Still groggy, Kagura brought her medicine back to the dorm, explained the situation to Tojo and asked for leave, then went straight to bed and slept under the covers until the next morning.
Just as the school doctor had said, when Kagura woke up the next day, the intense discomfort from yesterday was indeed gone. She sat up in bed. She was still a little dizzy from having slept so long, but that sick, heavy feeling from yesterday had completely faded.
An Umamusume's body really is incredible. If I'd had those symptoms before, I'd have been flat on my back for at least two days…
Letting out a long breath, Kagura climbed out of bed and slipped her feet into her slippers. As soon as she stood up, she suddenly noticed that something about her field of vision felt strange. It was like she had changed glasses—just a tiny bit off somehow. The odd sensation made her stand there stiffly for a moment, trying to figure out what exactly had changed. After nearly half a minute, she finally realized it.
Her viewpoint seemed just a tiny bit higher than before.
Remembering the advice the school doctor had given her before she left yesterday, Kagura hurried over to the wardrobe in her room and checked her height against the markings on it.
She had grown a whole centimeter since yesterday.
My height hasn't budged for over a year even though I've been in my growth period, and now I shoot up one centimeter overnight?! Don't tell me this is… honkaku!?
Kagura remembered that, when she was leaving yesterday, the school doctor had specifically asked her height. Now she understood what the doctor had meant. Apparently, the doctor had already figured out yesterday that this was a sign her honkaku was about to begin.
Honkaku took a bit of time, but generally speaking, it was only a month or so long. If she had already grown this much in a single night, Kagura was starting to look forward to just how tall she would be once it was over.
——Ha! Should I congratulate you, little one? You've been waiting over a year, and now you're finally showing signs of growing.
Yes! I can finally get taller!
If she had not been worried about disturbing the other students in the nearby dorm rooms, Kagura felt like she would have jumped for joy right then and there.
Aside from the change in body size, Kagura herself was also full of curiosity about the process of honkaku. As a doctor, she was genuinely fascinated by what kind of miraculous developmental process could transform a child so drastically in the span of just a month or two.
"Kagura, are you going out today? Are you really feeling all right now?"
Ardan, who had gotten up unusually early today, came out of the bathroom and saw Kagura already awake, standing in front of the wardrobe and comparing things against it. Thinking of how Kagura had slept for most of yesterday after collapsing into bed, she could not help feeling worried.
"I'm fine. I feel completely recovered now. But I'm not planning to go out today~"
"Eh? But you were standing in front of the mirror… weren't you changing clothes?"
Ardan remembered that Kagura normally never went to the mirror unless she was getting ready to go out. Kagura only seriously bothered dressing up when she was leaving, so seeing her standing in front of the mirror like this naturally left Ardan puzzled.
"No, it's just… I wanted to see whether I'd gotten taller. You know how people say a fever means you're growing, right?"
Kagura did not directly tell Ardan about her honkaku. She planned to wait until she had grown a little more, then tell Ardan and give her a surprise.
"Pfft—hahaha, so Kagura worries about things like that too. Don't worry. Once your honkaku comes, everything will be fine."
Kagura's reason was so unexpectedly simple that Ardan could not help laughing. She lifted a hand and rubbed Kagura's little head. She had assumed a mature child like Kagura would not care much about this sort of thing. But it seemed Kagura had her childish side too.
As far as Ardan knew, Kagura's figure had not changed at all in a very long time. It looked like she had already reached her maximum height before honkaku. If she was going to grow any more, then it would definitely have to be through honkaku.
Hm… come to think of it, when exactly is Kagura going to go through honkaku?
As she stroked Kagura's head, that thought drifted through Ardan's mind.
For Kagura, who cared so much about her height, honkaku was naturally a good thing. And if Kagura was happy, Ardan was happy too. She just did not understand why, for some reason, she seemed especially concerned about this matter. Really, this was the sort of thing that should just happen naturally.
That's strange… why is that?
...
"What? Kagura, your honkaku has started?"
As usual, Kagura went to the trainers' office to report in to Trainer Tojo. She was not planning to tell her friends about her honkaku just yet, but she did need to notify her trainer, so she told Tojo as soon as she arrived.
Tojo, who had been looking over some documents, was visibly taken aback by the news. She had been about to ask whether Kagura was feeling uncomfortable and whether she needed help looking after her, but then she remembered that Kagura was the one who usually ended up taking care of her. Just like that, she suddenly was not sure whether there was any point in saying it at all.
"Yes. I had a fever for a while yesterday, and when I woke up this morning, I realized I was a bit taller than yesterday. The school doctor said the same thing."
"If that's the timing, then at this rate, Kagura, you might finish your honkaku before the Asahi Hai. Do you need me to help—"
Tojo trailed off halfway and made a rough estimate in her head. There were still about two months left before the Asahi Hai. If Kagura had started her honkaku now, then she would definitely finish it before the Asahi Hai began. So should she adjust—
Do I really need to go out of my way and make adjustments?
The more she thought about it, the more Tojo realized Kagura could probably adjust and plan everything perfectly well on her own. In the end, it felt like there was not actually much she could do, and an unexpected sense of defeat washed over her.
"I'll pay attention to managing my condition properly, so you don't need to worry too much about me, Tojo-san. By the way, when I came in just now, I saw you looking at something. Did some new notice come in?"
"Yes. The entry list for the Japan Cup has been announced. Here, take a copy."
Shaking off that pointless sense of defeat, Tojo picked up one of the prepared documents and handed it to Kagura.
These days, whenever she made tactical decisions, she always wanted to hear Kagura's opinion too. After all, Kagura had already given several crucial pieces of tactical advice that had helped Rudolf lock down victory more safely. That alone was enough to prove how strong Kagura was when it came to race strategy.
"Earlier, Kagura, you told me to adjust the strategy so Rudolf wouldn't stay fixated on Mr. C.B., but I looked over the list, and there doesn't seem to be anyone here who's really a threat, does there?"
After getting the list, Tojo had immediately checked through the other racers' information herself. Aside from Mr. C.B., she truly had not seen anyone who looked capable of threatening Rudolf.
Kagura glanced over the list. It already had Tojo's notes on it, marking each racer's usual tactics and results. Judging from that alone, there really did not seem to be any threatening opponents. But as she kept reading, one name caught her eye.
Katsuragi Ace?
She had only seen this Umamusume training in the park before. Looking at Katsuragi Ace's results, they were actually fairly decent. And yet, for some reason, Tojo's judgment had been to ignore her altogether.
"At the Japan Cup distance, someone running a frontrunner escape usually can't make it to the end, right? Wouldn't it be enough to just wait for her to lose speed on her own and fall back?"
Faced with Kagura's question, Tojo thought for a moment, then gave the analysis she had come to not long ago.
In fact, that was also the general direction of public opinion online right now. People had pinned all their hopes of defending the honor of the Japan Cup on the two Triple Crown winners. But perhaps because of her back-to-back races, Rudolf had not taken first favorite this time the way she usually did. First favorite had gone to Mr. C.B., followed by a foreign Umamusume named Bedtime, while Rudolf sat in fourth overall and second among the Japanese Umamusume.
"No, Tojo-san. I've seen Katsuragi Ace in training. Based on what I saw from her, she absolutely has the ability to finish that distance. I think it would be a huge mistake to underestimate her. As far as I know, she's very fast."
Recalling what she and Mr. C.B. had seen that day in the park, Kagura spoke her judgment with a serious expression.
"Ojou-sama absolutely has to stay tight on Katsuragi Ace. No matter what, she cannot let Katsuragi Ace open the gap to more than five lengths. Otherwise, ojou-sama may not be able to catch her. That's my opinion."
"I see… understood. Thank you for the advice, Kagura. I'll remind Rudolf to watch out for her too."
Tojo nodded. She trusted Kagura's judgment. Even if she still did not have enough evidence in hand, since Kagura had said so, she would bring it up to Rudolf and tell her to keep an eye out.
...
——Ha, if your honkaku's kicking in now, then your opponents in the next two races are going to have a rough time! What is there to adjust?
I still think it's better not to be overconfident… These are G1 races. It's better to be cautious.
——Well… fine. No need to chicken out at a time like this. Not how I'd do things, but sure, being cautious is fine too.
Paying a little extra attention won't hurt anything anyway!