Is it Wrong to Skip Racing? - 121
--+--
Just as Musaka Ginjirou had expected, the media pounced the moment Yaeno Muteki claimed the Satsuki Sho crown. The upset flooded the internet, while newspapers rushed to print their own reports.
Yet those front pages barely focused on Yaeno Muteki, the lottery entrant who'd won the whole race. Instead, nearly every outlet steered the story toward Oguri Cap and tied her situation to the upcoming Japanese Derby.
At that very moment, Musaka was dealing with the headache those reporters had brought him. He'd taken Oguri Cap to the training grounds, only for a small mob to surround them and leave him with nowhere to move.
“What do you think about Oguri Cap being unable to run in the Japanese Derby?!”
“Do you want to enter the Japanese Derby? If you got in, could you win?!”
Question after question came flying at them, but Musaka had no intention of answering. As far as he was concerned, they were stirring up trouble over nothing, and their complete lack of manners only made it worse.
“You're too damn loud! How many times do I have to tell you we're still training?!”
He tried to shove the nuisances aside, though he held back for fear of earning a bad reputation.
The reporters took his restraint as permission to push even harder. One of them even thrust a digital recorder right into his face, and that was the last straw.
“Get lost, you idiots! Don't make me throw every last one of you out!!”
His roar rang across the training grounds. Once the reporters realized Musaka was truly furious, they finally had enough sense to scatter.
“Damn it. Who the hell let them in?”
He slammed his cane against the ground twice, but it did nothing to cool his temper. Instead, he started cursing the person responsible for this whole mess inside his head.
'And that four-eyed bastard... Just you wait. I'm going to beat the hell out of you!'
If Fujii Sensuke hadn't spent the past several weeks whipping up public attention, Oguri Cap's absence from the Japanese Derby would've never grown into such a huge issue.
--+--
The man Musaka had just cursed stood at the edge of the training grounds, looking down at the scene below.
“Whoa. It's really lively down there.”
Unlike the other reporters, Fujii Sensuke had no intention of interviewing Musaka. He knew exactly what would happen if he tried approaching the old man right now.
'Besides... if I'm looking for Oguri Cap's trainer, she's the one I should be talking to.'
Fujii pushed up his glasses and turned toward Starlight Trajectory, who was also watching the commotion below. A faintly smug smile crossed his face.
He'd been standing there for a while, yet she still hadn't noticed him. It seemed like the perfect time to introduce himself.
“It's been a while, Trainer Mano Kaede.”
Starlight Trajectory had been staring into the distance, lost in thought. Hearing someone call out to her, she slowly turned her head.
“...Fujii Sensuke?”
The tuft of yellow hair and those glasses made him impossible to mistake.
“So... you're the one who let them in?”
If she weren't still on vacation, she'd have been the one trapped in that crowd of reporters. Outside the academy's annual open day, unrelated outsiders normally weren't allowed onto campus.
That left Fujii as the most likely suspect. It hadn't been long since he'd used every connection he had to build public support, steering the conversation as though he controlled the wind itself. He clearly wasn't just some ordinary reporter.
“No, no, no. I don't have that much influence. Someone else let us in.”
Fujii smiled as he cleared up the misunderstanding. In truth, he'd only managed to rally so many people because they all shared the same desire.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have needed such a huge campaign to gather public support for Oguri Cap's entry into the Japanese Derby. Now, though, everything had reached its final step.
“There's actually something else I'd like to ask of you today.”
Fujii pulled a form from his bag and handed it to Starlight Trajectory. Lines of signatures filled the page, each written in a different hand.
“What is this...?”
A bold request for signatures was printed across the top. Every name below it belonged to someone who wanted Oguri Cap to run in the Japanese Derby.
“This is the ten-thousand-signature petition I prepared, and there's only one blank space left.” Fujii flipped the pen around and offered it to her. “You're Oguri Cap's trainer. The more I thought about it, the more I felt that the final signature should belong to you.”
Ten thousand signatures?
When Fujii had interviewed her at the Mainichi Hai, Starlight Trajectory had assumed he merely felt sorry about Oguri Cap's situation. She'd never imagined he'd go this far.
“Then... I'm counting on you.”
She slowly took the pen and signed her name in the final empty space.
“Of course.”
--+--
Symboli Rudolf wasn't in the best of moods.
An unwelcome guest had arrived at the Student Council room that day. Rudolf stared at the blond reporter sitting across from her, his smile far too brazen for her liking. She rested her chin on her interlaced fingers and said nothing.
“I didn't expect you to meet with me in person, Student Council President.”
Under Rudolf's oppressive stare, Fujii Sensuke swallowed without thinking. Her sheer presence carried enough pressure to make almost anyone back away.
“Did you write this article, Mr. Fujii Sensuke?”
A newspaper lay across Rudolf's desk, opened to a headline about Oguri Cap.
The first time she'd read it, she'd felt a flash of anger. The article treated Oguri Cap like a weapon aimed directly at URA's rules.
By long-standing custom, the cautious and conservative URA rarely changed its policies in response to outside pressure. Reform usually came from within.
The ongoing link between Central and regional racing, for example, had only begun after Symboli Rudolf proposed it and URA completed a full internal review.
“That's right. Pretty powerful title, isn't it? It's my favorite version.”
Fujii openly admitted what he'd done. He had no intention of wasting time trading words with Rudolf, so he dropped a thick stack of forms onto her desk.
“Ten thousand signatures!”
“Everyone wants Oguri Cap to enter the Japanese Derby. Naturally, these are signatures petitioning URA to grant her special permission to compete.”
A petition backed by ten thousand people carried real weight. The stack landed on the desk with a heavy thud.
Rudolf's gaze shifted from Fujii's face to the petition, and her brow tightened.
'This again?'
“President, let me ask you something. What is the Derby?”
Fujii didn't give her time to answer.
“It's a race that comes only once in a lifetime. It decides the best of an entire generation. It's a race built from dreams... isn't that what the Derby is?”
Of course the Emperor understood that better than anyone. Even so, she remained silent and offered Fujii no response. If that was all he had to say, Rudolf was already growing tired of the conversation.
Fujii also knew that if he couldn't convince her here, there'd never be another chance.
“What meaning does that race have if Oguri Cap isn't even allowed to enter?!”
He clenched both fists and all but shouted his final plea at the untouchable Student Council President.
“Is this really right? She's got the talent to become the Derby Uma Musume, yet you won't even give her the chance to try!”
“URA will never give a direct answer to a third-rate reporter like me! I can't take the next step on my own...!”
“We need your authority—the authority of the Emperor, Symboli Rudolf!!”
Rudolf stared at Fujii as he poured everything into his appeal, and for a moment, she lost herself in an old memory.
Months ago, she'd faced someone else who'd stood before her for the sake of another Uma Musume. That person hadn't feared the Emperor's authority and had openly defied her.
Rudolf did have the power to bring this request before URA. She'd told herself she hadn't acted because the chances of success were too low.
Yet the real reason lay deeper. Somewhere inside, she'd already decided Oguri Cap wasn't worthy of URA making an exception for her. Her belief that URA would reject the request had only been a conclusion built upon that first judgment.
She hadn't even tried, yet she'd already declared it impossible. How was that any different from her arrogance back then?
Besides, the request itself was reasonable.
'Is that why you... never came to Central?'
If the Uma Musume in question had been that companion instead of Oguri Cap, Rudolf knew she wouldn't have hesitated for even a second.
'When I search my own heart, I'm the one who's been looking down on others...'
Rudolf rose from her seat. A breeze drifted in through the window and lifted her long hair, while the sharp light in her eyes dimmed.
“Those without dreams can have no ideals.”
“My ideal's the same as yours.”
--+--
Once they'd reached an agreement, Symboli Rudolf saw the “third-rate reporter” out.
“Ten thousand signatures... He really worked for these.”
Unfortunately, the Rudolf of the past wouldn't have paid any attention to them. Neither would URA.
The public could be blind and easily stirred. If a petition with a mere ten thousand names could force URA to change its rules at will, Japan's entire racing world would fall into chaos.
Still, that wasn't a reason to ignore every appeal. When a request could help Japanese racing move forward, it deserved to be heard.
After all, some things were worth trying, weren't they?
“Still... I should check them as usual.”
Rudolf shifted into work mode and pulled out each form one by one, examining it before returning it to the stack. The task was simple and repetitive, and her efficiency let her work through the entire petition in little time.
'This is the last one.'
Rudolf picked up the final form, expecting her work to end without incident. Then her eyes fell upon the last line, and she couldn't look away.
No matter how much time had passed, she'd never forgotten anything about that companion. That included her handwriting.
With Rudolf's exceptional mind and memory, she could pick a chosen sample from countless near-identical copies without making a mistake. She was certain she hadn't mistaken this handwriting for someone else's.
A familiar signature alone wouldn't have surprised her so much. She already knew that person had been active around the academy.
What truly shook her were the two kanji in the signature, characters she still found awkward to read.
Mano Kaede.
--+--
A/N: Miss Luna's guessing game ends here. It's time to rip that disguise right off!
I'd originally planned to save this reveal for much later, but after thinking about it, dragging the mystery out forever didn't sound very fun. So I decided to put it here instead.
--+--
Is it Wrong to Skip Racing? - 122
--+--
Staring at the signature, Symboli Rudolf couldn’t calm the storm inside her. She rubbed her tired eyes and checked it again and again until she was certain it wasn’t a hallucination or some cruel trick of the mind.
In that instant, countless theories she’d once dismissed as absurd were proven true.
A long while passed before Rudolf slowly set down the final petition. Her face remained calm, but the faint trembling of her hands betrayed everything she felt.
She drew a silent breath, let it out, and then slammed her forehead onto the desk.
'I really am the worst!!'
Thinking back on every encounter she’d had with that “rookie trainer,” Rudolf wanted the ground to swallow her whole. She struck her head against the desk again and again, almost wishing she could smash straight through it.
The repeated thuds echoed through the student council room. Rudolf had no idea how long she kept doing it before she finally regained some control over herself.
Only a little, though.
“Luna, what have you been doing this whole time...?!”
Rudolf clutched her face with both hands, overcome by regret and guilt. Starlight Trajectory had appeared right in front of her long ago, and they’d crossed paths countless times since then.
Yet Rudolf hadn’t recognized her. Worse, she’d shown Starlight the ugliest side of herself.
“She must be completely disappointed in me by now...”
With a miserable sigh, Rudolf collapsed into her chair as if every ounce of strength had left her. None of the Emperor’s usual dignity remained.
Being hated by Starlight would hurt, but what Rudolf truly couldn’t bear was knowing she’d wounded her. Anyone would feel distant and disappointed after reuniting with a long-lost companion, only to find that she’d become so arrogant and self-important.
No wonder Maruzensky had said Starlight didn’t want to meet her. No wonder Starlight had denied everything they’d shared in the past.
From beginning to end, Rudolf had brought all of this upon herself.
Her chest tightened again. The emotions she’d only just managed to suppress returned with even greater force, spreading through her like a raging fire.
She hadn’t felt anything like this in years, and the Emperor within her refused to accept such a loss of control. It felt as though an invisible hand had wrapped around her throat and was slowly tightening its grip.
Her breathing grew heavy, while the air in her lungs seemed trapped inside her chest with nowhere to escape.
She needed some way to release these emotions before they continued to build. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be long before she lost control completely.
Bottling them up would only make things worse. She had to let them out somehow, and Rudolf could think of only one way.
Running.
--+--
That night, Symboli Rudolf stepped onto the training track. A soft breeze brushed against her, and the chaos in her heart finally began to settle, leaving behind a dull melancholy.
By coincidence, another Uma Musume had arrived at the far end of the track.
--+--
After her race against Maruzensky, Starlight Trajectory had obediently stopped her late-night training for an entire month to give her body enough time to recover.
That battle against the Supercar hadn’t merely drained her stamina. Their repeated bursts of speed in the final stretch had become a contest of sheer willpower.
Still, despite the exhaustion, Starlight hoped she’d get more races like that. Nothing was more exciting than facing an evenly matched opponent. Stomping weaker racers had never been much fun.
“Hm? I feel a little better than before. Did I improve somehow?”
Starlight stretched in place. She couldn’t tell whether it was only her imagination, but she felt as though she could run faster than she had before.
Unlike the slow, steady gains that came from daily training, a sudden change like this was hard to miss. Yet when she opened her system panel, none of her stats had changed.
“...Whatever. I’ll take it easy for a few days, then time myself.”
After a moment’s thought, Starlight decided a direct speed test would give her a clearer answer.
The system’s values had always been measured in fixed grades, so perhaps her improvement simply hadn’t been large enough to push her into the next one.
As she prepared to warm up, she caught sight of something moving beneath the night sky. She looked toward it, and her expression quickly froze. Even her warm-up motions became stiff and awkward.
“Hey, what gives? Didn’t Maruzensky say she’d already handled this...?”
When Starlight noticed Rudolf, Rudolf also noticed Starlight warming up across the track. Their eyes met, and both of them froze.
Starlight recovered first. She quickly pulled down the brim of her cap, afraid Rudolf might notice something.
“Forget it. I’ll pretend I didn’t see her.”
They’d already spotted each other, but Rudolf didn’t seem ready to make a move. Starlight hardened her heart and treated her as though she weren’t there.
She didn’t know what Maruzensky and Rudolf had discussed, but situations like this might continue for a long time.
Running into Rudolf was unavoidable, so she’d be better off getting used to it. She couldn’t simply stop training on the academy grounds forever.
Starlight slowly jogged past Rudolf. A faint, pleasant scent drifted through the breeze in her wake, finally drawing Rudolf out of her daze.
--+--
'In the end, I’m the one who couldn’t find the courage to approach her...'
The instant their eyes had met, Rudolf had felt an overwhelming urge to rush over to Starlight. Even now, however, she hadn’t acted on it.
That evasive—or perhaps rejecting—look had made Starlight’s feelings clear.
Still, she hadn’t turned around and left the moment she saw Rudolf. That alone was already the best outcome Rudolf could’ve hoped for.
'...This is enough.'
Rudolf clung to that small comfort. She emptied her mind for the moment, began to run, and followed behind Starlight.
And so, beneath the silence of Tracen Academy’s training grounds, the two Uma Musume ran around the track without a word, one in front and the other behind.
--+--
Is it Wrong to Skip Racing? - 123
--+--
Knock, knock.
“Morning, Musaka.”
Starlight Trajectory pushed open the office door and greeted Musaka Ginjirou as usual. She also collected the training records she’d left in his care during her absence.
At long last, her month-long vacation had come to an end.
After what had happened at the Satsuki Sho a few days ago, Starlight had expected Musaka to say something. Instead, he only waved his hand and pretended to be annoyed as he shooed her out of the office.
She walked alone through the school building with the records in her arms. Groups of students passed from time to time, whispering among themselves about Oguri Cap.
It was the opening race of the Classic Triple Crown, after all. Between the shocking upset and the media frenzy that followed, the excitement still hadn’t shown any sign of fading, even after several days.
Whenever Starlight passed one of those groups, the students would fall silent and sneak curious glances at her.
Compared to the attention she’d received when she first started working here, though, this was nothing. A few stares weren’t enough to bother her.
“Good morning, President!”
“Morning.”
Hearing the exchange from around the corner ahead, Starlight instinctively lowered the brim of her hat. There was only one person at Tracen Academy whom everyone called President: Symboli Rudolf.
Sure enough, when Starlight reached the junction, Symboli Rudolf came walking toward her. Maruzensky was beside her.
Starlight picked up her pace and hurried past them, trying to make herself as unnoticeable as possible. However, the lone ponytail swaying behind her still caught Rudolf’s eye.
“What’s wrong?” Maruzensky asked when Rudolf suddenly stopped.
“...It’s nothing.”
Rudolf’s gaze dimmed as she gave a faint shake of her head. Maruzensky noticed the change in her expression, but she chose not to point it out.
The two continued in silence until they reached the Student Council Room.
“Maruzen, this is far enough. I’ve got work to do.”
“You still take your work so seriously.” Maruzensky sighed with mild exasperation. “Still, maybe when she sees how hard you’re trying, she’ll start to think differently of you.”
“That sounds like wishful thinking...”
Rudolf gave a bitter laugh. Before she could even say goodbye, she shut the door to the Student Council Room, leaving Maruzensky standing alone outside.
--+--
Maruzensky didn’t leave right away. Instead, she lingered in front of the door, deep in thought.
This was strange. Far too strange.
Even when Rudolf didn’t want her company, she’d never shut the door without saying a word. At the very least, she’d explain why and offer a polite apology.
Combined with Rudolf’s reaction at the corner, Maruzensky could more or less confirm that the two of them had already made some initial contact. That wasn’t unexpected. A meeting between Starlight Trajectory and Symboli Rudolf had always been inevitable.
Starlight still went running around the academy at night, while Rudolf often stayed late to work. All it would take was one sudden whim from Rudolf for the two of them to cross paths again.
Still, judging by the current situation, their meeting probably hadn’t gone well.
Maruzensky wanted to comfort Rudolf, but Rudolf hadn’t given her the chance. She’d have to let her cool—really cool—her head on her own first.
“I’m probably not getting anything out of Rudolf. I’ll go ask Cloudy instead.”
With that thought in mind, Maruzensky slowly walked away from the Student Council Room.
--+--
“Think differently of me, huh...”
Rudolf lay sprawled across her desk, sighing again and again. After taking a full night to calm down, she’d finally gained a clear understanding of her situation.
Part of her was relieved she hadn’t rushed over and revealed herself the night before. Another part hated her own cowardice.
Thankfully, things hadn’t reached the worst possible outcome. Starlight hadn’t fled Tracen Academy or gone out of her way to avoid her. She was even willing to run alongside Rudolf just as she had in the past.
To Rudolf, that meant Starlight had left her plenty of room to repair their relationship.
‘She still cares about me!’
That was the conclusion Rudolf had reached.
“Still... I never thought you’d really become a trainer.”
Rudolf turned her head slightly toward the window. In the distance, she could see Starlight Trajectory training with Oguri Cap.
Thinking back on their old promise, Rudolf remembered that she’d treated it like a joke at the time. Both parts of it had sounded impossible. An Undefeated Triple Crown had never been achieved before, and an Uma Musume becoming a trainer was just as unheard of.
Yet both of them had fulfilled their promises. It was Rudolf’s own fault that they couldn’t honor the agreement right away.
Now, only two possible paths lay before her if she wanted to repair their relationship.
The first was the approach Maruzensky had suggested. Rudolf could prove herself through her actions until Starlight began to see her differently and became willing to talk.
The second was to return to their old promise.
Rudolf now knew that the other woman’s name was Mano Kaede, but Starlight hadn’t told her that herself. Rudolf also still didn’t know the name she’d once used as an Uma Musume.
In other words, if Rudolf could defeat her in a practice race, she could make Starlight keep their promise and reveal that name. That might also open a path for them to start talking again.
As for which method she should choose, Rudolf didn’t need much time to think.
Making choices was something Tokai Teio could do. As an adult, Symboli Rudolf would take both!
She’d handle her official duties during the day and train her body at night. Pursuing both paths at once gave her the best chance of success.
“Then my first priority should be...”
Rudolf pulled her gaze away from the window and looked toward the stack of signatures from the ten-thousand-name petition sitting at the corner of her desk. She immediately moved it to the top of her workload.
The Satsuki Sho and the Japanese Derby were held close together. She didn’t have much time left.
“Looks like I’ll need to make time to visit the Committee soon.”
At the very least, Starlight Trajectory wasn’t the reason Rudolf had decided to help Oguri Cap enter the Japanese Derby. This was Rudolf’s own choice.
“It’s not just me. URA needs to change too.”
--+--
Is it Wrong to Skip Racing? - 124
--+--
“Kaede, I can’t do it anymoooore…”
Out on the training field, Oguri Cap lay sprawled across the grass as though every ounce of strength had left her body, uttering a rather alarming declaration.
“Then… let’s take a break.”
Seeing her trainee in such a state, Starlight Trajectory had no choice but to pause the session. Tamamo Cross was busy preparing for the upcoming Tenno Sho (Spring) and couldn’t serve as Oguri’s training partner, so Starlight had decided to make up for the upper-body workouts Oguri had missed recently.
She hadn’t expected Oguri to give out before they’d even made it through the second day.
This was the first time her trainee had failed to complete one of her training plans, and Starlight couldn’t help wondering whether she’d made a mistake in setting it up.
“Is something wrong with the training?”
Belno Light, the team’s assistant, came over to see whether she could help Starlight work through the problem.
“I wouldn’t say anything’s wrong… I’m just wondering whether I raised the workload too much.” Starlight nodded and explained the situation without holding anything back.
Belno might’ve had little presence on the team, but when it came to helping Starlight with her work, no one contributed more than this plain-looking support Uma Musume. Her gift for logistics stood in stark contrast to her almost tragically poor talent for racing.
Calling her a genius didn’t feel strong enough. In her own field, she was a “monster” on Oguri Cap’s level.
In fact, the moment Starlight learned that Belno had passed Central Tracen Academy’s trainee examination after studying for only two months, she’d understood where the girl’s true talent lay.
“Yes, I thought the past two days seemed much heavier than usual too,” Belno said with a nod.
“Then why do you think I didn’t raise the intensity by my usual amount?”
Starlight handed her the tablet. This time, it was Belno’s turn to frown.
She scanned the figures again and again, opening her mouth several times before thinking better of it. Something felt wrong, but she couldn’t put her finger on what it was.
Before she could think much longer, Starlight’s voice interrupted her.
“Oguri, run a hundred meters. Use the same cruising speed you held through the middle of the Mainichi Hai.”
Oguri’s ears twitched as she lay on the ground, and she sprang to her feet at once. She didn’t understand why Starlight wanted her to do it, but her trainer had given an order, so all she had to do was follow it.
For an Uma Musume, a hundred meters barely counted as a warm-up. Even in poor condition, Oguri didn’t need long to finish.
Once she came to a stop, Starlight turned back to Belno. “Well? Can you see it now?”
“…Muscular imbalance?”
Belno identified the cause at once.
“Exactly. Oguri’s running form has felt unbalanced lately. It’s almost as though she’s doing nothing but driving her legs into the ground, so I started wondering whether her upper-body muscles were underdeveloped.”
“That’s why I adjusted the proportions of her training. Based on my analysis, this workload should theoretically fit Oguri’s growth curve better than anything else…”
That was the part Starlight couldn’t understand. The data was right there, and data couldn’t lie, yet it’d still led her to the wrong conclusion.
It wasn’t a serious problem. She could take repeated measurements to establish a new baseline, then adjust the training in real time.
But unless she understood why this had happened, the same issue could keep coming back, and their training efficiency would plummet.
Training young Uma Musume before and during their Maturation took so much effort because their developing bodies changed from one moment to the next. There was no way to draw up a training plan in two-week blocks.
When the changes were severe, the plan might need revisions every single day. The results were often poor despite all the work involved, so most trainers chose to wait until an Uma Musume’s body had matured before making serious plans.
“I don’t have any ideas either…” Belno shook her head in frustration, then lowered her gaze with a guilty expression. “I still don’t know enough. I can’t help you, Trainer Kaede.”
“This isn’t your fault. Training always comes with all kinds of problems.”
Starlight smiled and rubbed Belno’s head. This young filly lacked confidence in certain areas, though Starlight couldn’t tell whether it was simply her nature or whether her debut in Kasamatsu had dealt her too harsh a blow.
Starlight had once considered training Belno for the racetrack.
However, Belno didn’t possess the qualities needed to succeed as a racing Uma Musume, and since the girl herself had already given up, there wasn’t anything Starlight could do.
“Oguri, can I feel your thigh?”
Since ordinary methods hadn’t solved the problem, Starlight had no choice but to call upon the system she’d left unused for so long.
“You can just touch me. You don’t have to ask every time.”
Oguri had only just walked back when she swished her tail and dropped flat onto the grass, spreading her arms and legs with a blank expression.
“You make it sound like… I’ve done it that many times.”
Once she had permission, Starlight eagerly reached out. Her fingertips slid over Oguri’s thigh, and the smoothness of her skin and the springy firmness beneath it nearly drew her in completely.
‘Oh no. Does she feel even better than she did back in Kasamatsu?’
Thankfully, once she’d made enough physical contact, the system brought up Oguri Cap’s information. The display snapped Starlight back to her senses before anyone around her noticed anything strange.
She swept the unnecessary thoughts from her mind and examined the data floating before her.
[Speed A+, Stamina B, Power B, Guts C, Wit D]
Since arriving at Central Tracen Academy, Starlight hadn’t gathered enough samples for a proper comparison. Her own attributes were useless as a reference, so she could only make rough judgments based on experience.
‘Still, her Speed’s already reached A+?’
She’d risen from C+ to A+ in only six months, which was a remarkable rate of growth. Aside from that, though, her improvement had been almost nonexistent.
Stamina was easy enough to explain. The longest race on their planned schedule was only two thousand meters, so Starlight rarely assigned Oguri any focused endurance work. Most of her gains had come from the morning runs she did on her own.
Starlight still didn’t fully understand Guts or how much of an effect it truly had during a race. As for Wit, she’d left that to the academic lessons that occupied half of every day at Tracen Academy.
But Oguri’s Power was far too low…
“…I think I understand what’s happening.”
“Huh?!”
Belno stared at her in shock. From her point of view, Starlight had simply measured Oguri’s thigh for a moment and somehow discovered the problem.
Then she remembered something Oguri had once told her and hurried to ask, “Oguri said her legs gave her trouble when she was little. Could she have some underlying condition?”
“Don’t worry. I’m still not sure about the exact cause, but it doesn’t have anything to do with an illness.”
Starlight shook her head. After comparing the figures with the growth curves in Oguri’s training records, she had a general theory.
“For now, I’ll go ask Musaka.”
--+--
Is it Wrong to Skip Racing? - 125
--+--
“What? You came to me to ask about something like this?” Musaka Ginjirou blurted after folding his newspaper and listening to Starlight Trajectory’s explanation. “Isn’t it obvious that training together makes you more efficient?”
“Uh... really?” Starlight Trajectory felt her face grow hot under Musaka’s strange look. His eyes seemed to ask, ‘You didn’t even know something this basic?’
The problem was, she’d been a trainer for quite some time, yet she’d never heard that group training produced extra gains. Even the Central Trainer Certification Exam had barely covered the subject.
On the rare occasions it came up, there was little information, and the explanations were vague.
“...I suppose that was an oversight on my part. You’ve only ever had one trainee, after all.” Musaka adjusted his glasses as the thought struck him. “The field still doesn’t have a clear explanation for it. It’s only a conclusion people have reached through experience.”
Without a way to study the matter, there was no way to explain it as a proper system. It was much like how disputed ideas rarely made it into textbooks.
Unlike the era Musaka had come from, people nowadays no longer trusted experience alone.
“I see.” Starlight Trajectory nodded in thought. Oguri Cap’s sudden rise in training efficiency was probably because she’d spent this whole period training with Tamamo Cross.
Then again, the very existence of Uma Musume was hard to explain through normal science. There were even things like the Zone, where shouting about bonds, friendship, or refusing to lose could trigger a real surge of power.
Compared with that, several people training together and getting better results was much easier to accept.
“That’s as much as I can explain. You young people will have to uncover anything deeper yourselves.” Musaka waved her off and raised his newspaper again.
As Starlight Trajectory stepped out of the office, Musaka suddenly spoke from behind her.
“One more thing. You should prepare yourself for what might happen with Oguri Cap.”
“What do you mean?” The sudden warning left Starlight Trajectory confused.
Musaka rustled his newspaper and answered in a low voice, “Those people on the committee... they’re far more stubborn than an old fossil like me.”
--+--
Starlight Trajectory stepped out of the office and gently closed the door behind her. Even without Musaka’s final warning, she wasn’t naive enough to believe URA’s rules could be changed so easily.
Even the chairwoman of Central Tracen Academy could only submit feedback. She couldn’t alter the rules herself. In Starlight Trajectory’s eyes, Fujii Sensuke’s attempt to stir up the crowd and pressure Symboli Rudolf didn’t mean much.
She’d added the final signature only because doing something was better than doing nothing. Symboli Rudolf’s official position was merely Student Council President, and even with her personal fame, she probably couldn’t achieve much more than Chairwoman Akikawa Yayoi.
Starlight Trajectory had prepared for failure from the start. If Oguri Cap took the news badly, she’d have no choice but to blow her own cover to calm her down.
Her memory was hazy, but she vaguely recalled telling Oguri Cap to keep climbing toward the summit when she’d left Kasamatsu. Perhaps that was why Oguri Cap had become so fixated on the Japanese Derby.
“Still, if we’re talking about the true summit, it’d have to be the Japan Cup.”
The Japanese Derby was without question the peak of the Classic year. However, when it came to the race that truly decided who stood at the top on Japanese soil, that honor belonged to the Japan Cup.
The Japan Cup didn’t have nearly as many restrictions. It was an international G1 race open to the entire world. It didn’t matter that Oguri Cap had transferred to Central—even foreign Uma Musume could take part.
If Starlight Trajectory entered the Japan Cup during her Classic year, she should be able to face Oguri Cap on the track. She couldn’t help wondering how strong Oguri Cap would become by then.
Even if Oguri Cap made no progress over the next year and merely maintained her current strength, she’d still be a summit most Uma Musume could spend their entire lives trying to reach.
Their earlier private race had already proved that Starlight Trajectory could stand toe-to-toe with Maruzensky. If Oguri Cap wanted to defeat someone like her, she couldn’t remain a monster in name alone.
Whether as Oguri Cap’s trainer or as an Uma Musume eager to meet a future rival, Starlight Trajectory had to give everything she had to help Oguri Cap grow.
That thought, however, presented another problem.
She couldn’t rely on the system. She probably wouldn’t gather many points before completing the Triple Crown, and even buying a few pieces of training equipment would be difficult.
Meanwhile, she couldn’t make full use of the boost that came from group training.
Her own team consisted of one Uma Musume who handled support work and one young filly who hadn’t yet entered her prime. Musaka’s team had three other members, but they had their own races and training plans.
Helping for a short period wouldn’t be a problem, but it couldn’t continue forever. That’d leave Musaka with no one to train.
Would Starlight Trajectory have to join the training herself?
As she struggled with the question, a soft voice interrupted her thoughts.
“Are you Trainer Mano Kaede?”
“Yes... Mejiro Ardan?” Starlight Trajectory replied without thinking, only then noticing who stood before her.
“I haven’t been able to find you these past few days. I didn’t expect to run into you here.” Mejiro Ardan smiled as she spoke, her voice soft and graceful.
“What can I do for you, Miss Mejiro?” Out of courtesy, Starlight Trajectory didn’t address her by her first name.
Their only real interaction had been when they’d collided in the hallway.
As for the debut race, Starlight Trajectory found it easier to believe that their eyes had met by chance than that her voice had somehow carried through the roaring stands and reached Mejiro Ardan.
Judging by Mejiro Ardan’s words, however, that might not have been the case.
Under Starlight Trajectory’s puzzled gaze, Mejiro Ardan stated her purpose.
“To get straight to the point, would you allow me to join your team?”
--+--
Is it Wrong to Skip Racing? - 126
--+--
Faced with Mejiro Ardan’s blunt request, Starlight Trajectory fell silent. She simply didn’t know how to respond, but in Ardan’s eyes, that silence looked like a quiet rejection.
“So that’s your answer... I understand. I won’t trouble you again.”
A trace of regret entered Ardan’s voice. She placed her right hand over her chest, gave a small bow, and prepared to leave.
It was a terrible shame, but she wasn’t the kind of Uma Musume who’d cling to someone who didn’t want her, and she respected Starlight’s choice.
Realizing Ardan had misunderstood her, Starlight rushed to explain. “I’m not rejecting you. Your request just came out of nowhere.”
She’d had no idea Ardan had been searching for her. By sheer chance, every one of Ardan’s visits had come when Starlight wasn’t around.
“I’m only an unknown trainer... In fact, I’m not even a full trainer yet,” Starlight continued. “You, on the other hand, are the eldest daughter of the Mejiro family. Now that you’ve made your debut, there must be countless trainers trying to recruit you.”
“I’m sure many of them are seasoned professionals with far more experience and better records than mine. Even taking your fragile legs into account—”
“Forgive me, but I must interrupt.”
Ardan cut her off before she could finish. “The truth is, I’ve been watching you for quite some time, Trainer Mano Kaede.”
“Huh? You have?” Starlight asked, flattered and more than a little surprised.
As far as the public knew, Oguri Cap’s trainer was Musaka Ginjirou. Starlight was left out of almost every report, and even a passing mention of her name was rare.
She’d drawn a little more attention inside the academy, but even that had faded within two or three months of her arrival.
After all, she’d become another trainer’s assistant as soon as she joined, which had crushed any thought an Uma Musume might’ve had of signing with her.
Then, somehow, word spread that she’d barely scraped past the cutoff on the Central Trainer Exam. A fair number of people stopped expecting anything from her after that.
Starlight also rarely spoke with anyone outside her team. Most of her conversations with others ended as soon as the work did, and over time, she faded into the background. Before long, almost no one paid attention to her at all.
“In my eyes, you’re nothing like the rumors claim, nor are you as ordinary as you’ve just described yourself!” Ardan declared. “You also helped me during my debut race a few days ago, didn’t you?”
‘So she heard about that after all...’
Starlight didn’t like taking credit for things like that. She’d acted on impulse at the time, and in truth, she hadn’t played much of a part in Ardan’s victory.
Without Ardan’s tireless effort away from the track and her drive to improve in every way she could, even that brief chance wouldn’t have been enough for her to pull ahead.
Starlight opened her mouth to say so, but Ardan didn’t give her the chance.
“But that’s not why I came to find you.”
As though she’d seen through Starlight’s thoughts, the blue-haired Uma Musume stopped her before she could speak. “I still remember the day we met in the corridor...”
Ardan took a small step forward, closing the faint distance they’d kept between them. She raised her chin slightly so she could look straight into the eyes of the taller Starlight.
“To you, it may have been something trivial. But when I saw the look on your face as you picked up that tablet, I found my answer.”
Ardan could always smile in the face of gossip, but that didn’t mean she was blind to it. She’d seen the disdain in veteran trainers’ eyes when they noticed the tablet.
She’d seen other trainers pretend it wasn’t there while talking to her, and she’d felt the cold indifference of everyone else.
She knew all of it.
But Starlight had been different.
Ardan’s clear purple eyes, bright as crystal, held Starlight’s gaze with unwavering resolve.
“Is that so...?” Starlight murmured.
Ardan’s sudden forcefulness left Starlight on the back foot. When their eyes met, the conviction in Ardan’s gaze reached her more clearly than any words could.
Starlight finally understood. Ardan hadn’t come to join her team on a whim, nor was she acting out of gratitude.
That was the answer Starlight had been searching for.
She let out a sudden sigh. Ardan’s eyes dimmed at the sound, but Starlight’s next words turned everything around.
“The truth is, someone already asked me to become your trainer.”
Starlight recalled Akikawa Yayoi’s request and her own answer, then gave a helpless smile. “I agreed because I didn’t want to see an Uma Musume get hurt. But when I saw you running on the track, I changed my mind.”
“I realized I knew almost nothing about you. It wasn’t until I watched that race that I understood. Mejiro Ardan, you aren’t the frail young lady everyone believes you to be, and you’re not some special case who needs their pity. You’re simply an Uma Musume, no different from anyone else.”
“That’s why I believed you’d earn everyone’s respect as an Uma Musume. And once you did, you’d be able to hold your head high and choose your future trainer for yourself, just like any other outstanding racer.”
“Then that means...” The light returned to Ardan’s eyes.
“You’ve already thought this through,” Starlight said. “What reason could I possibly have to turn you down?”
Smiling, Starlight held out her hand to the blue-haired Uma Musume.
“I’m glad you chose me. Welcome to my team, Ardan.”
--+--
Is it Wrong to Skip Racing? - 127
--+--
“Just as you said, I’m only an ordinary Uma Musume. I still have plenty of weaknesses to overcome, so I’ll be counting on you to guide me from now on, Trainer Mano Kaede.”
Mejiro Ardan took the offered hand. Her grip wasn’t strong, but it carried a quiet sense of reliability.
“Come to think of it, was it someone from the Mejiro family who asked you to help me?”
“Even if the Mejiro family wanted to find me, they’d probably have trouble learning I existed.”
Starlight Trajectory shook her head with a self-mocking smile. The only possibility she could think of was that the Mejiro family had remembered an old connection and traced her contact information through Akikawa Yayoi.
That clearly couldn’t have happened, though. No matter how open-minded the Mejiro family was, they’d never entrust Ardan to some unknown trainer. That would’ve been downright irresponsible.
Besides, Starlight didn’t even count as a full trainer yet. At best, she was the team’s assistant.
Ardan thought for a moment, but she still couldn’t think of anyone else.
“...But other than that, I can’t imagine who’d do such a thing.”
“Akikawa Yayoi asked me. You know, the academy’s chairwoman.”
Starlight had no reason to hide it, so she gave Ardan the answer outright.
“So it was the chairwoman. That does make sense.”
Ardan’s eyes shifted as if she’d remembered something, and a soft laugh escaped her.
Starlight rubbed the back of her neck. “It’s embarrassing to admit, but Yayoi asked me a long time ago. I didn’t remember until your debut race.”
“You must have plenty of work to handle every day. Even so, you still came in the end.”
“Yeah, I had a few things to sort out around then.”
Starlight nodded. As she looked at the smile on Ardan’s face, she felt that something about it had changed.
Her earlier smile had seemed warm and approachable. This one carried a hint of deeper meaning.
“Trainer Mano Kaede, is there something on my face?”
Ardan tilted her head when she noticed Starlight’s gaze lingering on her.
“No. I was just thinking that since you’ve joined my team, calling each other by such formal names feels a little distant...”
Realizing that she’d been staring, Starlight gave an awkward laugh and changed the subject.
“Then I’ll simply call you Trainer. How does that sound?”
“I don’t really care what you call me, as long as it isn’t too formal. That’d make things feel too stiff between us.”
Still, the choice surprised her a little. Aside from Teio, almost everyone who knew her called her Kaede or Mano Kaede.
Well, except for a certain supercar lady who loved making up nicknames for her.
Ardan had no idea what Starlight was thinking. Her mind was occupied by something else.
She’d first taken notice of Starlight because of her unusual behavior, but there was another, far more important reason. In fact, the reason Ardan had chosen the path of an Uma Musume with such resolve was tied closely to her.
Ardan stole a glance at Starlight’s profile and watched every small gesture she made, comparing her with the young man in her memories.
The resemblance was uncanny.
Their faces didn’t look much alike, yet everything else about them carried the same unmistakable air.
But could two people truly be so similar?
Or could one person really change that much?
Enough that even their gender had changed?
Ardan knew the idea sounded absurd. She might’ve accepted it as a mere coincidence if that were the only connection, especially since Starlight showed no signs of having legs as fragile as glass.
But they didn’t just share the same name. Every character used to write it was identical.
A name written as “Mano Kaede” was almost unheard of in Japan. It felt more like a name from another country across the sea.
After thinking it over, Ardan decided she’d rather ask Starlight directly than keep letting her imagination run wild.
“There’s actually something else I’d like to ask you. Are you—”
A sudden shout drowned her out.
When she turned, she saw a red figure racing toward them at incredible speed. A moment later, the newcomer threw herself onto Starlight’s back.
“Oh, I didn’t expect to find you here, Cloudy—Trainer Mano Kaede!”
Maruzensky had barely opened her mouth when she noticed Ardan standing nearby and changed the name she’d almost blurted out.
Nobody should’ve known the nickname Cloudy, but Maruzensky still chose caution. She didn’t want someone with an imagination as active as hers to uncover Starlight’s true identity.
“Maruzensky, stop getting so handsy with me!”
Starlight suppressed the embarrassment rising inside her and pried Maruzensky’s arms away from her body.
Why did this woman always have to cling to her? Was she really that comfortable to hug?
“That’s only because you’re so cute. And this young lady... You’re the Mejiro heiress, aren’t you?”
Maruzensky teased Starlight with a grin before turning toward Ardan. A thoughtful look entered her eyes.
“Well, since you’re busy, I won’t get in the way. See you tonight!”
Whatever conclusion she’d reached, Maruzensky patted Starlight on the shoulder and raced away as fast as she’d arrived.
Starlight watched her retreating back with a puzzled look. Still, Maruzensky always acted like that, so she didn’t think much of it.
“Trainer, are you acquainted with Maruzensky?”
Ardan looked surprised as well. Judging by the way they’d interacted, the two were clearly close.
“Sort of.”
More accurately, Maruzensky had latched onto her one-sidedly. Starlight kept that part to herself, choosing to preserve a little dignity for the legendary Uma Musume.
“By the way, Ardan, were you saying something earlier?”
“...No. I was overthinking things.”
Ardan shook her head and abandoned the question.
Whether Starlight was that person or not, what difference did it make?
Either version of Mano Kaede was someone she could trust, wasn’t she?
--+--
Is it Wrong to Skip Racing? - 128
--+--
“Trainer-san, what’s the meaning of this?!”
Inside the team clubroom, Tokai Teio had wrapped herself tightly around Starlight Trajectory and was shouting at the top of her lungs.
Teio was never the quiet type, but this time, the cause of her outburst was the blue-haired Uma Musume who’d shown up beside Starlight Trajectory.
“You were only gone for a little while, and now you’ve suddenly got another trainee! There’s no way I can accept this!”
Teio shot Mejiro Ardan a fierce glare and tightened her arms around Starlight Trajectory. Her eyes clearly said, ‘Trainer is mine!’
Here we go again. Starlight Trajectory looked helpless, but she still had to calm the little filly down.
Mejiro Ardan, meanwhile, seemed to recall some fond memory at the sight of Teio’s noisy fussing, and a soft smile spread across her face.
Starlight Trajectory pried Teio loose and led her out of the clubroom. Once they were alone, she lowered her voice. “Teio, if you stop making a fuss, I’ll buy you a honey drink after training today.”
A honey drink had always worked on Teio. What child could turn down something sweet? This time, though, Starlight Trajectory had miscalculated. Instead of lighting up, Teio pinned her ears back even farther and looked angrier than before.
“No!”
“Two cups.” Starlight Trajectory raised a second finger.
“No!”
“Three.”
“Trainer-san, this isn’t about honey drinks!” Teio shook her head hard, and a faint note of hurt slipped into her voice.
“Then what’s it about?” Starlight Trajectory’s curiosity stirred. “Whatever’s bothering you, just tell me. I’ll do my best to fix it.”
Teio stared at her trainer in growing frustration, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it. Back when she’d been Starlight Trajectory’s only trainee, her trainer had always stepped in to help whenever something troubled her.
After Oguri Cap joined the team, though, it often felt as if Starlight Trajectory tried to solve everything by handing her a honey drink.
Deep down, Teio knew she was being selfish. Her heart still couldn’t accept the change, so she’d acted out to pull Starlight Trajectory’s attention back to her and ease the fear building inside her.
Teio stumbled over her words without managing to say anything. Her shifting gaze and shame-reddened cheeks told Starlight Trajectory everything she needed to know.
“Are you worried that as the team gets bigger, I’ll slowly start ignoring you?”
“…Yeah,” Teio murmured.
“Of course I won’t.” Starlight Trajectory gave a soft laugh and rubbed Teio’s head.
“But ever since Oguri-senpai joined the team, you’ve been much colder to me, Trainer-san. You barely train with me anymore…”
“Teio, look at it another way.” Starlight Trajectory shifted the subject. “When we first signed our contract, how would you have felt if I’d insisted that you stay away from Symboli Rudolf?”
“I…”
Seeing that Teio had begun to understand, Starlight Trajectory continued, “All right, you don’t need to explain. As long as you understand it yourself.”
“So…” She paused, then flicked Teio lightly on the forehead. “You need to learn to respect other people. Got it?”
Teio covered her aching forehead, though Starlight Trajectory couldn’t tell whether the lesson had sunk in.
“And I’ve never forgotten the promise I made when we signed our contract. I’m going to help you become an Undefeated Triple Crown Uma Musume, just like Symboli Rudolf. That’s our promise.”
“So don’t worry. No matter how many members join the team in the future, you’ll always be my first trainee.”
Most of Teio’s anger vanished at once, leaving only the shame that had been mixed into it from the start. “Trainer-san, I’m sorry… I was too selfish.”
“I’m not angry with you. Ardan’s the one you should apologize to. You glared at her the moment she walked in, and that might’ve hurt her feelings.”
Starlight Trajectory knew Mejiro Ardan wouldn’t get upset over something so small. She only wanted to use the chance to teach Teio a lesson.
“I understand…” Teio lowered her head and accepted the scolding.
Starlight Trajectory took the chance to rub the little filly’s head again, then led her back inside.
--+--
The moment Starlight Trajectory opened the door, she found Belno Light and Mejiro Ardan deep in conversation. They looked as if they were already getting along well.
Oguri Cap sat nearby and listened with full attention without adding much, but Starlight Trajectory knew that was simply how she was.
“What?! You still managed to make your debut under those conditions? Miss Ardan, that’s amazing!”
“It wasn’t anything special. Luck played a big part. Without my trainer’s warning, I doubt things would’ve turned out the way they did…”
“Maybe, but dirt doesn’t suit your running style, and it was a rain-soaked heavy track on top of that. Winning there already puts you ahead of so many others!”
Belno Light spoke with open admiration, but her voice soon sank. “Unlike me, I couldn’t even manage a regional debut race… Huh? Trainer Mano, when did you get back?”
A gentle hand brushed the top of her head. Belno Light turned and found Starlight Trajectory standing beside her.
“Come on, don’t put yourself down.” Starlight Trajectory sighed. “I’ve only just finished comforting Teio. I don’t want to start consoling another little filly right away.”
With another helpless sigh, she brought Teio forward.
“What’s this…?” Mejiro Ardan looked puzzled as the little filly suddenly bowed to her.
“I’m sorry, Big Sis Ardan. I was wrong earlier!”
“It’s all right. I didn’t take it to heart.” Mejiro Ardan smiled. “Actually, Teio’s just as adorable as one of my little sisters.”
One of Ardan’s little sisters narrowed it down very little. The Mejiro family was huge. Aside from Mejiro Ramonu, who was Ardan’s older half-sister, nearly every other member could count as one of her younger sisters.
Given the context, though, Starlight Trajectory suspected Ardan meant Mejiro McQueen. There weren’t many little fillies who could cause as much of a commotion as Teio, and McQueen was one of them.
Starlight Trajectory watched her team members chatting in harmony, then swept her gaze across the clubroom. A thought suddenly came to her.
“Now that we’ve got enough members, shouldn’t we be able to apply to Yayoi for an official team clubroom?”
--+--
Is it Wrong to Skip Racing? - 129
--+--
After a simple welcoming ceremony, Mejiro Ardan became part of the team. It wasn’t official yet, though, since Starlight Trajectory hadn’t prepared the contract. She planned to visit Akikawa Yayoi after finishing today’s work and take care of it then.
For now, training came first.
Starlight swept her gaze across the training field, where the team members were warming up in their own ways. Her eyes finally settled on Mejiro Ardan—or, to be precise, on her thighs.
'I really want to know what they feel like—cough, what kind of stats she has.'
Starlight was curious about what sort of status panel Ardan would manifest.
An Uma Musume with legs as unusual as hers wasn’t something you saw often, and Starlight’s own glass legs hadn’t carried over into her Uma Musume body.
“Ardan, there’s something I’d like to ask you before we begin training.”
Once Ardan finished warming up, Starlight called her over.
“Please, go ahead.”
“Well... would you let me touch your thighs?”
After taking a moment to prepare herself, Starlight delivered the question with as calm a face as she could manage. To keep Ardan from misunderstanding, she hurried to explain.
“Looking at an Uma Musume’s legs can only tell me so much. By feeling the muscles myself, I can get a clearer picture of their condition and create a training plan that suits you better.”
“It isn’t mandatory, though. Refusing won’t have much effect. I’ll just need to spend more time gathering data.”
While Starlight was explaining, Tokai Teio popped her head out from nowhere with a sly grin.
“You sure said something outrageous with a straight face, Trainer.”
“What’s wrong with it?” Ardan asked, confused by Teio’s reaction. “Isn’t it normal for a trainer to examine their trainee’s legs?”
Because of her frail body and delicate legs, the Mejiro family had often arranged for doctors to give Ardan full physical examinations. She understood how important they were and felt almost no discomfort toward this sort of thing.
Seeing Ardan’s calm expression, Teio almost wondered whether she was the one who’d misunderstood something. An Uma Musume’s legs were vital to her, so letting someone touch them without hesitation meant they had to be quite close.
More importantly, the person asking was supposedly a member of the opposite sex. Even if Starlight was Ardan’s trainer, she shouldn’t have accepted so easily.
As far as Teio knew, Starlight was still the boy she’d believed her to be when they first met. Hayakawa Tazuna had checked Starlight’s identification back then, and Starlight herself had confirmed it.
'Didn’t the President say prestigious families were all conservative? Why isn’t this young lady even blushing?'
'Or... have she and Trainer already gotten that close?!'
Teio startled herself with that conclusion and began to regret apologizing so quickly earlier.
'No, no! Trainer just looks too harmless, so Ardan hasn’t realized what this means!'
With that thought in mind, Teio lowered her voice.
“Ardan, don’t let Trainer’s looks fool you. He’s actually a boy.”
“Is that so?”
The moment she said it, Starlight felt Ardan’s questioning gaze fall upon her.
She’d prepared for this, though. After pretending to cough twice, she pulled the trainer identification Akikawa Yayoi had prepared for her from her waist pouch and showed it to them.
“Ahem. Teio, you shouldn’t spread nonsense like that. Someone might get the wrong idea.”
Starlight didn’t care much about gender herself, but the person standing before her was Mejiro Ardan. She didn’t want Ardan thinking about her former identity.
That’d be social suicide, and Starlight wasn’t eager to experience it.
“But when Trainer signed a contract with me—”
“There were special circumstances back then, but they’ve been dealt with now.”
Starlight cut Teio off before she could finish, then found an excuse to send her away.
“Speaking of which, I don’t think we prepared any electrolyte water today. Could you bring back a few bottles from the clubroom?”
“Well, since Trainer’s asking... fine.”
Teio looked reluctant, but she accepted the request and jogged away. Watching the little filly disappear into the distance, Starlight breathed a sigh of relief.
Kids had restless minds. After running there and back, Teio would probably forget the whole thing.
What Starlight didn’t notice was the subtle shift in Ardan’s eyes after hearing their conversation, as though she’d begun thinking about something.
“Ardan, we can begin whenever you’re ready.”
Although she’d already asked once, Starlight checked again. She didn’t want to get kicked across the field halfway through.
“Yes. I’m ready.” Ardan nodded.
Once she had Ardan’s consent, Starlight crouched before her. Faced with those legs, pale from so little exposure to sunlight, she swallowed without thinking.
--+--
“Here you go, Oguri-senpai.”
“Thank you. Is this electrolyte water?” Oguri Cap took the bottle and placed it beside her.
“Yeah. Trainer asked me to bring some.”
Teio pulled out another bottle and offered it to Belno Light, but Belno shook her head.
“I’m fine. Save it for Oguri and Ardan.”
“By the way, Teio, you look upset. Did something happen?”
Belno watched Teio sit nearby with a troubled expression and asked in concern.
“It’s because I never expected Trainer to be a girl. Doesn’t that mean I was getting ahead of myself this whole time...?”
A faint trace of regret entered Teio’s voice. The moment she finished speaking, however, she noticed that Oguri and Belno had both turned to stare at her, their eyes filled with surprise.
“Huh? Wh-What’s wrong? Why’re you looking at me like that? Didn't you two normally think Trainer’s a girl?”
--+--
Is it Wrong to Skip Racing? - 130
--+--
“Thanks for the trea—ahem. What I meant was, Ardan, your condition’s much better than I expected.”
Starlight Trajectory had almost let her true thoughts slip out, so she covered it with a quick cough. She couldn’t afford to ruin her reputation over something like this.
The system’s readings were far better than she’d expected. Most of Ardan’s stats looked solid, and her intelligence was already well above the average for an Uma Musume who’d just made her debut.
Aside from Wit, which couldn’t be measured through physical contact, the rest matched Starlight Trajectory’s own assessment.
Ardan’s fragile legs were a little different from the usual cases, but this was the one area where Starlight Trajectory had more experience than almost anyone. She’d once suffered from the same problem and had overcome it one careful step at a time.
“And then there’s…”
Starlight Trajectory scrolled down the translucent window only she could see. Sure enough, an abnormal status appeared on Mejiro Ardan’s profile.
[Glass Legs]
This was the first time she’d seen that status, though it wasn’t as if she’d encountered many character statuses in the first place.
She’d suffered from fragile legs in her previous life, but that had been her human body, so the system naturally hadn’t allowed her to inspect its stats.
“Still, isn’t this description a little vague?”
The system’s summary only said that Ardan’s body struggled to endure intense training and races, which was painfully obvious. It wasn’t all useless, though. There was also another line:
[When the body maintains a balanced cycle of tension and relaxation, she may display extraordinary brilliance after entering a race.]
The problem was… what was that even supposed to mean?
The description didn’t sound negative, but they couldn’t test it until Mejiro Ardan’s body had stabilized. Only then would Starlight Trajectory feel safe arranging her race schedule. Fragile legs couldn’t be rushed.
Looking back, the fact that Starlight Trajectory hadn’t injured herself during her reckless early training almost felt like a blessing from the Three Goddesses.
One bad accident back then could’ve left her unable to walk for the rest of her life.
“Is that really enough? Don’t you need to examine anything else?”
Mejiro Ardan couldn’t help asking when Starlight Trajectory withdrew her hand so soon. At the hospital, doctors had performed full-body examinations with all kinds of equipment at regular intervals.
Even after her condition improved enough for her to leave, the Mejiro family had arranged for private physicians to examine her, and the process was always long and complicated.
Starlight Trajectory, however, had merely felt her thigh and squeezed her calf before giving a confident diagnosis. It was hard not to be curious.
There were rumors at Tracen Academy about veteran trainers who could learn everything they needed simply by touching an Uma Musume’s thighs, but Mejiro Ardan doubted that method would work on someone like her.
“Yeah. It’s not as precise as medical equipment, but I’ve got a teeny, tiny bit of experience with this sort of thing.”
Starlight Trajectory closed the system panel with a blink and rose to her feet. Her mind was already racing through what she needed to do next.
“Ardan, you’ve been keeping records of your training data, right? Could I borrow them for reference?”
“I would’ve prepared them even if you hadn’t asked, Trainer.”
The corners of Mejiro Ardan’s lips curved upward. Her faint smile carried an emotion that was difficult to read as she produced the notebook she’d kept hidden behind her back and handed it to Starlight Trajectory.
“Besides, I won’t need this notebook anymore.”
“This is a huge help! It’ll save me a ton of work!”
Starlight Trajectory, already absorbed in thoughts of Ardan’s training plan, didn’t notice the meaning behind her words. She snatched up the notebook and began reading at once. The vague ideas in her mind quickly began taking shape.
“I still want to take things slow at the start and increase the intensity in stages,” she said, flipping through the pages and committing the changing figures to memory. “You’ve already made your debut, so there’s no need to rush your race schedule now, right?”
“If possible…”
Mejiro Ardan fell silent for a moment, her hand tightening against her chest.
“I want to… compete in the Japanese Derby!”
--+--
“Mano Kaede is… a girl?”
“Trainer is… a girl?”
Oguri Cap and Belno Light cried out in surprise at the same time, though Belno Light looked far more shocked.
“Yep. Trainer said she registered as male back then because of some unusual circumstances.”
Tokai Teio nodded. She’d always thought Starlight Trajectory didn’t seem much like a boy. After all, what kind of boy was that beautiful, had such smooth skin, and felt so soft and smelled so nice?
Still, her identification had listed her as male, and Starlight Trajectory had looked completely flat-chested. That had been enough for Teio to reluctantly accept that her trainer was a boy.
“Seriously… If I’d known, I would’ve clung to Trainer every single day. Then I’d like to see who’d dare make a move on her!”
Tokai Teio grumbled under her breath, looking as though she’d already accepted the truth. Belno Light, however, couldn’t come to terms with it nearly as easily.
Tokai Teio might not have known Mano Kaede before, but Belno certainly had. They were both from Kasamatsu. Mano Kaede had always looked rather delicate, but to say she was actually a woman…
Well, now that Belno thought about it, it wasn’t impossible.
She glanced toward Starlight Trajectory in the distance, who was wearing a pair of nonprescription glasses. Women disguising themselves as men wasn’t exactly rare in novels, so the explanation began to sound believable.
It helped that Mano Kaede had vanished for nearly half a year. Belno Light hadn’t paid much attention to her before that, either, so the past and present images of Mano Kaede gradually blended together in her mind without much resistance.
“No wonder the person I saw that day felt so familiar. It was Trainer Mano Kaede all along!”
Which meant Belno had failed to recognize her while standing right in front of her. How incredibly rude!
Belno Light was soon overwhelmed with embarrassment. Still, so much time had passed that Starlight Trajectory probably hadn’t taken it to heart, and that thought helped her calm down.
As for Oguri Cap, she entered her usual energy-saving mode whenever the subject didn’t interest her.
She stared blankly at the sky for a few seconds, let the thought circle through her mind twice, and then accepted it without issue.
To her, Mano Kaede was Mano Kaede. Her gender didn’t make much difference.
--+--
T/N: Another Starlight Trajectory art.