Shouta Aizawa has inherited his parents' teahouse and is having trouble finding new staff. Y/N has quit her job and is about to end her life, when she sees the poster about the open position and decides to give life another chance.
TW: themes of sui...
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It wasn't all okay, however. As much as Shouta was hoping that everything would turn out okay, it didn't. He had been so worried about something happening to Eri, that he didn't even realize that he might lose Y/N. The fever had been serious and there wasn't anything the doctors could do to help her. She had to get through it by herself, if she was going to make it. But she didn't make it.
Shouta barely remembered the time immediately after Y/N died. How did that even still happen these days? How did women still die in childbirth? Shouta couldn't understand it. He couldn't make any sense of it. He didn't have a clue how he took care of Eri during that time and he was sure that Hizashi was helping out a lot, too. Hizashi was basically constantly around and Shouta was glad that he was, even though he remembered getting annoyed with him at times.
Shouta remembered that all he wanted to do was to die, so he could be with Y/N again. But he still had Eri. And Eri was the thing that kept him going. After a few weeks he finally realized that he'd have to step up and take care of her. She had no one else and she needed him right now. They had both lost Y/N and Shouta had to be there for her and make sure at least Eri was okay.
It was difficult, but somehow they made do. Somehow they managed to go on. Or rather Shouta managed to go on, because Eri was barely even conscious of anything at the time. And somehow, as they moved on with life, it got better. It took a long time, but it got much better.
Shouta still missed Y/N and just thinking of her was painful, but he could take care of Eri and of himself. And he still had Eri. Shouta was so glad that he had her. He would have expected to maybe feel some sort of resentment towards her, but he didn't. Eri was the only thing he had left of Y/N. He loved her more than anything in the world and he was so determined to make sure she grew up with as little heartbreak as possible. Shouta was ready to give his life for her.
Thinking back, he couldn't believe that he thought everything was fine, only because the birth went alright. But how could he have known that Y/N would just... die? He never even thought that it was possible. But it had happened and now... a few years later, Shouta could really say that he was glad for the little time he had with Y/N. He was glad that they had Eri together.
"Dad?" a small voice brought him back to reality. Shouta looked down at the little girl standing in front of him, giving him an impatient look.
"What's up, Eri? Are you ready for school?" he asked. Eri nodded quickly and Shouta smiled at her. It was her first day at school today and she had been excited about it for weeks. It was infectious, really.
"Yeah, dad! Of course I'm ready. Come on, let's go! Or we'll be late." she replied. Shouta laughed and nodded, getting the car keys from the table and putting on some shoes, as Eri basically dragged him outside.
Eri was a bright child, happy and quite energetic. She loved spending time in the garden and she was very much like Y/N that way. Shouta thought it was sad that she couldn't really remember her mother, because they would have gotten along well. But at least Eri was happy. That's all that really mattered at this point and Shouta was sure that's all that Y/N would have wanted, too.
He went out to the car with Eri. Shouta had never had a car in his life, but with Eri he needed one. Hizashi had helped him pick out something that was practical enough and that wasn't too expensive. Getting back into driving was much scarier than he thought it would be, but at least it was giving him a distraction from thinking about Y/N all the time. And it helped him get out more.
"Come on, hop in." he told Eri, as he opened the car door for her. She quickly climbed in, buckling up her seatbelt. As soon as she was in the car, she started bubbling about school - how she imagined school would be like, how she hoped to be friends with everyone, how she hoped that everything would go well, that the teachers would be nice to her. Shouta nodded along and listened with a smile.
Eri was always talking a lot when she got excited or nervous about something. Shouta really thought that she picked it up from Hizashi - after all, Hizashi was around way more often than before. He came to the teahouse more often, he helped out by watching Eri, he helped with pretty much anything, especially when Eri was still a baby and when Shouta was grieving.
Shouta had no idea how long it took him until they got to the school, but Eri was talking through the entire car trip with Shouta occasionally nodding and smiling and throwing in a comment here and there. But once they got to the school, Eri went pretty quiet, looking at the big building.
"You okay, Eri?" Shouta wanted to know, as he stopped the car.
"It's sad that mum can't be here for my first day of school." she muttered. Shouta felt a sting in his heart. He pulled Eri into a hug, holding her close, before letting go of her again. He wished Y/N was here to see Eri on her first day at school, too.
"I know, sweetheart. I know. But I'm sure she'd be really proud of you, if she was here." he said.
"I think I'll have to go now, dad. You'll be there to pick me up, won't you?" Eri asked, as she was struggling to open the door.
"Of course. I'll be right here, okay? Now get your things and take care. Be nice to everyone and have fun, okay?"
"Okay. Bye, dad!" Eri said, taking her bag and climbing out of the car, before walking up towards the school yard. Shouta was looking after her, until she disappeared in the building. He sighed as he leaned back in his seat. He really did wish Y/N was here with him. He missed her a lot.
Without even noticing what he was doing, he was taking his wallet out of his pocket, getting the little picture he kept of Y/N. He looked at it - she was so beautiful. She had been beautiful all the time, until the very end. And she would have loved to see Eri grow up. Shouta hoped that maybe somehow she could see her growing up, from some sort of afterlife.
He smiled at the picture, before putting it back into his wallet and the wallet back into his pocket. It still made him sad to think about Y/N's death, but things were getting better. They always were. He had people to care for and he had to move on, whether it was going to be easy or not. But that was just life, wasn't it?
