On the night of Tanabata, a huge Tanabata-themed event was being held downtown.
Neon lights blazed across the vast city plaza. Shops along the street had all switched to pink-and-white decorations to match the theme, and the calls of vendors rose one after another. Any couple who came in to spend money got a discount.
Official staff in cosplay were scattered all throughout the shopping district, and customers could go up and interact with them for photos and check-ins. Completing the tasks those staff handed out even earned small prizes.
At around ten o'clock, there would also be a grand fireworks show at the lakeside park in the city center. Couples could lie back on the grass at ease, an arm around the shoulders of the person they loved, and gaze up at the dazzling burst of colors in the night sky.
With such lavish event planning and such a thick atmosphere of romance, it had drawn in countless couples—and soon-to-be couples—who wanted to leave behind beautiful memories tonight.
The downtown plaza was packed solid, and traffic had clogged the city roads to a standstill.
And yet, there happened to be one small group of people who not only weren't heading downtown on such a memorable day for the Tanabata festivities, but were instead driving strange-looking vehicles against the flow of traffic, deeper and deeper into the wooded mountains outside the city.
Because there was another Tanabata-themed event there too.
And compared to the one downtown, this one was even more exciting.
It was a street-racing competition called the Tanabata Couples Race, put on by a bunch of amateur racing enthusiasts up on the winding roads of Back Mountain!
"Romantic elements? We've got those too!"
"This race uses an item-race format for couples! Each couple has to ride in the same vehicle, and within the rules, they can beat the stuffing out of the competition with items while deepening their bond through speed and passion!"
"A fireworks show? We've got that too!"
"Low-power fireworks are allowed under this race's item restrictions, so don't be surprised if you see a racer suddenly yank out a skyrocketing firework from their pants mid-drift and launch it straight at an opponent!"
"Cosplayers? We've got even more of that!"
"See that weird vehicle in the corner over there? The one where a wheelchair is towing a princess wagon? That's actually the ride of one of our couples in this race! Right now, one of them is cosplaying a cardboard-box spirit, and the other seems to be cosplaying some kind of black plastic-bag spirit. Their outfits may look a little strange, but isn't that just another kind of couple look?"
"Let's have a round of applause for this loving pair!"
Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap—!
With the race host whipping up the crowd, thunderous applause immediately broke out from the temporary viewing stands set up on Back Mountain.
"Heh heh..." Under the bright lights cutting through the night, Mizuno—who had originally planned to sit motionless in the contestants' area and play dead—could only turn around awkwardly now and wave at the audience in response.
"Oooh!"
The crowd cheered, then immediately began to heckle.
"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"
The chant hit him like a tidal wave, making Mizuno's ears ring.
"Guh..." Maruzensky, hiding behind him, had gone bright red. Curled up inside the cardboard box, she didn't dare stick her head out at all.
This is bad...
Feeling the pressure from the stands, Mizuno's scalp went numb.
Originally, he had wanted to arrive at the venue early with Maruzensky, just like he usually did when meeting someone, so they'd have plenty of time to prepare for the race.
But maybe the other racers liked showing up late—or wanted to make a dramatic entrance—because Mizuno and Maruzensky had been waiting in the contestants' area for a long time, and no one else had arrived yet.
So, to keep the audience from getting bored, the only pair on site—Mizuno and Maruzensky—naturally became the center of attention. The host used them as material for jokes and started urging them to do the sort of things couples were supposed to do.
And that wasn't even the main problem.
The real problem was that among the people applauding in the audience, Mizuno had spotted two Umamusume wearing sunglasses and masks, radiating unmistakable resentment straight at him...
Symboli Rudolf.
And Air Groove.
Even in disguise, they couldn't hide that familiar oppressive aura. Mizuno knew with one glance that the two of them were definitely staring him down right now.
If he actually did anything over the line with Maruzensky, they might not make a move on the spot—but once he got back, there was no way he'd get away clean.
Mizuno had thought Symboli Rudolf and the others were just talking yesterday.
But they had actually come to watch tonight?!
No, probably not to watch the race.
More likely, they were here to make sure he didn't try anything shady with Maruzensky!
"What's wrong? Why aren't you kissing? Could it be you're not a real couple after all?"
"Gh—!"
The host's follow-up landed like a sword hanging over his head, and cold sweat instantly poured down Mizuno's back.
Come on, man, do you have to push me this hard?!
With those two dangerous girls watching from the stands, how was he supposed to dare kiss Maruzensky?!
And even without those two Umamusume keeping an eye on him, there was no way Mizuno would get egged on into kissing a girl just because the crowd told him to.
The problem was that the host had, by sheer rotten luck, dropped him straight into a dead-end dilemma.
Kiss?
Symboli Rudolf and Air Groove would kill him...
Don't kiss?
Then he couldn't prove they were a real couple, and they wouldn't be allowed to participate in the race...
So the question was: kiss, or not kiss?
Ding-dong~
Just as Mizuno's stress was reaching critical mass, Symboli Rudolf sent him a message.
[Symboli Rudolf]:If you dare kiss Maruzen even once, then when you get back tonight, I'll make you pay it back a hundredfold!]
Mizuno looked up sharply and saw that Symboli Rudolf had already pulled down her mask in the stands, showing him a terrifying smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"Gwah!"
Mizuno's pupils shrank, and even his heartbeat seemed to skip.
The rest of the audience, meanwhile, noticed nothing at all and just kept egging things on harder.
"Hurry up and kiss!"
"I came here tonight just to see this!"
"Put some spirit into it, kid! Don't embarrass yourself!"
"Tom!"
After thinking for a long while amid the crowd's chanting, Mizuno finally gritted his teeth, lifted one corner of the box Maruzensky was hiding in, and ducked his upper body inside.
"Mmph!"
The box immediately started shaking violently.
About five seconds later, Mizuno backed out of the cardboard box and wiped at his lips with his arm, putting on the act of someone who had just shared a wet French kiss with the partner inside.
No one knew whether he had actually kissed her or not.
But his performance made the audience believe he had.
"Oooh!"
"Nice! That's the way!"
"Being able to see that makes the ticket worth it even if I die tonight!"
And amid the deafening cheers, another sound was mixed in.
Crack—!
"President, that's the phone you just bought this morning..."
"Guh..."
The moment he finished acting, Mizuno immediately pulled out his own phone and sent Symboli Rudolf an explanatory message.
[Mizuno Sora]:Don't worry! I didn't really kiss her! I was just putting on a show! If you don't believe me, you can go ask Maruzensky yourself!
Unfortunately, a certain Umamusume had already crushed her own phone to pieces, so for the moment, there was no way she'd be receiving Mizuno's explanation...
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T/N: ...........................