The hands of time continued to move, and the season began shifting as months went by. The dreaded heat of this year's summer was washed away by the comforting coolness of autumn. The leaves turned an orange tint, the air grew cooler and cooler, and the draft of rain became a common sight for the land of the rising sun.
And on an unassuming cloudy day, in an abandoned track all the way in Gunma–
"We're gonna get dirty, y'know~" I said, though I made no effort to actually stand up from the Dirt track. My hair clung to my face, damp from sweat and now caked with dirt. My limbs remained spread out, as if to better soak the minimal sunlight that was cutting through the sea of clouds.
Well, even if I did put some effort, I doubt I would've been able to stand up, considering Oguri Cap treated me like her bed. Her expression melted with bliss as she rested her head on my chest, her tail wagging excitedly. "I know." She said, not bothering to move at the slightest.
I sighed fondly as I gently patted her head.
I didn't blame her. This cloudy weather was making me sleepy, and after that intense training we just did, falling asleep sounded rather pleasant right now.
"Mm." Oguri gently closed her eyes. "I wonder what Belno is doing right now…"
I closed my eyes as well. "Who knows~?" I smiled slightly. "Probably trying out new ways of tormenting other people with her Domain?"
"Nn." A small pause followed, before Oguri hummed. "Preparing for the [Autumn Tenno Sho]?"
"Probably." I agreed with a small nod.
And I didn't blame her. After Inari One and Dicta Striker unveiled their Domains at the [Sapporo Kinen], Belno was probably feeling quite pressured. Dicta's Domain was especially terrible for her, considering Dicta's whole thing was being able to shoot through Domains. And since Belno's Domain was still an incomplete one, it didn't have the same durability.
It wasn't just Belno, of course. Inari One's inclusion into the fray had lit a fire beneath everyone's feet, and excitement was building as the day of the [Autumn Tenno Sho] was quickly approaching. It was looking like another [Takarazuka Kinen]-situation was about to happen.
Which was why Oguri and I were contemplating dropping out.
It sounded like madness, but honestly, it was something both of us had been contemplating for quite some time now. My stats were at their Limit and Oguri was-, well, Oguri—arrogant as it sounded, there wasn't anyone active in Japan that could pose a genuine threat to us. At least not right now.
Besides, Oguri already had 6 G1 victories under her belt, while I had 5. We were already closing in on Symboli Rudolf's record, and we were far from done. I was still guaranteed to run in several more G1s once next year came around, and even I didn't know what'd follow after that.
So instead of turning the [Autumn Tenno Sho] into another two-man show, we were considering whether we should just skip the race, and instead pour all our efforts into preparing for the [Japan Cup].
Of course, these were only conjectures we shared in private. Nothing was concrete just yet. We'd need to have a good discussion with Kitahara and Belno if we truly wanted to go through with this.
"Ne. Oguri." I slowly opened my eyes as I fought off my sleepiness. "You wanna get a snack. Feelin' kinda hungry right now."
But only silence answered me, and it took me quite a while to realize that Oguri had already fallen asleep. She was softly snoring as she curled in on herself like a cat, still using my chest as her pillow. I slowly blinked at her for quite some time, before I smiled softly as I patted her head.
I stared at the cloudy skies for quite some time after that, my eyes slowly closing as I felt the weightlessness of sleep slowly pull me under.
Without me realizing, my eyes eventually closed.
.
.
.
When I next opened my eyes, I found myself standing inside a…hospital room?
Everything looked normal enough. Sterile white walls, an opened window that showed a strangely picturesque outside, a television that endlessly droned the same news segment over and over, and a sickly-looking young woman with IV drips connected to her arms and a respirator over her mouth.
There was something strangely familiar about her, yet also something fundamentally wrong. As if I'd seen her many times before, but from a different perspective.
The woman gently stirred from her rest, and her eyes were dull as she slowly turned to me. "Who…?" She whispered, her voice no better than a rasp.
A prickling sense of unease stabbed into my heart, but I quickly suppressed it. I quickly donned my 'Hero' mask and smoothed my expression into a stern frown. "Apologies, miss." I made a small bow. "I did not mean to wake you from your slumber."
The woman's eyes went wide as she quickly pushed herself up. "Holy shit-, an umamusume!?"
Her words caught me by surprise. "I-, yes. I am indeed an umamusume."
Even with her respirator, it was easy to tell just how surprised the ill woman was. She stared at my face first, before her eyes slowly moved towards the ears on my head, then to the tail behind me. She gulped. "You're-, that's not cosplay, is it? They're, like, real real?"
I nodded slowly. "Of course they are. I would be quite intrigued had I known that such lifelike cosplay existed."
By this point, a discomforting possibility had made itself known in my mind. Knowing what an umamusume was, yet finding it difficult to believe that they were real. This seemingly mundane world, this strangely familiar setting–
This was my previous world, wasn't it?
My eyes narrowed. But in that case, then who was this woman before me? I knew that it wasn't ████; her name might be lost to me, but I could still remember what she looked like. On the other hand, this young woman felt familiar to me, but I couldn't remember where exactly I'd seen her before.
But this was no time for me to lose myself in my thoughts. Whether this was a dream or some alternate reality I'd slipped into, I couldn't just remain silent as a statue. "I am Blossom Star." I made another bow. "Once again, I apologize for appearing so suddenly. In truth, even I am unsure how exactly I arrived here."
The woman quickly shook her hands, wincing slightly at the motion. "I-It's fine! It wasn't like I was-, uh, um-" She giggled sheepishly. "F-Forget I said anything." She cleared her throat. "I'm Xīnxīng." She forced a smile as she winked. "Just call me Xīng."
I nodded faintly, doing my best to not let my discomfort show. That wink she did felt so familiar, and it was killing me that I couldn't remember why.
"Then I shall do so, Ms. Xīng."
Her smile became much more genuine after that, before she froze for a moment. And then her eyes went wide as she pointed at me. "W-Wait, you said your name's Blossom Star, right!?"
I blinked. "Uh, yes."
And suddenly I winced as Xīng shrieked with joy, her dull eyes glittering with excitement. "Wait, so you were born in Kasamatsu, right?" I nodded. "And you went to Kasamatsu Tracen with Oguri Cap, right?" I nodded again. "And you two eventually ended up banging, right-!?"
"H-H-HOW DID YOU KNOW T-THAT!?" I asked, my cheeks burning bright red as I stared at the woman in horror.
Xīng just giggled. "Oh my god, Blossom Star actually got isekai-ed into the real world!" She grinned widely. "Hehe, she's going to be sooo jealous once she hears about this!"
I smiled wryly as the woman descended into her own world, though I made use of the chance to quickly think things through. From the way Xīng spoke, she made it sound like my life had become a story of some kind. I wouldn't be surprised if I'd somehow gotten integrated into this world's Cinderella Gray manga.
But-, how? The Cinderella Gray I remembered from my previous life was a tale about Oguri's rise through Central. By all rights, I was the interloper that got added into the story, and yet my story had become the norm in this new world.
With furrowed brows, I posed my first question. "May I ask something?"
Xīng blinked. "Uh, yeah! Of course!"
I nodded. "You speak as if you knew about my story, yes?" She nodded. "And I assume this story follows Oguri and I's journey?" She nodded again, and my eyes narrowed. "Does that mean you even know about the Three Goddesses?"
She nodded. "Mhm!" She grinned. "Everyone was going crazy when CyGames first showed that you were the Goddesses' chosen, but your universe has some crazy umas, so all the surprise passed pretty quickly."
Suffice to say, I was freaking out at this point. From the sound of it, every part of my story was known, and I had to grit my teeth as I forced back the sense of unreality that was invading my every thought.
The only thing that remained secret was perhaps the fact that I was previously a normal human before my reincarnation, though I wouldn't be surprised anymore if even that was known.
I gulped. "Then-, do you know how my story…ends?"
At that,
"Nope." Xīng answered simply. "Your manga's only reached about Chapter 77, and your Light Novel's currently on Chapter 179." She pouted. "We've only just finished the [Sapporo Kinen], and the last chapter was about you bringing Inari to Gunma for that trial race you promised her."
I blinked, and blinked, and then my shoulders collapsed with relief.
Okay. It seemed that my story was being written based on what I've experienced, and not the other way around. I was beginning to despair when I thought that every part of my journey had been predetermined, but it seemed that wasn't quite the case.
Thank the Goddesses.
"Then you are just as much in the dark as I am." I said, smiling slightly. "In that case, may I ask a few more questions?"
Xīng gave me a frighteningly familiar grin. "Bring it on!"
I took a breath as I posed her my next question.