(Takeshi POV)

It's been a day since the Mizushima family trip to the beach, the conclusion of it being an eventful and definitely unforgettable time for both father and daughter... and a lot of cute photos taken in secret by the mother.

Currently, it's Sunday in the afternoon, and Takeshi is resting on the couch while watching the news, an old habit that he had since he was a child, and it was hard to let it go even when he already knew most of the news.

"Dad, can I ask a question?"

Takeshi looked at his daughter in wonder at how he got a little bundle of sunshine that wanted to act like a grown-up and succeeded at it. a red shirt with blue pants, simple yet cute. He analyzed the appearance of his daughter before nodding in appreciation, she lifted her so that he can see her eye to eye since she was wearing a hat.

"Yes, you can"

He answered as he adjusted her straw hat, a simple gift that he bought on a whim since she was complaining about the sun, nothing too out of the ordinary. Tomomi, on the other hand, thought differently, she started wearing the hat everywhere she goes, she also stitched a red band on the base of the hat so that it was 'more fitting' in her own words.

Takeshi had absolutely no idea why his daughter was so keen on the said hat, summer in japan was not that hot to warrant wearing the hat but alas, his daughter simply appreciated the hat a bit too much. Although, it was technically the first gift that he handed her personally instead of simply telling her mother to buy it for her.

[I'm I being a good parent?]

Takeshi had absolutely no idea wherever he was a good parent or not, he was orphaned at a young age because of a villain's attack that landed him in the hospital for an entire month and had to live with his grandparents all the way to his teenage years. He had no frame of reference other than his life experiences, which only amounted to 29 years.

He simply shook his head to get rid of his thoughts since they were not helping him, he preferred to do stuff instead of dwelling on the if and the buts, he did have something he regretted but it was mostly a hunch of his more than anything.

"How did you meet mom?"

Snapping out his thoughts, Takeshi simply sat her daughter down beside him and spoke.

"it's not a long story, why not ask mom?" He spoke softly, he understood that his stoic expression and calm voice would never really make him good at telling stories, so it was better for Tomomi to hear it from her mom.

"Mom said to ask you and said something about hugging you if refuse," Tomomi said, which caused him to shiver a bit, the last time she made such a threat and he didn't listen, he became a father, so he rather not risk it, a day before a big reunion.

"*sigh*... Very well, won't even take 10 minutes" He simply pated Tomomi to sit down and hear him.

Takeshi Mizushima's life was never the greatest, anyone could tell at a glance, introverted, cold demeanor and no social skills to speak of, he was seen as an outcast of society and life itself, quirkless and orphaned twice, since in high school because his grandparents died, one of old age and the other because of a broken heart.

Life for him was not easy, but he persevered by simply following a goal he set up in his childhood, catch the criminal that kill his parents and help as many people as possible.

Of course, such a dream can be achieved by being a hero, but for someone quirkless, the profession of heroism was nothing but unreachable. Even his best friend thought of the idea of a quirkless hero to be 'fairly insane' but still gave him some courage by saying that 'he was insane enough to do it'.

Ultimately, he couldn't overcome the gap made by having a quirk, even those who had quirks could not do it because of the nature of their quirk, so he simply switched to the next best thing, he still could help people by becoming a good cop, even catch the criminal that he was searching for.

He managed to become a trainee officer by the young age of 18 by skipping multiple grades due to his diligent nature and intelligence and managed to gain experience by practicing the profession directly, and in a year he managed to become a fully fledge cop, with only a case missed that everyone dismissed because of sketchy proofs.

Being the best was not easy, it required him to give it his all in learning martial arts and practicing them, understanding the law and enforcing it in a fair way, and then having keen instincts on numerous subjects and appropriate countermeasures. The sheer amount of variety in quirks could only be overcome by sheer experience and practice.

And so he did.

By working himself to the bone every day, he managed to climb the ranks exceptionally fast at the cost of his own well-being. He came home every day at late night, to simply sit on the couch put on the news, and fall asleep. Not a healthy way to live by any means, and his friend, Hamada understood it.

He didn't manage to make Takeshi lower his work time, but he managed to actually make him get someone to clean his apartment with the logic that it would reduce the amount of time in doing chores and it would be healthier.

The first meeting between the 2 was definitely something...

"Hello~ are you the owner of this lovely house?" A woman appeared at his door, it wasn't even 2 hours after he posted his hiring petition on the internet, he inspected her to see if she was hiding something but saw nothing suspicious so he answered.

"Yes" In a stoic voice, the woman simply continued smiling while introducing herself.

"Ah! My name is Aiko Yoshino, It's a pleasure to meet you!" She said in a singsong voice that sounded... annoyingly unnecessary, but he continued with his poker face since he also had a peculiar voice.

"Takeshi Mizushima, Same to you, I'm the one hiring" He answered with a bit of impatience.

"Ah yes! Ummm... so do you need my resume or...?" Aiko said nervously at the rapid development of the situation while sure what to do.

"Have you got experience in cleaning?"

"Yes!, I have cleaned multiple houses and know how to cook aswell~!"

"You are hired, you can take a look at the house, tell me what you need to start cleaning and I will buy it"

Quick and simple, it took a few seconds for Aiko to understand the exchange that happened, but she smiled as she got the job and simply followed Takeshi's instructions on what to do.

For Aiko, the job was something she was used to, most of the houses she has cleaned and attended to were ones that people left unattended for large periods of time, so she could have an excuse to leave her parent's house and earn money, a simple thing but she thought it was brilliant. Takeshi was actually impressed at the diligence of Aiko, she was, by all means, childish but whatever it was cleaning or cooking, she gave it her all.

It was something that he could respect and appreciate.

Takeshi's health immediately improved once she hired her, and although a clean house and balanced diet did help him a bit, the constant scolding from Aiko was what actually made him take better care of himself. Aiko was constantly sighing and giving a piece of her mind to her employer.

"Who the hell come home covered in blood?"

"Why do you work 16 hours a day for?"

"If you keep eating so little you will collapse!"

Takeshi understood the words being said, but he still believed that he should put in the work since there was nothing else for him to do. He still wanted to debate against her even if he knew he would get outwitted by a woman who dropped out of high school.

"I'm doing it voluntarily" He said, he truly wasn't being overworked against his will.

"Stop being childish and just grow up a bit, I can't be working overtime all the time" She rebutted, it was true that she indeed wait for him to come every day, no matter how late he was in returning home.

"You don't need to wait for me" He said in honesty, although it was great to say 'I'm home' and actually get an answer, he would rather Aiko not work overtime.

" 'I'M DoInG iT VoLuNtArIlY', that's how you sound like" She said, mocking him with his words, he quickly closed his mouth and decided to give in to her childish advice.

Aiko did have to pull up the age card a few times to actually put him down, even if he grumbled a lot she still decided that it was better to scold this young man before he actually died of overworking.

For 3 years, the dynamic between a chronic workaholic cold guy and an overly happy woman who could do nothing but worry about her source of income surged. At a speed slow enough that neither of them really noticed

Takeshi became more open with his emotions, occasionally smiling and actually talking about his opinion about stuff instead of simply stating facts and the obvious. He found himself in a comforting atmosphere where he could just be himself and be happy with it, turn out that talking to someone.

[It would be great to live like this...]

Takeshi froze when he realized that he was a bit too comfortable, but wanted nothing but to continue living like this for the rest of his life, he looked over to his side and saw his 'employee' sleeping on the couch with a bag of unfinished popcorn, Takeshi sighed before putting covering her with a blanket.

[Can't believe I have fallen in love...]