“Oguri Cap, you saw everything I saw.
What’s your honest assessment of that girl?” Rudolf asked the stone-faced umamusume beside her as they left the Satono private facility.
She knew the blank expression didn’t mean indifference—Oguri Cap’s face was just always like that.
“Strong natural talent, but some personality-related flaws.” Oguri Cap answered thoughtfully.
“I can’t quite put my finger on it, but something felt off—like there were two people inside her body.
At the start of the race, she ran completely uninhibited, as if she were running alone in practice.
But at the end, when she decelerated, she seemed to glance toward the sidelines—and only then did she unleash that Final Spurt.”
“That’s a lot of words from you.” Rudolf blinked.
“She’s really got your attention?”
“Purely in terms of ability, I’m more impressed by her opponent.
But the contradictions in her running style are definitely…” Oguri Cap nodded.
“Anyway—after all that talking, I’m hungry.”
“…Didn’t you just eat the refreshments the Satonos provided?”
“…”
“Fine, my treat.
But every all-you-can-eat place in the area has blacklisted you, so we’ll need to walk a bit.”
“I don’t mind.”
“You never mind.”
“I lost…” After the race, Diamond had ushered Kaisoku into a rest area.
A towel draped over her head, hair dried, Kaisoku looked pathetically deflated.
Even Kita was starting to feel guilty—wasn’t this supposed to be a low-stakes trial?
She could’ve eased up a little.
But the race had pulled her in, and by the end she’d been running at full intensity.
The result: Kaisoku had retreated right back into her shell.
“Um…
sorry about that, Kaisoku.” Kita hovered at her side, tail wagging nervously, an apologetic smile plastered on her face.
“How about I treat you to yakisoba?
From the same place as last time.”
“I have reservations about that offer…” Diamond sighed.
“Your allowance isn’t exactly small, Kita, but it’s the end of the month.
You’ve probably burned through it all, haven’t you?”
“Ahaha…
well, yes.
But Dia, you’ve got plenty left, right?
I’ll pay you back next month—” Kita was a textbook paycheck-to-paycheck spender, despite a generous family allowance.
A little sweet talk directed at her father would easily net more pocket money, but her hands had a spending problem of their own.
She was constantly buying merchandise for whatever umamusume she was currently obsessed with, or blowing cash on hobbies that captured her interest for approximately ninety seconds.
“Please, Dia?”
“I can—but Kita, do you even remember how much you owe me?” Diamond did some mental arithmetic and her expression darkened.
“Rounded down, it’s close to five hundred thousand yen.
When exactly are you planning to pay that back?”
“What?
It’s that much?” Kita froze.
“Are you sure you didn’t miscalculate somewhere?”
“It wasn’t this bad until recently, but then you got into school idols and bought a mountain of merch on my tab.
Plus the piano—I fronted that too, remember?
Even though you got bored of it after one evening.” Diamond sighed.
“Kita, spending without a plan like this is a recipe for disaster.”
“Ehhhhh—” Kita knew her childhood friend wasn’t actually bothered by the debt itself.
Diamond’s real concern was Kita’s relationship with money.
Then again, if Satono Diamond thought your spending habits were problematic, you were probably in genuinely serious trouble.
Kaisoku, watching from the sidelines, felt like a spider-powered kid scrambling to pick up loose bills while Iron Man and Batman had a money-throwing contest.
“Your spending habits are equally unhinged—” Kaisoku muttered under her breath.
“Whatever.
I lost, I lost.
It’s not like I was going to become a racer anyway.
I never had the talent.”
“…?”
“Toujou…
are you feeling okay?”
This time it wasn’t just Kita.
Even Diamond was staring.
“You nearly erased a four-length deficit with nothing but a Final Spurt over four hundred meters of straight track—in the rain, from the outside.
If the course had been a little longer, you might’ve won.”
“…And that’s impressive?
I still lost in the end, didn’t I?” Kaisoku scratched her head.
“If I’m supposedly impressive, doesn’t that make Kita even more so?
And she’s not even the best in your year group.
“…Kita is actually second in her year.
Duramente is the one who’s truly incredible, I’ll admit that…” Sweep Tosho chimed in, sensing that Kaisoku might be underestimating Kita.
“And Kita was absolutely not going easy on you.
What you did was already remarkable.
If not for that slowdown in the middle, I think you would’ve won.”
“Same here.” Kita nodded.
“So what happened at that turn?
Why did you decelerate so much?”
“…I’m not sure either.” Kaisoku was equally puzzled.
“I guess…
the moment I became aware of you, it was like I forgot how to run.
My heart started pounding, my breathing went haywire.
If Dia hadn’t been cheering for me, I definitely would’ve given up…”
“That actually happens?” Kita rubbed her chin.
“Dia, do you get that when you run with me?”
“Not at all—I’m always thinking about how to beat you.” Diamond shook her head.
“If you had that kind of effect on people, I’d have noticed by now.
So the issue is on Kaisoku’s end.”
“Next time, let’s have Dia run with Kaisoku!
If there’s a problem, we should figure it out!” Kita suggested.
But Kaisoku was already at her limit.
She raised both hands in surrender.
“I’m done…
I feel like that run took half my HP.
And why did it have to rain?
I thought today was supposed to be sunny?”
“…Beats me.
It was definitely a freak shower—it’s already stopped.” Diamond was equally baffled.
“The whole thing was just…
weird.”
“Forget the rain—you two are soaked through.
I can see your underwear.” Sweep Tosho cut in before they caught cold.
“Go take a shower and change.
We can discuss the mysteries of the universe after.”
“Underwear?” Kaisoku looked down and saw the unflattering outline of her decidedly unstylish undergarments showing through her wet white sportswear.
Her face went scarlet as she clamped her arms across her chest.
“But I didn’t bring a change of clothes…”
“I’ll run back to the dorms and grab some…
Your usual stuff is fine?” Diamond offered.
“Yeah, the usual is fine.” Kaisoku nodded.
“Where’s the shower?”
“Left out the door.
There’s a sauna too!” Kita knew the layout well.
“Since we’re here anyway, let’s all shower together!”
“…?” Diamond, who hadn’t even left yet, executed a crisp one-eighty and administered a 360-degree twist to the soft flesh at Kita’s waist.
“Do NOT get handsy with Kaisoku.
She just started opening up—you’ll scare her right back into her shell!”
“Okay, okay, I won’t!
I promise!
Ow ow ow!
Dia, that really hurts!” Kita’s face had gone white, but Diamond wasn’t satisfied.
She turned to Sweep with final instructions.
“Kita, you shower by yourself.
Sweep, would you mind keeping Kaisoku company?
I trust you more than this deviant.
And keep an eye on Kita while you’re at it.”
“Consider it done.” Sweep gave a thumbs-up, and only then did Diamond leave with a clear conscience.
“Why is Dia so mean to meee…” Kita clutched her waist, her expression reminding Kaisoku of her previous life’s cat after it got neutered—that faintly devastated look, like a creature whose remaining ambitions in life had been surgically removed.
The cat used to climb to high places and stare into the middle distance with the air of someone who’d lost all reason to live, half-contemplating a graceful descent from the rooftop—not that a fall would kill it.
Kita’s expression right now bore an uncanny resemblance to that cat, which had also looked suspiciously like a certain failed Austrian art student.
“That’s what you get for your track record—” Sweep pulled Kaisoku to her feet.
“I’ll show Kaisoku around.
Kita, you’re on your own in the shower.”
“How can you do this to me!
This was my chance to bond with Kaisoku in the bath!
The perfect opportunity for hugs and cuddles and holding each other up high!
I know—I’ll just come too!
I want hugs from you too, Sweep!” Kita declared without a shred of hesitation.
The words were pure menace, though her intentions were probably innocent.
Has the world really come to this?
Even middle schoolers are building harems now—
At least Diamond is safe.
Wealthy, kind, and not running around collecting girls.
Unaware that she’d just given Diamond a huge advantage in the rankings, Kita slunk off to shower alone like a background character who’d lost her speaking lines—thoroughly rejected by Sweep.
Sweep led Kaisoku to a separate bathing area.
Compared to Kita, Sweep Tosho seemed reassuringly normal.
She wore a wizard hat of unclear purpose on her head, but was otherwise perfectly reliable, pointing out which bottles were shampoo, conditioner, and body wash with practiced efficiency.
Rinse first, then soak.
The Japanese way, apparently.
Kaisoku had planned to just take a quick shower and be done, but Diamond wouldn’t be back with clothes for a while, so she might as well enjoy the bath.
When she stepped into the bathhouse, she’d been bracing herself, but the sheer scale still floored her.
“You could swim laps in here…
this is ridiculous.”
“Right?
I thought the same thing my first time.” Sweep materialized behind her, making Kaisoku jump.
Thankfully, Sweep was wrapped in a towel and hadn’t appeared naked, or Kaisoku might have leaped straight into the pool.
“What are you so scared of?
I’m not Kita…” Sweep looked mildly exasperated at Kaisoku’s skittishness.
“Come on, let’s soak.
It’s bigger than average, but functionally it’s just a regular bath.
We’re both girls—no need to be shy.”
“…It’s just that after Kita’s whole routine earlier…”
“Sorry about her…
that kid doesn’t mean any harm, honestly.” Sweep’s apology was sincere.
“But I think you’re quite impressive too.
And cute.”
“You think so?” Kaisoku blinked.
“I think you’re pretty cute yourself, Sweep.”
“Okay, okay—let’s stop the mutual flattery before we both catch cold.” Sweep was clearly not used to bathing with near-strangers either.
The two of them occupied an awkward middle ground—friends of a friend, connected only through Kita.
If it had been Kita in here, Sweep would already be fending off aggressive cuddle attempts with both feet.
But two shy people in a bath together produced a different dynamic entirely.
Sweep felt an almost maternal urge to protect this girl.
Diamond had told her about Kaisoku’s background—how she’d only just emerged from her shell.
Someone that fragile probably needed gentle handling, not Kita’s full-contact friendship approach.
“You can lean on me.
I’ve got this.”
“That’s really reassuring…
Sweep.”
“…Could you say that again?”
“…Huh?
Sweep?”
“The part before that.”
“That’s really reassuring…”
“Hm…
not bad.” Sweep turned away, cheeks faintly pink, though the pleased swish of her tail gave her away completely.
“If Kita ever bothers you, just come find me.
I am the reliable one, after all.”
“Noted—” The two girls stepped into the pool, carefully unwinding their towels before sinking into the water.
“Heaven…”
“Tell me about it…”
Sweep murmured in agreement.
She wasn’t used to bathing with other people either, and the whole situation felt slightly surreal.
But they were both middle schoolers with still-developing figures—nothing to overthink.
Still, when Sweep glanced at Kaisoku beside her, eyes closed in bliss, she couldn’t help but notice: the pure white hair cascading over her chest, the skin so pale from years of avoiding sunlight that it bordered on an eerie, fragile beauty.
She looked like she might break if you held her too tightly…
Thinking about what Diamond had told her, Sweep felt a sudden pang of sympathy for this umamusume she’d barely known existed until today.
Losing both parents so young, guarding herself against the entire world, yet finding the courage to reach out.
She must be exhausted.
People who’d walled themselves off didn’t just open up—it took immense effort, and help from others.
But Kaisoku had pushed through her own fear to socialize, to make friends, to humor Kita’s whims and run on a track she’d never asked for.
How many times had she wrestled with herself to get this far?
The thought brought an unexpected sting to Sweep’s nose.
Meanwhile, Kaisoku’s mind was occupied by a very different question:
If horse girls soak in a bath…
does that technically make this umamusume soup?
…That’s weirdly suggestive, actually—