"Trainer, kissy."
"Fufufu~~ Maybe later, Urara. Your mom doesn't allow it."
The fight between the Grand Assassin and the young man ends without the young man's head being separated from his body. He could only guess that some higher being, probably the 3 Goddesses, had stepped in since the fight ended abruptly with the Old Man being called away. Perhaps Tiamat had just been resurrected. Whatever it was, the young man felt lucky.
The young man was about to throw an engagement party between him and Rice Shower, but he had to put it on hold since Urara's race is here. The one who watched her race was her mother, King Halo, and her father, Igo Heita. The rest of the team Minaz is training in Tracen Academy with the assistant trainer.
"Don't get too comfy with him, Urara. He is a bad influence."
"Aaah… Urara see…"
The daughter can feel the distance between her parents. They were so close before, but now there is a noticeable gap between them. A gap that suspiciously fit for a single female human.
"If Urara wins, can we go to an amusement park together, Papa, Mama?"
"..."
"...Sorry, Urara. But your father has someone else now. We both can still go to the amusement park with your friends, though."
"Urara… understand."
Haru Urara's mood decreased to [Abysmal].
There is something worse than Awful?! The fuck?!?
The young man could only watch in horror as his trainee's mood kept plummeting. He truly hadn't expected this kind of outcome.
"BEEP!! RUNNERS, PLEASE COME TO THE TRACK!"
"Ah… Urara will get going… Sniffle… Watch me, okay?"
Urara suddenly sits up in her chair and runs out of the room. Both of her parents could only stand in silence.
This… might be a mistake.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"GOOD MORNING, EVERYONE!!! THE SKY MIGHT BE GLOOMY, BUT WE CAN FEEL THE HEAT FROM THE RACERS!!!"
As if to reflect team Minaz's feelings, the sky is covered from end to end by a blanket of dark clouds. Wind raging across the land, rustling leaves and blowing grass from their roots. The young man swore he could feel a drop of water now and then from the crying sky.
The runners enter their gates, but one of them can be seen slumping forward. The pink-haired umamusume looks visually worse than her peers. She enters the gate with her head hung low. The normally happy-go-lucky and upbeat little girl is now a doom-gloom and no-smile little girl.
"She is not… doing great."
"About time you realize that your actions have consequences."
The husband and wife sit together with an empty seat between them. Normally, they would be sitting beside each other with Urara in one of their laps, but after the divorce, they can't get any closer than this.
"You can't really expect things to continue when it's not working."
It's better to crush their puppy love now before it grows into something more troublesome.
"We can talk it out, but you selfishly decide on your own."
"You know what you entered into with me, King."
The young man tries to smooth the broken relationship with his ex-wife. He extends his arm toward her thigh and firmly grips her bare thigh to show that they're still connected even when he already has someone new. The wife doesn't feel the same way, as she grabs his hand and pushes it away.
"First-rate doesn't cheat on their significant other, trainer Igo Heita."
"Friends with benefits?"
"Regret comes later, does it, dear?"
King Halo crosses her legs and leans away from her ex-husband. She does miss him being intimate with her, but she also can't betray her own first-rate values. This is a choice he made, and she has to accept it.
*Beep*
*Beep*
*Beep*
.
.
.
*BAM*
"AND OUT GOES THE RUNNERS!! LOOK AT THEM GO!! THEY'RE NOT HOLDING ANYTHING BACK!!"
"Kuh… Urara…"
"Urara…"
The rest might not know, but the parents sure do. Their daughter is running in subpar condition. She uses the Late Surger running style, but she might as well have been using the End Closer from how far back she is.
"IT'S THE CORNER!! EVERYONE IS KICKING IT UP A NOTCH!! WE CAN'T EVEN READ OUT THE POSITION!!"
The Tempozan Stakes is a 1400-meter race, so there's only one corner. Unlike other races, everyone here instantly bursts out with everything they have, including on the corner. The position of each runner is muddled by how close they are to each other. The situation gets more confusing when they enter the last straight.
*Stomp* *STOMP* *Stomp* *STOMP*
Final kick after final kick, the dirt is tampened by the powerful kicks of speeding umamusumes. The pack spread out wide as there wasn't enough space for all 16 runners to run toward the finish.
"PANT!! PANT!!"
Urara's skills aren't activating at all!! What the heck is going on!?
The pink-haired blob should be amongst the frontmost runners by now, but in reality, she is still at the back with so little space left. The young man becomes more panicked when he notices that not a single skill of the pink-haired blob has activated. Not only that, her final kick barely pushes her body forward. The acceleration barely even registers, even with the young man's [Truth Seeing Eyes].
"Urara… no… What is happening to her?"
"AND THE FIRST ONE HAS CROSSED THE FINISH LINE!!! CONGRATULATIONS TO RAY!!!!"
"We need to see her."
"Yes."
The young man grabs his wife's hand and pulls her down toward the changing room. Haru Urara should be the winner in today's race, but she finished in 10th out of the 16 runners. If there's any proof that she isn't doing well, this is it.
I'm so dead!!