"Miss Rudolf, what are your thoughts on claiming your second crown? Is the third crown already in your plans?"
"Miss Rudolf! What do you think about Bizen Nishiki's sudden withdrawal?"
"Miss Rudolf—"
Noisy. Chaotic. Countless voices blending together until it was almost dizzying.
Rudolf was honestly pretty relieved—thank goodness Maruzensky had come along today. With Tojo and Maruzensky here, the reporters' firepower was spread out quite a bit.
"The process was a little scary, but either way—congratulations, Rudolf. You earned that honor in style."
"Thank you, Maruzensky. If you'd been racing, the outcome wouldn't be so easy to call…"
The camera flashes never stopped. Rudolf and Maruzensky had shutter clicks filling their ears. The crowd here today was absurdly large—Maruzensky had only gone out to wash her hands, and she'd nearly gotten lost on the way back.
"Um! Excuse me…"
In the sea of noise, Rudolf caught a voice that didn't match the others—clear and young, coming from where Maruzensky had come up on her left. Her first thought was that it was Kagura, hiding backstage, but then she realized Kagura wouldn't show her face at a moment like this. Curiosity tugged at her.
She looked over and saw Kagura standing in the shadows, smiling a little shyly at her. And right in front of the stage was a small, chestnut-haired Umamusume, eyes sparkling and face full of anticipation as she stared at Rudolf.
This kid…
For some reason, Rudolf felt a moment of disorientation. Especially that white streak in the girl's forelock—it made Rudolf instinctively want to pinch the white streak in her own bangs.
She had to admit: this was a kid who looked strangely… agreeable. There was an inexplicable sense of familiarity to her, and Rudolf suddenly understood why Kagura had let her in.
"Um, sorry, little miss, only authorized personnel can be here…"
Some other staff and reporters started chiming in from the side.
"No, it's fine… Hello there, kiddo?"
Rudolf made a small gesture for everyone to calm down, then bent slightly and looked at the little one with gentle attention.
The kid didn't seem bothered by all the stares at all. At the very least, she didn't look intimidated. After catching her breath and smoothing out her voice, she spoke—loud and clear, right in front of a whole swarm of reporters:
"I… I want to become a strong and cool Umamusume like the Emperor!"
"Oh…"
That shocking declaration made both Rudolf and Maruzensky freeze onstage. The reporters around them let out good-natured laughter, and Kagura, in the shadows, couldn't help the smile that curled at her lips.
Wow, Teio really is bold. I wonder if the reporters are going to snap this and use it as material?
For a child fangirling, Tokai Teio's move was downright fearless. Kagura suddenly found herself looking forward to the next few days' news. If there was a story about Teio, she wanted to save a copy and show it to her when she got a little older—Teio's reaction then would definitely be fun.
...
"Kagura, was it you who let this kid in?"
After the Winner's Concert ended, on the train ride back, Rudolf gently rubbed Tokai Teio's head. Teio sat on Rudolf's left, grinning from ear to ear.
"Yes. I happened to meet her last year while I was walking around a nearby park. She's a friend—and also your loyal fan. She's been saying she wanted to meet you, but every time something came up. This time she finally made it."
Kagura, sitting on Maruzensky's lap, reached out too and rubbed Teio's head from the other side. Teio looked like she was enjoying it, nuzzling into their hands.
"Hey, hey—leave me some too! Let your onee-san rub the cute little girl as well!"
With Kagura and Rudolf each taking a side of Teio's head, Maruzensky could only watch in envy, unable to get a turn.
"Nope! You were too slow, Maruzensky-senpai First come, first served!"
"Hey! You're learning bad habits too, Kagura-chan!"
Seeing she wasn't getting to pet Teio, Maruzensky simply started rubbing Kagura's head instead.
"You three—don't scare the kid."
Watching the students happily petting away, Tojo finally reminded them.
"By the way, if I get into Tracen in the future, can I join Tojo-san's team?"
After being rubbed for a while, Tokai Teio suddenly opened her eyes and looked toward Kagura beside her.
Kagura smiled and pinched Teio's cheek. Seeing the longing in Teio's eyes, Kagura asked with amused curiosity:
"Sure—if Tojo-san agrees when the time comes. But why this team? Just because Rudolf's here?"
"The Emperor is one reason! And… Kagura-oneesan is here too! I can meet the Emperor, and I can eat the snacks you make—so awesome!"
"Hey! You little rascal—so I'm just your snack-making tool, huh~"
Kagura tugged lightly at Teio's cheek while complaining. Still, in a way, it meant Teio approved of her cooking, and that made Kagura genuinely happy.
"Mmph!! That's not what I meant! Kagura-oneesan… is really great too!"
Seeing Kagura teasing her so enthusiastically, Rudolf couldn't help feeling the urge to tease this little Umamusume as well. Reaching from behind Teio, Rudolf pinched her cheek too, leaned in with a smile, and asked:
"Then, Teio—who do you think is better? Kagura-oneesan… or me—the Emperor?"
Ojou-sama, that's mean!
Hearing Rudolf ask that, Kagura almost laughed out loud. It felt strangely similar to the kind of question parents asked when she was little—whether she liked Dad more or Mom more. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Maruzensky's mouth twitch too, probably not expecting the always-so-upright Rudolf to joke like this with a kid.
"Uh… um…"
As expected, the question instantly overloaded Tokai Teio's already-not-very-powerful CPU, and she went into a long system crash.
Rudolf glanced up toward Kagura and Maruzensky and noticed both of them looking at her.
So you're not some perfect gentleman after all. Bullying your little fan like that, huh?
It's just a joke. She's so cute—I wanted to tease her.
"A-aah… I guess the Emperor is… a little… better…? Ah—no, I don't mean Kagura-oneesan is bad! I like Kagura-oneesan too!"
After stammering for ages, Tokai Teio finally managed to squeeze something out, flustered as she tried to explain herself to Kagura and Rudolf at the same time.
"Pfft—okay, okay, we get it. Teio, you're adorable~"
"Huh…?!"
Only then did Tokai Teio realize Kagura and Rudolf were teasing her. Her pale cheeks instantly flushed bright red.
Tojo, sitting to the side, also looked like she was holding back a laugh. But in front of others, she still had an image to maintain, so she cleared her throat, straightened her expression, and said:
"Alright, alright. Jokes aside—if you really come to Tracen when the time comes, my team will always welcome you."
"Really?!"
"Yes… If you could enroll right now, you'd even make it in time for our summer training camp soon. We could take you to the beach."
"!"
At Tojo's words, Tokai Teio's eyes filled with visible envy and longing. But it wasn't admissions season for Tracen anymore, so there was no way she could run over and enroll right now.
Hearing this, Kagura also paused in surprise. Only then did she remember Tracen had a summer training camp—basically summer vacation. Though the Umamusume wouldn't just play; they wouldn't fall behind on training either. She'd even heard it wasn't uncommon for someone to come back from summer camp dramatically stronger, which made Kagura curious.
I'm kind of looking forward to it…