"Did you go Air Force today?"
Seeing those five words displayed on LINE, Barbatos's fists clenched, itching to punch herself.
She had to run her mouth, didn't she? Had to mutter "an Angler never goes Air Force" under her breath right in front of Seiun Sky. If she hadn't been overheard, she wouldn't have had to clumsily cover it up and deceive Seiun about what "Air Force" meant.
If she hadn't, then she wouldn't have had her eyebrows drawn on while she was asleep.
She wasn't about to blame Seiun Sky though. At least the other girl had woken her up and kept her from being late.
And last night during the stream, Seiun hadn't laid down any strict rules or anything. Just drawing on her eyebrows as a minor punishment. Barbatos figured that after this, the whole "Air Force" incident was water under the bridge.
As for her image? Sure, with these brows she was definitely going to get more second looks, but there was no real harm done.
After all, in sports, performance is what counts. At Tracen Academy, they didn't pay much mind to flashy, superficial stuff.
"B-chan, your drawn-on eyebrows look so cool!"
Faced with Urara's sincere compliment, she felt quite pleased. What other, unfamiliar Uma Musume thought didn't matter. As long as Urara thought they were cool, that was fine.
"Hehe~"
Barbatos chuckled lightly and gave a thumbs up. "That's my Urara, always got a good eye. I spent a long time on these brows this morning."
"After realizing I wasn't suited for turf tracks yesterday, I stayed up all night, reflecting deeply on how I should face my future as an Uma Musume."
"Later, I found a saying online: Hard work can surpass talent!"
"Even if I'm not suited for turf right now, and can't keep up with El Condor or Seiun, I will definitely rely on my own efforts to adapt!"
"So I specially drew these eyebrows to show my determination."
"I won't wash these brows off until the day I can adapt to turf tracks!"
After saying all this, Barbatos felt herself burning with passion. This is youth!
Master Kayn... he really is, I could cry!
Wait, wrong channel. I am the Green Beast of Tracen Academy!
Well, hopefully 'ignoring unit collision' would let her go all out on the turf track today. Then she could wash these darn brows off tonight.
Who'd want to walk around with these thick eyebrows if they didn't have to?
The other Uma Musume in the classroom who heard this speech were filled with respect.
This was a classmate worthy of their admiration!
She might not be fast, she might not achieve any notable results, but in this moment, she seemed to glow.
King Halo, who had been chatting with others, also cast a look of approval.
El Condor Pasa smiled. She had thought Barbatos was a bit lazy before, but it seemed now that she would be a good rival in the future.
Seiun Sky's jade-green eyes stared unblinkingly at Barbatos. She had a feeling this girl was pulling another fast one, and wouldn't be surprised if she somehow adapted to the turf by the afternoon.
"B-chan, then draw eyebrows on me too! We'll work hard to adapt to the turf together!"
Oh, dear.
Looking into Urara's earnest eyes, Barbatos's eyebrows twitched.
She could say all that because 'ignoring unit collision' would probably let her adapt. But if Urara drew on thick eyebrows too, she'd probably be stuck with them for a good year or more.
How to gently talk Urara out of this now? She couldn't actually draw eyebrows on her... and she didn't know how to anyway.
"You don't necessarily have to adapt to running on turf. You could try running only on dirt," Seiun Sky said, as if casually. "Like, aiming to become the strongest dirt-track Uma Musume or something."
"A dirt-track specialist Uma Musume?"
"Urara, how about this: you focus on dirt, and I'll focus on turf. Then we'll be the strongest on our respective surfaces!"
As she said it, Barbatos felt something was off. Wasn't she just stacking a debuff on herself? But she was willing to go all out to save Urara from the eyebrow fate. She winked at Seiun Sky in thanks for the assist.
"Then it's settled! Let's do our best!"
Urara was full of fighting spirit, seemingly having completely forgotten about the eyebrow drawing.
"Mmm~"
El Condor Pasa stepped forward meaningfully. "In that case, it looks like we'll be rivals."
"Because my goal is also to be the strongest. The strongest in the world!"
Wow, so confident. She was practically declaring 'I'm going to be the Uma Musume King!' Barbatos hadn't planned on being so high-profile and stacking debuffs, but in this atmosphere, she felt like she should say something bold too.
At least to live up to these thick eyebrows she was planning to wash off.
Clatter.
The classroom door opened again.
She instinctively looked towards the entrance. The bell hadn't rung yet. Was the teacher here early?
"Um."
An Uma Musume was flailing her limbs, walking into the classroom with an uncoordinated, same-side arm and leg gait. "I'm Special Week, starting school here today, wah—"
A flat-ground fall! The legendary lost art of the flat-ground fall!
And her name was Special Week? The one who knocked on the door last night! Late on her very first day!
Adding it all up, Barbatos nearly did a tactical lean back, sucking in a sharp breath. This was practically the standard setup for a main heroine in a novel or anime.
She was just about to complain how anyone could possibly manage such a divine-level maneuver on perfectly flat ground, when she saw Urara walk over and extend a hand to Special Week.
"Are you okay?"
"Are you a transfer student?"
"Yes."
"Thank you."
Pulling Special Week up from the floor, she introduced herself, "I'm Haru Urara."
Wow, looks like the Urara friend group is gaining another member.
Since she was a new classmate, they all walked over too. Urara helped with the introductions, "This is Barbatos and Seiun Sky."
"Pleased to meet you." *2
"Ah, pleased to meet you too."
As she looked at them, Special Week's gaze lingered for a few seconds on Barbatos's extravagant eyebrows, thinking that city Uma Musume sure had their own unique style.
"Hi!"
El Condor Pasa stepped forward naturally with Grass Wonder. "Over here are El Condor Pasa and Grass Wonder."
"Nice to meet you," Grass Wonder said.
"I'm a returnee from America. Where are you from?"
"From– from Hokkaido."
"Ah, a country bumpkin," El Condor said bluntly, then felt a slap on her rear. She immediately looked at Grass Wonder beside her, who had her eyes narrowed as if she'd done nothing. Are all narrow-eyed people monsters?
Wait, is calling someone a country bumpkin not okay in Japan?
Urara, with higher emotional intelligence, stepped in to change the subject. "I say, Spe-chan, looking forward to working with you from now on."
"Okay!" Special Week's face was full of joy at having made friends on her first day.
Ding dang ding dang, ding dang ding dang.
The familiar class bell rang. Urara waved goodbye. "Let's talk more later!"
--+--
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.