilized society do not dabble in slavery.”
Endeavour recoiled, as if physically struck, but Tenko cared little for his sensitivities.
“And two,” Tenko relaxed back into the chair, soft smile on his lips. “I’m gay.”
Endeavour grimaced at that. A homophobe? That would be perfectly in-character for him.
“All the more reason-”
“A loveless marriage is not something I will ever be interested in,” Tenko deadpanned, tired of that conversation.
“It’s a good way to get ahead of the curve,” Endeavour shrugged, not seeing anything wrong with his statement.
Glancing at Fuyumi, Tenko feared receiving confirmation, but he had to know. She gave him the tiniest of nods.
“I see,” Tenko grabbed one of the business cards he kept in his drawer, one from the stack belonging to a lawyer agency which specialized in domestic abuse. He handed it to the woman. “Please keep this in mind in case of any need; They’re excellent at what they do. And Endeavour.”
Endeavour moved slightly forward, expectant.
“You are no longer welcome in this building.”
“What?!”
The man did not seem like he was going to leave easily, but no matter; Tenko never expected him to make it easy.
How nice of him to make his last exit entertaining and memorable. Tenko already paged the security, and they should get up there any moment now.
If Endeavour wanted to cause trouble, he would not like the results.
“Miss Todoroki, you are welcome to leave on your own,” Tenko offered. “Your father is about to become very embarrassed.”
Grabbing her purse, Fuyumi swapped the card for her phone.
“I think I’d like to stay a while longer, if that’s alright with you, sir,” she said.
The Todoroki siblings were savage.
“Please do send me the video,” he smiled, just as the doors let Gigantomachia through.
***
Fuyumi did, in fact, send him the video of the screaming Endeavour being literally kicked out of the building by a perfectly unimpressed Gigantomachia.
Even better: Dabi (or Touya, as she called him) sent his video of Endeavour getting assaulted by the sprinklers to their siblings’ chat, and Fuyumi shared that video with Tenko, too.
For about a week, it seemed like Endeavour was going to accept the ban.
That is, until a meeting with “Natsuo Todoroki” was forced upon them.
Kami, but Tenko hated Mondays.
He dearly hoped it was just another one of the siblings, and not Endeavour’s civilian name. Actually, hold that thought; If it was Endeavour, at least Tenko would get to see him get kicked around. Gigantomachia said they had quite a lot of fun kicking him out.
The man who came through the doors of Tenko’s office seemed, at first glance, quite similar in appearance to Endeavour, if only he had white hair and dropped those ridiculous fire adornments.
But on second glance, he couldn’t have been more different.
The young adult - he couldn’t have been much older than Tenko himself, really - held himself differently, seemed much kinder and he appeared to be as happy to be there as both of his siblings were.
Pity he doesn’t get to see Endeavour get humiliated, maybe that would have cheered him up.
Looking around the office, Natsuo’s eyes passed right past Shigaraki, zeroing in on the armchair he kept in the corner.
“Would you mind if I-” he said, not even finishing his own question before dropping heavily onto the seat, legs thrown over one of the armrests.
Tenko wordlessly raised his eyebrows, a gesture wasted on the man as he closed his eyes immediately after sinking into the soft cushions.
“Mh, comfy,” he mumbled, sighing deeply.
“That is an interesting negotiating technique,” Tenko commented, turning back to his paperwork. If the Todoroki was going to stall for time, he might as well get ahead with the work he was being paid for.
“It’s not like dad’s gonna barge in here, is it? Since he got banned and all,” the man slurred. “Might as well take a minute to rest my eyes.”
Something about the kid sounded off. Was he drunk? High?
“Are you drunk?” Tenko asked, because what better way to get answers than to simply bluntly ask?
“Nah,” the kid waved one of his hands weakly. “Dad just caught me right after I came from a double shift. Nearly fell asleep in the shower, but nooo, this is important. So important he couldn’t even ask my schedule first...”
Oh? That was quite interesting. With every Todoroki Tenko met, his opinion of Endeavour fell lower and lower, and the bar was already halfway down to hell.
“Double shift?” Tenko asked, pursuing the easiest line of questioning. If he had a source willing to provide free information, who was he not to seize it?
“I’m training to be a doctor,” Natsuo said. “Preferably a civilian one, though. I’m eagerly awaiting the day dad comes home injured and i can tell him to go fuck off.”
“Seems like quite a dream,” Tenko nodded agreeably.
Returning to his papers, he ignored the guest until he forgot he was in there at all.
Which is why it was all the more surprising, when he emerged from the pile of papers rather late at night to straighten out the crick in his neck, and startled at the sight of the man curled on the armchair.
Tenko sighed, turning off his desk lamp. What to do about the guest?
He approached the armchair silently, looking at Natsuo’s silhouette. He could hardly just leave him in his office unattended. For all he knew, this could have been the plan from the start.
But Toga would have already left, and he usually used Kurogiri to get home… And most people did not know the exact coordinates of their houses.
Ah well, he’d need to make use of the guest room, then.
“Oi,” he said, reaching his hand to shake Natsuo’s shoulder.
Before his hand could connect, Natsuo’s intercepted it, eyes wide with panic as his brain shook off the sleepiness. Tenko didn’t dare to make a move.
Natsuo finally noticed who he was holding.
“Sorry,” he said, releasing his hand, straightening on the armchair. His hands rubbed at his eyes, tousling his hair. “I’m sorry, I didn’t - I thought you were someone else.”
Hm. Perhaps their home life was even worse than Tenko had expected.
“It’s fine,” he said. “It’s gone late, and I’m leaving. You, Todoroki-san, are leaving with me.”
Natsuo shrugged easily, getting up to his feet. He stretched with a yawn, his bones cracking.
“As long as you’ve got a comfy bed wherever it is you’re taking me, I’m game.”
***
Apparently, Tenko’s guest bed was the comfiest bed in existence, and it has taken Natsuo prisoner.
It took Endeavour a week to notice one of his kids was no longer coming home.
And when he did, obviously his solution to the problem was stalking out the entrance to the AFO Industries, waiting for- Tenko didn’t even know what. Him? Natsuo? Someone less willing to kick Endeavour’s ass than Gigantomachia?
Tenko decided to indulge him, just this once, and told Toga to let the man in.
Admittedly, he was more interested in meeting that last Todoroki sibling than he was in talking to the man, but it seemed to be a joint package.
“I demand my son back!” Endeavour roared before he even stepped over the threshold to Tenko’s office, the littlest Todoroki trailing in behind him like a lost duckling.
“Careful there, dad, someone might think you care,” Natsuo from the armchair which was quickly becoming his, most of his attention focused on the DS Tenko lent him.
Endeavour appeared stupefied at the sight.
“What, did you expect to find him strapped to a table, begging for mercy?” Tenko snarked.
“Pretty much, yeah,” The littlest Todoroki answered instead of his father. “This is the most emotion he showed towards Natsuo since he manifested his quirk.”
Endeavour scowled at that. Considering the kid had yet to make a face different than complete and utter indifference, Tenko could see how that description could be taken for an insult.
But before he could respond to that, a portal opened to his right, his younger brother skipping right out.
“Tenchan~!” He chirped, drawing himself all over Tenko. “Dad wants you to join him! He’s got a meeting with some guys in the States-”
“Izuku,” Tenko interrupted. “I am in the middle of something.”
Izuku turned his head around, only now noticing the three other people inside the office.
“Shouchan!” he gasped, vaulting over the desk to lock the littlest Todoroki in a tight embrace.
Tenko barely managed to save his lamp from crashing to the ground.
“Shouto,” Endeavour ground out. “Explain.”
“Izuku is in the same class as I,” the littlest Todoroki finally showed some emotion, and he picked smug happiness for the demonstration. “We’re dating.”
Endeavour erupted into flames.
“What a coincidence,” Natsuo said, shooting Tenko a look.
Oh, Tenko was game.
“So are we,” he finished.
Endeavour triggered the sprinkler system again.