Not Everybody Can Be A Protagonist

Chapter THREE (*0*)

Midoriya startled as he was tapped on the shoulder, he turned to see the grave face of his friend. 

Yesterday their boss had announced in a rather confused tone that a protagonist company had requested a meeting with one of their workers.  Today was the day when one of their workers would be chosen. Hikari knew he was going to be chosen but refused to tell Midoriya why, 'it's for your safety' he said. Midoriya just shrugged his shoulders and unsparingly corrected Hikari's work. 

A woman with long, black hair walked into the office. "My name is Momo," she said in a high pitched voice that let everybody know she was nervous. A pink-skinned woman ran into the room and spun around. Her finger landed on a worker on the same row as Midoriya and Hikari, but not on the same side.

"You!" She said loudly and ran to grab the person's hand.  The worker, Maekawa Kameyo, was dragged out of the room, a pained look on their face.

Midoriya's boss placed his hat on his chest and lowered his head, "A moment of silence for Maekawa. You were a good worker."

Maekawa, from down the hallway, screamed, " I'M NOT DYING!"

"Your death was harsh."

"I'M NOT DEAD EITHER!"

"You will be missed." 

"BOSS!"

Their boss solemnly stood up and shut the doors, cutting off Maekawa's shouts of protest. 

"Alright, back to work, I need to create help wanted ads."

A few snickers filled the office. Midoriya elbowed Hikari. "I thought you were going to be chosen."

Hikari looked at his computer, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Mhm."

"Shut up, go do your equations."

Midoriya looked at the clock and grabbed his bag, "I already did. See you at the barbeque."

Midoriya smiled as he walked out of the office, in the elevator he got a swarm of angry texts, but it was worth it.

--------

Midoriya was prepared. He had three grills set up, he had a multitude of dishes, and he had beer.

He was set to go.

In groups, workers from his department trickled into his backyard. He himself was standing just a little way behind the grills with his friends clustered around him. Well, not around him per se, but around each other in general.

Then they walked in.

Protagonists.

The aura dropped and conversations grew quiet, though everybody doubted the protagonists noticed. Background characters being quiet was a normal thing for them.

No, they didn't hold it against protagonists that they were protagonists. They were upset because the protagonists were trying to tip the balance.

Did they even think of how the background characters would react to them disturbing the peace?

They all believe that the protagonists didn't think about them at all. They saw somethings that weren't clear to them and want to 'fix' it.

The protagonists walked in and the barbeque continued.

Slowly, a protagonist or two would break off and move to talk to a group or person who was standing alone.

One with a bird head and one with a lot of arms approached Midoriya's group and talked to them for a bit. In all, they were pretty cool towards them. They talked about things that were common ground. A loud pink-haired woman called him back and the irritation was clear on their faces. They all traded phone numbers. The pink one shouted again. Tokoyami and Shoji waved goodbye to them and left. The small smiles they had vanished.

Takai shrugged his shoulders, "I guess quiet protagonists have it hard too."

Iwa raised a glass, "They're basically background characters."

Hikari nodded, "You can say that again!"

"They're basically background characters."

Iwa got slapped.

"Midorbro..." Takai said with a winy voice. "It's Friday, right? Can I crash at your place?"

Iwa and Hikari looked at each other before nodding along to Takai's plea. "Us too, you're the only one with a big enough house, plus there will be extra food."

Iwa perked up, "Yeah, you're the best cook out of us all!"

Midoriya refilled his glass, "Sure." He listened to them exclaim in happiness. "But-" he looked up from his glass, "-if you make a mess, I swear to Kami and back Boss will have to find four new workers."

The three nodded sharply.

"Good."

Iwa decided to throw a bone, "Can Tokoyami and Shoji come?"

Midoriya looked at it for a moment before biting it, "If they want to, yes."

Takai salsa danced happily over to the two boys, who had drifted towards the back of the group with a person with a weirdly shaped head. The four of them walked back.

Tokoyami bowed, "Thank you for the invitation, we happily accept, but," he motioned towards the third person, "our friend here has severe anxiety, we can't leave him alone for too long, would it be alright if he joined us?"

Midoriya knew what having severe anxiety was like, he also knew how worrying about somebody with severe anxiety felt. "Of course he can join, have you seen how big my house is? It gets lonely up in there."

Hikari returned with a mouth and plateful of beef, "And he's too kind for his own good. Wait, no he's not. He's too kind for other's goo. Yeah, that makes sense. Good job Hikari. Oop, choking."

Takai rolled his eyes, "Don't talk with your mouth full."

"Rude."