Ten minutes earlier, Haru Urara cheerfully humd a tune, strolling back to her dorm from the teaching buildings.
Suddenly, a strange voice, neither distinctly male nor female, called out from nearby:
"Urara? Wow! A golden legend!"
Startled, Urara glanced around in confusion, but couldn't see anyone.
"Eh?" Urara tilted her head.
Did soone just call my na?
Just as she began to wonder if she'd imagined it, the peculiar voice spoke again:
"Urara… Urara…"
The voice ghostly echoed around Urara's ears, initially frightening her—but her fear quickly shifted into excitent.
In the innocent eyes of Urara, everything in the world was friendly and fun—even invisible ghosts. She assud they were just shy friends who loved playing hide-and-seek with her.
Urara adored making friends, so ghosts didn't scare her at all.
Maybe it was calling her to join a ga of hide-and-seek!
"Ghost friend~ I'm coming to find you~!"
She eagerly searched around, but no matter how hard she looked, she couldn't find the ghost friend.
Until a hand rose from the ground.
"I'm over here," Mizuno Sora said weakly, waving a hand from his position sprawled on the ground.
Only then did Urara finally realize there had been soone lying there all along.
Mizuno's black clothing completely covered him, blending seamlessly with the dark ground. He emitted almost no scent at all—only the faintest aroma of honey, barely noticeable unless one was very close.
"Ghost friend, are you really a ghost?" Urara curiously poked Mizuno, discovering he was very much solid.
"Of course not," Mizuno said helplessly.
The Doctor's Outfit was both extrely useful and annoyingly troubleso. It was excellent at hiding his presence to prevent dangerous Uma Musu from noticing him, but when he tried approaching soone, he'd inevitably get mistaken for a ghost…
"Eh?" Urara was even more puzzled. If Mizuno wasn't a ghost, why hadn't she noticed him earlier?
Seeing Urara's baffled expression, Mizuno sighed and resorted to his usual nonsense:
"Let tell you a secret." Mizuno lowered his voice conspiratorially. "Actually, I'm a ninja. Just now, I was using my secret technique—Ninpo: Invisibility. That's why you couldn't see ."
"A ninja?!" Upon hearing that, Urara's eyes instantly sparkled, her confusion replaced entirely by awe.
When watching ninja cartoons, Urara always fantasized about eting a cool ninja, learning ninjutsu, and using her powers to defeat evil villains and save the world.
She'd once asked Seiun Sky to teach her "Ninpo: Transparency," but it only seed to work on friends—other Uma Musu just gave her awkward smiles.
But Mizuno was different. He'd genuinely turned invisible just now! If he hadn't spoken, Urara would never have noticed him.
Although Mizuno looked nothing like ninjas from TV, the innocent Urara completely believed him. After all, he used real invisibility—he was definitely a ninja!
"Mr. Ninja, are you lying here because you're on a secret mission? Are you waiting for a villain to show up so you can deliver justice?!"
"Uh…" Mizuno grimaced internally.
He couldn't exactly tell her he'd been paralyzed after being hit by a random Uma Musu. Knowing Urara's angelic personality, she'd imdiately drag him to the infirmary, where doctors would remove his Doctor's Outfit and…
"No, no special mission. Actually, I'm… I'm just moonbathing." Mizuno quickly invented a plausible excuse.
"Moonbathing?"
"Yes, it's part of my ninja training. I call it 'Breath of the Moon.'"
"Breath of the Moon? That sounds amazing!" Though Urara didn't understand it, she thought Mizuno's explanation was extrely cool.
"Mr. Ninja, can you teach ninjutsu too? I want to learn!"
"Of course," Mizuno agreed readily.
"Yay!" Urara jumped happily.
"But first, I have a favor to ask you." Mizuno smoothly changed the subject.
"What is it? Urara promises to do her best!" Hearing soone needed her help, Urara proudly patted her chest.
"Do you know Rice Shower?"
Naturally, Mizuno knew Urara and Rice Shower were close friends, but he pretended ignorance to protect his identity.
"Oh, you an Mimi? Of course! We're best friends!" Urara replied proudly.
"Could you help deliver this to Rice Shower? She just headed toward the cafeteria." Mizuno pulled the Lucky Charm from his pocket.
"This is…?"
"It's a gift for Rice Shower," Mizuno explained.
"A smoke bomb?!"
"No…it's just a charm."
"Eh?" Urara seed confused. Shouldn't ninja gifts be sothing ninja-like?
But the next mont, joy filled her heart simply because soone had sent Mimi a gift.
Rice Shower was a very capable Uma Musu, but she was deeply insecure, believing her re existence brought misfortune to others. She hadn't debuted, had no trainer, and apart from a few friends, no one paid attention to or encouraged her. Even though Urara spent ti with her daily, she couldn't fully lift Rice Shower's spirits—a constant source of frustration for Urara.
But now, this amazing ninja asked her to deliver a gift to Mimi! Soone else was finally showing interest!
If Mimi knew there were other people who cared about her, perhaps her frozen heart could lt, just a little.
"Thank you, Mr. Ninja!" Urara thanked Mizuno sincerely, feeling as happy as if the gift were for herself.
Yet, amidst her excitent, she suddenly realized sothing odd.
"But Mr. Ninja, why don't you give this to Mimi yourself? She'd be even happier that way."
"Well…because…" Mizuno fumbled for an excuse. "Because right now…I'm moonbathing, rember? It's not convenient for , so please help deliver it."
"Oh! Right, I forgot!" Urara suddenly understood.
She'd been so excited she'd forgotten Mr. Ninja was still training.
"Leave it to ! Mission accepted!" Urara saluted adorably.
"Oh right—I still don't know your na, Mr. Ninja," Urara eagerly asked.
"?" Mizuno pointed to himself.
He'd already used the fake nas "Hokuto Seiji" and "Nakiri Erina," and he'd planned to fool Urara with another fake na like "Ace." But then, he reconsidered. He planned to recruit Urara eventually—how would he explain using a fake na now?
So, for the first ti, Mizuno broke his own rules and revealed his true identity:
"My na is Mizuno Sora, and I'm a new trainer."
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