"Oh? You're Rice Shower? I remember, you're a senior, right?"
After their talk, Orfevre brought Rice Shower over to Mejiro McQueen's side.
At this time, McQueen was still in charge of supervising Gold Ship, who had planned to slack off during training.
—Other than her own training, this was the first task given to her: to make sure the newly debuted Uma Musume of their team improved.
And since McQueen's determination to lead the team had dramatically increased after the events that happened in the last couple of weeks, McQueen certainly wouldn't allow Gold Ship to continue being so lazy.
When Orfevre and Rice Shower arrived in tow, McQueen and Gold Ship naturally noticed them, and after Orfevre gave the context, McQueen looked at Rice Shower with a scrutinizing gaze.
'Is this the Rice Shower Trainer mentioned? Doesn't seem all that threatening.'
Aside from passing appearances and background chatter, McQueen only knew about Rice Shower through Imanami.
During the December holidays, Imanami had very solemnly told her that if she ever encountered an Uma Musume named 'Rice Shower' on the racetracks, she had to be extremely wary of her since she might be able to suddenly unleash terrifying power.
McQueen had always kept Imanami's warning to heart and treated this mysterious 'Rice Shower' as a formidable foe.
But now, when Orfevre brought this small and thin Uma Musume to stand before her, the image McQueen had conjured up in her mind completely clashed with the figure in front of her.
Is this really the one Trainer said would be a huge threat to me?
For a moment, McQueen couldn't help but feel a little doubtful.
"U- um... Is Rice Shower causing trouble for everyone...?"
Feeling McQueen's prolonged, scrutinizing gaze made Rice Shower feel incredibly uncomfortable; unconsciously sweating ans fiddling with her fingers.
"Ri- Rice Shower knows that coming here to ask for help like this is a little presumptuous, bu- but Rice Shower really wants to become stronger now...!"
"I- I don't want to just be a backdrop to Orfevre, I- I want to truly run with her!"
"—Don't think that way, Rice Shower."
Temporarily suppressing her caution and doubts, McQueen swiftly showed a gentle smile as she spoke,
"Every Uma Musume has a heart that desires to be stronger. The fact that you've realized that you need to improve your strength is already very good. At least, it's better than a certain someone who became overly confident after winning a single race."
"Hey! I can hear you, you know?!"
Gold Ship immediately shouted back in displeasure, walking towards Rice Shower and the others.
As the tall Gold Ship looked... up? and down at Rice Shower with an appreciative gaze, she nodded with satisfaction.
"Hmm, I sense great potential in you young lady, want to join our team?"
"—Eh?! Th- this... Isn't this too sudden?"
Rice Shower, seemingly unaccustomed to such direct praise, nervously murmured,
"Moreover, Rice Shower will only bring misfortune to everyone... Although I'm grateful... I'm sorry..."
"Gold Ship, don't trouble Rice Shower."
Suddenly, out of nowhere, Imanami's voice drifted over from nearby.
Turning their heads towards the sound, the four Uma Musume saw Imanami, who had just arrived with Tokai Teio.
"(Trainer Imanami.) (Trainer.)"
The three Uma Musume respectfully greeted Imanami, with even Gold Ship acting quite well behaved, causing Rice Shower to immediately follow suit and greet Imanami as well.
"H- hello, Trainer Imanami..."
"Mmh, hello. You are Rice Shower, correct?"
Arriving in front of the group with Tokai Teio, Imanami met Rice Shower for the first time.
However, having seen the Racehorse version of Rice Shower, as well as knowing her story, he could already confirm that this was indeed Rice Shower.
The raven black hair, her small body— all were features of Rice Shower, the tragic Racehorse known as the 'Black Assassin.'
As a senior who spent most of his life in the horse racing industry, Imanami had, of course, seen the tragedy that was Rice Shower with his very own eyes.
Strictly speaking, Rice Shower's ultimate collapse at the Takarazuka Kinen and subsequent death had nothing to do with Imanami.
However, now that the Uma Musume version of that poor horse had appeared before him, he couldn't just ignore her.
Though it was clear Rice Shower was unwilling to join their team for now, Imanami felt it was his responsibility to change the fate of this poor little girl.
Of course, Imanami had nothing to gain from this. The three energetic children in his group were already a handful to handle; he truly didn't have the extra energy for Rice Shower.
If Rice Shower were to actually join Team Miracle, she would most likely go under Wada's wing— he was the one who only had two trainees, after all.
It was just that after having seen the tragic ends of so many Racehorses, Imanami instinctively began to want to help them to the best of his ability.
Moreover, in this world, those Racehorses had all transformed into sapient and humanoid Uma Musume. Who could have the heart to see such pitiful children suffer?
Therefore, whether as a senior of the horse racing industry or as an adult, Imanami felt that he had an obligation to lend a helping hand.
"Rice Shower already has a Trainer, right? You of all people should know that you shouldn't mess with an Uma Musume's bond with their Trainer, so don't mess around with her like this."
"A- ah, um... Trainer Imanami... I don't have a Trainer..."
Watching Imanami lecture the shockingly innocent Gold Ship, Rice Shower timidly cleared the situation up, surprising Imanami.
After all, for her to not have found a Trainer even by her Classic Year meant that, up until now, everything Rice Shower had trained was learned through her own research or through the classes held in Tracen.
The efficiency between training like this and training with a professional Trainer was like heaven and earth; yet, through this highly inefficient way of training, Rice Shower managed to compete with Orfevre and the other Uma Musume in the Yayoi Sho, achieving a sixth place finish.
Although this result was unremarkable, not even considered to have placed, it was important to remember that Rice Shower's opponents consisted of the likes of Orfevre, Mihono Bourbon, and Special Week— three top tier Uma Musume whose Trainers were at least A Rank.
Yet Rice Shower, who didn't even have a Trainer, managed to compete with these three Uma Musume and take sixth place, already showing her immense talent and strength.
Also considering the fact that Rice Shower was best at long distances, the 2000-meter medium distance Yayoi Sho wasn't that suited to her in the first place.
However, this was beside the point; what made Imanami's eyes truly light up was the fact that Rice Shower was unwilling to join their team despite not having a Trainer.
Considering that the three of them had some sort of special connection with the Uma Musume they were close to in their previous world, could that mean...
"...Rice Shower, this might sound a bit weird, but does the name... Matoba Hitoshi ring a bell?"
"Matoba Hitoshi... No, Rice Shower hasn't heard that name before..."
However, in contrast to how she spoke, Rice Shower's heart couldn't help but clench slightly the moment she heard that name.
It was an indescribable feeling; although Rice Shower was sure this was the first time she had heard that name, she felt as if she had known someone with that name for a very long time already...
Driven by this feeling, Rice Shower's ears, which were a size larger than other Uma Musume, twitched slightly as she cautiously asked Imanami,
"T- Trainer Imanami... that person you mentioned... Matoba Hitoshi... Can I meet him?"
"Although it's a bit sudden, Rice Shower really wants to meet him..."
"...He's somewhere overseas right now, I can't contact him."
Imanami shook his head gently, declining Rice Shower's request with an excuse.
After all, the only people that seemed to have transmigrated were the three of them; Matoba Hitoshi was probably still in their original world, worried about their sudden disappearance.
As expected, Imanami's words made Rice Shower feel a little downcast.
However, when Rice Shower heard that this 'Matoba Hitoshi' person existed, her heart subtly relaxed, a strange sense of relief entering her heart.
Imanami did not let this strange atmosphere where only two people were involved linger for long, changing the topic,
"It's fine if you don't want to join our team, Rice Shower. However, if you want to contend with Orfevre, you'll need someone or something to guide you."
"Do you know what 'Aura' is? I've recently been researching training methods to stimulate it and I need someone to try it; would you like to give it a try?"
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At this point everyone knows
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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.