One black, one white.
The two Eclipses stood facing each other just like that.
The atmosphere gradually grew strange.
Shanish looked at Eclipse, and Eclipse looked back at Shanish.
Tokai Teio had originally been curious about where this white Eclipse had come from, but after catching the scent on Shanish and Kitahara, a shadow fell over her face.
Kitahara, caught in the middle, wore a rather awkward expression.
Although he was not an Umamusume, it was not as though he did not know what their sense of smell was like.
Walking together with Shanish like this was, in the eyes of the Umamusume, basically the equivalent of standing in the middle of a street and shouting, "Look at me, look at me."
He had not been all that worried when it was Tamamo Cross and Oguri Cap.
After all, the former was a sensible good girl, while the latter was a foodie who did not understand anything.
Even if they caught the scent, he figured it would not have much of an effect, and he could easily bluff his way through.
At least, that was what he thought.
But now...
It was not as though Kitahara had not tried persuading Shanish to separate from him for the time being.
But how could Shanish possibly agree?
She had deliberately sought Kitahara out at this moment not only because she truly wanted to Uma Pyoi him, but because her greatest purpose was to assert her claim.
After that, it was to show Eclipse.
Although she had not interacted much with Eclipse, and although her conflict with the Three Goddesses had, for now, eased...
Eased did not mean gone.
As a weapon born for the sake of dealing with her, she and Eclipse were natural enemies to begin with.
In nature and ideology alike, the two of them were complete opposites.
One was a goddess born from love, the other an aggregate of pure malice.
From the day they were born, discord and opposition between them had already been inevitable.
Not to mention, Eclipse had stolen what mattered most to her.
As an aggregate of love, Shanish did not mind sharing Kitahara with others. She was even willing to take the initiative to help him increase his "family."
But that did not mean she did not want to be first.
So Eclipse displeased her greatly.
Coincidentally, she displeased Eclipse as well.
Not for the sake of the Three Goddesses, and with nothing to do with sides.
Looking at Shanish's chest, feeling the beat of the heart within it...
An emotion that had never once appeared in her eyes before gradually revealed itself.
Hostility.
But just as Kitahara thought something might happen and was about to step forward to prevent it...
"Welcome back."
Eclipse turned to look at him.
"About the new era. How far have your thoughts gone?"
"This is between us. We won't make things difficult for you."
Shanish followed with an addition.
"Of course, nothing you don't want to see will happen either. We know where to draw the line."
Eclipse and Shanish could be said to be two sides of the same whole.
Although this was their first meeting, there was still plenty of tacit understanding between them.
Hearing Shanish say that, Kitahara was still a little worried, but the tension in his chest eased slightly.
"Let's put the matter of change aside for now. That isn't urgent. How is Teio doing?"
"I spoke with her."
Eclipse answered calmly.
To be honest, Eclipse was not good at communicating with others, much less at comforting Teio.
As for the new era, she did not understand much about it either. Even the Three Goddesses did not know what should be done.
But Eclipse knew what Kitahara would do.
While Kitahara was still confused, still avoiding it, she had already predicted the actions he would take afterward.
Yes, she was not that clever.
Yes, she did not have much knowledge stored away.
Yes, there were many things she did not understand.
But she understood Kitahara, even more than she understood herself.
That was enough.
It was not love, because she, who had no heart, had long since lost the ability to love.
So she had adopted another method.
That was to entrust everything she was to him, to make him her everything.
That was why she understood Kitahara, even more than he understood himself.
Then what would Kitahara do at a time like this?
Eclipse thought about it, and then she brought Teio for a walk around campus.
She did not actually know why she should do this, but she felt that Kitahara probably would, so she did.
She took Teio to many places.
The training grounds, the old school building, the warehouse...
The academy was still noisy.
Umamusume and Trainers came and went. Some were fairly proper, some were flirting, and some were heading toward basements.
Every so often, one could even see the Tracen Main Campus Guard rescuing people.
Perhaps because she had been shut up in the dorm for too long, or perhaps because her mood was so low that she wanted to distract herself.
Teio began paying attention to the surroundings and the people around her, and a subtle feeling rose in her heart.
Everywhere her eyes reached, aside from certain people currently being dragged into basements, and the security team members with dark circles under their eyes...
Whether Trainers or Umamusume, all of them seemed to overflow with a warm, happy feeling.
Teio had never felt there was anything wrong with this before.
After all, she too was a child raised in a jar of honey.
But now, after being devoured by Eclipse's malice, after having her beliefs shattered head-on on the racetrack, and after enduring several days of pain alone in the dorm...
Looking at all of this again, nameless ripples stirred in her heart.
Yes, she knew. Racing was not everything. There could only be one winner, and she would not always win.
Yes, she also knew that even among the Umamusume of Tracen Main Campus, most could not guarantee wins even in Open Class races.
Yes, she knew too that there were many kinds of happiness in life, and that after retiring, Umamusume would take up all sorts of ridiculous jobs.
She knew all of that.
But looking back on these things, thinking about them after failure, truly did give her a different experience.
Combined with what she had heard in the dorm earlier...
Teio's conviction began to waver.
She even began to fear.
The essence of an Umamusume was running. The nature of an Umamusume was to crave victory. Umamusume were born to run, and to seize victory.
This was the consensus of the entire world.
It was also the belief that had supported her, even all of them, as they moved forward.
But what if all of it was a lie?
This was not even a question that required deep thought.
It was like a thin sheet of paper. The slightest pressure would pierce through it.
And then the entire world built on it would collapse.
No, something was wrong. It should not be like this...
Umamusume were beings born to run. Umamusume should seize victory. Umamusume should gallop across the racetrack...
But no matter how she emphasized it, as she looked at everything around her and felt that sense of dissonance, the cracks in her already fractured heart continued to widen.
And from within those widening cracks, black liquid seeped out, corroding the little hope she had left.
Until Eclipse's voice sounded.
"Teio, what do you think of them?"
---
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