I'm sitting at the edge of my bed, looking down at my phone. The screen shows an app that tracks my menstruation cycle. I was supposed to get my period earlier this month.

'Ugh...I hate having such an irregular period…' I think to myself. 'I can never know when it's coming...which can lead to embarrassing accidents…'

After locking my phone, I see today's date. It's January 18th.

'It's his birthday…' I think of Touya.

Unsure if he'd even come around for this occasion, I let out a heavy sigh and just decide to carry on with my day. I'm already running late to work.

I'm sitting at my desk, now past noon. I'm concentrating on my research on the Paranormal Liberation Front, my eyes glued to the monitor.

'So the Commission knows about them preparing for war…' I think to myself. 'If that's the case...then what do they plan to do now?'

Touya hasn't shown up since we laid in bed together some nights before New Year's. That was at least a couple of weeks ago. With the Paranormal Liberation Front preparing for war, I have no doubt how busy he is.

"You've got some explaining to do!" Burnin breaks my thoughts away from the monitor.

"Hm?" I raise a brow at her.

She slaps a magazine on my desk. I gaze down at it, seeing a photo of me and Keigo at the front page of Hero Gossip. It was the day Keigo was speaking code to me and Endeavor, his arm over my shoulders. The picture captures how amiable we are with each other.

"So is it true?" Burnin asks.

"Is what true?" I'm still puzzled.

"Read the title!"

I peer down at the magazine cover. Winged Hero wooing Star Hero? My face flushes as I face palm and bury my face on my desk.

"Please tell me this isn't actually published…." I whine.

"It came out today!" Burnin exclaims.

"Ugh... I hate gossip magazines…"

"So are you hookin' up with the No. 2 or what?"

This question seems to get the attention from everyone at the office. I glance around as everyone smiles, also awaiting my answer. I sink into my seat, trying to hide under my desk. I grab my jacket and put it over me.

'I can't reveal my relationship with Keigo…' I think to myself. 'His identity and information on him can be compromised...But how do I explain how close we are?'

"Tell us, Akira!" Burnin says. "Come on! Give us the inside scoop!"

"Uuhhh. There is no inside scoop…." I crawl away.

"Come on!" Burnin pries along with other sidekicks.

"Damn those gossip magazines…." I mutter to myself.

I continue to crawl away but bump into someone in front of me. I lift my jacket and peer up to find Enji along with Shoto, Izuku and Katsuki with him.

"What the hell are you doing on the floor?!" Katsuki demands.

"Is it true?" Izuku's eyes shine. "That you're dating the No. 2 Hero?"

I stare up at them and blink a few times with them staring back down at me.

"I can neither confirm nor deny such allegations…" I stick up straight while rubbing the back of my neck, trying to keep a serious face.

"Are you dating him or not?!" Katsuki shouts.

"Stop shouting!" I shout back at him.

"Answer the damn question!"

"Maybe Enji is right about you being a brat," I glare down Katsuki comically.

"Akira," Enji heads away. "Come to my office please."

I'm surprised at his request but follow after him, exchanging death glares with Katsuki before heading away. Enji holds open his office door, closing it after I enter. I watch him as he quietly walks over to his desk and I cautiously follow, taking a seat across from him. His face stares down at his desk, clearly deep in thought.

'He's got a serious face…' I think to myself. 'Did something happen?'

"I need to know, Akira…." he finally says. "What's really going on."

My heart skips a beat.

'What does he mean?' I think to myself. 'He's not...talking about Touya, is he?'

"About that man…" Enji continues. "All this time….you kept it from me…"

'It is about Touya!' I think in panic.

"I...expected more from you, Akira…."

My heart and mind race as he opens the drawer to his right.

'Does he have proof?' I think. 'There's no way he'd know about me and Touya!'

"Please explain this to me…" Enji takes something out of his drawer.

He slaps a magazine on the desk. My eyes go wide as I gaze down at it. To my surprise, it's the same magazine Burnin showed me.

"Uh...what?" I'm puzzled.

"Is it true?" Enji asks. "Please tell me you're not actually in a relationship with that man," he aggressively points at Keigo on the magazine cover.

I can't help but twitch an eye at this.

"A while ago…" Enji says. "I saw...markings on your neck…"

"Wait…" I blush red.

"Please don't tell me it was Hawks!" Enji is distraught.

"It's not what you think!" I shake my head rapidly, my face burning red in panic.

"So...you're saying...this man isn't courting you?"

"Ah! Why do you have to say it like that?!" I flinch.

"Well...is he?"

Taking a few quick breaths, I finally compose myself enough to explain.

"Hawks and I…." I begin to explain. "Aren't together."

"But you both were under the Commission…" Enji says.

"Yes, but we're more like siblings."

"Siblings?"

"Yes. Siblings. Nothing more."

"Oh that's a relief…" Enji lets out a heavy sigh and leans back in his chair.

"Huh?"

"I was so afraid that Hawks was actually your partner! Anyone but him! I see you as my daughter, and I don't see him as the right fit for you. He carries himself like some arrogant, cocky man. Always sticking his nose into things..."

As Enji continues to ramble on about how annoying Keigo is, I can't help but crack out into laughter.

"That's why you were so worried?" I laugh. "Because Hawks isn't suited for me?"

"Um...well...yes…" Enji is confused by my laughter.

"You know, for someone who doesn't try to be funny, you're really hilarious!" I wipe a tear away and catch my breath. "Now I see where Shoto gets it from!"

Enji stares at me for a moment.

"Hawks is like a brother to me," I finally calm down. "We're orphan siblings, so to speak."

"That...really brings me relief…" Enji says. "I'd always thought...that you'd been in love with Touya this whole time."

My brows rise at his words.

"You really do know me…" I softly say.

"Hm?" Enji is surprised.

"It's true...my heart and soul have always been set on Touya...even to this day...And that'll never change."

Enji is in awe at how devoted I am to his son. Little does he know that his eldest son and I are actually forbidden lovers.

"Was that all you needed to see me for?" I lightly laugh.

"Yes...for now," Enji cracks a smile.

"Alright...I'll see you around," I head for the door.

I open and close the office door, leaning my back against it.

'That was beyond hilarious…' I think to myself. 'Still...he gave me a scare initially.'

As I gaze down at the floor, I can't help but scoff with a smile and shake my head.

"Hey!" Katsuki barges toward me. "Don't think you're off the hook!"

"Sorry, kid!" I pat his spiky blond hair and walk away. "I'm busy!"

"Argh!" Katsuki rages. "You're not that much older than me!"

"Still am."

I can't help but laugh as I head away, leaving Katsuki in a comical fit of rage.

Keigo is wandering the base of the Paranormal Liberation Front. A member of the Liberation is following close behind him as they make their way down the hall.

'I can't explore the base with these goons always following me around…' Keigo thinks to himself. 'This makes my investigation pretty slow….'

Keigo places his hands behind his head, closing his eyes as he appears relaxed.

"So boring around here," Keigo says. "What am I supposed to do when I'm not out spying?"

"Hawks!" Twice runs down the hall toward him.

"How's it goin?" Keigo greets.

"Is it true?!" Twice asks. "That you've got a lady friend?"

"Huh?"

Twice holds up the Hero Gossip magazine that has a picture on the front cover.

'Winged Hero wooing Star Hero?' Keigo mentally reads the title. 'Now that's just wrong…'

"You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend!" Twice continues. "And she's smokin' hot!"

'As much as I hate this…' Keigo thinks. 'I'll just roll with it….'

"So? You bangin her or not?" Twice keeps prying.

Just then, Touya arrives as he just happens to be walking down the hall. He spots Keigo and has a narrow gaze at him.

"Look, Dabi!" Twice shoves the magazine in Touya's face. "Turns out the Safety Commission isn't the only thing Hawks is deep in!"

Touya gazes at the magazine and sees the picture of me and Keigo, reading the title.

"You're a lucky guy!" Twice tells Hawks.

"What can I say?" Keigo shrugs with a smug. "I'm popular with the ladies."

"You gotta tell me your secret!"

"I'll tell ya everything ya need to know when it comes to courting the ladies."

"That's enough fooling around," Touya is annoyed. "Get back to work."

"Jeez, such a party pooper…" Twice grumbles at Touya. "And since when do you take things here so seriously? Maybe you're just jealous Hawks has game and you don't! Why don't ya find yourself a lady like this chick?" He points to the magazine cover. "Maybe if you get laid, you won't be so uptight!"

"Shut it," Touya snatches the magazine from Twice, flames flaring in his hair and arms.

"Alright, alright!" Twice flinches. "Come on, Hawks! Tell me all you know about the ladies!"

"Not a problem, bud!" Keigo puts an arm around Twice as they both head down the hall.

Touya gazes down at the magazine cover, seeing the picture and reading the title. His hand crumples up the magazine, his blue flames engulfing it as he stares at Keigo's back with a glare.

I'm laying in bed, curled up in a ball as I'm in pain. My cramps kick in just before my period arrives. A painful warning every month.

"Damn these period cramps…" I mutter to myself. "My period should be coming soon…"

I let out a heavy sigh as I lay flat on my back, staring up at the ceiling through the dark. It's 11pm, only an hour left of Touya's birthday.

'I just wanna return the favor…' I think to myself. 'I wanna make him feel special the same way he did when we were kids…'

I then recall the first time he ever gave me a hug.

Touya rushes me through the front door of his family's abode, rushing us to take our shoes off at the entrance. Once they're off, he grabs a hold of my hand and rushes us down the hall.

"Slow down, Touya!" Enji shuts the front door. "You'll give the poor girl whiplash for her birthday!"

Touya continues to pull me to the kitchen. There, I see a woman with shoulder length white hair. She's wearing an apron as she wipes her hands on it.

"Mom!" Touya abruptly stops us. "This is Akira!"

"So this is Akira…" she turns to us.

I hide behind Touya, nervous being around an unfamiliar adult.

"It's okay," Touya reassures.

I slowly walk around Touya, my shoulders hunched as I fidget my fingers. The woman slowly kneels in front of me.

"Hello, Akira," she says. "My name is Rei. I've heard a lot about you."

I stare at her for a moment, feeling comforted by her kind smile.

"I hear it's your fifth birthday, right?" Rei asks, to which I nod. "I've prepared a nice dinner for you to celebrate." she holds out her hand to me.

I stare at Rei's hand for a bit before slowly taking it.

"Fuyumi, time to meet our special guest!" she calls out. "And bring Natsu with you!"

A little girl comes strolling into the kitchen with a little boy. I hide behind Rei, peering out to the unfamiliar children. The girl's short white hair with crimson flecks reaches just above her shoulders. Her ear-length bangs hover over her grey eyes as she stares at me. She holds the little boy's hand beside her. The little boy also has white hair that spikes up a bit. I continue to hide behind Rei's legs.

"Don't worry," Touya gently holds my shoulders. "They're my little brother and sister."

I'm surprised to know Touya has younger siblings.

"Hi, I'm Fuyumi," his sister smiles. "I hear you're turning five today."

I give her a slow nod.

"I just turned five earlier this month," Fuyumi continues. "This is Natsuo," she holds her hand out to the little boy.

The little boy waddles over to me, leaning against the front of Rei's legs as I hide behind them. He peeks around at me with his curious grey eyes as he suckles on something blue in his mouth.

"Let's eat dinner, shall we?" Rei kindly smiles down at me.

I nod and Rei carries Natsuo, carefully leading me away to the dining area where plates of food are set on the table. Rei lets me sit next to Touya while she sits adjacent to Enji who's at the end of the table to my left. Fuyumi sits to her mother's left with Natsuo between them.

"You can eat whatever you like," Rei tells me. "And don't eat whatever you don't want to."

I peer at the plates of delicious food, the most beautiful dinner I've ever seen.

"My mom makes the best soba noodles!" Touya grins.

"I love her mapo tofu!" Fuyumi exclaims.

We all settle and eat. Touya eats a mouthful of noodles, one dangling below his chin. I watch as he slurps it up, the noodle slapping the tip of his nose. He's surprised at this, causing me to giggle, which makes him grin.

"Show her proper manners at the table, Touya," Enji tells him.

"I know, I know," Touya continues eating his noodles.

After everyone is done eating, my eyes spot a round food that's white with colorful decorations. I blink at it a few times, wondering what it is.

"That's for you, Akira," Rei tells me.

"What is it?" I ask.

"Oh," she's surprised at my question. "It's a birthday cake."

"You eat it on your birthday!" Touya exclaims.

"Do you want to try it?" Rei asks me.

I give her a nod. Enji first lights up the five candles on the cake, setting it in front of me. I blink at the lit candles, not knowing what to do.

"You have to blow them out," Enji says.

"Huh?" I say.

"But you gotta make a wish first!" Touya explains. "Then you blow them out!" he blows air out of his mouth to show me. "But don't tell your wish to anyone! Or it won't come true!"

My gaze returns to the lit candles, wondering what I should wish for. Everyone waits patiently as I inhale some air, then exhale and blow out the candles, earning claps from everyone. Rei cuts a small piece of the cake and places the plate in front of me. I stare down at it after Rei hands me a spoon then begins to serve everyone else a piece too. Curious, I take a spoonful of the cake and put it in my mouth. A sweet taste and moist texture causes my brows to rise, my cheeks blushing a bit as I enjoy it.

"You like it, huh?" Touya asks, to which I reply with a nod. "My mom makes the best cakes!"

"She sure does!" Fuyumi eats her cake.

Natsuo smears icing around his mouth. I continue to munch on the delicious cake with a slight blush at my cheeks.

"You really do like it," Rei lightly laughs.

"It seems so," Enji also can't help but smile at me.

Once everyone finishes their cake, Enji stands up.

"Let's go to the other room," Enji says.

"We got a surprise for you," Rei smiles at me.

Unsure of what they mean, I stare up at them in wonder. Touya takes my hand and leads me to the room down the hall, sliding the door open. Inside, I see some colorful boxes and bags sitting on a coffee table, along with red and yellow round spheres floating in the air that seem attached to string. I blink curiously at everything, not knowing what this all is.

"These are your presents," Rei sets Natsuo down.

"Presents?" I'm clueless.

"They're gifts you receive on your birthday."

The round spheres arouse my curiosity, so I head over and pull one by the string. To my surprise, it floats back up everytime I yank it.

"She's more curious about the balloons," Rei giggles.

"Balloons?" I ask.

"Yeah, they're balloons!" Touya grabs the one I'm playing with.

"Why do they float?"

"They've got helium in'em. See?"

"Helium?"

Touya pops the balloon. I jump at the sudden loud pop but laugh a bit with Touya.

"Alright, let's have Akira open her presents," Enji says.

"I wanna give her mine first!" Touya grabs a box.

Touya hands me a box with pink paper around it. I take it and stare down at it.

"You unwrap it. See?" Touya tears the pink paper.

I tear the rest of the paper around the box and open it. To my surprise, a brown figure is inside that has a red bow tied around its neck.

"What is this?" I hold it up.

"It's a teddy bear," Touya replies.

"It's so soft…" I squeeze at the plushy bear.

"Do you like it?"

I give Touya a nod to which he suddenly embraces me.

"Happy birthday, Akira!" Touya says.

I stand still, unsure of how to respond to this gesture of his.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"It's a hug," Touya responds. "You hug back by wrapping your arms around me like I am."

I slowly wrap my little arms around Touya, returning the hug. The warmth from it brings me comfort and makes me feel safe, something so new to me. We pull away and I turn to Fuyumi, approaching her with stiff open arms. I awkwardly hug her like Touya showed me, Fuyumi returning it. Then I do the same to Natsuo, Rei and Enji, enjoying the warm feeling I get from them.

"Your hugs are so stiff," Touya says. "Don'tcha know how to give'em?"

"You guys are the first people I hug," I fidget my fingers.

Enji and Rei stare down at me sorrowfully for a moment before giving me small smiles. Rei gently holds Enji's forearm for a moment.

"She really is lovely," Rei smiles at Enji. "I'm glad you brought her over."

"Yeah…" Enji rubs the back of his neck with a slight blush as he looks away.

I stare up at Rei's gentle smile with Enji. This is so new to me that I don't know how to respond.

"Come on!" Touya rushes over to me with a gift bag. "You've got more presents to open!"

I grab the gift bag and stare at it as I process the feeling of what it's like to celebrate my birthday. The feeling of what it's like to have a family.

After recalling that memory, I turn on my side as I also recall my first birthday wish that night.

'I'd wished that I would be able to stay with that family…' I think to myself. 'And that we'd all happily stay together…'

After the cramps go away, my gaze turns to the clock on my nightstand, just past 11pm.

"I guess a little snack can help me sleep…" I jump out of bed.

I head to the kitchen, opening my top cabinets in search of something sweet. My eyes sparkle upon seeing a bag of cookies which by a miracle haven't been devoured. I'm about to open the bag when I suddenly remember what's in the fridge. I open the fridge and see a small cake sitting on the middle rack. A personal cake I bought earlier today for Touya's birthday in case he came around.

'Guess he's not gonna show up…' I lower my gaze.

I close the fridge and set the bag of cookies on the counter, suddenly losing my craving. I'm startled by the knocking on my back window. My eyes light up as I see it's Touya. I hurry to the window and welcome him in.

"I'm so happy you made it!" I excitedly jump a bit.

"You're all worked up," Touya is a bit serious.

"I am! For good reason!"

I grab him by the hands and sit him down at the table.

"Close your eyes!" I tell him.

Touya rolls his eyes and does as I say. I hurry over to the fridge, bringing out the small cake and placing it in front of Touya on the table.

"Okay…" I smile excitedly. "Open!"

Touya opens his eyes and is surprised to see the cake.

"Cake?" he raises a brow. "What the hell for?"

"For your birthday, silly!" I reply.

Touya stares down at the cake in thought.

"Well…" I fidget my fingers in front of me. "Do you...like it?"

Touya stares up at me. He suddenly pulls me in for a hug. This catches me by surprise as he rests his head on my chest as he's still sitting on the chair. I watch him for a moment before returning the embrace, leaning my chin on top of his black-dyed spiky hair as I close my eyes. We continue to embrace each other in silence, enjoying each other's warmth.

"Seems I learned how to hug well from you…" I say.

"Yeah…" Touya knows what I'm referring to. "They're not so damn stiff anymore."

I lightly laugh at his teasing, enjoying our embrace.

"About this...magazine…" Touya finally says.

"You saw it?" I pull away in surprise. "Ugh, I hate those gossip magazines. All they do is stir up trouble."

"It really isn't true, is it?"

"Of course not!"

"It's just...the picture of you and him…"

"It's just a picture," I look down at him. "It's completely taken out of context."

Touya stares up at me.

"I honestly felt like throwing up when I read the title…" I'm annoyed at the magazine.

"Oh really?" Touya is amused. "And why is that?"

"The thought of me and Keigo...Ugh…" I shiver at what the title insinuated. "I'm sorry you had to see that…" I lower my gaze. "I'm sure it bothered you…"

"It really pissed me off…" Touya admits.

I'm afraid that he's going to have a shift in mood until he cups my face in his hand.

"But as long as I'm the one laying in bed with you…" he says. "That's all that really matters."

I stare down at him for a moment before I give him a small smile.

"Happy birthday...Touya…" I softly say.

"For what it's worth…" he says. "Thank you."

"It's worth a lot…" I smile.

Touya gives me a warm smile before pulling me close to him again, both of us standing in silence as we enjoy the warmth between us.