Young dashed into the rain.
Water splashed beneath her feet as she spotted Lidden still running on the tracks.
"Lin!" Young shouted, chasing after her and stepping onto the track beside her.
Gasps rose from the corridor.
Murmurs grew louder.
"What are they doing…?"
"Are they crazy?"
Teachers began pushing through the crowd, trying to stop the reckless scene from escalating before them.
But midway—
Three figures stood in their path.
Urara. Rush. Mary.
...
...
Moments earlier...
They had devised a simple yet effective plan, or so they believed.
First, Urara would cause chaos—run near the doorway, slip on purpose in a puddle, fake an injury.
Then Rush would panic loudly, drawing the teachers' full attention.
And finally, Mary—using her reputation—would step in, offering to "handle" the situation outside.
It was brilliant.
Or so… they thought.
Back to the moment...
As the teachers pushed through the crowd—
There it was.
A wild Urara was sprinting straight toward them.
Rush gave her the signal.
Urara nodded.
She prepared to dive—just a harmless fake slip.
Suddenly—
The wetness of the floor was beyond their measure.
And she failed to fake it.
Her foot skidded on the wet floor.
"Ah!"
Urara slammed face-first into the concrete.
*Bang*
A loud thud followed, and everything froze.
The teachers gasped and rushed forward in panic. Rush and Mary stared in horror—this wasn't supposed to happen like that.
Urara was lifted upright—
Blood streamed from her nose and lip.
And one of her front teeth was gone.
"Oh my god!" a teacher gasped. "Quick! Get something to stop the bleeding!"
Chaos erupted, and the nearby students screamed.
Teachers then shouted instructions, urging other students to back away.
Now, the crowd that had gathered focused entirely on the injured pink figure in the hallway, forgetting the two outside.
Rush then rushed forward with Mary, kneeling beside Urara.
"Oh my god! Urara! Are you okay?!" Rush panicked.
Meanwhile, Mary hovered nearby, searching frantically for anything to stop the bleeding. For once, her usual calm was gone.
She turned, about to excuse herself to grab first aid—
"Mary-chan!"
Mary froze.
Urara, one hand pressing her bleeding nose, lifted the other in a thumbs-up. She grinned with one tooth missing.
It was her signal.
Now's the chance. GO!
Mary stood still, her fists tightening. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. Urara wasn't meant to get hurt—especially not like this.
In the end, she made her choice.
She turned sharply to Rush.
"You."
Rush, still shaken, barely reacted.
Mary shoved her lightly.
Rush staggered, blinking out of her shock.
"Wh— What…?"
"You take my place," Mary ordered. "I'll go with Urara instead."
"B–but… Urara was—" Rush stammered.
"This isn't the time to argue," Mary interjected. "They're your friends too, aren't they?"
"Y–yes… but—"
"No more 'but.' Just do it," Mary added. "I'll supervise Urara and take her to the infirmary in your stead."
She then turned away, returning her attention to Urara, adding,
"So stop gawking and go, Rushing Sky."
With that, Rush nodded faintly, "Y–yes…" and turned toward the doorway.
She rose to her feet and started going for it.
But before she could leave, a teacher blocked her path. Her hand landed on her shoulder.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Oh—oh!" Rush fumbled. "I—I'm going to help convince them to come inside. Given that they're my friend, too. And I believe I have a better chance to do it..."
The teacher studied her for a second, then sighed.
"I see… At least take an umbrella. I don't want you catching a cold, too."
She handed Rush one.
"Be careful. It's slippery out there. I don't want another student injured."
Rush clutched the umbrella and nodded quickly.
"Okay!"
Just before Rush stepped fully outside, the teacher called out once more,
"Watch your step, okay?!"
Rush nodded.
Right before entering the rain, she glanced back.
Urara was being helped up carefully by teachers and a few students—Mary among them.
Rush tightened her grip on the umbrella and whispered,
"Urara… please wait for me…"
Then she turned—
And walked into the rain.
***
***
***
Meanwhile...
Outside the school, the storm raged.
Then, on the soaked track, two Umamusume ran.
One chasing.
One being chased.
"Lin!" Young shouted, pushing through the heavy rain.
But her stamina was nowhere near Lidden's. Each step drained her faster.
"LIN!!!" she cried again, louder this time.
There, through the pounding rain, her voice finally broke through.
Lidden's pace slowed.
And slowly... she turned her head over her shoulder, and glanced back.
Through the pouring rain, she saw Young chasing her.
Her form was terrible—worse than her current sloppy tread. No balance. No proper structure. No control over her breathing.
The very principles Young once drilled into her were not used even the slightest. Probably because she never trained with it.
For a moment, Lidden accelerated.
She tried to outrun her.
Ignore her.
But then—
"LIN, I'M SORRY!"
Young's voice tore through the rain again.
With that, Lidden faltered once more.
"Lin… I'm sorry… I'm sorry for what I said… for what I did…" Young hollered, though barely clear between gasps, she was running out of fuel, yet she kept running.
"Lin… I'm sorry for hurting you… for making up that excuse so I could feel better about myself…"
With more words surfacing, Lidden slowed further.
"I'm sorry for running away. For being selfish. For treating you like—" Young choked, forcing herself forward. "No… for this relationship… like something that I can throw away…"
"And... I..."
"I..."
"I...!"
"I'm sorry for lying…!"
With her last burst of shouting, her energy, too, dried.
"Lin—"
She uttered as her legs gave out.
Young collapsed onto the floor and splashed right into the mud.
Then she rose slightly to her knees, rain pounding down on her as she struggled to breathe. Struggled to stand back up.
"Lin..." she muttered.
Only then did Lidden stop.
She stood still for a second.
Then slowly—
She turned and walked toward Young, who remained kneeling on the soaked track, panting harshly beneath the storm.
"What do you mean…?" Lidden demanded, towering over her, rain streaming down her face as she panted. "What do you mean you lied…?"
Young kept her head lowered.
A faint, fragile smile appeared.
"I… I lied… I lied about everything I said. About us. It was all… blatant lies."
"Lies to push you away… from me…"
"Why…?" Lidden's voice trembled. Her fists tightened. "Why did you do that…?"
She stepped closer, leaned closer.
"Why… why did you lie?! WHY?!" she shouted.
Young swallowed hard.
"Be—because… I genuinely liked you. Liked us. Liked everything about us…" she confessed, her voice still shaking. "And I didn't want you to get hurt. I wanted you to fly. To go further than I ever could."
"That doesn't excuse you from lying to me…" Lidden added.
Young inhaled roughly, then raised her head slightly.
"Well…" she murmured, forcing herself to continue, "There's one truth… I still haven't told you."
Her hands trembled against the wet ground.
"One that will hurt you more than any lie I told—"
"Then say it," Lidden demanded, her voice shaking. "Tell me!"
There, Young tensed. Her hands curled into fists.
"I… I…" she stuttered.
Then—
"I'm dying, Lin."
She confessed.
"I have a disease… one that slowly takes everything away," Young continued. "My mobility… my voice… my memories… and eventually… me."
She forced herself to keep going.
"I didn't want you to get hurt because of it. I didn't want you to feel guilty. So when I'm gone… you'll keep running. You'll keep pushing forward. You won't be chained down by grief."
Her head dipped lower.
"I'm sorry… Lin… for not telling you sooner… For not making up to... you..."
For a second—
There was only the rain.
"For that... I don't need your forgiveness—" just as Young was about to continue.
Suddenly —
Lidden dropped to her knees and pulled Young into a tight embrace.
She didn't speak.
She just cried.
Loudly.
Desperately.
Her sobs rang through the rain like a person who just lost everything or perhaps... reclaim everything.
"Lin…" Young's voice muffled against her shoulder.
She hesitated—
Then wrapped her arms around her too, and she, too, started breaking,
"Lin… stop crying… you're making me… want to cry… too..."
Her voice eventually broke, and she started to cry too.
Under the storm—
They held onto each other.
Tightly.
Neither was willing to let go.
For the first time—
No pride. No pretending. No running away.
Just the warmth of two people who didn't want to lose one another again.
Meanwhile...
Unbeknownst to them, Rush had already arrived.
She stood a short distance away, umbrella shielding her from the storm, silently witnessing the scene unfold: the confession, the collapse, the embrace.
She waited.
She let Young finish.
Only when both of them broke into tears and clung to each other did Rush finally step forward.
She sighed.
"What a load of crap for one friendship…" she muttered with a faint, relieved smile.
She approached slowly, stopping beside them, shielding them with her umbrella.
There, the two were still sobbing, and neither would let go.
Then, Rush sighed again,
"I guess ..." she added, "sometimes it's okay to stop running."