The moment she crossed the finish line, Norn Ace's body practically gave out. Her hands clamped onto her trembling knees as she hunched over, gasping for air in great, ragged gulps, looking for all the world like she had just narrowly escaped suffocation.
Sweat drenched the girl's pink hair, sliding down her cheeks, her chin, and her neck before hitting the dirt track in a rhythmic succession of dark spots.
A searing heat burned in her lungs, and the metallic taste of iron—blood she hadn't noticed before—spread across the back of her throat. Her leg muscles twitched with involuntary, minor spasms. Every fiber of her being was screaming in discomfort.
Yet, the physical agony was secondary. A sharper, more overwhelming emotion had completely seized Norn Ace's mind.
It was shock.
A lingering fear that had seeped into her very marrow.
Her eyes were wide and unfocused, her pupils seemingly branded with the vivid image of what had occurred only seconds ago.
She thought, almost unconsciously: That's right... that was the moment...
Just when Norn Ace believed the finish line was within her grasp—convinced that with one final push, she could seize victory and shut out the suffocating pressure chasing her—the silver-gray shadow struck. In the space of a single breath, it overtook her.
That figure, which felt less like a girl and more like a force of nature, tore through the air with a high-pitched whistle as it crushed its way past her side.
"Crushed." Not "passed." Not "caught up."
Norn Ace hadn't even been able to track the movement. She only felt a brutal, nonsensical gale roar past her from the left, a force so physical it made her heavy, flagging steps stumble.
Then, there was only a flash of silver-gray—a blur so fast it felt like a hallucination.
By the time her mind registered that it wasn't a trick of the light, that she had indeed been overtaken, a surge of indignant refusal flared up within her. But that feeling didn't even last a second.
Because she saw that Oguri Cap was already a full horse-length ahead... no, a length and a half!
Even more terrifying was the rate at which the gap was widening.
It was no exaggeration to say that Oguri Cap pulled away faster than she had overtaken.
It was a vertical drop—a terrifying, cliff-like disparity sufficient to plunge anyone into instant despair.
It was as if she had spent every ounce of her strength to climb a small hill, only to look up and see her opponent's silhouette vanishing into the clouds of a distant mountain peak.
That kind of gap wasn't a distance you could "close with a little more effort." It was the kind of hopelessness that made you realize, from the very beginning, the two of you weren't even in the same dimension.
Norn Ace couldn't even summon the thought of "I can do this" or "I'll catch her next time." All that surged within her was a profound sense of powerlessness.
She wondered: Has she... already gone that far?
In that moment, the girl's fighting spirit broke completely.
"Hah... hah..."
As the initial shock began to fade, a hint of terror she hadn't even noticed crept into her ragged breathing. Her hands, still braced against her knees, were cold and trembling—lingering fear in its most literal form.
The girl couldn't help but think: What was I thinking... there's... there's no way I can catch that. It's impossible. From now on, I should just...
Norn Ace's ears dangled limply, like a defeated rooster. She had lost all will to fight.
It made sense. She hadn't even had her debut race yet, only to be utterly crushed in a test by a girl she had looked down upon. How could she possibly keep her spirits up?
Just then, Norn Ace saw a large, strong hand with well-defined knuckles.
Fujimaru Ritsuka had seen immediately that Norn Ace's confidence had been shattered by Oguri's performance. After offering a mix of praise and comfort to Oguri—and stuffing a few red bean daifuku into her hands—he had walked over to Norn Ace and reached out.
"How are you holding up, Norn Ace-san? Still have some strength left?" he asked with genuine concern.
The afternoon sun spilled over Fujimaru Ritsuka. It wasn't a scorching heat, but rather a strangely soft, mellow glow.
He leaned down slightly, his short black hair reflecting a gentle, deep-brown sheen under the sunlight. A few stray strands fluttered in the breeze, creating a faint, tickling sensation.
Because he was backlit, his cerulean eyes seemed even deeper, like a calm sea after a storm, clearly reflecting her current disheveled state. But Norn Ace saw only pure concern; there was no trace of pity or mockery.
Why would anyone care about a defeated passing acquaintance? The girl who perfectly finished the test is his trainee; why would he come looking for me? This... this has to be a hallucination!
Despite the thought, Norn Ace froze, her breath hitching for a moment. She instinctively wanted to grab that hand, to feel its temperature, to confirm whether she was indeed dreaming.
But as she began to lift her arm, she wavered. Her slightly flushed hand dropped back down.
Fujimaru Ritsuka was someone else's Trainer. He had nothing to do with her. Besides, she had just been annihilated by Oguri Cap; how could she have the heart to share in someone else's joy when she was the one Oguri had beaten?
The girl's emotions were a chaotic mess—a battlefield of conflicting thoughts.
In that exact moment, Norn Ace heard a sharp snap, followed immediately by the warmth of that large hand closing around hers.
"Norn Ace-san, thank you for agreeing to my selfish request. And thank you for giving Oguri a lesson at the start. That girl isn't great with people, and she can be a bit of a space cadet. I've told her a thousand times how important the start is, yet she still made a mistake in the test. If that happened in an official race, things would have been difficult."
Fujimaru Ritsuka expressed his gratitude first, then complained about Oguri's blunder like a frustrated parent before thanking her again. "If you hadn't taught her that lesson the hard way, the impression wouldn't have stuck. She might have made the same mistake again."
Is this actually something you thank people for? Norn Ace didn't know, but her mood undeniably improved.
Was it because she believed his words? Or was it because of the way Fujimaru Ritsuka was looking at her with those kind eyes?
Norn Ace wasn't sure. All she knew was that the heat in her face—the flush born of physical exertion and the shame of defeat—had changed its nature.
That heat flared up again with a fiercer, more heart-fluttering intensity. Her ears and neck turned scorching hot in an instant. Her heart felt as if it had been gently squeezed by that outstretched hand, beginning to hammer a wild, irregular rhythm against her ribs.
She instinctively averted her gaze, thinking: Too close...
If her face hadn't already been red from the run, she probably wouldn't have been able to look anyone in the eye.
But now... she thought that maybe this wasn't so bad.
Though she would probably never be able to say the words she had originally intended to say.
[Will you be my Trainer?]
How could she? She had lost to his trainee.
What right did a loser have to say something like that?
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