The uproar over the gate draw gradually died down. After spending the entire night wandering the night market with Opera O, Light Dyna finally accepted reality.
Since this was about to be her fifth race, and the fifth time she'd been stuck with the far outside, even Opera O had started to wonder whether Dyna had some kind of cursed affinity for wide draws.
So Opera O relayed the whole thing to Wada and began thinking about how to give Dyna special training for running from the outside. After all, even during her own days as the Tyrant, she'd never had to deal with such absurd bad luck. Most of the time, she'd simply crushed other horse girls with technique, instinct, and the overwhelming force of her natural talent.
A poor girl as unlucky as Dyna was rare even in JRA history. But the draw really had been completely fair and random, so there was no one to complain to. And when Dyna had drawn, more than half the field had still been unpicked.
Still, what was done was done. Since the gate position could no longer be changed, the only thing left for Light Dyna was to trample Golden Artisan in what might be the one and only Satsuki Sho ever held at Tokyo Racecourse, and proclaim to all of Japan that a horse girl from the filly Triple Crown route was no weaker than those from the Classic Triple Crown route.
"Morning, Cody."
The moment Dyna opened her eyes, she found the plump little blue bird standing right on her chest, tilting its head as it stared at her. Smiling faintly, she reached out and poked its fluffy head with a finger. Cody immediately toddled over onto her palm without getting in the way as she sat up.
Lately, Cody always seemed to appear before Dyna woke up. She had found it odd at first, but by now she was used to it. When she got out of bed, the little bird simply perched on her shoulder, watching quietly as she washed up, changed clothes, and headed downstairs for her morning run.
"Cody, are you actually more energetic than Miss Cody's Wish?"
Dyna tilted her head toward the bird on her shoulder as she stepped outside. It gave a soft chirp in response—at least, maybe that was a response. Dyna thought she must be losing it to be asking a bird questions. Though in Cody's Wish's eyes, this bird really was her dear friend Cody.
The sky was overcast that morning. The moment she stepped outside, Dyna felt a slight tightness in her chest. Rain was probably on the way.
And whenever she thought of rain, she thought of that fateful downpour at Niigata Racecourse—the place where her dream had begun. She wondered whether the end of that dream, someday, would also come in a torrential storm.
"Oh, morning, Boss Light. Since when did you start keeping such a cute little blue bird?"
The neighboring shop owner always opened earlier than Dyna's place. He had stepped outside for a breath of fresh air and happened to run into her on her morning run as usual. But today she had that obedient little bird with her, and his curiosity got the better of him.
Dyna froze for a moment at the question, then pointed at her shoulder.
"This one?"
"Yeah. It's so well-behaved and adorable. Makes me want to get one for my own shop."
"I've always had it," Dyna said with an easy smile, spinning a lie without hesitation. "I just thought I'd let it out to look around today. Keeping it locked in a cage all the time wouldn't be nice."
The neighboring owner laughed. "I see. Then be sure to bring it out more often."
"I will. And your shop's opening time is coming up too, right? Good luck." Dyna waved, then quickly jogged off.
The fact that Cody could actually be seen by other people gave her a fright. Everyone she met along the riverbank trail—most of them fellow morning joggers—asked the same question when they spotted the little bird on her shoulder, and she had to brush them all off with similar excuses.
It wasn't until she reached a stretch of wooded path with no one around that she finally stopped and lifted Cody into her hands, staring down at it.
"How did you suddenly become visible?"
"Chirp?" Cody tilted its head again.
Seeing that clueless little face, Dyna eventually shut her eyes and let the matter go. She decided she might as well treat it as an extra little accessory hanging around with her. It was cute, at least. As long as Cody's Wish and Sea the Stars didn't suddenly become visible too, it was fine.
If Sea the Stars suddenly showed up in Japan from Europe and then got noticed by her real self overseas, that would be horrifying no matter how anyone looked at it.
The whole thing robbed Dyna of any further desire to keep running, so she simply turned back toward the shop. Opera O had already told her there was no need to keep coming to the academy before the Satsuki Sho. She only needed to meet everyone at the school gate at noon on Friday, head to Tokyo Racecourse together, do one final pace run, and then quietly prepare for the race.
Though she still had doubts about stopping training for so long right before such an important race, she trusted that since the advice came from the Tyrant herself, there had to be a reason for it. Better not to be a rebellious horse girl.
Back at the shop, she let Cody roam freely indoors while she prepared the ingredients for the day in the kitchen, then went upstairs to shower.
When she came back down dressed and ready, she found Nagasakura cupping Cody in both hands, her overworked eyes shining with curiosity.
"Boss, did you just buy this little bird? It's so cute."
"No, I've had it upstairs the whole time. I just thought I'd let it stretch its wings downstairs today. If it becomes a nuisance to the shop, I'll put it back."
After hanging up the towel she had used to dry her hands, Dyna crooked a finger. Cody immediately fluttered back to her shoulder and stood there in total stillness, like a tiny sculpture. The sight gave Nagasakura an almost spiritual shock. A bird this obedient would normally take ages to train, wouldn't it?
Could it be that instead of sleeping at night, the boss had secretly been training birds?
If that were true, Nagasakura would probably tie Dyna up and drag her to the hospital for a full-body checkup. Ruining your future by overworking yourself was no joke.
"Um, Boss… you really should take care of yourself too. Rest is important. Don't let hobbies cut into your sleep, okay…"
Nagasakura thought she was phrasing it tactfully, but to Dyna it sounded a bit different.
A strange feeling crept over her. Her gaze slowly shifted to Cody, and all at once she realized what Nagasakura seemed to be implying.
She couldn't possibly think I'm some kind of bird freak, right?
The thought sent goosebumps racing up Dyna's back. "I really do rest properly," she said quickly. "This little bird is just very smart. It understands everything I do. Like it was born specifically for me."
"I see. I'd started to think maybe you'd been staying up all night training birds." Nagasakura scratched her head and retreated into the kitchen to wash up and start working. The atmosphere had gotten weird, and she clearly wanted out.
That day's business passed without incident. It wasn't until evening, just as the shop was about to close, after Oguri Cap had already left for the day and Nagasakura had hurried off to catch the bus after locking the doors, that Dyna, just flipping the sign over to Closed, noticed a red-haired horse girl standing outside.
"Hm?"
The red-haired girl looked familiar. She lingered hesitantly by the door, clearly torn over whether to come in.
Dyna opened the door for her.
"Miss Ballet? Is something wrong?"
The visitor was Arc-en-Ciel—once destined to be Golden Artisan's fated rival, before Light Dyna had completely derailed that script.
What hadn't changed, however, was that Arc-en-Ciel still hadn't earned a place in the Satsuki Sho.
"E-eh! You still remember me…" The red-haired girl jumped in surprise. She had thought Light Dyna had long since forgotten a horse girl like her who had barely made an impression in the Shortwave Cup.
"Of course I remember you. Your red hair's very pretty—it stands out." Dyna stepped aside to let her enter. She could tell Ballet wanted to come in but was too hesitant to take that first step on her own.
Seated on the sofa at the little consultation table, Arc-en-Ciel sat stiff as a board.
In front of her was the future favorite to become an unbeaten Triple Crown winner… Even with the proud main-character spirit she carried in her heart, it was useless in front of Dyna.
Whenever Dyna looked at her, Arc-en-Ciel got the uncanny feeling she was being judged by her mother after failing an exam. The longer the silence stretched, the more it made her scalp tingle.
"Let me guess," Dyna said as she handed her a glass of juice. Lately she couldn't even be bothered to brew tea. "You came because of something at the academy? Or rather… because of racing?"
With both hands wrapped around the glass, Arc-en-Ciel fell silent.
Dyna really did think horse girls were just too easy to read. The only reason one ever came here, aside from racing troubles, was—well, what else was there?
Dyna had faced Arc-en-Ciel head-on in the Shortwave Cup. But after getting trapped midway because of a bad move for position, Ballet had been unable to break free and had finished only fifth. Then she went on to lose badly in two more graded races before giving up on the Satsuki Sho entirely.
"I really admire you, Miss Light Dyna," Ballet said at last. "And… this might sound strange, but during the Shortwave Cup, when I looked at you, I saw the image of myself wearing my race outfit. I thought maybe you and I were the same kind of person. But now I think that was just wishful thinking…"
"Saw yourself wearing your race outfit?" Dyna tapped a finger against her cheek, immediately understanding what Ballet meant. That had been the influence of Dyna's own character card, fully absorbed into her as strength, causing all the horse girls present to misperceive what they saw.
After that race, plenty of them had sworn they'd seen two red figures. They'd thought Arc-en-Ciel herself was suddenly coming up from behind, and it had disrupted their rhythm.
"Ah, I get it." Dyna took a sip of juice, then let out a slow breath. "Miss Arc-en-Ciel, every person is unique. When you saw yourself in me, maybe that wasn't your future self at all. You have your own choices. You can become the support for someone else's story, or you can become the protagonist of your own, on a course that truly suits you."
What she really wanted was for Arc-en-Ciel to find a different track, one where she wouldn't just get bullied by Dyna and Golden Artisan. That way she might even pick up a few graded wins of her own.
Ballet raised her head, still looking unwilling to yield. "My dream is to become the star on the biggest stage of all. But right now, I didn't even qualify for the Satsuki Sho."
"That's because," Dyna said softly, "a protagonist's road is never smooth. You have to endure wind and rain. You have to walk through thorns."
Somehow, saying this to Arc-en-Ciel felt a little odd, but the principle remained true.
"I know that," Ballet said. "Of course I do. But my thoughts and what I feel in my heart still don't line up. That's why I'm so conflicted. Even if I had qualified for the Satsuki Sho, I probably still couldn't beat you. But Golden Artisan? I'm very confident I could beat her!"
She was self-aware enough to know the gap between herself and Light Dyna. So instead, she had picked a more realistic target for herself.
Arc-en-Ciel herself didn't quite understand why, but after coming into the shop, she gradually began to relax. She and Dyna talked for a long while, and the weight in her chest slowly faded away.
The fragrance inside the shop really was enough to soothe the heart. More than that, it felt like it even loosened the tightness in muscles worked hard by training. That surprised Arc-en-Ciel most of all.
"So," Dyna said with a small smile, "Miss Arc-en-Ciel, as long as you know your goal and keep moving toward it, I'm sure you'll reach the ideal version of yourself. I don't mind being the final opponent you have to defeat, you know?"
That earned her Arc-en-Ciel's most solemn response yet.
"Then Light Dyna will be the final goal I overcome! It might sound impossibly arrogant right now, but I'll do it! First I'll beat Golden Artisan, and after that, Light Dyna!"
"Mhm. Then do your best, Miss Arc-en-Ciel. Your next race is the Aoba Sho, right? I'm looking forward to you winning it, and then meeting me head-on in the Derby."
When Arc-en-Ciel left, she slipped a few bills beneath one of the sofa cushions—presumably to thank Dyna.
Holding the money in her hand, Dyna shook her head helplessly.
"Maybe I really should start putting up a sign saying consultations are free. Otherwise they keep hiding cash in the strangest places. If it gets thrown away during cleaning, that's just a waste…"
With Cody fluttering after her up to the bedroom and perching on the clothes rack, Dyna took a shower and crawled back into bed in her pajamas.
"Honestly… I didn't even do that much. Why am I so tired? Maybe talking people through their problems really is exhausting. And if I tell her she can make me her goal like that… am I going to end up with Ballet awakening a Domain someday just to come after me?"
The moment she lay down, the thoughts began spinning. This was always the most relaxed part of her day.
But it didn't last long.
Her heavy eyelids dragged her under, and her thoughts slipped into darkness.
"What do you think of this?"
"You're the one who designed it, aren't you? You've spent the most time around Dyna, so you should know best."
She vaguely heard Cody's Wish and Sea the Stars discussing something, but why did her stomach and waist feel so cool? It was almost like she wasn't wearing any clothes there at all.
"But I think we guessed the bust size a little small."
"In a dream, you can just adjust it however you want. It looks fine like this."
Dyna let out a dissatisfied hum.
"What are you two doing…? I'm trying to sleep here!"
When she opened her eyes, she found smooth silk gloves covering her hands.
And the reason her waist and belly felt cool was because there really wasn't any fabric there.
Cody's Wish nodded, deeply satisfied.
"See? Didn't I say Dyna's ability makes her perfect for cosplay? She totally outclasses the original."
Sea the Stars clicked her tongue, but did not deny it.
In her dream, Dyna had been dressed in the cosplay outfit the two of them had been conspiring to create: Sea the Stars' costume.
And as for why it wasn't Cody's Wish instead… that was because the two of them had jointly vetoed that idea.
Dyna just wouldn't look good in Cody's Wish's clothes.
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 138)
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 (Chapter155)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter98)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter172)
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 158
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 144
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 100
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 165
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 140
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 120
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 69
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 90
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 95
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 70
Uma Musume: I Want All 80
I Can Copy Unique Skills 65
Summoning an Evil God, but the 52
Supernatural Multiverse 65
My Harem Is Indescribable 50
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 55
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 40
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 50
Still playing traditional Honk 30
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