ALTERNATE ENDING 1 (The 'official' ending)

This picks up in the storyline of the chapter titled 'Penultimate'.

There's an a/n later on in the chapter as to when you should play the music above :)

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2 years later

   The sun infiltrated my sleep, prying my eyes open as it cast a warm haze over my closed eyes.

I buried my head into Shota asleep next to me, feeling content as his arm pulled me into his side.

"Morning Scarfy," I mumbled up at him, a crooked smile on my features as I came to terms with the fact that I would not be able to go back to sleep.

Damn- and it was such a good dream too.

"Morning Sunflower." But this is much better.

After living with the man for just around 3 years now, you'd think I'd have come to terms with the whole waking up next to Shota Aizawa thing.

But, alas, no.

Maybe it was the way his hair, still messy from sleep, perfectly framed his face, accentuating every sharp and defining feature of his chiselled jawline and cheekbones, only to be further highlighted by his 5 o'clock shadow- or, you know, I might just be looking to deep into it. Whatever it was, despite living through this scene hundreds of times, that feeling of butterflies in my chest as our eyes met with the same intensity was still there; that same feeling of complete adoration and admiration mirrored in both of our gazes.

I was completely and absolutely smitten with the man in front of me.

"Ready for a hectic day?" I smirked, resting my head on his chest as his hand began to stroke my hair in a soothing rhythm.

"Are you sure we can't just stay here?" He grumbled back, his hand moving from my hair to my back, where he began to absentmindedly draw circles against my skin.

"You're their homeroom teacher Shota, you can't miss their graduation."

"I know, let's just... lie here for a bit longer."

I looked up at him and smiled, "You're a big softie, y'know Shota Aizawa?"

"Only for you y/n Tanakashi."

Still knows exactly what to say to make me blush too.

He bent down to kiss my forehead and I instinctively scrunched my nose in response before raising my head to catch his lips with my own, pulling my body forward as I placed my hands against Shota's chest, finding myself sitting above him, straddling his waist.

"Hello there," I smirked, leaning back in for another kiss, this one deeper than the last.

"Mama, papa-" The sound of Eri's voice made me jump, toppling off the side of the bed, forcing a grunt out of me as I hit the wooden floor with a thud.

"Ow." My hand went to the side of my head, rubbing the spot that had come into contact with the floor. Shota's head appeared over the side of the bed as a faint smirk played on his lips, Eri's long blue hair and red eyes appeared only seconds after, "Are you okay mama?"

I sat up, putting my hands on the edge of the bed to pull myself up. "Uh-huh, all good, you just surprised me. What are you doing up this early?" I asked, ruffling her hair and sliding back under the covers as Eri sat on my legs.

"It's not early, we've got to leave in 36 minutes."

"36 minutes?" I queried as Shota twisted to the side, opening up a side drawer and pulling out his phone. He groaned, swiping a hand down his face as he showed me the notifications for 34 missed calls from Hiazshi (his name still reading as the oddly specific threat of: 'loudmouth 10/10 would leave behind in the forest').

I shot up, giving him an incredulous look, "How did we sleep through that many calls?" To which he just jumped out of bed, walking over to the wardrobe. "Right, have you got everything baby?" I looked down at Eri who nodded in response, "Okay good."

How is this girl more prepared than us? She's 9 for god's sake y/n get yourself together woman.

"Have you-"

"I've had breakfast and I also made coffee for you and papa." She beamed proudly and I gave her a hug, returning the wide smile, "What would I do without you baby?"

"Probably sleep through a lot of important events." She replied.

"Touche," I smirked and clambered out of bed, joining Shota by the wardrobe as Eri left the room made known by the sound of the TV switching on in the other room. "That girl's scarily on top of things," Smiling to myself I pulled out one of my older hero conference outfits.

"Didn't get that from you," Shota grunted, pulling on some trousers and beginning to button up a white dress shirt.

I lightly smacked his arm, pulled on my clothes and walked into the bathroom to fix my hair.

Class 1-A's graduation- or should I say 3A?

The years really have gone by that quickly, huh?

If you told me three years ago that I would be this excited for a bunch of UA students, I would've laughed -Isamu Academy school pride and all- but now, I couldn't be more proud. Sure, I'd given up hero work, but that didn't mean I'd stopped training. Back in their first year, a few of the old class 1-A and 1-B girls had convinced me to start a weekly afternoon training session with them, sending me down the rabbit hole of then training more students when they found out I was willing to help. Even that hot-headed blasty boy himself did a few training sessions with me.

After managing to tame my hair and making myself look as presentable as possible I left the bathroom, heading straight for the kitchen where I immediately took a sip from the coffee Eri had made for me, "Thanks, baby." I patted her head and gave her a smile, sitting down beside her on the sofa, quirking an eyebrow at the channel she had put on; "The news?" Like mother like daughter I guess. "Favourite story so far: go."

Eri tapped her small hand against her chin, "Man loses shop to a monkey." She recalled, giggling to herself.

"Well, that's monkey business I guess." I nudged her side and she just shook her head, the disappointment radiating off her in waves.

"Please don't make any puns tonight."

"They're not that bad."

"They're really bad."

---

Eri sat on my lap as we cheered loudly, very loudly, for each student.

The proud looks on their faces only added to the sense of accomplishment and pride each of them felt. You could tell that this was a day they would not forget any time soon. Many of the graduates waved brightly at Eri which made her smile grow that little bit wider every time and I couldn't help but imagine how different life would be if I hadn't remembered her.

Would I still have that hollow feeling in my chest? Or would it have been filled with the love of my friends? I think there would've always been a part of me that, even subconsciously, would be aware of her absence. Never had I been more appreciative of memories. Both the good and the bad.

But what kind of person would I be to dwell on the past with no regard for the future? Thinking about it, I would much rather live through the bad parts of my life one more time if it ensured the life I was living in now was part of the package deal.

Truly, you can't really appreciate what you have now if you've always had it.

Before I knew it, the ceremony was over. Denki had landed a backflip before tripping over his laces, Iida had given a heartwarming speech, Deku had thanked a list of over 100 people, Monoma had cheered for class 3-B supremacy, Bakugo had challenged everyone in the room to a fight, you know, the usual.

Everyone made their way to Gym Gamma which had been transformed into an amazing space for the after-party.

Multicoloured streamers hung from every wall, alongside banners that read 'CONGRATULATIONS GRADUATING CLASS OF 20XX'. A buffet table was stacked high against the left wall and a small stage with a DJ booth stood at the end of the hall, Hizashi somehow already behind it.

Considering the number of people the graduating UA students had encountered over the years, it wasn't a surprise to see quite a few pro heroes and a handful of civilians at the party as well and it wasn't long before the lights were dimmed and everyone was jumping madly to the eclectic assortment of music Hizashi was playing.

I held Eri's hands in my own as we started dancing to 'Dancing Queen' by ABBA.

'You're in the mood for dance'

Eri pointed to Mina who cheered and swayed over to us, dragging Hagakure over with her, forming a small circle.

'And when you get the chance'

I looked over at Uraraka who stood with Tsu and beckoned them both over.

'You are the dancing queen! Young and sweet, only seventeen'

The two girls brought Momo and Jiro over with them, whilst Mina waved over the girls of 1-B and I ran over to Nemuri, pulling her from the line of teachers and into the gathering of girls as we all began to sing loudly,

'Dancing Queen! Feel the beat from the tambourine oh yeah!'

We all pointed to one side.

'You can dance!'

Then to the other.

'You can jive! Having the time of your life'

The song was soon over and everyone was a giggling mess.

"So Miss y/n, sad to see me go?" Mina queried, nudging me in the side.

"Course I'm going to miss you Ashido, won't miss your meddling though."

"Me?" She gasped, "meddling?"

"Yes, you-" I turned to look at her, the obvious smirk on her face immediately making me think she's been up to something, "-what have you done Ashido?"

"What do you mean? I've done nothing!"

"Haha, yeah, I don't believe a second of that." I deadpanned, crossing my arms over my chest as the upbeat music shifted to that of a more mellow tone, Frank Sinatra's 'My Way', Mina's smirk widening ever so slightly.

You can play the music at the top now if you want :)

"Hey! Mr Aizawa! Y/n wants to dance with you!"

I flushed bright red, my mind racing as I questioned why I was acting like a crushing schoolgirl. I've literally lived with this man for three years and yet I'm blushing at the idea of slow dancing with him? But before I could worry anymore about the way my brain worked, Mina had already pushed me over to him and I now stood in front of him, at a complete loss of words.

"Uh... Scarfy... fancy seeing you here."

He gave me an incredulous look, "Why are you so flustered?"

"You know, that's a good question." I did some finger guns and went to find Mina and scold her or something along the lines of that before I did anything more to embarrass myself, but I felt a hand grab my wrist and turn me back around.

"You can't just leave that quickly."

I looked up at Shota and smirked, "Are you sure you just don't want me to leave?"

"You could say that."

I was no longer embarrassed, more flushed at the unexpectedness of his forwardness, "Well then Scarfy," I bowed and offered a hand, "Care to dance."

He chuckled lightly and took my hand, "Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

"You could've, but I beat you to it."

I pulled him to the dancefloor, overpowering the slight resistance I felt on his part. "Come on Scarfy, you're here now, dance with me." I'd known him long enough to notice the small smile that played on his lips as I looked up at him, my eyes silently pleading for his cooperation.

"Go on sir!" Mina cheered, Eri by her side nodding furiously.

"Dance!" Kaminari began to chant, egging on his teacher, soon after, most of the kids of 3-A were chanting, all with the exception of Bakugo who just scoffed and Todoroki who calmly stood at the side of the gym.

I shook my head, "Ignore them," pouting I stared into his eyes, "please Scarfy? For me?"

He sighed and shook his head, making me pout in defeat before he pulled me in by my waist, a quiet "I could never say no to you, Sunflower." was mumbled against my ear as I relaxed into him, resting my head against his shoulder and smiling into his chest.

We swayed in perfectly imperfect unison, my hand reaching to my neck where a yellow ring hung on a chain around it, the ridiculous notion that this small piece of plastic held more value than a bar of gold making me smile. It was all because it reminded me of the man in front of me. The man who had mercilessly insulted me the first time we met, who now meant more to me than I would have ever imagined.

I felt a small hand on my own tugging on it lightly, making me look down and smile. "Want to dance?" Shota asked and Eri nodded, he leaned down and picked her up, holding her against his side as I lifted a hand to hers and held it, my head still against Shota's shoulder, as the three of us swayed slowly to the music.

The swell of the orchestral score filled my ears and I allowed every feeling of the moment to wrap around me, a sense of warmth swallowing me whole, the world seemingly at ease- as if to tell me that this was exactly how this was meant to go. The lyrics of the song were seemingly perfect as I reflected on the past few years.

Sure there were ups and downs, times where I had cried to a point where I felt as if there were no tears left, times where I had laughed until I cried, times where I had doubted each of my actions and times where I had felt so truly in love with the life I was living and the people around me, times where I had obsessed over empty promises and times where I had smiled until my cheeks hurt.

But in the end?

I had done it all my way.

THE END

So, we made it to the final chapter (and it's not an angsty one!).

I'm sad to finish this story since it's the first one I've ever written. In all honesty, I never expected it to get as many reads and votes as it has, I can't express how wonderful it is to know that people have enjoyed it and wanted to keep on reading after chapter 1.

Our little y/n's grown up, still annoying, but we stan a time queen.

This book has been my little bebe and I want to thank everyone who's stuck around, whether you were here from the very beginning or binged the story in a few days (which is, crazy to me, so if you did that, I salute you).

I sincerely appreciate everyone who's read, commented, voted and followed, I love reading all of your comments you guys are hilarious. Thank you for coming on this journey with me. I love you all so much!

I've always loved writing and all the support has really inspired me to do more, (so here's, some shameless self-promo) I've started a new story, it's a Hawks x reader, so you can check it out if you want!

But with all that said and done, thank you all, I hope you enjoyed it.

Love you all so so much,

Xoxo Gee oxoX