The pleasant summer vacation came to an end.
Apart from the unexpected incident during that luxury resort trip and the difficult days of doing homework, Kitasan Black had quite enjoyed this vacation.
When she wasn't sleeping in at home, she was strolling near the park with Kobayashi Reki. Occasionally, she'd go sea fishing with her old man and his students. Aside from morning training, she really hadn't done any exercise at all. When she said no training, she meant no training.
The result was that before school started, her weight had increased considerably.
When her old man found out, he stared at her with a darkened expression of disbelief.
Kitasan Black had something to say about this.
She was in her growth period—what was wrong with gaining weight?
It wasn't like she'd gained any fat (she said nervously)!
Fortunately, she wasn't like McQueen-senpai with that constitution that gained weight easily and had difficulty losing it. After seriously dieting, her weight gradually returned to normal. She was very proud of this.
Her body was really amazing. If not for such a great body, how could she dare dream of a lazy lifestyle?
If she had a constitution like McQueen-senpai's, that would really be unlucky.
Even with the conditions for it, she wouldn't dare actually laze around because she'd become a fat pig.
But she definitely couldn't let McQueen-senpai know about these thoughts, or she'd learn what it meant to disrespect a senpai's dignity.
However, Kitasan Black clearly forgot.
Her current thoughts would be seen by her senpais when she returned and did the memory sharing.
When the school season arrived, Kitasan Black said goodbye to Kobayashi Reki the day before and rode her old man's car to school.
This time, her old man didn't follow her inside. He dropped her off and left.
Just after completing check-in on the school's internal network, the teacher came to find her at the dormitory.
"Kita-chan, did you finish the form I gave you?"
"Sensei, I've already handed that matter over to Diamond-san to handle."
Kitasan Black saw that the young lady Diamond hadn't arrived at school yet. Plus, she hadn't gone to get the form back from Diamond during the vacation. So even though she knew Diamond had completed the form, she couldn't currently deliver the task to the teacher. She had no choice but to explain the actual situation.
Hearing her answer, a hint of displeasure appeared in the teacher's expression.
This task wasn't just an assignment—it was also an opportunity to gain attention from higher-ups.
She had originally hoped Kitasan Black could use this task to improve the higher-ups' evaluation of her. But she hadn't expected this child to just hand the task over to the young lady from the Satomi family. Did this child even know she had just given away a significant opportunity?
If Kitasan Black knew the teacher's thoughts, she would definitely complain. She understood Central Tracen Academy's situation far better than the teacher. What was the use of excelling at academics and document handling in that place? The principle there was strength above all—one horse leads, ten thousand horses pale!
As long as you were strong enough, even with the worst personality, Tracen Academy's teachers and trainers would follow behind cleaning up your mess.
But she could understand the teacher's feelings. After all, they had probably never experienced such treatment reserved for geniuses.
That's why they wanted to do everything as perfectly as possible, wanting those above to notice their shining points more.
Doing everything possible to showcase themselves—that small yet passionate light. How much of it would she end up destroying?
"When Diamond-san arrives at school, make sure she submits the form to me promptly."
"I understand."
Though the teacher felt it was somewhat regrettable, she also knew she had been too hasty about this matter.
After all, Kitasan Black came from a common background. Just keeping up with everyone's grades was already difficult enough for her. Expecting her to complete this task was already asking too much. So Kitasan Black choosing not to force herself to do something she wasn't good at and instead entrusting the task to the young lady from the Satomi family was actually a wise decision.
(I can't even see things as clearly as one of my students.)
Doing this task well would indeed earn favorable evaluations from above, but what if it wasn't done well?
She had used her authority to secure the team leader position for Kitasan Black, but had she considered the burden this task would place on her? She hoped Kitasan Black could carry her unrealized dreams to Tracen Academy and to the racecourse, but that wasn't an obligation Kitasan Black had to bear.
The teacher left with a heavy heart.
Kitasan Black scratched her head. She could feel the teacher's expectations of her.
But there was nothing she could do to counsel the teacher about this. She couldn't exactly tell the teacher that she was actually very strong.
Besides, the reason the teacher valued her so much was simply because she saw her former self in the current Kitasan Black.
That self without an excellent background, not a genius, but still wanting to charge toward the racecourse despite all that.
That's why she wanted to entrust the dream she couldn't realize back then to her current student.
But Kitasan Black also felt her situation was difficult.
She wasn't qualified to accept such heavy feelings. After all, just like the young lady Diamond had said, she was nothing but a big liar.
(I'm not going to think about it.)
Let her future self worry about these things.
Right now, she was still an elementary schooler. She should peacefully enjoy her childhood.
As for whether her future self would want to kill her—well, her future self couldn't travel through time to come back and cause trouble for her anyway.
That evening, Satono Diamond finally arrived at school.
Kitasan Black didn't ask why she came so late. She just relayed the teacher's message to Satono Diamond.
"I understand. I'll go find the teacher right now."
Satono Diamond nodded seriously in agreement.
She hadn't even unpacked her things before taking out a document folder and going to find the teacher.
Kitasan Black didn't know what the teacher and Satono Diamond talked about. In any case, Satono Diamond came back and told her the matter had been handled.
Since that was the case, she had no need to pay further attention to this matter. After all, she had already delegated everything to her vice leader.
"Kitasan-san, I have some snacks that Mother gave me. Would you like to share them with me?"
After Satono Diamond finished unpacking, she suddenly pulled out a large box and extended an invitation to Kitasan Black.
Kitasan Black paused her phone-scrolling and sneaked a glance.
It was actually a gift box of various fruit petit cakes.
"Eating cake at this hour isn't really appropriate. I've already had dinner."
She had just barely gotten her weight back to normal.
But those were petit cakes, and they didn't look like the affordable cakes you could buy at ordinary bakeries. They were the kind with beautiful packaging.
"Kitasan-san, you train every morning, don't you? It should be fine. Plus, I'll brew a pot of good tea to help with digestion."
"..."
Kitasan Black felt conflicted.
"And I also need Kitasan-san's help. I really can't finish this many by myself."
"Well, since you put it that way."
Petit cakes, so delicious~
The tea the young lady Diamond brewed is also very good.
No wonder [Kita-chan] always said the tea brewed by the young lady Diamond was the best in the world.
Since she didn't sense any ulterior motives from Satono Diamond trying to get close to her, Kitasan Black's radar didn't sound any alarms. Plus, the dieting these past few days had been so difficult to endure. Under the temptation of petit cakes, Kitasan Black let down her guard.
Satono Diamond stood nearby, watching Kitasan Black eat with an expressionless face, her eyes trembling slightly.
(So this approach really is effective.)
As long as she maintained a certain distance, Kitasan-san's vigilance would decrease. Then, considering Kitasan-san's gluttonous nature, she just needed to be patient and could gradually eliminate Kitasan-san's wariness toward her.
"Thank you for the meal."
Having finished her portion, Kitasan Black pressed her palms together with gratitude.
She now finally understood the feelings of that other [Mejiro McQueen]-senpai. How could one not taste such delicious cakes?
Missing out on them would be a lifelong regret.
As for weight?
That kind of thing could be overcome with a little effort!
She now thought perhaps she could get along with that other [McQueen-senpai].
It was actually her real McQueen-senpai who had the worst compatibility with her, because McQueen-senpai was a demon.
Satono Diamond didn't give all the cakes to Kitasan Black. Doing so wouldn't lower Kitasan Black's guard—it would actually raise it. She had prepared complete contingency plans before executing this operation.
Moreover, with Crown gone now, she had no competitors. She had plenty of time to slowly melt Kitasan-san's defenses.
Kitasan Black didn't notice that Satono Diamond's gaze was like that of a hunter watching prey.
After that, daily school life didn't change much.
If there was one major change, it was that the position once held by Satono Crown had now been taken by Satono Diamond.
Things Satono Crown could do before, the current Satono Diamond could also do.
But unlike Satono Crown, who was equally attentive and gentle to everyone, Satono Diamond's style was sometimes more decisive and cold. But this wasn't necessarily bad, because Satono Diamond made far fewer mistakes than Satono Crown.
Satono Crown was actually quite careless sometimes, and because she was considerate of others' feelings, she sometimes bungled things. It was only because her abilities were so outstanding that she could not only salvage situations but often resolve them perfectly. But now with Satono Diamond in her place, though she wasn't as easy to get along with, she prevented mistakes from happening in the first place.
As for life in the dormitory, Kitasan Black felt this young lady was becoming increasingly fond of buying snacks, and she always couldn't finish them and needed help. There was nothing she could do—she couldn't bear to see such delicious food go to waste, so she had no choice but to assist.
Time passed this way until Tracen Academy's open day arrived.
This event only happened once per semester. Though Tracen Academy was also open during regular vacations, you wouldn't be hosted by active uma musume competitors at those times, nor would you have the chance to train together with active competitors.
So this opportunity was very precious for the school.
Riding the school bus, Kitasan Black and a group of selected top students set off for Tracen Academy.
Though Kitasan Black, mixed in among them, had the worst grades in the group, she was a student specially noted by higher-ups—that was called privilege. And even with the worst grades, she was still the team leader for this trip.
Though some people were initially dissatisfied with the school's decision, no one dared openly express displeasure after hearing it was an order from above. Plus, Satono Diamond had privately warned those dissatisfied classmates. Facing a warning from the young lady who stood at the apex of all students, no one dared disobey.
So Kitasan Black's only experience was occasionally feeling strange gazes on her, but no one actually came to cause trouble. She had actually fantasized at first about whether some villainess antagonist young lady would jump out to cause problems, but it seemed she had overthought things.
"Kitasan-san, may I decide the arrangements going forward?"
Satono Diamond sat next to Kitasan Black even on the bus.
Kitasan Black had already gotten used to the young lady Diamond being beside her, so she hadn't noticed anything wrong. Hearing Diamond's request now, she nodded with an indifferent expression.
"It's yours."
She couldn't be bothered to act as team leader. It wasn't that she couldn't—after all, Teio-senpai's experience was no joke—but this senpai's abilities had too severe side effects. She wasn't going to use Teio-senpai's template for something like this.
After all, that was a Student Council President candidate beloved by countless people, Tracen Academy's sun who was even more captivating than the Emperor.
Using that template would just be asking for trouble.
Hearing Kitasan Black's response, Satono Diamond wasn't surprised at all.
Because she had discovered that Kitasan-san in this normal state really had zero motivation.
Perhaps as Kitasan-san had once said.
Being around weaklings like them only bored her.
Satono Diamond didn't know Kitasan Black genuinely wanted to slack off. She thought Kitasan Black's lack of motivation was the loneliness of the strong.
Arriving at Tracen Academy's entrance, though it was winter, the entrance was still bustling because of the open day.
The moment Kitasan Black got off the bus, she spotted several familiar senpais at the entrance.
"Hey, long time no see, Diamond. Are you leading the team this time? How come Crown didn't come?"
[Tokai Teio] and [Mejiro McQueen], these two big stars, suddenly walked over. It seemed Satono Diamond and Satono Crown had a close relationship with them. But that made sense—after all, the two of them came every semester, plus Satono Diamond was a fan of [Mejiro McQueen].
"Teio-senpai, McQueen-senpai, long time no see. Nee-san has gone to Hong Kong due to family matters. Also, our team leader this time is Kitasan-san."
With one sentence, Satono Diamond pulled Kitasan Black, who had been hiding in the back, to the front.
So she had no choice but to step forward under everyone's strange and evaluating gazes.
"Hello, senpais. I'm the team leader for our school this time, Kitasan Black."
The weird looks from her classmates really stung.
The curious stares from bystanders almost made her as socially anxious as Rice Shower-senpai.
"I know you. Our trainer told us about you. I didn't expect you could take the team leader position from Diamond so quickly. Impressive."
[Tokai Teio] had no idea her words could deal critical damage to Kitasan Black.
What the heck?
Why would that useless trainer Okino notice me?
Could this also be due to fate's gravitational pull?
Though her senpais all thought Okino was a useless trainer, Kitasan Black knew very well that Trainer Okino actually held a significant position in the industry. Being noticed by him meant the senior trainers at Tracen Academy had basically all taken note of her.
There was even a good chance the Student Council President and the Chairwoman had already noticed her too.
She should have realized this earlier—should have considered this possibility when she heard the teacher say she'd been specifically named by higher-ups.
But it was fine. They probably hadn't discovered much yet.
Kitasan Black braced herself and explained, "No, my grades are actually the worst among everyone here. Diamond-san is the actual team leader. I'm just a figurehead."
Satono Diamond watched her with a smile from the side. If it were the old her, she would definitely have objected now. But the current her would respect Kitasan-san's decision.
"Is that so, Diamond?"
[Mejiro McQueen] felt somewhat puzzled. What were this school's teachers thinking, making the student with the worst grades the team leader?
Could this child named Kitasan Black have offended a teacher somehow?
Satono Diamond said, "McQueen-senpai, since that's what Kitasan-san says, let's just treat it as such."
"?"
Everyone showed puzzled expressions, including Kitasan Black.
Young lady Diamond, what are you doing? Please don't stir up trouble at a time like this.
But Kitasan Black soon relaxed, because she heard a classmate behind her say with dissatisfaction, "That's right. Kitasan-san has the worst grades among us."
Kitasan Black remembered who this person was—the classmate whose rhythm she had disrupted at the sports festival, causing them to finish near last.
Mm, they certainly had reason to target her.
Well done!
"I see... Everyone, let's go inside first. Since there are students visiting for the first time, we'll give you a tour of the school as usual."
[Tokai Teio] changed the subject and diverted everyone's attention.
Because she had noticed that quite a few younger students seemed dissatisfied with Kitasan Black as team leader.
Diamond wouldn't have deliberately stirred up conflict just now, would she?
No, surely she wouldn't go that far just over a team leader position?
[Mejiro McQueen] thought from the side.
Kitasan Black also felt something was strange.
Did Satono Diamond still hate her this much?
Seeing Satono Diamond feeding her delicious food every day recently, she had almost thought Satono Diamond had developed some other feelings for her. But now it seemed she had overthought things.
The young lady Diamond still hated her as much as ever. This put her mind at ease.
So that previous feeding was actually harboring ill intentions, trying to lower her guard?
After all, if she were really just an ordinary elementary schooler who genuinely considered the young lady Diamond a friend, that just now would have been quite a surprise attack.
Hmph hmph, I see. Now I understand.
Kitasan Black's eyes showed a look of wisdom.
...
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