At five-thirty in the morning, the first sliver of sunlight had only just appeared—still too weak to fully wash away the night.
Rudolf sat up in bed and, out of habit, reached for the alarm clock that was about to ring.
Better not wake Eternal Meteor, she thought, and quietly hooked her slippers from under the bed with her foot.
Only when she stood did she notice something odd—
The bed beside hers was empty.
She looked closer. On Eternal Meteor's bedside table, a takeout breakfast box was pinning down a note.
President—
They say the best plan for the day starts in the morning, so I went to train first.
I brought breakfast back from the cafeteria and left it on the table—please eat it while it's still hot when you wake up!
At the bottom was a huge smiley face, flashing a V-sign.
Rudolf's morning mood instantly brightened.
"Ha… ha… hah…"
Eternal Meteor had been up since four. After buying breakfast, she'd spent the entire time running laps around the field.
The more she ran, the more exhilarated she became—so much so that she didn't want to stop.
"So you've already fallen into full horse-girl mode?" X asked.
"How could I not?" Eternal Meteor shot back, still moving. "With a body like this, who wouldn't get addicted? I never imagined running could feel this good."
She accelerated again, letting the wind slam into her face, her vision filled with empty track and the pure sensation of speed—no one else around, just her tearing through the morning.
She couldn't help it.
She burst out laughing as she ran, laughing harder and harder until she'd squeezed the last bit of air from her lungs. Finally she stopped, bent over with hands on her knees, trying to breathe.
Then she toppled backward and sat on the ground—still laughing.
She laughed until she cried. Tears streamed down her face, and even snot slipped out, the way a newborn wails upon arriving in the world—
like she was announcing her own rebirth.
"…Uh. Are you okay?" X sounded genuinely startled by the unhinged display.
"I'm perfectly fine," Eternal Meteor said, wiping at her face without a trace of embarrassment. "I've just never felt this clearly that I'm alive. This body is amazing. I'm practically in perfect form."
"…If you're happy, I guess." X had nothing left to say.
"Alright, next step…" Eternal Meteor whipped her head around to make sure nobody had seen her go full lunatic. Satisfied, she relaxed. "I'll go ask the President about my class assignment."
She hummed a little tune as she headed toward the school building.
"It's so quiet. Not a single horse girl hugging the tree and screaming."
"Probably because it's early and no one's around," X said.
Then—like lightning in her skull—Eternal Meteor suddenly collided with something solid.
No, not solid.
A stomach.
A tall horse girl's stomach.
"An assassin—no, wait—Gold Ship?!"
She looked up and saw the unmistakable combo: sunglasses and a face mask.
Every alarm bell in her head detonated at once.
I stepped on the 'burlap sack' trigger.
Her tail shot straight up. Without hesitation, she spun around and bolted.
What she didn't notice was that Vodka and Daiwa Scarlet weren't with Gold Ship at all—
they were lying in wait around the corner.
The moment she hit that corner, the two of them popped out, each gripping one side of a sack, blocking the route like a perfect ambush.
But Eternal Meteor, being small and slippery, dropped into a full-on slide and shot right under their trap, escaping cleanly—
and even had time to turn her head and pull a face at Gold Ship.
"Whew. Good thing I reacted fast," she muttered, patting her chest. "If they'd gotten me, I'd be done for."
"Why are you so against it?" X asked. "If they bagged you, wouldn't that be the perfect chance to join Team Spica? And that trainer's 'hands-off' style seems like it'd suit you."
Eternal Meteor stretched her arms lazily.
"And after I die, then what?"
"..."
"He'd get blamed," she continued. "People would say he didn't care about his horse girl's health, that he overtrained me, blah blah blah."
She yawned.
"If I'm going to die, I want to dig my own grave while I'm firing the gun—no dragging anyone else down with me. I like that line."
But after saying it, she shook her head.
"…Though the moment I joined Tracen, I probably already gave up the right to 'involve no one.' Still, I want to avoid it as much as I can."
"Didn't think you even had a moral bottom line," X said.
"Shut up."
Bickering with X, she arrived at the Student Council office and politely knocked.
"Come in."
She opened the heavy door and stepped inside.
Rudolf was at her desk as usual, working.
And behind Rudolf's chair—only her head peeking out—was Tokai Teio, very clearly hiding.
"You're here," Rudolf said, setting down her pen and looking up. "Your class is assigned. You'll be in the same class as Teio. She'll take you over in a bit. Any other questions?"
Eternal Meteor nodded.
"I want to enter my debut race."
"…Huh?"
"…Ehh?!"
X and Teio blurted out at the exact same time, both equally stunned.
"You don't even know proper running form yet!"
"You haven't really trained at all!"
Their voices overlapped until it became a mess—one in her head, one right beside her ear.
Eternal Meteor felt like she was being shouted apart from both sides, but she forced her face to stay serious.
She stared straight into Rudolf's eyes.
Rudolf's expression sharpened.
"Can I ask why?"
"Because I can win."
"Even without a trainer?"
"Even without a trainer."
"And without training?"
"I'll still win."
Rudolf held her gaze for a long moment.
Then she reached into a drawer and pulled out an entry form.
"There's a debut race tomorrow at Chukyo Racecourse," she said, turning the paper so it faced Eternal Meteor. "Do you want that one? Or next month's?"
"Tomorrow is fine."
She grabbed the pen—
and immediately realized she couldn't write Japanese.
X practically slammed an imaginary table in laughter.
"Laugh all you want," Eternal Meteor snapped. "I'll write it in English if I have to."
She scribbled quickly and filled it out.
Rudolf took the form back, and finally addressed the Teio-shaped creature frozen behind her chair.
"Teio."
"Yes!" Teio yelped, snapping back to reality at being called.
"Take Meteor to get familiar with the class."
Rudolf picked up her pen again and went back to paperwork like this was perfectly normal.
"Okay, President!" Teio said.
She led Eternal Meteor out of the Student Council office. After the door closed, Rudolf could still faintly hear Teio's excited voice, chattering animatedly about debut races.
Rudolf lowered her head and continued working—until a memory surfaced.
The days when she herself had pushed a failing body onto the track… and then, after losing, had hidden away alone to wipe her tears.
A faint blush rose to her cheeks.
But it was quickly swallowed by a smile.
"If Meteor loses… will she cry under the covers too?"
From the start, Rudolf had intended to use this debut race to teach Meteor not to underestimate other horse girls.
The thought made her smile even more.
There's no way someone who was literally just picked up off the street—someone who hasn't trained at all—can win a debut race.
Absolutely impossible.
She pushed the thought aside and returned to her documents.
Join here to read ahead.
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