Sorry to inform you, this chapter was supposedly released yesterday. But since I want to maintain the tension, I still followed the regular release and put this chapter today.
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Thanks to the Uma Musumes on the track entering the final straight, Shuta An's sprinting didn't draw much attention. Only a few sharp-eyed spectators noticed the spray of water kicked up behind him. He could only apologize inwardly and keep running.
Hunched beneath his raincoat, he pushed himself harder than he had in a long time, intent on returning to the spot he had shared with Berno Light. Raindrops struck his cheeks, forcing him to squint as he ran.
"Does this count as experiencing what Oguri's feeling right now?" he muttered, "It's like Oguri and I are both sprinting down the final straight of Chantilly."
Almost immediately after that thought surfaced, the attribute viewer gave another alert.
—
Hearing her Trainer's voice from the sidelines, Oguri Cap made up her mind. She stopped hesitating and committed fully to the route she had chosen beforehand. After using her speed to overpower the fading Poliglote, a clear path finally opened for her.
"Then let's see if the explosive power I've trained for so long can give me the edge!"
The slow pace in the first 1800 meters had left her with ample stamina. Now, in the final 600, she intended to spend every last drop of it.
Oguri Cap increased her stride frequency while forcing herself to maintain her long strides. High stride frequency with long strides was unquestionably the most draining technique on a heavy track—but if maintained, also the fastest.
Within a few steps, she overtook Toppe and seized the lead. Her supporters in Japan all breathed out at once. To them, the instant she escaped the box, victory became visible.
The Japanese Green Channel commentator was already half-prepared to celebrate: "Oguri Cap in front! Oguri Cap takes the lead! Can she hold it to the end?!"
"As long as she holds on, she'll win!" Maruzensky stammered, barely coherent.
Tokai Teio shot up from the sofa, fists clenched. "Oguri-senpai, you must win!"
In a Kasamatsu bar, Kitahara was calculating what drink he'd buy his coworkers in half a minute—blanched against how much Fujimasa-chan would scold him for overspending.
Miss Sachiko in Hokkaido already reached for her phone to contact a sign shop for a new billboard to replace the one she'd been using for nearly a year.
None of them noticed the bay Uma Musume behind Oguri quietly unsheathing the "dagger" she had hidden the whole race.
———
Hours After had planned to mark Oguri Cap tightly, but the early pace had shifted in an unexpected direction. She hadn't expected Oguri to handle the rain so well—taking the lead at the outset and securing a favorable position herself. So, Hours After had remained in the back group, waiting for Emmson to pressure Oguri along the race.
But upon entering the final straight, Oguri Cap—once again the first to move—had unintentionally given her space to strike.
"What a luck!"
Hours After immediately shifted to full acceleration. Skilled on heavy tracks, she cut down Oguri's four-length lead at alarming speed.
"Not good!" Berno Light exclaimed, staring at the big screen. "Oguri's been marked!"
Worse: Hours After's closing speed was sharper.
"At this rate she's going to be overtaken."
Without Shuta An beside her, Berno Light couldn't regulate her nerves. She stomped anxiously in place.
"If only Trainer were here".
———
Meanwhile, Shuta An was half-kneeling on the wet grass, stunned. The attribute viewer's prompt had interrupted his run. He opened it—and froze.
"Trigger condition met. Temporary experience of 'One Heart, One Body' permitted. Use now?"
He didn't know what it meant, but intuition told him it was crucial. He confirmed.
And immediately, his strength vanished.
"What—?" Shuta An staggered, dropping to one knee. "Why did my strength disappear—?"
After the initial panic, he realized.
"One Heart, One Body— don't tell me it means Oguri and me?"
"This weakness—this is Oguri's pain right now?"
He bit his lip hard. "Is 2400 meters at Chantilly heavy track— simply too much for her?"
For the first time, he doubted the training plan he had crafted for Oguri Cap.
———
But on the track, just as Oguri Cap reached her limit, a warm, familiar power surged through her limbs. She didn't know where it came from, but she understood only one thing—this was no time for doubt.
"Maybe it's my last boost," she thought. "Then I have to use it well—and give this Derby to Ann."
Hours After, rapidly closing in, suddenly found the remaining gap no longer shrinking.
"What?"
Oguri Cap assumed it was only a brief second wind and began spending it mercilessly. Power gained from nowhere would also disappear without warning—so she would use it all.
Hours After calmed down quickly. "It's fine. A short burst after exhaustion. It won't last more than a few seconds."
She'd seen others experience this. But those people were all now in the Paris Tracen Student Council office, skipping meetings and playing games. She refused to believe Oguri Cap could be compared to them.
Oguri Cap herself was already beyond thinking clearly. Only two ideas remained:
Move legs. Run forward.
Cross the finish line.
———
A few seconds later, Shuta An suddenly recovered. He blinked at his restored strength, reopened the viewer—and saw:
"Experience duration: expired."
"So what determines the duration?"
As he complained under his breath, the viewer answered:
"Duration = length of last intimate contact between Trainer and Uma Musume."
Shuta An fell silent. He recalled yesterday's affectionate mood. And the kisses.
"I should've known to peck her much more—"
He sighed and looked up at the big screen. The camera focused on the three contenders: Oguri Cap, Hours After, and the far-outside Ghost Buster.
Hours After was only half a length ahead of Emmson. And Ghost Buster—skirting the fast-outer lane—began her signature surge.
"Everyone's watching the front" She smirked. "Perfect. My time to shine."
———
Oguri Cap couldn't afford even a glance backward. The effort of taking a single step was enormous. Her legs felt encased in cement.
"I've never felt running could be this painful—"
Exhaustion—then a sudden revival—then exhaustion again. The cycle shredded her spirits. A part of her still clung to the fleeting hope born from that mysterious surge.
Symboli Rudolf watched from afar, unable to stay seated.
"On a heavy track like this what matters now is protecting her body, not winning."
Memories of her own overseas injuries tightened her expression.
"I can't let my juniors repeat my mistakes"
—
Only 100 meters remained. To Oguri Cap, it felt endless.
"Is this really all I have!!?"
Even if she lost, her French expedition was already a success. No one would call her French 2000 Guineas win a fluke. But she felt unbearably unwilling.
"From that day on, my goal was the French Derby!"
"I even overcame Longchamp!"
"Miesque taught me how-to run-in France!"
"I promised to give him this title!"
Her hand reached out toward the invisible finish line. Then a memory resurfaced:
"Oguri Cap, you are my hope. I will always believe you are the strongest Uma Musume. Together, we can win anything. Believe in yourself—just as I believe in you. I swear it on my heart."
The words she cherished most.
"Believe in yourself— believe in yourself—" Oguri Cap heard a sound like glass about to shatter.
She repeated it like a mantra. Hours After drew level on her. Ghost Buster surged from the outside.
"They're coming!" the Japanese Green Channel commentator cried.
———
Thousands of kilometers away, Symboli Rudolf watched the television broadcast, her almond eyes wide, covering her mouth, and muttering, "Could it be that Oguri Cap she—"
Maruzensky's ears twitched, and she narrowed her eyes, "It's very similar to Chiyono O in the final stages of the Japanese Derby."
Only Air Groove and Tokai Teio showed confused expressions: "What's going on? How is it similar to Chiyono O?"
Symboli Rudolf had no time to explain, and Maruzensky's eyes darted around, then she also remained silent.
Teio could only keep her questions to herself: "I'll ask the Trainer later."
And Oguri Cap now found herself in a state she had never experienced before. The whole world seemed to be left with only herself — and her lover watching her from the side of the track.
The Gray Uma Musume was absolutely certain that if she turned her head, she could immediately spot Shuta An's position from the VIP area. But Oguri Cap couldn't turn her head, because the race was still ongoing, leaving no room for distraction.
———
Shuta An clenched his fists. He felt utterly helpless.
"No wonder Father hated watching races live— watching your Uma Musume give everything while you do nothing— it's torture."
But even after realizing what was about to happen, he didn't look away.
"Oguri is still fighting. I won't give up on her. Come on, Oguri! I believe in you!"
His voice tore through the rain—
—and reached her.
Oguri Cap felt the castle-maze of exhaustion shatter like brittle glass. "The Trainer believes in me. So I'll believe in myself."
Ghost Buster, who was performing her signature wide-out surge, was getting faster and faster, and just as she was hitting her stride, she was momentarily distracted by Oguri Cap.
"What happened to that guy? How did that gloomy aura suddenly disappear?" Ghost Buster couldn't understand.
And the one who felt the changes in Oguri Cap most clearly was Hours After, who was right on Oguri Cap's left side.
Hours After frowned: "This guy is too strange. I could understand the temporary burst of energy just now, but what's this situation now?"
Based on experience, Hours After judged that she should be a few centimetres ahead of Oguri Cap. She didn't dare turn her head; if that action caused her to fall behind from a leading position, she couldn't even imagine how her Trainer would react.
But immediately, at the edge of Hours After's vision, Oguri Cap's figure became clearer and clearer. What this meant was self-evident.
"How is that possible?!" Hours After's eyes widened, and she tried to lean forward, shifting her center of gravity forward, and her body position also appeared more advanced, "I had Oguri Cap marked! How can I be overtaken at the very end here?!"
Oguri Cap was unaware of the psychological battle her strongest opponent beside her was undergoing.
"I only hear the Trainer's heartbeat — it's very intense. Sure enough, he's more nervous than I am." Oguri Cap even had the room to smile now.
Her world narrowed to just the finish line—and him. She smiled through the pain.
"What I promised you— I'LL FULFILL."
Unconsciously, she fused Miesque's pitch gait with her own stride gait, her footfalls irregular but overwhelmingly powerful. Step by step, she erased Hours After's narrow lead. Berno Light held her breath.
"It's not enough— it's not enough—"
On the inner lane, Oguri Cap and Hours After were neck and neck, refusing to give an inch. The cameraman zoomed out, enough to see that only these three Uma Musumes were currently worthy of the goddess of victory's favor on this wide final straight. From the trackside perspective, the three figures seemed to be running abreast.
"GHOST BUSTER BURST FORWARD OUTSIDE. HOURS AFTER FOUGHT DESPERATELY INSIDE. OGURI CAP SURGED BETWEEN THEM. FROM AFAR, THE THREE FIGURES RAN AS ONE."
The Green Channel commentator stood up, her voice barely concealing her excitement:
"TO THE FINISH, TO THE FINISH, TO THE FINISH! A FIERCE BATTLE! WILL OGURI CAP ACHIEVE THE FIRST FRENCH TWO CROWNS IN 26 YEARS, WILL GHOST BUSTER SNATCH THE CROWN AT THE LAST MOMENT WITH HER WIDE-OUT SURGE, OR WILL HOURS AFTER LAUGH LAST IN THE FINAL METERS, BURNING HER SPIRIT?!"
—
In the crowd, Shuta An couldn't tell who won.
"We need the slow-motion replay."
He headed toward Berno Light—only for her to grab his arm.
"It's starting!"
The entire racecourse fell silent as the first slow-motion frame appeared. Rain blurred the image— but Oguri Cap's nose was ahead.
"Did I see that right?" Shuta An murmured.
"Oguri won… right?" Berno Light repeated, though she wasn't certain either.
Ten minutes later, the results confirmed it:
7 – 8 – 10 (Oguri Cap – Hours After – Ghost Buster)
A two-centimeter victory. (Nose length)
Twenty-six years since the last French Two Crowns winner. Oguri Cap had broken every prejudice placed upon her.
"A TWO-CENTIMETER LIFE-AND-DEATH STRUGGLE! THE FIRST FRENCH TWO CROWNS IN 26 YEARS IS BORN IN THE RAIN AT CHANTILLY! SHATTERING DOUBTS ABOUT DISTANCE ADAPTABILITY, SHATTERING SUPERSTITIONS ABOUT HISTORY, THE GRAY UMA MUSUME FROM THE JAPAN HAS BROKEN TOO MANY PREJUDICES IN THESE PAST TWO MONTHS! LET US CONGRATULATE OGURI CAP! THIS IS THIS YEAR'S FRENCH DERBY UMA MUSUME!"
———
On the track, Oguri Cap turned, searching. When she found Shuta An and Berno Light, she raised her sore arms and waved.
"I kept my promise."
Her voice didn't reach him— but he understood. He blew her a kiss. Then dizziness washed over him. His knees buckled. And he fell into Berno Light's arms.
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