Chapter 19: Rice Shower Wants to Participate in the Selection Race? (1/2)
For Rice Shower, it was a very ordinary day, surrounded by her usual bad luck, which seemed to have involved another innocent person.
She had recently gone home to visit her parents and was returning to Tokyo by train today. However, just as she got off, an announcement declared that the train service was suspended. The perpetually unlucky Rice Shower instinctively felt it was her fault.
Later, on the bus to school, the bus suddenly got a flat tire. Everyone had to get off. She saw another fellow horse girl dragging a large suitcase and running off in one direction. Feeling that she had burdened the other girl, Rice Shower prayed in her heart, hoping that she would reach her destination without any further accidents.
She didn't know if her prayers had any effect. However, the one good thing that happened to her today was perhaps the news that suddenly livened up the forums, about a trainer named "Kitano Ryuichi."
The first thing that caught her attention was the name itself, a name that gave her a strange feeling she couldn't quite place. As the other Uma Musume in the group chat discussed the name, Rice Shower, after some hesitation, typed out a line with uncertainty.
"Um, Rice... somehow feels like she knows this name..."
The moment she sent it and saw it appear in the chat, she regretted it. Because she didn't actually know any trainer by that name at all. She just felt it was familiar, as if she had heard it many times, long ago.
But the name wasn't particularly special; there were probably many people in Japan with the same name. She just found it familiar and had never met this so-called genius trainer in person.
And sure enough, after she sent the message, before she could even retract it, her head was spinning from a flood of private messages.
They were all from the Uma Musume of Tracen Academy, whose third favorite thing after uma pyoi and winning races was gossip. They all started asking her about Kitano Ryuichi.
"Rice, you know that genius trainer?!"
"How do you know him, Rice? Are you close? Are you going to be his assigned Uma Musume?"
"Rice, can you help me become his charge too? I also want to be the charge of a handsome and talented trainer!"
The barrage of messages was overwhelming for Rice Shower, who was used to being alone. She really wanted to explain that she didn't know him at all, that the name was just familiar.
But, for some reason, as she read the messages, seeing the envy from so many other girls, and their recognition and praise for his talent, her mood lifted. It was as if she had eaten her favorite cake, a sweet feeling lingering in her heart.
It was a strange feeling, wasn't it? The praise wasn't directed at her, but at someone she didn't know, yet she still felt a sense of pride welling up.
Even more, this praise and recognition gave her a "happy," sweet feeling. Even if it was all false, she still felt joyful.
But she knew it was ultimately a lie. The moment the lie was exposed, it would only bring more trouble. So, after enjoying a moment of happiness, she was about to type a reply in the group chat.
But just then, she bumped into Kitano Ryuichi—the very person everyone misunderstood her to know, the rumored genius trainer.
"Eh? Eh—!"
"Y-you're that, Mr. Kitano Ryu—Ow, I bit my tongue! I-I'm sorry!"
Rice Shower had seen his picture on the forum. From the moment he became a celebrity at Tracen, some of his personal information was bound to become public. Of course, it was only basic information, the kind written on the Tracen and Central-certified nameplate on his chest.
Things like a photo, age, and gender. So it wasn't strange that she could recognize him at a glance.
"You don't have to apologize to me, student Rice Shower. Besides, I wasn't looking where I was going either."
Although he was knocked down by a Uma Musume, it wasn't enough to send him to the next loop. He patted his bottom and stood up, once again looking at the terrified Rice Shower who was bowing and apologizing profusely.
It seems Rice is still Rice. Bourbon, King Halo, and Opera O all seemed a bit different from his memories, but Rice was still the Uma Musume he knew best. After all, who wouldn't know their own "little sister"?
Though Ryuichi often missed the days when Rice would follow him around calling him "Onii-sama," if there was any assigned Uma Musume among his many loops that he felt most compatible with, it was her.
The reason was simple. In many ways, Rice was very similar to him. They were both insecure for certain reasons, but they would wholeheartedly encourage others and work hard to meet expectations, never giving up even if their efforts didn't pay off immediately.
Having someone who can scold you back to your senses when you're down might make them your best partner. But more often than not, that's not what people need. They hope for someone who can mutually encourage them.
And for Ryuichi, Rice Shower was that person. One could even say, she was his "salvation."
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