Hearing Ardan's question, this time Oguri didn't answer right away.
She stopped eating and lifted her gaze, slowly looking around the hall.
She watched Rairi over there getting bumped again and again by a chair back. She watched March playing chess with total focus. She watched Teio laughing softly with Juen, and the quiet, well-behaved youngsters who hadn't reached True Blooming yet…
Every face was lit with a genuine smile.
Same team, celebrating together, having fun together, day after day.
No scheming. No distance. No cold indifference.
This atmosphere…
It was the kind of atmosphere she could only feel back in Kasamatsu, when she was with Juron and the others.
Here in Central…
Sure, the senpai in Ginjirou's group treated her well too, but they were old men with one foot in the grave.
Naturally, they didn't place much importance on things like this—actively getting the team to bond, keeping relationships lively, maintaining the team's spirit and energy.
"I feel really happy, everyone!"
Oguri turned her head back, a pure, warm smile blooming across her face. The white scarf around her neck swayed slightly.
"I see…"
Ardan brushed her long bangs aside and smiled gently, a soft light flickering in her eyes.
Then she spoke in a quiet voice.
"Oguri, I heard you'll be going overseas with your Trainer in the second half of the year, for an expedition?"
"Oh."
Oguri clenched her fist again.
There was still a smear of cream at the corner of her mouth, but it did nothing to diminish the bold, spirited look on her face.
"I'm going overseas! I'll bring back what the Trainer is hoping for, just like they expect!"
"That's wonderful～"
Ardan interlaced her fingers lightly, her smile bright.
Then the refined girl fixed her gaze on Oguri for a moment, lifted her fork, picked up a piece of cake, and held it up to Oguri's lips.
Oguri looked a little puzzled, but she never refused food. Out of habit, she opened wide.
"Ahm."
She swallowed it in one bite.
"Oguri, do you want to hear a story?" Ardan asked.
The ash-gray monster who'd just been fed immediately shook her head.
As long as there was food, forget one story—she couldn't not listen to a hundred stories.
"Mm… it's a little embarrassing to say…" Ardan murmured.
Beside her, Oguri and Berno Light immediately sat up straight, as if they'd turned into two chibi Umamusume.
"It's fine. We've had professional training," Light said.
"Mhm mhm!" Oguri nodded hard while chewing.
Seeing that, Ardan let out a small breath. She lifted her head and stared into space for a while, as if recalling something.
"Overseas expeditions. Returning in triumph… back when I was still a young Umamusume, I had a dream like that too."
Her voice was gentle, her eyes shimmering, as if she could see her former self through the ceiling overhead.
"Back then, the Takao sisters took the Triple Crown, became the treasure of Japan, and even the symbol of an era."
"For us younger girls, none of us failed to understand her. Or rather… aside from Rudolf-kaichou, she was the only Umamusume who truly existed in our hearts."
"But at the time, I was born with what everyone called 'glass legs'—something no one had any hope for."
Ardan's voice was soft, but it carried the weight of memory.
"Everyone thought I had nothing to do with being an Umamusume, because I was a child abandoned by the track."
"Born with…"
Oguri's chewing slowed. She unconsciously pressed her foot to the floor, her expression tightening slightly as she listened on in silence.
"Back then, I thought… if my sister had earned so much attention and love, then if I could do something even cooler than her—win an honor even greater—would everyone finally notice me too?"
"So I dreamed of doing what Rudolf-kaichou did. Being praised in Central, then going overseas, to challenge the Arc de Triomphe—something even my sister never went to—and returning in glory."
"In the end…"
Ardan's lips curved faintly. Her lowered voice echoed through the quiet dining area.
"I was still young then, and didn't understand. I always had these unrealistic fantasies…"
"That's not true!"
Oguri suddenly barked out, cutting Ardan off.
Ardan froze, a thin sheen of tears trembling at the corner of her eyes.
Oguri's face was solemn now. In those gray-white eyes, an endless faith seemed to burn as she spoke with complete seriousness.
"That wasn't an unrealistic dream at all!"
"Ardan, you're about to accomplish it, aren't you?"
The two Umamusume looked at each other, and the air seemed to fall silent in that instant. Around them, the lively night continued, but the hallway felt as if it had retreated somewhere far away.
Ardan stared for a moment, then a soft smile slowly spread across her face.
Two Tenno Sho crowns—Spring and Autumn.
She repeated the goal her Trainer had set for her in her heart.
"To win the highest honor a Japan Umamusume can achieve."
Just like this far-eastern island nation's obsession with the Arc de Triomphe.
For Japan horses who lived for long distance, conquering Tenno Sho in both Spring and Autumn was the ultimate crown—higher than any other glory.
A Domain even Ramonu had never reached.
"I understand…"
"Then, for the glory of overseas battles, do your best, Oguri!"
Ardan held Oguri's hands and made an encouraging gesture.
"You and I are the same. We're both challenging things that look impossible, aren't we?"
The lapis-like girl blinked and smiled.
"I'll fulfill my dream, because I'm going to give that pegasus back to you."
"Oguri, you mustn't betray what you hope for either. Bring the world's trophies back and show them to us!"
Oguri lowered her eyes to her legs in black socks, then glanced at Ardan's long, fair thighs. A look of understanding spread across her face.
They really were the same.
Both forcing their way toward a dream, with legs that had been rejected by running from birth.
"Yeah. Don't worry!"
"I won't let any of you down!"
…
Time passed, and the night grew deeper.
The banquet, warm and lively, gradually reached its end.
Then, aside from the three youngsters who hadn't reached True Blooming yet—and needed enough sleep—being sent home early…
Berno Light, Oguri, and even Tokai Teio, who was still riding her high, were all shoved out the villa's front door without mercy.
Bang.
The door shut.
Outside, the cold wind whistled.
Teio stared blankly at the tightly closed door, and at the moment earlier when McQueen had poked her head out, smiling as she waved goodbye.
Only after a long while did Teio finally process it. She pointed at her own head and shouted in disbelief.
"Why?!"
"Why did I get kicked out too?! I'm not done playing! And why is McQueen still in there?!"
…
Second floor of the villa, in the national-treasure-class kitchen.
"Why? Because I traded my 'Japanese Derby advantage' for a 'special reward,' of course."
McQueen was already curled up in a warm, soft bed. She listened to the sounds downstairs in the hall—senpai voices, and the faint sound of Kuroha walking into another room.
Her cheeks were as red as a fully ripened apple.
She yanked the blanket over her head in one swift motion, covering her face, and with her ears blocked, rolled three times in three different directions.
She might have won and secured the right to stay the night, but precisely because she'd only reached True Blooming a little over a year ago… there were still some things she couldn't take part in yet…
"Mmm…"
Hearing the vague movement coming from next door, McQueen bit the corner of her blanket in frustration and swore silently to herself.
"Next time! Next time, the Shuka Sho!"
"When I take the Triple Crown… I'll make the Trainer understand just how strong Japan really is!!"
(End of Chapter)
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