"I've never run a race like this before…"
Oguri Cap tugged at her outfit, still not quite used to how it felt. But after lightly loosening up her limbs, the ash-gray girl took a breath and her expression turned serious.
She clenched one fist and smiled at Fujimasa March. "And it's my first time fighting side by side with you, March!"
Even if it was just a playful event, she would not lose, and she would not look down on any race.
"…"
Fujimasa March froze for a moment. Looking at Oguri Cap's dignified momentum, she fell silent for a beat, then smiled.
"Then let's run one together, and have fun doing it!"
No, don't—
"Boom, boom, boom—!"
As the taiko drums grew denser, the atmosphere around the track tightened further.
Oguri Cap shamelessly stuffed the last bite of dango into her mouth, then straightened up with a visibly bulging cheek.
Fujimasa March took a deep breath, rolling her shoulders inside the heavy shrine maiden outfit, her gaze sharpening little by little.
The girls all moved to their assigned positions.
"On your marks—!" The priest's booming voice pierced the noise as he raised the starting pistol.
Because it wasn't an official meet, there was no preparation window.
So they used a standard pistol start.
The red-and-white sleeves of the miko outfits puffed slightly in the wind.
"Set—bang!"
The gunshot rang out, and the race began!
Red and white figures shot off the line like arrows released from a bow.
Dust and grit kicked up behind them, while the lower stands erupted into a tangle of cheers.
"Thud-thud-thud—!"
The first leg wasn't as intense as people expected. The Shrine Team's horse girls opened a gap almost immediately, pulling away from the Local Team at startling speed.
They carried that advantage into the second leg by several lengths.
Because it was a relay, the first two legs on the Local Team were handled by well-known "ordinary" horse girls from the area.
In this world, not every horse girl was a racer.
And bullying ordinary horse girls was, unfortunately, not difficult.
"Woooooo—!!"
"Go! Go!"
Even so, the crowd's enthusiasm was still blazing hot, the roar nearly deafening.
The second- and third-leg runners poured everything they had into their sprint, leaving deep and shallow hoofprints stamped into the muddy ground.
The Shrine Team's banner snapped in the wind, and the afterglow on the far side bathed the whole track in warm, ember-like light.
"Thud-thud-thud—!"
By the time the earlier legs were done, and the handoff reached Fujimasa March as the fourth runner…
The Shrine Team was already ahead by nearly ten lengths.
"Nice! We've got a huge advantage!"
The fourth-leg horse girl, who had been running ahead for a stretch, felt her heart lift as she glanced back at the silver-white girl who had just taken the kagura bell baton.
Even if it was only a for-fun event, if she could really beat Fujimasa March today, then going home, she'd have a story to brag about with her friends!
Ten lengths, and because it was a relay, there was no need to save stamina.
As long as she held steady, even if the other side was a G1 champion, there was no way she could—
"BOOM—!!!"
Suddenly, a heavy sound like thunder detonated behind her without warning.
…?!
A chill ran up the horse girl's spine. She reflexively looked back.
A silver-white figure was dragging that fussy, weighty red-and-white shrine maiden outfit as she surged forward on the muddy track like an arrow loosed from a bow!
That gap that had looked like a sheer abyss was shrinking—visibly, violently, at a pace that made the eyes ache.
"Y-you've got to be kidding me?!"
The horse girl grit her teeth and pumped her arms for all she was worth, but she still couldn't stop the distance from closing.
Each leg was only 400 meters.
For a top-class Central Tracen racer, covering that distance wouldn't even take twenty seconds.
"Hah—!"
The fourth-leg horse girl felt the wind howl at her side.
A silver flash entered the corner of her vision, and in the very next second, it had already swept past her and taken the front.
In only a few seconds, the ten-length difference was erased as if it had never existed.
Fujimasa March even had the spare breath to glance back, a hint of amusement in her crimson eyes.
"Sorry. The skirt's kind of in the way, but at this speed… you're still too slow."
She pushed off harder. Mud exploded behind her.
This time, there was only overflowing joy and exhilaration filling her chest.
Because this time, they were teammates.
"Oguri! Catch!!"
March thrust the kagura bell forward.
"Oh!!"
Oguri Cap, who had been waiting for this moment, grabbed the bell in one clean motion.
The next instant—
"BOOM—!!!"
The same explosive footfalls.
Her horseshoes sank deep into the mud, and then the girl launched forward like a shell fired from a cannon.
The horse girl on the Shrine Team waiting nearby for her own handoff could only look on with a tired, helpless expression.
"…No, seriously. I'm just a normal local racer. Why am I here racing against Central Tracen girls?"
She complained listlessly.
Oguri Cap's ash-gray figure tore through the sunset. The moment she took the kagura bell from Fujimasa March—
There was no scheming like on a G1 stage, no heavy fate demanding she must win.
There was only the roar of wind at her ears, the fierce joy of her pounding heart, and… the rush of running shoulder to shoulder with a companion.
"…Ha, haha…"
Her clear laughter scattered into the wind.
Her stride was light, yet powerful, her momentum crackling through the air.
With a charge that did not falter for even a heartbeat, she smashed through the finish line!
"She's across!"
The priest announced the result.
And with that, the small festival relay event came to an end.
…
The sun dipped low, staining the torii of Kamigamo Shrine a deep, burning red.
Kuroha carried two heavy bags of sacred offering rice, watching the three girls walking ahead.
Oguri Cap hugged one more bag tightly to her chest, wearing a blissfully dopey smile. Every so often she lowered her head to inhale the clean fragrance of the rice, as if it were the most precious treasure in the world.
Fujimasa March and Berno Light walked on either side, both wearing relaxed, happy smiles.
"Kuroha-sensei! Hurry, hurry!"
Berno Light turned back with a grin and waved. "We should head back now, or it'll get too late!"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming."
Kuroha tightened his grip on the bags and quickened his pace to catch up.
The evening breeze swept over them, lifting the girls' hair and skirts.
Watching the scene, something stirred in Kuroha's heart, and he took out his phone.
"Everyone, look this way!"
The three girls turned back without thinking.
Click.
The moment froze.
In the photo, Oguri Cap was hugging her rice bag with a carefree grin. Fujimasa March was shyly fixing her bangs after the wind had messed them up. Berno Light was holding up a peace sign, her smile bright and wide.
Behind them stood the ancient torii, and above it all—an entire sky full of sunset glow.
…
On the expressway back to Tokyo.
In the back seat, the three adorable horse girls were leaning shoulder to shoulder beneath a thin blanket, fast asleep.
Kuroha kept both hands steady on the wheel and turned the car's music down to a soft instrumental track.
"Rest well."
Looking at their sleeping faces in the rearview mirror, Kuroha murmured quietly, a faint smile on his lips.
(End of Chapter)
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