Recalling that time, a slight smile also curved Zero's lips.
Moonlight streamed through the window into the room, casting a hazy veil over the girl. Special Week's eyes were slightly dazed.
Zero often smiled, but mostly it was a slightly mischievous smile, making one feel as if she could play a trick at any moment; during training, her face wore a confident smile, and just looking at her inexplicably instilled a sense of trust; and when everyone ate together, her face held a hint of maternal warmth, like a senior looking after her juniors.
It was truly rare to see her smile so simply, without any pretense, like she was now.
Indeed, she absolutely couldn't let Rei-chan go to anyone! Special Week had already resolved to hold Zero tightly and not let anyone have her.
"Back then, I was actually quite shy. Because I had always lived alone before, I didn't know how to get along with people, and I didn't dare to get close to others casually, afraid of hurting them, and also afraid of being hurt by them."
"Eh... I really want to see shy Rei-chan!" Special Week's eyes lit up.
After the index finger of the hand stroking her head gently tapped her forehead a few times, Zero continued.
"I told you, my personality back then was actually quite terrible."
"At that time, besides Trainer, almost no one talked to me, or rather, I was unilaterally avoiding them."
"Gold Ship, Daiwa, Vodka, they all tried to communicate with me more than once, but each time I would stare at them like a thief, not letting them get within five meters of me."
That was truly a dark past. Perhaps it was due to a natural lack of security and having lived alone for so long. After arriving in this big city, everyone seemed suspicious, and only Trainer Okino, perhaps due to an instinctive sense of trust, was able to converse with her a few times.
All of this continued until her first debut race.
"Because at that time I basically allocated all my time to training, my physical fitness was much stronger than the Uma Musume who debuted at the same time. Secondly, because I had purposefully trained since childhood, my skill in techniques was also the strongest." Without any embarrassment, Zero unhesitatingly stated that she was 'the strongest.'
"However, doing so actually led to a mistake."
"A mistake?"
"Yes, at that time, the only person who could talk to me was Trainer. He trusted me a lot and showed me his support. So I thought, I would repay his trust in the debut race with a beautiful Great Escape, to show everyone that his judgment was not wrong."
"And you remember what I told you, right, about the importance of the gate start."
"Mm." Special Week nodded. She still remembered seeing Rei-chan's skirt several times that day.
"To perform even better, I started training my gate start technique a month before the race, until it was completely ingrained in my instincts. Before the gate opened, I felt like I could hear the sound of the mechanical operation inside the gate, and at the moment the gate opened with the mechanical feedback, I would run out at the precise time."
"..." So amazing, but is this really something an Uma Musume can do?
"During the race, I was pretty much the same. At first, I only felt the surroundings were noisy: the cheering spectators, the voice of the same commentator I somehow always heard, and even the conversations and breathing sounds of other Uma Musume."
"But it was amazing. When I focused entirely on the race, I became concentrated again. All I heard in my ears was the sound of the gate about to open."
"Instinctively, the moment the gate opened, I burst out, but..."
"But?"
"My gate malfunctioned. It didn't open properly, and I ran straight into it."
"Eh..." Special Week covered her mouth.
She herself understood how fast an Uma Musume runs, and she also understood the power of that sprint at the start of a race, after all, she herself was an Uma Musume.
Crashing head-on into a jammed gate that failed to open at such speed... "At that time, I only felt everything go black, and my entire body was out of control. When I came to, I was already in a hospital bed." Zero was startled when she looked down at Special Week.
"Ugh..." Special Week was covering her mouth, tears streaming down her face in big drops.
"Hey... why are you crying?" She was quite flustered. Was there something very sad in what she just said?
"Because... Rei-chan worked so hard... just to run well once... (sniff)... but... because of such an accident, she had to be hospitalized... Waaah waaah waaah..."
"Alright, alright, look, aren't I still running normally now? Why are you crying...?" Both annoyed and amused, she pulled out a tissue to wipe the child's tears, while also feeling something unexplainable in her heart.
After comforting her for a while, Special Week also calmed down.
"Feeling better?"
"Mm..." Special Week's face was flushed, and she was a little afraid to meet her gaze.
"Honestly, this is the first time I've seen someone cry just from hearing that www. Maybe you should change your name to 'Special Cryer' instead."
"Because... it was truly, truly awful..." Special Week puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction.
Zero poked her.
Poof.
"Pfft."
"Mo! Don't poke me!" Special Week turned her head, trying to bite, but Zero, quick as a flash, pulled her hand back.
"But Rei-chan, what about your second debut race?"
"That time, huh... well..." A slightly unpleasant expression, which piqued Special Week's interest.
"Did something happen?"
"How should I put it, I met Rudolph, that guy, and we had a bit of a conflict."
"Eh!? With the President!?"
"Yes, and at that moment before the second debut race, my mind was entirely focused on proving myself, on making her realize she was wrong, and terribly so."
"What did you say, exactly?"
"Nothing, she had the most suitable reason, but because she thought it might seem a bit abrupt, she changed the reason and was just talking to herself."
Seeing the displeased expression on Zero's face, Special Week still didn't quite understand what she was saying, but she could tell that the conflict at the time was indeed very unpleasant.
Look, she still seems to hold a grudge even now!
"But it was still that feeling, when entering the gate and waiting for the race to start, it was like that again."
"Like that?"
"Ah, focus."
"Focus?"
"Don't bring your negative emotions into the race, a voice deep inside me kept telling me that, and I instinctively accepted it and acted upon it."
"The result of that race... honestly, even I thought I went too far. It took a good while afterwards to calm down those Uma Musume who were traumatized by me."
"Eh? But Rei-chan wasn't..." Socially anxious? She didn't say the rest of the sentence, but Zero understood her meaning.
"Well, some other things happened in the days leading up to the second debut race. We can talk about those another time; today, let's just stick to debut race-related matters."
"Oh..." Rei-chan casually changed the subject, and her expression seemed a bit unnatural?
"Anyway, after that race, Rudolph and I cleared up our misunderstanding. She apologized, and I forgave her. After that, it's been a continuous string of victories up to now."
"Mmm..."
"So, Little Special, I'm telling you all this because I hope you understand one thing."
"What?"
Looking into the other party's beautiful eyes, Zero thought for a moment and then spoke.
"Do you like to run?"
"Of course I do!" She answered instantly.
"Then, do you know what it means to run on the racetrack?"
"It means... I must win?"
"Pfft www, why would you think of that www."
"Eh? It's not?" Seeing Zero almost lose her composure again, Special Week was a little confused.
"Alright, it means that only one person has the right to pursue their dream."
"Eh?"
"Perhaps occasionally there might be multiple champions due to a difference that even video judgment cannot decide, but this is ultimately a minority. In most cases, among the many Uma Musume gathered on a racetrack for their dreams, only one can achieve their dream, and the cost is the destruction of others' dreams."
To achieve one's own dream... destroy others' dreams? Special Week was a little bewildered; she had never thought of these things.
"When it comes to winning and losing, everything becomes less pure, even dreams." Zero's gaze remained gentle, but in Special Week's eyes, it seemed a bit stinging.
"Little Special... no, Special Week, are you ready to keep running even if it means trampling on the dreams of others?"
"I..." She opened her mouth, not knowing what to say.
Rei-chan and Suzuka-san... are they also running like this?