"Is it that obvious?"
Dream Weaver clicked off her tablet.
Using the darkened screen as a makeshift mirror, she noticed the unconscious knit of her brow and the tight set of her lips. She really did look like the personification of worry.
"Yeah, it's pretty damn obvious."
Her self-deprecating smile only added to the weary look in her eyes. Agnes Tachyon and Sugar Lights tossed aside the pillows they'd been idling with and strolled over to her, one after the other.
"You've had that sour look on your face since we left Kyoto Racecourse," Tachyon said, clapping a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, tell your sisters what's eating you. Give us a reason to cheer up at your expense."
Dream Weaver shot a sidelong glance at the hand on her shoulder and sighed. "Has anyone ever actually punched you for 'comforting' them like that?"
"Would they?"
Tachyon tilted her head, her oversized sleeves swaying as she tossed the question back with characteristic indifference.
Dream Weaver knew there was no point arguing with someone who was so used to being coddled. She turned her gaze toward Sugar Lights, hoping the more reliable "Doctor" might have some actual insight.
"Blunt as she is, she's not wrong," Sugar Lights said, spreading her hands with a smile. "We need to know what's weighing on you before we can figure out how to help."
"Doctor, you're picking up bad habits from Tachyon."
Dream Weaver gave her a deadpan stare, but Sugar Lights just offered a playful shrug.
Truthfully, the things bothering Dream Weaver at Kyoto weren't quite the same as what was on her mind now, but she didn't feel like splitting hairs.
Since she was at a loss anyway, she decided to voice her anxieties regarding the Japan Cup.
After she finished, she waited, watching the two of them as they sank into thought.
Her expression was tinged with a faint hope; Agnes Tachyon and Sugar Lights had already been a massive help with training Liberty Island and Hishi Miracle.
Who knew? Maybe they had some secret weapon tucked away for a rainy day.
After a moment, a grin broke across Tachyon's face. She crossed her long sleeves over her chest with a flourish and looked up at the ceiling, basking in Dream Weaver's expectant gaze.
"Is it finally time? Are my super-potions—the ones whose effects I haven't quite confirmed yet—finally going to see the light of day?"
"Ah... no. Absolutely not."
Dream Weaver waved her off, shutting down the suggestion instantly.
"Why not?!"
"The reason is in the sentence you just said! Test the effects first! What if something happens to Liberty Island?"
Dream Weaver punctuated her shout by snatching up a pillow and hurling it at Tachyon.
Ignoring the now-downed Tachyon, she turned back to Sugar Lights.
"I could pull some strings to get a custom-made powered exoskeleton system built for Liberty," Sugar Lights offered.
"I'm pretty sure no Uma Musume association on earth would let her wear that in a race."
"Fair point. I'm out of ideas, then."
Dream Weaver let out a long, heavy sigh. Deep down, she'd known they wouldn't have a magic fix.
The only people who truly decided the outcome of a race were the girls on the track. As support staff, there was only so much they could do with only a month to go.
"The only one who can decide the race is the runner herself."
"So... why not go talk to Liberty?"
Great minds think alike, it seemed. Sugar Lights' suggestion mirrored Dream Weaver's own internal monologue.
"A heart-to-heart?"
"Chemical therapy?!"
Dream Weaver grabbed another pillow and pelted Tachyon again, who had suddenly perked up at the mention of anything sounding like "chemistry."
Once Tachyon was suppressed once more, Dream Weaver looked back at the Doctor.
"Miracle only found the motivation to push for the Kikuka-sho because of you, right? Why wouldn't the same work for Liberty?"
"Wait, Miracle's sudden burst of effort these last few months was because of me?"
"How did you not notice that?"
Sugar Lights covered her mouth in mock shock, then shook her head.
"I suppose you've been so buried in race data that you haven't had the mental energy to actually look at your own student."
Had she really been that neglectful of Miracle lately?
Anxiety flickered through Dream Weaver.
To her, failing to look after a girl's emotional well-being was a dereliction of her duty as a trainer. Trying to make amends, she asked, "By the way, where is Miracle now?"
Tachyon, now clutching both pillows, tapped her toe against the floor.
"Probably tearing through the hotel buffet downstairs. She said she was going to eat back every ounce of grievance she's endured these past few months."
Well, it sounds like she doesn't need my concern right now. Let the food soothe her soul, Dream Weaver thought, her lips twitching. She turned back to Sugar Lights, returning to the main point.
"I think I get what you're saying."
Even if she wasn't entirely sure how she had inspired Hishi Miracle, the results were undeniable. Without those months of grueling training, Miracle never would have beaten Symboli Kris S in today's Kikuka-sho.
With that success as a precedent, Dream Weaver decided to give it a shot, even if she wasn't sure it would work.
Beyond scheduling training, this might be the only thing she could do for Liberty Island before the Japan Cup.
Having made up her mind, she didn't hesitate. "So, where is Liberty? She can't possibly be at the buffet with Miracle, can she?"
"Hardly. Nobody has an appetite like Miracle's," Tachyon said, tossing the pillows back onto the bed and pointing toward the ceiling with a sleeve. "She's in the hotel gym upstairs. She said the Japan Cup is right around the corner and she can't afford to waste another second."
Dream Weaver wasn't surprised. That was classic Liberty Island.
In fact, she had specifically picked this hotel before the Kikuka-sho because of its fitness facilities—partly to help Miracle find her zone before the race, and partly so Liberty could maintain her training rhythm.
"I'll go find her then. See you later."
Dream Weaver stood up and headed for the door. But after a few steps, she frowned at the open doorway and turned back.
"Wait... how did you two even get into my room?"
She had been so distracted thinking about the Japan Cup that she couldn't actually remember coming back to her room.
She just remembered finishing the race footage on her tablet and then suddenly, Tachyon and Sugar Lights were just... there.
"Is it possible," Tachyon said, sliding a keycard out of her sleeve and waving it, "that we found your keycard and have been faithfully guarding your room because we were worried you'd be locked out?"
"You wandered out earlier with that sour face of yours, looking so dazed you didn't even notice you dropped it," Sugar Lights added.
Dream Weaver instinctively patted her pocket. Empty. She walked over to Tachyon and reached for the card.
Tachyon snatched her arm up high, holding the card out of reach with a mischievous grin. "No 'thank you'?"
"Sorry... for some reason, people breaking into my room gives me a very specific, very strange sense of déjà vu."
Dream Weaver's lip curled. She stood on her tiptoes, swiped the card, and turned to leave.
Mostly, she just hadn't figured out how she was going to face Symboli Rudolf back in the real world after the way she'd been sneaking into her room.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.