---
The day of Satono Diamond's debut match finally arrived. Satono Diamond's father was very keen on his daughter's debut and insisted on attending.
After several unsuccessful attempts to dissuade him, Satono Diamond gave up.
She felt that having teammates and trainers present was enough for her debut match; having her parents come along would be embarrassing.
Of course, Sakura Baimu didn't mind at all; she had great confidence in Satono Diamond.
Furthermore, Satono Diamond's father was wealthy and simply drove several members of TCB, along with Sakura Baimu and a few others, directly from Tokyo to Kyoto, saving Sakura Baimu a considerable amount of money.
"Ms. Sakura, my wife and I are going to Dia-chan's debut match. You don't mind, do you?"
In the extended luxury limousine, Satono Diamond's father politely asked Sakura Baimu.
"Not at all. Rather, your presence here is a psychological comfort to Dia-chan."
"I'm relieved to hear you say that. Dia-chan initially didn't want her mother and me to come; I was worried you'd mind," Satono Diamond's father chuckled.
"I'm very grateful that you brought all our team members to Kyoto; it saved us travel expenses."
"Haha, Ms. Sakura is quite humorous."
Satono Diamond's father chuckled twice, pretending to be amused by Sakura Baimu's lighthearted humor. Then he coughed lightly and asked casually:
"Ms. Sakura, aren't you known as the youngest genius trainer? Why do you seem to be struggling financially?"
"Yes, training the Umamusumes is very expensive."
"What, are the academy's training funds insufficient?" Satono Diamond's father took a sip of tea, using it to conceal his true feelings.
"The academy's training funds allocated to trainers are limited and somewhat insufficient."
Sakura Baimu gave an ambiguous answer, expressing her own frustration. Things like the cakes were all purchased with her own money; the academy's funds simply weren't enough, requiring her to supplement the cost with her own funds.
Furthermore, with three more team members now added, expenses had more than doubled. Even taking the Shinkansen to watch matches with a group of people was a considerable expense for her, so she tried to save wherever possible.
Satono Diamond's father frowned imperceptibly. Hearing that Sakura Baimu's team was actually short of funds, his dissatisfaction with her deepened.
He had never heard of Hana Tojo's team being short of money, especially since Hana Tojo's team had twice the number of members as Sakura Baimu's.
"So, Dia-chan's training with her is quite financially strained. If she's having problems with training, can Dia-chan really achieve her goals like this?" Satono Diamond's father wondered.
Of course, Satono Diamond's father didn't know that Sakura Baimu's "financial difficulties" referred only to herself, not her teammates.
After all, Sakura Baimu used her own salary to purchase a significant amount of training materials for her team, on top of the academy's basic funding. In that sense, her team had far more resources than other teams.
As for the other teams, they didn't have the need for excessive spending on in-game items, so their funds were sufficient.
Satono Diamond's father harbored resentment toward Sakura Baimu, so he exchanged a few perfunctory pleasantries with her before falling silent.
If Mejiro McQueen hadn't been there, Satono Diamond's father probably wouldn't have even bothered with the pleasantries.
Sakura Baimu naturally sensed his meaning, but she made no attempt to appease him and remained silent as well. The already lukewarm atmosphere in the car instantly cooled.
Satono Diamond noticed her father's expression and suddenly regretted inviting Sakura Baimu and the others to ride in their family car to Kyoto.
"It was I who initiated contact with the trainer-san... Father, really..."
As a member of the Mejiro family that truly held sway in the umamusume world, Mcqueen had witnessed the attitudes of these upper-class individuals toward those of unequal status since childhood and harbored deep resentment toward Satono Diamond's father.
Seeing Sakura Baimu's serious demeanor in front of Satono Diamond, a strange anger welled up inside her.
She normally disliked Sakura Baimu's usual unserious manner, but seeing her serious side now only made her feel more and more uncomfortable.
"Trainer-san really gave the Satono Clan a lot of face. Next time we go to watch a race elsewhere, let's take the Shinkansen."
--
Soon, the car arrived at Kyoto Racecourse. Mejiro McQueen, true to form, took the lead, quickly leaving Satono Diamond's parents and their group, and led her teammates to TCB's designated viewing area.
Once they were far away from the Satono family, Mejiro McQueen looked at Sakura Baimu, whose lips were always adorned with a smile, and whispered in her ear.
"Let's not take Dia-chan's parents' car back. How about we take the Shinkansen?"
"Why not take a free ride? It'll save us seventy or eighty thousand yen," Sakura Baimu replied.
"Wow! Trainer, you really are something!"
Mejiro McQueen suddenly grew a little annoyed with Sakura Baimu's nonchalant attitude. "Dia-chan's father is being so rude, and you're still all smiles?"
"Because I don't care about people's attitudes," Sakura Baimu laughed.
"But Dia-chan's father clearly misunderstood you, thinking our team is short of funds. Why don't you tell him that you bought a lot of things for the team members out of your own pocket?"
"Why bring that up? To gain sympathy or to show off? What's there to brag about? Besides, it's a good thing that her parents are worried about Dia-chan being wronged, isn't it? It's better than parents being indifferent to their child, right?" Sakura Baimu replied with a smile.
"Oh, when did McQueen start caring about me?"
Mejiro McQueen blushed upon hearing this and turned her head away. "It's not that I'm concerned about you! I just felt annoyed seeing you deliberately putting on such a serious act in front of Satono Diamond's father. His attitude was so rude, and you still had to act all ingratiating."
"Where did you see me ingratiating myself with Dia-chan's father? He's the head of the Satono Clan, after all. You should at least show him some respect. Even if that's not the case, he's still my trainee's parent. How can a trainer show a bad attitude toward their trainee's parents?"
"Seriously, I'm not talking to you anymore."
Mejiro McQueen realized she couldn't win an argument with Sakura Baimu and couldn't think of a rebuttal, so she simply turned her head away.
However, she was still bothered by Satono Diamond's father's treatment of Sakura Baimu. She also believed Satono Diamond's success here was all thanks to Sakura Baimu, who shouldn't be treated this way.
Sakura Baimu glanced at Mejiro McQueen who had turned away and remained silent. She chuckled twice, and then whispered in her ear.
"All right, instead of thinking about these unhappy things, let's look forward to seeing Dia-chan's parents when she goes home after the competition. If we take the Shinkansen, she won't be able to see them."
Mejiro McQueen immediately turned to look at Sakura Baimu, only to see her winking mischievously.