Chapter 74. Statement on the Plane
After returning home, Shuta An found himself thoroughly interrogated by Oguri.
The gray-haired Uma Musume had caught the faint scent of another woman's perfume lingering on him and stubbornly questioned him about everyone he had met that day. Shuta An did not hide anything, calmly recounting everything Mejiro Ramonu had told him.
"I have a feeling—"
Oguri Cap hesitated.
Her sixth sense was quietly telling her something.
She trusted that intuition absolutely. It had guided her countless times throughout both the Twinkle Series and the Dream Trophy Series, and it had never betrayed her.
"It feels like the Old Madam of the Mejiro Family doesn't have much time left, does she?"
Having already reached the same conclusion while speaking with Mejiro Ramonu, Shuta An calmly finished her sentence.
"That's exactly what I was thinking."
Oguri Cap nodded gently.
"If she were still thinking clearly, she wouldn't keep making decisions like this."
Mejiro Dober had already, through Shuta An's efforts, reduced her relationship with the Mejiro Family to little more than a nominal connection. Yet the Old Madam still wanted Dober to return and contend with Mejiro Ramonu, almost as though she feared the two might actually get along.
Putting herself in the Old Madam's position, Oguri Cap couldn't imagine making such a choice.
"Anyway, that isn't something we need to worry about yet."
Without giving Shuta An another opportunity to continue the topic, Oguri Cap grasped his wrist and gently tugged him closer.
"Ann... don't talk about anything else today. Just pay attention to me."
—
When the clock's hands quietly passed midnight, Shuta An looked down at the gray-haired Uma Musume sleeping peacefully in his embrace and let out a helpless sigh.
"I used to think Dober was the hardest one to handle."
He gently brushed a strand of silver hair away from Oguri Cap's face.
"Now Oguri is far more difficult than Dober."
That was with Silence Suzuka and Berno Light both away from Tokyo.
If those two had also been home today, Shuta An was fairly certain he would have been driven far beyond his limits.
"When I was little, I used to complain about inheriting my mother's physique without becoming an Uma Musume. I always thought that if I'd inherited both, I could have continued her career and challenged the Twinkle Series myself."
The young man smiled bitterly.
"But now... I'm grateful. If it weren't for this body..."
He quickly shook his head, cutting off the thought before it wandered any further.
"Dober's training schedule is almost complete."
His attention naturally shifted back toward work.
"Longchamp Racecourse will be renovating part of the turf next week. Judging from Paris's recent weather, Prix Vermeille Day will most likely be contested on good going."
Although Longchamp was known for retaining considerable moisture beneath the turf, once officially rated as good ground, it still functioned as a speed-oriented course. Naturally, it couldn't compare with pure speed tracks like Tokyo Racecourse, but it was roughly comparable to Sapporo or Hakodate.
—
Upon entering the Dream World, Shuta An slowly opened his eyes.
To his surprise, he wasn't inside a hotel room.
Nor was he sitting in a jockeys' waiting room at a racecourse.
Instead, he found himself comfortably seated inside the first-class cabin of an airplane.
Across from him sat a gloomy Yoshida Katsumi.
"What's going on?"
Momentarily startled, Shuta An searched through the memories that had flowed into his mind before arriving in the Dream World.
His expression immediately froze.
"Mr. Yoshida Zenya is critically ill?"
Everything suddenly made sense.
Although Shuta An believed that the overwhelming majority of his accomplishments had been earned through his own riding ability, he also knew that Yoshida Zenya's decision to bring him to America years earlier had completely changed his destiny.
That opportunity had allowed him to become the second-youngest American Triple Crown-winning jockey in history.
It had established his reputation overseas.
It had earned him recognition throughout Japan.
And it had propelled his career forward at astonishing speed.
Not only that, Yoshida Zenya had also arranged for Oguri Cap—whose prospects as a stud had originally been poor—to reside at Shadai Stallion Station, provided him with outstanding breeding resources, and even made early investments to secure Tokai Teio's future breeding rights.
Without exaggeration, the Yoshida Family had been one of the greatest reasons Shuta An could confidently negotiate with Horse Owner Uchimura Masanori.
In every sense of the word, Yoshida Zenya was Shuta An's greatest benefactor within the Dream World.
"Mr. Yoshida is seventy-two this year..."
Shuta An lowered his eyes.
"I can't call it dying young... but..."
His thoughts became tangled. This wasn't the first time death had crossed his path. But it was the first time he had experienced such a farewell within the Dream World itself.
Seeing Yoshida Katsumi's exhausted expression, Shuta An quietly reached across and patted him on the shoulder.
"It'll be alright. We'll make it in time."
Yoshida Katsumi looked over in surprise before giving a bitter smile.
"Shuta-kun... you don't have to comfort me. I know my father's condition better than anyone. His health has been declining all year. At least, seeing Vega win the Japanese Oaks made him happy."
After a brief pause, Yoshida Katsumi quietly added,
"I think... his greatest regret is that he never lived to see Sunday Silence's offspring truly flourish in Japan."
Shuta An silently engraved those words into his memory.
"The simplest way for them to flourish... would be for one of them to win the Japanese Derby."
He looked directly at Yoshida Katsumi.
"I promise you. Sunday Silence's progeny will achieve results in Japan that astonish everyone. Starting next year, as long as the Shadai Group's Sunday Silence offspring are competitive enough, I'll give them priority whenever I choose my mounts."
If he could personally guide one of Sunday Silence's offspring to victory in the Japanese Derby—
Or perhaps even to the Triple Crown—
Then Shuta An believed he would finally have something worthy to offer at Yoshida Zenya's memorial.
By the time the plane began its descent toward Tokyo, Yoshida Katsumi had spent more than ten hours forcing himself to prepare for what awaited him.
At last, he gathered the courage to speak.
"Shuta-kun."
He looked toward the young man, who had just returned from the lavatory after freshening up.
"If... the Shadai Group undergoes restructuring... ...would you still be willing to remain our principal jockey?"
"That isn't a question you should be asking, Mr. Katsumi."
Shuta An gently shook his head, his tone calm and unwavering.
"Are you planning to stop supporting me?"
Understanding the true meaning behind those words, Yoshida Katsumi finally received the answer he had been seeking.
He lowered his head, hiding the emotions threatening to spill from his eyes.
"Once I secure the resources that belong to me— I'll support you with everything I have."
Shuta An nodded quietly.
"And I'll do everything I can to repay that trust."
After a brief pause, he added softly,
"Because Mr. Zenya truly was my benefactor. And... I still haven't fully repaid everything he did for me."
The moment his father's name was spoken aloud, Yoshida Katsumi slowly turned his face toward the airplane window.
He refused to let someone so much younger see him cry.
Even though he had accepted, long ago, that his father's time was limited—
Now that their final farewell was truly approaching—
Simply hearing Yoshida Zenya's name was enough to make the tears impossible to hold back.
P.S.: Historically, he passed on August 13th. This has been delayed a bit here.