Mizuno Sora took Urara and the others, boarding the train toward today's destination.

This was the first time since coming to this world that Mizuno had gone out for something not tied to work. Before, he had been too busy, and also too afraid of being whacked over the head by some strange Uma Musume. So during his off-time, he had almost never left the secret dorm.

If a non–Uma Musume friend had invited him out to play, Mizuno might have considered it.

But at Tracen Academy, making friends with other trainers was unwise. You never knew if they might betray you to keep from being Uma Pyoi'd by their own horse girl.

So up to now, the only two trainers Mizuno could truly trust as friends were Kaneshiro Takeru and Kiryuin Aoi.

Besides, there was another reason Mizuno didn't want to go out...

Like today—he was just sitting normally on one side of the train bench, killing time by pulling out a book to study, not paying much attention to his surroundings.

Then, a stranger Uma Musume boarded, glancing left and right to see if there was an open seat.

Her eyes locked on Mizuno's side, and she naturally walked over, turned, and—plopped herself right down on Mizuno's lap.

Urara: ?

Rice Shower: !

King Halo: !

Mizuno: ...

"Eh—?!" The stranger suddenly realized something was wrong. She turned her head—and discovered, to her shock, that there was a man in black clothing there!

"Sorry! I didn't notice someone was sitting here!"

After a quick apology, she covered her face in embarrassment and fled.

"..." To Mizuno, this was nothing new.

So long as he was wearing the [Doctor's Outfit], things like this happened often.

Because the outfit's passive effect lowered his presence, in public places there would always be strangers who didn't notice him and ended up sitting right on top of him. Truly troublesome.

And ever since yesterday, when Gold Ship started living with him, the outfit—something he had only worn outside the dorm before—had been promoted to the role of pajamas as well. He even had to wear it while sleeping.

The only time in a day he didn't need the [Doctor's Outfit] was during his bath. But even then he only had five minutes: he had to wash, clean the outfit, dry it, and put it back on. Otherwise, Ship-bro said she would break down the door to check if he was safe…

In other words, by now the [Doctor's Outfit] was almost like his own skin, inseparable. Mizuno had to accept the flaws that came with his lowered presence.

Unless there was some way to let others know clearly someone is sitting here, things like what just happened were bound to repeat…

"Onii-sama…" On Mizuno's left, Rice Shower tugged softly at his sleeve, her voice tender and sticky-sweet.

"Onii-sama, why don't Rice Shower sit with you instead? That way Onii-sama won't be overlooked by strangers anymore…"

"Sit together? What do you mean?" Mizuno didn't get it.

Rice Shower was already sitting beside him—how could she sit together with him?

"I mean… I mean…" Rice Shower lowered her head, flustered, unable to get the words out.

"No!" On his right, King Halo leaned over.

"Let me do it instead! After all, wherever the first-rate King Halo is, the crowd's eyes will follow. If I sit on your lap, no one would ever ignore me. Trainer Mizuno, what do you think?"

"Uh…" Mizuno broke into a cold sweat.

With King Halo's words, he finally understood.

What they meant by "sit together" was—sitting on his lap, stacking together to let people know someone was there…

But having them sit on his lap—wasn't that no different from when strangers sat on him?

"…Good idea! But I think I'll make a little adjustment."

Mizuno chose instead to pull out the yellow T-head from his bag and put it on. Sure, it made him look weird, but it perfectly solved his "low presence" problem. There was no need for Rice Shower or King Halo to sit on his lap at all.

"…Mmm…" Rice Shower and King Halo sank back into their seats, disappointed.

Just then, another stranger Uma Musume boarded the train. Like before, she looked left and right for a seat.

Her eyes fell on Mizuno immediately. She blinked, a little surprised, then ran over excitedly.

"Hello! Are you cosplaying some character? So cute~ Can we take a picture together?" The stranger pulled out her phone, eyes sparkling with hope.

Mizuno: …

Right. So having a presence came with its own troubles too…

About half an hour later, Mizuno and his group finally arrived at the city's busiest shopping street.

Because they had left early, the shops had only just opened. The ingredients were fresh, and there weren't many customers to compete with. It was a comfortable time to shop.

"Destination reached—the shopping street!"

"So beautiful~ the shopping street."

"Yo, isn't that President Rudolf?"

"Ahh, better to look at those radishes over there."

Mizuno noticed several billboards featuring Symboli Rudolf scattered along the street. Inside the arcade, one-fourth of the crane machines were filled with her plushies. With her popularity, it was no surprise.

If Tokai Teio were here, she'd no doubt be running all around, snapping photos with the billboards or trying to grab Rudolf plushies from the machines.

But to Mizuno, Rudolf's charm wasn't even half as appealing as the fresh radishes being sold at the greengrocer's. At least radishes didn't use blackmail to threaten him.

Just as Mizuno was planning what to buy first, someone tapped his shoulder.

"Eh? Trainer Mizuno—what a coincidence." A woman's voice came from behind.

Mizuno turned his head—and saw Kiryuin Aoi standing there, with her charge Happy Meek at her side.

"Trainer Kiryuin?" Mizuno was startled.

What, did wearing the T-head automatically summon Kiryuin Aoi? Was that its hidden passive?

"Trainer Mizuno, are you here to buy things too?" Kiryuin asked.

"Yes." Mizuno nodded, gently nudging Urara forward.

"Just a few days ago, Urara won her Debut Race, right? So I planned to throw her a celebration party today. I came to buy fresh ingredients, and tonight I'll cook something good in the Team TAC's training room."

"What a coincidence! I was thinking of celebrating Meek today too!" Kiryuin Aoi first looked surprised, then scratched her head awkwardly.

"It's just… we don't really have a place for a party, so we thought we'd just eat a meal out, and maybe buy a few things along the way."

"Oh, I see." Mizuno understood.

Both of them had thought of celebrating today—that really was a coincidence.

Since it was already this coincidental, why not let it become even more so?

So Mizuno proposed:

"Trainer Kiryuin, why don't you and Meek come to our training room? We can hold a celebration together for them. How about it?"

"Eh? Really? You'd let us?" Kiryuin's eyes lit up.

Not only had the two of them thought the same way about celebrating today, but Trainer Mizuno was also generous enough to invite them along—spare them the awkwardness of having to settle for a meal out, just because they had nowhere to go.

"Trainer Mizuno really is easy to get along with."

Kiryuin smiled, and gave Mizuno a small bow.

"Thank you, Trainer Mizuno."