"...Um, I'm alright. Thank you— "
Slowly rising from Starlight's embrace, the orange-haired Uma Musume spoke in a soft voice.
"Is your leg injured?"
"Yes, I was careless during training..."
"Where are you headed? May I help you get there?"
"Eh? That... might not be very convenient, and I'm sure you have things to do. If I trouble you, it might..."
Shaking her head, Starlight gently took the other's hand.
"Not at all. I want to help you. Where are you going? Perhaps it's on my way."
Looking at the light in Starlight's eyes, the orange-haired Uma Musume found it hard to refuse and finally spoke.
"The Trainer's office."
"What a coincidence. Me too. Let's go together."
"Mm... Thank you very much, classmate."
"Divine Starlight is my name. You can call me Starlight. And yours?"
"I am Silence Suzuka. Hello, Starlight-san."
Tweet, tweet!
Suddenly, a small bird landed softly on Starlight's shoulder, chirping a few times at Silence Suzuka.
"This is...? Is it your pet?"
"No, this little fellow is just staying in my dorm room for a while."
Starlight said as she reached out a finger to scratch the bird under its chin.
It was only then that Silence Suzuka realized there were quite a few cats and birds around them. Not only that, but there were also several small butterflies and other creatures...
"You seem very popular with them, Starlight-san."
"I suppose so, though I think the one attracting them here might also be you, Suzuka-san."
"Eh? Me? Why do you say that?"
Silence Suzuka tilted her head in confusion. Starlight narrowed her eyes slightly in thought, then suddenly smiled.
"Suzuka's beauty, Suzuka's kindness, Suzuka's elegance, and that strong heart of yours? Perhaps it's all of them, it's hard to say."
The dazzling sunlight seemed to lose its color for a moment, and the gentle breeze carried Starlight's words into Silence Suzuka's ears half a beat late.
A rosy flush gradually crept across her face, and Silence Suzuka lowered her head, speaking shyly.
"Please don't tease me... Starlight-san."
"I'm clearly telling the truth, and yet you think I'm teasing you? I'm so heartbroken~"
"No, it's not like that! I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way."
"Mm-hmm, I know. Careful here, Suzuka-chan..."
Starlight reached out her hand to shield Silence Suzuka's head. She gently pushed aside a low-hanging branch from a nearby tree to prevent Suzuka from bumping into it.
"Thank you... Starlight-san."
"It's nothing, we're classmates, aren't we?"
With Starlight's support, Silence Suzuka soon arrived at the Trainer's office.
"Trainer~ I brought lunch!"
Inside, Kiryuu Inami, who was currently playing games with Ryu Nishizaki, heard her Uma Musume's voice. She quickly took off her headset and stood up to run over.
"Hey, hey! Bot lane, bot lane! Why is the bottom lane collapsing?! Kiryuu Inami-chan— !!"
Ryu Nishizaki turned around only to find that Kiryuu Inami had already vanished. Looking over, she saw an exceptionally beautiful Uma Musume chatting and laughing while setting out lunch boxes.
Nearby, Starlight thoughtfully pulled over a chair for Suzuka.
"Your Trainer doesn't seem to be in yet. Why don't you sit down first, Suzuka-chan?"
"Mm, thank you, Starlight-san."
"Starlight-chan~ what delicious food did you bring?"
"Hehe, two carrot tonkatsu and three hamburger steaks. And this is the set meal."
Placing the bag on the table, Starlight began taking out the lunch containers.
"Suzuka-chan, have you eaten lunch yet? Come and have some with us."
Silence Suzuka, who had been sitting with her head lowered, quickly waved her hands in refusal.
"No, it's fine. I'm not hungry yet."
At that moment, Ryu Nishizaki stood up and walked over.
"My, my, Kiryuu Inami-chan. Where did you find another beautiful Uma Musume? Her looks are practically on par with Gold City."
"Senpai, I haven't changed Uma Musume. It's always been Starlight. And I won't change in the future, I'm going to focus solely on training her," Kiryuu Inami said while picking up her chopsticks and starting to eat.
"What?! This is Divine Starlight??? Is she really this good-looking?"
"Shoo, shoo! Get your dirty hands away. Was this brought for you? Why are you trying to eat it?" Starlight said, directly slapping away Ryu Nishizaki's hand as he reached out for the food.
"So fierce, Starlight-chan! I am your Trainer's senior, after all. Let me have a little bite."
"Ugh~ You're acting like a total creep, it's disgusting. Trainer, how do you manage not to throw up?"
"Pfft— haha! Starlight-chan, don't be like that. Haha... Senpai is actually a pretty good person."
"Hey! What's with this Uma Musume? Your tongue is like it's dipped in venom!"
"Blehh! If you didn't drag my Trainer into playing video games every day, would she be this tired?"
Faced with Starlight's retort, Ryu Nishizaki jumped in indignation.
"What's that supposed to mean? I'm practicing a balance between work and play, okay? What's wrong with her relaxing a bit after working so hard to train you?"
"Hmph~ Training with me is a happy thing for my Trainer, so how could she feel tired? Right? Trainer— "
Seeing Starlight's cute display, Kiryuu Inami put down her chopsticks and couldn't help but pat her head.
"Mm, training with Starlight-chan is very happy."
"You... you two! Fine... luckily I still have Gold Ship to bring me food." Ryu Nishizaki clutched his chest, looking like he'd suffered a mortal wound.
"Trainer-san! I'm here~"
Speak of the devil, Gold Ship walked in with a mischievous grin.
"Hehe, as expected of my reliable sidekick."
Rubbing his hands together, Ryu Nishizaki reached out to take the lunch box Gold Ship handed over. He opened it, and his expression instantly turned to stone.
A curious Kiryuu Inami stood up and peeked over. She immediately lost her composure and started laughing.
Inside the lunch box were six carrots and a small bowl of dipping sauce.
"Is this really just carrots and bean paste? Where's the rice— ?!"
Faced with Ryu Nishizaki's interrogation, Gold Ship nonchalantly picked her ear.
"Hey, you know how it is, Trainer. The person in front of me in line was Oguri Cap. I'm lucky I could risk my life to snatch these carrots for you. What more do you want, a bicycle?"
Slumping into his chair in a state of total defeat, Ryu Nishizaki miserably munched on his carrots and dip while watching Kiryuu Inami enjoy a lavish meal of four dishes and a soup.
A sense of desolation welled up in his heart.
The scene shifts to the cafeteria.
At a corner table by the window.
Daitaku Helios looked at Daiichi Ruby in shock as the latter bowed and apologized to her.
"Um, Young Lady... what is this for?"
"I am terribly sorry, Miss Helios. Treating the gift you gave me the way I did a few days ago was wrong of me."
Helios quickly waved her hands dismissively. "It's fine, it's fine, Young Lady! That was just an ordinary hair accessory. Since I gave it to you, you should use it however you like."
"Even though I am not interested in you, that accessory was a token of your sincerity. I should not have treated it that way. Furthermore, I heard you were very sad after finding out, so I have even more reason to apologize."
"Eh? I wasn't really... Wait, Young Lady, how did you know about that?"
Blinking, Ruby realized she had let something slip. She hurriedly changed the subject. "Ahem, shall we just eat? How about it?"
"Sure, sounds good, haha..." Helios laughed awkwardly and didn't press further.
However, a certain figure appeared in her mind.
'Was it Starlight-chan who told the Young Lady?'
'Starlight-chan...'
'She came out to play with me, but I just abandoned her and ran off because of my own problems...'
'That's no good. After training tonight, I have to go find her.'