"Hope?" A voice called out, ringing inside the room, as every occupant, but one, looked at the person in question, "Hope?"
Alas, said person did not hear them, no. She refused to, her mind so incapsulated by her inability to understand the mechanism of the phone that she held in her hands that she simply ignored them and continued to glare at the machine.
It's silence. It's stubbornness. And worst of all, it's pride. Insulted her.
Irritated her. Made her angry. Made her wish but for one single thing.
To r—
"HOPE!"
She suddenly jolted upright as she finally heard her name being called, "Y-Yes!"
Her trainer sighed as he looked at her, his hand palming his forehead as his lollipop lolled downwards.
"Did you hear anything that I was explaining for the last 20 minutes?"
She glanced to the side nervously fully aware of the fact that the entire team, minus Gold Ship who was nowhere to be found was now staring at her.
She knew that if she said the truth they would all be disappointed in her.
But even then, she couldn't bring herself to lie, "No…"
A long sigh escaped her trainers lips as he muttered something under her breath that she couldn't quite catch, "All right then, I'll have to explain it to you… again. But fine, I'll tell you all you need to know."
He sighed once more, did he get enough sleep last night?
"The race that I am planning to enter you in is the Artemis Stakes, it's new and wasn't supposed to be inaugurated until next year, but it was pushed ahead. Which is good news for us, as it means that we can keep you in mile races instead of the much faster paced sprint race that is the fantasy stakes."
She nodded her head, and hummed out a few words of agreement as he continued.
"However, this new advantage comes with a problem… there is no race data to pore over, no past results to analyze, nothing to go off of except for the venue of the race. Tokyo. Which, luckily for you, is a place many of your teammates have good experience with and many fond memories."
"Yeah… good memories…" Spe-chan said as she shivered and grabbed her tail in her hands.
"Yeah. Good memories," both Teio and Vodka said simultaneously with a melancholic smile on their faces.
"So… what does that mean?"
Her trainer balked at her for a moment before speaking once more."… you know, for someone who is apparently at the top of their class when it comes to academics, you are really. And I mean really dense."
"I'm… sorry?"
"It's fine. What I meant was that even if we don't know everything exactly, we have all the experience we need to get you used to Tokyo racecourses ticks and tricks. Which, I assure you will come in handy for your first graded stakes race."
…
And so the next few weeks passed by as she prepared for the Artemis Stakes.
And finally the time had come for the Artemis Stakes, there were currently 10 umas on the waiting in the tunnel for there name to be called out, Hope for Tomorrow, did not speak to the others, did not even glance at them.
Instead, her eyes looked at the turf that she was to run on.
It was partly cloudy. The turf was firm and tough, just like she had practiced on in the academy.
Even when the announcer had begun calling the people set to be running in the race she showed no outward reactions.
She was in a state of complete and utter calm.
It was… unnerving to witness, at least for the other competitors.
"And the number one favorite, the girl who dominated her debut race by a monstrous 15 lengths! She who set her sights upon the Triple Tiara! Welcome, HOPE FOR TOMORROW!"
And so, she walked out of the tunnel, her expression a mask of calm, while inside… she well… she panicked.
'AAAAAAHHHHHHH! WHAT DOES THE ANNOUNCER MEAN, BY SAYING THAT I'M THE TOP FAVORITE!?!?' Suffice to say, hope for tomorrow was not used to praise, not used to it whatsoever, alas that didn't stop her from waving to the audience politely before entering the gate and merely… observing.
The birds chirped, the clouds moved, the sun shined, the wind… it was blowing…
She focused on it, the wind.
It had led her to victory before it would do so once more, and so… she let the world pass trough her, and she entered a state of extreme selflessness.
Her mind had opened itself completely and utterly, unlike the mythical 'Zone' this state which was similar in nature was its complete opposite.
They were both techniques of concentration, the only difference was that one required shutting the world off with the sole exception of oneself and the race itself and the other, the complete opening of the mind with everything.
The 'Zone' was selfishness, the unbreakable desire for victory, no matter the cost, no matter the effort no matter the form.
While Hope's state was selflessness, the capability to let the world flow through oneself and let it guide them.
They were oh so similar, yet oh so different.
But even then, the result was the same in this situation.
A state of complete and utter.
Concentration.
…
She breathed in.
The gate flew open.
She breathed out and her form exploded outwards.
She was in the front of the pack, there was a late start at near the inner rail, everybody else had started well.
But she started better.
Her form flew, a machine made for running, a technology limited only the restrictions imposed by the mind.
Limited only by fear and regrets.
In the span of a few strides the gap between her and her competitors widened almost exponentially, what had started as but a nose, soon turned into a length, then another before suddenly…
"Is this it! Are we witnessing another great escape! Another reckless runaway, another complete and utter domination! 1 length! 2 lengths! 5 lengths! They're entering the corner!"
The corner passed smoothly, the wind blew in her hair, she couldn't help a smile from forming, it was fun, she reaffirmed to herself, it was fun to run. To be victorious, to be the light in so many peoples eyes.
Soon enough it was the final corner, and she led the race, all alone, nobody could reach her.
Nobody could touch her.
It was a complete and utter domination.
But even then…
She couldn't help herself from having fu—
"Why… why did you run away?"
"Hope for Tomorrow enters the final straight all alone! the others are only now just entering into the final corner! Oh? What's this! Has Hope for Tomorrow reached her limit?!"
"Why do you run even now?"
…I'm sorry.
Her strides slowed, her almost constant accelaration coming to an end.
"Why did you do it?"
…I'm sorry.
Her face fell as she reached the 100 meter mark.
"Why did yo—"
"Hope for Tomorrow has done it! She's claimed victory in the Artemis Stakes! She's the race's first champion! She's won her first her fist graded stakes race!"
The crowd up in the stands, numbering easily in the thousands called her name, she could hear it all, she could hear them it, call "Hope for Tomorrow."
"Ah." She said, as she came to a realization.
————
AN
I don't know about you guys, but this chapter was actually not that much of a let down when it came to translating my thoughts for it in my head, to what it should actually be.
The worst part of it all was the fact that I was struggling not to include any of the aspects that i would normally include in her first race against Orfevre, aka the Japan Cup.
Tried a new style in writing the race, please tell me if you guys liked it more than the original.
And yes, the description of the state Hope enters in a race and how it is compared to the zone is absolutely necessary, I swear.
Anyway, no Omake this week, may actually try making two chapters a week during summer so I can actually reach the triple tiara without any major timeskip.
And that should be all, oh yeah, please review the story.
And don't forget to comment.
This is GreekAntrielos, signing off.
Ps. The offer from before still stands, just give me 50 powerstones and you guys can get 10 bonus chapters, as I'll have around 540 powerstones all time.