As Kuroha's declaration settled over the room, the atmosphere in the tearoom suddenly grew light and cheerful.
"Yay, ehehe."
Bright's eyes sparkled, and the ahoge on top of her head swayed happily along with her mood.
"Mm…"
Dober, more introverted by nature, still turned her head slightly aside in embarrassment.
But in those lovely purple eyes, an irrepressible joy was shining, and the corners of her lips had already lifted on their own.
After learning that they had officially joined Chasing Light, the two little horsegirls each showed their own distinct kind of delight.
Ramonu sat to the side, sipping tea as she watched the warm scene with a smile.
A moment later.
She gently set down the teacup in her hand, then suddenly turned her head and called to the Mejiro maid standing guard outside the tearoom.
"Are the two young ladies' luggage ready?"
"Madam, both young ladies' luggage was packed long ago. They may leave at any time."
The maid's respectful reply immediately came from outside the door.
"?"
"?"
The two little ones froze on the spot.
Their young faces were now filled with utter confusion.
Bright blinked, bewildered, and asked, "Ready? What's ready? What luggage, Auntie?"
Dober also grew flustered and quickly asked along with her, "Yeah, Auntie… where are we supposed to be going?"
Faced with the question marks practically floating over the two little girls' heads, Ramonu calmly lifted her teacup and took another sip. Then she looked at them and said with a light smile, "Where? To Tokyo, of course."
"Huh? Tokyo?"
"Why are we suddenly going to Tokyo?"
The two little ones looked at each other.
Watching their astonished expressions from the side, Kuroha could not help shaking his head with a smile. He explained gently, "Chasing Light's base and the vast majority of its training resources are all in Tokyo."
"Since you've already become Chasing Light horsegirls, where else would you go if not Tokyo?"
"B-But… we're still in Hokkaido right now…"
Dober hurriedly tried to argue.
However, halfway through her words, the little girl's voice suddenly stopped.
Bright also fell silent.
With the two little girls' intelligence, far beyond others their age, they naturally caught on very quickly.
The Auntie Ramonu before them, who held the reins of power in the Mejiro family, and their future trainer, who was currently at the height of his fame in Central.
Even if their authority and influence in this far-eastern island nation could not be said to cover the sky with one hand, they were still more than enough to make their words carry absolute weight.
A simple school transfer was nothing more than a matter of saying the word.
After the two little horsegirls understood the logic behind it, they also knew resistance was futile.
They could only droop their ears together and accept reality with some dejection.
"…We get it."
In truth.
They did not genuinely reject going to Tokyo.
It was just that, as Hokkaido natives who were still quite young, neither of them had ever left home for a long period before.
Being abruptly told to move like this left them mentally unprepared for a while.
Dober especially.
She already had a bit of social anxiety, so she felt even more uneasy than Bright.
Just as the two little girls were growing anxious.
A pair of familiar, warm hands once again settled on their heads. Unlike before, this time they gently ruffled their hair.
"All right, all right. You don't need to worry that much."
Kuroha looked at them, his gaze full of softness and a smile.
"You're still so young, so of course we wouldn't let you live by yourselves."
"Once you arrive in Tokyo, you'll live together with all the horsegirls in Chasing Light. When the time comes, Ardan-nee and McQueen-nee will be there too."
"And the other senpai in Chasing Light are all very kind and easy to get along with."
"So relax. Just welcome your new life with an open heart."
After receiving that round of comfort, the two little Mejiro girls finally nodded. At Ramonu's signal, they left with the maid to check whether their luggage had been packed properly.
After the two little ones left, Ramonu turned her head and glanced at the wall clock.
Only then did she realize that, before she knew it, it was already almost noon.
She smiled and extended an invitation to Kuroha.
"Kuroha, it's about time. Since you're already here, stay and have a simple lunch at the main residence today."
"As for Ardan… hm?"
When she mentioned Ardan, Ramonu finally seemed to remember something and asked curiously, "Speaking of which, where did that girl run off to?"
"She was a little tired, so she went to rest first," Kuroha explained with a smile.
"I see. That works out. Once Ardan wakes up from her nap, you can have lunch together…"
"Since Haha-sama has said so, then I'll respectfully accept." Naturally, Kuroha agreed with a smile.
The matter of the two little Mejiro horsegirls joining the team had been resolved perfectly.
After Kuroha and Ardan had a simple lunch, they stayed at the main residence for a while longer before directly leaving with Dober and Bright.
With Ardan, a familiar older girl of the same family, by her side, Dober, whose body had still been trembling a little at first, relaxed quite a bit.
After another few hours by car.
The four of them returned to Tokyo.
…
Central Tracen Academy.
At this moment.
Kuroha was taking little Dober and little Bright around the place where they would be spending their middle school years in the future.
The two little ones were curious about everything here, looking left and right with obvious excitement.
"Go! Keep going!"
Just then, waves of childish cheering rang out from the shared training field nearby.
"Oh? What's this?"
Kuroha instinctively looked over.
There, teams of elementary division horsegirls who had not yet reached their growth spurt were holding practice races under the teachers' direction.
Although some of the horsegirls' movements were still far from standard, the first signs of the fighting spirit innate to their kind were already beginning to show.
Ardan glanced over as well and explained, "That's the elementary division's last PE class before dismissal. They only have it twice a week."
"Usually, horsegirls from the different classes are mixed together and split into teams of ten for running races."
"It isn't especially formal, but it's also one of the few times the elementary division horsegirls can come into contact with a relatively standardized race format."
"I see."
Kuroha nodded in understanding. Then he looked at Dober and Bright, the two Mejiro girls he had just brought into his team.
In his mind, he suddenly recalled the young prodigy from the elementary division whom that red-haired Englishman and Ginjiro had recommended to him during their small gathering after his return to Japan some time ago.
"Narita Brian…"
"Since I'm here anyway, I might as well take a look!"
Once the thought came to him, he acted on it.
Afterward, the smiles on the faces of the academy staff members who had been watching the fun nearby gradually faded.
They stared blankly as Chasing Light's head trainer, together with the legendary horsegirl Ardan, led two innocent little horsegirls into the elementary division's shared training field.
(End of Chapter)
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