"Excuse me, where should I go if I'm looking for someone?"
While Fujiwara Chiya was wandering around the event venue, watching Oguri Cap and Super Creek's eating contest from a distance, a voice suddenly came from behind him.
Turning around, Fujiwara Chiya saw a blonde woman with her hair tied in a ponytail. She wore a loose grey tracksuit and looked like an unpretentious farm woman who was not very good at dressing up.
She was a guest who had come to participate in the event.
"The broadcast room. I'm a trainer at Tracen. If you don't mind, you can tell me who you're looking for."
"My child. She said Tracen had an event today, so I thought I'd come and take a look. She's a new student who just transferred here this year. Her name is Special Week."
"Spe-chan?"
"'Spe-chan'? Could the one you're talking about be Special Week?"
"That's right. What a coincidence. I'm her friend's cousin and trainer, as well as her trainer's friend."
The middle-aged woman thought it over for a moment and understood what he meant. In other words, this man was quite familiar with her child.
"Please come with me. I'll go notify her."
He had not expected to run into Special Week's mother. Fujiwara Chiya quietly observed her. Spe-chan's mother was quite young, probably around thirty, but she did not look very similar to Special Week. Aside from the eyes, there was almost nothing alike. Could Spe-chan's simple and innocent appearance have been inherited from her father?
"Trainer, how has my child been doing at Tracen? She hasn't had any... special problems, has she?"
"Spe-chan? I feel like she's doing quite happily. She's smiling every day."
Whenever Shirayuki was beside her, Special Week always had that simple, cheerful smile. The two of them often ate together, and at night they would run to the nearby shopping street to buy snacks. Occasionally, they would go together with Nice Nature, Twin Turbo, and the others.
Chiya had not really seen Special Week troubled by anything. At most, she would clash with Grass Wonder when they were together. However, when they chatted in the dorm, Spe-chan and Grass actually seemed to get along quite happily. Their relationship was better than it looked.
Overall, Special Week was living quite well at school.
Fujiwara Chiya told Special Week's mother about her recent life. The woman showed a relieved smile.
"I see. That child is properly enjoying her life at Tracen. Originally, I was worried whether she could make friends here. It seems what she wrote in her letters was true."
"Letters?"
"Mm. That child sends me a letter every week to tell me how she's been doing recently. She said she was living well at Tracen. But children always report the good and hide the bad, so I was afraid she might be carrying some difficulties alone. It's wonderful that she made friends. She said the best friend she made is called... Shirayuki, I think? She said she was very happy to have made such a good friend."
"So Spe-chan said that."
Right now, Shirayuki was in a classroom cleaning Grass Wonder's ears and would not be able to leave for a while. Hearing that Special Week praised Shirayuki like that in front of her mother made Chiya very happy.
As expected, this kind of pure friendship was the best.
"Please wait a moment. I'll call Spe-chan over."
Meanwhile, Special Week was walking along while holding a stack of takoyaki boxes, eating as she went. Silence Suzuka followed behind her.
"Spe-chan, didn't you buy a little too much?"
"Not really. I can finish these in a few bites. Suzuka-san, you should try some too."
Special Week held the takoyaki out in front of her. Silence Suzuka was startled. She nervously looked around, confirmed no one was paying attention to them, then opened her mouth.
"How is it? It's tasty, right?"
"Mm... it's hot..."
Looking at Special Week's innocent smile, Silence Suzuka's mood relaxed as well.
"Then the rest is for Shirayuki."
As she spoke, Special Week placed two boxes into a bag.
Hearing that, Silence Suzuka's relaxed mood became uneasy again.
Not long ago, during summer training camp, she had been extremely unlucky and had failed to be selected in the draw. She could only stay bored at Tracen. Originally, Silence Suzuka had a solitary personality, so being alone was not a problem. But every so often, Special Week would call her and talk about the happy things happening at training camp. Because of that, Silence Suzuka, who should have been able to enjoy a quiet life alone, completely lost that calm feeling.
Spe-chan was her roommate and also a beam of light in her life. Ever since Spe-chan transferred to Tracen, Silence Suzuka's world had become noisy. Her originally peaceful life had become completely disordered.
At first, Silence Suzuka was not used to it. But slowly, she became drawn to this cute and simple child. Happy, she laughed. Sad, she cried. No matter what she did, she was always straightforward.
It was precisely because Special Week was that kind of child that Silence Suzuka could completely relax and communicate with her.
It was no exaggeration to say that Spe-chan had changed her, allowing her to slowly open her heart and accept more people.
Although she had never said it out loud, Silence Suzuka had already treated Spe-chan as her best friend. She wanted to talk with Spe-chan more and stay beside her more. But because of Shirayuki's appearance, the time she spent with Spe-chan had grown shorter and shorter.
After that summer training camp, Spe-chan and Shirayuki had built a deep friendship. Her desk was filled with photos of her and Shirayuki together. In those photos, both of them were smiling happily. Listening to Spe-chan talk about her stories with Shirayuki, Silence Suzuka felt like an outsider. Spe-chan and Shirayuki were the real best friends, while she was only an attachment.
Spe-chan was clearly the sunlight in her life.
But that sunlight did not seem to need her very much.
"How strange. Where did Shirayuki go...?"
Special Week continued eating takoyaki while searching around for that white figure. She remembered Shirayuki saying she had work, but as for what kind of work, Special Week had accidentally forgotten.
"Special Week-san, please proceed to the broadcast room after hearing this announcement. Special Week-san, please proceed to the broadcast room."
A school broadcast rang out, carrying the notice.
"Eh? They're calling me?"
"What's going on?"
The two of them showed surprised expressions.
"I'll go take a look. Suzuka-san, you can go ahead."
"Wait, I'm going too!"
Normally, a schoolwide announcement like this would only happen when there was some urgent matter. Could Spe-chan have gotten into some trouble? Silence Suzuka became nervous and followed along.
When they arrived at the broadcast room, the two saw a blonde woman. The woman immediately came over and gave Special Week a bear hug.
"Mom!?"
"Eh?"
Special Week cried out in surprise. Beside her, Silence Suzuka covered her mouth.
Spe-chan's... mother?
"Why did you come here?"
"Of course I came to see you."
The woman rubbed Special Week's head, then looked toward the orange-haired girl beside her.
"You must be Shirayuki, right? Thank you for taking care of my child."
"No... um..."
Silence Suzuka clenched both hands, her eyes shifting nervously.
"Mom, she isn't Shirayuki. She's Suzuka! She's my senior, and also my best friend."
Special Week hugged Silence Suzuka's arm.
Silence Suzuka's eyes widened.