"Ooooh, that's great Doto! Since there's nothing seriously wrong with your body, you'll be able to return to the racecourse after you rest a bit!"
After T.M. Opera O saved both Wada and Doto from the ambiguous atmosphere in the hospital room, she began chatting with Meisho Doto. And this time, it wasn't just T.M. Opera O; just outside the room, Admire Vega, Narita Top Road, and other Uma Musume who were close to Meisho Doto also followed, arriving at the hospital room. Clearly, they were all very worried about Meisho Doto falling unconscious.
"Actually, Trainer Imanami and Ikezoe also knew of your situation and came by earlier, but I sent them back earlier. After all, we can't let our matters drag down the rest of the team."
Wada also explained to Meisho Doto, "Everyone brought gifts. You've overexerted yourself way too much, Doto. Once we confirm you're fine and can return to Tracen Academy, you'll still need to rest for a few more days just to be sure nothing is wrong."
"Trainer, I actually feel like I'm already fine…" Meisho Doto cautiously raised her hand, wanting to protest for her right to train.
"No means no; rest is also part of training, no exceptions." Wada decisively rejected Meisho Doto's request. He had now learned the way to deal with Meisho Doto—which was to refuse Meisho Doto directly and stubbornly in areas where there could be absolutely no compromise, and Meisho Doto would definitely understand and accept it.
Sure enough, with Wada's words, Meisho Doto's ears drooped sadly, but she still said nothing against it. All of her friends around them also smiled slightly, very satisfied with Wada's stern action.
Meisho Doto really needed rest now. Narita Top Road and Admire Vega didn't know the exact reason for Meisho Doto's collapse as Uma Musume themselves couldn't perceive the clashing of Aura, so they only thought that it was due to accumulated fatigue or due to overexerting herself too hard during the race. They, of course, visited Meisho Doto with gifts too. After all, even if they are competitors who had and will continue to have overlapping races, they were, in the end, still friends.
"But ehh... there are rumors circulating about you, Trainer Wada; have you seen today's newspapers?"
"…Rumors?"
However, Narita Top Road's words made everyone else in the hospital room slightly shocked. Narita Top Road looked at everyone's expressions and knew they were all unaware of what had happened outside these past two days. Immediately, she took out a newspaper from her bag.
"Actually, I didn't know about this at first either. Vega's Trainer gave this news to my Trainer, and that's how I found out. And since I was going to visit Doto today, I thought it would be a good time to tell you about it if you didn't know, Trainer Wada."
"So... when Meisho Doto collapsed during the Japanese Derby, there are some... well... many actually, not-so-savory comments about you in the newspapers..."
Narita Top Road was trying her best to make it sound better, but before she could finish, Admire Vega immediately took the newspaper from Narita Top Road's hand. Soon, her gaze fell upon the headline that occupied a considerable portion of the page.
"Ahem: 'Tracen Academy Scandal??!!! — Trainer Allegedly Abuses Uma Musume With Inhumane Training Leading To Hospitalization!!!' is what the headline is."
"HAHHHH?!" x2
Admire Vega's words, calmly spoken one by one, startled T.M. Opera O and Meisho Doto. Meisho Doto attempted to get up in a panic but failed, while T.M. Opera O immediately leaned in and quickly saw the newspaper.
"During the highly anticipated and prestigious Japanese Derby where the Uma Musume called T.M. Opera O from Tracen Academy won, another Uma Musume from the same team, Team Miracle, Meisho Doto, fell unconscious after the race and was immediately sent to the hospital for emergency treatment."
"According to some credible anonymous sources, Meisho Doto's Trainer, Wada Ryuji, due to favoring T.M. Opera O, had allegedly subjected Meisho Doto to cruel and inhumane training regimens in order to force Meisho Doto to give up on the Classic Triple Crowns."
"It was also said that Wada Ryuji had allegedly forcefully made Meisho Doto attempt to block Narita Top Road and Admire Vega in a bid to increase T.M. Opera O's chances of winning, causing Meisho Doto to overexhaust herself, leading to the collapse."
"—While Trainer Wada Ryuji has not given a direct reply, Tracen Academy's Student Council President Symboli Rudolf, in response, has stated that Tracen Academy's Trainers would never engage in such vile acts and that Trainer Wada Ryuji had not engaged in such acts as the anonymous sources claimed, demanding evidence to be brought forward before they would initiate any action against Trainer Wada Ryuji… The specific situation is still under investigation…"
T.M. Opera O read out the newspaper's contents word by word. However, the more she read, the deeper her frown became, and the tighter her grip became. By the time she finished reading the entire thing, even the usually un-angerable T.M. Opera O's face began to darken.
This was a global newspaper exclusively dedicated to topics related to "Uma Musume," so this particular newspaper covers news from all around the world as well as having readers from many different countries. This scandal occupying such a big space in this type of newspaper was, in a sense, a very serious problem.
"This... really is utter garbage," the usually cold Admire Vega said indignantly, almost letting out a curse.
"H-how could this happen?!" Meisho Doto quickly reacted, realizing that her actions had far bigger and wider-reaching consequences than she had imagined. Now, not only had she worried everyone by falling unconscious, but she even ruined the reputation of T.M. Opera O and her own Trainer, as well as the rest of her team by proxy.
"I—it was all me! This isn't Trainer's fault—I—I was the one who decided to do what I did. Trainer always trained me diligently and never abused me!" Meisho Doto wailed in guilt, quickly trying to defend Wada.
"…Sometimes the truth doesn't matter at all; when everyone decides that you're guilty, then you're guilty, regardless of your innocence."
Wada calmly took the newspaper from T.M. Opera O's hand, read it thoroughly from beginning to end himself, and then said with a rather helpless expression, "…The press, no matter when or where, they're always the same everywhere, huh."
"—T—trainer, I—I can go and explain to them!" Meisho Doto anxiously said to Wada, tears almost flowing. "I can explain to everyone that you didn't abuse me. I—I was the one who decided to do what I did and that I was just simply not as good as T.M. Opera O—"
"…Meisho Doto, it doesn't matter. After all, you are Trainer Wada's assigned Uma Musume. Everyone will probably just think that you were threatened into saying those words, and by engaging with the reporters, you're only giving them more fuel to fan the flames, which would make the situation even worse than now." Narita Top Road explained helplessly to Meisho Doto. Her friend really didn't understand how the media works at all.
It was clear that T.M. Opera O winning the Satsuki Sho and Japanese Derby really touched a powerful person's nerves. That was most likely why the media was making such a big deal out of this, attempting to crush Wada through public scrutiny.
If it were any other ordinary rookie Trainer facing this situation, they would probrably be flustered by such a situation and would desperately try to clear their name, only to end up in a worse and worse position until they either give up on their Uma Musume, quit as a Trainer... or do something even worse.
Fortunately, younger Wada was not defeated by such public pressure, and now, being thoroughly educated and experienced about the press and how shitty they are, Wada no longer cared about such insignificant rumors that would probably be forgotten in a week or two when they find a new victim to sink their fangs into.
One could only say that these people were disgusting. But unfortunately, this is how every unscrupulous newspaper agency that seeks profit and sales works. They will only care about big news and will lead the charge when slandering, yet also be the quickest when whitewashing.
"T—th—then, what should we do?!" Meisho Doto was incredibly anxious. She hadn't expected her impulsiveness to cause such a big ripple effect, and she felt incredibly guilty.
"—Don't worry, Doto; T.M. Opera O and I will handle this matter."
Wada gently ruffled Meisho Doto's head. He knew that at a time like this, he absolutely couldn't say too much to the public, but he also couldn't say nothing. For this, Wada had already formulated a plan in his mind.
As for who was behind these petty tricks… Wada didn't care. After all, his relationship with Shadai and the JRA back then wasn't the best anyways; what he'll experience now couldn't get much worse than what he had already experienced.
Beside Wada, T.M. Opera O was uncharacteristically silent. However, the confident smile that usually adorned her face was completely gone, replaced by a rare surge of anger that made her unconsciously clench her fists.
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Where's that one reporter guy from Cinderella Gray when you need him?
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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.