Early the next morning...
"Uuuuuugh—!"
Garden Gale buried her face in her hands, groaning like a wounded kitten. "Please stop teasing me already!"
Across from her, Air Shakur could barely contain her grin.
"Weren't you super confident and cool when you did your little Bear Dance, Garden-chan~?" Even as she spoke, she kept waving her phone teasingly, clearly unwilling to let the girl off easily.
She just had to make sure Garden Gale got another good look at her spectacular dancing form.
And indeed, the screen showed Garden Gale confidently performing the Bear Dance on the Winner's Live stage, her attitude so self-assured, so utterly charming, that if someone dubbed a silly voice over it, it would've turned straight into a meme remix. Yet since it was Garden Gale—such a ridiculously adorable Umamusume—this wasn't a meme; it was an irresistible overload of cuteness capable of melting hearts.
As a result…
Garden Gale's image drifted further and further from the intimidating demon lord of the racetrack.
Some people were even beginning to doubt if they were truly the same person. Could this be a case of split personalities?
"Please stop mentioning it already! I'm begging you!"
Garden Gale practically wailed, begging for mercy.
Her normally expressionless face was blazing scarlet right to the tips of her ears. Sitting there in her youthful uniform, she swung her legs back and forth in embarrassment, kicking gently at the table legs like a child throwing a cute little tantrum.
Air Shakur watched, enchanted by the adorable sight.
She simply couldn't hold it in any longer and broke into a gentle laugh, overflowing with joy.
...
Rewinding to last night—Garden Gale's explosive Winner's Live had thoroughly conquered the entire audience.
Although her costume choice had created an intense contrast, her stage presence left no room for complaints. She transformed every element at her disposal into something magical, a means to captivate the entire crowd. Despite this being her first proper Winner's Live, she'd delivered a stunning shockwave.
Nobody expected her to put on such a brilliantly cool performance.
More and more spectators spontaneously became Garden Gale fans on the spot, until it seemed the entire arena was screaming a single name in unison.
Then came that final scene.
Someone suddenly shouted a request for Garden Gale to perform the Bear Dance once more.
At first, she wanted to refuse...
But ever since the Bear Dance had spread like wildfire, becoming explosively popular, this single request sparked a collective memory. The audience immediately remembered that Garden Gale herself was the original performer. Demands to see it again erupted with deafening intensity, shaking the stage, their unified chant impossible to resist.
Overwhelmed by the fans' excitement, even Garden Gale herself gradually surrendered to the hype.
What followed—was a perfect 4K, 120FPS, Blu-ray-quality, uncensored, direct-recording Bear Dance performance.
An utterly spectacular stage effect!
And it didn't stop there.
With nothing left to fear, Garden Gale's desperate mentality had actually elevated her performance to new heights. Skipping past any hesitation, she went straight for the finale—
It became, without exaggeration, the best Winner's Live performance in the last five years.
Once again, she had set a new standard.
The clip instantly soared to #1 on trending, tagged proudly with a bright red [HOT]—
It exploded yet again!
...
Realization hit Garden Gale a bit late that she'd thoroughly embarrassed herself again.
This time, she couldn't offer any excuses. She'd personally sharpened the blade that wounded her, creating this humiliating situation with her own hands! Air Shakur, fully aware of Garden Gale's personality, naturally wouldn't let go of this golden opportunity to tease her.
Ugh.
She couldn't help but feel depressed. I won the race, yet somehow I ended up suffering worse than if I'd lost.
"Open up."
Seeing her friend so downcast, Air Shakur finally put away her phone and stopped teasing. Instead, she casually picked up a fork, speared a small piece of chocolate from her lunchbox, and gently offered it to Garden Gale.
"Ah~" Garden Gale obediently opened her mouth.
Her body was honest at least.
She gladly accepted the sweet—after all, she no longer needed to survive half a year staring longingly at the picture of a cake on her calendar.
She'd won the race, so she could genuinely relax for once.
Her next race was the Kikuka Sho.
October was still far off, at least five months away. For now, she could finally ease the constant tension in her mind and body. Even with the [THRONE OF KINGS] boosting her performance, Garden Gale decided not to rush.
One reason was that she was simply exhausted.
The other was…
She really didn't want to do another Winner's Live anytime soon!
A socially anxious Umamusume like her should compete as little as possible!
"You just keep getting cuter~" Air Shakur couldn't help teasing again.
Garden Gale instantly flipped back to her sharp, defiant persona, glaring at Air Shakur. "If a certain someone doesn't win the Takarazuka Kinen, forget about the Kikuka Sho or Winner's Lives—I'll jump off a building tomorrow. Then you'll really have something to cry about."
"I'll definitely win next time!" Air Shakur replied solemnly, her face the very picture of seriousness.
"I don't want 'next time.' I want 'this time.' You have to win!" Garden Gale pressed relentlessly.
She wouldn't let this go.
After all she'd already won. So why couldn't Air Shakur win too?
Yet Air Shakur still couldn't summon that same unwavering confidence, that determination to win at all costs.
She only chuckled and sidestepped the issue again. "Next time for sure~ I mean, I can't really promise, right?" The delinquent girl laughed lightly, dodging the topic as usual, playing around.
Garden Gale watched for a moment—
Then she laughed softly as well, nudging her friend gently. "You're always like this~"
She didn't push too hard.
But she never truly gave up. Her ultimate goal remained unchanged: to see Air Shakur triumph in the Takarazuka Kinen, shattering every stereotype, silencing every rumor, and becoming a genuinely powerful Umamusume. For that dream, she'd stake everything.
...
What neither of them had noticed... was Tokai Teio standing at the cafeteria entrance, having just finished her morning training session.
Out of the corner of her eye, she quietly noticed the pair playfully chatting in the corner.
The familiarity of that intimate scene...
The sense of ease between them...
Stopped her in her tracks.
And then came the pain.
Clearly…
ClearlyI was the one who got there first.
Back when she first became close with Garden Gale, I was the one standing at her side. Yet now Air Shakur had taken that place. The emotion she'd been holding back surged like a rising tide, impossible to restrain.
Pain.
Sadness.
Feelings she could no longer suppress.
All the negative emotions flooded in at once.
Tokai Teio, who had already endured more than enough lately, felt a chill settle in her eyes.
From this moment on she would stop at nothing until she took Garden Gale… back.
---
T/N: LMAOOOOOO THE CUCK CHAIR GETS MORE AND MORE USED TO TEIO SITTING ON ITT!!!! ALSO ARE YOU GUYS DATING?????? PLEASEEE MAKE IT CLEAR!!!! YOU GUYS ARE FEEDING EACHOTHER IN PUBLIC?!?!?!?!?! OMGGGGGG
anyway i will never drop the CUCKAI TEIO agenda
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