"Palmer, has something significant happened to the Mejiro Family?" Kousei asked, approaching the topic indirectly.
"Hehe~ You're asking about McQueen, aren't you?" Palmer immediately saw through Kousei's veiled question.
Kousei chuckled sheepishly, not denying it. "Yeah, I know McQueen is exceptional. But her suddenly becoming the head of the Mejiro Family just feels... off. It's too sudden, too untimely."
Not just McQueen, but Teio as well—it's as if someone had given them a sudden push from behind.
"I can't tell you about the Mejiro Family's affairs, but I can tell you this: prepare yourself—the McQueen you know is no longer the same.
I'm sure you can sense it. McQueen is currently in peak condition, her physical abilities at their zenith. As for what lies in her heart... no one truly knows. If you want to understand McQueen, stand alongside her on the racetrack.
Not through words, but through running. Perhaps... that might bring about a change."
Kousei blinked, staring at Palmer, confused by the final remark.
"Kousei-chan! Palmer! I got a doll!" Shuttle called out excitedly.
"Oh~ No surprise, coming from Taiki~"
The brief exchange ended, but Kousei remained preoccupied, pondering the hidden meaning behind Palmer's words.
"Look! Look!" Shuttle showed off her prize to the two. "It's City! I'm a genius, aren't I? Ha ha!"
Kousei and Palmer glanced at the claw machine. The Gold City doll was a rare, limited edition—a once-in-a-lifetime find.
"What?! Someone actually got the Gold City doll?!"
"Who? Who is it? Who took it?!"
The atmosphere suddenly grew heated, with intense gazes encircling the trio.
"Crap! Isn't this a bit too much attention?" Palmer asked, glancing nervously around.
A crowd surged forward, but their focus seemed solely on the Gold City doll in Shuttle's hand.
"What's going on?! Palmer! Kousei!"
Kousei and Palmer were pushed aside as the crowd swarmed around the Gold City doll, chattering incessantly. Oblivious to the commotion, Shuttle continued to respond to their questions. It seemed they wouldn't be leaving anytime soon.
Clack!
The clamor abruptly ceased.
All eyes followed the sound, taking in the scattered plushies and Kashimoto Riko's stunned expression. A closer look revealed the collection to be surprisingly comprehensive, ranging from the national idol Oguri Cap to the Villains of the Century. Kousei even spotted Kashimoto Riko clutching a plushie of herself.
"Trainer! I caught Sirius and Rudolf's plushies! Look, they're even hugging!" Little Cocon, with her round, luminous eyes, proudly displayed her haul to Kashimoto Riko.
"Trainer?" Little Cocon tilted her head, puzzled by her trainer's frozen state.
Their eyes met.
"Yo..." Kousei, feeling awkward, offered a casual greeting.
To his surprise, Little Cocon instantly reverted to her usual ice-cold expression, freezing into stillness like a block of ice.
Little... she's lost consciousness...
No one had expected their reunion to unfold in such an awkward scene. Suddenly, someone spoke up: "Come to think of it, isn't Tracen under strict management now? Why are the Umamusume even here?"
"Ah! You guys!" The question snapped Kashimoto Riko out of her daze, her face contorting with fury.
"Shit! Run for it!"
"Bye!"
Palmer and Shuttle bolted first, with Kousei hot on their heels.
"No full-speed running outside designated tracks!" Kashimoto Riko's voice echoed through the entire arcade. In the blink of an eye, the trio had vanished without a trace.
"Hahaha!"
Having narrowly escaped, Shuttle seemed completely unfazed. "That was amazing! A three-way breakout!"
"Mm-hmm~ Kousei actually kept up with our pace! As expected of a Free-footed Style Umamusume."
Kousei didn't overthink it and instinctively joined the pair's escape.
"I never imagined my first time leading the pack would be during a getaway... How ironic."
Palmer and Shuttle possessed an uncanny ability to draw others along with them, making it inexplicably easy to follow their lead. Kousei was relieved this wasn't a race; otherwise, she would have been completely led astray.
"Hey, Kousei-chan! Why don't you join us? Let's escape together as a trio and have the time of our lives! Let's get hyped to the max☆!"
"Leading the pack? I'm not very good at that," Kousei replied, inadvertently hitting a sore spot.
"Come on! Let's do it together! Everyone together, happy times! Yay!"
"Yay~"
It was one thing for Shuttle to act this way, but even Palmer was joining in.
Still, there was something undeniably cool about these gyaru who defied all common sense.
"Alright! Let's unleash our Divine Lead☆ together!"
-
Tracen
"I'm counting on you."
"Don't worry, darling! Leave it to me!" Kousei's mother declared confidently.
After Kousei's poor performance left her despondent, her dad, feeling utterly useless in comforting his daughter, felt deeply ashamed. He remembered how Kousei always clung to her mother and, being an Umamusume herself, her mother would surely understand Kousei's heart better than he ever could.
So, secretly without Kousei's knowledge, he submitted an application to the Academy and arranged for her mother to visit, planning to surprise Kousei.
"Kousei should be in the Training Room."
As they approached the door, the Trainer suddenly felt a surge of nervousness.
"Smile! Smile! Show your fatherly side!" With a decisive push, he flung open the Training Room door. "Kousei, look who I've brought—"
"Eeeh? Papa? Ugh, I'm doing my makeup right now~ You can't just barge in like this! How annoying~"
Her peculiar verbal tic, combined with her signature gyaru makeup, left the Trainer stunned in his tracks.
"It's gyaru makeup, Papa! You're such a dinosaur~ LOL~"
"Dad!"
Seeing Kousei transformed into a gyaru right before his eyes, the old man's vision went black, and he collapsed, utterly defeated.
Later, Kousei's gyaru DVDs were confiscated. It seemed she had taken a wrong turn on her path to mastering gyaru culture.
The Next Day
The trio of truants spotted Gold Ship in Tracen Academy's plantation.
"Don't underestimate carrots," she warned. "This is the Path of Asura."
Three more blurred photos had been added to the bulletin board.