Chapter 126. Final Speculation on Admire Vega
The Japan Cup, the final race of the day at Tokyo Racecourse, was scheduled to begin at 3:20 p.m.
After lunch, Shuta An noticed that the girls' atmosphere had grown noticeably closer.
He stood by the French window with Silence Suzuka and looked out at the track conditions.
"It doesn't look like a heavy track today," he said, glancing up at the sky. "It probably won't rain at Tokyo Racecourse."
Silence Suzuka did not answer immediately. Instead, she asked in a low voice, "Does Ann want to recruit Admire Vega?"
"Yes."
In front of the girls, Shuta An had no reason to hide it, so he admitted it frankly.
"She's a very hardworking child. I've seen her every morning during training at Tracen Academy recently. Her talent isn't obvious yet because she's still young, but I think she may be the most diligent elementary division Uma Musume."
"Diligence is certainly a good thing," Shuta An added after a pause, "but without a scientific training method, it can sometimes become too much."
"You shouldn't be telling me that," Silence Suzuka said, lightly adjusting a strand of hair. "Ann should be telling Admire Vega."
"I'm not confident," Shuta An admitted honestly. "There's something about her that makes me hesitate. Until I understand the root of the problem, I can't say I'm confident I'll persuade her."
"What's there to worry about?" Silence Suzuka replied casually. "Before solving the problem, shouldn't she join the team first?"
Shuta An turned his head.
Admire Vega was nearby, listening carefully as the other girls chatted.
He looked at her for a moment and then nodded lightly.
"Perhaps Suzuka, you're right."
At that moment, the commentator's voice suddenly rang out over the entire venue.
"GOLDEN PHEASANT CROSSES THE FINISH LINE! MEJIRO MCQUEEN IS ONLY FOURTH!"
The voice was loud, but the disappointment in it was impossible to miss.
"McQueen didn't win?"
Tokai Teio's eyes widened.
She immediately turned to Shuta An.
"Trainer, should I have entered this Japan Cup?"
"Even if you wanted to enter, I wouldn't allow it,"
Shuta An replied. "The Kikuka Sho followed by the Japan Cup is a schedule that even Symboli Rudolf couldn't handle at her best. Since there's a precedent, I certainly can't let Teio go through that."
After hearing that, Tokai Teio lowered her head.
"But I really didn't expect McQueen to lose this Japan Cup."
"If the Japan Cup can't be defended just because one Uma Musume is missing, then it doesn't deserve to be called a title worth defending," Shuta An said flatly.
He was not Japanese, so he did not particularly care about the emotional angle.
"Even without Golden Pheasant, the second and third places in this race weren't Japanese Uma Musume anyway."
"What a pity~" Mayano Top Gun murmured softly. "For most of the past few years, it was always defended."
"Didn't Oguri Cap defend it three years in a row?" Shuta An said with a faint curl of his lips. "Before that, the Japan Cup was often won by overseas Uma Musume. This year it's just gone back to how it was."
"Next year, I'll definitely win it!"
Tokai Teio clenched her fist.
"If you want to surpass Symboli Rudolf-senpai, defending the Japan Cup is only natural," Silence Suzuka said. "And to surpass Oguri-senpai..."
The box suddenly fell quiet.
"Something like Oguri is too hard to copy,"
Shuta An said, waving a hand.
"You don't need to win the Japan Cup three years in a row. Win it once, then win some important races Oguri never won, and that's enough."
Admire Vega listened to them talk about those achievements, and her eyes unconsciously held a trace of longing.
For a girl who had only recently enrolled, hearing about legends like Symboli Rudolf and Oguri Cap, and then seeing the Undefeated Triple Crown winner and Hall of Fame Uma Musume sitting nearby, was like stepping into a dream.
But just as Admire Vega began to drift a little, she bit the tip of her tongue and forced herself back to reality.
This doesn't belong to me.
That thought rose again in her heart.
I shouldn't be having this kind of experience.
A wave of guilt surged up, and her expression tensed.
Shuta noticed it at once.
He quietly observed the shift in her face.
From relaxed to suddenly tense — had she realized something?
He tried to place himself in her position and silently analyzed her reaction. He was not especially skilled or professional at this, but he still found a direction.
Does Admire Vega feel tense because she thinks she isn't qualified to relax in front of her seniors?
No, that wasn't it. If that were the reason, she would have stayed tense the entire day.
Then a flash of inspiration struck him.
Combined with the speculation he had previously dismissed, another possibility surfaced.
Or maybe she feels she shouldn't be enjoying the treatment she has now.
That seemed similar on the surface, but it pointed to a deeper cause.
Mrs. Kondo had said that Admire Vega should have had a younger sister. The sister was gone, but she had survived. She received her parents' love, she enjoyed the glory of the Pony Cup, and so...
She believes she stole her sister's life.
As that conclusion echoed in his mind, Shuta An couldn't help comparing it to Admire Vega's previous behavior.
It still didn't explain why her personality had changed so drastically two years ago, but it did answer several other things in the background report.
He muttered to himself, "It seems to fit."
Then he decided to test his theory.
Once all the races were finished, Shuta An prepared to see the girls off to their taxis before heading home with Silence Suzuka.
After first sending Tokai Teio and the others off in a taxi and prepaying their fare, only Kurofune, Curren Chan, and Admire Vega remained together.
Curren Chan quickly picked up on the atmosphere and dragged Kurofune off to a nearby dessert shop, planning to buy snacks for watching dramas that evening.
For a moment, only Shuta, Silence Suzuka, and Admire Vega were left.
Admire Vega became visibly uncomfortable.
She wanted to follow Curren, but Curren, who had always taken such good care of her, seemed not to notice her small movements and hurried away with Kurofune.
So Admire Vega had no choice but to stay where she was.
Feeling the young man's gaze beside her, she grew more and more uneasy.
If Silence Suzuka had not been standing there, she probably would have fled in panic.