"She finished ninth in her debut, but that was due to an unfortunate accident," the color commentator added. "Her raw talent is undeniable. She's my top pick for today."
It was heartening to hear, but it was a rare sight indeed—a girl who finished dead last in her debut being favored so highly in her next outing. It spoke volumes about the explosive speed she had shown in those final moments at Tokyo.
"Bracket 8, Gate 9: Castanet Rhythm is in. The field is set."
The final girl entered her stall, and a heavy silence fell over the track. For a few seconds, the world stood still. Not a single spectator dared to breathe, no one wanting to disturb the intense focus of the girls waiting for the signal.
Then, with a sharp clack, the gates flew open.
"And they're off! A clean start for almost everyone… Oh! One runner is left behind! Number 9, Castanet Rhythm, has missed the break!"
Just like in her debut, Urara had a beautiful start.
(One down already…) I thought.
In a 1,150-meter sprint, a bad start is a death sentence. Castanet Rhythm had only lost a second or two, but at Fukushima, the records for this distance are incredibly tight. At top speed, a girl covers over six horse-lengths per second. That gap was already insurmountable.
"Shabalanke takes the lead at the front! Followed a length behind by Heart Caesar. Two lengths back, we have a cluster: Cosmos Craver, Mini Daisy, and Spain Gelato. Two lengths behind them, Haru Urara, Waku Waku Ribbon, and Compromise are holding steady. And trailing seven lengths behind the pack is our late starter, Castanet Rhythm, bringing up the rear."
Even at the Junior level, the pace of these races is blistering. The whole thing would be over in little more than a minute, making the timing of the final move everything. And yet…
"…So that's how it's going to be," I muttered.
As I watched the race unfold, something felt wrong. Not "wrong" as in an injury, but the way the other girls were running. Two of the other "closers" who shared Urara's strategy were moving strangely—they were pacing themselves specifically to match U-ra-ra.
Even the girls ahead of her were glancing back over their shoulders. They were terrified of the late-stage kick she had shown in her debut. They were marking her.
The front-runners were bracing for her sprint, while the closers were waiting to latch onto her slipstream the moment she made her move. They were sandwiching her, drifting into her lane just enough to break her rhythm without triggering a foul. It wasn't blatant interference, but it was targeted.
(This is bad…)
I gritted my teeth. Other trainers had clearly watched the tapes. They had seen what I saw: that without the accident, Urara would have won her debut. She had only run one race, but as the Chairwoman says, once you're on TV, your style is public record.
It's only natural to mark a dangerous opponent. A part of me was proud that my trainee was being taken so seriously, but this wasn't the time for pride.
I only have one trainee. I didn't have the resources to practice running in a pack. Even when we trained with Happy Meek, the talent gap was so wide that Urara was always just chasing her from behind. She lacked the experience of fighting for position in a crowded field.
"We aren't the only ones who saw potential in Haru Urara. Keep that in mind as you move forward!"
The Chairwoman's words from my performance review flashed through my mind. It had been a warning—an umbrella for the storm I hadn't seen coming. Had she been trying to save my face, or did she trust me to figure it out on my own?
"She ran so well last time, she'll definitely win this one." That was my mistake. That was the gap between me and the veteran trainers who saw her as a threat to be neutralized.
Whether it was a lack of experience or a lack of raw talent on my part, I didn't know.
—This is my failure.
It wasn't just the lack of training partners. As her trainer, I should have anticipated this. I should have warned her. Somewhere in my heart, I had become arrogant, convinced that Urara's spirit alone would carry her to victory. I called it "trust," but in reality, it was negligence.
"They're hitting the turn! Shabalanke and Heart Caesar are neck-and-neck for the lead! But the gap is closing! Mini Daisy, Cosmos Craver, and Spain Gelato are right on their heels! Two lengths back, Haru Urara, Waku Waku Ribbon, and Compromise are practically side-by-side! Castanet Rhythm is closing the gap, but can she reach the front?!"