Silence Suzuka looked up at Zhou Yu’ang for several moments.
Then she glanced behind him.
She blinked once before decisively turning toward the racetrack.
She knew that even if she ran far away, Zhou Yu’ang would remain where he was and watch her, just as he had that day.
Even if she reached somewhere difficult to return from, he would certainly wait for her.
Perhaps he would even come and bring her home.
Silence Suzuka therefore felt no hesitation.
She would follow the plan Zhou Yu’ang had given her and use this race to display the result of all their hard work.
Silence Suzuka walked toward the track.
The story event did not end.
Zhou Yu’ang discovered that he could still move and prepared to go elsewhere.
When he turned around, however, he found Special Week standing directly behind him.
Her face carried an expression that said:
I understand nothing, yet I have been profoundly shaken.
She stood there completely dumbfounded.
“Special Week?
When did you get here?”
Zhou Yu’ang approached the adorable little fool behind him.
“Um… I’ve been here since you and Shizuka-san started talking…”
Only after Zhou Yu’ang questioned her did Special Week recover from her daze.
Her amethyst-like eyes looked toward him with a strangely aggrieved expression.
“I see.
Then you heard everything.”
Zhou Yu’ang crossed his arms and pretended to contemplate the situation.
Special Week immediately became flustered.
She clenched both fists.
“Trainer, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop!”
“It’s fine.
We weren’t discussing anything shameful.”
Zhou Yu’ang opened his eyes, looked at Special Week, and walked past her.
“Let’s return to the grandstand.
We can’t miss Suzuka’s race…”
“…Right.
Not being able to see Shizuka-san would be…”
Special Week spoke awkwardly as Zhou Yu’ang passed her.
She prepared to follow, only to discover that he had stopped.
“What’s wrong?”
Seeing Zhou Yu’ang standing there, Special Week cautiously approached and peered toward his face.
“Special Week, I need you to do me a favor.”
Zhou Yu’ang turned toward her and placed both hands upon her shoulders.
Special Week’s face instantly reddened.
“Wh-What do you want me to do?!”
Silence Suzuka could no longer hear the conversation between Zhou Yu’ang and Special Week.
After entering the track, she heard the commentator’s voice and the spectators’ cheering.
Then came the unmistakable wind.
“Breathe.
Everything will be fine.”
Trainer and Spe are both watching me.
I cannot be afraid.
Silence Suzuka raised her head and examined everything around her.
Her opponents.
The starting gates.
And the unforgettable two-thousand-meter track.
Memories of everything she and Zhou Yu’ang had experienced flashed through her mind.
Then Silence Suzuka entered the gate.
“Here I go!”
Enter the gate.
Wait.
Then explode forward the instant it opened!
Good.
My condition is safe.
Silence Suzuka glanced down at her legs.
After confirming the sensations coming from them, she began her Great Escape in a controlled, orderly manner.
She turned toward the grandstand.
The enormous crowd contained countless faces.
She could not locate Zhou Yu’ang immediately.
But she was not worried.
She knew that no matter where she ran, he would continue watching her.
Trainer, watch carefully.
This is my Great Escape!
Silence Suzuka regulated her breathing and maintained her pace.
The first straight—perfect!
The first turn—perfect!
Everything proceeded according to plan.
Silence Suzuka confirmed that nothing was wrong with her stride.
She still possessed plenty of stamina.
Somehow…
She felt that she could do it!
She cleared the second and third turns without difficulty.
The gap between herself and the trailing field expanded to many lengths.
“Silence Suzuka is about to enter the fourth turn!”
The commentator shouted, exactly as she had during the nightmare.
Both commentator and audience believed that Silence Suzuka would easily claim another spectacular victory.
Hearing those words, the horse girls in the stream felt their hearts sink.
Although they cared deeply about whether Suzuka would succeed, Zhou Yu’ang’s actions had also captured their attention.
Question marks filled the comment feed.
“The fourth turn… The trees are just ahead.”
That was the location from her dream.
The place where disaster had occurred.
But the current me isn’t the same as before.
I’m—huh?
Silence Suzuka looked toward the course ahead.
Just as in the dream, the scenery before the fourth turn entered her vision.
Everything had been nearly identical until now.
But something about the view ahead seemed wrong.
Two people stood outside the track.
No.
Strictly speaking, only one person was standing.
The other was riding upon that person’s back.
Special Week stood outside the course with Zhou Yu’ang on her back.
The sight of a grown man being carried by a high-school girl made Silence Suzuka hesitate.
Why was Special Week carrying Zhou Yu’ang?
Why were they standing here?
Oh.
So that was it!
The horse girls in the stream had personally witnessed Zhou Yu’ang’s maneuver.
He had grabbed Special Week and promised to grant one of her wishes if she carried him to the outside of the fourth turn.
At worst, Special Week will ask for an expensive meal.
What could Special Week possibly demand?
She was merely an adorably foolish utility horse girl.
Zhou Yu’ang had not worried much about the price.
He ordered her to carry him immediately to the area before the fourth turn.
Although surprised, Special Week obeyed.
Horse-girl legs truly were convenient.
She carried Zhou Yu’ang there at tremendous speed.
[Hates Flashbulbs and Lunatics]: Are you planning to repeat what you did during their earlier training?
[Tracen Pun Master]: Most likely.
If so, Silence Suzuka’s chance of victory will increase.
However…
[Invincible Seaside-sama]: AT, you’re a grown man making a girl carry you.
That’s pathetic.
It also looks extremely strange.
Isn’t Special Week uncomfortable?
[Horse Girl Enthusiast]: Special Week doesn’t look uncomfortable.
Still, carrying a Trainer on her back… It looks strange.
The longer I watch, the more restless I feel.
Many viewers criticized Zhou Yu’ang for making a horse girl carry him.
[Maternal Demon]: Horse girls with Trainers, why don’t you try carrying your Trainers while running?
Logically speaking, if horse girls inherited all the characteristics of horses, being ridden should feel natural to them.
Perhaps, once one horse girl began doing it, Tracen would develop a trend of carrying Trainers in races.
While Zhou Yu’ang considered that possibility, Special Week suddenly stopped.
“Trainer, we’re here.”
Special Week turned her flushed face toward him.
Zhou Yu’ang pressed his hands together apologetically.
He hoped she would not become excessively embarrassed by the gazes of the surrounding horse girls.
“Hold on a little longer.”
“Yes.”
After receiving her confirmation, Zhou Yu’ang looked toward the distant Silence Suzuka.
Then he waved.
Even across the large distance, she saw him clearly.
It was not only because he was sitting upon Special Week.
During the training that had helped settle her emotions, they had done something similar.
She ran in the distance.
Zhou Yu’ang watched her and gave signals.
This time, however, Zhou Yu’ang did not provide any instructions.
He merely raised one hand.
Giving strategic instructions from outside the track would be improper.
More importantly, he did not need to tell Suzuka anything.
They had already completed their preparation.
Only his little finger remained raised.
They had made promises from the beginning.
They had made another immediately before the race.
Each time, they had linked their little fingers.
Zhou Yu’ang silently formed several words with his mouth.
Despite the distance, Silence Suzuka could understand him.
I wondered why I couldn’t find Trainer in the grandstand.
So this is where he was.
Although he was not sitting among the spectators, he was still watching her.
He was fulfilling his promise.
And reminding her of her own.
I’m so glad I met you.
Silence Suzuka smiled at Zhou Yu’ang, who had come to the side of the track in such a seemingly ridiculous manner.
Then she noticed Special Week beneath him.
Her smile slowly faded.
But Trainer being carried by Spe…
It looked extremely strange.
Even so, from a horse girl’s perspective, watching another horse girl carry her Trainer felt deeply peculiar.
Next time, I’ll carry Trainer.
I’m definitely faster than Special Week!
Silence Suzuka nodded toward Zhou Yu’ang.
Then seriousness returned to her eyes.
She was immensely grateful that he existed within the scenery before her.
All she needed to do was run.
She could leave everything else to Zhou Yu’ang.
As long as her Trainer continued watching, she would feel no burden.
I’ll escape.
I’ll keep escaping until misfortune can no longer catch me.
And I’ll be the first to run into Trainer’s sight!
Silence Suzuka continued forward.
Fire ignited within her eyes.
It possessed a color unique to her alone, exactly like the scenery she saw.
It belonged to no one else.
The very front of the track was the domain of the Front Runner!
The Supersonic Nobleman joined hands with her Trainer and raised an objection against fate.
Ahead lay the turn she had no choice but to overcome.
“The trees are blocking our view… She’s emerged!
Silence Suzuka has emerged!”
The commentator watched the screen nervously.
When the horse girl appeared without hesitation, her stride firm and her Great Escape uninterrupted, the commentator nearly rose from her seat.
“Silence Suzuka is still using Great Escape!
She hasn’t slowed in the slightest!”
[Horse Girl Enthusiast]: Excellent!
Go, Silence Suzuka!
[Festival Girl]: Go!
Go!
Go!
[Unbreakable Glass]: Don’t lose to fate!
[White-Eyed H-Manga Sensei]: Victory is directly ahead.
She isn’t escaping alone.
[Maternal Demon]: Do your best~
[Grade-Skipping Genius Girl]: Don’t lose!
[Tracen’s Madoka Higuchi]: Why are all of you acting like… Never mind.
Good luck.
“Is she going to make it?”
The real Silence Suzuka watched her on-screen self maintain speed.
She clasped her hands together nervously.
“The final straight!
Silence Suzuka is still escaping!
She’s still escaping!
The other horse girls are accelerating behind her, but none of them can close the gap!”
“Escape!
Escape!
Escape!
The final one hundred meters!”
The commentator’s words continuously stirred the spectators’ emotions.
Silence Suzuka maintained her Great Escape.
The horse girls behind her sprinted with everything they had.
They could do nothing but watch as Silence Suzuka continued fleeing toward the finish line.
“She arrives!
Silence Suzuka crosses the line!
Her Great Escape continues!
Who could possibly catch a girl who never stops running away?!”
The tragic Bad End did not occur.
Silence Suzuka cleared the trees.
She overcame the turn.
Then she crossed the finish line.
None of their previous effort had been wasted.
She had not fallen victim to that merciless fate.
At least for the moment, she had succeeded.
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