Nothing unexpected happened. Using the techniques she had learned from Rudolf not long ago, Inari Kagura delivered an excellent Winner's Live performance after the race. Some fans were a little disappointed they did not get to see her perform another ritual kagura dance, but after watching her song-and-dance performance today, even that small regret melted away. All Kagura could hear around her was cheers and screaming.
Back during her debut race, because the event itself had not drawn much attention, it had taken quite a while after the race for people online to even start noticing Inari Kagura's existence. This time, though, the internet had already exploded before she had even stepped down from the stage. By the time Kagura got offstage, got into the car back to school, and turned on her phone, she found her DMs completely flooded.
[Wu Di]:I saw your performance, Kagura! Some fans at the venue were filming on their phones, so everyone over here got to watch the livestream too. There are tons of people watching on your side of the internet! You only just came off the stage, and videos from the venue are already everywhere!
The moment Kagura saw Wu Di's message, she had a feeling.
Her peaceful daily life was probably... maybe... gone for good.
In a way, does this mean I've become an idol too? I never thought I'd get so used to acting cute in front of other people that I wouldn't feel anything about it anymore... Hah. So this is how a person's bottom line gets worn away little by little.
By now, this child's body of hers had apparently gained one more tag: idol. Kagura could not help wanting to laugh. She felt that even if someone made her go up onstage right now and perform that classic Tracen song, "Umapyoi Legend," she could probably get through the whole thing without any pressure at all.
If this had happened back in the day, she would have wanted to dig a hole and hide the moment the first note started. It really made her reflect on how terrifying a thing "getting used to something" could be.
She still preferred a peaceful daily life, but after going onstage this time to sing, dance, and interact with the audience, she found that it was not actually that hard. Whether it was some kind of Umamusume racial gift, or because she had watched so many other Winner's Lives that she had picked up a few tricks, Kagura was not particularly averse to going onstage anymore.
Thanks to Tracen's protection of its students, Kagura's real-world daily life was not affected much by her rising popularity beyond the online sphere. The only noticeable change was that after that day, a few students would occasionally come by the Student Kitchen window to watch her cook, or ask her for cooking advice... and most of them were first-years who had enrolled this year.
Everyone at school knew their limits, and matters online—as well as race prize money—were being managed on her behalf by Eclipse, so even after her popularity skyrocketed, Kagura was able to keep living much as usual. Until her next race arrived, she meant to stay focused on her everyday work.
Because Rudolf's Kikuka Sho was coming up very soon.
...
"Kagura~ good afternoon~!"
A few days before the Kikuka Sho, around noon, Kagura was in the kitchen with her head down, working through ingredients, when a little head popped up from outside and greeted her in a clear, youthful voice.
It was a kouhai Kagura had only gotten to know recently—a brown-haired little Umamusume. Kagura felt she was probably the youngest child she had seen in all of Tracen, but she had heard that the girl was a genius who had skipped ahead a grade this year and was quite a bit younger than the others to begin with. It made sense for her to look so tiny. She had not reached honkaku yet, after all; right now, to peer in through the window, she still had to lean herself up against the sill.
"Good afternoon, Nishino Flower. Here to mooch snacks again today?"
"It's not just because I want something to eat... I wanted to learn some cooking techniques from you, Kagura! I like making food for myself too. I was already following your account before this, and your tutorials are really amazing! But when I tried a few times myself, I always felt like I couldn't copy your movements properly, s-so... that's why I wanted to come here in person today and ask you directly!"
Kagura found it hard to imagine a child who looked like she still belonged in elementary school already being this into cooking, but then again, looking at herself—and remembering how this girl named Nishino Flower had borrowed the Student Kitchen not long ago and shown off a few tricks of her own—Kagura had to admit the little one really did have some skill in the kitchen.
"I see... all right then. Come on in~"
With that, Kagura opened the Student Kitchen door and called out to Nishino Flower outside the window.
Nishino Flower happily skipped inside. Smiling, Kagura dried her hands on her apron and then patted the little girl on the head. Honestly speaking, she was rather fond of this junior she had met not long ago. After all, when you had a cute, well-behaved, gentle little girl calling you senpai—well, for Kagura, who was always the one getting treated like the little sister and fussed over, that was the kind of joy that was very hard to resist.
"What are you making for lunch today?"
Wearing an apron that was a little too big for her, Nishino Flower came up to the stove and peered over curiously.
"Just some ordinary home-style dishes. Very simple. Things like ingredient prep and seasoning—someone as talented as you, Nishino Flower, will definitely understand once I explain a little."
"Okaaay~~"
Nishino Flower watched as Kagura skillfully laid out the ingredients she needed, picked up a knife, cut them down to size, tossed them into the pan, lit the flame, stir-fried, seasoned, plated...
The entire process flowed in one seamless motion, smooth as silk.
Nishino Flower, who had come in to learn today, was so absorbed she almost went blank. In her videos, Kagura always deliberately slowed down her cooking speed for the sake of her viewers. Only now, seeing Kagura cook when she was not filming, did Nishino Flower finally understand—those really had been tutorials. They truly were stripped-down, beginner-level basics. When Kagura was actually working at her natural pace, it was hard to even follow her movements while standing right beside her.
"And that's one dish done. Nishino Flower, did you pick anything up just now?"
"Ah... your hands were so fast, Kagura... I... I didn't see anything clearly at all..."
"Oh... then I'll slow down a little next time. Make sure you watch carefully, okay?"
Kagura scratched her head. She had accidentally forgotten that Nishino Flower was still a beginner. Even if she had shown real talent in the kitchen, there was no way she could master everything all at once.
So this time, Kagura deliberately slowed down, occasionally explaining what she was doing as she went. Nishino Flower watched with intense focus, looking about one step away from pulling out a notebook and taking notes.
"Oh, right, Kagura—have you heard? About how royalty from another country is supposed to be coming to our school soon."
As Kagura set a lid over the pot and waited for the ingredients inside to cook through, Nishino Flower remembered some rumors that had been making the rounds among the students lately and casually shared them with her.
"Hm? Royalty... from another country? Coming to Tracen?"
Kagura had been busy to the point of collapse lately, and on top of that she was not the sort who usually spent much time hanging around classrooms, so she could not help freezing at the news. She knew Tracen Academy really was something special, but had it actually gotten to the point where it could attract royalty from other countries too?
"Yes. I heard it's a princess! But so far it's still just a rumor. Nobody's actually seen where this rumored princess is, so everyone's been really excited about it lately."
"I see... well, if nobody's seen her, then there's no need to worry about it for now, right? If it's true, you'll all meet her sooner or later anyway—there! Watch closely! This is the last dish, so if you miss it, you'll have to wait until tonight to see my technique again!"
In the past, Kagura would have brushed that sort of rumor off as a joke.
But at Tracen, rumors were not necessarily jokes. In fact, there was a pretty decent chance they were true. This was a place where anything really could happen—like how ghost Umamusume had turned out to exist too. So she quietly committed the rumor to memory.
"O-okay! I'll do my best to remember your technique, Kagura!"
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T/N: fine motion??