Watching Agnes Tachyon hang up the phone, Platinum panted heavily, a lopsided grin spreading across her face.
Ignoring the fussy, married-couple dynamic between Manhattan Cafe and Agnes Tachyon, Platinum quickly jogged a few steps forward to catch up with Symboli Rudolf.
The winding mountain road behind Tracen Academy was an old asphalt pavement, showing signs of wear from dry air and temperature changes. Coincidentally, Tokyo had been quite cold last year, with a few light snowfalls, leaving the grey road surface streaked with cracks.
This road usually saw little traffic—a rarity in land-scarce Tokyo—making it a popular morning training spot for many Uma Musume.
Including Symboli Rudolf.
Rudolf was wearing that puffy red tracksuit issued by the school, looking like a pink plastic bag rolling along the ground.
Platinum couldn't help but snicker to herself at the sight of Rudolf's back.
Oh, right. I'm wearing one too. Never mind.
Platinum hurried to Rudolf's side. Rudolf kept her eyes forward, maintaining even breaths and perfect posture—she took her morning training seriously, even now, who knows how long after retirement. The morning air was still chilly, and Platinum could see the white puffs of steam from Rudolf's mouth.
After watching Rudolf for a while and realizing she truly intended to run in silence, Platinum decided to break the ice.
"Symboli Rudolf, what's White Day?"
"Such impudence. You could at least call me 'President'," Rudolf said, delivering a light chop to Platinum's head.
But... White Day, huh...
The question stirred old memories.
"Don't you celebrate it where you're from? Ah, right, I suppose it's a Japan-exclusive version of Valentine's."
"Valentine's is when boys give gifts to girls they like... White Day is the reverse, when girls give return gifts to boys."
(T/N: Technically its the opposite, but since the yayoi sho passed, its march, so assume its an uma musume thing or the author just tweaking)
"Ohh... That sounds pretty romantic." Platinum nodded.
"However... at Tracen Academy, aside from the trainers, all the students are girls. So here, it's evolved into a chocolate-buying, gift-giving sales frenzy."
"Whoa, that sounds intense! It went from a sweet exchange between two people to a massive group event!" Platinum was shocked.
"The chocolates sell out every year."
"So it's really the chocolate companies and the students sharing their 'feelings' for each other now?"
"Incidentally, since Uma Musume tend to be both wealthy and highly motivated, the school always gets rather chaotic around this time. I recall last year, T.M. Opera O erected a life-sized chocolate statue of herself right in the center of the plaza."
"I can already picture the chaos..."
"And furthermore, once the sun came out, the chocolate statue began to melt. By noon, it had turned into a puddle of gooey chocolate mud."
"She melted! Opera melted!"
"Ultimately, it's just a chance for the young ones to burn off excess energy, so the student council lets them have their fun."
Rudolf tilted her head in thought, her pace never faltering. The two had already reached the mountainside without noticing. "And every year without fail, several new couples emerge."
"I see. So it's a holiday for the popular kids to throw a super party."
Rudolf couldn't help but laugh at Platinum's phrasing. "What kind of description is that?"
Platinum nudged Rudolf with her shoulder. "How about you, then? Did you ever use the chance to find your special someone?"
Rudolf merely offered a wry smile. "Such matters have nothing to do with me. Forget finding a partner, I don't even receive that many chocolates."
This was true. As student council president, most students regarded Rudolf with more respect and admiration than romantic interest.
Any chocolates she received were usually 'obligation chocolates', given out of deference. Comparatively speaking, the quantity really wasn't high.
But with chocolate... quality matters more than quantity.
She did always receive a few chocolates, the serious confession kind. But Rudolf had never wanted to take things beyond friendship with those particular friends, so she always deftly sidestepped the issue.
I treat you as a friend, and you actually want to get into my bed?
Scandalous! Symboli Rudolf was righteously indignant.
So every White Day... while it might be an eagerly awaited day for other fillies, for Symboli Rudolf, it was pure torture and torment.
Navigating between 'friends' whose eyes were glinting with unsettling intensity, having to ignore the subtext in their words, finding ways to keep them all civil with each other, all while trying not to break anyone's heart...
Just thinking about it made Rudolf sigh heavily.
Last year's bunch had already been creative enough. Who knew what storm of drama this year would bring?
During the last White Day, Tokai Natural had innovatively drenched herself from head to toe in liquid chocolate, tied a ribbon around herself, and crammed herself into a 1x1x1 meter square box, which she then placed in Rudolf's bedroom—practically right on the bed.
Fortunately, Rudolf had felt a vague sense of foreboding that evening, made a detour, and spent the night at the Symboli family home instead.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have known how to explain to Tokai Natural that even presenting yourself as a gift-wrapped present still just meant 'friends'.
Incidentally, even though Rudolf wasn't there, Mejiro Ramonu was. That one had somehow registered her own fingerprint and quietly slipped into Rudolf's house, heading straight for the third-floor bedroom.
...Now that she thought about it, Tokai Natural had also gotten in rather smoothly. What was going on? Was her house just open for anyone to enter?
When Mejiro Ramonu saw the large box in the bedroom, she remained perfectly calm.
Without even bothering to check its contents, she coolly opened the French windows and tossed the box out from the third floor.
If Rudolf had been there that night... she couldn't even imagine how that would have ended!
Remembering this, Rudolf couldn't help but pat Platinum's shoulder, speaking with grave sincerity. "You must be careful when accepting chocolates."
"There might even be life-threatening dangers."
Platinum looked at Rudolf's pained expression, unsure of what to say, and could only nod blankly.
White Day... seems like it's just a chocolate sales event after all.
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T/N: HSR Fic out on MapleTL!
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T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
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If you guys wanna check it out.