Opening his eyes, Wada, now still laying on the bed of his room in the team building, was fully awake.
Looking at the person who was still sleeping on top of his body, Wada knew that Meisho Doto hadn't woken up yet.
After checking his body for any oddities, Wada finally breathed a sigh of relief as he sluggishly sank back into the bed once more.
From the fact that nothing had been done to him, Wada was pretty certain the Meisho Doto on top of him was in fact the Meisho Doto he knew; otherwise, "she" probably would have already crossed the line, right?
"Um... Meisho Doto?"
However, the instant Wada called out to Meisho Doto, the 'sleeping' Uma Musume shivered, rolling away from his body and grabbing the messy blanket on the bed, quickly wrapping herself in it.
"D- Doto isn't here, I- I'm just a ghost... Woo~~~"
"..."
'This girl... really is cute.'
Hearing the muffled voice of Meisho Doto, Wada couldn't help but feel his heart throb from the sheer adorableness.
If his heart wasn't set on T.M. Opera O, he might've genuinely fallen for this shy yet strong girl.
Still, this was not the case, and Wada swiftly suppressed his wandering thoughts.
Seeing that Meisho Doto did not want to come out, Wada did not force her; instead, he simply got up into a sitting position and began talking,
"Thanks, Doto. If you didn't stop yourself, I definitely would be in danger right now."
"T- that wasn't me...!"
The moment Wada treated Meisho Doto and "Meisho Doto" as the same entity, it quickly drew a reaction from her, causing her to poke her head out of the blanket with a vehement expression.
"W- well, it was me... but not me, me! E- aahhhhhh!! I don't even know what I'm saying anymore!!"
Scratching her head in confusion and shyness, Meisho Doto finally let out a pathetic 'Wuu~' sound as she slumped her shoulders.
"B- but Trainer, you seem to already know about the other me? Why is that?"
Yet, her curiosity ultimately triumphed over shyness.
Experiencing the memories of her other self, Meisho Doto now looked directly at Wada and asked cautiously,
"Trainer... who... exactly are you?"
"...Here, I am your Trainer, that won't change."
Looking at Doto's confused and fearful face, Wada understood what she must've learned, and began to speak truthfully,
"I'm sure you already know the answer, right, Doto? You should at least be aware of the broad details from your other self."
"...So, Trainer, were you really my arch nemesis once?"
Hearing Wada's non avoidance tone, Meisho Doto spoke with a hint of disbelief.
Just as Wada said, "Meisho Doto" had told her almost everything, which made Meisho Doto somewhat unable to believe that the Trainer she respected and loved was actually her nemesis.
Suppressing her for almost two years... together with T.M. Opera O?
When "Meisho Doto" told her this, Meisho Doto found it somewhat unacceptable that her beloved Trainer, who gave her the most precious courage, was once an enemy who pushed her into the depths of utter failure.
"Arch nemesis... not really."
"At least, I don't think T.M. Opera O harbored any particular ill will towards you."
Facing Meisho Doto's description, Wada felt a little helpless; after all, from an outsider's perspective, this was a fully accurate depiction of their relationship.
Ultimately there was some truth to it, he had indeed ridden T.M. Opera O and brutally suppressed Meisho Doto for two whole years. These were the facts.
"You and T.M. Opera O were just rivals. Same goes for me and you."
"However, you were the strongest rival that T.M. Opera O and I ever faced in that era. Have you ever wondered why I decisively chose you to defeat T.M. Opera O?"
"...So that's what you were thinking back then, Trainer."
Now knowing the general truth, Meisho Doto recalled their first meeting, and many points of confusion finally became clear.
How did Wada have full confidence in her talent? How did he already have a fully planned out training plan for T.M. Opera O? How did he know T.M. Opera O was going to run as a Pace Chaser in the Mainichi Hai? How did his and T.M. Opera O's relationship grow so fast?
Everything, at this moment, was clear to Meisho Doto.
Thus, Meisho Doto, now having all of this confirmed to her, listlessly shrank back into the blanket, muttering to herself,
"So... I was always destined for second place..."
"...Meisho Doto, I know that all of this is hard to digest, but I truly never thought of you as a substitute for T.M. Opera O."
Seemingly knowing what Meisho Doto would be thinking at this moment, Wada immediately spoke up,
"Ever since I saw you breaking through for T.M. Opera O in the Japanese Derby, even at the cost of victory, I fully understood that you were not the same as T.M. Opera O."
"You are yourself, Meisho Doto; don't think of yourself in terms of other people. Haven't you already decided to overcome that obsession?"
"...Then Trainer, have you decided to emerge from your obsession with T.M. Opera O yet?"
But, when asked this question by Meisho Doto, Wada became uncharacteristically silent for a while, before he spoke with an uncertain tone,
"I... don't know. But I'm trying. I know that I can't just ride on the coattails of T.M. Opera O."
"My position today is essentially a false honour; I don't truly have the skill or strength to deserve everything that has been given to me."
"I also know that if I don't step out of T.M. Opera O's shadow, I would never grow to be deserving of my apparent achievements."
"So, after T.M. Opera O and I make up for all the regrets we once missed, and once she becomes fully content, only then will I step away from her without any laments."
"I'm striving to become a Trainer worthy of T.M. Opera O, worthy of you, Meisho Doto. You don't have to trust me on anything else; only on this do you have to believe me."
Wada understood that staying inside T.M. Opera O's shadow would never make him grow.
No matter what kind of Racehorses he rode on, as soon as he entered a GI race, he would involuntarily think back to T.M. Opera O.
And when he was conscious of the fact that the Racehorse he was riding on wasn't T.M. Opera O, he would feel panic, fear, and nervousness to the point he couldn't really perform properly.
Wada gave T.M. Opera O courage, and in turn, T.M. Opera O also gave Wada courage; the both of them helping each other while holding each other back.
"T.M. Opera O," and now T.M. Opera O, also knew this very well, always subtly encouraging him to leave her and grow into an independent Trainer, an independent person.
But, Wada still couldn't let go right now, he truly couldn't... even if it made him look pitiful.
Just then, hearing Wada's answer, Meisho Doto slowly poked her head out from under the blanket and silently stared at him.
Finally, after a long period of silence, she spoke the words she had been too embarrassed to say,
"Then, Trainer... can I... be your number two?"
"...Huh?"
"I- after you decide to leave T.M. Opera O's shadow... can I then truly become your Uma Musume?"
At this moment, Meisho Doto threw off the blanket around her body completely, straightening her back and puffing up her chest.
Without the blanket, one could clearly see the graceful curves of her body in full detail.
Then, the always timid Meisho Doto gathered all of her courage to utter what one might consider a 'confession.'
"I might not be your number one right now, Trainer, and I might never surpass T.M. Opera O's importance in your heart."
"But Trainer, I hope that you will always remember me, even if it is as the second most important person in your heart."
"Because... in my heart, you are my number one."
Exposing all her heart to Wada, Meisho Doto gently held Wada's hand, a tenderness utterly opposite from her previous, other self's roughness.
Her purple eyes were slightly tearful, and her face was flushed with shyness as she poured out her innermost feelings to the one she considered her most beloved.
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Blue hair activities even without blue hair
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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.