The next day, Rampage is summoned by the Chairman. Still resting post-Sapporo, she has time and heads over. The topic: Tresen Academy's annual fan festival, Holy Hoof Day.
"It's just teams, classes, or individuals doing booths, right?" "Indeed. Rigil's got a café, Spica's doing a haunted house, and so on." "What's Canopus doing?" "Cosplay café." "Cosplay? Gotta wear something? Hope it's guy stuff…"
Turbo'd be all in, Takanotsume and Teio hyping it, Ikuno boosting, Rice excited, Nature reluctantly agreeing. Why wasn't she at the planning?
"What kind of café?" "Win-costume shuffle." "Oh, got it."
Nature in Ikuno's outfit, Rice in Turbo's—something like that. Tazuna's proposal confirms: fans try on win-costumes too, with photo ops. Great service for Uma Musume.
"But with just me, Ikuno, Nature, Turbo, and debutants Rice and Takanotsume, that's six costumes. Feels thin." "No worries! I prepared costumes for all Uma Musume! Cosplay-grade, not authentic materials, mind you!" "How much did that cost?" "Don't underestimate my wallet—ow!"
Hatena, annoyed, lands a cat punch on the Chairman's head, then perches on Rampage. As the Chairman winces, Rampage whispers to Tazuna.
"What'd she do now?" "Even cosplay win-costumes cost a fortune in licensing. The Chairman paid out of pocket, so Hatena's food got downgraded…" "Oof." "Hatena, I apologized! Post-festival, we'll use them at Tresen, got some fees back, and your food's back to normal!"
Hatena's still miffed. Food grudges are real.
"So why call me? Canopus's booth in trouble?" "No—do a live stream!" "Sure. Want me to call the grandmas?" "No, no, no! Casually inviting Symboli and Mejiro legends is trouble!" "I'll negotiate with Su-chan." "That's not the issue—it's us in trouble!" "Oh, that way."
Holy Hoof Day's live stream is set. Problem: what to do? Her streams thrive on momentum, but need a spark. Content needs loose planning—though she usually derails anyway.
"Whatever, I'll figure it out while driving."
Changing to casual clothes, she hops into her Impreza. Paparazzi swarm outside Tresen, so a car's safer. Fame's price.
"Take that, suckers. 'Too bad, try next week'—that's dated, right?"
Leaving Tresen, she's mobbed. Hat, sunglasses, and rapid Latin throw them off. English they handle; Latin? Nope. They can't tell if she's Japanese or foreign.
"Nice weather…"
Sipping convenience store coffee, Rampage feels post-camp freedom. With few races left this year, her future looms.
"Alright…"
Finishing her coffee, she drives, thinking food. Her phone rings. She sets it on the stand, answers.
"Yeah?" "Rampage, it's me." "Shin-san?"
Shinzan. She should check callers first—corporate life's toll.
"Sorry, driving. What's up?" "My bad. Quick then. Got in touch with TTG. They want to meet you." "That's… good, right?" "Hell yeah! TTG wanting to meet? Rare."
She's met legends, so the thrill's dulled. Plus, Shinzan's a legend herself.
"Guess I'm happy. For the stream, right?" "Yup. Holy Hoof Day stream. Want us on?" "Uh…" "Knew the Chairman'd ask you, and you wouldn't say no. Go big or go home."
Shinzan planned this, not the grandmas. Worse than calling Symboli and Mejiro.
"I mentioned the grandmas, but got shot down." "They're busy. Don't worry, I'll handle permissions. Prep your stream. Sorry for bugging you while driving. Later." "Wait, Shin-san!?"
Call ends. She pulls into a convenience store lot, clutching her head.
"This is bad… She won't back down. Shin-san and TTG on stream? URA'll lose it. Gotta call the Chairman…"
Her hand hesitates. Sighing, she grabs another coffee. Returning, her phone's flooded with missed calls—Chairman and Tazuna. Her arm feels heavier.
"…Hello?" "Emergency! Shinzan-sama wants to join Holy Hoof Day with TTG—on your stream! Explain how this happened!" "I wanna know too…"
She vows to pawn this channel off and dump the stress on someone else.
--+--
T/N: Although I'm an inexperienced Editor, I do have a Patreon account! Although it seems like I don't have many supporters right now, my webnovel will be released in full every day, and the advanced chapters will be uploaded to Patreon.
It may not be worth it now, but who knows, it might be different in the future. Who knows!
patreon.com/Greyhounds
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