The stadium held its breath.
Ten thousand people stood frozen mid-celebration, staring at the massive screen above the track while waiting for the photo finish result.
Hayato's grip on the railing hadn't loosened, and his knuckles were still white. Beside him, Maruzensky stood completely still with her eyes locked on the screen.
Down on the track, three bodies lay sprawled on the grass past the finish line.
Seiun Sky was flat on her back with her chest heaving as she'd just surfaced from drowning. The sky above her looked too bright, too blue, and it spun slowly in her vision.
Sakura Laurel had collapsed onto her side, curled slightly with one hand pressed against her ribs. Each breath felt like swallowing glass. Her Zone had burned out the second she crossed the line and left her feeling hollow, like someone had scooped her out from the inside.
Narita Brian was on her hands and knees with her head hanging low. Her right leg hurt with sharp pain that shot up from her ankle with every heartbeat, nothing like the dull ache she'd learned to ignore. She'd pushed too far, and she knew it, had known it fifty meters back.
"The results..." someone in the crowd whispered.
The screen flickered.
Processing...
Hayato stopped breathing.
Then it appeared.
PHOTO FINISH - TENNO SHO SPRING
1st Place: DEAD HEAT SEIUN SKY SAKURA LAUREL Time: 3:17.8
3rd Place: NARITA BRIAN Time: 3:18.2
The stadium exploded.
Not the roar from before but something different. Shock hit first with a split second of confused silence, then absolute chaos broke out as people started screaming, crying, grabbing each other, jumping, and throwing things in the air.
"DEAD HEAT! IT'S A DEAD HEAT! SEIUN SKY AND SAKURA LAUREL HAVE BOTH WON THE TENNO SHO SPRING! IN A RACE AGAINST THE LEGENDARY NARITA BRIAN, TWO RISING STARS HAVE CLAIMED VICTORY TOGETHER!"
Hosoe Junko's voice cracked on the last word.
Up in the stands, Hayato's legs almost gave out, but Maruzensky caught his arm.
"They did it," she whispered. "Both of them."
Seiun Sky blinked up at the sky as her brain struggled to process the words. Dead heat, both of them had won, they were the winners.
----
"...Sky."
Sakura Laurel was still lying on her side next to her, staring back.
"We won," Laurel said with her voice hoarse and barely there. "Both of us."
"...Both?"
"Both."
Seiun Sky closed her eyes and let out a long, shaky breath before she started laughing, quiet and breathless and almost delirious. "That's so stupid."
"Yeah." Sakura Laurel was smiling through her tears and couldn't stop even as her whole body shook.
Behind them, Narita Brian had pushed herself up to her knees. Her right leg screamed in protest, but she forced herself to stand with movements that were slow and careful. The pain was getting worse, sharp and angry as it spread from her ankle.
Third place. She'd come in third, not first like she always did, not even second place. Just third.
She'd lost.
The realization sat heavy in her chest, cold and foreign, but her mind couldn't grasp it properly. Everything felt distant and unreal, like she was watching from underwater. The crowd's roar was just noise as she stood there blank and empty, not knowing what to do right now.
What was she supposed to do when she lost? What did winners-turned-losers do in moments like this?
She didn't know, but then a movement cut through the fog in her mind.
Sakura Laurel was pushing herself up from the ground, slow and trembling with every movement looking like it cost her everything. Her legs shook violently as she stood and threatened to give out, but she locked her knees and stayed upright through sheer determination.
And then she turned toward Narita Brian.
Their eyes met, and Narita Brian's breath caught in her throat.
Sakura Laurel was smiling softly, sweet and impossibly gentle. Her eyes were still wet with tears, her pink hair stuck to her forehead with sweat, and her face was flushed red with exhaustion, but that expression was so warm it almost hurt to look at. It was the kind of look someone gave to something precious, something they treasured.
She extended her hand toward Brian. The gesture was simple and direct, with no hesitation at all.
Narita Brian stared.
The world narrowed to that single gesture, that outstretched hand with fingers still trembling from effort and adrenaline, that smile that was honest and kind and genuine in a way that didn't make sense. She'd just lost to this girl, actually lost, and here Sakura Laurel was, swaying on unsteady legs while offering her hand with that impossibly sweet expression. It was like she wasn't seeing an opponent she'd just beaten, but someone she respected deeply.
Narita Brian's mind went blank again. She couldn't process it, couldn't understand what this meant or what she was supposed to do or how to respond. Her throat felt tight, and her chest ached with something she couldn't name.
"Good race," Sakura Laurel said softly with her voice rough and breathless but steady. "Thank you for running with us, for not holding back."
Thank you?
The words didn't make sense to Narita Brian. She just stared at Sakura Laurel's face, at those bright eyes, at that gentle smile that somehow held respect and admiration and something that looked like gratitude all mixed together.
For what? For losing to them? For getting beaten?
But Sakura Laurel's hand stayed extended and steady despite the tremor, waiting there with patience and kindness.
Something cracked open in Narita Brian's chest.
"I—" Her voice came out rough and broken. Her hand moved without thinking as it reached out and gripped Laurel's firmly. The tremor running through both their arms was obvious, showing their shared exhaustion, shared intensity, the physical proof of everything they'd left on that track.
The fog cleared all at once, and everything came rushing back. The race, the finish, the loss, all of it hit her sharp and real and undeniable. She'd lost, actually and truly lost for the first time in so long.
But Sakura Laurel was still smiling at her with that sweet, bright expression while tears still streamed down her face, and Narita Brian realized something.
This didn't feel like defeat at all...
"You ran well," Narita Brian said quietly, and she meant every word, even though her throat felt raw. "Both of you."
Sakura Laurel's smile brightened impossibly as more tears spilled over. "Thank you," she whispered.
They stood there with their hands clasped while the world continued screaming around them. Camera flashes went off, the announcer's voice echoed through the speakers, and medical staff rushed toward them across the track, but none of it mattered right now.
Just this moment mattered, this connection, this acknowledgment between two people who'd given everything they had.
When Sakura Laurel finally released her hand and stepped back while still smiling through her tears, Narita Brian felt the loss of contact sharply. She stood there with her hand still raised slightly as something settled in her chest, something that felt almost like peace.
Third place. She'd come in third, she'd lost the race.
But looking at Sakura Laurel's face and seeing that genuine joy and respect shining in her eyes, maybe that was okay after all.
Medical staff were running toward them now as a whole team rushed across the track. Tōjō Hana was sprinting ahead of them with her face pale, heading straight for Narita Brian.
"Don't," Narita Brian said sharply while holding up one hand. "Not yet."
"Your leg—"
"I know." Narita Brian's voice was firm and left no room for argument. "After the winning stage."
Tōjō Hana bit her lip hard enough to hurt, but she nodded in understanding.
Hayato reached the track somehow and didn't even remember running down the stairs. He dropped to his knees next to Seiun Sky with his hands hovering uselessly in the air, not sure where to touch without hurting her.
"You're insane! Do you have any idea—" He couldn't finish the sentence.
"I won," Seiun Sky said simply while her grin hadn't faded at all. "We won."
"You almost killed yourself out there."
"But I didn't." She tilted her head and looked at him with that same lazy confidence she always had. "And now I'm a GI winner. Pretty good trade, right?"
Hayato wanted to yell at her and wanted to shake some sense into her, but instead, he just closed his eyes and let out a long breath.
"Yeah," he said quietly. "Pretty good trade."
Maruzensky appeared next and helped Sakura Laurel to her feet. The pink-haired girl swayed unsteadily but managed to stay upright.
"How do you feel?" Maruzensky asked.
Sakura Laurel looked down at her hands and saw that they were shaking badly. Her whole body was actually shaking as the adrenaline crash hit her hard. She felt sick and elated and exhausted and alive all at once, like every emotion was hitting her at the same time.
"Like I just ran the best race of my life," she said.
"You did." Maruzensky's smile was soft and proud. "You really did."
The crowd was still screaming and chanting names now. "SEIUN SKY! SAKURA LAUREL! NARITA BRIAN!"
All three of them were being celebrated.
"Come on." Hayato hauled Seiun Sky to her feet. She stumbled and grabbed his shoulder for balance. "You've got a ceremony to get through."
"Can I sit down for it?"
"No."
Medical staff surrounded them, checking vitals and asking questions rapid-fire. Seiun Sky waved them off lazily while Sakura Laurel submitted to the examination more gracefully, still wearing that dazed, disbelieving smile.
When Seiun Sky managed to extract herself from the medical team, the first thing she said upon seeing Hayato was, "Trainer, come fishing with me."
"Fishing, fishing. All you know is fishing." Hayato laughed while shaking his head. "There's still the winner's stage and awards ceremony later."
"Because it's still early until the winner's stage." Seiun Sky smiled with her eyes closed. Actually, this was just a joke since she hadn't even brought any fishing gear with her.
"Don't rush off to fish. Come with me first."
Seiun Sky blinked and lowered her head without speaking. She silently followed Hayato toward the rest area, away from the chaos of the track.
She seemed to know what this was about, that this was about her using the Zone during the race.
As soon as they reached the rest area, Hayato pointed at her and ordered, "Take it off."
"Huh? Trainer, are you trying to use your position to molest a GI Uma Musume?" She didn't plan to obediently comply as she crossed her arms with that lazy smirk.
"Cut the crap. Don't play dumb. You know exactly what I'm talking about!"
"Oh." Seiun Sky reached out and lifted her skirt hem slightly to reveal her legs. Dark bruises were already forming along her thighs while her muscles trembled visibly with exhaustion.
Hayato's expression darkened as he took in the damage. "How bad is it?"
"Bad enough." She dropped the skirt back down. "But I'm still standing, aren't I?"
"That's not the point—"
"I won." Her voice was quiet but firm, with no room for argument. "Dead heat with Sakura Laurel, beat Narita Brian, became the first GI winner from Hokkaido's Nishiyama as a local uma musume bloodline." She looked at him with that lazy confidence still present despite the obvious pain she was in.
Hayato wanted to argue with her and wanted to lecture her about pushing too hard, about the dangers of using a zone when your body wasn't ready for it, but looking at her face and seeing that tired, genuine smile, he couldn't bring himself to do it.
"Yeah," he said finally. "You did it...."
----
*As usual, the illustration is commented on.