Chapter 103: Compared to that—White Day!! What even are you supposed to be!?

In order to completely shut down Silence Suzuka-san, mastering the start dash became my immediate goal. That—right there—was the objective directly in front of me.

For me, Hoshino Wilm.

…That said, even if you just say “master it,” it’s honestly pretty hard to pull off.

Not long after I signed a contract with Ayumu-san, I learned a technique called “Concentration.” Put simply, it involves thoroughly training your reflexes, then focusing to an absurd degree so you never miss the exact moment of the start.

In mock races, that moment is when the flag is dropped. In official races, it’s when the gate opens. You sense that instant down to fractions of a second—less than a tenth—and launch forward without even the slightest delay.

It sounds simple, but once you actually try it, you quickly realize it’s anything but.

Humans are the same, but Uma Musume are constantly thinking about all kinds of things unconsciously. Behind the main line of thought your brain is actively using, there’s a massive amount of background noise—worries, nagging concerns, stray thoughts, all sorts of clutter. The more noise there is, the less focused you become. Strip it away, and your focus sharpens proportionally.

The technique known as “Concentration” is about eliminating as much of that noise as possible and pouring every ounce of thought into the instant of the start. You shave everything down, focus completely, and rely on honed reflexes to explode out of the gate.

…Yeah. Thinking about it again, it really does deserve to be called a proper technique.

As it turns out, I was extremely compatible with it.

One of the three modes I use while running is “Cold” mode. What used to be a curse can be summed up as a state where I pour all of my mental capacity into running—or more broadly, into whatever is right in front of me.

This mode has incredible synergy with both the start dash and “Concentration.” It’s an extreme level of focus—hyper-focus, really. In situations where you only need to think about one thing, it produces near-optimal results. That’s probably why I was able to pick up “Concentration” so quickly.

I still remember it fondly. Last year, it took only about a week from the time I started learning for Ayumu-san to declare that I’d fully mastered it. I can still picture the look on their face.

“Wait—seriously…? How does that even work?”

Thinking back, that might’ve been the first time I’d ever seen them show their emotions that openly.

Now then—while I picked up “Concentration” almost immediately…

Rice-chan, who became both my junior and my nighttime-only apprentice, seemed to be having quite a hard time with it.

I demonstrated the start dozens of times right in front of her, tried to explain what it feels like on a sensory level, and repeated the process again and again. Compared to when she first started, she’s definitely improved a lot.

Honestly, I think the current Rice-chan can pull off a more refined start than the average Uma Musume. At least up through the Satsuki Sho, she probably wouldn’t lose the early phase to anyone.

…Ah, no—wait. Ayumu-san’s trainee, Bourbon-chan, would still be there. I’m not arrogant enough to think Rice-chan could beat her just yet.

In any case, Rice-chan’s start has clearly improved. That much is obvious. But it still hasn’t quite reached the level you’d call “Concentration.” If she ran alongside me or Suzuka-san, she’d probably be a little late off the mark.

…Well, that’s only natural, I suppose. Throwing Rice-chan—who’s only just entered her Classic year—into battles at our level would be…

Yeah.

I mean, I’m running the deadly combination of “Cold” mode plus “Concentration.” Suzuka-san possesses what Ayumu-san calls a “one-of-a-kind” start technique—the strongest there is. If Rice-chan could fight us evenly in March of her Classic year, she’d already be cruising toward the Triple Crown. Heck, she could probably enter the Arima Kinen right now and no one would question it.

Ah—sorry. I got sidetracked.

This isn’t about Rice-chan. It’s about my training.

After mastering “Concentration,” I became capable of one of the fastest starts an Uma Musume can achieve. So why did I lose to Suzuka-senpai at last year’s Arima Kinen?

The answer is simple: acceleration.

Suzuka-senpai’s initial acceleration was, frankly, absurd. A godlike burst that surpassed even me—someone who was pretty confident in her own start—by a wide margin. If I want to beat that, then naturally, I need to train my acceleration as well.

This isn’t about focus or reflexes anymore. It’s purely a matter of leg power and how to use it. That’s the next target I should be aiming for, but…

“Hm…”

This might sound a little self-congratulatory, but honestly, I’m already pretty fast as I am.

Techniques don’t improve in a straight upward line forever. The more refined they become, the slower the rate of improvement gets. In that sense, my start technique is already very close to fully polished.

Using Ayumu-san’s terminology, I possess both “Concentration,” which delivers the fastest possible start, and “First Strike Victory,” which provides explosive acceleration. I’ve already internalized both techniques.

To push things even further from here, I’d obviously need to pile on a great deal more training. Even Suzuka-san—a top-tier veteran in her fourth Senior year—was only slightly faster than me. The effort required to climb beyond that level… well, it doesn’t take much imagination.

Still.

I am a reincarnated, cheat-enabled Uma Musume. And right now, I have access to methods that are a little—no, very—unfairly broken. I don’t think it’s absolutely impossible to take another step forward before the Osaka Hai.

…No. That kind of negativity won’t do.

I’ll definitely rise to the challenge.

So that I can truly be worthy of being Ayumu-san’s Uma Musume. So I can live up to the expectations of all my fans. And so I can run even more—far more—thrilling, joyful races.

“…Alright. Let’s run again today.”

And with that, I continued to value my daily training, tackling it with enjoyment day after day.

---

Some time passed after that fishing trip with Ayumu-san…

And then, at last, the day arrived.

March 14th.

Exactly one month after Valentine’s Day.

Yes—the world stood on the threshold of White Day!

The day when men who received chocolate from women on Valentine’s Day give sweets in return!

For a middle-school girl living in the present era, it’s impossible not to get swept up in the excitement.

Woohoo! Long live White Day!!

…Well.

Personally, I’ve never really liked this day all that much.

White Day doesn’t have any real history behind it, after all.

Valentine’s Day at least originated from Christianity, right? You could compare it to Christmas—a festival with legitimate roots. Sure, the chocolate angle reeks a bit of the confectionery industry’s ulterior motives, but the origin itself is solid. That alone makes it worthy of celebration.

Festivals are basically memes that give people an excuse to get excited together. As long as the initial premise is reasonably sound, they earn the right to be called a festival.

But compared to that—White Day!! What are you, exactly!?

No tradition, no history—just a vulgar origin story where corporations try to profit by exploiting pure maidenly feelings! A mass of corporate strategy! A crystal formed from 100% pure profit motive! Is money really the only thing you people think about!?

And because this day exists, Valentine’s Day ends up feeling like a holiday where girls give chocolate expecting something in return! What do you think a girl’s sincerity is worth!?

Honestly, it’s infuriating beyond words.

If White Day didn’t exist, Valentine’s Day could have been a sparkling, beautiful day where girls express their pure feelings. Being told to like a holiday that exploits people’s hearts like this is asking too much.

That’s why I’ve been anti–White Day ever since my previous life. It’s not because I’m bitter about not being involved in the event or anything like that. Not at all. Definitely not.

…That said, girls are surprisingly pragmatic creatures.

Even while grumbling about the obligation to give something back, when the moment comes to actually receive a gift, you can’t help but get excited.

Since it was already guaranteed that I’d get something in return from Ayumu-san, despite everything I’d said, I ended up feeling fairly—

No. Sorry. That’s me putting on airs.

I was ridiculously excited. So much so that, unusually for me, I couldn’t even fully concentrate on my training that day.

After training ended, I was told,

“Hoshino Wilm, I’ll be giving you your return gift from last month, so come to the trainer’s office.”

I marched in full of anticipation, but…

“Once again, thank you for Valentine’s Day, Hoshino Wilm. This is your return gift.”

What was presented to me—presented? No, “laid out” would be more accurate—was an enormous mass of sweets.

Plain ones, cocoa-flavored ones, chocolate chip, nut-filled, orange-flavored—cookies of every kind. Cute fruit-themed candies, ones with sweet fillings, refreshing ones, supplement-like ones, cotton-candy-like ones—again, all sorts. On top of that, white chocolate, bitter chocolate, marshmallows, gum, and an entire variety of cakes piled high.

An absurd quantity of lavish sweets was spread out before me.

And every single one of them was unmistakably handmade.

Um… what?

Since when did our trainer’s office turn into a pastry shop?

“Ah—uhm…”

“Yeah, I know what you want to say. To be honest, I agonized over that part too.”

“Oh, so you are at least self-aware. That’s a bit of a relief.”

“Right? I figured I shouldn’t limit myself to sweets alone and should also consider things like handkerchiefs or necklaces. I ruled out earrings and rings for now, but I did think accessories might be necessary…”

“No, that’s not what I meant. This alone is already way too much, you know?”

“Huh?”

The trainer tilted their head, and I instinctively pinched the bridge of my nose.

Ayumu-san really does have some kind of bug in their sense of money and value, don’t they… Is it because they were born into a prestigious family, so spending comes naturally to them? …Although, Masa-san has a pretty normal sense of values, all things considered. Between the two of them, which one is actually the norm for someone from a distinguished household?

As for me, my financial hardship from three years ago is still fresh in my memory, so my sense of money is pretty strict.

…Or at least, I’d like to say that.

But ever since around last spring, I can feel it loosening.

The money coming in from race events is enormous, but more than that, I’ve grown accustomed to Ayumu-san’s rough spending habits and careless use of things. I can feel my own sense of value being eroded.

Honestly, what a sinful person.

First my image of trainers, then my view of men, and now even my values are getting scrambled. They’d better take responsibility for this properly…

…or so I find myself thinking.

“You know… normally, return gifts are supposed to be around the same value, right?”

“Huh? Aren’t they usually, like, three or four times the value?”

“What kind of multiplier is that!? Is this a matriarchy!? And even then, this clearly goes way beyond four times!”

“No. You’re a racing Uma Musume, Hoshino Wilm. You took precious time out of your schedule to make those sweets for me. This much doesn’t even come close to being equal.”

“…Ah.”

Well… yeah. When you put it that way, he’s not entirely wrong.

At least from a purely financial standpoint, Ayumu-san’s argument does carry a certain degree of validity.

I am a pretty high-earning Uma Musume, after all. Last year, my annual income reached ten figures, and if you break that down into an hourly wage, it easily exceeds 100,000 yen.

And this year’s Valentine’s chocolate—Ayumu-san–exclusive special hot chocolate—took me about ten hours to prepare perfectly.

Converted using my hourly wage, that single cup’s “value” would be… yeah. Just thinking about it makes my head hurt. I don’t believe it was actually worth that much, but on paper, that’s how the numbers shake out.

…Still, that’s that, and this is this.

"You know, if you put it that way, Ayumu-san—you’re a G1 trainer, a Derby-winning trainer, and even a Classic Triple Crown trainer, right? Making all of this by hand must’ve taken you a ton of time too."

"Well… yeah. It did take a fair amount."

"Exactly. …So this is more than enough. Honestly, it’s bordering on too much."

Truth be told, I earn a lot—but Ayumu-san must be bringing in a fortune as well.

Apparently, Uma Musume trainers receive bonuses based on the grade of races their trainees compete in and their finishing positions. And when it comes to G1 races, those bonuses can get pretty enormous.

As for my own record… uh, what does it look like again?

I won my debut race, then the open race Hanabatake Sho, and the G2 Yayoi Sho. For G1s, I placed first at the Hopeful Stakes, the Satsuki Sho, the Derby, the Takarazuka Kinen, the Kikuka Sho, and the Japan Cup—and second at the Arima Kinen.

Lined up like that: one debut win, one open win, one G2 win, six G1 wins, and one second-place finish in a G1.

On top of that, Bourbon-chan—Ayumu-san’s other trainee—also has one debut win, one pre-open win, and even a G1 victory.

With results like that, there’s no way Ayumu-san isn’t swimming in cash. Sure, maybe not on the same level as me on the athlete side, but honestly, if they kept working another two or three years, they’d probably earn enough to retire comfortably.

…Although, considering the cost of maintaining that ridiculously huge house, maybe they’d need a lot more money after all. Well, that part might be… solved if I joined them. Might.

But still.

No—that’s not what I should be thinking about right now.

"More importantly, this amount is seriously insane. Are you sure this is okay?"

"Considering an Uma Musume’s appetite, I think it’ll all be gone well before the expiration dates."

"No, I mean… won’t I gain weight if I eat all of this?"

"…Ah."

Ayumu-san froze, mouth hanging open.

Wait—seriously? You didn’t think about that?

That’s not very like Ayumu-san, who’s usually earnest to a fault as a trainer. I tilted my head slightly, puzzled—but then—

"No… I guess I got a little too fired up since it was for you. Sorry."

"Ah… um. Well… I am happy, though."

Seeing Ayumu-san scratch the back of their head, I fell silent.

Ugh… I—I’ve been defeated.

They really do just say what they feel at moments like this. It’s completely unfair. Don’t they feel embarrassed at all?

As the two of us stood there quietly for a moment, a woman’s voice cut in from the side.

"Flirting is all well and good, but could you maybe do your work?"

"Ah—yes…"

…Right. Come to think of it, Ayumu-san was still on the clock.

---

Now then—the following day arrived, bringing with it a relentlessly rainy morning.

It was mid-March, and the time for the URA Finals had come.

Once again, we were there to watch McQueen-san compete in the long-distance division. During the preliminaries and semifinals, multiple races are held even within the same division, but once you reach the finals, there’s only one race per division.

Whoever wins that single race proves themselves to be “the strongest of their generation at that distance.”

The cream of the crop.

An all-out clash between the very best.

Naturally, the final would be a brutally intense race—on par with a G1.

"I wonder how this race will turn out."

Huddled beneath a rain poncho designed for Uma Musume, I muttered absentmindedly while nibbling on some homemade cookies Ayumu-san had brought along.

…Yeah. These really are good.

The moment I bit into one, the crisp texture, toasted aroma, and buttery sweetness spread through my mouth. Honestly, Ayumu-san is weird like that—their ingredient sourcing can be a bit questionable, but when it comes to cooking, they’re absurdly good. These could easily be sold in a shop.

If I had to complain about something… it’d be the sheer quantity. I might eventually get sick of them.

I thought the variety would keep things interesting, but once you factor in expiration dates, you’re forced to prioritize things like chocolate and marshmallows. That naturally locks you into eating certain sweets during certain periods, and boredom becomes unavoidable.

…Which, conversely, means there really aren’t any other flaws.

Anyway, among all those sweets, what I brought today were two kinds: the buttery ones and the chocolate-chip ones. Both are delicious in completely different ways, so once I eat one, I can’t help but grab another and pop it straight into my mouth.

…Weight gain? Well… if I just do some extra training to make up for it, I’ll lose it, right? Probably.

While I munched on cookies and rationalized things like that, Ayumu-san—immaculately dressed in a suit despite supposedly being off today—spoke up.

"…As far as this race goes, it’s fair to say Mejiro McQueen stands alone at the top. She’s visibly stronger than the rest. In fact, many of the middle- and long-distance runners avoided her entirely and shifted to the middle-distance division instead."

"She was already a powerful stayer, but after last autumn’s Tenno Sho, she stepped up to an entirely different level. To be blunt, among her generation, no Uma Musume can truly challenge Mejiro McQueen in long-distance races."

"That’s why she won’t lose easily. If anything could take her down… it’d have to be an accident during the race."

Oh… wow.

For Ayumu-san to go that far—that’s really saying something.

With their precise, unerring eye, they’re declaring her unquestionably the strongest of her generation in the long-distance category. As long as McQueen-san doesn’t cause—or get caught up in—some kind of accident, her victory here is beyond doubt.

If Ayumu-san says so, then that’s an unshakable truth.

As expected of McQueen-san—one of my rivals.

Seeing a rival praised like that… well, it oddly makes me feel a little proud.

…And then, at that moment—

『The URA Finals—eighteen Uma Musume, the very pinnacle of their generation, advance to the final showdown!

In the long-distance division, there is only one overwhelming favorite: the turf’s leading actress, Mejiro McQueen! An Uma Musume who possesses both popularity and ability in equal measure!

Calm and unflustered as ever, wearing a relaxed smile even today—will she claim the title of the strongest stayer of her generation?』

『Hanshin Racecourse, turf course, right-handed outer track, 3,000 meters. Weather is rain, and the track condition has been announced as yielding.』

For her—who conquered the Kikuka Sho on a rainy, heavy track a year and a half ago, and the Tenno Sho (Autumn) on a rainy, sloppy track just half a year ago—this could fairly be called home turf.

In a race that demands stamina and power, can a massive upset truly occur?』

The announcer’s voice echoed through the loudspeakers, reaching all the way up to the stands.

As I lowered my gaze while listening… the first thing that caught my eye was, of course, the silver-haired Uma Musume in question.

Lightly warming up with a confident smile was Mejiro McQueen-san—a senior I deeply respect, and at the same time, a rival who gets my blood pumping like no other.

Today, instead of her usual black-based racing outfit, she was wearing a pristine white, dress-like uniform. It must be her second set of racing clothes—the one she received after winning last year’s URA Award.

…Which meant she, too, must have learned about the second “domain,” and was aiming to master it.

How would that already-refined domain change?

That was still unknown—and precisely because of that, I was looking forward to the day we ran together again, the day she showed me her domain.

Now then, compared to McQueen-san, the other Uma Musume around her were clearly keeping their distance.

As a result, there was a donut-shaped gap surrounding her—an unmistakable empty space.

The loneliness of the strong, perhaps.

I often found myself in similar situations before mock races, or even within my own class.

…Well, that might just be because I lack social skills.

Still, being this blatantly isolated wasn’t exactly a good state for someone like McQueen-san.

After all, it meant she was being watched extremely closely by everyone around her.

Standing just one step back from McQueen, the other Uma Musume were focusing on her almost too openly. It wasn’t just rivalry—it was closer to resentment, like glaring at the enemy who killed your parents. As expected of runners who’d made it this far, they were filled with the determination to land at least one decisive blow.

…Though McQueen-san brushed off that hostility as if it were nothing.

That said, being watched so keenly also meant being heavily marked during the race. For a type like Nature, who excels at exploiting that kind of situation, it could be an advantage—but for someone like McQueen-senpai, who defeats others head-on, it was a fairly unfavorable position.

“Hm… looks like she’s getting heavily marked. Well, I don’t think there’s any need to worry when it comes to McQueen-san, though.”

“Yeah. It’s McQueen. She’ll win. Definitely.”

The one who answered my muttering wasn’t the trainer, but another Uma Musume who had come to watch the race with us—Tokai Teio.

Wearing a rain poncho just like mine, my rival stood beside me.

Up until the URA Finals semifinals, Teio had seemed completely uninterested, saying, “There’s no need to watch, right?” But when I asked her a few days ago, even she said she’d at least go see the final.

Almost reflexively, I invited her along—and as a result, this outing turned into a fairly large group: me and Ayumu-san, Bourbon-chan and Masa-san, plus Teio and her trainer.

For the record, Nature and Rice-chan went to watch the middle-distance division, so they weren’t here. If their camp had chosen long-distance instead, that would’ve been four more people.

With the top contenders of this year’s Classic races all gathered together, we would’ve stood out even more than we already did.

…Though honestly, we were already drawing plenty of attention as it was. I even got asked for autographs earlier.

Still, it was a little surprising to hear Teio praise someone so openly.

“Even you acknowledge McQueen-san, Teio?”

“What do you mean, ‘even you’? …Of course I do. I’ll be facing her in the Spring Tenno Sho, after all. She’s someone I need to evaluate and be wary of—same as you, Wilm.”

“…Huh.”

That actually caught me off guard.

The old Teio wouldn’t have responded so straightforwardly. She used to be more twisted about it—like there was always an unspoken I’ll win anyway baked into everything she said.

But now, there was no such arrogance.

She was calmly, earnestly keeping watch over me and McQueen-san, simply because she wanted to win.

When I glanced sideways at her, I saw her staring toward McQueen-san with a serious expression.

She wasn’t nervously worrying about losing.

She was genuinely trying to watch.

Trying to take something from this race… to learn from it.

…Teio’s changed, hasn’t she.

Just like how I met Ayumu-san and the others and gradually became more positive. Just like how Nature met her trainer and us, and began taking racing seriously.

Teio, too… has changed.

Probably in a way that makes her even more dangerous—for me, for Nature, and for McQueen-san.

And for me personally, in a way that makes my heart race with excitement.

“Hehe. This is going to be fun, isn’t it?”

“Hm? Yeah. I think so too. This’ll be a great race.”

Teio didn’t seem to grasp the meaning behind my words at all—her attention was fixed entirely on the race unfolding before her, right up to the very end.

---

“Fast—so fast, far too fast, Mejiro McQueen!! She charges straight through without her stride faltering and storms across the finish line!!

She doesn’t even allow a one-on-one duel—this is overwhelming strength! One of the spotlights of this generation now shines squarely upon her!!

An eight-length gap over second place proves her supremacy! The winner is Mejiro McQueen aaahhh!!”

Once it actually began, the race was nothing short of a massacre.

McQueen-san’s cadence was unmistakably high-paced. Everyone tried desperately to cling to her… but no one could reach her.

Overwhelming speed, and an immense reserve of stamina.

With nothing but sheer fundamental power—without even relying on complex techniques—Mejiro McQueen, the Uma Musume, proved her supremacy here beyond any doubt.

…No, seriously. This is insane.

“Teio. McQueen-san didn’t use her domain, did she?”

“…Yeah. Probably not.”

That’s right.

As far as we could tell from the stands, McQueen-san didn’t use her domain this time.

No—if what Ayumu-san said is correct, then it wasn’t that she didn’t use it, but that she couldn’t.

The domain tied to her second racing outfit still hasn’t awakened yet.

…Or perhaps she simply didn’t meet the necessary conditions.

Not being able to use her domain should have been a significant disadvantage for McQueen-san.

On top of that, she was being relentlessly marked by the other seventeen Uma Musume.

She got boxed in by the pack early on, her path narrowed to something extremely tight and difficult.

…And yet.

Even after accounting for all of those disadvantages, she won by eight lengths.

You don’t get numbers like that without a decisive gap in raw ability.

No wonder her trainer said, “She won’t lose that easily.”

McQueen-san is already approaching the end of her full maturation period, and yet she’s even more refined than she was last year.

Her technique, her resolve, her passion for racing—they just keep climbing higher and higher.

And I’m going to run against her in the Tenno Sho (Spring)… over a distance extended by another 200 meters from here.

So how do I win?

Do I wear her down? Make her waste her legs? Or clash head-on with her?

What external factors come into play? How will Teio move—and how will she respond?

The more I thought about it, the more fun it became, my thoughts heating up as if they themselves were racing.

…Ahh, yeah. This is it.

After all, racing really is the most fun thing there is.

“Wilm.”

I heard my name and turned to the Uma Musume beside me.

She was still looking toward McQueen-san, who remained on the turf, and said quietly,

“I’m taking the Osaka Hai. So be ready.”

…Ah, come on.

Why does everyone insist on making this so enjoyable for me?

“Then come after me with everything you’ve got, and catch me. …If you can.”

With a smile rising from the bottom of my heart, that’s what I said.