Mejiro Ardan panted as she stared at the unlit scoreboard. She was completely spent, and she wanted nothing more than to collapse onto the turf below. But her eyes remained fixed on the scoreboard, waiting for the moment when the fate of this race would be revealed.
Inevitably, she found her gaze wandering to her rival, and her pupils shrunk as she saw the confidence Belno had as she too stared at the scoreboard. Her hands began shaking slightly, terrified. If Belno Light looked that confident, then could it be that she had truly taken the lead during that final 50 meters?
Such acceleration was insane! Both of them were entirely spent during the final homestretch! For her to make that final second spurt during the final moments of the race-
"After reviewing our cameras, we've determined our winner."
"Mejiro Ardan crosses the finish line first, leading by just a nose!"
"...eh?"
She stared blankly at the scoreboard as it lit up, showing her name as the winner. The audience bellowed out with excited cheers, congratulating her for being the first to defeat a member of Team Kitahara.
With her victory, she'd put an end to Belno Light's 13 consecutive win-streak.
But, then why was she…?
"I knew I'd lost." Belno explained, her tone entirely serene as she smiled at the scoreboard. "I knew it wouldn't be enough. I was just…waiting for the confirmation."
She…knew? "Then, why-?"
Belno smiled, seemingly amused. "I lost." Belno began, clenching her fist. "It's frustrating, and I'm disappointed in myself." She then shook her head, smiling calmly. "But there's always next time, and I've learnt a lot from this." She giggled as she scratched her cheek. "You showed me how predictable I can be."
…Ah, it seemed she'd truly underestimated Belno.
And, though she'd never say it, she was also afraid. Because she'd indirectly helped her rival, and she was sure the next time they'd race together, she would be faced with a far tougher challenge than what she'd experienced today. And she was this close to outright fainting from exhaustion!
"Congratulations to Mejiro Ardan for winning the [Aoba Sho]!"
"Let's proceed to her Winning Concert!"
Right, the Winning Concert. She truly wished she could skip that right now; her legs felt no tougher than a puddle of jelly. But alas, she had to. It'd be wrong of her not to give back to the audience that'd so enthusiastically congratulated her.
So, after she took a few breaths to recover, she turned towards Belno. "Shall we go then, Belno-san?"
Belno simply smiled as she nodded, and soon they were both off.
…
Later, after everyone had successfully performed the Winning Concert,
Belno found herself standing backstage, staring at her own reflection in the mirror.
She took a slow breath. She was feeling…a lot, right now. She was undoubtedly disappointed that she'd lost—practically seething with frustration even. But she also felt impeccably calm, and even that momentary sting of loss had quickly melted away as she performed together with Ardan on the stage.
"...how strange." She whispered, reaching out to grasp her reflection in the mirror.
"What is?" A familiar voice asked, and Belno huffed a small laugh.
She turned around and saw Blossom Star sitting on a chair she'd dragged from somewhere, a playful smirk on her lips as she slowly swirled an opened can of soda.
Belno smiled for a moment, before she sighed, her ears drooping. "I lost." She whispered. "I couldn't catch up to Mejiro-san."
"Well, you were close." Star assured. "If the race was just a bit longer, you would've taken the lead for yourself."
"Maybe."
Star watched her for a moment, before she smiled. "Did you have fun?"
Belno paused for a moment. Fun? Was it fun? She supposed the first half of the race had been rather frustrating; but that charge at the final straight, the strange apparition she'd seen during the final 100m of the race, the impossible strength that'd filled her at the last moments of the race and the exhilaration she felt as she raced forward-
Ah. So that's it.
No wonder Oguri could run so fast.
"I guess I did!" Belno cheerfully said.
Star smiled fondly at her answer. "Then that's all that matters." She stood up and patted Belno's head. "Win or lose—none of that matters if you don't have fun."
"Yes!"
Star soon pulled her hand back, and Belno watched the warmth fade with slight regret. "Anyway, we should probably go now." She chuckled. "The reporters are probably getting ready to swarm us." She grinned cheekily. "Unless you want to stay back and talk with them for a minute?"
"L-Let's not." Belno eventually said. She knew it was their job to be nosy, but she had to admit that she'd grown quite displeased with them over time.
Star hummed. "Alright, let's go then."
They made a hasty retreat towards their rendezvous point. They found the rest of Team Kitahara there, and Kitahara quickly urged them to climb into the nondescript van Musaka had bought a few weeks back. Once they were all inside, Kitahara quickly drove off, moving away from the stadium before any reporters could get even a sketchy image.
On their way home, Oguri kept glancing back to Belno, worried her defeat might've impacted her in some way. In return Belno kept reassuring Oguri that she was fine, which caused Oguri to worry even more, repeating the cycle endlessly. Kitahara just chuckled as he continued to drive, all while Musaka and Star took the chance to sleep in the back seats.
Or at least that was how it looked.
In truth, I wasn't asleep at all. Instead I'd closed my eyes and thought back to the strange…phenomenon I'd seen during that final 100m.
I didn't know what it was, and even now I still don't have the words to describe it.
For a moment there, I could've sworn I'd seen Belno's figure morph. Or maybe fade was a better word? Whatever the case, just moments before her second spurt, Belno's figure seemed to melt into a tide of swirling rainbows, as if reality itself was trying to knit itself back together.
Nobody had seen it, since no one was panicking. Which meant that it was either something related to the System, or something related to the Three Goddesses. My gut told me it was the latter, but I wasn't-
My fingers twitched as a possibility formed in my head, but I didn't open my eyes.
Could it be that Belno had awakened her {Unique Skill}? It was one of the more likely possibilities, and the more I thought about it, the more it reminded me of that scene with Agnes Tachyon in the movie.
If that was true, then that probably meant Belno had officially become an umamusume directly blessed by the Three Goddesses. She was no longer simply a named NPC, so to say. Her version from the manga could never compare to who Belno had become now.
Heh. I couldn't wait to see how she'd develop from here.
That aside, there was still a good hour or so before we reached Tracen Central Academy. And since we were already on the road, I couldn't just drop out of the van and start running my way back home.
…well, I could, but I'd rather not. Oguri would probably follow me if I did that, and that'd just lead to a whole other mess.
So, left with little else to do, I let the hum of the van's engine slowly lull me to sleep.
.
.
.
{Unique: Final Gambit}
With a burst of great willpower, Belno Light moderately recovers Stamina after exhausting herself. She then drains the Stamina of nearby runners to further recover her Stamina. This secondary recovery increases in potency based on the number of nearby runners affected.
Current Level: 1