To be honest, Gotham Song rarely found herself in a state of complete speechlessness—so stunned that her thoughts short-circuited.
This was beyond the sky falling; it was like the Three Goddesses descending on motorbikes, casually waving hello after the apocalypse had already begun.
At this exact moment, Gotham Song experienced a very distinct realization:
Ah, so I'm actually pretty famous, huh?
But really, compared to that, this particular situation wasn't all that important, was it?
Looking at Haya Of Star, whose face had flushed a vivid, blood-red color, Gotham Song suddenly found herself no longer so nervous.
Ah, come on now—you should understand this kind of enthusiasm, right? Back when you were still carefree, didn't you fill your own room with things you loved too?
Well, it was never quite this fanatical, but the sentiment was still the same—completely understandable.
It's just this child's affection for you. You should be happy about it, shouldn't you?
Gotham Song silently reassured herself while sitting gently beside Haya Of Star on the bed.
"I-I… um, I…"
"Mm-hm, I'm listening."
What would she say next? She clearly seemed anxious. Gotham Song decided to be patient, offering extra time. After all, this was a meeting between idol and fan, wasn't it?
She gave Haya Of Star an encouraging smile. Perhaps this unexpected warmth granted the young Uma Musume a burst of sudden courage, because she abruptly took a deep breath, squeezed her eyes shut, and shouted loudly—
"G-Gotham Song… I…"
"I like you!"
Huh? Oh, that's what she was going to say. She likes me… Wait a moment—likes me?
Gotham Song's eyes flew open in shock. She couldn't fathom why Haya Of Star would blurt out something like that. Moreover, hadn't she heard similar words before? As if someone else had once confessed the same?
Perhaps realizing her wording had come out oddly, Haya Of Star quickly grabbed Gotham Song's arm in panic.
"I—I-I mean as a fan likes their idol! P-please don't hate me…!"
"No, no, it's alright. I don't mind. I was just caught off-guard."
Oh, that's what she meant.
Realizing this clarified things quickly, and Gotham Song soon regained her composure as the more mature person. With an amused but slightly exasperated smile, she lightly poked Haya Of Star's cheek in gentle punishment, then glanced around the room.
"Did you do all of this yourself?"
Gotham Song indicated the mass of images adorning the walls and ceiling. While some were simple posters and illustrations, many were carefully clipped from magazines.
She could clearly see how painstakingly each image had been cut out, how meticulously arranged everything was. Just looking at it showed how much care and devotion Haya Of Star had poured into this.
To have someone spend this much time and effort for her sake—honestly, Gotham Song felt deeply moved. Moments like this made her glad she'd made the trip.
"Haya City-nee offered to help, but I didn't let her. Everything here was done by me alone. Does it seem… too much? Is it frightening?"
"Too much? Not at all. I'm just amazed—I honestly think it's incredible."
Gotham Song's admiration was genuine. She truly, deeply believed that this was impressive.
Given Haya Of Star's background as part of the prestigious Haya family, her material circumstances naturally weren't lacking. In other words, this bedroom was enormous—nearly comparable to Twilight Song's own room back at Mejiro Manor, or even her New York residence.
Yet, even under these conditions, Haya Of Star had painstakingly transformed nearly half the room by hand. Gotham Song couldn't even imagine how intensely passionate Haya Of Star must have felt to achieve such a feat.
She admitted inwardly that she herself wouldn't have been able to commit to something this deeply.
"When did it all start? Could you tell me?"
"It was… from your final race in your debut year? Of-of course, I went back and watched all your earlier races too! Mm, yeah."
My final race as a debut Uma Musume, huh?
Gotham Song was slightly taken aback by that answer. Reflecting carefully, she grew even more curious.
Back then, hadn't she been desperately concealing her strength, carefully orchestrating victories by only the tiniest of margins? Every race had been exhausting—she had to precisely control her speed to finish just barely ahead.
Honestly, it would've been far easier to unleash her true strength and crush the competition outright. After all, even debut-year Uma Musume could surprise her if she got careless.
"Can you tell me why? Why did you pay attention starting at that race?"
"Ah, y-yes, absolutely! If it's something you wish for, Gotham Song-san, I'll tell you everything!"
Of course she would! At first, Haya Of Star had even doubted her own eyes—her favorite idol appearing suddenly right before her eyes? Such a thing seemed surreal, like a waking dream.
Not to mention, her room was this bizarrely overwhelming shrine dedicated entirely to said idol.
If Gotham Song misunderstood her intentions as obsessively creepy, she'd never recover.
But as for why she started to adore Gotham Song in the first place… How should she describe it?
Maybe… admiration from deep within her heart, mixed with an instinctive yearning?
Even Haya Of Star herself struggled to articulate her feelings, finding them inexplicably complex.
As an un-debuted Uma Musume back then, when she first reviewed Gotham Song's debut races—even the entirety of her debut year—the record seemed awful by normal standards. Beyond repeatedly winning by impossible margins of mere nose-lengths regardless of race conditions, there'd been no obvious brilliance.
Yet, after watching Gotham Song's final debut-year race, a younger, more naïve Haya Of Star experienced a sudden intuition:
This Uma Musume, who hadn't even entered her Classic year yet, was absolutely terrifyingly strong.
Ever since that day, Haya Of Star felt fundamentally changed.
That very night, she found herself racing on an imaginary track. And who was her opponent?
Gotham Song.
In that dream, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't overtake Gotham Song. Strangely enough—no matter what strategy she used, no matter her emotional state, whether she sprinted desperately or crawled forward at a snail's pace—
Gotham Song always finished exactly one nose-length ahead of her.
That dream repeated endlessly all night. When Haya Of Star woke up, the memory remained vivid and clear, planting a bizarre conviction within her mind.
She immediately reviewed all of Gotham Song's race footage in a frenzy. Again and again, she imagined herself as Gotham Song's opponent in those races.
Yet the outcome always matched exactly the results she'd watched.
Was Gotham Song truly weak, never opening a gap during her debut year?
Was that really the truth?
Even then, Haya Of Star began to anticipate something extraordinary. Later, this anticipation blossomed explosively after Gotham Song's breathtaking victory in the Yasuda Kinen.
Within a month afterward, Haya Of Star had completed the transformation of her room—and her own debut race had arrived.
But what was she trying to accomplish exactly?
Embarrassing as it was to admit, Haya Of Star wanted to replicate Gotham Song's entire debut year performance.
She intended to imitate those narrowly-won victories, then spectacularly break out during her Classic year—just like Gotham Song.
Wasn't imitating one's idol the highest expression of admiration? At least, that's how Haya Of Star saw it.
And the result?
Predictably, she failed spectacularly.
Haya Of Star was powerful—extremely powerful, even. She'd almost perfectly replicated Gotham Song's approach. But she lost control of her momentum near the end, miscalculated the distance, and lost her debut race entirely.
That's why she'd locked herself away, unwilling to speak to anyone.
How could she admit something so embarrassing—especially to her family? Afterward, she felt completely unworthy.
If I can't even accomplish that, how can I ever match up to my idol?
After Haya Of Star rapidly spilled out all these thoughts—afraid she'd lose courage later—Gotham Song had only one response:
I don't understand. I can't comprehend. My mind is blown.
Hey, you silly little foal—why did you choose to imitate my worst ideas? You can even predict my running patterns in dreams? Isn't that genius talent completely wasted here?!
Gotham Song's spine prickled with guilt. So part of Haya Of Star's misery was her fault?
But one thing was certain: She had to firmly squash that dangerous idea right now.
So Gotham Song gently pinched Haya Of Star's cheeks until they distorted cutely.
"So you're saying you got depressed because you tried replicating my debut-year concealment strategy and failed?"
"Y-yes…"
"Then promise me—don't do that again. Your next race, August 31st, right? If you promise, I'll come watch it personally."
She leaned closer, wearing a playful yet dominant smile.
"Will you accept, Haya-chan?"
Haya Of Star's face ignited.
"You—you'll come watch me race?"
"Yes, personally. But only if you promise."
"…I'll do it, Gotham Song-san."
Of course she would.
Because Gotham Song will be watching me.