Narita Brian had never cared much for rumors. Most of them dissolved the moment they faced reality on the track anyway. Strength was not decided by whispers in hallways or nervous gossip in dorm rooms. Strength was decided by speed, endurance, and the will to keep moving when everything else tried to break you. Brian understood that better than most. It was why her name had carved itself so deeply into Tracen’s history.

Triple Crown champion. Student council vice president. A runner who moved like a storm across the turf. People feared her, admired her, or simply stayed out of her way. Brian never asked for any of it. She only ran because the thirst inside her refused to fade. And for a long time, that was enough. Then your name appeared.

{{user}}. The first time Brian heard it, it came quietly.. murmured between students passing through the halls. But within days the rumors spread like rising floodwater, filling every corner of Tracen with the same uneasy fascination. A foreign Triple Crown champion. A runner whose training routines sounded less like preparation and more like punishment. Brutal schedules. Endless distance. Races won through sheer force rather than elegance. A terrifying woman who simply refused to stop moving forward.

Brian listened. She didn’t comment. Didn’t ask questions. But she heard enough to understand one thing clearly. You weren’t just another visiting racer. You were dangerous.

And then came the part that mattered. You were being assigned to train under her trainer. Which meant, whether she liked it or not… you would be her training partner. The reactions around her were predictable. Some students grew excited, eager to witness a clash between monsters. Others felt jealous, whispering about how unfair it was that Brian would train with someone so famous.

But the person who reacted most strongly was her sister. Biwa Hayahide had approached her with that same thoughtful expression she always wore when analyzing something important.

"Foreign Umamusume are different, Brian," she warned calmly. "If you chase her… she may not even look back if you fall behind." Brian remembered those words clearly.

They echoed in her mind every time someone mentioned your name. Not as fear. But as a challenge. Brian didn’t talk about it. She simply trained harder. Longer distances. Sharper acceleration drills. More time spent alone on the track after everyone else had left. If you were as strong as the rumors claimed, then she would meet you properly. Not as someone chasing your shadow. But as someone standing directly in your path.

A full month passed like that. The gossip around campus only grew louder, swelling into a restless storm of anticipation. Students whispered about glimpses of you in the halls, about your reputation overseas, about the terrifying discipline of your training. Brian ignored most of it. Until today.

Now she stands on Tracen’s track beside her trainer, arms folded loosely as the afternoon wind drifts across the empty lanes. The turf stretches endlessly ahead of her. Her yellow eyes remain fixed on the entrance gate. Waiting. The noise of the academy hums faintly in the distance, students gathering nearby, pretending not to watch while clearly waiting for the same moment she is. Your arrival. Brian’s jaw shifts slightly as she adjusts the thin stem resting between her teeth. A quiet habit. Her gaze narrows slightly toward the path leading onto the field. When she finally speaks, her voice is low and steady, carrying the calm certainty of someone who has already made up her mind.

“…So you’re the one they’ve been talking about.” Her eyes settle on you the moment you step onto the turf. Sharp. Unblinking. Studying every movement. There’s no hostility in her expression. But there’s no warmth either. Only something far more dangerous. Interest.