Chapter 157: New Heart, Demon’s Shadow

I’m basically the type who doesn’t care much about a race’s prestige or history.

More than the race itself, what matters to me are the Uma Musume running in it—and the fans who come to watch.

Of course, there are times when I get excited. Like, “Hey, this is the race we watched in Anime Zemi!” Or when I think, “I get to face her and her at the same time!” Or when I see the crowd and go, “Whoa, so many fans showed up!” and feel my blood heat up.

But when I hear highly motivated Uma Musume say things like, “I run to win this race,” or “I’ll devote everything just to stand on this stage,” I honestly can’t relate to those noble feelings.

At the end of the day, if I can run against strong opponents, even an Open race is fine with me. And if the competition looks mediocre, even a G1 makes me hesitate… that’s just how I am. Well, it’s not like a prestigious G1 usually ends up with a weak lineup, so I’m not too worried about that.

I just don’t really understand the value of prestige or history.

Maybe if you’re raised in a distinguished family like the Symbolis or the Mejiros, you’re taught from a young age to care about those things. But I’m the daughter of a perfectly ordinary mother who couldn’t even make it onto the Central circuit—let alone compete in major regional races.

If I’d had some childhood race that moved me to tears, maybe it would be different. But back then, my family was falling apart, and I was too busy carrying my father’s “curse” just trying to survive.

I only started seriously studying race history and prestige around my second year of middle division. By that time, I was already stacking up G1 wins one after another. So even if someone told me, “This is an incredible race,” my reaction was just, “Oh? I can win it normally though.” I couldn’t feel the weight of it.

Yeah.

In the end, my environment was just… unusual.

I’m not saying, “It’s not my fault—it’s the environment’s fault.” But I hope you can understand that some of it was beyond my control.

…But.

Even someone like me, who doesn’t get sentimental about races themselves, can’t help feeling something when it comes to the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

The world’s premier turf race—one no Japanese Uma Musume has ever won.

Winning it would be almost direct proof that you are the strongest turf Uma Musume in the world.

In terms of attention and difficulty, it isn’t just top-class. It stands alone at number one, far ahead of anything else.

Ayumu-san said it too.

“It’s time we show the completed form of our running.”

In other words, this race is like the final boss. One destination at the end of my journey.

I run with no grand objective beyond enjoying races and battling the strong. Even so, having come this far, I can’t help thinking—

It’s finally time.

While cooling down after training, I sat on the turf and looked up at the sky, steadying my breathing.

“…Two and a half years already.”

It felt both long and short. Time that vanished in the blink of an eye.

In the two and a half years since entering Tracen Academy, Hoshino Wilm’s life has completely changed color.

That cold, gray world devoid of light has transformed into something blazing and vibrant, painted by the brilliance of countless stars.

…But I don’t think that gray world—those painful, bitter days—were meaningless.

Because I endured them, I gained the strength to shine in the Twinkle Series.

Nothing was wasted.

The painful days. The failures. The crushing defeats.

All of it carries meaning. All of it connects to reflection. All of it shaped who I am now.

And in that sense, the ones I owe the most gratitude to are—

My parents, who have now passed away.

My father and mother, who allowed me to be born into this world.

Things didn’t exactly go smoothly after that… but still, I’m grateful they brought me here.

That said, there’s one sad truth.

Almost nothing of theirs remains.

The house. The furniture. I sold it all.

Part of it was for the money… but unconsciously, I think I just didn’t want anything in my sight that reminded me of those days.

So I threw away or sold nearly everything they left behind.

Only one thing remains.

I reach up and touch my ears—not the ones at the sides of my face, but the horse ears atop my head. They’re soft and fluffy, pleasant beneath my fingers.

As I trace them, I feel something hard beneath the fur.

A pair of thin, light-gray metallic ear ornaments—delicate and slightly intricate in design, one on each ear.

They once belonged to my mother. And they were never seen on the turf.

When I was still a baby—before her heart had completely worn down—she gave them to me.

“I won’t need these anymore. I hope that someday, you will.”

That’s what she said, filling those words with dreams and hope.

That’s why I’ve always worn them while racing in the Central circuit.

If my running can ease even a fraction of my mother’s regrets, there’s nothing more I could ask for.

Running while carrying someone’s dreams—that’s part of being a Uma Musume.

“…I wonder if Mom and Dad are watching from somewhere.”

I gaze at the sky, now tinged red by the setting sun.

To most people, talk of souls and reincarnation would sound like nothing but occult nonsense.

But for someone like me—who actually reincarnated into this world—I can’t dismiss it so easily.

Maybe after dying, my parents were reborn somewhere in this world. Or maybe, like me, they’ve already moved on to another one.

Still… if I’m allowed to hope—

No. Maybe this isn’t something I should hope for.

But before they’re reborn somewhere else, I want them to see me run.

They left this world hating me until the very end.

Maybe they wouldn’t want to watch me now.

Even so, I want them to know that proof of their existence in this world—the daughter they brought into it—is achieving something.

I want them to believe their lives weren’t meaningless.

…It’s nothing but ego, really.

I don’t know if it would comfort them. It might even anger them. I don’t know if they’ve been reborn, or if they’re still somewhere in this world.

Even so—

“…I hope you’re watching.”

If I think that way, maybe I really am self-centered.

…Alright.

That’s enough rest.

According to Ayumu-san’s schedule, I should rest another five minutes. But I can’t stand the heat building in my body and chest anymore.

Uma Musume are made to run.

And if that’s true, then all I can do now is run.

I’m carrying an unbelievable number of dreams on my back.

I can’t stop.

…Well, honestly, I just really want to run like crazy.

“Here we go!”

I call out as I stand and step toward the turf—

“…Hm?”

For just a moment, I feel a warm hand gently press against my back.

When I turn around, no one is there.

Was it just my imagination?

---

I got a little sentimental thinking about the past, but that’s not really like me.

If anything, that serious role belongs to Ayumu-san.

I’ll just focus on the races ahead—and on my future with him—and run recklessly like a proper racing Uma Musume.

Now then, let’s think properly about the race that stands as my ultimate goal.

The Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe will be fiercer than anything I’ve faced before.

If I don’t focus entirely on the race itself, I won’t have a chance of winning.

While I’m still in Japan, the only thing I can do is cut away lingering attachments.

So, between training sessions, I decided to visit my friends, seniors, and juniors.

First, my closest friend Nature and my strongest rival Teio…

…Well, we eat together all the time anyway. Making a formal visit would just be embarrassing. Worst case, I’ll see them the day before I leave.

Next, I wanted to see McQueen-senpai, but apparently she’s been away from Tracen for about a month on Mejiro family business.

Still, she can train at the Mejiro facilities, and she plans to race properly again in the autumn. That’s reassuring.

So I sent her a LINE message, thanking her for all the races we’ve fought together and wishing her luck in the Tenno Sho (Autumn).

No reply yet… she must be busy.

Next—my juniors.

Of course, the first one I went to see was Bourbon-chan, my underclassman from the same stable.

As serious as ever, she was relentlessly pushing her distance limits in preparation for the Kikuka Sho.

Knowing her, if I thanked her, she’d probably say, “Rather, I’m the one who should be thanking you,” but…

When I think about it, she’s helped me a lot.

She’s partnered with me in pace work countless times. Just the other day, she even helped me test my Domain expansion.

I wondered what I could do to repay her.

But in the end, all I can do is run.

So I devoted an entire day to matching her training plan—running alongside her and offering whatever advice I could.

…Though honestly, under Ayumu-san’s guidance, Bourbon-chan probably doesn’t need advice from me at all.

She’s my only junior from the same stable. Maybe I should be doing more for her.

But she’s already found her own running. She’s standing firmly on her own two legs.

Mihono Bourbon is already a fully fledged racing Uma Musume.

Even without my involvement, she’ll keep running forward as far as she wants.

…Which means the ones I should really be worrying about are the juniors who haven’t reached that point yet.

---

The next day, I went to see Souri-chan.

She’s one of the juniors I’m particularly close to. Since May, she’s been entering an official race about once a month. Just the other day, she made her graded stakes debut—and won brilliantly, officially joining the ranks of graded winners.

But from what I saw in that race…

Unlike Bourbon-chan, she still hasn’t fully discovered a style she can truly call her own.

Well, that’s only natural.

Only a tiny handful of Uma Musume—those who can clash head-on with the very top tier—ever truly grasp their own world. In other words, the girls who run in G1s.

The race she won was a G3—the lowest level of graded stakes. There were no G1-class monsters in the field, and compared to G1 level, the overall standard was still significantly lower.

She hasn’t yet felt the razor-sharp tension of a G2 or G1.

She hasn’t experienced the sensation of the strongest Uma Musume bearing down on her—where theory and logic are blown away by raw force.

And honestly… if you asked whether she has the power for that level right now?

It’s doubtful.

…Actually, I probably shouldn’t say it, but she doesn’t.

Over the past few months, she’s grown at an incredible rate. Like Nature last year—a so-called late bloomer of the summer.

Well, maybe it’s a little early to call it summer. A spring bloomer would be more accurate.

Even so, there are heights that simply can’t be reached yet.

Right now, she’s at the level of “might win a G2, depending on how things unfold.”

She’s not quite ready to contend with Bourbon-chan or Rice-chan.

Even on Ayumu-san’s high-alert list, her name was only on page eight. At present, even securing a spot in the Kikuka Sho field looks uncertain.

…After saying I’d support her, it would be dishonorable to leave for overseas while she’s still like this.

So I decided to give her a push.

“Y-You want to do a mock race… with me, Senpai?”

“Yep. Let’s do it.”

Alright. Time for some good old-fashioned power leveling.

Just like with Bourbon-chan, there isn’t much I can do besides run.

If what she lacks is experience against the strong, then I’ll give it to her.

I—the strongest active runner in the Twinkle Series—will personally train you.

“Don’t worry. I won’t go all out. I’ll run at about a Classic-level pace… Think of me as Bourbon-chan, and try executing your own escape strategy.”

“My own… escape…”

“There’s something you’ve been trying to do, right? I could tell just from watching.”

In her last three races, Souri-chan had clearly been experimenting with something.

But whatever it was, it still hadn’t fully taken shape.

…At least not to the point where she could directly defeat Bourbon-chan or Rice-chan.

“G1 races—coming from me, this might sound strange—but they’re battlefields.

The overwhelming public attention. The tension you can’t escape. The crushing pressure from your rivals. It becomes far harder to bring out your full strength than in the races you’re running now.

If you don’t properly master your technique beforehand, you’ll freeze up on the big stage and lose without ever showing what you’re capable of.

So… test it against me. I’m probably one of the only ones in Japan who can reproduce Bourbon-chan’s escape pace.”

A perfect recreation is impossible, of course.

What makes Bourbon-chan’s escape so terrifying is her almost machine-like ability to maintain a perfectly exact pace, thanks to her absurdly precise internal clock.

Even with the slight boost to my cognition from my “anime reincarnation” cheat, I can’t match that level of precision. I can’t maintain speed like a machine the way she does.

Still, I’m a reincarnation-cheat Uma Musume.

I’ve run alongside Bourbon-chan countless times. I remember her rhythm. I can approximate it closely enough for a convincing simulation.

…and I can probably show Souri-chan the one thing she wants to see most.

“Of course, I’ll let you experience a Domain as well. I’ll serve as your example—so you can find your own running sooner.”

“! …I see. Understood. Then—please!”

She bowed deeply.

After that, we ran for hours.

We raced. We discussed Domains. We refined her ideas mid-stride and in between sets.

And my conclusion?

…Yeah. Better than I expected.

From her running, I could clearly sense a purpose.

How to win the Kikuka Sho. How to defeat Bourbon-chan. What she wants to accomplish.

Her approach wasn’t reckless. It was deliberate. Carefully structured.

And more than anything—

She understood something essential about being an Uma Musume.

After one of our final runs, completely spent, hands braced on her knees, Souri-chan still lifted her face toward me—

And she was smiling.

If that’s the case…

Then maybe—just maybe—an upset isn’t impossible.

---

There’s one more junior I need to check on.

And honestly, I’m more worried about her than I am about Souri-chan.

In terms of raw ability, she’s exceptional. There’s absolutely no concern there.

Bourbon-chan is the overwhelming favorite for the Kikuka Sho—but the clear second choice is almost certainly her.

According to Ayumu-san, she’s a pure stayer—second only to me and McQueen-senpai. Kyoto’s slopes and the 3000-meter distance should suit her perfectly.

So from an ability standpoint, just like with Souri-chan, I’m not worried.

The reason I’m worried about Rice-chan is something else entirely.

“…That said, what should I do here…?”

There’s such a thing as well-intentioned interference.

When it comes to Rice-chan, I’m genuinely torn about whether I should get involved at all—and if I do, what tone I should take.

Right now, Rice-chan is wound incredibly tight—for better or worse.

The signs were already there around the Satsuki Sho, but ever since Bourbon-chan unveiled her Domain in the Japanese Derby, that tension has become impossible to ignore.

She’s been contacting me far less.

And naturally, that means our late-night self-training sessions have nearly disappeared.

Running alone at night—with no one to talk to—along those empty streets…

“Chilly” is just a figure of speech. If anything, the nights have been hot lately.

Still, it feels lonely.

When I sent her a quick LINE message—“How’ve you been lately?”—the reply came much later:

“I’m sorry… I’ve been completely absorbed in my self-training…”

So I don’t think she hates me.

Reading between the lines, Rice-chan has probably entered that extreme focus mode I remember from the anime in my previous life.

I can still see it clearly—Rice-chan before the Spring Tenno Sho.

Blue flames leaking from her eyes. A dark, ominous aura wrapped around her. Running across a moonlit track with a gaze so sharp it barely resembled her usual self.

That scene remains one of my favorites.

McQueen-senpai had been serious heading into that race too—but Rice-chan’s intensity was… different.

Almost demonic.

That difference was what created the cruel gap in the Spring Tenno Sho.

During our last joint training session, I felt that same presence beginning to gather around her.

It was enough to send a chill down even my spine—enough to make the corner of my lips curl upward at the icy pressure in the air.

Right now, Rice-chan is pouring everything she has into defeating Bourbon-chan and winning the Kikuka Sho.

She’s honing herself to the absolute limit.

The Rice-chan standing before me now reminds me of myself as a child.

Throwing everything on the line.

Even staking her life on her run.

Perhaps this is the true, serious form of the Uma Musume called Rice Shower—the version once depicted in the anime.

“Hmm…”

Personally, I believe Uma Musume should enjoy running.

But that’s just Hoshino Wilm’s philosophy.

Not every Uma Musume becomes faster by enjoying herself. Some girls, like Rice-chan, can only unleash their true strength when they’re sharpened to the brink of breaking.

If that’s the case, then maybe it would be wrong for me to interfere and dull that edge.

…However.

I know that kind of suffering.

When you have a reason you must win, you can endure running as if your life depends on it.

But endure is all it is.

Your legs ache. Your heart grows cold.

It’s not something I particularly want to relive.

If Rice-chan believes that kind of desperation is necessary to win, then I shouldn’t invalidate it.

But I’d still like to ease that cold pain—even just a little.

In that case… yes.

Then what I should do is simple.

Walk that path alongside her.

Inside me, there are switchable “modes,” you could say.

Like split personalities.

Well, technically three.

One is the “hot” mode—the one intoxicated by the heat of racing, pressing forward aggressively.

One is my usual “warm” mode—flexible, balanced, adaptable.

And the last is the remnant of the extreme race-focused mindset I cultivated long ago—the “cold” mode.

There was a time when this mode activated automatically whenever I sensed a race approaching.

Now, I can switch it on at will.

That said, I rarely do—unless it’s an official race, or something serious like that mock race with Rudolf-senpai the other day.

I don’t need it to win. Hoshino Wilm wins just fine without it.

…That’s not the only reason, but still.

Rice-chan is probably the first junior I’ve ever shown my “cold” mode to.

People often say, “Hoshino Wilm changes her aura depending on the situation.”

They’re not wrong.

In front of fans, I show the face meant for fans.

In front of rivals, the face meant for rivals.

In front of juniors, the face meant for juniors.

Before a race, the face meant for racing.

And only in front of my trainer do I show my true face.

Switching between those expressions—that’s how I navigate the world.

Which is why I’ve never shown this face to a junior before.

…Actually, it’s been a long time since I’ve shown this “cold” expression to anyone at all.

“O-Onee… sama…?”

Rice-chan flinched slightly.

Not because I appeared during her self-training without warning.

But because of my atmosphere—something she had never seen from me before.

Utterly cold. Detached. Focused only on overcoming my opponent and winning.

An aura even sharper and more merciless than the tension she herself has been carrying lately.

I slowly opened my mouth.

“Long time no see, Rice-chan.”

If warmth—or fiery collision—would help a junior grow, I would gladly offer it.

But for Rice-chan, that might only restrain her.

The Uma Musume called Rice Shower doesn’t truly seek heat.

To put it bluntly—she doesn’t need a rival.

What she needs is something far beyond her reach.

A summit.

A back disappearing into the distance.

Or perhaps… a dream.

If that’s the case, then my role is obvious.

As someone who once ran with her life on the line—

I’ll become the summit she must climb.

“…Alright then. Let’s run.”

“Um…”

Rice-chan hesitated.

I smiled at her.

Not the bright, consciously crafted smile I show to fans.

But a smile like a blue star in the winter sky—cold, distant, merciless.

“I can’t just keep taking from you. So here’s your final present before the Kikuka Sho.

Not the lukewarm camaraderie we’ve shared until now—but something painfully cold.

Hoshino Wilm will face you seriously.”

A distant star in an unreachable sky.

Becoming that—

That’s what will ignite Rice-chan more than anything.

Her eyes narrowed sharply.

And for just a moment… I thought I saw a familiar blue flame flicker within them.

“…Please take care of me.”

Alright then.

I’ll give you a light warm-up—

No.

I’ll crush you properly.

So you learn what lies above you.

So you understand true strength.

So that someday—

You’ll grow strong enough to chase my back.

…Ah.

Rudolf-senpai must have felt something like this the other day, too.