"Hmm…"
At nine in the morning, students, led by their Class Advisors, successively arrived at the academy's grand auditorium. The welcoming ceremony for the new students, part of today's agenda, was counting down.
As the one responsible for logistics, Kazuo stood behind the stage curtain, cautiously peering out.
His gaze lingered among the chattering girls below, trying to find a specific person among the uniformly dressed female students, which was quite difficult.
Nearly five hundred Uma Musume seemed to have enrolled this year, and Kazuo at this moment only wanted to find the Uma Musume named Xiao Hai Wan from before.
"Where could she be…"
However, what Kazuo didn't notice was that a figure had quietly appeared behind him.
"Hmm, what are you looking at?"
"Uh… I'm looking for a girl. Which class is she in…"
"Oh!? You already have a target? That's not to be underestimated."
"No, I just want to find her to say thank you…"
"Is that so? But from here, looking out, the quality of this year's students is quite good, isn't it?"
"Hmm…?"
Kazuo responded absently, but gradually, he suddenly realized that something seemed off.
Since just now, who exactly had he been talking to—and he felt as if there was something on his head… Slowly turning his head, he saw a standard, dark, frivolous-looking man's smile, "Yo, Junior!"
"(Gasp)! Senior Okino!"
At some point, Koji had also arrived at the venue. He had completely shed his comical drunken appearance from yesterday; instead, he exuded a sense of casualness.
Seeing Kazuo so surprised, he looked as if his prank had succeeded, chuckling, "Haha, did I cause you trouble last night, Junior?"
It was more than just trouble; he had been completely ruined by this guy in front of him who had no self-awareness whatsoever.
"Didn't Senior Okino say he wouldn't be attending today's entrance ceremony?"
Kazuo retorted with a meaningful jab.
"Haha, that's true, but I didn't know what to do just lying in the dorm, so I just came to check things out on the way."
Seeing Koji like this, Kazuo, even if he was angry, couldn't vent it. He could only sigh lightly and give up.
Although he had some complaints, Kazuo didn't feel it was necessary to get angry with this Senior, who seemed to be good-natured.
"Well, what can I do, I'm the junior."
"Hey," Koji said, laughing as he put an arm around him, "No need to be so formal. Don't call me Senior anymore; it puts too much pressure on me. Koji is fine. If you don't mind, I'll call you Kazuo, okay?"
With Koji being so familiar, Kazuo naturally acquiesced to this behavior.
"Alright! Kazuo, back to our previous topic, which Uma Musume are you interested in?"
The atmosphere instantly changed. Koji, with his arm around Kazuo's shoulder and whispering, looked like boys secretly evaluating girls and about to tell dirty jokes.
"Gah—"
An indescribable feeling of trouble washed over him, but Kazuo couldn't resist Koji in this state.
"It's really nothing! I'm just a little curious myself!"
The handkerchief Xiao Hai Wan had given him earlier had been neatly folded and carefully placed in his pocket.
"It's good to have a goal, but sometimes you also need courage, otherwise, if you hesitate too much, she'll be snatched away by others."
Koji's words were not untrue. After new students enroll, they will gradually choose their Trainer within half a year. In Koji's opinion, Kazuo's procrastination might cause him to miss the opportunity—well, but there were also various other problems standing in his way.
"It's not what you're thinking, Koji," Kazuo muttered with a slight dissatisfaction, "Never mind, I'll see her eventually. I'll thank her then."
"Heh~"
That's why a gossipy man is the most annoying!
"Well, well, let's not talk about that. I just took a quick look, and this year's Uma Musume seem to be very good in all aspects. It's making me a little excited."
Koji stopped pressing Kazuo about who that person was, but at this moment, he steered the conversation in an even more dangerous direction.
Oh no, this person is so dangerous… "Speaking of which, Kazuo, what do you like most about Uma Musume?"
"Eh, why are you suddenly asking that…?"
"Well, well, don't worry about it, just a quick confirmation."
"Hmm… Although I don't quite understand, if I had to say… it would probably be their running posture…"
Under an invisible pressure, Kazuo answered honestly.
Who would have thought that Koji's eyes would light up: "You… you truly are my best friend!"
"Eh! When did we become best friends!? Didn't we just meet last night?!"
Kazuo continued to complain intensely.
"You like their thighs too, right? Right? Right?"
"Eh!! No, how did it get to that? And what I just said clearly wasn't what you meant!"
"Flexibility, muscle proportion! An Uma Musume's natural talent largely depends on her legs! As the saying goes, a plump Uma Musume has no difficulties—"
As he spoke, he forcibly pulled Kazuo to look at the girls below the podium.
Since the students' uniform skirts only reached their knees, their thighs were exposed to the two of them as they sat down. Kazuo originally had no such intention, but under this guy's lead, he gradually strayed from the original topic, and his gaze also slowly shifted downwards.
"The thighs of this year's new students must feel very comfortable to touch, right!? Ah, I want to knead them!"
As he spoke, both of his hands seemed to be making kneading motions up and down at an imaginary object.
"Imagine it, isn't it great, isn't it great!?"
He was constantly panting. Honestly, is it really okay for such a senior to be in the academy?
However—
To be fair… "Indeed, it seems… pretty good."
However, the agreement lasted less than three seconds—
"You two guys…"
A murderous aura suddenly came from behind them, as if Ms. Tojo, like a yaksha, was looking at ants or lower carbon-based life forms, releasing a substantial killing intent.
"Both of you, get out of the hall now!!!"