Chapter 85: Christmas!

One Month Later...

[Kaede POV]

Even with Shoto's reassurance, my bad feeling came true. It was recently reported that Deika City was destroyed nine days ago by a "terrorist attack".

Thankfully, society's opinion towards this matter supported the heroes more. This was mainly because the pro-heroes in Deika city acted professionally, and the casualties were at a minimal level. The deaths were mainly caused by civilians who decided to take matters into their own hands and fight the terrorists themselves.

After the incident, things seemed to quiet down and no further attacks were made on other cities. But, this event forever marked a dark history in Japan. Best Jeanist has also suddenly vanished, which confused the public. The Hero Committee had to reassure the citizens that everything was fine. Onii-chan seemed to know something, but he wouldn't tell me about it, so I didn't pry into the matter further.

However, despite the bad events, some good things happened as well! Shoto and Bakugo finally passed their Provisional Course and earned their Hero License. They even defeated their first villains as official heroes on that same day! We all celebrated their success, and I congratulated them by putting 200% into my cooking!

Another good thing that will happen soon was Christmas! We're all pretty hyped for it, and I suggested doing a Secret Santa with the class. All my friends agreed and Momo created a raffle box with all our names.

I got Kaminari as my secret Santa, and I decided to gift him the new video game console that was recently released.

"Onee-chan, what's Christmas?" Eri asked while staring at me.

I picked Eri up, placed her on my lap, and gently played with her hair. I then slowly explained the concept of Christmas, and as time went by, Eri was getting more and more ecstatic at the thought of the fun celebration.

"Are you excited? I got a gift for you too, you know?"

"Really!?" Eri's eyes sparkled with anticipation.

I chuckled and nodded: "Of course!"

Eri cheered and hugged me while smiling brightly. Our family has planned that Eri will spend time with me during Christmas, and she will celebrate it with my family the next day.

A few days later...

"Merry Christmas, everyone!" I announced.

I was dressed in a Christmas elf costume while standing happily in front of the Christmas Tree. The tree was huge, and there were tons of gifts placed around it.

"Wow, Kaede-chan, you have outdone yourself!" Mina exclaimed and stared at the grand feast on the dining table.

"I didn't do all the work," I replied.

Sato and Bakugo helped me. At first, I was amazed that Bakugo could cook as he doesn't look like the person to enjoy doing those types of things. But I didn't argue and their assistance made things much more manageable.

"Dig in, everyone!" I said to my friends staring at the food with drool hanging off their mouths.

Without hesitation, the rest of Class 1-A jumped at the food and ate as if they were starved for days. they happily celebrated Christmas. Kyoka started playing music, and everyone was cheering, laughing, and having the time of their life.

After the dinner, I started to host the gift exchange, and everyone was excited. I told Eri I would give her a gift in my room later, so for now, Eri was enjoying the party's atmosphere. My classmates were all surprised by what we got for each other. Kaminari thanked me sincerely for my gift since he had always wanted the new gaming console but never had the time to get one.

It turns out that Hagakure was my secret Santa. She gifted me a gigantic teddy bear which I'm very grateful for. Aizawa-sensei and All Might also arrived, and the two informed us that we were allowed to go back home to celebrate the new year for a day, which was a Christmas gift in itself!

For the rest of the night, we laughed and talked about our work studies. Midoriya and Bakugo don't have a pro-hero to work for anymore. For Bakugo, Best Jeanist has disappeared, and he's not sure if he should go back to his agency. For Midoriya, Sir Nighteye was still alive, but his agency was too busy with office work and couldn't take him and Mirio.

Shoto offered the two to intern at Endeavour's agency, which we all thought was a great idea. As we continued to chat, I quietly went to the kitchen to bring some desserts that Sato, Bakugo, and I had made for our friends.

As I opened the fridge, someone suddenly hugged me from behind: "Shoto-kun!?" I yelped in surprise.

"Merry Christmas, Kaede," Shoto said with a smile as he took out a small box and handed it to me.

I carefully held the box and slowly opened the lid; my eyes widened at what was inside. It was a beautiful butterfly hairpin, it was pink in color, and just from looking at it, I could tell it was not cheap.

Shoto urged me to try it on, and I undid my usual ponytail and wore the hairpin: "How do I look?" I asked hesitantly.

[3rd POV]

Shoto held his breath as Kaede waited for his reaction. He was simply speechless as his heart rate increased tremendously. Shoto gently pulled Kaede towards him and whispered into her ears: "You're beautiful."

Kaede blushed while Shoto laughed at her cuteness. She pouted, but the frown soon turned into a soft grin: "Thanks Shoto-kun, it's a wonderful gift."

Kaede activated Kamui, and a thin long box appeared in her hands: "Merry Christmas, Shoto-kun!"

Shoto opened the box and grasped what was inside; it was a majestic Wakizashi with a light blue handle and a guard designed to look like azure flames. Shoto unsheathed the sword and was stunned at the quality of the weapon. Even the blade has a bluish hue to it.

[Wakizashi: A sword that is bigger than a tanto but smaller than a katana.]

"Here, catch!" Kaede exclaimed and tossed an apple at Shoto.

Shoto instinctively raised his wakizashi, and the blade instantly cut the fruit in half like it was butter. Observing the cleanly cut apple, Kaede explained that the blade was made by the blacksmith that crafted her and Itachi's weapon. She specially ordered the weapon for Shoto and personally made the design herself.

When she finished her speech, she nervously glanced at Shoto: "Are you happy with the gift?" asked.

Shoto nodded and resheathed the blade. He approached Kaede as her back was pressed against the refrigerator door. Shoto leaned towards her, to the point they could feel each other's heat, and played with her hair. He gently caressed her cheek and stared into her beautiful eyes.

To Kaede's shock, Shoto planted his lips on her neck. He reached for her hand and their fingers wrapped around each other.

Uncontrollably, Kaede let out a small, audible moan and she felt a foreign feeling that slightly made her heart pound with excitement. Unfortunately, this moment was shattered when Shoto and Kaede heard a voice.

"Onee-chan, what are you doing?"

Kaede and Shoto froze as they slowly arched their heads to see Eri watching them at the other end of the kitchen.

Kaede immediately pushed Shoto away as their face turned red: "E..Eri! Wha…. What are you doing here!?" She yelped with horror.

"You guys took a while, so I went to find you. So what's Onee-chan doing with Todoroki?" Eri asked as she tilted her head sideways.

Kaede almost collapsed, and she covered her face from the shame as Eri continuously tugged on her clothes, wanting to know the answer. Thankfully, when Eri saw Shoto's new sword on the table, she trotted over to it and observed the weapon with stars in her eyes.

Seeing that Eri stopped asking them questions, Kaede and Shoto sighed in relief as the two just dodged a bullet, and together, they brought the desserts back to their class.

"What took you so long?" Ochako asked.

Kaede was about to make an excuse, but Eri beat her to it: "Onee-chan and Todoroki-san were doing weird things!"

Everyone's mind went blank and they stared at the conspirators with raised eyebrows. They smirked and joked to the two that it was fine if they don't get anything on the food...

Kaede and Shoto choked on their drinks. She can't handle the embarrassment and escapes using Kamui, leaving Shoto to take the full force of the teasing.

A few hours later...

"Onee-chan, are you okay?" Eri asked as she poked her big sister, who lay face down on her bed.

Kaede groaned tiredly in response; after escaping, she returned thirty minutes later, and the other girls made sure not to let her get away this time by questioning the mark Shoto left on her neck. Kaede felt that tonight was the most shameful moment of her life.

"Sorry..." Eri muttered sadly.

Kaede sat up and hugged Eri tight: "It's okay."

She walked to her desk drawer, picked up a neatly packed present, and set it in front of Eri. "Merry Christmas, Eri...." Kaede said with a gentle tone

Eri slowly opened the gift and was surprised. She reached in and took out a small gold teardrop-shaped locket.

"Here, you can open the pendant like this," Kaede explained as she pressed a small button on the side, and the pendent opened.

Eri's eyes widened at the picture as she held the gift with shaky hands. The picture was the newest Uchiha family portrait with Fugaku, Mikoto, Itachi, Kaede, and Eri herself, smiling happily in her sister's arms.

"When you are sad or alone, just look at this picture. We're family now, and you will never feel lonely ever again. Because we love you, Eri." Kaede said softly in Eri's ears.

Tears began to leave Eri's eyes and she didn't know what to say. The child wor on the locket and held it tightly with her little fingers as if it was the most crucial thing in the world and snuggled deeply into Kaede's embrace and she cried with joy…..

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I hope you enjoy it!