Chapter 65: Work Studies Starts!

A few days later...

[Kaede POV]

"Hello, onii-chan!" I greeted Itachi-onii-chan.

I was in Itachi onii-chan's personal office in his hero agency. He was sitting at his desk while I was standing in front of him. I called onii-chan earlier to inform him I will be visiting, from the phone call, I can tell he was pretty excited about my arrival. I never told him why I'm here but I think he already got a pretty good guess as to why.

"Hello Kaede, I imagine the reason you're here was for the hero work studies?"

"Am I that predictable?" I said while scratching the side of my cheek with my finger.

Onii-chan chuckled and nodded: "I will accept you, however, I have a couple of conditions."

I became serious and listened intently.

"First, if your grades started dropping because of this, I will immediately cancel the work studies."

"Second, you will only allow taking action if only Shisui or I gave you permission. Except when it's really desperate"

"Lastly, I won't accept any risky moves that will give you any injuries. This is for your own good and I don't want to hear any further arguments." He said.

Onii-chan finished speaking and he stared at me, waiting for my response, I grinned: "Of course! I won't let you down!"

Itachi-onii-chan smiled back, he went towards me and patted my head before pulling me into a hug: "You really left me no choice you know? If I said no you would have asked another hero right?"

"Uhhh yeah...." I said embarrassingly: "My other option was hoping Shoto-kun was able to ask his father to accept me for work-study..."

Itachi-onii-chan flinched, "Thank the heavens that didn't happen." he muttered.

"Eh, what was that?" I asked.

"Don't worry about it," Itachi-onii-chan reassured.

If onii-chan said it's fine then it's fine. However, suddenly his body became stiff as a board: "Is there something wrong?"

"You said Shoto-kun...

"Yeah, Shoto Todoroki, my friend from class?"

[3rd POV]

Itachi was shell-shocked, he thought his nightmare was slowly turning into reality. Itachi let go of Kaede and took a deep breath. Kaede looked at her brother worriedly, she thought something bad might had happened.

"Don't worry about him, he's just overreacting."

Kaede turned around and saw Shisui by the entrance. "Hi, Shisui-kun!"

"Hey Kaede, remember what you promised me?"

Kaede smiled, she reached into her bag and pulled out a big lunch box, and handed it to him. Shisui held the food delicately, he stared at the box with drool dripping out of his mouth. Shisui glanced up and saw Itachi gazing at him enviously.

Kaede giggled at his brother's behavior: "I prepared food for you too onii-chan!" She chirped and she pulled out another lunch box.

Itachi's expression brightened up and he quickly stashed the meal away, saving it for later. Itachi then asked Kaede about the form he needed to fill out to accept her for hero work-study.

Kaede remembered that before she left, Shota (Aizawa) handed her a piece of paper. She opened her school bag and dug around to find it. While she was looking through her belongings, Itachi activated Tsukuyomi and pulled Shisui into his spiritual world.

Shisui was surprised at first but calmed down: "So, there's something you wanted to tell me that your sister shouldn't know?"

Itachi: "I need your help....."

"Uh sure, what is it?" Shisui noticed Itachi's calm facade slowly breaking, he was confused.

Itachi recounted how Kaede was referring to Shoto by his first name now and he wanted Shisui to help him collect some information by asking Kaede about their relationship. Hearing the reason, Shisui collapsed while laughing uncontrollably.

"HAHAHA, no way you needed help from that!" He wheezed

However, the laughter died down when Shisui saw that Itachi was serious...

'What an absolute sis-con....' He thought to himself.

"Okay, I will help you but in one circumstance. I want your lunchbox." Shisui stated casually.

Shisui felt that the temperature has dropped, Itachi's face looked like a pissed-off Oni and he clenched his fists in anger.

"Tsk... Fine...." Itachi reluctantly accepted and he deactivated Tsukuyomi, bringing them back to the real world. They returned just at the right time as Kaede found the form in her school bag and she put it on the desk in front of Itachi.

Itachi nodded at Shisui before filling out the document.

Shisui nodded back and he asked Kaede: "Hey Kaede, how's school?"

"School's fine right now, the subjects were relatively easy to understand." Kaede happily responded.

"That's good, so, is there any boy you like?" Shisui shamelessly said.

Itachi stopped writing and he paid close attention to Kaede's answer. He silently prayed to himself that his fear won't come true.

"Eh, why did you ask that all of a sudden?!" Kaede exclaimed.

"No reason, so do you have someone in mind?" Shisui ignored her questioning and continued to press on.

"Well..." Kaede muttered as she blushed.

Shisui's eyes widened in excitement while Itachi's widened in despair: "Kaede's in love!" He shouted loudly.

"Stop teasing me Shisui-kun!" Kaede pouted, but her blush still remains on her face.

"Besides, it's probably not even love! I just value Shoto-kun as a great friend!" Kaede speedily covered her mouth as she realized what she just said.

"Ah, so his name is Shoto...." Shisui teased.

Kaede grumbled and lightly punched him in the shoulder. Itachi sighed, the situation was worse than he imagined. However, he remained calm as he finished the paperwork, stamped the form, and handed it back to Kaede.

"Thanks, onii-chan!" Kaede said as she embraced her brother.

Kaede then stayed with the two of them for a while, catching up with her brother and cousin before finally leaving since she still got some schoolwork to finish. When Kaede left, Itachi's smile disappeared and what replaced it was a tired expression. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

"Something wrong?" Shisui asked and leaned against the wall

"I'm concerned about Kaede...." Itachi responded.

"Was it because of the boy?" Shisui asked.

Itachi frowned but he nodded: "I will do anything to protect my family. Anything...."

Itachi muttered as he touched his metal arm: "Love is a fickle thing….. What if he wasn't the one? What if that Shoto wasn't who he really seem? By that time it will be too late and the damage is already done."

What should I do?" Itachi said while looking at Shisui helplessly.

Shisui patted his best friend's shoulder: "Then what if that boy was the one?"

"Do you know how low the chances of that will be?" Itachi snapped at his friend.

"Come on humor me, what if they're meant for each other?" Shisui replied.

"Then Kaede will be happy." Itachi reluctantly answered.

"Exactly, so for now, don't do anything and see how this will play out. If things were going south, step in before it's too late. Even if the chances were low, it's never zero."

"Trust me on this one, okay?"

Itachi sighed: "Fine...."

"Besides, aren't you seeing someone as well?" Shisui said.

"Shiretoko and I are just friends," Itachi explained.

"That's what Kaede is saying as well," Shisui smirked.

Itachi smiled wryly as he opened his desk drawer and took out the lunchbox Kaede prepared for him: "Here take it."

However, Shisui choose to walk away instead, he smirked: "Actually, I think I won't be able to eat all of it and I don't want to waste food."

"Thanks." Itachi smiled before putting the meal back in the drawer.

Shisui didn't say anything but just waved his hand in acknowledgment and left the office.

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