"Tojo-san, I'm here to…"
That afternoon, when Kagura went to report to Trainer Tojo as usual, she found quite a few people in the trainer's office—people who seemed both familiar and not.
Kagura had heard before that Tojo was recruiting new members for the team, but seeing so many people added all at once still surprised her a little. Judging by the newcomers, Kagura guessed none of them had probably reached honkaku yet.
They feel like this year's new students…
The only one among them who seemed relatively mature was Air Groove, who had enrolled earlier. But now that Kagura herself had reached honkaku, even Air Groove, who had not yet done so, looked like a little sister beside her. This was the first time since Kagura's honkaku that she had experienced being treated like a proper senpai.
"Yo, good afternoon, Kagura."
Tojo noticed the movement by the door and temporarily shifted her attention to Kagura, who had just walked in.
The little foals in the office also turned their heads when they heard Kagura's name. In an instant, Kagura was surrounded by shocked, delighted, and curious gazes.
"Good afternoon, Tojo-san. Are these little ones…?"
Although Kagura was curious about the little foals, she still greeted Tojo first.
"They're all children who just entered the Elementary Division this year. They heard about our team's reputation and came because of it. You probably haven't been paying much attention to school matters lately, have you?"
"Ah… That's true…"
Kagura had been especially busy lately, so she really had not had the energy to pay attention to school affairs. Judging from Tojo's smile, though, it probably was not anything bad.
"First Maruzensky, then Rudolf, then you, Kagura… Our team has already produced several well-known professional runners in a row. Not long ago, in a poll on the school forum, our team received far more votes than any other team… That's the gist of it. Since it also happens to be the end of the year and everyone has some free time, we opened our training grounds so students could come take a look. So, as you can see, this is the situation."
Tojo's smile seemed more relaxed and gratified than usual, and there even seemed to be a hint of gratitude in her eyes.
"Oh~ So that's how it is. Hello, kouhai~"
Kagura nodded and smiled as she greeted the little ones.
"Kagura… Are you Kagura-senpai?"
"Wow! It's the real Kagura-senpai!"
"She's even prettier than she is on TV!"
The little foals gathered curiously around Kagura, reminding her of when she had gone to an elementary school to give children health checkups and ended up surrounded by curious kids.
"Hehe, looks like I'm unexpectedly popular~ What did everyone come here to do today?"
"We wanted to visit Rigil's training grounds! I didn't think we'd get to meet Kagura-senpai!"
"Kagura-senpai, can you sign something for me? Just sign my clothes!"
"Sure~"
...
Looking at the lively little ones around her, Kagura felt her mood brighten quite a bit. While she was at it, she took a pen from the office and signed a few of their clothes.
When she had become an Umamusume, she had never imagined there would come a day when she would be surrounded by a group of kouhai, all looking at her with such admiring eyes. Seeing that Kagura seemed to be enjoying looking after the children, Tojo did not disturb her for the time being and began chatting with the new recruits joining the team.
More than half an hour later, the group of little ones finally left Rigil's office fully satisfied. After seeing them off, Kagura came back and only then noticed that there were still several Umamusume in the office.
"Long time no see, Air Groove. Since you're here today, does that mean… you've already passed Tojo-san's test?"
Kagura first looked toward Air Groove, who was standing off to the side and had not yet started talking with Tojo. She remembered that Tojo had mentioned not long ago that Air Groove wanted to join the team. The reason Air Groove had come to Rigil was very simple, at least as far as Kagura knew: she believed her ideals aligned with Rudolf's and wanted to follow Rudolf, so she had tried submitting an application to join the team to Tojo.
"That is correct, Kagura-senpai. I am now an official member of Team Rigil. I look forward to your guidance from now on!"
As she spoke, the ever-serious Air Groove stood and bowed to Kagura, her senpai.
Kagura quickly stood as well and helped Air Groove back up. Air Groove, who had not yet reached honkaku, was still quite a bit shorter than her. After helping her up, Kagura gently patted her shoulder and smiled at her.
"Hehe~ Welcome to the team, Air Groove. From now on, we'll be teammates training together~ Right, those people over there still talking with Tojo-san…"
"They are also students who intend to join the team. Since everyone happened to be free today, we came to meet Trainer Tojo together."
Kagura looked at the few Umamusume over there. The ones sitting in front of Tojo were all brown-haired Umamusume, the sort commonly seen at Tracen. One of them was only slightly shorter than Kagura, and she spoke with a lively, enthusiastic air that felt somewhat foreign. Her strange accent, mixing Japanese with odd English, also largely confirmed Kagura's guess. She had probably indeed returned from overseas.
There was another slightly shorter Umamusume who had barely spoken during the conversation. She simply sat quietly to the side with a smile, occasionally adding a word or two. Seeing how this Umamusume kept such a proper sitting posture the entire time, Kagura could tell she had learned Japanese etiquette quite well. Kagura felt she was probably a local girl from a well-bred family.
And there was one Umamusume wearing a mask. Among these people, she stood out the most. That mask always reminded Kagura of the legendary Bull Warrior who never took off his mask. Kagura did not know whether this Umamusume also wore her mask at all times like the Bull Warrior, but judging from the fact that she was still wearing it even while meeting the trainer, she probably wore that mask quite often in daily life.
What energetic young people… Speaking of which, Air Groove said these children haven't reached honkaku yet? Those two little Umamusume aside… that tall one seems to be called Taiki Shuttle? Isn't she way too tall?! Is this what foreigners are like?!
Every time Kagura saw these tall foreign Umamusume, she could not help wondering whether her own bloodline was really pure. Clearly, in terms of blood, she was European too, yet her height was not that different from Japanese Umamusume. She truly could not understand it.
Putting body size aside for now, Kagura looked toward the final little Umamusume, who had been sitting a little farther away since earlier, silent and saying nothing, not taking the initiative to approach. This little Umamusume's build looked much more normal. Her bright chestnut hair made Kagura feel as if she were looking at a carrot sitting there.
Unlike the other Umamusume, whose attention was mostly on Tojo as they chatted with her, this little Umamusume's attention had been on Kagura the entire time. The reason Kagura noticed her was also because she felt that gaze watching her.
When Kagura looked at her, a hint of panic appeared on the little Umamusume's face. She quickly turned her head and averted her eyes, but every now and then, she would turn back to sneak another glance.
"Sorry, Air Groove. I'll excuse myself for a moment."
"It is all right, Kagura-senpai. Please do what you wish to do. I will take the chance to familiarize myself with this place."
After telling Air Groove she would step away for a moment, Kagura got up and walked toward the little Umamusume who had been sitting a short distance from the crowd. She sat down in the chair beside her. Kagura could tell that the instant she approached and sat down, the little Umamusume trembled as if she had been startled. She seemed very nervous.
"Hello~ Kiddo. Are you also a new member joining Rigil?"
"Mm… Mm! Ah… Y-yes."
The little Umamusume opened her mouth and answered haltingly.
Kagura reached out, placed a hand on the little Umamusume's shoulder, and gently patted it before softly stroking her head.
"Are you afraid of people? You don't need to be so nervous. Everyone is easy to talk to."
The little Umamusume's ears twitched. She timidly raised her head to look at Kagura, then lowered it again as if hiding, answering in a very small voice.
"N-no… I'm not. I… I just… got nervous because I met Kagura-senpai."
"Eh? Because of me?"
The little Umamusume's answer left Kagura rather confused. She felt that she should not look like someone difficult to talk to.
Perhaps realizing that her previous answer might make the senpai she admired so much misunderstand, the little Umamusume quickly shook her head again. She raised her head to look at Kagura and hurriedly added:
"Ah… n-no… I don't mean Kagura-senpai is scary! Kagura-senpai is very gentle and kind! I… I really admire Kagura-senpai! I've gone to watch every one of Kagura-senpai's races. The way you look on the track, senpai… is so cool! I… I yearn for it! I respect you so much!"
Phew… So she's my fan. I thought I'd somehow been infected by Rudolf and become hard to approach without realizing it…
After taking some time to listen to the little Umamusume's answer, Kagura finally breathed a sigh of relief. She had thought that after spending too much time with Rudolf, she might have unconsciously picked up something from her. Kagura had originally been correcting Rudolf's habit, so she certainly did not want to be assimilated by Rudolf first.
Since she had confirmed that the other girl was not nervous because she was afraid of her, Kagura decided to act a little more approachable. If this little one stayed that tense the whole time, it would not be good for Kagura either. She moved her chair a little closer to the shy little Umamusume, took a few milk candies from the pocket of her school uniform, reached over to the little Umamusume's hand, and carefully placed the candies in her palm.
"Eh…?"
The little Umamusume let out a bewildered sound and raised her head to look at Kagura with surprise in her eyes.
"Milk candies. They taste really good~ Today's meeting was so sudden that I didn't have time to prepare anything, so consider this a greeting gift~"
Kagura smiled, gently took the little Umamusume's small hand and closed it around the candies, then spoke softly.
Keeping some milk candies on her at all times was a habit Kagura had developed not long ago. Mainly, a while back, when she was shopping online, she had accidentally bought a huge pile of milk candies. So lately, whenever she went out, she would always carry some with her. When she felt sleepy, she would take one out and toss it into her mouth to chew. That sweet, silky sense of happiness could always wake Kagura up quickly, which counted as an unexpected discovery.
The little Umamusume stared at Kagura's smile and froze there as if dazed. Only after quite a while did she come back to herself and speak in fits and starts.
"Thank you, Kagura-senpai…"
Ah, what an obedient, adorable child~
Kagura could not help raising her hand and petting the little Umamusume's head. The little Umamusume did not resist Kagura's affectionate gesture. Instead, she even seemed to enjoy it, narrowing her eyes and letting Kagura's hand stroke her head. Her ears and tail twitched happily.
"No need to thank me~ Right, kiddo, you already know my name, but I still don't know yours. What's your name?"
"My name is… Silence Suzuka. P-please look after me!"
...
[Urban Ocean]:How did it go, Galileo? Did your operation go smoothly?
Lying in her hotel room, Galileo received the DM that appeared right on time every night.
[Galileo]:Smoothly enough. Miss Kagura did not show any resistance. From the looks of it, she should have some interest in coming to Europe. I just do not know what decision her trainer and guardian will make.
The exchange with Kagura not long ago had been fairly pleasant. Faced with Galileo's invitation, Kagura had not shown any particularly obvious refusal. If anything, she had seemed a little interested in continuing to discuss it in greater depth. Galileo felt that her invitation still had a very good chance.
[Urban Ocean]:That's good. I was worried you might mess things up. But Miss Kagura has such a gentle personality. If you still managed to ruin this, once you came back, I'd have to learn from how Secretariat locked up Seattle and lock you away for a few days too.
[Galileo]:Which is why I said I'm not Seattle. No need to worry about me making things as stiff as she did. Secretariat is probably having a terrible headache over there right now.]
[Urban Ocean]:I remember you said you invited her to come over and stay for a while, until she finishes the Triple Crown races, correct? I remember your school recruited quite a few new students this year. Are there still empty rooms in the dorms? You should be thinking about arrangements now. Don't wait until she actually arrives before starting to panic.
[Galileo]:Yes, yes, yes…
Faced with her parent's nagging, which she had long since grown used to, Galileo could only smile helplessly. She felt that, in this respect, Kagura and her parent were somehow subtly similar. At least, that was the impression Galileo had gotten from their conversation that day.
Goodness… I hope Miss Kagura accepts my invitation. A narrow place like this is ultimately not suited to Miss Kagura.
...
——Wow, what an adorable child. She's called Silence Suzuka, right? She's quiet and well-behaved, just like her name!
Right! She's so good!
——She feels like a child you'll get along with very well~ And she's even your loyal fan! Eh, let me pet her too! I want to pet her!
Eclipse-san, don't waste your power on something like that!
---
T/N: team rigil is formingggggggg...... also silence suzuka......
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