Hot-Headed (Now also a podfic on spotify!)

Chapter 26

3 MONTHS LATER

"Guess what," Nate said excitedly over the phone.

"You have a boyfriend!" Ochako blurted immediately figuring there were few things he would actually sound this excited over.

He paused a second as he processed her words.

"No, but I appreciate your optimism," he said snarkily and she let out a small laugh.

"My parents want me to make another visit to Japan this year, this time for two weeks."

Ochako's mouth hung open and her heart skipped a beat. She didn't even know how to respond.

"Is that a good silence or a bad silence?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Sorry, Nate, I'm just so stunned! I didn't think you'd be coming back so soon!" she said with wonder.

"Me either!" he rejoiced, "But it's partially for work, partially for play because my second week is just a vacation week. I figured we could go sight-seeing and eat at a bunch of five-star restaurants!"

"Oh wow! That would be amazing!" she squealed, "But I have to work so I won't be able to be with you much..."

"Yeah, I took care of that," he responded mysteriously.

Ochako narrowed her eyes despite him not being able to see, "What do you mean 'you took care of it'?"

"Well I still need a guard don't I? I'm hiring you to be that guard for me for those two weeks!"

She frowned, "But aren't you going to be staying in the same place?"

"Of course!" he answered.

"But that's not my jurisdiction," she told him sadly, "I don't work for Mt. Lady anymore, I work a little ways outside the city actually."

After graduating, she had gotten a slew of job offers, a couple, of course, coming from well-known pros, including Mt. Lady and the other two Lurkers, as well as officially from Hawks. But she had chosen not to go with any of them and, instead, had taken a job with a lesser-known hero in a small city just outside of Tokyo, on the opposite edge of where UA was located.

She didn't want to have to end up working with any of her former classmates, even Mina or Toru. She wanted to leave the whole of her high school life behind. At least when she worked. She would still occasionally visit with the girls from her class from time to time.

"Don't worry about it," he assured her, "I already talked to Mt. Lady and she said she was more than happy to have you working in her territory, especially to guard me again. I also specially requested you from your hero agency and they okayed the job so there you go!"

Ochako's heart swelled. He'd done all that to make sure that she could come stay with him again.

She sighed heavily with appreciation, "Thank you, Nate. In that case, I'd love to come guard you."

"Great!" he said and she could hear his smile through the phone.

Something snagged at the corner of her mind then. Something that made her somewhat suspicious of her friend despite the fact that she cared for him dearly and didn't want to distrust him.

"Nate," she said with a questioning tone, "Is anyone else going to be guarding you with me?"

"What?" he asked, sounding truly shocked, "Of course not, Uravity! I have confidence in your ability to protect me on your own... Wait wait wait. Did you think this was some kind of ploy and I would hire Bakugo as well?"