While Oguri and Kitahara had gone over to March, I stepped forward with Belno and handled the tide of excited umamusume. Naturally, they were all thrilled to have Team Kitahara suddenly reappear in Kasamatsu, and whatever grievances they had due to the sudden call was swiftly erased.
Of course, I didn't intend to hog all the attention myself. Once I'd dazzled them enough, I let Belno take the wheel. She was always more approachable, and as long as she didn't don her 'Tactician' persona, she was undoubtedly the most gentle-looking of our team.
It didn't take long before Belno was the one they were swarming, asking her all sorts of questions and asking if she could help them with their training. After all, they'd been spurred on by our team's blazing charge towards Central, and they too wanted to see if they had what it took.
Thankfully, Belno had long gotten used to being the source of attention, and she handled all of them without panicking. A gentle smile here, a comforting word there—like a shepherd to their shepherd she herded them with practiced ease.
With all the attention taken away, I silently slipped into the shade, content with just watching as Kasamatsu Tracen regained its life.
The thing is, despite everything, Kasamatsu Tracen meant little to me. Oguri had March and her three fans, while Belno's sunny attitude earnt her quite a lot of friends.
But me? I was different. Sure I appeared here and there, but this school had been the cauldron that led to the creation of the playful persona I'd eventually use in Central. Here, I often acted with seeming indifference, only caring whenever my team was involved. And sure, it earnt me respect and awe, but I lacked any meaningful connections here.
I was fine with that. I had Oguri and Belno and Kitahara back then; that was more than enough.
…about that.
I glanced towards where Oguri and March were. Seeing as everyone there was smiling, it seemed Kitahara's plan had worked. March would be coming with us when we returned to Central, and she would be Team Kitahara's fourth member—at least until her trainer eventually got his Central Trainer license and took her back.
Of course, this was far from normal. By all rights, though Fujimasa March's race record had been quite impressive, it likely wasn't quite enough for the URA to allow a direct transfer to Central. Their requirements were strict, and only the best of the best were allowed to enter Tracen Central Academy.
Normally, that is.
But not only did March have a record that surpassed other local umamusume, she'd be coming to Central with the recommendation of Team Kitahara. And since March was literally the only person who'd ever defeated Oguri in a race she'd no doubt pull quite the attention—even if she'd only done it during their Debut Race.
I sighed tiredly. It…wasn't that simple, of course. When Kitahara had drunkenly told me about his plan to recruit March to Central, I knew it wouldn't be that easy. So I spent most of the night going through the URA Rulebook, just to make sure that there wouldn't be some rule that'd outright stop us.
There were a few, but thankfully they weren't hard to bypass. All we needed to do was to register March under Team Kitahara—essentially make her a 'prospective trainee' much like how Kitahara was an apprentice to Musaka. Of course, that meant anything March did would be reflected back at us, but that was fine.
I'd probably need to have another read through the URA Rulebook just to make sure, but all in all, things were going smoothly.
Haiyah, the things I do for this team…
"The heat's getting to you, girl?"
I snorted. "As if." I smirked as I saw Musaka approach me. It seemed he'd just exited the main school building moments ago, though I wasn't sure why exactly he'd remained behind in the first place. "Finished with your business?"
He huffed. "Just caught up with an old friend."
I blinked. "You and the principal are friends?"
He waved my words off. "We ain't that close. We're familiar acquaintances at best." He grinned slightly, reminiscing. "That fool would've still been a bum if I ain't pulled some favors."
Aah, I see. So the reason Kitahara was even able to maintain his position in Kasamatsu Tracen was because Musaka had enrolled him in. That made sense; Kitahara was inherently a lazy person, and before the formation of Team Kitahara, he'd basically done nothing despite being one of Kasamatsu Tracen's trainers.
Musaka glanced at me, before he hummed. He didn't ask why I wasn't with Oguri or Belno, and I silently thanked him for that.
"Do you really think it'll happen?" I suddenly asked.
"What will?"
I watched as Belno began leading the crowd towards the dirt track, intent on teaching them a few tips and tricks to help them run better. "The bridging between Central and the rest of Japan." I said.
"...who knows?" He eventually said. "Right now, the gap is too wide. Ain't no one from here is going to be able to match even the young'uns from Central."
I hummed. That was the natural answer. Right now, due to the URA's focus on only cultivating Central, the local scene had gone completely neglected. Put somewhat cruelly, it was as if the local scene were third-world countries when compared to the pristine Central.
Fixing an issue that'd been left to rot for who knows how long--
I sighed. How would one even begin the first step?
Musaka snorted. "Trying to play the hero, girl?"
"I am." I answered immediately, much to his surprise. I smiled slightly at his reaction. "I never told you this, but the reason I started racing was to be a Hero." I raced a hand towards the sky. "To lift Japan to new heights, to help Japanese umamusume break into the rest of the world—that was my goal in the beginning."
I turned to him. "The huge disparity between local and Central umamusume just shows why Japan is still behind other countries." My eyes darkened for a moment. "The URA is too old, too stubborn—they cling to old glories, thinking that's enough."
My eyes blazed blue. "And since they're not willing to change, we'll just have to beat them down until they will."
…
Musaka grinned widely. "You and that fool are a perfect fit."
I shrugged. "A Hero needs a Demon King, right?" I paused for a moment. "Although I guess that isn't quite right. People have been calling us his Demon Generals, so I guess I can't really be the Hero."
"Bah, semantics." He said, before his expression turned serious. "But if you're set on tearing the URA down, there's one thing that'll do the job."
"Expand. Grow until Japan can't hold you back." He said, and for the first time in decades, a semblance of the fiery determination Musaka once had returned. "Grow until all those bastards can do is bend their knees and beg."
My smile twitched. "So you're basically asking me to become a second Secretariat, huh?"
He blinked, before he huffed and grinned. "Should'a expected you would've known about her."
"Hey, come on now. Everyone knows about the Secretariat."
Anyone who knew even a little bit about horse racing would know who that is. One of the strongest horses to ever grace the modern world, having been called the Big Red and the second coming of Man O' War. His strength on dirt was undeniable, and his inclusion in any race would immediately catapult it into national news. And though he hadn't yet appeared in the umamusume series, I had no doubts that his version in this world was just as strong.
It wouldn't be until Almond Eye came into the racing scene that Japan would have someone who could match that.
"Yeah, sure." He said. "But you ready for something like t'at?" He frowned. "It won't be easy."
I smirked. "It wouldn't be worth it if it wasn't hard, right?"
He laughed. "Ha! Bold as always!"
The next step of my racing career was now clear to see; regardless of what happened at the [Queen Elizabeth II Cup], my next target would be training enough to eventually make it into graded races in other countries. And that meant the [Japan Cup] had become even more important than it already was.
I couldn't help but smile in anticipation.