After watching Agnes Tachyon's victory performance, Tsutsumi decided to celebrate the simplest way he knew how, by cooking.
He had taken her back to Tracen once she finished her winning stage, then when the two entered their team room, which have it own kitchen due to the chairwoman finding out that he could cook and seeing how he was so skilled at it. Their team room was the only room have it own designated kitchen.
Tsutsumi moved calmly between the stove and the counter, plating dishes with the same unhurried steps he used in almost everything he did. Still riding the high of her victory, Tachyon had naturally decided that a celebration required more participants.
So she invited a few people.
Manhattan Cafe arrived first, stepping quietly into the room as though she had materialized from the shadows themselves. Not long after, Daiwa Scarlet burst in with her usual energy, and trailing behind her was Vodka.
"Hello, Senpai!" Vodka greeted cheerfully the moment she saw Tsutsumi, clearly pleased to see a familiar face.
"Yo, Vodka," Tsutsumi replied with an easy smile.
Vodka crossed her arms casually, though her eyes still carried a spark of admiration. "Tsutsumi-senpai, I didn't know you became a trainer instead of a racing Uma Musume."
It had only been over a month since they had sat through detention together. At the time, she had just seemed like a laid-back senior with an odd sense of humor. Now, when she saw her again, she was standing in a kitchen wearing an apron and had already become the trainer of a runner who had just delivered one of the most outrageous debut races anyone had seen in years.
"Life's full of surprises," Tsutsumi replied lightly while stirring a pot.
Vodka leaned forward slightly, eyes bright with excitement. "Senpai, when I fully mature, can you become my trainer?"
The request came out half-joking, half-serious. After all, Agnes Tachyon's race earlier that day had already begun circulating through the entire academy like wildfire. A late start that dropped her to last place, followed by an explosive charge from the back of the field, finishing with a ten-length lead and that infamous glance over her shoulder at the finish line. It wasn't just a victory; it felt like the birth of a legend.
Even hours later, students were still talking about it. Some replayed the footage again and again, trying to understand how she had accelerated like that. Others simply marveled at the spectacle they had witnessed. Even the runners who had been defeated by her carried a strange pride, knowing they had participated in the race that introduced Agnes Tachyon to the world.
Yet while the academy buzzed with excitement, one person had been far less pleased.
The student council president, Symboli Rudolf.
From the outside, she maintained her usual composed dignity, but inwardly she was anything but calm. She understood very well that Tachyon's performance had been extraordinary, yet what troubled her far more was the person standing behind that victory.
Her trainer, Oguri Tsutsumi Ryoko.
Even though she had long since retired from active racing, Symboli Rudolf remained the undefeated Triple Crown winner, the Emperor of the track. Her legacy was unquestionable. And yet during the single time she had raced him, she had been defeated so thoroughly that the memory still lingered like a splinter in her pride.
It hadn't even been close. In a 3000-meter race, Tsutsumi had crossed the finish line in 1:48.5. Her own record for that same distance had been 3:06.8.
The gap was so absurd it bordered on the ridiculous. It was less a race and more a demonstration of something completely outside the realm of normal competition.
What infuriated her even more was what happened afterward. He had refused to become a racing Uma Musume entirely.
After crushing her so decisively, he had calmly stepped away from the track and declared he had no interest in competing. Instead, he became a trainer and began guiding his own tantou.
To Rudolf, it felt like discovering an ultra-rare, tier-zero card only to see it banned the very next day.
It was like someone opening a Pot of Greed on September 30th, only for the card to be banned on October 1st.
Infuriating didn't even begin to describe it.
Still, beyond venting her frustration to Air Groove, Maruzensky, Mr. C.B., and Narita Brian, there wasn't much she could actually do about it.
Tsutsumi was already an anomaly in every sense. He was the first recorded male Uma Musume in history, and during their encounter he had even displayed speed that rivaled, perhaps surpassed, her own human brother's ability to move faster than the eye could follow.
From a veteran's perspective, Rudolf could understand the reason he had stepped away from racing. Competing against runners vastly weaker than you offered little joy. She herself had experienced something similar, which led her to attempt an overseas campaign in America.
That trip had ended in a crushing defeat. Sixth place in a field of seven.
The memory still stung.
Which was why, now that Tsutsumi had chosen to train rather than race, Rudolf quietly shifted her hopes toward the Uma Musume he had chosen to guide.
Agnes Tachyon.
If anyone in Japan might someday challenge the overseas tracks again, perhaps it would be her.
"…Why are you here?" Tsutsumi's voice abruptly pulled her out of her thoughts.
Rudolf blinked once before quickly regaining her usual composure.
"Agnes Tachyon is an Uma Musume of Tracen Academy," she replied calmly. "With the overwhelming victory she achieved today, it is only natural that I would come to celebrate."
Her tone was perfectly serious. She didn't come here alongside her other Council members because they heard Tsutsumi was cooking to celebrate Tachyon's victory.
Across the table, Oguri Cap's horse ears suddenly twitched upright.
For some reason, she had the distinct feeling that the real reason Rudolf had come here, along with her other Council members, might be because her brother was cooking a celebration meal. But she couldn't prove it.
Seeing Oguri suddenly stiffen like she had detected danger, Tamamo Cross glanced at her before letting out a small, helpless sigh.
Meanwhile, Super Creek simply covered her mouth with a soft chuckle as the lively little gathering continued around the dinner table.
Tsutsumi stood in the kitchen doorway for a moment, staring silently at the steadily growing crowd that had somehow filled the room.
What had originally been a small celebration dinner for Agnes Tachyon had expanded far beyond what he had expected.
At the center of it all, Tachyon herself sat with an air of innocent satisfaction, as though she had absolutely nothing to do with the situation. Beside her was Manhattan Cafe, quietly observing the room with her usual distant gaze, and not far away stood Air Shakur, who had apparently come along as well. Then there was Daiwa Scarlet, whom Tachyon had invited herself the moment they met, and naturally, she had dragged her close friend, and eternal rival, Vodka, along with her.
That alone would have been manageable. Then Oguri Cap had arrived the moment she heard that Tsutsumi was cooking.
And brought alongside.
Tamamo Cross, Super Creek, and not long after that Inari One, Bamboo Memory, Sakura Chiyono O, and Mejiro Ardan had also appeared, each one was invited by Oguri and the other two.
Tsutsumi had barely processed that wave before yet another one arrived.
Symboli Rudolf stepped in with her usual composed dignity, followed closely by several members of the student council.
For a moment, Tsutsumi simply stood there in silence, his eyes slowly sweeping across the room filled with Uma Musumes chatting, laughing, and settling into seats like guests at a full banquet.
And the strange part was that the group didn't stop growing.
From among the attendees, many had apparently brought someone with them. A roommate. A close friend. A rival who had heard about the dinner. In some cases, even their trainers had tagged along out of curiosity. What had started as a quiet little celebration between a handful of people had somehow spiraled into something resembling a full-scale party.
Tsutsumi rubbed his temple lightly. Still… he didn't actually mind.
If he could cook for Oguri Cap, then cooking for an entire party, including Oguri Cap, wasn't really that much of a difference.
With that quiet acceptance, he simply rolled up his sleeves and got to work.
The kitchen soon filled with the steady rhythm of cooking. Pots simmered, pans sizzled, and plates began appearing on the long tables one after another. Conversation grew livelier as the food arrived, and before long the entire room was buzzing with laughter, debate, and the occasional competitive argument over who deserved the largest portion.
Oguri Cap, unsurprisingly, became the center of several small food-related competitions, while Tamamo Cross loudly accused her of stealing dishes faster than anyone could serve them. Super Creek calmly refilled plates before anyone even had the chance to ask, and Daiwa Scarlet and Vodka ended up arguing about racing strategies halfway through their meal.
Even Manhattan Cafe seemed slightly more relaxed than usual, quietly enjoying the atmosphere while sipping her drink.
By the time the last dishes were finished and the final plates cleared, the mood in the room had settled into a warm, satisfied calm.
One by one, the guests began leaving, each wearing relaxed smiles and offering their thanks as they headed out. The earlier excitement had mellowed into a comfortable kind of happiness that came from good food and good company.
As Tsutsumi stepped outside to see a few of them off, he suddenly blinked in mild surprise. Among those leaving were Tazuna Hayakawa and Yayoi Akikawa.
He paused for a moment, trying to recall when exactly they had arrived. He genuinely didn't remember seeing them come in.
Then again, the "small celebration" he had planned had somehow expanded into a full gathering, so trying to track every arrival was probably pointless.
In the end, he simply shrugged.
The party was over, everyone left smiling and full, and the hallway gradually returned to its usual quiet.
At that point, there really wasn't much reason to question how it had grown so big in the first place.
Once everything had quieted down and the academy returned to its usual calm, Tsutsumi quietly stepped away from that world.
The shimmering light of the Aurora Curtain unfolded before him like a vertical ripple in space. Without hesitation, he stepped through it, the scenery of Tracen Academy dissolving behind him as the curtain closed.
A moment later, he reappeared in Beacon Academy.
The cool evening air brushed against his face as he stepped onto the stone walkway of the campus grounds. The distant lights of the academy buildings glowed softly against the dark sky, and the faint sounds of students talking somewhere in the distance drifted through the air.
Tsutsumi scratched his head lightly as he looked around, trying to remember exactly what had been happening in this world before he left.
He had spent so much time away that some of the details were beginning to blur together.
"Let's see…" he muttered to himself while walking slowly across the courtyard. "The last time I was here, Team TNPR had taken on that early mission."
He paused, thinking harder.
"Right… Ren and Nora were finally able to deal with the weight in their hearts after killing the Grimm that destroyed their home."
That had been a heavy moment for them. The kind that lingered in a person long after the battle itself ended. For Ren especially, the quiet resolve he carried afterward had been noticeably different.
Tsutsumi nodded faintly to himself, feeling like he had at least reconnected the timeline in his head.
Then a voice suddenly called out behind him.
"Tsutsumi~!"
The voice was bright, warm, and far too familiar.
Before he could even turn around, a pair of strong arms wrapped around his neck from behind. The sudden embrace pulled him slightly off balance as someone pressed close against his back.
Soft scarlet hair fell down beside his shoulder.
"Pyrrha…" he uttered.
And just like that, he remembered exactly why he had left this world for a while.
Pyrrha Nikos, his unwanted, yet somehow very persistent girlfriend.
She held him comfortably from behind, as if this was the most natural thing in the world. Her arms rested around his shoulders while she leaned slightly against his back, her presence warm and steady.
For a brief moment, Tsutsumi felt something strange settle in his chest.
The way she called his name.
The simple happiness in her voice.
It reminded him far too much of how things had once felt when he first fell for Jeanne.
That realization alone was enough to make him push the feeling down immediately.
Given his track record with love, letting himself fall into that kind of emotion again would probably just lead to another mess.
So he responded the only way he knew how.
"Get off," he said coldly.
"Nope~"
Pyrrha answered instantly, her cheerful tone completely unaffected. She even leaned slightly to the side so he could see her face as she stuck out her tongue playfully.
If anything, his rejection only seemed to amuse her more.