Entrance to the runners' tunnel.
Tap, tap, tap…
Fumino hurried forward, the smack of her sneakers against the floor sharp and uneven in the cavernous corridor—selling out the tension and anxiety in her chest.
She was going to see Super Creek.
To see the child who had burned everything on the course, then sobbed softly past the finish.
She'd rehearsed comforting words in her head a hundred ways, but every version felt thin, powerless.
And yet—just as she neared the mouth of the tunnel—her steps stopped short.
Because she saw a few familiar figures.
Kuroha. Symboli Rudolf. Maruzensky. Representative Chiaki.
And even Mejiro McQueen and the little Tokai Teio.
Fumino blinked, then gave a quick, automatic nod in greeting.
"Trainer Fumino."
Rudolf inclined her head, steady as ever, while Maruzensky offered her usual honey-sweet smile and a gentle hello.
Fumino only paused a heartbeat before moving again.
She had no room in her mind for any kind of social nicety right now.
"Rudolf, Kuroha… I've got something to do. I'll go on ahead."
Her voice came out a little hoarse, the tempo quick—she just wanted to pass through.
"Go together."
As she drew level with them, Kuroha suddenly spoke.
His tone was calm—but brooked no argument.
"…Maybe, you won't need me."
Fumino stopped dead.
She looked at Kuroha, confusion clouding her cool eyes.
Need him? What did that mean?
She couldn't find the answer. But facing those deep, steady eyes, the words to refuse simply would not come.
In the end, she stayed silent and accepted, falling in behind Kuroha as they headed into the players' tunnel that led back toward the course.
Seconds later—
Pop.
Rudolf scooped Teio up with a sigh. "Teio, don't go make a scene."
Teio blinked. "I just wanted to go see Inari One-senpai…"
Off to the side, Representative Chiaki tapped the little "CB" cap on her forehead and, watching Rudolf and Teio's playful tug-of-war, couldn't help a wry smile.
"Maruzensky—since when did our totem start doting on kids?" she whispered.
Maruzensky poked her pale cheek with a fingertip, thinking back. "Not 'since when'—it's been years now."
"…Looks like I've been away from Central too much these past two years. I've missed a lot."
Chiaki's eyes glinted; she glanced toward McQueen standing nearby.
"Truly… enviable juniors."
The brown-haired diva chuckled. "Right?~"
"This era is so much brighter than ours ever was."
"Brilliant…"
Chiaki murmured, mind flicking through the names she'd heard in this span of time—these "fallen stars," "fallen cuties" from the heavens.
Inari One, Oguri Cap, Fujimasa March, Obey Your Master, Sakura Chiyono O, Mejiro Ardan, and Super Creek…
Plus a current crop of rookies whose strength was clearly not normal.
More than half—born of Pursue Light…
"It's going to be a lot of fun…"
She tilted her head, troubled. "Looks like I'll have to delay that trip to Tōkō for a bit."
"Chiaki?"
"Ah—nothing, nothing!"
…
Dim light pooled in the tunnel, shutting out the mountain-roar of the crowd.
They hadn't gone far when they saw the two figures up ahead—fresh off a duel to the death.
Inari One walked with her hands laced behind her head, easy and loose, almost carefree.
She spotted Kuroha; her eyes lit. She broke into a jog, waving, bright as a bell. "Trainer—!"
"Little Inari."
Kuroha opened his arms and the twin-tailed girl barreled into him—a bundle of soft warmth.
Behind them, Super Creek approached in quiet steps.
She seemed to have steadied.
The pallor from overexertion hadn't fully left her face, and a thread of exhaustion still lingered between her brows.
But that familiar gentle, serene smile had returned.
As if the collapse and tears on the course had never happened.
Fumino froze at the sight.
All the comforts she'd prepared, all the encouragements she'd meant to say—jammed in her throat. Not a word would come out.
"Creek?"
Super Creek gave a placid smile. "I'm okay, Trainer. Sorry to make you worry."
They were about to go on when Kuroha cut in.
"Extreme fatigue. Muscle strain. Hairline fractures in the lower leg bones. If you don't want to miss the Arima Kinen at year's end, starting today, you need to stay under my care for one more month."
"…"
Fumino blinked and turned to Super Creek.
Creek's smile stuck halfway.
The bitterness and unwilling grief in her chest were instantly crowded out by memories of those "best-left-unrecalled" massage sessions from a few months back.
"Mm…"
She covered her face on reflex; a blush—shame or heat—rose along the pale line of her neck.
"…Can I not go?"
"Of course not!" This time it was Fumino.
She took Creek by the shoulders, then looked to Kuroha.
Now she understood exactly what Kuroha had meant earlier by "Maybe you won't need me."
"Sorry to trouble you, Kuroha. Don't worry—the treatment cost won't be short!"
At that, the cold gleam faded from Kuroha's eyes; he smiled lightly. "It's nothing. Just one more on the list…"
"However, about the winners' stage…"
A G1's winners' stage usually hosts the top three. Even with Inari's win, the first three would all appear.
Looking at Super Creek, even Kuroha's expression wavered.
Originally, with the residual effect of the Panacea still in her system, the damage from Transitional True Blooming had been largely suppressed.
But in that final hundred-meter duel, Super Creek had double-triggered on top of the transition.
If she hadn't drunk the Panacea months ago, this race would have been an "absolute limit" attempt.
In the end, Fumino only pondered a few seconds before having Super Creek forgo the winners' stage.
Hairline fractures are no small matter. Rest and quiet recuperation were the only sane choice.
On the way back, Super Creek quietly fell a few paces behind Fumino and slipped to Kuroha's side.
"Kuroha Trainer, you really aren't going to… um… can't we just use the medicine…?"
The gentle girl whispered, "It's very comfortable—no! I mean… it works really… well. But the medicine you gave me seemed even better."
At the memory of a massage skill that melted straight to the bone and left her in a daze for half a month, Creek's knees felt a little weak.
"…"
Kuroha glanced over.
"Of course…"
Creek's eyes brightened.
"No."
Her smile shrank back in.
"Massage and medicine support each other. Be good—don't be willful."
Kuroha's tone turned firm.
If you don't treat stasis, ease fatigue, and open the lines with massage, then just drinking Panacea…
To heal you on the needed timetable, I'd have to lower the dilution ratio.
That would make its power noticeable to outsiders—which is bad.
Right now we can attribute your recovery to my exclusive manual therapy.
After all, the massage technique I've mastered—anyone who's had it knows.
After a brief explanation of why the massages mattered, Kuroha smiled again. "Besides—this last burst was a road you chose."
"You knew your body would pay for it the moment you ran, didn't you?"
"…Yes."
After a moment's silence, Super Creek nodded, something like peace returning to her eyes.
Then she put her hands behind her back and offered a warm, sincere smile. "Then I'll be in your care, Kuroha Trainer~"
As if all her shyness had blown away—
—if you ignored the faint blush still lingering on her cheeks.
"Tomorrow—same as before. Be at my trainer's room on time."
"Ah… y-yes…"
(End of Chapter)
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