As the race continued...
Urara barely kept up with the pack.
Every stride she took left her heavier than the last.
Yet she refused to slow down.
Far from the track, King watched intently.
Her fist rested beneath her chin as concern slowly spread across her face.
"...Urara..."
She muttered.
Then—
A memory resurfaced.
It was from earlier that morning.
Just before the race had begun.
...
There, King had been looking around the venue, searching for someone.
Before she realized, her trainer wasn't acually next to her.
"Trainer?"
And there, she called out.
"What are you doing?"
"We're about to be late."
Instead of finding Yuiji—
She found someone else.
Standing in front of her was none other than her homeroom teacher Ishida, who accidentally collided with Yuiji.
Meanwhile, Ishida also stared back at her, just as surprised.
"K-King Halo...?"
King's eyes widened.
"M-Mr. Ishida?"
They blinked.
Then, almost perfectly in sync—
"What are you doing here?"
The two asked at the same time.
Then, an awkward silence followed.
Before the awkwardness could last, Ishida leaned back slightly before clearing his throat.
"Well I..."
He scratched the back of his head.
"I just... didn't have anything better to do."
"So I figured I'd stop by and spend some time watching a few potential future stars on the track."
The excuse came out rather stiffly, and King could immediately tell it was a lie.
But she chose not to question it.
Instead—
"W-What about you?"
Ishida asked.
"I thought this was a private event."
"The schedule is usually only disclosed to the participants."
King hesitated.
"Well..."
She paused.
"I-I was invited."
"Invited?" He asked.
But he already had a good idea of who the answer was.
Still—
He pretended otherwise.
"By who?"
There, King immediately froze.
"...Uh..."
Her mind raced.
Trying to come up with literally anyone else's name.
Anyone...
Except Urara.
Specifically...
She didn't want her homeroom teacher to find out that one of his own students was somehow participating in a Trial Race.
Especially when that race was supposed to be reserved for girls who had yet to become students of Tracen Academy.
And also Urara had already told her about it beforehand to not tell anyone about it.
Back when she first brought up the invitation...
...
...
...
A few days before...
"Hey, King!"
Urara turned toward her with her usual bright smile inside their dorm room.
"I'm racing this Sunday! Do you want to come?!"
"R-Race?!"
King nearly dropped the book in her hand.
"When did you get scouted?!"
"Well..."
Urara proudly puffed out her chest.
"I didn't!"
King blinked.
"...What?"
"You didn't?"
"But... how?"
"I also haven't heard about any races being held by the academy this weekend."
King lowered her head slightly.
"Or..."
"Did I somehow miss the announcement?" She thought back, trying to recall.
"I do remember my trainer mentioning the track would be closed this Sunday..."
Before she could dive deeper, Urara nodded enthusiastically.
"Well, it's the same race we did before!"
"The one from back then!"
King tilted her head.
"The same race?"
Urara rubbed her chin.
"Wait..."
"What's it called again...?"
She mumbled to herself for a few seconds.
Then—
King's eyes widened.
"Wait... You mean the Trial Race?"
Urara immediately pointed at her.
"Yup!"
"That one!"
King stared at her in disbelief.
"B-But... why?"
"Hmm?" Urara tilted her head, clearly confused by the question.
"I mean..." King tried again. "The Trial Race is clearly only held to evaluate applicants before they're admitted into Tracen."
"But you've already enrolled."
She quietly muttered to herself,
"...Even though I still don't know how you managed that..."
Then she looked back at Urara.
"But still!"
"This isn't a race you should be participating in."
Urara simply shrugged.
"I don't know."
She then smiled as brightly as ever.
"But all I know..." Her eyes sparkled with excitement.
"...is that this might finally be my chance to win!"
"But, Urara..."
King sighed as she folded her arms.
"Don't you think there's something strange about all this?"
Urara blinked. "Hm? Why?"
"First of all..."
King raised a finger.
"Considering your abilities, did you ever wonder how you got into this academy?"
She raised another.
"And second..."
"Why are they making you take the Trial Race again?"
"None of this makes any sense."
Urara simply nodded to herself.
"Hmm hmm hmm..."
"Maybe they just wanted to see me race again!"
She answered with complete confidence.
King's eye twitched.
"...Are you sure they didn't tell you why?"
"Hmmm..."
Urara rubbed her chin, trying to remember.
She thought.
And thought.
The explanation Rudolf had given her had been so complicated...
All the probationary status, the re-evaluation, the dismissal.
That somewhere along the way... She had completely forgotten it.
Or perhaps... She didn't even understand in the first place.
And so she just,
"I don't know." She shrugged.
Then, almost instantly, her smile returned.
"But you'll come, right, King?"
She stepped closer.
"You'll cheer for me this Sunday, right?"
King blinked.
"W-Wait..."
"That's a little too sudden!"
Urara quickly continued.
"El-chan and Grass-chan are coming too!"
She clasped her hands together.
"Please come, King!"
"Sei-chan already said she wasn't coming."
"I don't want you to say no too!"
King let out a long sigh.
"And here I was..."
"I was planning to get a manicure this weekend..."
"Pleeease...!"
Urara leaned in even closer.
Her large, sparkling eyes stared directly into King's.
King tried to hold her ground.
"..."
"..."
"...F-Fine!"
The moment the words left her mouth—
"Yay!"
Urara bounced excitedly on the spot.
Celebrating as though she had already won the race.
Meanwhile, King quietly watched her.
Still unable to shake the strange feeling in her chest.
None of this added up.
Before she could think any further—
Urara suddenly snapped her fingers.
"Oh! By the way!"
King looked up.
"Rudy did tell me not to tell anyone about it!"
Urara scratched her cheek sheepishly.
"I don't really know why..."
"But...!" She smiled innocently.
"I think it's okay if I tell you guys!"
King's eyes widened.
"...W-What?!"
"Please, Urara!"
"The next time someone tells you not to do something..."
"Please don't do it!"
"Especially when it's our student council president!"
Urara blinked. "Huh?"
"And another thing!"
King continued with a sigh.
"Stop calling her 'Rudy'!"
"It's confusing..."
"And it's disrespectful!"
Urara simply tilted her head.
"But she never got angry when I called her that..."
"That's not the point!" King cried in defeat.
The conversation somehow drifted elsewhere after that.
And before either of them realized it—
The evening quietly passed inside their dorm room...
...
...
...
Back to the present...
King remained silent for a brief moment.
Then she forced a smile.
"I-It's..."
"It's someone I knew from before."
She nodded to herself.
"Yeah."
"Someone I knew."
Ishida quietly observed her for a second.
Then simply smiled.
"I... see," and he chose not to pry any further.
"Well then."
"I probably should get going."
He gave both King and Yuiji a small nod.
"Good luck and... See you around."
With that, Ishida turned around and slowly walked away.
Leaving the pair behind.
King and Yuiji silently watched his figure disappear into the crowd.
Only after he was some distance away did Yuiji finally speak.
"...Is that your homeroom teacher?"
King nodded.
"Yeah..."
Yuiji scratched the back of his head.
"That's strange."
"First, your classmate is somehow participating in the Trial Race..."
"And now your homeroom teacher is here too..."
"This event is normally restricted to trainers and parents."
Yuiji folded his arms.
"So seeing your classmate participating..."
"And your homeroom teacher showing up here..."
"Something just doesn't add up."
King quietly nodded.
"...Yeah."
She couldn't deny it.
Nothing about Urara's situation made sense.
Just as Yuiji looked ready to continue the discussion, "And—"
"Come on, Trainer." King cut him off.
She turned away from the conversation.
"Let's go find El and Grass."
"The race is about to begin."
"Oh!"
Yuiji immediately snapped out of his thoughts.
"Right!"
"Let's go."
With that, the two resumed walking through the venue.
Searching for where El and Grass had taken their seats before the race officially started...
...
...
...
Back to the present—
King's fist slowly tightened.
Her eyes never left the track and Urara.
Only quietly observed her race.
Yet... somehow her brows knitted together.
Unable to stop herself from wondering—
Just what...
What exactly...
Was happening behind all of this?
Or maybe...
That coincidence between her and Ishida.
Maybe Ishida knew something she didn't...