"Gold Ship is the victor of the GIII Flower Cup! As if borrowing the power of Mejiro McQueen, she has successfully debuted in a GIII race! Officially becoming a Winning Uma Musume!"
"Hooray! She won! Gold Ship really won!"
As the TV focused on Gold Ship waving at the stands as she jogged around the track, Tokai Teio's heart, which had been beating incessantly, finally settled.
In her excitement, Teio directly threw herself onto McQueen on the bed, hugging her.
"McQueen! McQueen! Look, look! Gold Ship actually won! And didn't the Aura she unleashed look similar to yours, McQueen?"
"Did you give her your power like a spirit ball from Uma Ball Z?! Tell me how to do it too~"
Thwack!
"Idiot! Do you really think you can give and take Aura like that?!"
As Teio's little head got hand chopped by McQueen, a bright red bump appeared on the area she got hit, making the little girl dizzy.
Mejiro Ryan chuckled at the sight, patting Teio's head before asking McQueen in a low, curious voice,
"Um, McQueen, the Aura Gold Ship released just now really did feel like yours. Did you really not feel your power getting borrowed?"
"Hey! This is unfair! I asked the same question! Why am I the only one that got hit!"
Tokai Teio raised her small fists in protest; unfortunately for her, everyone else in the infirmary was part of the Mejiro Family, so her complaints were thus promptly ignored.
"Ryan-nee..."
McQueen was also rendered a bit speechless by Mejiro Ryan's question, but still patiently explained,
"Although I'm not an expert in Aura, from what me and my Trainer had managed to research, something like an Uma Musume borrowing another Uma Musume's Aura is impossible."
"Aura is something that is intrinsically unique to each individual. Unless the other party is someone that defines a large part of your existence, an Aura having the ability to 'borrow' or 'take' Aura shouldn't be possible."
"Though there are special cases like Admire Vega, who has a higher than average Aura capacity due to her sister, it can't really be considered 'borrowing' and is more of just an expression of her own power."
"Of course, there's also the situation with T.M. Opera O and Trainer Wada... but neither of us managed to figure anything out regarding that."
"Still, at the very least, I didn't feel my strength or Aura being taken away from me."
"Then why did the Aura that appeared on Gold Ship look exactly like yours, McQueen?"
Palmer, who had been trying to find a reasonable reason, also said with a hint of disbelief,
"Even if it's through a screen, the way that Aura felt really felt like it was yours, like you were possessing Gold Ship or something."
"Maybe rather than thinking it as Gold Ship's Aura being similar to McQueen, should we instead think of it as Gold Ship's Aura being similar to that of our Mejiro Family's~?"
Mejiro Bright, who had also been thinking, calmly released her speculation,
"Should we consult Grandmother? Maybe someone from the Mejiro Family married another in the Gold Family."
"Eh...? No way, right? The only recent time one of our family members married outside the family was only a few years ago. And how old is Gold Ship? No way her growth spurt is that early, right?"
Ryan's first reaction upon hearing this was not to refute, but to consider the rationality behind it.
"Actually... Gold Ship's time of enrollment has always been a mystery; even President Rudolf might not know."
Mejiro Palmer, who was now also beginning to ponder the possibility of Gold Ship being a lost child of the Mejiro Family, continued her train of thought out loud,
"...Gold Ship seems to have always been in Tracen Academy ever since we enrolled in Tracen Academy... However, from today, we can be sure that her prime hasn't waned yet."
"Plus, Gold Ship never seemed stressed to train or race... could it be... that Gold Ship is actually super young? Is it that she's simply tall and big?"
"...Let's not talk about this any longer. I feel scared the more I think about it."
Mejiro McQueen, seeing her sisters beginning to seriously ponder one of the great unsolved mysteries of the world, quickly interrupted them from gaining forbidden knowledge.
"I mean it can all still be a coincidence, she has whitish gray hair. It wouldn't be too absurd for her Aura to have the same colour... no?"
Actually, McQueen herself didn't believe her own idea; she just instinctively felt that thinking about taboo topics like this would lead to the Three Goddesses personally descending and bonking them on the head.
Still, as McQueen looked at the waving Gold Ship, a familiar smile formed on her face.
"Looks like... she's also grown up. I'm glad."
...
"Gold Ship!!!"
After Gold Ship's little victory lap ended, a torrent of her sisters, including Nakayama Festa and Orfevre, streamed out from the stands.
Before Gold Ship could react, they all pounced on her, knocking her to the ground.
"Hahaha! Gold Ship! You really can do it when you try!"
"Wait— Orfevre-nee, Festa-nee! Let go of me!"
As the three sisters started playing with each other, at some point, Stay Gold had also arrived, a proud smile on her face as she slowly clapped, with the rest of the members of Team Miracle coming down as well.
"Little Gold Ship, good job."
As Stay Gold's voice sounded, the three sisters stopped squabbling as they all turned to look at her.
"You managed to overcome your nature and embark on the path of an Uma Musume just like Orfevre."
"Honestly, I'm really surprised. I was shocked enough when Orfevre managed to overcome her barrier early... but you've given me an even bigger shock."
"Knowing you, I thought that it would at least take two to three more years for you to get over it... so good job on managing to do it ahead of schedule."
"Oldest Sis! You're here too?!"
Gold Ship, naturally, was surprised that her constantly absent sister managed to make time to personally come watch her spur-of-the-moment Debut Race.
Not only that, most of the Gold Family were actually gathered in one place!
Even during Christmas, it was incredibly hard for the whole family to be present.
But now, she had just run a GIII race and practically the whole family was here?!
"Wait, where's Dream Journey? Did she not come?"
"No, I saw her. She probably just got lost in the crowd. She'll reach here soon..."
Nakayama Festa, who had casually said that, plopped in another lollipop, not noticing Ikezoe's drastic change in expression.
"Um... everyone, I suddenly feel unwell, so I'll be taking my leave first."
"Eh? Onii-chan (Kenichi)?!" X3
Under the concerned eyes of everyone there, Ikezoe, whose face had turned pale white, frantically turned around and rushed out of the racecourse.
Curren Chan, Orfevre, and Sweep Tosho instinctively wanted to stop him and ask what was wrong.
However, Ikezoe was truly fast this time, making people wonder if humans under enough stress could truly run as quickly as an Uma Musume.
Although all of them were confused by Ikezoe's sudden sickness, Curren Chan still apologized to the group,
"I'm sorry, but Onii-chan seems to be in a bad state, so we'll excuse ourselves first."
"It's alright... I understand why Trainer Ikezoe wanted to leave."
Stay Gold nodded with a smile, the hidden meaning behind her words falling on deaf ears as Curren Chan and Sweep Tosho chased after Ikezoe.
Then, Stay Gold's gaze turned to Imanami, an individual from Team Miracle whom she had been observing for a long time due to his status as Gold Ship's Trainer.
However, Stay Gold was truly stupefied by how Imanami and Gold Ship accepted each other.
Imanami clearly wasn't the type of Trainer to seek excitement by choosing Gold Ship, and him being akin to a benevolent old man didn't seem to be the type of person Gold Ship would care about.
Stay Gold had always thought that Gold Ship's Trainer would either be someone so serious Gold Ship couldn't affect them, or an even more lawless character who would be her partner in crime.
But Imanami did not possess either of those particular characteristics. He only had a good sense of professionalism and a tendency to treat his Uma Musume as children.
Fate truly works in mysterious ways... it seems some things really cannot be thought about logically.
'Takatoshi Imanami... the leader and backbone of Team Miracle... as well as the only one who can subdue Gold Ship.'
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Name: Gold Ship
Age: Gold Ship
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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.