An abrupt system alert chimed.
Garden Gale froze again in place... Is that seriously considered clingy flirting? Even a handshake done with mutual affection counted?
Would a hug count too? Like, a mutually affectionate embrace or something. With this thought, once she clearly understood the premise, the path forward became obvious. So if she approached everything with mutual affection, she could potentially reap rewards from anything? Turns out clingy flirting wasn't as difficult as she'd imagined.
...Though, admittedly, that handshake just now—
Made her scalp tingle, but she absolutely had to do it.
If she'd refused to shake hands, Tokai Teio might've misunderstood, thinking she looked down on her or something.
Plus...
It wasn't only that.
As Garden Gale pondered the correct way to utilize the clingy-flirting system, her vision gradually sharpened.
How to describe it?
It was an extremely strange feeling… but a good one. Addicting, even. Might as well start from the top: an hour ago… no, just ten minutes earlier, Garden Gale stood clueless on the racetrack. She didn't understand how to run, didn't know how to get stronger. Watching Air Shakur and Fine Motion train, she'd been even more baffled—why were they training like that?
Back then, she'd been a total blank slate.
But now—
Everything suddenly made sense; the world had been illuminated by sunlight.
Garden Gale had abruptly grasped a great deal of basic knowledge. Standing once more, gazing into the distance of the racetrack, she was no longer lost.
Everything was crystal clear.
The racing rules, the track, her running style, all the messy, fundamental knowledge… poured into her head like a revelation.
If a simple handshake was this powerful—
Then what would hap—wait no… just how amazing would it feel to cling to Tokai Teio for real?! She was totally looking forward to that!
In an instant, Garden Gale's desire and motivation to continue surged again. Maybe it really was possible to become super strong before her debut race?
But for now, she shifted her attention back to Tokai Teio and Air Shakur. The two more outgoing girls had begun to take charge of the situation, and Air Shakur's reply carried a faintly amusing scent of gunpowder, sparking off into the air.
"Well, sure." Air Shakur's lips curled again upon hearing Tokai Teio's question. She pointed confidently at herself. "Let's race. If you win against me, Team LOCK's training track is yours, use it for as long as you like. If you lose, though, then both of you leave immediately. The two geniuses of the Junior Division wouldn't be afraid of a weakling like me, right?"
Tokai Teio's expression turned intrigued. "Eh!?"
So it's a race she wants?
That… actually sounded pretty fun.
"How will we race?" she asked, tilting her head slightly to look up at Air Shakur. Even then, her aura didn't falter a bit, matching evenly against the upperclassman who had already claimed several victories and towered over her.
Air Shakur explained slowly and clearly: "You two decide who runs against me. That's all."
Garden Gale nearly shrank on the spot, turtle-style retreating straight into her shell—but she knew now was absolutely not the time to chicken out. Forcing herself to hold it together, she turned stiffly toward Tokai Teio: "You should go."
Truthfully, she was terrified of being chosen herself!!!
She absolutely wouldn't stand a chance. Zero chance. It was good enough she wasn't still a blank slate anymore.
She'd repeated it over and over again, but the truth remained: the other three were all big bad wolves, and Garden Gale was merely a sheep in wolf's clothing. The second she got exposed, she'd be eaten alive. But at least now the situation was better—at least there was Tokai Teio, who'd barged in to save the day.
Hold it together.
She absolutely had to hold it together. She couldn't crumble here—if she did, she'd die a spectacular social death.
She left the rest up to Tokai Teio.
No reason other than pure trust.
"But why meee?" Tokai Teio pouted, looking so unhappy that Garden Gale, a certified anxiety sufferer, nearly bowed on the spot in apology. Yet, in the next moment, Tokai Teio swiftly sorted out her feelings: "Is it because she's not strong, so you don't wanna run? Or are you trying to hide how sharp you really are? But no worries, Garden Gale-san, I promise I'll catch up to you eventually."
"To tell you the truth, I've waited a long time to race against you. Like how Prez feels towards CB, facing off with a real ace—you're supposed to be super strong, right? I've been dying to challenge you. It's close now, the day we finally clash at full force on the racetrack. I know it's unlikely, and I know you're strong, but when that day comes, I still wanna beat you."
"Well, perfect timing then—time to test out the super ultimate finishing move I just figured out! Sky-High Teio Step!"
Air Shakur bared a set of shark-like teeth, practically biting the words out: "Oi, oi, oi, careful not to get bitten by a shark. Aren't you getting carried away here? You're racing against this Umamusume right here—shouldn't you at least focus on me?"
Their eyes met, sparks practically flying between them.
Garden Gale's brain went blank.
Done.
Yep.
Garden Gale was totally done! God, why was there another misunderstanding?! Just what image did the original Garden Gale have, anyway, that someone as powerful as Tokai Teio… would say something absurd like catching up to her? Catch up to what exactly—her social anxiety? That was probably achievable, sure, but it wasn't something to aspire to! Strength, optimism, confidence—those were all things Garden Gale desperately wanted to learn from Tokai Teio.
"You're supposed to be super strong"—what kind of joke was that?! Garden Gale had already run out of energy to even argue back.
Taking a deep breath, Garden Gale resigned herself to her fate, expression completely flattened into a state of hopeless acceptance, shifting all her attention towards the race itself.
Since things had gotten to this point… this match was inevitable.
Neither side could back down now.
After confirming some details and settling the terms of the race—
Fine Motion shared a quick glance with Garden Gale. Without saying a word, she simply stood there, letting the wind brush softly across her cheeks.
They gazed silently towards the two at the starting line.
Clear skies. Track conditions good. Derby distance: 2000m. Left-hand course.
...
Senior Division AIR SHAKUR vs. Junior Division TOKAI TEIO.