"Y-Yes!?"
Having her name suddenly called, Rice Shower's tail shot upright once more.
"Trainer… do you know Rice?"
"Yeah."
Outwardly, Urushihara Tōru remained calm.
Inside, however, he was screaming.
Rice Shower!
She was another character who had appeared in the Uma Musume anime.
Not just appeared, either—she had practically overwhelmed the protagonist Tokai Teio's screen time for two whole episodes and stood as the third main heroine with episodes of her own!
The jeers were the challenger's medal of honor—
the Black Assassin, Rice Shower!!!
Considering that Tokai Teio had withdrawn from the Kikuka Sho last year, then by the timeline, Rice Shower should currently be in her… classic year?
Which also meant she already had her own trainer.
Nooo… Rice Shower, you were my number one—no, wait, number two—no, number three most wanted horse girl!
"How could I not know Rice Shower? Your performance in the Kikuka Sho left a deep impression on me."
Urushihara Tōru answered without hesitation.
After all, this was the Black Assassin who defeated Mihono Bourbon while Bourbon was charging toward an undefeated Triple Crown, then claimed her first G1 victory amid applause mixed with boos.
"Mm… mm!?"
The Kikuka Sho… isn't that Rice's next race?
R-right.
He had almost forgotten…
The Kikuka Sho here had not happened yet!
"I haven't been sleeping very well lately, so I misspoke. What I meant was that I'm really looking forward to your performance in the Kikuka Sho. Ahaha…"
Urushihara Tōru forced out an awkward smile.
Unexpectedly, that clumsy excuse made Rice Shower's eyes light up.
She stepped forward and looked up at him seriously.
"You really are looking forward to it? Even though Mihono Bourbon is running in it?"
From her debut until now, Mihono Bourbon had gone undefeated for seven straight races, including three G1s: the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes, the Satsuki Sho, and the Japanese Derby.
A cyber-super-horse-girl who knew not the meaning of defeat.
And now that very Mihono Bourbon was, beyond all doubt, the overwhelming favorite to claim the third jewel of the Classic season: the Kikuka Sho.
No one believed Mihono Bourbon could lose here.
Everyone was waiting to witness the birth of a new undefeated Triple Crown champion.
As for Rice Shower, she had become the second favorite thanks to placing second in the Derby and then losing to Mihono Bourbon in the Kyoto Shimbun Hai by only one and a half lengths.
But "second favorite" was only that in name.
In truth, hardly anyone believed Rice Shower would win.
She was second favorite only because there had to be a second favorite.
"Of course I mean it. Rice, you have the ability to lock onto a target and follow it relentlessly, don't you? If you stay glued to Mihono Bourbon in the Kikuka Sho and bite down hard, then you can win."
Urushihara Tōru spoke while recalling scenes from the anime.
If he remembered correctly, before racing Mihono Bourbon, Rice Shower had basically been stalking her in secret the whole time. That storyline was probably meant to represent exactly this ability of hers.
"And besides, compared to middle-distance races like the Satsuki Sho and the Derby, long-distance races like the Kikuka Sho are where you shine the most, right?"
In the anime, Rice Shower did not only elbow her way past Mihono Bourbon to win the Kikuka Sho.
After that, she also went on to defeat Mejiro McQueen in the Spring Tenno Sho, even though McQueen was widely regarded as the queen of long-distance racing.
With Rice Shower's true ability, she could absolutely say this to Mihono Bourbon in the Kikuka Sho:
'On the long-distance track, you're the challenger, Mihono Bourbon!'
Urushihara Tōru's utter confidence was clearly beyond what Rice Shower had expected.
Her eyes widened, and she began murmuring to herself.
"Locking onto my target… biting down on Mihono Bourbon…"
After repeating it to herself several times, Rice Shower finally nodded hard.
"Thank you, Trainer. Rice understands now!"
…What exactly did you understand?
Urushihara Tōru scratched his head.
Hadn't he only described something Rice Shower herself had done in the anime?
Could it be that, at this point in time, Rice Shower still had not figured that out yet?
But in the anime, hadn't she already started acting like Mihono Bourbon's stalker as early as the Satsuki Sho?
Unable to sort it out, Urushihara Tōru simply put on his all-purpose smile.
"It's nothing, really. Just a small favor."
"No, this isn't just some small favor."
Rice Shower shook her head seriously.
"Please tell me your name, Trainer. When Rice wins the Kikuka Sho, I'll come repay you."
"My name is Urushihara Tōru. There's no need to repay me. If you can win, that alone will make me happy."
This was not Tōru pretending to be magnanimous.
After watching the Uma Musume anime, he had, unsurprisingly, been completely won over by Rice Shower's performance and become one of her fans.
From a fan's perspective, if Rice Shower could win, that was more than enough for him.
Besides, there was no way she could lose, right?
This was Rice Shower, after all!
"Urushihara Tōru… Urushihara Tōru… okay, Rice has remembered it!"
As if afraid she might forget, Rice Shower repeated his name twice, then gave him a deep bow.
"Please look forward to my performance in the Kikuka Sho!"
Originally, Urushihara Tōru had intended to answer with a cool, composed little "Mm."
However, as Rice Shower moved, her arm swung backward and struck the bookshelf behind her.
At that moment, the superhuman strength possessed by horse girls displayed itself in full force.
The shelf shook, and a pile of books came crashing down onto Urushihara Tōru's head.
So the calm, breezy "Mm" he had been going for quite naturally turned into a pained, miserable:
"Gahhh!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
Startled by the noise, Rice Shower looked up in panic and immediately cried out. Her round eyes even filled with tears.
"It's all Rice's fault! Rice must have passed her bad luck onto you, Trainer, and that's why something this unfortunate happened to you. Uwah…"
As she hurriedly picked up the books scattered on the floor, she glanced timidly at Urushihara Tōru, who was clutching his head, and asked in a trembling voice:
"Did it hurt, Trainer?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine!"
Though the damned hardback covers had hit him so hard his mouth was practically crooked, Urushihara Tōru quickly forced out a smile.
"Don't say anything about misfortune or bad luck. I was just careless for a second, that's all. Don't take it to heart."
Now that he thought about it, with Rice Shower's cool Black Assassin image having filled his mind, Urushihara Tōru finally remembered something.
This girl did seem to have a bad-luck attribute, didn't she?
To be her trainer, you probably needed to be at least a little hard to kill.
Good thing he was not Rice Shower's trainer.
In his heart, Urushihara Tōru silently put on a pair of sunglasses and thought that in the coolest way possible.
And then some unknown villain in his mind promptly snatched off those sunglasses, revealing the tear-streaked face underneath.
Sob… that was a lie. If I could be Rice Shower's trainer, then fine, let me be hard to kill.
"I see…"
Then I really shouldn't get too close to trainers after all.
It was obvious that Urushihara Tōru's words had not comforted this somewhat ill-fated horse girl in the slightest.
Rice Shower quietly took two steps back, then, after leaving behind a soft:
"I'm sorry. Please take care of those books for me. Goodbye…"
—she fled the library as though escaping.
Only after her figure had completely disappeared did Urushihara Tōru finally pull his gaze away.
No time to dwell on Rice Shower now.
Next, he had to prepare Urara's road to becoming the Demon King!
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