"Shirayuki-senpai, what a beautiful dance! If there's ever a chance, please dance with me too!"
"Me too, Shirayuki-senpai! I want to dance with you as well!"
A large group of Uma Musume surrounded Shirayuki. Their eyes shone with admiration as they expressed their respect for her.
Aside from strength, dancing beautifully could also attract many people. Uma Musume were not simply competitors, nor were they merely classmates. They were also each other's objects of admiration.
And Shirayuki, as the main organizer of this dance party, as well as one of the few dancers who had danced from beginning to end, had barely been out of the spotlight. Famous Uma Musume throughout Tracen, such as Special Week, Grass Wonder, and Tokai Teio, had all danced with her. After each dance ended, they even exchanged friendship kisses. It was easy to see just how much attention she had drawn.
At that moment, Shirayuki's image among those juniors had reached its peak. There were also quite a few students from the same year among them, and all of them looked at Shirayuki with admiration.
"If there's another chance to hold a dance party, I'll dance with all of you."
"Shirayuki-senpai!"
They excitedly grabbed Fujiwara Shirayuki's hands. Meanwhile, what Shirayuki was thinking was that there would absolutely never be a next time in this life.
She glanced toward the buffet table. Seeing only a few lonely bits of grain left, as well as the grey-haired girl nearby with a greatly swollen stomach, she nearly cried.
The benefits I meant to secure for myself all became someone else's meal. I didn't even get a single bite!
Even Spe-chan had gone off to eat as much as she wanted after dancing. Shirayuki alone had remained on stage the whole time.
"And that brings today's dance party to an end! Thank you, everyone, for coming! Now shout the closing line with me! We—i!"
Daitaku Helios held the microphone with a flamboyant gesture and shouted with all her might.
"Shirayuki is becoming more and more like an Empress."
In the spectator area, Fujiwara Chiya heard a familiar voice. Air Groove had, at some point, appeared beside him.
"For that child to grow to this point, Trainer Chiya's efforts were indispensable. Trainer Chiya must have spent quite a lot of time practicing with her."
Those clear violet eyes looked at him. Fujiwara Chiya laughed.
"It was fine. The main thing was that she had you as a model beside her."
Hearing that, a smile unconsciously appeared on Air Groove's icy face.
"I merely gave her a choice. The one who made the choice was Shirayuki. The same applies to Trainer Chiya. The Empress and the Empress's Sceptre can only complete each other when their goals are aligned. Otherwise, they are nothing more than scattered sand, unable to support one another."
"Aligned goals…"
Fujiwara Chiya had heard those words yesterday too.
He had heard them from the person who was not Café. She had Café's face and Café's voice, but Shirayuki's senses had clearly told him that the person was not Café. The presence around her had been so terrifying it nearly stopped his heart.
If the other party had not been deliberately emitting her aura the way Air Groove did, then it could only mean that this person was far stronger than Air Groove. Her understanding of the zone had already reached a top-class level.
Why have I never heard of someone like her at Tracen?
If her strength far surpassed Air Groove's, then she should have been famous. There should be no one in Tracen who did not know her. But that morning, Fujiwara Chiya had asked several trainers, and all of them said they had never heard of such a person. Manhattan Café did not have a twin sister with the same appearance as her.
Then who exactly did I meet yesterday?
Did that really happen, or was it some waking dream…?
After all, when the lights flickered a few times, the whole room had become misty, as if wrapped in fog. Compared to reality, Fujiwara Chiya was more willing to believe that he had entered some kind of hypnotic state.
Perhaps Café was actually a master hypnotist.
But no matter what, tonight he had to go to the training ground and see whether that Uma Musume with the terrifying presence would appear.
"Trainer Chiya?"
"Ah… sorry. I was thinking about something."
Fujiwara Chiya raised his head.
"In any case, thank you for taking care of Shirayuki."
"There is only so much I can teach her. The one who can truly bring her a breakthrough is Trainer Chiya. If there is anything you need my help with, please do not hesitate to ask."
Air Groove's dignified expression made Fujiwara Chiya feel as if she had started treating Shirayuki like her own child, which made him feel a little embarrassed.
After speaking with Fujiwara Chiya, Air Groove walked to the center of the venue. When the surrounding students saw her, they opened a path one after another. Air Groove moved unobstructed until she stood before Shirayuki.
"You danced beautifully."
"Yes… thank you."
It was a brief exchange, but it carried a feeling that outsiders could not intrude upon. More than praise, it felt like some kind of succession ceremony.
From this day forward, when people spoke of the title "Empress" again, the one they thought of might no longer be Air Groove, but Shirayuki, the girl who had inherited that role.
The white-haired girl held the hem of her dress and gave Air Groove a curtsy. Around them, everyone held their breath and quietly watched the two. In that silent atmosphere, the dance party came to a close.
Shirayuki had originally thought it would be a relaxed event. Who could have guessed the pressure would be this heavy? After the dance party ended, Fujiwara Chiya took Shirayuki to a nearby buffet restaurant and let her eat to her heart's content. She had to make up for everything she had failed to eat at the dance party. Oguri Cap and Spe-chan still had some conscience, at least knowing to leave a little for others. But those leftovers were not even enough to get stuck between Shirayuki's teeth.
When it came to food, no one showed mercy. Spe-chan cried to Shirayuki, "It wasn't that I didn't want to save some for you. I just couldn't control my mouth." As expected, friendship was powerless before appetite.
After searching for an hour, Shirayuki finally found a buffet restaurant that had not blacklisted her yet. After eating her fill, she successfully made it so she could never go there again either. But that was fine. If Tokyo no longer worked, she could simply go somewhere else. After all, she could now freely use Tracen's official vehicles. It was no longer like before, when she had to squeeze onto the train.
In that relaxed atmosphere, evening arrived.
Although Shirayuki was the one who had accepted the invitation from the person calling herself Café's "friend," Chiya also had to go. The reason was simple. He was afraid something might go wrong. If it was hypnosis or something similar, having both bodies present meant that even if one was affected, the other could still save the situation.
This was where the advantage of two brains showed itself.
However, Fujiwara Chiya did not openly stand in the middle of the training ground. Instead, he hid off to the side and watched. He did not want to alert the other party.
Time passed second by second. The lights of the training ground turned on. The campus, which had been so noisy earlier, was now as quiet as a dead city. The temperature gradually dropped, and a chill crept up his back.
In the midst of that silent waiting, a black shadow appeared at the center of the training ground. Without a sound, she came before Shirayuki.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
The black-haired girl spoke. The night wind blew through her hair, and her golden eyes flickered with light.
Shirayuki looked closely at her face. Then her eyes suddenly widened.
She realized with shock that the girl standing in front of her was completely invisible from Chiya's point of view.