The starting gate felt like a cage. Metal walls pressed close on either side while Suzuka stood in the narrow space, her hooves scraping against the textured surface beneath her. She could hear someone's anxious breathing two gates over, the creak of metal as another uma musume shifted her weight.
Her own heartbeat hammered in her ears. This was it, the Oka Sho, the race every three-year-old filly dreamed about since they were kids watching replays on TV. Just making it here meant you'd already beaten hundreds of others who never got the chance.
But nobody came here to participate.
Suzuka took a breath, let it out slowly. Her eyes locked on the track ahead, the dirt still holding marks from the previous race. The crowd noise became a distant hum. The cameras didn't matter. Nothing mattered except that stretch of dirt waiting for her.
CLICK—
The gates slammed open.
WHOOSH—
Eighteen uma musume burst forward in an explosion of movement and dirt. Hooves thundered against the track, the sound like rolling thunder as the pack surged ahead.
Suzuka hit her stride immediately. Her legs moved with a rhythm she'd drilled into muscle memory over months of training, each step covering more ground than it had any right to. By the time they passed the fifty-meter pole, she'd already carved out half a length of open air between her and whoever was running second.
Gate thirteen should've been a nightmare for a front-runner. Too far outside, too much ground to cover if you wanted the rail. But Suzuka didn't even glance toward the inside. She had one job: run faster than everyone else could keep up with.
"AND THEY'RE OFF! Beautiful break from the entire field—oh, but look at Silence Suzuka! She's already pulling ahead from that outside gate! Is she really going to run using the Great Escape Strategy?!"
The announcer's voice crackled through the speakers, barely audible over the roar building in the stands.
Behind Suzuka, the pack was already forming. Vega had lucked into gate four and used it perfectly, settling into second without having to fight for position. Right behind her, Biwa Heidi moved with purpose. She'd spent the last month training specifically for this race, building the speed she needed to challenge Suzuka head-on.
Biwa Heidi watched Suzuka's back getting further away and kicked harder. Her legs burned, but she pushed through it, closing the gap meter by meter. The wind whipped past her face, carrying the scent of dirt and sweat.
"Not bad, Silence Suzuka." The words came out between breaths. "But if this is all you've got, I'm gonna be disappointed."
She dug deep and found another gear. Suzuka's back was right there now, close enough to reach out and touch. For a second, Biwa Heidi thought she might actually catch her this early.
Then, Suzuka's form lit up with golden light.
Three skills activated in rapid succession: Taking the Lead, Straight Acceleration, Front Runner Straight. The light flared around Suzuka like she'd caught fire, and suddenly she was pulling away again, the gap widening with each stride.
"What the hell?" Biwa Heidi's eyes went wide. "Suzuka, what did you—how is this possible?"
One month. It had been one month since their last race, and Suzuka had apparently spent every single day of it getting stronger. Biwa Heidi was running at her absolute limit, pushing her body harder than she ever had, and Suzuka was just... leaving. Like Biwa Heidi was standing still.
The truth hit her like a punch to the gut. Even if she had unlimited stamina, even if she could maintain this pace for the entire race without slowing down once, she still wouldn't catch up. The great escape didn't run on stamina, it ran on pure, overwhelming speed that nobody else could match.
"BIWA HEIDI IS GOING FOR IT! She's challenging Suzuka early, trying to close that gap! Wait, wait! Suzuka's pulling away again! Look at that acceleration!"
Biwa Heidi's lungs screamed for air. She forced herself to think past the frustration, past the urge to keep chasing. If she burned out here trying to match Suzuka, she'd have nothing left for the rest of the race. And there were still plenty of other Uma Musume behind her fighting for second, third, and podium positions that actually mattered.
She eased off, letting herself fall back into the pack where she could tuck in behind Vega and catch the draft. The relief was immediate, the wind resistance dropped, and her breathing came a little easier.
Up front, Suzuka ran alone.
The track opened up ahead of her, empty and waiting. No one crowding her space, no one forcing her to adjust her line. Just her and the dirt and the rhythm of her own hooves hitting the ground.
"BIWA HEIDI'S BACKING OFF! Silence Suzuka has complete control of this race now, and she is running like flying on the grass! I've never seen anything like this!"
The gap kept growing. Five lengths became six, became seven. The afternoon sun beat down on the track, making the dirt shimmer with heat. Suzuka's shadow stretched out behind her, long and dark against the lighter ground.
"Eight lengths! Nine! TEN LENGTHS and we haven't even hit the first corner yet! This is insane! Is anyone going to challenge her?!"
Behind Suzuka, the real race was happening. Vega held second with Biwa Heidi right on her heels, both of them fighting to stay ahead of the pack surging behind them. Some Uma Musume moved up on the outside, her powerful stride eating up ground as she positioned herself for the stretch run. Fight Gulliver stays at fifth place, biding her time and watching for any opening.
These weren't weak runners, every single uma musume here had earned their spot through talent and hard work. Biwa Heidi had won her trial race by two lengths. Vega had set a track record in her prep race. Fight Gulliver had closed from dead last to win going away in her debut.
But Suzuka was on a different level entirely.
In the stands, a retired uma musume who'd raced fifteen years ago shook her head in disbelief. "She runs like Maruzensky used to. That same kind of... I don't know, inevitability."
A few seats back, Maruzensky herself smiled at that. For over a decade, only Ines Fujin had managed to match her front-running dominance, and even that was a tie (If I'm not mistaken, their time records are the same in the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes).
Maruzensky itself thought her era might never be matched.
"Hehe. That junior of mine really is something special, isn't she?"
On the far side of the track, Daiwa Scarlet stood pressed against the rail, watching with her mouth hanging open. "Ten lengths from the start? That's not something that Uma Musume can do. Even if you don't collapse, you'll run out of stamina way before the finish."
But Suzuka wasn't slowing down. If anything, she looked like she was still accelerating. The gap continued to widen, dirt flying from her hooves as she carved through the first turn. Her form stayed perfect, no signs of strain or fatigue.
"Is this what a real front-runner looks like?" Daiwa murmured. Everything she thought she knew about race strategy was getting thrown out the window. This wasn't conserving energy for a late kick. This was complete domination from start to finish.
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The illustration is in the comments.