"I saw your plans—pretty good. If you'd had brains like this earlier, you would've predicted my initial snipe at you, right?"
Just after stepping off the plane in Tokyo, Gotham Song heard these words from Dancing Brave, immediately making her struggle to maintain her composure.
How should I even respond to that?
The initial snipe Dancing Brave mentioned—what else could it be? It had to be referring to that final spectacle at the Arc, the very first time the two of them raced together.
Seriously, it was way too much! This person actually pulled off such a nasty countermeasure on a rainy day.
Sure, there's no absolute right or wrong on the racetrack. Anyone is free to use whatever tactics they can, provided they don't break the rules. But come on—doing something so sharply targeted, especially when knowing the opponent hates rain, isn't that just too vile?!
Gotham Song glared fiercely at Dancing Brave, baring her teeth threateningly as she lunged forward.
I'll bite you to death!!!
But truthfully, even now, Gotham Song still deeply despised running races in rainy weather. A drizzle in Japan was manageable, but if it ever turned into a torrential downpour, she'd gladly abandon training and enjoy a peaceful day indoors!
Even on Japan's high-speed turf—which was essentially grass laid over concrete—she was like this; back in Europe, her behavior could only be described as… utterly lazy.
In short, Gotham Song's passion for running traced a wondrous curve that correlated directly with the dryness of the turf and her own mysterious enthusiasm.
Yet, in response to Gotham Song's super, super, super fierce display, Dancing Brave showed absolutely no intention of resisting. Instead, she just gazed back with a rather peculiar expression.
Standing perfectly still, immovable and imposing—it was honestly so eerie that Gotham Song began to doubt whether her teeth were sharp enough to pose any real threat. However, faced with Gotham Song's doubtful stare, Dancing Brave merely glanced casually around the vicinity.
Are you sure you want to be doing this here?
Huh… What's wrong with doing this here—oh.
Following Dancing Brave's gaze, Gotham Song looked around herself, suddenly remembering something that really shouldn't have been forgotten.
This… was supposed to be a very noisy place, wasn't it?
Blah blah blah, Tokyo International Airport was a world-class hub airport, forget the details—anyway, there should've been plenty of people even at the arrival gate.
And what would accompany such enormous crowds? Noise, naturally!
But at that moment, as Gotham Song was baring her teeth and claws at Dancing Brave, a strange silence had somehow settled around the two of them. Hmm… just what magical force could possibly make countless people spontaneously stop talking, simultaneously focusing all their attention here?
They even carefully maintained silence to protect the atmosphere—as if they were witnessing some rarely-seen, priceless artistic moment at the peak of life?
Question: When, amidst your busy and tedious life, you unexpectedly spot your absolute favorite—or at least one of your favorite idols—messing around and teasing another idol you also admire, and even sharing some adorably intimate interactions right in front of you, how would you feel?
Wouldn't you naturally show a doting smile? Like watching a little cabbage you raised for years finally going to nuzzle the older cabbage with that indulgent grin…?
Hehe, even if I died right now, it'd totally be worth the ticket price!
In a flash, Gotham Song stood straight back into her original position, as if nothing had happened at all.
She didn't even sneakily signal something like "Just wait until we get home…!"
Because seriously, if she did something like that right now, wouldn't it absolutely look like flirtation?
Gotham Song really didn't want to become famous worldwide two days ago, get greeted by auntie smiles yesterday, and today not only be smiled at but also embroiled in an ambiguous relationship with another woman.
If something like that really got out, wouldn't her fans start assuming things by default?
Perhaps Gotham Song secretly devoured four or five Uma Musume every single day—turning her into some kind of savage, utterly villainous character…
Hmm, Dancing Brave tastes pretty good, just a bit old.
Gotham Song absolutely didn't want to see such bizarre content in her own fanfiction!!!
As a side note, this Uma Musume who was currently stuck in a mental storm privately spent a fair amount of time reading second-hand creations and fanfics about herself. More than once, she stumbled upon explicitly non-public content, falling silent in disbelief, forced into running laps just to clear her head.
But Dancing Brave—Dancing Brave alone absolutely must never, ever appear there!!!
Seeing Gotham Song's face gradually turning red, and knowing she'd already achieved a total victory with her counterattack, Dancing Brave finally curled her lips upward in indulgence.
What's this called again?
Ah, yes—the "Guaranteed Victory Method Against Gotham Song." This little fool would probably fall for it her entire life. What a pity; I'm just an old cabbage, completely immune to such tactics.
With that in mind, Dancing Brave gently pressed her hand against Gotham Song's back, applying just enough force to keep her walking half a length ahead—
Then, she turned and glanced around at everyone nearby, lightly blinking her eyes.
Shh, let's not embarrass this child any further, okay?
But in reality, Gotham Song hadn't walked more than a few steps before her condition became apparent. Though Uma Musume had impressive recovery abilities, after all, she had just returned home from the hospital yesterday, and the wound on her foot hadn't fully healed yet.
After silently signaling the crowd, Dancing Brave, who'd initially just gently pushed Gotham Song to spare the embarrassed girl from seeing her actions, shifted her hand from her back to wrap gently around her waist for support, quietly escorting her out of the international airport under everyone's attentive gaze.
Oh well, let's pretend nothing happened today, shall we?
Everyone—you didn't see anything just now, right?
Dancing Brave supported Gotham Song all the way to the car, withdrawing her hand only after they'd gotten inside. Completely oblivious to the full picture of what had happened moments ago, the Uma Musume who had been helped in simply rested her arm on the car window, staring outside as usual.
"Didn't Ardan and Manhattan Cafe come back with you?"
"Mmm. Ardan-nee-san stayed behind in America to help Ramonu-nee-san. As for Cafe-nee-san, Old Bas—ah… Sunday Silence said there was someplace she wanted to visit, so she had to go with him."
If those two had come back with me, would it even be your turn to pick me up, you troublesome brat?
Gotham Song was becoming increasingly irritated by Dancing Brave. Specifically, she could never, ever seem to gain the upper hand in front of this annoying Uma Musume. And yet…
Something about what just happened felt off, didn't it? Had she overlooked something…?
Seeing Gotham Song about to remember something, Dancing Brave didn't grow impatient at all. She even stared at Gotham Song's profile for a few seconds before crossing her arms leisurely and speaking up.
"Oh, right—about Donna-chan's race strategy. It's a perfectly designed plan this time, but have you considered what to do if Almond Eye and Verxina don't follow expectations and start playing mind games instead?"
As if presenting a test, Dancing Brave took on a rather formal tone. The carefree atmosphere gradually tightened up, and Gotham Song finally shifted her gaze after getting in the car.
Indeed, her plan was designed around Almond Eye and Verxina choosing the same strategy as before—relying purely on raw power and attempting to crush Gentildonna head-on.
But here was the issue: what if these two suddenly abandoned their previous routine?
There aren't so many 'what-ifs.' Something like that isn't so easy to pull off…!
"Change their strategies? Impossible. The most they could do is adjust their running styles. But whether they chase or front-run, nothing would shake Gentildonna's victory."
"Oh?"
Dancing Brave actually agreed with this assessment. But right now, she didn't want conclusions—rather, she wanted to hear why Gotham Song sounded so certain.
"It's simple. Back then, why did you choose that kind of tactic—to snipe me?"
"…Because I knew how strong and outstanding you were."
Dancing Brave licked her lips. To be honest, she never imagined Gotham Song would counter-question her here, nor had she ever expected herself to say such heartfelt words to Gotham Song one day.
"That's right. Because I was strong. Because even under unfavorable conditions, I'd still choose the Great Escape running style…"
"It might seem unrelated to the current situation, but listen—both Verxina and Almond Eye are proud Uma Musume. If failing just once in their area of expertise could force them to abandon their strengths and change themselves…"
Dancing Brave picked up from there, letting out a deep sigh.
"Then their careers as Uma Musume would no longer hold much value, and there'd be no need for specific tactical countermeasures, would there?"
"Exactly. Honestly, during that terrifyingly heavy Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, I firmly believed one thing: if there was just one Uma Musume in the world who'd refuse to change her style and stick to Great Escape—it could only ever be you. Uma Musume really are prideful creatures."
Even if the current Dancing Brave returned to that time, re-running that Arc race with her present competitive state, she'd still use the exact same method to challenge Twilight Song head-on.
The reason was simple: this represented her ultimate limit in her strongest area. This was her pride, her soul. If she abandoned these things to run differently, Dancing Brave wouldn't be Dancing Brave anymore. Even the thought of it was utterly unacceptable.
Uma Musume were creatures defined by pride, staking their souls on it—complex, contradictory beings who refused to surrender, even when faced with defeat.
At least, all legendary Uma Musume in Dancing Brave's memories were like this without exception.
If those legendary Uma Musume abandoned their pride as legends, they might as well just hurry up and die… That pride was something they'd spent almost their entire lives building—embedding every beautiful and profound memory into it. Even after their death, it stood tall, towering over the world itself.
"So, it's not that those two juniors won't choose another approach—they simply have no other choice."
"They will definitely challenge Gentildonna head-on, especially since the Japanese Oaks' track is perfectly suited for frontal confrontations…!"
2,400 meters—this wasn't a distance unacceptable to Gentildonna, Verxina, or Almond Eye. All three Uma Musume had this range within their effective capabilities. Gentildonna just happened to have the greatest advantage—but that alone wasn't enough to make anyone retreat.
Moreover, there was another thing Gotham Song hadn't yet mentioned.
Even though she hadn't personally seen Verxina or Almond Eye, she was absolutely certain about one thing.
In the hearts of those two Uma Musume burned a blazing fire of revenge. Given such circumstances, preparations for the Japanese Oaks would actually be very straightforward.
"You've gotten pretty good at this kind of analysis… Ah, no—actually, you've always been good at it. Maybe your sheer strength just overshadowed this talent completely."
Dancing Brave sighed deeply. She'd criticized Gotham Song countless times about her on-track decision-making ability. After all, apart from exploiting sudden opportunities, Gotham Song barely had any notable tactical strength.
But paradoxically… her raw power was so overwhelming that merely having excellent instinct to seize opportunities was enough to overcome any predicament. And Gotham Song's instinct—or rather, intuition—was terrifyingly accurate.
In short, Dancing Brave had often criticized Gotham Song on this very point. But this was the only point she'd ever seriously critiqued.
Off the track, Gotham Song's ability to strategize—or rather, her psychological understanding of Uma Musume racing—was frighteningly powerful.
Ahh, if only Gotham Song's grasp of psychological situations off the track could be as strong as her competitive intuition.
Dancing Brave chuckled to herself.
But actually, it wasn't that Gotham Song couldn't understand other Uma Musume's feelings outside of racing—it wasn't that she couldn't, but rather she never even thought about it, perhaps believing such situations would never arise.
It was almost like she lacked awareness of the Uma Musume's everyday world, yet was intimately familiar with human psychology and the intense, driven minds of racing Uma Musume outside of their daily lives…
How strange. A rare, exaggerated case—almost as if Gotham Song once lived in a world without Uma Musume at all.
Because of such experiences, she could understand humans deeply and grasp the fiercely competitive minds of passionate Uma Musume, yet was entirely clueless about the subtle details of everyday Uma Musume life, distinct from humans…
Truly a rare and strange occurrence.
Dancing Brave silently marveled at this inside her heart. She had fully recognized how peculiar Gotham Song was in this regard, carefully noting down all her insights into a little booklet:
The "Gotham Song Observation Records" certainly never ran short of fresh material.
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