Inside Team TAC's training room, six Uma Musume had gathered.
Each of them had received a message from Mizuno the night before, asking everyone to meet—he had something "very important" to announce. They came early, seated neatly around the long table, waiting in uneasy silence.
Rice Shower was the first to arrive. She sat perfectly still, hands folded on her knees, her violet eyes fixed on the door, praying that the next person to walk in would be her beloved Onii-sama and not someone else.
"Mmm-mm~" Beside her, Tokai Teio rested her chin in one hand, humming cheerfully while daydreaming about leaping straight into Mizuno-san's arms when he arrived. Her legs swung rhythmically beneath the table.
Across from them, King Halo scrolled through her phone, rereading old texts from Mizuno-san—each compliment perfectly tailored to her tastes. Every time she found one particularly flattering line, she let out an elegant little laugh: "Hohoho~!"
Mejiro McQueen, however, sat silent, pale, and fidgeting.
Just days earlier, she had lured Mizuno to her family's café, summoned her household retainers, and tried to kidnap him to the Mejiro estate. The plan had collapsed spectacularly when he was rescued by none other than the infamous mad scientist and a fence-kicking delinquent Uma Musume.
Failure or not, an attempted abduction was still a crime. She couldn't pretend it hadn't happened.
Now McQueen dreaded that Mizuno's "important announcement" might actually be a public condemnation—or even her expulsion from the team. If that happened, she would go down as the Mejiro family's greatest disgrace: the one who ruined their chance to recruit a top-class trainer and strengthen their lineage.
"Guu…" McQueen tugged nervously at her ponytail, heart twisting.
Yet the pain wasn't only guilt or fear of punishment. It was also the sharp ache of realizing she might never again chat casually with Mizuno-san.
She didn't understand why that thought hurt so much. To her, he was supposed to be nothing more than a walking Honey Drink dispenser. But when she imagined becoming enemies—unable even to greet him—her chest seized like she was drowning in the Dead Sea.
Was it just withdrawal from the drinks? Remorse for her actions?
Or… had Mizuno-san's quiet kindness and sense of responsibility already tied her heart to him in ways she hadn't noticed?
"Guu…" She pressed a hand to her chest, unwilling—or unable—to untangle those feelings.
Whatever they were, she knew one thing: she absolutely couldn't lose him. Whether she apologized sincerely and begged forgiveness or resorted to underhanded Mejiro tactics again, she still hadn't decided.
Apart from Team TAC's usual members, there was one extra face in the room.
"I'm telling you—Little Gou—ah no, Mizuno-san—is the only human who's ever gone toe-to-toe with me in a wrestling match!" El Condor Pasa stood proudly atop a chair, striking poses as she animatedly retold the story of their bizarre first encounter.
"Wow, that's amazing~!" Haru Urara listened with shining eyes.
Rice Shower and Tokai Teio exchanged wary looks.
Who was this interloper? Barging into their territory, bragging about their beloved trainer in front of Urara of all people? And since when had Mizuno fought a wrestling match with an Uma Musume—let alone tied? Something about this smelled very suspicious.
Still, questions could wait.
Right now, everyone just wanted to know—why wasn't Mizuno-san here yet?
"Where is he?" someone murmured.
With his usual punctuality, Mizuno always arrived at least an hour early. No matter how soon anyone reached the track, he'd already be there like a diligent NPC, equipment prepped and training plans ready.
But today… he was late.
An entire hour had passed, and still no sign of him.
Could he have been kidnapped by some deranged Uma Musume on his way here?!
"I have to go find Onii-sama!" Rice Shower shot up, resolve blazing.
"I'm going too!" Teio leapt up right after her.
"Then I'll message him and see if something happened." King Halo started furiously texting, spamming his inbox with noble urgency.
"Guu… I'll stay here and wait…" McQueen whispered, hands trembling in her lap.
"Count me in too!" Condor raised her arm energetically.
"Urara wants to help too~!" Haru Urara chimed in brightly.
"Alright, then let's all go together," Rice Shower decided, rallying the group.
They had just divided up tasks and taken their first step toward the door when it suddenly swung open from the other side.
"Sorry, I'm late…" came a familiar voice.
Vodka stood in the doorway, pushing Mizuno—seated in a wheelchair—slowly into the room.
"?"
Every Uma Musume froze. Their expressions shifted in a heartbeat—from confusion, to relief, to utter shock.
Mizuno blinked at the sea of stares and immediately bowed his head.
"I'm really, really sorry! There was a traffic jam!"
"A traffic jam?" the girls echoed, puzzled.
Since when did Mizuno-san drive? They clearly remembered he always took public transit—and there hadn't been any traffic reports that morning.
Unless… he was talking about the wheelchair he was sitting in?
Given Tracen's notoriously high rate of wheelchair-bound trainers, maybe there really was a "wheelchair lane" somewhere on campus. In that case, a pile-up wasn't impossible—especially if some of the trainers were fleeing from their over-enthusiastic Uma Musume again.
But the real question was far more serious:
Why was Mizuno-san in a wheelchair in the first place?!