"Manhattan Cafe? What are you doing here…?"
The source of Silence Suzuka's distress had appeared abruptly, completely unexpected.
The other girl seemed to be lying on the riverbank, sunbathing.
This early in the morning?
"I'm feeling the wind," the girl replied.
"The morning breeze is just right. You can feel its speed, temperature, even the humidity against your skin."
Sitting up, she looked at Silence Suzuka.
"Suzuka-san, what you said yesterday… I couldn't quite grasp it at first. But after thinking it over, maybe 'feeling nature' is also a path to reaching that state."
A racecourse is made of spectators, competitors, turf, soil…
Many elements combine to form the complete scene of a race.
If you take any single element away, it can't be called a 'race.'
Yet, every Uma Musume, when racing, instinctively separates these elements in her mind.
The competitors are competitors, the spectators are spectators, the track is the track.
Each part plays its own separate role.
They don't see it as a single, unified whole.
But for Silence Suzuka, her awareness isn't confined like that.
There are no clear boundaries in a race; the world is one seamless entity, and she is just one part integrated into it, inseparable from the air, the grass, the soil.
The surrounding sounds pull at the frequency of space itself; the footsteps of the racers vibrate through the field.
The desire to win, to be victorious—no such thoughts exist in her mind.
For Silence Suzuka, she just runs, naturally, in her rightful place.
As she runs, she enters a state of 'no-self.'
No-self is not the self, not the self's, not the self of the self.
Recalling Silence Suzuka's state during her run that day, the girl ventured a guess about her behavior.
Her heart was like still water. Silence Suzuka had achieved a heart like still water.
This ability was no longer about cultivating the body, but about cultivating the heart.
For the girl, this was a significant challenge. It had nothing to do with effort; it relied purely on one's own comprehension to attain.
All the language, actions, and personality she'd learned to emulate Sunday Silence were now utterly useless.
It was like being an actor.
Even if you could perfectly mimic a wanderer who has lost their family, weeping bitterly, it would still be different from a real wanderer.
An outsider might not see the difference, but to the actor themselves, the real person possesses a sorrow from the depths of their heart that mere imitation could never surpass.
A pitiable chasm separates the imitation from the genuine article.
No matter how much the girl studied her actions, learned her speech, copied her habits, she still wasn't Sunday Silence.
She couldn't achieve the perfection that Sunday Silence embodied.
Of course, maybe a true genius could do it.
But the girl was no genius.
The path to understanding was difficult and long.
"I really envy you, Suzuka…"
You possess a truly astonishing natural talent.
"Me?"
"Mhm."
Suzuka blinked.
She didn't know why, but upon meeting this girl, the matter of that black figure from moments ago had already faded from her mind.
Looking into the other's somewhat dim golden eyes, Silence Suzuka felt as if an invisible hand was squeezing her heart, a heavy, stifling feeling.
She shouldn't have such an expression on her face…
Composure, calmness, even arrogance—all would suit her better than this sorrowful look.
Holding down her skirt, Silence Suzuka sat down beside the girl and joined her in gazing at the calm river surface.
Yesterday, she hadn't been able to explain much to the girl, only hastily describing her thoughts and feelings while running.
Yet, even such brief words had been pondered so seriously by her.
Along with a sense of guilt, Silence Suzuka also felt touched.
She clearly sensed that her words had reached the other girl's ears, and that they carried significant weight.
She was grateful that the other cared so much about her own careless remarks. For Silence Suzuka, who wasn't good with words, this was already a great honor.
"Cafe…" Silence Suzuka began slowly, "I've actually… been paying attention to you, Cafe."
"Paying attention to me?"
The girl's ears twitched slightly.
Although she wasn't Cafe, she was still surprised.
Before formally interacting with Silence Suzuka, she hadn't seen much interaction between Cafe and her.
"That's right." Silence Suzuka nodded, her soft orange hair slipping over her shoulder and brushing her cheek. "Every time I see you, I get a very strange feeling…"
It was as if she didn't belong to this world.
Her gaze, her voice, her quiet and mysterious aura—they always, inevitably, drew Silence Suzuka's attention.
"I think… you are a very special person," Silence Suzuka said, looking at the ripples on the river.
"Special…" Well, that wasn't wrong. Cafe was certainly different.
"Mhm, very special." Teal eyes turned to look at her.
There was a famous quote that Silence Suzuka liked very much.
Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.
So seize the present, and observe yourself.
Perhaps the 'state of mind' she was chasing wasn't to be found in someone else.
"If you are searching for something called 'heart,' then I hope, before you start looking elsewhere, you can take a serious look at yourself."
Envy me? On the contrary, it was Silence Suzuka who envied her.
That indescribable, transcendent quality had captivated her from the very first moment she saw her.
So Silence Suzuka believed that the reason she was asking her about running mindset was simply because her gaze was fixed entirely on others.
Thinking that what others had summarized was correct, more suitable for her.
But that wasn't really true.
Only you can understand yourself best. You've just instinctively overlooked the one person you can never see in your line of sight, yet who is buried deep in your heart—yourself.
The two gazed at each other wordlessly, Suzuka's reflection visible in the girl's golden pupils.
The girl coughed awkwardly a few times.
"I kind of feel… what you just said sounded a lot like a confession."
She scratched her cheek.
All that 'I've always been watching you,' and 'special person.'
Won't talking to 'Cafe' like that cause misunderstandings?
As her 'friend,' I'm kind of worried about the relationship between you two.
"C-confess-confess-confession?! I didn't, I-I-I was just saying what I truly felt—"
Her face instantly felt like it was on fire. Silence Suzuka turned her head away, staring blankly at the grass.
"Sorry, just a joke."
"I-Is that so? I thought so too, suddenly talking about con-confessions… I-I never knew you liked telling jokes, Cafe-san, you really don't seem the type normally…"
After taking a few deep breaths, waiting for the heat in her face to subside, Silence Suzuka finally turned back.
The other girl was already standing.
"Thank you, Suzuka-san," said the girl, who was troubled by her problem.
Although she hadn't gotten a concrete solution, Silence Suzuka had indeed given her a direction.
To shift from observing others to observing herself.
It seemed that from beginning to end, she had never truly run in a way that belonged solely to her.
Sunday Silence, Narita Brian, Hishi Amazon, Green Grass—so many running styles gathered in one.
Among them, how much was truly, uniquely her own?
"Well, I'll be going now, Suzuka-san."
She wanted to relax her mind and run once without thinking of anything.
"Are you going for a run?"
"Mhm."
"Then, w-would you like to…"
"Run with me?"
"If you don't mind."
"Weren't you just saying I should re-examine myself?" The girl smiled.
"That's true. If I followed, it would probably be troublesome…" Her ears, with their green covers, drooped.
"It's not that."
The girl shook her head. "Having you by my side would probably make me feel more at ease."
"Eh?"
"Seeing the way you run… it brings a sense of peace."
"Is that so…"
"I'm just afraid I'd be wasting your time."
"No, of course not! I already built in a buffer!"
"A buffer?"
"Ah… no, it's nothing."
Seeing that Silence Suzuka seemed to have something else on her mind, the girl nodded.
"Then, please forgive me for taking up your time once again, Suzuka-san."
"Mhm, I forgive you." She smiled.
With the sound of hooves tapping against the ground, two figures ran quietly along the riverbank against the wind.
Her long black hair swaying in the air, Silence Suzuka suddenly thought:
Come to think of it, how did I end up meeting Cafe in the first place?
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
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