Chapter 32 – Spring Is Just a Little Lonely
March.
In Hokkaido, March comes wearing the face of spring…and then casually dumps snow on you anyway.
I swear it’s a scam.
In this kind of season, my desk was buried under papers.
Pedigree charts.
This year’s stud fee list.
And, for some reason mixed in with them, a handwritten memo titled:
“Recommended Breeding Combinations.”
“…Recommended for who, exactly?”
Lately, my desk looked a lot more like the final stage of a horse-racing otaku’s descent into madness.
Still…
There was something strangely romantic about it.
And it was all because Grandpa had declared, “This year, you’re picking the breeding matches too.”
“…I wished somebody would just write things like “High Explosion Potential” and “Rank S” on the horses.”
Real life was a lot harder than video games.
Riiiiing…
“…”
The landline in this house almost never rang for any casual errands.
But since I couldn’t ignore it either, I picked up the receiver.
“Hello, this is Sakurai Ranch.”
“Ah, is that Saku-kun?”
A deep, commanding voice.
“Oh, Tenzan-san.”
A call from this man was always scary, or rather, intimidating.
Not because he was unpleasant, but because he just had an overwhelming presence.
“Sorry for calling you out of the blue.”
“No, it’s fine.”
“I wanted to give you a bit of news… or perhaps you could call it a courtesy call.”
Something about the way he phrased that gave me a bad feeling.
“We’ve decided to retire Tenzan Sakura after this season.”
My voice caught for a moment.
“…I see.”
I answered after a brief pause.
The smart, slightly arrogant horse that had won the Asahi Hai…The one who’d threatened, “If you sell me somewhere weird, I’ll curse you,” during his auction.
He was retiring.
“He’s won several graded races since the Asahi Hai.”
“Yes.”
“But in the end, he never quite reached another Grade 1.”
“…Even so, that’s an incredible career.”
“Yes, you’re right.”
After a short silence, Tenzan-san continued quietly.
“They called him an early bloomer… but he ran well for us.”
There was an unexpected gentleness in his voice.
It made me realize…he’d genuinely cared about that horse.
When someone with money and status says, “He ran well for us,” those words carry a different kind of weight.
“Tenzan-san.”
“Yes?”
“I think… Tenzan Sakura was happy.”
“Oh?”
“I mean, he was treasured.”
“…Hahaha.”
For once, Tenzan-san laughed out loud.
“Thank you. Hearing you say that… somehow makes it feel true.”
“It is true.”
“I see. Well then, until next time.”
“Yes.”
“I’ll be keeping a close eye on the horses from your ranch from now on.”
“…Thank you very much.”
“Take care.”
Click.
The line went dead.
I set the receiver down and stared into space for a while.
So…
Tenzan Sakura was retiring, huh.
It felt too soon, but maybe, for a racehorse, it really wasn’t.
I hadn’t been with Tenzan Sakura his whole life.
He’d been born here at this ranch and stayed until he was sold at auction as a yearling… but after that, I’d only ever seen him through a television screen.
Still…
For some reason, it hurt a little.
After all, he was one of the horses that had once run across our pastures.
◇
“Crown.”
I stepped outside and called to Crown, who was grazing near the edge of the pasture.
“Hm?”
He’d been doing well lately.
That’s a vague way to put it, but he really had been.
Sometimes he won, sometimes he lost, sometimes he finished on the money, sometimes he came up just a little short.
But he consistently held his own at that level.
And that alone was remarkable.
What was even more impressive was…
He’d never gotten injured.
Okabe-san had praised him for that too.
“Tenzan Sakura’s retiring.”
Crown stopped chewing for just a moment.
Then he calmly took another bite of grass.
“I see…”
His voice was quieter than I’d expected.
I leaned against the fence beside him.
“What about Golden Wing?”
The moment that name came up, I almost laughed a little.
Of course that’s who he’d ask about.
“He’s doing fantastic. He won the Satsuki Sho and the Kikuka Sho, and people are saying he’ll win this year’s Tenno Sho (Spring) too.”
“I see.”
And that was all there was to it.
Normally Crown would be yelling, “Daaamn it! Why does everything always go his way?!” or something like, “Then I’ll just conquer the dirt-racing world instead!”
But not today.
Instead, he wore a slightly more mature expression, gazing off into the distance.
There were probably a lot of things going through his mind.
“…”
I hesitated a little, not really sure what to say.
Just then, Stone called over the fence.
“Crown.”
Crown turned only his head toward her.
Stone looked as bossy as ever.
But her voice was unusually straightforward.
“Don’t let yourself get hurt.”
“…”
For a second, Crown looked genuinely surprised.
Then he looked away.
“…Okay.”
Just one word.
But somehow…
That little “Okay” contained everything.
The frustration.
The feeling of being left behind.
And the stubborn determination to keep running anyway.
All of it.
Stone didn’t say anything else.
Neither did Crown.
The foals were listening nearby, and naturally, they were completely unaware of the mood.
“Saku! This guy fell over!”
“I didn’t fall! I just became friends with the ground for a bit!”
“Where did you even learn an expression like that?”
“From Big Brother Crown.”
The foal looked up at me with innocent eyes as it ratted out the culprit.
“Hey, Crown.”
When I looked over, Crown quickly averted his eyes.
“It wasn’t me! Probably!”
Yeah… I was pretty sure he was the culprit.
…Or should I say, the crime horse?