Uma Musume Pretty Derby: To The Basement

"Hss..."

Mizuno's hiss of cold air wasn't loud, so none of the surrounding Umas noticed his presence.

Now he finally understood why Hayakawa-san had warned all Trainers never to enter the teaching building alone. It was to keep them from being forcefully paired by the academy's sinister organization!

Good thing that ever since entering, Mizuno hadn't made a sound. Even when Tokai Teio had rubbed her face against him, slapped him with her ears, or fixed him with those slightly flushed, predatory eyes, he had endured it all without reacting—because in a place where every three steps meant running into another Uma, he couldn't risk exposing himself.

Still, from the upperclassmen's whispers, Mizuno had learned something peculiar about this pairing ritual.

It only happened if there was just one Trainer present. If two or more Trainers were around, the Carrot Squad wouldn't act.

Which meant—if Mizuno so much as raised his hand and revealed himself, Kaneshiro Takeru would likely be spared from being targeted, dodging this crisis.

But...

"I don't really have any reason to help him, do I?" Mizuno muttered, lips curling.

He and the other seniors had warned Kaneshiro more than once not to get too close to his charge. They'd done their duty.

But the guy never listened. Instead of keeping a proper distance, he'd only grown more intimate with Daisy. If he got jumped, he had it coming.

This was his own fault. Nothing to do with Mizuno.

And besides—at the building entrance earlier, Mizuno could've avoided going inside altogether. But thanks to Kaneshiro's sudden arrival, Mizuno had been caught by Teio's clever wording and dragged into the teaching building with her.

Not retaliating already counted as Mizuno being magnanimous. He wasn't obliged to save the guy a second time.

So Mizuno decided not to stick his nose in. Better to retreat to the relative safety of the male dorms. Let Kaneshiro go get shoved into a basement sooner rather than later. At least then Mizuno wouldn't have to watch him loiter around, hopping back and forth at the threshold like an eyesore.

Mizuno glanced sideways at Tokai Teio.

Because she had been clinging to him so tightly, her presence had also been muffled, so she too had overheard the upperclassmen's conversation.

That worried him. Was Teio deliberately trying to deliver him into [pairing]?

But no. Her shocked face had looked genuine. She probably only knew the surface-level Oath story. The existence of the Carrot Squad was news to her.

Though, after a brief look of surprise, her ears flicked rapidly, as if she'd just had a brilliant idea.

She lifted her head to smile at him. "Trainer Mizuno, how about I take you out now? We can come back tomorrow instead."

Mizuno: "..."

He immediately guessed what she was plotting.

She'd heard the rules too—only one Trainer. Right now Kaneshiro was present.

So of course she was thinking: next time I'll bring him alone, and then the Carrot Squad senpai can pair us up...

"Let's just go..." Mizuno mumbled vaguely, neither agreeing to tomorrow nor refusing, simply coaxing her to leave with him now.

"Okay~" Teio nodded happily, misinterpreting his words, already expecting tomorrow's "date." She snuggled his arm even closer as they left.

But she didn't know—Mizuno had already decided in secret that once he got back to the dorms, he'd hole up for a month. No more stepping outside.

Just as he turned, ready to pull Teio out of the teaching building—suddenly, a strange sensation jolted his body.

A warmth, bright and sunlike. Very much like the aura of Fortune energy he'd felt before.

But... not quite.

Normally, Fortune energy made the body relax, the heart lighten, and filled one with a certain joy—like something good is about to happen.

Yet within this warmth now... was the faintest chill. Like a delicious cake spiced with hidden pepper. Both uncomfortable and baffling.

Why would Fortune carry an ill omen?

As Mizuno puzzled over it, a soft, sugary voice drifted to his ears.

"Onii-sama!"

That voice—familiar, unmistakable—froze him in place.

He turned, and saw a small black-haired Uma sprinting down the corridor toward him.

"Rice Shower?!"

...

Five minutes earlier.

Rice Shower, her face tinged with sorrow, trudged slowly down the far corridor with her schoolbag, heading for her classroom.

From the opposite wing, she heard a burst of noise.

"Everyone! Look, an Uma brought her Trainer to [Oath]!"

"Really? Let's go check!"

"Come on, hurry!"

Dozens of nearby Umas, their eyes sparkling, rushed off together, eager to see which pair had shown up.

Any Uma not as purely naïve as Urara knew about the romance legend tied to [Oath].

And like all Umas—creatures of unguarded emotions—Rice Shower had no resistance to tales of love.

Her ears perked, her head lifting toward the commotion. For a second, her heart skipped.

Could it be... Onii-sama?

But just as quickly, she shook her head.

Impossible. Trainer Mizuno would never do something so conspicuous. It wasn't his style. He was the type who helped quietly in the background.

Besides—she didn't want it to be him brought here by someone else. She wanted to be the one to bring him, someday, to [Oath] herself... to receive the blessing of the Three Goddesses.

"Onii-sama..." She pressed a hand to the blue rose sachet on her chest.

A gift he had given her. It had broken her curse of misfortune, wrapped her in Fortune's favor, and granted her hope for a brighter future.

But lately, she had felt its warmth fading, day by day. Soon, its luck-bringing power might vanish altogether.

"Could something have happened to Onii-sama?" Her brows knit.

He hadn't been back to the academy for a week. Was it because he was caught in some impossible trouble?

The more she thought, the more anxious she grew, desperate to barge into the male dorms to check on him.

But like most Umas, she didn't even know where the male dorms were. Her wish to see him was impossible.

The sachet grew colder in her hand. Her heart sank with it.

Her future had been saved by him. If anything happened to him, no amount of Fortune could save her from the agony of a hollow survival worse than death.

So Rice Shower made up her mind: instead of letting the sachet's fading warmth torture her, she would use what little energy remained—for one last wish.

"I wish to see Onii-sama again, safe and well..." she whispered, clutching the sachet.

"If Onii-sama could lean on me... that would be even better..."

The sachet glowed faintly gold. Then, impossibly, it floated into the air, tugging her gently forward, as if guiding her.

"It... it worked?!" she gasped.

Maybe it was telling her—Onii-sama was in that direction!

Without hesitation, Rice Shower sprinted with all her might.

In less than ten seconds, she reached the corridor, where over a hundred Umas crowded around Daisy and Kaneshiro.

Yet even among so many, her eyes went straight to a shadow she knew at once.

"Onii-sama!"

Her joyous cry rang out as her feet flew faster.

"Rice Shower?!" Mizuno, who had been about to withdraw, froze in shock.

How had she known he was here?

Yes, seeing his precious little sister filled him with joy... but—

"That Fortune sachet—what's going on?!"

His sharp eye caught it: the blue rose sachet at her chest was floating.

But that wasn't the real issue.

Not just floating—

From within, a golden fist was condensing, blazing with light. It was pumping its arm, aiming right at him, like some boxer preparing to strike.

"What the hell?!"

Before Mizuno could react, the fist rocketed out like a cannon shell, blasting across the corridor.

Thud!

It slammed into the top of his skull.

The jolt rattled through him, from crown to toes. His vision went black. His head roared as if a lustful Uma had clobbered him from behind.

"Hsss—" Mizuno dropped to his knees, clutching his head, struggling to stay conscious.

But his awareness slipped like sand between fingers, draining away.

He couldn't understand. Why would Fortune's power attack him?!

Had Fortune betrayed him?

"No... can't... stay awake..."

His body collapsed, crashing forward into the arms of Rice Shower, who had just reached him.