(Finally got that matter settled.)
Back at school, Kitasan Black slumped over her desk and let out a sigh of relief.
"Diamond-san, it's rare to see you late, and together with Kitasan-san too. You two are roommates, right?"
"Our alarm clock broke, so both Kitasan-san and I overslept this morning."
Over there, the Diamond ojou-sama was fielding questions from their classmates.
As for Kitasan Black—
She lay sprawled on her desk, gazing out the window with cold, indifferent eyes.
Deliberately putting on an expression that said "I'm in a bad mood right now."
"Kitasan-san oversleeps too? Last time I was on cleaning duty, I saw her coming back from jogging outside the school early in the morning."
"Hehe, even Kitasan-san has times like this."
Hearing the conversation between the Diamond ojou-sama and their classmates nearby, Kitasan Black nodded to herself internally.
(As expected of the Diamond ojou-sama—she's on a completely different level from the other young ladies.)
She could tell, of course, that some people were actually trying to fish for information about her through the Diamond ojou-sama.
Though the Diamond ojou-sama was currently the biggest boss she had to face—
After reaching their understanding, the Diamond ojou-sama could actually help her block the probing of other classmates.
Having the final boss guard the gate—now that gave her a real sense of security!
In the front row, Satono Crown watched the two of them with a thoughtful expression.
(Diamond and Kitasan-san were late together. Could it be that Diamond couldn't help herself after going back last night and got into an argument with Kitasan-san?)
She felt she needed to ask what exactly had happened.
However, just as Satono Crown was about to act, the warning bell for class rang.
She had no choice but to quietly return to her seat.
The group of young ladies surrounding Satono Diamond also returned to their own seats.
Worth mentioning was that although these young ladies would always crowd around the Diamond ojou-sama's seat during breaks, they didn't dare approach the half of the desk where Kitasan Black sat.
Because Kitasan Black's death glare, modeled after McQueen's, was simply too intimidating.
Just making eye contact for an instant gave people the feeling of being electrocuted.
Of course, while the intimidation was strong, the side effects were equally powerful.
Namely, it tended to raise affection levels.
Kitasan Black simply couldn't understand it anyway.
Why would anyone like McQueen-senpai's gaze that looked at people like they were garbage?
Actually, Kitasan Black could also imitate the Demon King-senpai's kind of gaze.
But the Demon King-senpai's gaze was too aggressive.
If McQueen-senpai's gaze could be described as a cold, distant moon—
Then the Demon King-senpai's gaze was like a werewolf about to begin its hunt under that moon.
Though both were cold, beneath that coldness lurked intense violence and bloodlust.
If she imitated the Demon King-senpai, it wouldn't just stop people in their tracks—it would make them cry from fear.
As for Teio-senpai and Rice Shower-senpai—
Imitating the former wouldn't stop people; it would turn her into everyone's sweetheart.
As for Rice Shower-senpai, she was a genuine social anxiety case who normally couldn't even make eye contact with others. And if she imitated the Overlord version of Rice Shower-senpai, probably just one glare would be enough to suffocate anyone with a weak will.
So among all her senpais' templates, Kitasan Black still felt McQueen-senpai's template was the most useful.
Because McQueen-senpai's template truly had no flaws.
As for raising affection levels—that wasn't McQueen-senpai's fault. These young ladies just had something wrong with their heads!
All of the above was what Kitasan Black thought about while spacing out during class.
She basically passed the time in every class by talking to herself in her head.
As for why she didn't pay attention in class—it was because she had a condition where her head hurt whenever she tried to listen.
Besides, even if she didn't pay attention, when she needed to answer questions, her senpais' memories would automatically retrieve the answers for her.
Though she was a slacker, her brain housed senpais who were academic geniuses.
One class period passed quickly.
Lunch break arrived.
Kitasan Black felt her butt was getting sore from sitting so long.
Just as she stood up planning to stretch a bit, she suddenly saw Satono Crown walking over.
(No, she seems to be here for the Diamond ojou-sama.)
Though Kitasan Black considered herself a slacker, her mind actually worked quite fast.
After all, she was a child whom Mejiro McQueen had evaluated as having better learning ability than Tokai Teio.
Kitasan Black was simply lazy, that's all.
"Diamond, want to go to the cafeteria together?"
After Satono Crown spoke to Satono Diamond, she noticed Kitasan Black observing them, so she extended an invitation to her as well.
"Would Kitasan-san like to come too?"
"No thanks."
Kitasan Black refused without hesitation.
Are you kidding? Go through a lunch event with you two? Was that the kind of event that could be triggered casually?!
Satono Diamond finished tidying her desk and stood up. "Crown, let's go."
Before turning around, she flashed a smile at Kitasan Black.
(Don't worry, I'll keep my promise. I won't tell Crown your secret.)
Kitasan Black put on an expression of indifference.
(If you break the promise, I'll release the recording.)
Even though she didn't actually have such a thing.
Only after watching Satono Crown and Satono Diamond walk away did Kitasan Black head to the cafeteria.
Though she usually liked being first to the cafeteria, it didn't really matter whether she went early or late.
As long as it was still operating hours, the cafeteria would definitely serve food.
Arriving at the cafeteria, after ordering at the ticket machine and getting her receipt, Kitasan Black sneakily scanned the cafeteria seating.
She quickly spotted Satono Diamond and Satono Crown.
Though she acted unconcerned, she was actually somewhat worried inside.
It wasn't that she didn't trust the Diamond ojou-sama's integrity.
She was just afraid the Diamond ojou-sama's conversational skills wouldn't hold up, and Crown would notice something was off.
After getting her food, Kitasan Black casually sat down at a seat not far from those two. Though there was still some distance between them, with her hearing and perception, it was enough for her to eavesdrop on their conversation.
"Diamond, why were you late with Kitasan-san this morning?"
"I didn't expect you to be concerned about that too, Crown. It really was just because our alarm clock broke."
"You really didn't get into a fight with Kitasan-san?"
"No. If I really had gotten into a fight with Kitasan-san, it wouldn't have ended so simply."
"That's good then. But are you really not bothered by that matter anymore?"
"I am bothered. But like you said before, Crown, without evidence, what can I do?"
Hearing this answer, Satono Crown immediately dropped the subject.
Because she was afraid that if they went deeper into this topic, Satono Diamond would have an emotional outburst like before.
After that, their conversation shifted to recent hot topics.
They mainly talked about Mejiro McQueen and other popular uma musume competitors in this world.
Though this world didn't have a "Kita-chan" who idolized Tokai Teio, Satono Diamond had still become a fan of McQueen just like in the original story. Last month during the Tenno Sho (Spring), she had even taken leave to go watch the race in person.
Kitasan Black had lost interest by this point and began eating faster.
In the afternoon, Kitasan Black and Satono Diamond got along peacefully, with no unnecessary exchanges, just like usual.
The day ended. Kitasan Black, who had returned to the dormitory first, pretended to be playing games.
When she saw Satono Diamond return, she asked, "You didn't tell Crown-san about me today, did you?"
Satono Diamond replied coolly, "I'll keep my promise. If you don't believe me, you can go ask Crown yourself."
Kitasan Black said decisively, "I believe you."
No way was she going to do that.
Besides, she had already eavesdropped on their conversation at lunch. She was just deliberately asking this to test Satono Diamond's attitude.
"May I ask you a question, if it's not too presumptuous?"
Satono Diamond put away her bag, then pulled out the chair at her desk and sat down.
Kitasan Black said while playing her game, "If you feel it's presumptuous, then don't ask."
Though the morning's incident had forced her to reach an understanding with Satono Diamond—
She didn't want this distance to close any further.
But Kitasan Black's wishes clearly couldn't stop Satono Diamond.
Satono Diamond asked curiously, "Why do you deliberately avoid us? When you're outside, you're clearly not like this, right?"
Though the Kitasan Black she had seen this morning also kept a straight face, at that time Kitasan Black clearly wasn't like she was at school, resisting all human interaction. This version of Kitasan Black seemed to be exclusive to school hours.
Only at school did Kitasan Black reject interaction with all students without exception.
This was too strange. Satono Diamond truly couldn't understand the reason why Kitasan Black did this.
If Kitasan Black really was the type who couldn't interact with strangers, that would be one thing. But when outside of school, Kitasan Black clearly wasn't that type—outside of school, Kitasan Black was obviously a kindhearted person full of warmth.
Hearing Satono Diamond's question, Kitasan Black responded as if she had prepared the answer long ago.
"I'm not deliberately avoiding you. I just don't have any topics to chat about with you all. Don't overthink it."
Of course she wouldn't admit that she was deliberately cultivating the persona of a loner at school.
This concerned her deepest thoughts—how could she possibly tell Satono Diamond?
Even her own mom and dad didn't know these thoughts of hers.
Regarding Kitasan Black's explanation—
Satono Diamond indicated she didn't believe a word of it.
"No, you clearly are deliberately avoiding us. And why did you hide your abilities in the sports festival race? Don't you want to win? Don't you want to be praised?" This was also something Satono Diamond couldn't understand.
What was there to hide about ability?
If she possessed such ability, she would definitely show it off to the fullest.
"Don't you think you're being quite presumptuous, Diamond-san?"
Kitasan Black said with an impatient expression, "Our relationship doesn't seem to be close enough to discuss such things, does it?"
"If you're willing, Kitasan-san, I think we could become friends."
"But I don't want to become friends with you, so could you please stop asking?"
Kitasan Black continued holding her defensive line.
"Why? Kitasan-san, you rejected Crown too. This is too strange. What are you resisting?"
Satono Diamond didn't know what Kitasan Black was resisting. Was it really that difficult just to make friends?
"It's not strange at all."
Kitasan Black gave a seemingly reasonable explanation.
"I've told Crown too—you and I are people from different worlds. There's no need for us to become close."
"What does that mean? Are you talking about our family backgrounds, or the gap in ability?"
Satono Diamond was somewhat displeased. When she said this, her tone toward the end had clearly become more serious.
Kitasan Black picked up on the question hidden within the Diamond ojou-sama's words.
She probably understood now what aspect of her the Diamond ojou-sama was fixated on.
(I see, so it's still because of yesterday's race after all.)
She put down her phone and looked seriously at Satono Diamond.
"That's right, it's exactly what you're thinking. Or perhaps it's both."
"Is that so..." Satono Diamond felt her heartbeat quicken. She made her request earnestly, "Then please race me one more time. This time, use your true ability!"
"No way."
Though she understood the Diamond ojou-sama's emotional hang-up—
Why should she risk being discovered just to race this ojou-sama?
Just because this ojou-sama's emotional issues were related to a race she had participated in?
What did that have to do with her?
Besides, she had already won the championship yet was still hung up on something like this. Kitasan Black thought this ojou-sama's way of thinking was the truly strange thing.
"If you won't race me, then I won't keep our promise!"
Seeing Kitasan Black refuse so decisively, Satono Diamond dropped the pretense.
She simply wanted to race Kitasan Black again.
The reason she had tailed Kitasan Black before was precisely to get leverage she could use to threaten her.
And now Satono Diamond had obtained that leverage, so Kitasan Black had no choice but to comply.
As for their morning agreement—that sort of thing was inconsequential compared to this.
Kitasan Black was momentarily stunned hearing her threaten her like this.
Seriously? They had already reached an understanding about this, and you still want to use it to threaten me?
Could it be you're planning to milk this secret for the rest of my life?
Kitasan Black could see that the Diamond ojou-sama was serious. Those eyes had the resolve to do whatever it took to achieve this.
"In that case, is it okay if I release the recording?"
"Go ahead, Kitasan-san. If you're actually capable of doing it."
Satono Diamond's voice was devoid of emotion.
Kitasan Black couldn't help but shudder.
This Satono Diamond actually gave her the illusion of being even more like McQueen-senpai than she herself was.
Was this the so-called ojou-sama mode?
But what was wrong with these ojou-samas' modes? Why were they all so domineering?
"You think I don't dare?"
Kitasan Black was still struggling.
But Satono Diamond suddenly revealed an eerie smile.
"Hehe, Kitasan-san, if you're thinking of using the same trick as this morning, it won't work anymore. Besides, I've thought it through. Though your response this morning was quite impressive, thinking about it carefully, the nervousness you showed back then wasn't fake, was it?"
Satono Diamond stood up and walked over to Kitasan Black's bed, looking down at Kitasan Black who was lying there.
"I can say with certainty that if we really tear up our agreement, Kitasan-san, you'll be far more anxious about it than I will."
This morning she truly hadn't anticipated it, because her condition had been poor at the time, and having been caught tailing red-handed, her thinking ability had declined. But after returning to school and catching up on sleep, Satono Diamond's thinking ability had mostly recovered.
Hiding one's abilities was a meaningless, benefitless thing to do—so why did Kitasan-san deliberately do this?
Furthermore, Satono Diamond had noticed something else.
Kitasan Black's parents also didn't know about Kitasan-san's true abilities.
Though she didn't understand what Kitasan Black was thinking—
Being able to go this far only proved that the secret she had discovered was indeed very valuable.
She was eighty percent certain she could use this secret to get a hold on Kitasan-san.
"..."
Kitasan Black fell silent for a long while.
Honestly, she wasn't surprised the Diamond ojou-sama could figure this out.
After all, the morning's events had made it clear—she couldn't judge this ojou-sama's mental maturity by her apparent age.
In other worlds, the reason the Diamond ojou-sama was so lively and cute, without so much scheming, was because "Kita-chan" was by her side.
Because "Kita-chan" had won over the Diamond ojou-sama and opened up her heart, this ojou-sama had become that relaxed version.
But the Diamond ojou-sama before her was the Diamond ojou-sama before being won over by "Kita-chan"—the Satomi family's young lady who still maintained her ojou-sama bearing, never letting her guard down for a moment.
If this ojou-sama weren't still not fully mature, then she'd be facing far more than just this level of threat right now.
Using the grown-up Diamond ojou-sama from the game as reference—
If it were the mature Diamond ojou-sama, she probably would have already called home to summon reinforcements by now.
She should be grateful that the Diamond ojou-sama of this period was still just an elementary schooler.
Though the current Diamond ojou-sama was aware of the Satomi family's power, she didn't really know how to use that power yet.
Otherwise, the pressure Kitasan Black would be facing now wouldn't be limited to just this level.
But if she continued to provoke her, Kitasan Black felt the Diamond ojou-sama's evolution would accelerate even more.
And the direction of that evolution would be a very bad direction.
After all, even the Diamond ojou-sama who had been won over by "Kita-chan" had grown in a direction with some yandere tendencies.
Let alone the Diamond ojou-sama before her now, whose yandere meter was almost maxed out.
(As expected, Satono Crown and such are nothing compared to Satono Diamond.)
She was starting to miss her previous encounters with Crown.
Back then she had thought Crown was difficult to deal with.
But looking at it now, Crown's difficulty level couldn't even compare to the Diamond ojou-sama before her.
Crown-sama was a reasonable good person, and her scheming was relatively simple.
But the Diamond ojou-sama was different.
She was someone who would use any means necessary to achieve her goals, whose style was more daring and aggressive.
Similar to McQueen-senpai, but with an even darker mind.
Facing such a Satono Diamond, Kitasan Black had no good options left.
Unless she was willing to go down together with the Diamond ojou-sama, she had no way to refuse, just as the Diamond ojou-sama said.
She had tried her best. On this matter, she had already tried her best.
But facing such a Diamond ojou-sama, unless she could actually become McQueen-senpai, she was simply no match in this regard.
"How do you want to race?"
Kitasan Black asked this question, bracing herself.
Even though she knew that after taking this step back—
She would definitely be squeezed even harder by the Diamond ojou-sama in the future.
But she truly didn't dare to go down together with the Diamond ojou-sama.
The consequences of doing so would likely be her fish dying while the Diamond ojou-sama's net remained intact.
Setting aside that she didn't actually have any recording file—even if she did, could she really release it in the face of the Satomi family's power? It would probably be deleted within minutes of being posted.
And her current social media accounts had basically no followers whatsoever. There was no way she could attract public attention in such a short time.
She herself was very clear that her approach this morning was essentially just a deceptive tactic.
As soon as the Diamond ojou-sama figured it out, she would realize Kitasan Black's methods had no real teeth.
Or rather, the Diamond ojou-sama had already figured it out now.
It was just that for promises already made, the Diamond ojou-sama would still honor them.
But honoring the agreement didn't mean the Diamond ojou-sama wouldn't continue using this matter to threaten Kitasan Black.
"Tomorrow morning, we'll race outside the school, just you and me. Distance is still 2000 meters!"
Seeing Kitasan Black finally relent, Satono Diamond's mood also became elated.
Her previously icy expression thawed considerably.
Finally—
After making so many preparations, she could finally get what she wanted.
Though she had no confidence she could beat Kitasan Black—
At the very least, she wanted to know just how big the gap between her and Kitasan Black actually was.
"Fine. But you should know—you can't beat me."
Kitasan Black nodded and agreed to this match, but she truly couldn't understand why Satono Diamond was so happy.
Knowing full well she couldn't win, yet still seeking out punishment—she could only say the Diamond ojou-sama had some really strange hobbies.
And racing...
(How boring.)
The moment she thought about racing, she felt uninterested. Even shadows appeared in her eyes.
"..."
Satono Diamond looked at Kitasan Black, whose eyes had become somewhat hollow, her entire being emanating a powerful aura. For a moment she was shaken.
That feeling—it was like seeing a true uma musume, or even a GI-level uma musume.
(Is this the real Kitasan-san?)
Satono Diamond felt her heartbeat quickening, her body temperature rising.
This feeling...
That's right. She had felt something similar when she first met Kitasan-san.
It was just that afterward this feeling had never appeared again, and she had thought it was her imagination.
But this time, the feeling was stronger and clearer than before.
(Is this what Crown talked about? A destined rival—is my relationship with Kitasan-san also like that?)
Satono Diamond couldn't help but press her hand against her chest.
The corners of her lips curled up unconsciously. This surging emotion and joy—
No wonder Crown paid so much attention to Kitasan-san.
Racing against her should be delightful, right?
If she could defeat her, she would surely gain even greater joy.
She even had a feeling that if she could beat the real Kitasan-san, she might achieve some kind of evolution.
No wonder Crown had been captivated by Kitasan-san.
This feeling—only those who had truly experienced it could understand.
Satono Diamond now looked forward to tomorrow's match even more.
Kitasan Black looked at Satono Diamond's current state and felt bewildered.
"Hey, are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's match!"
She temporarily distanced herself from Kitasan Black, because that feeling was too stimulating.
She felt that if she continued staying near Kitasan Black, she would lose her rationality.
Kitasan Black scratched the back of her head.
(Strange, what was that just now?)
Watching Satono Diamond rush somewhat urgently out of the room—
Kitasan Black really didn't understand what had just happened.
Though the Diamond ojou-sama's gaze had been somewhat frightening just now, in Kitasan Black's view, the Diamond ojou-sama having a frightening gaze wasn't anything new. After all, she had been treating the Diamond ojou-sama as the final boss from the very beginning.
Meanwhile, Diamond, who had fled to the doorway, had her mind completely filled with the image of Kitasan Black just now.
Kitasan-san really did have tremendous appeal. In that instant just now, she had wanted to tie Kitasan-san up and take her home.
Now she could finally understand Crown.
But if Crown actually knew what Diamond was thinking right now, she would probably have quite a complicated expression.
After all, Crown's view of Kitasan Black was still quite innocent.
She wanted to race Kitasan Black seriously, wanted to become friends with Kitasan Black—these feelings were genuine.
But Crown wouldn't be like Diamond right now, developing some dangerous thoughts.
...
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