The Matter of Seiun Sky Participating in the Japan Cup.
Minamizaka had ultimately agreed.
For Uma Musume of the same generation, there were only so many G1 races.
The two of them had already taken different routes for the Triple Crown events, so they couldn't very well enforce an automatic internal team avoidance system for the other G1 races, right?
Even for the strongest team on campus, Rigil, both Air Groove and Grass Wonder were participating in this year's Takarazuka Kinen.
As for Barbatos, she had somewhat anticipated Seiun Sky's participation in the Japan Cup.
They'd talked about it before during their chats—they had never actually run in a race together.
Sure, they had occasional spars within the team.
But the atmosphere of an internal spar and a G1-level race were worlds apart.
And the Japan Cup was undoubtedly the best choice. Facing off against the overseas powerhouses, they, as the home team's Uma Musume, naturally had to give it their all.
It was a chance to compete against foreign runners, and at the same time, a chance for the two of them to finally have a real, head-to-head battle in the same race.
That was the idea, anyway.
The only question was, among those foreign runners, would any from China be participating in the Japan Cup?
If so, it'd be a case of fellow townsfolk meeting abroad...
Well, they might also just be seen as another opponent with a "decent little life" over there.
After a round of celebrations that night, everyone headed back from Osaka to Tracen Academy.
Though nobody said it out loud, the specter of exams had clearly sunk its claws deep into everyone's hearts.
Especially for Twin Turbo.
On the bus ride back, Barbatos happened to catch a glimpse of her phone screen.
Despite her rebellious, devil-may-care attitude at the banquet, on LINE, she was already messaging her roommate, who had also just finished her race.
--+--
Back in the dorm room, after showering and drying her hair.
Barbatos stared at the study materials spread out on the computer desk. For someone who prided herself on being a model student, at this moment, she felt a wave of helplessness.
"How much of this can you actually get?"
"About half?" Seiun Sky guessed, uncertainty in her voice.
They looked at each other, identical wry smiles on their faces.
Last year, the end-of-term exams had been a breeze for both of them.
They hadn't had that many races, and Barbatos hadn't been training obsessively, so they'd attended classes regularly. The material seemed pretty simple back then.
But this year was different. Barbatos had spent the first few months at home "recovering." Even though she missed classes then, Grass Wonder had sent them her lecture notes.
With both Barbatos and Seiun Sky's strong learning abilities, even self-studying, they'd grasped that material easily.
But then, both of them had thrown themselves into preparing for their Triple Crown campaigns.
Even when they returned to Tracen Academy, it was a case of occasionally attending a class here and there.
Most of the time, they were taking leave to train. That's why Seiun Sky's guess was only "about half."
With less than a week until the Tracen Academy exams, trying to teach themselves everything in the study materials was practically impossible.
They needed either to borrow study notes or find someone to tutor them. One way or another, they had to do something to pass.
Relying on "Fuku-chan Special Exam Pencil" was definitely not an option!
Barbatos suggested, "Wanna ask Grass and King?"
"Grass's been rehabbing since her injury, getting ready for the Takarazuka Kinen. King's probably in the same boat as us." Seiun Sky flopped weakly onto the desk, defeated.
Knock knock~
A clear rap on the door sounded just then. Barbatos didn't wait for Seiun Sky; she got up first to answer it. Opening the door, she saw the dorm head of this building—Fuji Kiseki.
"Fuji-senpai?"
"It's pretty late, is something up?"
Fuji Kiseki generously praised her, "I was at the Takarazuka Kinen today. It was a fantastic race. Well-deserved title of Japan's best."
"There is actually something. I was going to message you on LINE, but I figured you two might still be awake, so I just came over."
"Ah?"
"What is it?"
Barbatos asked curiously, her eyes catching sight of the bag Fuji Kiseki was holding. Looked like there was something inside.
"When you debut, you end up falling behind in your coursework because of all the races."
"Especially in a situation like yours and Seiun Sky's."
"So, Amazon and I put together some study notes for your grade level, tailored to your situation. We're handing them out."
"Take a look through them first."
"If there's anything you don't get, from tomorrow until the exams, Amazon and I will be holding a cram session to help you guys fill in the gaps."
"Of course, how much you actually learn is up to you."
As she spoke, Fuji Kiseki took two sets of notes out of the bag. They covered most of the study material from the first half of the year.
"Thank you so much, Fuji-senpai! This is a huge help!"
Barbatos pressed her palms together in gratitude towards Fuji Kiseki. Just moments ago, she and Seiun Sky were stressing over the upcoming exams.
"Alright then, don't stay up too late looking through them. Get some rest. I still need to deliver these to the others."
Fuji Kiseki took her bag and, after saying goodbye to Barbatos, headed off.
Although Tracen Academy was a school for Uma Musume, the exams were still quite strict.
This also meant that the pre-summer training camp, which should have been a time to relax, in some cases gradually turned into a scene for cram school.
Even the academic aces among Uma Musume, after debuting and participating in numerous races, couldn't manage to keep up their grades and avoid failing every subject.
Having seen this situation many times, Fuji Kiseki and Hishi Amazon, as dorm mothers, had put their heads together and set up a cram session right before the training camp.
They hoped to avoid having a bunch of people needing tutoring on the beach.
If they still couldn't grasp the material after the pre-exam cram session, well, Fuji Kiseki figured there wasn't much more she could do.
After all, Amazon, one of the dorm heads herself, was already a regular at the beachside tutoring sessions.
--+--
She studied the notes with Seiun Sky until around ten. The internal clock trained by their regimen started making Barbatos's eyes heavy. She decided to get some rest instead of pulling an all-nighter.
With the notes, their grasp of the material had improved qualitatively, and they still had the cram session Fuji-senpai had mentioned to look forward to.
She reached out to lift the covers, naturally preparing to slip into Seiun Sky's futon.
Just then, her phone buzzed.
It was a LINE voice call from El Condor Pasa, all the way in France. She probably wanted to chat about the Takarazuka Kinen.
Barbatos glanced at Seiun Sky, who was already lying on her side in bed, practically asleep in seconds.
She declined the call, quickly typed the words "Sleeping, don't disturb!" in big letters, then switched off both mobile data and Wi-Fi before sliding into the futon.
Nothing in the world—nothing—was more important than sleeping next to her girlfriend!
--+--
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.