Book 1
Chapter 11: Final Exams and Fabricated Glory: Graduation Day Chaos
The Grand Auditorium of KokoroMoneAcademy shimmered with an almost unbearable brilliance.
The very air buzzed with latent, unregistered Mone, ready to misbehave at the slightest provocation.
Thousands of students (many of whom had clearly spent too much Mone on their attire), faculty, and proud family members filled the tiered seating, unaware that someone would soon bend the rules of reality with a casual shrug.
Golden banners depicting various Mone-related virtues—Efficiency, Prudence, Balanced Ledger—hung from the rafters. This monumental moment was Graduation Day.
The kind of moment that looked like it had been funded by equal parts tuition fees and questionable side hustles.
Narutama, dressed in his stiff, newly pressed academy uniform, felt a familiar knot of anxiety tightening in his stomach. He smoothed down his uniform, trying to project an air of calm dignity.
Beside him, KenHanzori was not projecting calm dignity. He was fidgeting, trying to balance a small, shimmering gold fish on his head.
The proctor trying to line up the graduates mentally added "fish removal" to a job description that already included "crowd control" and "emergency exorcisms."
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The Accidental Graduation Speech
The ceremony began with a flourish of trumpets and the droning recitation of the Academy's founding principles.
Then came the moment for the valedictorian's speech. TheDean, a man whose smile seemed permanently plastered, stepped forward.
"And now, our esteemed valedictorian, Master Ken Hanzori, will share words of wisdom!"
Narutama's jaw dropped. Valedictorian? Ken? This was a monstrous, cosmic bureaucratic error. He was a perfect score anomaly, not a scholar!
Ken looked genuinely bewildered. He blinked, then shrugged, letting the goldfish slide casually into his pocket. He strode to the podium with his usual confident saunter.
He grabbed the fancy Mone-infused resonator and tapped it. A deafening feedback squeal reverberated through the hall.
"Uh... hi," Ken began, his voice booming.
"So, uh, wow. Look at all you guys. You made it! I mean, I made it. Didn't think I would, but here we are, huh?"
He paused, a genuine, if oblivious, smile spreading across his face.
"You know, when I first got here, I thought Mone was just, like, for buying ramen. And maybe exploding a monster or two. But it's more than that, right? It's about... confidence! And... believing in yourself! Even if you don't know what you're doing! Just, like, flex your Mone, you know?"
He flexed his bicep dramatically.
A sudden, blinding flash of golden light erupted from his arm, briefly engulfing the entire stage. When the light faded, the stage was littered with a confetti of small, perfectly minted gold coins.
"See?" Ken beamed, completely unfazed.
"It's all about... spontaneous generation! And... making sure your cosmic ledger is... not empty? Something like that. Anyway, thanks for coming. Now, about that buffet..."
The audience, bewildered by the spontaneous gold confetti, erupted into thunderous applause, mistaking chaos for profound genius.
A first‑year in the back tried to flex their Mone on the spot and accidentally bought a chair. Several second-years attempted small spells, only to accidentally summon a flock of goldfish in the upper balcony.
The Dean, wiping a tear from his eye, beamed proudly.
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The Bureaucratic Blunder & Ken's Accidental Fix
Next came the individual diploma presentations.
Narutama's name was called. He walked forward, head held high, ready for his moment of earned triumph.
"Narutama... uh... Narumi?" The Dean mumbled, peering at the diploma. "Degree in... Advanced Noodle Making?"
Narutama froze. Noodle Making? He was a specialist in Rune Forging and Ancient Magical Script! His future flashed before his eyes, replaced by a lifetime of kneading dough.
Someone in the crowd clapped politely, clearly here for the catering school graduation next door.
Just as he was about to burst out in furious protest, Ken, standing nearby, looked over.
"Oh, you mean Narutama, the samurai guy! He's awesome at runes! Not noodles. Get it right, guys."
As Ken spoke, a faint, almost invisible shimmer passed over the diploma.
The words on it visibly shifted, correcting themselves from "Advanced Noodle Making" to "Master of Arcane Arts, Specialization: Rune Forging & Ancient Scripts."
The Dean, whose eyesight wasn't what it used to be, just nodded, handed over the now-correct diploma, and moved on.
Narutama clutched his magically justified diploma, speechless. It was yet another accidental intervention from Ken. He could feel the resentment simmering, even as he was relieved.
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The Prodigy of Platinum & the Tracker
Finally, as the ceremony concluded, the Dean called Ken back to the stage.
"Young Master Hanzori, for your unparalleled and... unprecedented achievements, the Academy wishes to bestow upon you a special honor: The Prodigy of Platinum Sash!"
A glimmering sash, woven with platinum threads and embedded with dozens of small, multifaceted gems, was draped over Ken's shoulders.
"Cool!" Ken said, admiring himself.
"Does it, like, make me run faster?"
As he asked this, a faint, high-pitched squeak emanated from the sash. Then, it subtly changed color, from platinum to a dull, almost embarrassed grey.
"Huh," Ken said, tilting his head.
"Weird. It just changed color."
He then tried to casually tell a small make up story to a nearby student about having studied really hard for the exams.
The sash immediately began to flash violently between bright pink and neon green, accompanied by a sound like a tiny, distressed whistle toy.
Ken blinked, completely oblivious. "Whoa! Light show!"
---
Meanwhile, somewhere on the outskirts of the academy grounds, a single, magnificent pegasus tried to find a comfortable spot to rest.
It peered over a low wall, its dull eyes scanning the graduating students below. A faint, inquiring whinny escaped its lips.
It seemed to be looking for someone with an unusual Mone signature.
Its attempts at subtle observation were often punctuated by a frustrated, if muffled, sneeze. Each sneeze released exactly one confused butterfly.
As Ken paraded his lie-detecting sash through the buffet line, Pigaro's latest sneeze summoned a tiny raincloud directly over Narutama's graduation cake.
The cake shuddered, then trembled, as if protesting the interference of cosmic overdraft energy.