A few hours later…
School had finally ended.
The corridor was quiet under the dim golden evening light.
Then, in the midst of the silent corridor, echoed a round of bouncy steps.
Urara walked slowly down the hallway, still holding the form in her hands—unfilled, humming.
She was alone now. Lidden and Young had already gone home.
Right before they left earlier—
"Urara, are you coming with us?" Young asked, rolling up beside her with Lidden.
Urara shook her head, clutching the form while whining, her face melting onto the table.
"I still can't decide…"
"Th—then maybe you should go home and think about it?" Lidden suggested nervously. "I—I mean, the deadline for the form is tomorrow…"
"But all of you guys already filled it out and handed it in! But I haven't!" Urara protested.
"I don't want to be left behind by everyone else! And so I must finish it today before our teacher goes home!"
"And how can you be sure that she hasn't gone home yet…?" Young asked curiously.
"Because I requested!" Urara declared proudly, beaming.
"I personally asked her not to leave before I handed in the form!"
She puffed her chest.
"So I think she'll probably still be inside the school before I hand it in!"
"But... will she really listen? Sometimes, I think she's more excited to leave the school than any of us…" Young said, recalling their time with their homeroom teacher—
"Alright, class! That's all for today! Buh-bye~!" their teacher said before disappearing like a mist.
And another day—
"That's all you have to do, class! Good luck~!" their teacher announced before vanishing like a mist again.
And just yesterday—
"You guys better behave and hand in your homework tomorrow, okay?!"
Then, right before one of the students approached her with homework in hand—
"Ms… I want to ask you—"
The student lifted her head.
The teacher was already gone.
"What—?!" the student gasped in disbelief.
With that, Young twitched her brow, doubting.
"Hmm… I doubt she will still be in the school ground…"
"But anyway—" she added.
"We'll be going first then."
Young began rolling away while Lidden grabbed the handle of her wheelchair.
"G—Good luck, Urara!" Lidden chimed in.
Urara nodded with her usual bright grin.
"Okay! See you guys tomorrow!" she said, waving dramatically.
"Be careful, alright, Urara? Beware of strangers, yea?" Young continued, waving back from her wheelchair as Lidden pushed her toward the doorway.
"Se—see you tomorrow, Urara!" Lidden added as they slowly departed from the classroom.
...
...
Back in the present—
Urara continued walking through the quiet corridor, bouncing slightly while humming to herself, the form still clutched in her hand.
Until—
A figure popped into her view.
She spotted someone.
The exact person she looked for.
Her homeroom teacher.
Standing by the vending machine.
Or rather—
Hitting it.
"God damn it!" her teacher shouted as she kept striking the machine.
"How dare you scam me, you piece of scrap metal!" she growled, gritting her teeth.
"Give! ME! MY! DRINK!!!"
Then, one final furious punch, she slammed her fist right onto the machine.
A loud thud rang through the hallway.
And the impact sent a small shockwave across the corridor.
From the side, Urara watched with wide eyes.
"Whoa~!" she gasped in amazement.
Then—
Silence.
A long, awkward silence.
Until—
Her teacher suddenly dropped to her knees, clutching her hand tightly.
Her body trembled.
"Gosh dang it…" she muttered in pain.
While quivering, Urara approached her, humming as she bounced toward the vending machine.
She looked at it for a moment.
Then pressed one of the buttons.
The machine whirred to life.
A moment later—
*Clunk*
A drink dropped into the dispensing slot.
Urara crouched down, picked it up, and stood again.
"There you go, teach!" Urara said cheerfully, extending the drink out with her usual gleeful smile.
The teacher finally looked up.
Only now realizing someone had been there the whole time.
"Wh—what?" she muttered, staring at the can of coffee—an Americano—in Urara's hand.
"I— I…" she paused.
"…Never mind."
She accepted the drink.
"What're you doing here?" the teacher asked as she dramatically turned toward Urara while standing up.
"Urara…"
Urara beamed brightly.
"I asked you to stay, remember?"
"You… did?" The teacher blinked, trying to recall.
After a brief pause, she quickly nodded as if she remembered.
"Oh… yeah… I guess."
She never did. She just coincidentally stayed behind.
"By the way, what was teach doing anyway? What is she doing to that machine!" Urara added, bouncing on the spot. "Is she practicing karate on it?! That was amazing!"
"Wh—what? Uh…" the teacher froze, suddenly realizing her embarrassing assault on the vending machine had been witnessed—especially by that pink creature.
"Yeah…?" she said awkwardly, trying to play it off.
Then she quickly asked, "Ho—How did you just grab a drink from that machine? I thought it was broken!"
"Not really," Urara replied casually. "You just forgot to press the button."
"I— I— I— Wh— What—What-What—" she stuttered, her face stiffening as the realization hit her.
She then quickly straightened herself and cleared her throat, regaining a confident posture.
"M—My, of course! I was just testing you!"
"Whoa! Teach is so smart!" Urara exclaimed, completely convinced.
Her teacher only gave a small, awkward laugh.
Then she lifted the can, "But still…" and stared at it with mild disgust.
"You could've picked a better drink," she said.
"I thought it looked nice and seemed perfect for teach!" Urara replied brightly. "After all, I saw a lot of adults actually love this drink!"
"Really…?" her teacher said, giving the can another glance. The look of disgust briefly crossed her face, though she quickly hid it.
Unlike most adults Urara mentioned, her teacher actually detested black coffee. The strong bitterness alone was enough to make her grimace.
"But no matter…" her teacher said, leaning casually against the nearby wall. She twisted the can open and took a sip.
"So…?" she added. "What is it, Urara?"
Without a warning, Urara declared,
"I want to attend Tracen Academy!"
And the reaction was immediate.
Her teacher spat the coffee straight out.
"Wh— what?!" she choked, wiping her mouth in complete disbelief.
"You're kidding, right? Urara?" she continued.
Urara shook her head firmly, locking eyes with her teacher, her expression filled with determination.
"I'm serious!"
"You've got to be kidding me…" her teacher muttered under her breath, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"What is it?" Urara leaned closer, trying to listen.
"Oh, nothing!" her teacher quickly dismissed, waving her hands frantically.
Then her teacher walked over to a nearby bench and sat down.
She turned to Urara and patted the empty space beside her.
"Come, Urara, sit."
"Okay!" Urara replied, bouncing over before sitting beside her.
After Urara settled down, a brief silence lingered between them.
Her teacher then turned, facing Urara directly.
"So...? Why did you decide on Tracen?" she asked.
Urara immediately twisted into her usual confident pose.
"It's because it's the place Urara knows she belongs!"
"Re—really…?" her teacher said, her brow twitching slightly.
"But why?" she asked again.
"Because I want to be the best! I want to run for the world! I want to become the greatest Umamusume and bring a smile to everyone's face!" Urara declared.
"I see…" her teacher replied slowly. "It's a noble goal, I can't deny that…"
"But have you ever considered… starting small?" she added, quickly correcting herself. "I mean no offense to your mighty skill, of course!"
"But why, though?" Urara asked, tilting her head. "I'm already perfect enough for this school. Why should I go somewhere else?"
"Hmm..." Her teacher paused, attempting to forge an excuse.
But before she did—
"Besides!" Urara continued excitedly, "This school is exactly what I want! It trains only the elites of the elites! One of the schools that prepares Umamusume to run on national tracks! It even provides opportunities for Umamusume to participate internationally!"
"Oh… whoa…!" her teacher reacted with exaggerated surprise. "Who told you that… exactly?"
"Oh, I heard it from Mary-chan!"
"Mary…?" Her teacher froze slightly.
"I thought you two stopped… hanging out?"
"We did!" Urara answered brightly. "But I managed to find out where she wanted to go next!"
"Then I gathered the rest of the information about Tracen Academy from Young, who told me everything I needed to know!" she continued proudly.
"So it was that wheely bastard…" her teacher muttered under her breath while trying to keep her expression calm.
"That's why I must enroll in this school! It's a perfect match for the great Urara!" Urara concluded.
Her teacher sighed deeply and shook her head.
She still couldn't quite believe what she had just heard.
Then she slowly turned toward Urara with a faint smiley sigh, keeping her calm expression.
"Sorry, Urara…"
"But..."
"...you can't."