"I'm Folkqueen." She smiled, her gaze both probing and cold.
"Nice to meet you."
Oguri Cap stared at her for a good moment, before she nodded. "Folkqueen…" She repeated, her expression still utterly blank. "Nice to meet you too."
Folkqueen smiled, though she inwardly cursed. She was pretty sure introducing herself would've at least elicited something from the Grey Monster, but her hopes were dashed. Oguri looked at her with dull eyes, as if they were destined to be nothing but strangers.
It was annoying. It was frustrating. But more than anything, it was eerie.
She wasn't sure what she expected when she first encountered Oguri. Team Kitahara was no stranger to interviews, but they were almost always done by either Blossom Star or Belno Light. Oguri Cap hardly ever appeared on live television, and if she did, she rarely talked if at all.
Yet in that silence, even as Oguri occasionally smiled and replied, Folkqueen felt an unsettling weight pushing into her bones. There was a quiet pressure she exuded, and it was unlike anything she'd ever felt before. It made Oguri seem more like a force of nature that happened to take the shape of a dull-looking umamusume.
Ha. As expected of the Grey Monster of Kasamatsu, she supposed.
"So, I heard you dropped out of the [Autumn Tenno Sho]." She said, subtly glancing at the girl as she took a sip from her bottle of water. "Got injured or something?"
Oguri shook her head. "Star didn't want to run, so I didn't as well." She said simply.
Folkqueen nearly spit out all the water she'd just drank when she heard the reason, and she turned to her with a look of complete confusion. "Haa? That's the reason you dropped out?" It took her almost all her restraint not to crush the water bottle she held. "That's stupid. You dropped out 'cause your partner got second thoughts!?"
But more than anything, Folkqueen felt a deep burning jealousy. Because she could've never done something like that. Her life wasn't her own; her name wasn't her one. All the expectations saddled onto her, all the promises–
Some days, she wondered if Folkqueen even existed.
Oguri looked at her for a moment, her eyes sharp. "I love running." She began, smiling slightly as she patted her thigh. "But running without Star—that's not something I ever want to do."
"Even if it means disappointing everyone?" Folkqueen bit out, not quite able to hold back the vitriol she felt.
And to that–
"It was never for them."
"...ha?"
Oguri smiled. "I had weak legs when I was young, so I'm blessed to still be able to run. And now I have someone I want to run with forever." She closed her eyes. "That's enough. I don't need to listen to anyone else."
…
Ah. How blessed. How fortunate. How enViaBLe.
"Is that so?" Folkqueen said, her smile plastic. "That's good."
At that moment, she finally managed to crystalize the turbulent feelings she'd had about the girl she sat next to. She finally understood the terrible discomfort she felt whenever she watched a tape recording of one of Oguri's previous races. Why the first thing she wanted to do when she first Oguri was to turn away.
It was so simple.
I hate you, Oguri Cap.
You who were nurtured with Love. You who were blessed by Life. You who could turn a deaf ear to the cries of the people. You who could live your life as your own, unburdened by the dictation of anyone else.
I hate you, MoNSteR.
"Well, I have to go now." Folkqueen stood up, still smiling that fake smile. "I'm a little busy today, and I'm probably a little late to my meeting."
Oguri's eyes softened slightly. "You're leaving already?"
"Yep." She grit her teeth behind her smile. "But I'm sure we'll meet again."
She took a small breath as she turned towards the exit, waving her hand as she bid her farewell. "See you later, Oguri Cap." Without waiting for a reply, she quickly made her way out of the communal Ganbanyoku room. And the moment she closed the door behind her, she leaned onto the wall and pressed a fist into the wall, barely resisting the urge to punch a hole through it.
She stood there for a good minute to calm herself before she finally left.
.
.
.
Back inside, Oguri's eyes remained locked onto the door Folkqueen had just left through, her eyes narrowed with worry. "Her eyes…" She whispered, confused as to how someone's eyes could suddenly switch colors like that. It'd only showed for a fraction of a second, but those heterochromic eyes had turned fully red just before she left.
"tHE dArKnesS. IT swaLLowS." Her friend said as they abruptly appeared next to her, their body a towering pyre of shadows that reached up to the room. A thousand mouths cut themselves open across their body, each bleeding red. "A sHAdoW. SImiLaR, bUT noT."
Oguri faintly nodded. She supposed she knew why Folkqueen had been able to identify her, despite her friend masking her presence from the rest of the world. "Is she okay?" She then asked.
"EgO, seLF, sHAdoW." Dozens of eyes suddenly opened across the phantom's body, haphazardly twitching as if trying to escape. "aFRaiD. UnkNowING. oVErgrOWinG."
Her eyes narrowed, and though most of the context was lost on her, Oguri could somewhat understand what her phantom meant. "It's worse." She whispered vaguely, recalling what she knew from that recurring dream she'd started having from a year before.
She took a small breath before she stood up. "It'll be okay." She said, eyes turning towards the door. "We'll meet again." She clenched her hands. "She promised." Her phantom watched, the twitching eyes suddenly all turning towards her. Oguri stared back without flinching.
When she next blinked, the phantom was gone. Oguri stared at where they'd been just moments ago, before she shrugged and walked towards the nearby vending machine. She purchased two wrapped katsu sandwiches, one for her and one for Star.
She then turned her eyes to a nearby pillar, and holding her breath she walked around it and closed her eyes. That familiar sense of weightlessness wrapped around her once more, and a deep chill settled into her bones.
Just as quickly as it came, it ended. And when she next opened her eyes, she was back at a street in downtown Shinjuku, a few meters away from the clothing store Star had picked her gown from. She took a moment to breathe, before she doubled over and began coughing.
She accidentally let go of the katsu sandwiches in her hand, but her friend suddenly reappeared and grabbed them before they could fall onto the ground.
"...sorry." She eventually whispered after she managed to stop coughing. She leaned on a nearby wall for a minute, her face pale as she fought back the raging headache she suddenly felt. The phantom remained by her side through it all, still holding the two sandwiches she bought.
"neVEr aGaiN." They told her, their voice echoing from many mouths. "BoDy, unSUitEd."
"I know." She said as she took back the two sandwiches. "I won't do it again."
When she next looked, her friend was gone once more, and she was alone as the crowd passed her by, incapable of understanding her presence. She took a small breath as she pushed herself off the wall, and she began making her way back to the store.
And there, standing just outside the store with a paper bag held in her hands,
"Ah, there you are!" Blossom Star said, smiling wryly. "Where've you been? I've been waiting here."
"Got hungry." Oguri said genuinely as she held up the two katsu sandwiches she bought from the vending machine. "Want one?" She then said as she offered one of them to her.
Star snorted, but she happily accepted it. "Thanks~"
Oguri smiled back.
.
.
.
AN: Sadly, things will be getting a bit busy on my side, so there'll probably only be 1 chapter for today and tomorrow. If I can finish a little quicker, I might be able to upload a 2nd chapter tomorrow, but don't be surprised if there isn't one. But that aside, the usual schedule should return after that.