Although Rudolf and Speed both wanted Kagura to rest for a few more days, the Japan Cup was already close at hand, and Kagura's own races were not that far off either. Both the Hopeful Stakes and the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes were in December, so there was no way she could stay at the Symboli Household for very long. In the end, she rested only two or three days before returning to school.
I guess that's what you'd expect from an international race like the Japan Cup... There are foreigners not just on the streets now, but even inside Tracen Academy?
On her first day back, Kagura noticed a number of unfamiliar Umamusume around campus. They were clearly not students here; judging by how they carried themselves, they seemed to be touring the academy. According to Rudolf, they were foreign visitors—some from Europe, some from elsewhere in Asia, and some from other countries besides.
The moment foreign Umamusume came to mind, Kagura could not help thinking of the two American Umamusume she had run into before.
To be honest, she did not have a very good impression of those two... or rather, of the one who seemed to be called Seattle Slew. There was something arrogantly overbearing about her. That kind of bratty, bossy-demoness archetype might be popular in weird manga, but in real life, Kagura had no fondness for that sort of obnoxious person.
Neither did Eclipse.
Still, the girl was only a visitor, and it was not as though Kagura could very well pick a fight with a tourist.
When she got back to the dorm, she was not sure whether it was because she had returned unusually early, around seven or eight, or because Ardan had once again failed to get proper sleep the night before, but when Kagura pushed open the door, Ardan was still sound asleep in bed, hugging a body pillow and showing no reaction at all to Kagura coming in.
How unusual. Does Ardan-ojousama sleep in this late sometimes too? Normally I'm pretty sure she's up a little after seven...
Kagura crouched down by Ardan's bedside and took a look. The pillow in Ardan's arms had been squeezed so hard it was visibly compressed inward, and Kagura guessed she must have been using quite a lot of strength. Who knew what she was dreaming about?
"Kagura..."
All at once, a few faint sounds leaked from Ardan's mouth. Kagura, crouching beside the bed, froze slightly. For a moment she thought Ardan had woken up.
But instead, Ardan only hugged the pillow even tighter. She even brought both legs up and clamped down with them too, and Kagura could hear the pillow letting out a tragic cry of distress.
What on earth is she dreaming about!? Did I do something to offend Ardan-ojousama...? Why is she practicing a chokehold on me in her dreams...?
Looking at the pillow now visibly misshapen in Ardan's arms, Kagura felt cold sweat starting to break out on her back. After thinking about it, she decided that standing there watching someone sleep for too long was probably not very polite, so she returned to her own bed.
[Urban Ocean]:Teacher Kagura, there's a big race coming up on your side soon, right?
She had only just sat down and started watching videos when a DM notification popped up on the screen. Opening it, she saw that it was a message from that fan called Urban Ocean.
[Inari_Kagura]:Yeah. Are you following the Japan Cup too, Ms. Ocean?
[Urban Ocean]:Mm. My eldest daughter said she wanted to go see it too, so she got off the plane yesterday. She said she wanted to look around Tokyo first, though I've no idea where she's wandered off to. I heard Japan is sending out two heavy hitters this time, and with how lively all the promotion's been, I've gotten a little curious myself.
[Inari_Kagura]:Ah... so that's how it is?
It looked like Japan's own promotional push had spread overseas too. Even netizens all the way in Europe had seen it.
Kagura honestly wanted to tell this fan not to place too much faith in the hype Japan was building up, but after thinking it over, she decided it was not really her place to say that. And talking too much about the other racers' situations would not be good either, so in the end she deleted the reply she had started typing.
[Inari_Kagura]:If Ms. Ocean's eldest daughter is interested, she's welcome to come take a look around Tracen too. And if she gets hungry, she can come find me and mooch a meal.
[Urban Ocean]:Oh ho~ Really? That girl's always saying your videos make her jealous beyond belief. If I tell her Teacher Kagura said she can come eat food you cook, she'll probably bolt straight for Tracen on the spot.
[Inari_Kagura]:Haha~ No problem. Once or twice won't hurt anyone. If your daughter wants to come, the Student Kitchen to the left of the Cafeteria is always open.
[Urban Ocean]:Got it. I'll tell her to stop wandering around outside.
When no further reply came, Kagura guessed Urban Ocean had probably gone off to chat with her daughter, so she did not keep watching the DM thread.
She glanced at the breakfast already set out on the table. She had no idea when Ardan would wake up, but since she had brought breakfast in an insulated container, there was no need to worry about it getting cold before Ardan could eat it.
Of course, if Ardan slept until afternoon, there would be nothing to be done about that.
After leaving a note on the table, Kagura took her phone and left the dorm, planning to head to the track and run a few laps to find her rhythm again.
...
"So what exactly is going on here..."
Kagura had come over intending to train, but as she approached the track, she suddenly spotted two tall Umamusume she recognized.
After a moment's thought, she remembered where she had seen them. These were the same two she had run into last night outside the electronics store in the shopping district—the ones named Seattle and Affirmed.
Most of the students were still in class right now, so the only one on the track was Kagura, who had special permission to skip lectures—indeed, the only student in all of Tracen with that privilege. The trainers were all in their offices at this hour too. Aside from Kagura, the only people here were those two foreign visitors.
"Ah... hello. You're the Umamusume we met last night."
Affirmed was the first to notice Inari Kagura walking toward the training grounds. She smiled at her and gave her a small wave.
"Hah! It's the little one from last night! What are you doing here? Sightseeing too?"
Seattle noticed Kagura as well and turned to look her over with a strange grin, using a gaze that made Kagura intensely uncomfortable.
"...It isn't strange for a student to be here. That said, hasn't anyone ever told you that the way you look at people is rude?"
"Hah—you're not the first person to say that. I get it. Your side is conservative to the bone. Too uptight. This won't do, that won't do, so in the end nothing ever gets done... Besides, if you're a student at this school, shouldn't you be in class at this hour?"
Kagura felt her brow twitch sharply a couple of times. That overly invasive stare made her deeply uncomfortable. She could feel her body starting, faintly, not to obey her quite right—like someone was tugging at her from inside.
She knew what it was.
Eclipse, that ghost, was stirring.
"You don't have students with lecture exemptions where you come from?"
"Oh~ Then why are you the only student on the track~? Don't tell me the whole school only has one little thing as young as you with that kind of privilege~? Doesn't that seem just a little..."
"Seattle!"
From the tone in Seattle's voice, Affirmed could clearly hear the provocation and mockery in it, so she spoke up to check her companion. She knew Seattle's awful personality was not going to rein itself in overnight, but this was someone else's turf, not American Tracen where she could do whatever she liked. If an incident broke out by accident, that would be a real problem.
"...I'm going to train now. If you're interested, feel free to keep standing here and watching."
Even though Seattle's words grated hard on her nerves, Kagura stuck to her principle of not causing unnecessary trouble and decided to ignore the rude bossy demoness. At the same time, she forced the restless Eclipse back down.
Without waiting for Seattle to say anything else, she turned and headed straight onto the track.
"Train? By yourself? No trainer? Little one, the way you're always by yourself... don't tell me your results are so bad nobody wanted to take you?"
"Right, right, sure. Yes, yes, absolutely. Since things are that way, what else is there to say? Tolerance. Understanding. Okay?"
Kagura could not even be bothered to argue with someone like this. She simply reached for an old bit of internet scripture she had learned online before.
Seattle, meanwhile, found that no matter what she said, she could not get this little thing to lose her temper. On the contrary, Kagura's few light, sardonic remarks left her inexplicably irritated.
"Hah!? What do you mean, tolerance and understanding?"
"Miss Orange Hair, could you please keep an eye on your friend? I'd rather not come away with the impression that all the Umamusume in your country are the same kind of... thing she is."
Ignoring Seattle outright, Kagura looked directly at the one person present who seemed vaguely capable of reason: Affirmed.
Hearing that, Affirmed quickly reached out and tugged at Seattle, who now looked almost excited. She could already feel the aura Seattle was beginning to release. Yet that little one did not seem affected by it in the slightest. Whether she just had unusually strong resistance or what, Affirmed could not tell.
Seattle and that horrible temper of hers... Honestly. Once we get back, I'm making Big Sis Secretariat lock her up for a few days to cool off!
"Seattle! Come on, we're leaving! Let's go find somewhere to eat lunch!"
Affirmed could already hear the warning in Kagura's words and hurriedly tugged on Seattle's arm again. She knew that, to any stranger, Seattle's behavior had long since crossed the line.
Of course, Seattle did have the standing to be proud. She was a Triple Crown champion in her own country, and one with overwhelming, crushing dominance at that. In America—and at American Tracen, where power and only power were worshipped—she had every reason to be arrogant. That bizarre personality of hers had been shaped in exactly that sort of environment.
"'Thing'? Hah! ...Little shorty, you really are interesting. Out of all the Umamusume in Japan, you're the first one who's ever dared talk to me like that... But where I come from, running your mouth is the kind of contest people look down on most. The two of us standing here bickering won't accomplish anything except making us both feel worse. So how about we do something a little more interesting?"
"...What do you want?"
"Where I come from, the best way to settle something is to race and let strength do the talking. You keep going on about rudeness and respect, don't you? Then show me some strength and make me change my mind. Prove you're worth respecting. How about it?"
"What you think of me has no value to me whatsoever. None at all. Your rudeness does nothing but disgrace your country. I have no interest in your challenge. Today, I only intend to train."
With that, Kagura turned and walked off without another glance at Seattle behind her.
But Seattle did not leave.
She watched as Kagura stepped onto the track, warmed up, and prepared to start running. The moment Kagura set off, Seattle leapt right onto the course too and lazily matched pace beside her.
"What exactly are you trying to do?"
"Nothing much. I just think you're interesting, little one. I want to observe how Umamusume in this country train."
"You're perfectly free to stand at the side of the track and watch, then."
"What fun is training unless you get involved personally? Looking at how much of a loner you are, don't tell me you don't have any friends or classmates to do side-by-side runs with?"
"..."
Kagura did not stop. She just kept running forward in rhythm.
She could feel both her own anger and Eclipse's fury surging inside her body at once. At this point, she honestly did not mind racing this noisy, rude, clingy bossy demoness after all.
She just wanted this woman out of her sight as quickly as possible.
Seattle stayed glued right beside Kagura the whole time. Seeing how things had developed, Affirmed knew there was no pulling Seattle back now. But no matter how worried she got, she could not think of any good way to resolve the situation at this point.
"My training distance is 2000 meters. The finish line is that spot with the wooden marker stuck in the ground. This is the turf track, left-handed. It hasn't rained for the past few days, so the going is good. If you want to run along, suit yourself."
Kagura did not formally announce the conditions the way a trainer would. She simply mentioned them as though it were nothing.
"Oh? Good... good! Affirmed! Did you hear that!? Two thousand meters! Record this for me against the little one!"
"If this blows up, the ones cleaning up after you will be Big Sis Secretariat and me..."
Affirmed let out a helpless sigh. Seeing how there was no stopping her horrible friend—and that Seattle was now even dragging her in as referee—she knew she had better start preparing to deal with the aftermath.
This was not the first time something like this had happened.
Before, when Seattle had gone wandering around Europe out of sheer boredom, she had bullied a few local Umamusume there too. And who had handled the fallout? Naturally, Affirmed.
True, Secretariat had shut Seattle up in confinement for a few days after they got back that time.
But this girl's defining trait was that she never learned.
She was still exactly as willful and self-centered as ever.
[Big Sis Secretariat, Seattle's about to cause trouble again!! This time she went to provoke a little Umamusume, failed, got herself pissed off by a couple of lines instead, and now she's glued herself to the girl demanding a race. May I request extra funds for accidental medical compensation and emotional damages for the poor little Umamusume?]
Affirmed looked over the message she had typed on her phone, let out a long, weary sigh, and hit send.
...
——I've lived a long time, and I've never seen someone so rude and so badly brought up.
——Hmph. You'll get what's coming to you soon enough... you brat.
——A brat like you needs to be corrected properly!
---
T/N: time for face slapping teeheeeeeeeeeeeeeee
bonus chaps
100 stones -> 1 chapter
200 stones -> 2 chapters
300 stones -> 3 chapters
and so on
hehe every 100 followers on either instagram or twitter is 5 bonus chapters...? (for all tls ongoing)
discord.gg/wisetl
patreon.com/wisetl
instagram: hanbaowise
twitter: WiseKingOfUruk_