"We're here! What do you think?"
The older woman exclaimed before opening the door to her new apartment. It was a standard 2LDK Japanese apartment, meaning there was a larger room were most of the kitchenware could be found, plus two additional medium sized bedrooms and a bathroom. There wasn't much furniture yet, only a fridge, a stove, a microwave oven, and two closets and futons, one for each bedroom.
Victória stepped forward slowly, getting ahead of her mother. Pressing her large claws against the sterile white walls as she walked, making a kind of relaxing friction sound without actually damaging the house. For her, the empty house was ambiguous: an end and a new beginning; a fixed place to call her own; a home. She could have continued the motion for hours, her eyes trailing along the corners, counting and announcing electrical sockets, windows, opportunities. However, that would take the rest of the evening, or even more time. And she wasn't much of a chatty girl anyways.
"It looks like how unseasoned tofu tastes."
Her mother, Glória, couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at the response. Victória didn't make a lot of jokes or talk casually like that unless they were alone at home, so she enjoyed every bit of teen sarcasm the girl let out. "Well, after unpacking we can make it look more like… Add some… Uh… I don't know what people eat tofu with."
"Soy sauce."
"Yeah, right. Anyways, the company said the router is already here, you just gotta plug it in." Glória pointed at a corner of the living room, where a small brown cardboard box rested.
Victória kneeled next to it, and used her sharp claws to neatly cut the tape holding it shut. After a swift reading of the manual that didn't help at all since the machine was already all set up, she plugged it into a nearby electrical socket. The trip was long, and she wasn't bothered to change the password right now. She simply flopped onto the cold wooden floor and took her cellphone out of her pocket.
"Eros says he just got into the apartment upstairs as well. Did you remind him that people aren't supposed to loudly exercise at night in Japan, mom?"
"Three times. He'll probably do it anyways, to be honest, but it's not our problem anymore. He's old enough to take care of himself." Glória paused briefly to look at her daughter while she talked, went out the front door get their bags. "He was the one that chose to live in the highest floor in a building that has no elevator. His wellbeing in any other place rather than the academy is not my responsibility."
"How's the new academy going, by the way? You kinda just dropped me off in a random street in the middle of Musutafu and told me to find my way around while you were inspecting the tatamis or whatever."
"No need to be witty this late at night, young lady. The academy is going very well, and should be ready to open this week! Aren't you excited to be assisting me again?"
Victória's response was a quiet "mhm", her main focus placed on the device in her hands. The touch screen was adapted especially for her type of quirk, so that the touchscreen would work properly when touched by her scaly thumbs and her claws, and not break for doing so. "Don't you think people are going to make a big deal about me working in a quirkless academy?"
"Don't worry about that, I've heard the people of Japan are way more polite than the Americans. Anyways, did Nezu send you anything regarding the recommendation letter, sweetie?" Glória asked as she reentered through the front door, now carrying all of their luggage and some small decorations effortlessly. Unlike her daughter, she didn't have very defined muscles, but it was still possible to see that she packed quite a punch by the ever-present look of determination in her eyes.
"Hm… Nezu?"
"The principal, dear."
"Yeah… Let me…"
"Get off the floor, it's getting cold."
"Yeah, that's what I was going to say, obviously."
Victória slowly got up, and began pacing around the house as she read part of the email to her mother.
"Dear Miss Machado… We are proud to announce that… No need to take the written test… But you will… Destroy giant robots."
Glória turned to face Victória and raised an eyebrow. "Does it really say that?"
"Partly. You can open the email on your own phone if you don't trust me, they sent it to you too."
"Oh! Well then, congratulations!"
Glória stopped her task and walked towards her daughter, giving her a tight, warm hug, gently stroking the line on the girl's chin where the dark green scales gave way to the warm beige skin. "You don't seem very happy about having just been accepted to one of the best super hero schools in the world, honey. Is something wrong?"
"Not really, I'm just cold."
"Victória."
"Alright, alright, I mean … I still don't know if that's what I want to do. Hero work, that is, I'm glad to be finally be able to study in an actual school with actual people. No offense, but your homeschooling made me kind of depressed sometimes."
"Offense absolutely taken. Joking aside, it's still one of the best schools in the world. And plus, it's a reliable way to get your quirk license, right?"
"I guess…"
"Come on, sweetie, you're just tired." Glória pulled away from the embrace, giving her daughter a comforting smile. "You better head to bed. Giant robots tomorrow, remember?"
"Giant robots tomorrow indeed." Victória nodded, smiling back at her mother. If there was one thing that the older woman loved more about her daughter than the casual, everyday chitchat, was her smile. She usually had a stiff, reclusive posture, so every smile she let out felt brand new and as warm as the sun.
Victória took her time preparing herself to go to bed, taking another walk around the house to see if she missed anything still. Then finally, she looked out of the window - Two other apartment buildings covered the left and right corners of her field of view, and the bright pale moon could be seen between them, slowly going from one side to another. Moving on towards a new part of the planet that needed its light. Illuminating the nightlife all around the globe, making ever so visible the smallest acts of actions and feelings.
Victória wished she could be like the moon.