After the winning concert, Symboli Rudolf swiftly escapes the horde of reporters by running into her trainer's van, driving out of there. Echo is sitting beside Rudolf.

  “Did you really have to…”

  “Do what?” Rudolf smirks at Echo Eclipse, knowing what she wanted to say.

  “...” Echo stares at Rudolf's eyes, her white pupils glowing dimly as she stares determinedly.

  “They deserved it.” Rudolf stares back with her magenta eyes, the same oppressive, dominant aura pressed down on Echo Eclipse, but she doesn’t budge or flinch as she continues staring back. Her white pupils started glowing more and more as she responded.

  “Do they deserve it? To the point that you humiliate them?” Echo Eclipse's voice is soft and gentle, the complete opposite of what her eyes are emitting.

  “They are in their cssic year, like me, but you are a junior.” Symboli Rudolf sighed before rubbing her eyes; the oppressive, dominant aura dispersed.

  “You are a junior who is capable of passing me. You are a junior, despite being the same age as me and despite never training seriously before enrolling in Central Tracen Academy. You managed to keep up with me.”

  “...”

  “But they think they could catch up to me. No one is allowed to except for you, whom I had recognised.

  “...”

  “...”

  A long minute of awkward silence went by inside the van.

  “Ahem.” Kazuo cuts the silence while driving. He isn’t used to the atmosphere becoming this tense. Ever since her first G1 win, Symboli Rudolf's true self has slowly come out of that shell of hers. Kazuo gulped as he grinned, driving down the street.

  “Echo, how are you feeling about Mishōri-sen in 2 weeks?” He said while steadying his hand on the wheel, slowly approaching the car park inside the Tracen Academy. He turns the wheel as the velocity shifts, making Echo and Rudolf lean to the right slightly.

  “Excited.” She grinned with crescent-shaped eyes. Her hands fisted as her smile became wider, still affected by the atmosphere earlier at the Satsuki Sho stadium. She hummed as she leaned back.

  “I will introduce myself to the world at that debut.” She gnced at Rudolf with a sly grin. “And I’ll live up to the legacy of my name.” Symboli Rudolf snorted before looking away, but there is now a slight smile on her face.

  “Rudolf, how is your body feeling after that race?” Her trainer asked before parking the van and shutting the engine. He steps out of the van and opens the doors for them.

  “Slight strain on my calves and thighs, and a bit of numbness in my toes.” Rudolf hummed as she stepped out and stretched. “I’ll be back to normal in 2 days.” Kazuo let out a deep sigh of relief at that. Satuski Sho was 2000m long, where stamina is key. The only reason why she managed to dominate the race was that Symboli Rudolf has excellent pace maintenance, being able to run at the same speed as she does at the beginning to the end, while others accelerate at the beginning, slow down in the middle, and do their st sprint at the end. Symboli Rudolf never needed to do that and only sped up if needed.

  “Trainer-san”, Echo went up to Kazuo excitedly.

  “Mh? What is it?” He thought as he rubbed his chin.

  “Will I be able to enter the same G1 races as Rudolf rein-... Rudolf does?” She almost let it slip; she doesn’t want to accidentally say “Rudolf Reindeer” again. Echo Eclipse bounced up and down excitedly. She wants to experience the same rush, she wants to feel the stories of other umas when they race, and. She wants to win.

  Kazuo shook his head. “The URA won’t allow that, since you already missed the 1st crown race, they won’t let you participate in the remaining crown races. But I already thought about that before.” He said as the three walked down the path leading to the clubrooms, they were going to one of the empty team clubrooms, which they had cimed over, to rest and for Kazuo to write down the pn on the bckboard with chalk.

  “Because Rudolf debuted st year as a junior, she only did a few G3 and G2 races until this year, when both of you enrolled in Tracen Academy. Rudolf is considered in her cssic year in her career, while you are still in your junior year.” He chuckles before opening the clubroom and entering it, going up to the bckboard to write down.

  He wrote down a triangle ranking, Triple Crown at the top and Maiden at the bottom. Maiden leading up to the OP race.

  “What you will do is win your debut with such a record that you will receive more fans. For example, win the race by 3 lengths or more. You can do that.” He gnced back at the nodding Echo, who was sitting on the sofa. Symboli already went off to work as the css president. (A/N: Not student president. She will become one ter on.)

  “If you managed to secure a rge number of fans, let's say around eight thousand, you already met the requirement to enter G3 races.” He draws an arrow from the Maiden tier up to the G3 tier.

  “So for the remainder of your junior years, you will enter G3 and G2 races until December, and build up an impressive win record for next year.” After he stopped talking, Echo put her hand up like a good and energetic student. “Why am I not racing G3 or G2 races in December?”

  He nodded as he wrote down beside the G1 tier on the bckboard.

  “Asahi Hai Sansai Stakes is a G1 race, it is solely for junior year. Winning this meant you were the Best uma musume of 1984. This is the only G1 race that you can enter thanks to the URA regution.”

  “What would be my first G3 race after my debut?!” Echo is now not sitting down on the sofa; she is bobbing up and down with eagerness and excitement. The itch in her feet wants her to run, and the heat in her heart is threatening to swallow her whole with the desire to win.

  Kazuo goes to his cabinet and opens it, pulling out a clipboard. He flips through the pages on it.

  “May 4th, that is your debut date… You would be racing during the summer. Let’s see… July 22nd, Hakodate Sansai Stakes, 1200m and G3. That’s your date.”

  “Ehh? Isn’t there another race I can enter? I don’t want to wait for 2 whole months after debuting.” She whined as she y down on the sofa, looking up with puppy eyes. She honestly doesn’t mind waiting for 2 whole months for her G3 race, as long as she doesn’t lose the ability to run. She could even wait for a whole year because she would immerse herself in training and running. She’s just pretending because she wants to experience the same atmosphere Symboli Rudolf experienced quickly.

  “There are other races, but they are only OP races and one G1 race.” He chuckles, making Echo melt even more in ‘dejection.’

  From what she gathered, she would be bullying the umas if she were to enter the OP races. She doesn’t want that. She wants strong umas who could run beside her!

  “Okay!” She leapt out of the sofa, ceasing her act of being pitiful.

  “I’m going off training now~!” She swiftly leaves the clubroom, running out to the track. On her way to the track, she started thinking about which stats to spend her +20 SP, which she will soon gain from the debut.

  She checks her status.

  [Name: Echo Eclipse

  Track Affinity: [Dirt: A] | [Turf: S]

  Running Affinity: [End: E] | [Late: C] | [Pace: A] | [Front: S]

  Distance Affinity: [Sprint: A] | [Mile: A] | [Medium S] | [Long: B]

  Speed: 158 (F: Beginner)

  Stamina: 187 (F: Beginner)

  Power: 160 (F: Beginner)

  Guts: 127 (F: Beginner)

  Wits: 163 (F: Beginner)

  Zone: —

  SP: 0]

  “Hm~ I wonder how much improvement I’ll make before my debut~” She whistled as she spotted others uma musume training. There are plenty of other tracks, so it wouldn’t be overwhelmed by umas. She started jogging, she had gotten used to weighted cleats in her shoes as she runs, making use of her muscles from her ankles up to her waist.

  “Let's run!”