"Seiun Sky, how do you feel now?"
In the dream world, the Black-haired Horse Girl, whose appearance was identical to Seiun Sky, asked.
"Do I… count 'feeling nothing' as a feeling?"
Seiun Sky stood in place and jumped, then closed her eyes and carefully felt around.
"I don't feel anything…"
The Three Goddesses clicked their tongues: "No progress today either."
The hidden danger within Seiun Sky must be removed as soon as possible.
The Three Goddesses looked at the Black-haired Horse Girl standing before them.
…The longer it drags on, at some point in the future, when it erupts, it will cause huge and irreversible damage to Seiun Sky.
If this really happened, then this child might only be able to…
No… compared to that outcome, spending the rest of her life in bed would still be an acceptable result.
"Huh? What is it, what is it?"
Seeing the Three Goddesses staring intently at her, Seiun Sky leaned forward with her hands behind her back, then blinked.
"Could it be… that even 'I' can't resist my charm and have fallen in love with me~?"
"Hmm? No."
Seeing Seiun Sky looking at them with a smile, the Three Goddesses shook their heads.
"When you came into this world, I already fell in love with you, you know?"
"Ah…"
Seiun Sky looked at the Three Goddesses in front of her. She hadn't expected them to say such a thing and even froze for several seconds before reacting.
"Oh, you're blushing?"
Seeing Seiun Sky's fair face quickly turn red, the Three Goddesses showed a playful expression: "…You have moments when you blush too, huh?"
"Ugh—!"
Teased by the Three Goddesses, Seiun Sky let out a cry of distress, her face red.
…How was I supposed to know you would say that?!
"Oh, so cute!"
Seeing Seiun Sky's shy appearance, the Three Goddesses felt as if a cat was scratching at their hearts, making them itch.
"Quick! Let me hug you!"
"Wait! Hold on!"
Seeing the Three Goddesses spread their arms, wanting to embrace her, Seiun Sky, in a moment of quick thinking, extended her hands to block them.
"Morning practice is about to start, if I don't wake up now, I'll be late!"
"Just let me hug you for a bit, it won't take too long."
Hearing Seiun Sky's reason for refusal, the Three Goddesses, unwilling to end it like this, propped their finger on their chin and fell into recollection: "…When you were little, before you regained your memories of your previous life, every time you saw us, you would cry and fuss, wanting us to hug you~"
"Oh, now that I think about it, you were so much cuter back then."
"Please don't say any more!"
Seiun Sky, her face already as red as a ripe persimmon, stomped her foot in shame and indignation.
Don't make me remember those embarrassing childhood moments—!
The girl let out a silent scream.
"Sigh, fine, fine."
Stared at intensely by the Black-haired Horse Girl with angry eyes, the Three Goddesses feigned helplessness and sighed: "…Since you've said so, I can't force you, can I?"
"Alright, that's enough for today."
The Three Goddesses smiled and raised their hand, snapping their fingers at the Black-haired Horse Girl in front of them.
"Good luck with morning practice~"
…
Seiun Sky, lying on the bed, opened her eyes.
Sitting up in the dim room, the Black-haired Horse Girl covered her mouth and yawned.
Saying 'I can't force you'…
You're clearly just worried that if you play too much, it'll be hard to clean up, aren't you?
Thinking this, Seiun Sky took off her pajamas and grabbed the Himeji Academy uniform placed nearby, putting it on.
Then, in the washroom, she looked at herself in the mirror, raised her hands to her chest, and made a 'ganbatte' gesture.
"Hmm! Today is also a day full of hope~?"
Then, in the dormitory where there was no one else but her, she said this to 'herself' with full energy.
But before she even reached the training ground, she saw a familiar figure sitting by the wall in the distance, his head bobbing up and down like a pecking chick.
He didn't even notice her walking up to him.
"…Trainer? Why are you here?"
Walking up to Saito Asuka, bending down and gently patting his shoulder, Seiun Sky met the startled man's eyes as he instinctively looked at her: "Shouldn't you be sleeping in the Director's Office, or staying up late handling documents at this hour?"
"...So it was you. You startled me."
The moment Seiun Sky's hand landed on his shoulder, the man, who had been fighting off drowsiness, immediately felt his mind clear considerably.
Under Seiun Sky's puzzled gaze, he stood up, stretched contentedly, and then answered the Black-haired Horse Girl's question.
"I just wanted to see your morning practice. What's wrong? Am I not welcome?"
"Oh, so Trainer-san was worried I might be slacking off?"
Seiun Sky covered her mouth with one hand, smiling as she replied, "But you woke up so early… Did you stay up late again last night dealing with documents?"
"Hmph hmph hmph, I spent all of yesterday afternoon finishing those documents!"
One could hear the man's pride in his tone alone: "I went to bed around ten last night!"
Hmph… A mere stack of documents. They were nothing to fear in front of him, who was becoming increasingly adept at the Director's work!
"Around ten… For Trainer-san, who always stays up late, that's indeed a very early bedtime."
"Hmph hmph… Of course. When my attention isn't divided and I focus on one thing, I'm invincible!"
"Mhm mhm, it seems Trainer-san has been working very hard, hasn't he~?"
Seiun Sky looked at him: "But… did Trainer also slack off when handling documents?"
"Slacking off? Ah, occasionally."
The man answered casually: "But most of the time it's because I only recently took over this academy, and I'm not yet very skilled with the work."
"Sometimes when I feel too tired, or my eyes ache, I'll stop and rest for a while."
At this point, the man paused deliberately, glanced at the Black-haired Horse Girl standing before him, and then showed a resentful expression: "...And recently, you all have been constantly talking to me about this, my ears are practically calloused from hearing it."
"But Ms. Megumi and I are truly looking out for you, Trainer!"
Seiun Sky extended a finger and wiggled it from side to side in front of Saito Asuka: "After all… Trainer, you don't want to see this academy close down, do you?"
"You are the Director of this academy now. If you were to suddenly die from staying up late, all our efforts would be in vain, you know~?"
"...While I know you all want me to stop staying up late, can you be a bit more serious when you say that?"
"Eh~? But I always talk like this, don't I?"
The Black-haired Horse Girl replied with a giggle.