Japan, Hyogo Prefecture, Takarazuka City.
The instant Xingyun Liuge crossed the finish line, Oguri Cap's ears shot straight up. Even though it was already deep into the night, she looked utterly energized, her blue eyes shining with delight as she rejoiced from the bottom of her heart at Liuge's victory.
She even grabbed Fresh Shine and Kitahara Jones by the hands while they watched the race together, causing complete chaos. She was so fired up she wanted to start training on the spot.
There was an extremely important race tomorrow, so she should get proper rest?
No such thing. Better to begin training right now.
"Oguri!" Fresh Shine and Kitahara Jones clamped down on one of her hands each, trying to calm her. The problem was that even the two of them together couldn't hold her back.
Fortunately, Trainer Roppongi arrived in time and gave all three of them a fierce scolding, finally managing to "persuade" Oguri.
The old trainer shot a glance at the televised broadcast, his feelings a tangle of contradictions. He had the distinct impression that the entire landscape of Japanese horseracing was about to turn turbulent beyond measure.
These two unassuming gray-haired Cinderella girls looked as though they had come to overturn the JRA itself.
But what he said aloud was, "...Get some rest early. Be in your best condition for the Mainichi Cup."
These girls were already giving everything they had for their dreams. It would be bad enough if this old body of his couldn't help them—how could he possibly drag them down?
Wasn't the duty of a trainer to witness each horse girl's moment of brilliance? How could he ever try to stop them from running toward the radiant future that was supposed to be theirs?
He had thought that settled the matter, but honest little Oguri objected at once.
"After we watch Xingyun's live, then I'll sleep."
Trainer Roppongi fell silent.
Well, they had already stayed up through the race. Watching one post-race live performance probably wouldn't make much difference.
As long as she didn't start saying she wanted to watch the post-race interview too.
At the same time, in Dubai, UAE, at Meydan Racecourse—
Xingyun Liuge had already changed into her stage outfit. Looking out at Chihaya Yui waving a glow stick below the stage, and at Cuihe standing expressionless beside her, Liuge didn't bother wondering why Sirius Symbol wasn't there. She simply walked to the center of the stage, step by step, and raised the microphone in her hand toward the audience.
In an instant, cheers thundered like a storm.
Looking at the river of starlight formed by countless glow sticks on the ground, Xingyun Liuge gave a light laugh and pointed straight ahead with her right hand.
"Even the very last row—I can see you!"
The people seated at the back were instantly filled with pride. They waved their glow sticks with all their strength, as though trying to answer Xingyun Liuge's attention with their own enthusiasm. The audience in every other section naturally refused to lose out. The river of stars on the ground surged and rolled, like waves echoing the tides of the Persian Gulf.
A glint flashed through Liuge's eyes. When she opened her mouth, she began in a mid-range tone:
"I swear here and now, these wings will never break."
Then she slowly lifted her right hand until it pointed at the heavens, and her voice rose with it into a clear high note.
"Let my song resound across the skies."
That long, soaring breath seized the hearts of everyone present. But for Xingyun Liuge, this was only the first powerful note. Everything was only just beginning.
The sea wind from the Persian Gulf swept in once more, lifting her silver-white hair at just the right moment. Under the stage lights, the hair fluttering in the wind looked as though someone had layered dreamlike special effects over it, making it seem as if stars themselves were hidden among the strands.
In truth, that shimmering effect came from stray arcs of electricity diffusing through the air.
Rudolf Symbol was on the phone with Sirius Symbol at that very moment. Seeing this, she couldn't help murmuring softly, "She's actually using the power of her domain for this?"
"Rudolf?" Sirius Symbol's expression darkened on the other end of the line. What the hell was this? She had kindly come over to help, had even skipped Xingyun Liuge's live, and the one who'd asked for her help—Rudolf—was now calmly sitting in front of the TV watching the performance? That was just cruel.
At that moment, the giant screen behind Xingyun Liuge suddenly lit up. Countless pure-white feathers whirled in the raging wind, scattering and falling away.
"How many times have I been exposed to ceaseless headwinds?"
Liuge suddenly threw up her pale arm, her fingers clenching into a fist. Her voice rose sharply with the motion, carrying fierce defiance.
"And yet, the dream still burning within me gave me the courage to take the first step, then the second."
She moved with the lyrics, stepping forward, then breaking into a run along the stage, singing at full voice:
"This voice, this heart, inheriting the cry of love—
Spread your wings, O scattered remnants of an angel's feathers."
The starlit river on the ground rolled in the same direction as her running, and white feathers began to drift down through the air.
What the support staff backstage and the audience didn't know was that many of those "white feathers" were actually feathers made of lightning, swept upward by the wind before dissolving into the night.
"At this very moment, within this body must dwell the wings that whirl and fly through this world.
Rise.
As long as there is still a place for me to stand,
I will never fear the journey toward my dream."
With the second great note, Xingyun Liuge reached the edge of the stage. She pivoted instantly and raced back the other way, sprinting toward the opposite end, and the glittering river on the ground changed course with her.
The audience swung their glow sticks madly, their bodies swaying in the same direction she ran. Even with sweat already streaming down their faces, no one had any intention of stopping. They found every second exhilarating.
On the giant screen, the white feathers vanished completely, replaced by a vast galaxy of stars.
"Among hundreds of billions of stars, no two are the same.
What is this thing called living?
What is the meaning of a heartbeat, of a pulse?
To compose a melody in your own color, to perform the future.
Shine...
Turn your life itself into song!"
At that third great note, thunder crashed across the heavens. With ruthless violence, it tore through the gathering clouds, and wild winds swept across the sky, mercilessly driving the remaining clouds to the horizon.
Now the sky was filled with stars, perfectly mirroring the river of stars below.
Bathed in starlight and watching that small figure on the stage, audience members wept openly. They knew they would probably never forget this moment for as long as they lived.
And not just them.
Even those watching through television screens elsewhere found themselves unconsciously staring, mouths slightly open, completely absorbed by the breathtaking sight.
When the live ended, the reporters were aflame with enthusiasm, eagerly crowding around Xingyun Liuge in hopes that this new rising star would give them some explosive headline.
Her next goal?
"I'll try for the British and American Triple Crowns first. I'll run both."
If things had gone so smoothly, why had she sung about headwinds?
"I mainly wanted to encourage an old friend far away in Japan. I wanted us to remind each other: just keep showing your strength, and keep running."
...
After a moment of silence, Oguri Cap became even more fired up than before.
"I'm still going out for a run."
Her former trainer and her current acting trainer shouted in perfect unison:
"Oguri! Oguri Cap, get back here!"
The next day, at Hanshin Racecourse—
1800 meters, Mainichi Cup. Turf. Cloudy. Heavy going.
Yaeno Muteki very cleverly kept a close eye on Oguri Cap, forcing her to run along the outside lane. But that was all she managed to do.
Yaeno had found the perfect position and kept Oguri tightly marked, but when she accelerated in the final bend, Oguri Cap suddenly burst forward. Her blue eyes darkened almost to black as an enormous pressure swept toward the three runners ahead. In one move, she interrupted Yaeno's acceleration and passed her with ease.
By the time Yaeno found her pace again, it was already hopeless. All she could do was watch as Oguri Cap crossed the line with a terrifying seven-length lead, crushing her dream of winning the Satsuki Sho.
After that, because another runner withdrew from the Satsuki Sho due to health issues, Yaeno Muteki won a lottery against another horse girl with the same amount of prize money, gained the replacement slot, and went on to win the race.
Only one week separated the Satsuki Sho from the Mainichi Cup, and the public still remembered the Mainichi Cup's outcome vividly.
The winner of the Satsuki Sho had only finished second in the Mainichi Cup, while the runner-up in the Satsuki Sho had been only seventh there.
So if Oguri Cap had been allowed to enter, wouldn't she have won the Satsuki Sho and then gone on to challenge the Japanese Derby?
Public opinion exploded:
What kind of Japanese Derby would it be without the strongest horse girl there?
At that point, it hardly even felt worth watching anymore.
It had no value.
This time, reporter Fujii Sensuke finally seized the opportunity before his old rival Hayasaka Sora could. He wrote an article titled The Japanese Derby Without Oguri Cap Is Like Takoyaki Without Octopus, and mercilessly tore into the situation. He even mobilized colleagues from his newspaper, and together they produced a petition signed by ten thousand people, demanding that the JRA open a supplementary entry route for Oguri Cap and allow her to compete in the Japanese Derby.
Just as Trainer Roppongi had predicted, the atmosphere in Tokyo was becoming deeply unstable.
Even worse, this Fujii reporter dug up a "huge secret" during his interviews:
Oguri Cap also had a friend named Xingyun Liuge, another runner locked out of the classic races by the JRA's rigid system.
"Was it really right to cut off Oguri Cap's road to the classics and force Xingyun Liuge to flee to Europe and America? Do you really think that was the proper choice, Emperor Rudolf Symbol?!"
Even though he'd been summoned here by Rudolf Symbol herself, and even though her overwhelming presence had intimidated him, Fujii Sensuke still summoned his courage and put the question directly to the so-called lofty Emperor.
Of course, he knew Rudolf Symbol wasn't some cold-blooded horse girl. More than anything, he wanted to use this chance to seek her help.
More than questioning Rudolf Symbol, what he truly wanted was to roar at the JRA's upper brass:
Your rigid rules have blocked talented horse girls from advancing. You pretend not to see it. Fine. But what about this overwhelming public will?
Are you going to pretend that doesn't exist too?
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter108)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter144)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 99
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 95
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 99
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 92
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 47
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 44
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 43
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 26
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 32
Uma Musume: From Beginner 26
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