"Welcome, everyone, to the G3 Keisei Hai! Fourteen uma musume have gathered here today! Who will fire the first shot of the New Year!?"
The racecourse was already boiling.
Cheers rolled through the stands in waves, hot enough to melt the January air. Fujiwara Chiya scanned the seats, following the spot Kiryuin Aoi had told him about, and finally found her near the aisle, sitting neatly in her uniform.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Aoi."
He greeted her and slipped into the seat beside her. Together, they looked out over the track.
"Seiun Sky seems to have an upset stomach."
Just in case, Chiya decided to tell her.
In the end, the trainer was the one who had to decide what came next.
As expected, Kiryuin Aoi's eyes widened the moment she heard him.
"Eh? Sky?"
"I heard it from Shirayuki. Sky's stomach isn't feeling too good."
"That's strange… Sky told me this morning that she was in great condition."
Kiryuin Aoi's delicate brows drew together. Clearly, she hadn't expected Seiun Sky's body to have any problems today.
After thinking for a moment, she shook her head.
"No. If something was really wrong with her, Sky would definitely tell me. Since she didn't say anything, that means she can still run."
Seiun Sky always looked calm, loose, and utterly indifferent to the world.
But in truth, she thought more than anyone.
"So I believe in Sky." Kiryuin Aoi turned to him with a smile. "You believe in her too, don't you, Chiya?"
"I can't believe in her. I have to believe in Shirayuki."
"Ahaha… I guess you're right."
Kiryuin Aoi scratched her cheek awkwardly. She had instinctively treated Chiya like one of her own allies, but strictly speaking, they were opponents today.
"Then let's watch how Sky wins!"
Down on the racecourse, the announcer began introducing the participating uma musume one by one, following the popularity rankings.
"Second favorite, Seiun Sky!"
A green figure stepped onto the stage.
She waved lazily toward the crowd, so relaxed it almost looked like she had wandered onto an ordinary street instead of a race presentation stage.
"Every time I watch her race, it feels like she came here to play," Chiya murmured. "But in reality, Seiun Sky runs seriously."
Out of habit, he took out his phone and aimed the camera at her.
Then, as if she had sensed it, Seiun Sky's blue eyes suddenly shifted.
Straight toward his lens.
Peace~
She winked and flashed a V-sign.
The shape of her mouth was so familiar that Chiya could almost hear her voice in his head.
She can see this from that far away!?
"That's right. Sky is the type who works hard in secret. That's part of her charm too," Kiryuin Aoi said proudly, completely unaware of the tiny exchange between them. "Although… she does skip training quite often."
More than once, Seiun Sky had skipped training outright. Kiryuin Aoi had searched all over Tracen twice, only to finally find her on the rooftop, basking in the sun like a cat.
There was no denying it.
She was an unbelievably free-spirited uma musume.
Chiya silently saved the photo of her V-sign.
At that moment, another gaze appeared within his mind, joining everyone else's attention.
"First favorite! The white new star born on the racecourse, Snow Dancer!"
At last, Shirayuki stepped onto the stage.
Thunderous applause erupted from the stands.
Hearing it, Chiya couldn't help feeling a faint tightness in his chest.
After one OP race and one graded race, Shirayuki's ability had finally been recognized by the crowd. She had successfully climbed all the way to first favorite.
Only Chiya knew how much effort had been poured into reaching this point.
"Shirayuki really is amazing," Kiryuin Aoi said, her voice full of admiration. "As expected of Chiya's little sister, I suppose? Her popularity is already this high."
"After all, she's an uma musume who'll face the world one day."
"Then I'll look forward to hearing her name in world-class races."
Kiryuin Aoi smiled.
On the other side, Shirayuki stepped off the stage and began her pre-race preparations.
Seiun Sky stretched her legs lightly, warming up with an easygoing air. Her blue eyes drifted over, casually observing the white-haired girl behind her.
"All runners, please enter the gates."
Shirayuki arrived at gate three.
Seiun Sky stood at the gate beside hers, hovering outside and refusing to go in.
"Sky-chan, what are you doing?"
"Shirayuki, cold and cramped places like this put pressure on your heart and make you feel all uncomfortable, you know? It's just like sleeping. Everyone wants to lie somewhere nice and spacious, right? Nobody wants to be stuffed into a cold, narrow corner. Isn't that basically a coffin?"
"Seiun Sky, please enter the gate quickly."
The staff, unable to endure her dawdling any longer, pushed Seiun Sky into the gate.
She looked utterly unwilling.
Even after taking her starting posture, her ears drooped listlessly.
Mood: absolutely awful.
Is she really going to be okay like this?
No matter how Shirayuki looked at her, Seiun Sky's condition today seemed far too poor.
Fujiwara Shirayuki shook her head and pushed those thoughts away.
No matter what, Seiun Sky was still her opponent. She couldn't hold back just because the other girl seemed off.
Right now, she had to focus on the race.
Shirayuki patted both cheeks and waited for the start.
The gate lights flashed.
Clang!
The world in front of her burst open.
Shirayuki kicked off in an instant.
The results of her training revealed themselves immediately. Ever since Hayakawa Tazuna had thrown her several lengths behind at the start, Shirayuki had begun practicing explosive launches. Now, from the very first step, she could drive all the power in her legs into maximum acceleration.
Her strategy for this race was a Pace Chaser position, sticking close behind the Front Runners.
In a two-thousand-metre race, the key points were the early position battle and the acceleration sprint through the final three furlongs. Shirayuki needed to establish her advantage early and disrupt the rhythm of the others.
There were four Front Runners in the field.
One was half a beat slow out of the gate and immediately swallowed by the pack.
Another had her position stolen by Shirayuki and was forced backward.
Just like that, two Front Runners had already been dealt with.
The remaining two were locked in battle at the front.
As expected, Front Runners are the hardest to deal with!
Especially when there were several of them. Defending against all of them was practically impossible.
All Shirayuki could do was hope those two wore each other down while fighting.
As for the rest…
Chiya looked out over the racecourse.
After the race began, Seiun Sky had dropped to the outer lane in the middle of the pack.
For a Front Runner, that was basically the worst possible position.
Beside him, Kiryuin Aoi had gone visibly tense. Clearly, even she hadn't expected Seiun Sky's condition to be this bad.
This race should have nothing to do with Seiun Sky anymore.
Then they needed to focus on the uma musume at the front.
Chiya immediately adjusted his judgment and stopped paying attention to Seiun Sky.
The race pushed onward.
"In first is Combahana! Second is Brand-New Song! Third is Snow Dancer!"
The announcer rapidly called the situation on the track.
By now, the race had entered the second turn, and the battle for position had reached its final stage.
Shirayuki was three lengths behind second place.
For a Front Runner, that distance was clearly too conservative.
As long as she maintained this gap, accelerating later shouldn't be too difficult.
Just as Shirayuki prepared to wait for the race to enter its second half, a green figure suddenly appeared in Chiya's field of vision.
Silent.
Swift.
And closing in on Shirayuki's side at terrifying speed.
What!?
Shirayuki's heart jumped.
She snapped her head around and found Seiun Sky already diagonally behind her.
Hello~
A confident smile bloomed on Seiun Sky's face.
There wasn't a single trace of the listlessness she had shown before the race.
Seiun Sky, you little…
You were acting this whole time!