The next day, Dream Weaver, having finished her morning routine as usual, slung her schoolbag over her shoulder and headed for Central Tracen Academy.
For some reason, though, she kept feeling vague, watchful eyes on her during the train ride.
Each time she tried to spot them, she found nothing—only commuting office workers and fellow Tracen students in uniform, most with their backs turned.
But it hardly mattered.
Dream Weaver was long used to that faint sense of being watched.
She even wondered if spending so much time on the track under the gaze of countless spectators had left her with a kind of phantom sensation.
Shaking her head, she didn't dwell on it and rushed off the train as soon as the doors opened.
Left behind in the carriage, Mr. C.B. let out a quiet sigh of relief. For a moment there, she'd been afraid she'd been spotted, startling her into turning away reflexively.
But thinking about it now, dodging like that probably looked even weirder!
They were both students at Central Tracen—what was wrong with looking a little longer?
Mr. C.B. justified it firmly in her mind.
Usually, if someone caught her interest, she'd have just gone up and talked to them straight away.
But maybe the reason was too strange—a dream—and the emotions from it were too overwhelming.
That must be why she'd hesitated today, letting Dream Weaver leave the train without managing to say a single word.
But… that wouldn't happen again.
Tomorrow—no, today! Today, she would get to know her!
A determined glint flashed in Mr. C.B.'s eyes. Just as she resolved to dash off the train after Dream Weaver, a pair of hands suddenly reached from behind and grasped her shoulders.
"C.B., if I recall… you don't usually take the train to school, do you?"
A familiar voice sounded by her ear, making her eyebrow twitch involuntarily.
No way…
She turned her neck stiffly to look back. Unsurprisingly, there was no mistaking who it was.
Symboli Rudolf, President of the Central Tracen Student Council, known in the shadowy corners of the campus forum as the terrifying woman who had sidelined the academy chairman and taken control of all Tracen.
Right now, she was looking at Mr. C.B. with a dangerous smile.
"Mr. C.B., don't you think you have some explaining to do?"
Faced with the intimidating aura radiating from Symboli Rudolf, a drop of cold sweat slid down Mr. C.B.'s forehead as she uttered in disbelief.
"Could the rumors on the dark campus forum be true?! Rudolf, have you really turned all the students into your royal harem—?"
As everyone knew, Symboli Rudolf's title was the Emperor, and emperors generally came with harems.
Theory established.
No need for numerical proof—it was already logical, well-founded, and convincing.
This was the dark truth of Tracen!
"Spend less time on that forum!"
Seeing that Mr. C.B., even cornered, dared to tease her to her face, Symboli Rudolf was nearly amused into anger. She grabbed Mr. C.B. by the shoulders and gave her a good shake.
All of this, of course, was unknown to Dream Weaver, who had long since left the train.
While Mr. C.B. and Symboli Rudolf were tangled up, she had already entered her classroom, casually dropped her bag, and walked straight back out.
Her mother was awake now. She could afford to slow her pace a little, but that didn't mean Dream Weaver would stop.
To bring hope to everyone in the apartment with her victories, she had to work hard in the real world too.
So, to keep entering races, she needed a trainer.
Unlike in the previous scripted worlds, she had no excuse to compete without one this time.
But that was fine. Dream Weaver had already chosen her trainer in her heart.
Bang!
With a loud noise, Dream Weaver pulled open the door to the teachers' office. Over a dozen teachers sitting at their desks looked up in surprise.
Ignoring their stares, Dream Weaver scanned the room, confirmed her target, and walked directly toward her.
Chizuru Haibara glanced around in confusion, confirming that she was indeed the only teacher in this section—Dream Weaver was coming for her.
"Chizuru-nee, come with me. I have something to say."
"Huh? Me?"
Completely unable to understand why Dream Weaver would seek her out, Chizuru Haibara didn't even register the familiar address. She just pointed at herself blankly.
Offering no explanation on the spot, Dream Weaver took Chizuru's hand and led her out of the office under the watchful eyes of the other teachers.
Flustered, Chizuru Haibara didn't even know where she was being taken, simply letting Dream Weaver pull her along through the campus.
Only when she was dragged to a secluded corner did her teacher instincts kick in. Clearly misunderstanding the situation, Chizuru waved her arms, face flushed, and cried out,
"No, Dream! I'm happy you feel this way, but this isn't right! Let's talk this through properly, okay!"
Being dragged by a student to a deserted corner in broad daylight made Chizuru feel like her teaching license was slowly turning to ash.
Sure, the campus forum was always full of little stories about trainers and their Uma Musume charges, and there even seemed to be real-life examples, but Chizuru still felt…
She could almost hear the wee-woo wee-woo of police sirens.
Dream Weaver didn't explain. Instead, she thumped a hand against the wall beside Chizuru, fixing her with a serious gaze from her ink-dark eyes.
"Chizuru-nee, I have something to tell you."
"Mm-hmm!"
Chizuru trembled at her words, swallowed hard, and nervously closed her eyes.
Ten minutes later… Dream Weaver had told Chizuru Haibara about retaining her memories from the Kasamatsu period and invited her to become her trainer.
It should have been a happy thing—and it really was a happy thing—but Chizuru Haibara seemed to have turned ashen gray, leaning against the wall and muttering to herself incessantly,
"Huh? But that's not how it goes in the forum stories! Aren't we supposed to carry two hearts that want to grow closer but don't know how, gradually understanding our own feelings through repeated trials, then share a special moment on a special holiday, and finally confess to each other during some pivotal emotional event?!"
"Only then do we discover each other's secrets and become a team again, chasing our dreams on the track!"
"How could you just say it outright like that?! The forum never said it works this way! I refuse to accept this, waaah!"
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.