"Teio?! What is she trying to do?" Sirius wondered. "Teio? Doesn't she practically worship Luna? But from what Kousei implied... what's going on?"
Sirius's expression grew darker, her voice losing its usual composure. "Luna!"
She sounded furious, on the verge of hanging up.
"Onee-san! Wait!"
Kousei stopped her just in time, sensing Sirius was still seething.
"Enough! Just forget I ever said anything! Let's drop this!" Sirius made a move to leave, her mind clearly elsewhere.
"What's the point of storming off to confront the President right now? What could you even do?"
Kousei's words cut straight to the heart of the matter. Faced with the sharp reality, Sirius seemed to calm down slightly.
"Do you know something?"
"Maybe I do, maybe I don't."
"Stop playing games with me."
"Onee-san, do you still think we're kids?"
"What, little girl? Gotten tough after a few years on the circuit?"
The conversation crackled with a faint, gunpowder-like tension.
"Teio has her own reasons for her actions. Why not let her decide for herself?"
"She has no idea what she's doing! The Central Committee is a quagmire she shouldn't be wading into!"
Sirius had always been hot-headed, and when Teio was involved, she couldn't stay calm. Her concern for Teio surpassed even Rudolf's—after all, they had watched her grow up since she was a child.
"She knows. Why do you think Teio joined the Student Council? Do you really believe it was just because she admired President Rudolf?"
Sirius fell silent.
"From the moment she stood up to challenge President Rudolf and the Student Council for our sake, I knew Teio was someone extraordinary. She's not President Rudolf's shadow, nor is she the child you see her as.
"No one understands. No one knows what she truly desires in her heart."
"And you? Do you know?"
"I do," Kousei declared, her voice firm. "I'm one of the people she's trying to save."
Sirius froze. "What do you mean?"
Instead of answering, Kousei said, "Onee-san, you're trapped in the past."
The atmosphere grew delicate.
"Teio often tells me she learned so much from you, Onee-san. When she was little, you raised her like your own younger sister. People always said you were fierce, but she knew you were only like that to protect her and the President.
"You once said that Symboli Rudolf was the truly great one, not the Symboli Family, right? I think you're wrong. You're incredible too, Onee-san."
Sirius's voice was tinged with melancholy. "Me? I'm just a broken-down wreck. Nothing worth talking about."
"How could you say that? You're a Hero. You stood up in a dark era, carving a path through the wilderness with unwavering resolve. You brought the footsteps of the Central Umamusume to every corner of the world. Not everyone has the courage to challenge the world alone.
"Even when outnumbered, even when constrained by the Central Committee... Chains couldn't bind your soul; setbacks and hardships couldn't dull your fangs. The Fighting Wolf never bows its head.
"Both Teio and I felt that."
"Stop trying to flatter me," Sirius said, clearly uncomfortable.
"Teio carries the will of both you and President Rudolf. The legacy you couldn't complete will be realized through her."
"Kousei... the Central Committee is far more powerful than you imagine. You kids can't possibly overthrow them," Sirius began, earnestly trying to persuade her. "I don't know what you and Teio are planning, but stop it. Immediately."
"You're right."
"What?" Sirius thought she must have misheard.
"The Central Committee isn't something we can overthrow. At the end of the day, Teio and I are just Umamusume racers. So... let the 'adults' handle the 'adults' business."
Sirius's mind raced, and she instantly made the connection, gasping in shock. "T?!"
Kousei smiled but said nothing as Sirius seemed stunned by the revelation.
"Mr. T... he's been working behind the scenes? I thought..."
"That Dad had become the Committee's lapdog?"
Sirius's silence was a tacit admission.
"Onee-san, do you know who the Director of Northern Academy is?"
"Who?"
"Akikawa Yayoi."
"The Director?!"
For a moment, Sirius didn't know how to react.
"She left Central to go to Northern Academy?"
"Yes. Remember Caesar and her group from the Japan Cup? Dad recruited them too."
"What? What on earth is Mr. T doing?"
The more Sirius learned, the more her mind reeled.
"To be honest, I don't know the full picture either," Kousei admitted. "But I trust Dad, and I trust my Trainer. I'll keep moving toward my goal. If the Central Committee wants to cause trouble for me, let them. The more active I am, the more they'll panic, and it'll keep them too busy to notice the changes happening within Tracen."
Are the changes at Tracen part of the plan too? Sirius thought. With all these key figures gathered together, this can't be simple.
Is the incident in the Eastern Lands connected to this? What's really happening at Tracen? Sirius couldn't help but get lost in thought.
"Onee-san." Kousei's voice pulled Sirius back from her reverie.
"Get some rest. Leave the rest to us."
Sirius was stunned. A thousand words welled up in her chest, but she couldn't voice a single one. Memories flooded her mind, and she seemed to recall something.
Looks like Luna was right. Our era really is over. It's time to pass the torch to the next generation.
Inappropriately, she remembered a moment from the past.
"All this effort is pointless. I'm telling you, if it's just the two of us, we can solve any problem that comes our way."
"You're too arrogant. No matter how strong we are, there will always be a day when we're powerless."
"So you're saying we should give up?"
"The night sky isn't meant for just one star."
"Get out of here with your riddles!"
Sirius smiled, a sense of relief washing over her. "I'll be waiting at Tracen. And I'll keep an eye on Brian for you."
"What's wrong with her?"
"She's furious right now. The 'Thorough Management Education Program' is preventing her from running freely. Her opponents are always timid and won't let her go all out."
"That's hitting all of Brian's buttons," Kousei chuckled.
"McQueen's condition is very poor. You might be the only one who can help her. Everyone's waiting for you, so don't keep us waiting too long, Kousei."
Kousei knew how much it had cost Sirius to entrust this to her.
The Mejiro emblem gleamed brightly. Kousei's expression turned cold as she spoke in a low, firm voice: "I promise you, that day won't be long. For everything they've done in the past, I'll make them pay it back tenfold in the future!"