"Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap!"
"Suzuka?! Silence Suzuka! Where are you?!"
In the midst of the raging competition, comparison, and rivalry, everything seemed to pass so quickly. Tracen Academy had passed another year full of vitality and new blood. In this year, Special Week, who had won the Japanese Derby in her classic year, had also undergone countless transformations, from a cold junior in everyone's eyes to a cold and arrogant senior admired by the juniors.
Special Week, who had entered her senior year, was completely different from her classic year. This was not only reflected in the growth of her strength, but also because she had been unconsciously given a mission, a mission to prove the strength of Japanese horse girls.
As we said before, the American-blooded horse girls, led by El Condor Pasa and Grass Wonder, after the successive retirement of Silence Suzuka and other horse girls, gradually began to show their dominance in various G1 races in Japan. Among them, El Condor Pasa, who was extremely stable in terms of physical fitness and performance, was the strongest. Not only did she sweep many of the mile and middle-distance races in Japan, but she even became the representative of Japan to compete in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
And Grass Wonder, although she often had physical problems, was still an extremely formidable presence in middle and long distances when she was on the track. She and El Condor Pasa could almost be said to have dominated the mile, middle, and long distance races in Japan, while the rest of the local Japanese horse girls were almost all defeated.
This inevitably led to some talk about whether the overall quality of Japanese horse girls was not as good as that of foreign horse girls... And it was at this time that Special Week appeared.
With her outstanding performance of winning the Japanese Derby in her classic year, and with the intentional promotion of the media, the story of Special Week and Suzuka, and the two of them and the long-dead Kitano Ryuichi, also began to spread widely. Everyone also knew that the trainer of the long-dead Suzuka actually had such a contracted horse girl, and even his former charge, Suzuka, had inherited his mantle after his death and became Special Week's trainer.
The charge saved by the trainer at the cost of his life, inherited the trainer's will, and trained his other charge—this kind of story seemed to have touched some literary and sentimental point of the Japanese public, and also inadvertently made Special Week's popularity rise rapidly. At the same time, she also inexplicably inherited a great deal of the expectations of the Japanese public.
The Japanese public believed that Special Week, who shouldered the will of the dead Kitano and the unable-to-run Suzuka, could definitely break the era of domestic races being dominated by foreign-blooded horse girls. And all of this also kicked off the continuous internal struggle of the "Golden Generation." The drama of Guan Gong fighting Qin Qiong was staged again and again on the racetrack.
El Condor Pasa, Grass Wonder, and Special Week, the so-called "top three" of the Golden Generation, constantly clashed in races, with wins and losses. But all of this, for Special Week, besides honor... was more of a pressure.
She had to admit that without Suzuka's help along the way, it would have been difficult for her to hold on alone... so many expectations, so much pressure, the belief that "two such important people are optimistic about you, you absolutely cannot lose," was really hard to bear.
With the help of the story, people tend to believe that idealism can burst out with power beyond oneself. But in reality, where are there so many miracles? Aren't all miracles achieved through one's own efforts and hard work to have a glimmer of hope?
And what if she failed? Then all these expectations would instantly turn into disappointment... and even more intense negative comments. She was well aware of all this.
She could not get over his death. Her feelings for Suzuka were so complex that they were hard to describe. But she was very clear about one thing, that is, along the way, only Suzuka and the already-dead Kitano would always support her, help her withstand these pressures, and overcome these difficulties.
And now, as her career was also about to come to an end, a piece of bad news that was no less than his death at the time appeared once again.
Silence Suzuka, on the day before the Arima Kinen, disappeared.
Even though she was living in the same dormitory with Special Week, her disappearance this time was silent. Not only did it not alarm Special Week, but even the series of security personnel in the academy did not notice. And even Suzuka herself did not even take her crutches with her. It was really hard to imagine how she, who was already inconvenient, had managed to leave Tracen Academy silently.
And before leaving, she only left a letter, a farewell letter for Special Week.
"Dear Spe-chan... I'm very happy to have been able to accompany you until today. By the time you see this letter, I will have already left. I didn't tell you this because I don't want you to leave irresponsibly like me."
"You were right. Trainer-san's death... it was all my fault. You can't forgive me, and even I can't forgive myself."
"I once thought about ending it all. I once thought about just destroying everything about myself... until your appearance made me see that I still have an unfinished mission."
"Trainer-san, when he first met you, had placed all his remaining expectations on you. I... could not respond to all his wishes, but I hope to complete all of this for him."
"Now... I have completed everything I can do. Spe-chan, the road ahead, you may have to walk it strong on your own."
"I'm sorry, I'm a selfish person. I can't become someone like him... I can only be his charge forever, forever... only be his Suzuka."
"I want to go find him. Please don't let me and him meet you too soon, Spe-chan."
"—With love, Silence Suzuka."
Silence Suzuka left. Silently, she left everyone's world. She seemed to have turned into a shooting star, in search of the person she most wanted to stay with. Now, she finally felt she could cast off all her burdens and complete this ending that had been delayed for several years.
And the only thing she left behind was the now-dazed, child-like Special Week. Just like several years ago, the deceased Kitano had left behind a Suzuka who could never walk out of that Tennō Shō (Autumn). All of this seemed to have become a cycle...
It's just that when this cycle fell on Special Week, it meant that she had lost her last pillar of support.
From now on, in this world, besides her, no one would remember the appearance of that trainer named Kitano Ryuichi.
From now on, she was all alone... the person who could wholeheartedly support her to continue running could no longer be found.
...
"Special Week! Grass Wonder! The two horse girls are biting each other! Not daring to relax at all! Their gap is very small! Almost indistinguishable to the naked eye!"
"Who will win?! Is it Special Week, or Grass Wonder?! They are less than fifty meters from the finish line!"
On the track of the Arima Kinen, the final showdown, Special Week and Grass Wonder, the final peak battle between the two horse girls from Japan and abroad. This final battle will completely determine the strength of the two, and will even rise to the level of whether the Japanese-born horse girls are stronger in this era, or if they will be suppressed by the foreign horse girls again. All of this will be revealed in this race!
The gap between the two was very tight. They were both using their last bit of strength for the final sprint. The two girls, gritting their teeth, were unwilling to relax at this moment!
But Special Week knew very well where her limit was. She was biting down on Grass Wonder, but could only press this gap to the last four centimeters—and these four centimeters were like a chasm, which she could not bridge no matter how hard she tried!
This four-centimeter gap was not like a gap in strength, but like a kind of fate that she could not overcome. Every time she felt that she could surpass Grass Wonder with a burst of energy, her steps just couldn't be any faster.
Unwilling—unwilling!
Is it going to end like this? The expectations of Suzuka and Trainer-san! They put all their expectations on her! In this final race, why can't she respond to them!
"The last twenty meters! Twenty meters left!"
The finish line was already in sight. In the next second, the result of this race would be decided, but the four-centimeter gap had not been bridged at this moment.
Looking at the finish line in front of her, she only felt for a moment that the time around her was passing so slowly... Her eyes were fixed on the finish line. At this moment, she was almost desperate.
Ah... I... still can't do it?
I'm sorry... Suzuka, Trainer-san... I'm sorry, I... I'm too tired.
So many expectations, so many hopes... I can't do it. I can't respond to everyone. My own limit is only up to this point.
Forgive me, I... lost.
"—That's not the case." X2
Suddenly, by her ear, two familiar voices suddenly woke her up. The dazed her suddenly felt a force from behind her—
—as if two invisible hands were gently pushing her forward from behind.
That force was very gentle, as if afraid she would fall, and worried she couldn't win, so everything was just right. She only felt at that moment that her body had become incredibly light.
She turned her head slightly, and her peripheral vision caught the figures behind her at this moment—on a white sky, two familiar figures she would never forget were waving at her like a hallucination. Before she could react, the two figures dissipated into nothingness...
No, don't... don't leave me.
Without you... without you... this victory—what's the point!
Unknowingly, the tearful Special Week tried to reach out her hand, wanting to grab the person who was waving goodbye to her... but all of this was in vain.
"She's crossed the line!! It's Special Week! She surpassed Grass Wonder in the last twenty meters! Defeating her by a gap of two centimeters! Just a two-centimeter gap!"
"It's really unbelievable. Special Week, who had been slightly behind Grass Wonder before, completed the overtake at the end! All of this—it's as if someone gave her a push from behind!"
With this sentence from the announcer, which became a classic commentary in the future, the entire audience cheered for her final overtake. The entire audience was boiling, cheering, and applauding. All of this was because the winner had responded to everyone's expectations. At this moment, she had become the hero everyone had hoped for.
...And all of this had nothing to do with the hero herself. Only she knew how she had won at the last moment.
Those two invisible hands, those two people she loved and cared about most, they had really given her a push... They had never left her from beginning to end. They had even helped her at the end, helped her achieve all of this, helped her realize her final ideal.
Her victory in this race had won her everything he had promised—a place in the Hall of Fame. And even her ideal of becoming "Japan's number one horse girl," at this moment, in this era, could be said to have been realized. From now on, the title of "General of Japan" would forever remain in history. Her achievements, her everything, would be remembered by the world.
...But why couldn't she feel any joy? She had already gotten everything.
Why... is it like it's raining? Why... am I crying?
"Uu... uuuuuuuwaaaaaah..."
"Ahhhhhhhhhhh—!"
On the racetrack, the sky slowly began to pour down rain, soaking everything on this track, like a girl's tears, drenching her scarred heart.
And on the track, the cold and arrogant General of Japan in everyone's eyes, from a sob, immediately turned into a wail facing the sky. Her tears and the rain merged at this moment. She knelt helplessly on the ground, her emotions out of control, letting out one heart-wrenching wail after another, as if a piece of flesh had been brutally torn from her heart...
That spring, the young Special Week could never have imagined that when she had accepted the request of that gentle man, her final ending would be like this. She had guessed the beginning, but she could never have guessed such an ending...
She had won everything, and lost everything. If she had known the ending was like this, she might not have wished to have met him and her on that day.
Now... she was all alone. All the memories, the good, the bitter, the difficult... everything, only she remembered.
This cycle had once trapped Suzuka, and now her release had trapped her in this cycle. This time... she could never get out.
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