In fact, Mejiro McQueen had been thinking about this all night and all morning.
As someone who joined TCB even earlier than Tokai Teio, Sakura Baimu was truly her first trainer.
Mejiro McQueen felt that her relationship with Sakura Baimu was even less intimate than that of Smart Falcon, who joined last.
Sakura Baimu was undeniably kind to every Umamusume in the group.
Furthermore, Sakura Baimu often had weird episodes.
These episodes weren't limited to the Umamusumes in the group; they encompassed all the Umamusumes in Tracen Academy.
As Tokai Teio had mentioned before, when Mejiro McQueen first joined, Sakura Baimu frequently tried to do things like pat her head as encouragement.
Mejiro McQueen could clearly sense that Sakura Baimu's initial enthusiasm for her far exceeded that for Tokai Teio.
She didn't understand why Sakura Baimu was so kind to her, but Sakura Baimu's enthusiasm did cause her some initial discomfort.
In front of outsiders, Mejiro McQueen needed to maintain her dignity as the head of the Mejiro family, an Umamusume.
Clearly, Sakura Baimu's childlike encouragement was unsuitable for her.
Mejiro McQueen considered herself a capable adult, not like Tokai Teio, who seemed like a perpetual child.
Furthermore, the things Sakura Baimu did to her were strikingly similar to those of her older sister, Mejiro Sakura, who had disappeared after leaving the Mejiro family.
This made Mejiro McQueen even more resistant to these actions.
After Mejiro McQueen firmly refused several times, Sakura Baimu seemed to understand the situation.
Of course, Sakura Baimu didn't neglect Mejiro McQueen because of this; training continued as usual.
The only difference was the lack of the affectionate gestures she showed.
At first, Mejiro McQueen genuinely felt incredibly comfortable with their current dynamic.
However, gradually...
As Mejiro McQueen finally won the Spring Tenno Sho Championship, and even after winning her second and third Spring Tenno Sho Championships, achieving something no one had ever accomplished before, combined with her years of experience with her trainer, her trust in Sakura Baimu grew exponentially.
She had long since accepted Sakura Baimu, a trainer not much older than herself.
Although training at TCB was tough, Mejiro McQueen, having achieved her dream, found life at the academy far more enjoyable than at home.
She would have various inexplicable episodes of illness that continued.
And every now and then, like Gold Ship, she would come over and do strange things to her, making inexplicable teasing remarks.
Although Mejiro McQueen felt incredibly helpless at the time,
afterwards, what remained in her heart was not trouble, but rather happiness.
Starting in April of this year, three new members joined TCB.
Sakura Baimu still greeted each member with the same enthusiasm she had shown Mejiro McQueen and Tokai Teio.
But there was one difference.
Sakura Baimu would show that affectionate, encouraging behavior to all the other Umamusume members except Mejiro McQueen.
This made Mejiro McQueen increasingly feel that she was missing something compared to the other members.
Perhaps due to her tsundere nature and shyness, although Mejiro McQueen occasionally hoped for it, she never actively asked Sakura Baimu to pat her head or anything like that.
Mejiro McQueen knew that Sakura Baimu held no grudge against her, and her enthusiasm toward her was no different from that of her other teammates, except for the lack of affectionate gestures.
Therefore, she didn't harbor any negative feelings because of this.
However, just last night after practice,
Tokai Teio said that Sakura Baimu had tried to comfort her by patting her head after her loss in yesterday's match, but then withdrew her hand halfway.
Mejiro McQueen was incredibly surprised to learn this.
Because Mejiro McQueen had always assumed that Sakura Baimu, after listening to her, treated her like an adult and therefore stopped using those encouraging gestures that seemed more like those used toward a child.
But after yesterday's incident,
Mejiro McQueen realized that she might have only cared about her own feelings, neglecting Sakura Baimu's.
Judging from Tokai Teio's description, since Sakura Baimu wanted to touch her but didn't dare yesterday, that meant this wasn't a one-off occurrence.
It's very likely that over the years, Sakura Baimu had been wanting to make these intimate gestures toward her.
Hearing Satono Diamond's comments about "her painstakingly trained Umamusume being afraid even to let her touch her head,"
Mejiro McQueen felt an even greater sense of guilt.
She thought back to all these years, how she had won six G1 championships with Sakura Baimu, achieving unprecedented consecutive Spring Tenno Sho titles and protecting the Mejiro family's honor.
What Sakura Baimu received from her was nothing more than the meaningless title of "Youngest Prodigy Trainer" and a paltry sum of prize money.
Most of that prize money was spent by Sakura Baimu on drinks and desserts, ending up back in their stomachs.
So, in reality,
Sakura Baimu truly gained nothing.
For her, Sakura Baimu's affectionate behavior might have made her feel shy and troubled.
But for Sakura Baimu, it was very likely that she derived pleasure and motivation from these intimate gestures.
Conversely, was her refusal to let Sakura Baimu touch her head perhaps perceived as a sign of distance?
Mejiro McQueen thought about it and felt increasingly sorry for Sakura Baimu.
So, suppressing her shyness, she spoke to Sakura Baimu.
"Trainer-san, um… I wanted to talk about something that happened after my match yesterday afternoon."
Hearing her voice, all the TCB team members, as well as Sakura Baimu, looked over.
The only difference was that Sakura Baimu looked puzzled, while the TCB Umamusumes all had bright eyes.
"What is it?" Sakura Baimu asked.
"I heard from Teiō that… after my match yesterday, you wanted to pat my head…" Mejiro McQueen's face gradually flushed.
"Yes, you know, huh? Is it bothering you again?" Sakura Baimu chuckled.
"No…" Mejiro McQueen felt a sudden pang of pain upon hearing this.
As expected, Sakura Baimu thought that something like touching her head would bother her…
"Um… if you don't mind, um…"
Mejiro McQueen's face grew increasingly red, and her voice became softer and softer.
These words were much harder to say than she had imagined.
The TCB members all looked at Mejiro McQueen with encouraging eyes.
And they were all silently cheering for Mejiro McQueen in their hearts:
"Go for it, McQueen!"
"Go for it, Miss McQueen!"
Perhaps feeling the encouragement from her teammates, or perhaps Mejiro McQueen's desire to make Sakura Baimu happy overcame her shyness.
Mejiro McQueen finally closed her eyes, her face flushed, and blurted it out:
"Actually, if Trainer-san wanted to touch my head yesterday, there's absolutely no need to be afraid. I wouldn't mind!"
"Wow~~~"
As Mejiro McQueen shouted these words, the other Umamusumes in the room all thought the same thing in unison:
"McQueen actually said it!!"
The team members all exclaimed inwardly.
Sakura Baimu: "…"
Mejiro McQueen, with her eyes closed, waited for Sakura Baimu's reply.
She slowly opened her eyes, and what she saw was Sakura Baimu's disgusted expression.
"McQueen, are you misunderstanding something? You just finished a race yesterday, and you were sweating buckets from the shock. Your hair was all sticky. definitely need to wash my hands if I touched it, so I didn't touch it. How disgusting!"
Mejiro McQueen: "?"
TCB members Umamusume: "??????????"
Mejiro McQueen suddenly gritted her teeth, clenched her fist, and veins popped out on her forced smile.
This trainer can't be kept!