“Truly…
chauvinistic.”
Tokai Teio wanted to laugh like she always did, but the words wouldn’t come out.
How long had it been since someone actually wanted to see her run?
A year?
Two?
Or longer?
Ever since her third fracture, no one around her cared if she ran anymore.
Mayano, Special Week, Oguri Cap…
And Symboli Rudolf.
Not a single person wanted to see her run.
Not a single trainer had asked her to be their trainee.
Seeing a young, inexperienced trainer like him actually want to invite her…
it made her want to cry.
Her eyes stung.
It took a few seconds to force down the emotions she told herself shouldn’t be there.
With a forced smile, she said, “I can’t.
I’ve already given up, so please don’t…”
“I’m not listening!”
Nakajima Shin shouted, “Look at your legs.
You’re still running!
Running just like me, a perfectly healthy human!”
“So, Teio…”
“Even if it’s just for me.
Just for me alone, keep running!”
Seeing him raise a fist in pure excitement, Tokai Teio shook her head.
A look halfway between a smile and tears crossed her face.
“Running just for you alone…
that’s too hard.”
Nakajima Shin stared at her intensely for a moment, then reached out and pressed his hands on her shoulders to make her stop.
“…Then let’s have a duel.”
He turned his head and pointed to the track ahead.
About four hundred meters from where they started.
“Just this stretch.
Let’s see who crosses the finish line first.
If I win, you become my trainee.
If you win, I’ll never bother you again.”
“You know my legs aren’t what they used to be…”
“So what?
Even if they fracture easily, Umamusume can hit sixty kilometers an hour.
Do you really think your jogging pace is slower than my sprint?!”
“…”
Nakajima Shin’s eyes locked onto the silent Tokai Teio, each word deliberate.
“So, come on!”
“Let’s duel!”
“I’ll beat you, and I’ll drag you back to the track!”
Tokai Teio looked at him, her gaze complicated.
She slowly parted her lips.
“…Fine.”
Central Tracen Academy.
A four-hundred-meter grass track.
The setting sun slowly dipped below the horizon in front of them, its afterglow burning the clouds red, rolling like flowing blood.
Nakajima Shin pulled a coin from his empty wallet and flicked it into the air with his thumb.
The silver-white coin caught the light, gleaming brightly.
Neither blinked as it disappeared from their peripheral vision and hit the ground with a sharp clatter.
“Clack!”
Both of them shot forward like arrows leaving a bow.
Nakajima Shin took the lead, pumping his arms with everything he had, driving his legs to their maximum stride.
The explosive speed he unleashed was faster than any short-distance race he’d ever run.
If they dragged him back to high school as a track athlete now, he’d probably breeze into a top-tier university on sports merits alone.
But Tokai Teio followed effortlessly behind him, keeping just one length’s distance.
She didn’t let him pull away a single inch, her expression calm and composed, not even breathing hard.
It was laughable for a human to try and race an Umamusume.
Even with her fragile legs and jogging pace, her speed still outpaced any human sprint champion on earth.
That’s why running was such a niche sport for humans in this world.
Winning brought no joy, and audiences had zero interest in watching non-Umamusume athletes.
Fewer and fewer people liked running.
The Olympics even had to drop all entry requirements just to find enough participants for the marathon.
Yet, despite all that, Tokai Teio didn’t choose to overtake him.
She didn’t use her unquestionable strength to crush him and make him drop his ridiculous idea.
Instead, she stayed behind him, her eyes fixed on his back.
His soaked white shirt clung to him, outlining the sharp lines of his shoulder blades with every arm swing.
Water droplets rolled down his face, carried by the wind to splash lightly against her own.
Were they sweat?
Or tears?
Drifting slightly to the outer lane, Tokai Teio saw his eyes squint against the glare.
The setting sun’s light was harsh enough to make him tear up involuntarily, yet he kept them half-open, locked onto that finish line.
He wanted to win.
Was it necessary?
Was it really worth setting his heart on beating someone like her?
Unable to bear watching him, Tokai Teio turned her head away, pushed off her legs slightly, and matched his pace side by side.
Catching her in his peripheral vision, Nakajima Shin felt a spike of urgency.
He opened his mouth, drew in a massive breath, expanded his chest, and let out a roar.
“Ahhh!!!”
The roar channeled through his entire body.
His legs drove forward like he was hitting the final fifty meters of a sprint, each step faster than the last, pulling him ahead of Tokai Teio by a length.
But there were still three hundred meters left.
Hearing that deafening roar, Tokai Teio’s eyelids fluttered.
Catching a glimpse of his stubborn face, her steps unconsciously slowed.
What’s wrong with me?
When did I become so weak?
Watching him throw himself at this just to beat me…
was I really going to let him win?
…Did I still want to race?
Hesitation hung in the air.
The wind picked up, whipping a torn piece of paper into her line of sight, blocking the dying sun and casting a shadow over her vision.
Her gaze instinctively followed it, clearly reading the large characters printed on it.
Umamusume Training Contract.
“…”
In the silence, Tokai Teio drove her legs faster than before, instantly closing the gap and catching up to Nakajima Shin, who was now three horse lengths ahead.
“Stop running,” she said softly.
“You can’t win.”
With that, she left him in her wake and sprinted toward the finish line.
A weak Umamusume like her couldn’t hold him back.
It would be a waste for a rookie trainer to spend his most crucial first three years on a castoff.
He needed to win a major race with his trainee just to unlock a slot for another Umamusume.
And it took two G1 wins to earn the right to build a full team freely.
If she took this spot, he’d waste three years before he could even look for his next trainee.
And if she suddenly got it in her head to keep running later, he’d have to waste energy scheduling training and races for her.
So, let it end here.
It was all over.
Her sun had already set.
But his hadn’t.
Tokai Teio pumped her arms harder, tearing through the wind until a vacuum formed in front of her.
Shedding most of the air resistance, her body felt lighter, her speed increasing until it felt like she could leave everything behind.
But Nakajima Shin’s voice cut against the wind, piercing her ears.
“What do you even think a race is?!” he roared.
“I threw everything I had into this just to beat you!”
“All this ‘don’t run if you can’t win’ nonsense…”
“I don’t understand that kind of talk at all!!!!”
(TL: BELIEVE IN THE ME THAT BELIEVES IN YOU!!)