Did Fumino Nase look down on Wada? To say she didn't at all would indeed be a lie.
As a Trainer who achieved "A+" rank at a young age, a qualification few in Japan even have, she was known and widely acknowledged as the "Genius Trainer of Tracen Academy" back when she was still active. She was very confident in her abilities, so when Maruzensky asked her to mentor a newcomer like Wada and act as his assistant, Fumino Nase was indeed a bit reluctant.
However, Fumino Nase still agreed in the end. On one hand, a request from a senior like Maruzensky was something that was hard to refuse. On the other hand, after seeing this budding team's record and members, she was actually quite interested in this equally young and promising new Trainer, Wada, who already had a Double Crown Uma Musume under him in just his first year.
And seeing Meisho Doto's decent record, she thought that at the very least, Wada wasn't just a dead-weight Trainer who relies on his Uma Musume, right? With this thought, Fumino returned to Tracen Academy, coming to check out Wada as Maruzensky had requested.
Yet, even so, Fumino Nase remained very proud in her own abilities—after all, if her skills weren't enough, why would Maruzensky specifically ask her to teach Wada? With this mindset, Fumino Nase finally met Wada, and upon their first encounter, Fumino immediately made several judgments about Wada.
"He's certainly good-looking. Even considering how most Trainers are quite handsome in their own rights."—This was Fumino Nase's first reaction. Regardless of anything else, in the years Fumino had been a Trainer, she had met all sorts of Trainers, ranging from young ones to experienced ones, passionate ones to lazy ones. But out of all of them, Wada was the one who gave her the best first impression.
"He gets along well with his Uma Musume, and even though they seem to be rivals, they can still get along very well. That's impressive."
Fumino believed that a good Trainer would naturally attract the adoration and respect of their Uma Musume. While having a good Trainer-trainee relationship seems pretty unordinary to most, it was something that is essential to have.
Fumino had seen plenty of Trainers fall out with their Uma Musume due to incompatible personalities. If the Trainer simply decided to mutually dissolve their contracts, they would be considered a responsible Trainer. After all, not everyone is compatible with each other; it would be better for both of them to go on their own separate paths.
The ones she absolutely despised, however, were those types of Trainers who deliberately sabotaged the Uma Musume they disliked, yet prevented them from leaving, ruining the Uma Musume's life for nothing. Fumino had nothing to say to these despicable Trainers; anytime she noticed one, she immediately reported them. Being incompatible is understandable, but Fumino would absolutely not forgive anyone who wasted an Uma Musume's talent and youth over some insignificant pettiness.
Considering this requirement, Wada passed with flying colors in Fumino's book, so her expression softened a bit. However, this was not enough to make her willingly act as Wada's assistant and teacher. Additional assessments were definitely necessary; this was an absolute requirement for Fumino.
"Fumino... Nase? Are you... that famous genius Trainer from a few years ago, Trainer Nase Fumino?!"
Meisho Doto was the first among them to react. She quickly realized that the person in front of her was a former prominent figure at Tracen Academy, and she immediately became nervous, not knowing what to do, only feeling that the situation was unbelievable.
"Come to think of it, I think I've heard that name before..." T.M. Opera O suppressed the strange feeling of displeasure she felt towards Fumino Nase, and after remembering for a good while, she said with some hesitation:
"...Aren't you Super Creek's Trainer, the one who competed against Oguri Cap?"
"Super Creek?"
T.M. Opera O's words made Wada, who was standing nearby, slightly startled. He was quite familiar with this name; after all, Super Creek was one of Oguri Cap's most memorable competitors as well as being known as one of the Heisei Top Three.
No one knew this, but Wada was actually a huge Oguri Cap fan. In fact, a large part of why he was so passionate about the Japanese horse racing scene in the first place was due to this "Idol Horse." Wada's greatest regret in his previous world was not being able to ride Oguri Cap once.
However, after transmigrating, he had seen Oguri Cap in her Uma Musume form quite a lot of times, usually in the cafeteria. What T.M. Opera O and Meisho Doto didn't know was that Wada had even asked Oguri Cap for an autograph. The page with Oguri Cap's signature was carefully coated with a thin film and directly framed by Wada, intending it to be a family heirloom.
Okay, we're getting sidetracked, but the reason Wada was so sensitive to the name Super Creek was not because of Oguri Cap, but because of who Super Creek's Jockey is... I- if his memory didn't fail him, wasn't Super Creek's Jockey Yutaka Take? And this woman named Fumino Nase in front of him... was Super Creek's Trainer?
When his thoughts finally clicked together, Wada, who had transmigrated from an eerily similar world to this one, looked at Fumino Nase with a strange gaze. He slowly absorbed the beautiful, somewhat proud, yet relatively approachable woman in front of him, constantly searching her face for similarities to Yutaka Take in his memory...—But he couldn't find any at all.
Wada couldn't help but recall his first encounter with Yutaka Take, which left a profound impression on him. At that time, Yutaka Take was in his prime, famous at a young age, and at the peak of his career, poised to forge ahead. Wada, however, riding the "dark horse" T.M. Opera O, suddenly emerged; thus arose the many grievances and enmities between the two.
Wada and Yutaka Take's private relationship was also one of the talked-about topics, but for Wada, who was quite an insecure and introverted young man, having entered the big leagues of the JRA solely thanks to T.M. Opera O, having to go up against a young and famous genius like Yutaka Take was undoubtedly incredibly stressful for him.
They were both still young and immature then. Yutaka Take might not have been as handsome as Wada, but that confident and youthful arrogance left a very deep first impression on Wada.
That subtle arrogance might be the only commonality between Yutaka Take and the lady named Fumino Nase in front of him... But at this moment, Wada's eyes simply couldn't connect Fumino Nase in front of him with Yutaka Take.
After all, even if there really was a genderbent version of Yutaka Take in this world... Wada didn't want to be rude, but he didn't think a guy like him could become so good-looking after being feminized.
As Wada thought this, he also felt that his initial idea must be wrong; after all, many things in this world do not align with his previous world, and he immediately breathed a sigh of relief—he wasn't sure how he could get along with Yutaka Take, and as for a genderbent version of him... he dared not even imagine.
"Hello, Miss Fumino Nase. As you seem to already know, I am Wada Ryuji. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Hmm, hello, Trainer Wada. I am already aware of the achievements of your team. And I must say, your group surprised me the most."
Fumino Nase, of course, didn't know the rollercoaster of emotions that had just unfolded in Wada's mind. Having a good first impression of Wada, she naturally stepped forward to shake Wada's hand, showing her goodwill. However, at the very moment their palms touched, a somewhat interjecting voice from the side made them both pause slightly.
"Tsk." For some reason, as soon as T.M. Opera O saw their hands meet, she instinctively clicked her tongue in annoyance. However, she quickly became surprised by her own reaction.
"Don't be surprised. On the contrary, if you didn't do that, I'd think you weren't me."
The floating "T.M. Opera O" uncharacteristically comforted her current self. T.M. Opera O, hearing this, also slightly raised her head and asked with some surprise: "Why? Do you know something?"
"...I'm not completely sure if my guess is correct, but the number of individuals that make me feel like this is few and far in between."
However, "T.M. Opera O" shook her head, not giving a rash conclusion. But the hostility towards Fumino Nase that flowed from her very being at that moment was genuine. There weren't many beings that could make "T.M. Opera O" show hostility, and in her memory, only a few people could make her feel such vitriol.
"T.M. Opera O" naturally also came to the same conclusion as Wada, but, like Wada, she was also doubtful of her own idea.
—How can this woman be Yutaka Take? There's no way in hell that guy would be so good-looking, even if he turned into a woman.
A delusion, this must just be my own delusions. "T.M. Opera O" nodded with conviction, temporarily setting aside this thought.
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What did Yutaka Take even do? My boy is getting flamed so badly
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If you spot any errors, feel free to comment about it and I will fix it as soon as I can.