Since he hadn't slept well the night before, and he'd spent the entire day exhausted in both body and mind, Kitahara fell into a deep sleep not long after lying down.
When he opened his eyes again, the sky outside the window had already dimmed, and the hotel lights were coming on one after another.
"Hm? You're awake?"
He'd only just opened his eyes and hadn't even sat up yet when a familiar voice sounded beside him.
"Perfect timing. The dinner banquet's almost starting—I was just thinking about how to wake you."
"Mm. It's almost time…" Kitahara answered reflexively. He sat up slowly and patted his face, his mind gradually clearing.
Then, once he was awake, he suddenly realized something felt off.
"Um… President Rudolf, Sirius—can I ask when you two came in…?"
Kitahara asked cautiously.
He vaguely remembered that when he came into this room, the two of them were still chatting outside, and he'd habitually locked the door from the inside.
But now, after waking up, he found the two of them sitting on chairs not far away, watching each other warily as if they'd been here for a while.
"Just now, I saw it was almost time, so I came to wake you up early so you could get ready. But you were sleeping so soundly, I figured I'd wait. And then you woke up on your own."
Sirius explained, then stood and walked over to Kitahara, giving him a pat on the back.
"Alright. Since you're up, stop dragging your feet. The banquet's about to start—go get ready. If you're late, it'll draw even more attention."
After hearing Sirius, Kitahara shook his head, clearing the last of the fog, then got up to tidy himself.
But as he washed up, with the cold water making his mind even sharper, he recalled the atmosphere in the room from earlier, and a thoughtful look slowly rose in his eyes.
If they wanted to wake him, wouldn't it be enough for either Sirius or Rudolf to knock? Why did both of them come—and then just sit there…?
And he didn't know if it was his imagination, but the atmosphere between them felt worse than before he'd fallen asleep. They'd practically been on the same side earlier, yet now they were back to that oil-and-water thing again—if anything, it felt even worse than at the academy…
Did something happen while he was asleep?
Kitahara thought so, but figured it was their personal business and none of his concern, so he didn't ask.
After finishing up, he acted like he hadn't noticed anything and followed them to the hall as normal, and the dinner banquet began.
There wasn't much to say about the banquet. It was basically a repeat of the luncheon—except this time, the one getting attention was Kitahara, and the ones acting as shields were the others.
And so time passed. The banquet ended, there was a short break, and the ball's curtain slowly rose.
Soft music played. Gentle lighting spread. Couples stepped onto the dance floor and began to move amid the weave of light and music.
As for Kitahara, he sat in a corner by the edge of the dance floor, arms crossed, face serious.
Normally, during the ball, if you didn't want to be bothered, the best choice was to find a partner and go dance—because if you were dancing, no one could exactly run up and start hitting on you.
The problem was, to carry out that plan, there was a prerequisite.
Kitahara had to know how to dance.
Because everyone was used to Kitahara's "I can do a bit of everything" persona, none of the other Umamusume had even considered the possibility. And since Kitahara had been asleep, he hadn't been able to mention that he'd never learned to dance.
As for the Umamusume—anyone who could attend this gathering was a standout within her family.
Forget adults like Rudolf and Sirius—even Satono Diamond and Kitasan Black, who weren't technically old enough yet, had learned this kind of thing early.
As a result, right up until the moment the ball began, no one realized that Kitahara couldn't dance at all.
"Then… how about we teach him on the spot?" Ardan said slowly after thinking for a moment.
The others fell silent for a bit, then nodded.
"That's the only way."
But that immediately led to a new problem: who would teach Kitahara?
Everyone present besides Kitahara had learned to dance, but they were all Umamusume.
The dances they learned were either Lives for the Winner's Concert, or the female part of partner dances. Even if they had some understanding of the male part, it wasn't at the level of being able to teach someone.
And as for asking someone else to teach—even if Kitahara didn't object, none of the Umamusume were about to hand that opportunity to an outsider.
Just as things were about to hit a dead end, a figure suddenly rose from her seat, walked over to Kitahara, and extended a hand.
Sirius Symboli stood before him, wearing a confident smile.
"I'm fairly confident about this."
As the perennial holder of second place on Tracen's Most Wanted Boyfriend list, Sirius would sometimes end up needing to dance at various academy events.
And because Tracen was a girls' school, even if some Trainers attended those events, they were usually monopolized by their own Umamusume—so naturally, some Umamusume had to step into the "male partner" role.
Rudolf had attended plenty of similar events too, but with her Student Council President duties, she attended far less often than Sirius the "unemployed drifter."
And because she was too famous, few Umamusume dared invite her to be their "male partner," which meant her skill in that role was a bit weaker than Sirius's.
With a ready-made teacher volunteering, it should've been a good thing. Everyone ought to be happy.
Yet strangely, the moment Sirius stood up, the others' expressions didn't brighten—instead, it was as if a shadow fell over them, an unease creeping in.
Especially Rudolf. As a perfect "The Emperor," even at her most irritated during the day, she'd still looked composed, handling everything neatly.
But after Sirius stood up, there was indeed a slight fluctuation in Rudolf's expression.
And after Sirius successfully invited Kitahara, she even shot a deliberate glance toward Rudolf's position—and flashed her an unmistakably provocative smile.
If it were anyone else trying that with Rudolf, Rudolf wouldn't necessarily get that angry.
She was from the Symboli family and Tracen's Student Council President. She dealt with aggravating matters at work all the time, saw all kinds of people, and had the basic self-control to keep her emotions in check.
The problem was, the person provoking her was Sirius Symboli.
When it came to everyone else, Rudolf could keep her feelings off her face—but with Sirius, even if they did nothing, they could still find each other annoying.
Not to mention that right now, Rudolf was—rarely—thinking wholeheartedly for Sirius's sake.
In Rudolf's understanding, Kitahara and Sirius were blood relatives. If Sirius truly developed some "bad" idea, the only one who would get hurt in the end was Sirius herself.
That was why, since morning, Rudolf had been blocking contact between those two, constantly using Tokai Teio as an excuse to try to keep Sirius at a distance.
But who knew that this idiot not only refused to listen, she also started targeting Rudolf for no reason—ignoring all advice, butting heads with her at every turn, and saying all kinds of baffling things…
Hm? Wait.
Staring at the backs of Sirius and Kitahara as they walked away, Rudolf's brows slowly furrowed as she recalled the things Sirius had said to her earlier.
This woman… she wouldn't happen to think Rudolf has feelings for Kitahara, and is treating her like a romantic rival, would she?
With that thought, Rudolf's expression turned subtly complicated.
To be honest, Rudolf wasn't really the type to live for drama. She was reliable in her work and wouldn't proactively set out to trick people, much less harm them for laughs.
But today, with everything piling up—especially Sirius's provocation right before leaving—Rudolf's mindset shifted into something unusual.
Up until now, she'd wanted Sirius to keep her distance from Kitahara, but not for herself—she'd been trying to protect Sirius.
Now, though, under Sirius's repeated provocations, Rudolf found she didn't really want to do that anymore.
She wasn't exactly a drama-seeker, but in the end, Rudolf still had Speed's blood in her. After thinking for a while, she made a new decision.
Fine. If Sirius loved ignoring advice that much, then Rudolf just wouldn't advise her anymore.
Not only that—once she leveled her mindset, Rudolf even decided she would actively help Sirius along, give her a little boost, and encourage more interaction between those two.
Then, once Rudolf felt it was about time, she'd tell Sirius the truth straight to her face. And then—what would Sirius's expression look like…?
Thinking of that possible future, Rudolf couldn't help the slight curl at the corner of her mouth.
All she could say was: she was looking forward to it.
"President, what's wrong?" Ardan noticed Rudolf's smile. "Did something good happen?"
"Nothing. I just thought of something interesting."
After a pause, Rudolf looked toward the pair who'd already entered the floor and begun dancing. She raised her brows and spoke again.
"Oh, right, Ardan—are you interested in going out for a dance?"
"Me?"
Ardan blinked, then shook her head.
"I'll pass. I don't have a partner…"
If she wanted, no one in the room would refuse her invitation. Unfortunately, the only partner she wanted was currently learning how to dance.
But just as Ardan thought that was the end of it, Rudolf spoke again.
"It's fine. The two of us can go."
"…Huh?"
Mejiro Ardan looked at Rudolf in surprise. Rudolf looked back at her, then quietly gestured toward the crowd and lowered her voice.
"Kitahara drew all the attention away with his antics earlier, but if he stays on the floor too long, someone might come looking for the rest of us. I can take the male position."
Hearing that, Ardan glanced around. After thinking for a moment, she nodded and agreed.
And soon, after Rudolf and Ardan entered the floor as well, Satono Diamond and Kitasan Black exchanged a look.
"Kitasan, I remember—back when we were practicing, you could dance the male part, right?"
"I can, but I'm not that good…"
"That's enough."
With that, Diamond stood with a smile, pulled Kitasan along, and stepped into the dance floor.
Then, with the gentle music, the three pairs—each holding their own thoughts—gradually moved closer until they met.
And once the latter two pairs drew near the first pair, before they could even start whatever they were planning, they noticed something was off with Sirius's expression.
She was just standing there, staring at Kitahara, eyes filled with shock and suspicion, not even noticing the other two pairs arriving.
After a long while, she lifted her head and looked at Kitahara like she was staring at an alien monster-horse, her tone complicated.
"Kitahara. Tell me honestly—are you really human, and not some kind of monster wearing human skin?"
...
While everyone at the ball was baffled by Sirius's outburst, in another room of the hotel, some things—too small to be huge, too big to be nothing—were happening.
"Liar. You're all liars. You promised you'd take me back to the academy in the morning…"
"I don't want to participate in any social gathering. I already have a Trainer, and I don't want to meet anyone…"
"Next New Year, I'm absolutely not coming home. You're all liars. You always go back on what you promise. I'm not trusting you again…"
"Honey drink… honey drink doesn't count either, unless you take me back to the academy right now…"
On a soft bed, Tokai Teio hugged a pillow, staring at the maid who'd accompanied her with an expression full of distrust.
"Um, Teio-sama… the President is here too…"
"I don't believe you."
Tokai Teio's voice was firm.
"You already tricked me once. I'm not falling for it a second time."
This standoff had lasted the entire day. To the outside world, the Tokai family claimed Teio had a fever and so hadn't attended the gathering.
But the truth was, she'd arrived at the hotel a long time ago. She was just sulking and refusing to go out because she'd been deceived into coming.
"But Teio-sama, before we left, the lady of the house instructed me that no matter what, you have to show your face at the gathering…"
"I'm not going."
Teio hugged her pillow tighter, completely guarded.
"You're all liars. Big liars. I'm not trusting you anymore."
After a pause, as if she remembered something, she murmured softly.
"The President and Trainer-san never lie to me. I want to go find them…"
The distance wasn't far. Even though Teio's voice was quiet, the maid could still hear her.
But hearing it didn't help. There was nothing she could do about it.
She was only a maid. She had no authority to decide whether Teio stayed or left. If anything—if she had the choice—she'd rather send this child back to the academy she missed so much.
But she didn't have that choice. So all she could do was keep forcing a bitter smile, trying again and again to soothe Teio and coax her into going out, showing her face, meeting other families, and so on.
No matter how she tried, though, Tokai Teio—burned once—didn't trust her anymore. She stayed in bed hugging her pillow, repeating herself over and over.
"I'm not going. You're all liars. Big liars…"
"You promised you'd take me back to the academy, but you brought me here instead…"
"If the President and Trainer-san were here, they'd do what they said. They wouldn't be like you…"
"I'm going to find them. They absolutely won't lie to me…"
After a pause, she tightened her arms around the pillow and repeated in a low voice, "Absolutely not."
---
T/N: TEIO NOOOO THEYRE AT THE BALL!
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