Work Text:
Her dreams were all too fleeting. She didn’t remember a single one of them aside from a vague recollection and mood upon waking up, the horsegirl quickly shutting her eyes again to try to plunge herself back into slumber. Sleep. Sleep. Please go back to sleep.
It did not come, however. Instead, the creeping of daylight into the dormroom only served to wake her further, as did the sound of banging, clattering, and then the whir of a hair dryer from the bathroom adjoining her shared dorm.
It was truly a bizarre day when Mayano Top Gun was the first out of the two of them to rise.
Pulling the blankets up further to fully hide herself under the sheets, Tokai Teio made the conscious choice to simply lay in bed. It was a Saturday. Saturdays are supposed to be restful, for fun and recreation. It was her weekend, and the last thing she wanted was to wake up early and trudge out to the practice track to tire herself out before the day even started.
Nevermind the fact that she had participated in Saturday morning practices for the past three years - right now, she wanted to sleep. And when she got up, she wanted to have her own day to herself, and nothing to do with practice.
If she could just keep her eyes closed, lay there quietly, let her breathing slow down…
“Teio!”
“GAH!”
Teio startled and flailed about upon both being called upon, and the sudden feeling of her blankets being ripped away from her. Still partly asleep, the brown-haired horsegirl found herself sitting upright and staring back at her roommate, the redhead sporting a playful grin as she held Teio’s bedsheets. “Time to get up!” Top Gun said far too cheerily, letting the blankets fall to the floor to reveal herself already wearing her red and white tracksuit. “I've never seen you sleep in this late…”
Allowing herself to flop back down onto bed, Teio shielded her eyes with a forearm, just barely peeking past it to look at her friend. “I’m not going to practice…” She whined, sporting a frown. “Go on without me…”
“Huh?” Her head tilting to one side, Mayano Top Gun bore a look of confusion. “But you’ve never missed a practice, so why-” A sudden gasp. “You must be sick! I’ll go get Kiseki and she’ll get one of the nurses to come-”
“I’m awake! I’m awake!” Teio said in a panic, hurriedly launching herself off the bed and onto her feet in front of her roommate. As her eyes continued to adjust to the light, however, her panic slowly turned to annoyance - Mayano Top Gun stood before her, sporting a mischievous grin betraying the fact that she had gotten one over on her roommate.
“See you on the track~” The horsegirl teased as she turned to leave, snatching her personal water bottle and room key as she headed out. Teio watched Top Gun go, her willpower to follow slowly draining moment by moment.
As her body undertook the robotic acts of getting herself ready for the day, Teio’s mind lost itself in thought. Claiming to feel sick would mean having to deal with Kiseki and one of the nurses… She shuddered at the thought of being practically interrogated by the dormitory leader, who had a tendency to mother her so-called ‘ponies’ whenever one came down sick or injured, as well as the all-too-recent memories of her days spent at the Academy’s nursing offices. That won’t work.
Her frazzled hair brushed into at least a somewhat manageable state, Teio tied it up in her typical ponytail, making for the bathroom to freshen up. Playing hooky is a bad idea, since that means being hunted down by Golshi… A memory flashed in her mind of the pissed-off look on her team captain’s face when Gold Ship had been tasked with tracking down Vodka, the tomboy missing from a team practice - and then a short while later the thoroughly whipped-looking Vodka showing up to practice, following behind a beaming Gold Ship. That rules that out, too…
Dressing in her tracksuit, the horsegirl let out a long sigh as she stood in the middle of the dormroom, her bedsheets still on the floor. 7:25am. She can still make it.
Forced to leave behind her desire for a day free of training, Tokai Teio slipped out of her dormroom and began to make her way to Tracen’s practice track, her mind still trying to unearth ideas that would excuse her from such an arduous task. Could she claim a need to study for a test? No, there weren’t any tests next week and she would undoubtedly be outed by Miss Perfect Number One Honour Student, aka Scarlet. Plus, who studies at 7am?
Down the stairs and out the dorm entrance, continuing along the asphalt path that wound through the campus grounds. Her mind was blank. It was hopeless.
Dejected, Tokai Teio continued on, her head swimming with fantasies of what her Saturday would have looked like if it wasn’t for the lamentable expectation for her to show up at the track. Sleeping in. A big breakfast at the cafeteria. Grab a honey drink on the way to the arcade. Spend the afternoon at the rhythm game machines, win a whole host of prizes. Go somewhere nice for lunch…
Instead, her feet brought her ever closer to her doom.
The grass still sported hints of dew as she took a shortcut towards a specific group she had spotted gathered near the first corner of the practice track, Teio being the last one to show up.
“Teio! Hi!”
How did she manage to be this cheery every morning? “Hi, Spe.” With a weak wave, Teio replied to the excitable girl and quickly found herself wrapped up in a bone-crushing hug, Special Week having launched herself forward to embrace her teammate.
“Are you ready to practice? I’m so excited!”
Teio’s gaze flicked over towards her other teammates. Scarlet and Vodka were locked in some argument about something stupid. Again. Gold Ship was leaning against the outer rail of the track, fingers fiddling with a Rubik’s Cube as their Trainer tried in vain to make her listen to him.
“Me too, Spe.” She lied, the horsegirl forcing up a smile to match her friend’s excitement. It was going to be a long day…
Getting started with her stretches, Teio’s legs felt like lead as she moved, the horsegirl finding it excruciating to merely lift one leg up towards her chest in a high knee stretch. Her arms weren’t much better as she pulled them across her body to loosen up her shoulders and biceps. Soon, she would be rushing around the track for some warm-up laps, and then after that, Goddesses only knew what lay ahead…
Steeling herself, Teio thought of one final thing she could actually try to wiggle her way out of things.
Sucking in air sharply through her teeth, Teio feigned a tweak as she brought her hands to her right knee, hopping on the spot. In an instant, both Special Week and their Trainer rushed over, her teammate grabbing Teio’s shoulder to steady her on one leg. “Teio? What’s wrong?” The Trainer asked, all-too-familiar with his trainee’s predisposition towards leg injuries.
“Ah, I’m fine, I’m fine…” She tried to play it off, only to sharply inhale again when she tried to set her leg down. “Think I tweaked something…”
Now flanked on both sides by the other two, Teio kept her act up as they helped guide her towards the outer rail, coming to sit on one of the wooden benches at the edge of the track. “I’ve got this, Spe.” The man said as he crouched down in front of Teio, Special Week sagely nodding before turning to head back to her warm-ups, still keeping an eye on her friend. “What happened?”
Teio shrugged. “I was just stretching, and I felt a tweak in my knee… It’s not that bad, I think I just need to rest it a bit.” Would it work?
The Trainer nodded, looking deep in thought. “Give me a second.” Standing and striding away, Teio watched as he rummaged around in a bag he always brought to practices, setting aside a few spare water bottles before liberating an item that looked like a large white packet. He gave the pouch a firm squeeze followed by a round of shaking as he re-approached, holding the instant cold pack out to her. “Ice it down for fifteen minutes, and we’ll see where we’re at after.”
Success.
Taking the ice pack from him, Teio kept her expression neutral as she came to hold the first aid item against her left knee. At the very least, it meant she had the chance to get out of part of practice. If she played her cards right, he would simply send her back to her dorm to rest her ‘injured’ knee for the day, and she would miraculously be back to full health tomorrow. All in all, it was a perfect-
“Teio?”
Her blue eyes flicked to meet his gaze. “...Yes?”
Standing before her, the slightly dishevelled man slowly removed the lollipop from this mouth, eyes narrowing. “Why are you holding it against your left knee?”
Teio froze.
In an instant, she shifted the ice pack from her left knee to her right, offering up a bashful giggle. “Silly me!” She exclaimed, trying valiantly to play it off. “Still sorta waking up over here!”
She knew she had failed, based on his unconvinced expression. Holding his hand out, he waited for Teio to hand over the ice pack. “Get back out there, you can't afford time off ahead of the Arima Kinen. You’re doing an extra warm-up lap for that stunt.”
Handing over the ice pack as she rose to her feet with a dejected expression, Teio’s pace gradually grew from a shuffle, to a walk, then a light jog. All she had to do was place the ice pack on the correct knee, and she would’ve been home free - instead, she was now stuck having to go through a full day of practice.
Breezing past Special Week, who wore a shocked expression as she watched the ‘injured’ Teio starting on her warm-up run, the brown-haired girl began to round past the first turn and head towards the backstraight, her pace picking up only slightly. Her legs weren’t as heavy as before, but fatigue and despondence nipped at her heels as she carried on. She loved to run, she truly did - but sometimes, she simply wanted a break. The last three years of her career had its ups and downs, and through her victories and losses, and especially through her slew of injuries, Teio had gradually come to slow her pace just a touch - partly out of need to look after her injury-prone body, and partly to be able to enjoy other things in life. More time spent practicing for her concerts; more excursions with friends; and indeed, some lazy days spent away from the track.
Down the backstretch, Teio felt herself settle back into a familiar rhythm, but even then did her mind swim with visions of what could’ve been. She could practically taste the sweetness of her favourite honey drink on her tongue, but now she would have to settle for stale, slightly warm water from an old water bottle.
Rounding past the last turn and back onto the front straight, Teio passed the start-finish marker to complete her first lap, only three more remaining. For all her troubles to sidestep training, she had managed to incur additional work upon herself, the realization causing her mood to sour even further. Dumb idiot, putting the ice pack on the wrong knee… But how could Trainer assign her an extra lap? Isn’t a full day at the track punishment enough? Why, she should go up to him and-
Teio’s bitter ruminations were struck down by the sudden appearance of a figure at the side of the track, sitting on the bench she had just been sitting on moments earlier. Rather than wearing the red and white tracksuit like the rest of the trainees there for practice, this horsegirl wore the typical purple school uniform of the Academy, her violet hair perfectly brushed as it shimmered in the early morning sunlight. McQueen caught Teio looking, and the Mejiro heiress gave her a quick wave and small smile.
Teio quickly returned the wave as a pang of guilt washed over her. Beside McQueen, balanced against the railing, was a pair of crutches.
Her calves were wrapped in tension bandages.
“I have to remain in the position of the strongest horsegirl.”
McQueen, doubled over in pain and agony, clenched at the ground in front of her, carving up the grass and dirt of the Mejiro practice track as rain fell around the two of them.
“That’s where I will wait for you. I’ve looked forward to it for so long…” A sob.
Teio felt her legs rooted in place, watching her rival - her friend - breaking down as her body gave out on her.
“It won’t move… I can’t make it move…”
With a great effort, McQueen pushed herself back up on her knees, turning to face Teio. Tears streamed down her cheeks.
“I can’t run anymore.” More tears, Teio’s own vision growing blurry at the sight before her. “I can’t keep my promise to you!”
Teio felt her legs picking up in speed, a sensation of loss washing over her - then, slowly, the feeling of responsibility. A promise made. A promise kept.
A miracle.
Gritting her teeth, any remnants of laziness, reluctance, any sense of annoyance or unwillingness fled Teio’s body. She would run, on and on, and never take for granted her ability to do so.
She felt her rival’s eyes following her, just as Teio had done months before when beset with her own injury that she had thought would end her career, watching McQueen running without her.
If a miracle was needed, then she would be McQueen’s miracle.
Tokai Teio ran.
