Dancing Brave was a world-class Uma Musume.
Dancing Brave was the mother whose back she could never hope to catch, no matter how hard she tried.
Even though she had become a top-tier Uma Musume herself, King Halo still viewed her mother, Dancing Brave, through a filter mingled with yearning and frustration.
In her heart, her mother symbolized omnipotence.
Everything she herself couldn't achieve or reach, her mother could solve effortlessly the moment she appeared.
Just like how, after all those days, they had only managed to secure a vague, empty promise with Dream Weaver to 'hang out sometime,' yet Dancing Brave had exchanged phone numbers with her after just one meeting.
To King Halo, the distance between an empty promise and a phone number seemed even vaster than the gap between 'top-tier' and 'world-class.'
That's why she saw Dancing Brave as her ultimate trump card.
Once Dancing Brave stepped in, everything would surely be set right.
But at this very moment, King Halo suddenly realized something, something any ordinary child should have realized long ago.
Namely—
Her parents were never all-powerful.
Watching Dancing Brave initiate a conversation with Dream Weaver using an outdated plan and talking points, King Halo's heart felt like it was rocketing into the stratosphere.
She couldn't even imagine what might happen next.
The flawless, omnipotent mother in her mind had just made a mistake, and a future she thought was certain once again grew hazy.
"Ah, it's you," Dream Weaver said with a touch of melancholy, still somewhat immersed in the lone hero persona she had crafted for herself.
"I've been doing fairly well lately, thank you for your concern."
This was the truth. Dream Weaver had been living quite comfortably recently, with almost no worries—aside from the impending cultural studies grade interrogation from Northern Starlight.
But said with that particular expression, Dancing Brave clearly interpreted it differently.
Seeing Dream Weaver's lifeless eyes and air of dejection, Dancing Brave's heart clenched.
This child... has she already buckled under immense pressure?!
(She absolutely hadn't.)
Could it be... I was a step too late?!
(Being late or not made little difference.)
As a mother... I've been so inadequate!
(Dream Weaver's actual mother was called Northern Starlight.)
Gold Ship, who for some reason was everywhere, hid in the bushes watching the scene unfold with a mischievous grin.
She kept sketching in her notebook with a pencil, depicting Dancing Brave's inner thoughts and imaginary voice-overs.
She had a feeling tomorrow's edition of Golshi-chan's Frontline Report was going to be absolutely spectacular.
But perhaps this premonition was so strong that it caused Gold Ship to overlook another, different sense of foreboding coming from beside her.
A pair of small hands with unstoppable force clamped around Gold Ship's neck.
"Golshi-chan—you've gone wandering off again. Didn't we agree to stay together at the gymnasium?"
Stay Gold smiled as she dragged Gold Ship out of the bushes.
Even though she was a full head shorter than Gold Ship, her strength was surprisingly immense, leaving Gold Ship powerless to resist.
"Dad! Golshi-chan has important business to attend to!"
"The most important thing right now should be the meeting, shouldn't it? And I'm your big sister, not your dad."
Though the commotion wasn't small, King Halo and the others just glanced over and then moved on.
Oh, it's the Gold family's Uma Musume. Nothing they do is strange.
"Ahem—anyway," Dancing Brave cleared her throat lightly, reclaiming the previous atmosphere before clasping Dream Weaver's hands firmly.
"Dream Weaver, let's sit together during the meeting later. After it's over, you, me, and Halo can all go find a café to chat."
Hearing this, Dream Weaver blinked, and the lone hero persona she'd built up showed its first tiny crack. "But shouldn't students stand with their own parents during the parent-teacher meeting?"
What she meant was that she should stay by Northern Starlight's side, but Dancing Brave obviously took it another way.
Dancing Brave subtly tightened her grip on Dream Weaver's hands, a ripple of emotion stirring in her eyes.
"It's fine! You two are as close as mother and daughter, and you and Halo are like sisters!"
Have we reached that stage in the real world?
Dream Weaver felt a pang of confusion. Had she somehow already advanced the storyline between King Halo and Dancing Brave at some point, only to forget about it accidentally?
Just as Dancing Brave, deeply moved and on the verge of tears, seemed about to stage a live reenactment of a prime-time family drama, a puzzled voice came from behind Dream Weaver.
"As close as... mother and daughter?"
Northern Starlight, who had arrived at the gymnasium entrance with a group of Uma Musume, tilted her head in confusion.
"As close as... sisters?"
Among the crowd, Mejiro Ardan looked at King Halo, then at Dream Weaver, and finally down at herself.
Dancing Brave still hadn't sensed anything amiss, assuming these two were just curious passersby. But watching Narita Top Road and Admire Vega making frantic gestures, King Halo was already breaking out in a cold sweat.
Um, is it really okay to say these things in front of her actual mother and actual sister?
Before she could find a way to explain to Dancing Brave, Northern Starlight stepped forward directly, meeting Dancing Brave's gaze.
"While I'm not sure what relationship you have with my child, and the 'like mother and daughter' part can be discussed later, but—" She patted Dream Weaver's head, declaring sovereignty as she continued,
"For a parent-teacher meeting, you definitely stay with your parent. Isn't that common sense?"
Finally sensing something off, Dancing Brave furrowed her brow, asking Northern Starlight in a questioning tone, "And you are…?"
"I'm Dream Weaver's mom," Northern Starlight declared proudly, thumping her chest. Hearing this, Dancing Brave's mind went completely blank with a buzz.
You're her WHAT?!
Dream Weaver, whose head was being patted, showed little reaction.
Dancing Brave had mentioned to her once before that she and Northern Starlight had been like sisters back in their days at Central Tracen Academy.
That was why she had gone so far out of her way to help her before.
Of course, by now Dream Weaver had long guessed that Dancing Brave probably had memories from that world. But she didn't think Dancing Brave would lie to her about this.
Even if it was a lie, there had to be some kernel of truth, right?
Like an information peddler—even if the intel is fake, there at least needs to be some sign resembling the intel. You can't just sit at a typewriter and fabricate an entire organization to spin tales, right?
So Dream Weaver figured that maybe Dancing Brave wasn't Northern Starlight's bestie, but it seemed equally unlikely they weren't close at all.
At the very least, they must have been good friends or old classmates.
So she tilted her head and introduced to Northern Starlight, "Mom, this is Auntie Dancing Brave. She was your good sister from school, wasn't she? How come you don't recognize her? You should apologize."
"Oh—" Northern Starlight narrowed her eyes at this, the corners of her mouth curling into an inscrutable smile as she repeated, "So she's my good sister from school, is she?"
She deliberately emphasized the words "good sister."
"I almost didn't recognize you," she continued. With that, Northern Starlight smiled and extended her hand toward Dancing Brave, her tone friendly. "Long time no see, my good sister?"
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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.