"An entire year later... we're back at the Satsuki Sho."
"The feeling's really different. Last time, I was anxious about Wada and the others, but now that I'm standing here myself, it feels so strange..."
In the Nakayama Racecourse, the Satsuki Sho was being held in April once again.
The place was as crowded as it was every year; however, perhaps it was because T.M. Opera O's era had just begun, or perhaps the world was still focused on the crazy rise of T.M. Opera O, this year's Satsuki Sho was noticeably less crowded than in previous years.
Still, even with fewer people, it was still the first leg of the Classic Triple Crown.
Although the Satsuki Sho was unofficially considered the least prestigious of the Classic Triple Crown, due to its nature, as well as being a GI race, it was still a race people looked forward to.
At that moment, in the contender's lounge, Ikezoe stood with his hands in his pockets, with Orfevre, wearing her Winning Outfit and signature mask, slowly approaching him from behind with an indifferent attitude.
'Wow, the absentee's here, never thought you'd come."
"Come on, Orfevre... you know I've been busy with Curren Chan and your race schedules... please forgive me...?"
Upon hearing Orfevre's tone, Ikezoe, who originally looked cool and profound, instantly transformed from a dignified Trainer into a humble minion, sweating and politely bowing to his fearsome Uma Musume.
The Uma Musume who were there immediately felt their impression of Ikezoe shatter to bits, while the Trainers merely sighed in pity.
"Does Trainer Ikezoe have that kind of relationship with Orfevre?"
A distance away from the two, Special Week, wearing her Winning Outfit, which consisted of a pink and white design, couldn't help but feel weirded out by their interaction.
"I remember that Orfevre and Trainer Ikezoe have a good relationship... could it be that Trainer Ikezoe is one of those perverts mom told me about...?"
"System analysis: Trainer Ikezoe's current emotional display towards Orfevre is [22.2%] awe, and [70%] fear, with a [7.8%] margin of error. Conclusion: Trainer Ikezoe is afraid of possible tissue damage from Orfevre."
Next to Special Week, Mihono Bourbon, wearing a skintight, cyberpunk-esque Winning Outfit, spoke in a mechanical tone, though her voice carried a hint of... sympathy? for Ikezoe's overly cautious behavior in front of his own Uma Musume.
However, Mihono Bourbon completely failed to comprehend how such a dignified and clearly well built Trainer could end up in such a miserable relationship with his Uma Musume.
Watching the pitiful man, Mihono Bourbon couldn't help but recall her own Trainer, Kuro Numa, who unabashedly showed his incredibly well toned body, with his strict and responsible attitude matching it, unlike Ikezoe.
Despite Mihono Bourbon having no special bloodline or talent, Kuro Numa firmly believed that even the most average of Uma Musume could become an unparalleled existence through the right training methods and an unshakable resolve.
And Mihono Bourbon, as his only current and most prized trainee, fully embodied the meaning of having an unshakable resolve, relentlessly persevering through harsh uphill training and other similarly brutal training methods to make up for her lack of talent.
Through this, Mihono Bourbon managed to already achieve pretty decent results, with her even having the potential to reach the GI stage, which made Kuro Numa very satisfied— until her race with Orfevre.
Mihono Bourbon's crushing defeat by two lengths at the Yayoi Sho made Kuro Numa cautious, becoming stricter with her training.
Although he didn't intensify her training too much under Ikezoe's warning, unbeknownst to Kuro Numa, Mihono Bourbon had actually secretly intensified her training on her own.
Now, at the Satsuki Sho, though she could no longer become an Undefeated Classic Triple Crown Uma Musume like Symboli Rudolf or Deep Impact, Mihono Bourbon was determined to at least become a Classic Triple Crown Uma Musume.
And, standing in her way, was Orfevre.
"Orfevre, danger: highest priority. Deal with extreme caution."
Murmuring to herself, Mihono Bourbon nodded and clenched her fist, decisively walking out into the racecourse, with Special Week quickly following suit.
Finally, a blue rose wearing Uma Musume, who was clad in a pure black Winning Outfit, also chose to leave her hiding spot and move into the racecourse.
But, the instant she did so, Orfevre, who had been talking to Ikezoe, immediately felt her presence and locked onto the little Uma Musume.
"Rice Shower, you've come too."
"Ah- yes... I'm running in the Satsuki Sho."
Seeing that her attempts of sneaking past Orfevre failed, Rice Shower resigned herself and scurried over to her.
However, once Rice Shower got a good look at Orfevre's very eye-catching Winning Outfit, she couldn't help but exclaim enviously,
"Orfevre, your Winning Outfit... is so cool, it's so sparkly..."
"Hmph! You have good taste! I won this from that Maruzensky."
Proudly puffing up her chest, Orfevre showed off the Winning Outfit Maruzensky promised them.
It was divided into two pieces: a tight fitting black suit with red highlights and a red shoulder cape that was black on the inside, alongside many golden ornaments that shone exceptionally bright in the sunlight. (T/N: Imagine Orfevre's official outfit but in black instead of white)
Even the face mask on her face had been replaced with one decorated with golden designs.
Although Orfevre didn't know what material they used for the mask, she did not feel the usual feeling of stuffiness from wearing it, as if she wasn't wearing one at all.
Not only that, in order to match up with the tone of the Winning Outfit, Orfevre had tied her hair up into a ponytail, the hairband on her head having a design of the rising sun.
Aside from the weird feeling of wearing an outfit that sharply differed in design from what she usually wore, she felt like wearing this outfit gave her mysterious boosts in power, truly meeting up to the expectations Winning Outfits have.
"Um... but Orfevre, aren't you going to change your shoes?"
But just then, Rice Shower hesitantly pointed towards Orfevre's seemingly ordinary, and clearly old shoes which looked completely out of place with the rest of her appearance.
"If you need to change shoes, there's still time..."
"—Eh? Aren't those..."
Guided by Rice Shower's finger, Ikezoe suddenly found those shoes familiar.
"—S- shut up, Ikezoe! Rice Shower, go hurry to the Racecourse!"
Seemingly flustered by Ikezoe finally noticing, Orfevre hastily pushed Rice Shower out, her face turning red from embarrassment.
"Go! Go! Let's have a good race later! You better be careful!"
"Waaah~?! W- what did Rice Shower do wrong...?"
Though Rice Shower was clearly confused, Orfevre did not intend to answer, swiftly pushing her towards the stairs.
Then, once Rice Shower was finally gone, Ikezoe approached Orfevre from behind with a slight smile.
"So, are those really the shoes I gave you back during your Debut Race? I didn't expect you to still be wearing them now."
"S- shut up! I just forgot to throw them away, a- and it'll be a waste to throw them out, they cost 100,000 yen!"
Feigning an indifferent expression, she quickly turned away.
In reality, she really did like these shoes and had gone to great lengths in taking good care of them.
Uma Musume shoes usually wear out quickly; they might even need to change pairs every month depending on how much they run.
Even with the most careful and meticulous maintenance, a pair of running shoes can typically only last up to two to three months at most.
Not only that, though a good pair of shoes does cost a decent sum of cash, the prize money earned by regular GIII and GII Uma Musume could easily cover it— they were basically consumables.
Yet, Orfevre still kept this pair of shoes for nearly a year now to the point they looked like something a beggar would wear, utterly conflicting with her gorgeous, royal like attire.
"It's okay, Orfevre. There's no need to feel bad for me. After this, I'll definitely get you a new pair of shoes!"
"We can go shopping with Curren Chan and Sweep Tosho, your running shoes will 100% be the coolest one! We can even plate the horseshoes with gold— Gwahh!!"
"Shut up! Ikezoe! Go to hell!"
Suddenly, Orfevre erupted in unprovoked rage, kicking Ikezoe into the air.
Luckily for Ikezoe, after falling onto the ground on his buttocks, feeling scared half to death, Orfevre did not continue the beatdown, instead retracting her foot and turning to walk towards the racecourse.
"...Just watch, Ikezoe, I'll win!"
'What's wrong with me...?'
Walking up the stairs, Orfevre silently clutched her head.
In that moment, she herself didn't understand why she suddenly got so angry; even she felt that she had been incredibly unreasonable.
But, regardless of the reason, when Orfevre heard Ikezoe wanted to change the shoe she was wearing, she became so angry she almost wanted to kick him to death.
'Do I have anger management issues...? Do I have to go to a therapist?'
Upon feeling her mind wander, Orfevre quickly shook her head and decided to think about it later, instead focusing her attention towards the racecourse she was slowly walking towards...
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I spent so long trying to find out which NPC I can sic without getting the Warden on my ass to the point I literally couldn't finish part 2 of Canto 10 today 💀💀💀
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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.