Huh?
What do you mean, "what should I do"?
Wait, yeah, Tamamo Cross… what are you even doing here?
Kitahara suddenly realized, a bit late, that he and Oguri Cap and Belno Light were temporarily staying at Tazuna's place, while Tamamo Cross and Super Creek normally stayed in the dorms.
Super Creek's situation was fine — with Tazuna's help, her long leave had already been approved. Kitahara could bring her back to Kasamatsu for training, and by January when she enrolled in the Central Academy, everything could proceed in the standard training routine. No problem there.
But Tamamo Cross… what was going on with her?
It was already almost dinnertime, yet she wasn't at the academy — and instead she'd followed them to Tazuna's house?
If she went back late, wouldn't they treat her like some suspicious Uma Musume and lock her out?
Questions filled his mind, and when he saw Tamamo Cross now looking all shocked, as if she really didn't want him and Oguri to leave, Kitahara didn't know where to start asking.
Just then, the kitchen door opened.
"Sorry to keep everyone waiting. Based on the portions you mentioned, I've made plenty for tonight's meal… Oh? Mr. Kitahara, you and Creek are back."
It was Tazuna who came out. She wasn't in her usual green office suit but in a light goose-yellow home outfit.
She clearly liked emerald green and goose yellow — even when dressed professionally, she never forgot to tie a goose-yellow ribbon in her hair.
"Ah, yeah, we're back."
Answering absentmindedly, Kitahara instinctively pointed at Tamamo Cross and asked Tazuna, "This kid doesn't need to return to the dorm today? If I'm not mistaken, wouldn't it be a problem if she got back late?"
"Eh? Little Tama? It's fine."
Tazuna smiled. "She said she's been feeling a bit stressed at the academy lately and wanted to take a little break, just like Creek."
"So, I talked to Nihon Pillow and Miho— Creek and Tama are staying here tonight. They were totally fine with it."
"…Nihon Pillow? Miho?"
The names sounded familiar to Kitahara, but he hadn't heard the full names. He couldn't place them right away, but he was sure they were probably quite famous racehorse girls.
"Huh? Mr. Kitahara doesn't know?"
Tazuna looked surprised. "It's Nihon Pillow Winner and Miho Shinzan. They're the dorm leaders for Ritto and Miho, respectively."
Now Kitahara understood.
Nihon Pillow Winner — a famous horse born in 1980, with 26 races, 16 wins, 3 seconds, representing victories in the Nanbu Cup and Yasuda Kinen.
Miho Shinzan — born in 1982, with 16 races, 9 wins, 1 second, representing victories in the Satsuki Shō, Kikuka Shō, and Spring Tennō Shō.
In the original work, the dorm leaders for Ritto and Miho should've been Fuji Kiseki and Hishi Amazon.
But those horses were born in 1992 and 1991, which meant that, like Opera O and Meisho Doto, they were still little kids now — far too young for dorm leader positions. Clearly, putting such young horse girls in charge wouldn't make sense.
By contrast, Nihon Pillow Winner and Miho Shinzan being current dorm leaders was perfectly logical.
By age, they were in the same generation as Symboli Rudolf and the student council members.
By experience, they had competed and won in various classic races. As dorm leaders, they could competently handle the students' training, daily life, racing schedules, and studies.
Similarly, the current Central Academy student council also differed from the original.
In the original, the student council president was Symboli Rudolf, with vice presidents Air Groove and Narita Brian. But now, the vice presidents were Maruzensky and Mejiro Ramonu.
This was also because Air Groove and Narita Brian hadn't debuted yet — they clearly wouldn't be suitable to handle major student council duties. Assigning them instead to more seasoned, race-experienced horse girls like Maruzensky and Mejiro Ryan made far more sense.
"Nihon Pillow Winner and Miho Shinzan, huh… I've heard of them."
Kitahara nodded. "Nihon Pillow Winner's Nanbu Cup and Yasuda Kinen, Miho Shinzan's Satsuki Shō, Kikuka Shō, and Spring Tennō Shō were all incredible races. I've seen their highlights in recordings."
If you wanted to be an excellent trainer, watching famous horse girls' race footage was vital study material.
Over the past six months, he'd watched just about every named horse girl's footage at least twenty times, including those two current dorm leaders.
"Though I didn't know they're dorm leaders now…"
He nodded again, then suddenly gave a wry smile and pointed at Tamamo Cross. "So what was Tama just saying…"
"Ah, ah, nothing big. I was just surprised, that's all."
Tamamo Cross's face no longer carried the shocked expression. As always, she smiled full of energy, even stretching lazily.
"I thought I'd finally met some friends I could really talk to, and since I've been a bit down lately, I figured maybe I could hang out with you guys for a while."
"Well, but if you're leaving, then we'll just meet up next time. Anyway, today I had a lot of fun with Oguri and Light!"
Been a bit down lately…
Kitahara thought about asking what was troubling her, but Tamamo Cross had brushed over it so lightly, clearly not wanting to talk about it. It wouldn't be tactful to push.
Right on cue, Tazuna, with a slightly regretful tone, changed the subject.
"What a shame, Mr. Kitahara, that you can't stay a few more days."
She quickly pressed her hands together against her cheek and gave a gentle smile. "But it's okay — you'll be transferring to Central in January. By then, there'll be plenty of chances to meet again. So let's just enjoy today and taste the dishes I specially prepared for everyone!"
The house instantly became lively.
"Oh! Dieting time is over! I can finally eat!"
"Oguri really does love food, huh? Hehe."
"Well, calling it a 'diet' still feels kinda weird to me, though."
"Miss Tazuna, let me help you get dinner ready."
"Mm, thank you, Creek. I've got most of it done already. Let's just bring it all out together."
Since Kitahara and the others had been staying here for days, Tazuna already knew Oguri Cap's appetite well — the whole dinner was prepared for three or four Oguris' worth of food.
So, from the kitchen came several huge tubs of dinner. Luckily, with a horse girl like Creek helping, otherwise Tazuna might not even have been able to carry them herself.
After a warm and lively dinner, the horse girls cheerfully ran off to the living room to watch a movie.
Interestingly enough, despite being cute girls, the movie they picked was a kaiju film — Godzilla.
"Rooaarrr— How's that? Do I sound like him?"
"Eh? Oguri, you're pretty good at that, huh? Sounds a lot like Godzilla. Lemme try… Raaaagh—"
"Hehe, Tama, I think that's more like Ghidorah's roar? …Huh? Me? I don't wanna do it… Eh, eh, Creek, how about you?"
"Me? Hmm, let me think… chirp chirp—"
…Mothra's call, huh…
Sitting at the dining table behind the living room, belly full and drink in hand, Kitahara happily watched the warm, lively scene in front of him and couldn't help thinking:
If only things could always stay like this…If only all Uma Musume could always live this happily…That would truly be the best thing of all…
(End of this chapter)