Chapter 26 – Comrades Who Ate from the Same Pot
“Ah—it’s Crown!”
“Hm?”
A laid-back voice drifted over.
I flicked my ears toward it and looked in the direction it came from.
From the stall across the aisle, a face peeked out of the shadows.
“Long time no see. How have you been?”
“…You.”
That voice.
That completely calm-looking face.
That atmosphere, like a lazy afternoon on a sunlit porch.
It was Golden Wing.
The annoyingly strong horse that had smoothly slipped past me in the Hakodate maiden race.
Then, from the stall beside his came another voice, crisp and energetic.
“Hmm? Oh, long time no see.”
A gray horse.
The confident, intelligent-sounding tone made it obvious who it was.
Tenzan Sakura.
The last time we’d met had been before the yearling auction…
So it’d been almost a year and a half.
“You guys!? What are you doing here!?”
Well, it’s a racetrack, so of course there are horses.
But still.
Why, of all times, did it have to be these two?
Tenzan Sakura answered with a look that practically said, You seriously don’t know?
“Because tomorrow is the Yayoi Sho.”
“I get to race Sakura-kun again.”
Golden Wing grinned beside him.
…Ah.
Oh…
Right.
The Yayoi Sho.
The major prep race for the Satsuki Sho.
“…I see.”
That was all I could manage.
Of course.
It made perfect sense.
Those two had finished first and second in the Asahi Hai.
I…
had just finished third in a Class 2 dirt race.
And they were running in the Yayoi Sho.
…
Yeah.
I’d always known.
But seeing it laid out so plainly in front of me…
it stung a little.
It felt like we weren’t even running on the same ground anymore.
Well… one was turf and the other dirt, so in that sense we literally weren’t.
Tenzan Sakura looked at my face and seemed to realize what I was thinking.
His voice softened.
“How’s the ranch? Are Saku and the old man doing well?”
Golden Wing added in his usual dreamy tone.
“Oh, right. Is your big brother doing okay?”
That question, at least, I could answer.
“They were doing fine when I went back the other day.”
Tenzan Sakura gave a quiet snort.
“…I see.”
Golden Wing stared at me for a while before tilting his head.
“Crown, you don’t seem very cheerful. Are you hungry?”
That’s not it.
Well…
I am hungry.
I just raced.
But that’s not the point.
“…”
When I stayed silent, Tenzan Sakura let out an incredibly humanlike sigh.
“Listen, Crown.”
“What is it?”
“I’m saying this as someone who shared the same feed bucket with you.”
“I didn’t.”
Golden Wing casually cut in from the side.
“Be quiet. You’re from a different ranch.”
“But we debuted together.”
“…That’s true.”
“So that’s basically the same thing, isn’t it?”
“No, it isn’t.”
Tenzan Sakura sounded genuinely irritated for once, and I couldn’t help finding it a little amusing.
So even a G1 winner got sloppy around Golden Wing sometimes.
“So what were you going to say?”
I urged him on.
He snorted once.
“Right now, you’ve got the face of someone who thinks he’s being left behind.”
“I do not.”
“You do.”
“You dooo.”
I turned my head away.
What else was I supposed to do?
They’re running in the Yayoi Sho tomorrow.
The race for horses heading for the Satsuki Sho.
And I’d just finished third in a Class 2 dirt race just moments ago.
Tenzan Sakura ignored my reaction and continued.
“Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not trying to brag.”
“I mean… you’ve earned the right to.”
“Of course I’d love to.”
“You would!?“
“But that’s not what this is.”
He let out another quiet snort.
“Listen carefully, Crown.”
“What?”
“I don’t think you have to run on the same stage as us.”
“…Huh?”
That wasn’t what I’d expected.
I figured he’d say something like, “Catch up to us.” Or “We’ll be waiting for you on the big stage.” Something protagonist-like.
Instead, he continued matter-of-factly.
“If we end up racing together, that’ll be fun. But if we don’t, that doesn’t mean it’s all over.”
“You’re saying that after winning the Asahi Hai?”
“That’s exactly why I can say it.”
What an annoyingly convincing argument.
“You’ve got your own job.”
“My… job?”
“Yeah. You were born at Sakurai Ranch. Raised at Sakurai Ranch. You race carrying Sakurai Ranch’s name. That’s your job.”
I fell silent.
The ranch’s name.
Part of me thought, “There’s no way I can carry something that important.” But another part knew that Saku and big sister Stone really did look at me that way.
Tenzan Sakura’s voice softened just a little.
“I went to Tenzan-san’s stable. Golden went to Gold Farm. You’re at Sakurai Ranch.”
“So?”
“So we’ve each got different things to do. I’ll win where I belong. You win where you belong.”
Golden Wing nodded enthusiastically.
“Yep, yep. We all just have to do our best.”
“Don’t reduce everything to just that one sentence.”
“But that’s basically how it is.”
“That’s way too simplistic!”
And yet…
I wasn’t angry.
They were saying things that should’ve irritated me. But somehow they didn’t.
Probably because neither of them pitied me.
Tenzan Sakura looked me straight in the eye.
“And honestly… I’m glad you stayed at Sakurai Ranch.”
“…Why?”
“Why?”
He thought for a second before answering simply.
“You fit there.”
“What part of me fits?”
“All of you.”
“That’s way too vague.”
“Just keep making noise over there. I bet Saku and the old man like it better that way.”
Something about those words struck a chord deep inside me.
It wasn’t exactly happiness.
But…it wasn’t bad.
Actually…it felt pretty good.
Then Golden Wing, who had quietly been listening the whole time, spoke up in his usual absentminded voice.
“I kinda get it too.”
“You do?”
“Yep. Even if you’re depressed… it’ll just make you hungry.”
“You completely missed the point.”
“Huh? But it’s true.”
Golden Wing continued without the slightest embarrassment.
“When you lose, it kinda feels like the world’s ending.”
“…”
“But then nighttime comes, and you’re hungry like always… morning comes, breakfast gets served like always… and the next day there are horses running again.”
“…Yeah.”
“So even if you’re sad… once you’ve eaten, you’re mostly okay.”
“That’s way too simplistic.”
“But… isn’t it kind of true?”
When he put it that way… I couldn’t exactly argue.
A little while ago I’d been complaining that the grass tasted bland.
But before I knew it… I’d already eaten more than half of it.
Golden Wing flicked his ears happily.
“So next time… let’s race together again.”
“…Huh?”
“I don’t mind racing you, Crown-kun. You talk a lot.”
“What do you mean ‘talk’? I’m seriously competing with you!”
“Yep, yep. That’s exactly it.”
“Exactly what!?“
“You’re lively. It’s fun.”
Fun?
I’m losing to you, you know.
But… that was just the kind of horse he was.
Annoying.
Yet somehow not unpleasant.
Tenzan Sakura looked exasperated.
“You have a knack for accidentally hitting the heart of the matter.”
“Ehehe.”
“That wasn’t a compliment.”
I stayed quiet for a while.
Something inside my chest felt strangely warm.
Just a moment ago, I had felt as though I was being left behind all by myself.
Third in a Class 2 dirt race.
Not the Yayoi Sho.
Not the Satsuki Sho.
Not an Asahi Hai champion.
But…that didn’t mean everything was over.
Just a little, only a little, but it was easier to breathe than it had been a few minutes ago.
“Alright.”
I took one huge bite and finished off the remaining hay in my feed bucket.
“I’ve decided.”
“Decided what?” Tenzan Sakura asked.
I puffed out my chest proudly.
“While you guys are beating each other up in the Classics… I’m gonna conquer the dirt world!!”
“Wowww. Amazing.”
“How about you start by winning a normal race?”
“What’s wrong with dreaming!? I’ll build my own legend where I belong!”
Golden Wing looked impressed.
“Ooh… that sounded like something a protagonist would say.”
Tenzan Sakura gave a weary snort.
“Well… as long as you’re feeling better.”
“I told you I was fine from the beginning.”
“Sure. We’ll go with that.”
What’s with that smug attitude?
Just because he was a G1 horse, he was getting cocky.
…Then again, maybe G1 winners were allowed to be a little smug.
Just then, footsteps echoed down the aisle.
A groom was approaching.
“Hey, you three. Settle down already.”
All three of us instantly shut our mouths.
To the humans, everything we’d just been saying probably sounded like nothing more than—
“Neigh.“
“Whinny.“
“Snort.“
The groom chuckled as he looked around at us.
“You three seem pretty close.”
No.
Well…not exactly.
But not exactly wrong, either.
Still…
“…I’m gonna laugh if you guys lose tomorrow.”
I said it.
Golden Wing happily twitched his ears.
“Then we’ll just win.”
“I’ll win.”
Tenzan Sakura answered as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Damn.
They were pretty cool.
As I was thinking about that, I gradually started to feel sleepy.
Even when you’re frustrated, you still get hungry.
And when you’re tired, you still get sleepy.
There was really no helping that.
But…maybe that was perfectly okay.