On December 8th, the results of this year's Arima Kinen fan vote were finally announced. Every year, the fan vote selected ten Uma Musume eligible to run in the Arima Kinen. On top of that, the URA Association nominated three more based on their yearly performances—making a total of thirteen participants for the race.
Those three nominees were:
Super Creek, this year's Kikuka Sho winner, whose ability Shuta An had already recognized as top-tier at the start of the year. Kosei, champion of the G3 Tanabata Sho. And Hawaiian Coral, who had taken sixth place in this year's Japanese Derby.
"Alright, let's see the voting results. I'm guessing Oguri and Tamamo Cross will take first and second," Shuta An said, even before he opened the official website. His tone made it clear that he was already confident.
Agnes Tachyon and Berno Light nodded in agreement. Tachyon, however, went even further.
"I'm sure Oguri Cap-senpai will be first in the popularity poll."
"Because she won the Japan Cup?" Shuta An raised a brow. "Plus her overseas accomplishments earlier this year."
"Exactly," Tachyon replied. "I heard nearly everyone at the Academy voted for Oguri Cap-senpai."
"Well, each person can pick ten names. I think Oguri and Tamamo Cross will end up with similar totals," Shuta An commented, slightly more cautious.
"We'll find out soon," Oguri Cap said. She didn't care about being first or second, but the Gray Uma Musume was genuinely curious about her vote count.
Shuta An clicked open the announcement page. The top twenty-one fan vote rankings appeared on the screen.
"First place: Oguri Cap, 1,738,941 votes."
"Whoa!" Berno Light exclaimed. "Over 1.7 million! Oguri-senpai's popularity is insane!"
"As expected," Oguri Cap replied calmly. But her slightly trembling fingertips gave her away—her heart clearly wasn't as composed as her voice.
"Second place is Tamamo Cross-senpai, with 1,734,739 votes," Tachyon reported.
"The difference is that small?" Shuta An let out a soft sigh. "Fans of the Japanese Twinkle Series really are something—"
It wasn't exactly praise. If one ignored the Arima Kinen results for a moment and looked only at achievements—Oguri Cap's record this year was undeniably superior, especially since she had never lost to Tamamo Cross directly. Yet the vote totals still ended up nearly equal.
This meant that for many fans, Tamamo Cross's Spring Two Crown (Tenno Sho Spring and Takarazuka Kinen) carried more emotional weight than Oguri's distant French Two Crown.
"If she hadn't won the Japan Cup, first place would've gone to Tamamo Cross for sure," Shuta An murmured.
Tachyon then added, "Actually, Miss Tamamo Cross's plan to make the Arima Kinen her retirement race hasn't been publicly announced yet. If the outside world knew—"
"Her votes would probably double," Shuta An snorted. "A retirement-race buff is both sentimental and irresistible."
"What if Oguri announced she'd retire after this race too?" Berno Light wondered aloud.
"No," Shuta An cut her off immediately. "Oguri still has two more years."
"Oh?" Agnes Tachyon's eyes sparkled. "Shuta-kun wants Oguri Cap-senpai to keep racing as an older Uma Musume?"
"Isn't that normal?" Shuta An raised an eyebrow. "That shouldn't surprise you, should it?"
"If she races two more years—then everyone at Central will have to face the 'Wall of Oguri Cap.'" Tachyon laughed quietly behind her hand. "Just imagining it is enough to make people despair."
"I won't make Oguri race too often," Shuta An replied, scratching his nose. "This autumn was an exception. Starting next year, she won't run three G1 races back-to-back again."
"I'll let the others have a chance at local G1 wins," he said, grinning with an arrogance that seemed almost natural. "Oguri and I will challenge the world together."
"Challenge the world…" Tachyon fell silent.
Japanese Uma Musume understood better than anyone how high the "wall of the world" truly was.
While ordinary Japanese bragged that "Tokyo could buy the whole United States," Uma Musume knew the truth: even those who couldn't succeed overseas could perform astonishingly well on Tokyo turf if they poured in the effort. Obey Your Master, despite not winning the Japan Cup, had inspired countless Central Academy Uma Musume who doubted their own talent. Unbeknownst to her, she had gained a legion of fangirls.
As they continued scrolling through the vote list, familiar names filled the screen:
Third place: Dicta Striker, with 1.58 million votes.
Fourth: Yaeno Muteki, with 1.14 million votes—but she chose not to participate in the Arima Kinen.
Fifth: Suzu Parade, with 1.02 million votes, who would make this Arima Kinen her final race.
Sixth was Road Royal, with 960,000 votes. Though she had suffered crushing defeats in her previous encounters with Oguri Cap, she pleaded so earnestly that her Trainer allowed her to enter—but only after warning her very seriously: this would be her last chance to face Oguri Cap.
Mejiro Durren in seventh, and Fresh Voice in eighth, also accepted their invitations.
But from ninth place Dyna Actress to fourteenth place Kashima Wing, all of them withdrew for various reasons.
Dyna Actress felt she couldn't handle the Arima Kinen distance. Kashima Wing was injured. And then there were the…stranger reasons—such as Gold City, twelfth place, declaring, "It clashes with my movie schedule."
Thanks to so many withdrawals, Material—who had ranked twenty-first—secured the final fan-voted entry slot.
"I'm definitely going to run well this time! I'm nothing like how I was at the Autumn Tenno Sho!" Material exclaimed enthusiastically.
December 11th — fourteen days before the Arima Kinen.
"Oguri has been following the new training plan for half a month now," Shuta An suddenly said over breakfast. "We're not training today. We're going to the hospital for another check-up."
Before Oguri Cap could react, Agnes Tachyon's ears twitched sharply.
"Is this to verify whether the plan is working?" she asked, eyes glittering behind her glasses.
"Yes." Shuta An nodded, then turned to the Gray Uma Musume—who was still eating at a speed that seemed to defy physics.
"This time, I'll have the doctor decide whether Oguri can participate in the Arima Kinen. If she can, we'll announce it when we return. But if she can't then I hope Oguri will understand."
"What if I insisted on running?" Oguri Cap asked gently. It wasn't a challenge—only curiosity.
Shuta An shrugged.
"Then I still wouldn't enter you. I only need to be responsible for you—even if you're not satisfied with that responsibility."
"I understand." Oguri lowered her head and continued eating, her quiet voice melting into the clink of dishes.
Berno Light glanced from Oguri to Shuta An and sighed softly.
"In that case… I should prepare some desserts," she muttered under her breath. "Something to celebrate… or comfort her… depending on the result."
Only Agnes Tachyon was smiling as if she alone floated above the tension. But Shuta An doubted for a second that she was truly unaware of anything.
Another round of examinations finished. Shuta An sent Oguri Cap home first, then returned to the hospital to wait for the results. He immediately went to find the doctor in charge.
"Doctor, honestly—what do you think about Oguri's recovery?" he asked, tone serious.
"Frankly…" The doctor hesitated. "Her recovery speed is astonishingly fast. It feels like she should be in excellent condition, but I can't state it with certainty. You must understand—Miss Oguri Cap's physical condition carries significant weight. If I misjudge, it could end my career."
"I understand," Shuta An replied. He genuinely did.
All they could do now was wait.
That afternoon, the report was released—and Shuta received it immediately.
The doctor reviewed it carefully, then looked up.
"She's recovered very quickly. The fatigue from the previous race is completely gone. At this level, she can start training with no issues."
"Amazing." Even Shuta An, who had stayed cautious throughout, couldn't hide his relief.
"Last time, my senior said her fatigue would take twenty days to fully recover, but this test shows no abnormalities and no banned substances—yet the fatigue is gone."
The doctor tapped her temple lightly. "Shuta-kun… how exactly did you accomplish this?"
"I had help," he answered honestly. "We tested a new training method. Looks like it worked better than expected."
Now, the hope he'd fought to suppress began to rise.
Oguri might actually race… and race at her best.
"When I tell Oguri the results, she'll be thrilled," he whispered to himself. "Shame I won't get any rewards, though."
Indeed—because Agnes Tachyon had been staying with them, neither Berno Light nor Oguri Cap had been able to sneak out for anything beyond wholesome interaction. Mainly because every time Berno tried, she ran straight into Tachyon typing away on her laptop in the stairwell.
After that, both she and Oguri stopped their attempts entirely.
Back home, Shuta handed Oguri the report. Agnes Tachyon instantly leaned in; Oguri read out of curiosity, Tachyon with the sharp precision of a researcher.
Shuta sat opposite them and checked his phone—Dr. Grace had finally replied.
Even from across the ocean, her excitement radiated through the screen.
"Oh! This recovery is excellent! Shuta, bring her to America next year—I want to examine her myself!"
"Unfortunately, no time," Shuta typed back. "Oguri will focus on domestic races next year, so we can't cooperate with your research."
"Ugh!! Shuta, this is exactly what your people call 'slaughtering the donkey after it's done the hard work'! I help you, and then you dump me!"
Shuta's eyelid twitched.
"I'm not refusing on purpose. Summer is the only free window, and Oguri and I will be at training camp."
Dr. Grace nearly typed, "Then I hope you suddenly have time," before realizing that sounded like wishing injury on Oguri. She immediately deleted it.
If that Red President finds out, my research budget will be shaved down to dust…
———
Just then, Tachyon placed the report down. "With this recovery, Oguri Cap-senpai can start normal pre-race adjustments tomorrow, correct?"
Oguri's ears perked up.
"That's right," Shuta said. "But Oguri will rest for another day."
"Why?" Oguri tilted her head.
"Because tomorrow, I'm doing part-time work at the Mejiro Family's old estate."
"Oh? The Mejiro Family? I want to go too!" Tachyon raised her hand immediately.
"I—don't think that's possible?" Shuta said, grimacing slightly. "You should ask Miss Mejiro Ramonu."
"Then I'll ask her now." Tachyon pulled out her phone instantly. "Or Dober works too, right?" she added casually.
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