Several minutes later, the limousine carrying the rest of Team Kitahara finally arrived at the same parking lot we were parked at. Thankfully, I'd mostly recovered from that horrid experience by then, and I greeted everyone with an easy grin as they stepped out of the limousine.
So, with the entire team reunited, we finally began making our way to our destination.
And I had to say; even though we were still in the same country, the sheer difference between Virginia and Texas was incredible. Obviously, it was the late 80s by this point, but the city Secretariat's manor was close to actually looking like a modern city, just with a lack of skyscrapers.
But here? Sure, this was an old-timey town and all, but the whole place looked like those cowboy setpieces I'd seen in movies. Most of the buildings were constructed by wood and stone, and the roads were mainly just paved dirt. Hell, we even passed by a store selling revolvers as we walked!
That aside, it didn't take long before we found our destination; a restaurant with a large sign that read "Golden Road BBQ". The building was larger compared to the buildings surrounding it, though it was also constructed from wood and stone. A banner was hung across the roof's front, painted with the colors of the American flag.
Overall, the whole place felt quite homely.
Secretariat whistled.「Well, well~. Seems like that old sod wasn't lyin' about this.」
I blinked as I heard what she said. That 'old sod' Secretariat mentioned had to be Man O' War, right? Did that mean that this place was recommended by Man O' War herself?
Wow. Now that's some high praise.
She grinned.「Alright, let's head in!」She said, immediately marching forward. My head snapped towards her, and my eyes widened when I realized what she was about to do. I quickly rushed forward, but I was too late.
Bam!
Secretariat slammed the doors open. Immediately every person inside turned their gaze towards us, and a short silence stretched as everyone saw Secretariat walk forward without a care in the world. I could only place my face in my hands, already dreading the upcoming commotion.
And then all hell broke loose.
「Holy shit. Is that-!?」
「T-The Big Red herself!」
「Mama! Look, look! It's Secretariat!」
「B-By the Goddesses…! Her stature, those muscles-!」
Belno awkwardly chuckled as she patted my back. "I-, uh, I guess it's not a surprise, is it?" She said. "This is Secretariat-sama, after all."
I sighed tiredly. "Yeah, you're right." I groaned as I dragged my hands down, taking a deep breath as I straightened up. "Alright. Time to face the music."
I took a deep breath, and borrowing the persona I often used as a racer, I walked forward with apparent confidence. Oguri and Belno followed right behind me, with Musaka and Kitahara following right after.
Some eyes soon turned towards us, and soon we began attracting attention as well. On one hand, our features easily made us stand out compared to most people here, but the fact that we were following behind Secretariat also made some people speculate about us. I could already hear some people whispering, but I did my best to ignore them all.
Soon, we caught up to Secretariat, who'd been quietly reading the menu hung over the ordering counter. The adult umamusume sitting behind the counter watched with her jaw agape, her eyes shrunken in abject shock.
It was no surprise. After all, this was practically like having a legendary athlete suddenly show up to some random family diner.
「Any recommendations?」I asked her, my tone a lot more neutral now that I was using my 'Hero' persona.
Secretariat raised an eyebrow, before she smiled.「I mean, the beef brisket's a natural pick. Easily a couple pounds o' that.」She then hummed, trying to recall the recommendations she'd been given.「I think she also said the sausage's to die for, so probably that as well.」
I then glanced at the menu, and I smiled slightly. That was already two items from the incredibly small menu.「Why don't you just order everything then?」I offered.
She blinked, and then grinned.「Nah, y'er right. Why am I botherin' to think?」She 'gently' placed her palm onto the counter, though her immense strength still caused the entire counter to tremble.「I'll take four pounds of everythin'.」
The woman behind the counter gulped.「F-Four pounds o' everythin'? Y-You sure, Madam?」
Secretariat grinned.「Everything.」
The woman gulped, but she quickly turned to the small hole leading to the kitchen and shouted.「Big order! Big order! Four pounds o' everything! Get out the best o' the best!」A chorus of cries answered her, and taking a small breath, the woman turned back to face Secretariat.「Anythin' else, Madam?」
「Got any desserts?」She asked, and seeing the woman nod, she smirked.「Get me one of each.」
The woman was shocked still once more, but she recovered quicker this time.「Alrighty then.」She quickly wrote a few notes before she began counting.「Two pounds of…and all that'll come ta'-」
「Hold ye' cleats, lady.」Secretariat interrupted before she jabbed a thumb back towards us.「Save ta' countin' for later. I'll be hacklin' the orders of all them as well.」
「All of them too?」She whispered as her gaze swept over us, and she paused. It was only then that she noticed we were there as well, and it immediately struck her that we were all foreigners here. Though she then shook her head before she smiled politely.「Then I'll do just that, Madam.」
「Righty then!」She 'patted' me on the shoulder.「I'll go take a seat. Don't be shy, yeah?」
I winced at the force of her 'pat', but I quickly nodded.「I won't.」She nodded and walked off to grab her order. I took a breath as I rolled my shoulders, grimacing slightly at the ache I felt. But after that, I turned back to the woman behind the counter and smiled.「Apologies for the suddenness, ma'am.」My smile turned wry.「This lil' trip was a little sudden on our end too.」
The woman blinked, clearly surprised to hear such fluent English, before she shook her head.「No, no! Madam Secretariat was certainly a surprise, but I'm incredibly happy that you all chose this little place of ours!」She smiled warmly.「So, what'll be your order, miss?」
I nodded.「I'll have half a pound of brisket, and a quarter pound of everything else.」I said, before I hummed.「And I suppose I'll have some banana pudding as well.」The woman nodded, and she then shouted my order to the kitchen.
Of course, I wasn't done here. Oguri, Belno, and Kitahara couldn't speak or understand English very well, so I remained there to act as a translator for them. Belno and Kitahara's orders mimicked mine, while Oguri immediately copied Secretariat's gargantuan order.
Thankfully, Musaka could speak English fairly well, so by the time I finished translating for Belno, I immediately went over to grab my order. I hissed slightly as I saw the sheer size of what I just ordered, and I immediately knew that I wouldn't be finishing all of this.
Regardless, I then made my way to the table everyone else was sitting on. They were all already eating, and judging from their expressions, it seemed Man O' War's suggestion wasn't baseless.
「This is some damn fine brisket!」Secretariat cheered as she chomped down on an entire pound of beef brisket.「That granny's too old for her own good, but her tongue's still got it!」
Oguri understood not a single word Secretariat said, but she didn't need to. She nodded enthusiastically and she ate an entire sausage in one bite.
Even Belno and Kitahara, whose appetite was nowhere as big as Oguri's, were digging into their own orders like crazy. "They gotta bring this back to Tokyo!" Kitahara said, grinning widely as he slathered his lips with the BBQ sauce. Belno nodded in agreement as she took a bite from her pork ribs.
I stared at them all for a good moment, before I sighed and sat down. I stared at my platter for a good while, trying to pick which I should start with first. I eventually decided on the beef brisket, and my eyes widened as I ate a small piece I'd cut out. "...It's quite good." I said softly.
I was no foodie by any means, but even I could appreciate the taste. It was quite overwhelming, and my tongue tingled from the sheer amount of spices contained in that single bite, but I could already feel myself salivating as I stared at the rest of my platter.
Still, despite my growing hunger, I maintained my pace as I slowly ate through my platter. I knew that I was the odd one out by being all prim and proper, but this was a side effect of relying on my 'Hero' persona. If I didn't use it, I'd probably be frozen in embarrassment from all the eyes we were attracting.
But then, just as I was about to move onto the pork ribs, I noticed something at the edge of my sight.
A young umamusume was poking her head out of the door leading to the kitchen, her bob of light brown hair squished against the doorframe, her bright blue eyes sparkling with curiosity. I blinked for a moment, confused as to why she felt so familiar, but it wasn't until I saw the green stars behind her umamusume ears that I realized who she was.
It was Taiki Shuttle!
Or, to be precise, a younger version of her.
My knife nearly slipped from my grip from the sheer surprise I felt, but I barely managed to catch it. Still, my surprise didn't go unseen by the little girl, and soon, both our eyes met.
For a moment, I worried that the young Taiki might run back to the kitchen, maybe afraid of suddenly meeting my gaze.
Instead--
Taiki's eyes sparkled, and with a bright smile, she ran towards me.「Wow~! You're so pretty, big sis!」
Thump!
I barely resisted the urge to squeal when I heard her call me that with such a sweet voice, but I took a deep breath as I quickly composed myself.「Good afternoon, young one.」I smiled calmly.「I am Blossom Star. May I know who you are?」
Taiki blinked at my polite speech, but she then smiled.「Me?」
「I'm Taiki Shuttle! Nice to meet you too, big sis!」