For a split second, as Kitasan Black looked at the Umamusume hugging Yasui Makoto, a strange sense of familiarity welled up inside her.
But she had no time to think about it. After standing there stunned for only a few seconds, she suddenly shot forward like an arrow loosed from the bow and cried out,
"Trainer! And... who exactly are you?!"
Yasui Makoto had already been trying his best to push away the Umamusume in his arms. The moment he noticed someone rushing over, he instinctively looked up.
And when he realized it was Kitasan Black, he somehow panicked for no reason, shoving harder with his uninjured right hand.
But the other girl was holding on too tightly, and he was afraid of hurting his left arm, so he did not dare use too much force. All he could do was flush red and stammer out a frantic explanation, fumbling all the while,
"Kita-chan, um... don't get the wrong idea. I thought you were back, and when I opened the door, I realized it was..."
"Actually, who are you?"
He turned to look at the Umamusume clinging to him as well, his face full of startled confusion.
At last, the long-haired chestnut Umamusume let go of Yasui Makoto and slowly turned around, looking first at the wary Kitasan Black, then at Yasui Makoto.
Her eyes were strikingly beautiful, like a dazzling blue galaxy, with starlight glittering at the very center.
After studying them both with those brilliant eyes for a moment, she suddenly blinked playfully and broke into a radiant smile. Instead of answering directly, she asked in return,
"Kita-senpai, Trainer... you really still haven't recognized me?"
"Kita... senpai?"
Kitasan Black froze for a moment. The way she had been addressed felt very familiar, but the next instant, hearing the girl call Yasui Makoto "Trainer" made her unconsciously puff out her cheeks, and her ears folded back too.
Now that she was seeing the Umamusume's face clearly, that sense of familiarity only grew stronger. And from the way this girl acted as though she knew her well, Kitasan Black should have met her before.
And yet, up until now, as far as she was concerned, she had been the only one who called Yasui Makoto "Trainer."
So hearing someone else suddenly use that same form of address so casually left her filled with an odd sense of displeasure.
"Recognized you...? Do we know each other?" Kitasan Black asked, frowning.
Then, full of suspicion, she looked back at Yasui Makoto, clearly hoping to get some kind of reasonable explanation from him.
The moment Yasui Makoto noticed that look and sensed the unmistakable suspicion in it, he suddenly felt like something about this was very wrong.
So... where exactly did this guilty-conscience feeling come from...?
I didn't do anything wrong... did I...?
Then why does this feel so much like I'm being interrogated...?
Those strange thoughts ran through his mind for a moment. Seeing that Kitasan Black was still staring at him, he hurriedly spread both hands and gave a helpless smile.
"Um... I really don't know her. The second I opened the door, she suddenly threw herself at me... I'm completely lost here too..."
"If Trainer says so..."
Kitasan Black had not actually started doubting Yasui Makoto, but the suspicion in her eyes still had not fully faded as she turned back to the other Umamusume.
"Then who are you...?"
The Umamusume looked from Kitasan Black to Yasui Makoto again, then suddenly burst into a bright peal of laughter.
"So you really didn't recognize me. I guess that means I changed a lot after I hit my honkaku..."
She muttered that almost to herself, then abruptly jumped back a step, planted her feet wide, flung both arms out in a dramatic pose like some grand entrance, and shouted in an excited voice several levels louder than before, "It's Almond Eye, Kita-senpai, Trainer! I'm Almond Eye!"
For a few seconds, silence fell over the scene.
"...Almond Eye?!" Kitasan Black and Yasui Makoto cried out at the same time in shock.
...
As she helped Kitasan Black pick up the ingredients that had fallen in the hallway, Almond Eye chattered away excitedly like a happy little bird.
"Kita-senpai, Trainer, you have no idea! After I went through my honkaku, I changed so much that lots of people don't recognize me anymore!"
"The girls at school, my close friends, even the familiar uncles and aunties on the street—every single one of them was so shocked when they found out I was Almond Eye that their jaws practically dropped."
"Even Mom and Dad were stunned by how much I'd grown up overnight."
Then she lifted her head and looked toward Yasui Makoto by the door, her face full of apology.
"But... I really am sorry."
"The moment I heard you were injured, Trainer, I rushed right over because I wanted to come see you."
"But then when I got to the door, I got carried away and thought it'd be fun to play a little joke on you both."
"I never meant to scare either you or Kita-senpai like that. I'm really, really sorry."
By now, morning had fully arrived. Sunlight streamed in through the window at the end of the hallway, lighting up Almond Eye's apologetic face, which still carried a hint of playfulness.
Hearing that, Yasui Makoto let out a helpless laugh.
"So that's what happened... Though that was definitely a pretty sudden joke. You really did scare me."
"Hehe, I'll be more careful next time."
She stuck out her tongue, then picked up a bag of vegetables from the floor and looked curious.
"By the way, Kita-senpai, you bought so many ingredients. Are you planning to make a huge feast?"
But when no answer came, she blinked in surprise and looked at Kitasan Black.
"Kita-senpai...?"
Looking at the familiar-yet-unfamiliar Almond Eye before her—warm, enthusiastic, and a little reckless—Kitasan Black felt dazed for a moment, and a little awkward too.
She did not understand what had just happened to her.
The moment she saw a "strange" Umamusume in Yasui Makoto's arms, she had felt a sudden ache, as though a piece had been hollowed out of her heart, leaving it strangely empty.
Even now that she knew it was Almond Eye, that feeling had faded somewhat, only to be replaced by a different kind of loss.
Almond Eye... calls him Trainer now too...
Right. Tachyon-san had said it before. He was getting more and more famous now, and so many Umamusume were hoping to have him as their trainer...
Someone as well-known as him, someone as outstanding as him... Almond Eye's parents probably would not refuse the idea the way they had before. Otherwise, Almond Eye would not have come here...
So... of course Almond Eye should call him Trainer...
Wasn't this exactly what I'd hoped for before? Training together with Almond Eye...
Something like that should make me happy, so why...
Why does it hurt?
Her gaze drifted to Yasui Makoto without her noticing. When she saw that he was looking at her with concern, Kitasan Black froze.
All at once, memories of all the moments she had shared with Yasui Makoto came flooding back.
From that unexpected first meeting, to the way they had learned to work together afterward, to standing side by side again and again in battle...
Every moment had been precious.
So now that Almond Eye had come, from here on...
"Kita-senpai?"
"Ah... ah? Huh?!"