Chapter 60: Realization

Sorry about deleting the chapter earlier, there were some things to adjust in the chapter and I only just found out about it!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[3rd POV]

Itachi calmly lifted the two young heroes and coldly stared at them. Shoto and Inasa tried their hardest to break free, but they were not strong enough, and the boys could only glare at Itachi.

"Try again next time...." Itachi said and prepared to slam Shoto and Inasa onto the ground, incapacitating them.

Suddenly Itachi dropped the heroes and jumped backward as two kunai stabbed them into the ground where he was previously standing. Kaede arrived, and she glanced at Shoto and Inasa.

"Come on, you two, you can do this! You wanted to become heroes, don't you?" Kaede encouraged the two boys.

"I thought Shisui would last longer." Itachi helplessly sighed, and he smiled wryly.

Kaede grinned and activated her Susanoo. Her body was covered with her own chakra as an upper body of a giant skeletal figure was formed. It roared and brought its fists towards Itachi.

Itachi dodged, and his grin widened: "You have already got to this stage of Susanoo? Impressive!" He complimented her.

Orange chakra wrapped around Itachi's body and his own skeletal Susanoo appeared. The two giant monsters wrestled with each other. Shoto and Inasa tried to help Kaede, but Itachi's minions surrounded the two heroes.

This time they worked together; Shoto blasted Itachi's sidekicks with his fire while Inasa maneuvered the flames around the battlefield with his wind. Suddenly Kaede's Susanoo flew over Shoto and Inasa's heads as she was tossed away by Itachi.

Kaede slowly got back up and grumbled: "Shoto, a little help?" Kaede asked.

Shoto nodded and remembered one of the combined moves they created before the exam. He slammed his hand onto the ground as he encased Kaede and her Susanoo into a colossal iceberg.

Itachi frowned. He charged and tried to interrupt Shoto from whatever he was doing. The giant ice shattered, and Kaede's Susanoo emerged. The Susanoo emerged in its new form, now it donned an armor made of ice and wielded a massive hammer.

Itachi cursed as Kaede swung the hammer at her brother, Itachi raised his arms to block, and he grunted from the impact. Itachi looked up and noticed Kaede smirking at him.

He smiled back and Kaede swung the hammer once again, but this time he easily caught the head of the hammer with his hand. Kaede's expression while watching this scene can be described as: 'I messed up.....'

Immediately Itachi's Susanoo clenched his fist, and Kaede's weapon was destroyed. Itachi was much more experienced using his Susanoo and he unleashed a barrage of punches, and Kaede's armor started to break away.

With a final punch, Itachi demolished Kaede's Susanoo, and she screamed as she was launched away. Inasa caught her, and Kaede thanked him for his action. Inasa set her down and Kaede unsheathed her katana. Thanks to her training, she can still fight after using the Susanoo, and her body starts to heal from the muscle pain. Itachi also deactivates his Susanoo and smiled playfully at Kaede.

Kaede used Kamui to teleport behind Itachi, and she slashed at him, but Itachi parried as the two Uchiha engaged in an all-out duel. After the first spar with her brother, Kaede copied her brother's fighting style, and since Itachi was going easy, Kaede managed to keep him at bay.

Shoto and Inasa helped whenever the opportunity arose, firing ice and wind at their opponent, which forced Itachi to dodge while also paying attention to Kaede. Slowly, he was getting pushed into a corner and Itachi glanced around the battleground. Shisui was still down and out. The majority of the students had arrived and were fighting his sidekicks.

An ice wall shot out of the ground behind Itachi. He tried to escape by dashing to the side but faced a massive gust of wind from Inasa. Itachi was trapped and could only move forward where Kaede was awaiting him.

Kaede built up chakra in her fist and threw a punch at her brother. Itachi blocked with his mechanical arm, and a massive shockwave was generated, destroying everything in their surroundings. The small explosion blasted Shoto and Inasa away as cracks ran up from Itachi's metal hand to his shoulder.

A loud, audible voice echoed throughout the stadium's speakers: "All citizens have been safely evacuated. The Provisional Hero License Exam has officially ended!"

Everyone stopped fighting, and the students sighed in relief. Itachi was caught off-guard as Kaede stopped her attack and tackled him. Kaede hugged him tightly and refused to let go. While living in the UA Dorms, she often talks with her family through her phone, but it's not the same as actually seeing them.

Itachi smiled and patted her head: "You need to change back to your uniform, or else you will be late."

Kaede shook her head, unwilling to leave. Itachi chuckled, and after a bit more persuasion, she reluctantly let go. Itachi's smile still remains as he watches the leaving figure of her sister.

"Sorry, Uchiha-san, the students were harder than expected." Itachi's sidekicks walked up to him and apologized.

"They're pretty strong this year," Itachi said and he glanced at his metal arm. He gently touched it, and the arm crumbled into pieces.

"However, there were some that's still immature, " he frowned while recalling Shoto and Inasa.

"Let's go. We're leaving. Someone carry Shisui." Itachi said and stared at his cousin, who was still beaten up on the floor.

[Kaede POV]

Twenty minutes later...

When I finished changing, I tried to search for my onii-chan, however, seems like he had already left. I didn't even have a chance to say goodbye...

We gathered at the stadium's center and watched the big screen in front of us. A list of names appeared, and we watched with anxiety.

I relaxed when I spotted my name on the screen. My friends celebrated as well when they saw their own names. But, I don't see Todoroki, Bakugo, and Yoarashi's names. Their face had grim expressions; Yoarashi walked to Todoroki and bowed.

"I'm sorry for making you fail!" He apologized.

"It's okay...." Todoroki accepted his apology.

There were other people with depressed expressions, but they soon lightened up hearing that they still got a chance. Those who fail can attend a special training course and get a license.

"Wow, that's great, Todoroki-Kun! That means you still got a chance!" I cheered and patted his back.

Suddenly, Yoarashi held my hands: "Uchiha-chan! Because of my incompetence, I don't deserve your love!" He shouted.

Before I could respond, he was dragged away by his classmates...

[3rd POV]

As the exam ended, Himiko, who was disguising herself as Camie called Tomura with a smile.

"I got it," Himiko said proudly and observed the small vial of Izuku's blood.

"Good Job." Tomura's voice said through the phone

Suddenly, a slim figure appeared in front of Himiko. She immediately reacted as she pulls out her knife and attack the stranger. The slim figure dodged and stared at Himoko with its blood-red eyes. It moved behind her and grab hold of Himiko's wrist, the stranger took the vial of blood before throwing it down the street.

With a smash, the vial of blood exploded and all its content poured into the sewer. In a fit of rage, Himiko stabbed the person in the heart with her knife but instead of dying the figure burst into a cloud of smoke, vanishing from the scene...

Later that night.....

Shoto was lying on the top of his bed. He felt a vibration and took out his phone from his back pocket. With a few clicks of a button, Enji and Rei appeared on the screen.

"Hey mom, hey dad..." Shoto greeted.

"Shoto, are you okay? We heard what happened, but don't worry, we know you will pass next time!" Rei encouraged, and she gave him a thumbs up.

"Thanks..." Shoto responded.

"Is there something wrong?" Rei worriedly asked when she noticed her sun's downcast expression.

"Mom, Dad, can I ask you a question?"

Rei: "Sure, what is it?"

"For a while now, whenever I was with my friend, I felt my face heat up, and my heart started beating faster than normal."

Enji and Rei's eyes widened as they looked at each other.

"How should we explain this," Enji muttered.

While all this was happening, in the 1A lounge room, the girls were having a fun conversation on the couch.

"Wow, I can't believe we passed the test," Momo said and held her hero license with a satisfied smile.

"By the way, tell me what you two mean I like Deku-Kun!" Ochako exclaimed and pointed at her two best friends.

"You like Midoriya-Kun, don't you?" Kaede asked.

"Yeah, but as a friend!" Ochako countered.

"You sure?" Mina said, and Ochako's face became red.

Everyone looked at Ochako with surprise, and she was getting increasingly embarrassed, "D..Don't l..look at me! What about Kaede-chan!" She shouted.

"Eh, what about me??" Kaede said with confusion.

"You harbor feelings for Todroki-Kun, don't you?" Ochako said.

"There's nothing between us!" Kaede squealed as she blushed.

"Honestly, just get together already," Mina said, and the rest of the girls nodded. In fact, everyone in Class 1-A could tell what was happening, and it wasn't even a surprise at this point.

"Really, we're just friends!" Kaede yelled as her hands slapped the table.

"Okay, sure," Mina said, unconvinced as she got up from her seat.

"Where are you going?" Tsuyu asked.

"Oh me? I'm going to confess my love to Shoto, of course!" Mina replied with a mischievous tone.

"Sit back down." Mina heard a cold voice behind her, she turned around, and Kaede was staring at her. Kaede's Sharingan was spinning rapidly as Mina's body ignored her own command and sat back down on the couch.

All the girls smirked at Kaede, who now had just realized what she did: "I don't like him okay!!"

"Sure sure," Kaede's friends responded nonchalantly.

"It's nothing to feel embarrassed about," Mina explained: "You will naturally feel that way since the two of you have been spending a lot of time together,"

Kaede wanted to deny Mina but she couldn't. She think through her time at UA and realized that Mina was right.

"Ashido-san is right, it's normal for you to be conscience of Todoroki-san, who's the opposite sex," Tsuyu added.

Kaede's blush deepened and she covered her face: 'Do I really like Todoroki-Kun?' She thought and her body heated up instantly. Finally can't take it anymore: "I'm going to bed!!" Kaede yelled and teleported away.

Back in Shoto's room, things weren't any better and his parents told him why he was feeling this way, "Ah, my little Shoto's in love!" Rei said happily and hugged Enji's shoulder.

Enji lightly coughed and Rei quickly snapped out of her fantasy.

"Don't worry Shoto, don't be afraid, tell her how you really feel. If you got rejected, your father and I will be here for you!" Rei comforted her son, she elbowed Enji in the stomach and he nodded along to his wife's words.

The call soon ended and Shoto groaned as he buried his face into his pillow.

'There's no way I like her right?'

Shoto asked himself but his fast-beating heart answered his question.

'What if she doesn't feel the same way?'

He's scared, Shoto really doesn't know what to do if Kaede rejected him. But even with these fears, he wanted to give it a shot. But before that, he needed to work up the courage to say those things first...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I would really appreciate it if you could give this story a review as it would help me know what you guys wanted for this story!

Thanks!