"Well… This is certainly something unexpected."
"What? You can't accommodate three more people."
"Umas. I couldn't accommodate three more Umas. You girls eat as if tomorrow is the apocalypse."
Evening has come, and the golden sun is bathing the Minaz team's room with its golden glory. Coincidentally, the room also hosts gold family members. The 3 troublemaker umas can be seen sitting their ass down around the cake, and a young man is preparing himself to act whenever any of them try to act stupid.
"I shall—"
"No! Put the knife down, Dream Journey. I'm going to cut the cake."
"But I—"
"Please! I want to live! I promise to leave Orfevre alone!"
"Hmm? Are you not satisfied with only having Ramonu around your fingers?"
"What does she have to do with anything?!"
Currently, a few members of the Minaz team are in the room. McQueen, Suzuka, and Tachyon. The young man sent the rest on a secret mission.
"McQueen and Suzuka, can you serve some tea for our guests?"
"Sure…"
"By the way, where did you send Goldship and the rest anyway?"
"A mission."
"I know. What is it? It's something stupid, isn't it?"
"You expect anything, McQueen?"
"Sigh… No… So what is it?"
"I told them to kidnap Rice Shower."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Somewhere in Tracen Academy at the same time. Rice Shower had just finished her class and was now walking out of the academic building. She was busy rummaging through her bag to make sure she wasn't missing anything that she didn't see the three umas standing in front of her. One of which is carrying a sack.
"Notebooks… All there… Stationeries… Inside… Hmm?"
"Teio, Urara, do it."
"It's team Minaz!!"
Rice quickly realizes who the three umas in front of her are, even when they're wearing a horrible disguise. Team Minaz's name has been elevated by the fact that McQueen had just won the Satsuki Sho, which also elevated the weirdos in the team, like Goldship.
The three criminals put the cute black-haired Uma inside the sack before putting her over their heads and carrying her off somewhere. The little Uma was begging for help from the nearby umas, but the sight of kidnapping is so common in Tracen that the umas completely ignore her pleas.
"Help!! Help!! Please!!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What…?"
"Hmm? I said I sent them to kidnap Rice Shower."
"And you act like I'm the dangerous one, trainer Igo."
"How many kidnappings have you done, Dream Journey?"
"Fufufu~~"
"Exactly."
McQueen didn't know what she was expecting. She has spent months with the young man, so she shouldn't be surprised that he would do something like this. She has heard of Umas kidnapping trainers, but it's the complete opposite here. It's now the trainer's time to kidnap the uma.
I had just realized now that I'm in a team of weirdos.
*SSSSHHHHHHHKKKKKK*
"Mission success!!"
The doors slide open violently, and four uma musumes come barging in. 3 Umas are on their feet while one is inside the sack, wriggling around desperately. They put her on a chair before pulling the sack off.
"Aaahh!! Please!! I promise I'll do anything!!"
"Please have a cake and tea."
"Ah… Thank you."
Dream Journey, as if she had dealt with hundreds of kidnapped victims, quickly served a slice of cake and tea to the distressed Rice Shower. She sat down beside her as if to let her know that she had an ally amongst the strangers here.
She knows how to handle this kind of situation as if she had experienced it a dozen times before. My gut instinct to be wary of her is correct.
"We just want to invite you to enjoy the party with us, Rice Shower."
"Eh? But I was just put into the sack."
"It's a surprise. Where is the fun if we invite you normally?"
"Don't believe him, Rice Shower. He spews nothing but lies."
"McQueen, how can you backstab your trainer like this? Where is the sense of camaraderie?"
"Dead."
Seems like a correction is in order. These Umas are forgetting their positions.
"While you're here, I want to ask you something, Rice Shower. Are you planning on running in the Japanese Derby?"
"Eh? No… I haven't debuted yet."
"Correct answer. You can throw away the crowbars, Goldship."
"Eeeeehhh~~~~ Fiiiineeee…"
*CLAANG—CLAAANG* *CLAANG–CLAAANG* *CLAANG* *CLAAANG*
"Again, you seem to be the scary one here, Trainer Igo."
"Which means that you have to be scarier, Dream Journey."
"Coward."
"I beg your pardon, Orfevre."
"You heard me correctly, Trainer Igo. You are worried about Crown Killers, aren't you?"
In the young man's old world, a horse's prime usually spanned 3 years, so each horse has only one chance in their entire life to win the Triple Crown. In this world, an Uma Musume's prime could last for 10 - 20 years, which means they have a plethora of chances to be the Triple Crown, so why is there only a handful of them?
The answer is Crown Killer. Crown killers are names given to Uma Musumes who has history of stopping other Uma Musumes from becoming the Triple Crown or Triple Tiara. They're the biggest hurdle an Uma Musume needs to defeat to etch their name in history.
"If you really are confident in your trainees, then let them handle it themselves. What are you, their father?"
"..."
Orfevre's words struck McQueen to the core. If she's right, then Rice Shower being here wasn't merely for shit and giggles. He has a solid reason to invite her here. And that reason is that he IS NOT confident in McQueen winning the Triple Crown.
The young man who never even looks at his own feet is doubting McQueen's prospects to win. Someone so arrogant in himself, someone so confident in his own ability, someone who never looks down, is now doubting his ability to train Uma Musume.
*Grip*
Why can't you just be honest with me?
"Hm? What's wrong, McQueen?"
Without even realizing it, McQueen comes closer to her trainer and pulls on his sleeve.
"...nothing… bastard…"
"Ooookkaaaayyy…? Look, Orfevre. I know you don't necessarily have a great father over here."
"Why do I feel like you're talking about me?"
"And your trainer, JoHn DoE, isn't always around. Have you ever considered that you're just jealous that other girls are being showered with care and love, and you can only look through the window with a longing face? If the Tyrant is feeling lonely, then you can ask for a hug. I'll give it to you."
"...I now understand why Ramonu is looking at you."
"Because she has eyes?"
"Boys are cutest when they're in the spectrum."
"The fuck does that supposed to mean?!?"