"Go back?"
All the Uma Musume—except Urara—looked puzzled at Mizuno's question.
"Why would we go back?"
"Huh?!" Mizuno stared at them in disbelief, spreading his hands.
"It's already this late and you're not going home—don't tell me you all plan to stay here tonight and sleep with me?"
"…"
The Uma Musume said nothing, only staring silently at him—an answer in itself.
"Eh? Everyone's staying here tonight?" Urara tilted her head in confusion. "I thought we were all going back to the dorms soon…"
"Urara, are you sleepy? Should I take you back first?" King Halo gently patted her hair.
"Mmm… I'm not sleepy yet…" Urara looked up and asked innocently, "Halo-chan, will you come back here afterward?"
"Uh… I still have something to discuss with Mizuno-san…" King Halo's cheeks reddened slightly, as if recalling something specific.
"What are you going to discuss? Urara wants to hear it too."
"You can't." King Halo placed both hands firmly on Urara's shoulders, looking at her seriously.
"You're still too young for that kind of thing. When you're older, I'll tell you, okay?"
Mizuno: "?"
What did she mean by "too young"? Why did that sound exactly like a mother sending her child out of the room before making a new sibling with the father?!
The only one who clearly grasped the situation was El Condor Pasa—who, as a child, had once gotten up in the middle of the night and accidentally seen her parents "wrestling" in their bedroom…
"Ehh?! Everyone's here to wrestle with Mizuno-san?!" Condor gasped, clutching her head in shock as she looked around at the others, realizing they seemed to share her exact intentions.
She'd thought this was just a casual get-together—that they'd chat, maybe snack, and head back when tired. But now everyone was staying over?!
She'd even worked up the courage to remove her eyepatch tonight, ready to bare her true self to Mizuno-san… but how could she do that with all these other people around?!
"Wrestle? No, no." Symboli Rudolf shook her head calmly, folding her arms with a gentle smile. "Mizuno-san and I have work-related matters to handle. I'm here tonight to have a long, deep discussion with him."
Mizuno was speechless.
Rudolf was the Student Council President in charge of academy administration; he was just a trainer handling Uma Musume development. Their jobs barely overlapped!
And even if they did have something to discuss, couldn't they have done it during the day? Why did it have to be at night, in his private tent? No matter how he looked at it, it screamed "suspicious."
"So…" Mizuno turned toward Air Groove, Rudolf's vice president and right hand, standing calmly at her side. His lips twitched as he asked, "You too have some 'work-related' issues to discuss with me?"
He was sure she'd give the same excuse—she was part of Rudolf's camp, after all.
But to his surprise, Air Groove simply shook her head.
"No…"
She blinked once, then pointed toward the bed in the corner of the tent.
Following her gesture, Mizuno's eyes landed on a familiar sunflower-patterned pillow resting neatly there—Air Groove's pillow.
Air Groove walked over, sat gracefully on the bed, picked up the pillow, and hugged it to her chest.
"I normally sleep here anyway," she said simply.
"Huh?!" Mizuno stared at her, trembling. "You mean… you live here?"
"Mm." Air Groove nodded, a faint blush coloring her face as she nervously twirled a lock of hair around her finger.
"Ever since you left this place… I've been living here in this tent."
"?!" Mizuno froze, the realization dawning on him.
No wonder he'd seen Tracen uniforms and women's underwear drying outside earlier—and that sign reading:
[Important Private Territory—No Unauthorized Entry]
So after he'd wrapped up his experiment and abandoned the site, Air Groove had moved in and claimed it as her own?!
In hindsight, he had no right to complain. Once his experiment ended, he hadn't renewed the land usage rights. Just like a tenant after a lease expires—no matter how much you'd renovated or furnished the place, you couldn't keep living there without permission.
He'd just assumed this patch of flowerbed land was unclaimed and the tent still vacant, so he'd shamelessly stayed on for a while longer.
But now it turned out he was the intruder—living rent-free in Air Groove's home?!
"I'm so sorry! I'll leave right away!" Mizuno said in a rush, grabbing the wheels of his chair to roll out immediately.
But before he could move an inch, Air Groove darted forward and held him firmly in place.
"No need!" she said quickly, keeping him from leaving.
"This place originally belonged to you. You can stay here as long as you like—you don't need my permission." She gently took his hand, her gaze locking with his.
"The reason I applied for this land and kept everything just as you left it—including the tent—was so that, when you returned, you'd have a safe place to rest."
"Besides, it's already late. You won't find anywhere suitable outside at this hour. Staying here is your best option."
She smiled softly. "Even if you insist on leaving, I won't allow it."
Her tone was calm and tender, yet carried an unshakable certainty.
"Is that so…? Then… thank you?" Mizuno murmured awkwardly, glancing down at the hand she still held tightly.
Her grip was surprisingly strong—firm but not painful, leaving him no way to break free.
"No need for thanks," Air Groove replied with a gentle smile. "You've helped me so much. This is the least I can do for you."
Then, turning slowly, she faced the circle of Uma Musume—each with their own dubious reasons for being here—and, as the rightful owner of the tent, declared with a meaningful smile:
"Tonight, who gets to stay here… will be up to me~"