“What terrible luck…”
Kazuomi sighed and shook his head while gathering folding chairs inside the auditorium.
“Hey, happiness slips away through your mouth whenever you sigh.”
Koji continued smiling without the slightest concern.
“Besides, Hana only ordered us to clean the auditorium.
In a sense, that makes us rather lucky.”
Kazuomi’s head throbbed.
He gave the shameless senior a speechless look.
“I’m actually lamenting the fact that I ever met you.”
“That’s terribly rude.
You’ll hurt my feelings.”
Although Koji said so, not a trace of remorse appeared upon his face.
He even pointed at himself with a boastful air.
“At least I begged her not to turn this into a larger incident.”
“No.
You merely refused to let go until she couldn’t tolerate watching you prostrate yourself in front of everyone.”
Kazuomi stared at him in disbelief.
The words frivolous, unreliable, and hopeless might as well have been written across Koji’s face.
He had shamelessly placed Ms.
Tojo in an impossible position before the entire auditorium.
One force had certainly met its natural counter.
Koji appeared exceptionally practiced whenever he dealt with Ms.
Tojo.
He was clearly a repeat offender.
“Aw, don’t praise me like that.
You’ll make me blush.”
He was beyond saving.
For their series of misdeeds, Ms.
Tojo had ultimately imposed a largely symbolic punishment: the two of them were to clean the entire auditorium after the entrance ceremony.
It could be described as fortune within misfortune.
Kazuomi certainly did not want his life at Tracen Academy to end on its very first day.
“Is it already this late?”
Koji exclaimed while checking his watch.
Kazuomi finished storing the folding chairs in a movable cabinet beneath the stage and wiped the fine sweat from his forehead.
“What’s wrong?
Do you have something urgent to do?”
“Nothing terribly urgent.
I simply need to go into the city center for an errand.”
Koji smiled awkwardly.
He did not explain what the errand involved, but it was clear the timing had become difficult.
“You need to go into the city now?
Then why did you come here to watch the entrance ceremony?”
“Uh… a momentary impulse?”
Kazuomi sighed.
“Eleven thirty.”
“So you have about an hour.”
Kazuomi calculated quickly.
“Taking the academy bus and transferring to the subway will require at least forty minutes.”
He looked around the auditorium.
“Leave the rest to me.”
“What?
I don’t think that would be fair.”
Despite his usual lack of seriousness, Koji appeared genuinely apologetic.
“It’s fine.
We’ve already completed more than half.
If I work at a steady pace, I’ll finish within thirty minutes.”
Kazuomi gestured toward the exit.
“Your errand sounds more important.
You should leave now.”
Koji was deeply moved.
He slapped Kazuomi’s shoulder with considerable force.
“You really are a wonderful person, Kazuomi!”
“By the time you finish, it’ll probably be noon.
As thanks, I’ll lend you my meal card.
Use it to eat at the cafeteria.”
He removed a pale green card from his pocket and handed it to Kazuomi.
“Really?”
Kazuomi could not deny that the offer tempted him.
Because of his financial circumstances, he had originally planned to survive the entire week on the box of instant noodles in his room.
“It’s nothing.
There’s plenty of money on it.
Order whatever you like.”
For once, Koji displayed impressive generosity.
The card’s balance came from a portion of the academy allowance provided to its trainers.
Koji had likely guessed that the unpaid newcomer was experiencing financial difficulty and intended to repay his kindness.
However—
“One more thing.
Don’t eat dinner tonight.
Return directly to the dormitory at seven.”
For some reason, Koji added that instruction before leaving.
Although confused, Kazuomi agreed.
After Koji’s departure, Kazuomi was left to organize the enormous auditorium alone.
By the time he finished, noon had arrived.
Carrying Koji’s meal card, he headed enthusiastically toward the academy dining center.
He had worn the heavy mascot costume, been punished, and cleaned the auditorium.
Kazuomi was starving.
Only after arriving at the academy’s sole dining center did he belatedly recognize a certain fact.
Everywhere he looked, there were newly enrolled Uma Musume.
Tracen Academy employed fewer than one hundred faculty and staff members in total.
The number of Uma Musume studying there, meanwhile, approached two thousand.
Kazuomi had not considered the implications before.
Only when he found himself trapped in a queue between girls did he become acutely conscious of the sweet and pleasant atmosphere associated with young women.
The academy had no strict separation between student and faculty dining areas.
Everyone ate together inside the same center.
The girls did not appear particularly concerned by Kazuomi’s presence.
They were not sheltered aristocrats, after all.
At most, they glanced twice at the unusually young staff member.
Kazuomi, by contrast, could not stop noticing them.
“The president was so handsome!”
“I know!
I want to join the student council too.”
“I heard there’s going to be a class activity this afternoon.
I can’t wait!”
“Look!
They have a special carrot hamburg steak!”
Excited discussions surrounded him.
Apparently, Kazuomi was not the only person thrilled by everything happening today.
The Uma Musume in line chattered endlessly.
Some looked forward to academy life.
Others remained captivated by the Emperor’s earlier appearance.
Still others delighted in every unfamiliar discovery the school offered.
Girls were some indescribably wonderful creation wrapped in sugar and spice.
Yet being surrounded on all sides by such overwhelming sweetness left Kazuomi strangely uncomfortable.
What should I eat for lunch?
To distract himself, he looked toward the display screens hanging from the cafeteria ceiling.
Steak salad with fresh carrot soup.
Hamburg steak, tempura, miso soup, and other traditional Japanese set meals.
A dazzling selection of dishes in every style imaginable filled the screens.
As expected of Tracen Academy, there were even countless desserts and snacks.
Had price not been a concern, Kazuomi would have considered this paradise.
As matters stood—
The more appetizing the food looked, the more melancholy he became.
Today’s meal would be only a fleeting happiness.
Starting tomorrow, he would return to his ordinary life of pickled-plum rice balls, instant noodles, and barley tea three times a day.
Still—
Why had the line stopped moving?
Returning his attention to the queue, Kazuomi looked ahead.
The Uma Musume directly in front of him had frozen in place, apparently uncertain what she was supposed to do.