It wasn't until he'd walked them into the dojo and sat down that Kitahara finally processed what had just happened.
"Wait—hey. You two aren't seriously going to… settle this with brute force, are you?"
A dojo in Japan usually meant a martial-arts hall—less "spiritual etiquette," more "someone's getting hit."
He still didn't get how they'd both gone from zero to furious, but watching them strap on protective gear, it wasn't hard to guess what came next.
"Look, I just think—whatever the disagreement is, you can sit down and talk it out. If it can be solved with words, there's no need to start swinging—"
"Fine."
Sirius glanced over while she adjusted her gear.
"Then you pick. Are you sleeping with me, or Rudolf?"
Kitahara: "…"
Was it just him, or did that question sound… wrong?
Seeing him go quiet, Rudolf turned to him and explained, calm as ever.
"Trainer Kitahara, you don't need to worry. This isn't the first time we've done this. Nothing's going to happen."
"Not even remotely the first time," Sirius added, still tightening straps.
"Before we entered Tracen Academy, we came here about once every two days. Later we came less often, but only because we got busy and didn't have the time."
As she spoke, Sirius secured the last piece of armor, then reached for a wooden sword at her side. The tip leveled straight at Rudolf—who'd finished gearing up as well.
Settling things with kendo was simply their habit.
They were both from the Symboli family. Even if they wanted to resolve things physically, they still had an image to maintain—there was no way they could just start throwing punches.
Especially since Umamusume physiques were absurdly strong across the board—and, generally speaking, high offense, low defense. If they fought barehanded with no protection, bruises and scrapes would be the least of it. One bad hit and you were looking at broken bones.
Kendo, on the other hand—done properly, with proper protection—had its advantages. For one, it stayed "clean": no scars, no damage to appearance, and it was even watchable.
And with specially made equipment, those blows could still hurt through the armor. Not badly. But enough to make the other person feel it.
Once both of them were ready, standing in the dusty, long-unvisited dojo, facing an opponent who felt familiar—and yet unmistakably different from before—something began to swell quietly in each of their chests. Even the anger from earlier ebbed, little by little.
"I have to ask, Rudolf," Sirius said. "Do you remember how many times we've done this?"
"Hard to say," Rudolf replied. "In my memories… we've always been like this."
The instant her words fell, air shrieked—
Two reinforced, specially made wooden swords crashed together. The impact sent a dull thump through the room; even from where he sat, Kitahara could feel it faintly on his skin.
Chops. Thrusts. Sweeping strikes.
Dodges. Sliding steps. Heavy blows.
They were both top-class Umamusume, and in a fight, the strength they showed didn't lag a hair behind what they'd displayed on the track.
After watching a bit, Kitahara realized this wasn't "kendo rules" at all. It was closer to actual combat.
And paired with their terrifying physicality, there was none of the calm restraint you usually saw in televised matches. Instead, it looked like two beasts trying to tear each other apart.
And for some reason, the way they moved felt… familiar. Like he'd seen it before—something like it, anyway.
But where…?
Kitahara frowned, trying to place it.
While he did, the fight didn't slow.
On the track, Sirius was behind Rudolf by a certain margin—but here, it flipped.
It wasn't technique. It wasn't combat sense. Sirius was simply taller, heavier.
Not by much once you got down to specifics, but when two people were this close, that sliver of advantage decided everything.
And today—because of what Speed had said earlier—Rudolf's mind was a knot.
She'd tried to steady herself before they started, but it still bled through. After a stretch of exchanges, she began to slip, inch by inch, into the disadvantage.
Normally, even if Rudolf fell behind, it didn't mean she would lose. If anything, it often sharpened her focus—waiting for the opening, striking back, growing stronger as she went.
But today, as Sirius pressed, Rudolf's attention only scattered further.
As for why…
All it took was a glimpse—just a flicker at the edge of her vision—of the person watching from the sidelines, and the feelings she hadn't managed to bury would start breeding all over again.
And then she'd remember what Speed had said in the study at the end—words that only made the chaos worse.
...
Some time earlier. The study.
After that unrestrained burst of laughter, Speed took a while to settle herself.
"Alright. I've laughed enough. I don't know how you got it into your head that he's your little brother, but I'm in a good mood today, so I won't keep stringing you along…"
As she spoke, Speed wrapped her fingers around her teacup. In the tea's surface, she watched her own reflection—and distant memories drifted back into place.
"This started years ago."
"I don't remember exactly when. I only remember that you and that little brat Sirius didn't get into a fight that day. I was bored out of my mind, so I went out for a walk alone…"
"And that's when I ran into a very interesting little fellow."
"He looked about eleven or twelve. There was a little Umamusume with him, the two of them wandering around the streets."
"At first I thought they were just some family's kids out playing, so I didn't pay much attention. But when I passed by, I realized they were looking for Umamusume—and trading help for food. They'd solve someone's problem, and in return, they'd get something to eat…"
"But what drew my attention wasn't the boy helping people."
"It was the little Umamusume who stayed by his side the whole time."
"Because the moment I started paying attention to them, her gaze snapped onto me—and for a moment, she made me feel… threatened."
"I know you probably won't believe me even if I say it. Honestly, if I hadn't felt it myself, I wouldn't believe it either—that I, back then, would feel danger from a kid who looked barely ten. And not just ordinary danger."
"But later, it turned out my intuition was right."
"Out of curiosity, I followed the two of them for a while. And during that time, they just happened to get dragged into a rather nasty criminal incident—what the URA called Umamusume Hunting."
Her index finger tapped the tabletop, her tone turning serious.
"I was going to step in and help them. But when I got there… there was nothing left that could move. Nothing, except the two of them."
"I watched that little Umamusume tear open an alloy cage with one hand and release the Umamusume trapped inside. Then she turned her head and looked toward where I was, in the distance."
"But that wasn't even what shocked me most."
"What shocked me most was this: after rescuing the captive Umamusume, that little fellow I'd been ignoring told the little Umamusume to get her out—and then stayed behind."
"Then he pulled out a small knife. And one by one, he stabbed the people who'd only been knocked out—straight into their vitals, a few times each. Then he set the place on fire and walked away without looking back."
"After they left, I figured—since I'd been noticed anyway—I might as well stand on the road they'd have to take on their way back."
"That's how we met."
"Later, out of curiosity, I'd occasionally drop by to check on them when I had free time."
"Sometimes nothing happened and I just watched. Sometimes I got pulled into something—if I had time, I joined in."
"Like that, even though we didn't meet often, we gradually became familiar. And only after that did I realize something I hadn't noticed before."
"The boy in that pair had a talent for training Umamusume that you could only call terrifying."
"At first, when I learned he was trading problem-solving for food, I didn't think much of it."
"Back then he looked like an ordinary little brat. Helping someone mop a floor could count as 'solving a problem,' right?"
"But slowly, I realized something was off. His knowledge about Umamusume was absurdly deep—at least on par with an ordinary Trainer's—and he was growing at a frightening pace."
"And the problems he solved… when I first heard about them, they were small things—colds, fevers, minor physical issues. But less than half a year later, he was already handling issues that even experienced Trainers found difficult."
"After that, forget ordinary problems. Even the headaches no one wanted to touch—cases that had troubled people for years, that even experts and scholars couldn't solve—he dealt with easily."
"It was around then that, as he handled more and more incidents, his name started to spread. People began calling him a 'walking Umamusume wish-granter.'"
"But that still wasn't the point. The point was: once I realized how exceptional he was, it just so happened someone in my family was about to enroll in Tracen, and her Trainer still hadn't been decided."
"So I thought—why not let that little fellow try? Let him be her Trainer."
"But in the end, he refused."
"Back then, I didn't understand why. For a time I even had the impulse to just bring him back by force—but I dropped it."
"Still, even though he didn't want to come with me, he said he was willing to provide guidance to my family's child for free."
"I thought it was a shame, but free help is free help. So I kept letting him handle that side of things."
"What I didn't expect… was that once he started, he stayed with it all the way to the end."
Speed took a sip of tea, her gaze sliding past Rudolf to the window beyond.
"Originally, since that boy had solved many Umamusume-related problems but had never been a proper Trainer, I planned to find an official Trainer for the child he was helping—and let him serve as external support."
"But what I didn't expect was that the child who entered Tracen, because of her past, had no intention of finding another Trainer at all. She even said she wanted to win the Triple Crown on her own—without relying on a Trainer."
"I tried to correct her thinking. In the end, not only did it backfire, it made another child who entered Tracen copy her and decide she didn't want a Trainer either."
"Then I realized those two girls were doing it on purpose—just to spite me, even to spite the Symboli family."
"So I gradually stopped pushing and abandoned the hardline approach, letting them develop freely at the academy."
"But with no better option, I contacted that little fellow. Under the name of 'guidance,' I had him take real responsibility for those two girls."
"Because I was wary of their rebellious streak, I didn't tell them the whole truth. I provided them, in their mother's name, what I claimed was guidance from the Symboli family."
"But in reality, from beginning to end, they never received any guidance from the Symboli family at all."
"It was only him."
"At first, I watched with a 'let's see how this goes' attitude. Strictly speaking, those two were the first race girls he ever officially took responsibility for."
"Before that, even though he'd solved plenty of Umamusume-related issues, he'd never served as a Trainer or mentor."
"Back then, I didn't have much hope for his guidance. I even prepared a professional team, ready to take over the moment he failed."
"But just like I said—he stayed in charge until the very end, and that professional team never got used once."
"Throughout the process, I witnessed his growth with my own eyes. I saw his rapid transformation. I saw him sprint down the path of a Trainer."
"And I saw… under his guidance, the birth of Japan's first 'undefeated Triple Crown.'"
Speed lifted her head and looked Rudolf straight in the eye.
"Later, after that 'undefeated Triple Crown' retired, I wanted to tell her everything."
"But by then, the Symboli family was basking in the halo of 'winning an undefeated Triple Crown alone,' and used it to expand rapidly."
"By my understanding, if I'd told her the truth then, she would've recognized him as her Trainer—and made it public."
"'Undefeated Triple Crown' and 'winning an undefeated Triple Crown alone' are both legends, but they aren't the same. And if it got big, it could even invite suspicions of fabrication."
"So for the sake of the family's interests, I could only keep hiding it—and block all information about that person from her."
"Not until that person, just trying to earn a living, took a job at Tracen—tearing a hole in that airtight lockdown."
"Oh, and one more thing. From the beginning of this story until now, that kid still doesn't know my identity or my name. He doesn't even know who he was actually guiding."
"Truthfully, I meant to wait a while longer before telling the two girls he guided. Even today, the Symboli family is still enjoying the dividends of that 'undefeated Triple Crown.' Not much, but if I can drag it out, I'll drag it out."
"But that kid is just too good at causing trouble. Even with me holding back my own desires and not fanning the flames, he still managed to burn everything down all by himself."
She took one last sip of tea, her voice calm as she looked at Rudolf.
"To be honest, I don't know how you managed to mistake him for your little brother—and I don't want to know. I've had enough entertainment for one day. Any more and I might laugh myself to death right here."
"But I swear in the name of the Three Goddesses: everything I said is true. As for what you do next… that's up to you—"
Her words cut off.
Speed hadn't even finished when Rudolf—who'd been bent over, head down, like she was in pain—suddenly straightened, then walked out.
"…Where are you going?" Speed asked.
"I just remembered. I have something urgent to take care of," Rudolf replied without looking back. Then, as if by instinct, she murmured,
"Something very urgent."
...
Back to the present.
As those memories resurfaced, Rudolf found it harder and harder to focus.
And it wasn't only Speed's words—fragments of her time with Kitahara started flashing through her mind as well.
Especially that first clash when they met. Just thinking about it made Rudolf's head buzz.
Still, even with her attention slipping, her raw strength was what it was. And they'd fought like this countless times before. Even without conscious thought—on muscle memory alone—Sirius couldn't put her away anytime soon.
So the stalemate dragged on… until another collision knocked them apart, and a voice rose from the edge of the dojo.
"Um… you two, can we negotiate something? You keep fighting here, and I'll step out for a bit…"
Sirius and Rudolf turned at the same time, both frowning at Kitahara like he'd said something incomprehensible.
"You forgot?" Sirius said. "There are other people from the Symboli family patrolling outside right now."
Kitahara fell silent for a beat.
"Then can you two stop for a second? I can't take this anymore…"
"…What do you mean?" Sirius stared at him. "You're not the one fighting. What's there to 'take'?"
Kitahara hesitated, then said, "If I tell the truth, you can't get mad, okay?"
"Say it," the two of them replied in unison.
Hearing that, Kitahara lifted his head, drew a deep breath, and looked at them with absolute sincerity.
"You two are fight like shit."
"If I keep watching, I'm seriously going to throw up."
---
T/N: oof...
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