THUD THUD THUD THUD
"Yosh! Keep the pace like that for one more lap!" Trainer Takeda shouted. He stood by the rail, holding a clipboard while tracking his trainee's run.
Astonishing heard him loud and clear. Even though she felt pretty tired already, she pushes her body more to stay in the rhythm.
It has been a month since the Satsuki Sho. In the end, she needs twelve days to recover, it takes a bit longer than they expect, but her leg is finally good to go again.
"Last straight! Come on, just a bit more!"
With the last bit of energy, she crossed the finish line, which is a HishiAma cardboard stand, and gradually decelerated.
"Hah... hah... hah... ha..." She bends down to her knees as she gasped for air.
"Aston, come here" Takeda signaled her.
Astonishing wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her forearm. Slowly, she straighten herself and walked over to the rail where Takeda stood.
"Trainer..." she wheezed, coming to a halt in front of him. "How... how was it?"
Takeda stared at the number he wrote, moments later he finally look up to see her. "It's pretty good, well within the baseline"
He lowered the clipboard slightly, his eyes shifting down toward her foot. "More importantly, how does the leg feel, Aston? Is there any problem when you were running?"
"It doesn't hurt anymore. I've told you many times, why are you keep asking?" She too, looked down the her left foot. "I can run as fine as before"
He sighed. "I just want to make sure you're completely fit, I don't want you to also got injured while training--"
"--Alright, you has been pushing yourself really hard. Let's finish it for today. Though we need every bit of improvement, you still shouldn't stress your leg too much. The Japanese Derby is close, you should get as much rest as possible."
"Understood," Astonishing murmured.
She watched Takeda pack away his clipboard. His shoulders looked tighter than usual, a subtle stiffness that spoke volumes about the pressure he was keeping locked inside. He hadn't just been tracking her recovery, he had been carrying the weight of the ticking clock.
The Derby is around the corner. The pinnacle of a classic-generation umamusume's career, a race where eras were defined, and where the gifted came to cement their status as distant stars.
"Trainer," Astonishing called out softly before he could walk away.
Takeda looked back over his shoulder, the evening sun catching the edge of his glasses. Showing the dark bags under his eyes. "Yes?"
"You... haven't been sleeping well, have you?"
"Oh," he turned around, and adjusted his glasses. "Don't worry about me, Aston. I slept as much as I need, you just focus on yourself. Well of course, I need spend a little more of time to prepare for the Derby, but it's fine. There's nothing to worry about, it's my job"
He smiled, then begin walking away.
"Trainer!" she called out again.
He turned around just enough to see her. "Yes? Is there anything else?"
".....Please take a good care of yourself," Astonishing said hesitantly, but with a warm voice.
He smile again. "Yeah... I will. Thank you for reminding me"
She watched him walk away, until his silhouette completely gone.
Astonishing stood by the rail for a long time, letting the cool evening breeze blew through her hair.
After a while, she too prepared to leave. She tightly wrapped her towel around the neck, grabbed her water bottle, and began the quiet walk back toward the Ritto dorm.
However, a sudden chill caught her half-way through.
This... is not the first time.
Truth be told she has been experiencing these sudden chills ever since the last time she talked with her other self. It's not the same as the chill from winds, no, it stings deeper. She doesn't know what could possibly the cause, but it keeps getting worse.
It felt as if someone putting the tip of a knife on her nape, but when she looks back there's nobody. Sometimes the shivering was so bad that she couldn't move.
She felt like she's being watched, worse, targeted by an unknown force.
With a fierce, desperate surge of willpower, Astonishing forced her trembling legs forward. She couldn't stay out here in the open. She couldn't let anyone see her like this. Step by step, she dragged herself back to the safety of the Ritto dorms, the feeling of an unblinking gaze burning holes into her back the entire way.
.
.
.
Astonishing slumped against the wall of the entryway, her chest heaving as if she had just sprinted another grueling lap. Sweat, cold and prickly, mingled with the dried heat of her training session. She gripped the strap of her sports bag so tightly her knuckles turned white.
"Astonishing? Are you alright?"
She snapped her head up. Standing a few paces away was Fuji Kiseki holding a stack of freshly laundered towels. "You look like you've seen a ghost," Fuji said, stepping closer.
"I-I'm fine," Astonishing managed to say, forcing her fingers to relax against her bag. She swallowed hard, trying to smooth out the tremor in her voice. "Just pushed a bit too hard today."
Fuji looked at her for a long moment, clearly not entirely bought by the excuse, but she didn't pry. "The Derby is important, but so is your well being, don't over extent, alright? Go wash up, and rest. Your trainer needs you at a hundred percent, but so do you."
"Yeah. Thanks, Fuji-senpai." Astonishing gave a polite, hurried nod and quickly bypassed her.
.
.
.
"Just stress," she whispered to herself, unbuttoning her training jacket. She stripped down and stepped out onto the washing floor.
The hot water of the shower usually solved everything, but tonight, it offered little comfort. Even surrounded by the thick, she felt isolated.
She washed up quickly, practically scalding herself under the hot water just to force her mind to focus on a physical, tangible sensation.
By the time she stepped out, wrapped tightly in her pajama, the sharp edge of the shivering had receded into a dull, lingering numbness.
The hallway leading to her room was quiet. When she opened her door, the familiar, ordinary sight of her space offered a welcome wave of relief. Desk, bed, training logs, racing posters. Everything was exactly where it belonged. She turned off the lights and crawled into bed, pulling the blanket tight around her
Astonishing closed her eyes, trying to force her mind to drift into sleep.
Thump.
Her eyes snapped open.
The room was freezing. The ambient warmth of the dorm had vanished, replaced by an icy, stagnant air.
She immediately stands upright. The chill on her nape returned, sharper than ever, but this time it really feels like she's going to be stabbed.
Astonishing whipped her head around, her heart hammering violently against her ribs. She backed away until her spine hit the headboard of her bed, her eyes wide, scanning every square inch of the dark room.
The shadow cast by her desk chair looked unnervingly long, stretching across the floorboards like a distorted limb.
Astonishing squeezed her eyes shut.
'It's a nightmare, it's a nightmare, it's a nightmare!'
"Look at you..." the figure spoke. "Brand new, yet... an old product"
Astonishing's eyes snapped open against her will.
The elongated shadow of her desk chair was stretching, warping, and detaching itself from the floor. It bled upward into a solid, towering silhouette draped in a darkness so dense it seemed to swallow the moonlight. The figure stepped forward, the floorboards making absolutely no sound, yet the temperature in the room plummeted with every step it took.
"W-Who's there?!" Astonishing hissed. "How did you get in here?!"
"Don't you..." Slowly, the distorted voice becomes clearer, and to her surprise, it speaks with a very familiar voice. "Remember me...?"
It's her own voice, no, it was his voice. The voice of her old self, a reminder of her past life.
"N-No... that's impossible"
"As impossible as your reincarnation?" The shadow smiled, a jagged crack of pale violet light splitting its featureless face.
"That life is finished. This is who I am now"
The shadow took another step forward, its form shifting like smoke, yet carrying an undeniable, heavy mass that seemed to warp the very space around it. "You think a change of skin, and a new name makes you a clean slate?"
"You've been running too much that you're forgot who you really are. Should I remind you?"
The shadow didn't wait for her answer. It lunged forward, not with physical speed, but with a terrifying rush of cold that completely swallowed the remaining moonlight in the room.
Astonishing went entirely rigid. The sting on her nape became a piercing sensation, radiating all the way down her spine. The phantom limbs of a human body she no longer possessed seemed to overlay her current form, creating a sickening, disorienting sense of dual reality. A barrage of fragmented, forgotten memories from her past life flashed violently behind her eyelids.
She remembered it all, everything she had done wrong. Regrets, disappointments, failure, anger, sadness, and desperation.
"Stop it..." she tried to fight back. "Stop..."
"Why fight it?" the voice whispered. "You brought this weight into this new world yourself. You can't outrun it, no matter how fast you are"
The fragmented memories surged again, the bitter taste of giving up, the heavy, silent disappointment of those who had expected better from her, the quiet despair of a life that ended with unfinished business. They wrapped around her chest like iron bands, squeezing the air from her lungs.
"You're going to repeat it all..." it whispered.
"Shut... up..."
"Time will show..."
"Shut up! Shut up!"
With a violent, explosive burst of absolute willpower, she shattered the paralysis holding her limbs captive. Her fingers blindly slamming into the cold metal base of her desk lamp.
Putting every ounce of her remaining strength, her fear, and her fierce defiance into the motion, she swung it hard and threw it straight at the shadow.
Crash!
The sharp fracture sound tore through the room.
Astonishing gasped, tumbling completely off the edge of the mattress and landing hard on the hardwood floorboards with a heavy thud. She lay there on her hands and knees, her chest heaving violently as she drew in huge, ragged gulps of air. Hot, stinging sweat instantly poured down her face.
Slowly, trembling, she lifted her eyes.
The familiar, ambient warmth of the Ritto dorm enveloped her. The soft, amber glow of the courtyard lamps filtered through the window pane. A few feet away lay the shattered pieces of her lamp.
Whatever it was, it's gone.
She could hear heavy footsteps coming this way, and a few moments later, someone barged in. She flicked the switch and the room lid up, showing Fuji standing at the doorway.
"What's happening here?!" Her eyes instantly flicked across the room, sweeping for a threat before locking onto the scene on the floor. The shattered, jagged fragments of the ceramic lamp, and Astonishing, trembling on her hands and knees in the center of it all.
Fuji quickly stepped inside, carefully avoiding the sharp shards on the floor, and knelt down beside her.
"H-hey, hey!" She reached out, her hands hovering for a split second before firmly but gently grasping Astonishing's trembling shoulders. "Look at me. Breathe. Just breathe."
Astonishing doesn't speak. Her eyes remained wide, fixed entirely on the shattered ceramic pieces of the lamp.
"Hey... stay with me," Fuji murmured softly, shifting her posture to block Astonishing's view of the debris, forcing the girl to look up. "You're safe. Whatever you saw... it's not here."
"I-I..."
"Sshhh... just breathe now. In... and out..."
Astonishing closed her eyes tightly, forcing herself to focus. She inhales air into her lungs, holding it for a second before letting it out.
Slowly, her heartbeats returned to normal and the shaking stopped.
"That's it," Fuji said softly.
"Take your time," Fuji replied gently, maintaining her firm grip on the younger girl's shoulders. She deliberately stayed positioned to block the mess, keeping Astonishing's focus entirely on her. "Do you want to tell me what happened?"
Astonishing swallowed hard. She couldn't possibly tell the truth. How would she explain it?
"A n-nightmare..." she managed to mutter. "Just... a really vivid nightmare. I woke up completely panicked, thought I was still under attack or something, and I just lashed out blindly. I'm sorry for causing such a mess."
"Are you... sure?" Fuji knew it was a lie, but she felt like pushing any further would only worsen the situation. "Alright, then. Why don't you come with me downstair? I'll brew you a cup of tea"
"Okay..." Astonishing whispered.
Fuji offered a hand, and Astonishing took it. Her grip was tight, as she allowed her senior to guide her up and away from the sharp debris.
Outside, the neighboring umamusumes stuck out their head from their room to get a little view of what's happening.
"Everybody get back inside! There's nothing to worry about!" Hearing the dorm leader herself had issued an order, everyone closed their doors and went back to sleep, or at least tried to. Though, there's a single umamusume currently standing in the hallway right on their path.
"Fuji-san?" Standing not far away down the dimly lit corridor was Narita Top Road. Her ears tilted slightly forward in confusion as she looked between the dorm leader and the visibly shaken Astonishing.
Fuji stopped, keeping her arm hooked securely around Astonishing's shoulders to keep her anchored. "Top Road-san? Why are you here?"
"I just came back from the toilet..."
"Good timing" Fuji said, "I'm sorry to bother your time, but can you please help me cleaning this mess? No time to explain. Please, help me with this one, alright?"
"A-ah... Understood! Leave it to me, Fuji-san!" Top Road replied without a second thought.
"Thank you, Top Road. You're a lifesaver,"
With Top Road heading briskly toward the utility closet to grab a broom and dustpan, Fuji gently guided Astonishing down the hallway and toward the stairs.
When they finally reached the kitchen, Fuji flicked on a single under-cabinet light.
"Sit here," Fuji instructed gently, pulling out a wooden chair at the corner table. "Let's get you warmed up."
Astonishing sank into the chair, drawing her knees up slightly. She watched as Fuji moved effortlessly around the space, filling a kettle with water and setting it on the stove.
Fuji expertly cut the heat, pouring the steaming water over a fragrant blend of loose chamomile leaves. The soothing steam billowed into the air.
Moments later, Fuji walked over and set a steaming cup right in front of her. Instead of sitting across from her like, Fuji pulled up a chair right next to her, offering quiet solidarity.
"Drink," Fuji murmured softly, wrapping her own hands around her cup. "Let the heat do its work."
Astonishing reached out, and pressed her palms against the warm ceramic. She took a slow, cautious sip, letting the hot herbal blend loosen her throat.
"Better?" Fuji asked, watching her closely over the rim of her cup.
"Yeah, much better. Thank you."
"That's good to hear"
The next few minutes were spent in silence as both of them finished their tea.
Fuji turned to her, "Are you ready to go back?"
Astonishing froze for a second, her fingers tightening around the now-empty ceramic cup. The honest answer was no. She wasn't ready. She doesn't want to go back just yet.
Fuji seemed to notice her unease.
"Tell you what," Fuji said. "Why don't you sleep with me tonight?"
Astonishing snapped her head up, her eyes widening slightly. "A-Ah... Fuji-senpai, I couldn't trouble you like that. You've already done so much tonight, and Top Road-san is already cleaning up the mess..."
"It's no trouble at all," Fuji interrupted. "Tomorrow is still a busy day, I can't send you back to your room knowing you won't have a good sleep"
"Thank you... Fuji-senpai,"
Fuji smiled warmly, setting her empty cup into the sink. "Then it's settled."
.
.
.
Fuji's room was exactly like its owner: elegant.
"Make yourself comfortable," Fuji murmured softly, sliding the door shut. She walked over to her closet, pulling out a spare set of bedding and expertly laying it out on the floor right alongside her own. "There. You take the inner side, away from the window."
"Umm... are you sure you want to sleep on the floor with me, and not on the bed?"
"If I slept up there while you were down here, I wouldn't be able to keep a proper eye on you, would I?" Fuji said. "So, consider it a special exception for a junior under my care. I'm abandoning my luxury mattress tonight to ensure you actually get a nice sleep"
With a soft sigh, Astonishing finally crawled into the futon. She pulled the heavy blanket all the way up to her chin, burying her face slightly into the plush pillow.
Fuji reached out to her bedside desk, flicking off the small reading lamp. "Goodnight"
"Yeah... Goodnight."
Astonishing closed her eyes. She finally let go of her guard and drifted into a deep, dreamless sleep.
.
.
.
"Just... what happened here?"
Narita Top Road could do nothing but quickly clean up this mess so she can get back to sleep.