CLANG!
The starting gates opened, and the field shot forward. Hayato's breath caught as light spread across the track. It wasn't from the stadium lights but from the Uma Musume themselves, their skills were activating in waves and making the air look strange from Hayato's point of view.
These weren't rookies. Every single runner had already won at least one G2 championship. This was a field full of champions.
Then Narita Brian's expression changed, and Hayato's stomach dropped.
Her face twisted and got sharper, the softness disappearing to show something wild underneath. When her eyes caught the light they reflected it back, and the uma musume running near her felt that intense presence.
She didn't look like an Uma Musume anymore. She looked like a wolf - a starving wolf that had finally spotted prey.
One runner made the mistake of looking into Narita Brian's eyes, and her legs almost gave out. Instinct screamed in her head and took over everything else. After stumbling for a few steps, she managed to shake it off and keep running, but her hands kept shaking.
"HAHAHA! Look at you trying to scare everyone!"
Seiun Sky's laugh was sharp and mocking. Even while laughing, her eyes followed Narita Brian as she moved forward and pushed straight into the middle of the pack to claim her spot.
"AND THEY'RE OFF! MAYANO TOP GUN EXPLODING TO THE FRONT—LOOK AT THAT ACCELERATION!"
Hosoe Junko's voice came through the speakers with raw excitement, her hands hitting the commentary desk hard enough to make the microphone rattle.
"THREE LENGTHS! FOUR! FIVE! SHE'S NOT STOPPING! SHE'S NOT EVEN SLOWING DOWN! THIS IS A DECLARATION OF WAR!"
Mayano Top Gun's hooves hit the turf in a rhythm that sounded like thunder. Her body cut through the air, and her hair flew back from her face. The crowd's roar came crashing in from behind.
She looked back once and saw the pack already falling behind.
"Maya's taking off first! If you want to catch up, come on! Maya will be waiting for you ahead!"
"UNBELIEVABLE! MAYANO TOP GUN IS RUNNING LIKE SHE'S IN A SPRINT RACE, NOT A 3200-METER MARATHON!"
Behind her, the pack was breaking apart. Sakura Laurel stayed at the very back, but her eyes never left Narita Brian. The rest of the field might as well not exist. Narita Brian was the only thing that mattered.
Her hands were shaking. They were always shaking.
Sakura Laurel hadn't slept properly in months, maybe longer. Insomnia had stuck with her ever since that night she'd escaped the dorms with Seiun Sky. Since then, her body had been a mess - heart rate unstable, nerves completely shot. If someone touched her hand, they'd feel it right away, that tremor she couldn't control.
But right now, none of that mattered. Her eyes stayed locked on Narita Brian's back.
"Well," Seiun Sky said to herself, her voice getting lost in the sound of hooves around her, "guess I'm stuck chasing her."
Mayano Top Gun had completely ignored her advice. Honestly, she'd expected that. Which meant Plan A was the only option left - fight for second place and chase the leader until the right moment.
Her body moved before she'd fully decided. She moved smoothly and efficiently, finding the easiest path and slipping through gaps in the pack that most uma musume wouldn't even notice.
The air around her changed - warmer in the pack's center where bodies were packed tight, cooler at the edges where wind came through. She aimed for those temperature changes, the spots where gaps were about to open before they actually did.
Someone's elbow hit her ribs. Seiun Sky twisted sideways without stopping, her shoulder sliding past with maybe five centimeters to spare. The girl gave her a startled look that Seiun Sky ignored.
Her recovery skill pulsed through her legs, that familiar warmth spreading from her calves up through her thighs. It was like erasing the fatigue before it could build up. Each stride felt fresh and light, like she'd just started running instead of already pushing through the pack.
Hoofbeats created chaotic noise around her - dozens of rhythms overlapping and clashing. Seiun Sky's own breathing stayed controlled, in through her nose and out through her mouth in a pattern she didn't have to think about anymore.
The pack's energy pressed against her from all sides. Bodies jostled for position, elbows flew, everyone trying to claim their spot without wasting energy on actual fights. Seiun Sky read it all in her peripheral vision, adjusting her path by tiny amounts to avoid collisions before they happened.
"SAME OPENING AS THE HANSHIN DAISHŌ! MAYANO TOP GUN OUT FRONT, NARITA BRIAN LURKING IN THE MIDDLE!"
Hosoe Junko leaned so far forward in her booth that she was practically hanging over the railing, hands gripping the desk tight.
"BUT WAIT—WHAT'S THIS? SEIUN SKY'S ACCELERATING! IS SHE—IS SHE GOING FOR IT ALREADY?!"
Seiun Sky's stride got longer. It wasn't a conscious choice - just her body responding to the opening ahead. The pack's rhythm broke for half a second as someone stumbled slightly, and that tiny disruption created space.
She put power into it.
Her legs moved faster, each push-off creating more force. The turf compressed under her hooves with that satisfying feeling that meant good traction. Wind hit her face harder, cold enough to make her eyes water.
The distance between her and the pack opened up.
One length. Two lengths. Three lengths.
A runner in a green uniform on her left tried to match her pace. Seiun Sky heard the sudden change in her breathing - that sharp inhale of someone pushing too hard, too early. The girl's face twisted with effort for three strides before she gave up and fell back with a frustrated sound.
Seiun Sky's speed kept climbing as her stride lengthened and the distance between her and the pack got wider. The stadium went quiet.
Seiun Sky felt it - that moment of being completely exposed after breaking free from the pack's shelter. No more bodies to block the wind. No more draft to ride. Just her against the open track, burning stamina at a rate that would cost her later.
Her lungs pulled in air that tasted like dirt and crushed grass. Sweat broke across her forehead, immediately cold in the rushing wind.
Three lengths ahead, Mayano Top Gun's back was visible - that impossibly distant figure still pulling away like Sky was standing still.
"NO WAY! NO WAY! IS SHE REALLY GOING TO TRY A BREAKAWAY RIGHT UNDER MAYANO TOP GUN'S NOSE?! CAN SHE DO IT?! CAN SEIUN SKY ACTUALLY PULL OFF A BREAKAWAY IN A LONG-DISTANCE RACE WHEN SOMEONE'S ALREADY LEADING?!"
Every eye in the stadium locked on Seiun Sky.
Then her pace dropped back to normal.
Seiun Sky let the acceleration fade. Her stride shortened deliberately, and her speed came down in controlled steps. The gap between her and the pack stabilized - not closing but not opening either.
She was up three lengths and holding it there.
Her breathing stayed even, that same measured rhythm. The recovery skill pulsed again, pulling back the fatigue she'd just spent on that surge.
Behind her, she heard someone's confused exhale. The pack's energy shifted from caution to uncertainty.
"Good, let them think about this."
Hosoe Junko felt her stomach drop - that sinking feeling of watching a plan fall apart, the same feeling she'd had watching King Halo. That sense of déjà vu tasted bitter.
"No... don't tell me..."
"WAIT—SHE'S SLOWING DOWN! SEIUN SKY WASN'T DOING A GREAT ESCAPE STRATEGY! IT WAS A FAKE! HAYATO'S TRAINER HAS LIED TO US ONCE AGAIN! WHAT IS HE PLANNING?!"
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*As usual, the illustration is commented on.