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Chapter 95. The Special Quality of Mejiro McQueen
Wednesday—this week's training day. Shuta An arrived at Central Tracen Academy early. After tossing his bag into the office, he turned and headed straight for the training grounds.
He didn't go to the First Training Ground—the most crowded venue among the Uma Musume—but instead made his way to the smaller Slope Road Training Ground.
To prepare for the Yodo Slope in the Kyoto Nisai Stakes, Tokai Teio had been spending most of her training time here, aside from her usual morning exercises.
Originally, Kurofune and Rice Shower were meant to train alongside her. However, Shuta An had already sent them to the flat woodchip track at the First Training Ground for basic work, leaving no room for them to assist here.
In the Dream World, Toyama Tameo advocated extensive use of slope training for racehorses, and it had indeed produced anomalies like Mihono Bourbon—beings that defied common sense. But power that transcends bloodline and talent always comes at a cost.
Slope training carried an extremely high load.
For Kurofune and Rice Shower, who had yet to fully mature, training on the slope alongside Tokai Teio could accelerate their growth and accumulation far beyond normal routines—but it would also drastically increase the risk of injury.
Before reaching full development, even a minor injury could severely limit a Uma Musume's future potential. Tokai Teio was the Sadalsuud team's top priority for next year, but Kurofune and Rice Shower were its future as well.
Because of that, Shuta An firmly rejected their request to act as training partners.
As for Tokai Teio's training partner, he assigned that role to Mejiro McQueen, who was currently preparing for this year's Arima Kinen under Team Spica. The price was simple—several vouchers to well-known dessert shops in Tokyo.
Mejiro Dober was already on break.
Silence Suzuka's retirement race would take place at Sha Tin Racecourse, making slope training meaningless for her.
Oguri Cap, meanwhile, had her own races to prepare for and was training directly at Hanshin Racecourse. More importantly, Shuta An had no intention of calling her back.
Even with Tokai Teio's exceptional talent, training alongside Oguri Cap would only hinder her own preparations. To him, Oguri Cap always came first.
Upon arriving at the training ground, Shuta An quickly spotted Tokai Teio. She and Mejiro McQueen had just finished a set of uphill runs.
He handed each of them a bottle of water. "Good work. How do you feel today?"
"Pretty good! I feel like I'm in perfect condition right now!" Tokai Teio gave a thumbs-up. "I could run the Kyoto Nisai Stakes right now—no problem at all!"
"Really?" Mejiro McQueen's eyes widened. "You didn't even catch up to me just now."
"That was my first set today. Of course I wasn't going all out." Tokai Teio puffed her cheeks. "McQueen, on the other hand, looks completely out of breath."
Mejiro McQueen's gaze shifted aside—because Tokai Teio had hit the mark exactly. She had indeed given it her all in that set.
"So she wasn't holding back because it was her first run—I thought my training lately had paid off, that I could at least close the gap a little." The lavender-haired Uma Musume murmured inwardly.
"The morning workload is lighter today," Shuta An said.
"Let's do a proper final chase-up. Even if our team doesn't emphasize chase-up results, we can't be too relaxed. Otherwise, once the video gets out, fans will start worrying—and my DMs will be flooded again."
At the end of his words, he shrugged, his expression faintly resigned.
"Don't worry! I've got it!" Tokai Teio thumped her chest. "I'll deliver impressive numbers today!"
"Keep the 800 meters within the 55-second range."
Shuta An paused slightly, giving only a rough benchmark rather than an exact target.
For flat-track chase-ups, timing could start anywhere between 600 and 1400 meters, though 1000 or 1200 was standard. For slope training, however, timing almost always began at 800 meters.
Tokai Teio's run today was no exception. Eight hundred meters in fifty-five seconds was considered standard—but for her, it bordered on mediocre.
Still, seasoned viewers of the Twinkle Series already understood the Sadalsuud team's approach: they didn't chase stopwatch times in final runs. As long as Tokai Teio didn't post something disastrous like sixty seconds, the audience would accept it without much concern.
After the morning session ended, Tokai Teio suddenly shouted.
"I'm starving! I want a super-sized carrot wrap!" before dashing off from the edge of the slope track.
Only Shuta An and Mejiro McQueen remained.
Shuta An gathered Tokai Teio's equipment, intending to return it to the office for her later. Mejiro McQueen quietly did the same with her own gear.
The silence between them felt unusual. Recalling the earlier conversation with Symboli Rudolf and Mejiro Ramonu—especially the remark that "Mejiro McQueen is special"—he finally spoke.
"I have a question about the Mejiro Family. Would it be alright to ask you, Miss McQueen?"
"Oh?" Mejiro McQueen paused, then smiled politely and nodded. "If it's not too private, I'll answer what I can."
"It's about something Miss Ramonu mentioned. She said most of the Uma Musume in your generation are preparing for engagement, but that you're an exception—What does that 'exception' refer to?"
For a moment, upon hearing the opening, Mejiro McQueen nearly misunderstood.
If she hadn't already known Dober's feelings, she might have thought the man beside her was raising the topic for a different reason. But as the rest followed, her expression settled.
"I almost caused Dober unnecessary trouble," she thought.
She lifted her gaze and met his. "My case is different because of my background."
"Background…" Shuta An hesitated. "If it's something personal, then perhaps I shouldn't ask further?"
"There's no need to avoid it." Mejiro McQueen waved it off lightly.
"From birth until I was five, I never stayed within the Mejiro Family even once. It wasn't until I turned six that my mother brought me back. Because of that, compared to others in my generation, I drew far less attention from the elders—at least until I won the St. Lite Kinen."
"I see~ So there's no pressure on you regarding engagement?" Shuta An followed her logic.
"Exactly." Mejiro McQueen nodded.
Then, as if it were an afterthought, she lowered her voice slightly, her tone deliberately casual.
"Trainer…you don't want Dober to be engaged to someone else, do you?"
Shuta An was not at all surprised that Mejiro McQueen had seen through him. The moment he asked about her "special case," he had already prepared himself for this line of questioning.
So when she spoke, he did not hesitate. "Yes. That's also Dober's wish."
"I thought so." Mejiro McQueen let out a quiet sigh. "But I can't help you. Right now, I don't have much influence within the family."
"Even after winning the Kikuka Sho—the long-distance G1 the Mejiro Family has always valued?"
Shuta An pressed. "Then it's still not enough. You'd need to aim for the Spring Tenno Sho, wouldn't you?"
"Yes." Mejiro McQueen spread her hands slightly. "If I could win one—or even two—Spring Tenno Sho titles, I might gain enough standing to speak for Dober and persuade some of the elders."
"But that would take at least two years." Shuta An finished the thought for her.
"Yes."
A brief silence followed.
"I'm sorry," Mejiro McQueen lowered her head. "At most, I can ensure they don't bring up engagement matters concerning me. I can't help Dober."
"No, Miss McQueen,"
Shuta An clasped his hands lightly.
"The fact that you answered my questions is already more than enough. This information is valuable—and I intend to resolve this before the end of the year."
"With less than two months?" Mejiro McQueen blinked in surprise. "Isn't that too rushed? As far as I know, Dober's situation hasn't been finalized yet. There's still time."
"My goal isn't just to free Dober from this engagement."
Shuta An answered plainly.
"Could it be—"
Mejiro McQueen's eyes widened.
Shuta An only raised a finger, narrowing his eyes with a faint, unreadable smile. Then, without another word, he picked up Tokai Teio's training equipment and walked away.
Watching his retreating figure, Mejiro McQueen murmured under her breath,
"If it's what I'm thinking…then once Shuta Trainer succeeds, the Mejiro Family will be forced to rely solely on Grandmother to hold itself together."
From Shuta An's perspective, what he found most difficult to accept was the way the Mejiro Family treated its Uma Musume. They raced with their own ability to earn prize money—only to have it drained away to sustain the desires of the elders, leaving them with almost nothing.
Couldn't they just venture into business world? It wasn't like they didn't have the connections either.
"If they followed Miss Ardan's example—they'd be far freer, wouldn't they?"
Sitting in his chair with his eyes closed, he turned the thought over in his mind.
But he also understood that Mejiro Ardan's choice—to leave everything behind—was not something others could easily replicate.
"Even if I help Dober escape, it won't change much for the rest," Shuta An frowned slightly. "If I'm going to act—then I should end this in one move."
He exhaled slowly.
"If possible, I'll break this restraint entirely."
—
His thoughts were completely different from Mejiro McQueen's.
In her view, if Shuta An succeeded in helping Mejiro Dober, it would be enough to shake the very foundation of the Mejiro Family.
Yet, despite being someone who had always taken pride in her lineage, Mejiro McQueen had no intention of informing her family of this realization.
She knew full well that what she was doing would harm the Mejiro Family—perhaps even deal a heavy blow to a structure that was already beginning to fracture.
Even so—
She found herself unable to accept the elders as they were now—rigid, stagnant, and suffocating.
"The only ones I can trust are Dober and Ramonu-nee. But even then…I can't do anything."
As the only Mejiro Uma Musume entered in this year's Arima Kinen, Mejiro McQueen wanted to help after learning that Shuta An intended to act against her family.
Yet she never once considered deliberately underperforming in the race to defy them.
"So…I really can't do anything."
Her ears drooped as she returned to her dorm room, her steps unsteady, her expression dim.
—
Today was the day of the final chase recording. Although Minamisaka's team wasn't required to participate, the Uma Musume still needed to report to the training ground for regular workouts.
"Dictus!"
Minamisaka called out. When Ikuno Dictus stopped and turned, he asked, "Why are you late? You're usually the most punctual."
"I was talking with my roommate for a bit. Miss McQueen seemed to be in a delicate mood today, so I couldn't help but worry,"
Ikuno Dictus replied honestly. Then she added, "I'm ten minutes late, but I'll make up for it in training."
"That's nothing serious. Go warm up first," Minamisaka waved it off.
As he watched her leave, a thought crossed his mind.
"Mejiro McQueen…in a bad mood?"
"She's been training with Tokai Teio lately because of Ann-san's arrangement—Did something happen there?"
He suppressed the thought almost immediately.
"No point overthinking it. If there's a problem, I won't be able to help anyway."
—
Back in her dorm, Mejiro McQueen sat on the edge of her bed, idly swinging her legs.
She had been like this ever since realizing she couldn't do anything.
Otherwise, Ikuno Dictus wouldn't have been so concerned that she stayed behind to talk with her.
Still…her mood had improved somewhat.
Because Ikuno Dictus had promised to ask around for ideas.
"I can't involve Trainer in something like this. And Gold Ship absolutely mustn't find out—It's better if no one in Team Spica knows."
Meanwhile, on the training ground—
After hearing Ikuno Dictus's explanation, Nice Nature spoke up. "The friend you're talking about…that's McQueen, right?"
"No," Ikuno Dictus insisted.
"Alright, fine. Whether it is or isn't doesn't really matter." Nice Nature waved her hand casually. "It's not easy to admit something like that anyway."
She tilted her head slightly, thinking.
"If she wants to help, but can't interfere directly—then why not strengthen the person she wants to help instead?"
"I've heard about situations like that before—from the ladies at the shopping district."
"I see~" Ikuno Dictus wasn't sure if it would work, but she committed the idea to memory.
And when she relayed it—
Mejiro McQueen's eyes lit up.
"I see. So that's what I can do."
She immediately pulled out her phone, jotting something down in her notes before setting a reminder.
"The night of the Japan Cup—that should be the best timing."
Her fingers tightened slightly around the device.
"This is the most I can do."
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