Otome Fumie watched Terumi Shinji with amused interest.
The man kept sliding the bottle in front of his horse girl just out of reach, making Offside Trap miss it again and again until she glared at him in frustration.
It was the sort of childish horseplay one might expect from kids, but both Shinji and Offside Trap seemed to be thoroughly enjoying themselves—or so Otome concluded.
Neither of them, of course, knew that from the moment they had stepped into the room, cameras had already begun capturing every move they made. Nearby, Hayakawa Tazuna watched the two of them fool around with a smile full of fond amusement. Rudolf Symboli and Air Groove, on the other hand, looked distinctly less pleased.
This was meant to be an exclusive interview with Terumi Shinji and Offside Trap.
And the interviewer was none other than Otome Fumie, a veteran journalist long famous throughout Japan.
A refined career woman dressed in neat, elegant attire, she had made a favorable impression on Shinji. So when she settled into the host's seat, he finally stopped moving the bottle.
At last, Offside Trap got her hands on the honey-lemon drink and took an enormous sip in satisfaction.
Perhaps she drank too hard, because the loud slurping sound that followed echoed embarrassingly through the room.
Her face turning red, she darted a glance at Shinji, hurriedly set the bottle on the floor, then straightened up and faced the camera properly.
JURA's efficiency, it had to be said, was not lacking in the slightest. The very next day after Offside Trap agreed, the tone online had already shifted dramatically. Many prominent commentators had finally stopped hiding behind vague phrases like "definitely has G1-level strength" and instead began openly discussing just how valuable Offside Trap's two graded-stakes wins really were. According to them, she was unquestionably one of the most important defenders Japan had in this year's Japan Cup.
The racing fans—and plenty of ordinary supporters—were left dazed by the sudden change. The horse girl they had looked down on all this time apparently possessed that much ability, and some even found themselves wanting to blame the pundits for not saying so right after the race.
If they had, perhaps they would not now be relying on a horse girl they had once hurt to protect the hopes of Japan's racing fans.
Online sentiment was finally beginning to show the faintest signs of reversing. A small number of fans were expressing remorse, though far more were pretending nothing had happened and simply keeping quiet.
Words once spoken, actions once taken, were like water poured out onto the ground. They could not be taken back. And to avoid embarrassment, silence was undoubtedly the easiest choice.
Of course, there were also those who doubled down and got even worse—but to Shinji and Offside Trap, such people were simply laughable. If they did not even have the courage to admit they were wrong, then all the more reason to hold firm to the decision they had already made:
Let them witness. Nothing more.
The poised reporter signaled for the exclusive interview to begin in earnest, then launched into her trademark introduction.
It was generous and flattering in tone, and Shinji found himself realizing why Otome Fumie was so popular at Central Tracen—and throughout Japan. Whether it was her phrasing or the rhythm of her introduction, she was extraordinarily good at putting people at ease. Shinji could already sense Offside Trap's mood beginning to lift.
"Now then, let us officially begin the interview. First, I'd like to ask: this year's Japan Cup features an incredibly powerful field. For Offside Trap, does that create a great deal of pressure?"
At the question, Offside Trap first shook her head—then nodded.
When she thought of the foreign powerhouses, many of whom she had grown genuinely familiar with and even fond of, what she felt was not pressure so much as a strange sense of warmth, one she had never received to the same degree at Central Tracen. But when her thoughts turned to their actual strength, her heart inevitably sank.
As for the recent weather, she simply could not get a firm grasp on how much it would affect things.
Listening to her explanation, a flicker passed through Otome Fumie's eyes. She had not expected Offside Trap to have already built such good relationships with the visiting elites, and she silently made note of it for possible future use.
"It sounds as though Offside Trap is still very confident in herself. Aside from the unfavorable weather, the foreign stars have not shaken your belief that you can win this race. In fact, after the Autumn Tenno Sho, you said yourself that you no longer cared about the opinions of others and were more focused on your own improvement and performance…"
As she said that, Otome gave Offside Trap a little wink, clearly signaling that this was a question specially prepared just for her.
"So then, now that you are about to represent Japan and carry the hopes of Japanese racing fans into the richest Japan Cup in history, what sort of feelings do you bring into the race?"
Otome Fumie was clearly trying to hand Offside Trap an opportunity to rebuild her image. There was genuine approval in the reporter's gentle smile, and she plainly hoped to make the fans like this horse girl more.
Only—
Offside Trap lowered her head slightly in thought, then slowly shook it.
After a moment's consideration, she still did not give the answer Otome had plainly hoped for.
"I'm more focused on preparing myself well for the race," she said at last. "I want to win even more G1s."
For the briefest instant, Otome's expression stiffened.
But the veteran reporter recovered immediately, putting on an even brighter smile.
"So it seems you are very conscious of this Japan Cup, which carries the hopes of Japanese racing fans!"
She had smoothly steered the answer back onto safer ground. Shinji silently nodded in approval—just in time to notice Otome Fumie's gaze shift toward him.
She had obviously already spoken with Hayakawa Tazuna and knew perfectly well what the purpose of this interview was. Whether out of senior affection for juniors or simple recognition of Offside Trap's strength, it was now absolutely necessary to change the public's impression of them.
"Then next, I'd also like to hear Shinji-trainer's view of this year's Japan Cup. Faced with such a star-studded field, and with such terrible weather conditions…"
"From my point of view," Shinji answered without hesitation, "regardless of who the opponents are, and regardless of what sort of condition the course ends up in, Little Offside is absolutely going to win this Japan Cup."
"So you're approaching this with total conviction. Before the Autumn Tenno Sho, Shinji-trainer also expressed that kind of certainty, saying it was one of the most important reasons Little Offside would defeat Silence Suzuka."
As she said this, Otome Fumie took a subtle breath.
The next question was not sensitive in itself. But precisely because it was so broad, it could easily provoke any number of different answers.
And Otome still did not have a complete read on what kind of man Terumi Shinji really was. What she did know—based on every interview he had given so far—was that he was not the sort of person a reporter would ever feel completely comfortable handling.
Especially not with three pairs of eyes watching from behind her.
"So then, as Offside Trap's trainer, Shinji-trainer must understand her state of mind better than anyone as she goes into this Japan Cup. What we'd really like to know is: when facing a race of such far-reaching significance, what kind of conviction and sense of responsibility is Little Offside carrying into it?"
"We'd also like to know whether Little Offside—or your camp as a whole—has anything you wish to say to the fans and the audience. After all, this Japan Cup will surely be a major step toward the world stage."
As Otome finished the question, Rudolf Symboli's hands tightened together behind the scenes. Her expression shifted uneasily, and she made no attempt to hide the tension in her face.
Of all things, what she feared most was Shinji saying something outrageous.
And the next instant proved that she had not feared in vain.
Shinji looked long and hard into the camera, then let his gaze drift toward the three figures seated side by side behind it. He could clearly see the suspicion in Rudolf Symboli and Air Groove's eyes. He understood perfectly well that the essence of this interview—and of Offside Trap's position in the public eye right now—was to clean up the mess created by JURA's recklessness and the student council's insistence on building all its momentum around Silence Suzuka.
The dreams and expectations of Japanese racing fans had been raised so high that now they could not bear to watch them shatter.
"The fans' dream of reaching the world stage has already been broken," Shinji said at last, so bluntly that Rudolf's breathing hitched. Then he continued, "But we will bring it back."
The mood in the room changed at once.
Even the ever-smiling Hayakawa Tazuna finally reined in her expression, her breathing slightly heavier now.
"The truly important thing is not which horse girl gets chosen to carry the dreams of the fans. What matters is whether those dreams are defined by the fans themselves. The people in power protect themselves. The people who make decisions follow their own hearts—not the will or hopes of the fans."
Rudolf Symboli's face changed completely. Beside her, Air Groove made as if to rise, only for Hayakawa Tazuna to clamp a hand firmly onto her shoulder. It was the first time Air Groove had ever seen the secretary's expression turn so severe. Under that sharp gaze, she could only grit her teeth and look away.
"On the long road of life," Shinji went on, "you will find that things are not always fair. You will find all kinds of pressure crushing down on you—pressure that was never yours to bear in the first place…"
Offside Trap's pupils contracted. No one understood that better than she did. She had lived through it herself in the aftermath of her G1 victory—the day no one cheered for her.
"But you must lower your head, keep fighting, and never—never—never—give up!"
"In the end, all things will turn."
Shinji's tone remained calm, even gentle, but there was a kind of adamantine hardness beneath it that made every word land like iron.
Beside him, Offside Trap's fists clenched, loosened, then clenched again.
"Look at the treatment we received. In the entire history of Japanese horse racing, no Autumn Tenno Sho winner has ever been treated more terribly, or more unfairly. But you cannot let them defeat you."
"And the answer to that is this—do not yield, do not retreat, and never stop doing what you know is right."
Otome Fumie's pen had started trembling in her hand.
She no longer knew whether this interview could even be aired. But it had already been publicly announced. If it were suddenly canceled now, the fans—who were watching it closely—would inevitably suspect something.
That would run directly counter to the whole purpose of restoring their confidence.
"Before we came here," Shinji said, "I told Little Offside that no matter what the pessimists, the doubters, or the fans of other horse girls say, she must still have the confidence to speak the hope in her heart, and to voice the conviction that stirs her soul. She has the confidence to change a broken reality—to take the place of those before her as the one who can truly bear and fulfill the real wishes and will of the fans through her running."
What she had expressed earlier was her truest desire: she was preparing seriously, and she wanted to win more G1s.
As for the rest—
That was what they had earned by hurting her.
For a brief instant, Shinji's gaze met Otome Fumie's.
The moment it did, the journalist looked away.
In all her years of interviewing, that had never happened before. Yet now it felt both inevitable and entirely natural.
Images rose unbidden in her mind: the Kyoto Daishoten and Mainichi Okan held on the same day. Though the former had offered more excitement and more obvious demonstrations of ability, it had been completely dimmed by the glow surrounding the latter.
And the Autumn Tenno Sho—worthy of entering the history books—had ended in a scene so absurd it bordered on grotesque.
All because the scales had never once tipped toward Offside Trap's side to begin with.
"They are not hunting us," Shinji said softly. "They are hunting you. We simply stood in their way. And we will go on standing in their way."
At last, Rudolf Symboli could bear it no longer.
She rose to her feet in fury. Beside her, Hayakawa Tazuna tried to stop her, but this time could not hold her back.
Rudolf pointed directly at Shinji, and his calm gaze met hers in midair. Sparks seemed to fly where their eyes collided.
And the place those sparks landed was the authority the student council had always held most dear—
the authority Rudolf Symboli would never permit to be defiled.
[Negative Emotion +70]
Then Offside Trap spoke.
"Is the president planning to force us," she asked coldly, "the same way she tried to force White Benevolence to race?"
The words landed like a blade.
Otome Fumie turned her face aside.
Shinji's words had been like salt rubbed into a wound. Offside Trap's were worse: a knife driven straight back into flesh that had only just begun to scar over.
Rudolf Symboli's breath came hard and heavy. The sheer amount of information in that single sentence made even her disciplined mind go blank for a moment. If the public ever heard it, she did not dare imagine what would become of the authority the student council had spent years building.
The whites of her eyes were streaked with red now.
She stared deeply at Shinji—then turned away and left without another word.
Air Groove hesitated only a moment before hurrying after her, leaving behind only Hayakawa Tazuna, who faced Shinji from across the room.
The secretary's eyes were deep, unreadable.
Shinji thought he glimpsed concern in them.
So he gave her a small nod.
This interview had become, in effect, a decision to smash the cauldrons and sink the boats before the decisive battle. Once the Japan Cup was over, there would be only two extremes left for him and Offside Trap, determined wholly by victory or defeat.
No matter what happened now, the mutually beneficial outcome sought by the student council and JURA had already been destroyed. In their eyes, Terumi Shinji was a madman—a man who would rather risk mutual ruin than allow them even the slightest chance of coming out ahead.
Whether Offside Trap won the Japan Cup or not, the student council and JURA had already lost.
But for Shinji himself?
A calm smile appeared on his face, easing the agitation that had begun to rise even in Hayakawa Tazuna's heart.
Because he believed his horse girl would win this race.
And because, from the very start—
he had never been afraid.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 126)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter130)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter89)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter157)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 133
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 125
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 84
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 143
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 115
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 99
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 53
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 75
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 75
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 52
Uma Musume: I Want All 51
I Can Copy Unique Skills 53
A Guide to Aid in the Underwor 26
Summoning an Evil God, but the 27
Supernatural Multiverse 27
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