There were two kinds of trainers.
Those whose ideas soared freely like a heavenly horse, and those who kept both feet firmly on the ground.
Fujiwara Chiya undoubtedly belonged to the latter.
When a trainer like that encountered an uma musume who was just as grounded, they became the most troublesome kind of opponent.
They would never stop until they achieved their goal.
Kyoei March had followed her trainer to that quiet, secluded training ground for one reason: to search for the Domain of an uma musume. And as luck would have it, that trainer's uma musume had also been there.
Fujiwara Shirayuki.
She was Trainer Chiya's family, and also his uma musume.
On the very first day she went to the dojo, she had put on that strange equipment, and she did not take it off until training ended. At first, Kyoei March did not know what it was. It was not until one night, when she returned from training near the waterfall and saw Fujiwara Shirayuki collapsed on the ground, that she realized those were weighted training tools.
Wearing those things from morning until night…
She really had no idea what Shirayuki was thinking. Full-body training was not something that could directly improve speed.
And what did the Oka Sho require?
Speed.
This was the stage where the fastest uma musume would be decided.
Kyoei March had wanted to warn her that her training method was wrong. But after thinking about it carefully, she realized she did not really have the right to criticize someone else's training. So when she ran into Trainer Chiya the next day, Kyoei March swallowed the words she had meant to say and found an excuse to leave.
In truth, not having the right was only one reason.
The other reason was that she did not want Shirayuki to change her training strategy and become even stronger.
She wanted to win.
More than anything, she wanted victory in the Oka Sho.
That was her goal.
Her obsession.
So she would not hand victory in this race to anyone.
Power gathered beneath her feet. Kyoei March lowered her body, and with an explosive sound, she shot through the crowd like an arrow. Under the pounding force of the waterfall, her body had become extraordinarily supple. The cold river water had stolen her body heat, but at the same time, it had left her body in a burning state of excitement.
At this moment, Kyoei March felt her blood boiling.
Her heartbeat was deafening.
But it still was not enough.
This speed still was not enough!
She had to condense her mental strength into a single point.
Forget the racetrack.
Forget the race.
Charge straight ahead.
But her noisy heartbeat kept her from concentrating fully.
Fine.
I'll surpass the enemy in front of me first!
Entering the turn, Kyoei March began accelerating.
At the same time, the announcer's voice reached her ears.
"So fast! Charging straight up from the back of the pack, the one moving toward the front is—Snow Dancer!"
What!?
A snow-white figure came chasing after her from behind with a body that moved light and quick. The instant Kyoei March entered the outside lane, she also began accelerating.
Everyone watched her body, eyes widening one after another. The way she leapt across the turf instinctively made people think of a certain animal.
Narita Brian's lips curled into a smile.
"Look. The hunter has awakened."
It was the white wolf.
The white wolf!
T.M. Opera O held her stomach and burst into loud laughter.
"The white wolf who hunted down the king of a nation has bared her claws toward her next enemy!"
Her white skirt fluttered behind her. Her swinging hands became the claws of a white wolf. Her swift movements were like those of a predator hunting prey.
Kyoei March turned her head and caught a glimpse of Shirayuki's figure.
Her heart immediately skipped a beat.
What is that?
She could not understand it.
That was not a person.
Not an uma musume.
It was some kind of animal.
An animal that had abandoned reason and thought with instinct.
She was coming.
She was charging toward me!
Opening those sharp fangs, she pounced at me!
"So fast, so fast, so fast! She's charged all the way from the rear to the front! Is Snow Dancer going to wash away the humiliation of her previous defeat and seize victory in this race in one stroke!?"
"I caught my breath a little…"
No one knew who said it, but the race changed again.
Seeking the Pearl, who should have already exhausted her stamina, suddenly began accelerating once more. Sweat ran down her body, her expression was abnormally excited, and her eyes were locked firmly on Shirayuki.
"It's Seeking the Pearl! It isn't over yet! Seeking the Pearl is also launching a charge toward the front! The race has entered the final straight!"
The announcer shouted until his voice was hoarse.
"Currently leading is Mejiro Dober! In second is Kyoei March! Third is Snow Dancer! Fourth is Seeking the Pearl!"
The race entered the final straight, and the atmosphere at the track reached its peak.
Gold Ship slapped the railing and shouted with all her might. Meisho Doto and the others were also screaming with everything they had.
Mejiro Dober gritted her teeth, waiting for the moment Shirayuki arrived.
She felt like she was reaching her limit. A sweet, bloody taste filled her throat. She needed to find that figure, then make herself break through her limit once more.
She could hear the footsteps behind her drawing closer and closer.
Someone had caught up.
But that person was not Shirayuki.
Shirayuki!
Where are you!?
The sounds around her grew farther and farther away.
Fujiwara Chiya suddenly realized he could no longer hear anything.
No, it was not only that he could not hear anything.
He could not feel anything either.
The racetrack that had been before him grew farther and farther away, until finally it became a single point of light.
Thump!
Beside Rice Shower, Fujiwara Chiya suddenly dropped to his knees. It was as if he had lost consciousness, and he fell forward.
"Onii-sama!?"
Rice Shower panicked and caught him.
At the same time, Shirayuki suddenly felt the world come to a stop.
The entire world contained only herself, running alone through an empty, black void.
Only far ahead was a light the size of a needle point.
There was no thought.
No sensation.
Even the announcer's passionate commentary could not be heard.
"It's Snow Dancer! Snow Dancer has caught up!"
The corners of her eyes turned red. A fierce, violent aura surged around her.
Mejiro Dober locked onto her figure. Just as she tried to focus all her attention on Shirayuki, it felt as though a claw had pierced straight through her heart.
In that instant, a fear called "prey" rose inside her.
Looking at Shirayuki's faintly red eyes, Mejiro Dober could not bring herself to resist at all.
She could only watch as Shirayuki passed beside her.
"Only fifty meters left to the finish!"
All at once, sound returned to his ears.
Fujiwara Chiya suddenly raised his head, gasping for breath. Cold sweat covered his body.
At the same time, the needle-sized point of light before Shirayuki's eyes instantly expanded back into the racetrack. When Shirayuki regained consciousness, she was standing just before the finish line.
Then she stepped across it.
"She crosses the line!"
A thunderclap fell upon the racetrack.
In the next instant, the entire venue erupted.
"A victor has been born! She has repelled Mejiro Dober's pursuit, shaken off numerous powerful rivals, and seized the first crown of the Triple Tiara, the Oka Sho! Her name is—Snow Dancer!"
"Oooooohhhhhh!"
Shirayuki came to a stop in a daze.
Only after a long while did she finally understand what had happened. Under the gaze of hundreds of thousands of spectators, she raised her fist high.
At that moment, adorned by cherry blossoms, the Empress was born.
"Did you see it?"
Rudolf leaned against the window.
"Mm. Without a doubt."
Air Groove clenched her fist.
"That was the Domain. Although it lasted only three short seconds, Shirayuki truly entered the Domain."
They could clearly feel the change in Shirayuki's aura. Even from such a distance, they could sense that impossible-to-ignore sharpness.
Only an uma musume who had entered the Domain could bring them such powerful stimulation.
"That child has finally taken her first step toward becoming one of the strong."
"But that also means she will have to face even more difficult and painful races from now on."
"With the Empress's Scepter by her side, she should be fine."
"I'm leaving, President Rudolf."
Narita Brian turned around.
"Going back already?"
"Mm. If I don't leave now, I'm afraid I won't be able to stop myself from going down there, grabbing her, and demanding a race."
Narita Brian turned her head. Her yellow eyes revealed beast-like pupils.
Just like Shirayuki, she was also a hunter.
Hearing the other girl's long wolf howl, Narita Brian's blood was also boiling and burning.
She was a wolf.
No, a starving wolf.
"I want to… race her so badly."
Muttering that, Narita Brian left the viewing room.
In the stands, Rice Shower tightly hugged Fujiwara Chiya. Beside them, Meisho Doto also noticed something was wrong and knelt nervously nearby.
"Are you okay, Onii-sama!? An ambulance! Call an ambulance!"
Rice Shower was so anxious she was almost crying. Just now, Fujiwara Chiya had suddenly collapsed. Although he stood up again afterward, he was still dazed and confused, looking as though he did not know where he was.
Had he been working too hard lately and exhausted his body?
Could it be because Rice had been making Onii-sama worry too much recently?
In an instant, Rice Shower imagined ten thousand ways this could be her fault. She hugged Fujiwara Chiya tightly and kept apologizing, convinced that it was because of her that Onii-sama's body had collapsed from exhaustion.
"No, it's not your fault, Rice. It's my problem. I just felt a little anemic and lost my balance."
Fujiwara Chiya casually made up a lie.
In truth, he did not know what had happened to him either. He had only felt the world vanish for an instant, then suddenly reappear. After that, he found himself collapsed in Rice Shower's arms.
The most direct way to describe that feeling was "emptiness."
There was nothing.
Nothing existed.
Even his own self had felt very far away.
Could this be the Domain Shihandai mentioned?
It was a sensation that could not be explained clearly, even after experiencing it personally. Thinking back on it, Fujiwara Chiya still felt a lingering fear.
After entering the Domain, he had blacked out completely on his side.
"Onii-sama?"
Rice Shower looked at his face worriedly.
Fujiwara Chiya shook his head. Those things could wait until they returned. Right now, the race had only just ended.
He stroked Rice Shower's head and looked toward Shirayuki, who stood in the center of the track.
At this moment, she had officially won the title of fastest uma musume.
Fujiwara Chiya had never imagined that such a day would come for him too.
That he, as an uma musume, would receive endless glory.
Seeking the Pearl ran to Shirayuki's side and shouted,
"Beautiful! What was that just now? You went whoosh and passed everyone! Did you activate a skill?"
Kyoei March silently looked at the two of them, then turned her head and gritted her teeth.
As for Mejiro Dober, after congratulating Shirayuki, she walked into the competitors' passage.
Seeing this from afar, Fujiwara Chiya chased after her.
He saw Mejiro Dober supporting herself against the wall, both fists clenched tightly.
Hearing the sound, Mejiro Dober turned her head. She was gasping for breath, her eyes filled with tears.
"Trainer…"
She walked up to Fujiwara Chiya and hugged him tightly.
"I lost… I missed the Oka Sho… my only chance…"
She began to cry.
Mejiro Dober regretted it terribly.
Why had she become timid at the final moment?
Why had she chosen to retreat before the finish line?
She wanted to slap her past self from that moment. But no matter how much she regretted it, she could not change the fact that she had lost.
Fujiwara Chiya looked at Mejiro Dober in his arms and gently stroked her head.
This was racing.
The winner received cheers and praise.
The loser shed tears in private.
Fujiwara Chiya would not regret what he had done. He would feel proud that he had won the race, and he would also feel sorry for Mejiro Dober's defeat.
This was the contradiction he had to bear.
From the moment Fujiwara Chiya accepted his own identity, it had already been decided.
"Trainer… Trainer…"
Mejiro Dober completely lowered her defenses and cried loudly while holding Chiya.
Rice Shower and the others, who were peeking from the side, wanted to come over, but Gold Ship stopped them.
"Leave this to Trainer."
And so, amid the noise outside and the silence of the corridor, the Oka Sho came to an end.
…
"Congratulations, Chiya."
In the Director's office, Satake Mei hooked her arm around Fujiwara Chiya's neck, her face full of excitement.
"The news of Shirayuki's dominant victory has already spread throughout Tracen. Everyone's calling her the Sakura Queen now."
"Hah…"
Fujiwara Chiya knew it clearly in his heart. Ever since she won, the moment she went to school the next day, a group of juniors immediately surrounded her. They excitedly introduced themselves to Shirayuki and spoke of their admiration.
Now Fujiwara Chiya understood what it felt like to be adored by thousands.
The return rate of people looking back was absurdly high. Wherever he went, he could hear voices discussing his name.
However, compared to Sakura Queen, everyone was more used to calling her "Empress."
At first, hearing those juniors call him "Empress-sama" felt a little strange. But as more and more people said it, he gradually got used to it.
"Since you won the Oka Sho, your next race target is…"
"The Yushun Himba."
Fujiwara Chiya answered.
In other words, the Japanese Oaks, the second crown of the Triple Tiara, held in the latter half of May. There were less than two months between it and the Oka Sho. The two races were quite close together, so once the first race ended, the second would follow almost immediately.
However, even though the schedule was tight, Fujiwara Chiya still decided to rest for a few days after the race. His body truly could not take much more. Ever since special training began, he had not relaxed at all.
"I know a good place. I guarantee you'll be able to properly unwind there."
Satake Mei smiled, then raised her eyebrows toward Akikawa Yayoi behind her. Akikawa handed over a ticket.
It had "Tokyo Amusement Park" written on it.
"This is a limited ticket. Entry is restricted on that day, so you won't have to wait in line. You can play any attraction inside as much as you like."
Just from the gold-edged cover, it was clear this ticket was worth quite a lot. It had been the same with the hot spring ticket last time. The Director had casually tossed it to him.
Fujiwara Chiya really wanted to ask whether the Director was giving him special treatment. But after thinking about it, he kept his mouth shut. If every winning trainer received something like this, saying that would be far too embarrassing.
In the end, Fujiwara Chiya thanked her and left.
Satake Mei patted Akikawa Yayoi's shoulder.
"If you want to give it to him, just say so. Why bother making up an excuse?"
"Mind your own business."