Quiet Love [Shoto Todoroki x OC]

Chapter 31

Once they're back home, Aimi falls onto the couch with a heavy sigh. Today was exhausting and she's looking forward to finally going to sleep.

Nero jumps onto the couch, landing on her stomach which causes her to groan and shoot him a soft glare. When his wide, dark eyes look back at her, her glare disappears immediately and Aimi smiles at him fondly instead.

"Hi there. Did you miss me", she asks him with a chuckle as she pets him, causing the black cat to purr. As he lays down on her chest, she closes her eyes, too, and relaxes into the soft material.

"You're not going to fall asleep right here, are you? Without dinner, even", her father questions with an amused chuckle. Aimi sighs in return and opens her eyes to look up at Aizawa looking down at her.

"Really? You are laughing at me? Are you really the right person to do so?" Aimi asks with a raised brow and a smile spreads on her lips. She picks Nero up and sets him down onto the couch as she stands up with a deep exhale.

"Is Hizashi coming over", she wants to know as she walks towards the kitchen, Nero following behind her.

"No. Not today", Aizawa answers simply as he fills Nero's bowl again, while Aimi picks some ingredients.

"Okay. What do you want to eat? Is pasta okay," Aimi inquires softly as she puts her hair in a ponytail. She learned how important it is to put your hair out of your face when cooking with Nemuri a couple years back. They found two strands of her hair in their lasagna. Aimi wasn't that hungry after that anymore.

"Yeah, That's fine", her father answers as he does the same and positions himself next to her. The both start cooking in comfortable silence, Aimi cooking the noodles while Aizawa makes the sauce. It doesn't take long for the food to be ready, and the both of them sit down on the table.

"I said it earlier, but, I'm really proud of you. You know that, right? And not only for how you did today, which was amazing, but also for these past weeks. I'm really proud that you're able to walk up to your classmates and talk to them and everything else."

At her father's words, Aimi stops eating and a smile spreads on her lips. It may not seem like it to everyone else except for Hizashi and her, but Aizawa can be really good with words. Especially when it comes to Aimi and reassuring her. And she loves him even more for it, although she sometimes feels awkward at the comfort and loving words.

"Thanks dad", she says warmly as she smiles at him and goes back to eating. "I'm proud of you, too."

"For what", he asks with an amused grin before taking a sip from his glass.

"I don't know. For a lot. But mostly for loving someone again after mom. And I'm really happy that it's Hizashi", Aimi tells him, her tone gentle. The both of them don't talk a lot about her mom, although her dad always tells her how proud she would've been of the girl she grew up to be.

It's a sensitive subject, although not a taboo one. Aimi knows how hard her mom's death was on her dad. She herself was still pretty young when her mom died, but Aimi knows that she was a good woman and even better mom. Her dad put all of his focus on Aimi after her death, not even spending a thought on the men and women making passes at him. Until Hizashi. And Aimi's so glad that he didn't ignore him, too.

Aizawa looks at her astonished, a little bit of sadness in his eyes as she mentions her mother. He smiles softly, his eyes shining a little bit.

"I am, too", he whispers as he looks at her fondly. After a few seconds of silence, Aizawa clears his throat and grabs both of their finished plates as he stands up. "You can go wash up, I'll clean. Do you want to watch a movie after?"

Aimi simply nods and walks up the stairs to the bathroom. She takes a quick shower before slipping into her most comfortable PJ's and comes back down to find her father sitting on the couch.

"I thought 'A whisker away' would be good to watch. What do you think?" Aizawa looks back at her as she comes to sit down next to him. Aimi grabs a soft blanket and wraps it around herself as she leans back into the couch and rests her head on his shoulder.

"Sure. It seems good", she answers simply as she takes a few chips from the bowl in his lap.

There's nothing better than to end a tiring day with watching a movie with your dad and cat on the couch, falling asleep halfway through.

(A/N: I completely forgot that Aizawa's supposed to still be bandaged up, isn't he? Also, I'm sorry that I didn't post sooner, but I've been stressed with family, friends, and summertime depression so I didn't really have the energy to write. I still hope you enjoyed reading this father-daughter time, though. 😁)