"Ah, apple juice is the best" Izuku exclaimed as he enjoyed the juice Hitomi offered him.
He settled himself in the living room of the Shinsou Residence after being desperately dragged by the older Shinsou. The guy was scared shitless that the number 1 hero will find him talking to a strange kid in front of his apartment, especially if that strange kid is the only child of the president.
"Does your father knew about this?" Hitomi finally musters the courage to ask the most dreaded question in his mind right now.
"He's the one to tell me to check on you. He wants to test how far would you go for your brother. And I wasn't surprised that you'd go behind our backs immediately after the meeting." Izuku explained and then finished the glass of juice in one go.
"The only good thing you did was not saying any more than what you did. Or else I will be forced to intervene." He added when Hitomi didn't say anything.
I am so fired, Hitomi thought.
"So thanks to you I have two missions now. Spy All Might and protect Hitoshi at all cost."
Hah? Wait.. what?
"What's the catch?" Hitomi finally has something to say and settled on the sofa across Izuku.
Izuku sported a sinister grin. Like a hyena eying his prey.
"Nothing much. Just you going to be the proxy president." The brat tried to sound nonchalant but was purposely failing it.
Proxy president? Is that even a thing?
"Okay let me explain. Dad wants to resolve this as fast as possible, preferably before he ends his term. Now that he has a clear lead, thanks to my team, he wanted to focus on this. He can't do two things at the same time so he wants you to proxy for him. You have to do the time-consuming tasks such as readings reports, proposals, bills, making speeches, etc. "
"So in exchange, he will warrant my brother's safety." Hitomi thought out loud.
"Yes," Izuku affirmed. "Do you not trust me, Hitomi-san?"
Can he trust this cheeky brat with his brother's life?
"You're not on the top 10 people I can trust. But I know you care about Hitoshi. And I also know that you will do anything to protect the ones you hold dear. That's why somehow I respected you. This is not much of a hard deal." Hitomi explained.
Izuku chuckled. This is why he can't antagonize this guy too much. Because he's the beloved brother of his very first and most treasured friend.
"I'll take that as a compliment", Izuku replied.
The two contemplated in silence about the deal they just made. Hitomi has a lot of questions but didn't know where to start. He also can't decide if he would directly ask his employer instead of this punk he sent as his messenger.
Then the door suddenly opened and hurried footsteps followed.
"Tadaima..?"
Hitomi pushed these thoughts aside. He has an immediate crisis right now.
And that's how to explain to his brother why his friend, who has an obvious animosity with Hitomi, is here and drinking juice with him in their living room.
"Okairi!" Izuku greeted Hitoshi.
Hitomi was so worried about being caught red-handed that he didn't noticed it's about time that his brother returns from school.
...
"Izuku?" Hitoshi asked while looking at his brother. Never in his wildest dream has he imagined the two of them sitting peacefully alone in the same room. Is the world ending tomorrow?
"Long time no see, Toshi," Izuku said as he gestured to Hitoshi to sit with them.
Hitoshi came back to his senses as he sees his friend with his usual cheerful smile. Maybe Izuku is just so happy today he didn't mind being with his brother.
"We just faced time each other yesterday" Hitoshi retorted while approaching the sofa in between. He noticed the slight frown on his brother's face.
Ha, so this is just Izuku's another way to antagonize his brother.
"But seeing each other in person is way much better." The greenette replied pouting.
"Did you wait long?" Hitoshi asked as he ignored how his brother's frown deepened in his peripheral.
"Not much, and Hitomi-san was a great company!" Izuku cheerfully proclaimed and winked to the older Shinsou.
This brat , Hitomi mentally cursed.
"I'm not going to stay long anyway." Izuku continued. "I just came to personally give you this".
Izuku handed Hitoshi a small box. Hitoshi opened it and saw a pair of stud earrings with purple gems embedded in it.
"Wow, nice, thanks" Hitoshi thanked his friend while putting on the earrings.
Meanwhile, Hitomi's jaw dropped. Is jewelry a common gift between friends? Why is his brother just casually accepted it? It didn't even help that he knows the ulterior motive of the gift.
Hitomi decided he has to be more attentive of the friendship between his brother and this brat.
"And there is something I want to tell you also," Izuku added with a serious tone.
"Should I leave?" Hitomi tried to hide his annoyance. He doesn't want to leave but he has a feeling whatever Izuku will say will cause him a lot of headaches.
"No need Hitomi-san, it's not confidential anyways." Izuku dismissed his suggestion.
"Anyways," he continued, "the headmaster of UA learned about my quirk and offered me a recommendation. Meaning, I won't need to take the entrance exam to enter UA."
"Oh," Hitoshi replied.
"And I might have told him about your quirk too. He said if he can witness your quirk personally, he can give you a recommendation too. What do you think?" Izuku suggested.
"Hmm.." Hitoshi pondered.
"It's tempting, but I have to decline."
Hitomi didn't hide the smirk he's sporting.
Izuku starts to smile too.
"I have something to test out so I have to take the entrance exam."
...
"If you don't have any more questions you are now dismissed" Nedzu declared to the faculty.
They had just finished discussing the last-minute details of the upcoming entrance exam. It would be just the same as last year, but with some interesting participants that only Nedzu and a handful of faculties are aware of, he is expecting some interesting results.
"Sir," someone called and Nedzu was distracted from his mental simulation.
"What can I do for you Aizawa-sensei?"
Aizawa made sure all the faculty already left the room before continuing.
"You didn't just left Karma off the hook, you also gave him a free pass to UA"
"You don't sound accusing," Nedzu observed.
Aizawa immediately retorted, "I don't understand your decision, but I trust you. I'm just curious"
"The kid has potential and interesting ideas," Nedzu explained.
"He taking matter's on his own," the underground hero argued, "he's just another Stain"
"Exactly," Nedzu debated, "If we left him on his own devices, he will just end up to become another Stain."
But smarter and more dangerous , Nedzu mentally added.
"It's a shame though that he's not attending UA to learn," Aizawa said as he approached the floor-to-ceiling windows of the conference room to gaze over the entrance of the school.
Nedzu stood beside the hero. "Don't worry, if he is like what I imagined, he will never pass up any chance to learn."
Nedzu continued his mental simulations, but this time, it is beyond the entrance exam.