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Chapter Text

Friday, July 28

At the counter of a bistro, a woman was sitting by herself, sighing out loud. Having just bid farewell to her trainee, she came here with an intention to drink away her feelings. 

That was her initial plan; however, things didn’t tend to go as planned. 

This bistro was near Tracen Academy, so the majority of its customers were students who came to hang out over dishes and soft drinks. 

As an adult, she would have no problem requesting a glass of alcohol. However, wouldn’t it be irresponsible if she got intoxicated here? 

A legitimate trainer would avoid making themself looked like a fool, especially in front of the students. 

I should leave this place while my dignity is still intact, she thought.

But before she could leave, a chilled glass of beverage was passed across the counter. 

“This one is for you,” said the bartender. 

“I didn’t order this.” 

“Consider it a gift. I could not ignore the voice of a screeching, sorrowful soul. I would call myself a failure of a bartender if I let even one of my customers walk out of the bistro unfulfilled,” she spoke with pride. 

The bartender was an oddly looking Uma, with an equally odd diction. 

Her crimson colored hair bore a smooth white stripe running down across her bangs. A black eyepatch sat below it, on her right eye. 

She looked young in comparison to other staff. But you couldn’t determine an Uma’s age from their look alone, they didn’t grow the same way humans did.

Her clothes were quite eye-catching too. Notably, she didn’t seem to follow any dress code either.  

She was wearing a long black cardigan on top of a charcoal colored ribbed deep-V tank and dark jeans. Fastening around her waist was a black belt with a silver colored fleur de lis buckle.

Combined with a classic black choker and a hanging belt chain, her aesthetic seemed to be that of a gothic or punk streetwear. 

Perhaps you can call it a visual kei style as well, the woman thought as she began to sip from the glass. 

“Yes! Yes! That is the heart befitting this place! Set aside all orders! Forsake all reasons! Leave them all at the doorstep, for this sanctuary is a hollowed tree where hearts do the talking!  Let the mocktail rinse your sorrows! Hah hahaha ha!” 

She was loud and eccentric although the traits did feel appropriate for this lively bistro. It built an atmosphere. Maybe that was the reason why no customer ever voiced a complaint. 

The lime juice used in the mocktail left a sharp yet refreshing citrusy punch, like that of a lemonade, but fairly more intense.

After savoring the taste of the mocktail for a while, allowing it to ruminate, she put down the glass. 

“This is actually… Bartender, another glass.” 

“There is no ambrosia that Hebe of the Heights could not provide. If it is the beverage you desire, then the beverage you shall be given. Only a fair few are truly out of reach.” 

She was ecstatic by the idea of preparing the drink. The woman just sat there and watched her masterful methodology.

She left no room for rejection, pulling out a stainless steel Boston shaker from the cabinet below. In addition to that, she was holding onto a jiggler, a precision measuring tool for liquid.

“You seem professional, no?” 

“I get complimented for my mastery every so often. It is a given. Whether it is on the track or behind the counter, I will always seek to be my ideal self!”

She slammed down the mixing glass, the part of the Boston shaker. First, she added in ice cubes, then measured the liquid utilizing the jiggler. 

The tool was in the shape of an hourglass although it was asymmetrical. 

The larger part capable of holding 1 oz of liquid was called a jigger, whereas the part which was smaller, only being able to hold 0.5 oz, was a pony. 

A jigger of lime cordial, a jigger of simple syrup, and three jiggers of tonic water—they had been added into the glass in this sequence. Being a mocktail, it bore no trait of actual alcohol. 

The mixing glass was then connected to its larger tin counterpart. The way she shook the tin was delicate. 

Even when her hands were occupied, she still found it appropriate to have a conversation. In a jovial mood, she said, “You are a lightweight, I presumed?” 

“How could you tell?” 

“Aletheia of Pure Truth’s eyes could never be deceived. I can see through the lies, the hidden, the forgotten. Revered truths reveal themselves to me. You look middling, not the type of person who can stand strong alcohol.” 

The Umamusume grinned smugly, tilting her head up with exaggerated confidence. 

“How can you accuse me while you can’t even legally drink yourself?” 

The comment was ignored. She finished mixing the beverage, pouring what she had made into a shallow, broad-bowled stemmed glass.

The Coupe glass emanated elegance.

Then she garnished the edge of the glass with a slice of lime. It was ready to be served. 

“My anticipated customer, rejoice as this cacophony of savors and sensations overwhelms you. Before you is a ceremonial cup. I bid you a toast. Welcome to this world of fantasies and wonders!” 

A glass of virgin gimlet waited. 

Chapter Text

Saturday, July 29

Tanino Gimlet was on the track, wearing a red jumpsuit provided to her by Tracen Academy.

Umamusumes were born to run. More profound than instincts, it was fate and causality that put them on the racetracks.

Built on the goodwill to guide its students toward glory, Tracen Academy understood what it actually meant to be an Umamusume.

That earnest understanding was why the Academy-owned racetracks were opened even on weekends.

Today’s weather was the best it could be.

“Hah hahaha ha! I can sense it, truly feel it! Steward Aiolos’ kindness blesses all that he can feel, and Radiant Helios’ awakening graces all that he can see! This is the prime time to train!”

Gimlet entered the turf track making as an imitation of the classic. She didn’t do any warm-up beforehand, seeing it as slow and unnecessary.

Before creation, destruction came. Being fearful of pain and being fearful of growth were one in the same, because what were muscles if not biological blades forged from pain?

The more she could maximize the pain, the more she would grow. Rhymes and reasons were secondary to what the heart said. That was the life Tanino Gimlet led.

Upcoming was her fruit of labor, what she felt proud of. She was standing at the starting line. Umamusumes and trainers alike were focusing on her. Naturally, the audience would fall silent when the main performer arrived.

She took a deep breath and sped out.

Every step felt electric; each weighed with conviction. At first, she wasn’t impressively fast, but it was clearly a strategy to preserve energy. Even so, it was respectable.

She ran without an intention to stop, as if her life depended on it.

All eyes are on me. Quite a showoff, am I not? It is fine. What is the point of performing for an empty hall? A performer needs an audience! Lo and behold, the keravnos in the flesh!

Gimlet laughed hectically as she sped up even more. At the last spurt, her speed reached an absurd level. Gimlet felt jovial in the heart as she went past the finish line. This pure joy of running without worries meant a lot for an Umamusume.

Her legs were frantically trembling, but it wasn’t enough to deter her. “This is what is right! The pain! The destruction! They sing a gory song so sweetly! Feast, O carnage! Kill me! If not, I will only become stronger! Hah hahaha ha!”

She talked to herself, unashamed. Gimlet bid no mind to what those around her might think. She would not let anyone dictate her aesthetic.

“That speed is something else,” a nearby trainer commented, “and to think she is the one without a dedicated trainer.”

Another trainer added, “She still hasn’t run in a debut race either. I wonder what she is waiting for? She would have dominated the races by now.”

Tanino Gimlet had potential. Any trainers worth their salt would see it.

.

.

.

On a nearby uphill, a man and a woman were observing Gimlet through binoculars.

“What do you think?”

In response, the woman looked down at the stopwatch. It had seen better days, but at least it was still functional.

“Two minutes and twenty seconds. That’s not bad at all. Exceptional even,” she said.

“Are you interested, Kunihide-san?”

Kunihide had run into the girl yesterday at the bistro, and interest was an understatement. Be it her eccentricity or boastfulness, Gimlet had the raw talent to back them up, and it showed.

“It is only natural for me to take interest in that kind of talent. She doesn’t have a trainer yet, right?”

Her colleague nodded affirmatively. “Tanino Gimlet’s potential is recognized, yet she turned down every invitation coming her way. She is very forward about not wanting a trainer.”

Gimlet had been training alone by herself since she was in middle school. Unorthodox, but not unheard of in Tracen Academy.

Kunihide viewed her stopwatch again. Her face was frowning, analyzing, as all good trainers tended to do.

“Her overall finish time is outstanding; that is true. But what really amazed me is the speed of her last stretch.”

Despite being a diamond in the rough, she might be able to give well-trained Umamusumes a run for their money.

“Do you think she has what it takes to be that?” Kunihide questioned her fellow trainer.

“What are you talking about?”

“A Derby winner,” she replied, lacking all kinds of hesitancy.

Her colleague stood there. His silence was louder than any words.

Becoming a Derby winner was a lofty goal. Gimlet had absurd potential; however, she was like a jagged diamond in a jewelry store. In this unpolished state, even her raw talent would fall flat against the competitors.

“You don’t believe that she can do it?”

“With that excellent speed and strength, she will dominate open races without a doubt. But a graded race, especially the G1 Japanese Derby, is a different kind of beast.”

Kunihide shoved the stopwatch down her pocket. Smirking, she said, “That is if she remains untrained. With the right trainer, she will shine like no one else. If she is a jagged diamond, then I will be a lapidary. I will polish her for the whole world to admire.”

“Birds of feathers do flock together, eh?” her colleague said, amused. “Well, you have to find something to do after Kurofune retires, so I can’t blame you for scouting.”

“Right?”

“But aren’t you a tad bit greedy?” the man asked playfully. “Are two G1 wins not enough?”

“Kurofune has done a great job acquiring the NHK Mile Cup and Japanese Dirt Cup wins. But alas, the Derby victory escaped me.”

Kunihide didn’t blame her trainee for that. Frankly, the competitors of this year’s Derby were hard to topple. Jungle Pocket deserved her win. Dantsu Flame, Dancing Color, and Born King were challenges for Kurofune as well.

Kurofune did her best, and that was what was important. If one could smile in the face of defeat, they were strong. Nonetheless, the girl had happily retired with six wins, two of those being G1. It was, without a doubt, a successful race career.

But there was no rest for the wicked. For as long as she still worked as a trainer, Kunihide would continue to seek after the white whale—the Tokyo Yushun.

Kunihide wanted Gimlet as her trainee, but there was a high chance of being rejected. Even so, she felt no hesitancy.

There was nothing to be ashamed of if she was turned down. Tried and failed had more value than never taking a chance at all.

Anguish plagued only hesitant hearts.

If one’s heart was overwhelmed with fear, ambitions and dreams would never blossom. In order to be at the top, one must kill their fear of being at the bottom.

.

.

.

“I have to be faster, better, and stronger!” Gimlet made a comment about herself. She had no trainer to call her own, so she had grown accustomed to self-asserting her capabilities, finding her own flaws and solving them accordingly.

Despite the incredible surge of speed she had tapped into, it was not enough.

“I am still a far cry from the incontestable, infallible keravnos.” The thunderbolt on the track, that was what she strived to become.

She was in her training-oriented state of mind, and it would be nigh impossible to pull her out once she entered this world of fantasies.

“No time to rest! Steel must be hit when it is still hot!” Gimlet assumed her stance, ready to give the track another round.

“Shatter—”

“Oi, young lady, can we talk?”

“Eh?” Gimlet tripped and fell face first to the ground.

Umamusumes were durable, so it didn’t harm her. However, she was feeling grumpy that her concentration got interrupted.

She balanced herself up gracefully as if she didn’t just fall in the most embarrassing way. Gimlet swept away the dirt and giggled—maybe in a poor attempt to save face.

“Interrupting my incantation, you are such a daring one. How brave. How bold. A soul worthy of a commendation.”

From her choice of words, it seemed like she was discontent because her rhythm had been messed with. Even so, Gimlet still carried herself with grace.

“Hmm,” she hummed. “We have met before, have we not? That was at the bistro yesterday, no? I am familiar with your face, a lost lamb wandering into my realm.”

“I’m also a trainer of Tracen Academy, and I want you to be my trainee—”

“I refuse,” Gimlet answered curtly. “I hold no personal grudge against you, lost lamb. You are neither the first or the last I will turn down. No, it is not enough. You are not enough.”

“Not enough? What does that mean?”

“To say more is to engage in redundancy.”

No one had managed to convince Gimlet to join their side, and Kunihide wasn’t an exception. She got turned down with utter brutality.

“Excuse me then, Madam, more training awaits me. I could waste my time no longer.”

Then she began to walk away, dismissing Kunihide’s presence altogether.

Having gone through this process before, Gimlet acted nonchalantly. For her, it was all business as usual.

Kunihide, however, couldn’t fathom that girl’s grit.

“You don’t have a trainer and also don’t have a plan to debut, so what are you training for, Gimlet? You have determination, conviction, and ambition in every step you take. It cannot be your passion alone, right?”

Gimlet stopped abruptly in her tracks.

She quickly turned around with a smug smile plastering on her face. “Are you interested in my story then?”

“You can say that…”

“There is no shame in admitting what is already obvious. I am a fascinating individual. It is only natural for you to get intoxicated,” she said smugly. “If you want to learn about an odyssey in the making, you know the place to be. If you have the bravery to confront me, show up. I will make a reservation.”

She left those words behind for Kunihide before returning to her training.

Kunihide had come to an understanding that it might be impossible to recruit Gimlet, yet she wouldn’t mind listening to her story. There wasn’t anything better for her to do anyway since she had no active trainee.

She would love to polish Gimlet into an awe-inspiring diamond, but that goal seemed to be out of reach.

.

.

.

On the evening of the same day, Kunihide entered the bistro.

The customers were just a few, which she preferred. Kunihide easily spotted the person she was looking for at the counter.

She was wearing the same black casual outfit as yesterday and sipping on a Martini glass, seemingly drinking some kind of beverage.

But isn’t she too young for that?

Gimlet wasn’t a bartender today; instead, the owner herself was behind the counter.

“Good evening, Tanino Gimlet,” Kunihide greeted.

Turning around, Gimlet eyed the woman and nodded with satisfaction.

“And here she comes, wandering back into the place of fateful encounters. How perplexing. This is a crucial stage; other trainers who used to extend me an invitation fail to show up. There is no point in listening to someone who will not be their protégé, perhaps that’s what they thought.”

Gimlet took an elegant sip, although it felt like a forced dignity. Her mannerism was likened to that of a stage performer rather than her authentic self.

“People are short-sighted sometimes.”

Gimlet looked like she was having a lot of fun. There shouldn’t be any problem; however, one aspect of the setting made Kunihide feel conflicted.

“Ah, so refreshing!” Gimlet placed down the empty glass, letting out a satisfied noise. “This sinful, burning sensation, so grand—so powerful! O the looming threat of self-destruction! More for me, Owner.”

“Understood,” the owner, Madam Hosoe, replied. “You know what you want, right?”

While the owner was fetching something from the cabinet, Gimlet glared behind. “What are you waiting for?” She gestured to the empty seat beside her. “Join me.”

That was a cocktail, right? Kunihide was pondering how she should react to this callous display of child intoxication.

While she was contemplating the right words, the owner came back with an excessively large bottle of… sports drink?

“Here you go.”

Ah, I have been fooled. Who in their right mind sips a sports drink from a Martini glass? I want to say that it’s theatrical to a fault, but that’s basically everything about her.

It seemed like there was nothing to worry about. Kunihide breathed a sigh of relief.

“You have worries. Is it concerning this?” Holding the glass by its stem, Gimlet shook it tauntingly. “Are you worried about me, perhaps?”

“I thought for a second that I’d stumbled upon something illegal,” Kunihide commented.

Gimlet giggled. “Worry not. I know better than to flirt with sins. The night is too young for a gimlet, you could say. Hehe.”

Gimlet acknowledged her own age, which was a good thing to know about.

“Only people who are prepared to pay for it can be destructive. That is my motto.”

“Right… So, what is your story—”

“Shhhh!” Gimlet hushed her down. “How unsophisticated of you, Madam. You cannot talk of a topic so personal without a beverage in hand. It is the custom, the law of the place!”

“My bad...” Catering to Gimlet’s demand, Kunihide ordered a beverage. “Owner, can I have a drink? Anything would be fine.”

The owner nodded, fetched a shaker and a jiggler, and put them on the counter.

“She is your guest, so you should prepare her a drink,” the owner said to Gimlet.

This was supposed to be her day off, but just a glass wouldn’t hurt. “Indeed, it is me who invited her. For the lamb that is you, I will make a mocktail. I do not want a lightweight to get wasted before we get to the best part.”

She filled the mixing glass with ice, then added in one oz each of lime cordial and simple syrup. She shook the mixing glass and strained the drink into a chilled glass, then topped it with sparkling water. Lastly, Gimlet garnished the cup’s edge with a lime wheel.

“A sparkling gimlet, for you especially.” Gimlet placed the mocktail in front of Kunihide, which the trainer gladly accepted.

The Umamusume returned to her seat.

After taking a sip of her sports drink, she said energetically, “The stage has been set.”

Kunihide drank the glass of sparkling gimlet in one go and spoke up, “I’ll go first. Why don’t you want to be anyone’s trainee?”

“Going straight to the point, aren’t we? To live in a constant state of mindfulness is to live a worthwhile life.”

The transition was fairly evident as she assumed a more earnest expression.

“An Umamusume’s career rests upon the shoulders of their trainer, right? Demanding the best for yourself is not selfishness.”

Gimlet was correct. Being picky with who she wanted to train under wasn’t a sign of vanity or anything bad. That was just common sense.

“Strong-willed people are difficult to find. Most trainers cease resistance as soon as I turn them down. People do not work hard for the Golden Fleece anymore.”

“So you prefer a persistent trainer?”

“Hah hahaha ha! Indeed! Indeed! I have an intoxicating presence! Only the contemporary Chiron could train me! The weak-willed will only be ushered around, unable to fulfill their chosen role!”

Gimlet’s idea of a picture-perfect trainer was the person who could bask in her presence without getting intoxicated.

“I concisely rejected your invitation, and yet you still showed up. Your stubbornness, your refusal to back down, I commend you for that.”

Gimlet felt bemused by Kunihide.

Even if she is not that good of a trainer, I can destroy her and rebuild anew, Gimlet thought.

Stubbornness was the quality that Gimlet prioritized the most, as it was a trait difficult to duplicate.

Kunihide continued, “Here is another question. Why haven’t you run a debut race? If my research is right, you are the only one from your generation who haven’t. Your contemporaries—No Reason, Tap Dance City, and Telegnosis—have been making waves. What’s up with that?”

Gimlet’s competency on the tracks was undeniable, which only made it more confusing that she hadn’t put that speed to good use.

“Perhaps my intention is too ambiguous? One cannot march to Nemea without preparation, let alone going straight to Hades. I want my own story, my odyssey, to be one of unblemished glory. I do not want to taste defeat, not even once. It shall be a tale worth retelling!” 

Chapter Text

Sunday, July 30

“My methodology is flawed. She said that, huh?” Gimlet was lying on the bed, mumbling to herself. That trainer left an impression although it wasn’t necessarily a good one. “I will not accept it! How dare she doubt my grand ambition!”

She rolled erratically on the bed, making creaking noises. The audio hazards wouldn’t be a problem if she lived by herself. However, this was a dormitory. Sharing a room was a standard.

This room, which was part of the Ritto dorm, was shared between her and the fearsome student council vice president.

She was a sensible person, and just like anyone else, she didn’t exactly feel appreciative of the commotions.

“Seriously? Throwing a tantrum this early in the morning? What is it with you?”

Her roommate, a black-haired girl by the name of Narita Brian, rose from the bed, looking displeased.

The reason behind this displeasure was apparent. Because Gimlet kept mumbling and kicking throughout the night, Brian couldn’t get enough sleep as a result.

She had made peace with herself back when she first knew that her roommate would be Tanino Gimlet. Gimlet wasn’t a bad person by any means, but her eccentricity could get out of hand from time to time.

She occasionally practiced her signature laughter at night, but that was nothing when put next to the insanity that was last night.

Brian eyed Gimlet’s half of the room. That girl was usually a neat person, but today it was a mess. Her pillow was kicked to the foot of the bed, and the blanket came pooling down on the floor.

Meanwhile, Gimlet herself was sprawling on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

“You sounded like a possessed woman, do you know that?” Brian commented.

She was fine with forgiving Gimlet for her antics since today was Sunday. If she caused this trouble during weekdays, then Brian would have taken the problem with it for real.

But since that wasn’t the case here, she felt generous enough to let bygone be bygone as long as Gimlet explained herself.

“Hey, are you even listening to me?”

Out of the blue, Gimlet leaped out of her bed, her face now just a few inches from Brian’s. She shouted with a strange sense of commitment, “Brian, I challenge you to a duel—a mock race!”

“Um, no? Seriously, what has gotten into you? You act strange—stranger than usual.”

“That isn’t important! My fruit of labor, I want to prove it against you! Is my years of rigorous training bearing any result, or is it for naught? I want to know!”

“You do realize that I am Narita Brian, right? THE Narita Brian.”

“Yeah, and?”

Narita Brian was well-accomplished in her achievements: 12 victories, 3 seconds, and 1 thirds. She had those under her belt, whereas Gimlet had none.

Gimlet had dedicated her years in Tracen Academy to training and nothing else. She had never participated in any races, and yet she held a firm belief that she could win against Brian.

“Whatever. It will be a good warm-up for me.” Knowing that rejecting Gimlet was nothing more than trying to avoid the inevitable, Brian accepted it.

“Cool your head before meeting me at the track. I won’t hold back even if it’s just a mock race.”

“That is my expectation! There would be no glory in beating you if you do not go all-out,” Gimlet said as if a victory was certain.

Brian didn’t talk back as she saw the act of bantering to be a waste of valuable time. Actions spoke louder than words anyway, so she would let the result of the challenge talk on her behalf.

Half an hour later, the two met again at the running track, each wearing the Tracen jumpsuit.

Narita Brian started stretching her body in preparation for a heavy exercise. In the middle of her warm-up, she noticed Gimlet standing still, allowing gusts of wind to run past her.

“What are you doing? Trying to get a cramp or something?”

“Maximizing the pain, that is what I plan. What does not kill me only makes me stronger!”

Gimlet had a fondness for anguish. “As I challenge the river of pain Acheron, I shall emerge with great excellence!”

“In that case, you do you.”

The two situated themselves at the beginning of the track. “I will count down, got it?”

“Got it,” Gimlet replied.

When Brian finished counting down, the race began. Gimlet led off with a strong start, going straight at a steady pace along the fence.

This is good. Even if I have to preserve my stamina for the last spurt, my speed is still enough to get me ahead of her!

She consistently maintained the distance of two lengths ahead of her competitor.

The distance remained that way until they made it to the final corner.

Here it comes! The last spurt! I can ramp up my speed now!

She had been preserving her stamina for this exact moment. “Haaa—!” Gimlet picked up speed, running by leaps and bounds. Her current speed was even greater than the one observed in yesterday’s training.

This was Gimlet’s full strength, yet it still wasn’t enough.

“Get out of my way!!”

“Huh?”

Narita Brian swept past Gimlet while the goal was just a half-length in front of her. This practice had ended in Brian’s victory.

“There, we raced. Are you satisfied—”

“No!” Gimlet shouted back. “Again! We will repeat the race!”

Gimlet challenged her over and over, but the result hadn’t changed. It couldn’t be changed.

With the speed to win the Satsuki Sho, the strength for Kikuka Sho, and the luck for the Tokyo Yushun—Narita Brian’s dominance on the racetracks was irrefusable.

She was the ultimate winner, the Triple Crown of the same caliber as Mr. C.B. and Symboli Rudolf.

I could not win. It is impossible.

When Gimlet came to that realization, the sun was beginning to set. They had spent the entire day racing, and Gimlet had lost all of them.

She was out of breath while Brian stayed stoic. It didn’t seem to take a toll on her, at least not to the same amount as Gimlet.

“I see. So this is the difference between me and the renowned, huh? The zenith of Elbrus Mountain. So far away.”

“Inarguable talent, but it will be pointless if you lack the experience,” said Narita Brian.

Gimlet looked down at her trembling legs as her mind was digesting the words.

As someone who had only seen the races via television and sometimes in a stadium, she had thought that the level she was at was enough.

“Are there people stronger than you in the competition?”

“Hardly any,” Narita Brian replied. “Other than the Emperor, I can’t imagine anyone faster or stronger than me. However, I can tell that you aren’t built for competition, at least not like this.”

Rather than feeling disencouraged, Gimlet laughed. “Hah hahaha ha!! Hah hahaha ha!! Is that so? How marvelous! I am getting excited! This tale of mine, this untold odyssey, will be meaningless without obstacles!”

For her, it was a wonderful revelation.

Noticing that Gimlet had begun to drift into the fantasy once again, Brian thought that she should retreat before she got dragged into something she barely understood. “I will go back to the dorm first. Don’t stay out late. You still have classes to attend to.”

“Ah, right, I am bound by duty.”

Gimlet was left alone on the racetrack—a moment of silence to contemplate. Staring out to the beautiful sunset, she had come to realize.

Even the mighty sun comes down. I was too focused on my beginning. Why am I afraid of defeat? Amour propre, perhaps. Utterly insightful! This is not an odyssey, but its antithesis!

Her ideal odyssey had been twisted. Triumph only had meaning when there was a peril to match. If Odysseus sailed past Scylla and Charybdis without facing any dilemma, then the tale of the great voyage wouldn’t hit as hard as it was supposed to.

To face problems and overcome them despite knowing well that they could have ended in tragedies, that was the very essence of the grand tale of Odyssey. Her next move was crystal clear.

“Fated to be, indeed.”

Monday, July 31

While Gimlet attended her class as usual, her mind focused on another discipline entirely. She spent the entire class session writing a letter.

Since this letter was meant for that trainer, Gimlet wouldn’t accept anything less than perfection.

“Gimlet-dono, do you want to go—”

“Not today, No Reason! I have something vastly important to take care of!”

Gimlet jumped off of her seat as soon as the class ended, confusing her classmates in the process.

“Fuh. What is with the hurry? It isn’t like she has a vassal that is hers.”

Gimlet heeded No Reason’s words no mind as she set her eyes on one objective. Clutching onto the letter, she kept on running.

Kunihide was in her office. She was alone as other trainers went out for lunch and was going through recorded races. One must treat the past as books to learn from, after all.

“After the No.4 corner, the final straight! Le Zele has come out! Le Zele has come out! And Kurofune pushes up from the center of the racecourse! And, further outside, Jungle Pocket!”

The commentary was buried under the audience’s cheers. It was a proof of anticipation, if anything.

“Jungle Pocket! Jungle Pocket! Kurofune is, Kurofune cannot push up! Jungle Pocket, Dantsu Flame! From the in-course, Dancing Color pushes up as well! But at the lead is Jungle!”

“It’s Jungle! Jungle Pocket! Dantsu Flame! Dantsu Flame in the second! And behind that, Born King pursues up!”

“2 minutes and 27 seconds! The winner is Jungle Pocket! The second is Dantsu Flame! The one to mark the beginning of a new era—is Jungle Pocket!!”

“Well, that’s ferocious—” She got spooked as soon as she lifted her eyes from the screen. She was too focused on the recorded race and became unaware of the situation around her.

“Since when have you been there?!”

Gimlet was standing in front of her desk, having been waiting this whole time. She glanced down at the screen and smiled enigmatically.

“Umm, how can I help you?”

Gimlet didn’t answer, though. She placed a piece of paper down on the desk. She then pulled out a shattered piece of white-painted wood, assumingly came from a broken fence.

She stabbed the scaringly sharp plank on the desk, pinning the paper down.

Gimlet turned around, giving Kunihide a handwave signaling goodbye without uttering a single word.

“Hey, hey! Wait a minute!” Kunihide tried to stop her, but she was gone too soon.

Taking a deep breath, she worryingly took a glance at the letter. With that kind of delivery, it felt as if she had been visited by a yakuza.

That Uma is too carefree!

With a bit of hesitation, she reached out for the letter and read it. Some portions had been blacked out, implying that Gimlet had been rewriting it for a while.

She seemed to have trouble coming up with the right words, so she just conveyed it in the most straightforward way possible.

Writing boldly on the letter was a phrase: 俺の前に来い！

“Come before me?” Reading the text, she was understandably confused. This sounded like a challenge of sorts. “What is she trying to say?”

Well, there was only one way to find out.

Following the instruction, Kunihide came to the same bistro once again. This was the only place where she and Gimlet could talk.

She had an idea of what this could be, but she wouldn’t keep her hope high.

Obviously, there was no direct benefit in playing along with Gimlet’s shenanigan. She only did it out of fondness for the girl.

The bistro was almost empty. Gimlet was cleaning cocktail glasses while she was waiting at the counter. It was so silent that even the sounds of footsteps could be heard clearly.

“I’ve come as you invited.”

“Good. Good.” Gimlet smiled, content with her arrival.

Her ears twitched a little, and her tail also made a jovial movement as well. She gestured to the seat at the counter, inviting Kunihide.

Kunihide sat down, looking intently at the troublesome Umamusume.

Since the sudden visit this afternoon, she couldn’t focus on her work at all. She had been thinking about Gimlet’s intention the whole day, whereas the troublemaker didn’t experience any of this. Kunihide felt somewhat bitter.

With her hands on the counter, Kunihide began her complaint. “First of all, what were you doing?”

Gimlet laughed. “Oh? Do you not love my entrance? Mysterious, dramatic, and masterfully pulled off, a performance that would captivate the whole crowd!”

“I thought it was a threat!”

“It looks like you are not in touch with the artistic side of your soul, Trainer.”

Gimlet fetched a shaker from under the counter. Not one that belonged to the bar, but her personal shaker. For her customer, the only one she would attend today, she had a specific drink in mind.

She added in the ingredients: lemon juice, Rose’s lime juice, and gin.

“But you know what? That is fine too. We all have a flaw that isn’t a fault of our own. Some of us are not even aware of it until it comes falling down,” said Gimlet. “I understand mine, though. I have been enlightened.”

“Enlightened...?”

“I am referring to my circumstance. Many have told me about my potential, yet you are the first to call it bittersweet.”

Gimlet told Kunihide about the races she had had with Narita Brian.

“Narita Brian? You mean the Triple Crown winner? That Narita Brian?”

“Yes. Her eyes locked onto the finish line as if she was Atalanta hunting for the Cyladonian Boar. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, Brian is stronger than me, so much stronger.”

Gimlet accepted her defeats with grace. It would be a ladder to her success. Until now, she had been afraid of being defeated, of being seen as incompetent in front of the audience. That was why she had decided to postpone her debut.

“I have always dreamt of a perfect score, you know? Like Kincsem and Eclipse before me,” she said, “But oh so naïve is me. I can train all I want; however, I would never beat anyone with this lackluster experience.”

The best knowledge to possess was the knowledge that you knew nothing. One couldn’t learn to be better unless they acknowledged that there was more to learn. That was Socrates.

Gimlet was still too young to accomplish great things by herself. That was what the trainer was for.

And despite rejecting every invitation coming her way, she didn’t hate the idea of having a trainer to call her own. She just couldn’t find the one that could shoulder the burden.

“I plan to debut. And to do so, I will need a trainer’s approval.”

“A trainer… Wait, does that mean—?!”

“Indeed.” The drink was shaken well over ice cubes in a shaker and strained into a chilled Coupe glass. She poured it with a smug face. “From now on we are a pair. I am Achilles, and you would be my Chiron. How does that sound?”

Kunihide looked down at the drink being offered. Unlike the two virgin gimlets she had drunk before, this was a real deal. Not a mocktail, but a true cocktail.

She didn’t answer with a word, but with an action. She picked up the glass and drank down its content in one go.

It was a deviation from the non-alcoholic gimlets as it had a herbal, botanic flavor due to the gin. Additionally, the freshly squeezed lemon juice made the drink bright and tangy.

Kunihide looked at the surprised Gimlet. “Is that enough of an answer?”

“Indeed! Indeed! Hah hahaha ha!! You are speaking my language! Glad to have you at Argo’s helm!”

What she had made for her now trainer was a specific variant—a Schumann’s gimlet.

The name Charles Schumann carried weights in this circle. Accepting the beverage was equal to accepting the role of a mentor.

Gimlet was ecstatic, and she tended to be loud when she felt this way. “Even when the path has lost its way, even when the sun forgets the day, you would trace your footsteps on with me, right? Trainer, we are wed to one eternity, so let’s march toward it together!”

Chapter Text

Tuesday, August 1

Gimlet woke up in her room with a feeling that was new—contentment. She had spent years being unassigned, but at last, she had acquired a trainer to call hers. Having someone to share the burden of this odyssey, Gimlet felt as if a boulder had been lifted from her chest.

She took a shower and dried herself up, at all times humming a sweet, melodious tune. Not a lot of people knew, but she had a naturally sweet voice although it usually got buried under layers of boldness befitting her aesthetic.

At a vanity table, she was gently brushing her hair and tail, taking good care of them. Gimlet was extreme when it came to aesthetics. She had no problem sitting in the same spot for hours just to attain what she deemed to be perfection.

Perfection was a vague term. There wasn’t a rule nor criteria for what perfection looked like. Perfection was what the heart resonated with the most. Today, though, was a good day; she attained her vision of perfection in less than ten minutes.

Gimlet smiled at her reflection.

She thought of herself as presentable, but she could do more than just looking decent. Fine feathers made fine birds, after all. Gimlet had two accessories. These worked exceptionally well with her aesthetics; it brought out her charm to the fullest.

First was an ear ornament in the shape of a lime wheel garnish. It was a gift from when she was young, given to her by her father. Its golden color complimented the teal color of her inner ears quite well.

Father knew best, didn’t he?

The second piece was as important. It was a black eyepatch. Impractical? Yes. But for Tanino Gimlet, aesthetics conquered all. She would never abandon her aesthetics for something as trivial as practicality.

She also had a choker, a ring, and a hand chain, but clearly those didn’t blend well with the school uniform.

Gimlet struck poses in front of the mirror, admiring her stellar aesthetic.

Then she left the vanity table and drew a curtain, allowing faint white light to piece into the room. The light was too dim to originate from the sun; instead, it was from a street lamp outside.

The sun hadn’t risen yet; it was very early in the morning.

“Good omen could be found in abundance today, it seems. The beginning of a new month. A prologue to my own odyssey! Hah hahaha ha!” She was joyful as today marked the new status quo.

Gimlet was a trainee, and she was looking forward to this evening. Gimlet and Kunihide had made an arrangement, and the discussion would likely be about her training.

But before that, she had to go through the classes first. Gimlet wasn’t the most attentive, so it would be tedious.

“I hope interesting things happen today,” Gimlet mumbled wishfully. Unbeknownst to her, fate was about to give her more than what she was asking for.

“I will leave now. See you around.” Gimlet took her handbag, waved Brian who was still in bed a goodbye, and left for school.

Brian had been woken up by Gimlet—her laughter, to be specific. Her hand reached out for the phone on the nightstand. It was half past five. Too early to be out of bed, let alone being in a full uniform.

“She is livelier than usual, isn’t she? Good for her. Good for her.” Brian hadn’t seen Gimlet this productive in years. Maybe the races worked a lot better than she had anticipated.

Moreover, Gimlet hadn’t caused a ruckus last night, so Brian assumed that she made peace with whatever problem she had.

Life seemingly returned to the status quo, if not better than before. Brian pulled the blanket up, covering her head and drifting back to sleep. A decent sleep at last.

There are still a couple hours left before the homeroom. I might as well go there.

Gimlet threw her phone into the handbag. Today was brimming with good omen. Beautifully, the sky was transitioning into a new day, flaring blue, pink, and orange. The weather wasn’t too hot nor too cold—a perfect condition to train on a turf track.

Gimlet loved running, and with this much time left, she would’ve done so if it wasn’t for her stiff body. It turned out that running close to 50 laps on a classic track without any warm-up could take a huge toll on the body.

Well, that only meant her body would be a lot stronger when it was finally rebuilt.

Nevertheless, she arrived at the tracks. Just because she couldn’t run for now didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate this place.

The scent of grass, the touch of wind, and the sensation of turf—these factors accumulated into a tranquility unlike others. She liked to come here to hang out, especially when the tracks were vacant like this.

She took a stroll around a medium track, simply walking on the turf to ease her mind.

Umamusumes were born with an instinct to run, so activities such as pacing and sprinting induced them with relaxation. She felt the same way, enjoying this soothing recreation.

Gimlet indulged in her interest as she was pacing on the track. It was about fences. She liked fences. To be clear, she liked to kick fences, taking great pride in her legs that could kick any fence to smithereens.

I yearn for destruction... But I must not... I must resist this sinful temptation..

Gimlet’s need to express her artistic side was contained, but only barely. Destruction was her chosen art form, yet this interest was largely frowned upon. Just yesterday, she got scolded by Tazuna for kicking the fence and used its remains as a gift for Kunihide.

She would get in trouble if she got caught doing it again. That was why she tried to keep the temptation in place. But alas, even she had a limit.

“What kind of artist leaves their canvas a blank page! None! Behold, the destruction of the known rules!” Gimlet raised her left leg and threw out a terrifyingly strong kick.

The wooden fence was reduced to broken pieces of wood, as expected from someone of her strength. A sensation, fulfillment, surged through her body.

“Hah hahaha ha!” She laughed. Her voice was horrifying, but to some people, it might also sound endearing. “Nothing else in the world feels as refreshing as this!” Gimlet was on a destruction spree, kicking and stomping fences to her heart’s content.

It was natural that the destruction she left in her wake would attract unwanted attention.

“You there...”

“Eh?” Gimlet flinched, and her movement halted. Realizing she had been caught, she turned around to face the voice that had snuck up behind her.

She thought it was Tazuna, but instead it was somebody else, someone who seemed to be in the same age range as Gimlet herself.

A fellow student. I suppose this is much more manageable than other possibilities.

She was an Umamusume like Gimlet, but had certain rare traits. Her skin tone was warm. Her dark, mauve brown hair was tied neatly at the crown with two sleeks of hair flowing down.

The eyes were the most striking feature of hers. They were blue, like that of a calm sea. At the same time, these aquamarine-esque eyes were cold, focused, and void of visible emotion.

She had a scary air around her, but Gimlet didn’t feel overwhelmed by it.

I have to admit that her aesthetic is cool.

Gimlet admired the coolness she exuded.

“H-How can I help you?” Gimlet stumbled through her words a bit, but the cause wasn’t the other Umamusume’s intimidating look.

“I heard loud noises from here... So I came to check... I was worried there might be injuries... But that doesn’t seem to be the case...” She looked at the fences, which were all in a sorry state, and asked furthermore, “You did that...?”

Gimlet crossed her arms and huffed, proud of her handiwork—her art. “Why yes. What do you think? I did a fantastic job, did I not? It is a beautifully abysmal ruin. One might mistake it for Night-born Moros’s craft! Hah hahaha ha!”

“You have a small frame, yet those legs are quite powerful...” she replied straightforwardly. As she spoke, her eyes were assessing Gimlet. It was her legs that got the most attention.

She was aware she was getting analyzed. Those focused blue eyes were a huge giveaway.

“If possible, could you not ogle me? I am capable of feeling embarrassed too,” Gimlet said playfully. “But it is fine if you choose to linger. You are gazing upon the contemporary Achilles. Ideal form and intoxicating presence. Lo and behold the glorious form blessed by Athena!”

She was being witty and full of herself as usual; however, her words had a consequence this time. Hubris always backfired.

“Excuse me then...”

“Wait, what—ahh!” She gasped as the Uma crouched down and grabbed her left leg firmly. It was an inspection. “What are you doing?!”

“You said that I could...”

“I was joking!” Clearly flustered, Gimlet stomped the ground to get the Uma off of her.

Should this be considered harassment?

Hmm, I did tell her to lo and behold, and she did just that. It is partially my fault then.

Since the two were both girls, the incident was easily forgiven.

“I apologize...” She was just like a scolded puppy despite her formidable exterior, and Gimlet didn’t think she could be mad at that face.

Gimlet shrugged. “You look quite gullible. But honesty is to be celebrated, not radiculed. I like your straightforwardness. Your name?”

“Symboli Kris S... A new student...”

“That explains so much. Are you perhaps a transfer student as well?” Kris S’s Japanese was ineloquent, and she used English words to replace Japanese words from time to time.

It is rather endearing.

“Mmm.” Kris S nodded. “From America...”

“Nice to meet you then, Kris S. The name is Tanino Gimlet, the one who they call the Dark Lord of Versailles.”

Although she was void of emotion, it was clear that Kris S was confused.

“Nice to meet you...” Kris S extended her hand for a handshake before recalling something and pulling back abruptly. “I’ll be in your care...” she changed to bowing her head slightly instead.

“I would love to give you a tour, but I am afraid that I am occupied.” She pointed to the row of fences she had kicked down.

Kris S tilted her head to the left, not really understood what Gimlet meant.

“What are you going to do...? Cleaning...?”

“Creation!” she replied and brought out a hammer. Gimlet always had hammers and nails in her handbag for a situation such as this. After all, only those who could afford to pay the price could be destructive. “I would revive the fallen fences I have killed.”

“Do you want some help...?”

“I thought you were checking out around the academy. Fixing these fences, especially this amount, could take hours. Are you sure?”

“Mhm...” Kris S nodded.

“How kind of you.” Gimlet smiled. She had a spare hammer in her handbag, so she gave that one to Kris S. “If you have no idea what to do, just follow my lead. I have done this before—ouch!!”

Her first hammer swing ended up hitting her own thumb. Maybe she shouldn’t be gloating while wielding a hammer.

“Heh...”

“It is not that funny,” Gimlet was blushing, not wanting to admit that she had fumbled. “This is but a simple mistake. Four legs may sip; a sage may be mistaken.”

She went on to hit her thumb a few more times. Nevertheless, the two managed to fix all the fences in an hour and a half though it was possible because Gimlet knew what she was doing and Kris S was efficient.

“You are very helpful. Kris S, you must let me repay you in some way.”

“Guide me... around the school...”

“Simple enough. I would gladly return the favor.” But first, Gimlet had to check if they had enough time to walk from place to place or not.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much time to spare; the homeroom was about to start.

“Oh, Kris S, the opportune time has gone past us. Winged Kairos is absent. However, a debt could not be ignored; it must be paid in full. Seek me out when you are done with your classes, and I would gladly be Beatrice, guiding you through this Paradiso!”

“But where can I find you…?”

“The second year of the senior division. I am in class D. I am not difficult to find. Follow the trail of intoxication I leave in my wake.”

This moment was when they bid farewell, at least for now. Kris S watched as Gimlet walked out of sight. She had a homeroom to attend while Kris S also had somewhere she needed to be.

As a transfer student, she needed to meet with the president first to decide which class she would be in.

Although she would be fine with any class before, things had changed. Her first interaction with a Japanese Uma was... interesting. Gimlet was interesting.

After making sure no one was around, she looked down at her hand. “So strong... and yet so delicate...” It was just a brief touch, but she could actually feel it.

Gimlet was in the classroom, looking even more content than usual. With all good things that kept happening, it felt as if she was blessed by the gods.

While waiting for the homeroom to start, Gimlet’s mind was occupied by that girl, Symboli Kris S. Their interaction was brief, yet difficult to forget. They were meant to meet again.

“You look lively, Gimlet-dono. Something good happens?” It was No Reason. She sat at the seat in front of Gimlet.

Gimlet and her were more similar than it might seem. They were birds of feathers; people who dedicated themselves fully to their interests.

“The Anemoi brought in good things, and I owe them a great favor. Both Tempestuous Euros and Mild Zephyros! Hah hahaha ha!”

“But that doesn’t explain a thing, though.”

“They are fateful encounters, No Reason. I would not exchange them for anything else!”

The bell rang, and the teacher walked in.

“Take a seat, everybody. The homeroom is about to begin.”

To the teacher’s satisfaction, the class was neat and orderly in less than a minute.

“Before checking for attendance, I want to introduce all of you to our new classmate. She is a transfer student that Symboli Rudolf invited.”

On Gimlet’s face, an extremely expressive shock could be seen. There was no way this was a coincidence. And as she had expected, it was not.

Entering the room was a tall Umamusume with eye-catching features, those being her brown hair, short ears, and warm skin tone.

“I’m Symboli Kris S... from America... Glad to be your acquaintance...” she introduced herself with a cool and graceful posture.

The atmosphere was welcoming.

“You heard that, Gimlet-dono? She is a foreigner, America’s Black Ship!” No Reason was referencing the edo context of Black Ship, which read as kurofune. “I am pumped up! Do you think she will race with me if I ask her nicely?”

“Hehe...” Gimlet giggled discreetly.

“Gimlet-dono?”

“Aisa of the Solitary Fate, she sure has a twisted sense of humor. So this is the personal fate you have shaped for me?” she commented cryptically, which didn’t give No Reason any answer at all.

Kris S scanned the room. When she found Gimlet, she stopped. Their eyes met, and the eye contact was prolonged. As if it was fate itself, their reunion came faster than expected.

Gimlet wouldn’t say that she was mentally prepared for this, yet she wasn’t the type to show weaknesses in front of those she admired.

“Bamboo Memory will give you a tour—”

“Unnecessary...” Kris S interrupted, her eyes lingering on the new friend she had not long ago. “Gimlet promised me... She’ll show me what Tracen Academy has to offer...”

“Gimlet, eh?” The teacher was unsure of Symboli Kris S’s choice. Gimlet was a troublesome Uma, having skipped classes so often, but she was a good girl deep down.

He didn’t fear she would lead Kris S into doing something reckless. Anyone who had talked with Gimlet before knew that she was... unique.

She only spoke in the way she desired. Complicated, referential. She never compromised. Even if the listener didn’t understand her, Gimlet wouldn’t change her speech pattern.

That was the real worry. Kris S was a foreigner. While she already had a grasp on the Japanese language, she wasn’t on the level of a native speaker.

Pairing her with Gimlet, someone who even a native Japanese speaker found difficult to have a conversation with, might not be a wise decision.

“Are you sure?” the teacher asked Kris S. “That girl Gimlet is—”

“I know...” Kris S was unmoved. She knew what she was getting herself into.

All eyes were on Gimlet, who accepted it with a wide smug. She sat like a hooligan, unfazed and unwavering by the attention.

She stood up and gave the ground a loud stomp. It was as if she was trying to intimidate Kris S, but her expression suggested otherwise.

Others had a worried face, but Kris S only smiled. “Will you be my guide, Tanino Gimlet...?”

“I have vowed to be your Beatrice, have I not? We are angels who move the cosmos, and the Primum Mobile is within reach! Hah hahaha ha!”

Although she was acting tough and cocky, her ears were swiveled forward and her tail was gently swishing.

The evening came, and Gimlet was at the bistro. She was behind the counter, and Kunihide, her trainer, was in front of her.

Although it was preferable to discuss what plan they had in a private setting, they didn’t have that privilege at the moment. Gimlet couldn’t just leave the counter unoccupied, which meant they had to wait for her break.

Kunihide didn’t sit idle either. To her left was a glass of basil gimlet that Gimlet had mixed for her. Next to it was paper, a pile of it. Each was marked with red circles, crosses, and lines as well as graphs and statistics.

Kunihide was in the middle of reviewing the details she would bring up in the discussion. She switched between jotting down more information and sipping on the basil gimlet.

“...and then we ran into Cesario. You should have seen Cesario’s expression upon laying eyes on Kris S. It was as if she came face-to-face with a Gorgon. Though, that might not be far-fetched in its entirety,” Gimlet said, retelling her exploits to the trainer she trusted.

“Kris S’s gaze feels inescapable as if it belongs to the all-seeing Helios. Those blue eyes, they possess the graceful beauty of Amphitrite, as much as it reminds me of the dangerous Cetus. Among the three Gorgons, I liken her to Stheno in particular.”

There was a longing quality to her words, and Kunihide could feel it. She kept talking about this girl named Symboli Kris S. For it to be one of the Symboli that got her like this was a surprise in itself.

Something feels a little... off...

Kunihide drank a basil gimlet and listened intently to more that Gimlet had to say about this particular Symboli.

Chapter Text

Despite having met each other for just a day, Gimlet had a lot to say about Kris S. All of them were praises, too. Flawless, perfect, ideal, seamless, and so much more—those words were getting thrown around often; Kunihide thought that her trainee might be exaggerated.

More often than not, Gimlet’s pattern of speech could easily lead to misunderstanding. It was complex and self-referential.

Kunihide tried her best to get the gist of it, but the mythology and philosophy references got her disoriented a bit.

Maybe I should do some research on it, too, she thought. To come to an understanding, the trainer should be the one adjusting, not the other way around.

Nevertheless, Gimlet held Kris S in high regards. That in itself was evident.

It might just be an exaggeration, but she couldn’t be sure. You ought to expect that from a Symboli.

Those with the Symboli clan name were always exceptional. Not necessarily related by blood, what they had in common was their excellent performances on the tracks.

Speed Symboli, Symboli Rudolf, and Sirius Symboli—these were renowned names. If they were anything to go by, Symboli Kris S might be as formidable as Gimlet painted her to be.

I have never heard of her, though. Could it be that she hasn’t debuted as well?

Kunihide would keep this name at the back of her mind. It might come in handy later.

She continued listening to the story that seemed endless, at the same time jotting down and making more notes.

In the bistro, customers came and went. Gimlet served them drinks, even so, she never forgot to check on her trainer ever so often.

It was around 9 p.m. when Gimlet was done with her part-time.

“You have waited for me. I apologize it took this long, Trainer. I did not expect today’s business to be so lively.”

“You don’t have to apologize, Gimlet. I’m the one who chose to wait.”

Kunihide swept up all documents and followed Gimlet to the back of the bistro. She had asked Madam Hosoe for permission, and they were allowed to use the storage room to discuss their plan.

They were sitting at a table, facing each other. The setting was private, only the two of them.

“Gimlet.”

“What is it?”

“Hmph... Nothing. Nothing at all.”

Gimlet was unmannerly, her legs resting on the table’s surface. She didn’t seem to be aware of why Kunihide called her name.

She could be rude sometimes, but that seemed to only be part of her aesthetic.

“What is your plan? I have no doubt that you, the trainer of my choosing, would craft a plan that leads to Theogony!”

Gimlet put full trust in her trainer.

“There is no plan.”

“Say what?”

“I don’t have a concrete plan as of yet.”

“But those files, those documents...”

“These are hypothetical. I was thinking about ways I can train you, but I haven’t locked onto anything in particular.”

She spread the sheets across the table. Looking at it closely, Gimlet noticed that these papers were well-covered. There were training regimens for both track conditions and every distance possible.

But as Kunihide had pointed out herself, it lacked unity. Rather than a uniform plan, it was summaries of several plans, and only one of them could be chosen.

“You are uncertain?”

“More like I don’t have enough data to work with. Which is why the first thing I will have you do is debut.”

“Huh? You must be joking!”

Gimlet’s reaction was that of shock. This was a bold direction for things to go. Debutting before having any substantial training, that was almost unheard of.

“I’m serious, Gimlet. I believe you have what it takes to run on a racetrack,” Kunihide said, confirming that it wasn’t just a joke.

The surprise subsided. Gimlet spoke in a low, serious voice, “Trainer, pride in one’s talent must not be taken blindly. We are tracing the footsteps of Arachne. If we missteps, we will be cursed by Brandisher Athena.”

Hubris could backfire hard. Without any training, it was difficult to imagine a victorious debut. Nevertheless, Gimlet didn’t fear defeat, not anymore.

Besides, she was somewhat confident that her self-conducted training probably bore a result. It might not be enough to win against Narita Brian, but a debut race was a different story altogether.

She had a chance to be the winner this time as her opponents wouldn’t be someone on Brian’s level.

“Are you against the idea, Gimlet?”

“Not in the slightest, Trainer.” Her smile widened, and she laughed. “I see your vision; It is to test my upper limit. You are Chiron, and I will follow your plan. But answer me this: is it a victory that you are looking forward to?”

“Victory is a non-factor. In fact, even if you lose, the data’s importance will outweigh the loss entirely,” Kunihide said.

Although defeat was a more likely result to happen, the data it provided couldn’t be underestimated. While some might see it as a rough start, Kunihide had an opposite view.

The likes of the Ashen Monster (Oguri Cap) and the Centurial Overlord (T.M. Opera O) had lost their respective debut race, but no one would dare to call their career a failure.

Defeat didn’t define a person; what they went on to accomplish after that did. And if one single unremarkable loss was a price to pay for a total dominance, then it was worth it.

“Even if you said that, the victory shall be mine,” Gimlet promised.

“That would be nice, too, but don’t push yourself too hard.”

Her mentality also played a part in this. It was good to see that she faced Kunihide’s absurd approach to training with an intention to win at all costs.

Most likely, Kunihide would be able to observe Tanino Gimlet at her current best.

What happened in the real race couldn’t be replicated in a control setting.

The crushing feeling of a competition where dreams were at stake, the pressure of the crowd’s expectation, and the competitors who would go to any length to emerge victorious, these factors couldn’t be recreated.

It was important for a trainer to know how their Umamusume handled each factor, hence the reason why Kunihide had scheduled for a debut race before any proper training.

Additionally, Kunihide would also assess Gimlet’s physical condition as well.

Every Umamusume had a physical trait that they were excelled at. For example, Dantsu Flame’s stamina was unmatched while Jungle Pocket’s speed, stamina, and power seemed to be distributed equally.

They were fierce competitors in the most recent Derby, so they were the two she could recall vividly. Even so, Kunihide was proud of her ability to assess an Umamusume’s potential.

“When and where is my debut going to take place, Trainer?”

“5th of August, on the same day as the Sekiya Kinen. I will try to secure the Niigata racecourse.”

“That is just a few days away. It lands on a weekday as well. Oh well, I skip my class so often to begin with. At least this time the teacher and Bamboo Memory will not make a lot of fuss now that my absence is race-related.”

“I am a little concerned about what I have just heard...”

“Hahaha!” Gimlet chuckled. “Your worry is justified, and I am moved. However, there is nothing to worry about. I maintain my grade well in spite of my absences. It must be boring for an artistic soul such as me to be bound by the classroom.”

The confidence was overwhelming. But it was what Kunihide had signed up for, so there was no turning back from this. Strange as she may be, Gimlet was a diamond in the rough waiting for a genuine polishment.

A while later, after they discussed trivial things, the two were about to go their separate ways, Kunihide to her own home, and Gimlet to her dormitory.

“That is all for today. When I get the confirmation on which racecourse you get, I will message you.”

“You are unorthodox, but I like it. I have made the right choice. Indeed, I did. May you return home safely. May Hemes of the Roads be by your side throughout the journey.”

Wednesday, August 2

Absent-mindedly, Gimlet showed up to the class, but she didn’t pay attention. There wasn’t a single thing taught that she didn’t already know, courtesy of her many sneak-ups into a college’s lecture halls.

She looked to the sides. No Reason wasn’t much better as she was reading a book which had nothing to do with the lesson. It was a hardcover copy of Oda Nobunaga: The Battle of Okehazama.

Meanwhile, Kris S, who sat next to Gimlet, was taking notes with ruthless efficiency. She was fast and precise. Frankly, it was impressive.

“Gimlet...” Kris S called, not even lifting her eyes from the notebook. “Once again, you stare at me... What is the deal...?” Her voice was stern, and her face showed no outward expression.

There was no way for Gimlet to know what Kris S was thinking. It was likewise the reason why other classmates seem to be intimidated by Kris’s presence. She was simply unreadable.

“Mhmm. I too wonder the same.” She too had noticed that she often stole a glance in Kris S’s general direction. Kris S herself even kept track of every time Gimlet did that. During the walk around the campus yesterday, Kris S had told her that she glanced at her exactly twenty times.

Even if Kris S asked for the reason she did so, Gimlet couldn’t answer. There was nothing she could put into words.

“If Prometheus the Forethinker shaped his finest work, even the toughest of mind would want to gaze upon it.”

“Is that a compliment...?”

“What do you think, huh?” Gimlet averted her eyes, finding it difficult to look at Kris S directly.

Kris S showed no overt reaction, so Gimlet had to poke the hornet nest for the answer, asking what she thought directly.

With her ears tilting forward, Kris S put her pen down and looked directly at Gimlet. “You have a way with words... an inefficient way... But I like it...”

“You actually...?”

“Yes...” Kris S nodded. Her ably hand turned the pages until she reached the last few. The page was different as it wasn’t a lecture; on the contrary, it was a page full of orderly written kanjis.

“When I practiced, I thought of your ornate words...”

“Hehe!” Gimlet giggled softly, a derivation from her usual over-the-top laugh. “Do not use me as your personal thesaurus.”

“Is it not okay with you...?”

“No, no, no! Feel free to be inspired. Metis the All-Wise keeps no knowledge a secret, and so do I,” she claimed eloquently.

“Thank you...” Kris S smiled. Indeed, it was a rare occasion.

Gimlet envied the calmness and tranquility Kris S possessed. How could she be so far from all worries? Conversely, Gimlet was jittery in her seat. Maybe it was because she had such an esthetical soul, so these emotions became so hard to control at times.

Before this conversation could take a turn, the bell rang, in which Gimlet was grateful for.

The lunch break had already begun. Kris S sprung to her feet as the exact second the teacher ended the class. Efficient with time, wasn’t she?

“Let’s head to the cafeteria... It will be full if we don’t be quick...”

“Yeah, the clock is ticking.” Gimlet shook No Reason’s shoulder. “Make haste! Make haste!”

“Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! You don’t have to put in that much strength, Gim-dono!”

The three of them—Gimlet, Kris S, and No Reason—sat at the table, having already gotten the meals they wanted. For Gimlet, it was a carrot curry, which she always thought wasn’t spicy enough for her taste, and Kris S got a carrot hamburger steak.

“Oh! It looks delicious! Where did you get that?” No Reason asked while eyeing Kris S’s meal.

“A special offer... I see it as efficient... A senpai who looks like Ceasario gave the last one to me...”

“Efficiency is always on your mind, eh?” Gimlet commented. “I always see it as an enemy to my artistic expression, but you do not seem to share the same notion.”

Kris S and Gimlet’s beliefs were opposite in every way, yet they knew better than to overstep boundaries. People lived according to their whims, after all.

“Efficiency is second nature to me...” Kris S said as she began to cut the steak and carrot into sizable chunks.

She wasn’t joking. From how she held her utensils to the pace she ate, everything about Kris S was absurdly consistent. Unintentionally, Gimlet also took mental notes of Kris S’s actions.

“Nee, Kris S-dono, let’s add each other on Line and Umagram!” No Reason, who was messing around with her phone, spoke up.

“Oh, mine too!” Now that she brought this up, Gimlet also realized that she hadn’t added Kris S on any social media yet despite their apparent closeness.

Kris S nodded, seeing it as a necessity of a school life. She picked up her phone and put it on the table. Her online display name was very simple since it was her real name: Symboli Kris S.

“Predictable indeed,” Gimlet mumbled as she showed hers. Gimlet’s display name read as 嵐を呼ぶ破壊神 (Storm-Bringing God of Destruction). It suited her well to say the least.

“Hmm, so many lines… Interesting…” Kris S eyed the kanjis used in the name, apparently not taken aback by the extravagant name.

No Reason’s display name didn’t fare any better either.

Before returning her phone to the pocket, Gimlet noticed unread messages from her trainer.

MatsuKuni: Gimlet, I have found a race for you.

MatsuKuni: A Sapporo racecourse.

嵐を呼ぶ破壊神: Sapporo?

MatsuKuni: Yes.

Kunihide replied almost instantly.

MatsuKuni: We will travel there via a long distance bus, so make sure to stockpile something to eat and drink.

MatsuKuni: Sorry that I couldn’t secure a racecourse close to Tokyo.

嵐を呼ぶ破壊神: Do not bury yourself in shame, Trainer! The eternal glory comes with a test, such a hefty price it holds!

MatsuKuni: Sounds like you’re getting worked up already. Don’t push yourself too hard, okay?

Gimlet smiled, leaving the conversation at that. After finishing, the three returned to the class and continued their school day without a hitch.

The 5th of August was when the Sekiya Kinen was scheduled to happen. The Sekiya Kinen itself was a G3 race, so it naturally got some attention behind it. However, the day had a personal significance for Gimlet. It was her time to debut, the first step into the limelight for an Umamusume.

“Trainer! Trainer! You are too slow! You are here to observe my victory! Where does the rightful anticipation go?”

“You are more lively than I expected. That’s a good thing, right?” Kunihide sped up, but it was hard for even a well-trained trainer to keep up with an excited Uma.

They made it to Sapporo in time. The bus might be a budget friendly choice, but the roads were hardly a place one could get an appropriate sleep. At least in Kunihide’s case, it was not.

On the other hand, Gimlet slept soundly, undoubtedly having saved up energy for the debut she had been giddily looking forward to.

“We departed twelve hours ago, as soon as my school ended. Such a large chunk of time we have spent. If I fail, it would be a waste of your time. I would not allow that scenario to happen.” Gimlet proclaimed clearly and loudly.

“What did I say about not pushing yourself too hard?”

“I know! I know! We have gone through this before! But I just could not help! This is my own Mysia!” Gimlet couldn’t even contain her excitement properly.

Isn’t your race around noon, though?

It might be too soon to get worked up as it was still seven in the morning.

But who am I to get between an Uma and her dream?

Since they had reached their destination sooner than anticipated, it wouldn’t hurt to see how others were doing. There were five races before Gimlet’s own, so that should be enough for Gimlet to absorb in the atmosphere of a real race.

“Nee, Trainer, the crowd is light, no?”

“Well, yeah, It’s common for newcomer races to pull in fewer people. But that doesn’t mean you can slack off, though! You have to give it your all!”

“That goes without saying! Being the Dark Lord that I am, I too could not afford to be careless!”

Her heart was certainly in the right place.

While waiting for the first race of the day to begin, Gimlet checked her phone. “Oh, what is up with all these messages?”

Symboli Kris S: Tanino Gimlet, where are you? The class is about to start.

Symboli Kris S: The teacher is here, and you still haven’t shown up. Where are you?

Symboli Kris S: Why are you not reading? Are you sick? Are you harmed?

Symboli Kris S: Tanino Gimlet.

Symboli Kris S: Tanino Gimlet!

Kris S was very persistent. It was almost endearing. Gimlet, wanting to keep her debut as a secret, hadn’t told any of her classmates about this trip to Sapporo.

Kunihide had asked for permission from Gimlet’s teacher already, so there was nothing to worry about on that front.

Gimlet skipped classes often to begin with, so no one would notice, no one except Kris S, who was new to her antics, of course.

嵐を呼ぶ破壊神: Ah—Kris S. If it is not you who are full of compassion. I am stuck in quite a predicament.

She was about to put her phone away, but it buzzed almost immediately. It was Kris S again.

Symboli Kris S: A predicament... You want any help? I can somewhat fight.

嵐を呼ぶ破壊神: No, no, no. This is a weight that I alone can bear, something personal.

Symboli Kris S: …

嵐を呼ぶ破壊神: You will get to observe for yourself in due time, for I shall be chosen by Crown-Bearing Nike!

Lacking the context, Kris S couldn’t make sense of what Gimlet had just spoken.

Symboli Kris S: I see. Good luck?

嵐を呼ぶ破壊神: Luck is indeed what I need right now! Hear from you later, my dear friend!

Gimlet threw the phone into her backpack, not planning to pick it up until the debut was done. Speaking of which, the first race of this racecourse was about to begin.

The iron gates swung open following the sound of the bell, and the Umamusumes took to the track. Despite it being unrelated to her, Gimlet still watched conscientiously.

The commentator’s voice echoed through the stadium, reporting the result of each race.

The first race: “...Barely missing the bronze medal is the 4th place winner Samanino Hoshi!”

The second race: “...Coming in 5th place is Erimo Strong!”

The third race: “...Win Svelter takes the 2nd place, only missing by the smallest of margin!”

The fourth race: “Share the Heart has won! What a riveting conclusion!”

It still felt so quick. Gimlet had been watching and losing herself in the races’ thrill.

That was when a firm hand was placed on her shoulder. “Your race is next.”

“Huh?” She shuddered after being pulled out of a trance. “Right. I will prepare myself.” She regained her composure and was about to leave the stadium.

“Gimlet,” Kunihide called. “I don't have a brief for you or anything. I just want you to run the way you want to. Don’t concern yourself with any strategy. Just be yourself.”

“Overwhelm the crowd with the ruthless, intoxicating presence that is I. That is what you mean, right?”

“Pretty much, yes.” Kunihide gave her a thumbs up.

The crushing pressure subsided, and the daring confidence returned. She had 30 minutes to prepare for the race.

Alone in the changing room, Gimlet tried to ignore the pounding heart, but to no avail.

Clumsily she changed into a trackwear: a plain white shirt, a race bib bearing her name and designated number, and red running briefs. It was a standard as the rule didn’t allow the racewears of elaborated nature in a debut race.

Number 7, eh? It is by no means my lucky number. If I have to choose it myself, I would say... maybe 3, for the trinity dictates the fates.

Although it would help if she got the lucky number, not getting it wasn’t a deal breaker.

“Hah hahaha ha! No, more power is needed. Hah! Still not enough.” With a couple minutes left, Gimlet used it to practice the laughter she would use to entertain the crowd.

Such elegant grandeur didn’t come from instinct. It required practice, which came at the price of Brian’s sleep schedule sometimes.

“Hah hahaha ha!” Looking into the mirror, Gimlet saw a girl who shrouded herself with faulty pompousness, but was dread-filled in the place no one could see.

“Announcement: every competitor please gather in the field. The stage show-off is going to start soon.”

The commentator’s voice came out of the speaker in the room.

Gimlet took the final glance at her reflection. With her hand extended forward to the mirror like a hopeless romantic, she spoke, “Terpsichore, may you bless my endeavor.”

The prayer seemed to be effective as she felt a sense of calmness. Or was it numbness? She wasn’t sure either.

Making her way past the red curtains, she was on a stage.

“Next is track 6 number 7 runner. Tanino Gimlet.”

She walked to the center of the stage. And unlike most Umamusumes before her, she didn’t show any seeable sign of nervousness.

“Oh, that girl looks promising.”

“You would expect that kind of calmness in the maiden race, not the newcomer.”

She mesmerized the crowd as expected.

Her nervousness wasn’t gone. It was only hidden. But the crowd didn’t need to know that.

Instinctively, her hand came up to make a grappling gesture on top of her face, although she did make a small gap to see the crowd’s reaction.

“Hah hahaha ha!!” Out of the blue, she laughed loudly. From her own judgement, it was perfect. The haughtiness, the rhythm, and the volume—all of them achieved perfection.

The audience seemingly thought the same because they fell silent, probably amazed.

“Be amazed! Be intoxicated! Gracing the stage is your descended Dark Lord of Versailles!” Her shout quite literally stunned the audience.

Amidst all the silence, Kunihide didn’t even hesitate to clap. This was Tanino Gimlet in her purest form, and she had to support her no matter what.

“Uh, that certainly is something,” a person in the audience said with a chuckle.

“Such enthusiasm…”

“Though a little bit, she does remind me of that pompous T.M. Opera O. Do you think she will perform on that level?”

“That is to be seen, of course.”

Whether it was for the right reason or not wasn’t as important as the fact that people were showing their acceptance of Gimlet.

Personality sells, Kunihide thought.

She reached into her backpack for a notebook and a pen. Not even a second of this race was allowed to go unobserved.

When Gimlet disappeared backstage, Rare Pearl, No. 8, took the stage. The sequence continued as each Umamusume got introduced, ending at number 12 Nippo Hellissio.

After the introduction, the Umamusumes entered the gates and waited for the start signal.

Hmm, so this is what it looks like up close. The metal fence. I have never reigned destruction upon this canvas before. How perplexing. What if, just what if I?

The promise of destruction was alluring, especially for someone like Tanino Gimlet. While waiting, she got distracted and started caressing the starting gate.

The temptation. I must not succumb to a carnal release. Remember, Gimlet, your trainer is watching.

She tried to resist the temptation. But alas, birds flew, fish swam, and Gimlet kicked fences. It was her nature.

Maybe I could blow some steam. As long as I do not indulge in it.

“Hah hahaha ha!! Perish! Destruction to all fencekind!” Gimlet’s scream, followed by the loud commotion of her kicking the gate, startled other Umas. “Damn! This thing is tough! How formidable of a foe it is!”

She could easily destroy wooden fences, but iron ones might still be above her capability at the moment. Whatever, she would soon surpass it. It was the Storm-Calling God of Destruction’s fate.

Speaking of the storm, I am barely at the speed or strength of a true keravnos. I really need more training after this.

It was at that moment when the starting gates opened. All gates except Gimlet’s. The kicks had malfunctioned it.

O the consequence of my action. Poetic.

“It appears that the 7th gate doesn’t work as it should! We will have to call a false start—”

The commentator’s voice was cut off by a loud bang. Instead of giving up, Gimlet kicked the fence again and again as if challenging fate itself.

Due to her frankly terrifying kicks, Gimlet broke the gate’s hinge.

“What is this?! Tanino Gimlet is chasing the main group despite the late start! She is still willing to fight after that?”

She was about 10 seconds behind others, which was a huge disadvantage, especially in this sprint track where a small lap of judgement could dictate the victor.

On top of that, the track’s dirt surface also hindered her ability to run at her full might.

Even so, Gimlet sped up to the best of her ability.

“She catches up! Tanino Gimlet catches up with the rest of the pack!”

Entering the mid race, Gimlet maintained her spot which was the last of the pack. That gate failure unfortunately made her spend stamina just to catch up. The obvious plan was to take it slowly, securing the place near the group while restoring her energy.

The Sapporo racecourse’s hardest spot, a double corner without a straight in between. In a time like this, she must remain calm. An undecided heart could only go down a few paths, and none of them was one of glorious victory.

Here comes the first corner!

While using these corners to gain position was viable, Gimlet opted to preserve her last spot. For dirt tracks, being last wasn’t considered a good strategy due to the potential dirt kickback. If it got into her eyes, this race would be done for.

“All runners have made it past the corners! They are approaching the 2nd straight where the last spurt is!”

“Pierce through the void!” Although it was unnecessary, Gimlet roared at the top of her lungs to keep her spirits high. Her muscles tensed up to a painful degree, but adrenaline had already taken effect and canceled out all the screams of her legs breaking down.

“Rare Pearl is taking the lead, followed by Focus on Me and Water Muse! And Tanino Gimlet! Tanino Gimlet is making her way to the outer lane, to the clear path ahead!”

“Outpacing Nippo Helissio, Erimo Maxim, and Yamanin Marche—Tanino Gimlet rushes to the top, now contending with Rare Pearl for the first!”

It was a swift maneuver, and Gimlet was at the head of the pack. She and Rare Pearl competed for the leading position.

The finish point was within sight. The two Umamusumes ramped up their speeds. Amidst the erupted applause, Gimlet and Rare Pearl made it past the line. The result of the race lit up on the screen above.

1st - No. 8 Rare Pearl - 1:00.5

2nd - No. 7 Tanino Gimlet - 1:00.8

3rd - No. 5 Water Muse - 1:00.8

Chapter Text

Gimlet used to think she could handle defeats well; however, that didn’t seem to be the case. This loss stung worse than when she lost to Narita Brian.

When she lost to Brian, it was a display of skills. Narita Brian seized the Triple Crown title, whereas Gimlet had never raced on a real track before. The gap in skills undoubtedly existed.

There was no shame in losing to Brian.

This newcomer race, on the other hand, was different. The skill gaps between Gimlet and other participants shouldn’t be that vast.

As the name suggested, newcomer races accommodated Umamusume who had never run before. Everyone was equally inexperienced.

It stung her heart that the defeat wasn’t because of her lack of skills, but her proneness to temptation.

Gimlet slumped on a window plane. She was boarding a highway bus to Tokyo. She could taste the bitterness of defeat, which was fresh on her mind.

Glumness, that was the only emotion she could feel at the moment. She was mad at herself for allowing this to happen.

If she hadn’t fallen to the sinful whispers, if she hadn’t kicked the starting gate, she would have won.

It was a grave miscalculation.

She had warned her trainer to not get too complacent, yet she was the one committing this Arachne sin herself.

How could she look her trainer in the eye after such a blatant hypocrisy? After the race, she had yet to face her trainer, for she was afraid of what she might see.

The thought of being unable to meet the expectation was suffocating. She wondered what Kunihide was thinking.

Disappointed? Dismayed? Frustrated? It probably wasn’t jubilation. That much she knew, especially when the defeat was very preventable.

“Gimlet.”

“Y-Yes?” she answered the sudden call.

Her body stiffened. She stared out at the horizon, using it as an excuse to not make eye contact.

“Slouching over a window plane like that isn’t a good posture to be in. If you are tired, you can rest on my lap.”

“I am… not tired…”

“But you look and sound tired.”

“Mmm… You think so?”

Her head made a slight turn, just enough for Kunihide to be in peripheral vision. With the data she had obtained from observing, she could finally make adjustments to the training plan.

The erratic motions the bus made didn’t deter her in the slightest.

“Come here. You did great, and you need some rest,” Kunihide said and patted her lap as a welcoming gesture.

“I… do not think that is…”

“Oh, don’t tell me that. You did it on our way here. What’s the problem now?”

“Sign. Fine.” Gimlet changed her position and leaned backward into her trainer’s lap. She was small enough to lay down on two seats when she buckled her knees.

She stared up at the ceiling of the bus. In her peripheral vision, she saw Kunihide continue to revise the papers with ruthless determination.

“Do you need anything, Gimlet? You have been staring at me.”

“I did?” Gimlet replied.

She had a bad habit of staring, even Kris S had said as much.

Something was wrong about Gimlet, and Kunihide could feel it. She might’ve only known her for about a week or so, but Gimlet was easy to see through.

She acted artistically cryptic, and it was hard to read at times. However, Gimlet’s face was quite expressive. If you didn’t know what she was speaking about, you could at least get a clue from her expression.

Kunihide put aside the paper, her hand clearing strands of hair covering Gimlet’s face.

For the first time since the race, they saw each other plain, making eye contact.

“Something is bothering you.”

“Hehe…” Gimlet laughed, but it wasn’t the usual one Kunihide had grown accustomed to. It was small and lacked confidence. Forced. Not what she would expect from Tanino Gimlet.

“I do not know what you mean by that, Trainer. I am perfectly fine…”

“You aren’t good at lying. You can tell me. You have entrusted your fate with me. What good will secrecy do for us?”

“Trainer…”

It caught Gimlet by surprise, but it really shouldn’t. Kunihide had sought her out, and she had answered with equal enthusiasm.

Two people wed to the same eternity.

“I suppose your words have merits…” She smiled. “Trainer, are you… mad at me?”

Kunihide blinked at the question.

“What an odd thing to ask. Why should I be mad at you?”

Gimlet let out a sound of uncertainty, her hands clasped together, thumbs fidgeting to ease the mind.

“I lost…” she whispered, as if ashamed.

“I see, so that’s what has been bothering you. I should have seen this one coming. Perhaps I’m not as good of a trainer as I claimed to be.”

“Oi, what are you talking about? I did not mean it that way!” Gimlet said.

“Assumptions are troublesome, right?”

“Ah…”

It was very important for trainer-trainee relationships to be built on trust and openness. If they couldn’t talk with sincerity and rely only on making assumptions of each other, then it was as well as finished.

Kunihide stroked Gimlet’s hair. Long and steady strokes worked better than rapid pats. A lesson she had learned the hard way with her previous trainee.

Gimlet’s mind was at ease. Her heart was in the right place.

“You finished second. It is what it is. You might think that you’ve failed, but that’s nothing more than a misunderstanding,” Kunihide said, her voice soft and reassuring.

“This is your first race, and not everyone can be successful in their first venture, right? Oguri Cap lost. T.M. Opera O lost. If I have to get personal, my previous trainee lost her first debut, too.”

“But it is different, no? They were not defeated in this Narcissus manner the same way that I was,” said Gimlet.

“Don’t see it in that light! You must think of a higher plan!” She flicked Gimlet’s forehead with her free hand. It didn’t hurt much, but just enough to make Gimlet come back to her senses.

“It doesn’t matter if you lose. If you fall, I will pull you up. I will pull you up as many times as you still have a will to fight.”

“Trainer…”

“The newcomer might be behind us, but we will just set our eyes on the maiden race.”

Gimlet listened in before smiling from ear to ear. As expected from her all-seeing eyes and unmatched gut instinct, she had put faith in the right person.

Her mood lightened as she knew that her trainer would be by her side.

“I have committed the Arachne sin, and yet you still believe in me. Misplaced judgements can spell doom for both of us.”

“I doubt you will go down without a fight, and frankly, so am I.”

“Hehe…” Gimlet’s laugh wasn’t awkward anymore; it wasn’t arrogantly evil like how she wanted to present herself as either.

It was tiny and cute. It was her true voice.

“Because that is me…” Gimlet bounced out of Kunihide’s lap, sitting properly in her seat.

A familiar bravado. A charming smile. All was good once again.

“Despite this setback, I will make sure to leave behind a trail of intoxication.”

And here came what Kunihide wanted to see the most: that endearing pose with her hand perched over her face.

It was never a setback to begin with. But if that keeps you motivated, then that works, too, I guess, Kunihide thought to herself with a light chuckle, one that Gimlet didn’t notice.

“The Arachne sin, eh? That’s quite a way to put it,” she mumbled.

“Hmm. Trainer?”

“Because in the end, Arachne was in the right, wasn’t she?”

That genuinely took Gimlet by surprise. With a knowing smirk, she poked her trainer’s shoulder teasingly.

“Well, well, well. It looks like someone has done their research.”

The Myth of Arachne was similar to great tales like that of Icarus or Narcissus. It told of the most dangerous attributes anyone could possess: hubris, harmful pride.

Arachne, the exceptional weaver of Lydia, boasted to be better than Athena herself. When she was challenged by Athena, the Goddess of Weaving, she accepted.

Arachne’s tapestry was perfect without a flaw, even Athena herself accepted its quality. But the tapestry’s content was her curse-worthy sin, as it depicted the gods’ misbehaves.

Even if Arachne’s work was flawless and truthful, it insulted the gods; therefore, she was punished for it.

The Myth of Arachne was a cautionary tale of how an excessive pride in art, even if it was justified, could become a catalyst for its creator’s downfall.

Having lost because of her unique style of art, this myth hit close to home. Her trainer usually didn’t engage with Gimlet’s myth-filled speeches, so it felt special when she did.

“I wouldn’t go as far as to call it research. Frankly, I’ve only read a summary of Arachne’s tale because it is the name you brought up in our previous discussion.”

Kunihide brought the paper she had put aside to her attention once again, at the same time engaging in a conversation with Gimlet.

“It comes from the Metamorphoses of Ovid. I do own a Japanese translation if you want to read written tales.”

“That sounds great, Gimlet. Would you mind if I borrow it?”

“It would be my pleasure. However, are you sure you are up for the challenges?”

“Of course.” Kunihide nodded. “Because I want to understand you.”

“Me?”

“Yes. You. I don’t want you to change the way you talk. Instead, I will do everything I can to accommodate you. That’s a trainer’s duty.”

“Haha Hah hahaha ha! I would not expect less from my Chiron!”

“Shhh! Gimlet, that’s public disturbance.” Kunihide hushed her down. They were still on a public bus; she wouldn’t want other passengers to be disturbed.

“My apologies, I find it difficult to control myself when I am excited.”

Those with a willingness to learn rarely came. Frankly, knowledge, even the fundamental ones, was necessary in working with Gimlet. She surely wouldn’t be the one to compromise.

They arrived in Tokyo the next morning, and bid each other farewell. Gimlet was allowed a day of rest. The real training would begin when they met again.

Gimlet was back at her dorm.

“Yo, Brian, I have returned.”

“Ahh… There goes my peace…”

Brian was having breakfast when Gimlet entered. It was eerily silent when Gimlet wasn’t around. She thought she would enjoy it, but then came to a realization that the room was boring without Gimlet’s usual antics.

Brian would never admit it out loud. That would be asking for more problems.

“You haven’t told me you were going to debut,” said Brian.

“I did.”

“No, you didn’t. When I asked you where you were going, you answered with “Challenging my fate”. Does that make sense to you?”

The debut was meant to be a secret for almost everyone, hiding behind cryptic words and arranged absence.

“Brian just did not get the hints, did she? Hah haha! I hoped to come home with a gold medal and surprise everyone. But alas, all I got is a silver medal.”

She sounded disappointed, but not depressed. It was simply a mistake, and soon she would get an opportunity to right this wrong.

She had already set an eye on her next battlefield, the maiden race.

“Don’t sell yourself short. You sure are full of surprises.” Brian didn’t say more than she needed, only throwing a newspaper at Gimlet.

Gimlet hadn’t expected that her name would make it into the news. Her debut race was on the same day as the Sekiya Kinen, a G3, and she wasn’t even the winner of her own race.

Her name was bound to be left behind, only appearing in the URA race card and nothing more.

“Oh…” But to her surprise, she was getting a lot of attention in the media because of what she did.

Despite the faulty gate and late start, she managed to catch up to other competitors. Even with the odds stacking against her, she finished 2nd place.

It was quite a feat to accomplish. Though she didn’t win, she still got cheers and support from those who saw her potential.

“What a show-off,” Brian teased.

“Heh. Perhaps I am a show-off. I did not expect it to be framed this way; I only ran.”

Deep down, she really enjoyed how she was described in the article. Gimlet rolled the newspaper and gave it back to Brian.

She put down the bag before leaping on the bed. While her trainer’s lap was comfortable, it still wasn’t the same as a real bed.

“Ah, I just remember. Noriko and Kris S were looking for… you…”

Brian was about to tell Gimlet that, but when she turned to the troublesome roommate, that girl had already fallen asleep.

“Sign. How annoying.” Although she said that, Brian still covered Gimlet with a blanket as if she was a big sister.

Monday, August 6th

Kunihide arrived at her office. She was the first; her colleagues’ desks were empty. She had been looking forward to this day where she could start training Gimlet properly.

She had stayed up all-night completing the training regimens, yet she didn’t feel tired at all. Excitement and anticipation overwhelmed all negative feelings.

As she was going through the paper one last time, there was a knock at the door.

“Come in,” she said.

However, no one entered the room, there were only more knocks.

“Is that you, Fujisawa?”

There was still no answer. Things started to get suspicious, but Kunihide wouldn’t be left in the dark for too long.

“Destruction!” A familiar voice pierced through silence. There was a loud bang, and the door swung open.

“Gimlet?”

“Good morning, Trainer!”

She didn’t expect to see Gimlet this early in the day, but here she was. Gimlet didn’t come empty-handed, carrying a pile of books with her.

“I have brought you the promised gifts!”

There were about seven in total. The size was varied.

“I spent the entire yesterday handpicking these for you. I hope you enjoy them.” Gimlet had a large array of books in her dorm room, and it took real effort to choose what would be good for Kunihide.

She didn’t want to overwhelm her trainer so soon. The most prominent of the books had to be Homeric Hymns, and she added in more of her favorites like Theogony and Works and Days.

Gimlet placed them on Kunihide’s desk.

“You sure are excessive.”

“What? This does not scratch the depth of the well of knowledge.” She patted the top of the pile with an apparent smugness.

“No, I mean the door.”

“Oh. In my humble defense, the Gate of Horn does not open for me! I was left with no choice!” Her head turned to the side. Her eyes shuttered tight, and hands assumed the position that made up her favorite pose.

Dramatic as usual. This was a good sign, though.

“You can just call me to open the door. You know that?”

“Where is the fun and mystery in that?” Gimlet showed minimal remorse. “You gotta live for the thrill of it, Trainer!”

“With that being said, I will be back to fix it during the lunch break! See you when the wind desires!” She left behind those words and then ran away from the crime scene.

Well, she said she would be back, so it was more like delaying a responsibility rather than running away from problems altogether.

Kunihide started looking into the books given to her. Although they came in many sizes, all of them were thick. Even the thinnest of them was still over a hundred pages.

This is more than I expected. Where should I even begin…? So intimidating…

Reminding herself that it was for Gimlet’s sake, she picked up what she perceived to be the thinnest: The Homeric Hymns.

For classical literature, this one was easy to read through. The Homeric Hymns was a collection of hymns praising the names of Greek gods.

It mentioned the names such as Hermes, Apollo, Demeter, Hestia, and more. Some she had heard from Gimlet’s mouth; some she had never heard of before.

She sat alone and read it for a while before someone arrived and called her name.

“Kunihide, what happened to the door?” A man, who was just a year younger than her, asked.

He was also a trainer.

“So here’s the thing: my trainee did it.”

“I swear those Umamusume sometimes just can’t gauge their strength…”

The door was left in such a sorry state. Gimlet didn’t just make a dent, she obliterated it. There was a large hole in the middle of the door.

The hinges were broken, too.

“Wait! You have a trainee? Since when?”

“Well, have you seen Tanino Gimlet in yesterday’s newspaper?”

“I do, but what does that have to do—wait! Don’t tell me you really invited her and made it work!”

“Yeah, that’s basically what happened.”

“I was wondering what kind of stubborn person could’ve convinced her to debut. That girl Gimlet has been unassigned for so long. It turns out to be your doing.”

“I didn’t think it would work either. In the end, it was her who sought me out.”

Kunihide smiled as she recalled those encounters, which were nothing short of fateful.

“So Tanino Gimlet did this. Is that right?” The man, Fujisawa, pointed at what could barely be called a door.

“Yup.”

“Does she have, like, anger issues, or…?”

“No, she’s just a little enthusiastic.”

“You call this a little?”

He seemed worried, but Kunihide told him there was nothing to worry about. Gimlet had said that she would fix it herself anyway.

It sounded like she was skillful with the hammer, fixing all the fences she had broken by herself.

Fujisawa went to his desk and dropped his bag.

“Enough about me, though. You arrived late today. You are always the first in the office. Something happened?” Kunihide questioned.

“The Director called me.”

“Got in trouble?”

“It depends on how you see it,” Fujisawa said. “The Director requested me to put a trainee under my wing. I already have Zenno Rob Roy, so taking another trainee will take quite a while for me to adjust.”

“You could have just rejected it, couldn’t you?” Kunihide asked, her hand still holding onto the book.

“I could have done that. However, I saw in that girl a potential untapped. That gut feeling, you must know how it feels.”

“Hmm…”

Friday, October 6th

Two months had passed since the debut. Gimlet had been training hard for the maiden race that had yet to come.

Although Kunihide believed it would be difficult for Gimlet to juggle between school, part-time job, and training, Gimlet managed it with great excellence.

The first thing they had done was starting gate training, as it seemed to be what she struggled with the most.

When being put inside the iron gate, she wasn’t afraid; instead, she was excited. She could barely contain her need to kick the gate.

It took three days of training just to fix that bad habit of hers.

And when that business was done with, they continued with regular training, following the regimens Kunihide had masterfully crafted.

Gimlet’s best stat was inarguably her power, as demonstrated in the final spurt of her newcomer race. With that kind of talent, she was bound to run as a late surger or end closer.

Going forward, dirt track was a no-no because dirt kickbacks would get in Gimlet’s way.

Gimlet’s growth was consistent, but Kunihide felt like there was more she could do. What did Gimlet actually need right now to aid her growth?

It was almost 7 PM, and they had just finished today’s training and gone separate ways. Usually, Kunihide would follow Gimlet to the bistro and hang out around that place, but today was different.

The G2 Kyoto Daishoten would be held tomorrow.

With T.M. Opera O, the first favorite; Narita Top Road, the second favorite; and Stay Gold, the third favorite, it would be a shame if she couldn’t see it in person.

Also, the winner of this G2 would go on to participate in a G1 race, which added in another reason to watch it.

It would take only two hours if she traveled with shikanzen. She could watch the race and made it back to Tokyo to train Gimlet just in time.

Her plan was to go back home and pack her bag before boarding a bullet train in the morning.

Kunihide wasn’t in a rush, walking slowly under the dim light of street lamps. In her hand was a book called Antigone. It was the last of the collection Gimlet had given to her months ago.

Up until now, it was a peaceful walk in the night. The curfew was about to begin, so there weren't a lot of Umamusume outside of the dorms besides those with permission.

As she was about to walk past one of the trees, Kunihide heard a high-pitched call of sirens, or at least that was what it felt like.

“Hark, the beautiful Moon, the Pale Lady of the Starless Night, must it be fate that you are dim on this day! Night’s Lantern, your incandescence fades! But why?!”

Kunihide didn’t know where it came from, this voice that was both regal and nonsensical, at least not until she looked up.

Standing on a tree branch was an Umamusume who looked eerily familiar. It was as if she had just seen this girl holding a press conference regarding the upcoming G2.

The orange-haired Umamusume donned a crown and a full racewear fit for a king, if not went beyond that. The girl posing up on the tree, uncaring for any safety procedures, was the Overlord of the Century’s End: T.M. Opera O. 

Chapter Text

Atop the tree branch was T.M. Opera O, whom Kunihide recognized at a glance. It would be difficult not to, as she was the most successful Umamusume in recent times.

When the Golden Generation retired, Opera was whom the torch was passed on to. With it, she set ablaze the competitions and brought in a new era, her era.

Her epithet as the “Overlord” wasn’t a hollow compliment; it had been proven time and time again that she deserved it.

She had seven G1 wins, not to mention that five of them came from one season. In a year, she accomplished what most deemed to be impossible.

It was a beautiful reign; each victory a jewel adorning her crown of dominion.

The Centurial Overlord or not, Opera was still standing on top of the tree.

“What are you doing there?!” shouted Kunihide, worrying about Opera’s safety.

Umas were durable physically. Even as a small child, they could fall from a two-story building and feel nothing.

If Opera fell from the tree she was on, there wouldn’t be much damage inflicted, yet it just didn’t sit right with Kunihide.

Humans and Umas were different on a fundamental level. Things that were common sense to one might not be for the other.

“Oh. I wasn’t aware that I have got an audience, a lone lady at that,” said Opera. She sounded like a prince addressing his subjects. “Why are you here so solidarily? Have you not feared nightly dangers that lurk in darkness?”

“I should be the one asking you! What are you doing out here at night?”

“Me? I’m here to talk with a friend.”

“A Friend? So you are waiting for that friend to arrive?”

Opera shook her head and said, “She’s here. Have you not seen her?”

Kunihide looked around and saw… no one. There were just them. Getting a bit creeped out, she hoped this wasn’t about ghosts. Some Umas were known for having a tie to the supernatural although she couldn’t recall Opera being among them.

It made the heart shaken and the face paled. If she ran into this kind of encounter often, it probably made her age ten years.

“I’m afraid I have not…”

“You ignore the most magnanimous! A maiden blinded by the incomprehensible!” She pointed up at the dark sky, the rings adorning her fingers gleaming in the moonlight. “Look up in the sky, and you will see the pale-faced lady look down!”

She was talking about the Moon.

As much as it eased the tension on the supernatural front, it created more questions than it answered.

“You were talking to the Moon?”

“Because she and I are so alike. Don’t you think? On this night, her brilliance fades.” Basking in the splendor of the Waxing Gibbous Moon, she looked melancholic. “Surely, one such as you has confronted the mortality of your being. I assume it’s not as grandiose as mine, but even you must understand.”

She jumped off the branch and landed in front of Kunihide. “It hurts to feel the glow be dislimned.”

She had seen it before, the face Opera was making. It was the same face that Gimlet had made, the face of doubts.

Theirs or not, a trainer wouldn’t leave any trainees in this state if that trainer was of worth.

Opera wasn’t her trainee; it wasn’t her problem. Yet, her pride wouldn’t allow her to walk off easily.

“Do you want to talk?” asked she.

“Ah. You seek my audience, don’t you? A moth knows of the lamp, but not of the Sun. You are reaching for a station beyond yours,” replied Opera. “Though of all things, I adore the moths that pursue what they truly desire. So be it, then. You are granted the privilege to speak with the Overlord!”

While Opera believed wholly in all that she said, it didn’t seem to be arrogance in its purest form, but rather playful pompousness.

They sought out a place and chose one of the benches. “Here. Have this.”

She had bought cans of soda from the vending machine and had given one to Opera.

Her eyes lingered on the gift for a little before smiling. “How considerate of you who are barely a squire.”

She looked more lively after finishing the can of soda in one go.

“You are a trainer, too, right? How has your time with your trainee been? Have you forged it, a bond worth remembering?”

“I did, and it is precious,” she said and looked down at Antigone, the book Gimlet had given to her. This book, along with the others, was a proof of Gimlet’s trust.

Though their bond was a recent thing, that didn’t make it less precious.

“When I first started, I thought that I ran for myself. I realized it later, though—the naivety of my way. Winning gives me a rush of elation, yes, but the rapturous cheer is my true salvation. To be cheered on. To be adored. No Umamusume would hate that feeling.”

She acted pompous and full of herself, but beneath that was an Uma no worse than any Umas.

“But to be kinged is to be cursed.” She sprang from the seat and began what seemed to be an impromptu opera, dancing, prosing.

“I, the kinged Overlord, am meant to be a challenge for them, those delightful faces who are reaching for the sceptre of the kings!” Raising high in the sky was her golden sceptre she always kept at her waist.

“Dear audience, have you ever seen a presence as grand as mine? My radiance makes the Sun shy. O, My reign, my beautiful reign. I thought it was inexpungible. But! Here is the beauty and tragedy of life: one can’t bear the crown everlastingly!”

She moved to the left. Her stance that used to be high and mighty changed. Another role had been assumed. Recalling the recent Takarazuka Kinen, Opera took the role of the Uma she thought of dearly and highly.

“There has only been one other, who could do what I have done. She’s a phantom of my reign, a shadow chasing this crown of dominion. ‘Tis my dearest Meisho Doto!”

Her slouching, shyful stance was no doubt an imitation of Doto’s.

“Though, dare not to lessen her to just mere shadows. She is the Moon, absorbing the rays of mine and shining to excellence. I inquired of you: in the Takarazuka Kinen months ago, was it her victory or my defeat that stirred the hearts of the people more?”

“For me, honestly, it’s both…” replied Kunihide.

“Exactly! ‘Tis both! The anticipation of the world about to dusk is pulpable! I know in my heart that Doto is not just a competitor; she is a rival!”

“Rival?” Kunihide parroted.

“Yes, only with her I feel comfortable in my own skin. As I, the Overlord, race, I see only her. A guide and a goal. Everyone needs a rival, generous stranger. That is where the true potential of us Umamusume lies.”

“Interesting…” She had been thinking about how to improve Gimlet’s already promising performance, and maybe finding her a proper rival might be the answer.

It was incomprehensible how much weight the term “rival” had in the eyes of Umamusume.

“I plan to race with her again—in the upcoming Autumn Tenno Sho! Not just her, but all those whom my reign has influenced.”

She pinned the sceptre on the ground, standing tall and center. Looking at Kunihide with a solemn expression, she said, “Once again, I inquire of you: what role do tyrants serve in theatrical plays?”

Though she spoke of an inquiry, she didn’t let Kunihide reply, instead indulging herself in a soliloquy of sorts.

“Stepping stones. I stand here as King Louis-Philippe waiting for the June Rebellion. Who shall be the one to dethrone me? Was it the Moon who has done it before, my dear Doto? Or perhaps it will be Digitan, who exudes the quality of Enjoras? Or maybe Stay Gold, that indecisive Marius, will show their true self at last? It’s better than an opera, perhaps better than Opera, as in I!”

“What about you?” asked Kunihide.

“Me?” A smile tugged at the corner of her lips. “I assure you that it’s impossible for me now. This body doesn’t run like it used to. I've already passed the limit, and my days at this Opera Populaire are numbered.”

Kunihide took in those words with a shocked expression. There hadn’t been any critical health report regarding T.M. Opera O, so why was she…?

“My trainer—a man of Valjean’s goodness and Javert’s commitment—told me that I should retire, that there’s a legacy to be saved. I disagreed with him, and he listened.”

She continued, “It’s cowardice to leave before the new era is heralded in. I kindle this flame, and I will see it done!”

“These seven rings, proof of this oppressive reign.” She took them, the rings adorning her fingers, off one by one and let them fall to the ground.

“This sceptre, the baton I’ve received from the Golden Generation, is well-timed to be passed on.” She threw the golden sceptre at Kunihide, which she caught just in time.

Her hand reached for the gold-pink crown, holding it carefully near her heart. “Not until the crown falls and the new hero is besung will the written opera of my life be completed. When it’s done, when someone surpasses me, two legacies will be born. ‘Tis how I want to be remembered.”

Opera deemed it to be the pinnacle of legacy. “I want to see the new era, as it is called, with my own eyes. That’ll be my sign to leave. Be it the sunrise or the sunset, it’s a spectacle for the crowd either way.”

Throughout her career, T.M. Opera O had built an empire of sins and glories. Its rise and fall would be a tale worth retelling, and that was what she perceived as a legacy.

If she retired silently, it wouldn’t be a bang, but a whimper. It would save her from the possibility of losing, retiring with the unblemished streak of victories.

Yet, that wasn’t what Opera wanted.

“We all leave something behind, but a few can leave behind intangible things such as chorus praises.” She breathed a sigh of relief and gave Kunihide a slight bow. “I remain still your obedient servant.”

The impromptu opera was over.

“I came out here to talk with the high Moon, but you fulfill that role well, too, good listener. For that, I applaud you. Keep the sceptre as a souvenir,” said Opera.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I am. ‘Tis my lordly desire. You have earned it. Not this crown, though. I plan to give it to my trainer.”

She never wore that crown again, only carrying it in her hand.

“I will go now, or else Fuji Kiseki will scold me for being out here late again.” Opera turned around, about to head back to her dorm.

But before that, she left behind a request. “You and your trainee, I hope to see the two of you at the Autumn Tenno Sho. You need to be there. Fetchlings who have never seen the peak will be fearful of the heights. So make sure to be there! Hahahahahahaha!” 

Chapter Text

On the 7th of October, the G2 Kyoto Daishoten would commence. Kunihide, who had been anticipating this race since it was announced, was taking a bullet train heading to Kyoto, where it would be held.

She sat by herself silently and took in the view as the bullet train moved quickly on the rail. The beautiful view of the city helped so little to ease her occupied mind.

Kunihide was troubled by the talk she had had with T.M. Opera O yesterday. People still saw her as a formidable athlete, as it was shown by her being the 1st win favorite of the Kyoto Daishoten, but Kunihide had firsthand heard of Opera's declining health.

She had likened herself to a dislimned light, the Sun about to dusk. Opera had said that her body didn't run like it used to. Being a trainer herself, Kunihide had heard it once from her previous trainee before Gimlet.

When any trainees used that phrase, it was more or less a sign that retirement was a beneficial option for them. It seemed like her trainer had suggested that as well, but Opera was stubborn and continued to run.

Opera had a dream which she wanted to fulfill before retiring for good.

Are dreams worth fulfilling even at the risk of one's health?

Going through her phone, Gimlet saw messages sent by her trainer. She read them while brushing her teeth in front of a mirror.

MatsuKuni: Hello there, Gimlet. Sorry that I contacted you so late in the night.

MatsuKuni: Tomorrow I will be out of town, so I can't be there to train you. Though I think it will be a waste to let a day go by.

MatsuKuni: I have a friend who is also a trainer, so you'll be in his care. I've sent him the training regimens.

Gimlet knew who her trainer was as a person. She checked the calendar, and things immediately made sense. The date lined up with the Kyoto Daishoten.

"Hehe. That fanatic." Gimlet chuckled. Kunihide had made it clear several times that she held the sports dearly. She often boasted to Gimlet that she had never missed a graded race. Even if she couldn't be there, she would still watch it via live broadcast.

On her personal laptop, which Gimlet had stolen a glance at before, there were, and this was by no means an exaggeration, almost a hundred race recordings downloaded. She said they were kept for analysis, but it turned out Gimlet wasn't the only one bad at lying.

"There goes the mentor of heroes. She seeks out wisdom in order to become Chiron. Let her sharpen her mind as I aim to reforge this body in Hephaestus's smithy!"

They walked different paths, yet their fates were inherently intertwined. Kunihide's absence came as a surprise, but Gimlet didn't hate it, not at all. Life meant to be uncertain. That was the fun of it.

Brian, who was having breakfast, felt her eyebrows twitching when she heard that laughter coming from the bathroom. Good to see that today Gimlet was lively as well.

Gimlet dressed herself up in a red and white tracksuit and went to the running track near her dorms. The morning's air was great and cold as the sun yielded to the clouds.

Trainers and Umamusume alike came to reforge themselves here as well. From her years of solo training, Gimlet had gone numb to being alone at the track. Yet, after meeting and choosing Kunihide, it felt rather strange to stand here just by herself again.

A different trainer would cover Gimlet for Kunihide today, but that was the extent of what she knew, as Kunihide provided so little information. On top of that, Gimlet had never met any of Kunihide's friends.

While waiting, she watched how other Umamusume trained. Outside of the running track, she could see No Reason and Durandal, a blonde who dedicated herself to the way of the blade like No Reason, fencing with swords shaped like carrots. Their respective trainers were sitting on the bench, observing.

People who didn't know better would believe they were just horsing around. Gimlet was a learned Uma, though. She could see the intentions of their training.

Fencing, a sport of wit and grit. While I am here to forge my form, those two are here to hone their senses and reflexes.

Gimlet nodded, acknowledging their steadfast disciplines. If their paths eventually crossed, No Reason would no doubt be one of Gimlet's biggest obstacles.

The thought of it made her excited.

She left those two be and looked at the track. There were two Umas running on the turf track. One had orange-red hair in two knee-length twintails, whereas the other one had dark brown hair and a cream-coloured patch on her bangs, which was reminiscent of Gimlet's own.

"Don't get in the way! I'm going to be number 1! Not you! Haaaah!"

"Don't be delusional! I will not lose to you or anyone! That is so uncool! This is my win! Yahhh!"

The two ramped up. Increasing their speed and engaging in a struggle for the lead. They looked to be roughly equal. After a lot of screaming and squeezing out their power the best they could, they crossed the finish line at roughly the same time.

With the effort they put into it, it was only natural that they were running out of breath.

Fascinating. It was just a mock race, yet they put in an effort as if it's graded. That is rivalry, isn't it?

"Machan-san!"

"Ma-chan!"

They called the name of another Uma at the same time. The brown-colored hair girl waiting for them at the end of the track was their friend Aston Machan, whom they had entrusted with the stopwatch.

"Mhm... Vodka-san finished a little bit before Scarlet-san," said Machan.

"Wooooo!!" The Uma with short brown hair, named Vodka, bursted out in joy.

"Huh?! That can't be! I lost?!" The one with orange-red hair, Daiwa Scarlet, said in a doubtful tone.

"Machan recorded it, too. Let's watch it together," she said. Her phone showed the video of Vodka and Scarlet's race, which both of them huddled around Machan to watch.

"You see that, Scarlet! I finished first!" said Vodka, her voice boastful.

"It is only barely! A centimeter or two! Don't get ahead of yourself from just that!"

"A win is a win! No if or but! Now you have to admit that I'm the coolest!"

"Never!"

Machan stayed silent as the two Umas bickered. Despite the competitive air around them, the three seemed to be close friends.

While Gimlet was observing that lively group of juniors, she was approached.

"You are Tanino Gimlet, right?" A man as young as Gimlet's own trainer came up to her.

"The one and only. And who shall you be?" she asked in return.

"Fujisawa. I am Kunihide's friend, and she has entrusted you to me." He moved in an efficient manner, his hand palming his chest as he introduced himself.

He dressed very businesslike, lacking any aesthetics. It was reminiscent of her own trainer's fashion; Kunihide always dressed in a business suit, too, though not as systematic as Fujisawa, who even wore a tie.

He was the type of person Gimlet would call boring. His aesthetics were simply nonexistent.

"I trust my trainer's intuition. Let me see what you have then. Show me your grit as a trainer, Fujisawa!"

"Oi! Don't just call me bluntly like that!"

"You have to earn my respect!" Gimlet said.

"I spent years in the academy learning to be a trainer. Is that not enough?"

"Nah!"

She rarely found a trainer that could grab her attention. The gods favored the bold, and so was Gimlet. A trainer who lacked boldness that bordered madness would never earn her favors.

"You lack chaos! We will not mix, but I see what my trainer wants me to learn! This arrangement is for me to know both worlds, is it not? To master chaos, I must learn the depth of order first!"

Gimlet's eccentric words really threw a wrench in Fujisawa's designs. It was clear that he was ill-equipped to deal with her.

How am I supposed to answer that? Uh? Damn it, I should have read the document!

Yesterday, Kunihide sent him a file of immense size which complied not only the training regimens, but also how to converse with Gimlet in general.

Kunihide knew that her trainee would never compromise even if no one understood her, so she hoped what she had spent time compiling would help. But because it was too detailed and too large of a file to let ruminate, he had ignored the bulk of it.

Now that he had interacted with her, he regretted his shortsightedness.

Did Kunihide have to deal with this on a daily basis? No wonder she starts reading those Greek literatures...

"Ahem! I will only be supervising you. Your training will be what Kunihide has given to me," he said. "Let's start with-"

"Trainer..."

"Trainer-san."

In that moment when he was at his wit's end, voices called for him. Two Umas, Fujisawa's trainees, joined in.

"Ah. Nice timing, you two. This is my friend's trainee who will be training with us. Her name is Tanino Gimlet. Please get along," said he.

Fujisawa, who had trained Taiki Shuttle before, was a successful trainer in his own right. Because of that, he had been tasked with overseeing two trainees at once, which rarely happened as not every trainer could handle such a daunting task.

The first he had taken under his wings was Zenno Rob Roy, a braided girl with cool gray hair and glasses.

He had scouted her himself, whereas his other trainee was shoved into his hands by the director. He could reject it, but who in their right mind would turn down a chance to train a Symboli.

"So you are here as well, Kris S."

"Gimlet... Train together...?" Kris S's ears gently swiveled at the idea.

"Oh. You two are classmates, right? I almost forgot about that. Well, that makes things a lot easier," said Fujisawa. "Why don't you introduce yourself, too?"

"Eh? Me?" The shy, petite girl stepped forward although she seemed unable to find the right words. Her ears pinned back rigidly, a sign of nervousness.

Seeing her like that, Gimlet took Rob Roy's hands, holding it firmly. "Friend, I see that you are intoxicated."

"Eh? But I'm not of drinking age-"

"Nay! Not of Dionysus's vice, but of my own presence. From you, I see the grace and innocence of a fawn. Small animals that don't know of chaos. Seeing me, who is destruction incarnate, must have shaken your heart."

"Huh?" Not different from her trainer, Rob Roy was confused. She got some of what Gimlet had said. Mind you, it wasn't her first rodeo dealing with eccentric people. After all, she was good friends with Neo Universe.

It wasn't like there was a discordance in their understanding. Rob Roy simply found making new friends to be difficult.

"You are tense. Relax. Relax. Think of all the good that dwells in this world," Gimlet said, massaging Rob Roy's hands to make her calm. "Look at me. Look past the shell that is the instigator of Wretched Eris, and you will see that I mean you no harm. You can call me Tanino Gimlet."

"Rob Roy! My name's Rob Roy!" With what was called the trailblazing effect, Gimlet successfully broke the ice.

"Rob Roy. What a wonderful name. To be named after folk hero Rob Roy McGregor, you must be a brave one," said Gimlet.

"Ah. That is... not true... I'm not bold or brave like him..." said Rob Roy, her pinned ears fell flat to the sides. "But! Someday I will be a gallant hero, too!"

"Hahaha haha hahahaha! This burning spirit of yours! How bright the soul is! We are the same, both good and just men on a hero's journey!"

Rob Roy didn't usually tell others about her dream, especially in their first meeting since dreams could be embarrassing when she said it out loud.

But Gimlet had a very lax atmosphere around her, Rob Roy felt like she could be herself without being judged.

"You did great... Rob Roy," Kris S said and patted her shoulder. Because Kris S was from the senior division, Rob Roy, who was a junior, looked up to her.

Admirable was the way Kris S carried herself: calm, composed, and efficient. Some may see her scarily unapproachable, but she was the exact opposite in Rob Roy's mind.

"Trainer..." Kris S turned to Fujisawa. "Let's train... Let's waste time no further..."

"Alright. First of all, Gimlet."

"What is it, Fujisawa? What is the trial my trainer has left me with?"

She isn't going to change how she calls me, is she?

He had a face of acceptance. Crude she may be, but that girl was by no means a bad person. He flipped through his clipboard, searching for the training regimens that he had printed out.

"Here it is- What even is this?! Are you sure she is training you for the debut and not the MC Rotation!"

With that kind of reaction, it naturally made the trainees curious. Kris S glanced at it silently while Rob Roy had to tiptoe to see the paper.

"Madness..." Kris S mumbled, her voice detached.

"Inspiring..." Rob Roy muttered, her voice small.

In addition to miscellaneous activities, Kunihide had given Gimlet tasks to complete by the end of the day. The tasks were absurd, especially for Gimlet who only had to worry about her next debut race and nothing else.

The paper read: two runs on a mile track, two runs on a classic track, and two runs on a long track.

No, this is basically a progression to the MC Rotation! What was she thinking?!

This was an unprecedented effort for just a debut.

"The preposterousness of my trainer. Adorable, is it not? Only she understands me well, so I must take on these herculean tasks with a smile! Hahaha!"

Fine swords were forged under a hammer that was cruel yet fair, and so was the body of an athlete. Pull apart muscles and watch in awe as they rebuild—creation that came after destruction.

And so she set her eyes on the tasks, ready to begin with the mile track.

That trainer and trainee pair mixes in well, don't they?

"Trainer..."

"What is it, Kris S?"

"Let me train... with Gimlet..."

"But these regimens are ludicrous."

"Not important... They are missions... I can do them... Just let me..."

He saw her determined eyes, which reminded him of their first meeting. He had asked why she wanted to run. Despite being second nature to Umamusume, each of them had their own reasons.

For Symboli Kris S, she had replied to him with, "—I want to chase after her, the one who inspired me..."

Who this person was had never been made clear. At first, Fujisawa thought she was referring to Symboli Rudolf, who invited Kris S to Japan. But he understood it now, or so he believed.

"I suppose it is fine. Kunihide's plan is on an extreme end, but it isn't nonsense. You are allowed," Fujisawa said to Kris S, making her smile though only faintly.

"Kris S—my friend, my enemy—many labels I can give you. Nevertheless, it seems as if it is our destiny! Here we are at the world's foundation. Let us race and best each other! I always want to challenge you! Do you know that!"

"Likewise..."

They had been friends for months, but had never competed on the track. There was always a feeling of "I'm still not good enough" on both sides. Gimlet wanted Kris S to see the best she had to offer, and that feeling was mutual on Kris S's end as well.

Not wanting to be left behind, Rob Roy also joined in.

The three races of varied lengths each required different mastery.

Mile races favored those who could burst into their top speed with minimal builtup, for it was a comparably short track.

Long races, on the other hand, put an emphasis heavily on stamina. The winners were those who could maintain their pace without falling behind or running out of energy.

Medium races were different from the two extremes. One needed to strike a middle ground between triggering a burst of speed and maintaining stamina. For the mastery it required, this length was called the classic.

Concerning the miles race, Gimlet finished first for both times. Kris S finished second in round one and third in round three.

She really is good on a mile race. Hmm. Kunihide does note that her legs have absurd strength because she keeps using it for kicking.

For the medium races, things played out pretty even. Gimlet and Kris S competed for the first place while Rob Roy wasn't far behind, tailing them the whole time. She was unable to break through and finished third both times. Gimlet took the win for the first round, but Kris S got the next one, ending the classic track training in a draw.

The long races were nowhere near as inconclusive. Rob Roy won both rounds, and Gimlet finished last in both. The seniors were quick to run out of breath, unlike Rob Roy who maintained her speed and stamina well.

"That is. Good. Rob Roy." Gimlet bent over, hands on her knees. Her words came in a short and quick succession.

"Long race... Difficult... This mission... is... too much..." Kris S said, chest heaving up and down.

Rob Roy didn't look so exhausted after all of that. So abundant was her stamina, not what anyone would've expected from an Uma with a small frame.

"Eh? I'm not that impressive, though."

"Humility is. A trait. Worth praising," said Gimlet, who hadn't recovered even just a bit.

Long races were her weakness as she had the worst performance out of the three. But that was to be expected, you couldn't be the best in both mile and long races simultaneously. That would just be absurd.

"You three, it's lunch break. Meet me again in an hour!" yelled the trainer.

Their mock runs weren't done back to back, of course, as that could be bad for their bodies. Instead, Fujisawa had them resting or doing miscellaneous exercises between each track race to give them time to breathe.

When they were done with training, it was already noon. Sluggishly, Gimlet and Kris S followed behind Rob Roy to the cafeteria.

They sat together at a table. Each had their plate. As they were having lunch, Rob Roy, who so often found herself being left in the background, could feel the rivalry between her upperclassmen.

They stared at each other intensely, and it made the experience all the more awkward. The air was almost suffocating.

"...Gimlet-san, what is your dream?" It was the only question that came to her mind. So heavy was the weight of a person's dream. It was the best way to get to know each other better although she wouldn't be surprised if Gimlet didn't want to share it.

Rob Roy's dream was to be a hero who spun the stories. She wanted to be brave. She wanted to be seen. Yet, she acknowledged it was still a long journey.

Kris S, whom she had asked the same question before, had a secret dream that only she and Fujisawa knew. Putting that aside, the dream that Kris S was very vocal about was revolutionizing the racing scene in Japan.

Pretty flowers would bloom in harsh places, and Kris S wanted to be the wall, the trial that challenged everyone.

When Rob Roy asked about Gimlet's dream, Kris S was equally interested.

"My dream? Hehe. Rob Roy, you must know that dreams belong only to fools, right? We are idealistic fools who dare to dream!" All of a sudden, Gimlet sprung up from her seat, one foot on the table and arms spreading out to the sides.

"No need to be embarrassed of your dream. I know that you have felt that way. Instead of hiding, you must embrace it. Hear them laugh. Hear them mock. Fools who dream a dream must be able to bear its immense weight!"

Gimlet lifted her head high, one hand perching over her face. She was a picture of raw confidence, if not arrogance.

"My dream is to be a keravnos!"

"Thunderbolt?" Rob Roy, who had learned from many books, understood the word, but not necessarily what it implied.

"Mighty and beautiful is the keravnos! The destruction it leaves is awe-inspiring! I want to be like that! I will drown this world in my intoxicating presence! All obstacles must be destroyed! That is the dream I dream, Zenno Rob Roy!"

"Ah..."

At the nearby table, the trio of Scarlet, Vodka, and Machan were having lunch as well.

"The seniors sure are loud," said Scarlet. "What do you think, Vodka? Vodka?"

Scarlet lifted her eyes from the plate to see her rival with eyes that shone like stars. It was a face of admiration, and it was aimed toward that loud Umamusume.

"So cool! She's so cool!"

"Seriously?" Scarlet shook her head.