[The Hero has achieved an incredible Achievement!]
[Achievement: Undefeated Triple Tiara has been completed!]
[Rewards: +50 to all Attributes, +300 SP, {Lion's Roar}]
I smiled slightly as I wiped my face with a towel. I was in the locker room right now, and since there was still a few minutes until my Winning Concert, I decided to take the chance to read all the notifications that'd popped all across my vision the moment I crossed the finish line.
And I gotta say—the Rewards sure were generous. That +50 to all my Attributes was already insane enough. It was basically a total of +250 points. That +300 SP was a nice bonus as well, and that wasn't even considering the SP I'd get from the upcoming Winning Concert.
But it was the Skill that truly caught my eyes.
{Lion's Roar}
When surrounded, decreases Stamina of every umamusume around the Hero.
At a first glance, it didn't seem all that impressive. I mean, I usually ran using a Great Escape—there would barely be a time when I'd be surrounded.
But the more I thought about it, I realized that this could be a game changer. I knew full well that I wasn't the fastest umamusume around, and it wouldn't be impossible for multiple umamusume to outspeed me and 'surround' me during the final homestretch.
And if this Skill happened to activate during that moment, then {Lion's Roar} would essentially put a stop to that by draining their already exhausted Stamina. Or, at least slow them down considerably.
It seemed practically made for the [Japan Cup].
A smile lifted my lips. I truly couldn't wait for the [Japan Cup]. I didn't really mind the results—I knew winning against Oguri would be a challenge and a half. But regardless, I wanted to run. I wanted to race against Oguri and all the talented umamusume that would participate. And if the Three Goddesses favored me enough, perhaps I could even clinch a victory.
Of course, this excitement wasn't because of the race itself. In truth, I couldn't care less if we'd decided to run in an OP-level race or something.
The truth was, I'd never really felt all that excited for these prestigious G1 races. Sure, I'd felt some satisfaction at first, but that had quickly decayed. Even now, winning the Undefeated Triple Tiara hadn't given me much excitement, aside from the simple joy of completing a promise I'd made to Kitahara.
In the end, their prestige meant nothing to me. They were nothing more than a means to an end.
That hadn't changed. The only reason I was so excited for the [Japan Cup] was the chance to race against Oguri with the entire nation of Japan as our audience. It was one of the few races worthy to be a stage for Oguri's overwhelming strength.
…
I sighed. When I put it that way, it made me sound incredibly cynical. Which wasn't wrong, but I was supposed to be a Hero. That kind of thinking didn't quite fit the racing persona I was building for myself.
Suddenly, my ears perked up as I heard the door to the locker room open, and I turned around to see who it was. I'd been expecting it to be someone from Team Kitahara, or maybe Sakura Chiyono O or Yaeno Muteki,
But I completely froze when I saw Obey Your Master come in, an easy smile on her lips.
"「Hello there!」" Obey Your Master said in English, her star-spangled eyes glowing eerily in the somewhat dim room. "Sorry for barging in, Star-chan! I just had to say hello after seeing your performance just now!"
I blinked. "You know this is technically illegal, right?" I said, before I smiled wryly. "「Not that I have the right to say that. I'm quite the rule-breaker myself.」"
Obey stared for a moment. "「You know English?」"
"「Just a little.」" I said humbly.
Her smile grew even wider, and for a moment, her eyes glowed with a manic intensity. "「Wow! I didn't think someone from the backwaters like Kasamatsu would ever learn English?」" She tilted her head, her smile still fixed. "「Were you that bored, Star-chan?」"
I shrugged. "「I had a lot of time when I was young.」"
That was an understatement. My prior knowledge meant my elementary schooling was barely a challenge, and with no hobbies to take up my life, I spent a lot of my younger years just…idling. Trying any sort of activity to satiate the harrowing emptiness in my chest, and ultimately failing to do so.
"「Eeh~, I didn't know Star-chan was such a genius!」"
I smiled emptily. "「I'm no genius, I'm afraid.」" Just a cheater, that's all.
Our conversation petered out from there. Obey maintained her wide smile, and while it'd trick many others, I could easily see how fake it was. The smile I returned was similarly fake—a mere mask I'd put forward as I tried to think of why exactly Obey Your Master had suddenly appeared before me.
A stilted silence lingered between us for quite a while, neither of us knowing when exactly to continue.
Eventually, Obey was the first to cave in, and her smile shrunk slightly. "「How did you do it?」"
I raised an eyebrow. "「Do what?」"
Obey bit her lip for a moment, clearly contemplating whether she should even speak. But she eventually spoke. "「Your mask is perfect.」" She spoke with near-reverence. "「How? How did your smiles become so natural?」" Her breaths grew haggard as her composure finally broke. "「How did you make it so real? How did you make your mimicry so perfect that it's enough to make me sick?」"
…oh, so that was it.
My smile fell as well, and I felt an incredible feeling of familiarity as I stared at Obey's agitation. This was our first meeting, but there was an undeniable bond that connected us beyond the gap of space and time.
After all, I'd seen that same anguish in the mirror many times before.
I scooted slightly to the left, and I patted the space on the bench next to me. Obey hesitated for a moment, but she eventually walked over and sat down.
I took a small breath. "「It sucks, doesn't it?」" I began softly, intertwining my fingers. "「You try and try, but it's never enough.」"
Obey scoffed. "「Japan's way softer compared to America. The people over there-」" Her expression twisted with utter disgust. "「I'm no better than trash to them, just because I can't run well on-」"
But before she could continue, I shook my head. "「I wasn't talking about that.」" I said, as I then gently poked my chest. "「I mean here.」"
Obey stopped, realizing what it was I meant, and she took a small breath to calm herself. "「...you're not wrong.」" A bitter smile curled her lips. "「I've won a few races before, but it just feels…worthless. Whenever they cheer, I feel nothin-, no, I feel like shit.」" She grit her teeth. "「They're all so happy, but I just-」"
"「-feel nothing.」" I finished. "「The prestige, the excitement, the fact that we'll be recorded into history,」" I sighed. "「We take it in, and it never feels enough. Makes us feel like we're the worst people in the world; like we shouldn't have ever been born.」"
"So you understand then, Star-chan." Obey eventually said, her playful mask long shattered.
I nodded. "Of course I do." I returned an empty smile. "I've lived with this feeling all my life, after all."
We fell silent once more, the atmosphere between us far more pensive than before. Obey sat still, her starry eyes duller than usual, her shoulders carrying none of the energy she had just moments before.
It was unfair, really.
We were both born wrong, but Obey had it far worse. Because at least I had my parents who loved me, who tried everything to fill the gaping hole in my heart. And eventually it was Oguri who came in, who slowly picked up the pieces and slowly stitched my mask into something far more genuine.
Obey Your Master had none of that. She was born straight into the highly-competitive sport of American racing, yet she was given abilities that were completely unsuited for America's Dirt tracks. Not only that, but the difference in culture meant that the environment was far more cutthroat compared to Japan; she never had the chance to feel like a child.
Perhaps she'd once been a normal girl. Perhaps she once had a loving family that truly believed her. But considering how she was now,
I took a tired breath.
It was…cruel. We were both similar, yet our lives were completely opposite to one another. The empty puppet I was born as was slowly made real by those who cared for me, while Obey's mask had only turned more and more porcelain in an attempt to shield herself from the world.
…
"「Do you like it here?」"
"「Huh?」" Obey blinked at my sudden question, before she quickly fixed a smile onto her lips. "「I do~! The turf here is just so great to run on!」" Her smile turned a little more genuine. "「Aah, the grass here smells so good…」"
"「Then do you want to continue running here?」" I quickly asked.
Obey stilled, before she quickly smiled. "「Oh? Are you trying to scout me, Star-chan?」"
"「And if I am?」" My quick response caused her to go silent once more, and my eyes narrowed. "「You said it yourself, didn't you? Japan's Turf fits you more compared to America's Dirt. Why not just continue running here instead?」"
Obey was stunned into complete silence, and I didn't blame her. Even I found my offer rather hasty, and I would understand if she rejected my offer.
But I couldn't help myself. Right now, Obey Your Master was in a critical condition; she was no different to how I was before Oguri had found me on that riverside. If this isolation continued, I could easily think of several scenarios that could happen, and none of them were pleasant.
I knew she was fine in the manga, that she returned to the [Japan Cup] a second time, got 3rd place, and accepted her defeat with grace, but this world was different. There was no telling if that could happen here as well.
Eventually, Obey offered a smile. It was cruel, nearly looking like a sneer, but it was genuine. "「Are you trying to fix me, Blossom Star?」"
I paused, before a deep-rooted rage filled my chest when I realized why exactly Obey thought that. I knew first-hand how cruel another person's 'help' could seem at times.
"「I won't promise anything.」" I said, barely keeping my anger from showing. "「But I will try. I'll help you make your mask into something real-」"
Suddenly, someone knocked on the door, and a woman's voice came through. "Excuse me, are you inside, Blossom-san?"
I clicked my tongue, before I stood up and quickly calmed myself. "I'm in here." I said. "Don't worry, I was just resting. I'll be ready for my Winning Concert soon."
"Then I shall await your arrival, Blossom-san." And saying that, I heard the woman outside slowly walk away. I let out an explosive breath once the woman was far enough.
Obey grinned. "「You're running late, Star-chan. Don't you think you should go now?」"
I nodded listlessly, but I then turned back to her. "「At least think about it?」"
"「...I will.」"
I sighed. "「That's enough.」" I took another breath as I closed my eyes. I covered my lips with my hand for a moment, and once I lowered it, my lips were curled into a calm smile. "Then I'll go now, Obey-san."
Without saying anything else, I headed to the door and walked out of the room, my steps brisk as I rushed to begin my Winning Concert in time.
Obey Your Master watched silently as I vanished out the door, her eyes dull. "「Running in Japan, huh…」" She whispered.
The thought remained in the forefront of her mind even as she stood up and left.