With the crowd's cheers swirling around her, Kagura waved back at the enthusiastic spectators, then turned and looked at the opponents behind her.
"I take back what I said before the race, little sis. You're strong… honestly, you're strong to an unreasonable extent."
There was some frustration and chagrin on their faces, but more than that was resignation and acceptance.
"Competing on the same track as you senpai taught me a lot as well. Thank you for facing me at full strength."
"Haha, you little monster, don't be modest… Sigh. After getting left that far behind, it'll probably take us a while before we can show our faces on the track again… You're Inari Kagura, right? Since you left us in the dust like that, you'd better not go losing easily in the future! That way I can still brag a little when I'm out there!"
Even though they'd lost, the other Umamusume didn't look like they were taking it too hard. Smiling, they came up and held out their hands, wanting to shake Kagura's.
Kagura froze for a second, then smiled a little shyly and reached out her small hand to clasp theirs.
"You senpai are surprisingly chill… I was worried you'd be angry…"
"Hey, what's there to be mad about? A loss is a loss. For a kid to run all the way from the Support Division onto the track and beat us, you must've put in way more work than we did. If we didn't work as hard as you, what right do we have to feel bitter about losing? This is a victory you earned. From here on out, keep winning with that same momentum!"
"Th-thank you… thank you, senpai!"
After shaking hands—and sharing a quick hug—Kagura looked at their faces. There was helplessness there, sure, but even more encouragement. She felt something heavy settle in her chest. Maybe this was the weight of expectation, and the passing down of something from one runner to the next.
She chatted with her opponents for a bit, then finally left the track and headed into the exit tunnel.
"Congrats~! Kagura! What a beautiful win!" "Congrats, Kagura-chan! That was gorgeous!"
She'd barely stepped inside, still adjusting to the dimmer light, when she was scooped up and buried in a familiar softness. Even though she heard two voices, Kagura immediately knew who was holding her.
"BIzen Nishiki, and Maruzensky-senpai… let go already!! Maruzensky-senpai, you always do this—I can't breathe!"
She wriggled, struggling out of Maruzensky's chest, twisting to try and get back on the ground, but Maruzensky was holding her too tightly for her to get down.
"Maruzensky-senpai… um, Kagura looks like she's kind of uncomfortable. Could you put her down, please?"
Seeing Kagura squirming nonstop, Bizen Nishiki couldn't help speaking up. That was what finally made Maruzensky set Kagura down.
To be honest, Bizen Nishiki had meant to rush in and hug Kagura too, but Maruzensky moved so fast that Bizen Nishiki hadn't even had time to do anything before she got beaten to it.
"Congratulations, Kagura. That was a very beautiful win. Your speed just now even broke the meet record. This should be the biggest gap in a debut race since Tracen was founded."
After Kagura was put down, Symboli Speed—who'd been waiting behind them—walked up and patted Kagura on the shoulder.
"Huh? I broke a record?"
Kagura blinked in surprise. She'd felt great today, sure, but she hadn't expected to break a record.
"Yes. It's a record that even a G1-level runner might not be able to reach easily… You really are a little monster."
As she spoke, Symboli Speed lifted a hand and patted Kagura's head. This crushing win completely recalibrated Symboli Speed's sense of Kagura's strength. She'd thought Kagura was just "a bit strong," but now it was clear that "a bit" didn't even begin to cover it.
"Hehe…"
"By the way, Kagura, you need to get ready for the Winner's Concert now, right? Do you need someone to help with makeup or anything?"
After ruffling Kagura's hair a few times, Symboli Speed didn't forget the next step in the race-day routine. She was worried Kagura might not remember, so she reminded her.
Kagura, who'd been smiling shyly, froze. After a few seconds of mental buffering, her eyes flew wide.
"Huh?!"
...
In the backstage prep room, Kagura was pacing back and forth in a panic.
——Pfft. I really didn't expect this kind of thing to happen. Didn't you remind yourself twice to prepare for the Winner's Concert? You even practiced a little, didn't you?
"B-but I'm totally unprepared right now!!"
——Don't panic. Your fundamentals are good. If we hurry and practice a song, we can still make it!
"Is it really going to be okay with less than fifteen minutes?!"
Kagura wasn't worried about the outfit—once she explained the situation, Symboli Speed had already sent someone back to the training camp hotel to fetch her clothes. What Kagura was panicking about was what song she was supposed to dance to.
A bunch of random options drifted through her head—things like "Gokuraku Jodo" and other stuff popping up. It wasn't that she couldn't dance them, but doing something like that in front of such a massive crowd… She felt like "Gokuraku Jodo" or "Sensenfukoku" and the like were just way too unhinged. At least, she couldn't accept doing that right now.
Think, think… calm down, calm down… I can't go up there and embarrass the Family Head and the school…
Forcing her nervousness down, Kagura tried to remember if she'd practiced anything back when she still had this in mind. After turning it over and over in her head, she remembered she'd danced a kagura dance a few times as part of a ritual—but doing that on the Winner's Concert stage felt kind of… abstract.
——Huh! I think it works! You do that kagura dance so well—going up there and doing it isn't impossible. It'd be distinctive!
D-distinctive?! It doesn't even have lyrics! I'm afraid the Director will call me into her office for tea tomorrow!!
——So what? If the audience thinks it's good, then it's good! You're that good— you'll charm a whole bunch of them for sure!
Kagura slumped over the table, clutching her head as she thought and thought. She felt like her CPU was about to overload. No matter how she turned it, she couldn't come up with a good solution… and Eclipse's idea didn't actually sound bad.
"Kagura! Your outfit's here!"
Right then, Bizen Nishiki charged in from outside with a small box in her arms. Kagura barely had time to respond—she took the box from Bizen Nishiki, thanked her, and ran back to keep thinking.
Maybe… this time I'll just go up and do a kagura dance. Next time, I'm definitely preparing in advance!
Staring at the miko outfit laid on top of the box, Kagura came to a decision.