With the two finally putting their hearts for each other to see, Wada and T.M. Opera O managed to sleep through the night soundly.
Soon, the sun rose.
As they were giving their goodbyes to the hot spring inn, the proprietress had a mix of surprise and a hint of disappointment in her eyes, much to the confusion of Wada and embarrassment of T.M. Opera O.
Quickly after, they boarded the bullet train from Chiba back to Tokyo, then a taxi to Tracen Academy.
However, unexpectedly, Tracen Academy was surprisingly quiet that day.
Despite T.M. Opera O winning the Arima Kinen and beating Symboli Rudolf, none of the bustling atmosphere from when she had won the Classic Triple Crowns was present.
All the students and staff were seemingly going about their business as usual, as if nothing had happened.
"It's so quiet… so quiet that it feels a bit unsettling."
"Not only that, the way they are looking at us is strange..."
Wada spotted an increasing amount of oddities in Tracen today.
From the moment they stepped through the school gates, any student who spotted them would flash a very gentle smile, then quickly walk away, chattering and giggling about something.
Wada was human, so his hearing wasn't as sharp as a Uma Musume's, but T.M. Opera O heard everything clearly.
"Hey, hey... That's him, isn't it? Wada Ryuji?"
"Yeah, he really is handsome! I never got a good look at him before, but I finally managed to this time!"
"So him and T.M. Opera O…"
"They definitely did Umapyoi!"
—As expected, they were talking about 'that.'
Fortunately, after her heart-to-heart with Wada last night, T.M. Opera O wasn't as flustered.
Plus, the reason this news even spread in the first place was because her brain's CPU overheated, causing her to leak it herself.
Therefore, this outcome was already expected and could only be considered the consequences of her actions.
Moreover, if such a thing became common knowledge at Tracen Academy… it might even be a good thing!
Thinking this, T.M. Opera O unconsciously tightened her grip on Wada's hand beside her, trying her best to maintain her usual Overlord attitude, so as to not show weakness at such a critical time.
"Oh my, isn't that T.M. Opera O?"
Just then, a familiar voice suddenly came from not far away.
T.M. Opera O and Wada both turned their heads to see Mejiro McQueen and Tokai Teio standing together, each holding a crepe, as if they had just bought them and were passing by.
"Ah, good morning, McQueen, Teio."
Wada also smiled and waved at the two girls.
Of course, a detail that immediately caught McQueen and Teio's attention was his and T.M. Opera O's clasped hands.
"Hehe~ Trainer Wada, you and T.M. Opera O have become very close, eh~?"
Tokai Teio said teasingly, seemingly having recovered from Symboli Rudolf's defeat yesterday.
It was unclear if it was because she was still a child at heart, with fickle emotions that come and go quickly, or if she was simply distracted by the new shiny gossip she discovered.
All of that aside, Tokai Teio and McQueen were at least both well aware of the hottest piece of news on the school forum that happened last night.
As one of the perpetrators and witnesses who had created the opportunity for T.M. Opera O and Wada to be alone, they were very interested in how far the two's relationship had progressed.
However, with just one simple glance at them, they were able to determine that a lot of progress had been made.
After a brief exchange of glances, McQueen and Teio confirmed their findings in each other's eyes.
"Well then, we won't disturb you two anymore."
McQueen smiled and said to Wada,
"Oh, and Trainer Wada, both my Trainer and Trainer Ikezoe are in the Director's office. They seem to be discussing something important, so it would probably be best to go there too."
"Director's office? I understand, thank you."
Wada nodded upon hearing this.
He roughly knew that this should be related to the Student Council President's handover, as well as maybe some troubles from the URA.
Wada had already anticipated something along those lines after witnessing T.M. Opera O defeat Symboli Rudolf.
Still, even if worst comes to worst, it probably wouldn't be too bad.
Symboli Rudolf has already expressed her support for T.M. Opera O publicly with the entirety of Japan as her witness.
Thus, even if the URA is opposed to Rudolf's decision, they probably won't be that strong armed and would likely only make their complaints and criticisms known to her privately.
As Wada and T.M. Opera O walked towards the Director's office, McQueen and Teio watched them walk away, before immediately hunching down and discussing in hushed tones.
"McQueen, see! Wasn't I right! T.M. Opera O and Trainer Wada is... uh... the thing Digital said... uh... yeah! A OTP!" (T/N: OTP = One True Pair)
"It's true… I originally didn't think those comments on the school forum were real, but they actually did progress that far already..."
The more maiden-like McQueen was very envious of the scene of Wada and T.M. Opera O walking hand-in-hand just now, and also felt a bit shy.
However, she quickly regained her composure and said,
"However, from how T.M. Opera O acted just now, it seems they haven't taken the final step yet."
"Huh? Neither Trainer Wada or T.M. Opera O confessed to each other?"
Teio tilted her head, a little confused, causing McQueen to immediately correct her:
"It's not about confessing, Teio… It's something else."
"Something else? What is it???"
The ever innocent Tokai Teio still didn't understand McQueen's words, causing her to tilt her head even more.
"It's Umap—"
Right as McQueen was about to say the word, she suddenly realized that Tokai Teio would probably be too innocent to even understand the hidden meaning behind those words, causing McQueen to struggle at how she was supposed to explain such a concept to her.
Usually for girls her age, even if they hadn't seen such a thing themselves, they would at least have heard of it.
But for Teio... she probably hasn't even heard of it, let alone be able to understand such a concept!
This was, of course, a result of Teio's upbringing.
Tokai Teio's parents had always taken good care of her, constantly playing around with her as well as making sure the contents she was absorbing was appropriate.
And after they discovered Tokai Teio's talent and interest to become an Uma Musume, her loving parents spared no effort to send her to Tracen Academy, so that she could receive the best education she could.
Then, after joining Tracen Academy, she was quickly noticed by Symboli Rudolf, and Tokai Teio quickly became attached to her, swiftly learning under her tutelage.
All of this caused Tokai Teio to be simply too busy to accidentally learn about such adult matters, leading to her innocence as we see today.
Although Symboli Rudolf also had a similar upbringing, she definitely knew of adult matters like this, with her even owning a few particularly 'explicit' books in private.
But to maintain her image as the Emperor in Teio's eyes, as well as to not lead Tokai Teio astray, Symboli Rudolf always kept a close eye on her (Not that it was hard considering she was sticking to her constantly), making sure her innocence stayed intact.
This culminated into Tokai Teio never knowing of such matters.
Let alone Umapyoi, she didn't even know what love really is, just like her roommate Mayano Top Gun, together known as "The Two Clueless Love Idiots of Tracen."
"It's… the process needed to have children, Teio. Do you understand what I mean?"
"Eh? Having children…?"
"But don't the Three Goddesses give people the babies? Do they still need to do anything?"
Tokai Teio's brain was starting to fry after trying to understand McQueen's words; stuff like this was a bit beyond her scope of knowledge.
McQueen, upon hearing Teio's response, buried her face in her hands.
Only now had she truly realized just how much of an innocent dunce Teio was.
'Should I ask T.M. Opera O to add sex ed once she becomes the Student Council President?'
This thought couldn't help but linger in McQueen's mind, but she quickly dismissed the idea. There was no way she would allow such a suggestion to come out of her mouth.
"—Hey! McQueen, don't just give up like that! Tell me quickly!"
Tokai Teio felt a bit annoyed now, as she realized that McQueen was hiding something from her.
Though she may be stupid in terms of love, she was a very inquisitive girl.
She had asked this question to her parents and Symboli Rudolf this question more than once before. However, her parents would only change the subject while Rudolf was the one who told her that the Three Goddesses were the ones who gave people babies.
But seeing McQueen's expression, she felt that something was wrong. Everyone around her was either unwilling to tell her or was lying to her about this topic.
However, when Tokai Teio said this, McQueen merely smiled and rubbed Teio's little head, saying gently:
"Teio, you're still young. This isn't a question you need to think about right now."
"Wuwuwuwu~! All of you are the exact same! You're acting exactly as my mom did when I asked!"
Tokai Teio immediately pouted upon getting treated like a child again. Clenching her small fists, she said with a voice full of conviction:
"Hmph, if you don't want to tell me, fine! I'll just ask someone else! I'll definitely get the answer today, just you wait!"
"Wait—Teio?"
McQueen became startled and immediately chased after the running Teio.
Just like that, the first showdown between two Uma Musume who considered each other rivals began in a strange way…
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School is about to reopen. Bye bye my free time~!
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If you spot any errors, feel free to comment about it and I will fix it as soon as I can.