A groan of frustration leaves my lips as I look through the endless sheets of paperwork stacked upon my desk. It's such a tall stack too! It's like it's taunting me! Laughing at me for not going through it as quick as I can. Gripping my hair in frustration, I pull it out of the ponytail I pinned it in before I begin signing and printing names on some. Then on others, I begin to file information about local crooks and evil villains that the number two hero had brought to justice. Letting out a small sigh, I lean on my hand and look toward the clock, internally screaming as I have three more hours of this hell to endure.

Suddenly, a soft toy was thrown my direction, gently crashing on the floor. A soft plush teddy bear stares up at me from its crash landing on the floor making me smile softly. The culprit, sitting on the leather couch across the room, giggles my way with his fingers in his mouth. His mischievous turquoise eyes staring at me as I let out a small smile toward the little red head playing around on the couch of his grandfathers office. His chubby little arms cling onto, what used to be, his fathers teddy bear, snuggling his face into it as he releases a cacophony of giggles while sticking his tongue out at me. The little four year old beaming toward me as he grabs his felt tip pens to begin colouring his picture.

"Hiro," I coo, sliding out of my chair, handing him the little teddy bear he threw my direction before kissing his forehead as I move hair from his face. My eyes full of nothing but joy as I stare toward him, "My beautiful baby boy,"

"Mama!" He replies giggling as I scoop him up, rubbing my nose against his little button one before holding him close, "I nearly finished colouring in my picture! It's All Might!"

"That's great, sweetie," I coo, looking toward the picture of All Might (my father) and giggle when I see the very wacky colour scheme of his hero costume. Instead of the red, white and blue colours that reflect the American flag, Hiro opted to give All Might a purple, blue and green hero outfit with pink hair, "Shall we put it on the fridge when we get back?"

Hiro, my son, is only four years old. Born prematurely due to the stress and depression that had taken a hold of me during the pregnancy. He inherited a lot from his father, which I thanked the Lord for, that made him a hundred times cuter than he already was. He has his fathers fiery red hair and piercing turquoise eyes, he even has his smile. From a little screaming baby growing into a little rugrat, he held onto his fathers teddy bear and often snuggles into it at night while he sleeps. It's a comfort item for him and he goes everywhere with it, he won't go anywhere without it.

Hiro is my everything...

Pressing a soft kiss to his forehead, I set him back down on the couch before quickly scurrying back to my desk as Enji walks in. His cold stare tearing me apart as I continue with the paperwork, sparing a quick glance at Hiro from time to time. His eyes land on his grandson, a smirk playing across his lips, knowing that he'd develop a quirk pretty soon, before he walks to his own desk, sitting down on it as he looks over his schedule, which I had to sort out for him.

On top of being a single mom, I had to work. Enji, being the heartless and cruel man that I know he is, refuses to help me in anyway. He supplied me with a small house that was only a couple of minutes walks from the Todoroki household; which I am incredibly grateful for don't get me wrong. However, everything I had to do, I had to do on my own.

Most of the time, Shoto comes over and visits. He even helps me with Hiro: playing with him, keeping him occupied while I catch up on hours that I missed on sleep or on paperwork. Fuyumi would visit too, however, due to being a teacher, it was difficult for her to sacrifice so much time. Natsuo couldn't help much either. He ended up moving to his college campus, desperately wanting to get away from his family, so he hardly saw his nephew. So I had to resort to taking Hiro everywhere with me, which wasn't so bad, Enji allows me to have him in the office while I do work then Burnin babysits him for me while I go on a patrol with Endeavor.

"You have a meeting in two hours with heroes about a recent gang that has occupied the streets, sir," I update him, stapling some documents together before putting them on the pile. A faint hum leaving my lips as Enji grunts in my direction, "Then you have a media conference from five o'clock with the Musutafu Times,"

"Yes, I can see that," he gruffly replies, glaring my way as I look toward him with a small smile, "(Y/n), I'm going to have to relocate you... work wise,"

"What?" I ask confused staring at him while my eyes shimmer in complete perplexity, "What do you mean relocate? Am I being demoted? Are you firing me?"

"No, I wouldn't do that," He groans, slamming his hand on the desk which chases small squeak from Hiro, his little body jumping at the sheer volume of the slap, "UA has requested for you to become an assistant teacher. You will be accompanying another hero and help train the heroes of the future. This year, Shoto will be in your class so I pushed for you to have a job there instead so you can keep an eye on his progress and update me,"

"I — oh... I — uh... thank you," I stutter, looking at him with a small smile before looking toward my son who tilts his head. The little boy confused about what's going on, "Wait... what about Hiro? Do I get a nanny? Childcare?"

"I don't care," He replies leaning back in his chair as he pulls up his calendar and has a look through it, "He can go with you, I suppose, he's not staying here,"

Nodding softly, a small smile crawls across my lips as I finish up on the paperwork. I finally don't have to work under this mammoth anymore! The three hours drag along but that doesn't break my stride. Thankful that I no longer have to work under that spiteful father - in - law I have, I pick Hiro up and buckle reins around his body before setting him back down. I then pack his toys and his colouring things up in his bag before slinging it over my shoulder.

Pressing a soft kiss to the little red heads cheek, we head out of the building and into the outside world with Hiro waddling beside me with a small hum. Halfway there, Hiro begins to get slightly tired and leans into my legs making me smile weakly before pulling him into my arms. Holding him tightly to my chest, I trudge back home while humming a soft lullaby to soothe him, hoping that he'll fall asleep after I've given him his dinner.

However, as we approach my home, Hiro becomes excited, bouncing in my grip as his little eyes land on Shoto. The dual haired boy stands outside my front door politely, holding a brown paper bag in his hand. Gently, I set Hiro on his feet and unbuckle the reins, before watching as he races to Shoto, squealing as he is picked up by his favourite uncle (only because Natsuo isn't around much).

"Uncle Sho!" He squeals snuggling into him as I unlock the door and let Shoto in first before following him and locking the door behind me, "Hi!"

"Hey, Hiro," Shoto greets, reciprocating his happiness by ruffling his hair as he sets him down. The little terror then runs upstairs, possibly to get his toys, which allows Shoto to look my way as he sets the bag down, "I brought some takeaway, save you cooking,"

"Thank you, Sho - kun," I reply, sending him a warm smile as I take the food out, and begin to plate it up, "So, how was your last day in middle school?"

"Boring," he replies leaning on the counter, stealing one of Hiro's chicken nuggets, eating it, "I don't understand why people cry though, I mean, we're all going off to do better things,"

"Well, when you grow close to someone and hang around them for so long," I begin, sneaking a quick bite of pork, "You're gonna feel bad when you have to leave them,"

Nodding, Shoto sits at the dining table and helps Hiro into his seat at the table. The little four year old babbling to his uncle as he grabs a tea towel and wraps it around his collar to tuck it into his shirt so he doesn't spill any food onto his clothes before handing him some plastic cutlery. I send Shoto a thankful nod, grateful that he's helping out, as I set his plate down as well as mine. We both sit in silence while Hiro babbles to us about random topics. The pair of us joining the conversation from time to time to let him know that we're listening to him.

Shoto, more than any of the Todoroki family, visits me and Hiro any chance he gets. Ever since I got the house, Shoto has installed his own room in it. When Hiro was born, and began to wail in the night, I would wake up to find Shoto downstairs in the living room, soothing the infant. Whenever Hiro was hungry, he would grab some formula and feed him while I caught up on work. Shoto acted like the father my son would never have toward Hiro, being a massive help to me. He, often, stayed the night too, feeling at ease and much more at home around me. He would sometimes just wait outside my door, waiting for my return, before coming into the house. Even though I have told him countless times that he can just go in.

"Looking forward to going to UA?" I ask looking at him, breaking the silence, excited to tell him the news, "Being submitted by recommendation seems amazing,"

"I guess," he replies, shrugging it off, eating his noodles with a small slurp, "I mean, I'm going to be training to become a hero..."

"You'll do amazing, Sho - Chan," I assure him, sending him a soft smile, "You'll have me on the sidelines cheering you on,"

"Thank you, Onee - san," he says sending me a soft smile as he slurps at his food happily, "I'm glad,"

"Anyway, I'm going to be your teachers assistant so I get to help you," I reply smiling softly, giggling as he gawks my way with wide eyes and shakes his head with a faint smile, "Your father managed to land me a job at UA,"

"That's great," he says, before casting an eye to the sleeping four year old in his chair, "What about Hiro?"

"I'm going to talk to the principal," I explain sighing softly, "Tell him my situation and hope that Hiro is allowed in with me, even if he just stays in the staff room with someone... I would hire a nanny but I don't want to spend money on someone when I know how to look after him,"

Shoto nods, finishing his noodles before placing the bowl in the sink. He then picks up his sleeping nephew carefully, setting the tea towel around his neck down before pressing a loving kiss to his nephews temple. He then sends me a soft smile before walking upstairs, going to put his nephew to bed. Humming softly, I place my plate in the sink, wiping down Hiro's mess before heading up to my room, sliding out of my work clothes and into one of Toya's shirts and wearing a pair of his sweatpants.

As I get downstairs, I smile softly seeing Shoto sitting on the couch, watching the tv as a movie plays on the screen. He opens his arms out, inviting me in for a hug to which I happily oblige. Accepting his offer, I sit next to him, leaning into his touch, closing my eyes softly as I snuggle into him.

Not only has Shoto been like a father to Hiro but he's also been like Toya... he's been my rock for whenever I broke down... every night, when I cried myself to sleep, worried about Toya, still not knowing what actually happened. Natsuo just yelled that he died. That Enji had killed him. Fuyumi was so confused and worried about the situation that she doesn't even know what happened, all she remembered was yelling between the two. Shoto, being around 10/11, didn't really know how to react, he just said he heard yelling before some screams were heard. I knew one thing though, they all blamed Enji. My mind always went to Rei, their mother, who is just caught up in all this mess.

"I miss him..." I murmur, sniffling softly, trying not to cry, "I still don't understand how I've managed to do this so far..."

"I miss him too," Shoto hums pressing a kiss to my forehead, "He'd be so proud of you, for having the baby and pushing on, working under him even though it's all his fault,"

"I just wish he were here..." I murmur sighing into his shoulder as his hand gently rubs my back, "That Hiro met him, cuddled with him..."

"I know," He says rubbing my back as I bury my face into his shoulder, sniffling to myself. My chest aches for him. I want him back. I just want my son to have his father and for me to have him back, "I know you do..."

"I still call out for him, Sho," I whimper softly, shaking my head, "When dinners ready I call out his name, when it's time for bed I wish him goodnight, in the morning I tell him good morning... I want him back,"

"I know you do," Shoto soothes rubbing circles on my back, "You're so strong, Onee - san,"

While Hiro was asleep, that was the only time I could crumble. The only time I could allow my emotions to crush me. I had to remain strong for Hiro, reassuring him that everything would be fine. Keeping up appearances, trying not to force any opinions into him, letting him love who he wants to in the family. Everyday, whenever I looked his way, I say Toya... that's what kept me going... I knew Toya was with me, that's why I still said his name when I went to bed or woke up. Coaxing Hiro's first word to be 'daddy' instead of 'mommy'. I had to remain strong for Hiro, for everyone...

I had to be strong for Hiro...