The moment Fujiwara Chiya stepped off the plane, he was surrounded by reporters.
Dozens of them crowded around him, camera flashes snapping nonstop.
"Mr. Fujiwara Chiya, do you have anything to say about the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe?"
"Could you give us your thoughts on Trêve?"
"Could you share what kind of training you and Snow Dancer went through over there?"
Their voices overlapped one after another, leaving Fujiwara Chiya unsure of how to answer.
At that moment, his phone rang.
Opening the notification, Fujiwara Chiya saw a message from Akikawa Yayoi.
West waiting room.
Raising his head, Fujiwara Chiya saw a huge flag with Tracen's name written on it, as well as the group of people beneath the flag who had come to pick him up.
…
"Chiya, welcome back!"
Nishizaki Ryuu immediately gave him a bear hug. The instant he held him, Nishizaki Ryuu jolted as if he had been electrocuted. After repeatedly confirming that he had not hugged the wrong person, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
After not seeing him for several months, Fujiwara Chiya's body had become as soft as a girl's.
"Yeah. I'm back."
Fujiwara Chiya greeted everyone.
Finally, his gaze landed on the petite figure at the centre of the crowd. Akikawa Yayoi was still wearing that dress, holding her folding fan in one hand. Compared to before he left, she had basically not changed at all.
Nishizaki Ryuu had changed clothes. The stubble on his face was shaved clean, and his whole appearance looked much neater than before. Katsumura Youta's originally messy hair had become fresher as well, making him look a little sunnier.
As for the rest of his colleagues, aside from Kuronuma, all of them had changed to some degree.
"Kuronuma-senpai."
The other man nodded. Beneath his open white tracksuit, eight-pack abs were visible. Originally, Fujiwara Chiya had also wanted to train himself until he was that fierce, but now, forget abs, even if he wore a skirt, there probably would not be much sense of mismatch.
The others still wanted to tease Fujiwara Chiya properly, but with the Director here, they could not act too wildly. They only patted Fujiwara Chiya's shoulders and briefly caught up with him.
After they finished speaking, Fujiwara Chiya turned his gaze to Akikawa Yayoi.
She tapped her fan and raised her head.
"Awaited! Welcome home, Chiya."
"Mm."
Hearing her strange verbal tic, Fujiwara Chiya tilted his head.
"The Director thinks speaking like that makes it easier to attract everyone's attention, so now she calls out a word before speaking every time."
Nishizaki Ryuu quietly explained from beside him.
"I see…"
It seemed that while he had been away, everyone had changed quite a bit.
"Trainer, are we taking these things back first? Or giving them to everyone now?"
Gold Ship, Rice Shower, and the others came over from behind, carrying large and small bags.
"Let's go back first," Fujiwara Chiya said. "These are souvenirs I bought for everyone. I'll deliver them to you later."
"You little rascal."
Nishizaki Ryuu laughed loudly.
"I'll see what good stuff you brought me later. Come on, you must be exhausted already. Rest first. There's still a welcome party tonight."
"A welcome party?"
"That's right. Specially held for you. The Director even got us a big private room. Of course, there's one for the uma musume too."
Nishizaki Ryuu looked toward Shirayuki and the others.
Thanks, nee-san.
Fujiwara Chiya silently thanked her.
The moment they returned to Tracen and stepped through the gate, Shirayuki was surrounded by a crowd of students.
They shouted "Her Majesty!" while gathering around Shirayuki. Among them, Shirayuki even saw a few children she had never met before.
Who are they?
"Your Majesty, could you tell us about Europe?"
"I want to hear about Shirayuki-senpai's experiences!"
"Senpai, I want to race in Europe too!"
Looking at those little foals, Shirayuki hurriedly tried to deal with them.
"Shirayuki."
A calm voice sounded.
The students opened up a path, and Rudolf walked over. Beside her were Air Groove and Narita Brian.
"You must be tired after such a long journey. Come rest in the student council room."
"Okay."
Air Groove and Narita Brian explained that they needed to borrow Shirayuki for a while, letting the students leave. With her ears finally quiet again, Shirayuki let out a sigh of relief.
The flight of more than ten hours had left her physically and mentally exhausted. Her injuries had not healed in the first place, and every time she moved, waves of pain still came through. Being swarmed and hugged by those students had made her old injuries flare up again.
Following Rudolf and the others, Shirayuki arrived at the student council room.
This place had not changed much.
Air Groove brewed a cup of tea for her.
"Were you able to get used to living over there?"
"More or less."
Shirayuki roughly told the three of them about her experiences.
Just listening to it made them realise how difficult it must have been.
Air Groove stroked Shirayuki's head.
"You worked hard."
"Victory and defeat are normal parts of racing. In history, the number of uma musume who maintained an undefeated record can be counted on one hand. Shirayuki, you do not need to blame yourself because of one loss."
Shirayuki understood.
Rudolf and the others had come to comfort her.
After all, there had once been uma musume who fell apart after losing the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. Some had even retired because of it.
Shirayuki's situation was a little different from theirs.
She was a bit more rational.
She had more or less figured out the reason for this defeat. They had not fully investigated their opponents before the race, and they had not understood the others' tactics well enough. If they had been able to analyse how the other uma musume were guarding against Trêve, they could have avoided the final blockade.
In the end, they had lost because of intelligence.
Actually, Fujiwara Chiya had originally wanted to investigate.
But Paris was so large, and he had no idea where those uma musume were training. He could not see even a shadow of them. They were not at the racecourse, nor at the training grounds. Even if he wanted to observe them, there was nothing to see.
Those people really did a good job keeping things secret…
He had to learn from them.
In any case, regretting a race that had already passed would be useless. How to apply the experience from this Arc to the next race was what they should be thinking about now.
"I know, President Rudolf. Uma musume always run forward. They do not turn back to look behind them. Rather than regretting the past, it is better to look toward the future and think about how to avoid making the same mistake next time. This race… taught me a great deal."
Hearing Shirayuki's words, Rudolf, Air Groove, and Narita Brian exchanged glances.
This child, Shirayuki, was far too mature.
She was even more mature than they were.
She was clearly their junior, yet when Rudolf and the others spoke with Shirayuki, they somehow felt as if they were the juniors instead.
"I told you, there's no need to worry about Shirayuki."
Narita Brian folded her arms and swung her leg while sitting on the sofa. Then she stood up.
"Race me next time."
After seeing Shirayuki and Trêve's race, Narita Brian had also started itching to run. She could hardly wait to clash with Shirayuki in a battle between beasts.
"Don't be so impatient. There's something else first."
Rudolf said, "Last week, Tracen held new student admissions, and many newcomers arrived. I hope Shirayuki can speak to them as the student representative."
"Me, as the student representative?"
Shirayuki raised an eyebrow.
"Wouldn't President Rudolf be more suitable than me?"
"It seems Shirayuki still doesn't know."
Air Groove's lips curved into a smile.
"Your popularity among the new students is even higher than Rudolf's."