Chapter 208: A Momentary Chance
"Kita-chan… m-move, move out of there!"
Saburo Kitajima's eyes were wide open, his pupils contracting sharply as if he were trying to seize the scene before him with sheer force.
The desperate shout burst from his dry throat, his voice rough and trembling with strain.
"N-no, no, no—don't, don't force it! Don't force your way through, Kita-chan…!"
As the old man's cry cut through the air, the commentator's voice over the broadcast suddenly rose as well:
"The field passes the third turn for the first time and now enters the fourth turn! The fan favorite, Kitasan Black—is actually being completely boxed in at this crucial moment!"
"Let's confirm the positions!"
"Real Will leads the pack, with Red Solomon charging up powerfully right behind!"
"Ribbon Victory is in third, while the previously leading Crowned Stone has dropped to fourth!"
"In fifth is Tagano Café, and on her inside—deeply trapped—is Kitasan Black!"
"After that comes the pace chasers, led by the second most popular pick, REAL STEEL!"
"The third favorite, Satono Rasen, is at the front of the late surgers!"
"The gaps between the front runners, the pace chasers, and the late surgers have rapidly closed on this turn, and Kitasan Black…"
"There's no doubt about it—she's completely surrounded!"
The stands exploded in an instant.
The discussions that had begun earlier—sparked by Kitasan Black's decision not to use Burst Front Running in this race—hadn't even fully died down yet. Now, this sudden development of her being boxed in was like a heavy bomb detonating on the spot, instantly igniting shock and disbelief throughout the crowd. Waves of gasps and cries overlapped into a roaring din.
A middle-aged man in a gray jacket, his face full of anxiety, clenched the railing with both hands and shouted angrily,
"What on earth is going on? How did she get boxed in so tightly?!"
Beside him, a bespectacled, slightly heavyset man echoed the sentiment, shaking his head and sighing repeatedly.
"Exactly… this is awful. We were hoping she'd pull off another great result, but at this rate… this race might be over."
A young girl holding up a Kitasan Black support sign had reddened eyes, her voice tinged with tears as worry and confusion overflowed.
"How could Kitasan Black end up in a situation like this? Did her trainer mess up the strategy?"
Meanwhile, Satono Crown—who had been worried about Kitasan Black even before the race began—now felt conflicted.
She stared at Kitasan Black for a moment, then shifted her gaze to Satono Rasen behind, before looking back at Kitasan Black again. With a troubled expression, she scratched at her head.
"Honestly… Kita-chan, how did you get stuck in a spot like that?"
Although she had followed her family's decision to skip the Kikuka Sho and instead prepare for the Autumn Tenno Sho, she hadn't forgotten the training they'd done before.
It was true that front runners had a hard time winning in the Kikuka Sho, but that depended on the situation.
Sometimes there were few front runners, and a racers skilled at leading could comfortably seize the pace-setting position. In such cases, many tactical options could be deployed smoothly, greatly improving the chances of victory.
On the other hand, when there were too many front runners, fierce competition would erupt right from the opening stages. Even if one managed to win that battle, it would come at the cost of massive stamina loss—essentially handing opportunities to pace chasers and late surgers.
In her view, this race clearly fell into the latter category.
From first place down to Kitasan Black's position, there were a total of six front runners—fully one third of the entire field.
It might have been coincidence, or it might have been influenced by her friend's Burst Front Running at the St. Lite Kinen. But either way, compared to opponents using other running styles, a chaotic battle among front runners like this was guaranteed to disadvantage every single one of them.
And among them, Kitasan Black looked to be the one paying the highest price.
She'd probably ended up a little farther back because she hadn't aggressively fought to seize the lead—and that really did save a lot of stamina.
But being boxed in was a completely different matter.
Ahead, to the left, and behind—every direction was filled with opponents. Their abilities weren't vastly different, and unless the race situation changed dramatically, there was simply no way to break out.
At a moment like this, the rhythm wasn't hers to control, the line of advance wasn't hers to choose—even breathing and arm swings would be affected from three directions at once.
The physical and mental exertion might still be bearable, but the internal psychological strain was another matter entirely.
Satono Crown felt that if she herself were in Kitasan Black's position right now, she would probably be driven insane by the pressure of the surrounding rivals.
Yet even as she worried about her friend, she felt a deeply shameful sense of relief.
They had known each other since childhood, lived side by side at the academy, and crossed paths on the track many times.
She knew Kitasan Black's strength could never be underestimated.
Especially in a race like the Kikuka Sho, which tested endurance above all else, this was precisely her friend's greatest strength.
To be honest, before the race, if she had to name the single competitor most likely to win, it would definitely have been Kitasan Black.
And that was exactly why she felt relieved that Kitasan Black was now boxed in.
It wasn't that she didn't want her friend to win, but she also wanted Satono Rasen, of her own family, to win just as much.
She didn't know whether outsiders could truly understand it, but she knew all too well how desperately her family longed for a G1 victory.
So clearly that when she thought of the countless figures striving at home, the faces full of effort, the repeated reminders and expectations, she felt both stirred with motivation and faintly, almost imperceptibly, suffocated.
Now that Kitasan Black was surrounded, this became Satono Rasen's opportunity.
Satono Rasen's position was excellent—first among the late surgers.
That spot allowed her to preserve stamina to the greatest extent, and also to react immediately if the race situation changed.
Moreover, she wouldn't be overly affected by the front runners.
In the most favorable scenario, the front runners would gradually burn through their stamina in the current clashes. Then, when they slowed on the final straight, they would disrupt the forward path of the pace chasers.
That would be the perfect moment for Satono Rasen to move outward and surge all the way to the front in one decisive push.
And in fact, this was one of the most basic tactics planned back when she was still preparing for the Kikuka Sho.
So, Kita-chan… run… ah, this is so painful…
Staring at the pack hurtling toward the fourth turn at full speed, she grimaced, held her head in her hands, and scratched at her hair again.
Perhaps because her thoughts were in such turmoil, she suddenly caught a low conversation beside her.
"…Oguri Cap-senpai… it's probably really hard to break out of a situation like this… right?"
Surprised, she looked over and saw Bamboo Memory frowning, head tilted slightly, sharing her thoughts with Oguri Cap beside her.
"You hardly ever see this in sprint races, and not that often in middle-distance either… senpai, what do you think? Do you just have to wait for the final straight?"
"I… I really haven't run long-distance races much."
Oguri Cap answered with a slightly troubled tone, then quickly nodded.
"But in this kind of situation… I remember Creek once talked about it."
"Super Creek-senpai?"
Bamboo Memory's eyes lit up as she quickly searched her memory.
"She ran into this kind of situation too? Was it in the Kikuka Sho? Or some other long-distance race?"
"Only in Kyoto's long-distance races."
Nodding again, Oguri Cap gazed at the pack rapidly approaching the exit of the fourth turn and raised her hand to point.
"Being trapped inside the pack in long-distance races isn't rare. At other tracks, there's almost no chance of breaking out of an encirclement.
"Especially in the Arima Kinen."
"But Kyoto is different. At Kyoto Racecourse, there's a chance to break out of the box as you exit the fourth turn."
"However, that chance…"
She paused.
"…appears for only a single instant."