Chapter 148: What on Earth Happened?!
When Kitasan Black and Duramente shook hands past the finish line, the other Umamusume crossing in succession couldn't help but look their way.
Clutching her waist tightly and breathing raggedly, Satono Crown stared from afar. Her hanging hand clenched on its own, nails digging deep into her palm.
Her temples still pounded like they were being hammered, her brain going numb from the throbbing.
Forcing herself to stay focused with what remained of her concentration, there was only one thing she wanted to figure out right now—
What on earth had happened at the very front of the final stretch?
"...Crown? Crown…"
"Huh…? Ah?"
Snapping out of her daze, Satono Crown turned toward the familiar voice beside her. Seeing it was Rasen, she tried to smile, but the muscles on her face felt stiff as stone.
"W–What's wrong, Rasen…?"
Satono Rasen looked at her quietly for a moment, then turned her gaze toward the two figures ahead, and then toward the display board facing the grandstand. She tugged at the corner of her mouth in a strained smile.
"Lost to her again, huh…"
Satono Crown froze. Following Rasen's gaze, her nails sank even deeper into her palm. She tried once more to smile, but still couldn't.
On the display board, the two names at the very top were followed by Satono Rasen.
And after that—Satono Crown.
"…Congratulations, Rasen. But still…"
She tilted her head slightly, breathing heavily, and like Satono Rasen, tried to move her lips into a faint smile.
"What a shame. If you'd been just a bit faster, that G1 title the family's been longing for would've been—"
"It's not some kind of longing."
Cutting her off, Satono Rasen pressed his lips together and pulled his gaze away, past the one beside him, toward Kitasan Black standing ahead.
"I… just wanted to beat her."
"But now that I think about it, there's someone else I need to beat too."
Realizing who he meant, Satono Crown fell silent.
Ever since she was little, she'd been told about the family's dream of producing a G1-winning racer. It wasn't as if she didn't know what that "longing" meant.
Day after day of training, the string of victories leading up to the Classic Triple Crown—though she'd never said it aloud, she'd already begun to believe she was on the verge of realizing that goal.
A few months ago, after consoling Satono Rasen alongside Satono Diamond and Opera O, that feeling had grown even stronger.
And then, after the Satsuki Sho—perhaps right after crossing the line, perhaps that night, perhaps during the month-long effort toward the Japanese Derby—
Somewhere along the way, a new thought had taken root within her.
She wanted to defeat Kitasan Black.
The gate start, the battle for position, the turn and the uphill, and finally the home stretch—
She told herself that everything she'd built up over the past two months—no, since the day she debuted—had been perfectly unleashed here.
Her strategy, designed with Kitasan Black as her greatest rival, had been executed just as planned. After the final corner, she'd broken free of the pack and even caught sight of that familiar back.
The family's training team had said it clearly: Kitasan Black's greatest strength lay in her stamina. Her incredible endurance allowed her to accelerate more times, take sharper turns, and handle steeper slopes.
But like all things, that strength came with a cost—speed.
That "slowness" was relative, of course—something only noticeable among the very best of the best.
And indeed, whether by data, past race footage, or direct observation, Kitasan Black's top speed could never be called an absolute advantage.
That aspect was precisely her advantage.
As long as she didn't let the gap widen to more than five lengths like in the Satsuki Sho, she would never repeat that defeat.
So what on earth had happened…?
Even if her speed was exactly as the trainers had said—what was with that bottomless stamina…?
What was going on…?
How could an Umamusume who lost the lead, then reclaimed her position, still have that kind of stamina left?
How could she, after accelerating multiple times, still have the strength to pull away from the chase—and withstand a second wave of pursuit?
How could she still have that kind of endurance in the uphill stretch of the Japanese Derby's final straight?!
'Kita-san… do you not even know what it means to get tired…?!'
And then—
'Duramente…'
She had clearly seen her boxed in at the final corner. So how…?
How did she break out of that pack, how did she chase forward, how did she catch up to Kitasan Black…?
That speed, and that zone…
What on earth was going on…?!
Her mind, which had just started to recover, went hazy again like it was starved of oxygen. In a daze, Satono Crown only heard the faint sound of her own voice murmuring:
"Yeah… not just Kita-san… but also Duramente…"
"Not just Kitasan Black… but also Duramente…"
"The ones I want to surpass…"
She suddenly paused.
The two figures she'd been staring at ahead were, before she knew it, walking toward her.
Her mind still foggy, she tried to open her mouth—she thought she said something, thought she heard Satono Rasen and the other Umamusume say something too.
She thought she heard someone say, 'Let's keep going together next time.'
Maybe she even responded to it.
That sounded like something Kita-san would say. Duramente… probably wouldn't.
The thought crossed her mind unconsciously, and with a strained twitch of her lips, she watched the two figures walk past her toward the grandstand.
As they walked, Duramente stole several glances at Kitasan Black. Each time, Duramente parted her lips slightly—but never spoke the words she most wanted to say.
It wasn't "Let's race again."
It wasn't "We'll continue this in the next race."
It was—"Next race, face me again."
She didn't know why that thought came to her.
She didn't know when it had.
To be the strongest.
That had always been her only goal—pure and unwavering.
Victory. Then more victory.
That was the only way to reach that summit.
So when she lost a race… what was she supposed to make of it?
After her two previous defeats, she'd never told anyone—not even Groove-nee. She had quietly pondered that question alone.
But no answer ever came.
She never thought she was inferior to anyone. Or rather—she'd never even compared herself to anyone.
If her goal was to become the strongest, then she only needed to surpass herself—to run faster than she had the last time.
That was all that mattered.
But when she carried that mindset into the home stretch of the Satsuki Sho—someone had suddenly burst into that belief.
No—she had already done so long ago.
"Hi! I'm Kitasan Black! Nice to meet you for the first time! You're Duramente, right? Um… can I call you Dura-chan?"
Those first words from their meeting surfaced abruptly in her mind—along with the close-up image of their two fierce races, of that small face contorted with effort as she gave it everything she had.
Those words, that image, and the growl she'd heard as they crossed the finish line all blended together, echoing in her mind.
She couldn't help but let out a soft laugh.
"Actually… what I want is racing against you, Kitasan Black…"
"There's so many people here—it feels completely different from before— huh? Dura-chan, did you just say something?"
Turning to her side, Duramente looked at Kitasan Black's puzzled expression and gently shook her head.
"No… it's nothing."
<+>
Note:
On the matter of the "Next race, face me again."
Basically, rather than wanting to be in the same race as Kitasan Black, Duramente said that she wanted to race against Kitasan Black specifically.
It sounds similar, but there's some difference.
In simple terms, her words and intent are more focused, that's why she said "face me again.", not an "I will win our next race." or the like.
<+>
If you want to see more chapter of this story and don't mind paying $5 each month to read till the latest chapter, please go to my Ko-Fi[1].
Latest Post In Ko-Fi: Chapter 194: My Turn to Write a "Peach Letter"[2]
Link to the chapter: https://ko-fi.com/post/Chapter-194-My-Turn-to-Write-a-Peach-Letter-Y8Y31RUK1R[3]
https://ko-fi.com/umazing[4]
[1] https://ko-fi.com/umazing
[2] https://ko-fi.com/post/Chapter-194-My-Turn-to-Write-a-Peach-Letter-Y8Y31RUK1R
[3] https://ko-fi.com/post/Chapter-194-My-Turn-to-Write-a-Peach-Letter-Y8Y31RUK1R
[4] https://ko-fi.com/umazing