[University] Sibling Advisors Itachi walked into the room, and she no longer had any idea what she was doing around Shisui anymore. She was upset by the dream. Upset by Shisui and the weird impulses that happened when Itachi was around her. Itachi did not like people. They annoyed her. They confused her because she didn’t get what they felt. With Shisui, she thought she felt it too well.
Itachi kicked the door shut and sighed. She flopped down on her bed and groaned, hanging half off as she kicked her shoes off and went limp. Life was complicated. People made it impossible.
“Do you want to go live as hermits until we reach enlightenment, then come back and try to fix the world’s problems after that.” It seemed like the best answer right now.
Hayate looked up from his book. “Our parents might have something to say about the wasted college money,” he commented, lightly, and folded a finger into his paperback. Itachi was upset, and this was going to take his full attention. He could tell.
“Do I need to go apologize to someone? Or be vaguely threatening?” he guessed, because it was people that bothered Itachi most. Hayate had other problems with people but he could usually sort out Itachi’s by either of the aforementioned options.
He sat up on his bed, bare toes curling in the sheets, faded T-shirt hanging loosely on his lanky frame. His jeans were a few inches too short and one knee was torn out. He blew at a curl that swayed into his face.
“You need new jeans,” Itachi observed, as she did every few weeks around her brother. Finding jeans to fit his lanky frame wasn’t easy, and either of them remembering to go and buy clothes was harder. There were always better things to be doing.
Itachi sighed. “Neither? I don’t know. Do you ever meet people who just make you act weird?” Itachi asked, knowing Hayate was shy, so he probably had the same reaction to most people. She had a feeling her emotional switching had to do with the little not-quite hers voice in her head that talked about a lot of things and told her what to do.
“Well, aside from you...” Hayate teased, gently. “Um. What kind of wierd are we talking?”
He doubted Itachi was asking about his usual shyness. A few of his teachers had nearly terrified him, and the Dean had wierdly just about given him a heart-attack...or maybe a panic attack, Hayate wasn’t sure.... But that was just him being his usual self, he was pretty sure.
“I mean...” Itachi paused and frowned. “Being instantly attached to someone beyond reason just because they showed up.” Itachi grimaced at the thought of Shisui. Not to mention that things toned down when she thought of the girl as a girl and not a guy as she tended to think of Shisui as.
“I mean, heart thumping, dry mouthed excitement when you see them...” Which was more than Hayate, her most beloved brother, got. Strangers should not get such an over the top response.
“Mmm, sounds like a crush?” Hayate ventured, carefully. He knew Itachi’s sexual preferences, and they ran to “no-one,” but that was...what a crush reaction sounded like? Pretty much. He frowned a little, and eyed Itachi over. “And kinda makes your stomach flutter?”
“But it’s a girl.” Itachi grimaced. That wasn’t the entire problem. “And I know I have this fatal weakness for people in trouble....” Like stopping to help hitchhikers, people broken down on the side of the road, old people with heavy bags, and unaccompanied toddlers.
“But she thinks she’s a guy, and that only happens when I think of her as a guy. And I just met him, so why would I be crushing on him?” Itachi asked obstinately, though she had the sinking feeling that Hayate might be right.
Hayate considered this. Well. That was...complicated. “So....she identifies as a he?” Itachi was doing that information-dump thing again, which was confusing. While it made perfect sense to Itachi, it wasn’t exactly clear to Hayate, but he was rather used to this.
“Yes. He does, and he looks like a guy anyway. No breasts.” Not that Shisui had lost hers by choice, but it didn’t help Itachi remember that Shisui was female. Itachi had often felt more male than female, but she had never thought she should have been male or take actions to change her gender. Her body served her well enough.
“Ah. So she identifies as he, and you feel wierd about the he...” There had to be a better way to phrase that. Hayate looked around for his psychology book.
Itachi sighed and tried to think if a way to protest. “Yes. Weird stomach twists and pounding heart and sweaty palms. Kind of like being sick.” Itachi lit on a more palatable alternative to crushing.
“Maybe I’m allergic to him.”
Hayate chuckled a little, and slid off his bed. He crossed to Itachi's bed and sat and the edge, reaching out to brush his fingers through Itachi's bangs. "Maybe, but I think you might have a crush, dear sister. Is...he? She? Cute?"
Well, Itachi didn't really notice attractiveness much, but there was always a first time. And this would be Itachi's first crush...though not Hayate's. He lounged back on an arm, smiling crookedly at his twin.
Itachi grimaced and rolled over. She propped her chin on her hand and sighed. “He’s skinny, all angles, with a wild mop that I think is curly hair. Like you, only twenty pounds underweight.” Which gave nice definition to cheek and collar bones, but otherwise wasn’t very attractive.
“I have never had a crush on anyone ever before,” Itachi countered flatly.
“There is a first time for everything, dear,” Hayate mused. He curled his toes and then leaned over and patted Itachi’s hand.
“I reject your diagnosis and demand a second opinion,” Itachi sighed and batted Hayate’s hand away. She rubbed her other hand over her face. She groaned.
This? This was something she did not want to deal with. “So the solution is to avoid him.” The thought of which caused an awful pang in her chest.
“How does that solve anything?” Hayate wanted to know.
“I don’t have to deal with anything.” Itachi countered. She gave Hayate a stubborn look and then sighed. “All right, what do you think I should do?”
“I think you should get to know, uh, him?” Hayate nodded. “The, um, giddiness? Newness? Will probably wear off then. You know, like how me and Aya got to be friends.” After a great deal of initial awkwardness, but what in highschool wasn’t awkward? Hayate shrugged.
“Maybe it’s not worth it.” But Itachi didn’t want to leave Shisui alone. She liked him. She wanted to make sure he was taking care of himself, which he did need help doing. Itachi gnawed on her lip and sighed. Hayate was probably right.
“If I do this, you owe me sparring sessions every time I get frustrated or do something stupid,” Itachi demanded, sinking her face into the bed. Stupidity? Definitely, but the happy patter of her heart was more annoying.
It looked like she was going to try and make friends with Tsuyu Shisui. Hopefully, the bruises of their first meeting would be the worst pain.
“Alright.” Hayate smiled, though knowing he would end up with more bruises than Itachi. Itachi was the brilliant genius - Hayate only just got along, but he did well enough to hold up for a few rounds. “So when do I get to meet, um, her? Him? Okay, first we need to figure out what pronoun I’m referring to them with.”
“She thinks of herself as male if that helps you.” Itachi muttered. She turned her head and looked at Hayate. “I guess whenever you want. Let me decide if I’m going to run away screaming.” Itachi flopped her head down again.
She did not want to do this.
“Well, if you didn’t the first time, maybe you won’t next time?” Hayate asked, and settled down on Itachi’s bed, opening up his paperback novel again.
“If this works out, you have to tell Mom I’m a lesbian,” Itachi grumbled. She rolled over and put her side against Hayate, sighing. Well, whatever came of this, at least she knew Hayate loved her and would want what was best for her.
“Good book?” Itachi didn’t recognize the title on the spine.
“Well, no, not if she identifies as he and you are attracted to the he? Unless she identifies as a lesbian...oh curses this is confusing,” Hayate sighed. “And yes, it’s a good book. Patrica McKillip, see?” He displayed the cover of Od Magic.
“I know...” Itachi sighed and propped herself on Hayate’s leg to get a better look at the book. “But if she’s physically female, wouldn’t that count as being attracted to a woman?” Itachi wasn’t sure anything physical came into it, though. It had to though, right?
“Well, no? It’s not like you like her boobs or anything, right?” Hayate tried to find the words to express the idea, because honestly he’d always rather thought of Itachi as more straight-oriented than anything else. And if the girl in question identified as a guy, then she was, theoretically, a guy, right? Well, Hayate thought that was the way it should work, at least. He sighed and reached out automatically to run his fingers through Itachi’s hair.
“She doesn’t have any.” Which posed an interesting question as to whether or not Itachi would still be having these silly feelings if Shisui did have breasts. Even if she bound them, at least they could experiment and see if their presence caused Itachi’s attraction to Shisui to drop. But, trying to imagine Shisui with breasts just made Itachi feel odd. Not really repulsed, but oddly determined that wasn’t how it was or how it would ever be.
“Hayate, have I ever told you that you’re very smart when it comes to people?” Itachi asked.
She didn’t have...eh?
The more Itachi “explained” the more confused Hayate was. Oh well. Perhaps he could meet this Shisui and get it all sorted out, somehow. With this answer in mind, he nodded a little and smiled fondly at Itachi.
“Ah, no, I’m not that smart...”
“You’re not. You’re a lot better with people than I am. You actually have friends. I just make people mad,” Itachi sighed. She was going to have to apologize to Shisui, and she wasn’t very good at that either. Maybe Shisui would yell at her and they could call this over.
“And you’re plenty smart.” Poor Hayate was just compared to Itachi, who was not normal. She wouldn’t wish what she was on anyone.
“Sure, when I’m not terrified of them,” Hayate chuckled, because he knew his shortcomings, and that was a major one. “And you get along well with quite a few of the professors.”
Itachi did have a penchant for annoying people, this was true....
“Those who don’t think I’m an impertinent little chit,” Itachi observed dryly. She sighed and sat up, scrubbing at her aching head. She still had a residual head-ache from cracking her head on the floor, though she was certain that it wasn’t as bad as Shisui had seemed to think it was.
“Oh, does your head hurt?” Hayate asked, instantly attentive to the gesture. He leaned over, fingers brushing the curve of Itachi’s shoulder, tipping his head to look into her face like a worried puppy.
“A bit.” Itachi glanced at Hayate, smiling despite herself. There was something just special about having someone who cared for you so much. Something delightful and warm that was better than just about anything.
“I cracked my head on the dance floor a few days ago. I still have a lump,” Itachi admitted. It was resolving, but very slowly.
“Ah, did you go the the nurse’s office? Were you concussed? How long has it been hurting? Are you sure you’re not seeing double?”
Hayate burst into a flurry of alarmed questions, distressed that Itachi should be hurt and hadn’t said anything as was her way and what if it was bad? “Itachi, why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because it wasn’t a concussion, and it’s getting better just fine.” And she’d lost time again, held a conversation she didn’t remember, evidently in a manner other people found disturbing. She didn’t like that. She wanted to think about it as little as possible, because she thought she almost remembered it.
And whoever had been talking to Shisui, it hadn’t been her.
“It’s just a bump, Hayate. It’s fine, I promise.” Itachi crossed her fingers and patted Hayate’s shoulder.
“Ah, but, but your head....are you sure?” Hayate persisted, anxious now. “I mean, if it still hurts...”
“Only a little,” Itachi waved a hand at Hayate. “And I’m very sure it’s fine. I’ve had many concussions, and I know this wasn’t one of them.” Itachi patted Hayate on the head. “Trust me. I’m okay.”
Hayate frowned, but consented. “If you’re sure...” He was still worried, though. “Do you want me to get some pain killers? Tea?”
Itachi smiled. “Tea would be nice. You should have some too.” Itachi swung her feet off the bed and stood up slowly.
“Ah, alright. You can lie down and wait, I’ll get it...” Hayate set his book aside, with a quick glance at the page number, and got to his feet as well, nowhere near as gracefully. He was an inch shorter than Itachi, but he’d never minded.
“I’m not an invalid.” But Itachi sat down anyway and crossed her legs. She picked up Hayate’s book and started thumbing through it.
Hayate just smiled and set to making tea. They had a little electric teapot in their room, perfectly indispensable, and he easily set to making tea. He hummed a little as he worked, pleased to have helped Itachi sort out her problem, even if he was still a little worried about her head. Well, she said she was alright, but...
He broke out some rice crackers to go with their tea, because he had the munchies.
Itachi watched Hayate over the pages of her book and had to smile. Hayate was so simple. It wasn’t a bad thing. He knew what he wanted, and making him happy was usually terribly easy. When everyone else was furious at her, she could count on Hayate to be by her side, no matter what.
And it made her very sad to think, that Shisui had no one like that.
So be that for him..
Hayate put the honey in his tea and balanced the cups carefully. He crossed over to Itachi’s side, and handed her the steaming cup of tea.
“Thank you,” Itachi murmured. She cupped the tea mug in her hands and looked up at Hayate. “Have I told you lately how much I love you?”
“Yes. Just now.” Hayate grinned and offered her a cracker as he sat down beside her.
Itachi rolled her eyes. “Then I take it back.” She snagged the cracker between her teeth and sat back, putting crumbles all down her shirt.
Hayate chuckled and settled down with his own crackers and tea. He watched Itachi eat before he started in on his own, smiling a little to himself. There. All fixed for now. It would do. Hayate sipped his tea happily.