The time passed very quickly for Imanami and McQueen.
After Imanami gave McQueen special training specifically for a middle-distance race like the Kyoto Shimbun Hai, the time for the official race to start quickly arrived...
At this moment, at the Kyoto Racecourse, the weather that day was not as bright and sunny as T.M. Opera O's previous races; the sky was gloomy, making it incredibly muggy. People's moods would get affected by bad weather. Naturally, it would bring in huge variables for the Uma Musume running in this race.
"Go, McQueen!"
In the stands, Imanami and Gold Ship stood together, both having put on raincoats in advance in anticipation of a sudden downpour, as the weather forecast predicted a high chance of heavy rain today.
And at this moment, it wasn't just Imanami and Gold Ship; many others from Tracen Academy also came to watch McQueen's race this time—for example, Wada, who brought T.M. Opera O and Meisho Doto, and on the other side, Ikezoe, who came with Orfevre and Curren Chan.
"T.M. Opera O, Meisho Doto, watch McQueen carefully. If nothing unexpected happens, you two will clash with her in the Japanese Derby and Kikuka Sho."
Wada also said very solemnly to his two assigned Uma Musume, "The parallel training you girls do is just that, training; it is only during a race that we can actually gather accurate information for reference."
"Wada's right—so, Orfevre, watch McQueen's race carefully this time."
Ikezoe on the side also nodded, and when his gaze fell upon Orfevre next to him, a hint of helplessness entered his eyes as he said:
"Orfevre, try to learn as much as you can. If you can observe how McQueen runs in a race and grasp the key points, it shouldn't be difficult to break through your current bottleneck."
"Ok..." Orfevre nodded rather dejectedly at his words; she was being unusually well-behaved today, and the reason was that... she had lost her first actual race, finishing second.
Since her Debut Race, Orfevre's performance in both training and parallel runs hadn't been very good. Ikezoe initially thought it was merely Orfevre's attitude toward training—after all, he had suffered similar hardships before back in his original world, so he was mentally prepared.
But it wasn't until Orfevre actually got second place in a real race that Ikezoe realized the seriousness of the problem. He realized that Orfevre's potential couldn't be stimulated by simply throwing her onto the Racecourse... it seemed to require some kind of catalyst.
However, Ikezoe hadn't found this catalyst yet, nor did he know why Orfevre, who performed incredibly well in her Debut Race, suddenly faltered. But at present, he couldn't think of a good solution and could only slowly work with Orfevre.
At the very least, Ikezoe still had to train her until he felt that "even if Orfevre doesn't have a sudden increase in power and performs normally, she can still win" before he would let Orfevre participate in her next race.
"Onii-chan... do you feel that the atmosphere of this race seems a bit different?"
"Hmm? Curren Chan, what did you sense?"
At this moment, Curren Chan, who rarely spoke in such a serious tone next to Ikezoe, immediately attracted the attention of Ikezoe and Wada. However, Curren Chan was uncharacteristically looking around, where there were Trainers everywhere.
They weren't necessarily from Tracen Academy; most were Trainers from other Uma Musume academies in Japan. However, their gazes were all, intentionally or unintentionally, focused on Imanami, who was currently next to Gold Ship. Moreover, Curren Chan could also sense a certain hostility from these people.
"I see... those Trainers, they seem to have some dislike towards Trainer Imanami?"
Curren Chan didn't know how accurate her judgment was, but as an Uma Musume, and someone who had interacted with many people before due to her large fan base, her perception of emotions was more sensitive than most others. But Curren Chan was somewhat confused; why would Imanami, such an excellent and gentle person, provoke hostility from Trainers from other academies?
"Maybe I'm wrong—"
"—No, just this once, Ikezoe, I must say Curren Chan is right."
Orfevre on the side also sensed some of those people's emotions, but her gaze was fixed on the Racecourse, on the Uma Musume who were warming up. She noticed that the gazes of the Uma Musume on the tracks were mostly focused on Mejiro McQueen and Mejiro Ryan, who were currently preparing for the race.
Initially, she thought it was simply a natural caution towards a strong opponent, but now she no longer thought so.
"Those Uma Musume, like their Trainers, are paying extra attention to McQueen and Ryan; that kind of hostility... I can feel it."
"...This is probably what happens when you stand out too much."
Orfevre and Curren Chan's words made Wada on the side immediately realize what Trainer Imanami was experiencing.
"What's wrong, Ryuji? Did you understand something?"
"Yeah, Wada, tell me what you're thinking."
"...Ikezoe-kun, do you remember when we were first admitted to Tracen Academy together and he was the one who was considered the best Trainer of our generation?"
Wada stared intently at McQueen on the Racecourse; he was very sensitive to changes in atmosphere, and after noticing all of this, he quickly understood.
"Imanami is an old... and very gentle person. He might not have noticed, as he has always been focused on his own work, but to the outside world, a talented newcomer like Imanami, coupled with Mejiro McQueen, a talented Uma Musume from the Mejiro Family, is enough to attract a lot of jealousy."
"A talented newcomer, who also happens to be favored by an Uma Musume from the Mejiro Family, while most Trainers have to work incredibly hard to even achieve a fraction of what seems to be mere luck on Imanami's part... Ikezoe-kun, say honestly, if we didn't know Imanami at all, wouldn't we also be jealous?"
"Uh..." Ikezoe was speechless for a moment.
He couldn't say whether Wada would be jealous, as Wada himself had gone through similar experiences, but as for Ikezoe himself, just thinking about it, he could understand the reasoning for the other Trainers being jealous.
"Th-then doesn't that mean McQueen will be targeted?!"
Meisho Doto on the side also belatedly realized the seriousness of the matter, and couldn't help but pull Wada's sleeve, saying in a choked voice:
"Trainer, what should we do?! C-can we, can we intervene in the race?"
"...Meisho Doto, that's impossible. Even if all the Uma Musume in a race targeted a singular Uma Musume, that is... well... part of the race."
Wada opened his mouth, truly not knowing how to comment. As someone who had firsthand experience before, he really couldn't properly evaluate this matter.
"We have no right to intervene in the race, even if this race is unfair... that's just how reality is."
"Bu-but we can't just stand by and watch McQueen get surrounded..."
Meisho Doto's eyes were welling up with anxious tears. She had a very good relationship with everyone in the team, and therefore, she was quite concerned about McQueen.
"...Now, we can only hope that Imanami and McQueen can flip the situation around."
Facing this situation, even Wada didn't know what to do. After all, he could establish good relationships with the Trainers who would compete with T.M. Opera O and Meisho Doto in advance, but for the current situation... even a socialite like Wada was completely helpless.
This can only be dealt with by Imanami himself. Hopefully, Imanami had prepared in advance...
However, under Wada's worried gaze, Imanami, who wasn't far from them, kept his eyes on the Racecourse. His gaze seemed a little different from usual; it had less of a gentle quality and more... professionalism, focus, seriousness, and confidence.
And Mejiro McQueen on the Racecourse, after finishing her warm-up, didn't pay any attention to the Uma Musume around her. She looked up at Imanami in the stands, and then, as if receiving some instruction, she nodded gently.
And at this moment... the long-accumulated rain in the sky finally began to fall slowly...
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Another pretty short chapter.
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If you spot any errors, feel free to comment about it and I will fix it as soon as I can.