"Oguri Cap crosses the finish line!!"
I breathed slowly as I came to a stop, smiling faintly as I glanced at the now-lit scoreboard. There on the very top was Oguri's name, with my name just below hers. She'd won with a lead of just over 1 length—a surprisingly close victory despite what I'd expected. I guess all that hellish training with Secretariat had paid off.
Not long after, the rest of the pack soon began crossing the finish line, their faces pale and breaths labored. Belno herself came in 4th, having been passed by Tamamo Cross during the last 100 meters of the race.
But just as I was about to approach her–
"It's a new record!"
"No-, not just a new record! The previous record has been completely shattered!"
The right side of the scoreboard finally lit up, and my eyes widened as I saw the time it took for Oguri to reach the finish line.
Oguri Cap—2:03.7
A grin stretched across my lips. The announcer wasn't wrong—Oguri had completely shattered the record for the [Takarazuka Kinen]. I mean, the previous record had been set by Suzu Parade, and she'd cleared the race with a time of 2:12.3. It was a difference of nearly nine seconds.
And it wasn't just her.
Everyone's time was record breaking. I myself was just a few milliseconds behind Oguri, and Belno nearly a full second behind me. Hell, even Yaeno Muteki, who came in 10th place this time around, had crossed the finish line with a time of 2:09.9, which was still faster than the previous record.
This year's [Takarazuka Kinen] was likely one that would be remembered for years to come.
"Star."
I blinked, and then nearly shrieked when I felt Oguri's hand on my legs. My face burnt bright red as I felt her fingers gently caressing my calves, and I bit down on my finger as I tried to not make any strange sounds. "W-What is it?" I asked, doing my best to maintain a professional smile despite the pleasant shocks running up my spine.
Oguri remained silent as she continued surveying my legs, and it took several more seconds before she pulled back. "It's good." She said with a satisfied nod.
I raised an eyebrow. "What is?"
"Your leg isn't injured." She said bluntly, her blank gaze carrying a strange pressure. "You didn't hurt yourself like last time."
I stared, and then sighed. "And it's not like I'm actively trying to hurt myself, y'know?" I said, though I then smiled, happy at the clear concern she had of me. "How about you? Any pain?"
"None." She said, and I nodded. I didn't need to check if she was lying; she wasn't the type.
That aside, it was good that Oguri had confirmed that I really wasn't injured, despite me using every Skill I had in my arsenal. It showed that spacing out my Skills throughout the entire race helped my body acclimatize.
"Gett'n chummy alre'dy, ha'?" Tamamo asked, smiling wryly.
I chuckled softly. "She's just checking if I'm okay." I explained, before I smiled. "It was a good race, Tamamo-senpai."
She clicked her tongue. "Bah, spare me fro' it." Her smile came out a little forced. "I los'. It ain't matter that ah' got a rec'rd or what'vr. A loss' a loss."
"Maybe." I didn't disagree. "But it's just one loss. There's still more races we can run in." I smiled knowingly. "After all, this isn't where your career ends, right?"
"...yeah." Tamamo's smile became a little more genuine. "Still got a bit more left in me." She then paused when she noticed that Oguri had been staring at her for the past minute, and she raised an eyebrow. "Wha'? Need som'thin'?"
Oguri blinked, and then smiled. "Nothing." She said, her smile fond. "I'm happy that you're still here, Tama-chan."
"Heh." Tamamo grinned as she rubbed the back of her neck. "Com' on. Ya' ain't getting rid o' me that eas'ly."
"Nn."
A pleasant quiet befell us, before Tamamo paused when she finally processed what Oguri just said. "Wait, wha'cha call me!?"
Oguri blinked. "Tama-chan?"
Her eyes twitched. "Don't call me that!"
I couldn't help but laugh.
.
.
.
Hours later, after everyone had finally returned to Tracen Central Academy,
"Stop eating it all, you damn-!" Dicta Striker screamed as she tried pulling Oguri away from the bucket of fried chicken, and she only got angrier when Oguri refused to move an inch. "Give me some, you fatass!" She shouted as she doubled her efforts.
"Language." Mejiro Ardan said with a smile, calmly drinking from her cup of tea as she sat right next to the ongoing chaos.
Belno Light giggled as she watched Oguri defend her bucket of fried chicken with intense focus, before she quietly slipped her own plate of fried chicken under the table. Oguri didn't need to know that she'd secretly grabbed some when she was looking away to get a drink.
Not too far away, Sakura Chiyono O was facing the exact opposite situation. "U-Um, isn't this a bit much, Maruzensky-senpai?" She asked, gulping as she saw the massive platter of food her senpai had suddenly placed on her table.
"It's fine~" Maruzensky giggled, her face slightly flushed. "You need to eat to grow big and strong, after all~" She giggled again, and then yelped as she suddenly slipped. Thankfully, a chair suddenly appeared behind her, and she unceremoniously dropped onto it instead of hitting her head on the floor. "Ah, thanks Ru-chan~"
Symboli Rudolf smiled wryly. "Please be careful." Maruzensky giggled, and Rudolf sighed, ready to act the moment she sensed her friend was about to get into trouble.
Meanwhile, the other side of the room was similarly chaotic.
"Marvelous! Today's race was-, hic, so incredible that I thought I was still dreaming!" Director Akikawa hiccuped, her cheeks completely flushed red. "The previous record was-, hic, completely shattered by everyone! What an incredible race for you to make your Debut in, my wonderful trainee!"
Obey Your Master sighed, though she couldn't help but smile. "I still lost." She said.
"But it was still an incredible showing." Hayakawa Tazuna chimed in, swiftly grabbing the Director before she could step onto a nearby pile of empty cans of beer. "Had it been in any other race, you would've left all your competitors behind."
Obey shrugged. "Maybe."
And not too far away from them were Nase Fumino and Super Creek.
Creek giggled as she gently brushed a hand through her trainer's hair, her cheeks red. "There, there~" She cooed. "How does it feel now, trainer-san? Does your head feel better?"
Fumino's face was similarly red. "Y-Yeah!" She whispered, and then squeaked when she felt Creek's hand brush against her shoulder. She was feeling more than tipsy by this point, wanting to borrow some courage from all the drinks, but all it did was make her feel incredibly sensitive! "I-It's nice. R-R-Really n-nice!"
Creek giggled as she cupped Fumino's cheeks, and the trainer whimpered as she struggled not to make any inappropriate noises.
…
All the while, I sat at the corner, silently nursing a half-empty can of beer as I watched the chaos unfold.
Simply put, the Director wanted to hold an impromptu celebration after she witnessed our record-breaking performance. Since most of us were old enough, beer was involved, and things naturally spiralled out of control from there.
Of course, not everyone was attending. Yaeno Muteki had gone home with her grandfather, while Tamamo went to 'settle things'. Kitahara and Musaka weren't here either, mostly because both of them were busy handling all the press that'd come due to Oguri's most recent victory.
And in truth, I also considered not joining. I was still tired from the [Takarazuka Kinen], and while the doctors had confirmed that I wasn't injured, my legs were still lightly inflamed from the stress I'd put them through. I'd need to rest up for the next week to make sure it didn't develop into anything worse.
But I came anyway. Found myself a chair and silently observed the chaos, even if I didn't have the energy to join in.
Because it wouldn't be long before gatherings like this would become rare. There was only six months left before I would head back to America, and who knows how long it'd take before I returned to Japan.
Would everyone here still be racing by the time I came back?
Would we meet like this again once that happened?
I didn't know. I didn't want to know. All I knew was that this moment was finite. Our careers were finite. We were all Seniors by this point, and it wouldn't be strange for some of us to begin retiring. Our paths would soon diverge.
…tch, that was a little too much introspection during a celebration like this. The beer must be getting to me.
To hell with it.
I quickly downed the can of beer I'd been nursing for the past fifteen minutes, popped open another one, and grinned as I made my way to Oguri. "Mind if I have one?" I asked. Oguri blinked at me, looked down at the bucket of fried chicken she was valiantly defending, and then promptly offered me a chicken leg without much resistance.
"Oh, come on!" Dicta shouted.
I just smirked back as I took a bite.