"Uuuh… Uuummhh… Uuh? What?"
Opening her eyes, Goldship realises that she is looking at the roof of her room. Did she dream all of that? Including the part where she ran out of the room with the anchor?
"Uuh…"
"Ooh~ You've woken up."
"Huh?"
Goldship couldn't describe how surprised she was when she heard another voice in the room. She quickly got up and saw the bed beside her and saw who she was expecting.
"Why are you sleeping in the rain earlier? If it wasn't for me, you might catch a cold."
"Gold old man!"
"Again… Why are you calling me an old man? I'm a girl like you, you know?"
The girl sitting on the bed next to Goldship is her roommate, Stay Gold. She has medium-length hair, dark with lighter tips, that falls in uneven layers—windswept and wild, like she's been walking through storms. She is still wearing her tattered beige-colored trench coat with frayed edges, which comes from her many adventures. Under that coat is a white shirt and black pants, which cling to her small body.
She is currently in the middle of dismantling her outfit, putting the survival knife in the bedside drawer next to her, and placing her googles on top of the same drawer. Her knee-high boots are uneatenly scattered near the door as if she had thrown them instead of pulling them off.
"You didn't tell me you'll return!"
"Yeah… I may need to put my phone up for service. It's busted."
"You should carry more than one phone. Everyone now has more than one phone on them at all times, you know?"
"Sounds like a hassle."
The little Uma Musume stood up and let the trench coat fall from her shoulders. She unbuttons her uneven white shirt, and Goldship can finally see the amount of grime on her small body. If Goldship didn't know any better, she would've thought she had just come home from working at a construction site.
"You stink…"
"Sorry… I haven't taken a bath in ten days."
"Maaaan~~ I always wonder how you're still alive."
"Sometimes I wonder that too. I'm using the bath, kay?"
"Kay!! I have already taken a bath myself!"
Now that she is alone once again, Goldship can finally reflect on what just happened. Stay Gold's comment about picking her up in the rain tells Goldship that what happened was a reality. She did grab the anchor, and she did try to destroy the statues.
"Uuh…"
Those futures she saw with the 3 Goddesses. Only an idiot would be considering which future they want to take. Of course, it'll be the latter. The smile on that Goldship's face, the trophy room being filled and neatly kept, being with Igo Heita for her entire life, and the child that will spark up her life even more.
"Trainer and me… marriage, huh…"
Goldship always wonders why her fellow Uma Musume would go crazy over their mates. To commit crimes in the name of love, Goldship thought those were crazy. Until now. The beating of her heart, the butterflies in her stomach, and the way her mind wouldn't stop thinking about the young man. Goldship can imagine herself committing heinous crimes in the name of having Igo Heita.
"Sigh… This is annoying…"
"What is?"
"Huh!?"
Goldship wasn't expecting the answer from Stay Gold. She thought she would still have some time alone, but she didn't realise just how long she had been just thinking about Igo Heita. It was so long that Stay Gold had finished taking a bath, and she needed to clean herself after not bathing for 10 days, mind you.
"You look like you have plenty on your mind. Got anything to share?"
"Mmh… Perhaps… Say, Gold old man, how do you get over your fear of destroying your relationship? I want to get closer to someone, but I'm afraid it might destroy the relationship we currently have."
"..."
Stay Gold wasn't expecting something so deep from Goldship. She expected the question to be something about her pranks or adventures, so she was genuinely flabbergasted by the question. The other thing is that Stay Gold may be older, but her experience in romance isn't any better than Goldship's.
"I see… Someone caught your eye, huh… Well… I guess you can't."
"Eh?"
"You only thought about it since you want to improve the relationship, but in reality, you could destroy your relationship with someone in your everyday life."
"..."
"Even if you meant it or not. You don't know what will offend someone, Goldship. That's just how relationships go. Even if you try to maintain the current status quo, it might offend the other party and destroy the relationship you are trying to maintain."
"Then how?"
"Just like racing, Goldship. We are all afraid of losing, and yet, we still enter the gate. Isn't it statistically more feasible not to enter the gate if you don't want to lose? You can't lose if you didn't participate, right? So why did we enter the gate then?"
"Because there's a chance to win?"
"Exactly. There will be a fear of losing and the thrill of winning. So too in relationships. There's a chance to improve or destroy it, regardless of what you want to do. The reason why the latter is bigger for you is that you're not confident you can accomplish the former."
"I see!!"
"When we run, we know our abilities. We know how hard we work and how far we can push ourselves. All that hard work muddies the fear and makes the thrill shine brighter. It helps us build the confidence to stand on the fear and grab the thrill. That's why we still run even if we are afraid to lose. Your current fear is because you haven't trained yet. You will gain confidence once you know what you are doing. I'm sure of it."
"YES!! Thanks, Gold old man!!"
"You're welcome, and please stop calling me old man. Just Stay Gold is fine."