"Ardan and Dream are basically sisters too!"
Not one to back down, Mejiro Asama pulled Mejiro Ardan—who had been hesitating on the sidelines, wondering how to diffuse the tension—straight to her side.
Seeing this, Northern Grandmother stopped pulling her punches. She reached out and dragged Northern Starlight over, despite the girl's best efforts to slip into a corner and pretend she didn't exist.
"I have her mother right under my thumb!"
"Wait... why do you sound so much like a villain...?"
Ignoring Starlight's mumbled complaints at her elbow, Northern Grandmother tilted her chin toward Mejiro Asama, signaling for her to bring on whatever else she had in store.
Seeing herself being one-upped, Mejiro Asama clicked her tongue.
She summoned Mejiro Ramonu from the window, even though Ramonu clearly had no desire to get mixed up in a spat between two old women.
"Ramonu has already joined the Student Council. With her hands on the levers of power, she can provide an even better campus environment for Dream!"
To say she had "power" was a stretch—that belonged to Symboli Rudolf, and had little to do with Ramonu's personal business—but Northern Grandmother didn't attack that weak point. Instead, she chose a far more devastating rebuttal.
"Northern Taste is already the Chairwoman of Central Tracen! Give it up, Mejiro Asama—you'll never best me!"
"You... you absolute..."
Left completely speechless, Mejiro Asama could only grit her teeth and glare at the gloating Northern Grandmother, unable to squeeze out a single word of retort.
"Come to think of it, wouldn't merging both families' efforts provide Dream with even more support?"
Seeing the two elders lost in their competitive trance, Mejiro Ardan, who had ducked off to the side, whispered her question.
"While that's true in theory and in practice, those two just love to butt heads. There's really no stopping them."
Northern Starlight, crouching beside her niece, offered a hushed explanation. Mejiro Ramonu, seeing she was finally free from the farce, shook her head.
"They really ought to hand over the head-of-house positions sooner rather than later."
Watching the two seniors act so undignified in their endless quest for victory, Ramonu suddenly lowered her voice.
"I recall Symboli Rudolf having some experience with rebelling against a head of house. Perhaps I should go and learn a thing or two from her later."
"Ramonu, aren't you saying something incredibly dangerous...?"
As luck would have it, Symboli Rudolf—the very person Ramonu just mentioned—was currently leading the Student Council members in another VIP suite.
"The Kikuka-sho... it really is a place full of memories."
Gazing out at the Kyoto Racecourse, which looked exactly as it did in her memories, Shinzan spoke with a touch of nostalgia as she stood by the window.
"This is a Student Council gathering. How did you manage to sneak in?"
Symboli Rudolf, sitting on the sofa, sounded a bit annoyed.
The combination of the Kikuka-sho, Dream Weaver, and Shinzan brought back memories that were anything but pleasant. She looked ready to evict Shinzan on the spot.
"I'm part of the Student Council too, you know. I have been since a long time ago."
"Besides, I'm a Trainer now. Surely even a Student Council President shouldn't speak to a teacher with that kind of attitude?"
Facing Rudolf's prickliness, Shinzan turned around, smiling as she pulled her hard-earned Trainer's license from her trench coat pocket.
"And look, Mr. C.B. isn't saying anything. As the President, don't be so narrow-minded."
With that, she pointed toward the other side of the room, where Mr. C.B. was busy teasing Narita Brian.
Suddenly hearing her name, Mr. C.B. looked up. She glanced at the aggressive Rudolf, then at the unreadable Shinzan, and finally raised her hands in a gesture of surrender.
"Leave me out of this, really. Don't go dragging innocent bystanders into your little spat."
"Right, Brian?"
Narita Brian didn't really understand what they were talking about, though she gathered they were fighting over Dream Weaver. She didn't respond, merely turning her head away with a cold huff.
"I feel like I understand what people are talking about in the Student Council less and less these days..."
Air Groove, who couldn't decipher their cryptic riddles at all, let out a sigh. She turned to the secretary, Shiragawa, who she'd become quite familiar with, and asked, "Do you have any idea what's going on?"
"Perhaps... I do?"
"You really do know everything, don't you?"
"Hardly. I only know what I know."
Looking at the smiling Shiragawa, Air Groove sighed again.
Ever since Mejiro Ramonu joined the Council, she felt like there was an invisible chasm between her and this group. She couldn't make heads or tails of their daily discussions.
Even her long-time partner Tokai Teio had been acting all mysterious lately and had joined their ranks, leaving Air Groove wondering if she was being frozen out.
While she was busy questioning her life choices, in the spectator stands just below the VIP suite, Richard was struggling to keep Phil from ripping his shirt open and roaring.
He adjusted his battered gold-rimmed glasses and growled at Phil under his breath.
"Have you lost your mind?! Act decent in public! You haven't even been drinking!"
"You don't get it, Rich! At a time like this, you've gotta bare your burning chest to truly express your excitement!"
"For the last time, my name is Richard!"
Feeling like he was being assimilated by the golden gorilla beside him, Richard slumped back into his seat. He smoothed his hair, which had become a mess in his excitement, and took a breath before speaking.
"Just behave yourself. This is her final race for the Triple Crown. We should be offering our blessings with some dignity."
"We're sitting so far back, she can't even see us. Besides, she doesn't even know who we are right now."
Richard shook his head dismissively at that. With a smug look that suggested he was clearly superior, he wagged a finger.
"Whether the other person can see you or not, one must maintain proper decorum. That is the true path of a fan."
"Rich... since when did you become a fan?"
"I took time off work and bought international flights to see this race. Don't you think it's a bit late to be asking that?"
Looking at the two bizarre foreigners nearby, the still somewhat youthful Hishi Miracle turned to Sugar Lights.
"Are all foreigners like that?"
"...Why are you asking me?"
"Because I feel like a doctor would be the type to go abroad for academic conferences a lot."
Sugar Lights sighed. She wasn't in her wheelchair; for the first time, she was sitting in the stands on her own two legs.
She patted Hishi Miracle's head and said with a hint of helplessness, "Miracle, you can't generalize a whole group of people based on a couple of weirdos."
Just as Sugar Lights was about to say more, Agnes Tachyon—who was already fed up with the bickering between Equinox and Liberty Island—turned and shouted at her.
"If you have time to educate the juniors, why don't you help me pull these two apart!"
Manhattan Cafe sat to the side sipping her coffee, looking as if she didn't have a care in the world.
She looked up at the chaotic group and decided that they really weren't in any position to call other people "weird."
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! 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.