She had tried to cover her mouth over that last bit, but it had already been too late. Everyone else heard.
Lady Chouko being her father’s heir was not public knowledge, so if Aritomo knew, it was likely because it was something that had been established in that otome game. This was not something she could simply tell them, just like me and my past life experiences. I raised my hand, hoping to deflect.
“Um, I told Aritomo. Um, well, in the school kitchen that day, I heard about it from Shinmyou...”
Shinmyou had definitely made sure I was aware of Lady Chouko’s status that day, so when I fixed my eyes on him, he narrowed his brows, realizing his blunder.
“Yes, come to think of it, I did share that with you. And again, I am sorry...for what happened.”
The way he faltered made me realize just how big a secret this was. Shimozuru turned to us and waved his hand.
“Sorry, but can you pretend like you never heard any of this? It could cause a lot of problems for all of us.”
We both had our own secrets, so we nodded silently in agreement.
“All right. Let’s end this discussion here, then. Chouko has finally reached the starting line.”
Lady Chouko stood at the starting line, trying to calm a visibly anxious Mondaiser as they got ready to begin. They had been doing so well lately, so it seemed odd for them to be having trouble now.
They charged out of the gate at the starting signal with no issue, but still, something wasn’t right. There wasn’t the anxiety there had been that first time; it was more like...excitement, maybe? They were going rather fast, and Mondaiser was unsteady in clearing the jumps. Lady Chouko seemed to be struggling to maintain control of him.
“Isn’t she going a little too fast?”
“Something’s not right.”
Anyone who had watched her regular practices would have noticed. Neither Mondaiser nor Lady Chouko would have attempted such reckless jumps.
“Ah!”
I shouted in time with the sound of the bar toppling over.
“That’s not like Chouko to hit the bar,” Shimozuru said under his breath, a hint of worry in his voice.
“Yeah...”
Now I was really worried. But surely... She was staring straight ahead, but her lips were moving as if she was whispering something. I was certain she was talking to Mondaiser. Little by little, his excitement seemed to abate, and he calmed down.
They cleared the last hurdle, the highest one, and reached the goal, Lady Chouko’s gentle grin lighting up her face.
“Chouko!”
I couldn’t help rushing over to her just after she crossed the finish line. I was met with a wry grin.
“I missed one.”
“You were more than fast enough, though. But what happened out there with Mondaiser?” I asked as Lady Chouko began petting him, showing both her concern and her appreciation.
“I’m not sure. He was fine in the first round, but after I let him have some water and a short rest, he got a bit worked up...”
He was much calmer now, nuzzling Lady Chouko. She patted his neck lightly in return.
I still wasn’t sure what caused him to get so worked up, but I was relieved that nothing truly bad happened. Just as we were breathing a sigh of relief, Mikazuki’s voice rang out.
“These girls apparently put something in Mondaiser’s water.”
Shinmyou, who had disappeared after Lady Chouko’s event began, was now dragging out a group of girls.
“...Hattori? What, why?”
Why were they here? No, more importantly, why would they do such a thing?
Everyone gasped. Everyone except for me seemed to have a good hunch why.
Now that they had been exposed in front of us all, they had nothing to say for themselves and merely stared back at us. The tension in the air was thick.
No one, nothing, moved, save for the wind. In that instant, a loud smack rang out, then another.
“What are you doing?! That hurt!”
Hattori lifted a hand to her cheek and glared at Lady Chouko, who stood before all three in frigid silence.
“I bet you never even considered the fact that Mondaiser could have been seriously injured, did you?”
She was right. A horse as worked up as he was was in no shape for competition. What if he or Lady Chouko had been injured? I bet those girls never thought about that for an instant. It wasn’t just Lady Chouko. Everyone else there understood the danger they had caused and awaited their responses.
“We had no idea about any of that! It wasn’t me who did it! It was Terawaki!”
“Miss Hattori?! You were the one who told me to put caffeine in the water...”
“I don’t know what she’s talking about! Mochizuki, please believe me!”
Hattori ignored Lady Chouko even though she stood before her and rushed over to Mochizuki, shouting her pleas. Mikazuki stepped in front of her.
“I don’t want to have to get rough with some girl, but I can’t just stand idly by after all you’ve done.” He spat in a harsh tone I had never heard him use before.
Frozen with fear, Hattori began backing away, but an icy voice commanded her to halt.
“Stop. I don’t want to see or hear any more of this nonsense. Now go,” Mochizuki growled at Hattori.
“I believe we’ve had enough of you, so get lost,” Shinmyou said, backing Mochizuki up.
Hattori glared at Lady Chouko. “This is your fault! You’re manipulating Mochizuki! You cling all over him like some slut! Get rough with me if that’s what it takes to open your eyes about this woman...”
“Shut it, Hattori!” Mochizuki commanded in an ear-piercing shout.
Lady Chouko heaved a sigh and urged the girl named Terawaki to take her friends and leave. “Go. And don’t cross my path again.”
Hattori’s lackeys heeded Lady Chouko’s words and dragged Hattori off in a panic.
“...That was...kind of scary. Is that how a real lady handles things? What a joke.”
“Well, they aren’t all that bad. But some of them are worse.”
Worse than that? Aritomo was right about the scary part.
I began to shudder. Mikazuki must have noticed.
“Sorry, was that uncomfortable for you, Urara?” he asked.
He said it so cheerfully, almost teasingly.
“What makes me uncomfortable is what those girls did. I like all of you,” I said emphatically and with a smile. Everyone seemed relieved.
Some of them still had sour looks on their faces, though... Oh, Lady Chouko, please smile.
So many surprises had come our way, but at least Mondaiser seemed to be doing okay, so we decided to go ahead and hear the results.
“In the time trial, Aritomo had a time of 45.7 seconds, while Chouko had a time of 39.8 seconds, leaving a difference of 5.9 seconds.”
Aritomo pulled a face at hearing the difference in their times. Her competitiveness didn’t surprise me anymore, though.
“Then we have the hurdle jump times. Tendou had 57.6 seconds. And Chouko had a time of 59.8 seconds. However, she knocked the bar off, so with a four second penalty, her time is now 63.8 seconds,” Izayoi announced, glancing down at his notes for the exact times.
“As a result, the team of Aritomo and Tendou have a combined time of 103.3 seconds, and Chouko has a total time of 103.6 seconds. Congratulations, Aritomo, Tendou,” Izayoi said to us as the others all began to clap.
Huh? Wait, what did he just say?
The others had never clapped for us the way they were now.
Aritomo and I looked at one another, both in shock, as Chouko approached and held out her right hand to Aritomo.
“Aritomo, congratulations. You really earned this.”
“Um...right. Thank you, Tsukuyomi.”