Hayato knew this world's timeline was messy, but he hadn't expected it to be this chaotic.
Just thinking about King Halo's mission potentially failing gave him a headache. He rubbed his forehead, trying to think.
Wait. There was still a chance.
This year's Kikka Sho was in November and hadn't been moved up yet. It was February now, which meant there were still nine months left.
Nine months. Surely I could help King Halo reach the same level as Biwa Hayahide in nine months, right?
"Oh ho ho ho... I haven't even debuted yet, actually. My debut is next week."
The enthusiastic conversation screeched to a halt.
Biwa Hayahide's smile twitched slightly. She felt like she'd just wasted a lot of energy talking about the Derby with an Uma Musume who hadn't even had her debut race yet.
"If you haven't debuted, you probably can't participate in the Triple Crown races." Narita Taishin looked somewhat exasperated.
Where did this girl get the confidence to claim they were her competitors when she hadn't even raced once?
"Isn't that simple?" King Halo waved her hand dismissively. "I just need to win the Yayoi Sho, and I'm in."
"The Yayoi Sho?" Narita Taishin's eye twitched. "You need at least third place to qualify for the Satsuki Sho afterward."
She paused, then added, "And I'll be participating too."
"Eh? Really? Taishin's entering too?" Winning Ticket perked up with interest.
"Yeah." Narita Taishin nodded.
"Yay! I'm entering too, so I can race with Taishin, and also..." She turned to look at King Halo, clearly having forgotten her name already.
King Halo's smile went sharp. "So we'll meet very soon then. But I won't be giving up first place to you."
"That's great! Then we can all advance to the Derby together! Woohoo!"
"Tickezo, your voice is too loud... could you maybe tone it down a bit?" Narita Taishin winced. Winning Ticket's overly cheerful personality was exhausting. The noise level alone was too much.
'Besides, wasn't it way too early to be talking about the Derby? They hadn't even debuted and were already discussing the Yayoi Sho. Did they even have any real confidence?'
"King Halo." Hayato's voice cut through. "I signed you up for the Spring Stakes, not the Yayoi Sho."
The excited King Halo froze. "Eh? Trainer, didn't you say you hadn't registered yet?"
"No, I registered. Just finished it, actually."
"But then—"
"Not happening. Once you're registered, you can't cancel without a special reason. The Uma Musume Association would never approve it."
King Halo's face went through several emotions before she turned back to the three girls with an awkward smile. "Sorry, looks like we'll have to meet at the Satsuki Sho instead."
"That's okay, we'll meet eventually anyway." Winning Ticket smiled with easy understanding.
"Good. But I still won't be giving you the victory."
"King Halo, it's time to go back and train." Hayato interrupted again.
"Eh? Trainer, didn't you say we needed to solve the winning stage thing first?" King Halo looked annoyed, her tone getting rebellious.
"Can't find anyone to help. If we practice on our own, it'll eat up too much time. You wouldn't want to miss even the Satsuki Sho, would you?"
"Ugh, fine." King Halo nodded reluctantly. Time was already tight. Wasting more here would mean actually missing the Classic Triple Crown.
As proof of being first-class from the King Halo family, she'd always been strict with herself. She knew some dancing, sure, but whether it was suitable for a winning stage was another question. Either way, she wasn't too worried about it.
Seiun Sky quietly watched Hayato's composed expression, a flash of mischievous understanding crossing her face. "Oh, Trainer... I see how it is..."
"Are you looking for someone to teach you dancing?" Biwa Hayahide asked.
"Yeah, we even got this karaoke discount coupon, but unfortunately can't find anyone to help." Hayato pulled out the coupon and waved it around casually.
If Hayato couldn't find help, he really wouldn't waste time on dancing. Plus, having run into these three, he wanted to leave even more.
'Going back to formulate a plan to beat the New Heisei Three seemed way more important.'
"Eh! Eh! Eh!" Winning Ticket let out several sounds of disbelief, then stepped forward. "Why don't you ask us for help? We can totally help!"
Everyone's attention snapped to Winning Ticket.
Hayato paused, resting his chin on his hand thoughtfully. "Is that really okay? We're rivals, and you all need to train too, right?"
"Precisely because we're rivals, we should help!"
Winning Ticket's logic was kinda hard to follow, but it actually made a weird amount of sense.
Hayato had only been testing to see if they'd bite. If neither side trained, there'd be no disadvantage. Hayato hadn't expected it to actually work and felt secretly pleased.
"Well, I don't know..." His lips moved, still expressing reluctance.
Suzuka watched the exchange with growing amusement, covering her mouth with one hand.
"It's fine, right, Taishin?" Winning ticket turned back to ask the other two.
"Yeah." Narita Taishin gave a slight nod.
"Indeed, if you're rivals, there's no fun if your opponents can't give their all in the race."
"I feel the same way." Biwa Hayahide adjusted her glasses. "You need help, and we just happened to run into you. Since we're rivals, we can't just walk away."
In Biwa Hayahide's view, if someone needed help, helping them was simply the right thing to do. Especially if they were rivals. If her opponents couldn't train properly because they had to practice dancing while she went off to train normally, that would be disgraceful. She wouldn't be able to feel at ease about it.
"Trainer's really good at this," Seiun Sky whispered to King Halo.
"Good at what?"
"Getting people to help us."
"In that case, on behalf of my team, I sincerely thank you all."
"Don't mention it." Biwa Hayahide replied with a small smile.
After the three of them finished making their prayers, all seven headed to the karaoke place together.
The walk there was filled with Winning Ticket's non-stop about the derby, Taishin's long-suffering sighs, and King Halo trying to get competitive about literally everything.
-----
Kyou no shouri no megami wa
Atashi dake ni chuu suru
Niji no kanata e yukou
Kaze wo kitte daichi kette
Kimi no naka ni hikari tomosu
Zukyun dokyun hashirideshi (fufu)
Bakyun bukyun kakete yuku yo (fuwa fuwa)
Konna reesuu wa hajimete
Zukyun dokyun mune ga nari
Bakyun bukyun daisuki da yo
Kyou mo kanaderu
Hapi hapi daarin san ni ichi go fight
Upi upi hanii san ni ichi (uuu fight!)
Don't cry anymore, okay...
Today's victory goddess,
Will only kiss me alone...
Listening to "Uma Pyoi Densetsu," Hayato couldn't help but feel moved.
The songs in the Uma Musume world were genuinely good. Every single one was a classic.
The whole point of the victory stage was healing, letting busy people relax and enjoy themselves, washing away fatigue. Similarly, it helped Uma Musume unwind mentally and physically after races.
Hayato tried singing along a bit. Dancing was off the table, though. He didn't like doing the uma pyoi. Only watching it.
"Trainer, you're not even trying!" King Halo called out.
"I'm the trainer. I don't need to perform on stage."
"But you should understand the movements to teach us properly!"
"That's what these three are for."
Both Seiun Sky and King Halo were learning seriously without complaint. Suzuka was picking it up quickly, her natural grace showing through.
Having just endured the punishment of standing frozen on stage, Seiun Sky absolutely didn't dare show any dissatisfaction. She did not want a second experience of that humiliation.
"Your arm goes higher here," Biwa Hayahide demonstrated, moving with practiced ease.
"Like this?" Seiun Sky copied the movement.
"Almost. Rotate your wrist a bit more."
Winning Ticket was bouncing around enthusiastically, somehow turning the whole thing into a Derby victory celebration dance. "And then you jump like you just crossed the finish line!"
"That's not part of the choreography, Tickezo," Taishin said tiredly.
"But it should be!"
King Halo was taking this way too seriously, analyzing every single movement like it was a race strategy.
"The angle of the hand must be precisely 45 degrees for optimal aesthetic impact."
"Halo, it's dancing, not some math," Hayato called from where he sat watching.
"Dance is math! It's the beauty of dancing!"
Suzuka giggled softly at the chaos unfolding around her, but continued practicing diligently.
Hayato leaned back, watching his Uma Musume learn. Despite the circumstances, despite the competition ahead, this moment felt... nice.
Even if his wallet was crying, the New Heisei Three were going to make King Halo's path infinitely harder.
At least they could dance now.
---
Illustration on the other side.