Chapter 319: Only One Year Left—I’ll Become a Legendary Uma Musume! 2 [262]

There was definitely something very wrong with Gotham Song’s summer training camp.

She believed that from the bottom of her heart. Why?

Because her summer training camp was fundamentally different from the kind everyone else described.

Whenever other Umamusume talked about their own summer training camps, they would always, without meaning to, smile fondly as they reminisced about all the little moments they had shared with their adorable juniors, then proudly show off those days and how special they had been.

But when it came to Gotham Song, her summer training camp felt almost exactly like life back at Mejiro Manor...!

Other than the fact that everyone got rowdy after training every day, and Gotham Song had finally made some progress with swimming, it really felt as though her life had merely been relocated from Mejiro Manor to the seaside...!

Once she realized that, Gotham Song found herself at a complete loss. She sat there in baffled silence, not even knowing how to begin complaining about her own daily life.

In the end, she could only come to one conclusion.

This was just what everyday life looked like for Gotham Song.

There was definitely something very wrong with my summer training camp...!

Unfortunately, no one could hear that heartfelt roar, even as Gotham Song’s summer training camp continued to grow stranger by the day.

So in what way, exactly, had it become strange?

Summer training camp was supposed to last around three weeks. But for Gotham Song, it felt as though the whole rhythm of life had changed completely from the very next morning after the first day’s pillow fight, when she had agreed to Gentildonna’s request to stay close to her.

From then on, every night it was Gentildonna on her left and Satono Diamond on her right.

It was as though those two had suddenly become absurdly serious about this particular matter...!?

Gotham Song had no way to describe how she felt about that. All she felt was that it was terrifying and ridiculous, so in the end she chose to keep her promise to Gentildonna and stay a little closer to the Umamusume in her own group.

Sorry, Diamond, but the look on your face every night is terrifying!?

And then Gotham Song would hear Satono Diamond take a deep breath that was unmistakably tinged with anger.

Still, once morning came, yesterday’s business was yesterday’s business. Gotham Song always threw herself into the next day’s work with full concentration.

For all that the Umamusume around her often did things that made no earthly sense, when it was time to get serious, they were genuinely serious.

At the very least, after this summer training camp, Gotham Song could only offer her condolences to the rest of the generation.

Because Gentildonna, Almond Eye, and Verxina were monstrously strong right now...

And just how strong were they?

Honestly, how strong they were no longer had much to do with the other Umamusume at all, because from the very beginning, those three had already been operating a full tier above the rest of the field.

That was why Gotham Song could only mourn for everyone else.

Sitting off by herself in a quiet corner of the beach, having already changed out of her white swimsuit and into the only clothes she had that offered any real defense against the chill—a wool skirt and thick black tights—Gotham Song propped her chin in her hands and thought about what came next.

The end of summer training camp also meant September was close at hand. There was nothing about September itself in her current life that she particularly needed to care about, but...

But as the date drew closer, another event she had long been preparing herself for was about to arrive. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

The Shuka Sho.

The final leg of the Triple Tiara, the race the media kept praising as the battle that would decide the strongest runner of this generation, a stage whose influence even extended into the realm of the Classic Triple Crown.

That stage where the three juniors she knew would all have to step forward, and where only one of them was destined to fulfill her wish and take the victory in the end.

Competition really was brutal, wasn’t it?

Gotham Song let out a helpless sigh and looked out toward the distant sea.

In truth, there was still some debate throughout the Umamusume world about that headline certain media outlets were pushing. After all, Gentildonna, Almond Eye, and Verxina had only demonstrated absolute dominance within the Triple Tiara so far. Whether they also had the ability to crush every opponent from the Classic Triple Crown side as well was still completely unknown.

But Gotham Song knew the truth all too well.

In this generation, Gentildonna and Almond Eye possessed overwhelmingly strong control over the field. No matter which Umamusume you picked in the world, so long as she was not already a Senior Year runner, she had no right to say she could definitely beat those two.

That was how strong Gentildonna and Almond Eye had become after all the day-and-night effort Gotham Song had poured into training and refining them.

The only difference was that the rest of the world did not know it yet.

...Ah. She should start arranging Almond Eye’s and Gentildonna’s race schedules after the Shuka Sho as early as possible, shouldn’t she?

Strictly speaking, Gotham Song still had not formally invited Almond Eye onto her team. But she could tell that if she did make the invitation, it would absolutely work. For all she knew, Almond Eye had already been waiting for a long time—waiting for Gotham Song to be the one to ask.

After all, even if the two of them did not yet have a formal trainer-trainee relationship...

In practice, Gotham Song was already doing the kinds of things only a trainer would do for Almond Eye.

And that was exactly why, when she thought about Gentildonna’s schedule, she also found herself thinking about Almond Eye’s.

First things first: stagger the two of their race schedules. Do not have them running against each other.

It was true that neither Gentildonna nor Almond Eye really cared whether they collected honors; what they wanted was to beat the other. But Gotham Song cared.

She did not want to watch her own girls keep losing. Ideally, both of them would accumulate plenty of accolades first, and only then settle things between themselves in some fitting race.

But...!

Because their strengths and aptitudes overlapped so heavily, Gotham Song genuinely did not have any especially good way to arrange their campaigns. Even after some rough thinking, the only conclusion she could come to was:

Maybe send Almond Eye overseas?

That was not a bad line of thought. Once she got back, Gotham Song planned to talk it over with Dancing Brave and see whether old fossil number three had anything constructive to offer.

But just as she sat there on a rock by the sea, lost in thought, she clearly heard a set of noisy footsteps approaching from behind.

It was actually a strange way to describe footsteps. Gotham Song did not often call footsteps "noisy."

Especially not when the other person was evidently barefoot, stepping over the rocks and coming straight toward her...!

So who could it be?

Who else?

Other than a broad-hearted kid like Kitasan Black, who else could manage to make even bare feet sound as though they came with their own built-in soundtrack?

"Heave-ho. Song-san, you look pretty troubled. Did something happen?"

"Troubled...? Is it really that obvious at a glance?"

Kitasan Black gave her a slightly silly grin, then moved closer and blinked.

"Well, how do I put it...? I guessed from your back, really. But once I sat down, I thought, ah, yep, I was right after all."

"Song-san, you’re definitely worrying about something, aren’t you?"

Was this yet another expression of dumb-girl intuition?

Amused and helpless, Gotham Song shifted over a little to make room, then nodded and admitted it.

"I was thinking about how to arrange Gentildonna’s and Almond Eye’s schedules after this."

"Oh... yeah, that really does sound like a hard choice. But I don’t think I can help much with that. Mm, mm..."

Now it was Kitasan Black who looked troubled. Gotham Song could not help laughing a little. She reached out, pinched the Umamusume beside her on the cheek, and gave it a light tug.

"It’s fine. I’m not going to get an answer to that anytime soon anyway. Just the fact that you wanted to help is enough to make me happy."

"Really? Hehe, good, then. I’m glad I helped. Hehe... but Song-san, does Equinox need to start preparing for her Classic Year too?"

Equinox’s Classic Year... huh.

She supposed it really was about time. Even though it was not yet September and there were still four or five months left before the end of Equinox’s junior year, for an Umamusume with talent like Equinox’s, her sights had naturally already been fixed on the top races from the very moment she debuted.

"That’s right. But Equinox’s race plan has already been laid out in a lot of detail. It starts with the Classic Triple Crown."

"The Classic Triple Crown, huh... nice. Somehow it feels like I’m walking down a road with my little sister chasing after me."

A road being chased down by her little sister...

Ah, right. Gotham Song had momentarily forgotten—Kitasan Black was one of this year’s Classic Triple Crown runners herself. Her results had not exactly been good, though. She had not managed to win either the Satsuki Sho or the Japan Derby.

"When I first entered the Triple Crown races, I wanted to chase after Ruka-san. I’m not the kind of runner who can open up a huge breakaway lead, but I can still run on the front, at least."

"But I guess I really just wasn’t that strong after all. I couldn’t win those two races..."

Failure was always a heavy topic for Umamusume. Even someone as cheerful as Kitasan Black did not seem able to escape that.

Gotham Song looked at the Umamusume beside her with a more serious, quieter gaze. Her black-and-red swimsuit, trimmed with frills, openly showed off plenty of fair, delicate skin, but the faint sorrow on her face right now was impossible to hide.

Ah.

Watching your own little sister display astonishing talent, talent great enough that she might even win honors you yourself had been destined never to attain—that had to be a piercing kind of pain.

"Isn’t there still the Kikuka Sho? The Kikuka Sho Ruka-san never won."

"Kita, if you want it, then go all out in this year’s Kikuka Sho. I’ll be watching your run. Ruka-san will be watching your run too."

Gotham Song laid a hand on top of Kitasan Black’s head. She even had to lean forward a little so she would not have to lift her hand too high... how humiliating.

"Honestly, being chased by your little sister is actually a pretty wonderful thing, you know?"

"Even if you don’t have all that much to your name as the older sister, you can still turn back and say to your little sister, ’Can you catch me?’ You ought to have that kind of courage and pride."

Gotham Song’s voice was soft as she spoke. Kitasan Black had originally come over because she thought Gotham Song was the one who had fallen into confusion, but now it had somehow turned into Gotham Song, the senior, soothing Kitasan Black instead...

Still, there was nothing wrong with that.

After all, this was a child who had set her sights on a goal because she admired "her."

Gotham Song was genuinely happy about that.

And as Kitasan Black turned to look at her, at that serious profile, her own heart became a mess. Truthfully, she had not been that upset even after the Japan Derby. She had only thought:

Kikuka Sho...! I definitely won’t lose the Kikuka Sho!

But then she had watched Equinox display overwhelming strength. She had watched her become what the media was calling the "Heart of Tomorrow." And for some reason, that old sadness had started rising in her chest again.

It was not jealousy toward Equinox, but...

A fear that she would fail as an older sister.

What if one day Equinox caught up to her, then left her behind?

That was what it was, probably.

She had thought about that long ago, but never found an answer. And because she did not want to trouble anyone, she had always deliberately avoided thinking too much about it.

But today, sitting beside Gotham Song, her emotions had started surging. She had asked about Equinox almost without thinking, and then... and then all that old sadness had flared up again.

Was this what it looked like when I was asking for help?

Was I the one who really wanted to be comforted?

Kitasan Black could not tell.

All she could do was look at the dependable senior in front of her and gather her courage.

"But... if one day my little sister catches up to me—if one day I become the one doing the chasing instead—what am I supposed to do then?"

As the older sister, shouldn’t I be the one running ahead forever?!

Gotham Song blinked, then suddenly thought of a perfect example.

"So she catches up to you. If you watch your little sister pull ahead, of course you’ll feel unwilling to accept it. But, Kita, you can’t let yourself have that kind of emotion on the racetrack."

"On the racetrack...?"

"That’s right. On the racetrack."

"Think of life itself as a racetrack. Maybe Equinox only managed to come from behind later on. In that kind of situation, it matters even more that you don’t lose your calm, because..."

"The finish line of life’s racetrack is still very, very far away for the two of you."

"This is a race that lasts a hundred years. There has to be a chance to come from behind again later too, right?"