In the Shunkan family's backyard, there were two children, one sitting down, and another standing up.
Isshun was the one sitting, mentally exhausted after explaining a severely dumbed-down version of the Japanese education system, hero schools, and professional licenses.
A few steps away, Nejire stood with her hands raised, bright spirals of energy spilling from her palms. They released small, uneven bursts of wind that fluttered the grass and kicked up dust.
"Okay, so if I just do it like this—whoa—!"
The spirals wobbled violently and fizzled out.
"So basically," Nejire continued without pause, "all I have to do is pass an entrance exam, and I can be a hero, right?"
She blinked, expression unusually focused as she watched her Quirk misbehave. "It's supposed to spin more. I think. Or maybe faster? Do you think faster helps?"
Isshun hesitated, tilting his head and tuning out Nejire's muttering about her Quirk. "Well… I guess so?"
It was clear that both Isshun and Nejire had drastically oversimplified the steps it took to become a hero.
"Then we can both be heroes!"
"...Yeah. Sure."
Isshun was one of those kids who didn't really know what he wanted to do in the future. So if someone else decided for him, all the better.
It was the privilege of being a child.
Even if the person deciding for him was a paramecium.
"Wasn't your Quirk Pre…something?"
"Precognition."
"Yeah, that!" Her Quirk training already forgotten, Nejire plopped down on the grass across from him, legs crossed.
"So how does it work?"
Thankfully, despite Isshun having answered this exact same question multiple times over the course of their year long friendship, it seemed his long-term efforts to curb Nejire's question-spamming were finally paying off.
He was so proud…!
Isshun had made some new discoveries about his Quirk, but explaining things like "sensory input" and "Laplace's Demon" to an eight-year-old would only open the door to an entirely new barrage of questions, which Nejire would absolutely forget by the end of the day anyway.
So Isshun dumbed it down.
"I can see 5 seconds into the future."
Nejire's eyes lit up as she remembered, nodding enthusiastically. "Then that means you can definitely be a hero, right?"
"Maybe?"
At the vague answer, Nejire puffed out her cheeks before suddenly brightening with an idea. "Well, if you can't be a hero, then I'll definitely let you work for my agency in the future!"
"...Nepotism is truly for the win."
"What's Nepotism?"
Realizing that he had accidentally opened up a can of worms that Nejire wouldn't even remember tomorrow, Isshun sighed inwardly.
--<>--
"So, what are you two doing?"
Kako, having come home early, took in the scene: Isshun sprawled on the grass, sweating, and Nejire lying right beside him, staring up at the sky.
"Welcome Back, Mom."
"Welcome Back, Auntie!"
"I'm back. So, Nejire-chan, what did you and Shun-kun play today?"
"We didn't play! We were training!" Nejire declared, beaming.
"Really?" Kako raised an eyebrow, looking at her quintessentially lazy son in questioning.
Isshun gave a resigned nod.
Nejire saw it as training. Isshun saw it as an unfortunate cardio session.
Nejire had decided that flying was important because heroes flew. That was reason enough for her.
Unfortunately, every attempt ended the same way: a burst of spirals fizzling out, a wobble, and—
"—Ah!"
Isshun was already moving.
Because he knew beforehand.
He didn't stop her from trying, because without any failure or any attempts made, she wouldn't grow. Instead, he positioned himself where she would land, arms braced.
Again.
And again.
To Nejire, it was obvious everything was fine. Isshun was there, just before she fell onto the grass. The yard was soft and she hadn't gotten hurt yet.
Nejire had completely convinced herself that, since she was under supervision (by a child younger than her), training outdoors in a private backyard (not even her own), everything was perfectly safe.
Additionally (and completely unintentionally) keeping Nejire safe meant Isshun had to push his Precognition further than usual in response because on some occasions, 5 seconds just wasn't enough.
This led to him getting used to the information input at the seven second range as a side effect, even if it wasn't intended.
In the end, the whole thing devolved into a game of Catching the Falling Nejire.
"Catch me if I fall!" Nejire laughed.
It was worse because she was slightly taller than him, which meant he had to calculate angles, momentum, and how not to let either of them get hurt.
Multitasking at its finest.
Thankfully, her Quirk ran on stamina. Otherwise, the session might've gone on far longer than comfortable.
"So," Kako said after a moment, "are you going to be a hero in the future, Shun-kun?"
She sounded genuinely curious. Her perpetually lazy son suddenly showing signs of ambition was… new. Still, it was nice to hear.
"I'll probably be a janitor for Nejire's agency," Isshun replied flatly.
"No!" Nejire popped up. "He saved me every time! That's totally hero stuff!" she insisted.
Kako blinked.
Now she looked even more incredulous. Her son, saving someone? She'd thought they were just "training."
Under his mother's probing gaze, Isshun sighed. "I just stopped her from falling. That's all."
"Heh~ is that so?" Kako hummed.
What's that look for, Mom? You're not seriously shipping two kids, right?
"Well then," she said cheerfully, ruffling both their heads, "I look forward to both of your hero careers, Nejire-chan."
She turned toward the house, then paused. "Oh, and Nejire-chan, would you like to stay for dinner?"
Nejire brightened, then hesitated. "Can I ask my parents?"
"I already did. They said you could decide."
"Then I'll eat with Shun-chan!"
Isshun promptly ignored his mother's pointed look.
Once the sliding glass door closed, Nejire turned back to him, eyes sparkling. "So, should we train more?"
"…Let's do different training next time," Isshun said, shaking his head.
"Like what?"
"Isn't your Quirk based on your stamina? How about walking…?"
"But walking is boring!" Nejire protested.
"...Then how about we go to the park nearby?"
While the thought of going that far exhausted him, if it meant other children could take the aggro of Nejire's enthusiasm, it was worth it.
Her eyes lit up. "The far one?"
"Yeah."
"...But Mom definitely won't let me go that far without her." She pouted.
"Well, we can probably ask when I walk you home."
"Really?!"
"...Yeah, probably?"
"Then let's go!" With renewed energy, Nejire spun toward the gate, seeing as they did live right next to each other, after all.
Isshun, running on fumes, stopped her.
"How about we ask today, and if she says yes, we go tomorrow?"
Please say yes.
Nejire thought it over, realized she'd probably be tired after dinner, and reluctantly nodded.
"Okay…"
Let's go!
--+--
A/N: I completely forgot how to explain how Isshun's Precognition worked in the previous chaps, but it's essentially using the concept of Laplace's Demon in order to create an outline of what the future could be.
This means that his senses intake an enormous amount of information, which is only curbed by Isshun's passively advancing computational ability through the Shirai Kuroko Template.
I still don't know whether to do harem or not, but if I ever do harem Nejire is 100% in it.
I also hope I did her personality justice in this chapter again.
Getting to U.A. will probably take a while... sorry?