Inside the dim room, a faint floral fragrance drifted through the air.
The curtains were drawn tightly, preventing even a single sliver of sunlight from peeking through.
By the time Divine Starlight regained her senses, she was already slumped down on the tatami mats.
Mejiro McQueen was hugging her tightly.
"McQueen-chan... what on earth happened? Shutting yourself away in your room all day— that's not like you at all~"
Starlight's hand gently stroked McQueen's head, her tone calm and steady.
"Starlight-chan... am I a complete failure...?"
Biting her lip, Mejiro McQueen forced the words out from between her teeth with great reluctance.
There was a hint of grievance in her voice.
"Why would you say that? You are very strong, McQueen. I know that for a fact."
"Then why... why won't Mr. Kitahara agree to be my trainer?"
"Perhaps there are other reasons, or perhaps the man is just tired... there's no way he'd ever look down on you, McQueen."
Hearing this, McQueen felt a measure of solace in her heart.
Unconsciously, she snuggled a little deeper into Starlight's embrace.
"McQueen... don't dwell so much on these things. Perhaps you will find a trainer who is an even better fit for you."
"Besides, isn't your growth in strength something determined by you alone?"
The words of persuasion sank deep into McQueen's ears. She tightened her grip on the ribbons around Starlight's waist.
"Starlight-chan, is that what you did back then, too?"
McQueen recalled the day she had rejected Starlight's confession— the sight of her throwing away the flowers and turning to walk away.
"Of course. I've always done that. External factors are just there to assist, the only one who can truly make me strong is myself."
As the words fell, the vast room lapsed into a moment of silence.
"I... can I train with you, Starlight-chan? Although this might be a bit..."
Before McQueen could finish her hesitant sentence, Starlight readily agreed.
"Sure."
"I remember you've entered your race preparation period. Aren't you worried I'll be a distraction?"
"It's no problem at all. Besides, Rice Shower-chan and Yaeno-chan are already training with me every morning. It's really nothing."
'What! Two people have already beaten me to it?'
"...Then, I want to follow you all day long, Starlight-chan. Is that okay?"
"Well... not during class hours, but for any other time, that's fine."
Sitting up from Starlight's embrace, Mejiro McQueen let out a smile.
"Then it's a promise, Starlight-chan."
Seeing that her friend's mood had recovered, Starlight stood up.
"By the way, is this really the Mejiro residence? It's so huge... it's my first time seeing such a magnificent family estate."
"Indeed, the Mejiro family is very powerful. Would you consider marrying into it, Starlight-chan?"
"Marrying in? To whom...?"
Faced with Divine Starlight's playful inquiry, Mejiro McQueen's face flushed red as she began to stammer.
"O-Of course it would be... me."
"Haha, alright, I'll stop teasing you."
"Looking at the time, it's almost dinner. Can you stay and have dinner with me, Starlight-chan?"
"Eh... if I do that, it'll be very late by the time I get back to the dorms. Maybe next time when there's a chance, okay?"
"Actually, you could just stay the night, Starlight-chan..."
"I'd better not. I still have to meet up with Kiryuu-chan, and I have training. Next time... Bye-bye, McQueen-chan."
After saying her goodbyes, Starlight turned and headed toward the door without hesitation.
"Starlight-chan!"
McQueen's purple eyes trembled. She took a few quick steps forward and grabbed Divine Starlight's wrist.
"I'll go back... with you. I want to train with you... please, say yes."
Starlight's gaze moved from the hand on her wrist all the way up to McQueen's face.
The pleading look in the other girl's eyes was far too intense, Starlight found it impossible to voice a refusal.
"Al—alright then... let's head back together, McQueen-chan."
As she grasped the hand Divine Starlight reached out to her, the anxiety weighing on McQueen's heart finally settled.
In the courtyard of the Mejiro estate, Ardan watched as Mejiro McQueen walked past her, hand-in-hand with Divine Starlight.
Her brow furrowed slightly.
"Oh well... at least Starlight-chan managed to pull McQueen out of her room."
Gazing at the steam rising from the teacup in her hand, she gave it a gentle blow.
At the Academy's training ground.
Starlight and McQueen had already changed into their training gear and were unhurriedly going through their warm-up exercises.
Sitting on the grass, McQueen was perched on Starlight's lap. Though she kept a stoic expression, she was feeling quite wonderful inside.
Behind her, her tail was swishing rapidly against the other girl's calves.
"Ten more seconds, Starlight-chan. Hang in there."
Feeling the warmth beneath her, McQueen spoke with firm resolve.
"Huh? Ten more seconds? I'm pretty sure that's the third time you've said that."
"Th-that's because, well, the weather is chilly. Stretching thoroughly can only be a good thing, there's certainly no harm in it."
Nodding, Starlight tidied a few stray strands of her bangs.
"True, but can we move on to the next set? I feel like if we stretch any more, my legs are going to snap."
After lingering for a few more moments, Mejiro McQueen finally chose to stand up.
"Alright. Starlight-chan! Let's move on to the next item."
Outside the training ground, a small, orange-haired girl wearing a white top hat was strolling unhurriedly down the path.
She held a folding fan in her hand, and a small black cat was perched on her shoulder.
The blue and white dress she wore swayed back and forth with the breeze.
Following behind her was Secretary Hayakawa Tazuna, dressed in her green professional suit.
On her left was Symboli Rudolf, carrying a stack of documents.
"It would be better to build a fish pond in this open space. Those koi fish that are popular online lately are quite nice, arrange to buy a few."
"Have someone prune these cherry blossom trees a bit, they don't seem to match the shape of the ones further up."
...
Listening to the Chairwoman's various suggestions, Rudolf recorded them all with a deadpan expression.
Arriving at a section of the perimeter fence, Yayoi Akikawa stood on her tiptoes slightly to look toward the training ground.
Under the setting sun, that silver figure seemed to give off a golden trail.
The sight of Divine Starlight galloping across the turf was truly dazzling, leaving Yayoi Akikawa momentarily dazed.
"Chairwoman?"
Beside her, Hayakawa Tazuna followed her gaze. Seeing it was Divine Starlight, she understood immediately.
"She's the Uma Musume who has been compared to Gold City lately. I didn't expect Starlight-chan to still be training at this hour..."
"That child has always been very hardworking."
Snapping out of it, Yayoi Akikawa turned to face the two behind her and gave a couple of dry coughs.
"I want to play with her tomorrow. Tazuna, arrange it for me."
"Um, Chairwoman! Starlight-san is currently in her race preparation period and has training tomorrow. Perhaps next time."
Symboli Rudolf hurriedly spoke up to interject.
"That's right, Madam Chairwoman. Starlight has a race next month, and it's her first G1 race. It's very important."
Hearing their explanations, Yayoi Akikawa nodded.
"Fine, fine."
'Phew... Starlight is supposed to be having tea with me at the Student Council tomorrow morning. Sorry, Chairwoman.'
Rudolf shifted her gaze toward the training ground, where Mejiro McQueen and Starlight were chatting and laughing while doing endurance training.
...
'Tsk... With such an important race prep period underway, how can she be acting like this? Starlight, I'll have to have a serious talk with you tomorrow.'