Sometime later...
Suddenly—
*BANG*
The dorm room door burst wide open.
And two figures came charging out of it as though their lives depended on reaching somewhere immediately.
Meanwhile, Fuji Kiseki was casually strolling along the corridor, checking room occupancies one by one.
Then instantly—
Two shadows blitzed past her at terrifying speed.
Startling her badly.
"What the—?!" Kiseki jumped slightly.
Only when the two figures reached the dorm entrance and began disappearing further into the distance did she finally realize who they were.
Then she waved toward them while calling out loudly,
"Be careful, you two!"
Unfortunately, both of them were already far too focused on catching up with the orientation tour to even hear her voice. Or maybe one of them.
Meanwhile, despite being dragged along by King Halo, Haru Urara remained completely clueless about the entire situation.
Still grinning brightly while running beside her.
"Where… where are we going exactly?" Urara asked between her ragged breaths.
"To the academy tour, obviously!" King answered while sprinting ahead.
"O-Otherwise we might have trouble understanding such… such a massive academy once we actually begin using its facilities!"
"L-Let alone the fact that…"
"We don't even know where our classroom is!"
"Whoa!" Haru Urara beamed brightly.
"Now that you mention it… I-I don't even know what my class is either!"
"And why are you so happy about that?!" King Halo snapped back as irritation continued building.
Then, the two continued running together in silence afterward.
Both were trying to catch up with the orientation group.
Until—
"I-I SEE THEM!" King suddenly shouted.
Her eyes widened as she spotted the touring group far ahead of them.
Or rather...
Several hundred meters ahead.
But before she could celebrate—
"W-Wait… King… I…! Bleeeeh…"
A series of exhausted noises instantly came from behind her.
Followed immediately by...
*THUD*
King instantly turned around.
"Wh-What's wrong, Urara—?"
The moment her eyes landed on the scene.
"URARA?!" she screamed.
And Urara, as usual, had completely collapsed onto the ground behind her.
Sprawled flat against the pavement like a lizard.
Immediately, King rushed back toward her and knelt beside her in panic.
"A-Are you alright, Urara?!"
Meanwhile—
Urara simply raised a shaky thumbs-up without lifting her face from the floor.
"D-Do you need help?! I-I can go call someone right now!"
"I'm fine… King…" Urara muffled weakly into the pavement.
"You… you can go on… without me…"
"But—!"
Before King could reach toward her.
Another voice suddenly interrupted from nearby.
"Don't worry," said the person.
"Leave her here. I can look after her."
Instantly, King Halo snapped her head toward the source of the voice.
"What?!" she exclaimed.
"Wh-Who goes there?!"
The voice came from beyond the neatly trimmed bushes beside the pathway.
Directly beneath a tree hidden behind them.
"Well…" the voice lazily replied,
"I'm just another humble Umamusume conserving her energy."
"Oh—and don't mind me."
"I'm simply enjoying orientation in my own way."
"Wait…!"
King's eyes widened.
"That voice!"
"I know you!"
"You're the same person who nearly skipped the entire written examination!"
"Ding ding~!" the voice replied playfully.
"Yep, that's me."
"Though this time, nobody needs to drag me away."
"I separated from the tour group myself after accidentally falling asleep."
"Geez…" King muttered in disbelief.
"What is wrong with the people in this academy…?"
The mysterious figure tittered before continuing, "Anyway."
"Given that we had encountered one another more than once."
"Yet, I don't believe I properly introduced myself yet."
Then—
A head suddenly popped out from the bushes.
Revealing faded powder-green hair cut into a short bob alongside fluffy bangs and a pair of sleepy-looking eyes.
"You can call me Seiun Sky," she introduced, "the cloud that drifts with the sky."
"So... It-It's really you!" King exclaimed, slightly startled by the sudden appearance.
"Well... It seemed that fate had really brought us back together, didn't it?" said Sky.
"More like a curse..." and King replied under her breath.
Then, before they knew—
"So Sei-chan it is!" another voice chimed in brightly.
It was Haru Urara.
Who had somehow already recovered enough to sit cross-legged on the ground as though nothing had happened moments earlier.
"Wait! You're awake already?!" King Halo shot back in disbelief.
"Whoa~! I remember you!" Seiun Sky suddenly added as she turned toward Haru Urara.
"You're the one who shared that energy conservation session with me...!"
"Energy… conservation…?" Urara repeated blankly while tilting her head in confusion.
"Ignore her nonsense, Urara..." and King quickly interrupted.
"Anyway!" King then turned back toward Sky.
"I believe Urara has recovered enough for now, so your assistance is no longer required. Besides, we still need to catch up with our orientation tour."
"You know," Sky lazily replied.
"She could always rest a little longer after collapsing that dramatically."
"No, thank you, I believe we'll be going now!" King instantly rejected.
Then she turned sharply.
"Come on, Urara! Let's leave!"
"Oh! Okay!" and Urara replied cheerfully.
Urara then immediately stood up and dusted off her skirt by patting her bottom repeatedly.
"See you later, Sei-chan!" she waved brightly while jogging past the bushes toward King.
"Oh… well," Sky replied with a lazy smile.
"See you later, Urara."
"Bye, bye~!" Urara chirped while continuing to wave energetically.
But before she could continue any longer—
King immediately grabbed Urara by the wrist and began dragging her away.
"Come on, let's GO already!"
And just like that—
The two gradually disappeared into the distance once more.
Leaving Sky alone beside the bushes once more.
"My, my…" Sky murmured lazily while watching King's retreating figure.
"Isn't she an uptight one?"
Then she casually shrugged.
"But oh well…"
Turning around, she slowly walked back beneath the shade of the tree.
"And here I thought I could find a company to share a nap with..."
She then stared back up at the sky, watching the clouds leisurely glide across the blue sky.
Gently, she yawned.
"Back to napping, I guess."
And with that—
Seiun Sky simply lay down once more and returned peacefully to sleep...
…
…
…
Sometime later...
They arrived at the training pool.
"F-Finally…!" King gasped out while bending over with both hands pressed against her knees.
"We… we made it…!"
Both she and Urara had finally caught up to the orientation group.
Meanwhile, the senior helper continued the facility explanation, completely unaware of the struggle they endured.
"This is our training pool," the helper explained to the freshmen gathered nearby.
"All students are free to use it in order to improve endurance and recovery capabilities."
"Keep in mind that this is a shared pool, and everyone is entitled to equal access. No student should monopolize the entire pool unless they have been granted special permission."
"And..." as the senior helper's voice trailed off into the distance.
"Whoa! It's a pool!" Urara instantly exclaimed the moment she recovered her breath.
She then stared across the massive pool with sparkling eyes.
"I wanna try it!"
And before anyone could stop her—
Urara attempted to sprint toward the water.
But midway, her steps were abruptly halted.
Because King had grabbed onto her tail with both hands and desperately held her back.
"Please… behave… Urara…" King uttered irritably through exhausted breaths.
With that, Urara was restrained...
...
...
...
Afterward...
The orientation tour continued.
Leading the freshmen across the academy grounds.
From gyms, to tracks, to lockers...
And countless other facilities that spread throughout the massive Tracen Academy campus.
Under King Halo's relentless supervision, the remainder of the tour somehow proceeded without further catastrophe.
Mostly because every single time Haru Urara attempted to wander off toward something interesting, King would immediately grab her before she could escape.
And eventually...
The academy tour finally concluded as the group returned toward the academy entrance.
"There you have it, everyone!" the senior helper announced cheerfully.
"The orientation tour is officially concluded!"
"If any of you have questions, feel free to ask!"
Instantly—
Urara shot her hand into the air and waved it frantically.
Meanwhile, King jolted in complete alarm.
"W-Wait—!"
She immediately tried pulling Urara back down, but realized far too late.
The senior helper had already spotted her and pointed toward Urara.
"Yes, you there!" she added.
And before anyone could react—
Urara had already shoved herself toward the front of the crowd.
Then came the questions.
Not one.
Not two.
But a seemingly endless barrage of completely unrelated nonsense.
Questions so bizarre that even the senior helper repeatedly froze in confusion while answering them.
Meanwhile—
King could only stand in the back and stare at them in total despair.
With that, her shoulders slumped, watching helplessly as Urara continuously assaulted the poor helper with chaos.
Then, she slowly shook her head.
"My…"
"What exactly have I gotten myself into…?"
"How much longer can I keep on to this..."
Until—
Without her noticing, a man carefully approached her from behind.
He awkwardly cleared his throat.
"E-Excuse me…" the man nervously spoke.
Piqued, King gracefully turned around.
Standing before her was a nervous-looking man wearing a sports jersey and a cap, with a notepad firmly gripped under his shaky hand.
Then, hesitantly—
"D-Do you mind…"
"D-Do you mind becoming… my trainee?"