"Rise and shine, sleepyhead!"
Early the next morning, before her alarm even had a chance to sound, Bless the Moment heard a familiar voice call out from her doorway, growing steadily closer.
"Mmm..."
Forced to open her eyes, Bless the Moment looked at her older sister standing by the bed and let out a deeply reluctant groan. "...What time is it?"
"It's almost 7:30."
"Only 7:30?"
Yawning, Bless the Moment rolled over and hugged her blanket tighter. "Let me sleep a bit longer."
There was no school today anyway, why get up so early?
"If you don't get up now, Dad and I are going to finish all the breakfast Mom made."
"Okay."
Bless the Moment remained completely unmoved.
Last night, she'd been so focused on chatting with that guy, Okino, that she'd missed the sound of her mother's footsteps when she got up to use the bathroom late at night. She'd been caught red-handed.
After her phone was confiscated, she had climbed back into bed under her mother's silent stare and pulled the covers over herself.
Ugh... so tired.
The white-haired Uma Musume closed her eyes again.
"Mom says if you don't get up for breakfast, she won't give back the phone she confiscated last night."
"I'm getting up right now!"
Hearing that, all drowsiness instantly fled the white-haired Uma Musume.
She pushed herself up with her hands and started pulling her clothes on.
Phone confiscated? Absolutely not!
She still needed to keep chatting with Okino and see how he'd react!
"Hurry up, or I might just finish breakfast without you," the black-haired girl urged with a smile, having followed the white-haired Uma Musume out of the room and now watching her rush into the bathroom.
"I know!"
Bless the Moment's voice echoed from the bathroom.
"...Mom, I'm up."
Five minutes later, Bless the Moment, the last one to arrive in the living room, went to her mother's side and looked up at her with pleading eyes.
"Eat first."
The middle-aged woman handed her a bowl of porridge, then pointed to the one remaining empty seat.
"I'll give your phone back after you finish eating."
"Okay."
Bless the Moment took the bowl and obediently sat down in the only vacant spot.
"You didn't go to sleep properly last night, did you? Stayed up sneaking around and got caught by Mom, right?"
The middle-aged man, whose eyes had been on his younger daughter since she appeared, teased with a laugh.
But after his wife shot him a sidelong glance, he coughed dryly twice, his expression turning serious. "You shouldn't stay up so late. It's not good for your health."
"I'm sorry."
The white-haired Uma Musume apologized meekly.
Catching up with an old friend was exciting, but staying up so late was indeed her fault.
"Your health has never been the strongest. It's taken us years of careful nurturing to get you this healthy, and now you're pulling all-nighters?"
"I'm sorry! I know I was wrong!" Bless the Moment raised her voice. "I promise I won't stay up late again!"
"Ah... forget it." The middle-aged woman stared at her younger daughter sitting beside her for a long moment, then finally sighed in resignation. "No more late nights."
--+--
"Trainer, I'm here— Whoa, what happened to you?"
Gold Ship, the first to arrive at the Spica team lounge, pushed the door open. Before she could even finish her sentence, she saw Okino sitting behind the desk with dark circles under his eyes.
Okino, who looked like he had the word 'exhausted' written all over his face, lifted his head slightly.
He glanced at the tall Uma Musume standing in the doorway, offered a listless 'Morning,' and then let his head droop again, his gaze falling back to the phone resting on the desk.
"Trainer, did you pull another all-nighter?"
Gold Ship closed the lounge door and walked over to the drowsy man, peering at the lit-up phone screen. "...Trainer, are you waiting for them to text you back?"
"Yeah." Okino's reply was feeble.
After they'd sent that last message, no matter how much he typed or if the screen vibrated, there had been no further response from the other party.
Seriously... couldn't they at least have clarified who they were and where he'd met them before disappearing?
Deeply bothered by these two questions, Okino stared at his phone screen and sighed helplessly.
"Hey, it's the weekend, right? No school today, so why are you even here?" Okino, who could barely keep his eyes open, leaned back in his chair and stretched.
"Ah, well... it's so boring at home. I had nothing better to do, so I came to see if anything interesting was happening." Gold Ship casually pulled over a chair and plopped down onto it.
"If they're important enough to make you stay up all night waiting for a reply, does that mean they're really special to you?"
"Need my help?"
"...Your help?"
Hearing Gold Ship say this, a strange expression twisted Okino's face.
If Gold Ship helped, she might very well be able to figure out who this 'Nakatsuru Aya' was, but...
"No!" Recalling Gold Ship's past exploits, Okino shook his head, his refusal decisive.
"Why not?" Gold Ship pointed a thumb at herself. "With my help, we could probably find them in no time."
"You're not planning to stuff them in a sack and drag them back here again, are you?"
"Yep." Gold Ship nodded, puzzled. "What's the problem?"
"Everything's the problem!" Okino retorted. "Do you want to see me end up in jail again?!"
"Pfft, it's just a trip to the police station." Gold Ship laughed, unconcerned. "You've been there plenty of times already, Trainer. One more visit won't hurt."
"And aren't you already on a first-name basis with everyone there anyway? It's basically like going home. It's fine, really."
"Don't make it sound like I'm a regular at the police station!" Okino responded with a pained, exasperated laugh as he put his phone away.
But... should he let Gold Ship help?
Okino looked at the tall Uma Musume sitting beside him.
No... better not. At least, not right now.
Utterly exhausted, Okino yawned, pulled a lollipop from his shirt pocket, and popped it into his mouth.
If he left it to Gold Ship, he'd be relying on Toujou Hana to bail him out again.
And he'd probably get another lecture from the Student Council after he got out.
"Hey, speaking of which... Trainer." Gold Ship spoke up again after the previous topic had lulled.
"Teio and the others have all retired now. Right now, I'm the only active Uma Musume left in Team Spica, right?"
"That's true... What are you getting at?"
"Have you thought about how we'll recruit new members next year?" Gold Ship scooted her chair closer, its legs scraping unpleasantly against the floor.
"Kitasan Black will probably choose to join our Spica team, but aside from her, are there any other promising Uma Musume you have your eye on?"
"Not really, not yet. We'll see how things look during next year's training races." Okino's voice was slightly muffled by the lollipop in his mouth.
After being up all night, all he wanted now was to collapse into bed and sleep until he woke up naturally.
He picked up his phone, glanced at it, then looked at the pile of work on his desk he'd intended to finish last night. He couldn't help but raise a hand to rub his temples.
...Let's just set all this aside for now.
Okino covered his mouth as another yawn escaped him.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 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.