Fujiwara Chiya had once heard in a veteran trainer lecture that powerful Uma Musume did not need to deliberately use their eyes to look. They could use the other organs of their bodies to sense the race environment. For them, hearing and touch were even more efficient than sight. After enough training, an Uma Musume could even develop intuition for races. To put it simply, it was a sixth sense. They could sense changes in the race.
At the time, Fujiwara Chiya had worn an expression of disbelief. He felt as though he was not listening to an Uma Musume lecture, but a lecture on mysticism. Intuition, sixth sense—could racing really have anything to do with those things?
And what was that about hearing and touch?
Could someone actually determine positions by sound on a racecourse?
As it turned out, yes, they really could.
Shirayuki noticed Hayakawa Tazuna's ears turning slightly, as though listening to something. And her body truly did feel as though it was being watched.
Gritting her teeth, Shirayuki gathered her strength. She still had stamina left, and the finish line was less than four hundred metres away. That was enough for her to sprint with everything she had.
But the instant Shirayuki stepped forward, as if she had predicted her movement, Hayakawa Tazuna accelerated at the exact same moment. The gap between the two of them froze at two lengths.
I can't catch up?
Fujiwara Shirayuki's eyes widened. No matter how she accelerated, she could not close the distance. Those high-speed, rhythmic steps showed no sign of weakening at all.
Are you kidding me?
Even if you're an older Uma Musume, after entering decline for so long, your stamina should have fallen behind already. Why can you still run this fast!?
Shirayuki could not understand it. Her trainer knowledge could not explain the situation before her eyes.
Unless the former Hayakawa Tazuna had been an absurdly powerful Uma Musume, it should have been impossible for her to race like this after her body had declined so greatly.
But if she was this strong, how could I not know about her?
Maintaining a gap of two lengths, Hayakawa Tazuna crossed the finish line first. Half a second later, Fujiwara Shirayuki finally ran across, panting heavily.
Having exhausted all her strength, Shirayuki supported herself on her knees. Her legs were trembling slightly, and her lungs felt burning hot.
In contrast, Hayakawa Tazuna was also breathing heavily, but her complexion was much better than Shirayuki's.
With a refreshed expression on her face, Hayakawa Tazuna wiped away her sweat.
"I already know what the problem is," Hayakawa Tazuna said. "Rest first."
Ten minutes later, Shirayuki's condition had improved somewhat, and Hayakawa Tazuna began explaining.
"It's a centre of gravity problem. When you turn, your centre of gravity leans too far outward. When you run, the stride of your right foot is larger than that of your left foot. It may be related to your previous cornering habits. If you consciously shorten the stride of your right foot during turns, it may help solve the problem."
Listening to her explanation, Fujiwara Shirayuki froze for a moment.
Hayakawa Tazuna had been running in front the entire time and had never even turned her head. How could she clearly know the problem with Shirayuki's steps? Even Chiya had not noticed it.
"Tazuna-nee, just who... are you?"
Fujiwara Shirayuki did not believe that the other party was some unknown Uma Musume.
"Me? I'm just the Director's secretary."
Hayakawa Tazuna smiled.
"How was it, Chiya? Did I help you?"
Her face was flushed, and she brushed away the hair on her forehead. A soft light flickered in her eyes as she asked Fujiwara Chiya.
"Mm. You helped a lot, Tazuna."
"That's wonderful."
She hugged her own leg, tilted her head slightly, and smiled brightly.
Fujiwara Chiya stared blankly for a moment.
"How should I thank you?"
"If you want to thank me... let me think. How about going on a date with me this weekend?"
"A date?"
"We've never really gone on a date, have we? Even though we've kissed, we've never gone out together. This weekend, go out with me, Chiya."
Come to think of it, he really had never gone out with Tazuna before.
Fujiwara Chiya nodded without thinking too much.
"All right. Consider it my thanks for today."
"Then I'll look forward to it."
Hayakawa Tazuna stood up.
"You two should go back and rest early too, Chiya, Shirayuki."
After saying goodbye to the two of them, Hayakawa Tazuna left the training ground in a very good mood.
Chiya remained behind and looked at Shirayuki.
After the ambiguous feeling faded, he began thinking about serious matters.
They had lost.
And they had lost completely.
Shirayuki had been utterly unable to resist Hayakawa Tazuna. He did not know what tier Tazuna's strength would rank among Uma Musume, but clearly, there was still a considerable gap between Shirayuki and truly powerful Uma Musume.
He had originally thought Shirayuki was already strong enough, but reality was this cruel.
The two of them walked across the racecourse. The places where Hayakawa Tazuna had run had left very deep hoofprints, so deep that they were almost abnormal.
No matter how one looked at it, this race proved one thing. Shirayuki needed to improve her strength as soon as possible. Otherwise, she would be defeated just as overwhelmingly as tonight. With that thought in mind, the two returned to the dormitory.
"Shirayuki, you came back so late."
"I did some independent training."
"I see... Did something happen during training?"
"Mm?"
"Your expression looks awful."
Mejiro Dober came to Shirayuki's side and touched Shirayuki's sweat-covered cheek. The girl's brows were furrowed, and her blue eyes were filled with complicated emotion.
Fujiwara Shirayuki hesitated, then finally spoke softly.
"I raced someone, and I lost."
Although she had experienced defeat before, none of those losses had felt as frustrating as this one. She was an Uma Musume, and compared with Chiya, she had an extra stubbornness in her heart. This defeat made her feel deeply uncomfortable, even though the person who defeated her was Tazuna.
"You lost? Who was the opponent?"
Mejiro Dober was a little surprised. Shirayuki was not weak. Among the new students, only a handful could defeat Shirayuki. And even if they could win, most would only win narrowly. Even McQueen had once lost to Shirayuki.
If an opponent could make Shirayuki show this kind of expression, then their strength must be very high.
Could she have challenged a senior Uma Musume?
The only possibility Mejiro Dober could think of was that Shirayuki had raced against an older Uma Musume who had entered her mature racing years. Those people had trained for twice as long as them, so losing would be understandable.
Fujiwara Shirayuki shook her head. Seeing that she was unwilling to say more, Mejiro Dober did not continue asking. Shirayuki took off her clothes, but she was too tired to wash up properly and directly crawled under the blanket.
A few minutes later, she heard rustling sounds beside her. Then the bedding sank slightly, and Mejiro Dober, dressed in her sleepwear, lay down beside her.
"Dober-oneechan?"
"Come closer, Shirayuki."
She reached out and gently pulled Shirayuki into her arms, then softly stroked her. Mejiro Dober understood how unwilling one felt after losing a race. Whether it was training or a mock race, defeat always made people feel miserable.
Originally, she had been thinking that tonight she could do something comfortable with Shirayuki, but seeing Shirayuki like this, Mejiro Dober no longer had the mood for it. In the past, whenever she encountered difficulties, Shirayuki had always comforted her. Now that Shirayuki was feeling lost, it was her turn to comfort Shirayuki.
Like holding a child, Mejiro Dober gently patted her back.
"Rest well. Hardworking children will receive their reward in the end."
Mejiro Dober hummed a song and comforted her softly.
After Shirayuki fell asleep, Mejiro Dober gently kissed her cheek. Although Shirayuki's body kept giving off a tempting fragrance, seeing her sleep so peacefully, Mejiro Dober could not bear to do anything unnecessary.
For now, she would endure it.
Tonight, she was not Shirayuki's partner.
She was this child's older sister.