The following day, having received word from Symboli Rudolf, Dream Weaver rushed to the hospital without a moment's delay.
She pushed open the door to the ward matching the address she'd been given.
The air was heavy with the familiar, sharp sting of disinfectant.
Morning light filtered through the window, reflecting off the white walls and bleached sheets, but it carried none of the sun's natural warmth; instead, the room felt frighteningly cold.
Tokai Teio lay there, both legs encased in heavy plaster casts and hoisted high in traction.
Beside the bed, the monitoring equipment emitted a rhythmic ticking, a mechanical heartbeat that sounded as if it would never stop.
At the sound of the door opening, Teio's gaze, which had been fixed hollowly on the ceiling, shifted slowly toward the entrance.
Her deep blue eyes were void of emotion, resembling two bottomless pools of stagnant water.
The room was deathly still, save for the synchronized breathing of the two girls and the steady beep-beep of the monitors.
Tokai Teio stared at Dream Weaver for a long, expressionless beat before finally breaking the silence.
"Are you here to try and save me again? Just like before?"
She didn't assume, as most might in the throes of defeat, that Dream Weaver had come to gloat as a victor.
Teio knew better than that.
She believed there was only one reason for this visit: to inspire her, just as Dream Weaver had inspired Sakura Yamato.
What a hollow person, Teio thought. What did victory even mean to someone like her?
Teio pulled herself into a sitting position, her movements stiff. She rapped her knuckles against the hard plaster of her legs and looked up at Dream Weaver.
"Unfortunately, this isn't something a few inspiring words can fix."
"The doctor said I'll be bedridden for at least six months. After that, rehab will take forever. The Kikuka Sho is out of the question, and I don't even know if I'll make the Japan Cup next year."
"But then again... none of that involves you anymore, does it?"
She lowered her gaze, a trace of loneliness flickering in her eyes.
Even when facing the despair-inducing strength of Dream Weaver on the track, she hadn't succumbed.
Yet here, in the quiet of the ward, she allowed a glimpse of her fragility.
The fire she had burned during the Japanese Derby seemed to have incinerated her entire will. Sitting there, Tokai Teio looked just like the room around her—pale, grey, and hollow.
"You'll go on to become the second Uma Musume in history to achieve an Undefeated Triple Crown. After that, you'll probably head overseas to challenge the true world-class runners, winning the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe—a feat no one in Japan has ever managed."
"The brief moment where our lives intersected has already passed. From here on, I won't even have the chance to stand on the same turf as you."
She let out a self-deprecating laugh and shook her head.
"Should I be happy? At least the pressure is off, right? Without a monster like you making everyone feel hopeless, I might actually manage to win one for once."
"I'll win a G1 race or two in my career, and then I'll end up like those famous names people occasionally mention in the future—just another piece of trivia for a video creator who's run out of ideas."
"'Shocking! You won't believe how the career of the girl once called a genius ended!'"
Teio spoke in a joking tone, but her eyes remained utterly devoid of joy.
"How do you like that title?"
"It fits an Uma Musume who didn't know her own limits, don't you think?"
Faced with this bleak, defeated version of Tokai Teio—a girl who seemed to have already written the tragic ending to her own life—Dream Weaver simply blurted out:
"What the hell are you rambling about?"
"Who told you I was here to save you?"
The lonely mask shattered instantly.
Teio's eyes widened, and she stared at Dream Weaver in sheer disbelief.
She had never liked Dream Weaver's detached attitude toward racing and rivals, but she never expected her to be this blunt.
"Trying to run away from the Kikuka Sho? Did I give you permission for that? You've been calling me arrogant this whole time, haven't you? Fine then. I'll show you what real arrogance looks like!"
Dream Weaver marched to the bedside in a few sharp strides. She grabbed Teio by the collar, forcing the girl to look her straight in the eye.
"I want you... to show me that same form you had at the Japanese Derby! Again! At the Kikuka Sho! Right in front of my eyes!"
Teio was stunned by the sheer absurdity of the demand.
She searched Dream Weaver's eyes, desperate to find even a flicker of a joke or a lie.
But all she saw was an iron-clad demand that brook no refusal.
Teio was floored.
She couldn't fathom how Dream Weaver could say something so impossible with such ease.
She had just finished knocking on her own casts—was this girl blind, or did she just let everything she'd been told go in one ear and out the other?!
"I'm telling you—"
Teio tried to argue, but the words were shoved back down her throat by Dream Weaver's intensity.
"So stop acting like some spineless loser. That wasn't who you were at the Derby!"
"Get your head in the game and get ready. Tomorrow—the day after at the latest—I'm bringing something that will fix those legs of yours!"
Teio's mouth hung open, whether from shock or simply because she had no words left.
Looking into those serious, unblinking eyes that held not a hint of deception, she fell silent for a long time.
"You... you really are still trying to save people..."
Teio muttered under her breath.
She had already heard from Symboli Rudolf that if it weren't for Dream Weaver, she might not have even had that "boring future" to look forward to; she might have been forced into retirement on the spot.
And now, here she was, claiming she was going to save her again.
Though the words were fantastical, her gaze was so earnest it was terrifying. Even Tokai Teio found she couldn't muster her usual prickly sarcasm, leaving her only able to grumble weakly.
Moreover... she could sense a subtle, faint shift in Dream Weaver's aura.
"I've already told you once."
"I'm not here to save you."
"I'm doing this for myself. It's because I want to stand on that track with you again that I'm making you get back up."
Dream Weaver gave Teio's cheek—which was currently frozen in a dazed, blank expression—a firm pat.
"So, you'd better be ready. This is the first time I've ever done something just for my own sake."
"Don't make me do it for nothing."
As quickly as she had arrived, Dream Weaver turned on her heel and swept out of the ward, leaving a shell-shocked Tokai Teio behind.
Dream Weaver had known that consecutive losses, followed by the physical toll of pushing herself like a phoenix only to fail, would leave Teio in a dark place.
But she couldn't afford to sit around and wait for Teio to find her own way out.
To accomplish what she set out to do, Dream Weaver needed Teio to be prepared—to ignite that Phoenix flame once more at the Kikuka Sho.
That was why she had rushed in the moment the girl woke up.
Now, Tokai Teio was as ready as she could be.
It was time for Dream Weaver to make her own preparations.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.