A/N: Aint no way I'm gonna push out a chap on the New Year, man. Though I have an exam coming for my ass next week.
Anyways, daily check-ins...
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The gates slammed shut, the impact slicing cleanly through the stadium's roar.
Silver Tear settled into position, knees bent, fingers flexing once before curling tight.
The turf's softness pressed back through her soles, grounding her. Her heart drove hard against her ribs, blood surging with each pulse until it felt loud enough to hear.
Little by little, the crowd bled out of her awareness, leaving only a single track ahead, sharp and perfectly defined in her vision.
'Tokyo's turf track. 2000 meters. Sunny weather.'
To her right, Oguri Cap moved.
She rolled her shoulders, muscles drawing taut in a way that erased every rumor of her absent-mindedness. Gray hair stirred as she leaned forward, eyes locked straight ahead, her focus honed to something almost predatory.
'A monster. Now I know why people call her that.'
The air around her grew dense, carrying a pressure Silver Tear could feel even from one lane away.
Silver Tear's pulse spiked higher. She turned her head slightly, just enough.
"Do you think monsters are made to be hunted?"
Her voice cut through the tension, low and deliberate, every word chosen like a blade.
Oguri Cap glanced sideways.
She studied Silver Tear for a moment, then tilted her head, genuinely thinking, as if the question had caught her off guard. Or perhaps that was simply how she always was. However, Silver Tear had no way of knowing.
"…Hmm."
Silver Tear's legs burned with restrained force. Her instinct of an Uma Musume screamed to launch forward already, to tear the answer from the track itself.
Oguri Cap smiled.
"Then be careful." She said, voice steady.
"Sometimes, the hunter becomes the prey for the monster."
Oguri Cap's gaze sharpened.
A slow smile crept on Silver Tear's face as something clicked into place inside her.
Her stance lowered, heels digging in, muscles screaming under the leash of restraint. She met Oguri Cap's gaze head-on, eyes blazing, breath slow and controlled despite the burning fire ripping through her chest.
The pressure between them surged.
The crowd erupted, excitement spilling over as the commentator guided the rising tension with practiced ease.
Oguri Cap leaned forward fully now, the last trace of idle blankness gone, leaving only the will to run and claim the top.
Silver Tear mirrored her, blood pumping so violently it drowned out everything but the track itself and the finish line.
Hunter.
Monster.
Who will win in the end? How exciting...
"All runners! Get set!"
The silence before the start stretched to breaking—
Bang!
The gates burst open.
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Silver Tear exploded off the line.
The instant the gates flew open, her body moved before thought could catch up. Power tore through her legs as she burst forward. The wind snapped past her ears, the world compressing into motion and rhythm.
"And it's a sharp start!! Silver Tear takes it fast from the gates!"
The roar of the crowd swelled, surprise flashing through the stands as her acceleration became obvious.
She didn't hesitate, nor did she test the waters.
Silver Tear went straight for the lead.
"She's going straight to the front!"
The commentator exclaimed.
This was her answer to her debut race.
A frontrunner's strategy.
Against a monster like Oguri Cap, relying on a conventional late surge was out of the question. Silver Tear intended to break Oguri's rhythm, to drag her out of her comfort zone, and decide the race on her own terms.
She would throw Oguri Cap out of her usual rhythm and seize the victory.
Silver Tear settled into a front-runner's tempo, long strides locking into a controlled pace. She felt the balance snap into place, her breathing steady as the pack reorganized behind her.
"Silver Tear is setting the pace!"
The audience leaned forward as one.
Out of the corner of her awareness, Silver Tear felt Oguri Cap drift back.
Gasps rippled through the stands.
"Oguri Cap has dropped to 5th position. She's pacing herself in the middle of the pack."
Oguri's strides smoothed out, her presence blending into the flow of runners as she allowed herself to be carried back.
From the outside, it looked passive, as though she were conceding ground without a fight.
But Silver Tear knew better.
The pressure from Oguri Cap hadn't dissipated a bit. It only sank deeper, coiling with quiet intent. It was as if–
The monster was waiting.
Silver Tear took the first turn cleanly, hugging the line with practiced precision. Her speed barely wavered, hooves stomping into the turf as she flowed through the curve.
The crowd's volume surged again, cheers breaking free as she emerged still in front, unchallenged.
"She's holding beautifully through the turn!"
"What a confident turn! Silver Tear looks completely in control!"
The gap stretched.
One length.
Then two lengths.
Excitement crackled through the stadium. Cameras tracked the leader, screens flashing her name as chants began to form, her early dominance igniting the audience's blood.
Behind her, Oguri Cap remained calm.
"The Gray Monster has not responded yet." The commentator noted, voice lowering with intrigue.
"Oguri Cap is conserving energy! This could be a late surge strategy."
On the backstretch, Oguri Cap ran with her head low, eyes sharp, slipping through the flow without forcing her way forward. Others wasted motion, fighting for position, burning stamina too early.
Oguri Cap did neither.
Her breathing stayed even, every ounce of her power carefully stored for the final spurt.
Silver Tear felt that familiar pressure again.
Even without turning back, she knew the crowd did too.
"Don't be fooled by the gap."
The commentator warned.
"Oguri Cap is the most dangerous at the last stretch."
Silver Tear pushed just enough to keep the pace going, making the chase hurt without tipping her hand. The track answered her stride for stride, firm and unwavering beneath her feet.
From the stands, it looked settled.
"Silver Tear's already set a strong pace early." The commentator said.
"Now it's a question of how much stamina she has left in the tank."
The pressure at her back eased, the pack falling into a rhythm shaped around her tempo.
The audience's excitement shifted, anticipation turning patient, expectant. Everyone was waiting for the inevitable moment when the frontrunner would start to pay the price.
'Ah, this is bad.'
A sharp smile curved across Silver Tear's lips as that faint, probing presence lingered behind her.
'Oguri Cap-san, if you keep this up, I'm really going to get addicted to this feeling.'
Far back in the pack, Oguri Cap lifted her gaze.
The frontrunner ran ahead, steady and confident, looking every bit like someone managing her stamina for the long run. Cheers rolled over the track in distant waves. Oguri's smile returned, small and knowing, as she adjusted her breathing, stride calm, power carefully banked.
Not yet. She would fight at the fourth corner.
The third corner loomed.
"This is where she should start conserving. If she pushes any harder now—"
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"That's probably everyone thinking right?" Silver Tear thought as she cleared the turn.
"But where is the fun in that?!"
In the very next instant, she shattered the expectation.
Her stance dropped, her stride lengthened, and she burst forth, acceleration slamming into the race like a sudden gust. The rhythm she had set from the start snapped apart as she tore forward, speed climbing in a way no one had prepared for.
"What–?! She's accelerating?!"
The stadium exploded. Shock rippled through the stands as the gap tore open behind her, widening in a blink.
The runners chasing her faltered, instincts scrambling as the pace they had settled into vanished, their timing thrown completely off balance.
"What will you do now, Oguri Cap-san?"
Silver Tear laughed breathlessly, fire ripping through her chest as she surged ahead.
For most frontrunners, this was the moment to hold back. They needed to protect their legs, to save something for a final spurt that could match the closers.
But Silver Tear didn't need it.
She ran the way she always did. And that alone was enough to stretch the lead even further.
With an A+ stamina and momentum firmly in her grasp, the advantage tipped decisively.
"4 length? 5 length!? No, it's 6 length!!! How did she keep pulling this off?"
In the middle of the pack, Oguri Cap's eyes widened.
Her breathing hitched for the first time. The sudden change tugged at her legs, forcing her to lengthen her stride earlier than planned.
She clicked her tongue softly, focus sharpening as she adjusted, the calm rhythm she had been saving disrupted by the sheer force of Silver Tear's surge.
"I will not lose!"
"The advantage is mine, Oguri Cap!!"
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A/N: Yeah I guess I'm not good at writing race scene.