In the early morning, the chirping of birds on the balcony drifted into the room.
Starlight slowly poked her head out from under the covers. The little calico cat lying by her pillow stood up, stretched its body, and then hopped onto the nearby desk to lick its paws.
By the door, the Shiba Inu was already wagging its tail, unable to wait any longer to head out with Starlight.
Usually, the dog and cats would follow Starlight out in the morning and then sneak back in at night.
She glanced at the phone beside her. The time was already 5:30 AM.
Getting out of bed in a daze, she folded her quilt and changed her clothes. After finishing her morning wash, Starlight headed out for her daily morning practice.
The newcomer promotion race was a month and a half away, so for now, there was still plenty of preparation time.
Standing on the training grounds and feeling the fresh air, Starlight nodded toward Kiryuu Inami nearby. The latter slowly raised the stopwatch in her hand and pressed the button.
Pang—
A gray figure bolted out, racing across the turf. Watching Starlight's figure grow smaller in the distance, a smile of yearning appeared on Inami's face.
Ding-dang-dong~
The crisp, loud sound of the bell rang out from the teaching building.
With her school bag on her back and a bag of buns and two eggs in her hand, Starlight ran all the way to her classroom.
Because she was cutting it close, the hem of her trousers was still stained with mud, as were her dedicated training shoes.
"Good morning, Ms. Hayakawa."
Halfway there, she ran into Tazuna Hayakawa, who was preparing to return to her workstation. Starlight greeted her.
"Oh my, Miss Starlight, have you been out for morning practice again?"
"Yes, Ms. Hayakawa."
"How diligent. Hurry to class now, and remember not to be late."
"You got it!"
Finally, when Starlight arrived at the classroom, there was only one minute left before the start of the lesson.
"Huff... puff... another 'safe' day."
Leaning over her desk, she did as she usually did: Catching up on sleep while listening to the teacher's lecture.
Everyone had long since grown accustomed to this classmate who arrived at the very last second. However, unlike her previous unremarkable self, there were now many more eyes lingering on Starlight.
For example...
"Starlight-chan, Starlight-chan... Starlight-chan... when can we have a match? I'm so excited! The creator of the new 1800m record— I really want to compete against you."
In a seat near the front of the middle row, Yaeno Muteki was constantly muttering to herself in her head.
Meanwhile, an Uma Musume with sky-blue hair sitting two seats away in Starlight's row glanced over curiously.
"The mud on her pant legs and the outer side of her forefoot is thicker than other parts, which means her posture likely leans forward, with her center of gravity shifting inward..."
Mejiro Ardan analyzed this internally, though on the surface, she maintained a gentle, faint smile.
Over in the row by the window, Oguri Cap was hunched over her desk in the exact same posture as Starlight.
She could be seen quietly opening the window and then reaching her other hand into the school bag hanging on the side of her desk.
From time to time, she pulled out bread, chicken legs, or freshly made skewers and rice balls she had bought from the convenience store.
She immersed herself in eating without making a sound.
Time flew by, and after the bell rang for the end of class, Starlight grabbed her bag and ran to the restroom to change clothes.
That's right— what she had in her bag was her school uniform skirt, as for books, she hadn't brought a single one.
First, her seat was at the back against the wall, so she used textbooks she normally didn't need to build a high "wall" on the top left corner of her desk. This perfectly shielded her from the teacher's line of sight and made it less likely for her to be called during roll call.
Second, her front-row neighbor, Super Creek, would usually secretly tip her off. In this class, Super Creek was the one she had always gotten along with quite well.
However, the only thing she didn't take to the restroom were the buns and eggs sitting on her desk.
Because her seat was against the wall, the classroom trash can was located not far behind her. Oguri Cap's cheeks were bulging as she seemed to be chewing food she hadn't swallowed yet.
In her hand, she carried the wrappers and trash bags from the food she had sneakily eaten during class.
After she tossed them all into the trash can, a faint, enticing aroma wafted over.
The scent made Oguri Cap, who was originally turning to leave, pause in her tracks. Turning her head, she spotted the buns and eggs currently sitting on Starlight's desk.
After patting her stomach and weighing the pros and cons, Oguri Cap stealthily crept over.
In a restroom stall.
After Starlight finished changing into her school uniform, she took out a small mirror to check her reflection. With a faint flash of light, her hairstyle transformed into her "gal" form.
The small cross earring hanging from her ear shook slightly, and Starlight nodded with satisfaction.
She closed the mirror and stepped out of the stall.
Clack—
The sound of a door opening echoed from the adjacent stall. As the door was pushed open, a rather small gray-haired Uma Musume stepped out.
"Ugh~ seriously, why do I have the runs again today? I barely ate anything this morning."
"Um, excuse me, could you let me through?"
Seeing that the other girl looked like she was going to lament for a while longer, Starlight spoke up with a smile.
"Ah, sorry, sorry! I'm in the way."
As Tamamo Cross turned her head, her sky-blue eyes froze for a moment the second she saw Starlight.
"Eh!? Wait, wait a sec— "
Seeing that Starlight was about to walk out, Tamamo Cross subconsciously called out to her.
"Hmm? Is something the matter?"
"That... well, fellow student, are you a new transfer? How come I haven't seen you around before?"
"No, I'm in Class B."
"Class B? Isn't that the same class as Oguri Cap? Why haven't I seen you?"
"Hehe, maybe I'm just a bit mysterious. Who knows? By the way, do you know which class Daiichi Ruby is in?"
"Ruby... that young lady? I know she's in Class A downstairs. I'll take you there."
"Really? That's a huge help, you cute classmate."
"C-Cute... Wait, that kind of title doesn't suit me at all, okay!"
Those star-like eyes of the girl before her seemed to sparkle in Tamamo Cross's vision.
However, it seemed she didn't quite like being called "cute," as she retorted with a reddened face.
"Is that so? Then, what should I call you?"
"Hmph hmph! I am the White Lightning, the cool and amazing Tamamo Cross-sama!"
With her arms crossed over her chest, a confident smirk played at the corners of Tamamo Cross's mouth.
"Oh~ how impressive!"
Starlight played along rarely, quickly clapping her hands in agreement.
"Cool Tamamo Cross-sama, please lead the way."
"Right! Let's get going."
Gurgle~
Just as they left the restroom and reached the corridor, Starlight patted her empty stomach and spoke up.
"Um, can I go back to my classroom first to grab my breakfast? Please wait for me, Tamamo Cross."
"No problem. I'll go with you, I'm pretty familiar with the Uma Musume in Class B."
"That works."
Perhaps it was because Starlight's current form was so eye-catching. Or perhaps it was because no one had seen her like this before. Regardless, she attracted the gaze of many Uma Musume along the way.
Hearing their whispers, Starlight still felt a bit out of place. She kept her head down all the way to the classroom door.
As the door was pushed open, the originally noisy classroom instantly fell into a dead silence.
Raising her head, Starlight followed Tamamo Cross to her seat. When she saw that the buns and eggs originally sitting on the desk had vanished without a trace, Starlight's eyes froze.
After searching the surrounding area, she picked up the empty bag.
"Wait... who ate my buns and eggs?!"
Hearing the familiar voice behind her, Yaeno Muteki, who was currently collecting homework, was instantly startled.
"That voice... could you be... Divine Starlight?!!"
"Ah, mhm. Why do you have that expression, Yaeno-san... is there something weird about me?"
Seeing that the other girl's mouth was wide enough to fit an egg, Starlight thought there was an issue with her image. She reached out to adjust her bangs and asked uncertainly.
However, the only response she received was from the entire class...
"EHHH!!??"