Chapter 52: P.A.R.T.Y. ~Autumn Festival~

The Kikuka Sho was over.

With that, the Classic Road of Hoshino Wilm—my very first trainee Uma Musume—had come to its conclusion. She had magnificently achieved her initial goal: an undefeated Triple Crown.

…An undefeated Triple Crown, huh.

When I really stop and think about it, it still feels unreal. Even an undefeated double crown—or becoming the first Classic-tier Uma Musume to win the Takarazuka Kinen—would have been absurd enough. But an undefeated Triple Crown carries a completely different weight. The meaning behind those words is on another level entirely.

The Classic races are three contests that can only be challenged once in a lifetime, where the eighteen best in Japan compete for supremacy. Proof of being “the fastest,” “the luckiest,” and “the strongest”—titles every racer dreams of. Winning even one is undeniable proof of excellence. Winning all three without losing a single race demonstrates a strength far beyond the rest of the generation. And when you add the five races leading up to it, all won without exception… that’s when the word “strongest” starts needing the prefix “in history.”

…Put that way, her rise really was ridiculous. From an unknown background to one of the two strongest of her generation. From there to the strongest active racer. And then… to something bordering on the strongest in history. Seriously, isn’t that too absurd? Is this really happening?

There’s no doubt that Hoshino Wilm possessed absurd talent from the moment she enrolled. Sky-high stats, blessed aptitudes, and a condition I had never seen before. Compared to her state upon entering Tracen Academy, she would probably rank among the top five Uma Musume in history. In that sense, an undefeated Triple Crown—and even being called the strongest ever—might not feel entirely out of place.

Might… but still.

The Horino family had never produced a Japan Derby winner, which meant there had never been a Classic Triple Crown either. Then again, only four Uma Musume—excluding Hoshino Wilm—had ever achieved the Classic Triple Crown at all, so families with that distinction were rare to begin with. Even so, my trainee became the first in Horino history to accomplish it—and with the qualifier “undefeated” attached, no less. One half of a record that exists only twice in all of history.

It was… a reality that felt completely unreal.

It would probably take time before I could truly accept this from the bottom of my heart. For now, there was only one thing I knew for certain.

The Uma Musume I fell for… really was incredible.

And with her undefeated Triple Crown came one very tangible change to my work.

Which was only natural, but… my workload exploded.

“…I see, scale figure sales. Understood. I’ll confirm with her first and then proceed, so please circulate the documents.”

“Hello… an interview? I see, a joint one rather than an exclusive. That’s fine, but the date would be—ah, sorry, that day is… yes… I see, that works. I’ll check with her, so please hold for a moment.”

“…Hoshino Wilm, we’ve received a request for a four-company joint interview. Are you okay with it?”

“Yes, the Arima Kinen. Yes, she’s scheduled to run. There are no concerns with her legs at present, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“A commercial to be filmed alongside the Japan Cup… I see. Understood.”

“Hello… what? A bronze statue? …Yes, yes, I see… understood. I’ll confirm with her and get back to you. Yes… thank you.”

…Yeah.

After things had finally calmed down following my time with Mihono Bourbon, Hoshino Wilm’s Triple Crown threw everything back into overdrive. Interview requests, coverage, and press conferences multiplied overnight. Merchandise production scaled up several times over. Commercials, advertisements, promotional events, talk show invitations—so many that it felt less like I’d die and more like I’d be killed by them. For some reason, interviews directed at me personally also increased.

If I’d tried to handle everything alone, I’m certain I would’ve collapsed—no exaggeration. I couldn’t help wishing I were a bit more efficient.

This time, I couldn’t afford the arrogance of thinking I could manage it all myself. With more trainees under my care—and my very first one achieving an undefeated Triple Crown—it was obvious the workload would exceed my limits. So I took precautions in advance.

…Though calling them “precautions” might be a bit generous.

When there’s work you absolutely must get done but can’t handle alone, what do you do?

That’s right—you rely on other people.

My solution was extremely simple. I bowed my head repeatedly and asked acquaintances for help.

As a result, for the past few days, I’d been grinding through work with the assistance of Director’s Secretary Tazuna-san and several trustworthy peers. True to her word, Tazuna-san showed maximum consideration, and my peers helped out as if it were only natural.

…I really am blessed with good connections. I’ll have to repay this debt someday.

Even with all that help, the workload remained enormous. Especially during the three days immediately after the race—there simply wasn’t enough manpower to let me relax. I gave Hoshino Wilm and Mihono Bourbon only rough instructions, handing them hastily scribbled daily schedules or declaring full rest days, and somehow pushed through.

I barely slept. Every time I started nodding off, I was jolted awake by a ringing phone or the sound of Tazuna-san opening the door… but still.

Somehow… somehow, I got through it. Thank goodness.

“To be fair, no one anticipates a rookie trainer’s Uma Musume achieving an undefeated Triple Crown. In any case, good work, Horino Trainer-san. Things should ease up a bit from here.”

Even as she said that, Tazuna-san couldn’t completely hide her fatigue. When even the superhuman Tazuna-san—rumored to have “about ten doppelgängers”—looked like that, it really drove home how brutal these past few days had been. It easily ranked among the top three hellish death marches of my life, including my previous one.

In any case, I survived the worst of it. And now, while dealing with the remaining tasks, I still had one more duty to fulfill as a trainer.

That’s right—being a trainer isn’t just about paperwork and schedules. Communication with your trainee Uma Musume is also an essential part of the job.

---

And so, five days after the Kikuka Sho—

“Hoshino Wilm, congratulations on achieving the Triple Crown!”

“Congratulations!”

Pop, pop—small, dry bursts, quiet enough not to hurt her ears. At the same time, colorful paper streamers flew toward Hoshino Wilm as she stepped into the trainer’s office.

She blinked rapidly, eyes wide, and looked around.

The trainer’s office, usually plain and lifeless, had been decorated with balloons, paper flowers, pennants, and banners I’d spent all of yesterday preparing. On the desk, instead of stacks of documents, were lavish dishes—cake and fried chicken, chosen by Bourbon.

From that alone, she must have grasped what was happening.

“Thank you so much! I’m really happy!”

She smiled sweetly, her face softening into a bashful grin.

That’s right. Today—finally a day when I could catch my breath—we held a surprise party to celebrate Hoshino Wilm’s Triple Crown, timed to coincide with her training rest day.

I’ve often been told that I’m “terrible at reading people’s feelings.” Mostly by my little sister. And honestly, she’s right. Other people’s hearts are incredibly complex. Accurately gauging emotions feels like an advanced skill to me. If being able to naturally observe others’ states like breathing counts as “being good at it,” then yes—I’m awful.

But even someone like me understands this.

A Classic Triple Crown isn’t something you celebrate with words alone. It’s a monumental achievement accomplished by only two people in history—and not through easy victories, but by overcoming fierce battles against Teio, Sky, McQueen, Ryan, and Nature. On top of that, she faced her childhood trauma, overcame it, and turned it into strength.

That kind of accomplishment goes far beyond head pats or “reward coupons.” Those would be laughably insufficient.

Rewards and punishments need weight to have meaning. For everything Hoshino Wilm has done, I had to give her something she’d truly be happy about. So as her trainer—as an adult who knows how hard she worked—what could I do for her?

A vacation? For the current Hoshino Wilm, that would probably be punishment. Physical affection beyond head pats? Hugging her like a child? …That’s basically the same thing. Travel or gourmet food? That’s just my ego, and there’s no guarantee she’d enjoy it. Clothes or beauty items? I don’t have the knowledge, and if it doesn’t match her tastes, it’ll just collect dust.

…This is where I’m weak.

I can analyze physical data and give proper training instructions. But the heart is invisible. Without understanding that, choosing the right reward is difficult. Maybe it’s the weakness of a data-driven type—or the flaw of someone bad at flexible thinking.

Either way… this is where I fall short.

Still, there was no way I could brush this off with a simple “Congratulations on the Triple Crown” and be done.

Even while buried in work, I kept thinking—over and over—about what would be appropriate. I wrung my nonexistent wisdom dry, and what I eventually came up with was… a surprise party.

…Don’t say I’m just reusing the idea from the Hopeful Stakes. I really couldn’t think of anything else. Please forgive me.

In Japan, there’s a custom of celebrating special days with food—birthdays, Christmas, and the like.
…Well, it’s not limited to Japan, and phrasing it that way makes me sound oddly distant, but still.

The point is, there’s a culture where a few times a year, you’re allowed to go all out. On those days, splurging on food and decorations is permitted, and you’re free to let loose as much as you want.

A so-called “hare day.”
One extremely special, extremely fun day.

In short, the plan was to turn today into one of those hare days.
Or rather… this was about all I could do.

Hoshino Wilm doesn’t have hobbies that involve spending money, and she’s not lacking in it anyway. All of her motivation is directed toward running—and in that regard, there’s nothing more I can really do to support her.

So the only thing I could give her was this brief, festival-like moment.

With that decided, I planned the surprise party, told Bourbon and got her cooperation, bought decorations in the shopping district, had Bourbon choose and reserve the cake, food, snacks, and juice…

Somehow, I managed to do it all in a single day. And with Hoshino Wilm kept completely in the dark, the party was ready.

---

And the result—

“Once again, congratulations on achieving the Triple Crown, Hoshino Wilm. And I’m sorry I couldn’t properly celebrate with you these past few days.”

“…Honestly, I was a little lonely. But since you went this far for me, I’ll wipe the slate clean and forgive you. Thank you, Trainer.”

“But this party… did Bourbon-chan help too?”

“Yes. I had classes and was unable to assist with the decorations, but I take pride in having contributed to yesterday’s grocery shopping and food purchases.”

“I see. Thank you too, Bourbon-chan. I’m really happy.”

Hoshino Wilm smiled.

Not the beautiful, polished smile she shows fans or juniors, but a slightly distinctive one. If I had to describe it bluntly and objectively, “eerie” might actually be the most accurate word—her genuine, unguarded smile.

Yeah… that’s a relief.

I can’t arrogantly claim to fully understand Hoshino Wilm’s emotions. As my sister says, I lack humanlike sensitivity and am painfully dense.

That’s why I had no idea whether she’d enjoy the party I put together.

Communication has no clear answer or guideline. Unlike training, there’s no mountain of data. Unlike paperwork, there’s no single correct solution. Which makes it, for me, incredibly difficult.

Even imagining her reaction was unfamiliar territory.

But it seems that, this time at least, I managed to earn a passing grade.

As relief washes over me, I find her awkward smile endearing.

Today is a hare day—a special, fun day.
I hope she can enjoy this small taste of the extraordinary, even if just a little.

“Both of you are completely off from training today. Forget about races and practice, and take the day to relax.”

“Then, Wilm-senpai. If you’d do the honors.”

“The honors? Eh—me?”

“Well, you are today’s main character. There’s no need for anything stiff or formal. Just say whatever you want.”

“Eeh… umm…”

Hoshino Wilm crossed her arms and thought for a moment. After a short pause, she nodded and picked up a cup.

What she poured into it wasn’t alcohol—of course—but grape Fanta.

She raised it high… not quite to the heavens, but roughly to the height of my head, and said:

“Then… um, a toast to the fun Classic races—cheers!”

“Cheers!”

“Cheers.”

---

Once the party started, the first thing Hoshino Wilm set her sights on was—unsurprisingly—the food.

After I’d stuffed all the documents into shelves, my desk—clear for the first time in two years—was now lined with dishes. A gigantic cake, dozens of pieces of fried chicken, several unopened pizzas, a large bowl of salad, over a hundred pieces of sushi. And then there was my own homemade contribution: a massive pile of carrot glacé, which she’d said she liked. Everything looked heavy enough to really fill you up.

There were also snacks—Pocky, potato chips, assorted chocolates, marshmallows, cookies.
As for drinks: cola, Fanta, apple juice, carrot juice—over twenty bottles in total.

Faced with this absurd amount of food, the two Uma Musume—both big eaters by nature—naturally had their eyes sparkling.

“Wow… this is amazing. There’s so much, and it all looks delicious… no, seriously, how much did this cost?”

“Don’t worry about the price. It’s all coming out of my own pocket.”

“I think I’d feel more at ease if I heard it was reimbursed as expenses…”

“Actually, it’s all reimbursed.”

“Master, given that the corners of your mouth are twitching slightly and your eyes are looking in completely different directions, I believe your statement lacks persuasiveness.”

“…Hehe. Well, since today is a celebration, I’ll gratefully dig in.”

Yes, the amount of food prepared this time was enormous. You might think it was far too much for just three people.

…But surprisingly, that wasn’t the case at all.

“Ahf… mm, this is delicious. Pizza really is great. The cheese is all melty in the crust… I feel like I could eat an endless amount of this.”

“…………”

Hoshino Wilm kept popping slices of pizza into her mouth, blowing lightly on them as she ate while they were still hot.

Meanwhile, Bourbon silently—no, relentlessly—devoured the salad, steadily packing it away into her stomach without a change in expression.

The two of them were clearing the dishes at an impressive pace.

Their hands never slowed down. If anything, they were speeding up. Not a late kick, but a late bite?

…Yes, as you may have already guessed.

The two Uma Musume under my care happened to be big eaters, even by Uma Musume standards.

Hoshino Wilm usually eats fairly modestly in front of me, probably out of embarrassment. But according to people who know her well, she’s actually known as a hearty eater even among Uma Musume.

As for Mihono Bourbon… apparently one of her guiding principles is, “Uma Musume who eat a lot and train a lot become strong.” She eats even more than Hoshino Wilm—by a noticeable margin.

They don’t quite reach the level of legendary big eaters like Oguri Cap or Special Week, but if you combined the two of them…

No—scratch that. They definitely would surpass them.

Still, I always find myself wondering where all the food Uma Musume eat actually goes.

They casually eat more than their own body weight, yet their figures don’t noticeably change. Sometimes their stomachs swell a little from overeating, but it goes back down almost immediately.

Is there some kind of extra-dimensional space inside their stomachs? Or is their digestive ability simply on another level entirely?

Either way, they really are mysterious creatures. Maybe I’ll ask my older brother—who’s well-versed in medical matters—about it someday.

…While I was thinking all that, I realized the food was already about half gone.

Wait. It’s only been about ten minutes, right? You’ve got to be kidding me…

“Phew… I was really hungry, so this tastes amazing.”

“Wilm-senpai, I am detecting the status ‘Delicious.’ Please, have this.”

“Thanks… ahh, yeah, macarons really are good. Expensive, but good. Then for you, Bourbon-chan—here, say ‘ahh.’”

“Nmug… ………???”

“Hahaha, stargazy pie has a really hard-to-understand flavor, doesn’t it? …By the way, why was something like this mixed in?”

“Alright, now that we’ve more or less satisfied our hunger… how about playing a game? I’ve got a decent selection of well-known board games.”

“What about handheld games or video games—ah, sorry. It’s nothing.”

When I glanced over at Bourbon, Hoshino Wilm immediately understood.

Bourbon bowed her head slightly.

“I apologize for the inconvenience caused by me.”

“No, wait—sorry. That’s on me. I shouldn’t have brought it up. It’s fine, I like these too… let’s all play board games together, Bourbon-chan!”

Mihono Bourbon breaks machines.

It’s a baffling phenomenon, but for some reason, any precision device she touches ends up malfunctioning.

Game consoles and controllers, of course—but even smartphones and telephones aren’t spared.

Because of that, Bourbon can’t play digital games at all. And by digital, I mean electronic—not the otaku kind.

…Back in my previous life, when this was just an app, I accepted it as “that kind of character trait.” But seeing it happen right in front of me is genuinely confusing.

Of course, Bourbon has no intention of breaking anything. It’s just that whenever she touches a device, it inexplicably fails.

Riding in a car or resting a laptop on her knees seems fine. But the moment she tries to actually operate something with her hands, it’s no good.

The boundary is unclear, the mechanism unknown. Maybe this, too, is one of those Uma Musume-specific mysteries.

“Alright, what should we play… Bourbon-chan, have you ever played games like these before?”

“No, I have no experience.”

“I see. Then something easy to understand would be better…”

“Hoshino Wilm, do you have experience with these?”

“Of course I do… ah, well, not enough to brag about. I played recently after Teio invited me. How about you, Trainer? Have you played before?”

“I’ve thoroughly read the rules.”

“I see. So everyone but me is a beginner… well, it’s my first time playing in real life too, though.”

She tilted her head back and forth, humming in thought.

In her hands were a game where you force slightly unpleasant creature cards onto your opponents, a game where you stack penguin cards of the same color, and a game where you look at everyone else’s card numbers and try to guess the total on the table.

None of them were particularly complicated, so even a beginner like Bourbon should be able to enjoy them.

…It feels a little strange for me—someone who doesn’t fully grasp the emotion of “fun”—to say that. And honestly, I don’t know whether Bourbon will like these kinds of games.

Still, despite appearances, she gets surprisingly fired up about competition.

She might really get into them. Probably.

“Well, we’ve got time, and since we’re here, let’s play them all. If we do four rounds each, the difference in experience should even out a bit.”

“Hm. …Just so you know, I’ll be going all out.”

“Of course. I never hold back in a contest. Initiating Operation ‘All-Out.’”

“Hehehe… today, I’m the star. Sorry about this, but I’m going to crush you. Oh, and while we’re at it, the loser has to do a one-shot gag. I’m expecting something funny.”

And so, while snacking on food and sweets, a board game tournament—with punishment games on the line—began.

“W-what… Bourbon-chan, your expression hasn’t changed at all…! N-no, it can’t be the mouse. There are already six cards on the table, so even if you discard it now… t-that’s impossible…!”

“I concede—my loss. But this is just a fluke win. Beginner’s luck. I’ll teach you that it doesn’t last, Bourbon-chan…!”

“…………Isn’t being completely expressionless a bit unfair? Aren’t you way too strong?”

“Then I will target the Trainer! This one is a cockroach—! …Why do you know!? Eh, because we’ve been together a long time, so you can tell? I-is that so… is that so…”

“Um, you two. Why are you trying to eliminate purple? I mean, the penguins are pitiful, aren’t they? Even purple penguins are living creatures, you know? Um… it’s not like I have a lot of purple cards in my hand or anything. I just feel bad for them.”

“Ah… no. I’m eliminated. Yes…”

“…………Could you please stop my hand from being so biased?”

“…I have a bad feeling about this, so… I’ll keep it small. Eleven.”

“Coyote!? Why!? …Max zero!?”

…And in the end—

Despite being a beginner, Mihono Bourbon achieved seven wins, fighting at theoretical maximum efficiency with her absurd calculation ability.

Next was me, playing in a fairly average manner, with four wins.

And last… Hoshino Wilm, who is apparently deeply unloved by the goddess of luck, with just one win.

“Ahhh, come on! Why does it always turn out like this?!”

As her punishment gag, Hoshino Wilm did an imitation of a hippopotamus’s cry.

It was ridiculously good.

And after getting completely pummeled in the games—

“Ugh… in the end, I’m just an undefeated Triple Crown Uma Musume who confidently challenges games and then never wins, whose only talents are being absurdly good at hippopotamus impressions and winning races…”

Hoshino Wilm’s mood had soured. Of course, it was only half a joke.

Still, that “undefeated Triple Crown” flex was absurdly strong.

As far as I knew, there was only one person in Japan who could possibly counter that.

“Error detected. Unable to determine whether this is self-deprecation or bragging.”

“Cheer up, Hoshino Wilm. At the very least, you’re ridiculously good at winning races and at hippopotamus impressions, so you’re fine. I like Uma Musume who are good at hippopotamus impressions.”

“That’s backwards, isn’t it? Please like Uma Musume who win races. No—please like me.”

“I do like you, though.”

“...”

Of course I like her. She’s my assigned Uma Musume, after all.

It’s precisely because I fell for her that I wanted to keep being her trainer, no matter what.

“…Well, fine, I guess. Hmph. I mean, I’m undefeated Triple Crown material. I’m strong, you know? And, um… I’m your Uma Musume…”

For some reason, Hoshino Wilm hid behind Bourbon’s back. Still, there was a clear note of happiness mixed into her words. For now, it seemed her mood had recovered.

Even though she’s the senior, the sight of her hiding behind the larger Bourbon reminded me of my little sister clinging to our older brother’s back when she was younger, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

I’d initially been worried about the relationship between the two of them, but I was genuinely glad they’d gotten along so well.

And so, we spent a lazy, peaceful stretch of time together, restoring our spirits.

Hoshino Wilm was smiling, and even Bourbon had relaxed the corners of her mouth—just a little.

…Yeah. It was meant to be a celebratory gathering and a bit of stress relief, but I hope they both enjoyed it.

---

As the food gradually ran out and the party began to wind down, there was a knock at the door of the trainer’s office.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Excuse me—Trainer Horino, are you here?”

The voice belonged to Ms. Tazuna.

More work, perhaps? I didn’t mind that in itself, but right now my time was for Hoshino Wilm and Bourbon. It might have to wait—

Still, I replied, “Please come in, it’s unlocked,” and Ms. Tazuna entered the room almost immediately.

She straightened her slightly tilted hat, glanced around the office, and smiled warmly.

“Oh my, your Uma Musume are here as well? Then this might actually be perfect timing.”

“Perfect timing?”

“Yes. I was thinking I’d introduce my successor.”

“Ah, that matter.”

Ms. Tazuna had been supporting me for months now, despite being busy herself.

On top of helping me, she also assisted other trainers from my cohort, and for a while there had been talk of transferring some of her duties.

Officially, it meant assigning me a sub-trainer. However, it apparently hadn’t been anticipated that trainers within their first five years would have one, so administratively the process had been complicated and slow.

But now it was finally happening—or rather… she probably waited until after the Kikuka Sho, once Hoshino Wilm’s schedule and my workload had settled down.

She’d been incredibly considerate. I really needed to thank her properly.

“Thank you for everything you’ve done up to now.”

“Not at all. It was for the two of you, after all. Now then… hehehe, let me introduce the girl who’ll be taking over.”

“?”

Her slightly mischievous smile made me tilt my head in confusion.

“Alright then, please come in.”

“Excuse me.”

A voice called out from outside the room.

…Huh?

No—wait, what? That voice—no, that can’t be, but there’s no way I’d mistake it. And yet, why? How—what?!

Ignoring Ms. Tazuna’s amused chuckling at my obvious confusion, my gaze locked onto the person who opened the door and stepped inside.

A woman in a suit, politely holding her hands together in front of her.

She had a youthful, cute face, yet her upturned eyes and expressionless demeanor gave her a sharp, severe impression—an unmistakably unique presence.

…This went beyond mere familiarity.

We lived together for over ten years. There was no way I could be wrong.

She is—

“Horino Masa. I’ve been assigned to assist with Trainer Horino Ayumu’s work.

It will only be for a short while, but I look forward to working with you.”

…She’s my little sister.

The eldest daughter of the Horino family—Horino Masa.