Ch. 3 Lock The Door

"I got your tux from the dry cleaner and reserved the limo to come get you from here tonight."

Bakugo aggressively stabbed at his salad while you stood in front of his desk and explained the plan for this evening.

The hero commission had invited Bakugo to tonight's awards ceremony celebrating "heroes to watch." He had even been asked to give a short speech, which you had of course written yourself.

He looked up when you said the word "limo." You had anticipated this reaction and were ready.

"You can't just take a taxi to the awards ceremony like a regular person," you explained. "If you want to be the best, you have to act like the best. You're taking the limo and that's the end of it."

"I will be the number -."

"I know, I know," you interrupted. "One day you'll be the number one hero, etc etc.  I don't need to hear that speech again," you muttered. "On that note, we really should think about hiring someone to handle your PR and marketing."

"We?"

"I mean, you. Sorry. But you need it. Have you ever searched for your name on Tik Tok? Because..."

"No, I don't have time for stupid shit like that."

"Good because... " you weren't sure what to say next. You shuddered. "Just don't."

While he finished eating you rattled through the rest of the updates from the day.

It was the end of your first week working for Bakugo and much to the surprise of the staffing agency, and yourself as well, you hadn't quit or been fired.

Yet.

You were actually making a little progress. Bakugo let you purchase some new furniture so slowly the office was starting to look like an entirely new space. Even though he never said it, he had to be pleased.

You straightened his tux on its hanger, set out his shoes, and checked the time. "All set. You need to get ready and then probably practice your speech."

He picked up his phone. "I need to make a few calls."

"And then get ready and practice your speech. Is there anything else you need for tonight?" you asked.

"No."

"Great. Then if it's okay with you, I'm going to go home early." Dabi was supposed to meet you out tonight and you wanted to make sure you had time to get ready. You had a new dress and sexy lingerie that you were dying to show him.

Bakugo put his phone down.

"Go home early?"

"So is that a no?"

"It's a no. If I'm here, you're here."

"But..."

"No. Go do something so I can actually get some work done."

You headed back to your desk grumbling about your pain in the ass boss for probably the hundredth time this week.

Arrogant. Demanding. Rude. You could keep going.

But he'd finally let you start keeping his calendar and that's when you'd seen something else. The events on his schedule made you rethink a few things.

Tour of children's hospital. Blood drive at a local university. Volunteer hours at the animal shelter.

You'd confirmed these appointments for him, surprised each time that he had said yes to each of them, no matter how small the event was.

He never mentioned them or talked about them afterwards. You simply gave him a print out of his schedule each day, since he refused to put his work email and calendar on his phone ("that's what I have you for," he'd said), and that was that.

Whatever, all the charity work in the world didn't make up for being a miserable person.

You were mid-grumble in your head when the office door opened.

In walked three young men, all sharply dressed in tuxes as well. They looked familiar, but you didn't know anyone here so you weren't sure why.

"Welcome!" you greeted them cheerily. "I'm y/n. How can I help you?"

One of the young men, one with bright red hair, said, "You're y/n?"

"Yep. That's me."

"Interesting."

Not really, but okay.

"How can I help you?" I asked again.

The young man with red and white hair came up to your desk and stopped right in front of you.

Red and white hair...

Oh my god, you realized, trying not to show your shock. It's the guy from the magazine cover. And Bakugo's photos. The one you said was cute. And now he was standing here, right in front of you.

He really was cute.

"Hi," he said. "We're here to collect Bakugo and make sure he doesn't skip tonight's ceremony like last year. Is he in?"

"Uh...." you stammered, your heart sinking. So they were all heroes. And friends of his on top of that.

You knew what heroes were capable of. You'd seen it yourself.

You were only working for one now because there was literally no other job open. .

But since your daily conversations had so far been limited to talking to your sad little potted plant or your annoying boss, it wasn't terrible to have three handsome young men to talk to instead.

There was no way you'd ever turn into one of those fan girls like the ones who sent those god awful letters you'd sorted through (and thrown away).

"He's here," you finally said. "I'll get him. But he won't be missing the event. The limo is picking him up downstairs in just a little bit."

"Limo, huh?" the red haired one asked. "That's surprising."

"Yes, I scheduled it to pick him up from here. Now that I think about it, there will be plenty of room if you three wanted to ride with him."

They exchanged glances. The one with green hair spoke next. "Um... Maybe you should ask him about that first?"

"I'll be right back," you said, getting up and going back to his office.

As usual, you just opened the door to Bakugo's office and walked in. That's what you'd been doing all week. It drove him crazy that you just walked in whenever, but you kind of enjoyed that.

Except this time you weren't expecting what you saw.

Because you saw Bakugo.

Shirtless.

Pantless.

Boxers only. Very tight boxers.

You were pretty sure your brain made the shut down noise.

It was no secret even fully clothed that the guy was ripped. It was something totally different seeing him in person, unclothed, half-way naked, muscles for days, right there a few feet away from you.

Without even thinking about it, you used your quirk and immediately you were able to see his full range of emotions and thoughts. They flooded your brain before you could stop yourself.

He wasn't embarrassed at all, you realized.

He was.... smug?

"Can I help you?" he asked casually, as if he wasn't standing there almost naked.

You shook your head, canceling your quirk, your brain suddenly clear.

"I... I...." you stammered. "I'm sorry."

You were thankfully saved by the sound of voices in the lobby, reminding you of why you were there in the first place.

"You have visitors," you mumbled, turning around quickly and speed walking back to your desk.

"He'll be out soon," you squeaked before burying your head in a fake pile of work to do. You randomly typed letters on your computer keyboard just to distract yourself.

Fuck.

Now he not only hated you, which had been apparent all week, but he also thought you were a pervert.

Fuck!

And you had used your quirk. After you told yourself you wouldn't anymore.

Fuck.

But damn he had looked good.

No. You have a boyfriend. Sort of. Stop thinking about what you just saw, stop thinking about his chest and his abs and the line of muscles that led to..

Stop it. 

A few minutes later Bakugo, now fully dressed in his tux, appeared in the lobby, greeting his friends and agreeing to leave with them. You couldn't help but wonder how they were all friends; they seemed so nice and friendly compared to him.

They're still heroes, you reminded yourself. And that means they can't be trusted.

Bakugo stayed behind for just a minute after his friends left, and you felt yourself feeling nervous at the idea of being alone with him again.

"Y/n..." he said lowly, approaching your desk and leaning over closer to you.

You titled your head up to him, unsure where this was going. Bakugo wasn't yelling, so that was a positive, but you couldn't read his expression at all. You refused to use your quirk again.

The quietness of his voice right now made it that much weirder and more tense.

And then there was the fact that he pretty much radiated heat and he was so close right now, heat coming off him in waves, just like that first day when he had backed you into the wall.

"Yes?"

But he didn't say anything at all; he simply stood there looking at you in silence.

Finally he turned to go, following his friends out the door.

"By the way," he said, walking out and pulling the door behind him. "You're fired."