"I can't pretend I didn't hear what you just said, Curren Chan."
Orfevre and Curren Chan hadn't interacted much. In fact, before Curren Chan became Trainer Ikezoe's Uma Musume, Orfevre didn't even know she existed at all.
If Curren Chan wasn't Trainer Ikezoe's assigned Uma Musume, Orfevre wouldn't have even bothered to pay attention to Curren Chan's matters.
One was only good at short distances, the other was good at everything except short distances; one was outwardly fierce and inwardly timid, the other was outwardly gentle but inwardly cunning; one considered herself unremarkable, while the other was an Uma Musume with 4 million fans even before her debut.
These two Uma Musume were almost polar opposites in every aspect. They had never interacted before, yet from the first day Orfevre met Curren Chan, seeing her so shamelessly intimate with Trainer Ikezoe, a subtle, very unpleasant feeling stirred in her chest.
"Oh, really? But wasn't that what you said yourself?" However, Curren Chan showed no fear of Orfevre, maintaining her smile as she said:
"Since you think you're not compatible with him, why not just go and explain it clearly to the President? The President isn't an unreasonable person, is she? I'm sure if you explain your shortcomings properly, the President will understand~" (T/N: She's so passive-aggressive)
"Curren Chan always thought that she was the type who wasn't good at running, but I didn't expect Orfevre to be so lacking in confidence. Even I now know that I can still run sprint races, but Orfevre doesn't even have the courage to run a single one~"
"You... you actually dare to say that?" Orfevre couldn't tolerate such a subtle provocation. Her eyes turned icy as she said, "You're just an Uma Musume who can only run short distances."
"Orfevre, don't say such things." Trainer Ikezoe's eyelids twitched slightly upon hearing this, and he uncharacteristically reprimanded Orfevre, "And Curren Chan, you shouldn't say that about Orfevre. Orfevre is very strong."
"Hehe, Onii-chan is really confident, but Curren Chan feels that your trust seems to have been misplaced." However, Curren Chan still maintained her smiling demeanor as she spoke to Trainer Ikezoe, but her eyes unconsciously glanced at Orfevre:
"After all, an Uma Musume without confidence in herself will find it very hard to win. Curren Chan is still very confident in her short-distance abilities, but oh well…"
Curren Chan didn't continue, but everyone knew who she was referring to. At this moment, even the usually timid Orfevre's face darkened, and she stared intently at Curren Chan, who was clinging to Ikezoe's arm.
This girl—she's really annoyingly pretentious!
"—Trainer Ikezoe!"
"Yes?!" Startled into standing at attention by Orfevre's sudden outburst, Orfevre saw that Trainer Ikezoe was still so reserved around her, which only fueled her anger. Her tone became stern once more as she said:
"My debut race next week! YOU! MUST COME! I will prove to you, and to your annoying little girl, my true strength, Orfevre's true strength!"
"And—Curren Chan! I can't pretend I didn't hear what you just said. Let's settle this the Uma Musume way!"
"Hehe, Orfevre, are you planning to race against Curren Chan?" Curren Chan's tail twitched slightly upon hearing this, and she smiled subtly, "It's fine~ Although Curren Chan isn't that good at running, I'm still very confident in short distances."
"Then next time, at the Hakodate Racecourse in July, 1200 meters, turf, Curren Chan will be looking forward to a showdown with Orfevre there~"
"Just you wait! I will definitely crush you!" Orfevre also said to Curren Chan indignantly, her tone carrying a hint of uncontrollable anger.
At this moment, Trainer Ikezoe had a fleeting thought, "This is Orfevre's true nature." However, this experience of her true nature was perhaps too stressful for Trainer Ikezoe.
Orfevre left with a furious demeanor. Trainer Ikezoe watched Orfevre walk away until she was out of sight, then said to Curren Chan in a slightly lecturing tone, "Curren Chan, what you did just now was wrong. What you said was way too much."
"Hehe, Onii-chan is really naive. Do you think that by just continuing to encourage Orfevre, her inferiority complex will get solved on its own?"
However, Curren Chan smiled mysteriously upon hearing this, and meeting Trainer Ikezoe's somewhat confused gaze, she said playfully:
"Orfevre's personality makes her very unconfident, but someone with amazing judgment as Onii-chan actually took a liking to her. So, obviously, she has great potential, right?"
"It's just like Curren Chan, she just hasn't discovered her own potential yet. Onii-chan, you can persuade me, but you might not be able to persuade Orfevre using the same method."
"At times like this, how can you not provoke her a little?"
"So you intentionally provoked her?" At this moment, Trainer Ikezoe finally understood why Curren Chan was acting so strange when talking with Orfevre. How could Curren Chan, the polite and easygoing child, suddenly say so many hurtful things?
Moreover, Trainer Ikezoe felt that he had to actually reprimand Curren Chan at that time. If it were normally, Trainer Ikezoe wouldn't even need to speak; Curren Chan would know where to draw the line. Sometimes, even Trainer Ikezoe's "emotionally challenged" remarks needed Curren Chan to smooth things over. How could Curren Chan's way of speaking need Trainer Ikezoe's guidance?
"Hehe, could it be that Onii-chan thinks Curren Chan can't tell? You actually really like Orfevre, don't you?"
However, at this moment, Curren Chan smiled mysteriously at Trainer Ikezoe, saying, "You didn't get angry even after being kicked so many times by Orfevre, and instead encouraged and believed in her. Curren Chan really thought Onii-chan was suuuuper cool then."
"Could it be that Curren Chan still has to say things like 'Onii-chan only needs me' or 'I'm the Uma Musume Onii-chan needs'? Onii-chan wouldn't be happy, would he?"
"Hahahaha…"
Curren Chan's words made Trainer Ikezoe chuckle awkwardly, thinking to himself, "Are my thoughts really that obvious?" Doesn't that make me just like that kid Wada, incapable of hiding anything?
However, Trainer Ikezoe's awkward chuckle was fully and completely observed by Curren Chan. A look of "just as I thought" flashed in Curren Chan's eyes, and she secretly felt fortunate for her decision.
Did Curren Chan truly want to share Trainer Ikezoe? Of course not. Curren Chan belonged to the type who "fell in love at first sight" with her chosen Trainer. This meant that she either wouldn't choose a Trainer, or she would always stick with one Trainer. An Uma Musume with such possessiveness, of course, wouldn't particularly like another Uma Musume taking a share.
But the important thing was that Curren Chan saw a certain special quality in Orfevre towards Trainer Ikezoe. This special quality also existed in Curren Chan, but it manifested in different ways.
Therefore, Curren Chan chose to actively give up a position this time, because she knew that she probably couldn't stop Orfevre from becoming her Onii-chan's in charge Uma Musume—since that was the case, what she could ensure was that her importance in Onii-chan's heart would always be the greatest.
By then, when this tsundere Orfevre realized, it would probably be too late~
—Of course, Curren Chan still hoped that Orfevre would truly just be her Onii-chan's friend. However, Curren Chan worried that while Trainer Ikezoe might think that way, the other party might not… just like Meisho Doto and Trainer Wada.
"…What's wrong? Curren Chan? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Hehe, nothing at all~"
In the end, Curren Chan still hid all her thoughts in her heart, clinging tightly to Trainer Ikezoe's arm, and said intimately as always:
"Onii-chan~ let's go train. Having to deal with an angry Orfevre is super scary you know?"
"So, you have to teach Curren Chan well; otherwise, if I lose, I'll be sad~"
And Onii-chan, you wouldn't make Curren Chan sad, right?
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This chapter is very short for some reason.
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If you spot any errors, feel free to comment about it and I will fix it as soon as I can.