Dorm Room.
Barbatos stepped out of the bathroom, fresh from her shower and already in her pajamas.
With the culture festival in full swing, there were no classes or races tomorrow—a perfect chance to grind out some Blue Essence in a few extra League of Legends matches.
Bzzzzzz—
The hum of a hairdryer filled the room.
Seiun Sky was fiddling with the dryer in her hands. She glanced over as Barbatos emerged, a mischievous little smile playing on her lips. "Let me dry your hair for you."
"Huh? But I thought you said drying hair was a pain—"
Barbatos nearly let the words slip out, but caught herself just in time. No blunt Uma Musume remarks tonight.
"Sure."
"Let's see how good you are at this, then."
She took a seat in the chair facing Seiun Sky, ready to receive the service.
Warm air flowed over her partially towel-dried hair. The temperature was just right—not too hot—so Seiun Sky must have tested it with her hand first.
Seiun's fingers gently combed through her strands, section by section, the dryer passing over again and again. Even though the air was perfectly warm, Barbatos felt a faint, restless flutter in her chest. A warmth that wasn't from the dryer.
As a self-styled love expert, she knew exactly why. It was because she liked Seiun Sky. After all, when a stylist dried her hair at a salon, she never felt like this.
Her gaze, fixed ahead, subtly shifted, slanting toward Seiun Sky standing beside her.
Just then, Seiun Sky glanced over—right toward Barbatos's profile.
Their eyes met. Neither looked away immediately. It wasn't strange to look at each other, after all.
But Seiun's gaze seemed a little evasive, even as she said, as if it were nothing, "Earlier, when we were celebrating, Special Week asked if we were dating."
"Special Week? Well, of course… we're not!"
Barbatos nearly choked on her own spit. Her brain short-circuited for a second. Why would Special Week ask something like that?
Sure, she had feelings for Seiun Sky, but they hadn't known each other that long. If she were to retort with, "Aren't we dating, though?" she might scare Seiun off completely.
What puzzled her more was this: Seiun Sky was the type to blush just from holding hands.
Yet, somehow, she kept catching Barbatos off guard. She seemed passive, but then she'd go and say or do something that made Barbatos's heart race.
But why did Special Week think she and Seiun Sky were dating?
"Why does Special Week think we're going out?"
If Seiun noticed anything suspicious now and became wary or resistant, it would only make it harder for Barbatos to actually date her in the future.
"It's because Tokai Teio saw us yesterday, during the culture festival."
"Tokai Teio…"
Japan was small. Tracen Academy was even smaller.
Sure, there were more Uma Musume concentrated here than anywhere else, but the numbers were still limited—run into a familiar face within a few steps, and the odds were pretty high.
Though Seiun Sky didn't spell it out, Tokai Teio had probably seen them holding hands while wandering through the festival together.
Even though Tokai Teio had taught their Canopus team how to dance, they weren't exactly close. She wouldn't come gossip about it herself, so it made sense she'd share the news with Special Week, her teammate in Spica.
Honestly, what a miscalculation.
Next time she wanted to hold hands, she'd have to do it off-campus, where no one would spot them.
It wasn't that she minded people seeing her hold hands with Seiun Sky—in fact, the dating rumor made her pretty happy. At least in others' eyes, they looked like a couple.
But it could also backfire easily.
"What did you tell Special Week?"
"I told her to guess." Seiun Sky replied calmly.
As if being mistaken for a couple hadn't stirred much inside her.
"Is that so?"
Barbatos pondered. If that was how Seiun Sky answered, she probably didn't mind the idea of them dating. At the very least, she held some fondness for Barbatos.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have explored the festival with her, wouldn't have dressed up as a prince, and certainly wouldn't be drying her hair right now.
It's just that this fondness might not be that kind of fondness.
"…You know, holding hands and walking around the festival together is pretty normal, right?"
She tossed out the line, feigning nonchalance.
Seiun Sky gave a soft "Mhm," and bit her lip slightly where Barbatos couldn't see. "Yeah, it's pretty normal."
She wasn't sure if she was right, but she had a guess about why Barbatos asked that.
Maybe Barbatos wanted her to agree it was normal—so that in the future, taking her hand when they went out could become a "normal" thing, too.
The hum of the hairdryer soon faded.
"I'm going to take a shower now."
Seiun Sky set down the dryer, picked up her pajamas lying nearby, and headed for the bathroom.
So… Barbatos likes me?
She mused over it.
She didn't dislike the idea of life with Barbatos. She wasn't sure if it was love, but there was something amusing about how carefully Barbatos was treading.
And when Barbatos held her hand… it didn't feel bad at all.
--+--
Barbatos watched Seiun Sky disappear into the bathroom.
She opened her laptop, booted up League of Legends, and got all her streaming software ready.
But she didn't start the stream just yet. After all, once Seiun Sky finished her bath, she'd have to return the favor and dry her hair.
Drying hair was far more important than streaming or grinding Blue Essence.
If she rushed into a confession, it could backfire and make things awkward between them—maybe even lead to a dorm change, like what happened with El Condor Pasa. So she couldn't hurry. She had to take it slow, make sure Seiun Sky liked her back before saying anything.
They had a long, long time ahead living together. No need to rush.
Having mapped out her strategy, the self-proclaimed "Love Master" logged into her League account, selecting the server Ionia in the Telecom District 1.
After today's relay race, she'd started wondering if she'd been smurfing in Diamond too much lately. Maybe it was time to push for Rank 1 on the server.
Or maybe she should try her luck in the Super Server, test her skills in high-stakes matches for a different kind of thrill.
Of course, that would slow down her Blue Essence grind a bit.
But not by much. In high-level games, if you crushed your lane, the enemy team often surrendered at 15. No drawn-out "We never surrender till the Nexus falls" stubbornness like in Diamond.
Alright, then—time to aim for the top. The throne of Challenger.
But before that, Barbatos glanced at the top-right corner of her client, at the ID: "Little-Break-Station · Barbatos."
Maybe it was time for a change. She bought a Name Change card, thought for a moment, then typed: TheSky.
Name change successful.
--+--
T/N: please just have sesbian lex
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, 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.