Early morning, before the sun had even risen.
At the washing area of the Ritto Training Center Dormitories, Special Week was washing her face, dressed in a thin set of pink pajamas.
Staring at her own weary reflection in the mirror, she tried to pull herself together.
"I have to work hard and do my best!"
As she spoke, her gaze shifted to the very back of the room, landing on a weighing scale placed on the floor.
Taking light, delicate steps with her bare feet, she gingerly stepped onto it.
Though the exact weight wasn't shown, judging by her stunned, disbelieving expression, it certainly wasn't light.
Blinking her eyes and refusing to accept reality, Special Week decided to try standing only on her tiptoes this time, hoping it might somehow reduce the weight.
Unfortunately, such efforts were nothing more than self-deception.
Cold sweat dripped from her forehead as Special Week finally snapped, shouting in exasperation.
"That's impossible!!!"
Standing outside the door, Silence Suzuka poked her head in, looking worriedly at the trembling Special Week.
"Spe-chan..."
Having seemingly reached a firm resolution, Special Week changed into a black training outfit, venturing out into the darkness of the early morning.
In her mind, she replayed the words spoken by Ryo Nishizaki.
'Defeat Seiun Sky in the Japan Derby. Take the lesson to heart and become stronger...'
"Derby, turf, two thousand four hundred meters..."
She muttered the words under her breath as she sprinted forward.
However, before long, she spotted a familiar figure ahead of her.
Her eyes lit up, and she quickly picked up her pace to catch up.
Clatter, clatter, clatter—
"Starlight-senpai! Are you out for morning practice too?"
Hearing this, Divine Starlight turned her head slightly to look over.
"Oh my~ it's Spe-chan. You're quite energetic! Are you preparing for the Derby?"
"Yes! And you, Senpai? Do you have a race coming up soon too?"
Hearing this, Starlight smiled and waved her hand dismissively.
"No, I don't have any races scheduled recently, so I'm actually quite free~"
"Eh? Then why are you up this early to train?" Special Week asked, pausing in confusion.
"Haha... Spe-chan, you really are cute~ This is just my normal routine. I've always started my training at this time."
As soon as those words left her mouth, Special Week's frustrated expression froze.
'Always... always at this time...'
"That's amazing... to have stuck with it for so long..."
"Well... it's nothing special. Once you get used to it, it feels fine. But as for you, Spe-chan... you're doing great! Keep it up, I'm rooting for you."
"Ehehe... yes! I'll work hard, Starlight-senpai!"
Nodding, Starlight adjusted the weights on her wrists to level three and took a deep breath.
"Alright, warm-up is over. I'm going to start for real now. See you later, Spe-chan~"
"Yeah, see you later, Senpai. Wait... warm... WARM-UP?!!!"
Before Special Week could finish her exclamation...
Whoosh!
A gust of wind whipped past her cheek.
With her hair fluttering in the wake, Special Week looked ahead. Starlight had already become a small silhouette in the distance.
The heavy, powerful sound of footfalls, like the tolling of a great bell, echoed in her ears.
"So... so incredible. Senpai's speed... so my full effort is only Senpai's warm-up...?"
Slowly coming to a halt, Special Week looked at the footprints Starlight had left on the ground.
"Right! Then I can't fall behind either. I have to work even harder! If Senpai can do it, so can I!!"
Her gaze sharpened, a purple flame flickering in her eyes.
Looking toward the figure ahead, she swung her legs and sprinted with all her might to give chase.
As class time approached, Starlight returned to the club room.
"Starlight-chan, is morning practice finished?"
"Yes, everything is complete."
After nodding and answering Kiryuu Inami, Starlight picked up a towel to wipe her sweat and began rehydrating.
"Next, let's focus on preparing for the Japanese Oaks... Starlight-chan, I'll work hard to finalize a specialized training plan as soon as possible."
Nodding, Starlight stood up and walked over to Kiryuu Inami.
Seeing the deep dark circles under the other girl's eyes, she reached out and gently rubbed her cheeks.
"Thanks for your hard work, Trainer. There's no need to rush... you should get some rest too. Right now, I am very strong."
With a slight blush on her face, Kiryuu Inami let a smile tug at the corners of her mouth.
She nodded and reached out to hold Starlight's hand.
"You're right. I really do need to rest properly. After all, I have full faith in my own Uma Musume."
At noon, a rare gathering sat together for lunch.
Grass Wonder looked at the Special Week sitting across from her and said with a smile, "Spe-chan is working really hard training for the Japan Derby."
Beside her, Seiun Sky, who was unhurriedly eating a bowl of rice, teased, "On the flip side, she's stopped paying attention in class. Though, to be fair, I've never listened to a lecture in my life either."
Across the table, El Condor Pasa thought back and laughed.
"The other day I saw you so deep in thought that you walked straight into a telephone pole— and you actually started apologizing to it!"
"Ah! Y-you saw that?!"
Her face turning bright red, Spe-chan couldn't help but hang her head in shame.
"What a little klutz."
"It's so embarrassing! Stop talking about it..."
Watching the two bicker, Grass Wonder shifted her gaze to Special Week's tray, wondering why she was eating so little today.
Just then, Haru Urara pushed open the cafeteria doors and walked in, carrying a large bag of luggage.
"I'm back!!"
Everyone looked over to see her dressed in her pink and white racing clothes.
After distributing the souvenirs she had bought in Kochi to everyone, she ordered a bowl of ramen and joined the group.
She chatted happily while eating her noodles, clearly in high spirits.
Seeing this, Special Week asked expectantly, "Urara-chan's debut race... could it be—?"
"Yep! I finally managed to take fifth place! The fans said it was so great to see Urara working so hard, and they even cheered for me!"
"I really want to race again!"
Only Urara could make a loss sound so uplifting.
Looking at her ever-cheerful expression, the others were momentarily stunned.
Tears even welled up in Special Week's eyes. "Urara-chan..."
"I also have a race coming up soon too, so I'm working hard on extra training."
Hearing Grass Wonder say this, Seiun Sky squinted lazily and replied dismissively, "Ehh, I'm already feeling sleepy..."
"Even if you say that, Seiun Sky-san was incredibly strong in the Satsuki Sho."
"Well, I did bet half my life on that one. It was truly exhausting..."
"I won't lose next time!"
Looking at Spe-chan's determined face, Seiun Sky half-lidded her eyes, a mischievous, "trashy" smirk appearing on her lips.
"We'll see about that."
"Oh right! Grass-chan, which race are you preparing for?"
"Um... the NHK Mile Cup."
Suddenly, the broadcast monitor began to play.
The girls looked up to see El Condor Pasa appearing on the screen.
With a record of four wins in four starts, she was also set to show off her footwork at the NHK Mile Cup.
"Eh! Are you... are the two of you going to run in the same race?"
"That's right! Grass-chan, are you ready to accept a defeat granted by the great El Condor Pasa?"
Hearing the provocation, Grass Wonder simply replied gently, "Well, we'll have to see the final results of the race. But I won't give up."
Suddenly, Seiun Sky stood up slowly.
"Alright, I'm done eating, so I'll head out first. Hmm... I'm going to Starlight-chan's dorm to get some good rest~"
She stretched her arms and prepared to leave.
"Starlight-chan's dorm?!"
"That's right, Spe-chan. During those days I was recovering after the race, Starlight-chan was the one taking care of me..."
As soon as she said this, the girls left at the table fell into a stunned silence as they watched Seiun Sky walk away.
Urara slurped a noodle and asked curiously, "Eh? Why did everyone stop talking? What's wrong? What happened?"