She didn't have to wait long. Before she could finish counting the leaves, two sets of footsteps reached her ears.
As she had expected, it was Isami Mai and Saint-King Halo.
They came one after the other, placed their bouquets in front of her, and then fell silent.
After a long while, Isami Mai finally spoke. "It's that day again."
"Time flies so fast..."
Hearing her words, Celestial Weave suddenly understood. Why Narita Top Road and the others had all come to pay their respects yesterday—they wanted to leave this more special day for her mother and sister. But then she thought of T.M. Opera O, who had slept in front of her all night and only left this morning, and couldn't help but smile wryly. "That's cheating, you know."
While she was lost in her own thoughts, Isami Mai continued, "But even after so long, the brilliance I witnessed at the Satsuki Sho is still as clear as if it were yesterday."
"Is this a gift you left for me?" As she spoke, she clutched her chest, as if feeling the intense emotions of that day from her heart.
For Celestial Weave, the Satsuki Sho had just happened. She couldn't yet understand the even more dazzling brilliance that had been born from that moment being tempered by time. But she was still very happy to hear her mother say this. The Satsuki Sho championship that she had traded her life for had brought something else besides completing the main mission. That was enough to satisfy her.
"Was it brilliant?" she said to herself, not expecting a response.
"Ah, so brilliant it was blinding," her mother replied, as if she had heard her. "You on the racetrack." But before she could be surprised, she added, turning her gaze to her other daughter. "I'll leave the rest of the time to you. You have a lot you want to say to Yume alone, don't you?" She nodded to her and quietly retreated to the shade of a distant tree.
Celestial Weave looked at her sister curiously. Narita Top Road had cried like a child. Admire Vega had seemed hesitant to speak. T.M. Opera O had secretly come to act out the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and even stayed until today. Her mother had clearly expressed the impact she had had on her, that her brilliance had finally reached her heart.
Then what about her? What would she say to her? After she died, had she become a respectable horse girl? Perhaps because she had shown her vulnerability the most, Celestial Weave was also the most expectant of her future.
Saint-King Halo pressed her lips together, staring at the tombstone hesitantly. After a while, she finally mustered the courage to speak. "I'm sorry."
"These words are much later than I intended."
"They should have been said to you sooner, but what happened after the Satsuki Sho..."
"After that, I felt I had no right to appear before you. It's only today that I've finally found the courage to come here." She whispered, stroking the cold, black and white photo on the tombstone.
"Black and white doesn't suit you." Saying that, she took a red ribbon from her pocket. Celestial Weave saw that it seemed to be wrapped around something that glinted with a metallic light. She placed the ribbon flat in front of the tombstone, and on top of it was a small medal, with gold lettering that read—
"G1 Race—Takamatsunomiya Kinen—Champion Saint-King Halo."
After she had gone, she had finally broken through her own shackles and become the first-class horse girl she had always dreamed of being. Seeing this medal of honor, Celestial Weave applauded her with relief. Having burned her life for a G1, she naturally knew how hard-won this medal was. Especially since she had won it after her death, which seemed to mean that she had overcome her inner demons.
"Congratulations—"
"I won this medal a few years ago."
Eh? She was confused. This wasn't a recent win? Winning a G1 and then declaring her reconciliation with herself to her sister—that should have been the correct path.
What she hadn't expected was what came next. After taking out the medal, Saint-King Halo showed no sign of relief. "Now, I can finally understand Admire Vega's feelings."
"What's the use of winning so many championships? It's just an excuse for self-comfort. Will you come back just because I became a first-class horse girl?!" Her voice was gradually tinged with a sob, her usually clear voice trembling. Crystal tears rolled down from the corners of her reddened eyes, pausing for a moment on her chin before falling heavily onto the cold ground, leaving dark spots on the stone slab.
"But what's the point of saying sorry in front of a tombstone?!"
"It's not this stone I'm sorry to, but a living person!"
Her tears fell like broken pearls, her voice shattered by sobs, each word as if squeezed from the depths of her chest. From this intermittent crying, Celestial Weave clearly understood her sister's journey over the years. First, it was a heart-wrenching regret that felt as if she were coughing up her very marrow. Then it turned into a desperate obsession with chasing a G1. But when she finally held the trophy, the expected redemption turned into an even deeper void. She still couldn't forgive herself.
And just then, the cold, mechanical voice sounded in her ear again. "Beginning return to the real world."
Did you bring me back to this world just to see this? How cruel, system.
Looking at the tear-streaked Saint-King Halo, she couldn't help but want to wipe away her tears with her hand, even though she knew she couldn't—
"Eh?"
Two sounds of confusion suddenly sounded in the cemetery at the same time.
Celestial Weave's hands were now wrapped in points of light, looking ethereal. But these hands were now actually, tangibly touching her sister's cheek. Looking at the bewildered Saint-King Halo, she was stunned for a moment, then laughed. "You don't have to blame yourself so much."
"Y... Yume?!"
"It's me." She gently wiped away the tears from her sister's face.
Saint-King Halo finally broke down. She didn't know if this was her imagination or a hallucination, but she knew that the warm touch on her face was real. She cried out and threw herself at her, her words muffled by tears and a runny nose. "Y-Yume! I-I'm so sorry! I-I was your sister, but I did those things, and I didn't even come to see you—"
"I-I don't deserve to be your sister—"
And she just held her, gently stroking her cheek. She remembered the first time she had met her, the girl who had proudly dragged her around the school, the girl who had shyly handed her a ribbon. "That was indeed a mistake—" saying that, she pushed her away and held her face, which had become timid from crying, in front of her.
Looking at the pitiful Saint-King Halo, she smiled, tapped her red nose with her fingertip, and said, smiling in the light, "Because you were already a first-class sister."
-------
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