A Loving Mejiro Family

But to the Uma Musume watching the livestream, she was simply staring at a mochi head.

"Miss Ryan, I know this is a little sudden, but what did you want to talk about?"

Might as well get straight to the point.

Zhou Yuang's question left Ryan no room to dance around it, so she answered just as directly.

"You've noticed McQueen hasn't been herself lately, haven't you?"

"Yes. She's been busy recruiting teammates, but she's also been putting herself through extra training. She seems fine day to day, but her responsibilities have put too much pressure on her."

Under the old trainer, Sirius Team Five had been covered in glory. Now it was in ruins.

Add the Mejiro Family's long-held dream of winning the Tenno Sho and their ambition for three generations of champions, and McQueen, their last hope, had accumulated more pressure than anyone realized.

That rice cake was selfish, too. She thought all that pressure belonged to her, so she took it all and wrapped it up inside her soft, white rice-cake body.

As if none of it would spill out so long as no one poked her.

What she didn't know was that a hydraulic press could crush almost anything.

"That's exactly it. You're just as McQueen said. You look young and unreliable, but in some ways you have qualities even Uma Musume lack. You take your responsibilities seriously, too. You're a good trainer."

Ryan nodded repeatedly, unaware that she had just stabbed her dear Mejiro sister in the back.

Without McQueen knowing, the stuffed rice cake had sprung a leak. And it seemed the pressure wasn't the only thing spilling out.

"She said that about me? Anything else?"

Seeing his chance, Zhou Yuang grew playful. Ryan had already landed the first blow; she might as well