A cool evening breeze brushed against their faces as the streetlights within the academy illuminated the path.
A few Uma Musume on their nightly runs passed by now and then. At Tracen Academy, you never had to look far to find hardworking Uma Musume.
Compared to them, even Barbatos—sporting those thick drawn-on eyebrows—couldn't really be called diligent.
Hands stuffed in her pockets, Barbatos remarked, "And you can actually fall asleep in that kind of environment?"
"Why wouldn't I be able to? If I want to sleep, three seconds is all it takes."
Seiun Sky, arms cradling the back of her head, stated this matter-of-factly, though she noticed Barbatos wearing a strange expression.
"What's with that look?"
"Nothing. Just thought maybe your ancestors might have some connection to the Nobi family."
Looking across history, the only one who could probably fall asleep in three seconds flat anytime was that Mr. Nobita Nobi.
"The Nobi family?"
Seiun Sky felt there must be some hidden meaning behind those words. Pushing further into the topic of the Nobi family might just earn her a fresh round of Barbatos's tall tales, so she decided not to dwell on it. She'd just search online later for the surname "Nobi" along with the keyword "fall asleep in three seconds."
"Mmm... Life should be lived at your own pace, you know."
"After delving deep into that philosophy, the destination I reached was getting plenty of sleep."
"That's quite the lofty justification."
"Got a problem with that?"
"Nah, just think it's a lofty justification—but as of this second, it's mine now!"
"At least it sounds more convincing than 'spring drowsiness, summer lethargy, autumn fatigue, winter hibernation—all seasons are but a dream.'"
"Spring drowsiness, summer lethargy... all seasons are but a dream..."
Seiun Sky mulled it over and found it actually made some sense. "Sounds exactly like something you'd say."
By the time they reached the dormitory building, Fuji Kiseki was outside, just about to lock up. Spotting Barbatos and the others, she smiled and said, "I thought you might've decided to stay out all night on your very second day."
"Well, it's our first day joining the team, so we were just putting in some hard training under our trainer's guidance."
Barbatos delivered this blatant lie without so much as blinking.
Of course, it wasn't a complete lie—aside from the "under our trainer's guidance" part being fabricated, the rest was technically true.
Playing League of Legends: Wild Rift was, for her, a form of intense training. It was practice that would help her run faster.
"Hard training? Preparing for your debut race?"
"Yep, the debut race should be next week. You'll cheer for me, won't you, senpai?"
Come to think of it, Fuji Kiseki was a member of Rigil. Once Barbatos got stronger, Rigil would have another formidable rival. But in essence, it was all just internal competition within Tracen Academy. Or rather, which famous Uma Musume in Japan didn't come from Tracen Academy?
"Do your best."
With Fuji Kiseki's encouragement, Barbatos and the others returned to their dorm room.
Even though Fuji Kiseki sported a rather neutral hairstyle and her race outfit was similarly androgynous, she seemed pretty gentle. Maybe it took someone with that kind of personality to be the dorm head?
"At it again with the tall tales, I see."
Seiun Sky cast a lazy, sidelong glance her way. But she didn't really mind this kind of lie—whether it was the earlier talk about thick eyebrows in the classroom or telling Fuji Kiseki they were training hard.
This type of lie was different in nature from the initial "Air Force" nonsense.
"How can you call it a tall tale? This is what you call a 'white lie.'"
Barbatos said this with a perfectly straight face while she booted up her Fruit brand laptop and got ready to stream. "Well, I shouldn't even call it a lie, because I have been training hard... training myself to get better at gaming."
It was actually pretty late already, but she felt wide awake, good for another two or three hours of streaming or so.
During the day in class, she'd been especially listless, barely managing to pay attention by sheer force of will.
But the moment she stepped out of the classroom after lessons ended, it was like being reborn.
She took her throne before the computer. OBS, start! League of Legends, start!
She glanced back at Seiun Sky behind her, thought for a moment, then stood up, grabbed her pajamas, and decided to take a shower first.
If Seiun Sky showered first now, Barbatos would probably just get one game into her stream before having to go dry Seiun's hair. After that, she'd still need to shower herself. All that back and forth would just waste her viewers' precious time.
On the other hand, if she showered first, then Seiun Sky showered after, she could start her stream once Seiun was done. By the time she finished streaming, she could go straight to bed.
If she didn't have to dry Seiun Sky's hair, it'd be even simpler. But who told her she'd lost the bet?
There was an even easier option: her and Seiun Sky showering together, then her drying Sei's hair afterward.
But that... wasn't like soaking in a hot spring. Showering together? Even for two Uma Musume, that was a bit much. At the very least, they'd only just met.
Even with Urara, whom she'd known for ages, they'd never showered together.
The thought of showering together conjured an image of Seiun Sky in the shower. How could anyone handle that?!
Just before heading into the bathroom, she remembered what their trainer had mentioned earlier.
"Minamizaka added us to a group chat. Accept the invite. He has some stuff about the debut race to discuss with you."
With that, she plunged into the bathroom. A quick, simple rinse later, she washed off those thick eyebrows, dried herself, pulled on her pajamas, and stood for a moment holding the hairdryer.
In the end, she decided against drying her hair right there in the bathroom. Instead, she carried the hairdryer out into the dorm room, plugged it in, and prepared to dry her hair there.
She glanced over at Seiun Sky, who was already curled up on her bed fiddling with her phone—probably discussing debut race details with Minamizaka right now.
"You go take your shower now. I'll dry your hair afterward."
Seiun Sky gave a soft "Mhm," looked at Barbatos for a moment, then grabbed her pajamas and headed into the bathroom, switching off her phone screen which had been displaying information about "Nobita Nobi."
Sometimes she just didn't get why Barbatos knew so many flashy, obscure things.
The bathroom door clicked shut, and the faint sound of water running echoed from within.
Barbatos was drying her own hair, wondering why, even as an Uma Musume herself, she'd still mentally picture another Uma Musume in the shower.
Then again, it made sense. Better to imagine another Uma Musume than, say, Minamizaka, right? And in those gender-bender novels she'd read in her previous life, when someone transformed into a girl, getting involved with other girls meant no descendants.
But she had transformed into an Uma Musume, and Uma Musume could have descendants with each other.
Thinking about it that way, if she and Urara both ended up single in the future, maybe they could consider...
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T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.