After the Kikuka Sho's winning live ended, Shuta An left Kyoto Racecourse with Oguri Cap and Berno Light.
Once they exited the box, Maruzensky glanced at Symboli Rudolf, who was frowning thoughtfully. "Rudolf-chan, you're thinking about Shuta-kun's suggestion, aren't you?"
"Yes." Symboli Rudolf nodded slightly. "I just don't know what he saw on the screen that made him say that."
"Sakura Star O can't just rest," Maruzensky sighed. "The URA Association really needs her for the Arima Kinen. Otherwise, this year's lineup…"
"An Arima Kinen with only one G1 Uma Musume—can it really be called a Grand Prix?" Symboli Rudolf exhaled softly. "Only two years since I retired, and the Central's Twinkle Series already feels dim."
"If it weren't for that," she added quietly, "I wouldn't have considered Oguri Cap back then."
The "Emperor" held her forehead and closed her eyes.
"It's just his guess, right?" Tokai Teio pouted. "What if the hospital finds nothing wrong?"
"That's true," Symboli Rudolf admitted. "Let's schedule a medical examination for Sakura Star O."
Shuta An had no idea that Symboli Rudolf and the others were still discussing his warning. After escorting Oguri Cap and Berno Light back to Kasamatsu Tracen Academy, he didn't linger. He simply went home early.
Later that night, after falling asleep, he once again appeared at Kyoto Racecourse in the Dream World. Remembering the lesson from watching the race earlier that day, Shuta An, partnered with Gold City, made his move early in the final straight—and successfully "arrested" Sakura Star O right at the finish line.
"A local star's first ride, and her first victory in a Central G1! Truly the perfect partner for the local monster!" the live commentator shouted in praise, even mentioning Shuta An by name.
But Shuta An didn't wave to the crowd or bask in the cheers. Instead, he turned his head toward Sakura Star O, studying her legs intently.
"What's wrong?" Higashi shinji, Sakura Star O's jockey, asked, noticing his focus.
"Sakura Star O shouldn't take on any more race pressure this year," Shuta An replied quietly. "That's my intuition. Please tell the owner—better safe than sorry. After all, a horse's life only comes once."
"I understand." Higashi shinji's expression grew serious. Concerns about Sakura Star O's leg had already surfaced before the Kikuka Sho, and as her jockey, he bore that responsibility.
"Thank you for the warning, Shuta-kun. I'll discuss it with the owner and her trainer."
He paused, then added under his breath, "If this were Star O before her injury, Gold City would never have caught her."
Shuta An caught the thought in Higashi shinji's eyes and smiled faintly.
The day after the Kikuka Sho, Shuta An resumed Oguri Cap's training. The regimen was nearly identical to before.
By evening, he returned to Kasamatsu in the Dream World. Although he now carried the title of Kikuka Sho Winning Jockey, which greatly increased his riding offers, he didn't accept everyone. Each week, he reserved one race day to stay beside Oguri Cap instead.
This devotion didn't go unnoticed by Oguri Cap's owner. As higher and higher offers came in—and advisors insisted, "She should go to the Central; it's where she belongs"—the owner felt more tempted. Yet, each time he saw Shuta An's care for Oguri Cap, the thought of separating them felt cruel.
When he finally confessed his hesitation to the buyer, the buyer made a suggestion:
"Then why not let Shuta-kun transfer to the Central too?"
"Let Shuta-kun transfer?" Oguri Cap's owner was tempted. But then he realized the problem—if both Oguri Cap and Shuta An left, Trainer Sagami Masayuki would suddenly lose both his prized student and his proudest horse. Imagining himself in Sagami's place, the owner felt a twinge of guilt.
But Sagami Masayuki, a Trainer with decades of experience, had already noticed something off. After a bit of thought, he guessed the situation and went to speak with his old client.
"I have no problem with Oguri Cap transferring to Central," Sagami said evenly, "but Shuta An cannot be released yet. I'll be retiring soon, and I want him to remain a jockey of my stable until then."
"But then—"
Sagami raised a hand, cutting him off. "Add a clause to the contract. For every race Oguri Cap runs in the future, Shuta-kun will be her fixed jockey."
"Eh?" The owner blinked, surprised by the simple solution.
"Besides, with a Kikuka Sho win under his belt, plenty of Central owners already want to borrow him for rides. I doubt anyone will object."
Though Sagami said it calmly, his heart ached—he had once dreamed of Oguri Cap winning the Tokai Derby for him.
"Alright," the owner nodded, moved. "I'll speak to him right away."
>>>
Three days later, when Shuta An entered the Dream World and made his way, as usual, to Oguri Cap's stable, he found it empty. The stall was quiet—Oguri Cap, who should have been eating heartily, was gone.
"What's going on?" His brow furrowed as he scanned the stable. "Did she go out to train?"
Sagami Masayuki, who had anticipated this, was already waiting nearby. Without a word, he held out a document. Shuta An took it. It was Oguri Cap's transfer contract.
"Mr. Oguri said he's very sorry," Sagami explained softly. "The last clause is all he could do for you."
Shuta An flipped to the final page—and froze. 'Oguri Cap's main jockey will be Shuta An from now on.'
His hands trembled as he gripped the contract. After a long silence, he finally looked up, voice firm but heavy.
"Sagami-sensei," he said quietly, "next year, I'll help you win the Tokai Derby."
Sagami's heart tightened with unease.
Before he could reply, the young jockey added, "And after winning the Tokai Derby, please allow me to transfer to the Central."
The next day, during morning training, Oguri Cap noticed something unusual—her Trainer was standing unusually close to her. So close, in fact, that she could feel his breath on her neck and even hear the faint rhythm of his heartbeat.
A strange tickle crawled up her spine, making her tilt her head slightly. "Trainer?"
"Hmm?" Shuta An blinked, not realizing what was wrong. "What is it?"
"Trainer, stop interfering with Oguri's training!" Berno Light puffed her cheeks, marched over, and grabbed Shuta An's arm, tugging him away from the Gray Umamusume.
"How am I interfering?" Shuta An asked, genuinely confused.
"With Trainer standing so close, Oguri can't concentrate properly." Before Berno Light could scold him further, Oguri Cap calmly voiced the same thought.
"Uh—" Shuta An froze, speechless.
"Trainer, you should have some self-awareness," Berno Light muttered from the side, crossing her arms.
Pretending not to hear, Shuta An simply continued watching Oguri Cap's form as she worked through her equipment drills.
"We might be separated in the Dream World for now," he thought, "but in reality, I'll never let go of Oguri Cap."
Even as he stepped back a little, Oguri Cap could still feel her Trainer's intense gaze burning into her back. "The Trainer's acting strange today," she murmured softly.
For Shuta An's team, the upcoming Kasamatsu Grand Prix wasn't a race that required serious strategizing. It wasn't that he underestimated his rivals—but the gap between Oguri Cap and Fujimasa March was simply too wide. Even without an elaborate plan, Shuta An was confident Oguri Cap would dominate.
Rather than spending extra time preparing for this local race, he preferred to look ahead—to next year's Central stakes.
If not for the need to leave a strong final impression at Kasamatsu, he would've made an ordinary local race Oguri Cap's "Kasamatsu farewell."
"After that, we can aim for one more race in the Central."
There weren't many suitable stakes races in February, but Shuta An was already eyeing several potential Classic hopefuls as benchmarks for Oguri Cap's debut.
That evening, just as Shuta An was preparing to leave the office, he glanced at an evening paper left on his desk. The front page screamed in bold, oversized print:
"BLACK MONDAY."
He frowned. "Black Monday?"
His eyes scanned the subheadline—'The Dow Jones Industrial Average on the New York Stock Exchange plummeted over 20%.'
He covered his mouth in disbelief. "Over twenty percent?! How much money just vanished overnight?"
Though he wasn't well-versed in finance, even he could tell this was catastrophic.
"That's terrifying… I wonder how things are here in Japan," he muttered.
Looking around, he was surprised to see his coworkers calm as ever—no worried faces, no whispered panic.
"Could it be that everyone here, like me, just doesn't dabble in this stuff?" he thought, puzzled.
Meanwhile, at Central Tracen Academy, Symboli Rudolf was anything but calm. Her pen pressed so hard against the paper it nearly tore the page. "They act all professional, but the moment the stock market collapses, their true colors show. One claims family emergencies, another says they're unwell—do they think I don't know they're scrambling to cover stock losses?!"
"It's not just that," said Air Groove, who had already sorted through the morning's paperwork. She tapped another stack of forms. "Besides leave applications, there are… other requests."
"What kind of requests?" Symboli Rudolf's brow twitched. "Don't tell me—resignations?"
Air Groove nodded reluctantly. "Some Trainers have decided to quit. If they can't produce successful Uma Musume, their pay barely exceeds an office clerk's. Losing big in the crash probably pushed them to look for better-paying work." She sighed. "Still, I despise that kind of cowardice."
"Let those who want to leave go." Symboli Rudolf twirled her pen again, expression unreadable. "Their hearts aren't in the job anyway. But the Uma Musume in their care will need reassignment."
She paused, then continued with authority: "Temporarily, have the intern Trainers of each team take over."
Air Groove hesitated. "But the interns may not be capable enough to handle full teams."
"I know." Symboli Rudolf closed her eyes, thinking. After a long silence, she said, "Promote all interns in teams whose Trainers have resigned. At the same time, allow the Uma Musume in those teams to choose freely whether to stay or move."
Her eyes opened again, sharp as glass. "Whether those interns can hold their teams together will depend entirely on their ability."
"Understood." Air Groove nodded.
"And one more thing," Symboli Rudolf added. "Arrange a meeting for me with Director Uchimura of the URA Association. I need to speak with him personally."
In the Rigil clubroom, Tojo Hana sat quietly on the sofa, reading the evening paper.
"I can't believe the market crash dragged so many Trainers down," Maruzensky said from across the room, shaking her head. "Didn't they learn anything from the last economic downturn? Why gamble again?"
"Whether they were affected or not doesn't matter now," Hishi Amazon replied beside her. "What's important is that a lot of Trainers are resigning to go into business."
"Which means," she added grimly, "a lot of Uma Musume just lost their Trainers. The intern Trainers will have to fill in—for now."
Tojo Hana's ears twitched at that. 'So… Nishizaki might have been promoted in Team Spica?'
She folded the newspaper and stood up without a word. As she walked out, Hishi Amazon and Maruzensky exchanged uncertain looks. "Did we say something that upset the Trainer?"
Later that night, Tojo Hana pushed open the familiar door of a quiet bar—and found her friend already there, nursing a glass of beer.
"Congratulations on your promotion," she said as she slid into the seat beside him. "Nishizaki Ryu-kun."
"This isn't something to celebrate." Nishizaki took another sip, his tone bitter as the drink. "I'm not ready to be a full-fledged Trainer yet. And the members of Team Spica… don't seem to trust me."
"You mean…" Tojo Hana's eyes widened.
"Most of them will probably transfer to other teams," Nishizaki sighed. "And I can't blame them. Who'd trust an untested intern like me?"
Hearing the dejection in his voice, Tojo Hana suddenly recalled a certain young man's name—
Shuta-kun.
"Maybe," she said softly, "Shuta-kun could give you some guidance."