Chapter 10: Step Up!! + Message Board Arc 2

"Ah, there you are."

It was Monday. When I walked into the classroom, I noticed a small crowd gathered around my desk.

"Wee-chan!? Look at this newspaper!"

With barely contained excitement, Spe-chan held up a page from a sports paper right in front of me.

Across it was a huge headline reading “Witolum Pedes, Stunning Debut,” along with a giant photo of me crossing the finish line. My eyes looked a little more alive than usual—maybe that was thanks to a first-rate photographer who perfectly understood the angle of the sun.

For some reason, Spe-chan was buzzing with energy. King-chan wore an all-knowing expression, and Grass-chan looked like pure, burning determination incarnate. A few familiar classmates also chimed in, congratulating me on my debut win.

Being surrounded by cute girls and getting showered with praise is… surprisingly not bad.

Just as I was thinking that, they handed me the lower half of the article as well.

There was another photo of me—and it was…

…

A picture of me in the Winning Live outfit, sparkling eyes and throwing up a peace sign.

…

Wait, this is me, right? I could’ve sworn my eyes—from my previous life to this one—have always been dead like a fish’s. My facial muscles are still a bit stiff, but the article described me as a first-timer nervous before her “makeup debut,” so that explained it. What, do my eyes shine when I’m running on auto-mode?

"You know, I was worried since you never practice normally, but you can make a surprisingly good expression."

"It’s amazing. I want to debut soon too!"

"So cute. I’d better practice hard so I don’t lose next week."

Listening to the three of them chat, I suddenly felt embarrassed, blushed, and looked down.

Classes ended, and I headed to the trainer’s office. Normally I would need to get changed into my tracksuit, but today I was still in my uniform. The feeling was strangely refreshing.

I opened the trainer’s office door—at this point it was basically my second bedroom—and stepped inside.

The trainer was sticking that same newspaper article from this morning onto the whiteboard.

I blushed all over again.

Even though I came to the trainer’s office, there was no training today, meaning I could legally laze around. I leaned back onto a cushion, grabbed one of the freshly restocked weekly magazines, and started reading. Immediately, the trainer came over and began giving me a massage.

And whenever I thought, Hmm, I’m a bit thirsty, a perfectly chilled can of cola appeared from the fridge. If I happened to glance around for a snack because I felt a little hungry, chocolates were handed to me.

The trainer was extra kind today, and with no training scheduled, I could laze about with zero complaints. Is there any greater happiness?

So of course, when the trainer asked, "Hey, Wee—do you still like racing?" I answered without hesitation, "Of course."

I hoped there’d be a nice race available so I could keep living in this paradise.

When I asked if there was a race in two weeks, the trainer—who had apparently already looked into it—immediately pulled out several candidates.

There were apparently various things to consider, but it turned out there was a race coming up with the exact same conditions as my debut. And so, just like that, my next race was decided.

When I returned from the trainer’s office, a large package had arrived at my dorm room.

Judging by the item label, it was some kind of Segway—or something similar.

"That’s for you. A gift to celebrate your debut win."

I was wondering why it was there when a voice suddenly called to me from the doorway.

When I asked in surprise if they bought it especially for me, they said it had been gifted to them by a junior who looked up to them. Apparently, it was a commemorative gift for my race two days ago.

I told them I didn’t think I deserved something like that, but they just shrugged and said it was probably the result of some random bet anyway.

And so, I would now be traveling around Tracen Academy on this “Goody-Goody Express.”

…What is that name?

Happy days pass quickly, and before I knew it, two weeks had gone by. The battle to maintain my dream routine—lounging in the trainer’s office and napping during lunch break—was about to begin.

Last weekend, Grass-chan had her debut. She won with no trouble at all.

The next day, Suzuka-san ran in the Kobe Shimbun Hai. As usual, she led the race from the start, and Fukukitaru-san came dangerously close near the end, but Suzuka-san managed to cling to victory.

Today’s race was supposed to test a strategy like Fukukitaru-san’s—staying near the back and then bursting past everyone on the final stretch. Thankfully, it was cloudy, so it felt cooler than last time.

The race was easier than before. Probably because the running style felt similar to how I used to do things back in elementary school, so I had some idea what to expect.

But staying at the very back… I don’t think I like it much. The horses—I mean, the girls—in my view keep changing, and most of all, at my height I can’t see past the ones in front of me at all.

When I told the trainer, they said we’d switch to a front-runner or pace-setter strategy next time.

Anyway, I had earned myself another two-week vacation.