Wait, Who Is Yasui Makoto?

At night, a computer sat on the desk in the Student Council President's office at Tracen Academy.

On the screen was a grand song-and-dance performance. A black-haired Uma Musume was belting out a song onstage.

Watching the girl sing intently was a petite, spirited-looking chestnut-haired Uma Musume. She wore rimless glasses and had a crescent-shaped white streak of bangs across her forehead.

As the black-haired Uma Musume finished her song and bowed, the chestnut-haired girl adjusted her glasses and chuckled.

"You've grown, Xiao Bei..."

Just then, the office door opened, and a figure with an elegant air, pale purple hair, and pale purple ears walked in.

"Teio, about the schedule for the racecourse inspections..."

The elegant figure trailed off, then shook her head with a laugh.

"You're secretly imitating President Rudolf again, aren't you, Teio?"

In an instant, the chestnut-haired Uma Musume behind the desk—or rather, the current Student Council President of Central Treisen Academy, Tokai Teio—blushed and whipped off her glasses.

"Hey! McQueen, didn't we agree you wouldn't tease me about that?"

"I'm not teasing you, I'm just... Pfft..."

The Uma Musume called McQueen couldn't hold back a laugh after all, then waved at Tokai Teio, whose face had turned even redder.

"All right, all right. There's no one else here, so you don't have to work so hard to keep up that imposing image."

The Uma Musume named McQueen was the current Student Council Vice President. Her full name was Mejiro McQueen.

As the most prestigious academy in the industry, Central Treisen demanded that anyone tasked with managing its finest Uma Musume be strong enough to command their respect.

The previous president, Symboli Rudo, had been one of the very best Uma Musume, and Tokai Teio's achievements after her were no less impressive.

Likewise, each vice president had been an extraordinary figure in her own right.

The former vice president, "Supercar" Maruzensky; "The King Who Transcended Common Sense," Chigiru Representative; and the current "Great Actress of the Turf," Mejiro McQueen—all were among the very best Uma Musume.

Mejiro McQueen had been away from the academy on outside business for some time. She had only returned in the past couple of days to help Tokai Teio arrange the racecourse inspections.

"All right, I get it."

Tokai Teio did care about how the students saw her.

Just as Hokubu Genkoma admired her, she had always looked up to her senior, Symboli Rudolf.

When working, she couldn't help imitating her idol, figuring that it made her look more imposing.

But she'd also picked up on her friend's tactful advice: an imposing presence wasn't something she could create just by putting on a pair of glasses.

With a childish grumble, she took off the rimless glasses, put on a serious expression, and turned the computer screen toward McQueen.

"We can talk about the inspections later. Take a look at this first."

Curiosity flickered in Mejiro McQueen's eyes as she walked over to the desk.

"Is this... today's Winner's Stage at Tokyo Racecourse?"

"Exactly. Now take a look at this."

After nodding, Tokai Teio moved to Mejiro McQueen's side and clicked the mouse a few times.

A race appeared on the screen.

At first, Mejiro McQueen had only been curious, but as she watched, her expression gradually turned serious.

Two minutes later, she took the mouse from Tokai Teio and began clicking through the screen at speed.

"What a daring race strategy. It's been a long time since I've seen an Uma Musume run like that in her Debut Race.

"Whose Uma Musume is this? One trained by Nase?

"Kitahara?

"Or Ms. Tojo, or Kuronuma...

"...Wait, who is Yasui Makoto?"

She opened the race details and stared at the name "Yasui Makoto," frozen for a moment before suddenly understanding.

"That's the youngest Trainer in history, right? I remember now.

"But..."

She furrowed her brow slightly.

"If he's only eighteen, how does he have such seasoned experience?

"Even some veteran Trainers wouldn't dare treat such an important race as a training run.

"And the timing he chose to have his Uma Musume pick up speed was so clever...

"Who is his Uma Musume? She can't be a newcomer, can she? Otherwise, why would she agree to this strategy?"

At that, Tokai Teio quickly stifled a laugh, then put on a serious face.

"Why don't you see for yourself? There, it says so right here."

As she'd hoped, she heard her friend gasp in surprise and delight.

"Xiao Bei?! She's already made her debut?! So soon?! And she won her first race?!"

"It wasn't all that soon, McQueen."

Tokai Teio shook her head with an amused smile, then said wistfully:

"Though, now that you mention it, I guess it was pretty quick.

"I keep feeling like we only ran that Spring Emperor's Prize yesterday.

"Then I look around, and all the little ones who watched us from the stands back then have made it onto the track."

Mejiro McQueen nodded, feeling the same way.

"The last time I saw Xiao Bei was, I think, last year.

"After that, I heard about her when you mentioned a few times that you were helping her find a Trainer.

"I never thought that in the blink of an eye, she'd not only found a Trainer but also finished her Debut Race with such a daring strategy.

"Time... really does fly."

After sharing the sentiment with Mejiro McQueen for a while, Tokai Teio snapped back to the present and opened some video footage on the computer.

"Let's get back to Xiao Bei. McQueen, take a look at these clips."

"All right."

Mejiro McQueen nodded, pulled over a chair, and sat down.

Tokai Teio did the same. Once seated, the two Uma Musume focused on the footage on the screen.

The clips showed some of Yasui Makoto and Hokubu Genkoma's training sessions. Judging from the clarity, they were undoubtedly recordings from the academy's surveillance cameras.

After a while...

"McQueen, have you noticed something about this Trainer...?"

Tokai Teio spoke, trailing off as she rested her chin on her hand.

Mejiro McQueen also folded her arms and rested her chin on her hand. She nodded slightly.

"His training methods are worlds apart from ours. Rather than a Japanese Trainer, he seems more like..."

They looked at each other and spoke in unison: "One of the trainers in Europe or America."

Tokai Teio said, sounding excited, "So you see what I see, McQueen."

"Of course. If you can see it, then so can I."

After replying, Mejiro McQueen fell into thought.

"You're impressed by this Trainer's unconventional training philosophy, aren't you?"

"Yeah. We've both competed against overseas rivals, and I even won the Japan Cup, but..."

Tokai Teio smiled, then spoke with a hint of self-mockery.

"After all these years, I've started to realize that if I had to do it all over again... I honestly couldn't say I'd win."

Mejiro McQueen fell silent for a moment, then sighed.

"There's nothing we can do. That's just the gap between Japan and the rest of the world.

"And besides..."

She hesitated.

"After last year's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Gold Ship, Ichi-ro-tsu, Vega, and the others were confident they could challenge again.

"But the association chose to play it safe..."

"They're always like that. They've been that way ever since the president."

Tokai Teio suddenly cut McQueen off. She shrugged, spread her hands, and curled her lip into a wry smile as she looked at Yasui Makoto and Hokubu Genkoma on the screen.

"Who cares what they do?

"All I hope is that Xiao Bei and this Trainer Yasui...

"can bring us something different."

[An illustration of a young lady from the Mejiro Family

And two presidents at work]