After spending some time deciding where to go today, Affirmed arrived a little early at the place she and Kagura had agreed to meet.
She looked around but did not see Kagura anywhere. After waiting a short while, she finally took out her phone and sent her a message.
[Affirmed]:Little miss, are you here yet? I didn't come to the wrong place, did I?
[Kagura]:I'm here. I already spotted you—the orange-haired lady in the black jacket and jeans.
[Affirmed]:Huh? Since when did my eyesight get this bad?
Seeing Kagura's message, Affirmed could tell she really had arrived—after all, she had described exactly what Affirmed was wearing. And yet no matter how many times Affirmed looked around, she still could not find that tiny black-haired Umamusume anywhere.
"Miss Affirmed, am I really that easy to overlook?"
Only when a not-quite-familiar girl's voice came from behind her did Affirmed stop and turn. Standing there was a black-haired Umamusume who looked vaguely familiar, gazing up at her with a blank expression.
Well, Kagura really had gotten taller. But compared to the 175-centimeter-tall Affirmed, she still looked downright tiny. And judging from the expression on Affirmed's face, Kagura had the feeling the other girl was still inwardly going, Who are you?
"Uh... Miss... could you possibly be... Kagura?"
After standing there in a daze for a while, Affirmed finally came back to herself and asked uncertainly.
"What, do I look that different?"
"No... Miss Kagura, did you hit honkaku this month?"
"Yeah. Other than honkaku, what else could make me change so much in a month that you can't even recognize me? It's not like there's some magical height-growing potion."
"That's true..."
Only then did the look on Affirmed's face settle a little. Thinking about it, big changes were perfectly normal with honkaku.
The reason she had failed to recognize Kagura at first glance was partly because of honkaku, but also because Kagura's whole style had changed so much. Before, she had looked like some country girl fresh in from the sticks. Now, she kept making Affirmed think she was some young lady from a great household.
She looks pretty good after honkaku...
Affirmed found that now that the little thing had grown up a bit, she looked unexpectedly good—definitely the sort that would catch her interest. She had said before that she was not interested in the girls from Japan, but today she felt Kagura might have to go down as an exception.
Putting that point aside, though, Affirmed looked Kagura over again and again, then suddenly felt an odd sense of familiarity. But she could not remember where she had ever seen someone who looked like Kagura.
"Is there something strange about how I look? Why do you keep staring at me?"
Feeling Affirmed's gaze lingering on her for so long, Kagura tilted her head and asked in confusion.
"No... sorry. There's nothing strange. I was just curious. It's about time for my reservation anyway. Let's go."
...
Kagura had been curious the whole time about where Affirmed had made a reservation, so she kept watching the scenery outside the taxi window. Then she realized the car had brought her all the way into Ginza.
Did Miss Affirmed really book a place in Ginza?
Kagura rarely came to Ginza. In her eyes, it counted as one of Tokyo's upper-class areas, and the prices were higher than elsewhere, so she usually avoided it. Part of that was because she felt a rich-people district like that had nothing much to do with her. The other reason was simpler: in her opinion, spending a fortune in a place like this for a few slices of meat was nowhere near as satisfying as buying a bag of ribs and cooking them herself.
Mr. C.B. had once said she would bring her here for a meal, but Kagura had turned her down. She had not expected to make it to Ginza this way instead.
This won't make Miss Affirmed spend too much on me, will it?
Before they had even arrived, Kagura was already bracing herself, and the thought made her a little worried. It was supposed to be an apology, after all. Making the other girl spend too much was not what she wanted.
——What are you worrying about, kiddo? Do you really think someone who could casually throw around tens of thousands of dollars last time is short on money? You'd be better off getting your camera gear ready to shoot a restaurant Vlog or something, and maybe use it to tease your next livestream while you're at it.
Eclipse's words appeared on Kagura's phone screen. Compared with Kagura's unease, Eclipse accepted all this quite calmly. Having seen it all before, she naturally knew perfectly well how deep the pockets of a G1-winning Umamusume could be.
"By the way, what restaurant did you book, Miss Affirmed?"
Even knowing the other girl was not short on cash, Kagura still could not help asking out of curiosity.
"If you've come all the way to Japan, you've got to try the wagyu here, right? I booked lunch at Ginza Steak. They have all-you-can-eat A5 wagyu, and I hear it's the best wagyu in Ginza."
Affirmed answered carelessly, as if she were just casually introducing what they were having for lunch.
Kagura did not know much about the restaurants in Ginza, but she definitely knew the ingredient. She also knew how expensive that meat could get. In her eyes, part of that was probably markup, maybe import costs and tariffs and the like, but expensive was still expensive. It was hard for her to imagine what kind of buffet could let people eat that meat freely.
"Oho... That look on your face—are you worried about the price? No need. For an Umamusume with a G1 win to her name, this is nothing."
Catching a glance at Kagura's expression, Affirmed noticed the unease on her face and smiled as she explained. She was finding this gentle little Umamusume more and more likable.
How did Seattle end up bullying such a cute little thing? What a trashy move...
Affirmed could not help thinking that to herself, silently offering a bit of thanks to Secretariat for suggesting she bring Kagura out for a meal.
What she still did not quite understand, though, was why Secretariat had specifically told her to remember to take a photo. Affirmed figured she probably wanted to get a look at the strong racers from different countries or something along those lines, but how exactly she was supposed to come up with a reason to photograph Kagura later was another problem entirely.
...
"Hm? Little miss, what's all that...?"
Once they were seated in the restaurant, Affirmed saw Kagura suddenly take out what looked like a camera and a microphone, and asked curiously.
"I'm going to record a restaurant video for my fans. Don't worry—I won't get you in the frame, Miss Affirmed."
As she answered, Kagura fixed the camera onto her shoulder, then clipped the microphone to her collar and tested the sound.
"Wow~ So you're a video blogger too, little miss? Would it be alright to tell me your account name so I can follow you?"
"My account name is just my name. Search for Inari Kagura and you'll find it."
Too lazy to come up with an ID, Kagura had simply used her own name, somehow her own real-name account no longer felt like a real-name account either, so she did not care much.
Even though Ginza Steak was technically a buffet, the beef Kagura was most looking forward to was prepared and grilled on the spot by the chefs, and there was also a time limit for the meal, which acted as a kind of soft cap against any true bottomless pits sweeping the place clean.
Ha, I knew there'd be a soft limit... Still, for this price, it's not bad.
When they had come in, Kagura had checked the prices downstairs. It was still under ten thousand yen, which was quite a bit lower than she had expected. After all, in Japan, just a single serving of A5 wagyu could already cost five to ten thousand yen or so. Even so, objectively speaking, it was still expensive. In her view, it really was not as worthwhile as buying a heap of ribs and taking them home—but since someone was willing to treat her to it this once, she did not mind indulging a little.
I should study how a high-end place like this does it. If it's good, I can try making a version for Rudolf and Nice Nature sometime.
Waiting around the table with the other diners for the appetizers to arrive, Kagura thought that to herself.
Meanwhile, based on the ID Kagura had given her, Affirmed quickly found the little Umamusume's account on Umastagram. She was surprised that someone so young had more than 1.5 million followers, and while she was at it, she sent the account over to Secretariat too.
[Affirmed]:Secretariat, that little miss has an Umastagram account. Take a look at this! There have to be photos of her on there!
For all she knew, Secretariat had learned she was taking Kagura out to eat today and had been staring at her phone the whole time, because barely a few seconds after Affirmed sent the message, the reply came back.
[Secretariat]:Got it. I'll take a look right now.
Then Secretariat's profile icon dimmed, looking very much as though she had gone straight to check the shared account.
While Affirmed was contacting Secretariat, their appetizer had arrived too—the sashimi course that was practically mandatory at all sorts of fancy restaurants in Japan. Judging from the menu, it seemed to be marinated trout slices. As usual, Kagura first focused the camera on the tiny appetizer of only two or three slices and got some pre-death footage of it.
So little... It tastes amazing, but it feels like that one bite just ate eight or nine hundred yen... Is this what "high-class" tastes like?
She tried her best to break down the taste of the fish in her mouth, but still could not help complaining inwardly. There was so little of it that she had nearly failed to identify the recipe. This place might have been a buffet, but the appetizer was not something you could refill for free. The only thing you could order freely was the beef that came later as the main course.
Watching Kagura's happy little expression as she enjoyed good food, Affirmed suddenly had the urge to reach out and pinch her cheeks. But considering that she and Kagura were not all that close yet, and that while fooling around like that might be one thing in America, she had heard Japanese people were more conservative and might not like that kind of contact, she suppressed the impulse.
Weird. Is the little miss really that dead center in my strike zone? To think I'd be having thoughts like this about an Umamusume I've only met two or three times... interesting.
Noticing her own thoughts, Affirmed subconsciously glanced at the accessory on Kagura's ear and felt a little surprised.
Of course, Kagura did not notice any of that. She had not forgotten to record a quick comment on the dish in time, and when she finished filming and lowered the camera, she suddenly noticed a red-haired Umamusume sitting across the room with a familiar handsome young man beside her. Thanks to an Umamusume's keen hearing, she could even make out what they were saying.
"Trainer... places like Ginza are really expensive, right? This... is this really okay? I-I've never been anywhere like this before..."
"Don't worry, Nice Nature. Just eat. Money's not the issue. You need to experience this stuff sooner or later. When the day comes that you want to ask someone you like out, you can't exactly take them into some little broken-down hole-in-the-wall in an alley, can you?"
"Uuh..."
Hm? Nice Nature and Trainer Minamizaka are eating here too?
They were a little far away, and in a quiet restaurant like this it was not really suitable to call out loudly, so Kagura chose to send Nice Nature a DM instead.
A short while later, she saw Nice Nature suddenly jerk her head up and stare over at her from far away with a face full of surprise. Kagura raised a hand and waved to her, counting that as a greeting.
"Who are you waving to, little miss? Do you know someone here?"
Affirmed, who had just been watching Kagura record her video, noticed what she was doing and asked curiously.
"Yeah. My friend and her trainer are here eating too."
"Then should we ask them to come sit with us?"
"I'd like to, but there's no way to change the reserved seats, right? And there are people all around us too."
"That's true..."
...
"Affirmed said this Miss Kagura is only twelve, right? This account's follower count is incredible..."
Elsewhere, Secretariat, who had originally still been in the middle of work, temporarily shoved aside the documents in her hands and leaned over her desk, intently scrolling through Inari Kagura's older posts.
What she wanted was a photo of Kagura. Being extremely familiar with the international racing scene, she really was curious what this Japanese Umamusume's background was. After all, anyone who could push Seattle that far definitely had to have some real strength.
"Secretariat, you're still on the clock. What are you doing over there? Slacking off?"
"Gathering intelligence on the international scene. Man o' War, you remember how Seattle took a huge hit in Japan a while back, right?"
"Hm? You found information on that little one?"
Secretariat motioned for her classmate to come over and look too. Most of Kagura's videos and comment sections were in Japanese and Chinese, which made them hard for Secretariat to read, but after scrolling for quite a while with her rudimentary foreign-language skills, she finally found the replay of Kagura's livestream from not long ago.
"Man o' War, don't you think this little one looks awfully familiar?"
"You think so too? But who does she look like?"
"I'm sure I've seen someone like her before. I feel like I saw a similar... Umamusume portrait in some palace? Oh, right, it should've been when we went to Europe a few years ago... You were with me then too, weren't you? Do you remember?"
"What you're saying... could it be Princess Eclipse?"
The moment those words were spoken, both Umamusume fell silent, and the whole office went quiet.
A long while later, it was as if their thoughts had finally reconnected at the same time, and the two of them made identical sounds of disbelief.
"Eh?"
"Huh?"
...
——That's so little. Can that really fill you up? Why is it so expensive when they give you so little?
Ugh... it's kind of hard to explain this to Eclipse-san...
——I don't get it. Your fancy full-course meals are about the size of our afternoon tea. Weird.
Well... that's just how high-end restaurants are...
---
T/N: THERES A PROBLEM WITH YOUR UMA??? MORE LIKE THERES A PROBLEM WITH EVERY OTHER UMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GUYS!!!! SHES STILL SO YOUNG :SOB:
bonus chaps
100 stones -> 1 chapter
200 stones -> 2 chapters
300 stones -> 3 chapters
and so on
hehe every 100 followers on either instagram or twitter is 5 bonus chapters...? (for all tls ongoing)
discord.gg/wisetl
patreon.com/wisetl
instagram: hanbaowise
twitter: WiseKingOfUruk_