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After a long day of growing accustomed to a foreign country and letting reporters get clips of her, El Condor Pasa retired to the hotel she was assigned. She'd already taken all her luggage to her room the moment she exited the airport, so her brain was on auto-pilot as she retraced her steps back to it.
Her pathing to collapsing in her bed, the moment she entered the room and took off her mask, was interrupted by the aberration of a blonde Umamusume speaking French at her. Pasa didn't have a lot of time to learn French before the trip, so beyond the basics she learned just enough to trash talk about racing. That was the only reason she could tell that this Uma was complimenting her - in shock - at how fast she was.
"Huh? Are you... a fan? How did you get in here?" Pasa's first instinct was to speak back in Japanese, before she realized she should try to convey that message in as much French as she knew. To be fair, the sight of a stranger being in her hotel room had stunned her too much. She wasn't sure this was hotel staff - although the stranger was speaking in French, Pasa hadn't heard of an Uma being hotel room service before.
Well, I guess we need to do something after retirement?
Even before Pasa finished her butchering of French, the stranger had blinked rapidly and looked her over again. Then, in a move that made Pasa's heart nearly stop, she reached for something in her pocket. Thankfully, all she brought out was a little booklet.
After flipping through a few pages, the stranger said in broken Japanese: "Sorry. I thought you were someone else. I am Broye. Who are you? Why did you come to this room?"
It was Pasa's turn to re-evaluate just who it was she was speaking to. Hearing the name Broye in the context of a French Umamusume, Pasa recognized her as one of the esteemed rivals she was to be facing in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe; except she wasn't wearing the regal blue racing uniform Pasa had seen in all the photos, but simple white loungewear.
Pointing at her own chest, Pasa said through the stupor, "El Condor Pasa. This... is my room?"
"This... is my room," Broye echoed - and not in the manner of asking for clarification.
At that moment, perfectly timed by the universe, the hotel room service entered. Pasa moved off to the side and it was only then that the person paused and took in the amount of race contenders in the room.
After looking between them in confusion for a few beats, the room service finally asked, "Um... Which one of you ordered?"
Following that, the two were able to extract an explanation pieced together by a few different hotel staff and their own personal testimonies: a double-booking had accidentally occurred, with Pasa arriving first in the morning and Broye arriving in the evening. Broye had only just arrived and was so focused on getting ready to relax, she hadn't noticed Pasa's luggage already in the room. Unfortunately, the rest of the hotel was already packed, and many of the other hotels nearby had been booked to the nines by traveling fans wanting to see the upcoming race in person. Although Broye herself was a native of the country, she did not live in this area, hence the necessity to stay at a hotel.
Still, as the duo realized what had occurred, she told Pasa, "You are a guest of our country. Therefore, I will relinquish this room to you."
"No way!" Pasa said in reply. "Then where would you stay? It won't be a fair race if my opponent didn't get proper rest."
"I feel the same. That is exactly why I insist."
"If you felt the same, you would be following my insistence, so I can race you at your best."
By the time the hotel tried approaching them with a solution to finding them separate lodging, the duo had already concluded the only answer was to share the room. Of course, due to it being arranged as a prestigious VIP room for the racers, its only bed was a single, giant one. That ended up not being a deal-breaker. For one thing, it was big enough for the both of them to fit. Any further awkwardness was mitigated by typical Umamusume passion.
Broye exuded a noble and polite heart, always trying to be mindful of Pasa's presence in the room and leave enough space. Pasa got the sense that she would've been this way even if it was a Japanese hotel double-booked in the lead-up to the Japan Cup.
As for her, Pasa felt like this was a good opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of one of her opponents. Although it might not look like it on the surface, understanding how Broye functioned in daily life would provide clues as to how she functioned in a race. Of course, she assumed Broye was doing the same and was extra careful on how she behaved whenever perceived; then again, that was just as likely sending the message to Broye that Pasa still felt a bit uncomfortable and shy about their situation, triggering even more kind-hearted mindfulness as a response from Broye, which in turn triggered even more self-consciousness from Pasa about what Broye could be gleaming.
A feedback loop that continued even after the Prix was over, ending only when Pasa returned to Japan. Then it resumed the moment Broye touched down in Japan for the Japan Cup, despite the fact that Pasa wouldn't even be racing in it.
The moment the two realized they had been courting each other all along, they already had slipped into love and kept on going from there.