After the race, everyone began gathering their kits and thoughts back together.
And the homeroom teacher began to usher away the spectators who had crowded in uninvited, shooing them back to their respective classes.
Mary, meanwhile, was still surrounded.
Students from every team, every spectator, clustered around her, voices overlapping, praising her finish, her victory, as if it were a holy grail.
Yet, she listened to none of it. Completely stayed within her own thoughts.
With her usual composure, Mary made her way away from the track.
Meanwhile, the crowd followed.
She walked on, unbothered, until—
A pink figure leapt out of the sideline, directly in front of her.
"Mary-chan!" Urara declared, arms thrown wide as if she could block Mary from moving forward.
"I might not beat you this time, Mary-chan! But bear the word of the great Urara!" She puffed her chest.
Mary stopped, startled.
"One day!" Urara continued brightly. "Urara promises she'll outrun the almighty Mary-chan, and so she can become the best of friends she'll ever have!"
Mary's eyes widened. Just slightly.
Behind her, laughter erupted.
"At the competition to be the slowest?" someone mocked."Yeah, dream big!"
Urara didn't flinch. Her arms stayed wide with her grin.
The students tugged at Mary,
"Come on, Mary, let's ignore her."
"Yeah, she doesn't deserve your time."
"Look at her acting haughty, thinking she can beat you. What a disgrace!"
The students urged her forward, but Mary didn't move. Her gaze remained on Urara's.
"Then prove it," Mary said at last, "At the school competition next month. If you do outrun me in the race, I will consider the promise you made last time."
Urara's eyes shone.
"Defeat me," Mary continued, "and show me that you deserve to stand beside me—someone who can benefit me."
She stepped past Urara.
"If not," Mary added without turning back, "stay away from me, Urara."
As Mary walked away, the students trailed along, gossiping,
"What was that?"
"I don't know, it sounds serious!"
"Well, there's no way Urara can defeat her even if she is at her best."
"Guys, Mary is probably joking!"
While Mary slowly faded into the distance, with a smooth twirl of her body,
Urara cupped her hands and hollered after her, "It's promised then!"
Mary flinched.
"I, Urara, swear to defeat Mary-chan and become her friend forever!" Urara continued, her fist clenched. "Then we can finally hang out and continue where we left off last time! Until then, Mary-chan!"
For a moment—just a moment—Mary's heart raced, her lips tugged upward, forming the faintest smile.
As quickly as it came, she was gone, and so was the smile.
***
***
***
Meanwhile, on the other side of the school—
Inside a quiet bathroom stall, Rushing Sky sat curled in on herself, knees hugged tight, sobbing.
"Why…" she whispered.
"Why… why… Why do I always lose... what is happening to me… "
Just as Rush was rotting in her own thoughts, a voice intruded from the next stall.
"Probably because you never went all out."
Rush jolted.
She yelped, quickly wiping her tears, heart racing."W-What—who—what are you doing here?!"
"I'm taking a piss, can't you see? Well, technically you can't, but still..." the voice responded.
Rush froze.
"…What?" she stuttered before she snapped,
"Well…! You shouldn't eavesdrop!"
"How can I?" the voice added casually. "Your sobbing was so loud it's like a bee buzzing in my ears. Damn, it's annoying..."
"Then turn the other way! Or—I don't know—go someplace else!"
"Hey," the voice cut in, "you know this is a public space, right? Meaning I can be wherever and however I want. It's not like you own the school or something. Do you...?"
"Th—tha—" Rush stammered.
"Besides, I just want to take a piss and couldn't care less about walking an extra mile because a sad princess wanted some space."
"Th—that—" Rush exhaled. "Fine… I'm sorry."
"What are you sorry about now?" the voice scoffed. "It's not your fault to bother me while I'm enjoying my time pissing."
"Besides," the voice added, "it's a public space. Like I said. You can cry me a river, and I would still care less."
"Fine… I'll be going now," Rush said quietly, wiping her tears one last time before stepping out of the stall.
"Chill out, girl," the voice called after her. "I don't know who you are or what mess you're dealing with."
"If you ever doubt yourself," it continued, "maybe ask yourself a question like 'Who are you?' Or in your case— 'Who am I?' Well, it helped me, it constantly reminds me what I am doing."
"But… I—I don't know," Rush admitted, stopping in front of the stall.
"Did you get your head hit or something?" the voice replied.
"Hey, that's rude!" Rush shot back.
"When I said ask yourself, 'Who am I?'" the voice continued, "just answer simply. Like your name... or whatnot. I'm not talking about that philosophical craps. I ain't that wise."
"Then…" Rush muttered, hesitating, "Who are you…?"
"And why do you care?" the voice shot back.
"Hey, that's rude!" Rush snapped.
The voice sighed. "Hey... It's not like we're trying to get to know each other. We barely even met. And even so, this is probably like the worst timing ever. Like, ever."
"Besides," it went on, "if you're still unsure and questioning yourself, why not find someone who'll actually listen? Someone who'll give you their time."
"Definitely not me. I couldn't care less, even when my own family had issues, I would still be unbothered. But you? You should find the one who will."
"So…" Rush murmured, still lost in thought, "you want me to find Urara…?"
"Urara…?" The voice paused. "Wait, you mean that pink knucklehead who doesn't seem to care about anything?"
"…Well, good luck with that."
"Wait, you know her?!" Rush blurted out.
"I mean, who wouldn't?" the voice replied. "She's pretty famous around school for that never-ending optimissm or we sometimes call it dense. Oh yeah, and her incompetence too... and that never give up speech about becoming the greatest Umamusume."
"And if you're really that close to her, I'm guessing she maybe'd listen. If not," it added, "find something else from her. Something that helps. Or something that inspires you..."
The voice sighed, "Why am I even saying this to you..."
"In... inspire...? Like…?" Rush asked.
"Geez," the voice scoffed, "Do you want me to hold your hand or something? It's your life, not mine! You don't expect me to answer everything for you, right? What's next, want me to become your psychic?"
"Oh— I'm sorry!" Rush hurriedly said.
"…Yeah," the voice replied. "Thought so."
The voice sighed before dismissing her. "Just get out there! Find inspiration or something that helps you. It may not be a flashy world, but at least you can still dazzle in it."
"Now get out there before I come out of this stall, damn it!"
That was enough to send Rush scrambling. She hurriedly washed her hands, wiped her face one last time, and slipped out of the restroom, disappearing back into the school halls.
Just as she stepped outside, her gaze met a familiar pink figure pacing back and forth in the corridor.
Urara.
Urara's eyes lit up the instant she saw her. "Rush-chan! There you are! I've been looking for you!"
She bounced closer without hesitation, grinning as if nothing bad had ever happened.
"It was an amazing race, wasn't it?!" she said.