Work Text:
Do you know how fast a cherry blossom petal falls to the ground?
Supposedly it is at a speed of five centimeters per second.
It is not particularly fast, their fluttering in the wind.
But does that not make sense?
Who would want to rush towards the end like that?
Well, never mind.
Do you know how fast an uma musume can run?
I heard it can reach over seventy kilometers per hour.
There are many reasons fueling that kind of speed.
Hm? What does this all mean?
Well...that is...
Let me ask you something, if that is okay.
Knowing all of that, how fast would an uma musume that is like a cherry blossom run?
I apologize, that may be a little hard to answer.
Instead, let us think about something else instead.
Something...a little simpler.
Why do you think that girl, like a cherry blossom, runs?
That is what I wish to know.
Uma musume.
Heritors of names from beyond this world.
They run, as if it was fate.
Tragedy. Glory. Victory. Defeat.
Everything becomes one step along their path, on their chase towards destiny.
So they can glitter—brilliantly.
But that is how the world—the spectators, trainers, and everyone else sees them.
Everyone that cannot share their stage—the track.
In-truth, the reasons for running are manifold. For every uma musume, there is a separate reason. A unique wish, desire, that fuels their determination to run forwards.
To become the strongest.
To see a scenery never before seen.
To repay others.
To bring about miracles.
To become unforgettable.
To shine, for even just a moment.
That was Mejiro Ardan’s motivation. For other uma musume, a goal like that one was definitely easier done than it was said. It was natural for those that were strong, to shine. Those at the top of the world naturally shone with such brilliance, whether they were aware of it or not. The eyes of the masses were naturally drawn towards them as they ran across the track, they themselves focused only on becoming the best uma musume there ever was. That was simply how being part of the elite, the cream of the crop, worked. Their glittering crossing space and surpassing time as their glory remained etched in the beating heart of humanity. Like the rising of the spring sun, it was useless to be upset about it.
But as her peers ran into spring, Ardan was left behind in winter. She remained immobile, bracing the frozen gales, the snow falling from the heavens slowly amassing around her. Its relentless weight and all-smothering nature threatening to swallow her whole alongside her dreams. It probably would have been easier to give up and put her dreams to sleep in the midst of the cold. It probably would have been smarter to give up, too.
‘Legs of glass’.
Her curse, her winter.
The unimaginable weight chaining her down in the cold season where nothing could begin.
Like snow.
Her fingertips could barely move, her other senses dulled. There was nothing within the cold void. Nothing to feel. But her eyes remained open. They remained fixed on the horizon, gazing beyond the everlasting snowfall. She didn’t let her dreams snow over. She wouldn’t let it come to pass. Nothing would end. There was nothing to end. For everything had yet to begin. Ardan’s determination did not waver. Despite the frequent hospital visits, the constant warnings of her doctors, her parents’ wishes, her physique, her faltering and protesting health, everything.
WIth frozen arms and glass legs...
She never once let go of her wish.
It was as if the world itself recognized her resolve.
And so it responded.
Mejiro Ardan was accepted to attend Tracen Academy.
And her health was growing relatively better.
Everything was in place. The stage was set; the chance for everlasting glory right at her fingertips. An opportunity shared by many, many other uma musume. Some that were undoubtedly stronger than her. Some that were way faster than her. Some that were simply luckier than her. Some that were more talented than her.
Some that were healthier than her.
By stepping onto this stage, for her spring to begin, she had to compete with all of them. Unbreakable monsters, foxlike illusions, mastermind stayers, invincible flames, gunshot speed, burgeoning green...
She couldn’t shy away from the challenge. She’d have to face them head-on and use her everything to outshine them all. That’s what it meant for her, Mejiro Ardan, to leap into spring.
It was a difficult path riddled with thorns. A road with no immediate reward in-sight.
It was an easy decision to make. If she passed this opportunity, then it would never come back. An uma musume wouldn’t make any other decision. Running was an uma musume’s fate. And so she chose to run on that path with no tomorrow, full force forwards. Putting everything on the line in order to spread her wings and soar brilliantly, all within this irreplaceable ‘now’.
That was the only way to attain brilliance, barring underground auditions.
She was prepared to die.
Perhaps all of that was the reason for her fascination with transience. Transient things, living in the moment. Things that could disappear any moment yet live on brilliantly with no care about the future. It may be a weird opinion or fascination to have. Eternity is sought after far more than the temporary. It’s not like Ardan didn’t understand. Nothing truly was permanent in this world, so why not seek out something that was? There were plenty of temporary things already. Or perhaps everyone did not want to recognize the fleeting nature of life, wishing to look away in order to not be reminded of their frail mortality?
Ardan wasn’t granted such a luxury. Spending more time in a hospital from a young age than most had already engraved reality in her mind. But it was only a wish. No one could truly look away. The world wouldn’t allow such blasphemy.
To live is to do so fleetingly.
So we seek out all that is eternal.
If the entire world was too caught up in their pining for eternity, then she would look at everything existing in the moment. If you were to ask her, it’s the fact that they don’t last that makes it beautiful. There’s only a brief moment for their splendor to be witnessed, so perhaps it is a small miracle you were able to see it before it all went out–before the curtains closed. And then perhaps, as long as the memory exists, even the transient things of now will become eternal in the future.
That was more to Ardan’s tastes.
An eternity born in transience.
In order to shine ‘now’, in order to glitter in the ‘future’ for all eternity.
She runs.
But for now she shall gaze lovingly at the transient things of the world.
Fireworks, limited-time sales, flowers...
“Ardan-san, could it be sakura-flavored mochi?” a voice spoke up from beside Ardan, overpowering the murmurs and white noise of her schoolmates all chatting away in the cafeteria. The voice belonged to a certain uma musume Ardan was extremely familiar with. Her dorm roommate, and one of her many rivals, Sakura Chiyono O.
“That’s not it,” Ardan responded with a soft smile, after turning to face the voice’s owner.
It was lunchtime at Tracen Academy, and everyone took the opportunity to eat their lunches, talk to friends, hastily do homework, or do all of the above in the downtime they had been allotted. Chiyo, on the other hand, was focused on something else. The wondrous smells wafting throughout the space was a comfort for Ardan. Hospital food didn’t appeal much to the senses.
A little while ago Chiyo asked Ardan whether or not she liked sakuras.
As a transitory flower blooming for only an instant in spring...
One could safely say Ardan adored them.
There was one more thing that Ardan mentioned in that conversation. Another charm point of sakuras found only in Tracen Academy... A sakura always in full-bloom and beside her, and lovingly pure and innocent...
“Hmmm... Then what could it be...?” Chiyo wondered to herself as she crossed off something in the small notebook she pulled out of her pockets, the wondrous ChiyoNote. Ardan continued watching Chiyo as the gears in the head of the blue-eyed girl were turning at rapid speeds. For the past few days Chiyo has dedicated all of her free time to attempt to answer the ‘sakura riddle’ that Ardan came up with. “Full-bloom and beside you...” Chiyo’s voice trailed off as she started whispering to herself.
It...wasn’t much of a riddle. Sure, the way she said it wasn’t exactly straight-forward, but Ardan had thought Chiyo would have figured it out by now...
Always blooming, always beside her, pure and innocent...
What else could these words describe other than the uma musume Sakura Chiyono O?
Maybe Chiyo had not looked in a mirror as of late. The silliness of the thought made Ardan chuckle, Chiyo’s ears perking up at the sound.
“Hmm? Ardan-san, what’s so funny?”
“It’s nothing, it’s nothing! More importantly, don’t forget to eat your lunch. You’ve barely touched it,” Ardan pointed out the untouched foodstuffs neatly plated by the school cafeteria in front of Chiyo.
“Ah, you’re right!” Chiyo moved to quickly grab the carrot sticking up from the hamburger steak to take a bite from it. “Can’t guesh properly on an empty shtomach!” she exclaimed, in between bites. “Ash they shay ‘ An uma mushume on an empty shtomach, ish like curry without rishe’ !”
There it was. One of Sakura Chiyono O’s proverbs that made absolutely no sense. Ardan couldn’t help but chuckle again. Sakura Chiyono O may be one of Ardan’s greatest rivals, but it was outside of those races that Ardan came to realize that the girl sitting next to her was one of the most charming things in the entire academy. Chiyo...was cute. Her sakura-like nature captivated Ardan, but it was also things like her silly proverbs that were truly heart-melting. Not to mention her upbeat attitude and overall warm disposition like spring...
It was a joy to be around Chiyo.
“Chiyono O-san?”
“Yesh?” Chiyo turned to face Ardan.
“Here, you have something on your face,” the young lady brought a napkin to Chiyo’s cheek, wiping away the bit of hamburger steak sauce that found its way there. “There, all-clean.”
Chiyo's face reddened during the wiping, like an apple. The sakura girl bashfully looked away from the sudden intimacy once she was able to. She continued avoiding eye-contact as she softly expressed her gratitude, slightly embarrassed. However it didn’t take long for her appetite to take over her brain again, as she continued finishing her hamburger steak.
Perhaps coming to adore something simply because they are a source of joy was being slightly overzealous, but Ardan couldn’t bring herself to care. Sources of joy were not a given in her life, so what was wrong with...’treasuring’ one she found so far?
There was no telling when the end would come.
So she resolved to enjoy this small miracle as much as she was able to, for the time being.
What a joy they were assigned to be roommates.
Chiyo finished her food, whispered a few words of gratitude for the meal, and pulled out her ChiyoNote again. “Ardan-san? We had free training after this, didn’t we?”
“Yes, the regular English class is canceled.”
“Should we get going then? The break is almost over.”
“I’m ready if you are.”
“Then let’s go! Chiyono, O!”
She really is full of energy.
During the journey towards the changing rooms and the track, Chiyo got a few more guesses in.
“Is it perhaps my ChiyoNote? This version does have a sakura on the front page!”
“Hmm...that’s not quite it...”
“So ChiyoNote is out, huh...” Chiyo fished out her sakura-pink pen from her pocket and crossed out something from her pocket notebook. Her crossing came to a halt once she inspected the pen a little more closely. “Oh! Is it this pen!?”
Ardan shook her head.
Chiyo’s ears drooped for a brief second as she whispered, it’s not, huh... to herself followed by another scribble in her ChiyoNote.
And even during training...
“Hah! Hah!” the duo’s breathing slowly synchronized as they ran across the field. The sensation of hitting the ground running was a familiar one for both. How many times had they run together, just like this? The turf, too, how many times had it been kicked up and thrown in disarray with every step? It was a comfortable spring day, the sun shining brightly down on Tracen Academy’s grounds. Almost as if Apollo himself wished to bear witness to the splendor of the girls’ history-in-the-writing at the school. The winds, cut—split apart by the uma musume in the midst of doing parallel training. A number of sakura petals rode on the winds, perfecting the picturesque view of a Japanese spring. The smells of spring invigorated Ardan, as she grounded her next step into the ground slightly harder than beforehand, upping the pace.
Speaking of which,
“Is it...ah...those sakura trees?! They’ve…ah...been in bloom...ah...for a bit!” Chiyo shouted as the duo cut through the wind across the track.
“No, that’s...ah...not it!”
“I’ll...have to...ah...make a note then!”
They continued to run, their strides increasing in pace yet remaining in sync all the way. It wasn’t as if they were competing. Or if they were or set-out to do so from the beginning, they forgot somewhere along the way. The everlasting pursuit of glory was foremost in the minds of many uma musume, and Chiyo and Ardan were no different. Every single day was a battle. Every day can be spent getting stronger, sharpening your weapons, becoming faster. One day of missed training, one day of giving it less than your all, could become the difference between tomorrow’s victory or defeat.
But running every once in a while with no further significance than simply because you could—
—it was the best.
“Ardan-san! Ardan-san!”
“What is it, Chiyono O-san?!”
“Could it be those clouds!?” Chiyo pointed to the sky overhead.
There Ardan saw a cloud shaped somewhat like a sakura petal.
If you squint really hard.
And maybe if you had Sakura Chiyono O’s sense of imagination.
“Is it?!”
“Uhm...no...”
“Aww...” Chiyo’s ears drooped, “Gotta make a no—wagh!”
“Chiyono O-san?!”
Ardan slowed her pace and came to a halt on the turf, before quickly turning around to tend to the fallen Chiyo.
“Ow... I’m...okay! I must have lost my balance, ehehe,” Chiyo rubbed the back of her head while forcing a soft giggle to downplay the situation. “It’s nothing!”
Unfortunately for her, Ardan knew a little too much about pain and feigned emotions.
Being part of a prestigious family probably had a hand in that.
“Chiyono O-san...”
“Really! This isn’t enough to get me down!”
Ardan crouched down and looked over Chiyo for just a moment. The sakura girl shifted her posture, slowly sliding her hurt leg out of Ardan’s direct line of sight. But in the next instant, with deadly accuracy, Ardan moved to press a single one of her digits onto Chiyo’s nearly-hidden ankle.
A sudden, sharp jolt spread all throughout Chiyo’s body, making it shiver.
“Ow! Ardan-san...”
“This is not ‘nothing’, Chiyono O-san.”
“I-I can keep going!”
“Overruled. You need to take care of yourself, especially in times like these,” Ardan’s voice grew stern as she retracted her arm. The blue-haired girl grew serious, Chiyo was able to tell that much. It’s not as if Chiyo was that stubborn to continue resisting. She knew running any more than this would have large repercussions. She couldn’t tarnish her dreams right here. In-fact, it was lucky her injury, whatever it exactly was, was light enough to even be downplayed.
Still.
She just wanted to keep running.
Beside her.
Beside... Ardan-san...?
“Let’s go to the infirmary,” Ardan’s voice grew gentler once more. Somehow she felt just a bit disgusted echoing the repeated and rehearsed phrases the doctors told her during her visits to the hospital. It was a little funny. The words were said with goodwill, Ardan knew that much. And yet whenever she was told to take care of herself... To be careful… It was stifling. Sure the doctors knew about her condition, and her health, but could they ever hope to understand a singular thing? The weight her legs put on her psyche?
Knowing everything isn’t enough.
“Can you stand, Chiyono O-san?” Ardan extended her hand.
“H-huh?” Chiyo’s line of thought got interrupted. “A-ah, yeah!”
Slowly, carefully, Chiyo rose again, with the assistance of Ardan. And together, they left the track.
The familiar smells of medication met Ardan as the duo entered Tracen’s infirmary. It was like meeting an old friend. Not one she was particularly longing to see. While it would be amiss to compare school infirmaries with large metropolitan hospitals, they all had the same ‘vibe’ as Helios would describe it. The young lady stood to the side, near the wall, as the nurse inspected Chiyo’s ankle. There was nothing else she could do for her roommate.
Reality was frustrating.
Chiyo flinched as the nurse inspected her legs. Her face scrunched up and relaxed. Her ears drooped and stood on high-alert in quick succession—swaying, all in reaction to the touches and prodding.
“A light sprain,” the nurse concluded, a little unenthused. “It’s nothing too serious. You don’t have a race soon, do you?”
“I don’t...” Chiyo responded somberly, her complexion reminiscent of a sad dog.
“Then all the better. Just a bit of rest and you’ll be as right as rain. For now, just rest up here for a while,” the nurse stood up and turned to face Ardan. “Mejiro Ardan-san. I have an errand to run. Will you be staying here?”
“Ah, yes... I think that’s...what I will do.”
The nurse absentmindedly nodded as she stepped towards the door. “Don’t do anything reckless now,” she uttered with a light wave before she walked into the corridor, closing the door behind her.
“She seems a bit...unconcerned doesn’t she?” Chiyo broke the silence as she shifted to rest her back against the infirmary bed’s headpiece, her legs on the bed.
“Maybe that’s the only way to survive in this occupation...or maybe she hasn’t had a coffee yet.”
Ardan moved to the other end of the room, to the windows overlooking the track. Many girls were still there, preparing for the next step of their legacies. She squinted, spotting Yaeno and Bamboo splitting tiles. In the corner of her eye, she noticed a great dust cloud trailing the dirt track. Only two people could create one that big. Inari must have challenged Oguri to a race.
The sight brought a smile to her face.
They may have been rivals and obstacles in the way of eternal splendor...
...but they were friends too. And seeing them as lively as ever warmed Ardan’s heart.
She needed to be there too, on the turf. She had to grow stronger, just like them. Their vigorous training—Ardan couldn’t ask for anything else. They were performing their role as rivals perfectly, so...
She had to make sure she leveled up as well.
That was Mejiro Ardan’s role as their rival.
However...
“You may go back to the field you know... Don’t mind me,” Chiyo chimed. Ardan could tell there was a slight dejectedness to Chiyo’s words. It made sense. Ardan understood. Right now the person who wanted to be on the turf most wasn’t her.
It was the one that took the fall.
Ardan opened the window, and the spring wind came rushing in. The air of the infirmary was blown away, as the scents of spring greeted the duo once again. It was as if the winds themselves missed the duo blazing through them. “I think I will stay here.”
Acting like a rival was important.
But being a friend was even more so.
To emphasize her point, Ardan pulled up a chair, as she took a seat next to Chiyo’s bed. Chiyo wanted to protest more, much more, but she couldn’t get a word in seeing the disarming smile on Ardan’s face. Not being able to run felt awful on its own, but preventing others from running... Especially the Mejiro Ardan who has spent less time on the turf than anyone else...
“Sorry...”
“There’s nothing to apologize for. In-fact, I would like to apologize.”
“Ardan-san?” Chiyo was confused. “What are you apologizing for?”
“It’s the sakura riddle that made you fall, was it not?”
“But I was the one that focused on that too much...”
The two fell silent. The air between them was heavy with awkwardness.
“Maybe we should talk about something else...?” Ardan suggested.
“N-no, there’s something...”
“Something...?”
“I think...I know the answer,” Chiyo said resolutely, clearing up the air.
“Oh? Then...what could it be?”
“It’s—this is embarrassing... Ardan-san... you...were talking about me w-weren’t you?”
Ardan fell silent.
“A-ah. W-wrong after all? Nevermind then! Nevermind... I was just kidding! N-no way it could be me... Ahaha…”
...
A light giggle escaped from Ardan’s mouth; her face alight as she clapped her hands together.
“Correct!”
“Ue-eh? R-really? You aren’t...joking?”
“It’s the truth.”
...
Chiyo didn’t respond. There was no reaction from her. Not one in the slightest. Like she was frozen like a deer in headlights.
The only thing that was happening was that her face was growing more and more red.
“Chiyono O-san?”
“FIGHT O! CHIYONO O!” Chiyono suddenly shouted to psyche herself up and cope with the embarrassment, clapping her cheeks.
“This isn’t a race, is it?” Ardan said in an amused tone.
“Ardan-saaan... Don’t tease me...” Chiyo’s ears drooped before perking up immediately. “Wait! That gives me an idea... Something like… ‘ Life is just one race ’!” it was as if Chiyo had completely forgotten about her embarrassment. “How does that one sound?”
“It’s like you,” Ardan teased.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“No~thing!” Ardan smirked. “More importantly, Chiyono O-san, if life is a race, then what are you running for?”
The conversation took a pause.
A brief one wherein Ardan gazed upon Chiyo, the distant sounds from the training track far, far away.
“I...inherited the wishes of someone important,” Chiyo smiled, as she combed through her memories. “Someone that shines brightly... Someone that I admire. I want to be like her. I don’t know if I can ever reach her. It might cost me more than I could ever afford, but I’ll bloom into the best version of myself... And then maybe...” Chiyo’s eyes began burning with determination as she affirmed her dreams. The flame faded, however, as she remembered the reality she was in. “I’ll first have to heal though,” she scratched her cheek coyly, “but enough about me and my dreams, what about you, Ardan-san?”
Ardan’s sight drifted down to her legs before she answered.
“I guess you could say I am running because I can right now.”
“That’s not all is it?”
“You’re right. I...want to shine on this path. Even for just a moment, all so I can blaze a trail to the future...”
Chiyo nodded knowingly. With the many times Ardan was absent from their shared room it would be difficult not to understand.
“I totally understand! I really do!” Suddenly, Chiyo put a finger to her chin in thought, her eyes closed. What could she be thinking of? Ardan could only wait for her next words.
Chiyo’s sayings had the tendency to be nonsensical and silly.
Maybe that’s why they didn’t catch on with others.
But every once in a while...
After a few moments, Chiyo spoke again with a smile. “I’m sure you will, Ardan-san. After all, ‘ A momentary journey will last a lifetime ’!”
...
Beautiful , so thought the caught off-guard Mejiro Ardan, before returning the smile in full-spades. “I’m sure you will make your dreams come true as well, Chiyono O-san.”
To bloom, creating an instant of brilliance...
That was the path of a sakura.
“It’s like we are two peas in a pod,” Ardan mused.
“Like seaweed and rice!”
“Wasn’t it curry with rice?”
“That’s something different!”
The duo laughed heartily.
“Or maybe ‘ Two sakura buds on a branch ’ would be more appropriate, ahaha...” Chiyo’s eyes fluttered, making eye contact with Ardan and breaking it. Both hoping for a positive reaction for her corny comparison but at the same time making sure to not get her hopes up too high.
With a smile, Mejiro Ardan spoke.
“I like the sound of that.”
Chiyo fell silent, only managing to smile as her cheeks flushed red.
No words passed between for a while. The only sound heard from within the infirmary being the ticking of the clock hanging on the wall. The duo merely listened to the sounds of the world, their peers training on the track, the girls shuffling around the hallways, and the existence of the other.
Tick.
Tock.
Tick.
Tock.
And so on.
It wasn’t until a gust of wind blew a few sakura petals into the infirmary that Ardan finally broke the silence.
“Chiyono O-san, do you have plans for the coming weekend?”
“No...why?”
“Would you like to go view the sakura?”
The answer was obvious.
“Yes! I’d love to!”
“Thank you,” Ardan bowed briefly, her etiquette teachings taking control, before she started thinking about the coming weekend. “We should get a photo camera to capture the sakura’s brilliance.”
“Are our phones not good enough?” Chiyo tilted her head.
“Isn’t using a photo camera more romantic?”
“I-if you say so...” Chiyo wondered where the two would even find a photo camera of all places. Maybe they could borrow one from the journalism club.
Did Tracen even have one?
“I think I saw Berno-san once with a photo camera,” Chiyo recalled.
“Then perhaps we could ask if we can borrow hers.”
“Yeah!” Chiyo excitedly agreed. “But before then...would you like to talk more about what we love about sakura?”
“It would be my pleasure, Chiyono O-san,” sensing an opportunity, Ardan went for it. “Would you like me to begin with talking about you?” the young lady asked teasingly.
Upon which the other girl grew red, somewhat akin to the sakura she adored.