As we enjoyed today's special salmon dinner, Dad suddenly brought up the topic of my school.
"Tomorrow is the graduation ceremony, right?" he asked.
I nodded in confirmation.
"Aren't you sad?"
With the tip of my chopsticks still between my lips, I tilted my head slightly, puzzled. "Not really?" Even I wasn't sure how I felt about it.
"But are you really going to take the U.A. entrance exam, nya?" Mom joined in.
Nom.
I took another bite and nodded firmly.
"I know we've talked about this a few times, but didn't you want to be a streamer? You even started earning some pocket money from it," Dad continued, sounding worried that I might be pressured by expectations.
"Well, it's not bad to have a backup plan," I replied. "A certain yellow octopus once said that to become an assassin, you should always have a second, third, or even nth plan—"
"Yeah, yeah," they both cut me off before I could start ranting.
"You're trying to become a hero, nya…" Mom muttered softly.
Well… I didn't really have to refute that with.
"Besides, becoming a hero isn't a bad job," I added. Being a hero was the most popular career these days—fierce competition, great salary, but you also had to pay for whatever property you destroyed. So, it wasn't exactly a dream job, but… "You can give blessings to villains without repercussions," I said confidently.
"'Blessing?'" they echoed in perfect unison.
"Yup. Blessing," I replied curtly, even though I knew that wasn't the question they intended to ask. They had long since given up trying to decipher my nonsense.
As expected of a family.
Hahaha.
"I'll take the U.A. exam next week, and the Shiketsu exam the week after," I continued. It would be stupid to skip other schools' exams just because I was confident about getting into U.A.
I planned to take the exams for several minor hero academies as well.
***
"Congratulations!"
On graduation day, after the principal's speech, our representative's speech, a junior's speech, and the long chain of formal ceremonies, it finally transitioned into the final performances—first by the juniors, then by the seniors.
Only after all of that did we finally receive our certificates.
"Ughh, are you really going to leave us?"
…Honestly, it was not a pleasant sight: a bald man and a nerdy guy bawling their eyes out like children.
"Don't cling to me!" I shouted, nearly kicking them away. My tail was probably standing straight and puffed up in distress.
"I'm not into that!" both my friends—the bald guy and the nerd—immediately refuted.
"But if it's Nora…" the bald one muttered.
"…If it's Nora," the nerdy guy echoed.
"Step back!" I jumped away from them. "Take one more step and I'll kick you with full force," I warned.
"C-Calm down, Nora! We were just joking!" they both yelped in unison.
I eased my tension, though I still kept my guard up. Seeing me calm down, the two of them let out a relieved sigh.
"You always overreact, Nora," the bald guy complained.
"Then you, Baldy, and you, Nerdy, should stop being disgusting," I shot back with a glare.
"Are you seriously going to keep calling us that??" Baldy protested again.
Instead of answering, I pulled out my phone, switched on the front camera, and held it up like a mirror for them.
"What do you see?"
"A bald head," Baldy muttered.
"A nerd," the nerdy guy added.
"See? I'm not wrong."
"Somehow… I feel power awakening in my right hand," Baldy said dramatically, gripping his right arm.
"You're too old for that. Wake up before it becomes a part of your dark history," I warned him sincerely. Once something becomes black history, it sticks to you forever.
"Black history stays with you for the rest of your life," I added, shaking my head.
"If it's Nerdy and Baldy for us, then what about you, Nora?" Nerdy copied my gesture, opened his front camera, and held it up to my face. "a catty?"
"Hmm. Technically, you're not wrong. It's a bit feminine, but I don't mind that much." I nodded thoughtfully, acknowledging his assessment—
…even though I had absolutely no idea what catty actually meant.
"Sigh…" they both exhaled in unison.
"Yeah, he is that kind of guy…" they muttered under their breath—quiet, but not quiet enough to escape my ears.
"Se–Senpai!"
Suddenly, a pair of juniors approached us. I say "juniors," but once we step into society, a difference of one or two years is basically nothing.
One was a petite girl with a bob-cut and silky black hair. She was on the shorter side compared to her classmates and had an aura that made everyone instinctively want to protect her. Her name… "Shirasaki Tiara and….
And beside her was her friend—ordinary in temperament, but far from ordinary in terms of figure. Especially… well… her bust, which was surprisingly developed for her age.
"...Kotegawa Megumi?"
"You remembered?!" they exclaimed in delight.
I'll conveniently hide the fact that their names were written right on their name tags. Well… it's not a lie. I did remember this duo from second year.
"OI!" I heard some dissatisfied grumbling from Nerdy and Baldy behind me—but it was probably just my imagination.
"Senpai, can we have your second button?" the two juniors bowed their heads at the exact same time.
…Did they rehearse that?
"There's only one second button, you know. Are you two okay with sharing it?"
"YES!!"
They didn't hesitate at all. So I removed my second button… paused for a moment, then sighed and took off the third one as well, handing one to each of them.
"THANK YOU!"
Again, perfectly synchronized.
Seriously… did they practice this?
"Senpai, you're going to U.A., right?" Tiara asked, her eyes sparkling.
I nodded. "That's the plan."
"We're aiming for U.A. too! Next year—please wait for us!"
They presented me with a beautifully wrapped bundle of flowers and sweets.
"Thank you," I said with a smile. No one dislikes getting presents, after all.
"Kyaaa!"
They squealed in excitement, then ran off while leaving one last message behind:
"Wait for us!"