"U… ugh...?"
After some unknown amount of time, Mejiro McQueen woke up to the distinct smell of hospital disinfectant.
As she slowly opened her eyes, she blankly stared at the sterile white ceiling of the hospital.
After a long, long time, two clear lines of tears silently streamed down her cheeks.
"So... it wasn't a dream..."
Mejiro McQueen had dreamt of that moment on the Hanshin Racecourse when she fell unconscious.
The dream was like a replay of her failure, where she ascended into the gates of heaven before getting immediately cast back into hell.
Although she had woken up from that dream, it did not change Mejiro McQueen's fate.
What McQueen was feeling right now could be aptly described as: 'despair.'
"—Why are you crying as soon as you wake up, McQueen?"
"A—?!"
When the familiar voice sounded beside McQueen, she quickly became startled.
Without even wiping away her tears, she turned to look towards the source of the voice, only to find Imanami sitting on a chair not far away from her the entire time.
"Tra- Trainer…"
Mejiro McQueen's eyes were still teary as she spoke with a hint of a confused sob, struggling to sit up from the bed.
"When… when did you arrive? How long have I been asleep?"
"Only about six hours, McQueen. Just think of it as a well deserved nap."
Imanami sat up from his chair and helped McQueen to sit up properly on the hospital bed.
However, seeing the tears still gushing uncontrollably from McQueen's eyes, he took out a handkerchief he had brought and gently wiped away her tears.
"Honestly... why are you crying like a child, McQueen? Pull yourself together; the others would get more worried if they see you like this."
"Trainer… I'm sorry…"
McQueen knew that Imanami reprimanding her like this was just to calm her down.
However, just understanding Imanami's care and tolerance for her made McQueen feel even more worthless.
Two lines of tears were wiped away only to be replaced by five more.
In the end, McQueen could only cover her face as she uncontrollably sobbed.
"I'm- I'm sorry... everyone had placed their hopes onto me, but I- I..."
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry I've disappointed everyone... I've disappointed Trainer..."
"U- ue... wahhhhhhhaahhhhhhh...."
In the end, McQueen could only break down and cry inconsolably, her ears drooping as if they would never stand up again.
Seeing this, Imanami didn't say anything; he just silently stroked her head, letting her vent.
The pressure on McQueen was indeed too great. In a team full of absurdly strong individuals, even with her excellent talent and strength, she still hadn't had any chance to prove herself yet.
And once this pressure accumulated to its breaking point, she suffered a devastating blow, causing the pressure to explode within her all at once.
Dropping from first place directly to eighteenth, such a devastating stain on their career would be enough to break any Uma Musume.
For McQueen to merely be only crying showed just how strong her mental fortitude was.
After the sound of the crying continued for an unknown amount of time, McQueen's crying gradually subsided.
Imanami didn't say any extra words to McQueen, only softly speaking to her,
"Get some good rest, McQueen. You truly deserve it."
"We will all be waiting for you outside the door. Don't think too much, just rest. You can even watch a few baseball games if you want to."
Leaving those words behind, Imanami started to walk away to give McQueen some private space.
He didn't believe that McQueen was the type of fragile person who would seek to permanently run away from their problems; but, just to be safe, he had still removed everything in the room that McQueen might potentially use, not even leaving a single sharp object for her.
This way, Imanami could ensure that McQueen wouldn't easily give into her impulses.
However, just as Imanami was about to walk out of the room, McQueen, with her head down, spoke in a hoarse voice,
"Trainer..."
"Do you still think I... truly deserve to run with everyone else...?"
"...Don't say such things, McQueen. We all make mistakes at some point in our lives."
When McQueen uttered such self doubting words, Imanami immediately spoke to not let her overthink.
"Yes, you had fouled. However, you need to understand that you would have still finished this race with an absolute advantage, foul or not. You lost only because you fouled, not for any other reason."
"Your strength and skill was greater than every other Uma Musume in the Hanshin Daishoten. The diagonal wasn't your fault; it's mine. As your Trainer, it's my failure for not discovering this flaw of yours immediately."
In reality, strictly speaking, Imanami was not at fault either.
Unlike Orfevre, whose bad habit of moving diagonally was present from the very beginning, allowing Ikezoe to fix it in time; McQueen had never shown such a flaw before.
If it were Gold Ship, Imanami would have accounted for it, it was Gold Ship, after all.
However, McQueen... honestly, Imanami only suddenly remembered that McQueen might have also developed a bad habit of moving diagonally after the accident that should had happened in today's race.
But... it could also be said that Mejiro McQueen was lucky this time.
Although she ended up in eighteenth place in the Hanshin Daishoten this time due to the diagonal, compared to the diagonal that happened in the Tenno Sho (Autumn) in his previous world... this result was indeed much luckier.
However, Imanami didn't know how to explain such words to McQueen. After all, getting demoted at all... could hardly be described as lucky.
Therefore, Imanami changed his tone slightly and said calmly,
"Although you have been demoted, we can still participate in the Spring Tenno Sho. In fact it can be considered a small blessing that we were able to discover this mistake in a GII rather than during the Tenno Sho."
"Rest well. Don't try to shoulder all the burden yourself."
Saying this, Imanami finally left the ward.
As the door to the room was closed, McQueen slowly raised her head, and after a long while, she murmured to herself,
"The Tenno Sho... can I still participate, like this...?"
...
Once Imanami left the room, Tokai Teio and Gold Ship, who had been listening outside through the door, both retreated a few steps.
Imanami didn't say much about their eavesdropping; he knew they were worried about McQueen's condition.
"What should we do...?"
Even though Teio couldn't see McQueen, just hearing her painful sobs already caused Teio to anxiously frown, unsure of what to do.
"McQueen will pick herself back up... of course, with the help of some external forces along the way."
Imanami gently rubbed Teio's small head, and then said,
"Teio, you and and McQueen have a good relationship. During this period, I might have to trouble you to accompany her."
"Huh? What will Trainer do then?"
Teio couldn't help but ask.
"Sigh... of course, a priority entry for the Spring Tenno Sho. With this accident, we definitely won't get priority, and I'm not keen to let things up to luck, lest McQueen gets kicked back down when she's recovering."
"I will need to talk to the Trainers of several Uma Musume and, as much as possible... persuade a few people to give their spots to McQueen."
Imanami shrugged his shoulders; he had already sought the help of Ikezoe, Wada, and Fumino Nase, with all of them agreeing to help to the best of their abilities.
Although this outcome was not ideal, it shouldn't be too difficult to handle.
After hearing Imanami's words, Tokai Teio nodded in understanding.
But just then, Gold Ship, who had been standing silently by the side, stepped forward and, in a very gentle tone, said to Imanami,
"Old Man, I want to debut now, can I?"
"...Hm?"
When Gold Ship casually gave that remark, Imanami instinctively nodded before he immediately froze.
The next moment, Tokai Teio, wide eyed, slowly and shakily turned her head towards Gold Ship with an expression that was as if she was witnessing the end of the world.
With shaking hands, she tugged at Imanami's sleeve and hid behind him.
"T- Trainer, G- Gold Ship got replaced with a g- ghost..."
"Hey, that's very rude, you know?! I, Gold Ship-sama, am very serious!"
Gold Ship ruthlessly roughed up Teio's hair, making the child dizzy, before continuing to speak to Imanami,
"Old Man, I want to participate in a Maiden race— actually nah, Maiden races only happen after June, right? So directly put me in a GIII!"
"There's a GIII mile race at the Nakayama Racecourse later this month, right? Let me go, Old Man. I'll personally go and make McQueen want to run again!"
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Genuinely got flashbanged by the suicide mention, completely forgot about it.
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If you spot any errors, feel free to comment about it and I will fix it as soon as I can.