"Teio! Stop it! You're going to rub my clothes to shreds!"
"Eh?" Hearing Mizuno's shout, Tokai Teio froze for a second, her mind flashing with possibilities.
If she kept rubbing like this, wouldn't she wear Trainer Mizuno's clothes down to tatters?
And then wouldn't Trainer Mizuno have no choice but to take off those ruined clothes… letting her finally see his true appearance?
Wouldn't that be just…
"Awesome!" Instead of stopping, Tokai Teio pressed herself against him harder, faster, with even more force.
"Ah?!" Mizuno first blinked in confusion, then realized immediately.
This girl's intentions were clearly not pure! She was openly coveting his real face! The excuse he'd just made to get her to loosen her grip had only made her more excited!
At this point, Tokai Teio wasn't only burying her face against Mizuno's chest—her hands were locking down both his arms and waist, her legs and tail wrapped around his lower body, their stomachs pressed together, as if she wanted to stain every inch of his body with her own scent.
Mizuno felt himself being manhandled so aggressively that his brain whirred in panic. Before Teio decided the "rub until the clothes rip" tactic wasn't working and simply tore them off with her own hands, he finally grasped at a reason and blurted out:
"Teio, you just finished running, right? You're super sweaty—don't you want to go take a shower first?"
Tokai Teio's whole body jolted. The thrill drained away, her tugging at his clothes halted. She scrambled upright.
"Wait… does that mean… I smell bad?" she asked anxiously.
Mizuno twitched his nose, leaned close and sniffed, then scratched the back of his head.
"Uh… a little…"
Actually, he was lying. As the beloved darlings of the world, how could an Uma ever stink?
Right now, drenched in sweat, Tokai Teio smelled not foul but faintly sweet—the fragrance of a youthful girl at her peak. Honestly… it was very nice.
But to keep Teio from escalating into something even more dangerous, Mizuno could only lie.
"Guhhh…" Believing him, Tokai Teio hurriedly peeled herself away and sniffed under her own arm.
"Then I'll go back and take a bath first…" she mumbled, cheeks red as she turned around.
She hadn't smelled anything strange herself, but since Trainer Mizuno had said so… maybe to him it was awful. If she kept clinging to him like this and got hated for it, what would she do?
Besides, her whole body felt sticky and uncomfortable.
So Tokai Teio decided: she would wash up properly first—then come back and get close to Trainer Mizuno!
"Whew…" Seeing her turn her back, Mizuno seized the chance to make a break for it.
Only, the moment he tried to slip away, his arm was yanked back.
He turned, and found it was Tokai Teio holding him fast.
"Trainer Mizuno, come with me." She dragged him firmly toward another corner of the academy.
With Mizuno's strength, there was no resisting—he was hauled along, helpless.
"Wait, Teio, where are you taking me?"
"To my dorm, of course~"
"Huh? Your dorm? Why?!" Mizuno's chest tightened.
The Uma dorms were full of Uma girls—a danger zone for any human. And especially Teio's own room, the domain of the Monarch's Basement itself… that was ultimate horror.
And now Tokai Teio wanted to personally escort him inside?!
"Obviously, so I can see you again, Trainer Mizuno…" Teio turned to smile at him.
"What if I came back from bathing and you'd already vanished?"
"Uh…" Mizuno scratched his head awkwardly.
She wasn't wrong. By the time she returned from the bath, he would've been long gone—and he would never again come bask in the sun at Tracen Academy.
"So, Trainer Mizuno, just come sit in my room for a while~"
"But I'm a guy—going into the Uma dorms isn't really appropriate."
"It's fine!" Teio declared with utter confidence.
"They allow Trainers into the dorms now. And didn't you come into my room once before?"
"…" Mizuno sweat-dropped.
That was totally different! Last time had only been because of a mission—otherwise he'd never have stepped foot in Teio's room!
And what did she mean by "now Trainers are allowed into the dorms"? What about the dorm supervisors? Were they just… not going to do anything?
...
Five minutes later, Tokai Teio, still tugging along a thoroughly unwilling Mizuno, arrived at the Ritto Dormitory.
With her hand on the doorknob, about to bring Mizuno into her room, Teio practically quivered with excitement.
"Trainer Mizuno, hurry~"
"No way!"
"There are lots of good things in my room, you know~"
"Uwahhhhhh—"
As they passed the dorm entrance, Mizuno suddenly noticed a horse girl with short, sleek black hair lounging at the doorway.
Fuji Kiseki—the dorm supervisor of Ritto Dorm. Mizuno had seen her the last time he infiltrated the Uma dorms.
From what Mizuno knew, Fuji Kiseki was a dashing horse girl who radiated a princely aura. Skilled at magic tricks, cheerful and gentlemanly, warm and considerate—her charisma drew both girls and boys, with a crowd of fangirls across campus.
For her to be appointed dorm supervisor, Fuji Kiseki's abilities were without question.
Only… whether last time or now, whenever Mizuno saw her, her mood seemed oddly low. She carried herself like a worn-out old man, lying in the lounge chair at the dorm entrance, staring vacantly at the sky. Who knew what weighed on her mind? It struck Mizuno as strange.
Still, upon seeing Fuji Kiseki, Mizuno felt a spark of hope.
If he told her the truth—that he was a guy, and it violated the rules for him to enter the Uma dorm—maybe, as dorm supervisor, she could stop Teio from dragging him in. That way he wouldn't have to step foot in Teio's room.
So Mizuno hurriedly called out:
"Hey, hello there."
"…" Fuji Kiseki only glanced at him once, then turned her gaze back to the sky, ignoring completely the fact that Tokai Teio was hauling a human male into the Uma dorms.
"Huh?" Mizuno was dumbstruck at her reaction.
Wasn't it her responsibility to stop non-Uma from entering? What was with this I-can't-be-bothered attitude? This didn't match what he knew of her at all!
"I heard from other classmates," Tokai Teio explained, "that Fuji Kiseki-senpai once had her heart stolen by a certain man… but in the end he cruelly abandoned her. That's why she's so heartbroken."
"Outrageous! Such a thing actually happened?!" Mizuno fumed.
If he ever found out who that guy was, Mizuno swore he'd beat him into the dirt and serve him up as a Starry Rage! And make him dance it three times a day, every day!
"Alright, Trainer Mizuno, let's go." Teio tugged him onward toward her room.
"Yamerooo!"
He was about to be dragged into Teio's room—what should he do? Urgent! Need help, online now!