Just how vast was the difference in physical ability between an ordinary human man and a Triple Crown Umamusume?
Sakuraba had now experienced that difference firsthand.
Strictly speaking, with his constitution strengthened by the system, Sakuraba could no longer really be called an ordinary man.
Even so, faced with Sunday Silence's ravenous onslaught, he had been thoroughly beaten.
At that moment, Sakuraba lay flat on his back on the hotel bed, staring at the ceiling. The fatigue running through his body was even worse than it had been after Obey Your Master.
Sunday Silence had indeed set out to punish Sakuraba, but halfway through, she had completely forgotten about that and thrown herself into it wholeheartedly.
And because she had been far too focused, Sakuraba's pelvis had ended up bearing a little extra burden as well.
"I'm so pathetic."
Sakuraba sighed.
The feeling of being pinned down and not having to move was, he supposed, not bad in its own way. But for Sakuraba, he still preferred taking the initiative.
"I've got to lose a lot more money."
Strengthen my body! Just watch me turn the tables and become the one on top!
Thinking that, Sakuraba climbed out of bed.
By then, there was already no sign of Sunday Silence beside him.
"Sunny really did wake up earlier than me..."
Looking toward the bedside table, Sakuraba saw a conspicuous yellow sticky note there.
"What's this...?"
He picked it up and found several lines of neat, graceful handwriting on it.
"...Ryo, you looked really tired, so I didn't wake you. There's hotel breakfast on the table in the room. Remember to eat after you wake up... I'm going to find that Obey woman and talk about yesterday."
Sakuraba read the words on the sticky note aloud, then sighed.
Things between him and Sunny had more or less been handled, but the relationship between Sunny and Obey...
"Looks like I can't help with this one..."
"Do your best, Obey."
...
At that moment, in the hotel restaurant, Sunday Silence and Obey Your Master were sitting face-to-face at a table in the corner.
Sunday Silence sat opposite Obey Your Master, her posture relaxed, even leisurely.
She propped her chin up with one hand, while the other rested casually on the table, her fingertips tapping the surface unconsciously.
There was no expression on her face. No anger could be seen, nor any joy. Her golden eyes only looked calmly at Obey Your Master across from her. The gaze was neither an examination nor an interrogation, yet for some reason, it made Obey Your Master feel uncomfortably exposed.
Obey Your Master lifted the coffee cup in front of her and brought it to her lips, but did not drink. She merely used the motion to avoid the other girl's gaze for a moment.
Inwardly, she sighed.
What had to come would always come.
From the moment Sakuraba decided to tell Sunday Silence what had happened, she had imagined this moment.
She simply had not expected it to arrive on such an apparently peaceful morning, in a restaurant filled with the scent of butter.
She had thought... perhaps it would be more intense than this. At the very least, not this suffocatingly calm.
She quietly raised her eyes and studied Sunday Silence again.
The girl's expression was the same as ever, and there was even a faint curve at the corner of her lips, almost there and almost not. But the things settled in those eyes were too deep to read.
It was not the calm before a storm. It was more like a deep pool, perfectly still on the surface, with no telling what kind of whirlpool lay hidden beneath.
The air between them seemed to have frozen. Awkwardness wound itself around that small space like an invisible spiderweb.
Neither of them spoke first. Only the sound of Sunday Silence's fingertip lightly tapping the table struck, steady and regular, against the boundary of silence.
Obey Your Master set down her coffee cup. The bottom of the cup made a soft clink against the saucer, unusually clear in the stillness.
She straightened, took a deep breath, and seemed to make a certain decision.
What had to be faced would have to be faced.
The crisp sound of Obey Your Master setting down her coffee cup broke that suffocating calm.
She raised her eyes and looked straight at Sunday Silence, who was still resting her chin on one hand as though she had all the time in the world. There was no longer any avoidance in her tone. Instead, it carried a trace of candor born from someone burning her boats.
"You deliberately called me here while Tony Bianca wasn't around. I doubt it was just to treat me to this cup of coffee."
She paused, her voice lowering slightly, which only made it clearer.
"Sunday Silence. Say what you want to say."
The moment Obey Your Master finished speaking, Sunday Silence's tapping finger stopped.
That regular, countdown-like sound vanished abruptly, and the silence in the corner of the restaurant seemed to grow even thicker.
She slowly withdrew the hand propping up her chin and folded both hands on the table. Her posture remained relaxed, but in those golden eyes, an undercurrent finally began to move beneath the calm surface.
"About what happened," Sunday Silence began, her voice so even it held not a single ripple, each word perfectly clear, "Sakuraba has already told me everything. Including... everything that happened between you and him during the Preakness Stakes."
She looked at Obey Your Master. There was no anger in her eyes, no accusation, only a nearly icy scrutiny.
"I forgave him."
Sunday Silence continued, her tone as if she were stating a fact unrelated to herself.
"That idiot is always softhearted. Always hesitating. Always taking other people's mistakes onto himself."
"He was drugged unconscious by you, then afterward felt he had to take responsibility for you... That does sound like something he would do."
"So I forgave him."
Her finger lightly drew across the tabletop, as if sketching an invisible boundary.
"But," she bit that one word especially clearly, giving it an unmistakable weight. "I cannot forgive you, Obey Your Master."
Sunday Silence leaned forward slightly, narrowing the distance between them.
In the depths of those golden pupils, it was as if flames were burning soundlessly.
"Sakuraba might choose to forgive you because of that damned sense of responsibility and soft heart of his. He might choose to take responsibility for you, choose to include you in that chaotic blueprint for his future... That is his decision. I can't change it, and I won't force him to."
"But for me, this is very simple."
Her voice abruptly turned cold, like a blade quenched in ice.
"You used improper means to force him when he was unconscious."
"You took advantage of his lack of defenses and crossed a line you should never have crossed."
"No matter how much entanglement, responsibility, or messy emotion came afterward... the starting point was that you forcibly changed the direction of the relationship between the three of us in an almost plundering way."
Sunday Silence's gaze was sharp as a knife, fixed on the slight changes in Obey Your Master's expression.
"He forgave you because he is softhearted, because he is willing to shoulder that shared responsibility."
"But I am different."
She spoke one word at a time, every syllable carrying unquestionable resolve.
"I, Sunday Silence, will not forgive you."
"Not in the past. Not now. And in the future... absolutely not."
Obey Your Master met Sunday Silence's blade-sharp golden eyes in silence.
She did not defend herself. She did not argue back. She did not even show the slightest intent to explain.
She merely looked back quietly, as if through those eyes, she could see that night she had buried deep in her heart and refused to look back on.
The chaotic breaths of that night, the burning touch, and the look in Sakuraba's eyes when he woke afterward, a mixture of shock and confusion...
All of it surfaced again with unbearable clarity.
After a long while, she tugged faintly at the corner of her mouth. There was no smile in that curve, only a trace of understanding and a heavy touch of self-mockery.
"...Yeah. I understand."
Her voice was very soft, carrying a calm like dust finally settling.
"You're serious."
Obey Your Master spoke quietly. Rather than answering Sunday Silence, it sounded more as if she were stating a fact to herself, one she had expected long ago.
She lowered her eyes slightly. Her long lashes cast a small shadow beneath them, hiding the complicated emotion that flashed through her gaze.
"You're right."
Obey Your Master lifted her head, her gaze clear again as she met those sharp golden eyes frankly.
"Thinking about it calmly now... back then, I truly lost my mind."
She admitted it without the slightest hesitation. Her tone was so calm it was as if she were discussing someone else's actions, but beneath that calm was a clear awareness and judgment of what she had once done.
"Using that method... forcing him while he was unconscious, crossing a line that should not have been crossed."
"No matter how many excuses came afterward, no matter how many so-called feelings were used to dress it up, none of that changes the fact that the act itself was wrong. It was despicable."
"It is only natural that you would hate me for it, despise me, and be unable to forgive me."
"If I were in your position, my reaction would probably be much more intense than yours is now."
Obey Your Master drew in a small breath, and her shoulders relaxed almost imperceptibly, as if she had set down some invisible burden.
Faced with Sunday Silence's blunt, merciless refusal to forgive her, she found that she actually felt a little lighter.
What she had done, forcing Sakuraba into that relationship, had unquestionably been wrong.
So deep down, Obey Your Master had actually wanted someone to condemn her.
Sakuraba's attitude toward her had been far too gentle. So gentle that even when she had done something wrong, he still accommodated her...
And that, in turn, only made her guilt grow stronger.
During these days of waiting for Sakuraba to tell Sunday Silence the truth, Obey Your Master had hardly slept well.
She had actually longed for someone to blame her.
So in the face of Sunday Silence's gaze and words, which seemed ready to nail her in place, Obey Your Master only nodded slowly, her voice carrying a nearly exhausted frankness.
"So... I have nothing to say."
She paused, then added, "As for the fact that you won't forgive me, I have no objection."
"This was indeed my fault."
Hearing Obey Your Master's words, Sunday Silence leaned back into her chair and folded her arms across her chest.
She raised an eyebrow. Her expression remained calm, but that icy hostility seemed to fade a little, turning into something more complicated, even faintly impatient.
"Tch."
She clicked her tongue softly, as if annoyed by something troublesome.
"You admit it rather readily."
There was no telling whether Sunday Silence's tone was praise or criticism.
"But even if you admit your mistake as sincerely as possible, I won't take back what I said just now. I do not forgive you. Remember that clearly."
She paused, her gaze lingering on Obey Your Master's face for a moment, as if confirming whether the other girl truly understood that premise.
"However..."
Sunday Silence's tone shifted, becoming somewhat businesslike, even carrying a reluctant compromise.
"Sakuraba has already said that he will accept you, that he will take responsibility for you..."
She curled her lip, as if simply mentioning it irritated her somewhat.
"Since he made that decision... and I decided to continue staying by his side."
Sunday Silence's golden eyes looked straight at Obey Your Master. The murderous edge from before was gone, replaced by a calmer, almost cold rationality.
"Then no matter how much I hate you, no matter how much I don't want to see you, there are some things I have no choice but to face."
She lifted her chin slightly, her tone carrying an unquestionable decision.
"I will not forgive what you did, but I will try... to accept your existence."
When she said that word, it carried a clear sense of distance and boundaries.
"The reason is simple."
Sunday Silence's voice was very clear, every word landing with weight.
"If the relationship between you and me remains deadlocked like this, or even gets worse... that idiot, who is more sensitive than anyone and has a heavier sense of responsibility than anyone, will definitely get stuck between us and be troubled to death."
When she said "that idiot," a faint softness leaked into her voice, almost impossible to detect, but it was quickly covered by her usual forcefulness.
"Since I decided to continue being his girlfriend, of course I won't let him worry over a troublesome thing like this."
Sunday Silence sat upright again, folding her hands on the table. Her posture returned to its initial ease, but her eyes were clearer and sharper than before.
"So, Obey Your Master, listen carefully."
"I do not forgive you. That is the bottom line of the account between you and me, and it will never change."
"But for Sakuraba's sake, I can try to maintain a kind of... 'surface-level peace' with you."
"This is not for you. It is for him."
Her gaze was calm and rippleless, yet carried a heavy force.
"You had better understand that point clearly too. There will never be any true reconciliation between us."
"All there will be is the bare minimum of coexistence we have to maintain in order to avoid troubling him."
"If you can accept that premise, then we continue from here. If you can't..."
Sunday Silence did not finish the sentence. She only watched Obey Your Master quietly with those golden eyes, waiting for her answer.
The unspoken threat silently spread through the air between them.
Obey Your Master listened silently to Sunday Silence's cold, rational declaration, faint surprise stirring in her heart.
To be honest, she had not expected Sunday Silence to yield this far—
Even if it was in a way so full of distance and drawn lines.
She had thought that with Sunday Silence's personality, one that drew such clear lines between love and hate and could even be called intensely possessive, she would forcefully demand that Sakuraba make a complete choice between the two of them, even if it would leave Sakuraba in pain and distress.
But Sunday Silence did not.
She had chosen the most difficult path.
For the sake of not troubling Sakuraba, she had reached a bare-minimum coexistence agreement with the very culprit who had caused all this.
This was not forgiveness, much less acceptance. It was... a strategic compromise made out of consideration for her feelings toward Sakuraba.
She really does love Sakuraba Ryo...
Obey Your Master could not help thinking that.
Obey Your Master lowered her eyes, her gaze falling on the coffee before her that had long since gone cold. The surface reflected the blurred light outside the window, and also the complicated emotion that flashed through her eyes.
Was she shocked?
A little.
Surprised?
Certainly.
But thinking about it carefully, perhaps... this really was the best way to handle the current mess for everyone involved.
Sakuraba would not have to be torn apart by their opposition. Sunday Silence had maintained her absolute bottom line of not forgiving her. And she... had at least obtained a place where she could continue staying by Sakuraba's side, one that looked precarious but undeniably existed.
A place built jointly from Sakuraba's responsibility and Sunday Silence's tolerance.
"...I understand."
Obey Your Master's voice was not loud, but it was clear enough.
She did not hesitate, nor did she show any sense of humiliation or of having been given charity. She simply accepted this reality calmly.
"You're right. For Sakuraba's sake... we at least need to maintain peace on the surface."
She paused, then added, "I will remember that you do not forgive me, and I will accept this kind of... coexistence."
She did not say she agreed. She did not say thank you. She only accepted it.
That, too, was a gesture of drawing a line, showing that she understood this was not a gift, but a cold contract based on a shared purpose.
"Then."
Obey Your Master picked up her napkin and lightly wiped a nonexistent stain from her fingertips, her movements composed, as if what they had just discussed had not been such a heavy topic.
"That's that."
She rose to her feet and did not look at Sunday Silence again, only giving a slight nod.
"If there's nothing else... I'll be going first."
There were no extra pleasantries, no polite attempt to soften the atmosphere.
This negotiation had achieved its only purpose: establishing a fragile but clear framework for coexistence.
As for everything outside that framework, such as the deep-rooted estrangement and distrust between them, neither of them had any interest in touching it, nor any need to.
Obey Your Master turned and left the corner of the restaurant. Her back looked a little thin in the morning light, yet it remained perfectly straight, carrying the resolve of someone who had recognized reality and decided to bear it as she moved forward.
Sunday Silence watched her figure disappear through the restaurant entrance, her expression unchanged.
She picked up the cup of black tea before her, which had long since gone cold, brought it to her lips, and took a small sip.
The tea was icy, carrying a trace of bitterness.
She set the cup down. Her golden eyes looked toward the bright morning light outside the window, and she gave a soft, almost inaudible huff.
"What a pain..."
If it were not for Sakuraba, she would never have had to do any of this...
But more than she hated the trouble, Sunday Silence hated seeing Sakuraba look conflicted.
"Hmph."
I'll ask him for a little more reward when I go back!
The girl pressed her lips together and thought exactly that.
She had worked this hard. What was wrong with asking for a little more reward?
---
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