As the night deepened, Kitahara's disaster-ridden New Year's Day finally came to an end.
Sirius's sudden move had startled him at first, but once he calmed down, he chalked it up to a prank that she'd botched—and that had backfired on her.
He lectured her a little afterward, but didn't make a big deal out of it. Before long, he fell asleep.
As for Rudolf—Sirius's provocation was so blatant that the displeasure in her eyes was impossible to miss.
But they'd already been dragged through the wringer all day, and Kitahara's breathing had gradually evened out into sleep. No matter how violently her emotions churned, there was nothing she could do in that moment. All she could do was watch Sirius swagger off after her little stunt.
After her shower, Sirius climbed straight into Rudolf's bed like she owned the place, not the slightest bit like an outsider.
And then the night passed.
When he woke, Kitahara could tell the relationship between Rudolf and Sirius had somehow gotten even worse.
But since it was between the two of them—and didn't seem like his business—he didn't ask. After he got up and washed, he asked Rudolf to have someone see him out of the Symboli main house.
Rudolf had originally wanted to use the chance to be alone with Kitahara, to talk about a few things.
Unfortunately, the moment Sirius heard Rudolf was sending him off, she popped up from who-knew-where, declared she wanted a ride too, and forced her way into Rudolf's car—leaving Rudolf no chance to be alone with him.
Which meant Kitahara returned to Tracen Academy smoothly and without incident.
"Finally… I'm back."
Standing before the familiar gates, thinking of yesterday's chaos from morning to night, Kitahara felt a strange sense of unreality—like he'd stepped into another life and stumbled back out.
Still… it was over.
With that thought, he let out a long breath and walked into the academy.
What he didn't know was that yesterday's bad luck ending didn't mean the curtain had fallen.
If anything...
It was only the beginning.
...
At the very moment Kitahara entered the academy, a sedan belonging to the Tokai family drove into the Symboli main house.
"I'm terribly sorry," the Tokai family's female butler said apologetically to Rudolf. "She kept insisting on seeing you…"
Behind her stood Tokai Teio, clutching an extra-large honey special drink, head tilted, looking sulky and stubborn.
"It's fine. I wasn't busy anyway," Rudolf said. She exchanged a few polite words with the butler and saw her off, then turned back to Teio. With a small, helpless sigh, she reached out and patted the girl's head.
"Teio. You're not a child anymore. You can't keep throwing tantrums like this…"
"They lied to me first," Teio complained, taking several big pulls from her honey drink.
"They promised they'd take me back to the academy after New Year so I could see Trainer-san. But the next morning, they dragged me to that… that 'social gathering' thing…"
Rudolf raised an eyebrow. "Weren't you sick?"
"That's what they said," Teio mumbled. "I was home the whole time. I just… didn't go out…"
She took a few more swigs, then added, still indignant, "They even said you were there too, President—like that would trick me into coming out. But I didn't believe them…"
"This time, they weren't lying," Rudolf said. "I really was there."
She paused, then added, as casually as she could manage, "Oh, and Trainer Kitahara was there too. If you'd come out, you could've chatted with him…"
"Trainer-san?" Teio looked up, confused. "Why would he be there? He's not from any family, is he?"
"He…" Rudolf stalled.
"He had something to handle, so he went. We ran into each other and talked for a bit…"
There was no way she could mention the matchmaking meeting. Even setting aside Teio's possessiveness, Rudolf still couldn't bring herself to say something that embarrassing out loud.
As for the fact that Kitahara was her Trainer—she'd meant to find a chance to tell Teio.
But after a moment's thought, she dropped the idea.
Because Teio's feelings for Trainer Kitahara were obvious to everyone but Kitahara himself. Even a random piece of driftwood by the roadside would've figured it out.
If it were any other time, Rudolf might have explained. But right now, Teio's second-year season was about to begin—this was the year she would be charging for the Classic Triple Crown.
If Rudolf revealed everything now and stirred something up in Teio… it could easily affect her performance. It might even throw off her day-to-day training. That was the last thing Rudolf wanted.
Not to mention—Rudolf herself had only learned this not long ago, and her own head was still a mess.
Forget handling Teio. Rudolf didn't even know how she was supposed to face Kitahara next, or what kind of relationship she was supposed to have with him going forward.
So when Teio asked, Rudolf smoothly steered the conversation away, not letting Teio dwell on it.
And Teio, after hearing Rudolf's explanation, loosened her grip on the honey drink a little.
Last night, she hadn't attended the social gathering because she'd been sulking—but in the end, she still left with the rest of her family.
And as they were leaving, standing in the darkness, she'd caught sight of a familiar Symboli family car.
At first she'd meant to go over and say hello.
But the moment she saw the two familiar silhouettes inside, her feet froze.
Why… were Trainer-san and the President together…?
After that, with her thoughts in knots, she sent messages to both Kitahara and Rudolf—New Year's greetings, and a quick question about where they were and what they were doing.
And the strange part was: even though she'd seen them together, both of them replied that there was no one else with them.
It didn't add up.
Clutching her phone and staring at those messages, Teio tossed and turned all night.
So the next morning, the moment she woke, she contacted the female butler who handled her affairs and had her bring her straight to the Symboli main house, determined to ask Rudolf in person.
Before she came, Teio had been uneasy.
But after hearing Rudolf's explanation, she thought about it and decided she might have been overthinking. Rudolf had openly admitted she'd been with Kitahara for a while yesterday.
And as far as Teio knew, Trainer-san didn't have a car—because he was poor (and, in truth, because other people opposed it)—so it made sense he might have hitched a ride with the President.
By the time Teio sent her messages, a fair amount of time had already passed since she'd seen them together. It was entirely possible Trainer-san had already gotten out of the car—meaning there really was no one else with him then.
"I see…"
The tight knot in Teio's chest loosened a little. After they chatted a bit longer, and more Symboli family members started appearing around them, Teio said she wanted to keep talking in Rudolf's room.
Rudolf didn't object.
Even though Kitahara had slept there last night, Rudolf had done an extensive scent treatment afterward to keep anyone from noticing anything—there were plenty of Umamusume in the Symboli household, after all.
So she wasn't worried Teio would discover anything. She simply nodded and led her to the room.
But not long after Teio entered, someone knocked on the door, saying Symboli Speed wanted to speak with Rudolf about something.
"Teio, wait here for a bit," Rudolf said. "I'll be right back."
"Mhm!" Teio nodded obediently, watching Rudolf leave.
And then—
Thump.
The instant Rudolf vanished from sight, Teio set her honey drink on the table and dove onto Rudolf's bed, rolling around.
"President… hehehe… President…"
She rolled for a good while, soaking up a generous dose of "President energy." When she finally sat up, she looked much happier.
See? Of course the President and Trainer-san wouldn't lie to her. And there was no way they'd betray—
…Her?
Teio's expression froze.
Maybe she'd been rolling too enthusiastically, because something that had been tucked into a crack along the bed got jostled loose.
A single black hair.
It looked… oddly familiar.
No one knew how it had gotten there.
Maybe it had stuck to someone last night in the dojo. Maybe it had fallen out while someone slept. Either way, it had ended up in this room, slipped into a gap near the bed during Rudolf's cleanup, and gone unnoticed.
Now Teio pinched it between her fingers. After studying it for a moment, she brought it to her nose and sniffed lightly.
The scent was faint—so faint another Umamusume might not have caught it at all.
But Teio's sense of smell, even among Umamusume with keen noses, was top-tier.
So not only did she recognize that familiar scent from the seemingly ordinary strand of hair—
She could even tell how long it had been there.
It was fresh.
Fresh, like someone had spent the night here.
Silence. Stillness. Dead quiet.
Staring at the black strand in her hand, Teio's gaze slowly sank.
After who knew how long, she put the hair away, returned to the sofa, picked up her honey drink, and sat there without moving until Rudolf came back.
"Sorry, Teio. I kept you waiting…"
Rudolf entered, then immediately noticed Teio's expression looked… off. Concern crept into her voice.
"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
"…No."
Teio was silent for a moment, then took a long, hard pull from her honey drink.
"It's just… I'm kind of bummed I didn't go out last night. If I had, I could've talked with you and Trainer-san…"
"What's there to regret?" Rudolf said. "If you want, I can take you back to the academy right now—"
Teio didn't answer. She just quietly sipped her honey drink.
Only, for some reason, the honey drink that was usually sweeter the more she drank—something she could never get enough of—
Today tasted a little bitter.
---
T/N: GULP
okay guys DO NOT PUT BONUS CHAPTER STONES THIS WEEK!!!!
taking a week break yes yes DO NOT POWER STONE THIS WEEK!!!