What did the sky look like at this moment?
Offside Trap could no longer tell.
What spread through her body did not feel like pure exhaustion, either. The energy still surging inside her told her clearly enough that she still had plenty left in reserve.
That sour ache in her chest only grew stronger.
Beside her, the grandstand thundered with cheers. Yet she did not turn to face the roar that had risen for her alone. Instead, she slowly sat down on the turf and watched the white clouds drift across the sky, one after another, from one edge of her vision to the other.
All the hardship and pain along the way had, in the end, become the joy of seeing her dream fulfilled, along with the dazed disbelief of someone overwhelmed by happiness.
Offside Trap still remembered the dream she had held as a child. She had wanted so badly to become a Triple Crown horse girl. She had wanted to stand at the top of her generation and become one of Japan's legends.
And in the end, her generation had indeed produced a Triple Crown winner.
It just had not been her.
Perhaps one sign of growing up was that, as you followed the rhythm of life, you gradually adjusted your goals to something more realistic. Very few people kept the same dream from beginning to end, and clearly, Offside Trap was not one of them.
Until she met that man.
And then the greedy dream she had once buried in childhood bloomed at last into the glory she had achieved today.
She had become Japan's first Autumn Triple Crown horse girl. Three G1 victories in her older-horse year, including that Japan Cup win that was certain to go down in history, had also carried her to the summit of her era.
From now on, when people spoke of the legends of Japanese racing, her name would have to be included.
She had only won three G1s.
But when people discussed the great horse girls whose names had been carved into history, hers was no longer one that could be avoided.
At last, tears slipped from the corners of her eyes. They traced the curve of her face and fell, that fragile beauty magnified on the giant screen above. In that moment, the girl who had already been the center of the entire venue became something even more arresting, and every spectator who looked up found their breath catching in their throat.
The thunderous noise that had shaken the whole of Nakayama Racecourse died away for a moment.
All that remained were countless fixed, attentive gazes.
Grass Wonder leaned forward, bracing herself with both hands on her knees, breathing hard. Beside her, Seiun Sky struggled to stay upright, then finally had no choice but to lean lightly against her.
The two girls of the same generation, both symbols of a new wave, now shared a deep, wordless understanding of that despair—the one that came from watching Offside Trap explode past everyone in a single instant at the very end.
Seiun Sky noticed Grass Wonder's faintly trembling arm.
That girl had even brought out the budding form of a Domain in the final stretch, yet under Offside Trap's overwhelmingly complete strength, she still could not turn things around.
Seiun Sky had every reason to believe that, in some fleeting instant at the end, Grass Wonder had seen victory within reach.
And when that hope shattered—what had that felt like?
As someone who had been overtaken before the race even reached the final two hundred meters, Seiun Sky could not fully imagine it.
She drew in a breath, then let it out slowly.
Thinking of all the training she had done these past days, and the girl who had encouraged her all that while, she felt a strange hollowness open inside her.
In resignation, she brushed at the bangs hanging over her forehead. The little flower by her ear trembled with the motion, and then, despite herself, she smiled.
"Man… I really am too lazy. I should work harder."
"But I'm so tired. I'm sleeping in tomorrow. Maybe I'll go fishing another day…"
Air Groove stood by the railing, her face slick with sweat, looking so exhausted that it was hard to reconcile the sight with the proud vice president of the student council. She raised her eyes and let them settle precisely on the victor.
Back at Fuchu after the Japan Cup, there had also been a stretch of silence after the winning horse crossed the line. But this moment was completely different. Everyone here was simply waiting for Offside Trap to finish letting out her emotions.
They were willing to wait for her—
until the moment they could raise their arms and cheer again.
Was there perhaps a trace of irony in the smile at Air Groove's lips?
A self-mocking one, maybe.
She did want to go over and congratulate her. But she also felt that she had already lost the right to do so.
If that horse girl took the initiative and came to say something to her now… would she be overwhelmed with gratitude?
That once-obscure sapling had now grown into a towering tree in Japan, and Air Groove found herself thinking of next year.
If Offside Trap could simply maintain this form, then perhaps Japan's horse girls really could stand at last on that stage they had dreamed of for so long.
"Thinking about it now… I really was stupid, Air Groove…"
The murmur was quiet, but her spine remained straight.
She was still Air Groove.
Even if she had failed to make the board, she still walked proudly into the tunnel, head held high.
This was the last race of her glittering racing career.
She wanted to leave the stage with dignity.
As the other competitors gradually drifted away across the course, Shinji finally stepped down onto the track and came to stand beside his horse girl.
The girl who had always once stood a little shorter than him now, standing at his side, somehow made him feel as if he himself had grown taller.
"Trainer…"
Offside Trap opened her mouth, but the hoarseness of her voice made her stop short. She did not want her trainer to hear her sounding like that.
"Did you get taller?"
"Mmm…"
The change in her tone made it clear she had no idea, and Shinji could not help but laugh a little.
So horse girls really did waste thought on things like that, huh?
It made her seem unexpectedly cute, so unlike the fierce girl she had looked like a moment ago.
"Anyway, congratulations. You're now Japan's undisputed number one."
He had practically already locked down Horse Girl of the Year for her. At his words, the shimmer in Offside Trap's eyes only deepened.
Then suddenly she lunged at him.
Caught completely off guard—though even if he had been prepared, it likely would not have helped—Shinji was knocked flat onto the turf.
He felt the grass beneath his back, and then saw the girl burying her face against his chest. Her loosened hair spread around them, like tendrils unfurling from his body, or like some strange flower blooming across the field.
"What's wrong?"
Shinji asked softly.
Not far away, Saint Quartz's eyes flickered.
"Nothing. I just wanted to hold you."
Even when she had been trapped in the middle of the pack heading into the third and fourth turns, unable to pull herself clear, she had not truly panicked. Of course she had been anxious, frustrated—but every time she thought of Shinji's face, and that calm, steady look in his eyes, a sense of reassurance would wash through her, soothing the agitation in her heart and letting her keep observing until, at last, she found that one precious opening.
Truthfully, not just outside the race, but even while racing itself, Offside Trap had always felt that Shinji had helped her in countless ways.
[Negative emotion +100]
[Negative emotion +100]
All the emotions that had been bottled up for so long finally began to break loose. It was like a signal had been given—what had started as a trickle of tears now turned into rivers.
"Trainer…"
"Mm?"
"We're going abroad next year…"
"Mm."
Offside Trap traced little circles on his chest with her finger. She did not spare even a single glance for the grandstand. The way she focused on him so completely made it seem as though she had forgotten that she was doing all this under the gaze of tens of thousands in the stands, and countless more watching online.
"Next year… will you still keep being this good to me?"
Hearing the unease in her voice, Shinji simply rested a hand on her head.
He patted her gently, and she visibly relaxed beneath the touch.
"I will."
"Not just next year."
"I always will."
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 138)
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 (Chapter160)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter98)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter175)
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 163
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 150
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 100
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 170
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 145
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 125
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 69
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 90
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 100
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 70
Uma Musume: I Want All 90
I Can Copy Unique Skills 65
Summoning an Evil God, but the 52
Supernatural Multiverse 65
My Harem Is Indescribable 55
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 55
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 66
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 55
Still playing traditional Honk 35
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 35
What Should I Do After Switchi 24
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 35
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 27
Transmigrated as Sukuna 27
Checking In in Demon Slayer 32
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