Inside the Class A classroom of the Junior High division:
"I'm going to start training first, I'll leave the rest to you! Bye-bye!"
"Hey! We agreed the two of us would do cleaning duty together! You get back here, you jerk!"
Daiwa Scarlet and Vodka caused a bit of a ruckus for a while before sprinting outside.
In the row by the wall, three seats from the back. Mejiro McQueen listened to their noisy voices while looking at the list of teams in her hand, hesitating over which one to join.
Suddenly, Tokai Teio sat down in front of her and said with a frown: "Come on, McQueen-chan, why not just join our Team Spica? It's not like you have any other team you're dying to join anyway."
"Are you serious?"
"I don't really want to drag a rival into the team either, but Gold Ship said if I didn't bring you in, she'd give me a Pile Driver." Tokai Teio spoke with a somewhat complaining tone.
Hearing this, Mejiro McQueen froze. She spoke in disbelief. "G-Gold Ship..."
"Eh? Do you know her?"
McQueen's tone was one of pure helplessness.
"It's less that I 'know' her, and more that she's been pestering me relentlessly."
A flashback slowly emerged.
Mejiro McQueen was sitting on a bench, reading a manga. The next second, a grinning Gold Ship approached her, holding a Taiyaki.
McQueen looked up in confusion, took the Taiyaki, and took a large bite without any suspicion.
Instantly, a nose-stinging spiciness exploded in her mouth, completely filling her nasal passages.
Unable to endure it, McQueen's face turned bright red as she began to cough.
However, due to her prestigious upbringing, she kept her hand over her mouth to prevent the food from flying out.
But while the food in her mouth stayed put, the piece in her hand was accidentally squeezed too hard, sending crumbs flying straight into Gold Ship's eyeballs.
"Ahhh! My eyes! My eyes!!!"
Gold Ship's limbs went into spasms as she rolled around on the ground, clutching her eyes and screaming.
The scene shifted to the library.
Mejiro McQueen was peacefully reading a book when Gold Ship, sitting nearby, flicked an eraser toward her head. Having anticipated this, McQueen swatted it back with a racket.
Somehow, the eraser's trajectory was perfectly accurate, once again stabbing directly into Gold Ship's eyeball.
McQueen watched with a complex expression as the other girl collapsed, limbs twitching, screaming on the floor once more.
Finally, in the cafeteria.
McQueen had just picked up a croquette to put in her mouth when Gold Ship's chopsticks snatched it away.
Unwilling to lose, McQueen furrowed her brows and snatched it back the moment it was about to enter Gold Ship's mouth.
The two battled back and forth with their chopsticks until the croquette, unable to withstand the pressure, tore apart.
The recoil sent the chopsticks flying, once again stabbing into Gold Ship's eyeball.
Looking at the figure collapsed on the floor, McQueen was beyond exhausted.
Back to reality.
After hearing the description, Tokai Teio mused: "Is it a relationship like the one I have with the Student Council President?"
"I think there might be a bit of a discrepancy there... Sigh, if only Trainer Inami would start a team..."
"Oh? Does McQueen want to train with Starlight-senpai?"
At Teio's words, McQueen's face was suddenly brushed with a faint blush.
"Because Starlight-chan's training is extremely effective. When picking a team, one should obviously look for one that helps them train better."
Hearing McQueen's explanation, Tokai Teio rubbed her chin and nodded in agreement.
"True. Even though Starlight-senpai's training is grueling, you can clearly feel your own strength improving."
By evening, the sun slowly dipped below the mountains.
Everyone from Team Spica was lying on the open ground in front of the temple. It seemed training had concluded, as their foreheads were all more or less covered in sweat.
Special Week was kneeling on the ground, pleading with Silence Suzuka, who was holding a stopwatch.
"One more time, Suzuka-chan!"
Shaking her head, Silence Suzuka gave a gentle smile and advised, "You shouldn't push yourself too hard, Spe-chan."
Looking at the smile on Suzuka's face, Special Week assessed her own condition and nodded, following her advice.
The two of them sat on the steps, chatting as they watched the distant sunset.
"In my Derby, I finished ninth. The track was too long for me, and I couldn't push to my limit..."
Special Week gasped in surprise.
"Eh? You got ninth?! But if you couldn't reach your limit then... how am I supposed to for my Derby?"
"How about putting your favorite carrot at the finish line?"
"Suzuka-chan! Don't tease me!"
And so, the two Uma Musume chatted away as they watched the stars gradually rise into the sky.
The next day, Tokai Teio brought McQueen to Team Spica's training grounds once again.
Watching the three Uma Musume sticking their rears in the air as they crawled on the ground searching for something, McQueen asked hesitantly:
"W-what on earth are you all doing...?"
Suddenly, her expression changed.
Feeling someone stroking her thigh, she instinctively kicked out.
"W-what do you think you're doing!!?"
Ryo Nishizaki lay on the ground not far away with a bright red shoe print on his face.
He scrambled to his feet without a care in the world and marveled, "As expected of an Uma Musume from a prestigious family..."
"See, I told you McQueen isn't a good fit for our team."
"Didn't I say that already? You were the one who insisted on dragging me here to look..."
Just then, Gold Ship noticed the commotion.
Seeing it was Mejiro McQueen, she immediately and gleefully pulled out an application form from behind her back.
Running up to her, she said with a grin:
"You actually came! Hurry up and sign it~"
"I didn't say I was joining..."
Hearing the refusal, Gold Ship— the veteran actress that she is— nonchalantly let two tears escape the corners of her eyes and said aggrievedly, "B-but... I really want to run together with McQueen-chan..."
Our young lady had never dealt with such a scene before and could only comfort her in a panic.
"Don't, don't cry! I didn't say I wouldn't join! I'll consider it some more. It's fine if I observe for a few days, so just stop crying!"
Behind them, Daiwa Scarlet and Vodka watched Gold Ship's performance, completely speechless.
"McQueen-san is surprisingly... naive..."
"Is this the rumored 'sheltered young lady' who doesn't know how the world works?"
Finally, under Gold Ship's relentless pestering, McQueen proposed a compromise: She would stay and train with Team Spica for a few days as a trial period.
"Oh my, McQueen-chan joined Spica? That's great..."
Suddenly, a familiar voice came from behind. Mejiro McQueen froze and turned to see a smiling Starlight.
"N-no, that's not it. I'm just observing."
"I see... actually, I think it's quite good. After all, Team Spica suits McQueen-chan very well."
"Eh? R-really?"
Nodding, Starlight spoke very earnestly.
"Actually, deep down, McQueen longs for freedom too, right? Whenever we talk about things you love, you always drop the 'young lady' act."
"The you who chats with me freely is actually the most authentic and beautiful..."
Lowering her head, Mejiro McQueen nodded thoughtfully.
She looked up at Starlight, then looked at Gold Ship with a slight blush.
"That form... I'll sign it for now. Of course, if it doesn't feel right, I'll still choose to leave the team..."
Gold Ship was stunned for a moment, then happily pulled out the application and handed it over.
She glanced at Divine Starlight nearby and nodded with a sigh of admiration.
'I pestered her for so long with no luck, and you settled it with just a few words?'