Twilight Song—Ruka—let out an enormous yawn.
Not because she'd slept too little—more like she'd slept too long. So long her whole body felt wrung out and battered, like she'd been beaten up all over.
There was no helping it. More accurately, this was how every rest-day morning went. The key point was: Gotham Song never got tired of it.
How to put it…?
If you've never lived through the nightmare of having no days off, you're doomed. You'll never understand what it means to resent a life that runs on "no breaks, all year."
So even if it felt like taking a beating, Gotham Song would still grin and swallow those "rest-day troubles" whole.
And rest days were special for all of Mejiro Manor, too. On the one hand, the staff actually got permission to take the day off—only the ones who wanted to earn a few times their usual pay stayed behind. On the other hand, on a rest day, the Umamusume at Mejiro Manor—aside from the active kids—settled into a noticeably leisurely rhythm.
Even Mejiro Bright, who was usually over at school, was back at the manor. When Gotham Song came downstairs, Bright and Ardan-neesan were in the middle of a tea get-together, chatting about things they hadn't talked about in ages.
Gotham Song was delighted to see Mejiro Bright after so long, and happily joined in.
She didn't stay for long, though. Gentildonna and Vernal Equinox were still in training mode, after all—
Which was why Gotham Song was now staring at the two Umamusume in the front seats, utterly speechless, as the sun rose on the next day.
So… how did things end up like this?
A new day could bring new luck. Or it could bring a sudden accident.
Why couldn't it be both at once?!
Gotham Song stared.
Neo Universe and Cafe-nee… when did you two get so close?
And why does Neo Universe have a driver's license?!
Yesterday, after training wrapped up, Gotham Song went back to her room to rest. But completely beyond her expectations, right as she was getting into bed, Neo Universe said she wanted to take Gotham Song out somewhere.
She'd even gone and told the others at Mejiro Manor in advance?
And the one who approved it was Mejiro Ardan?!
According to Neo Universe—relaying it in a tone that made it sound like she was quoting someone—Ardan-neesan had considered that Neo Universe also had a deep connection with Gotham Song, so she didn't particularly mind the two of them going out together.
Gotham Song was confused, but if Neo Universe wanted to go out with her, it didn't seem like a problem.
Trusting her roommate, Gotham Song didn't even ask where they were going. Half-asleep, she agreed.
And then—
Morning came. They got in the car. They left Mejiro Manor.
Normally, if humans were involved, someone might worry about the safety of a few Umamusume going out alone.
But unfortunately, Gotham Song, Neo Universe, and Manhattan Cafe were "spirits" in this world—pure, proper race Umamusume.
And in this world, people generally didn't worry about an Umamusume's safety.
Simple reason: for Umamusume, there was no such thing as an "accident." If they left the world, it would only be through old age or illness.
They lived under the Three Goddesses' blessing and favor. That favor applied in everyday life, too. So forget accidents—if an Umamusume was walking down a main road, the one who ought to be afraid might be the truck.
Because if you slammed into her, the one getting isekai'd would be the truck.
This has, in fact, appeared in past news reports—no, you can even find traces of it in everyday life—
Tell me: the "Umamusume-only lane" was built to protect who, exactly?
It wasn't built to protect Umamusume, was it?
Ahaha. What a terrible joke.
But here's a fun fact: before Umamusume-only lanes existed, the casualty rate in traffic "accidents" involving Umamusume was exactly zero percent.
The reason was simple: those trucks that got launched by an Umamusume would, upon landing, receive the Three Goddesses' gaze—and come down safely. The vehicle was fine. The driver was fine.
It was just… the Umamusume on the other side would get a bit tired.
And then there was an even more absurd sequel to all this.
Everyone knows Umamusume are wildly popular. So who's the most popular of all?
Gotham Song and Eclipse?
No. Those two only counted as the most popular among Umamusume who'd actually been on the track.
The true, unshakeable, top-of-the-top idol of Umamusume—for years and years—
Was the Three Goddesses.
Once reports about "Umamusume launching trucks" hit the newspapers, people realized something:
This might be an ordinary human's one-and-only chance in life to be noticed by the Three Goddesses.
More than that—getting to experience a roller-coaster ride by car was apparently a premium thrill. Heart pounding, adrenaline surging, and afterward you'd be in zero danger.
More exhilarating than a coaster. More intense than a drop tower. Safer than extreme sports.
So during that period, what did a certain niche segment of human society start doing?
They went out onto main roads and tried to get randomly hit by an Umamusume.
To be honest, when Gotham Song first learned about this, her expression control nearly collapsed.
What made it even worse was that it happened a lot—and the Three Goddesses didn't show even the slightest sign of stopping it.
Some bolder Umamusume even started developing… interesting new hobbies.
In the end, a group of respected Umamusume couldn't stand it anymore. They worked with government departments in various countries and established Umamusume-only lanes, finally putting a stop to that escalating absurdity.
If Gotham Song hadn't read it in a book, she would've sworn it was too ridiculous to be real.
But she had read it.
Not in some trashy "unofficial history," either—on the very first page of this world's driver's license exam manual.
A single line:
"Hit an Umamusume at your own risk! Even without an 'accident,' you will be sentenced!"
Sixteen characters of pure truth, apparently.
Which meant Gotham Song, rather regretfully, had never gotten to see the legendary spectacle of a truck hitting an Umamusume.
Anyway.
In a world protected by the Three Goddesses, an Umamusume's safety really didn't need worrying over. That was why Mejiro Manor didn't fret about Gotham Song's life and limb.
And as for everything else?
No matter what, their little sister would come home.
Mejiro Ardan had that confidence.
Gotham Song understood it… and still had to marvel at how well Ardan-neesan understood her.
Fine. It wasn't bad. But compared to that—
What mattered more was this:
Where were Neo Universe and Cafe-nee taking her?
The scenery outside the window slid steadily backward. Gotham Song watched them leave the busy city and enter an area that felt more sparse, more open.
Then, on a small hill with a gorgeous view, the car pulled over.
It looked like they'd arrived.
Gotham Song climbed out, startled—
Only to see Neo Universe and Manhattan Cafe taking camping gear out of the trunk. They'd already begun the process of setting up.
…Wait.
Did they bring her out here to camp?
Gotham Song tilted her head, bewildered. But before she could process it for long, a third presence—the "nonexistent fourth person" on this trip—appeared at her side.
More precisely…
Behind her.
The instant she was touched, Gotham Song felt something cold drifting toward her back. Instinct kicked in. Out in the open, she grabbed the wrist that had landed on her shoulder and prepared to yank—
And at the same time—
A pair of full, powerful thighs snapped shut around her waist!
Fast. Reflexive. Like a response honed a thousand times over—as if she'd experienced this exact scenario many, many times.
So what happened next?
Look behind you.
"Look behind you, Song-chaaan. Guess who I am~"
"I'm not guessing, Old Bastard No. 1. Let go."
This wasn't the first time. How to describe it…
Gotham Song never thought there'd come a day she'd have someone around her she could describe as a "dead bratty girl."
And what made it even more impossible to hold it together was that after Gotham Song let it slip once, Sunday Silence actually thought seriously about whether it was an accurate nickname.
No—accuracy didn't matter to that thing.
Only whether it was fun.
In the end, Sunday Silence decided it was amusing but wanted to tweak it a bit. She told Gotham Song:
"Too long. Why don't you just call me 'old dead hag'?"
Like I'm going to call you Magnezone—
Gotham Song had never felt so powerless in her life.
Not even back when she'd been staring down a countdown on her own lifespan.
She had to admit: when you were up against a shameless ghost—or worse, a ghost who decided whether to have shame based on whether it was entertaining—
Even the Three Goddesses would be helpless.
Sunday Silence hadn't always been this… unhinged. At least, she used to barely maintain a semblance of "being a person" around Gotham Song.
But!
After the Japan Cup, once Sunday Silence regained the ability to be touched again, she'd looked mostly the same for a long while.
And yet—
She'd already turned into a little grabby-handed menace.
She'd gotten beaten up by Gotham Song plenty for having "dirty hands," and yet—
And yet she seemed to get addicted to it anyway. As if Gotham Song's rough, simple treatment had "unlocked" her, sending her sliding onto a path no one could've imagined.
Is that reasonable?!
…Maybe it is?
Gotham Song didn't know.
What she did know was that right now there was a ghost—an invisible ghost, a ghost nobody else could see—an old dead hag squeezing the hell out of her waist.
Those full thighs clenched hard. Even her ankles were crossed in front of Gotham Song's body.
This is—this is—
What kind of behavior is this?!
Sunday Silence, don't push your luck!
Gotham Song's face hardened. She twisted her head to meet Sunday Silence's gaze, staring at her with near-hysterical intensity.
Are you going to let go or not?
Of course I'm not letting go.
Then I'll have to… use my trump card.
"Trump card?" Sunday Silence wondered.
But she didn't feel afraid. At worst she'd just vanish on the spot. If Gotham Song could do something interesting, it'd still be worth it.
Heehee. Song, Song—how are you going to deal with me?
I'm so excited.
Come on. Deal with me already. Kill me if you have to!
Ahahahaha—
Gotham Song inhaled deeply. Like thunderclouds gathering before a storm, the space around one girl and one ghost went utterly still.
Even the wind seemed to sense it—stopping abruptly, no longer brushing leaves into a soft rustle.
So then.
Gotham Song's ultimate finishing technique—the secret move that would extinguish Sunday Silence's swagger in one strike—was…?
"..."
"CAFE-NEE!!!"
Hard to deal with? Then don't deal with it—she called backup!!!
Gotham Song felt it immediately: the ghost clinging to her body stiffened, like all her power and vitality had been cut off at once.
Before the echo in the valley had even faded, Sunday Silence yanked her hands back and snapped upward, trying to pretend nothing had happened.
But—
Sunday Silence.
Did you forget what happened when you put your hand on her shoulder?
Sunday Silence's eyes went wide in horror.
In her gaze, Gotham Song's hand clenched shut like a vise—like the jaws of a bolt cutter—locking onto the ghost's wrist.
By all prior experience, Sunday Silence should've been able to disperse on the spot.
Except—
She saw silver flames beginning to flicker from Gotham Song's body.
This lunatic had opened her Zone—just to keep the ghost from slipping away?!
Ghosts—Umamusume ghosts—were, in fact, a pretty strange phenomenon.
In the simplest terms, an Umamusume ghost was also a kind of Zone phenomenon.
Only, unlike ordinary Zones, it didn't disperse. It persisted at all times—crossing the Gate of Miracles and remaining in the world as a self-propelled, walking Zone.
So if a walking, human-shaped Zone wanted to cheat—vanishing and reappearing at will—how did the winner imprison her?
You used your own Zone to restrict that unfair "poof, I'm gone" trick… and held her tightly in your hands.
I'm not letting go, Sunday Silence-chan.
No matter what.
Under the despairing stare of the black, ghostly Old Bastard No. 1, Gotham Song met her eyes again.
This time, there was no meaning in it at all.
Just simple, relaxed—
…wink~.
Sunday Silence didn't resist anymore.
She turned her head to look toward Manhattan Cafe and Neo Universe, who were still nearby, and let out a little snort.
Hah. I'm dead.
But this looks like it'll be fun.
With her head twisted a full one-eighty, Sunday Silence thought that—and somehow, she actually laughed out loud.
Heh. Does this count as getting played?
Fine, fine. So Cafe's going to clean me up next…
Ah. I'm kind of looking forward to it.
Sunday Silence didn't even know why she thought that.
Maybe because she hadn't felt pain in decades, and Gotham Song's brutal knee strike earlier had dragged her senses back to when she was alive?
And the only thing that came back was pain.
What a ridiculous truth.
Sunday Silence couldn't say a word.
In her view, Manhattan Cafe walked over in silence, reached out, and twisted her neck another one-eighty—forcing the black ghost's head to face forward again.
And then—
She lifted her up.
And threw her straight down the valley.
Wah—!!
Cafe, you're ruthless!!!