XIII.FOOLS AND KIDS IN LOVE

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╔═════ ∘◦ ✾ ◦∘ ══════╗fools and kids in love !╚═════ ∘◦ ❈ ◦∘ ══════╝

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fools and kids in love !
╚═════ ∘◦ ❈ ◦∘ ══════╝

T'CHALLA UDAKU never thought of Shuri as a fool.

Yes, his little sister is too reckless for her own good. Her technology may sometimes give her a false sense of security, causing her to be almost spontaneous in everything she does, and her birthright as the youngest one in the family is often used as leverage to get her out of trouble ( even if it doesn't work most of the time.)

But she is also responsible, she accepts the consequences of her actions and never says no to an honest punishment. She was willing to make sacrifices even he still has a hard time doing, for instance, his soul nearly left his body when he discovered that Shuri was ready to risk it all and use the black panther suit herself to stand up to killmonger during his attack.

She was a child, but she was no fool.

As playful as she was, she was never ignorant of what goes on around her. She was blessed with a loving family and a seat in the high council and she was born inside the golden tribe, yet she strives every day to build a better world for her people instead of cowering behind her lavish lifestyle as a princess.

This made T'Challa both extremely proud and upset.

He wished he could give his sister the kind of freedom she deserves, she was a panther, and Panthers are supposed to roam free in the grasslands, roaring to their heart's content.

Yet, Shuri Udaku sits in her laboratory deep underground, pretending that she has all that she needs when she looked nothing more like a bird inside a golden cage. They both knew that it was only a matter of time until she gets sick of going around with escorts and having to choose between her duties and her heart.

That was why he didn't stop Shuri from going halfway across the world to look for Brian Reynolds, the boy who left her a love letter.

To be fair, he had initially found it just as creepy as it sounds. He had been disturbed by the idea of someone stalking his sibling and harassing her with intimate letters until he met the boy's mother, and he realized that there was nothing to worry about.

T'Challa could see that the boy's intentions were true and feelings were earnest, he supposed this was a form of teenage love, the kinds Americans are highly obsessed with. Youth in America worship the idea of romantic summers, and T'Challa had no clue what was so divine about it that they praise it in their media and pop culture like a religion.

Yet, if that was what it took to get Shuri out of her rabbit hole, T'Challa couldn't argue with it. The weeks they've spent in Manhattan was the happiest he had seen his sister.

She would always come back whistling a tune, a spring in her step as she smiles to herself. Okoye would report to him that she would be louder than usual, blasting more upbeat music in her speakers that caused tremors to crawl down the walls and headaches to creep up on Okoye's skulls.

He decided that he liked seeing Shuri like this, carefree and happy, without the constant reminder that she was a princess who could never have the kind of life he has. He would sometimes be guilty of that, demanding that she turns on her communications and take Okoye with her, but who can blame him, as an older brother he can't afford to lose the one person he was supposed to protect.

( He couldn't forgive himself for what happened to his father, if history would repeat itself on Shuri, he would beg Bast to take him as well.)

All he wanted for Shuri was to give her the life she deserves, a life outside of the palace walls, even if it's just a taste.

That was why T'Challa came back to Manhattan without her knowing, looking for the wide-eyed boy who visits his mother every once a week in the hospital to play her a song in his cello.

Ever since they left, as per his mother's request, Shuri had been restless. There was a dramatic shift in her mood, and her eyes would age years before her, filled with sadness and realization of what was out of her reach.

The thought of Shuri gazing outside the window longingly like a princess out of a tragic fable made T'Challa shiver. He knew she would never let anything stand between what she wants, yet he knows she would never risk the lives of those she loves.

He understood her noble cause and reasoning, and he respects the finality in her tone when she declared that she no longer wants to see Brian Reynolds in fear of hurting him.

Yet, he's her brother, and he can't stand seeing her carry this burden all alone, that's why he didn't felt sorry at all when he approached the schoolboy on his way to his book club, nearly giving him a heart attack as he knelt on the floor with his books sprawled on the asphalt. ( T'Challa admitted that he should've left the suit behind and not jump off a tree, but he didn't have much time to explain.)

Shuri would slap him if she knew that he scared the boy so much he had to take out his inhaler, T'Challa almost felt sorry for him, almost.

" Mr. T'Challa, I mean your highness, sir, " Brian stammered through the four different titles, stepping back inside his garage,"Please don't attack me."

" Mr. Reynolds please step out of the garage, I'm not going to attack you," T'Challa sighed, palming his face, " I want to talk to you, about my sister."

The last words caused the boy to trip against a silver trashcan, the feline inside it hissed wildly at the boy, scolding him for disrupting its evening meal of half-eaten week-old sushi. Brian yelled a sorry at both the trashcan and the cat, and T'Challa itched to ask Shuri if he was really worth all that moping.

" Shuri?" Brian asked, " Is she alright?"

His eyes were wide with determination, and T'Challa could almost understand his sister's obsession over him. The amusement in the king's eyes could not be concealed, the once skittish boy had suddenly found courage at the mention of her name as he stared at him determinedly.

Maybe there's something about fools and kids in love.

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