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Rice Shower had never thought much of herself.
It went without saying, didn't it? She had never had a reason to like herself. She struggled in everything she did, she was a bad omen to the people around her, and even when she managed to succeed, it never seemed to be enough to prove her worth, not to herself or to others. She stole the Kikuka Sho from Mihono Bourbon, she stole the Tenno Sho from Mejiro McQueen, both titles that she didn't deserve and wasn't good enough for. The fans knew that, and she knew it too, no matter how much her friends tried to convince her otherwise.
Maybe that was why Rice admired Haru Urara as much as she did.
Urara had a losing streak. It seemed like she was constantly failing, never winning the races she wanted to win, but somehow she managed to keep smiling despite that. Urara was one of the sweetest, happiest people that Rice had ever met. And she managed to continue to be that even when things set her back or she didn't get the outcomes she wanted. Rice had always wished that she could be more like her, the kind of person that could stay positive and love herself regardless of her flaws, someone who lived her life with the intention of having fun and enjoying herself.
Rice wasn't sure when her admiration for Urara had turned into her heart fluttering whenever she was near, but it was basically inescapable at this point. Every time Urara would smile at her with that bright, adorable look in her eyes, it was as if Rice forgot how to breathe. At first, she hadn't been able to put proper words to it. She had thought it was admiration, in the same way that she admired McQueen or her trainer, but it became increasingly clear that it was more than that with Urara. She liked Urara in a way that she didn't like anyone else.
And that was why she was struggling so much right now.
Urara had invited her to go to the arcade, and while Rice worried that Urara would be better off spending her time with someone more fun or interesting, she still agreed to go. She just couldn't bring herself to turn down the opportunity to spend time together, as selfish as it was. Urara had been so happy that she agreed, and the two of them spent the entirety of their Saturday playing dance games and crane machines.
Urara had been struggling at the crane machine for over half an hour, trying to get one of the cute uma plushies that they stocked, but she hadn't had any luck. Every time the crane would fail to snag a plush, Rice would wince in disappointment, but it never seemed to sour Urara's mood, even after she had plowed through almost all of her arcade tokens. Once she had reached the point of only having one token left, she turned to Rice with an uncharacteristically serious look on her face before dramatically bowing, holding the token out to her. "You are my only hope, Rice-sama, I beg of you!"
"H—" Rice blinked in confusion, eyes wide. "Huh?"
"You gotta give it a last try! I believe that you can do it, so please!"
Rice wasn't really used to being someone that people relied on. Usually she just kept to herself, not wanting to draw attention to herself because she didn't want to bring bad luck to the people around her. Heck, even in racing, she only ever seemed to be able to win by following the person she wanted to pass. She didn't feel like she could do anything on her own, so why would other people put their faith in her? But here was cheerful Urara, looking at her like she was certain she could succeed, even though Rice was sure she didn't deserve that admiration.
"I… I'll give it a shot…"
She took the token from Urara with slightly trembling hands, and after taking a deep breath, pushed it into the coin slot on the crane machine. The machine immediately came to life with flashing lights and cheery music, to the point that it was almost overwhelming. Rice spared a glance back to Urara, who was still watching her with a bright smile on her face, before focusing her attention on the uma plushies. All of the plushies were of famous umamusume, both current and from the past. Rice wasn't sure which one Urara would want, and as she was considering her options, she noticed one with familiar pink hair tied back in a ponytail.
It was Urara herself. She had gained some popularity recently, being covered in the media as the umamusume who never gives up, and her fans loved how determined and optimistic she was. Without thinking, Rice angled the joystick in the direction of the Urara plush. The crane moved faster than she expected, and although it caught her off guard, she managed to keep good control over the machine. She lined the crane up so it was directly above the plush she wanted and pressed the button the lower it.
The two of them watched with bated breath as the claw lowered, caught onto the plush, and lifted it into the air, distributing it safely into the disposal box.
Urara squealed in excitement, wrapping her arms around Rice's shoulders, pulling her into a tight hug. "Rice, you did it! You're amazing!"
Rice tried desperately to calm her pounding heart. The mixture of Urara hugging her so tightly and calling her amazing was almost enough to take her breath away.
"I… I'm really not…"
Urara tilted her head to the side, seeming confused. "But you managed to do it on your first try even after I tried a bunch of times and couldn't! That's pretty amazing to me! It's like having you here was my good luck charm!"
Now she was just being unfair.
Rice wasn't a good luck charm. If anything, she was supposed to be a bad luck charm.
"But—" Something about Urara praising her made Rice want to be more honest with her, and she found herself speaking up despite the fact that she normally would just keep quiet. Normally, she would just blush and insist that she wasn't anything special, but this wasn't just anyone that was praising her. This was Urara, someone that Rice saw as incredibly special, in a way she wasn't used to feeling about other people. How was she supposed to accept that she deserved praise when Urara was the most wonderful person she had ever met?
"You're the one that's amazing!"
Urara's eyes widened a bit at how loud Rice was suddenly speaking. It seemed that she hadn't been able to control the passion in her voice. "You're always so positive, even when things go wrong! You manage to smile and be excited for everything life throws at you, and even though I really admire that about you, I don't think I could ever be like that! You're so happy and kind and outgoing and I love that about you! I love everything about you because it all makes you special!"
Rice squeezed her eyes shut, feeling a deep blush spread across her cheeks. She might have admitted to a bit more than she had been intending to.
Urara was quiet, uncharacteristically so, but Rice was too embarrassed to open her eyes to see what her expression looked like. She was certain that she would die of embarrassment if she saw Urara looking at her with pity or, even worse, disgust.
But then, after a couple moments, Urara squeezed her tighter, and just as Rice thought that she might crumble to dust, she heard her giggle in that ever so charming way. "No, I'm pretty sure you're still the one who is amazing! You might think that I'm more special, but I know for a fact that you're the most special person I know! You're a great runner and you're so kind and you never give up, even though you don't always believe in yourself! That's what I love about you!"
Rice didn't know what to say to that. She wasn't sure if she could respond. But she ended up leaning in closer to Urara's hug regardless. "Y—You're really too sweet, Urara…"
It was clear to her that Urara probably didn't understand just how much Rice viewed her as special, and probably didn't realize that the love Rice felt for her was different than what she felt for her other friends. Urara certainly thought that Rice was just a very good friend, and despite the way her heart was beating too fast, Rice also knew she was more than okay with that. The fact that Urara thought she was someone special was more than enough for her.
"Oh, right!" Urara pulled away to lean down and grab the plush from the machine disposal. She smiled when she saw a cute little version of her own face staring back at her, but she shoved the toy into Rice's arms instead of keeping it for herself. "Here, it's for you!"
"Are you sure? I know you really wanted it…"
"Of course! I hope that when you look at it, you remember how special you are to me! You can have a little Urara always cheering you on even when you're in your dorm room!"
Rice blushed, but accepted the plush. She held it in her arms, and although she thought that it really was cute, it still couldn't hold a candle to the real Urara that was standing in front of her right now. A plushie could never hope to be as adorable as Urara, because Urara was far too cute for her own good.
So cute that it really was unfair.