After spending some time with him, Tamamo Cross had finally gained a rough understanding of just how dense Kitahara really was, and it filled her with grief and indignation.
Was there really not a single normal person left in this damn academy?
With that thought, she looked at the still-baffled expression on Kitahara's face beside her, fell silent for a moment, and in the end couldn't hold it in anymore.
"So what the hell is going on here?!"
"It's just Valentine's Day! Why does the atmosphere around the academy feel this terrifying? It's like some monster's nest or something!"
"And look over there—why is there an Umamusume openly knocking out her Trainer and hauling him off from the training grounds?!"
"And why is nobody around her reacting at all?! That's already a crime, isn't it? Somebody do something about her!"
"And worst of all, why are there so many blocks of wood in this academy?! And every last one of them is so ridiculously full of themselves!"
"They're being so obvious anyone with eyes can tell how they feel, and these idiots act perfectly normal when they're looking at other people—but the second it's about themselves, they go blind!"
After finishing her tirade, Tamamo Cross raised her head in despair, stared up at the sky, and muttered to herself:
"Or am I the weird one here?"
"No, Tama, you're normal. The one that's wrong is this academy."
Hearing Tamamo Cross actually start doubting herself, Kitahara immediately spoke up in a stern tone.
"An academy is supposed to be a place where people can focus on learning. Stuff like Valentine's Day and chocolate should be resisted as unhealthy trends. There really aren't many normal teams like ours left, so you've got to hold the line too, Tama..."
Our team? Normal?
Tamamo Cross's mouth twitched. She glanced at the Umamusume around them, all of whom were staring this way, and ultimately swallowed the words she wanted to say.
Normal...
At most, he had one superficially normal morning left.
And even that morning only existed because the girls had compromised to make sure they didn't sabotage each other so badly that nobody managed to give him their chocolate.
Once afternoon came—especially once evening got close—and the all-out free-for-all began, then he'd learn what abnormal really looked like...
But even thinking that, when Tamamo Cross looked at the still-clueless Kitahara in front of her, and remembered all the help he'd given her before, and how he'd looked after her since she came to the academy...
She fell silent for a moment, then decided to give him one more push.
"Say, Kitahara, are you free this afternoon?"
"Nothing planned so far. Why?"
"When I was out yesterday, I noticed a few malls are having major discount events this afternoon, but they're limited to couples... could you come with me?"
Tamamo Cross's plan was to use the opportunity to drag Kitahara out of the academy and away from this pack of man-eating umas.
But for some reason, as she said it, one hand was toying with a certain button in her pocket, and something faintly murky stirred in her eyes.
Ordinarily, on a day like this, asking a Trainer out alone—especially a male Trainer—was exactly the sort of thing that should put someone on guard.
The problem was that Kitahara knew Tamamo Cross came from a poor family, and that she regularly chased after every kind of sale and discount event. Obsessively, even.
And with it being Valentine's Day, plenty of malls were running holiday promotions. As far as she could tell, he was the only man around who could pretend to be her boyfriend, so it was perfectly natural for her to invite him.
More than that, in this entire academy, Tamamo Cross was one of the rare truly normal people among the normal ones. If some other Umamusume had invited him like this, he would've had at least some reservations, but if it was Tamamo Cross...
Kitahara thought it over for a while. After confirming he really didn't have anything scheduled that afternoon, he was just about to nod when a quiet voice spoke from behind him.
"Sorry, but Chairwoman Akikawa has made some arrangements for Trainer Kitahara. He won't be able to leave the academy for the time being."
"...Hayakawa-san?"
Hearing the familiar voice, Kitahara turned around in mild surprise and looked at Tazuna Hayakawa as she slowly approached.
"What are you doing here?"
And it wasn't just Kitahara. The moment Hayakawa appeared, surprise flickered through the eyes of the other Umamusume as well.
After all, everyone could see what the situation inside the academy was like right now. By all logic, this should have been exactly the time when Hayakawa was busiest, running around and trying to keep things under control. She shouldn't have had the time to come over here at all, and yet...
"I'm off today."
Hayakawa spoke calmly, her gaze sweeping across the Umamusume around them, lingering on Tamamo Cross for a moment longer than the others, a hint of scrutiny mixed in.
Off today?
Once they heard that explanation, most of the Umamusume immediately understood what was going on. They quickly realized Hayakawa had probably been sent specifically to keep an eye on Kitahara's team, and the looks they turned on her took on a new, hard-to-read shade.
But Kitahara...
"Um, Hayakawa-san, are you... sure you're actually off today?"
He looked around and couldn't help asking.
"You're really taking a day off in a situation like this?"
"I don't want to, either, but the Chairwoman said I've been overworking myself lately and forcibly gave me leave. She also specifically told me to stay out of today's affairs as much as possible and get some proper rest..."
After a pause, she added,
"Oh, right. As for what's happening around the academy, you don't need to worry too much, Trainer Kitahara. Even though I'm off today, the Chairwoman has arranged for someone else to manage the situation."
"Someone else?"
Kitahara frowned.
"Who? Aren't you and the Chairwoman the only ones handling things around the academy right now? Is she going in personally?"
"No."
Hayakawa shook her head.
"It's that newly arrived acting Chairwoman."
Hearing that title, Kitahara froze for a second.
"...Who?"
"That newly arrived acting Chairwoman, Kashimoto-san."
Hayakawa repeated patiently.
And after confirming over and over that he hadn't misheard, Kitahara's expression slowly turned strange.
"Hayakawa-san, I'm not trying to put anyone down, but I need to confirm this one more time. You're saying the person the Chairwoman assigned to control the situation today is that, well... acting Chairwoman who can't do sports without needing a break after going up and down two flights of stairs, and gets out of breath after walking a few steps...?"
"Mm. Her."
At that, an unnatural expression also flickered across Hayakawa's face.
"In any case, it's been left to her. I don't have anything else going on today, so I thought I'd come by your side for a while. You don't mind, do you?"
"Of course not."
Kitahara still felt that with Hayakawa absent, things today might get a little dangerous, but after thinking it over, he decided there was no need to dump every last responsibility on her shoulders. So he let the matter go and nodded.
Then, after nodding, he turned to Tamamo Cross and said apologetically,
"Sorry, Tama. You heard her just now too—the Chairwoman has something arranged for me this afternoon, so I can't go with you..."
"Mm, it's fine."
Tamamo Cross nodded, then took out her phone and checked the time. After confirming that her own time limit was almost up as well, she tossed out a couple more complaints at Kitahara, then got up and left.
As for the chocolate she'd left behind, Kitahara had already eaten quite a lot of chocolate earlier, so he planned to wait a bit and save it for the evening.
And whether that chocolate was giri or honmei, Kitahara naturally treated it as giri.
What he didn't know was that if he'd asked basically anyone, they could have told him this:
Of all the chocolate Tamamo Cross had made yesterday, everything except the piece now in his hands had gone into Oguri Cap's stomach.
And the piece in her hand, besides being made by her personally, had also been remade using a high-end product she'd bought with a rather considerable amount of money—money she'd saved up from working part-time at the clothing store. It wasn't even in the same class as what Oguri had eaten.
Tamamo Cross herself believed this was simply repayment to her benefactor, her Trainer, and her family.
But in reality...
Well, those who knew, knew.
Not long after Tamamo Cross left—
Although Hayakawa's appearance had subtly shifted the atmosphere around Kitahara's team, the next challenger was soon ready to step onto the stage.
"Here. This is for you, Guinea Pig-kun."
Wearing her long-sleeved Racing Outfit, Agnes Tachyon held out a beautifully wrapped box of chocolate in front of Kitahara.
But unlike with the other Umamusume, when faced with the chocolate Agnes Tachyon was openly presenting to him, Kitahara didn't accept it right away. Instead, he looked straight into her eyes and spoke seriously.
"Tachyon, before I take your chocolate, you need to answer one question first."
"Yesterday, when you brought Truth Serum to the cooking room, what exactly were you trying to do?"
"I always carry a few medicines around with me. You know that, don't you?"
Agnes Tachyon blinked, trying to play cute and muddle her way through it.
"Oh, cut it out. The stuff you carry around normally never even comes out, let alone gets knocked over."
Kitahara took the chocolate from her hand and waved it a little in front of her.
"I'll accept this, but I'm going to wait until there's time to eat it—and when I do, we're eating it together. Otherwise I'm not trusting it."
"Tch."
Seeing she wasn't going to bluff her way past this, Agnes Tachyon quietly clicked her tongue, but she didn't reject Kitahara's proposal.
"Fine. Then we'll find a time to eat it together later. You said that yourself, Guinea Pig-kun, so no backing out."
Seeing Agnes Tachyon agree so readily, Kitahara had the vague feeling something was off.
But after thinking about it for quite a while, he still couldn't pinpoint exactly what felt wrong. In the end, he stuck to his decision, nodded, and let Agnes Tachyon leave without much fuss.
What he didn't know was that the moment he let her go, the look of disgust on Agnes Tachyon's face vanished, and the corners of her mouth instantly curled upward. Her sleeves swayed as she walked, and she looked to be in an excellent mood.
She had wanted to stick to Kitahara on Valentine's Day, of course. But after thinking it through carefully, she'd realized the competition today was likely to be fierce.
And now that Hayakawa had shown up, rather than stay here and keep wrestling with everyone else, she might as well make use of the condition he'd just given her and create an opportunity at another time.
As for what to do next, she already had a rough plan in mind.
That blockhead really hadn't realized why she'd developed the Truth Serum after all.
He actually thought she'd intended to use it on him...
---
T/N: :im sobbing: anyway giri is basically the obligatory and honmei is the romantic one
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