Special Week's debut race... it could be described as brilliant, or as having no suspense whatsoever.
Special Week's physical conditioning was excellent, though Zero's physical conditioning at the time of her debut was superior to Special Week's current state.
Zero had noticed this during their second training session, and only after asking did she realize how much Special Week's adoptive mother had sacrificed for her.
"Your adoptive mother... is a very good person."
"Yes! So, for Mom, I must fulfill our promise!"
That was Special Week's response at the time.
With a foundation of excellent physical conditioning, combined with the running posture and techniques Zero taught, and Special Week's inherent talent and ability, this debut race was truly a stunning success.
Even the Emperor couldn't help but be slightly moved; it should be known that Special Week was one of the few Uma Musume to display a gold skill in her debut race, the last one being Zero.
As for her running style, it inexplicably bore Zero's teaching characteristics.
"As long as there's someone in front of me, even if I'm running second, I'm still a Chaser; everyone behind me is a Stayer!"
Yes, she claimed to be a Chaser, but she constantly clung to the Escape Runner, and the poor girl was almost scared to tears by Special Week's intense gaze.
It's unclear why, but usually goofy Little Special seemed particularly fierce on the track.
However, perhaps it's a similar principle to how Zero herself appears very intimidating on the track?
Finally, Special Week used an astonishing Late Charge in the final straight to open up a five-horse length gap and claim first place.
Of course, none of this was important; the key was... the Winner's Stage afterward.
The Winner's Stage is a measure to provide Uma Musume with more popularity, where they sing and dance like idols. Most Uma Musume, being girls, also enjoy doing this.
But... Special Week, who came from the countryside and whose adoptive mother had only trained her for racing, couldn't dance or sing, and had never even heard the song before.
Furthermore, Zero thought Trainer Okino wouldn't fail to notice this, assuming there had been regular singing and dancing training and thus never bringing it up.
As a result, the highly anticipated champion stood frozen on the Winner's Stage for a long time, even making headlines.
Before Special Week's debut race, Zero had privately informed her adoptive mother of the times for both the debut race and the Winner's Stage, intending it as a surprise, but now... honestly, she was a bit afraid to call her; it was too embarrassing.
Then, Trainer Okino's casual remark, "Ah, I forgot!" immediately led Zero to demonstrate to everyone how a child under 1.5 meters could tackle an adult of 1.8 meters.
Actually, it wasn't much; she simply slid and tripped Trainer Okino.
The problem was it happened in the stands, and a passing reporter captured it.
Hence that headline... [Highly Anticipated Debut Race Star Special Week Stands Frozen on Stage! Absolute Ruler, enraged, slide-tackles Trainer! What is the reason behind it!?]
At this moment, the members of Spica were huddled in a corner, trembling, watching Zero, who was holding a newspaper and exuding a low-pressure aura.
Only the carefree Oguri Cap remained seated, eating.
"Xiao~ Te~" Zero suddenly spoke, and Special Week, whose name was called, immediately stood up.
"Yes!"
"Anyway, the debut race is over, and the next race is still some time away, so... let's do the singing and dancing special training first, understood?"
"Sir! Yes sir!" Special Week was so scared she started speaking English.
"Good, then let's go straight after breakfast." She smiled sweetly.
"!!!"
"And Trainer, there won't be a next time, alright?"
"N-no problem! Daiwa and Vodka already know how, and Teio is very good at these things too!"
"That's right, Senior! Don't worry about us! You might as well take Gold Ship instead!" said Daiwa.
"Yeah! Gold Ship even did street dance back then!" added Vodka.
"Tieh meh! Don't take me if you don't want to die!" shouted Gold Ship.
"A-fune has already retired, so anything goes; I'm too lazy to manage her anyway."
Yes, Gold Ship actually retired quite early. Afterward, she only occasionally participated in the Dream Cup, but out of interest, she still maintained the rhythm of training with everyone and didn't slack off.
In fact, Gold Ship's retirement was because she found it boring and incited and physically threatened Trainer Okino into letting her retire. It's worth noting that when she had her retirement physical, the doctor's report stated, "As healthy as if she had never raced."
Moreover, Zero truly couldn't control this eccentric personality of hers. She wondered if there was any Uma Musume who could both interest Gold Ship and keep her in check; if there was, Zero would go to great lengths to recruit her into the team.
All that aside, the next task was naturally Special Week's singing and dancing special training.
Although they all said they were fine, Daiwa and Vodka were ultimately dragged along, while Teio, very interested and confident, wanted to help teach Special Week.
She said, "This way I can tell people that Senior Little Special was also taught by me."
This led to Little Special eating double her usual breakfast portion that day, almost sparking Oguri Cap's desire for a competition, but thankfully it didn't.
Oguri Cap was called by the Student Council today to discuss some matters, though it's unclear what they were.
As for Tamamo Cross, after watching the debut race yesterday, she rushed back to her family farm to help out; it seems quite a few children have come to visit recently.
So, a large group of Uma Musume ended up booking a private room at a KTV early in the morning.
Although Gold Ship didn't want to learn singing and dancing, she came along with the excuse that "it'll be fun with a lot of people," while Trainer Okino stayed behind to prepare future training and race plans.
Zero's suggestion was for Special Week to have another race like hers to accumulate popularity and prize money, then directly participate in the Happy Overflow Cup at the end of December to qualify for the Satsuki Sho next year. However, this was temporarily shelved, considering Special Week might have her own ideas.
Furthermore, the Happy Overflow Cup, despite being a G1 race only for Junior-grade Uma Musume, was still full of hidden talents. Even if Special Week participated, winning would be no easier than winning a Classic-grade G1, especially since everyone would be Classic-grade half a month after that race, and the probability of encountering them in the Satsuki Sho, the first step of the Triple Crown, was quite high.
After all that talk, Special Week, who had originally hoped for a good rest, finally began her special training in singing and dancing.
"Let's start with 'Endless Dream,' the song you couldn't sing yesterday! Today, you need to learn at least all the frequently appearing songs!"
"Eh eh eh eh eh eh!? !?"
"That's seven whole songs! Get your spirits up! And you guys too! Don't even think about slacking off!"
"Yes~~~ = ="
Senior seems unusually strict in this area... Well, of course she is. She was forced by the Three Goddesses to sing and dance every day in various ways, almost ingrained into her DNA. Coupled with a touch of obsessive-compulsive disorder, it's no wonder she was angered by Special Week's stage freeze.
Of course, there were also many songs to train on (laughs).