The next day, Monday. Back to work again.
Even if they were unwilling to the bone, the male trainers still had to board the school bus driven by the old uncle and head to Tracen Academy.
Unlike after work—when they scrambled to get onto the bus—in the morning every trainer suddenly became paragons of humility and courtesy, letting others board first in a display of "respect the elderly, love the young." Sometimes they even broke into a brawl, only to hoist the loser onto the bus, forcing him to face his own Uma first—while they themselves earned a momentary reprieve of safety.
On this day, every Uma was waiting eagerly to see her trainer again. Some were even lurking by the school gates, ready to pounce the moment their trainer stepped off the bus and drag him away.
The members of Team TAC weren't as over-the-top as the others, but they too missed Mizuno after just a day apart.
Haru Urara the angel simply thought seeing her trainer again would make her happy. Rice Shower and Tokai Teio both just wanted to be near the person they liked. King Halo wanted to hear Mizuno praise her brilliance again—and if she could get his official offer to be her trainer today, so much the better.
Mejiro McQueen's feelings were more tangled: part of her craved Mizuno's S-Grade Honey Drink, but she also carried another mission—find a chance to introduce her Mejiro sisters to Mizuno, completing the task their grandmother had set.
Each Uma had her own reasons, but all of them wanted to see Mizuno soon.
But when training time came in the afternoon, they arrived brimming with expectation, only to discover... Mizuno, who always arrived early and waited in his usual spot, was nowhere to be found.
"Where's Trainer Mizuno?" They searched everywhere, but not a trace.
"Maybe Trainer Mizuno just had something else to do. He'll be here any moment." Tokai Teio tried to reason.
But then Mizuno sent a message in the group chat, shattering their hopes:
[Mizuno]:Sorry, but I won't be coming for a while.
...
The reason Mizuno hadn't shown up today—he'd taken sick leave. Indefinite sick leave.
Of course, he wasn't actually sick. His body was perfectly healthy. He'd just said he was ill as an excuse to avoid going to work.
Right now, Tracen Academy was a dragon's pool and tiger's den for him. Below, there was Tokai Teio, lord of the Monarch's Basement. Above, the Student Council President Symboli Rudolf. And lurking in the shadows, surely other dangerous Uma with eyes locked on him. The Academy had become the ultimate danger zone. Mizuno didn't dare step foot inside again—afraid at any moment he might be kidnapped.
So Mizuno put in for an ultra-long sick leave. As long as he holed up in the boys' dorms—whose location no Uma knew—no matter what happened at the Academy, he'd be safe.
And only Mizuno could pull this off.
Because to prevent trainers from faking illnesses to skip work, the Academy required any sick leave application to be backed by at least one Uma from their team. Without that testimony, the Academy wouldn't approve.
Normally, no Uma would agree to it—they hated being separated from their trainer. That meant even if a trainer was utterly Uma Pyoi'd into despair, he still had no choice but to drag himself back.
But Mizuno was different. He had a bro he could rely on. With Broshi's help, he easily secured his long leave, beginning a new era of strategic turtling—never stepping out unless absolutely forced.
His new routine: in the morning, Gold Ship woke him, he washed up, then ate her breakfast. Afterward, he sat at his desk, reading, sometimes taking breaks to play a few games with her.
At noon, Mizuno cooked. After lunch came a nap. In the afternoon, he sent Broshi out as his mobile camera, using phone video calls to supervise Urara and the others' training remotely.
By the time training ended and Broshi returned, Mizuno already had dinner ready. They ate, bathed, wrote up plans for the next day—and just like that, another day was done.
At night, Urara and the others bombarded him with messages, reminding him to take care of his health, to rest well, to get better soon. They told him funny stories from the day, and asked when he would return.
Mizuno thanked each of them in turn. As for when he'd be "recovered" and come back...
He replied "soon." But only he knew—the "illness" would take a very long time to heal. He wasn't setting foot in Tracen again for a while.
That didn't stop McQueen's plan, though. She went straight to their chat app, created a new group, and pulled in the Mejiro sisters—Dober, Ryan, Palmer, Ardan—along with Mizuno.
"Hello, you must be Trainer Mizuno? We've heard so much about you."
The Mejiro sisters immediately began chatting with him.
Most of it revolved around likes and hobbies. If not for McQueen clarifying this was only to introduce her family to her trainer, Mizuno would've thought it was some kind of arranged matchmaking...
But too much chatter was no good. Mizuno wanted as little interaction with Uma as possible.
Luckily, he had his own special tactics to kill conversations dead.
For example:
[Dober]:Trainer Mizuno, do you like black tea?
[Mizuno]:Sorry, I'm afraid of black tea. When I see it, I feel faint.
[Dober]:?
[Ryan:Trainer Mizuno, do you like muscles?
[Mizuno]:Sorry, I'm afraid of muscles. When I see them, my butt hurts.
[Ryan]:?
[Palmer]:Then what about golf?
[Mizuno]:Sorry, I'm afraid of golf. No special reason. Just scared.
[Palmer]:?
[Ardan]:Mizuno-san, do you like China?
[Mizuno]:Sorry, I... I... I love China!
After a whole round like that, the only one Mizuno could keep talking with was Ardan. On the subject of Chinese history, they both lit up with interest.
Ardan kept asking questions, Mizuno happily explained. The two chatted enthusiastically deep into the night.
Until suddenly, a voice came from behind him.
"Mizuno-dono, staying up late playing on your phone is bad for your health. Come to bed already!"
Broshi, in pajamas, was lying on the bed. She patted the space beside her, signaling Mizuno to hurry over.
"Right." Mizuno sent a final message to Ardan saying he was going to sleep, set his phone down, stretched with a yawn, and slowly climbed onto the bed—slipping into the empty spot Gold Ship had left for him.
She tucked the blanket over him, cheerfully patting his chest.
"Good night, Mizuno-dono."
"Good night, Broshi."
Mizuno blinked, looking at the Gold Ship lying next to him, sharing the same pillow.
Sleeping in the same bed with your bro... that's pretty normal, right...