Her throat stung slightly from the shout she'd forced out from the bottom of her heart.
But the pain in her chest drowned everything else.
Tokai Teio's eyes widened uncontrollably. Even the corners of her mouth began to tremble. She had imagined she might fail—but she hadn't expected to be rejected this cleanly, this decisively, without a single flicker of hesitation.
"W-why…?"
"Is it because you don't like me?"
The questions slipped out in a shaking voice. Even if she'd lost, she still wanted a reason.
"It's not that," Eternal Meteor said. "I just don't want to date."
Her hands spread open in front of her. There was no extra expression on her face—like she was casually chatting about something small with a friend. She said it almost lightly.
That was… at least half true.
Since coming to this world, she hadn't met anyone she truly disliked. Everyone she'd dealt with so far had been kind and gentle.
Maybe that was also because she'd rarely gone anywhere outside Tracen Academy—most of the horse girls she met were straightforward, without ulterior motives, and honestly… very easy to like.
So no, it wasn't that she disliked Teio. That wasn't possible.
But "romance" was too far away from her—so far it might as well be impossible.
It wasn't that she had zero interest in love. Otherwise, she wouldn't have said what she'd said to Rudolf that day.
It was that she couldn't.
Five years. Only five.
…No—she'd forgotten. That was the lifespan she'd been given when she first arrived here.
After she chose to race, she probably had a little over a year left now. Maybe.
How much remained depended on what kind of method she used this winter break to convince Rudolf to let her compete.
That unseen reaper kept closing the distance. It never once stepped away.
Every time she woke up, she could feel the cold seeping deeper into her body—close enough that she could almost hear footsteps, close enough that she could feel the blade of that freezing scythe resting on her shoulder.
Patiently waiting for the instant she stopped running—
so it could harvest her life.
"Is it… something I did wrong? I can change! I can fix it!"
The sudden line snapped Eternal Meteor out of her thoughts—and cracked the calm on her face.
She stared at the small horse girl in front of her, disbelief flooding in. For a second she wondered if her ears had malfunctioned.
"…What did you just say?"
Seeing Eternal Meteor's expression shift, Teio hurried closer, thinking her words had opened a path—thinking there was still hope.
The things Heavy Artillery had said, the silhouette she'd seen on New Year's night—those had been yanking hard on the thin thread of "reason" in her head.
Even her dreams these past few days had been full of Eternal Meteor. She'd wake up in the middle of the night from bizarre scenarios and sleep poorly.
And that hug outside the restaurant—she could still recall it easily, that smile like sunlight pouring straight into her heart.
She couldn't wait anymore.
Love was like the Derby. You had to take first.
One hand pressed to her chest, the other flung out at her side, Teio leaned forward like she was trying to sell herself.
"I'll do anything! Anything you don't like about me, I'll change it—I'll change all of it!"
Up close, she still didn't notice that Eternal Meteor's face had gone cold.
Teio was scrambling, desperately searching for a way to make Eternal Meteor accept her confession—completely blind to the expression in front of her.
"Like—if you don't like really sweet stuff, I can change! We can eat it together later—"
"Stop."
"And also—like—"
Teio ignored her. She stepped even closer and grabbed at Eternal Meteor's sleeves.
"I said stop!"
The raised voice cut Teio off mid-sentence.
Teio froze, suddenly at a loss.
In her widened eyes, Eternal Meteor could see her own reflection—and the anger burning there.
This was wrong.
The Teio in Eternal Meteor's memory—the strong Teio—felt like she'd vanished.
The Tokai Teio who, no matter how many times she failed, always stood back up again.
And now she looked like a child who'd had her only lollipop taken away—eyes full of grievance, full of pleading.
"Teio," Eternal Meteor said, voice hard. "Listen. No one is worth you begging like this."
"Not me. Not Rudolf. No one."
That idea had to be corrected.
No one was so important that you couldn't live without them.
"But I—"
"No 'but'!"
Teio tried to speak, but Eternal Meteor's voice slammed over hers.
"Let's use an example."
"Do you remember what your dream is? Fine—even if you don't, I do."
"Unbeaten Triple Crown."
"You think you can get a championship on the track by begging your opponent to hand it to you?"
"No one will go soft."
"Everything—everything—depends on your own strength."
"…Do you understand?"
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 126)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter130)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter89)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter157)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 133
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 125
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 84
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 143
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 115
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 99
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 53
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 75
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 75
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 52
Uma Musume: I Want All 51
I Can Copy Unique Skills 53
A Guide to Aid in the Underwor 26
Summoning an Evil God, but the 27
Supernatural Multiverse 27
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