Sakura Baimu stood frozen, watching Maruzensky's retreating figure, her mind a complete mess.
She'd been found out!!!
Everything had been discovered; even her real name was known.
While Sakura Baimu was lost in thought, the five TCB Umamusumes approached, bombarding her with questions.
"Trainer-san When did you become so close to Maruzen-senpai?" Tokai Teio asked curiously.
"Trainer-san, what did Maruzen-senpai say to you just now?" Satono Diamond asked, her eyes also filled with curiosity.
"Trainer~~~san! What's your relationship with Senior Maruzen? She just said she was very interested in you—what did she want with you?!"
Kitasan Black asked Sakura Baimu loudly, drawing out the last syllable of her voice.
"Maruzen-senpai calls our trainer 'Kura-chan'! So, it really is... right? How could our Trainer-san...?"
Smart Falcon, her face flushed, stammered as she guessed.
Everyone was curious about what Maruzensky wanted with Sakura Baimu.
They had never seen Sakura Baimu and Maruzensky interact before.
Why suddenly...?
"Alright, stop guessing. You guys go train. I have something to take care of."
Amid the jeering and wild guesses of her teammates, Sakura Baimu couldn't concentrate on what to do, so she said goodbye and left.
Leaving her teammates standing there stunned for a few seconds before resuming their wild guesses.
"…"
Mejiro McQueen remained silent, but her sharp gaze followed Sakura Baimu's retreating figure until she was gone.
--
After leaving the group, Sakura Baimu felt her heart pounding so loudly she could hear it herself.
"Damn it, Maruzensky knows, so Symboli Rudolf knows too? If word gets out about my situation on campus, I won't be able to be a trainer anymore…!"
Her identity was given to her by Akikawa Yayoi; it wasn't real at all.
Sakura Baimu had even imagined the moment her identity was exposed at school and throughout Japan.
What kind of social annihilation she would face.
Actually, none of that mattered.
Her main concern was that her fake identity would be exposed and her trainer status would be invalidated.
And another thing…
"If McQueen's grandmother finds out, will she still want me to continue training McQueen?"
The old woman was furious because of her foul in the Spring Tenno Sho, a race the Mejiro family valued highly.
To be able to personally train Mejiro McQueen later, and to avoid gossip, Sakura Baimu voluntarily left the Mejiro family in Tokyo.
She helped Mejiro McQueen win four Spring Tenno Sho races, creating the only Tenno Sho winning streak in Japanese racing history.
Logically, such merit should be enough to gain the Mejiro family head's recognition.
However, Sakura Baimu grew up in Kasamatsu and didn't know the Mejiro family head well.
What if the Mejiro family head was like those overbearing patriarchs in those "dragon king's son-in-law" novels, completely disregarding her achievements and resolutely refusing to let Mejiro McQueen continue training with her?
Sakura Baimu was at a loss.
So, Sakura Baimu decided against taking the plunge.
Training Mejiro McQueen as the human trainer "Sakura Baimu" was fine for now.
While lost in thought, Sakura Baimu suddenly spotted a small house on the Tracen Academy campus.
A sign on the house read, "Fortune Telling (No Substance)."
"You outside..."
A voice suddenly came from inside the house.
"You mean me?" Sakura Baimu asked.
"Yes, it's you. I can see you're hesitating. Come in and have your fortune told," the voice inside said.
Sakura Baimu had no better option at the moment, so she simply lifted the curtain and went inside.
Inside were two Umamusume, one of whom was the renowned Meisho Doto with her fluffy bob haircut, standing beside her.
The other was Matikanefukukitaru, sitting at the table with orange hair and starry yellow eyes.
"Oh ho ho, you're… eh—the TCB trainer!"
Matikanefukukitaru started to say, but then jumped in surprise when she saw Sakura Baimu enter.
The carefully constructed atmosphere instantly crumbled.
Sakura Baimu found Matikanefukukitaru's startled reaction amusing.
She sat down directly at the table with the crystal ball and said with a laugh:
"Am I that scary?"
"No, no, I'm just a little surprised," Matikanefukukitaru said, while the renowned Meisho Doto beside her nodded repeatedly.
"Give me a fortune reading. How much?"
"I'll give you half price!" Matikanefukukitaru said, placing her hands on the crystal ball and staring intently at the glowing ball.
"Very bad luck!"
"I knew it!"
Sakura Baimu wasn't surprised at all. Everything was fine this morning, but somehow her identity was suddenly exposed.
It was incredibly unlucky.
"Is there a solution?"
"Yes! Your lucky charm for today is a blue rose!" Matikanefukukitaru said.
"A blue rose—are you talking about Rice Shower?"
Rice Shower's hat had a blue rose on it.
After paying, Sakura Baimu left Matikanefukukitaru's fortune-telling hut. Wandering around for a while, she decided to go back and train her team.
"Anyway, Maruzensky deliberately avoided Teio, McQueen, and the others when she said those things. It seems the old driver also realized this matter needed to be kept secret..."
--
After training in the evening, Sakura Baimu went straight to the hospital where Rice Shower was.
After completing two hours of treatment for Rice Shower, Sakura Baimu stayed there, staring at her.
This made Rice Shower somewhat uneasy, feeling uncomfortable under Sakura Baimu's gaze.
"On... onee-sama, what's wrong? Why are you looking at Rice like that..."
"Oh, it's nothing, Rice Shower. Just do your own thing; don't worry about me." Sakura Baimu waved her hand, indicating that Rice Shower shouldn't pay attention to her.
Then, Sakura Baimu continued to stare at Rice Shower, anticipating the good fortune that Matikanefukukitaru had predicted Rice Shower would bring.
"There's no way Rice can ignore her!!!"
Rice Shower, feeling Sakura Baimu's gaze, thought to herself in terror.
What's wrong with Sakura Baimu today? When she's having an episode, she's usually very talkative and asks Rice Shower to do all sorts of things.
Today, she's just staring at her silently, which makes Rice Shower extremely anxious.
Time ticked by, dusk deepened, and Sakura Baimu's phone suddenly rang.
She picked it up and saw it was an unfamiliar number.
"Hello?" Sakura Baimu asked.
"Sakura-san, don't forget our promise tonight~" Maruzensky's playful tone came from the other end of the line.
"...."
Sakura Baimu hung up the phone speechlessly, then looked at Rice Shower, who was standing with her arms crossed, looking completely lost.
"It's useless! What happened to the good luck?!"
---