Early in the morning, Satono Diamond and Kitasan Black walked toward their classroom to the chirping of birds.
"Kita-chan, was Trainer-san angry last night? Did she tell you anything about Father?" Satono Diamond asked Kitasan Black.
"No, actually, Miss McQueen booked the Shinkansen tickets, not our Trainer-san."
"I see."
Satono Diamond nodded, slightly relieved.
Satono Diamond had been feeling guilty toward Sakura Baimu because of what happened with her father yesterday. Hearing Kitasan Black say that Sakura Baimu didn't seem angry, she finally felt a little more at ease.
She opened the classroom door, and just as she was about to go inside, she heard the Umamusumes in the class gasp in unison.
"Wow!!!!!"
"It's Dia-chan! Dia-chan's here!"
The previously enthusiastic atmosphere in the class paused briefly when Satono Diamond walked in, then erupted into even more enthusiastic cheers.
"Huh? What's going on?"
Satono Diamond had never seen her classmates so enthusiastic toward her before and was momentarily bewildered.
"Dia-chan, Dia-chan, I heard you beat Leukerbad from the Leuker Clan, right?!"
"Not only that, Dia-chan crossed the finish line by a huge margin!"
"Dia-chan, your match yesterday was so cool! You used a runaway strategy that pretended to be caught off guard, fooling everyone. Even the commentators didn't realize it until the very end! How did you do that? Such an amazing tactic!"
"Dia-chan broke the record too! You shrank the best time by more than 3 seconds!"
Satono Diamond's classmates were filled with admiration for her amazing performance in her debut match. They immediately surrounded her, chattering incessantly and bombarding her with all sorts of questions and praise.
"Hahahaha..."
Kitasan Black watched as Satono Diamond became the center of attention among her classmates this time, feeling that fortunes truly change. She stared at Satono Diamond, who seemed somewhat overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of her classmates in the middle of the crowd, and couldn't stop laughing.
Just then, Kitasan Black suddenly felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning around, she saw a classmate who spiy somewhat shyly.
"Kita-chan, you and Dia-chan are on the same team, right?"
"Yeah, we're both on TCB."
"Um..." the Umamusume seemed a little embarrassed. "Kita-chan, could you ask your trainer for me what the requirements are for joining your team?"
"Huh?"
--
Throughout the morning, Satono Diamond was surrounded by various classmates asking questions about the competition.
Later, after the first person asked Kitasan Black and Satono Diamond if TCB was recruiting, over a dozen Umamusumes came to secretly inquire about how to join TCB.
After their morning classes ended, Satono Diamond and Kitasan Black finally escaped their enthusiastic classmates and had a chance to have lunch together at Tracen Academy's cafeteria.
Just as they left the school building, they bumped into two familiar figures walking side by side.
"Hey, isn't that Kita-chan and Dia-chan? Going to lunch? Come on over," Tokai Teio invited with a smile.
"Sure, sure!" Satono Diamond and Kitasan Black nodded eagerly.
"Dia-chan must have received a lot of compliments from her classmates today, right?" Tokai Teio asked with a smile.
"Wow, Teiō-san, how did you guess?!" Satono Diamond exclaimed in surprise, covering her mouth.
"Hehe, McQueen and I were like that back then. But we weren't as dramatic as you two."
"By the way, Kita-chan and Dia-chan, why do you two look so tired?" Mejiro McQueen noticed the expressions on her two juniors' faces and asked curiously.
"This morning, Dia-chan and I have received inquiries from no fewer than ten students."
"Inquiries about what?"
"Inquiries about whether our TCB is still recruiting and the requirements for joining…"
"What did you say?!"
"No way!!"
Tokai Teio and Mejiro McQueen exclaimed in unison upon hearing Kitasan Black's words.
"How is this possible? Her reputation at school is terrible. How come today…"
Mejiro McQueen's purple eyes widened in surprise, seemingly unable to comprehend that TCB would ever see such a situation where people were vying to join.
"Back then, McQueen and I worked under her for three years, but not a single Umamusume wanted to join Trainer-san's team…" Tokai Teio also seemed somewhat incredulous.
"Maybe it's because the newly enrolled Umamusumes haven't been bothered by our Trainer-san much, so…"
Mejiro McQueen analyzed, then saw a figure radiating intense fatigue and dejection in front of her. Upon closer inspection, she realized it was Smart Falcon and shouted loudly.
"Falcon-senpai!"
Smart Falcon turned around at the shout. The four Umamusumes were startled by Smart Falcon's exhausted face and her drooping ears.
"Falco-senpai, what's wrong?"
"Falco... Falco was trained by Trainer-san all night last night and then went straight to class this morning..."
Smart Falcon's voice was filled with dejection. "Falco fell asleep while showering at the dorm this morning... If Flash-chan hadn't woken Falco up, she probably would have skipped class this morning."
After seeing her teammates, Smart Falcon immediately ran over and began to pour out her grievances.
"You know, Trainer-san made Falco wear wristbands the whole time during training, and those wristbands were all weighted. Then she made Falco drink that green juice..."
Smart Falcon's face was pale, as if she didn't want to recall the events of last night at all.
A moment later, she realized she'd said a bit too much, so she looked at her teammates and asked.
"What are you guys talking about?"
"Kita-chan and Dia-chan are saying a bunch of Umamusumes in their class are asking around about how to join TCB," Tokai Teio said with a smile.
"What?!" Smart Falcon was jolted awake, her tired expression instantly replaced by shock.
"She has practically harassed every Umamusume in our academy..."
Smart Falcon had suffered greatly at Sakura Baimu's hands, and hearing that so many people were vying to join TCB was utterly unbelievable.
"After all, for a competitive Umamusume, the results are the most important thing. Reputation doesn't matter," Tokai Teio said.
"Yeah, the new juniors probably don't know how terrifying the trainer is… Eek—!"
Smart Falcon spoke as she walked into the cafeteria first, then freezing in place with a shout.
"Falcon-senpai, what's wrong… Eek—!"
Tokai Teio exclaimed, her eyes widening in shock upon seeing the scene in the cafeteria.
"Teiō, what's wrong? What did you see that's enough to make you react like → that↗!?"
Mejiro McQueen's usually maintained a cool demeanor disappeared. Her voice trailed off as it cracked before she could finish her sentence.
They weren't the only ones reacting this way; many other seniors in the cafeteria, including other umamusumes stopped what they were doing. They were staring in horror at a particular spot.
Because they all saw Sakura Baimu. The person who's usually avoided by Umamusumes when eating in the cafeteria was now surrounded by a large group of newly enrolled Umamusumes.