Holding her phone high above her head, the girl watched the fireworks on the screen with rapt attention. They were nowhere near as breathtaking as seeing them in person, but for a child living out in the countryside, they were still wondrous enough.
Seeing the longing in the girl's eyes, the horse girl lifted the phone even higher, hoping she could enjoy them just a little more.
Beside her, Oguri had already started shaking the arm she was holding overhead. She had waited all day for this moment, hadn't she? Turning to look at Sansho Drum and seeing her struggling a little, Oguri suddenly seemed to think of something and quickly snatched the phone from her hands.
"I've got it, I've got it!"
Excited, Oguri raised the phone as high as she could. Thanks to being a bit taller than Sansho Drum, the fireworks on the screen instantly looked even more dazzling.
"Thank you, Big Sister Oguri!"
At the child's sweet voice, both Sansho Drum and Oguri smiled, filled with happiness.
As long as the girl was happy, then even if it was tiring, even if the crowd around them was loud and chaotic, neither of them found it troublesome at all. They remained immersed in their own little world, watching as the fireworks burned out one after another in the sky.
That was the first round.
Only then did Oguri finally calm down a little. "Koto, what do you think? Pretty amazing, right?"
"Mhm! There've never been fireworks this beautiful where my sister and I live!"
The girl's soft, syrupy voice made Oguri glance at Sansho Drum. She vaguely remembered her roommate once saying that, before coming to Central Tracen, she had never seen fireworks this beautiful either.
"The second round of fireworks will begin shortly. This time, everyone, please circle around along with the procession!"
The announcer's voice rang out from the speakers hanging overhead. Sansho Drum looked surprised. She hadn't known there was an event like this this year. The last time she came, there hadn't been anything like it.
As the crowd began to move, Oguri thought it looked even livelier and more fun, and eagerly stepped forward with the flow. Standing beside her, Sansho Drum could only follow along with a faintly helpless smile.
And as people began moving, the crush of the crowd only became more obvious.
Earlier, when everyone had been standing still, Sansho Drum had at least been able to find a spot that felt a little roomier, a little more comfortable. But now, as the crowd shifted and pressed forward, she could feel arms and bodies brushing against her from all sides.
Her brows drew together slightly.
She disliked this feeling of being crowded together with strangers.
She folded her arms close to herself, and the night breeze stirred her long green hair, lifting it gently from time to time.
The fragrance in her hair drew more than a few glances from passersby.
Sansho Drum didn't care. Through the sea of people, she could still spot the phone being held high overhead. She and Oguri had already been separated by a bit of distance without noticing, but Oguri was still doing her best to let the girl see the fireworks, and at the same time gave Sansho Drum a marker to follow.
She started making her way in that direction.
Then, as she moved, her arm brushed against someone in the crowd.
In such a packed place, accidental contact was unavoidable. Normally, there would be no need to apologize at all.
And yet Sansho Drum reached out and caught hold of that person's wrist.
Not because she wanted to say sorry.
But because the sensation felt achingly familiar.
The figure turned back in the crowd.
Sansho Drum looked straight into a pair of deep, dark eyes—the very same eyes that had captivated her the first time they met.
"Shin... ji..."
The name slipped from her lips in a dazed murmur. The moment she realized there wasn't a single horse girl by his side, her heart began pounding wildly. Her face flushed red.
Scenes of the two of them watching fireworks together in the past came rushing back. And then another thought followed—what if he had come here alone tonight precisely because he was reminiscing about those days?
The hope that rose in her chest made her more and more nervous. Even though she knew it was much more likely she was flattering herself, she was still willing to chase that one slim chance.
Her grip on his wrist tightened slightly.
Then, with a little tug, she drew herself right to his side.
Shinji frowned.
The heat coming from her hand on his wrist was almost scalding, and it irritated him. The yearning in her eyes—what was that supposed to mean? He genuinely couldn't understand it.
Ever since the event had suddenly begun, he had stood there in a daze while the crowd carried him off to who-knew-where.
He had basically been dragged into the grounds by his three trainees on the way in. Now he was being swept along again by a mass of strangers. If he ignored the present circumstances, maybe he could even call it a strange sort of journey.
Unfortunately, he had run into someone he absolutely shouldn't have.
As the girl leaned closer and closer, Shinji finally spoke, his tone cold and distant.
"What are you doing?"
The sudden question jolted her back to reality. Dropping from that dreamlike fantasy into the cold truth felt terrible. Worst of all, the person she had once been closest to had become someone who clearly found her irritating—someone almost like an enemy.
Sansho Drum's body trembled once, but she kept her eyes fixed on him and did not let go of his wrist.
She had let go at the wrong time once before.
Since then, whether it was right or wrong, she had decided she wanted to hold on more tightly.
Shinji tried to pull free.
Against a horse girl's strength, though, he couldn't break loose. He gave up the attempt and simply stared at her exquisite face.
In the time they had been apart, fatigue and weariness had settled into her eyes and across her face.
Thinking that, Shinji couldn't help the faint curl of mockery at his lips. There was even a trace of schadenfreude in it.
Sansho Drum saw it clearly. It hurt, but she kept looking at him anyway.
Fireworks burst above them, filling the sky with light. Amid the noise and the crowd, their eyes remained locked together.
She remembered all too vividly that year they had watched fireworks together—how, amid the sparkling colors reflected in his eyes, he had made his wish and his promise.
Those eyes still held reflected light now.
But the youthful spirit that had once been there was gone. Or perhaps buried too deep to ever resurface for her again.
"Where... are they?"
Her question caught him slightly off guard. So she knew his team had gained new members.
He shrugged and glanced around. Among the swaying crowd, he couldn't spot a single upright pair of horse ears.
A look passed through Sansho Drum's eyes. Only then did she realize she had lost both her phone and her roommate in the crush.
She had come to the festival to accompany her roommate, yet before she knew it they had been separated.
That thought only made her face burn hotter.
And then she edged closer to him again.
The crowd she had found so annoying just moments ago now became an ally, pressing her body right up against his.
A shadow flickered through Shinji's eyes.
He tried to push her away, but against a horse girl's strength, the only effect was to press his hand slightly into her taut skin. It did nothing to actually move her.
"Shinji."
Even in all the surrounding noise, her voice was one he recognized instantly.
"I'm not asking you to forgive me. I know there's no future for us anymore... but at least... at least don't treat me like this, okay?"
The hurt and grievance on her face, the tears gathering at the corners of her eyes—Shinji looked at it all with complete indifference.
Even when a tear slipped free and rolled down her cheek, his expression did not change.
"She became the Autumn Triple Crown horse girl. Isn't that already the greatest punishment I could have received?"
As she spoke, Sansho Drum let out a bitter laugh.
If she had stayed firm back then, if she had never left, would the horse girl standing at the pinnacle in Nakayama now have been her instead?
But what was done was done.
The choice she had made then had brought her to where she stood now. In that sense, it was fair.
So why, when everything was her own fault, did the regret and unwillingness in her heart keep growing stronger, until she could no longer suppress the urge to bury herself in his chest?
She knew that was wrong.
She knew it perfectly well.
But she truly couldn't hold herself back anymore.
She wanted to steal one more moment in his embrace.
Her body moved before her mind could stop it.
With that strength of hers, she forced Shinji's arm aside.
He had only a moment to register what was happening before a pair of horse ears swung directly into view.
She had lunged for his chest.
But before she could make contact, another horse girl suddenly appeared, slapped her hand away, and dragged the man she longed for straight out toward the edge of the crowd.
The golden ornament swaying from that horse girl's left ear, the chain hanging down like a crown—Sansho Drum stood frozen in place.
Her green hair scattered behind her in the night wind as she slowly raised her head.
The fireworks were still blooming overhead, but she had no heart left to admire them.
Like her hair spilling loose behind her, the sparks scattered across the sky. The dazzling spectacle that had once pierced straight into her heart had become a view that belonged only to other people now.
With a miserable smile, Sansho Drum gathered up her hair and tied it back.
She remembered Narita Brian following beside Shinji before the Autumn Tenno Sho. Even that meeting had been mocking enough.
And now, that other familiar figure...
Back then, she had been wrong.
Terribly, completely wrong.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 139)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter171)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter100)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter184)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 168
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 156
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 105
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 185
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 160
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 150
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 76
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 97
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 116
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 75
Uma Musume: I Want All 93
I Can Copy Unique Skills 79
Summoning an Evil God, but the 55
Supernatural Multiverse 75
My Harem Is Indescribable 68
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 70
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 66
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 69
Still playing traditional Honk 49
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 53
What Should I Do After Switchi 42
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 50
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 38
Transmigrated as Sukuna 35
Checking In in Demon Slayer 40
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 55
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