Shu-senpai

I Thought This Was a Slice-of-Life Story Author: Bird of the Sky

Synopsis: At one year old, his spendthrift father threatened to wean him, forcing him to make his voice-acting debut (as a baby's crying).

At two, he was so cute that he was invited to appear in all kinds of baby-product ads. His career took off.

At three, same as above.

At four, same as above, but even more so. He got cuter and cuter, and his popularity kept climbing.

At five, same as above, but even more so... Holy crap, this world has superpowered people?!

Meow meow meow? I thought this was supposed to be a slice-of-life story!

Featuring: The Quintessential Quintuplets, Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai, My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU, Oreimo, and Girlish Number.

Section 1: Shu-chan-senpai

Tokyo. In the control room outside a recording studio, more than a dozen staff members and voice actresses watched the surreal scene before them with complicated expressions.

Their beloved and respected boss and director, Inoue Hikoo, was striking a mighty tiger-pounces-on-the-ground pose as he engaged in a form of negotiation unique to the Japan Administrative District of the Earth Federation.

It was called... oh...

Dogez(a).

The kind where you even slammed your forehead against the floor.

"Please! Son! You're the only person in the world who can help your old man! sob sob sob!"

"..."

Sitting with an air of great authority before him was his son.

Inoue Shuya.

A five-year-old boy, cute as a button and renowned far and wide as a child prodigy.

To the rookie voice actresses present, he was also the beloved little senpai known as Shu-chan.

He had made his debut at just six months old.

He'd only voiced crying and babbling, but his soulful cries and adorably heart-melting little "ahh"s had become a sensation. The anime had been hyped into a huge success, bringing Director Inoue Hikoo's animation studio back from the brink.

...Well, it had only gone from a miserable flop to an average flop, but at least it had pulled the company back from the edge of bankruptcy.

"Shu-chan, your daddy's really begging you! This is a once-in-a-lifetime request!"

Inoue Hikoo pleaded piteously, shedding manly tears in front of everyone without a shred of dignity.

But Shuya's attention was caught by something rather odd.

...Huh? Hadn't he used the phrase "a request of a lifetime" before?

Oh, no. This time it had evolved from a request into a big request...

Shuya recalled the words his dad had used back then. They really were different.

At this rate, he'd be making a huge request and then an enormous request in the future.

He also remembered the man before him crying and threatening him when he was only six months old: "Shu-chan! Shuya! Please, have mercy and cry cutely! Otherwise, Daddy's going bankrupt! Your mommy won't have anything to eat, and if she can't eat, she won't have any milk for us! Sob sob sob! Save us, hero!"

"Sigh."

Shuya sighed in his baby voice. No matter how he looked at it, there were too many things wrong with that line, in every sense.

It was hard to imagine that a tiny baby could withstand such a threat and grow up without being psychologically scarred—let alone grow up as adorably as Shuya had.

If he'd been able to speak properly back then, he would've called his dad out on it.

"Shu-chan-senpai... You're so cute."

A girl of fifteen or sixteen clutched her heart, her cheeks flushed rose-pink.

Shuya noticed her and, with a helpless flick of his bangs, said:

"Hmph. Has another ignorant girl fallen at the feet of my little-kid shorts?"

The contrast between his mature words and babyish voice was striking.

The girls in the control room let out a chorus of little squeals:

"Ah! Shu-chan-senpai!"

"So cute!"

"So cute!"

"So cute!"

Shuya: "..."

Enough! You sakura girls can't just keep saying "cute"! Are you doing a repetition gag, or are you just padding the word count?!

After his irritation passed, Shuya took a long look at them.

...No, these sakura girls... They just didn't know any better.

He looked at them sympathetically, his gaze full of pity.

How tragic.

"Sigh."

Shuya sighed again and turned to his old man.

"I'm just a kid."

"No! Shu-chan might be a child physically, but your mind's already that of an adult! You're a famous little genius!"

Inoue Hikoo loudly protested. Seeing that Shuya's tone had softened a little, he somehow managed to suck his tears back in.

"Little genius..."

Shuya found the nickname cringey. It was just the kind of edgy nonsense that was so typical of the Japan Administrative District.

He hated the nickname purely because it was lame. If it had been a cool, edgy name, he would've accepted it.

As for being a genius...

All Shuya could say was... if you were reincarnated in another world, you could be one too.

By now, Shuya's identity was obvious.

He was clearly a transmigrator.

The strange thing was, his parents looked exactly like they had before he transmigrated, and their personalities were about the same too. It made him wonder if they were the same people from another timeline.

And his appearance now was exactly the same as when he'd been little in his previous life.

Just as handsome, charming, and adorable enough to melt hearts. (Actually, he was an improved version, but he'd never admit he wasn't as cute in his previous life.)

In any case, given all that, he had no problem calling them Mom and Dad.

Back to the point.

Shuya stared at his old man with his big eyes and folded his arms solemnly. "After all that, give me what you promised me yesterday first. Then I'll discuss your request with you."

"...Hmm?"

Inoue Hikoo gave a puzzled snort through his nose.

Shuya raised an eyebrow, suspicion spreading across his pretty little face.

He cautiously asked, "You... You didn't forget, did you—"

"I! Did! Not! I'd never forget my promise to Shu-chan!"

Inoue Hikoo put on a stern face and scolded him sharply. "How can you suspect someone so easily, Shu-chan? Honestly, who taught you to be like this?"

"You did."

Shuya expressionlessly held up a finger.

"Don't talk nonsense! You're making me mad!" Inoue Hikoo fumed.

"So stop changing the subject. You completely forgot what you promised me yesterday, and now you're pretending to be angry to get out of it."

Shuya calmly pointed it out. He was used to this by now.

His dad had been pulling that trick since Shuya's previous life. It was hard to imagine anything that could still shake him.

"I didn't forget. I just can't remember it right now!"

Inoue Hikoo shamelessly dug in his heels. "Son, let's be honest. You're helping me this time whether you like it or not! I'm only asking to give you the courtesy of a choice!"

"Oh, wow, you're really laying down the law!" Shuya was surprised, but he had a good temper and wasn't angry.

He realized, "No wonder you brought me to the studio without even asking me."

Inoue Hikoo softened his tone. "Daddy had no choice... I won't hide it from you. The company's about to go bankrupt again."

"That 'again' is pretty telling. Just how fragile is your company, Dad...? Fine, then. I'll let you use the money I made from ads to hire a famous voice actor. How's that?"

Shuya couldn't be bothered with the hassle and decided to solve everything with money.

"..."

Inoue Hikoo suddenly fell silent and began shifting his sturdy body awkwardly.

Everyone around them made disgusted faces.

Shuya furrowed his little brows, sensing that something was wrong.

He asked with difficulty, "...D-Dad? You, you didn't...?"

He had a vague idea what was going on and looked up at his six-foot-tall dad, trying to read his face.

"Used... it."

Inoue Hikoo mumbled quietly.

"What was that?"

"I already used it."

The protagonist's dad blushed and coughed. "Where do you think the money for this anime came from?"

"Oh..."

Inoue Shuya looked around at the crowd and said with a sigh, "So... you've been using my formula money to pay the staff?"

"Cough, cough!"

"Pfft!"

"Cough!"

The staff and voice actresses were unbelievably embarrassed.

By formula money, Shuya didn't mean that he was still drinking formula now.

He meant the money he'd made from formula ads after making his debut as a baby in the starring role.

He'd voiced just a few minutes of that anime, but his cute voice had won over everyone. Then his rosy, adorable looks brought in baby-product ads like snowflakes. His parents had picked the better-paying offers and filmed quite a few.

To this day, his formula ads were still airing all over the Earth Federation, and every now and then, people could even see an ad of him in a diaper, crawling around on the floor with his chubby little legs kicking.

Shuya hadn't rejected the opportunities out of the stupid need for low-key anonymity common among other transmigrators.

He'd cooperated enthusiastically, all for the sake of a better quality of life. If they wanted him to cry, he could cry so pitifully that it broke people's hearts; if they wanted him to smile, he could smile so sweetly that it melted them.

It wasn't that he had outstanding acting skills. He was just too good-looking.

People were always far too kind to good-looking people.

Anyway, every ad he'd filmed had been a huge hit. He'd been a super-famous child star ever since.

In the neighboring Great Hua Administrative District, he'd even earned the nickname "the nation's son."

Of course, deep down, Shuya wasn't happy about having so many extra parents.

In his heart, he'd only ever had two parents...