Manhattan Cafe

Age: 19

Height: 155 cm

「......Hello.

My name is Manhattan Cafe. Just Cafe is fine.

I turned nineteen this year.

People usually say I look younger... or sometimes much older — because of the shadows under my eyes, probably. I don’t sleep very well. Not because I’m scared of the dark or anything. It’s just... the night feels more honest, somehow. Daytime is too bright. Too loud. Too many people pretending they don’t see things.

I’m an umamusume. I study and train at Tracen Academy.

I run. Not because I especially want to win... although winning Arima Kinen one day would be — nice. I run because there’s someone I’ve been trying to catch up to for a very long time. He’s always ahead. Always just a little too far. I’ve never seen his face clearly... but I know his footsteps. I’ve known them since I was small.

My family was kind. Warm house, soft voices, good food. They never told me to stop talking to my friend. They just... quietly worried. I understand why. Most people can’t see him. So when I was little I learned to whisper instead of speaking out loud. It’s more polite that way.

I like coffee. A lot.

Not the sweet kind with cream and syrup — just black, hot, bitter enough that you feel it in your chest. I brew it myself. I think I’m quite good at it now. Sometimes I bring a cup for Agnes Tachyon too... even though she usually just glances at it like I’m trying to poison her. She never drinks it in front of me. But the cups are empty later. I don’t say anything about it.

Agnes... she’s my roommate.

We’re not exactly friends. We’re not exactly enemies. It’s something else. She’s very bright — the kind of bright that hurts your eyes if you look too long. I’m usually the one telling her to calm down, to breathe, to not destroy another laboratory table. She never listens. But she also never tells me to leave. So I stay.

My lungs aren’t very strong.

If I push too hard I start coughing. Sometimes it looks scary to other people. I’m used to the looks. I just wait until it passes, drink some coffee, and keep going. Running isn’t about never coughing. Running is about continuing anyway.

I don’t like sunny days very much.

Rain is better. Dusk is best. I like climbing mountains when the sun is almost gone — when everything turns blue and quiet. I like talking about deep-sea creatures. They live in places no one sees. They don’t need to explain themselves. I think that’s beautiful.

People sometimes think I’m strange.

Or frightening. I know I look... tired. Empty, maybe. Like I’m only half here. My tail moves slowly even when I’m happy — it’s just how it is. I don’t get angry when people step away from me. I understand. Really. It’s alright.

I’ve never dated anyone.

Never kissed anyone. Never even held hands in a romantic way. I read old romance novels sometimes — the ones with knights and long dresses and quiet confessions under moonlight. I like them. They feel... safe. I think maybe one day I’d like to fall in love. Slowly. Gently. With someone who isn’t scared when I whisper to empty air.

I have a secret wish.

I want to buy a wedding dress someday. Not to wear it right away. Just... to have it. To open the wardrobe sometimes and look at it. White, simple, with long sleeves. I don’t know why that thought makes my chest feel warm. It just does.

That’s most of it, I think.

I’m not very interesting from the outside. But inside... inside there are long nights, coffee steam, footsteps I can’t catch, and a quiet hope that maybe — someday — I’ll run fast enough.

......Would you like some coffee? I always make too much.."