The Japan Derby was finally beginning. Having witnessed the Derbies of Mejiro Ryan, the duel between Tokai Teio and Nice Nature, the clash of Mihono Bourbon and Rice Shower, and the three-way struggle of Ticket, Hayahide, and Taishin, Rampage felt the singular weight of this race deep in her bones. She had grumbled before about the Oaks being treated as a lesser event, but standing here, in the shadow of the gates, she had to admit: the Derby was simply different.
"Watch closely," Rampage said, her voice low. "This is the moment the pinnacle of a generation is born... regardless of how it ends."
The members of Team Pleiades swallowed hard, their eyes fixed on the track. The gates were loaded. The tension held like a bated breath, vibrating through the 200,000-strong crowd. Then, the gates flew open.
"And they're off! The 61st Japan Derby has begun! A clean start for everyone! Narita Brian moves toward the front, but wait—someone has already surged past the lead group!? It's… it's Sakura Laurel! Sakura Laurel of Team Canopus has seized the lead! Her pace is on an entirely different level! She's opening up a massive gap—she's going for a Super-Escape! A roar of shock and confusion is rippling through the stands!"
Laurel had launched like a projectile, putting massive distance between herself and the other seventeen runners before they even hit the first corner. Sakura Laurel had never been a front-runner before. To attempt a Super-Escape for the first time in the Derby, to try and wire the race from the front, seemed suicidal. And yet—this was Tokyo, 2400 meters on the turf. Seeing a girl in Canopus colors tear away like that forced everyone to remember a certain other "Tyrant."
"Sakura Laurel is in the lead! Behind her are Offside Trap, Ines Crowler, and Wyvern Roar, but Laurel is already more than ten lengths clear! It's a solo flight! The favorite, Narita Brian, is biding her time in the middle of the pack. But this scenery… this strategy… no one can ignore the resemblance! It's the ghost of her Team Canopus senior, the 'Dictator' who set the world record with a Super-Escape on this very stage! Sakura Laurel is the second coming of Mejiro Rampage!"
The "Lone Dictator," Mejiro Rampage. Her world-record performance in the Japan Cup and her dominance in the Legend Races were burned into the public consciousness. Seeing the same colors and the same reckless speed, the crowd wondered if they were seeing a rehearsed mimicry. It was plausible; with Trainer Minamisaka at the helm and Rampage as a mentor, the "Rampage Style" was surely within Laurel's reach.
"We're heading into the backstretch, and the field is starting to panic! The pack is moving up early!"
"They've lost their rhythm," a commentator noted. "They're seeing Rampage's ghost in Laurel's run and they've forgotten their own pace. Whether intentional or not, Minamisaka has laid a psychological trap for the entire field."
In the stands, Minamisaka listened to the commentary with a wry smile. They make me sound like a demon pulling strings to ruin lives, he thought. If anything, I'm just the Tyrant's adjutant. In truth, he had expected this. Running against Rampage every day had rubbed off on Laurel. Perhaps, he reflected, he had let them run together a bit too much.
"If you're wondering if she'll last," Rampage said to her team, "she will. All the way to the 2400-meter mark. Laurel is a stamina specialist. She knows how to husband her energy better than Twin Turbo ever could. Suzuka, watch her. Look at how she uses her body. There's no waste."
"Yes, ma'am!" Suzuka replied, her eyes wide.
Laurel was a master of efficiency. Where a normal Horse Girl might lose 20 to 30 percent of her energy to inefficient movement, Laurel only lost 10 to 15. Because she was in total control of her form, she could maintain a Super-Escape with a fraction of the cost. If Turbo was 100% output and Rampage was 90%, Laurel could pivot anywhere between 70% and 90%. That flexibility made her terrifying.
"Offside Trap is running a hell of a race, too," Rampage noted, "but that early gap is massive. At this rate, she might just slip away—"
"Wait! Here comes Narita Brian! Brian is making her move! She's surging through the field!"
Rampage smirked. "There we go. Show us what you've got, junior."
Brian had seen many styles of running. She had seen those who ran to measure themselves against her, those who ran to crush her, and those who ran just to observe. But this? This felt like a direct challenge from Mejiro Rampage herself. Did Laurel think this borrowed style was enough to keep Brian at bay? Or was this just another stepping stone toward Laurel's true goal?
(You still won't look at me... but I am looking at you. Do you think you're already at the finish line, Sakura Laurel!? If that's where you are... then I'll climb up there and drag you down!)
In an instant, Brian's expression shifted. Her eyes ignited with a cold fire, and a dark, flickering aura began to bleed from her shadow roll. Clad in that terrifying pressure, Brian accelerated. As they rounded the third corner toward the fourth, her speed hit a level that defied logic.
"This feeling... Brian-chan!?"
"Fight me! Laurel!!!"
Laurel, who had been running in a world of her own, felt the air fracture behind her. The "insurmountable" gap Brian had faced was vanishing. Brian's run was so overwhelming, so singular in its purpose—to force a single girl to acknowledge her—that it transcended the race itself.
In that moment, Laurel's look of surprise melted into a smile. And she kicked into a higher gear.
"They're in the final straight! Narita Brian is pulling alongside—no, they're neck and neck! They're dead even! Sakura Laurel is holding her off! After that massive escape, she still has gears left!? Canopus is terrifying! Brian can't get past her! Offside Trap is closing in from behind, three lengths back! Can he make it!?"
"LAUREL!!!"
"BRIAN-CHAN...!"
Seeing Brian beside her changed Laurel. She realized she still had strength in reserve—enough for one final, desperate spark. She poured everything into her stride. For the first time, Laurel's eyes were locked solely on the girl beside her.
"I won't... let you... WIN!" Laurel screamed.
"THAT'S MY LINE!!!" Brian roared back.
"Narita Brian is finding more! But Sakura Laurel is matching her stride for stride! They're pulling away from the world! The 61st Japan Derby! Will it be the pride of Team Rigil or the dark horse of Canopus!? Neither side is yielding an inch! Their faces are masks of pure determination! The wire is right there! Who is it!? Offside Trap is flying, but he can't catch them! They're too strong! Sakura and Narita... THEY'RE OVER THE LINE!!!"
The stadium was a deafening wall of noise.
"Who won!? Who took it!? Offside Trap takes third, Air Thérèse fourth, Yashima Positron fifth. The 61st Japan Derby... we're going to a photo finish! It was too close to call!"
"Gah... cough... hah..."
"Huff... huff..."
Both girls collapsed to their knees past the wire, gasping for air as if they had used up every lungful of oxygen in the stadium. They had existed in a vacuum of their own making for the last 400 meters.
"Boo-chan! Are you okay!? Deep breaths! In... and out... in... and out..."
Samson Big, who had finished 9th after refusing to be sucked into the suicidal pace, was already there, rubbing Brian's back.
"Come on, breathe with me."
"...I'm fine now. Sorry," Brian managed.
"Boo-chan, that was incredible! You were so fast I couldn't even see you. I mean, I came in ninth, but still!"
"Heh... you improved your rank from last time, didn't you?"
"Ehehe, I guess so!"
Talking to Samson allowed Brian to regain her composure. She looked over to see Laurel watching her. They stared at each other in silence, waiting for the electronic board to flash.
Then, the result appeared.
"The winner of the 61st Japan Derby is—a Dead Heat!? It's a tie! Both Narita Brian and Sakura Laurel are Derby Champions! And the time—2:23.7!!! They've shattered Mihono Bourbon's record by 0.8 seconds! We have an undefeated Double Crown and a second Derby Girl! A feat not seen since the days of Tokai Teio and Nice Nature!"
A tie. The crowd went wild, but Brian's face clouded with frustration. She had wanted a definitive conclusion. She wanted to know, once and for all, who was superior.
But then, Laurel reached out a hand. Brian blinked, surprised, before taking it and allowing Laurel to pull her to her feet.
"Congratulations, Brian-chan. I meant to win, but I suppose a draw will do."
"I should be saying that to you." Brian let the tension drain from her shoulders and gave a small, genuine smile. "I won't lose at the Kikuka Sho."
"Fufu, you're so energetic even after a run like that."
They shared a moment of quiet camaraderie, Brian already stoking the fires of her heart for the final leg of the Triple Crown. She was ready for the rematch. She was ready for revenge.
Until Laurel spoke again.
"I, Sakura Laurel, will be challenging the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. Therefore, I will not be entering the Kikuka Sho."
The fire in Brian's heart didn't go out—it froze.
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