Uma Musume: To The Top!!

Suave Dancer skipped cheerfully back to her team's preparation room.

The moment she opened the door, she saw John-ojisan, Dancing Brave, and several of her teammates pacing anxiously around the room while making call after call.

At the sound of the door opening, the entire room instantly fell silent.

Everyone turned to stare at her in stunned disbelief.

"Suave!"

An angry shout erupted.

A gust of wind followed, and Dancing Brave appeared before her almost as if she had teleported.

She seized Suave Dancer by the shoulders and carefully examined her from head to toe. Only then did she grit her teeth and demand, enunciating every word, "Where have you been for the past half hour?!"

Everyone else in the room silently stared at her.

Faced with such an oppressive atmosphere, Suave Dancer—who still did not quite understand what was happening—nervously swallowed.

"Ahaha... I-I was just wandering around the place for ten laps."

"Then why didn't you take your phone?" Dancing Brave pressed, narrowing her pale-purple eyes.

"My phone?"

Suave Dancer instinctively patted her pockets.

They were completely empty.

Only then did she suddenly remember that she had left her phone behind when she went onstage for the Winning Concert. Before she had a chance to retrieve it afterward, McQueen had dragged her away.

Looking at everyone still holding their phones in the middle of dialing, the dark-skinned girl finally realized that she might have caused serious trouble.

"I'm sorry! I got carried away and made everyone worry. I sincerely apologize!"

She bent forward in a perfect ninety-degree bow and loudly apologized, her voice utterly sincere.

Outside the racetrack, Suave Dancer could sometimes be absentminded and more than a little goofy.

However, even someone as straightforward as her understood how terrifying it would be if the world learned about a trainer capable of healing an Umamusume's fractured bone in half an hour.

She was not a member of Team Chasing Light.

But since McQueen, Kuroha, and the others had trusted her enough to treat her injury, she could never reveal their secret to anyone.

Dancing Brave silently watched her for a moment before finally sighing.

"Fine. What matters is that you came back safely."

She released Suave Dancer's shoulders and turned toward a petite figure in the corner.

"Camille, examine Suave for me. Make sure there's truly nothing wrong with that leg."

"Yes, yes. You always order me around."

Accompanied by that helpless complaint, a girl who stood only around five feet tall rose to her feet.

She had long, curly pink hair. The fluffy horse ears atop her head twitched slightly, while her tail was so long that it nearly brushed the floor.

Not every member of the Umamusume race became a professional racer. Many achieved considerable success in other fields.

Camille was also an Umamusume, but as the head physician of France's Tracen Academy, her expertise lay in medicine.

Camille first glanced at Suave Dancer standing by the door, then lowered her gaze toward the girl's right leg.

After examining it visually for several seconds, she raised an eyebrow.

"Although I suspect you simply imagined it, Dancing Brave, we might as well check now that I'm here. Suave, come with me."

With that, she walked directly toward the changing room.

Why do all you doctors like performing examinations in changing rooms...?

Suave Dancer grumbled silently, but eagerly called after her, "Wait for me, Camille-oneechan!"

She hurried inside after her.

Bang!

The door closed.

Only then did everyone in the preparation room release a collective sigh of relief and find somewhere to sit.

Trainer John put away his phone and looked toward Dancing Brave, who was still standing beside the door.

"Dancing Brave, are you certain something happened to Suave's leg during the Winning Concert?"

Dancing Brave closed her eyes and carefully recalled the scene.

After a moment, she nodded.

"Yes. I definitely sensed that something was wrong."

Remembering how her junior's right leg had faintly trembled onstage half an hour earlier, Dancing Brave pressed her lips together.

"I hope... I truly was mistaken."

Before the two could discuss it any further, the changing room door—closed for less than three minutes—opened again.

Camille strode out and spread her hands toward everyone.

"There's absolutely nothing wrong with Suave. In fact, she's even healthier than she was during her pre-race examination. Aren't all of you being a little too paranoid?"

"Exactly, exactly."

Suave Dancer obediently followed her out.

"There's truly nothing wrong?" Dancing Brave pressed.

However, the tension in her body had already visibly eased.

"If you're still worried, take her for a comprehensive examination after we return home tomorrow. Will that satisfy you?"

The pink-haired physician rolled her eyes.

"All right, it's already late."

"Suave just finished an extremely demanding race and then performed at the Winning Concert. She must be exhausted, so stop putting her through any more trouble. Everyone should pack up and go rest."

Since even the team's chief physician had said so, the others could only nod.

They packed their belongings and left the racecourse shortly afterward.

On the return trip, Dancing Brave and Suave Dancer sat beside each other in the back seat.

The dark-skinned girl leaned against the window with her cheek resting on one hand, staring at the racecourse as it gradually receded into the distance.

No one knew what she was thinking.

"Suave, how does your right leg feel now?" Dancing Brave suddenly asked.

"Hmm? Oh, it feels great! Better than ever!"

"Don't joke around."

Dancing Brave sighed with a smile and rubbed the spot between her aching eyebrows.

At last, complete relief appeared on her face.

"As long as you're all right. Let's go home."

"Okay!"

"By the way, how did it feel to suffer your first defeat today? I saw you crying, you know."

"Aaah! Dancing Brave-oneechan, stop talking about that!"

Accompanied by the girls' relaxed laughter and playful bickering, the convoy drove into the night and soon disappeared at the end of the road.

(End of Chapter)

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