"Eh?" Tazuna Hayakawa looked surprised. "Mr. Kitahara, are you saying, someone like Opera O and Meisho Doto?"
"That's right."
Kitahara nodded, not hiding his "ambition" in the slightest. "I consider myself to have outstanding talent — the talent of a trainer."
"I also believe that through both talent and hard work, I can bring a better future not only to the Uma Musumes, but even to the entire Uma Musume world."
"To achieve that, I need to train as many outstanding girls as possible, to gain more resources and influence."
"Most of the current or next-generation horse girls already have their own trainers. I don't want to hand Oguri Cap to someone else, and if I think about it from others' perspective, they probably feel the same way."
"So, I want to look further ahead and raise… huh?"
Kitahara suddenly stopped his self-revelation, looking at Tazuna Hayakawa with great surprise.
Because, unless his eyes were deceiving him, he had just seen a glimmer of moisture flash across this woman's eyes.
But he wasn't entirely sure. Stunned for a moment, he hesitantly spoke:
"…Uh, Ms. Hayakawa, are you all right…?"
"…Ah, I'm fine. I just feel that… Mr. Kitahara, you'll definitely achieve your dream."
Slightly lowering her head, she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. When she looked back up and spoke those words, Tazuna Hayakawa's expression was back to her usual gentle calm, as if nothing had happened just now.
"It's just that a horse girl like Opera O doesn't belong to Central. Meeting her isn't a problem, but recruiting her might have to wait until later."
"But I believe Mr. Kitahara will definitely have that kind of patience."
"Ah, the train's almost at the station. It's still early — why don't we talk about this later at my house? I can also draft a few campus-visit applications."
…
["That way leads to the Kyoto Racecourse."
"Ah, you are…?"
"Just an ordinary auntie passing by… mind if I sit next to you?"
"Mm-hmm, please go ahead… ah, um…"
"What's the matter?"
"The Kyoto Racecourse… right now is the final race of the Classic Triple Crown, the Kikuka Sho, right?"
"Mm… could it be that your goal is to win the Triple Crown?"
"That's right! But, for now, my top priority is to win the Tokyo Derby!"
"Assuming you'll win the first leg of the Triple Crown, the Satsuki Sho, and aiming straight for the Japanese Derby? Such amazing ambition — I'm really looking forward to seeing your future performance… Oh, I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm a teacher at the nearby Yushun Kindergarten. You can call me Auntie Hayakawa or Teacher Hayakawa."
"Teacher… but teacher doesn't look that old. Can I call you big sister?"
"Of course you can."
"Then, Big Sister Hayakawa, when it's time for me to go to kindergarten, can I go to yours?"
"For you… maybe not."
"Eh? Why not…"
"Just kidding. You're so exceptional, of course you can go wherever you like. It's just that, I might not be a teacher much longer."
"Not a teacher anymore…?"
"Mm, because what I really want to do is be a trainer. Of course, if I still get the chance to shoot a few films, that would be even better."
"Films…"
"Mm, when I was about your age, I had a dream — to make Uma Musume movies, to let more people know the charm of Uma Musume."
"Wow! That's such an amazing dream!"
"You're not bad either. At such a young age, you already have the incredible dream of becoming a Triple Crown horse girl… Oh right, I haven't asked your name yet?"
"Me? I'm called…"]
Riiiiing—
An old alarm clock let out a somewhat hoarse, strange sound, dutifully waking up its master.
On the bed next to the alarm clock, from within a pale-green quilt stretched out a slender arm.
After turning off the alarm, the owner of the arm slowly sat up, revealing a tall, graceful figure in pale-green pajamas.
Next to the alarm clock sat a stopwatch, just as old-fashioned as the clock itself, clearly broken — its surface screen had a few cracks.
The strange thing was, there were still digits showing on the screen.
06:20.
She picked up the stopwatch and quietly stared at the numbers for a moment, a trace of sorrow appearing in her expression.
Putting the stopwatch back, she picked up the item next to it — a goose-yellow gauze scarf.
Taking the scarf with her, she went to the washroom, washed up, prepared breakfast, ate, changed clothes, did her hair.
Then she put on the goose-yellow headscarf.
Ding-dong—
The doorbell rang.
She walked to the door and opened it.
Outside stood a young man, an apologetic smile on his face, with two excited horse girls behind him.
"Sorry, Ms. Hayakawa." Scratching his head, the young man looked helpless. "Oguri Cap and Belno Light were too excited — they woke up early, wanting to visit the Central Academy. Sorry to trouble you to guide us."
Tazuna Hayakawa smiled gently. "You're too polite, Mr. Kitahara. This is part of my job. Please, come with me."
"Eh?" Kitahara was surprised. "We can go now?"
"Of course." As she spoke, Tazuna Hayakawa stepped outside, closing the door behind her. "I already applied with the committee last night."
"Although I didn't mention Mr. Kitahara's or Oguri Cap's or Belno Light's results, it's quite common for local trainers to come for visits. Since I applied last night, it should have been approved this morning. I'll take you there right now."
Seeing how thorough Tazuna Hayakawa's arrangements were, Kitahara felt admiration — and also some warmth.
Because he couldn't help but think of Kasamatsu Academy. While the staff there were nice enough, they carried the typical local inefficiency — things never got done swiftly.
"If every local place had someone as capable as Tazuna Hayakawa," Kitahara thought with a bitter smile, "why would I even bother taking the Central exam…"
Just as Tazuna Hayakawa had said, after taking the subway to the Academy, it didn't take much effort to get permission to tour. At her suggestion, she herself acted as their guide.
"Well then, where would you three like to start the tour? Or should I arrange it?" Coming out from the busy Academy Council early that morning, Tazuna Hayakawa asked with a cheerful smile.
Kitahara actually hadn't planned much. With the memories from before he crossed over, he already knew a bit about Central Tracen Academy, so he turned to ask Oguri Cap and Belno Light what they thought.
The two horse girls were clearly invested in the idea of the tour and had already made plans.
"The cafeteria, is that okay?"
"I want to see the research institute first."
…Answers perfectly in line with their personalities…
Kitahara silently complained, a bit awkwardly glancing at Tazuna Hayakawa, worried that giving two different destinations might trouble her.
Tazuna Hayakawa thought for a while. "Then let's go to the cafeteria first, then the research institute — that would be more convenient. What do you three think?"
"…No big problem. If I had to say something," Kitahara rubbed his forehead and looked at Oguri Cap, "Oguri Cap, are you going to the cafeteria to eat?"
"Of course not."
Oguri Cap immediately shook her head. "I ate quite a bit this morning, so I just wanted to take a look…"
Guuuuu—
"…Sorry, I'm kind of hungry. I actually only ate about seventy percent full this morning."
"…I knew it."
Kitahara smiled bitterly and shook his head, while Belno Light covered her mouth, giggling. "Oguri Cap's appetite is as impressive as ever."
Watching the three interact, Tazuna Hayakawa didn't quite understand, but she maintained her gentle smile.
"Eating a lot isn't a bad thing at all."
She made a comment completely unaware of the "rice-devouring king." "Compared to eating a lot, eating too little is more worrying. There are some horse girls at the Academy who eat very little, and we worry whether they'll have enough energy for training and racing…"
"Ah, pardon me — let's walk and talk. This way, please." She smoothly changed the topic, stepping aside and gesturing politely.
Heading toward the cafeteria, Kitahara didn't think much of it and casually picked up on Tazuna Hayakawa's topic:
"Are there Uma Musume at the Academy who don't eat properly?"
"Of course there are. This semester there was a girl who had just debuted — when she first came to the Academy, for some reason she barely ate. If the other horse girls hadn't noticed and urged her to eat, I'm afraid even now she'd still be eating very little."
Tazuna Hayakawa sighed. "And her trainer too — with such a small body, how could they not make sure she eats? Maybe if she had eaten a lot from the beginning like Oguri Cap, she would have grown taller by now."
…A small girl who doesn't like eating? Why does that sound so familiar?
Kitahara froze. Oguri Cap seemed to have the same thought, blurting out, "Is it Tama-chan?"
Tazuna Hayakawa's eyes widened in surprise. "Huh? Tama-chan? You mean Tamamo Cross? You know that kid?"
…Of course. Kitahara smiled bitterly to himself.
Belno Light also looked shocked. "What a coincidence — the one Ms. Hayakawa mentioned turned out to be Tama-chan…"
"Ah, here's what happened. A few days ago we just happened to run into Tama-chan at Kasamatsu Station. We chatted all the way, and now I guess we're friends." she explained to Tazuna Hayakawa.
"That really is quite the coincidence." Tazuna pressed her palms together against her cheek, smiling gently and tilting her head slightly. "Then let's head to the cafeteria a bit faster — we might run into Tamamo Cross. You can have a proper chat."
"Really?!" Oguri Cap and Belno Light both lit up with excitement.
Oguri Cap even instinctively ran two steps ahead, then quickly remembered she didn't know the way, scratched her head, and came back. "Th-then… sorry to trouble you to lead the way, Ms. Hayakawa."
"Mm!"
Smiling, Tazuna Hayakawa quickened her pace, her speaking speed picking up as well. "Now that I think about it, it's funny — Tamamo Cross used to eat very little, but actually her appetite is quite big, so every meal took her a long time to finish."
"Oh right, I mentioned earlier that Tamamo Cross only started eating properly thanks to another horse girl who kept urging her. That horse girl also has quite the appetite. Maybe if we get there now, we'll see both of them together."
Following three women with superhuman stamina, Kitahara was feeling a bit out of breath, staying quiet for a while so he wouldn't get a stitch.
But something Tazuna Hayakawa had said just now reminded him of some of the original setting. He couldn't help asking:
"Ms. Hayakawa, that other horse girl you mentioned — does she… does she have any distinctive traits?"
He already had an image in his mind, just not fully certain yet.
"Traits? Now that you mention it, she does."
Even while running, Tazuna Hayakawa's breathing stayed perfectly steady, and her words were clear. "Although they both enrolled this year, that horse girl looks a lot more mature than Tamamo Cross. When they eat together, how should I put it…"
"Ah — it feels like a mother having a meal with her daughter."
"Oh, right, her name is…"
"Super Creek — such a cute name, and she's a very cute girl too."
That name "Super Creek" has other translations — the ones Kitahara had in mind, "Super Stream" or "Super Brook," all with roughly the same meaning.
His inner thoughts overlapped with Tazuna Hayakawa's words. Kitahara was a little surprised — but not because the horse girl turned out to be Super Creek.
He already knew some small details from the original material.
Just as Tazuna Hayakawa described, in the original setting, Super Creek was mature — or rather, overflowing with "motherly" traits, often taking care of other horse girls.
In the game, her story arc involved making curry for the others. Once the event was completed, the player would receive the "Gold-quality" skill "Swinging Maestro," which was the best stamina-recovery skill during the first two years of the game — practically a must-pick for every player.
And in the 4-panel comics, just as Tazuna Hayakawa said, Super Creek encountered Tamamo Cross, who "wasn't eating properly," and her motherly instincts exploded — she went full-on "feeding play" mode.
With that detail in mind, Kitahara could more or less guess ahead of time that it was Super Creek. What surprised him was something else.
Like Oguri Cap, Super Creek was also born in 1985, and their debuts were around the same period — though in a way, hers was even more difficult.
Born the same year, Oguri Cap had already debuted successfully in May 1987, whereas Super Creek, due to diarrhea problems, only barely claimed her maiden win on December 26, 1987 — over half a year later.
The years in this world didn't match those of the other world, but the dates lined up exactly: Oguri Cap debuted on May 19 this year, today was October 8, so…
Super Creek hasn't debuted yet?!Kitahara's heart surged with excitement.
Super Creek is a genius on par with Oguri Cap!
These two horse girls' real-life counterparts, along with another prodigy, Inari One, were known in the previous world as the "Heisei Big Three"! They even had the title "Eternal Big Three" in the original story!
Never mind Inari One for now — Oguri Cap was currently 10 races, 10 wins. But in the future, if she were to go head-to-head with Super Creek, Kitahara had no guarantee of victory.
Because whether in reality, the game, or the anime, Super Creek was the absolute queen of long-distance races.
There was a classic example.
In the 1989 G2 Kyoto Daishoten, without rivals Oguri Cap or Inari One in the field, Super Creek won easily. Though it looked like she was only three-quarters of a length ahead of second place, her jockey stated in interviews that she still had plenty of energy left even after winning.
Although Kyoto Daishoten was technically a middle-distance race, it was already 2400 meters — very close to a long-distance event.
Moreover, every race in which Super Creek triumphed over Oguri Cap and Inari One had been mid-to-long distance.
Even though in the other world, Super Creek's specialty was middle-to-long distance, maybe here, I can help her unlock even greater potential.
And Oguri Cap and Super Creek are geniuses of the same tier. Training together wouldn't just be 1+1=2 — the synergy would surely be even stronger!
Tamamo Cross already has a trainer, so she can be set aside for now — but Super Creek hasn't debuted yet! If I don't recruit her now, when will I?!
In almost an instant, Kitahara made up his mind — he had to seize this once-in-a-lifetime chance.
…All right, I'll just find a chance to be upfront about it. I've already learned it's best to be honest with horse girls. Kitahara settled on that plan.
While Kitahara was quietly deep in thought, Tazuna Hayakawa was happily chatting with Oguri Cap and Belno Light, sharing funny stories about Tamamo Cross and Super Creek.
"…When Super Creek saw Tamamo Cross not eating properly, she got really anxious," Tazuna Hayakawa said with a laugh. "So, she picked up a spoon and tried to feed Tamamo Cross herself."
"From what the other horse girls said, Tamamo Cross got embarrassed right away, promising over and over that she'd eat properly from now on. Only then did Super Creek let it go."
"But still, probably out of worry, from that day on, whenever they're at the Academy, Super Creek always goes to eat with Tamamo Cross. She must still be worried she won't eat properly."
Even though he already remembered these details, Kitahara still listened with interest, while Oguri Cap and Belno Light, who knew nothing of it, laughed out loud.
"I see. From the sound of it, Super Creek is a lot like my mom. When I couldn't move around easily as a child, my mom also fed me meals." With a warm smile, Oguri Cap's face took on a look of fond recollection.
"Huh? Oguri Cap couldn't move around easily before?" Tazuna Hayakawa was surprised.
"That's right," Belno Light explained, her face full of emotion. "I remember back then, her right knee muscles were stiff — she couldn't even stand up."
"Mm. That's why I'm so grateful to my mom for helping me stand, for helping me run," Oguri Cap nodded hard, then looked at Kitahara, "and to Kitahara, for helping me win so many races."
"Right! Mr. Kitahara has helped Oguri a lot — of course, he's helped me a lot too!" Belno Light nodded again and again.
Seeing the topic turn to praise for himself, Kitahara didn't feel proud.
After all, just yesterday he had deeply realized at Dr. Kokobu's clinic how much he still had to learn — otherwise, little by little, he'd be unable to keep up with his horse girls.
Oguri Cap's running talent was already shining brightly, and Belno Light's technical skills had produced top results in the staff training exams.
Faced with such geniuses, pride would only halt progress; humility and diligence were the right attitude to have now.
So Kitahara casually steered the topic away:
"Speaking of which, are we there yet? That building up ahead looks like the cafeteria." He pointed ahead.
"Ah, yes, that's it…"
Tazuna Hayakawa looked forward — her eyes suddenly lit up, and the smile on her face grew even brighter.
"Hey— Tamamo Cross, Super Creek! Could you come over for a moment?"