"I'm hooooome!!"
Flinging the door wide open, she spun into the room with a playful twirl. In that instant, every eye in the room locked onto her.
One gaze held excitement; another, deep emotion; yet another, sheer delight. A torrent of feelings erupted all at once. Her absence had been a heavy burden, the loneliness so acute that some had even hallucinated seeing her.
But those days were over. As if to prove it, one horse girl executed a perfect start dash and tackled her in a hug.
"Raaaan~! I was so lonely! I missed you so muuuuch!!"
"Onee-samaaaa...!!"
"Senpaaaai~!!!"
Turbo, Rice, and Dragoon. These three, who adored Rampage with a particularly heavy intensity—viewing her as a master, a sister, and an idol—had been especially despondent during her absence. Hugging the three of them as they teared up, they only clung tighter.
While she savored the feeling of a father returning from a business trip, Ikuno looked on with a gentle expression, Nature smiled softly, and Tannhauser beamed cheerfully.
"Welcome back, Rampage-san. Shall I brew some tea?"
"We might as well have some dorayaki with it. The lady at the shopping district gave me some~."
"We have lots of other snacks too!!"
They tried to act as if everything was normal, but their eyes were watery with unshed tears. They were rivals and teammates, yes, but the loneliness had been real. The younger students were no different.
"Waaaaah! Senpaiii!! I, I, I was so moved I couldn't see straight anymore!!"
"You're seriously amazing, Senpai!! That was the greatest one-on-one fight ever!!"
"Thank you so much for your hard work... Um, if it's not a bother, I'd love to hear about the Arc..."
"R-Rampage-san... W-W-Welcome back!!!"
The junior with the crying habit hadn't changed; the one who loved duels was thrilled by her achievements; the Sakura junior was happy but politely eager for stories; and the future Empress, though shy, offered her congratulations with the brightest smile she could muster.
Rampage knew exactly how to respond to them, but not yet...
She lifted her head. There, standing with his usual calm demeanor and a smile that hadn't changed a bit, was her partner—the best trainer in the world.
"Welcome back, Rampage-san."
"Yeah, Minami-chan. I brought back a souvenir, just like I promised. Though it turned out a little fancier than expected."
"I never heard a word about you challenging the BC Classic. And you call a World Record 'a little fancy'? ...Well, I suppose that is very like you."
As expected, he understood everything about her. It wasn't that Sue-chan's trainer—refined, understanding, and flexible—had been bad. But for Rampage, Minami was simply the best. In terms of understanding and trust, Sue-chan couldn't beat him.
"Oh right. I brought a guest along. Is that cool?"
"A guest? Yes, of course. Who might it be?"
"Oi! You can come in!"
"Yeah—Long time no see, Minami... If you were training someone this interesting, you should've told me sooner, you bastard."
"Well, well... It has been a long time, Sunday Silence-san. Welcome to Canopus."
"Eh? Wait, you guys know each other?"
"Hey, hey! Run with Turbo later!! Look at Turbo run!!"
"Hmph~? What is it, Short-stack? You wanna take me on?"
"I'm not a Short-stack!! Turbo has a super cool, explosive name: Twin Turbo!!"
"Hah! You got guts, kid. If you want me to change what I call you, try beating me."
"You said it~!!?"
"W-Wait a second, Turbo... Um, here is some green tea. And some dorayaki to go with it."
"Yeah. Green tea, huh... For something with such a dark color, unlike those American sweets, this doesn't taste like chemicals at all. Why is that?"
Having welcomed Sunday Silence into the Canopus clubroom, they decided to hold a casual tea party. Despite being a horse girl who had torn up the American racing scene, Sunday seemed taken with Turbo, who approached her fearlessly. She let Turbo sit on her lap and even promised to run with her.
While watching this, Rampage set up the trophies she had brought back. The team directed a mix of awe, shock, and longing toward the brilliantly shining overseas G1 trophies.
"So t-these... these are the overseas G1 trophies Rampage-san won...!!"
"Gets the blood pumping, doesn't it...? I'd love to try an overseas challenge myself!!"
"The Arc...!"
Here were the proofs of victory that Japanese horse girls had always dreamed of, yet never could touch—or even see up close. Just looking at them gave them goosebumps. It made them desperate to run, right this second.
"By the way, Minami-chan. You knew Sunday-san?"
"I wouldn't say we were close friends... I had interactions with the trainer who was in charge of Sunday Silence-san. We knew each other through that connection."
It seemed to be one of the connections from when he was looking after Unbridled; Sunday's trainer was part of that network. Apparently, Sunday didn't dislike Minami either. According to her, she judged him not by rumors, but by looking at his data and meeting him face-to-face.
"Moving to Japan, though... You are as unconventional as ever."
"My trainer and the Chief both signed off on it. Being independent isn't a bad thing."
"Well, that is certainly one way to put it..."
But in truth, Sunday Silence likely couldn't live a satisfying life in America anymore. For someone who had completely given up on that country, staying there was meaningless. That was why she chose to live in a new land. This time, she would live her own life, on her own terms.
As if to signal the first step of that new life, she dumped Turbo off her lap, took a deep breath, and shouted:
"Well, for now—Oi, you little brats!! How long do you plan on chasing this one's ass?! You think you'll be satisfied with that? You're a hundred years too early!
Yeah, you're a team. But get it through your heads: you are also rivals living in the ultimate environment! Understand that!!
You're in a place where you can grasp everything about the opponent you need to beat—her data, her form, her training routine, her tendencies! Everything! Use it!
All of you, get to the track! I'm gonna whip you into shape!! If you're a coward, stay here. Only those with guts, follow me!"
The shout was explosive, dripping with bloodlust. Everyone froze for an instant—especially Rice, who was currently being hugged on Rampage's lap. But Rice's eyes sharpened faster than anyone else's, and she glared back at Sunday.
Seeing that, Sunday smirked, seemingly amused, and kicked the door open.
"Turbo's going~!! Hey wait, Sunday!!"
"I will go as well. I cannot sit back after being told that."
"Even Nature-san... can't stay quiet after hearing that, huh?"
"M-Me too!!"
One by one, they announced their intent. Sunday's language was rough, but her logic was sound. They were in the best possible environment. Utilizing it was fine. But they were rivals, and that meant they still had to defeat Rampage.
"Ughhh... I'm going too!! The unworthy Dragoon Lance will go borrow Sunday Silence's chest for training!!"
"I'm going too! A horse girl's name would rot if she didn't move after that speech!!"
"Agreed. I'm going!!"
"I'll go too! If I want to reach that stage someday, I have to work hard today!!"
"M-Me too!!"
Watching them stream out of the clubroom, Rampage felt happy that a fire had been lit under them. Because of that, she knew she had to release Rice from her lap...
As she loosened her arms, Rice turned back and hugged her tightly one more time.
"Onee-sama. Watch the Kikuka-sho. Rice... is going to win."
With those words, Rice left the room.
Rampage hadn't expected the usually timid Rice to make such a bold declaration. She was momentarily stunned, but soon her chest warmed with the realization: She's grown up.
The Kikuka-sho... What kind of race would it be? She could only look forward to it.
"While you were away, Rampage-san, the one who was most lonely was Rice-san. But she knew that if she stayed trembling in her loneliness, she would only worry you, and you would only comfort her again. She didn't want to rely on that sweetness, so she worked desperately hard."
"She's really grown up... Big sister is happy..."
Her opponent was the undefeated double-crown winner, the Child of the Slopes, the cyborg raised by the Dragon of Tracen: Mihono Bourbon.
The Kikuka-sho... Just what kind of race would it be?
...
"Still, what is Sunday-san actually going to do here?"
"The Chairwoman mentioned that since she can teach theoretical approaches quite well, having her act as an 'Aggressor' in training would be an option."
"This isn't military training... Wait, can she even run on turf?"
"She can run on it just fine. She only ran dirt in America because it gets more attention there."
"(Well, considering her offspring, I guess it's impossible to think she has no aptitude for turf...)"
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