Chapter 41: Beyond the Tenno Sho

I let out a breath and came to a stop just past the finish pole, then looked up at the ridiculously huge results board. Amid all the cluttered, hard-to-read information, a single shining R caught my eye. That had to be the “record” mark.

When I stumbled at the start, I really thought I’d messed up, but I’m glad it still ended in a record. Trainer did say something like, “If you’re late out of the gate, move up a bit on the backstretch and decide it with your closing kick.” Well, a win is a win.

Even so… I really do feel like my stamina gets restored inside that zone. I slow down all at once afterward, but still. Does that zone only activate in G1 races? If I could trigger it during class too, that would be great…

Then it suddenly hit me. Right—after the race, I was supposed to hold up my fingers and count down the remaining races. I heard some legendary Uma Musume from the old days used to do something similar.

But here I ran into a huge problem. Do I go with the style where I start at three fingers, then decrease to two, then one? Or the style where I start at one and go up to two, then three?

Counting down looks cleaner, but holding up one finger in the final race feels wrong. Rockets and New Year’s countdowns all end at 3, 2, 1, 0. Ending on 1 makes it feel like I’m supposed to run another race afterward—terrible luck.

Counting upward avoids that awkwardness, but then I might have to deal with “four and up,” which doesn’t feel right either. I should’ve asked Fukukitaru-sama earlier—she’s good with these things.

After hesitating for a while, I decided to just hold up one finger for now.

The crowd instantly exploded in cheers. Looks like I chose the right answer. Everyone’s shouting my name. Some people are even crying. Honestly, it feels like I could just retire here and now—though I guess that’s not allowed.

Well… I’ll run two more times for them.

I was woken up from my pre-race nap, so I’m feeling a little sleepy again. I wanted to nap inside that zone earlier, but I got kicked out too quickly.

Now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure some Uma Musume always lie down on the turf and nap for a bit after races. A short rest should be fine. Besides, after this comes interviews, then everything else, and I definitely won’t get to sleep until after the live anyway.

Still facing the stands, I let myself fall backward onto the grass.

Less than a minute later, Stay-senpai smacked me awake. Cruel.

While we were getting ready for the live, word came in that Suzuka-san wouldn’t perform because she felt something off in her leg and needed a detailed exam. Right after the race, she had tackled me when Stay-senpai woke me up, and during the race I’d felt something strange in her hoofbeats, but I figured it was my imagination.

Either way, she didn’t seem to be in great condition afterward, so I really hope she rests well. I think it’s the first time I’ve ever seen Suzuka-san looking even a little pale.

The Winning Live song wasn’t winning the soul or Honnō Speed. It was a song called NEXT FRONTIER. It’s pretty cool, and it feels perfect for me right now—just sprinting full force toward the place I’m aiming for. If I remember right, they also use this song for the Arima Kinen, so I’ll probably sing it at my retirement too.

I was a little sleepy, so I think I danced at just the right pace.

For some reason, the Japan Cup uses a different song called Special Record! Apparently I have to learn new songs all the time. And it’s strange that even when you don’t set a record, you still sing “Special Record!” But whatever.

Once the Tenno Sho ended, my evil Trainer basically dumped me into the pool every single day. Apparently he’s worried about my stamina if I ever “run out of control,” and even said it was a miracle I managed the Tenno Sho at that pace. He said it so casually, but… does that mean my running style counts as “runaway pace”? I mean, I can’t really deny it…

Well, at least it wasn’t the simple high-speed dog-paddle hell from before, so I survived.

Among the ever-changing daily menus, the most fun one was swimming while dodging balls thrown from poolside so they wouldn’t hit the target attached to my head. For some reason, McQueen-san was chosen as the pitcher. At first the throws were slow enough to dodge easily, but she gradually warmed up, and her pitch speed kept rising. By the end, she was throwing these stunningly clean, beautiful fastballs that were nearly impossible to avoid.

To think she’s skilled in baseball too—do all daughters of the Mejiro family learn that kind of thing? According to McQueen-san, Ryan-san is even better.

Maybe Bright-san is good at baseball too. Honestly, what is the Mejiro family…?

Now that I think about it, it feels like there’s been a surge in “Wii-chan merch” lately. The Trainer’s room is getting clogged with all the things people send in. Some of the cardboard boxes have even spilled out into the hallway. Even though we actually use most of the practical merch, it’s still overflowing.

The plushies and tapestries alone come in absurd varieties, and now there are water bottles, handkerchiefs, sneakers, watches—even horseshoes. Who buys a horseshoe that just has my name engraved on it, identical to the one I always use? Somehow it’s selling well, which is strange.

Oh, right—the calendar came out too. It recently arrived in the Trainer’s room, but since there was no space, I handed it off to the brat trio I saw when I went home the other day. They were thrilled.

My favorite item is the towel with race names printed on it. I’d always thought, “Huh, this design looks like a towel,” and then it actually became a towel. I use it a lot. The race name is on one side, and my own name is printed on the other, so it kinda feels like a name tag.

I especially like the red-toned ones—Satsuki Sho, Derby, that sort of thing—but they’re getting a little worn lately, so I’ve been using other colors too. Japan Cup towels are apparently red as well, so I’ll just wait for that to arrive.

The week after the Tenno Sho (Autumn), Grass-chan has a long-named race on Saturday—the Copa Republica Argentina. And on Sunday, King-chan, Spe-chan, and Sei-chan will run the Kikka Sho.

Everyone seems fired up, but Grass-chan especially has been training with a completely different level of intensity compared to after the Mainichi Okan.

The actual race will be tough, but I hope they all do well.