As night settled over the city streets, the quiet of the late hours slowly reached its peak.
Lights flickered on inside homes.
One after another, people retired for the night...
Meanwhile...
A lone figure sprinted through the dimly lit streets.
Her footsteps pounded harshly against the cold pavement, and her gaze never wavered.
King Halo had taken her search beyond the academy.
If Urara wasn't on campus...
Then perhaps she was somewhere outside.
Somewhere...
Waiting to be found.
Or at least, that's what she convinced herself.
King then slowed to a stop by a lamppost and pulled out her phone as she opened the map.
Carefully, she marked every potential place Urara might have gone.
The first destination...
The nearby park outlined with a jogging pathway.
A place many Umamusume frequented during their free time.
Especially for early morning runs.
Maybe... Urara had been for a run, too?
King then quickly headed to the park and jogged along the pathway.
She searched every bench.
Every open field.
Every corner where a lone pink-haired girl might have been sitting.
Yet...
She found...
Nothing...
Urara wasn't there.
King simply clicked her tongue in frustration before heading to the next location.
The shopping street.
Rows of restaurants and cafés stretched along the road, their lights still shining into the night.
Maybe Urara had been here for a bite? Since her favorite carrot pudding shop was just around this part.
With that in mind, King hurried past them one by one.
She peered through some of the shops' glass windows.
Stepped inside several restaurants and quickly scanned the customers.
Only to realize...
She had entered yet another place filled with strangers.
Not the one she was desperately searching for.
There, she clenched her teeth, quickly turned around, and ran again.
Changing her search area once more.
And this...
Continued for hours.
Despite the scrape on her knee...
She kept running.
Again.
And again.
Ignoring the sting that shot through her leg with every stride.
She pushed herself onward.
Hoping...
That by some miracle...
She would find her.
She would find Urara.
Just one glimpse.
Just one sign that she was safe.
That would be enough.
King quietly begged beneath her breath.
Please...
Let this end well.
Please...
Don't let it happen again.
Don't let this become another tragedy...
Like Asaji.
Not again.
Not this time.
She wanted...
No.
She needed...
Something different.
Something she had longed for all this time.
A relationship...
One that would last.
One she could finally protect.
"So..."
"I have to..."
"Find her!"
With renewed determination, King forced herself onward again.
She crossed one intersection after another.
One street after another.
One empty park after another.
Again.
And again.
She searched.
She ran.
She refused to stop.
She refused to...
Until...
Without realizing it...
She found herself standing before a familiar sight.
The gates of Tracen Academy.
King immediately froze as she leaned down and caught her ragged breath.
She stared blankly at the academy entrance.
"What..."
Then—
"Damn it..."
She clenched her fists.
"Damn it!"
"DAMN IT!"
"Why..."
"Why am I back here again?!"
She then slammed into the nearby wall.
"Damn it!"
Then another strike against the academy gate.
"DAMN IT!"
Then she struck the ground.
"DAMN IT!"
A throwing a few tantrums...
At last, her strength gave out.
King slowly slid down the wall beside the entrance, and sat there silently.
Her back rested against the cold concrete as it trembled ever so slightly.
She then pulled her knees close to her chest, burying her face against them.
"Damn it..." She mumbled.
"Why..."
"Why does it have to end like this...?"
She buried her face deeper into her knees.
"Why am I..."
"...such a horrible person...?"
"If I hadn't said those words..."
"If I never tried to be such a selfish person..."
"I'm sorry... Urara..."
"Please..."
"Please just..."
"Come out already..."
"I didn't mean any of it."
"I never meant for those words to hurt you."
"I never wanted them..."
"...to wound you more than they already did."
"I..."
She gripped her legs tighter.
"I'm just..."
"...afraid."
"Afraid that... it'll end the same way it did before."
"Afraid..."
"That this is just another ending..."
"...reflected differently."
"So please..."
"Please just show yourself, Urara..."
"Tell me you're alright."
"Tell me..."
"...you're not going to leave me..."
"...like she did."
She paused.
"H-How about this?"
"You win..."
"Okay?"
"You win."
"So..."
She finally broke.
"Please..."
"Just come out already!"
"Please..."
"I'm sorry...!"
For a long while...
King remained curled up beside the academy entrance.
Her sobs echoed quietly through the empty night.
Until the night slowly surrendered to midnight...
...
...
...
As the crescent moon now hung high in the sky.
Only then...
Did King slowly wipe away the tears on her face.
She forced herself to stand as her legs felt heavy.
She then quietly began walking toward the place she should have returned to long ago.
Her dormitory, as she had already missed curfew by hours.
There, her head remained lowered.
Her pace was slow and weary.
Her uniform was stained with dirt and sweat.
Marks gathered from hours of searching.
Also silent reminders...
Of another failure...
Step by step...
First, she crossed the dorm courtyard.
Then, the entrance.
The corridors.
Until...
She finally arrived at the door, standing directly before her dorm room.
For a long moment...
King simply stood before the door.
Unable to move.
Her hand hovered in the air as memories resurfaced.
Recalling the first day she arrived here.
The first day her routine had been completely ruined by one pink-haired Umamusume.
All the arguments.
All the shouting.
All the constant interruptions.
All the highs.
And all the lows.
It had been nothing but chaos.
Yet...
Somehow...
It had also been fulfilling.
She sniffed one last time, wiped her eyes, and finally, slowly, reached forward.
Her fingers wrapped around the doorknob.
And twisted it.
Then gently pushed the door open.
The moment it did...
King's eyes widened.
Because beyond the door... The room was...
Occupied?
And within it...
Resided none other than...
Haru Urara.
Dressed in her pajamas, she was lying comfortably on her bed, happily reading a manga.
And upon hearing the door open, Urara looked up.
The instant she saw King standing there...
Her eyes sparkled.
Overflowing with the same excitement she always held.
"OH! KING!"
"There you are!"
Urara immediately tossed the manga onto her bed, jumped to her feet, and ran straight toward King.
"Where have you been, King?!"
"I was so worried!"
"I thought the Moon Monkey had captured you!"
"I was already thinking about calling the Super-Umas to rescue you!"
"But you're back!"
"And I'm so glad!"
"Where have you been, King?"
"Oh! By the way, King!"
"I wanted to tell you th—"
Before Urara could finish...
Suddenly...
King pulled her straight into a tight embrace.
And Urara was startled, blinking in surprise, "K-King...?!" her voice muffled against King's shoulder.
"W-What happened?"
King didn't answer.
She simply held Urara.
Closer.
Tighter.
As though she feared that loosening her arms even a little...
Would cause Urara to disappear once more.
A hug filled with everything she had been holding back.
Everything she had feared.
Everything she had lost once before.
She couldn't let go.
She didn't want to let go.
Because somewhere deep inside...
She was still terrified.
Terrified that the moment she released her...
Urara would disappear...
Again.
Meanwhile, inside her embrace, Urara began to squirm within.
"K-King?!"
"I... I can't move!!!"
But before she could free herself, King finally replied.
"Shut up and just..." her voice trembled slightly.
"...let me hug you."
For a brief moment, Urara simply blinked in confusion.
Then...
She smiled.
Without another complaint, she relaxed her body and gently wrapped her arms around King in return.
Her hand slowly moved upward.
Softly...
She began stroking King's hair.
"There, there..."
"King's a good girl."
"It must've been really hard for her...!"
"But!"
"You can always rely on Urara!"
"After all..."
"Urara promised herself she'd always be there for King!"
"Because..."
"A friend will never—!"
"...abandon a friend."
King quietly finished the sentence for her.
"I get it... I get it..."
"Just enough with that line already."
"I'm getting tired of hearing it."
Even as she said it...
She never loosened her embrace.
Not even a little.
After everything...
After searching through the city.
After running until her injured leg could barely carry her.
After crying alone beneath the academy gate.
In the end...
All she had needed to do...
Was wait.
Wait for Urara to come home...
Yet...
She didn't regret searching for her.
Not even once.
Because somewhere along that desperate search...
She had finally realized something.
Just how much...
She treasured Haru Urara.
And just how desperately...
She wanted her by her side again.
This time...
King silently made herself a promise.
No matter what happened.
No matter what fears tried to consume her again.
She would never repeat the same mistake.
She would make sure...
That Haru Urara...
Would never leave her again...
...
...
...
A moment later...
"King..."
Urara finally broke the silence.
"A-Are you done?"
Only then did King realize how tightly she had been clinging to her.
She slowly loosened her arms and took a step back.
"S-Sorry..."
Urara simply giggled.
"Hehe."
"No worries, no worries!"
She proudly puffed out her chest.
"Urara doesn't mind receiving King's first-rate hug!"
"After all..."
"It's super rare for you to hug me in the first place!"
"W-Whatever you say..."
King muttered, turning her face away as a faint blush spread across her cheeks.
"But, King!"
Urara suddenly exclaimed, and King turned back.
"What is it now?"
Urara then innocently pointed at her.
"You smell!"
"I don't know what you've been doing today..."
"But you smell really bad!"
"W-What?!"
King instinctively sniffed at herself.
And the moment she did...
Her face turned bright red.
She...
Really did smell.
After running all over the campus, then the city for hours...
She was covered in sweat and dirt...
And she hadn't even had the chance to shower.
Before Urara could add another word...
King immediately pointed back at her.
"Not another word..."
She then quickly grabbed her towel, shampoo, and toiletries, and hurried toward the door.
But just right before she fully stepped outside...
King stopped.
She slowly looked back at Urara.
And a gentle smile finally appeared on her face.
"I'm sorry... Urara."
She paused.
"And..."
"...Welcome home."