Danger!
A chill of pure instinct crawled up Seattle Slew's spine.
That thought flashed through her mind as she felt, with frightening clarity, an oppressive force radiating from the little Umamusume before her—something utterly at odds with her harmless appearance. It felt as though some ancient predator had fixed its gaze upon her.
In a brief daze, she felt as though she had become a rabbit.
The little Umamusume opposite her turned into a savage cheetah. The rabbit instinctively tried to flee, but the cheetah ran it down with ease, caught it before it even had the chance to scream, snapped its neck in a single bite, and tore its body apart.
The terror made her suck in a sharp breath, like someone breaking the surface after being held underwater.
But she realized she had not escaped the sea of fear at all.
Her whole body felt unable to move. It was as if she had been lifted off the ground, floating upward against her will. Entirely on instinct, she tilted her head back—and saw a black sun.
Dim. Lightless.
Like a bottomless abyss.
She was pulled helplessly toward that unfathomable darkness. Beneath that ever-approaching black sun, she was no more than a speck of dust—small, worthless, insignificant.
Cold spread rapidly through Seattle Slew's body. A crushing pressure descended on her. Her hands and feet turned icy. Her throat felt as though it were being strangled shut, and breathing became difficult.
She understood immediately that this was a genuine aura attack—
No.
If it could force illusions in the target's mind, then this was already a Zone.
And it had come far too quickly.
So quickly that she had not even had time to activate her own Zone in response. Her aura was sliced open like paper, torn apart, and swallowed up inside the Zone of this little Umamusume.
"Hah...!? Hah..."
When the short bout of vertigo passed, Seattle Slew gasped like someone jolting awake from a nightmare, desperate to breathe. She felt the solid texture of Tracen Academy's track beneath her feet. The world in her eyes had returned to normal. She raised a cold hand and instinctively wiped at her forehead, only to discover her hair was already drenched in sweat, and her soaked clothes were clinging unpleasantly to her skin.
"Seattle? Seattle? What's wrong? Are you okay? You looked like your soul had just left your body."
She lifted her head slightly and saw her friend looking at her in concern. Not far away, that little Umamusume was still watching her, but the oppressive force from before was gone. It seemed that whatever Zone she had just released had been aimed precisely at her alone. Affirmed looked completely unaffected.
To constrain a Zone so precisely at this distance, enough to target only me... what terrifying control...
Seattle Slew understood now.
Today, she had run into something dangerous.
This little thing was nothing like the harmless, innocuous child she appeared to be. New student, my ass—if someone told Seattle now that this little Umamusume was actually a top-class monster on Big Sis Secretariat's level, she would have believed it.
"Hey, miss. Didn't you just say you wanted to race me again?"
The small Umamusume crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, giving Seattle Slew a smile that was not really a smile at all.
At first, Eclipse really had been considering whether to go for another round. But she had already gotten enough out of this Umamusume to feel satisfied. Besides, possessing Kagura's body consumed no small amount of the strength Kagura painstakingly built up for her day by day. If she was going to spend that strength just to stomp some obnoxious bossy demoness, then this opponent simply was not worthy of it.
At the very least, it would have to be someone stronger.
Someone who could make her genuinely yearn for a fight.
Only then would it be worth it.
And setting aside the matter of strength, the bell for class had rung not long ago, and people were starting to gather nearby. Eclipse had no desire to cause unnecessary trouble for Kagura either. So she had only scared this Umamusume as a token lesson for her rudeness.
Hah... since when did I get so soft? Is this what happens after staying around this kid too long?
"N-no. I can't do it. My stamina won't let me run another 2000 meters right after that... You're... strong. Very strong..."
Pale-faced, Seattle Slew shook her head repeatedly. She looked weak all over. The sharp arrogance and swagger she had carried before had vanished without a trace. She looked like a wilted persimmon now, thoroughly deflated. After what had just happened, she had absolutely no desire to fight again.
One reason was simple enough: after that intense struggle, her stamina was nowhere near sufficient to handle another seamless 2000-meter run. She would lose for certain in a second round.
The other reason was harder to admit.
She could not imagine what would happen if, in the middle of another race, with her stamina already depleted, she suffered a Zone on that level again. The result would not be some minor drop in speed. If that got out—if word spread that she had been beaten by some Japanese kid by a massive gap—she would not be able to hold her head up in front of Big Sis Secretariat or her friends for at least a year.
Damn it. This isn't some rookie Japanese Umamusume at all. If you told me the student council president of European Tracen had shown up, I'd believe it...
Realizing she had gone fishing for minnows and hooked a torpedo instead, Seattle Slew patted her chest with sweaty hands, lingering fear still pounding through her.
"What Seattle means is that she concedes. You're amazing, miss. This is the first time I've ever seen anyone besides Big Sis Secretariat make Seattle back down."
Affirmed quickly stepped in, shoving a bottle of mineral water into Seattle Slew's mouth before she could say anything awkward. Then she moved closer to Eclipse, bent down, and quietly slipped a cool card into her hand while whispering in a very low voice,
"My friend's personality is... not the best, and she was rude with you. I apologize in her place. This is a small token of apology from us. Please accept it~~"
"Oh? Very sensible of you. Seems your country isn't made up entirely of uncouth creatures like her after all."
Leaving Seattle Slew aside, Eclipse was actually rather pleased with Affirmed. Whatever amount of money might be on this card, that was secondary. What mattered was that her attitude showed genuine sincerity. It seemed that staying at Seattle Slew's side had landed her permanently in the role of peacemaker.
"Ah... actually... Seattle's more the norm where we come from. It's people like me and Big Sis Secretariat who are the rare breed..."
Thinking of the atmosphere at American Tracen, then glancing back at Seattle Slew busily chugging water in tactical silence, the tall orange-haired Umamusume gave a helpless smile.
"What kind of warped environment is that...? I imagine life must be rather exhausting for a 'normal person' like you."
"Well... after enough time, you get used to it. In any case, I'm sorry for the trouble we caused. Oh, right—it occurs to me I still haven't asked how to address you. Would you mind telling me?"
"Inari Kagura. Kagura is fine."
"Miss Kagura... it's an honor to meet you. Then my friend and I won't disturb you any longer. I wish you all the best. If you ever want to contact me, my information is on the card I just gave you. Feel free to reach out directly. As an apology, while we're still in Tokyo, I'll do whatever I can to make it up to you."
With that, Affirmed went back, helped Seattle Slew up, and led her away. As the two of them gradually disappeared from the track, the red in "Kagura's" eyes slowly faded, returning to their usual clear sky-blue.
The instant she regained control of her body, Kagura felt a wave of weakness from overexertion wash over her. Her legs went weak and nearly buckled beneath her.
She knew Eclipse had jumped in just now, but what exactly had she done in that short span of time to drain her this badly?
"Still... I guess this is over now."
Looking at the card lying in her hand, Kagura wondered whether she should find time to stop by a bank later that day and see what was actually on it. She felt no guilt at all about accepting this apology gift, but she still needed to know the amount. If it turned out to be too much, she would have to contact Affirmed afterward.
"Hey, little miss over there~ You're Teacher Kagura, right?"
Just as Kagura was thinking that, she heard someone call to her from behind.
Turning around, she saw a tall brown-haired Umamusume. She was dressed in casual athletic clothes with a loose jacket over them, a bag on her back, and sunglasses on her head. She looked like a tourist from somewhere.
"Ah, yes, that's me. And you are...?"
"Oh, seeing Teacher Kagura got me so excited I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Galileo. You can also call me Astronomer. I just arrived here from Europe."
...
Eclipse-san, do you think this Galileo might be Ms. Ocean's eldest daughter?
——Feels like it. She's from Europe, and she clearly knows you and came looking for you. You only told that fan you'd be here today, didn't you?
Right... She's so tall, too. I guess that's just what you'd expect from Europeans and Americans? Come to think of it, Eclipse-san, you're European too, aren't you?
——What's that supposed to mean, you brat? There's a subtext in that, isn't there!?
...
"Affirmed, could you do me a favor and look up this professional racer Inari Kagura on the Japanese sites? Check what kind of champion she is—or whether she's some student council president or something."
"I'm already looking... got it. The records say Miss Kagura only debuted in the middle of this year. So far she's only won one graded race, the Saudi Arabia Royal Cup not long ago... As for other identities... Best Support Umamusume of the Year, Central Tracen Support Department?"
"?"
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T/N: LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO anyway yes Urban Sea is the mother, but her handle is Urban Ocean wow crazy camoflauge right? anyway ummmmmm Kagura uses Miss for them since they arent japanese, Eclipse gets the san treatment because uhh i didnt think that far okay bye OH kagura-sensei is for asian umamusume Teacher Kagura for western
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