"Haaaaaaah!"
"Yaaaaaaaah!"
"Raaaaaaaaah!"
"Leading the pack is Biwa Hayahide! But here come Narita Taishin and Winning Ticket, closing in like a tidal wave! What incredible explosive speed! They've caught Biwa Hayahide, who seemed to have the race in her pocket! BNW—these three are truly the eye of the storm for this generation!"
The Satsuki Sho—the first leg of the Triple Crown. Standing at the center of this storm were Biwa Hayahide of Team Rigil, Narita Taishin of Team Spica, and Winning Ticket of Team Canopus. The public had already taken to calling them the "BNW."
"The final straight! Biwa Hayahide kicks into her final gear, but Winning Ticket and Narita Taishin are relentless! That closing speed is terrifying—they're right on her heels! But Hayahide refuses to be overtaken, accelerating even further! What a battle of wills! Rigil, Spica, or Canopus—who will claim the first jewel?!"
"I won't let myself look pathetic in front of my sister," Hayahide gritted her teeth, her mind flashing to Narita Brian. "I have my pride as the elder sister to uphold!"
"I've put in too many miles with Rampage-senpai to lose now!" Ticket screamed, her heart pounding against her ribs.
As the two pulled ahead, Taishin watched their backs, waiting for the perfect heartbeat. Even in the middle of a full-throttle sprint, she was calculating, charging her final burst with surgical precision. Not yet... a little more... no, wait. She remembered Mr. C.B.'s advice: Don't rush it. If you panic, you lose. Keep your heart hot, but your head ice-cold.
"200 meters to go! It's Winning Ticket! No, it's Biwa Hayahide! They're trading the lead back and forth in a brutal slugfest!"
While Hayahide and Ticket were locked in their spectacular duel, Taishin finally reached her breaking point—the limit where focus transcends into instinct. She unleashed her true closing speed, a sprint as sharp and lethal as a drawn blade.
"The winner... is ME!"
"N-Narita Taishin makes her move! She's not just pulling alongside—she's blowing past them! One length! Two lengths! Biwa Hayahide and Winning Ticket are giving it everything, but they can't close the gap! Narita Taishin crosses the finish line! She has conquered the Satsuki Sho! Second place goes to Biwa Hayahide by a neck, with Winning Ticket taking third! It's a BNW sweep! A whirlwind has truly descended upon the track today!"
"Taishin... you were amazing..."
Ticket stood on the track, breathless and utterly overwhelmed. She had been stunned by the sheer quality of Taishin's final sprint. It wasn't that Ticket had been slacking—she'd been training with the fastest woman in the world, after all. She'd had every reason to be confident. But in that moment, she realized that confidence had curdled into arrogance. She had assumed she would win without truly looking at the monsters running beside her. The realization left a bitter ache in her chest.
"Taishin really is something else," Hayahide said, walking over. She looked disappointed but composed. "But I'll be taking the next one. For the honor of Rigil."
Seeing Hayahide immediately steady herself and look toward the next goal made Ticket tighten her own resolve. The next race was the Derby—the stage she had dreamed of since she was a child.
"Please, Rampage-san! I'm begging you!"
"Don't just start bowing your head without a subject, kid. Speak in full sentences," I sighed.
A few days had passed since the Satsuki Sho, and the Tenno Sho (Spring) was looming. The training grounds were tense. Minamisaka was tied up with Rice Shower and the others, who were using the "Shinzan Irons" to sharpen their mental fortitude for the long haul. While I was covering for him by watching the Canopus practice, Ticket had marched up to me and doubled over in a deep bow.
"Let me use the Shinzan Irons!"
"You're already using them, aren't you?"
"Not those! Give me permission to use the 10x weight setting!"
"Request denied."
"Wha—?! Why?!"
I'd given Ticket permission to use the specialized training weights, but only on a sliding scale. You have to clear one weight class before moving to the next. Jumping straight to the maximum is suicide. I only let Rice use the heavy set because she's on a strict "no-sprinting" psychological regimen. Currently, only Ikuno and I are cleared for 10x full-speed training.
"Unlike Rice, you plan on using those for your actual daily runs, don't you? You're still at 5x. If you jump to 10x now, you'll blow out a tendon, get disqualified from the Derby, and it'll be 'bye-bye career.' I get that you don't want to lose to Taishin and Hayahide again, but cool your jets."
"...I thought that because I was training with you, I was guaranteed to win," Ticket confessed, her voice trembling. "I hate myself for that. I hate that I didn't truly see them. I need to push myself harder! I need to punish that weakness!"
I could appreciate the fire, but she was trying to skip steps. 7x would be the limit of what I'd allow, and even then, only for mental conditioning a week before the race.
"You want to push yourself, huh? There are plenty of ways to do that without breaking your legs on the Shinzan Irons."
"There are?!"
"What do you think those weights are, Ticket?"
"Um... like, a super-heavy training harness for the ultimate Horse Girl...?"
"I mean, you're not entirely wrong, so I can't even argue with you."
I was the one who proved you could build a legend with those weights, so I couldn't exactly knock the logic. But as a sub-trainer, I couldn't let her gamble with her future. If she got injured and missed the Derby, I'd be the one who stole her dream.
"Tell you what... why don't you join the menu Rice is doing?"
"Huh? Rice-san's menu?"
"Yeah. It's not exactly the same, but if you want to fix a complacent spirit, it's the perfect medicine. Your instructor will be Sunday Silence herself."
Ticket gulped. She'd heard the rumors about the Nemesis training sessions. The quality was top-tier, but because Sunday was both the drill sergeant and the pacer, the air was constantly filled with her "constructive" screaming. They said there was never a quiet day—and in that camp, a "quiet day" meant you were doing everything perfectly. It was a terrifying prospect, but the results spoke for themselves.
"If you want my honest opinion, Chiketzo... your problem isn't your legs. It's that you're too easily satisfied. Stop being content. Get hungry. Get noble, fierce, and starving. That craving is where real power comes from. What's your dream?"
"To be a Derby winner...!"
"Right. Then don't stop there. Look past it. You become a Derby winner—fine. Then what? Is that the end of your story? Is that where your heart stops? What's the next dream? And the one after that? That's what it means to be hungry. You have to crave it."
"Hungry..." Ticket whispered, her eyes beginning to clear. "I understand. I'll run for what comes next!"
From that day on, Winning Ticket began to change. Like the "Express Ticket to Victory" her name implied, she began to burn with a fierce, insatiable hunger. And that craving—that noble thirst—was exactly what she needed to reach the next level.
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