"Here is the data for Offside Trap and Genuine. I hope you find it useful."
"I appreciate it… but this is incredibly thorough. You even digitized the data from their daily training sessions?"
"My, are you secretly a data obsessive?"
I gave a small shrug at the trainers' remarks. "I'm just the type of woman who likes to see a job through to the end with precision, that's all."
Having successfully produced graduates from the aggressor team, Nemesis, it was safe to say Rampage had fulfilled the Chairman's vision for the role. In the midst of that success, I was now handing over the performance logs of the girls I'd been overseeing to the trainers who had scouted them. Even to veteran eyes like Kuronuma and Hana, the depth of the analysis was striking.
"Personally," I noted, "I'm surprised Hana-san chose Genuine over Trap."
"I didn't overlook Offside Trap," Hana replied calmly. "But she makes her debut this year. My time to truly get to know her would be limited, and as a team leader, I can't afford to over-focus on a single girl. Genuine, on the other hand, is still a year away from her debut. Her potential is nearly equal, and that extra time is a luxury I value."
"A practical choice," Kuronuma grunted. "As for me, I scouted Trap because I like her style. She's the polar opposite of Bourbon, which should provide a good spark for the team. Yet, they're similar in how well they can control themselves. She's exactly my kind of Horse Girl."
Hana had set her sights on Genuine. In history, he was one of the most highly-regarded colts from Sunday Silence's first crop. When his stablemate Fuji Kiseki was forced into early retirement due to injury just before the Satsuki Sho, Genuine stepped into the spotlight as if to say, "Watch me instead." He claimed the Satsuki Sho in spectacular fashion. Though the dreams of a Triple Crown were dashed when he placed second in the Derby to another Sunday Silence son, Tayasu Tsuyoshi, the season remained a shock to the racing world: the Satsuki Sho, the Derby, and the Oaks (won by Dance Partner) were all swept by Sunday Silence's offspring.
Kuronuma, meanwhile, had scouted Offside Trap. A well-bred daughter of Tony Bin, she possessed a magnificent frame and high expectations. She had even won the Wakaba Stakes, a trial for the Satsuki Sho... but she had the misfortune of being born into the same era as the "Shadow Roll Monster," Narita Brian. As the losses mounted, she succumbed to chronic tendonitis. Through a cycle of rest and relapse, her trainer and stable staff never gave up, persevering through years of rehabilitation. Finally, at the age of eight, she became the first of her age to win the Tenno Sho (Autumn). While that victory is often overshadowed by the tragedy of Silence Suzuka's "Silent Sunday," it remains an undeniable testament to the sheer tenacity of a team that refused to let a career end in injury.
"Just a heads-up," I added, "Genuine can be a bit high-strung. Keep an eye on her. She's gotten better at switching 'on' and 'off' lately, but who knows how she'll behave when she's out from under Sunday's shadow."
"Understood," Hana nodded. "I'll take my time observing her."
"As for Trap, her legs are a bit of a concern," I warned Kuronuma. "I'd recommend keeping her on a steady diet of foundational training. But her raw talent? That, I can guarantee."
"I see. Sounds like she'll be well worth the effort of raising," Kuronuma said, his trainer's spirit visibly ignited by the challenge.
While one trainer prepared to build a long-term strategy and the other welcomed the challenge of a fragile but talented athlete, I felt I had finally fulfilled my duty as the Aggressor Chief. With a mental sigh of relief, I began setting up the next practice race.
"Sigh… That late start really killed me."
"What's the matter, you creep? Did she get away?"
"I told you to stop calling me that! She just said she already had a prior engagement. Oh well, there's always next time."
It seemed Okino had failed to scout his target. He'd clearly been late to the punch, so there wasn't much to be done about it. Regardless, as I called for the next group of girls to prepare for the heat, one of them approached me. It was a face I knew very well.
"O-Onee-sama! It's been a long time!"
"It has been a while."
"Yo. You girls made it, then?"
Standing there were the younger Mejiro sisters: Dober and Bright. As new students starting this year, the curtains were finally rising on their lives as racing Horse Girls.
"My, Onee-sama… you look so dignified in that suit!" Bright chirped. "You look just like one of those high-powered career women I see in the dramas!"
"You can just say I look like I've lost my femininity," I joked. "I'm self-aware enough to handle it."
"That's not true at all!" Dober interjected, her face flushing. "Onee-sama, you are full of feminine charm!"
It was heartwarming to hear her say that with such sincerity, but as Rampage, I couldn't deny feeling a bit conflicted about whether I should actually be happy about it.
"I've decided I want to join Team Canopus," Dober declared. "I want to learn everything I can under you!"
"I think I shall look around a bit more before I decide~" Bright added in her usual airy tone. "Tracen Academy is full of so many different people. I think it's best to deepen my connections with everyone before I choose."
Dober's heart was set on Canopus—or more accurately, she simply wanted to be near me. Bright, on the other hand, wanted to experience the world before committing—a relaxed, thoughtful approach that was very much like her. While I was happy for Dober's devotion, I secretly hoped she would eventually find a bit of the composed perspective that Bright possessed.
"Oh, that's right! I brought a classmate along who said she absolutely wanted to meet you, Onee-sama."
"I'm at the point where nothing surprises me anymore, no matter who walks through that door."
"Hee-hee, your circle of friends is simply vast, isn't it~?"
"Most of the time, I wish it weren't," I muttered.
After being asked by my former bodyguard boss to meet a 'friend' only to end up exchanging contact info with the President, my bar for 'surprising' had been raised to impossible heights. Sometimes I wondered who was left that could actually shock me. Maybe Yutaka Take himself?
I wondered which classmate it could be, but when she stepped forward, the choice made perfect sense in its own way.
"I am Silence Suzuka… H-Hello. It's an honor to meet you."
"The pleasure is mine. I am Mejiro Rampage—the dictatorial tyrant who'll stay in your memory for a lifetime of world records and an undefeated career."
I knew she was Dober's classmate, and given her specific running style, it wasn't hard to guess why she wanted to see me.
The functional beauty of pure speed. The "Extra-Dimensional Fugitive." Silence Suzuka. When fans think of a "Great Escape" runner, they think of either her or Twin Turbo. Her strength was legendary; she once left titans like Grass Wonder and El Condor Pasa in the dust, winning the Mainichi Okan by a margin so wide they couldn't even see her shadow. It became a legendary G2 race.
And then—the Tenno Sho (Autumn). In a race where the cameras had to zoom out to their limit just to keep her in the frame, Silence Suzuka suffered a breakdown just as she cleared the Great Keyaki tree. The shock was so profound that the day became known as "Silent Sunday." Yet, more than that tragic end, she remains etched in people's hearts as a masterpiece of a horse who ran with a beauty and intensity that defied logic.
"U-Um, there's something I've been wanting to ask you."
"Something for me? The schedule for my next livestream?"
"Oh, I'd love to know that too… I mean, that's not it! Well, I am curious, but…"
So Suzuka is a listener, too… I thought, while she fixed me with a gaze of absolute sincerity.
"Rampage-san… that view from the front… what did it look like to you?"
The question hit home. It made perfect sense. This was exactly what someone like Suzuka—someone who lived for the lead—would want to know. She hadn't entered the big leagues yet, but she had surely tasted the front in her own runs. She couldn't suppress the curiosity—evident in the twitch of her ears and the sway of her tail—about what the "lead" looked like when one traveled across the world. Was the scenery different overseas? How did it feel?
"I could tell you," I said softly. "But wouldn't you rather see it for yourself?"
"For myself?"
"I could give you the answer right here, but that would ruin the fun. The soul-stirring emotion of holding the lead in the Twinkle Series, the lingering afterglow of victory, the sheer exhilaration of a world-class race… don't you think those are things you should feel with your own body? Besides, I became a trainer to pass on my own spirit and technique."
Suzuka's eyes sparkled with an even greater intensity. I reached out and patted her head.
"If you have the heart for it, then come to me. I'll teach you everything I know—on my team."
"A team? Do you mean…"
"Oops. For you girls, that's a story for the future. When the time is right, okay?"
I gave her a wink to brush off the slip of the tongue, leaving Suzuka looking radiant with anticipation. Well, there was no use worrying about the future now. I had work to do in the present.
"Alright! Let's get the next race started! Everyone, to your positions!"
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