"By margins measured in centimeters—"
"Fourth place... Winning Ticket!"
"Third place... Biwa Hayahide!"
"Second place....."
"Narita Taishin!"
"And your winner—BY A NOSE DIFFERENCE—"
The world held its breath.
"KING HALO WINS THE SATSUKI SHO!"
The venue detonated.
Half the crowd was screaming in pure joy, the other half in shock. The noise was beyond deafening, a tsunami of sound that crashed over everything. People were crying, hugging strangers, jumping up and down. Cameras flashed like lightning storms.
Down on the track, all four uma musume were still trying to catch their breath, their Zones long faded, leaving them feeling hollowed out and trembling.
King Halo's head shot up when she heard the announcement. For one moment, she just stood there, frozen, like she couldn't process what she'd heard.
Then her face split into the biggest, most genuine smile she'd ever worn. Tears welled up in her eyes, not sad tears, but something deeper, more overwhelming.
"I... I won?" Her voice cracked. "I actually won?"
From the consecutive losses. Nine times she'd stood on a simulation race and watched someone else claim victory. Nine times she'd been told she wasn't first-class, wasn't good enough, would never make it.
And now—
"OH-HO-HO-HO!" The laugh burst out of her, half-joy and half-sob. "TOLD YOU! TOLD ALL OF YOU! FIRST PLACE WAS ALWAYS MINE!"
She wanted to scream, to cry, to collapse. The weight that had been crushing her for so long, it was gone. Just... gone.
She was a G1 winner! She was first-class uma musume!
Beside her, Narita Taishin stood completely still, the blue Zone-mist long faded. Her body trembled from exhaustion, from the comedown, from the crushing realization sinking in.
Second place. By centimeters.
She'd entered a complete Zone. Pushed herself past every conceivable limit. Touched something beyond normal racing. Burned herself up from the inside out until there was nothing left.
And it still wasn't enough.
"Centimeters..." The word came out as barely a whisper. "Just... centimeters."
Her legs gave out. She dropped to her knees on the track, hands braced against the ground, staring at the dirt beneath her.
"I gave everything." Her voice cracked. "Everything I had. Everything I am. A complete Zone. Perfect execution."
Tears started streaming down her face, not from rage, but from the sheer overwhelming weight of it all.
"And it came down to centimeters."
She laughed, the sound caught somewhere between awe and devastation. "The Goddess of Vengeance showed me the path. I followed it perfectly. And you were just... just barely faster."
Her fist pressed against the ground, not in anger, but in exhausted acceptance of an impossible truth.
"How am I supposed to feel about that? You didn't crush me. I didn't fail. We just..." She shook her head slowly. "Centimeters."
A few meters away, Winning Ticket heard the announcement and her knees almost buckled.
Fourth place.
For a moment, relief washed over her. She'd qualified for Derby. Then the rest of it hit.
"I lost to all of them." The words came out quiet, hollow.
Her white Zone had been incomplete. Flickering. Barely held together through sheer desperate willpower.
Fourth place out of three.
Tears started streaming down her face, but she was almost smiling through them a confused, overwhelmed expression.
"I entered a Zone. I actually entered a Zone and stayed with them all the way to the line." Her voice shook. "But it still wasn't complete. Not like Taishin's."
She sat down heavily on the track, wiping at her face with trembling hands.
"Four-race winning streak. Yayoi Sho record. And when it really mattered..." A sob-laugh escaped from her mouth, "Fourth by centimeters. All four of us were within centimeters of each other."
She looked up at King Halo's triumphant form, then at Taishin on her knees, at Hayahide standing exhausted.
"We were all right there. All of us." The tears kept falling, but there was something like wonder in her voice now. "I've never pushed that hard in my life. Never been that close to something so..."
She couldn't find the words.
Biwa Hayahide walked over on shaking legs, her red Zone-mist completely gone. Third place.
She stood there looking at Taishin on her knees, at Winning Ticket crying and smiling at the same time, and felt the weight of it settle over her.
They'd all entered Zones. All four of them. The margins between them were measured in centimeters.
"We all made it," she said quietly. "All four of us qualified for the Derby."
She extended a hand down to Taishin.
"Taishin. Get up."
"I don't know if I can." Taishin's voice was raw but not angry. "I touched a complete Zone, Hayahide. Complete. And lost by centimeters. How do you process that?"
"You don't. Not right now." Hayahide kept her hand extended. "But this isn't over."
Before Taishin could respond, King Halo walked over. That confident smile was still there, but her eyes were different now, recognizing something in them she hadn't expected.
"That was the most insane race I've ever run," King Halo said, and her voice was genuinely shaken. "You pushed me harder than anyone ever has. All three of you. I've never felt anything like that."
Taishin looked up at her, tears still on her face. "You won by centimeters. centimeter, Halo. Do you understand what that means?"
"It means I barely made it," King Halo said quietly. "It means if this race ran ten times, any one of us could win it. It means..." She paused. "It means I got lucky with timing. Today."
The honesty in her voice made something shift in Taishin's expression.
"Lucky," Taishin repeated, then let out a breathless laugh. "Nine simulation losses and you call this luck."
"Not the win. The timing." King Halo met her eyes. "My nose crossed first by centimeters. That's not domination. That's four uma musume at the exact same level fighting for the same finish line."
She looked at each of them in turn.
"But you know what? The Derby is longer. Different track. And I'm going to train until those centimeters turn into lengths. Because winning by centimeters once?" Her smile turned sharp. "That's not enough for a king."
Something flickered in Taishin's eyes not rage, but recognition. Challenge accepted.
"Yeah." She took Hayahide's hand and pulled herself up, legs still trembling. "You won by centimeters today."
Her smile was exhausted but real. "The Derby's going to be hell, isn't it?"
Winning Ticket stood up on shaking legs, wiping her face. "Next time I'll seize the first place!"
Her voice was quiet but determined. "If centimeters decided it today, then every tiny improvement matters."
"Exactly," Hayahide said, looking at King Halo. "The Derby is 2400 meters. A longer distance means more opportunities. More places where centimeters can be gained or lost."
Her red eyes met gold. "And I won't waste stamina early. Every bit of energy goes into the finish."
The four of them stood there, one winner by the smallest margin, three who'd come within centimeters of victory.
The difference between them wasn't skill or heart. It was timing, positioning, and centimeters difference.
"Yeah," Ticket said softly. "Let's settle it at the Derby. For real this time."
The speakers crackled: "Reminder, all four finishers have qualified for the Tokyo Yushun Derby. This race will go down in history as the first time four uma musume with the closest four-way finish ever recorded in a G1 race."
The photographers swarmed, cameras flashing. What they'd just witnessed would become legend, not because of domination, but because of how impossibly close it had been.
King Halo struck her victory pose, emerald dress flowing, smile radiant with hard-won vindication.
Behind her, Taishin, Hayahide, and Ticket stood together, exhausted, defeated by the smallest margins, but understanding something now.
They were all at the same level. The difference was only centimeters. It's just pure luck in this race. The Japan Derby was waiting. And next time, each of them has the same thought at the same time.
Japan Derbyfirst place will be mine!
--
Btw, the illustration will be on the comment.
Pretty intense, right, the chase? Not just randomly skipping hundreds of meters and suddenly reaching the last spurt?
This happened because King Halo was originally only a 1-star character, so it's natural for it to gradually become stronger; otherwise, it would be difficult to match its opponents if she's too strong.
I will continue if this story still has a lot of comments haha. Thank you to those who still hope I will upload it again.