A/N: Miss me? Bet you do. Though I currently have no motivation to write, so I guess I will put this on hiatus for a while. Likely a few weeks.
Anyways, check-ins...
_______________
Silver Tear came back not long after. Her neutral expression made a few passing students unconsciously move aside and give her space, though she didn't notice it at all.
Her mind kept replaying the earlier exchange with Rudolf, each word resurfacing with uncomfortable clarity.
Did she regret it? Yes.
Would she do it again if there was a chance to turn back time? Absolutely.
Turning around the corner, Silver Tear spotted Dante by the door of the room. One hand was tucked into his coat, while the other held his phone loosely at his side, eyes closed as if he were lost in thought.
He wasn't doing anything in particular, yet the air around him felt ominous. Had she not known him, she might have hesitated to approach.
Seeing him there made her ease up a bit, though she didn't know why.
Silver Tear slowed her pace, blinking at Dante, who was obviously aura farming.
Then, a mischievous thought popped into her head.
She skipped a few steps and stopped right in front of him.
"Boo!" Her hands came up in a half-hearted clawing gesture, the grin she gave him playful and unmistakably cute.
Dante's eyes snapped open.
He startled at the suddenness, then caught himself and straightened immediately. "—What are you doing? Trying to give your poor trainer a heart attack?"
Silver Tear laughed, clearly unbothered by his irritation, as if his reaction had been exactly what she had hoped for. "You still have the energy to aura farm. You're fine."
She leaned back a little to check him over, hands tucked behind her back, eyes sweeping from his face to his posture. "Honestly? Kinda disappointing."
"I was not aura farming!! I was just resting my eyes while waiting for you!" Dante shot back.
"Same thing. Same thing." She waved it off and brushed past him, bumping his shoulder on purpose. "Anyway, let's pack things up and find something to eat. I'm starving."
He watched her for a moment before following her into the room. "You're in a good mood."
"Of course I'm." She clasped her hands behind her back again and rocked on her heels as she walked, her steps light. "Meeting's over. Serious stuff done. Time to find something delicious to eat."
She hummed under her breath, a tune that wandered off-key almost immediately, then cut herself off and glanced back at him. "So? Anything interesting happen while I was gone?"
"…No." Dante replied after a brief pause.
He hesitated, then added. "Are you really okay?"
She blinked, tilted her head slightly, then smiled again. "Yeah. I am."
An obvious lie.
"… And stop smiling like that. You're giving me a goosebump." He said flatly.
Hearing that comment, Silver Tear's expression cracked. A corner of her eye twitched before she erupted in fury.
"You bastard!!"
Silver Tear lunged at him without warning, hands grabbing at his coat as she leaned in, teeth aiming straight for his shoulder. "I'll bite you for that!"
"Hey–!"
Dante reacted on instinct. He caught her by the shoulders just in time, stopping her inches away from making good on the threat.
The force sent them both stumbling half a step, shoes scraping softly against the floor. It was an impressive feat that Dante could resist an Uma Musume who was at least 3 times stronger than a normal human.
"Don't actually bite people!!" He said, exasperated.
"You're an Uma Musume! Not a fucking dog!"
She struggled in his grip before breaking into laughter. "Why would you block it!? That's cheating!"
"I don't know?! Maybe it's something called self-defense." Dante said righteously as if he wasn't the one who provoked her with that annoying remark in the first place.
"Tch. You ruin all the fun." Silver Tear clicked her tongue, but the complaint came out lighter than usual.
She turned away with an exaggerated huff, hands slipping into her trouser pockets as she took a few steps toward the exit.
The bounce in her stride faded a little.
Dante followed. He slid the key into the lock—
—and stopped.
A soft weight pressed against his back without warning.
Arms wrapped around his waist, careful and hesitant, as if she were testing whether she was allowed to stay there. The warmth caught him off guard, drawing a sharp breath before he could help it.
"…Silver-chan?"
Her forehead rested between his shoulder blades.
"I was joking earlier." She murmured. "About the fun, I mean."
A faint, breathy laugh followed.
"I don't really feel like joking around anymore."
Dante didn't turn around. "Want to tell me what's been on your mind?"
"Just stay still for a second." She said quietly. The cheer from earlier was gone, replaced by something smaller and more vulnerable.
"Don't make it weird. Please." The fragile plea slipped out in her usual languid tone, catching Dante off guard for a brief moment before he pulled himself together.
"I'm not going anywhere." Dante said with a soft chuckle, even as his thoughts churned, trying to piece together the situation.
"...It's kind of funny now that I think about it." She said suddenly, her arm tightening around his waist in a clumsy, almost desperate attempt to steal a bit of warmth from Dante, whom she had known for barely over a month.
Dante didn't interrupt. He stayed still and listened, giving her words his full attention as Silver Tear continued.
"I tried to act like normal. Joke around, tease you, pretend that everything is fine." Her voice wavered, then she let out a small, strained laugh.
"But it's not... I feel like I'm not even myself anymore." Silver Tear nudged closer, her arms tightening around him even further.
Her face stayed buried against his shoulder blade, as if hiding this side of herself might make it disappear.
"I'm breaking down Dante."
Even as the words left her mouth, regret crept in—she shouldn't have let Dante see her like this… not in her moment of weakness.
Even after she said that, Dante remained silent, letting her words be heard instead of cutting them off. Though a part of her felt glad that he didn't say things like 'you're overthinking' or 'you're amazing, everything will be fine'.
There was no hollow encouragement or half-baked enthusiasm.
Dante listened to every word she said. When her voice finally trailed off, he lifted a hand and rested it atop her head.
He patted her head in a quiet, steady rhythm, as if to tell her that he understood without needing her to explain any further.
That alone was enough to make her breath hitch.
The moment his hand settled atop her head, the restraint she had been clinging to collapsed all at once.
A quiet sob slipped out before she could stop it.
Her grip tightened instinctively, her face pressing harder into his shoulder as tears began to soak into the fabric of his coat.
"It's scary." She choked, her voice breaking. "Everything is scary."
"I've always been on my own. Worry about myself, run my own race, keep my head down. That's how I survived until now."
A short, uneven laugh slipped out.
"But this time, I walked in there to confront the president. And it wasn't for me."
"Knowing that every word I said could backfire and make my life more miserable. It felt like stepping onto the track without knowing where the finish line was."
Her fingers curled tighter, as if bracing against the thought.
"So I keep pushing forward desperately."
Her voice dropped to a murmur. "What if I failed to persuade her? What if I made things worse? I kept thinking… this isn't my place. I'm not built for this."
A faint pause followed.
"I'm a selfish person. I'm not noble enough to fight for others. I should have just stayed quiet, turned a blind eye like every time in the past."
A shaky breath slipped out. "But I still did it. And that terrifies me more than staying quiet ever did."
The words drained out of her, leaving her slumped against him, exposed in a way she wasn't used to.
Silver Tear was a transmigrator. Changing her way of thinking meant severing the only thread that tied her to who she used to be.
There would be no returning to the familiar version of herself.
And if she kept moving forward like this, kept acting for others instead of herself, she feared what would be left of her ego, of the person who once lived under the name [Redacted].
The fear she had been holding back finally spilled free, no longer circling inside her chest but laid bare between them.
Dante stayed where he was, listening without judgment, letting her fear settle into the space between them instead of pushing it away.
He couldn't fully grasp everything Silver Tear was going through, but that didn't lessen the weight he gave to her thoughts.
After a few minutes, Dante simply crouched in front of her without looking back.
"Get on." He said, naturally, like it was the most practical thing in the world.
When she hesitated, he reached back and steadied her, lifting her onto his back with practiced ease.
He didn't say anything as he carried her, just kept walking, slow and steady, as if that was his answer to everything she had confessed.
Pressed against his back, Silver Tear slowly realized how safe it was on his back.
If she kept changing, kept stepping further away from the person she used to be, then he would be there to see it happen.
He would witness it.
Even if the ego of [Redacted] faded into something distant, it wouldn't disappear without a trace.
Dante would remember.
He would carry the weight of who she had been, making sure that version of her wasn't lost, even as she became someone new.
…As a partner in crime.
When that realization settled in, Silver Tear shifted on his back and nudged a little closer, her arms tightening around him.
In response, Dante adjusted his grip without comment, steadying her as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Nestled closer against his back, she let herself relax, feeling safe in the knowledge that even if she changed, she wouldn't vanish.
Then—
"—OOOOOOH?!"
That was when Gold Ship rounded the corner, froze mid-step, and her eyes lit up.
Dante stopped.
Silver Tear froze.
At the end of the hallway stood Gold Ship, phone held up at a perfect angle, grin already stretching from ear to ear.
"Wow! Wow! Wow!" Gold Ship said, tapping the screen enthusiastically. "Didn't know we were doing heartwarming drama today. This one's going straight to the group chat."
"Delete it..." Dante said flatly, without turning around.
Gold Ship gasped, clutching her chest in mock offense. "Delete? This is history in the making! Look at her! Then look at you! 10 out of 10."
Silver Tear groaned softly and hid her face against Dante's shoulder, mortified. "Please don't…"
Gold Ship's grin softened just a fraction. She tilted the phone down, though the damage was clearly already done. "C'mon, senpai. At least show your face a bit?"
"...Noo." Silver Tear buried her face in Dante's shoulder to avoid the camera.
Dante exhaled through his nose and resumed walking. "This brat…"
"Excuse you, Lord GolShi is no brat!" Gold Ship replied cheerfully, already typing. "Besides, it suits you, trainer-san. Very dependable. Strong 'will carry you home' energy. Totally a couple vibes."
"We're not a couple." Dante sighed, already feeling tired all over.
"Mhm." Silver Tear also made a faint sound of agreement.
"Lord GolShi totally believes in you." Gold Ship beamed and gave him a thumbs-up, totally not buying that shit.
All the while, Silver Tear felt like she was on the verge of exploding from sheer embarrassment, her ears burning hot, and her tail wagging like crazy.
Even so, she tightened her hold instead of letting go, stubbornly refusing to be put back down. If she was going to suffer this humiliation, she might as well enjoy this treatment till the end.
Gold Ship trotted up alongside them, matching Dante's pace with an easy bounce. She leaned in close, eyes sparkling with mischief as she inspected Silver Tear clinging to his back.
"So, where are you two heading?"
"The food stalls nearby." Dante answered, continuing on as if this were all perfectly normal.
"Ohhh." Gold Ship's face lit up instantly. "Say no more."
Gold Ship suddenly wrapped herself around his leg. "Lord GolShi is joining."
Dante stopped for exactly a second and looked at the creature latching onto his leg. "…Let go."
"Nope." Gold Ship said happily, clinging tighter.
Silver Tear made a muffled, defeated noise against his shoulder, face burning red with embarrassment. She silently made a vow to get back at Gold Ship in the future for this humiliating experience.
Meanwhile, Dante stood there, carrying one problem Uma Musume on his back and dragging another menace along to get food. He started to regret choosing to be a trainer as his career.
_______
A/N: Do you guys want the mc and Dante become a couple or keep the relationship as it is?