"Sky-chan, who's this?"
A shadow fell across the sunlight, and a voice—weathered yet authoritative—sounded from behind Barbatos.
Instinct made her turn to look.
Even while standing, Barbatos had to tilt her head up to meet the figure. His muscles were sharply defined, like an anime character straight out of Araki's pen.
Just standing there behind her, he gave off the same pressure as a racer unleashing their domain on the track.
Though the sun glinted off his sunglasses, hiding his face for a moment, Barbatos could guess—this was Seiun Sky's grandfather.
A grandpa still tough as nails even past sixty.
"Grandpa, happy New Year!"
Seiun Sky spun around lightly, a soft laugh escaping as she waved. "Grandpa, happy New Year."
"This is my… roommate—Barbatos. I invited her to spend New Year's with us."
Her tone was cheerful as she introduced Barbatos to her grandfather.
Only, when she said "roommate," there was a tiny gap in her words, something no one else would notice. She wasn't really sure how to define what they were to each other.
Roommate, classmate, teammate, or maybe…
After losing her race, Barbatos probably wouldn't choose to confess any time soon.
"Hello, Grandpa."
Unable to stand due to her leg injury, Barbatos remained seated in her wheelchair, offering a polite smile and greeting to Seiun Sky's grandfather.
"Oh, the roommate's named Barbatos, huh."
The sunglasses-wearing grandfather gave a slight, indifferent nod, as if hearing the name for the first time.
He simply acknowledged it, then turned a warm smile toward Seiun Sky, the earlier pressure melting away. Now he just seemed like a kindly old man, if an exceptionally burly one.
"Sky-chan, knowing you were coming today, I went out specially to catch some fish."
"Really?! Let me see how many you got!"
Seiun Sky bounded over with interest. Only then did Barbatos notice the fishing bucket in her grandfather's hand.
Even in winter, when most water surfaces were frozen over, fishing enthusiasts still enjoyed ice fishing—a different pleasure from the usual kind, with its own unique charms.
They had their ways of dealing with the icy water.
But something felt off to Barbatos just then. Grandpa didn't seem to recognize her.
Running into strangers on the street who didn't know her was normal. Even though she was quite famous in the Uma Musume world—anyone who followed the sport would know her—plenty of people didn't watch Uma Musume races. It was a sport, not celebrity entertainment.
But as Seiun Sky's grandfather, he'd surely follow the races.
Even if she and Seiun Sky hadn't competed directly, many people talked about Canopus. They were teammates, after all.
Yet Grandpa acted like he was hearing her name for the first time. If anything, he seemed to hold a faint negative feeling toward her?
Normally, if a granddaughter's roommate visited, family elders were polite—maybe bothered deep down, but they'd still make an effort.
Maybe it was just her imagination?
"Well then, Sky-chan, Grandpa will go start lunch for you. It's been a while since you've tasted my cooking, hasn't it?"
"Look at you, you've gotten so thin."
There was a touch of heartache in his voice. After exchanging a few more words with Seiun Sky, he headed inside without another glance at Barbatos.
Watching him go, Seiun Sky turned back with a smile, about to push Barbatos's wheelchair.
Then she remembered—the wheelchair was now the electric one Minamizaka had brought. It didn't need pushing anymore.
"Let's head in too."
"Mm."
Barbatos operated the electric wheelchair, moving inside alongside Seiun Sky.
Grandpa had said Seiun Sky looked thinner. It made Barbatos realize—because they spent every day together, she hadn't noticed that Seiun Sky, already slim, seemed even more so now than when they first met at the start of the term.
It was probably from training before the Dream Cup.
Before the Dream Cup, Seiun Sky had been practicing with her nonstop.
That wasn't like Seiun Sky's usual laid-back, slacking style. All that training must have worn her down.
And yet, Barbatos had wasted all that effort Seiun Sky put into sparring with her—she'd suffered a crushing defeat in the Dream Cup.
Emotions churned inside her. Even though she kept facing the loss head-on, the feelings it brought would resurface, triggered by little things, wrapping her in discouragement.
Her expression darkened slightly from the turmoil. Barbatos adjusted it, not wanting her inner state to show and dampen Seiun Sky's mood during the New Year visit.
The Dream Cup defeat was just yesterday. Barbatos didn't have the mental fortitude to bounce back from failure that quickly.
Entering the genkan, Barbatos followed Seiun Sky's lead, taking in her surroundings.
Though this place was essentially a retired ranch, one side carried a strong lived-in warmth, while the other held a simple, weathered practice track—not very long, clearly built some years ago.
Without proper facilities like those at Tracen Academy, and without a roller to maintain it, the track had become rough and uneven in places.
"What's that over there?"
Barbatos glanced toward it, puzzled.
This world didn't have horses like her past one—only Uma Musume. So if this was a retired ranch, a practice track shouldn't really exist here.
"Grandpa made that for me when I was little."
Seiun Sky recalled her childhood. If Barbatos hadn't been injured this time, could they have run and trained together on that track Grandpa built?
"Grandpa's really something."
"He's the best grandpa in the world."
As they chatted, Seiun Sky stopped and slid open a door.
The room here was different from those at Tracen Academy. Since it was a family home, it had a layout similar to Doraemon's house.
Neat futons were laid out on the floor, clearly prepared in advance. The room was decorated simply, with star-shaped ornaments hanging here and there, letting Barbatos know this was Seiun Sky's space.
"We'll be sleeping here tonight," Seiun Sky said with a smile.
"We?!"
--+--
Kitchen.
Grandpa was viciously gutting fish, teeth gritted, two lines of tears streaming behind his sunglasses. With each fish, he muttered fiercely, "Barbatos."
How could he not know who Barbatos was?
He followed all the races of every member of his granddaughter's team—Canopus. The others all seemed like nice, easygoing Uma Musume.
But Barbatos?
After that Tokyo Sports Hai, she'd hugged his granddaughter right on the track. The cameras caught it all!
And now Sky-chan had brought her home for New Year's...
"Damn it all!"
--+--
T/N: Her official nickname on the umamusu wiki is Sei-chan, but in future chaps the grandpa's last name is seiun, so keeping it as sky for the grandpa, but normally its Sei-chan
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.