[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/moq2uR2.png[/img][/center]
[center] [color=LightBlue]C-College? I-Is that a joke?[/color]
[color=888888]-Norika Tsukishima[/color][/center]

When Finn returned to check over her work, Norika couldn’t keep herself from blushing slightly at the boy’s praise of her abilities. Few people had ever given her such glowing compliments, and, aside from Finn, they had either been a friend, or close family member. To have someone who was essentially a stranger say such things was a new and pleasantly surprising experience. Even so, she didn’t allow those warm feelings to linger for long before rapidly raising her guard back up. This was obviously nothing more than a tactic to breach her defenses, and as genuine as it might have seemed, she refused to allow herself to fall for it.

Especially the part about her parents being impressed. [i]That[/i] was categorically impossible.

[color=LightBlue]“T-Thank you,”[/color] Norika told her tutor. [color=LightBlue]“I-I’m glad I was able to keep from messing up too badly…”[/color] she added, the sentiment being the honest truth. Then Finn mentioned her parents wanting her to attend college, and the frail girl couldn’t help but be taken aback. Giving voice to a shocked gasp, she stammered, [color=LightBlue]“C-College?! M-My parents w-would never s-send me to [i]any[/i] school! T-They’d be horrified by the embarrassment and shame I’d bring to the family name,”[/color] she explained, her voice filled with bitterness. [color=LightBlue]“T-They’re already looking for another relative to t-take my b-brother’s place as heir to the family’s legacy. T-They’d rather pretend [i]I[/i] didn’t even exist…”[/color]