The crowd cheered as Oguri's Winning Concert reached its end. The adoration for Oguri Cap had reached incredible levels—and at this point there was hardly anyone who didn't at least recognize her name. She was, by all rights, Kasamatsu's darling; the countryside's very own Cinderella.
Belno and Kitahara cheered alongside the crowd, their enthusiasm skyhigh both due to Oguri's victory and their recent triumph over what had felt like an impossible situation. Sure, Kitahara would need to renounce his license as a local trainer, but that meant he could now go along with the rest of the team when they inevitably headed for Central.
Which made Musaka and I quite the oddities. Neither of us seemed rather happy even during this momentous occasion; if anything, those who looked close enough could see how tired both of us looked.
I took a deep breath, still trying my best to settle my rapid heartbeat. "I really have to thank you again, Musaka-san." I whispered just loud enough for the elderly trainer to hear.
Musaka sighed. "Enough with it, girl. That idiot's my nephew. I was just doing what family should do."
I closed as I nodded faintly. "If you say so."
Truly, his help was indispensable in this case. This was a loophole I'd discovered some days back, but it'd been the last thing I wanted to do. While Kitahara had been confident in giving up his license, the truth was that he wouldn't become an independent trainer for years. He would remain chained to Musaka for who knows how long.
Musaka was extremely generous to even agree to this—it would no doubt invite some unfavorable speculation when this all came out.
Both of us combed through the URA Rulebook for days on end, but in the end it was futile. This loophole remained the only path forward, and until URA experienced drastic changes in the future, a scenario like this would remain a nearly-impossible task to solve.
Still, at least it was over.
I sighed.
Musaka glanced at him for a moment before he hummed. "You sure you're an umamusume?" He asked. "Most don't bother with things like this.
I huffed. "Funny. Kitahara asked me the same thing a while back. And besides," my eyes darkened. "What I implied wasn't false. Right now, the Japanese URA is in a slump. Too rigid; too controlled by old folks who cling to the old. If nothing changes, it won't be long before the rot becomes unrepairable."
He frowned, though he remained silent. He held a similar sentiment. It was why he'd only returned to Japan recently. There was only so much an old man like him could handle before the urge to stuff his cane down their throats became too much.
In the end, he sighed. "You really got a heart of steel, girl."
My lips twitched. "Not really." I gazed forward—at Oguri's wave to the crowd and her little smile as she began heading towards the backstage. "I just know that this life of mine isn't infinite."
After all, I'd already died before. Compared to that?
Opposing Symboli Rudolf couldn't even compare.
"So, what's next?"
I smiled. "Our junior year's not over yet." I said, idly watching the crowd's excitement slowly dim as people began leaving. "We'll get more races in while we still can. Accumulate as much experience through races." A sly smirk came onto my lips. "And then we'll give Central a much-needed surprise."
Musaka laughed. "Bold. But I don't dislike it." His mustache twitched as he pulled down his hat. "Kitahara's lucky to have met you lot."
"And I'm lucky to have met him too." I returned easily.
"Ha. Must be the Goddesses' blessing." He then turned to leave. "See you, girl. Make sure that idiot doesn't go too far celebrating tonight."
I gave a mock salute. "I'll do just that." I then blinked as a thought came into my head. "Ah, right. Can you help me with something?"
"Something else?" He complained, though he turned back to face me. "What?"
"Regarding our races during our classic years-"
"Can you at least register Oguri for the Japanese Derby?"
The elderly trainer went silent, and while his eyes were hidden behind his sunglasses, I could feel them boring into me. "Oh?" He whispered, both intrigued and slightly irked. "You think she's got the guts for it?"
I shrugged. "Who knows." I admitted, before I smirked. "But hey, since Oguri won't be running in the Tokai Derby, then what else could be a better replacement."
"Ha!" He barked out a bright laugh. "Absolute off-yer rocker, ain't ya?" He tilted his hat down. "But sure. Let's put a little fire under those greenhorns in Central. Should get a few of them yelping at least!"
My smile grew. To think I'd ever see the old man get this excited over something. I suppose I could see where Kitahara got his overblown excitement.
Suddenly,
"How about you, girl?" He asked. "What're you aiming for?"
My mouth opened for a moment, then closed. The thoughts from that day resurfaced, of the thrill I'd felt as that recording reached its end.
I smiled as I gave my answer.
"Heh. As expected of someone as insane as you."
I gave a theatrical bow. "Aim for the stars, and you'll at least reach the moon."
Musaka nodded silently, and saying nothing more, he waved as he turned and left. I watched as he disappeared into the leaving crowd, before I went the other way and headed for the backstage to find the rest of Team Kitahara.
I met up with them just in time to hear Kitahara proclaim that he'd treat all of Team Kitahara for dinner tonight. Oguri's eyes lit up like stars, while Belno worriedly stared at her trainer as she realized what this would do to his poor wallet. Kitahara, still swept up in his joy, didn't realize he'd just sentenced his wallet to a death-sentence.
And as expected, after the hours passed and Oguri filled herself to the brim at the yakiniku restaurant we went to, I couldn't quite help but laugh as I saw Kitahara droop like a dying flower once he saw the bill he had to foot. Belno offered to help at first, but even she went pale once she saw the enormous bill.
Well, it seemed like she didn't need to stop Kitahara from partying too hard after all. Because he likely didn't have any money left to spend on alcohol in the first place.
Poor guy.
After all that, the following days were positively tranquil by comparison. All of Team Kitahara returned to the training we usually did, working together and challenging each other to reach new heights.
After experiencing her first glimpse at what would soon become her Unique Skill, Kitahara had Oguri specifically train to increase the power of her kicks. Not that he needed to convince her; after feeling that incredible sensation she felt during her race against Fujimasa March, Oguri was practically starving to relive that feeling. I often ended up as her guinea pig, since I was the only one who could really match her.
And as expected, Oguri won nearly every practice race we ran together. My Speed and Power just couldn't compare to the Gray Monster, and my Stamina rarely came into effect in the short practice races we held.
But I didn't mind. Because if I wanted to reach for my goals, I'd soon face Mile races myself, and I needed to be prepared for that.
On the other hand, Belno's training was far less physical in nature, though it was no less tiring. The girl had quickly blossomed into her new specialization, and our practice races soon turned into spontaneous mind-games as I worked to break down whatever new tactic Belno had come up with during her studies.
She rarely won against Oguri or I, but the fact that she even pulled some victories despite being physically weaker than us showed just how sharp her mind was getting. Even Kitahara had quietly admitted to me that he was amazed at how complex Belno's plans were getting, and felt ashamed that he could barely keep up at times.
Compared to that, my training seemed painfully simple. I still did my usual training routine to slowly increase all my Attributes, but interspersed between that was a series of studies Kitahara had cheekily called the "Becoming an Umamusume" test. Which-, okay, it was warranted considering I lacked most instincts an umamusume should have, but that was still kinda rude.
It was fairly simple. The way I ran was still chained by preconceptions I had from my other life; my running hardly made use of the physical specialities an umamusume had. My increased flexibility, my enhanced hearing, my clearer eyesight—they were things I hardly ever used even during my official races.
So at least once a day, I was to sit down with Kitahara and just observe. Watch as Oguri and Belno run. Took notice of the way they ran. Kept notes on the special little things that made their running different when compared to a normal human. See where they succeeded and failed, and try to postulate why.
Honestly, the whole thing made me feel like I'd been transported back to university or something.
Which, honestly, wasn't completely wrong.
It felt a little silly at times, but this was the only way. No matter how much I tried, the so-called umamusume instincts I should've had just weren't there. And while I could continue winning through pure stats alone, that wouldn't work anymore once Team Kitahara made our splash in Central.
And it would happen. It was pretty much accepted by most of Kasamatsu Tracen that our team didn't belong to the countryside. We were too brilliant to remain in this small pond.
So these tranquil days continued, filled with training and learning and the occasional races here and there.
But that tranquility can only last so long.
One day, I woke up a little later than usual. Normally I'd be up for my morning jobs at around 5 in the morning, but I'd just won a Long-distance race just yesterday, and so Kitahara told me to take the rest of the day off.
Having just woken up, my mind still felt sluggish as I slowly dragged myself to the cafeteria to get some breakfast to eat.
As I entered however, I immediately felt an odd tension in the air. I raised an eyebrow when I first felt it, but I ignored it and proceeded to get some hearty breakfast. But as I went to get my food, the staff members all stared at me with an expression of dazed awe.
My morning fatigue faded then, and I quickly glanced around.
It wasn't just the cafeteria staff. The few students who were also having their breakfast were subtly glancing at me as well, with some whispering amongst themselves as they saw me. My eyebrows furrowed, confused as to what was happening. I mean, I was used to being stared at—being famous did that, but this level of awe was new even to me.
Still, I'd endured the office work culture; being stared at like this wasn't enough to stop me from filling my stomach.
Then-
"S-Star-san!" Belno suddenly came running in, her eyes wide and her face pale as she clutched today's newspaper in her hand. "Bad news! R-Really bad news!"
"Hmm?" I calmly gestured for her to come. She sped towards me, and with trembling fingers, she handed the newspaper over. I frowned slightly as I flipped to the front page, wondering just what it was that was making Belno so terrified.
I quickly found it, and my pupils shrunk.
"The fabled Team Kitahara, headed for Central!"
"Three rising stars ready to take on Central; do they have what it takes!?"
"Oguri Cap, Blossom Star, Belno Light—Who Are They?"
I grit my teeth. "How in the hell?" I whispered, shocked by the news. I quickly read through what was written, and my confusion only grew. There was nothing mentioning Symboli Rudolf, nor anything about our confrontation. Nothing that could've indicated that we might be aiming for Central.
Then, in the middle of the story's third paragraph, I found it.
"Son of a…!" I quickly stopped myself from cursing, but it didn't matter.
The one who'd been caught wasn't our team or Symboli Rudolf. Rather, some reporters had noticed that whenever one of our team participated in a race, several umamusume wearing Central's uniform would always be spotted somewhere in the crowd. The author states that it was almost as if 'they were gauging a potential challenge'.
It wasn't a full confirmation, but these types of sensational news didn't need that. They just needed a sliver of a story, and they could blow them into something that would shake the world.
I sighed. "Belno. Gather everyone in our clubroom. We'll discuss it there."
"Y-Yes!" Belno quickly ran out of the cafeteria to get the others. Seeing her leave, I picked up my chopsticks and quickly finished the rest of my breakfast. After returning the tray and thanking the staff, I quickly made my way to our team's communal room, ignoring the stares and whispers from the other students as I went.
Once I arrived, all of Teak Kitahara was inside. Oguri seemed as usual, but Belno and Kitahara practically looked like they were three seconds away from suffering a mental breakdown.
"W-W-What do we do!?" Kitahara said, nervously biting his nails.
I sighed in frustration. "We can't predict the future." I said helplessly, placing the damning newspaper down on the table.
And it truly was frustrating.
Here was the thing; despite my confidence, it wasn't as if we could just immediately take a train and enter Central. There was a reason why so few local horses ever broke into the cutthroat world that was Central; a barrier that few would dare face, much less cross.
There were 3 criteria to becoming a student in Tracen Central: Bloodline, Prestige, and Popularity. And since we were all umamusume from the countryside, we couldn't rely on Bloodline to make it through.
We'd actually planned on announcing our plans some time during late September, which was when the number of races would continue to increase as we head towards the New Year. If we then displayed our dominance during our races to meet the requirement, combined with our declaration, we'd no doubt also secure enough fans to ensure our admission.
But it was just early August now. We were all still training to ensure we could confidently win, and there were fewer races than I would've liked.
"Is this bad?" Oguri asked, clueless as always. Belno turned to her to try and explain, but she was still too shocked by the sudden upheaval of their plans to clearly describe what was going on.
"Yes." I said plainly.
"Oh."
I smiled for a moment, before I glared at the newspaper. "But what's done is done." I took a deep breath as I folded the newspaper. "We can only move forward."
Kitahara nodded shakily. "So, w-what do we do?" He stuttered slightly after mostly calming down.
"It's a bit early, but our plan hasn't changed." I grinned sharply. "It just means we'll need to move our schedule up."
"Ooh." Oguri narrowed her eyes, immediately realizing what it was I was suggesting. "More races?"
"More races." I confirmed with a grin.
The moment I said that, Oguri's eyes sharpened, and a fierce smile came onto her lips. "That's good." She whispered, her fists trembling with excitement. "I can't wait."
"C-Can we really do this?" Belno whispered, knowing that we'd need to continually display our dominance to ride out this wave of popularity.
I shrugged. "We won't know until we try."
"She's right." Kitahara nodded, having fully calmed down. "It's a bit early, but we've been preparing for this." He tipped his cap down and grinned. "We've got this!"
"Y-Yeah!" Belno cheered, smiling brightly. "We can do this everyone!"
Oguri just smiled fiercely, already anticipating her next race.
Seeing all that, I couldn't help but chuckle. "Seems like everyone's on board then." Then, I gave a cheeky smile. "Let's do this."
"Let's take over the world."
…
Kitahara's face burnt red. "C-Come on. Can you not say that so seriously…?"
I just grinned. "Why not? It's a cool slogan."
Kitahara just sighed wearily.