Sister Ramonu… Sister Ardan… they both gave everything for this race. So I absolutely cannot let their efforts go to waste!
Running at the very front of the group, this was the conviction burning in Mejiro McQueen's heart.
And yet, she also felt puzzled.
She had been the first to receive the baton from her sister, Mejiro Ardan. She had also been the first to burst out of the exchange zone, so naturally, she had adopted a front-running strategy.
There was nothing wrong with that approach. Even though she had not officially debuted and had never raced on a true competitive stage before, ever since childhood—whether in family training, school training, or in the evaluations and analyses given by seniors and trainers alike—she had always been regarded as having excellent suitability for front-running.
Even her experienced sister Ramonu had once said that among the younger generation of the Mejiro family, McQueen possessed the strongest sense of pride and responsibility, allowing her to handle the pressure of leading the race better than anyone else.
McQueen herself believed this to be true as well. From a young age, the education she received taught her to respond to any situation with elegance and composure, never allowing arrogance or impatience to take hold for any reason.
In past training sessions, she had relied on this very mindset to deal with pressure from challengers behind her and the fear of being overtaken.
However, while a front-running strategy had been mentioned during pre-race preparations, the actual situation was not supposed to look like this.
The captain of her team was Symboli Rudolf. Toward this senpai—also the student council president—McQueen had always felt a reverence no less than what she felt toward her sister, Mejiro Ramonu.
And she had kept the pre-race plan firmly in mind.
According to that plan, during the first leg, President Rudolf would adopt a steady and conservative racing style, ensuring that the baton could be passed to Mejiro Ardan smoothly and safely.
That way, an advantage would be accumulated during the second leg, and by the time McQueen took over, the distance advantage already built up would allow her to naturally settle into a comfortable leading pace.
But now, she was indeed in the lead—yet the advantage… didn't seem very obvious.
She didn't want to doubt the judgment of her seniors or her sister, but the reality was right there in front of her.
Running almost shoulder to shoulder with her was a horse girl who was even slightly younger than herself.
Mejiro McQueen remembered her name: Mihono Bourbon.
In McQueen's impression, this girl seemed to have more talent in short-distance races, with relatively weaker adaptability to middle and long distances.
She was also skilled at front-running, something evident from the way her running form—despite her young age—was handled with machine-like precision.
What McQueen had always felt from Mihono Bourbon was exactly that: an extreme, mechanical precision.
The girl was like a meticulously engineered machine. From her daily meals to every training regimen, everything about her gave off the impression that nothing could go wrong.
And that precision was causing McQueen no small amount of trouble.
Bourbon's relentless pressure forced McQueen to constantly make fine adjustments to her arms, torso, and legs to ensure that the rhythm of her lead was not stolen away.
The lack of a significant lead was largely because of this.
But in McQueen's eyes, Mihono Bourbon could not possibly maintain this level of pressure indefinitely.
Front-running, short-distance aptitude, and a middle-distance course were inherently conflicting elements—especially on a 2000-meter course like this.
Maintaining such a perfect front-running pace, which required intense concentration and heavy stamina consumption, while still failing to seize control of the rhythm—if this continued, the issue wouldn't even be about rhythm anymore. Bourbon simply wouldn't be able to finish the race.
So… what exactly is Bourbon thinking…?
Momentarily distracted, Mejiro McQueen couldn't understand why Mihono Bourbon had chosen this approach.
But compared to those doubts, there was another opponent she cared about even more.
Tokai Teio.
It wasn't that she was ignoring Narita Brian and Rice Shower—it was just that she truly didn't know much about those two.
In her memory, outside of training, whether in the cafeteria, the bathhouse, or the library, she often saw Mihono Bourbon during her time at the training camp estate.
One time in the cafeteria, she had been unable to resist the urge to grab some more dessert.
It was a special treat made by the Eisei team: a kind of "jelly squeeze snack." It contained no sugar that would cause weight gain, yet its taste was no different from ordinary jelly.
Soft, smooth, cool, and sweet.
Among her favorite desserts lately, this "jelly squeeze snack" ranked very high.
But when she arrived at the cafeteria, she discovered that Mihono Bourbon had beaten her to it.
That girl was also there for an "extra meal."
Out of politeness—and a bit of awkwardness—McQueen explained, "I got permission from Sister Kyoko," and received a flat, emotionless reply: "Mm. Me too."
After exchanging a few simple words, McQueen left the cafeteria with her dessert, feeling like she was sneaking around.
The bathhouse and library were similar. In short, she encountered Mihono Bourbon fairly often outside the training grounds, and through these daily interactions, she had gained a rough understanding of Bourbon's personality.
But Narita Brian and Rice Shower… she could only say that those two were far too mysterious.
She only ever saw them on the training grounds.
Narita Brian always gave her the impression of being dangerous and hard to approach—similar to the first impression she had of Katsuragi Ace.
Katsuragi senpai initially came across as a wild, rebellious biker type, exuding a powerful presence.
Only after getting to know her did one realize that she was simply straightforward to get along with.
Narita Brian wasn't like that.
The impression she gave McQueen was that even after getting to know her better, she would still feel dangerous.
In fact, the deeper one understood her, the more intimidating she seemed.
Just like the gaze she had on the training field—cold and forceful. McQueen assumed that was simply her nature.
With such an impression, McQueen naturally didn't approach her proactively, and thus never really got to know her.
Rice Shower, on the other hand, left an opposite impression.
To exaggerate a little: McQueen avoided Narita Brian because she feared being intimidated if she got too close.
Rice Shower made her feel that if she tried to approach her proactively, she would end up frightening the girl instead.
With her long ears, perpetually timid expression, and small stature, Rice Shower once made McQueen think that, compared to a horse girl, she looked more like a timid little rabbit.
At the slightest disturbance, she would be so startled that her ears would stick straight up, panicking as she looked around, as if desperately searching for an escape route.
So timid and weak-looking—McQueen couldn't bear the thought of scaring her, and thus rarely initiated contact.
As a result, she could say that she knew virtually nothing about Narita Brian or Rice Shower.
If she had to say something, she vaguely remembered that in training evaluations, Narita Brian excelled at stalking and closing styles, with good adaptability to middle distances.
Rice Shower was quite similar to herself, with a strong aptitude for front-running and pace-chasing, and her preferred distances were also middle to long.
From this perspective, those two classmates—and rivals—were simply sticking to running styles suited to them. Unlike Mihono Bourbon, they didn't seem to have any special ideas or tactics in play.
Taking all of this into account, the only one she truly understood, felt certain about, and remained deeply wary of… was the friend she had always acknowledged.
Teio…
Her ears, blown back by the wind, twitched slightly. Mejiro McQueen easily caught Tokai Teio's breathing and footsteps, and her expression grew solemn.
She didn't know whether she had noticed Teio first, or whether Teio had noticed her.
But the scene etched most deeply into her memory was their chance encounter at the Central Tracen Academy.
It had been a joint training session, where horse girls from several classes trained and were tested together.
The results of the test were not publicly announced; only the instructors in charge of training knew them.
The instructors must have discussed it among themselves and reached a unified conclusion.
That conclusion was that she had been the most outstanding performer in that joint training test—otherwise, the instructors wouldn't have praised her publicly.
Mejiro McQueen didn't know whether her mindset could be considered arrogant, but at the time, she genuinely felt that such praise was only natural.
Not because she was a member of the Mejiro family, but because from the day she had been able to train, she had never slacked off for even a single day.
With such effort invested, corresponding results and achievements were only to be expected, and praise that followed was naturally deserved—or so she believed.
She thought that day would end the same way: after properly thanking the instructors for their praise and acknowledging her classmates' admiration with courtesy, she would return to the dormitory as usual to read or rest.
Preferably with some desserts on the side.
However, a strangely bright gaze caught her attention.
In that gaze, she saw neither praise nor admiration, nor resentment or jealousy.
None of the emotions she had ever seen from peers her age were present.
Instead, it was the same feeling she had experienced as a child when a dessert she thought should belong to her had been given to Mejiro Ryan or Mejiro Palmer.
It was a feeling of intense frustration—unhappy, yet feeling helpless, forced to accept it, but still wanting to do something to vent.
A childish emotion, essentially.
At that time, she didn't yet know the name Tokai Teio—but that gaze belonged to Tokai Teio.
Influenced by that oddly familiar look, almost as if guided by some unseen force, after training ended, she gave up on rest and desserts, her legs carrying her back to the track of their own accord.
And then she saw it—just like a child throwing a tantrum, as if competing with something invisible, Tokai Teio was running desperately around the track.
That childish classmate was running while shouting "Waaaahhh!" at the top of her lungs, as if venting.
She's got some skill… that speed…
B-but she's so rude, no elegance at all.
And running while shouting—wasn't she afraid of getting a stitch?
McQueen felt that she had only started running herself in order to correct Teio's improper running behavior.
When she ran, aside from breathing, there was no rude or uncouth shouting from her mouth.
I'm only doing this to correct her—to make sure a classmate doesn't get hurt!
I'm absolutely not trying to compete with her!
So after she leaves, I-I'll keep running a bit longer… otherwise, if someone sees me, won't they misunderstand and think I'm throwing a tantrum too?!
With those thoughts, she didn't know how long she ran before she finally saw that childish girl leave.
She had intended to take that opportunity to leave as well.
After all, her intention of correcting the other girl should have been conveyed well enough, right? Then she could go eat dessert—
Eh?! Why is she back again?!
And so, almost without thinking, she outwardly acted calm and continued running at the same pace she had maintained for so long.
She ran until it was very late—so late that other classmates urged her to leave and return to the dormitory.
This was all that childish girl's fault!
If she hadn't kept running nonstop, why would I have followed her for no reason?!
And she kept running and shouting—I-I was influenced by her!
So… please stop running already!
Please stop…!
Then, forcing her sore and aching body to walk back toward the dorms, she deliberately avoided that childish girl and left with the others.
But after parting with her classmates, under the cherry blossom tree in the academy courtyard, she saw that childish girl again.
"Ah… you're from the class next door…"
She remembered that she was the one who spoke first.
Before opening her mouth, she had already casually learned that the childish girl's name was Tokai Teio.
"S-s-such a coincidence…" She remembered the other girl freezing for a moment before replying like that.
"Y-yeah…" She herself froze for a moment and replied the same way.
Then, without thinking, she asked, "D-did you train this late too…?"
She didn't know why she asked that, and regretted it immediately.
Wasn't that basically saying that she normally didn't train this late?!
Fortunately, the other girl didn't seem to notice.
"You too…"
"Mm…" McQueen remembered quickly changing the subject. "Ah—um, you look very tired. Are you holding up…?"
She didn't know what she was thinking when she blurted that out either.
"T-totally fine!" the other girl replied, seemingly without thinking.
Then she suddenly asked, "By the way… what's that in your hand…?"
Only then did McQueen realize she was holding a towel for wiping sweat.
At the fastest speed of her life, she hid it behind her back, puffed out her chest, and said, "N-nothing at all!"
She felt confident that the other girl hadn't seen clearly.
And she seemed to be right.
"I see… ah-haha…"
"R-right, ah-haha…"
McQueen let out the same inexplicably awkward laughter.
Looking back afterward, the scene was painfully embarrassing. Even more embarrassing was the fact that on the second day, the third day, and many days after that, the same encounter kept happening—under the same cherry blossom tree, from the same direction.
At some point during those encounters, she began to pay attention to that childish girl.
And gradually, without realizing it, she discovered that the other girl was a genius horse girl just like herself… perhaps even more outstanding.
Little by little, she genuinely came to acknowledge that if they ever competed on the same stage, that girl would undoubtedly be her strongest opponent.
So—even though she hadn't debuted yet, even though this wasn't an official race, even though a relay race was influenced by earlier legs…
All of that shouldn't matter to you, Teio, right?
If anyone in the remaining distance can truly pose a threat to me… That should be you, shouldn't it?
Suddenly, Mejiro McQueen's ears twitched.
As if responding to her thoughts, an overwhelming pressure surged from behind her, accompanied by swift, short footsteps and breathing.
That presence and those sounds weren't from Mihono Bourbon—she was still beside her, continuing her irregular pressure.
So then… it must be—
Wait!
Mejiro McQueen's eyes widened.
Quick, short footsteps usually belonged to smaller horse girls.
Due to physiological limitations, such girls couldn't take large strides, so they compensated with faster cadence.
But… Teio isn't that short?!
Her footsteps… aren't like this!
Intimately familiar with everything about the friend and rival she held in her heart, McQueen instantly realized that the one chasing from behind was absolutely not Tokai Teio.
B-but if it's not Teio, then who could have this kind of strength…?
Shocked and confused, she couldn't help but slightly turn her head, shifting her gaze sideways.
Her eyes first caught a glimpse of black hair—the horse girl was indeed very short.
Then came unusually long ears streaming backward in the wind, violet eyes that felt oddly striking, and a direct, unwavering gaze completely unlike the timid, weak image she remembered…
"How could it be… you?"
Unable to suppress it, Mejiro McQueen forgot all about her past intention to tell Tokai Teio not to speak while running, and cried out in shock:
"…Rice Shower?!"
[Let's go my Daughter show them what you can do]
(End of Chapter)