October 23, 2011.
Auspicious: travel, cleaning, moving house, praying for blessings, setting up a bed.
Inauspicious: marriage, engagement/union, breaking ground, burial.
…
…
The Kikuka Sho was being run today.
The most important race of all—one that would decide whether Gold Artisan could become the seventh horse girl in history to conquer the Classic Triple Crown.
And Fuka Shirayuki sat in front of her screen.
She glanced at the time, then clattered out another line of text.
[Chapter 14: The Story of the Tyrant Before She Submits to God.]
Shirayuki kept typing.
The Omniscient, Omnipotent viewpoint had already shown her the ending of this Kikuka Sho.
So…
Since she wanted popularity points, she simply stepped into the role of "prophet,"
predicted the outcome of the race,
and rode the wave of hype while she was at it.
Before the race even started, she hammered out the words at full speed.
[After entering the gate, Gold Artisan is placed in the No. 14 outside stall.]
[After the start, Gold Artisan holds position in the middle pack, until after the third turn…]
[She decides to hold back no longer! She begins accelerating early, steadily cutting through the field! And before they even hit the final straight, she cleanly surges past every rival—Gold Artisan takes the lead ahead of schedule!!!]
[In the end!]
[Gold Artisan crosses the glorious finish line, defeating the late-charging Triumphal Ballet from the very back by two and a half lengths! The post-race time shows she missed the Kikuka Sho record by only 0.1 seconds!]
[With this victory, Gold Artisan becomes the first to reclaim the Classic Triple Crown since Deep Impact in 2005—six years later—earning the honor of being the seventh Triple Crown champion in history. It is also, since Mr. C.B. in 1983—twenty-eight years ago—the second Triple Crown champion whose parents, within the prior generation, were both Japan-bred.]
[Dream Journey: My naming rights over my little sister end here.]
[From now on, people will call me "Gold Artisan's big sister," not call Gold Artisan "Dream Journey's little sister."]
After finishing her so-called prophecy plot,
Shirayuki stared at the screen, hesitating over whether to post it.
She just felt…
If it was only a prophecy, it was kind of boring.
Post it, and all she'd get was predictable shock, confusion, and popularity points.
But…
What if she slipped in a little "extra" of her own?
After all, Fuka Shirayuki had always been the type who loved watching chaos unfold!!!
She suddenly thought of something.
If she wrote it like that, it would be way more fun!
"Hehe!"
With a creepy little laugh, she added one more flourish at the end.
[However…]
[The "Tyrant," celebrating in that moment, still didn't know: her greatest enemy in the future had already quietly appeared at Kyoto Racecourse—even if, for now, she was only sitting in the stands.]
[October 23, 2011]
[Gold Artisan meets the protagonist.]
[The wheel of fate and time begins to turn.]
"Hm…"
After writing that, Shirayuki felt pretty damn pleased with herself.
Perfect!
Let Gold Artisan swagger around for a little longer!
Once God steps onto the track, everything will change!
She clicked [Post].
In the comments, plenty of people were already waiting…
waiting to see whether this "prophet" could really predict the Kikuka Sho that was about to begin.
Please!
This was seriously important!
They refreshed like mad, and the moment the new chapter notification appeared, they dove in ravenous—
right up to the ending.
The paragraph comments on the final lines started skyrocketing at a visible rate.
[…] ?]
[I'm happy you wrote Gold Artisan winning, but what do you mean by "slipping in extra"?]
["JRA": I'd ford the Yellow River, but ice blocks the way; I'd climb Mount Taihang, but snow buries the hills! Triumphal Ballet, crowned the Classic Double Runner-up King!]
[Hakiro, you're fantasizing again…]
But Shirayuki didn't care about the insults.
When God steps onto the track, everything will change!
One day, all of you will bow to me!
She shook her head, turned sharply, and called out with bright, bouncy energy, "Sis Chiori wayaw!"
"Hm…?" Fuka Chiori was curled up in the corner of their tiny ten-square-meter room, only her head showing. Hearing her sister's cute voice, she looked up. "What is it, Sis?"
"I'm heading out today~ Senior Tazuna asked me to go watch a race with her."
Shirayuki spoke like she was acting spoiled.
She'd already explained to her sister what happened before her debut race, too,
and Chiori agreed that Senior Tazuna seemed like a really good person…
so
she didn't object.
Chiori only said, "Alright then. Go, Sis. Will you be back by dinner?"
"I'll message you ahead of time~" Barefoot, Shirayuki pattered across the wooden floor, light and nimble like a newborn deer. Ever since she'd won her debut and become a professional horse girl…
their lives had changed completely.
Even though the debut prize money was only five million yen,
for those prestigious racing families, five million was nothing…
but for two ordinary sisters like them,
five million
was a fortune!!!
Five million! Even after taxes, after JRA, after other cuts… even in the worst case, they'd still get four million in hand! That was basically a whole year's salary for a Tokyo office worker!
Chiori thought about it.
Her sister had said that once the money came in, she'd rent them a new place—
a bright room where sunlight could pour in, where they could sleep separately… eat good food! Go to Ginza! Walk into those bustling CBD districts and spend without flinching!
Thinking that…
Shirayuki smiled and shook her head.
She didn't really have those kinds of fantasies.
Maybe Chiori was just used to being poor. Shirayuki only wanted to save properly once the money arrived,
so the two of them could have a better life from now on.
Seeing Shirayuki already at the entryway, Chiori called out, "Be careful, Sis!"
"Okay~" Shirayuki clamped toast between her teeth for breakfast, tugged on her long boots, and dashed out the door without even looking back.
When the door went bang,
the whole room was left with only Chiori inside.
The girl hugged her knees, still sitting in the corner, the glow of her phone lighting an expression that flickered between emotions.
But it wasn't sadness—
it was a deep, sincere mix of happiness and guilt.
Her sister worked so hard,
taking care of her, taking care of their home, pushing toward a brighter future.
Chiori thought,
when she grew up and succeeded in her studies, she'd repay her sister properly!
But… could she start doing something today?
Looking at the messy, grimy room,
Chiori stood up. She was only a middle schooler—small and slight—yet after tying on an apron, she somehow gave off a maturity that didn't match her age.
Today, she'd start by cleaning the room.
Doing housework for her sister!
She diligently wiped down the table…
opened the cabinet, rummaged through it, cleaned out dust in every corner…
She couldn't do much,
but this was everything she could give.
Only…
While opening the cabinet and flipping through what was inside, Chiori suddenly heard something rattle!
What was that?
Curiosity drove her to pull out all the odds and ends and set them on the floor.
She spotted bottles and containers—packaging that looked like medicine. Chiori reached in… picked them up, examined them, and slowly read the label aloud:
"Escitalopram oxalate tablets?"
Her voice was awkward, halting.
A complicated name.
She thought,
This looks like medicine…!?
The sisters reacted the same way to this kind of thing.
But unlike Shirayuki's careless attitude, Chiori had the stubborn urge to get to the bottom of it.
She wanted to know what this was,
and she was certain—absolutely certain—this was not her medicine.
The expiration date on the packaging hadn't passed. From the timing, it looked like it had been prescribed at the start of this year! And back then, the household had only been the two of them… aside from Chiori herself,
there was only one other person.
Fuka Shirayuki.
"Sis…" Chiori murmured.
Clack.
Her phone slipped from her fingers and hit the floor with a sharp crack.
The screen glowed faintly,
and through that glow you could see the search page—she'd looked up what the drug was for.
[Escitalopram oxalate tablets]
[Antidepressant category]
[Mainly used to treat depressive disorders and panic disorder with or without agoraphobia.]
"…No way…!" Chiori didn't even know what expression she was supposed to make.
All she could think was…
Sis…
has been crying somewhere I didn't know about.
…
…
"I'm not late, am I?!"
Fuka Shirayuki strode up to Tazuna with a firm, determined expression and asked.
"I am the Yellow Flash, so I am!!"
Looks like I went from "depressed" to "bipolar," huh.
Tazuna looked a little speechless. "No. Private Fuka Shirayuki—fall in!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
Then,
Shirayuki followed Tazuna through the special-access route into Kyoto Racecourse…
They were here to watch the race—Gold Artisan's Kikuka Sho.
If Tazuna remembered correctly,
Shirayuki's goal had always been to "defeat Gold Artisan," the destination of her voyage.
So…
Tazuna wanted the answer to a question.
But before that, allow her to ramble a little.
Do you know?
Watching on TV, on a phone screen… versus witnessing it with your own eyes on-site—
the shock and impact are on completely different levels!
Tazuna was intensely curious. If she brought Shirayuki here to watch in person,
to witness Gold Artisan's strength up close,
what kind of reaction would Shirayuki show?
Today would give her that answer.
Would she still want to defeat Gold Artisan?
Or would she…
shrink back?
Because, you see,
there was a later assessment of Gold Artisan that went like this:
Gold Artisan's emergence was, without a doubt, a disaster-level blow to the other horse girls of the 2011 class.
Most of the others switched to turf mile/sprint routes or moved to dirt—only the unlucky Triumphal Ballet kept thinking she had a chance, like Narita Top Road back in the day. She refused to quit, chose to clash head-on… and got fed three second-place finishes by the Artisan.
And yet plenty of that same generation, after switching to turf mile/sprint or to dirt, went on to win G1s.
For example: Swiss Watch (Sadamu Patek), winner of the 2012 Mile Championship; Sun God Steed (Tosen Ra), winner of the 2013 Mile Championship; Babylon King (Belshazzar), winner of the 2013 dirt championship.
So Gold Artisan's Triple Crown was absolutely, undeniably the real deal.
Tazuna was very curious about Shirayuki's answer—and the look on her face back then.
They soon arrived at a private box in Kyoto Racecourse.
Shirayuki pushed the door open and walked straight in.
A voice immediately barked, "I told you, I don't need room service!"
Shirayuki looked over in surprise.
And realized she knew the person inside.
The Emperor—Symboli Rudolf.
Shirayuki turned her head and looked at Tazuna.
The green devil stuck out her tongue. "Can't help it. The Emperor said she had to find you…"
"But she doesn't have your contact info, so she could only reach you through me. If you don't want to see her, I can remove her from the box right now—um…" Tazuna hesitated,
hoping she wouldn't hurt the Emperor's feelings.
"It's fine." Shirayuki shook her head lightly.
Inside, though, Rudolf's eyes lit up the moment she saw Shirayuki's face!
"Fuka Shirayuki?!"
"Come in, come in!"
Completely different from her earlier refusal!
Rudolf greeted her warmly, motioning for her to sit quickly.
She had so many things she wanted to ask and say—her attitude had flipped upside down.
Shirayuki was a little speechless,
but she still sat down with Tazuna in the box to wait for the race to begin.
The atmosphere wasn't particularly awkward.
Once again, it was the Emperor who started the topic:
"Do you know?"
"What?" Tazuna looked at Rudolf.
The Emperor pointed at her phone screen. "About that novel—people are saying it can predict race developments with pinpoint accuracy!"
…
Shirayuki sat bolt upright, lips pressed together, looking completely normal.
The Emperor looked at her. "Do you know about it, Fuka Shirayuki?"
"…I don't." Shirayuki answered honestly, doing everything she could to keep her expression from betraying anything.
Rudolf knowing about the novel…
Shirayuki wasn't surprised.
That story had been built around Tokai Teio as its first target—anything tied closely to Teio, of course the Emperor would hear about it.
But…
Absolutely, absolutely—she couldn't let the Emperor realize that she was the one writing it!
Shirayuki didn't even want to imagine it—
the moment her pen name got exposed…
what kind of inhuman torment she'd suffer at the hands of Teio, the Emperor, and the "lady"!
Three goddesses above!
Please, make the Emperor change the subject!
Shirayuki couldn't show anything off. She couldn't even force a topic change herself—
that would only expose her faster!
But.
Rudolf didn't change the topic at all. She just kept going on and on about this "miraculous, precise prophecy,"
thinking to herself: are these two seriously both offline?
A fossil,
plus a kid?
She said, "The novel just updated!"
"Oh? Just now?" A playful smile seemed to flicker across Shirayuki's face.
Rudolf replied, "About an hour ago—!"
"It predicted Gold Artisan's gate draw today! And her race tactics!! If nothing goes wrong, Gold Artisan will become the seventh Triple Crown champion today!"
"How did it write it again?"
Rudolf began reading the original text aloud: "Stall number fourteen…"
"And Gold Artisan is supposed to accelerate early after the third turn—then take the lead…"
As the Emperor spoke,
at the same time,
the pre-race information for the Kikuka Sho appeared on the screen—
the crucial gate-draw information for every runner!!!
All three lifted their heads at the same moment and looked at the screen!!!
And saw the most critical line of all:
[Gold Artisan — outside: Stall No. 14.]
"…" Tazuna's hand, halfway to her mouth with a piece of fruit, froze in midair.
And Rudolf was even more stunned.
This wasn't the first time—
it was the second precise prophecy. The second!
If the first time was coincidence… then what about the second? And gate draws aren't something you can just "coincidence" your way into! There were eighteen horse girls in this Kikuka Sho! If you guessed, it was a one-in-eighteen shot!!
Not even "Nash equilibrium" or "three doors" could magically land you on the right answer!
Was the second time also coincidence?
Rudolf stood there, stunned to the core!!!
Now she couldn't wait for the race to start—to see whether the tactics would be predicted with the same terrifying precision!
And she thought:
Three goddesses above—
who is the person writing that novel?!
-------
My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
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