At the same moment the Uma Musume were shocked to see Mizuno sitting in a wheelchair, Mizuno himself—wearing the Intent Glasses—was equally stunned by what these beautiful Uma Musume really thought of him.
Because the instant he entered the training room, Mizuno had already scanned each girl's intentions—following the order they'd joined the team.
First was the earliest member, and also Mizuno's very first Uma—
Haru Urara: Pure white heart, 100/100.
That 100% meant she absolutely adored Mizuno and would never dislike him, no matter what.
Then again, with Urara's angelic personality, she'd probably show 100% white hearts toward literally anyone.
Next, the little sister this big brother doted on the most—
Rice Shower: Deep pink heart, 95/100.
Love… and extremely high at that.
But Mizuno didn't feel anything was off; he actually felt kind of happy about it.
Probably something like familial love, he thought. After all, he'd always treated Rice Shower as his own little sister.
With her affection that high, Rice Shower clearly saw him as a true older brother too!
Totally fine~ Mizuno decided without another thought, immediately putting Rice Shower on his whitelist.
Third up, the ruler of the Monarch's Basement—
Tokai Teio: Deep pink heart, 83/100.
"Ugh, figures…" Mizuno muttered, his mouth twitching as he looked at Teio's score. Honestly, this was about what he'd expected.
That was just the fate of being Tokai Teio's Trainer.
Even though he deliberately avoided her every day—turning down every excuse outside training and minimizing contact as much as possible—her affection just kept climbing. It was impossible to maintain a normal, healthy Trainer–Uma relationship.
If Mizuno ran, Teio chased; if he stopped, she clung and acted cute; if he played dumb, she only stuck closer.
As expected of the Monarch's Basement ruler—no matter how you struggled, you'd never escape her shackles.
Honestly, 83 was already mercifully low. If it were a full 100, Mizuno might've suffered a heart attack right then and there.
All he could do was pray that day wouldn't come too soon, so he could enjoy a few more days under the sun.
Next, the girl who constantly needed verbal reassurance—
King Halo: Dark pink heart, 75/100.
"Huh?" Mizuno blinked in disbelief, certain he was seeing things.
This girl was definitely acting weird! Why was her heart pink too?! And why so high at 75?!
"…" Mizuno frowned, wondering if either his eyes or the Intent Glasses were malfunctioning.
King Halo should have zero romantic interest in him. She was always asking him to help her find a boyfriend—clearly seeing him as a dependable older figure, not a love interest.
Yet now her affection was almost on par with Teio's?!
Was it familial love, like Rice Shower's?
"P-probably…?" Mizuno told himself, grasping at that explanation.
He just couldn't believe his "eldest daughter," King Halo, might have special feelings for him.
No matter what, I'll need to keep some distance from her, he decided, quietly moving King Halo onto the grey list—pending further observation.
Fifth, the Mejiro family's young lady—Mejiro McQueen.
"McQueen, huh…" Just hearing her name made Mizuno remember that traumatic incident a few days earlier, when she'd suddenly tried to "arrest" him in a clothing store.
With no warning or reason at all, Mejiro McQueen—whom Mizuno thought had the weakest connection with him in the whole team—had somehow made the first move!
He couldn't wrap his head around it. They'd always had a polite, professional relationship. Why would she suddenly try to kidnap him?
Did he do something to offend her?
No matter how hard he thought, nothing came to mind.
After she joined, he'd carefully tailored her training plan, made Honey Drinks whenever she asked, and always replied to her messages. What on earth was she dissatisfied with?
Since he had no clue, he could only rely on the Intent Glasses to gauge how big the "X" (dislike) above her head had grown.
But when Mizuno looked at McQueen and saw the symbol above her, his heart skipped a beat.
Mejiro McQueen: Pink-and-black heart, fluctuating between love and malice, 50/100.
He hadn't expected that at all. Not a cross, but a heart—the same as the others?!
Even stranger, its color kept flickering between pink (affection) and black (malice)!
Judging by her posture—hands over her chest, stealing glances his way—she seemed deeply conflicted, unsure how to treat him.
"What kind of situation is this…?" Mizuno wondered. He hadn't tested these glasses on many Uma, but this was definitely rare.
What did the flickering colors mean? Agnes Tachyon had never mentioned anything like this…
So Mizuno drew his own conclusion: Mejiro McQueen was at a critical crossroads. His next actions might decide whether her feelings turned into love—or hatred.
Neither outcome was ideal. Honestly, he would've preferred a simple, safe white heart from her.
Thus, Mejiro McQueen joined King Halo on the grey list.
The last Uma he'd check today was an American girl from another team—one with a particularly complicated connection to him.
El Condor Pasa.
Ever since Mizuno escaped her remote mountain hideout, he'd planned to sever all ties with El Condor Pasa. After all, he had a bizarre marriage contract with her, and he definitely didn't want to become a Uma Musume's husband at his age—so he'd chosen to run away from the whole thing.
Unfortunately, after wrestling her to a draw, Mizuno had carried her back to her dorm and left a note saying if she ever wanted a rematch, she could find President Rudolf. And that's exactly what Condor did, getting Mizuno's true identity from Symboli Rudolf.
He found out yesterday, after borrowing a phone from Agnes Tachyon to log into his Tracen Academy account—only to discover a stack of unread messages from Rudolf, sent two days earlier.
[Chat with President Rudolf]
[Rudolf]:A certain Uma named El Condor Pasa came to me, saying she urgently needs to talk to someone called Hideki Gou, and she perfectly described his appearance.
[Rudolf]:Black clothes, full disguise… that "Hideki Gou" was definitely you, right?
[Rudolf]:Since you told her to find you through me, you must've wanted me to tell her the truth, correct?
(10 minutes later)
[Rudolf]:Why aren't you responding?
(6 hours later)
[Rudolf]:…
[Rudolf]:Well, if you don't reply, I'll assume you're okay with it.
(6 more hours later)
[Rudolf]:😡
[Rudolf]:Fine, I'm telling her then!
(Next day)
[Rudolf]:Great, ignoring me again? You just earned yourself another ten Uma Pyoi!
And that's how Mizuno's true identity was exposed to Condor—and how he somehow owed Rudolf another ten rounds of Uma Pyoi punishment.
Since Condor already knew who he really was—and because today's announcement partly involved her—Mizuno had invited her here too.
He expected her affection to be low, since they'd barely interacted—
"Let's see…" Mizuno glanced nervously above her head.
El Condor Pasa: Deep pink heart, 82/100.
"Pfft—!" Mizuno almost coughed up blood.
"Seriously…?" He stared, stunned.
What was it with American Uma Musume being so ridiculously straightforward?!
They'd only met three times—two wrestling matches and one accidental home visit—and yet Condor's affection score was higher than King Halo's, almost catching up to Teio's?!
Gah! That's basically marriage-level affection!
"Gulp…" Mizuno felt a mix of terror and relief.
Thank god he'd signed that marriage contract using a fake name. Otherwise, Condor could've actually forced him into becoming her husband!
But the contract still had his fingerprints, and Condor had a recording of him agreeing to it. Both were impossible to deny…
Her verdict was clear: blacklist! Absolutely blacklisted—right alongside Tokai Teio!
"…"
Mizuno surveyed the training room and sighed.
Great. Out of six Uma here, four are danger-level. We're doomed~