Work Text:
“Congratulations! You’re hired. Welcome onboard as our new CFO.”
Izuku Midoriya extended out a hand to Ochako for a friendly handshake. She paused for a moment before reaching out to accept his hand. She noticed he was wearing a simple silver ring on his left hand.
“When do I start?” Ochako asked.
“When will you be able to relocate here from the West Coast? We’re ready for you whenever you are.” Midoriya gave her a huge grin.
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Ochako Uraraka, fresh out of the Shiketsu MBA program in the nation, was looking for a job post-graduation. She played the networking game like a pro, asking her business school friend (and hopefully soon-to-be more than friend) Tenya Iida if knew anyone who needed business expertise, and he set her up with Shouto Todoroki, someone he knew from undergrad at UA, the top school on the East Coast. Todoroki apparently founded a rapidly growing startup with several of his college friends called Plus Ultra Robotics, and they were looking for someone to manage their finances.
Plus Ultra designed and programmed robots responsible for saving numerous lives after natural disasters and civilians in war zones. They did incredible work, and they were beginning to be recognized by other companies and governments around the world.
Ochako quickly agreed to Iida when she found out that three of the co-founders of Plus Ultra, Yaoyorozu, Midoriya, and Katsuki Bakugou, had been featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list a couple years ago (when they were under 30). Midoriya had been hailed as a visionary in his innovative work in promoting the use of AI and robotics in his previous job in science policy at the federal government. Bakugou, the youngest ever tenured faculty member at Shiketsu, made strides in designing durable robots that could withstand insane force and had insane battery life. Midoriya and Bakugou were the renowned Toshinori Yagi’s final two PhD students at UA, and they were considered inheritors of his academic legacy.
Todoroki, too, was no slouch. His interests lay in combining software and hardware in numerous innovative projects as a postdoc at Shiketsu, earning the ire of his father, who was the CEO of Endeavor, Inc., a large computer chip company.
That’s how she ended up in an interview for their Chief Financial Officer position with Momo Yaoyorozu, the COO, and Izuku Midoriya, the CEO and another one of the co-founders. The first time they met, Ochako was shocked that someone as pure and wholesome-looking as Midoriya could lead Plus Ultra into the intense, combative world of tech startups.
He’s so innocent and sweet! I want to give him a big hug!
Ochako hoped everyone else at Plus Ultra would be as sweet.
Sadly, within the first 5 minutes of the job, she learned that wouldn’t be the case.
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Two weeks after her interview, she was back at Plus Ultra again, but this time ready to start her new job. Everything was going well so far...Izuku was a sweetheart, and she was looking forward to working closely with him as part of his management team.
Ochako walked into the front door and gasped. Standing there was the beautiful Momo Yaoyorozu, an amazing leader and role model who had helped to found two successful startups in the tech sector before the age of thirty. YaoMomo, as she was known online, was also an outspoken feminist, leader of the makerspace movement, and an all around cool person. Ochako suddenly felt like she could sink through the floor.
Yaoyorozu gave her an elegant smile and shook her hand. “Welcome to the team! We’re excited to have you. There’s always so much to do, and I’m so excited to work with you! Unfortunately, I’m heading out today for a long business trip all the way out west, so Izuku is in charge of introducing you today—Ah! There he is!” Izuku walked through the door.
He gave Ochako one of signature smiles. “Would you mind meeting everyone today? If you have time. I know you’re really tired. I would love to introduce you to the other members of the team, at least. Shouto, the one you reached out to, is around the office right now, and Kacchan isn’t too busy today either… Sorry, I’m rambling again.”
Izuku looked bashful and started scratching the back of his head, clearly nervous. How in the world could she refuse that smile?
“I would love to,” she replied. She gave Izuku her biggest smile to try to calm him down, and they began to walk down a hallway.
As they continued down the hallway, Ochako noticed that the walls were painted with vivid murals. There was a mural of the city skyline on one wall, another wall with a large window with many potted plants had a mural depicting a forest, and the last mural depicted a red-eyed wolf in a field with a rabbit on its shoulder. The wolf had a fierce, angry expression on its face and the rabbit, for some reason, reminded her of Izuku.
She was surprised that a tech company that worked on a website to help teach struggling students academic subjects would have such imaginative artwork.
“Who painted these?” She inquired. “They’re beautiful.”
Izuku laughed shyly and his cheeks turned slightly pink. “Kacchan did it when we first moved in this building. Back in those days, it was just me, Shouto, and Kacchan scrambling to make ends meet. The two of them told me the building was undergoing renovations for a week while he was painting the murals. He’ll never admit it when you ask him, but he’s loved to paint since we were kids and almost became an artist.”
Ochako thought that was so sweet she could die on the spot. “That’s so cute!”
Izuku smiled again. “I’ll let him know you thought that.”
They reached a door with an official-looking sign next to it labeled “Meeting Room Beta.” There was another handwritten sign taped to the door that said “Stay the fuck out of our business!” in all caps and angry red pen.
“Wow, what a jerk.” Ochako blurted. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that.”
Izuku still had a pleasant expression on his face. “No, it’s fine, Kacchan and Shouto were just having their weekly meeting in here.”
He knocked on the door. “Guys, would you mind if I interrupt? I’m here to introduce Ochako.”
He opened the wooden door to reveal a long, rectangular table with comfy office chairs. Only two of the seats were occupied. One of the occupants was a stoic-looking young man with two-toned haired and heterochromia. She remembered meeting him at her job interview. This must have been Shouto Todoroki, the Chief Product Officer. Unlike the day of her interview, he was casually dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, standard tech company attire.
The man sitting across from Shouto, on the other hand, had ridiculously spiky blond hair, a scowl on his face, and was wearing a leather jacket, a tight-fitting shirt with a skull on it, combat boots, and a metal chain necklace. He clearly missed the memo that Hot Topic wasn’t socially acceptable to wear for anyone over the age of fourteen.
Izuku motioned towards Todoroki. “You’ve already met during our interview, but this is Shouto Todoroki. Shouto, this is Ochako. You’ll be working a lot together, since he works on our product lines. He’s really awesome!”
Shouto stood up to shake her hand. “Nice to meet you.”
Izuku motioned to Mr. Hot Topic. “Kacchan, this is Ochako. Be nice to her. Ochako, this is Katsuki Bakugou, our Chief Technology Officer.”
Bakugou grunted in acknowledgement, looked up, and glared at her. He then glared at Izuku. “Deku, you should’ve fuckin’ waited half an hour. Me and IcyHot were talking about changing some stupid organizational shit.”
Ochako was pretty shocked. This was a tech startup, she was expecting some level of profanity in the office. Especially at code. But not at this level. What an asshole. This was the guy who painted those beautiful murals? She took a deep breath. It’s okay, you’ll be working way more with Todoroki, who’s actually nice. You can deal with this asshole. Hell, it’s still way better than your old job, which was filled with sexist douches.
“Nice to meet you! Looking forward to working with you.”
Bakugou continued to glare at her, as if assessing her strength in some way. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought he was taken aback and didn’t know what to say. “Great. Now go fuck off with Deku.”
Izuku looked apologetic. “Sorry about that, guys. I’ll be having lunch with Ochako. Shouto, you’ll be meeting with her after lunch, I think? I remember putting it on your calendar.”
Todoroki nodded. “I’ll introduce you to everyone later. Have a good lunch, Izuku, Ochako.”
As Izuku and Ochako left the room, she saw the angry red note on the door again. Well, looks like I know who to avoid now…
She smiled and turned to Izuku. “Bakugou called you Deku? Is that a nickname of some sort? I like it.”
Izuku still looked pretty relaxed, so either he was immune to Bakugou or was just in too good of a mood. “Oh…Kacchan gave me that nickname a long time ago. He’s a bit rough on the outside, but he’s amazing at what he does and is actually a good guy. Give him a chance, please?”
“I’ll try my best,” Ochako agreed. She found it hard to believe Bakugou could be anything but unpleasant, but for the sake of her job, she could try.
_____________________________________________________________________
A nice lunch with Izuku definitely cheered Ochako up, and she walked jauntily to the meeting room to talk with Shouto Todoroki, who was still as stoic as ever.
“Ochako, come with me. I would like to you meet our engineers and the other staff. They’re looking forward to meeting you.” He led her back into the hallway with murals and into a large room with many desks and lots of windows. Someone had grown vines all around the windows, and a multitude of potted plants sat on window sills and on tables next to the windows.
“We only have around twenty engineers in total, and we have a few non-engineers. I’m not sure if Izuku told you, but we started out with just the three of us in his apartment before moving here. We’re still pretty small since we’ve only been around for three years or so, but we keep hiring new people almost every month since there’s too much to do. Any questions so far?”
Ochako paused. “Is it okay if I ask a personal question?”
Todoroki nodded slightly, as if waiting for her question.
“How do you get along with Bakugou? I’m worried he hates me.”
Todoroki looked sheepish. “He’s like that with everyone. He’s awful at communication. You learn to read between the lines of what he’s trying to say.”
Before he could further, a pink-haired lady turned around from her desk. “Oooh, Shouto! Is this the new CFO! Nice to meet you! I’m Mina Ashido, an engineer here.”
Ochako grinned and waved at Ashido. “I’m Ochako! What are you working on?”
“I’m working ensuring that security works for our new model.” She smirked. “But I hear you digging up the dirt on Bakugou. Work can wait. Shouto, why won’t you tell us who his boyfriend is? Kirishima, his best friend from UA, let it slip that he was dating someone. Also, we’ve seen Izuku wear a wedding ring, but who is he married to? He’s ridiculously tight-lipped about it whenever we try to ask.”
A man with blond hair and a black streak walked by with a cup of coffee. “Let me in on the gossip too, Ashido! I’ve been bugging Blasty this entire week and he won’t talk about it. Hell, I’ve even stalked all our execs on all available social media channels to try to figure it out. Oh!” The man exclaimed, noticing Ochako for the first time. “I’m Denki. You must be Ochako, the new CFO! We’ll be working a lot together, since I do a lot of administrative tasks around here.”
“Anyway,” Denki continued, looking excited. “I’m ready to hear any juicy details. I still can’t believe anyone would date Katsuki Bakugou at all.”
Ochako was very curious too.
Todoroki seemed to be considering what to say next. “I promised him and his partner that I wouldn’t talk about it at work,” he said. “I’m sure he’ll share it with everyone eventually.”
Ashido and Denki looked very excited.
“Awww, that’s so sweet!” Ashido squealed.
“Yeah, if Lord Explosion Murder can find true love, maybe not all hope’s lost for me!” Denki was jotting down details on a notepad enthusiastically. “Ochako, since you’re working with him now, you’ve got to figure out who the mystery man is!”
Ochako smiled. “I’ll give it a shot,” she said.
Ashido and Denki erupted in cheers, and it was clear that many of the other people in the room were whispering about the matter also.
Todoroki motioned for Ochako to follow him again. “We all work in an open office since there isn’t enough space for cubicles.” He sighed. “We might have to rent out one of the floors above or below us soon if we keep growing at this rate.”
They walked to an empty desk. Todoroki stopped.
“Anyway, here’s your desk. If you absolutely need an office to work, we can find you space. Right now, we have a few quiet rooms in that hallway with the meeting rooms for working. Bakugou is usually in one of them since he doesn’t code well in open spaces, but when he’s not there, he’s in the desk across from you.” Todoroki motioned to a desk across from Ochako. “Izuku’s desk is right next to his. I’m right next to you, Yaoyorozu’s is on my other side, and if you need meetings scheduled or anything random, Kaminari’s desk is over there.”
She inwardly sighed. Damn, looks like I have to deal with Bakugou on a daily basis.
“Thanks, Todoroki! Anything else?”
Todoroki looked at her oddly. “If you’re going to dig into Bakugou’s personal life, be subtle about it. He’s very private about these matters.”
Busted. How’d he know that she was now insanely interested in Bakugou’s secret love life?
“If he’s so secretive about it, how’d you find out?” Ochako’s hands covered her mouth right after asking. “Sorry, that was probably insensitive.”
“No, it’s alright, you’ll be working with the three of us closely anyway, “ he said with a slight shake of his head. “Bakugou was one of the top students in the Electrical Engineering department at UA. His significant other was, also. I knew of Bakugou but didn’t know him in person until his significant other introduced me, and we worked together on a project for a class. They were already dating when I met him. I don’t think I can say more than that.”
“Sorry for asking about that again.” Ochako genuinely felt like she was digging too deep and was being too invasive. But she wanted to get a better understanding of someone who she was going to have to work with, and she found it hard to reconcile what Izuku said about Bakugou painting the walls with the reality of his personality.
Todoroki nodded. “You don’t need to apologize. Anyway, I hope your first day went well. We’ve got a lot to start on, so let's get started.”
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The days turned into weeks as Ochako continued working at her new job. She loved working with Todoroki, YaoMomo, and Izuku, all of whom were precious, and the rest of the staff were all so kind and welcoming. Even Bakugou seemed to grudgingly accept that she wasn’t going anywhere, but she hadn’t made any progress on figuring out his love life.
One bright Friday morning, Izuku called everyone at Plus Ultra for a meeting. He only did this when there was something vital to discuss.
“I’m going to be making some visits to some important investors to discuss possible deals. We want to bring in more people but we need more funds.”
Izuku looked a little nervous but stood firm. “When Shouto, Kacchan, Momo, and I started Plus Ultra, our goal was to have as much control over our operations as possible, which meant minimizing funding from VC firms or investors since they would aim to monetize our operations too quickly. Our main goal is trying to teach kids, not making a quick buck off them. Right now, as you all know, our business model revolves around selling enterprise accounts to schools and school districts and not charging students directly.”
He motioned to Ochako. “Ochako, our new CFO, and I have been talking about how to best pitch Plus Ultra to investors. We believe there’s a good chance we can get funding without giving up our autonomy or charging students.”
Most of those in the meeting room weren’t surprised, and Denki yelled, “You go, Midoriya!” from the back corner of the room.
“I’ll be out of town with YaoMomo until next Friday,” Izuku continued. “During my absence, Shouto will be in charge. I believe in this team’s ability to do great things. That’s all!”
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The next Tuesday, Ochako noticed that Bakugou was quieter than usual, was behind on his work, and was checking his phone more often. She gathered up the courage to ask if he was okay.
“Bakugou, are you feeling okay today?”
He didn’t bother turning around to face her. “Tch.”
“Want to go to lunch today? I’ll pay.”
That got his attention. “Fine. I’ll come. Only because it’s free. Now fuck off and lemme work.”
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Ochako, Shouto, and Bakugou all went to a small Japanese café near their workplace on Shouto’s recommendation. Every one of Ochako’s attempts to make conversation were thwarted by Bakugou’s refusal to speak and Shouto’s quiet nature.
While the three of them were waiting for food and Bakugou was sketching angrily on a napkin, Shouto looked directly at Bakugou. “Are you moping? You know it’s only a week until he’s back.”
Ochako felt like she was missing a piece of the puzzle. “What’s only a week?”
“Bitch, that ain’t any of your business.” Bakugou glared at her and snapped.
Shouto persisted. “She should know. She isn’t going to use that information to harm either of you.”
“Fuck if I care.” Bakugou headed to the restroom. Ochako noticed he left his phone on the table.
Ochako still was missing some vital information. “What’s he so defensive about?”
Bakugou’s phone dinged with the arrival of a new text, and Ochako was close enough to read it.
12:10 Deku
Thanks Kacchan! Love you ❤️
Wait, what? She blinked.
Shouto saw where she was looking and sighed. “They’re together. Izuku and Bakugou. Married. Have been for years.”
Oh. Well, that explained a lot. “Is that why Bakugou’s moping? Why are they keeping their relationship private? It’s not like anyone would care.”
“I think the main reason is because it wouldn’t look professional,” Todoroki said. “I’m not 100 percent sure, though.”
It was at that moment when Bakugou chose to make his return. He sat down with a thud.
“Were you two yappin’ about me? I’m not a fucking dumbass, I know all those fuckers at the office all wanna butt into my fuckin’ business.”
Ochako met his crimson eyes. He glared at her, but she stood her ground and glared back. “Why are you and Deku hiding your relationship? None of us would care. I didn’t think you would be one to care about professionalism.”
Bakugou scowled. “Round Face, it ain’t about me. Did IcyHot blab?”
Ochako frowned. “But isn’t it weird to hide that you’re married?”
Todoroki shook his head. “You two never told me exactly why. I was even Izuku’s best man at the wedding.”
You owe me an explanation went unsaid.
Bakugou look pained, crimson eyes narrowed. “Listen up, Half-n’-half and Round Face. It was after UA. Our PhDs. We got hitched a week after we graduated and moved west. Deku found work in the government doing that science policy consulting shit he loves. I started at Shiketsu. He was a sappy dumbass and kept photos of us and some of my old shitty paintings in his office. The old fuckers in charge there saw them. He did fucking amazing and worked his ass off, but they kept giving him shit.”
Bakugou’s scowl deepened. “I couldn’t stand around and fuckin’ watch while they hurt him for three years. He deserves better. So I asked Deku and we decided to fast-forward our shitty career plans. We originally wanted to be start our own thing once we worked more, but those bastards screwed everything up.”
Like most things Bakugou said, what he didn’t say explained much more. It was clear that he didn’t talk about him and Izuku as a couple at work now to protect Izuku.
“Wow,” Ochako remarked. “People are awful. But, Bakugou, that was really romantic of you.”
She swore that the tips of Bakugou’s ears turned slightly red.
“Shut the fuck up.” He said without spite.
—————————————————————————
After that meeting, it seemed like the floodgates opened. Ochako thought she understand Bakugou a little better after their lunch, and he didn’t seem to scowl at her as often as he used to.
However, Bakugou was still surly the rest of the week and completely ignored Kaminari’s pestering about his love life. That is, until Friday afternoon, when Izuku was supposed to be back an hour ago but wasn’t because his flight was delayed. Bakugou was getting visibly more and more frustrated, and he snapped when Kaminari and Ashido were fake-whispering loudly about how his typical chain necklace didn’t match with the rest of his outfit.
“Fuck you!” He took off the chain, revealing a titanium ring. Huh. If Ochako was remembering correctly, It matched Izuku’s. “I’m fucking married to the best man on the face of the goddamn planet! You think I give a shit about whether my ring matches my jacket?” He sneered. “Deku’ll be back and he’s your boss. Better shut up if you don’t wanna be fired.”
Kaminari blinked. “Wait?… What?…You and Midoriya….what? When?”
Ashido gaped after visibly connecting the dots. “Holy shit!” She exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. “That actually makes sense! Why else would some hotshot Shiketsu prof leave to do his own thing?”
It was right at that moment when Izuku and Yaoyorozu chose to walk into the office. “I’m back, everyone! “ Izuku chirped. “Hope it wasn’t too crazy while I was gone!”
Yaoyorozu frowned. “Mina? Why are you flailing your arms?”
Bakugou silently walked up to Izuku from behind, gave him a hug around his waist, and leaned over to kiss Izuku’s cheek. Izuku’s face turned as red as the stop sign emoji.
“Ka—Kacchan! Does this mean we’re not keeping it quiet anymore?”
The office went completely silent as everyone turned to stare. Mina got out her phone and was clearly texting Kaminari, who was standing less than twenty feet away.
Bakugou sighed. “These prying assholes wouldn’t stop asking. By the way, happy birthday, nerd. I got you a present yesterday.” He turned around to face the other employees. “If any of you extras has a problem with us, you’re fucking fired!”
Izuku still looked to be in a state of shock, but he was definitely happy. They’re so damn adorable, Ochako thought. I can’t believe I didn’t see it before. She really was glad to have taken the offer to come to Plus Ultra.
Todoroki sighed. “Look at what you all did. Now they’re going to be that insufferably cute couple at work and out of work.”
Ochako laughed. She vaguely heard Bakugou snarling, “What’re you laughing at, Round Face?” in the background, Kaminari making stupid bets with Jirou and Momo, Sero and Mina exchanging fashion tips, and so much more babble in the background. She was just happy. Happy that Bakugou and Izuku made a place for themselves, and that she could be part of it.
It was just another day at Plus Ultra.