When Kita-chan and Keiko stood on the track, even Keiko—who had the body of a young girl but the mind of an overworked corporate slave who knew nothing about racing—felt the call of her Umamusume blood.
Even though she had zero interest in running, just standing on the starting line triggered an instinctive urge to run.
‘Is this the call of Umamusume blood?’ Keiko thought.
At the same time, Kita-chan noticed that Keiko’s aura had completely changed the moment she stepped onto the track.
It was as if she had become a different person.
Her intense, quiet pressure was like an approaching storm cloud, and she was the brilliant flash of white lightning within it.
Kita-chan was now certain of her initial feeling—she had sensed the raw potential in Keiko from the very first moment she saw her.
Even though Keiko claimed she barely trained, her body was perfectly balanced, with long, powerful leg muscles.
Though her usual lazy attitude hid her sharp edges, the moment she stepped onto the track, that laziness vanished completely.
Even the air around her felt heavy under her presence.
How could someone like this be weak?
Kita-chan felt a surge of excitement from this aura.
She had only planned to do a light run, but facing Keiko, she felt a pressure similar to her greatest rival, Duramente.
“Eh?
Didn’t they say it would be sunny today?
Why are there suddenly so many storm clouds…” Sweep Tosho was lying on a pool float, enjoying the water, but she looked up in annoyance as the sun was blocked.
Without anyone noticing, the cloudless sky had been covered by dark storm clouds, and a strong wind began to blow.
The wind whipped Keiko’s long white hair, and through the strands, Kita-chan caught a glimpse of her crimson eyes.
“Ready—” Although she felt the weather was strange, Diamond raised her hand to start the test.
The race was two thousand meters.
She wanted to see the true level of this girl whom Kita-chan had repeatedly promised was talented.
She called out to start the run.
“Go!” With her shout, a sudden clap of thunder shook the sky.
As if it were a starting horn, a torrential downpour instantly swept across the entire track.
Keiko, who had just started running, never imagined her body could feel this light.
Her legs pushed off with explosive force, launching her out of the gate in an instant.
From the very beginning, she had no intention of holding back.
It wasn’t her conscious choice.
It was as if her body itself was shouting— “Give it everything…” Kita-chan was shocked to find herself a step behind.
But it was too late.
Keiko had already cleared the gate and claimed the inside line.
Although she had no idea why it was suddenly pouring, Kita-chan’s competitive fire was lit, and she stopped thinking about anything else.
A race was a conversation in itself.
This was what it truly meant to be an Umamusume.
Diamond opened an umbrella and watched the two running through the sudden downpour, a worried look on her face.
The rain was heavy, turning the track into a muddy mess.
This severely slowed Kita-chan down.
The wet, soft ground made it hard for Kita-chan—who usually excelled at taking an early lead—to build up speed.
Meanwhile, Keiko, running recklessly, had already taken the lead.
‘So fast…
Can I really run this fast?’ Keiko was amazed by the potential of her body.
It turned out the original Keiko hadn’t just spent her time hiding away; she had actively trained this body.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have such speed, and her instincts coming out of the gate were far beyond those of a beginner.
Was Keiko actually gifted despite being so isolated and anxious?
The race quickly passed the halfway mark.
Two thousand meters was a relatively short distance for Kita-chan and Keiko.
Even running at full speed, Keiko felt no fatigue.
Instead, the rush of adrenaline made her feel slightly lightheaded.
It was as if her sleeping instincts were waking up, pushing her rational mind to the limit.
“She’s amazing…
This is the first time I’ve seen Kita-chan get completely dominated by someone other than Duramente.” Diamond marveled.
Sweep Tosho had come back with an umbrella to watch.
She had expected Kita-chan to be far ahead, but she never anticipated this.
“Is it because of the rain?” “Kita-chan isn’t really bothered by the track conditions.
While the rain does affect her, this is mostly Keiko-san’s own strength.
I lived with her for so long and never realized she had this kind of power.” It was Diamond’s first time seeing Keiko run at full strength too.
There was a strange sense of inconsistency in the way Keiko ran.
Her running style completely contrasted with her usual personality.
It reminded Diamond of the old Keiko, the one who was too afraid to speak to anyone.
A style like this couldn’t be developed overnight.
Even in the past, Keiko must have gone through strict self-training.
Practicing over and over again in secret was the only way to refine such a polished style.
She had worked hard in silence, running all alone without anyone to cheer her on.
‘Why didn’t I pay more attention to her back then?’ She was such a talented girl, yet everyone had ignored her.
Even Diamond hadn’t noticed her hard work.
She had no parents, no teacher’s attention, and no friends.
She was like the loneliest shadow in the world, hiding away in the dark.
“Diamond…
are you crying?” “It’s just the rain.” Diamond wiped the water from her eyes.
In her heart, she silently cheered for Keiko.
She might have ignored this girl in the past, but now that she had seen her talent, she wouldn’t let it go to waste.
— “To think it would pour like this right now…” Inside a building further away, another Umamusume was watching the race.
She had only come to check out this training facility funded by the Satono family.
Although it was currently private, the state-of-the-art facility wasn’t built just for the Satonos; it would eventually open to members.
For their membership launch, they would naturally invite famous Umamusume for promotion.
And there was one name that could never be left out.
She was the student council president of Tracen Academy, one of the strongest Umamusume of this era, a legend with seven crown victories, a black card member of almost every training facility, and a true superstar.
—Symboli Rudolf.
What was supposed to be a routine business visit had turned interesting.
Through the glass, though she couldn’t clearly see the runner’s face, the girl’s form, speed, and ability to maintain such high performance in a downpour left no room for doubt.
This was a highly talented Umamusume who had undergone rigorous training.
“She looks like she’s in middle school.
I didn’t expect to find such a promising prospect here.
It seems Tracen Academy is about to get a lot more exciting.” Symboli Rudolf smiled at Oguri Cap, who had been invited along with her.
“What do you think?
Did you spot anything impressive?” “Very stable…” Oguri Cap was also a black card member invited for the promotion.
As two legendary figures, their presence was essential.
Although they had wanted to try out the track themselves, Diamond and Kita-chan had reserved it first.
Since they couldn’t take the track from the kids, they decided to watch their juniors run.
“Running like that in this heavy rain is very impressive.” Oguri Cap’s praise was simple but accurate.
Rudolf couldn’t hide her approval either.
Talent and hard work were the foundation of a great Umamusume.
Although the girl’s luck with the weather was poor today, Rudolf looked forward to seeing her run on a dry track.
Being able to run like this in a downpour was far beyond what a regular middle schooler could achieve.
“Kitasan Black is good too, but she comes from a well-known family.
I’m really curious about the child running next to her.” Rudolf stroked her chin, planning something.
She couldn’t help it; she simply loved talented kids.
Once the run was over, she intended to go down and see who this mysterious girl was.
She knew almost every famous middle school Umamusume, but this white-haired girl was an exception.
It seemed even she could miss a hidden gem.
Back on the track, Keiko and Kita-chan were approaching the final turn before the finish line.
Kita-chan had been trailing by nearly two horse-lengths, but she noticed that while Keiko’s straight-line speed was incredible, her cornering was flawed.
She lacked the habit of securing a good line before entering a turn.
This was unavoidable.
Cornering was something you couldn’t practice alone.
Keiko’s muscle memory had no experience in racing against others, so she didn’t know the strategic battle that went into taking a turn.
Seizing the opportunity, Kita-chan executed a sharp turn, stealing the inside line.
This forced Keiko to take the outer, longer path.
This minor error was enough to turn the tables.
Indeed, Keiko had the talent and the hard work.
But her isolation had left her with a very narrow understanding of racing.
It wasn’t just a test of raw speed; it was a competition involving strategy.
Running alone, Keiko couldn’t handle this strategic battle.
In fact, the moment she realized there was someone else on the track, her running form began to fall apart.
An unprecedented panic washed over Keiko.
Her heart rate spiked.
This fear didn’t come from her own mind, but from the other soul within her.
The original Keiko was terrified.
She was terrified of another presence on the track.
As this fear spread, Keiko’s speed dropped dramatically, and she even lost the courage to sprint.
Her speed was decreasing.
“…This is bad.
Slowing down here…
But it doesn’t look like she’s out of steam…” Diamond’s anxiety couldn’t reach the runners, and Kita-chan couldn’t look back to check on her opponent.
But everyone watching knew that Keiko had hit a major wall.
“It doesn’t look like she lost her stamina…” Rudolf frowned.
“And it’s not interference from her opponent either…
What is going on?” “She is afraid.” Oguri Cap said softly.
“Her reckless running style earlier probably wasn’t because of her personality.
She simply hadn’t realized she had an opponent.” “Afraid of her opponent…” Rudolf hadn’t considered that.
After all, during her races, it was always her opponents who feared her; she had never feared anyone.
But Oguri Cap nodded confidently.
“She clearly still has strength left.
But because she got distracted and realized there’s an opponent on the track, she panicked and forgot how to run.” “To think something like this could happen…” Rudolf pinched the bridge of her nose.
“This is certainly unexpected.” ‘What should I do?’ Once Keiko snapped out of her adrenaline rush, she realized she had fallen behind.
It felt as if her body had been controlled by someone else.
She had to admit that an Umamusume’s racing urge was incredibly powerful, enough to make her almost lose consciousness.
It felt as intense as Shiki Tohno’s inversion impulse.
‘Too bad I don’t know how to split things into seventeen pieces, let alone Nanaya-style assassination arts.’ ‘I lost…’ she told herself.
It was fine.
She wasn’t planning on racing anyway, so losing didn’t matter.
And losing to Kitasan Black was nothing to be ashamed of.
Kita-chan was the rising star of this generation, after all.
It was only natural she would lose, especially since she used to be just a gloomy, shut-in girl.
No one would care.
No one expected her to win anyway, so losing was perfectly fine— “Keep going!” “…Huh?” Keiko turned her head to look off the track.
She saw Diamond drop her umbrella and cup her hands around her mouth, shouting loudly.
“Tojo Keiko!
Keep going!
Don’t lose!” ‘…Why is she cheering for me?’ For some reason, a wave of warmth washed over Keiko.
Was there actually someone who expected her to win?
She had clearly already lost…
but why did she feel so unwilling to give up?
‘Whatever, this is probably just an Umamusume’s instinct taking over.
I’ll just go with the flow—’ At the moment she came out of the turn, Keiko had already slowed down and was forced to the far outside.
The gap between them had grown to four horse-lengths.
Since it was impossible for Kita-chan to slow down now, this should have been an impossible situation to turn around.
Or so it should have been.
But at the end of this two-thousand-meter race, there was a straight line of nearly four hundred meters.
Four hundred meters…
only four hundred meters.
Keiko took a deep breath, gathering all her energy, and let it burst out all at once.
The moment they cleared the turn—the exact moment everyone assumed Keiko was done for—a terrifying, explosive power erupted from her body.
The moment her right foot slammed against the ground, her speed skyrocketed once again.
“A closing spurt?!” Symboli Rudolf’s eyes widened.
“That spurt…
is that really something a front-runner Umamusume can pull off at the end of a race?” “So fast…” Oguri Cap’s evaluation was simple but spoke volumes about how fast Keiko was running.
At the final stretch, when their stamina should have been completely depleted, Keiko had somehow held back a terrifying burst of speed.
This final spurt instantly closed the gap between them.
Although there were only four hundred meters…
a mere four hundred meters of straight track left!
Like a flash of white lightning tearing through the curtain of rain, there was a proverb in their past world for how fast time flies: *like a fleeting shadow.* At this moment, however, the proverb took on a whole new meaning.
“…Huh?” Keiko turned her head toward the edge of the track.
Through the rain, she saw Satono Diamond, who had discarded her umbrella, cupping her hands around her mouth and shouting at the top of her lungs.
“Tojo Keiko!
Keep going!
Don’t lose!” ‘…Why is she cheering for me?’ For some reason, a warm current flowed through Keiko’s heart.
Was there really someone who hoped for her victory?
Even though she had already lost…
but why…
Did she feel so incredibly frustrated?
‘Oh well.
This must be the inversion impulse of an Umamusume.
Let’s just follow my body’s instincts—’ Keiko, who had slowed down earlier, entered the final stretch on the wide outside lane.
By this point, the gap had already widened to four horse-lengths.
With Kitasan Black running flawlessly, a comeback should have been absolutely impossible.