"Hm?"
The swimsuit-clad Uma Musu's startled reaction caught Mizuno off guard.
That half-uttered na—she'd almost called out his surna.
"Do you… know ?" he asked, puzzled.
"N-no, I don't!" she blurted, shaking her head far too quickly. But the way her eyes darted aside and how she nervously tucked her wet hair behind her ear gave her away instantly.
"…" Mizuno rubbed his chin, studying her face more closely, trying to place where he'd seen her before.
Chestnut hair, smooth and silky, tied neatly into two long sections with yellow ribbons. Clear erald eyes, bright and gentle, set in a face that radiated warmth and maturity—like the friendly big sister next door.
Tall and graceful, her proportions were almost unreal: a perfect balance of curves and long, toned legs that glead white beneath the spray of the waterfall.
Sothing about her felt familiar—and yet, sothing was off.
What was missing… was a green hat and a crisp professional suit. What was new… were a pair of horse ears and a tail.
Mizuno's mind clicked. He knew exactly who this Uma Musu was.
"Ahaha… if there's nothing else, I'll just, um, head off—" The swimsuit Uma Musu forced an awkward laugh and quickly turned to leave, desperate to flee before he pieced it together.
But Mizuno's voice stopped her cold.
"Hayakawa-san?"
"Guh!"
Hayakawa Tazuna froze mid-step. Her foot slipped on the slick stone, and she tumbled straight into the shallow pool below with a splash loud enough to drown the waterfall's roar.
That panicked reaction was all the confirmation Mizuno needed.
"It really is you?!" he exclaid.
What on earth was Hayakawa-san doing out here?
The last ti he'd seen her was back at the bookstore, when he'd gone out with President Rudolf and Teio. He rembered catching sight of her quietly standing in a corner—holding a book titled How to Restrain Your Desires in one hand and, in the other, a photo of Mizuno himself—her eyes glazed over in intense concentration.
That "training" hadn't gone particularly well. Her gaze had grown increasingly dazed the longer she stared, and if Mizuno hadn't discreetly coughed to snap her back to reality, she might've drifted off into her own fantasies right there.
Now she was out here in the wilderness, ditating under a freezing waterfall. Could this be… the continuation of her "desire-suppression training"?
"Trainer Mizuno…" Hayakawa Tazuna rose from the pool, dripping wet and visibly flustered.
"How did you recognize ? Normally, when I change outfits, no one can tell who I am—except those extrely close to ."
"Well…" Mizuno scratched the back of his neck. "Maybe I just have a good mory."
Truthfully, it was her legs—he'd never forget those.
"A good mory?" Hayakawa's tone was doubtful. Her Uma Musu form should've been unrecognizable; with the ears and tail, she looked completely different. On top of that, her trademark green hat and suit were gone—yet Mizuno had seen through it in an instant, and worse, he didn't even look surprised.
"Does it not surprise you that I'm an Uma Musu?" she asked, covering her ears shyly and trying to hide her tail behind her back, though her eyes searched his face intently.
"Uh… not really," Mizuno replied with a shrug.
In truth, he'd suspected for ages. Ever since reading Trainers: From Novice to the Monarch's Basent—and learning that a trainer could judge an Uma Musu's potential from her legs—he'd realized Hayakawa's legs were far too exceptional for an ordinary human.
Still, since she wanted to keep her identity secret, Mizuno had never ntioned it. So things were better left unspoken.
"What do you an, 'not really'?" Hayakawa puffed her cheeks, clearly dissatisfied.
She'd hidden her true self for years. No one had ever seen her in this form—and the first man to do so gave that lukewarm of a reaction? Her excitent deflated like a popped balloon.
"It's just… fine, I guess…" Mizuno said laly, shoulders slumping. Complinting her ears or tail would only get him Uma-Pyoi'd into the sky.
"Trainer Mizuno…" Hayakawa suddenly froze, clutching her chest as if sothing had just dawned on her.
"You ca all the way out here—don't tell … you ca for ?"
"No, no, no!" Mizuno waved both hands frantically. "It's pure coincidence! I'm here for training, that's all!"
"Training?" Hayakawa blinked. "But Tracen has every kind of facility you could need. Why co to such a remote forest?"
Seeing her obvious confusion, Mizuno explained quickly: "Master Jin told to ditate under this waterfall for two hours a day to build endurance."
"Master Jin?" she repeated, then nodded in recognition. "Ah, the Arican wrestler who lives nearby. His eldest daughter studies at Tracen—very lively, very cute."
But then her brows furrowed again. "So… are you planning to beco a masked wrestler?"
"Sothing like that…" Mizuno admitted sheepishly. "Anyway, I need to toughen my body, and ditating under the waterfall is part of the training."
"Eh? Then that ans…" Hayakawa's eyes widened.
Mizuno nodded. "For the next few weeks, looks like we'll be training together." He smiled and extended his hand. "Later, I'll also need you to test my endurance. And if you ever need help with anything, I'll do my best too. So—"
He t her eyes and said warmly,
"Please take care of ."
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