"Mizuno-dono, won't you at least consider it?"

Absolutely not! Take that ridiculous idea away already!

Mizuno Sora immediately rejected Fortune's audacious suggestion without hesitation.

After all, Kiryuin Aoi had clearly been joking; the wager had no real significance. Even if Sora accepted it, Kiryuin certainly wouldn't actually become his girlfriend.

And even if she did, what good would doubling the hope energy collected from Urara's debut race actually do?

Use the extra points to improve his stats, only to prolong his suffering when inevitably beaten up later? Absolutely meaningless! Sora would never accept such a ridiculous offer.

Even if he were stomped to death by an Uma Musume or fell from this very spot, he wouldn't enter a romantic relationship with Kiryuin just for a bit more energy!

Although Sora was certain he wouldn't accept this bet, outright rejecting her would seem overly serious or socially inept.

Moreover, Sora felt an inexplicable intuition: if he agreed, even as a joke, he'd surely end up in serious danger!

Thus, for the sake of continuing to peacefully coexist with Kiryuin Aoi in the future, Sora cleverly changed the topic:

"Oh, right! The Winner's Concert is starting soon, isn't it? We'd better hurry up and grab good spots. After all, this will be Urara and Meek's first concert!"

After every Uma Musume race, a special performance called the Winner's Concert was held. Typically, the top three finishers performed the iconic song and dance—commonly known as the "Uma Pyoi"—to attract new fans.

Urara and Happy Meek were two of today's performers!

"Urara-chan's concert!" King Halo's ears instantly perked up, her interest piqued immediately.

As Urara's honorary mother, how could she possibly miss her daughter's performance?!

"Hurry, hurry!" King Halo excitedly grabbed Sora by the collar, forcibly dragging him toward the winner's concert.

Why did King Halo specifically drag Mizuno Sora along? Because he was Urara's trainer, of course! If he weren't there, Urara would surely feel sad.

Well…perhaps there was also the fact that King Halo trusted him deeply. He'd guided Urara to become so strong. As a trainer, he was both dependable and respectable in every way…

Maybe…she should consider inviting him to be her trainer too…

After all, she was the first-class King Halo! If she requested Mizuno-san to train her, he'd happily agree, wouldn't he…?

"Ahem." King Halo's small face flushed slightly as she awkwardly cleared her throat and continued dragging Sora away.

"..." Sora was puzzled by King Halo's sudden actions, but not particularly worried.

After all, she wasn't dragging him off to do the Uma Pyoi dance himself, so what was there to fear?

Besides, her action perfectly resolved his awkward situation from before. Two birds with one stone, really. Quite reasonable, actually.

Thus, Sora didn't resist, allowing himself to be pulled along by King Halo.

"You guys hurry up too!" Sora called back toward the group still lingering behind.

"Onii-chan!"

"Trainer-san!"

"Vendor—ah, no, Mizuno Trainer-san!"

Rice Shower, Tokai Teio, and Mejiro McQueen quickly chased after him.

"Hehe, Trainer Mizuno really has such a good relationship with his Uma Musume. I can't fall behind!" Kiryuin Aoi giggled softly and followed after them.

"..." Gold Ship watched silently, expressionless, before slowly jogging after the group.

Thanks to King Halo dragging Sora to the concert so quickly, the group secured front-row spots with a perfect view.

They stood around casually, chatting occasionally while awaiting the performance.

About an hour later, as dusk fell, vibrant lights illuminated the concert. Three Uma Musume dressed in adorable performance outfits happily skipped into view, greeting the audience cheerfully.

The top three finishers—Urara, Happy Meek, and Delicious Fresh!

"Trainer-san! King-chan! Rice-chan! And everyone else~!" Standing in the center, Urara waved energetically and adorably toward Sora's group.

Normally, the winner would take center concert, but with two first-place finishers this time, a random draw had placed Urara in the center.

"Next, these three lovely Uma Musume will perform for us the legendary 'Uma Pyoi Densetsu'!"

"Ohhh—!" The audience erupted into cheers.

The music began, and the show commenced.

"On your marks, Get set, Go!"

"Woooo Uma-Friends!"

"Woooo Uma-Pyoi! Uma-Pyoi!"

"Wooo I love you!, Wooo, Uma-Poi!"

"Uma uma umya umya, 3-2-1 fight!!"

Urara, Happy Meek, and Delicious Fresh bounced enthusiastically in sync with the rhythm.

Well, enthusiastically—but slightly offbeat.

Although Sora had Urara primarily focus on race training, he hadn't neglected dance entirely, occasionally squeezing practice into her schedule.

Right now, Urara's dancing was admittedly stiff and barely matched the music, but it wasn't really a problem.

As long as all three Uma Musume were equally stiff, no one would notice!

Indeed, Happy Meek was also somewhat uncoordinated due to her intensive training regimen, and Delicious Fresh was emotionally downcast from missing out on her date with her trainer, causing her rhythm to lag behind as well.

With all three unable to properly keep up, the trio's offbeat dancing had miraculously synchronized. Their movements matched perfectly, and no one would suspect that they were struggling to keep pace.

Wait—no, no, not struggling! The music was just too fast! It had to be the audio technician's fault!

"Hey, sound guy, what are you doing?!"

"I—I don't know!" The technician was panicking, frantically adjusting the tempo. He'd already slowed the music several times, yet each time, within seconds, the girls lost the rhythm again.

Was it the girls dancing too slowly?

But their moves matched flawlessly, so surely it was a music issue!

As the song reached its climax, the trio regained their rhythm.

"Love-love-love-love-love-love-love-ism"

"Your favorite Uma Musume!"

This chorus was practiced intensively, allowing the three to perfectly sync up again, bringing the crowd an incredible visual treat.

"Ohhh—!" The audience cheered passionately, waving glow sticks in support.

"Impossible!" The technician was utterly bewildered.

How had the music aligned perfectly again? This defied all logic!

Unable to identify the problem, the technician resigned himself to reporting the issue to management later—perhaps it was time to replace the sound system.

"Ohohoho—! Worthy of my roommate, the first-class King Halo! Her cuteness is truly first-class as well—though still second to me, naturally!" King Halo proudly snapped pictures of Urara at the rate of ten per second.

"Rice Shower will someday bring happiness to everyone just like Urara!"

"In every race from now on, I'll definitely stand in Urara's position!" Rice Shower and Tokai Teio quietly resolved themselves.

"Want some yakisoba? Yakisoba goes great with Uma Pyoi performances!" Gold Ship casually offered yakisoba nearby.

"Fresh-chan…" At this moment, a soft voice drew Sora's attention.

Surprisingly, Delicious Fresh's trainer stood right next to him!

He was gazing at the concert with deep concern, clearly heartbroken over Delicious Fresh's depressed state.

"Fresh-chan…is she feeling down because she couldn't take first?"

"She tried so hard…she shouldn't be sad…"

"I have to tell her! She's always first place in my heart!"

Murmuring to himself, the trainer quietly slipped away before the performance concluded, disappearing into the dark backstage corridor, vanishing from Sora's sight…