Grass Wonder seemed to sense something and turned around. Seeing it was Maruzensky, she smiled with her eyes narrowed into slits.
"Maruzen... Hey, Maruzen, don't... a lot of people are watching."
Maruzensky extended a jade finger and tapped Hayato's lips, laughing mischievously. "Still calling me Maruzen? Didn't we agree you'd call me Onee-san?"
This old ski really was too skilled! How many had she tricked me with this move?
"Trainer." Grass Wonder beckoned to Hayato. "Come here."
Glancing between Grass Wonder and Maruzensky, Hayato hesitated.
The one with more assets is probably safer...
Though Grass Wonder also seemed to be looking at him with dead fish eyes.
Neither side would work!
Hayato broke free from Maruzensky's right hand, leaving her still-warm embrace, his gaze looking forward, pretending to watch the race seriously... Could they not do this kind of thing so blatantly...
Last time, he'd wanted to hug the old ski once. But she didn't let him, and even at the beach, he couldn't catch her. Obviously, she was just teasing Hayato.
So annoying.
What do you do when a beautiful, well-figured, mature woman who's really good at flirting keeps flirting with you?
When you took the initiative, she'd run. When you didn't, she'd stick to you.
"That's why I call her old ski. Unlike Sky, who always teases but gets shy when she realizes it, this person only teases to enjoy my reaction."
"Hehe, Trainer, I want to ask, what exactly is your relationship?" Grass Wonder began interrogating Hayato. She felt their relationship was unusual.
Before Hayato could speak, Maruzensky answered first.
"What relationship? Hehe, I'm his big sis. I've got my little bro covered from now on!"
She tried to reach out again, but Hayato swatted her hand away with a big slap.
Hayato nodded slightly. Maruzensky always had this phrase on her lips. Whether it was true or not, who knew?
If Hayato really had such a beautiful, rich, and capable big sister backing him up for the rest of his life, that wouldn't be bad at all.
Grass Wonder didn't say anything more, turning back to continue watching the race. She was already somewhat distracted, her gaze occasionally glancing toward Hayato.
"How wonderful! The Japan Derby race is said to require the most luck to win. Little do they know, being able to participate in this race means they're already this year's luckiest uma musume."
Maruzensky put away her flirtatious attitude and came beside Hayato, looking down at the track below.
"You still seem to have resentment about not being able to participate in the Japan Derby, right?" Hayato knew her thoughts. Glancing at her melancholic face, he asked.
"Huh? Bearing the name of the strongest uma musume in my era but unable to participate in the race that best showcases an uma musume's ability, is there anything more unfortunate than that?"
"Hmm..." Hayato tried to comfort her. "Whether you're the strongest is still hard to say. Even if you'd participated in that race, you might not have beaten Symboli Rudolf's record and wouldn't have the speedster title."
"Huh? Rudolf has a better record than I?" Maruzensky changed from hand-on-hip to crossing her arms in displeasure. Someone actually dared question her ability.
"At the Dream Cup, I'll show you whether she's stronger or I'm stronger."
"Don't forget, my Oguri Cap will also participate. Tamamo Cross, Inari One, and maybe Super Creek too. Your opponent isn't just Rudolf."
Hayato, who wasn't good at comforting people, kept saying discouraging things.
"Hmph! So what?" Maruzensky put on a stern face, clearly displeased.
Seeing that she seemed angry, Hayato shut his mouth.
I can't make her mad at me... I still need her protection...
After a while, Maruzensky lowered her voice and said quietly, "Actually, I'm just venting a bit of unwillingness in front of you. Others probably still think I'm an uma musume without dreams."
When she couldn't participate in the Triple Crown Classic, and everyone shed tears for her, she appeared very calm, always maintaining an indifferent attitude to comfort those who supported her.
She didn't want anyone to feel sad, always playing the role of an uma musume who didn't work hard and had no dreams in front of everyone.
But whenever the Classic Triple Crown came around, recalling the regret of not being able to participate always brought inexplicable sorrow.
'What does the old ski mean? What does she mean by only sharing her unwillingness in front of me?'
"Want me to hold another Triple Crown Classic and bring back that year's uma musume to race you again?"
"Haha, sure, if you can!" Maruzensky's mood improved quite a bit. She knew this was Hayato's joke.
She looked at Winning Ticket's figure. Combined with what Hayato just said, she casually remarked, "You know what? I heard that when an uma musume's speed reaches a certain level, they can make time stop, even return to the past."
???
Several question marks appeared on Hayato's forehead. He really didn't know about this. He could see zones, but his understanding of zone concepts really wasn't deep.
"It's true. Historically, there was such an uma musume. She reached that peak, transcended time. Her name was Eclipse!"
Hearing Eclipse's name, Hayato's heart trembled.
"That's just a legend, though. You can't really trust legends."
Maruzensky stole a glance at Hayato, watching for any change in his expression before continuing. "Maybe. But that Uma Musume claimed she came from the future. Said every race wasn't her first time running it, wasn't her first time crossing through time. That's why she remained undefeated in every single race."
She straightened up, mimicking a video she'd watched, Eclipse's pre-race interview. "I've crossed the river of time itself, searching for my one and only nemesis. None of you is my match. I see no reason to waste my time with you!"
Talk about arrogant as hell. Yet not a single uma musume stepped up to refute her.
An uma musume from the future? If Eclipse were still around, Hayato would've loved to meet her.
But why did she say she was from the future?
Two years of racing. Eighteen races, eighteen wins. Every single race she strolled through with massive leads. Eventually, just hearing that Eclipse was entering made every uma musume flee in panic. That kind of record was absolutely unprecedented and would never be matched again.
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illustration