Chapter Text
If someone had asked me what I thought about death before today, I probably would’ve said something edgy and stupid.
Something like, “Eh, if it happens, it happens.”
Turns out, when death is actually charging at you in the form of a speeding car, your brain drops all the bullshit and gets very honest, very fast.
As the car came rushing toward me, a hundred thoughts crashed through my mind all at once.
Fuck. Is this it? Is my life really over? Who’s going to take care of Rin? How would Dad feel about this? Who’s going to pay for the funeral? I don’t want to die.
For one horrible second, I was standing at death’s door—close enough to feel it breathing down my neck.
Then—a blur of pink and white—someone slammed into me from the side.
My body lurched violently as I was shoved out of the way. I hit the pavement hard, pain exploding across my back and left shoulder as the car sped past where I’d been standing just moments ago.
Everything rang for a second—like the world had been struck like a bell and I was stuck inside the echo.
My ears.
My head.
My heartbeat.
As I lay there flat on the ground, stunned and trying to process the fact that I was still alive, I looked up—
And saw the face of my savior.
A girl.
No… more specifically—
An Umamusume.
She had long pink hair that spilled over her shoulders in soft waves, bright blue eyes, and a large red ribbon perched atop her head. Just below her left ear was a small cluster of teal beads that swayed as she moved.
For a moment, the world seemed to go completely still, like everything else had been muted just to make space for her.
Even with the panic still pounding in my chest, she stood out so vividly it almost didn’t feel real.
Like she had been dropped into the scene from somewhere else entirely.
I opened my mouth, desperate to say something—a thank you, her name, literally anything—
But before I could get a single word out…
She panicked.
Not just startled—actually panicked.
Her eyes widened.
Her ears twitched.
And then, with the expression of someone who had just realized they’d done something extremely embarrassing—
She turned and bolted.
Just like that.
Gone.
Leaving me there on the pavement with a bruised back, a half-dead soul, and approximately seventeen new questions.
“I was left with a slight bruise near my back and left shoulder, but other than that, I was perfectly fine.”
“Takumi, are you okay?” he asked, already looking like he knew he wasn’t going to like the answer.
Emu stared at me like I’d just told him I got hit by a meteor and walked it off.
“Why are you still at school?” he demanded, his voice rising halfway through like the question offended him personally. “Shouldn’t you be at, like, a hospital or an infirmary or something? You almost got hit by a car and WHY ARE YOU TELLING ME NOW OF ALL TIMES?!”
His voice cracked on the last word. He was scared
Before I could react, he grabbed both my shoulders and started shaking me like a malfunctioning vending machine.
“Emu, can you stop shaking me?” I groaned, prying his hands off. “I told you already, I’m fine. See?”
I tugged my uniform collar back slightly and twisted just enough to show him the bruise near my shoulder.
“See? It’s not even that big.”
The bruise was about the size of my palm.
He looked at it, frowned, then looked even more concerned than before.
“I still think you should get that checked,” he said. “That’s not exactly what I’d call reassuring.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll go visit the nurse after—”
The school bell rang.
Loud.
Sharp.
Perfectly timed to interrupt me.
I looked toward the hallway windows and sighed.
“Oh. Looks like class is over.”
“Unbelievable,” Emu muttered, rubbing his temples. “You almost die and the universe still expects you to do homework.”
“That’s modern education for you.”
By the time we left school, the sky had turned a dull gray.
I adjusted my bag over my shoulder and glanced over at Emu as we walked through the front gates.
“Oh yeah, Emu,” I said. “Can I ask you a favor?”
He stopped walking so abruptly I nearly bumped into him.
He slowly turned toward me.
Then his eyes widened.
Then he pointed at himself like he’d just been selected by the gods.
“You?” he said dramatically. “Takumi Kazuya? Asking me for a favor?”
“…Yes?”
He slapped a hand over his chest.
“Hell yeah, sure.”
I blinked. “Woah. That was fast.”
“Dude, you’ve never asked me for a favor before,” he said, falling back into step beside me. “Every single time I try to help you with something, you always go, ‘I can do this by myself.’ So if you’re actually asking, then this has to be important, right?”
He looked at me with the kind of enthusiasm usually reserved for lottery winners.
“Well…” I admitted, “you’re not wrong.”
A cold drop of water landed on my hair.
Then another.
I looked up.
Dark clouds.
Of course.
“Shit,” I muttered. “Looks like it’s going to rain soon.”
“Oh!” Emu suddenly perked up. “Dude, wanna go to this new café that just opened nearby? It’s not too far from here.”
I gave him a suspicious look. “You say that like you’ve been waiting for an excuse.”
He grinned.
That answered my question.
“Eh, sure,” I said, shrugging lightly. “Why not? Lead the way.”
With entirely too much confidence, Emu thrust an arm forward like an explorer discovering a lost civilization.
“This way!”
And just like that, I was apparently following a human golden retriever through town.
A few minutes later, we stopped in front of a café called Whiskers & Brews.
Its logo was a cartoon cat standing on its hind legs while holding a steaming cup of coffee.
I stared at the sign.
Then at Emu.
Then back at the sign.
“Oh, shit,” I said. “Is this a cat café?”
Emu looked way too proud of himself.
“Yup. I know how much you love animals—especially cats—so I was planning to surprise you with this later.” He pointed at my shoulder. “But considering your whole ‘almost got flattened by a car’ thing, I figured now was a better time.”
I looked at him for a second.
Then back at the café.
Then at him again.
“Well,” I said, already walking toward the entrance, “what are you waiting for? Come on.”
“Right behind you.”
I pushed open the door.
“Move faster, Emu.” I added over my shoulder.
The warm smell of coffee and pastries greeted us the moment we stepped inside.
And then, as if sent directly by heaven itself—
A tuxedo cat trotted up to us.
I crouched immediately.
No hesitation.
No shame.
I held out my index finger, and the cat leaned forward to sniff it with the grave seriousness of a customs officer inspecting suspicious luggage.
After a second, it rubbed its head against my hand.
That was it.
I was done for.
Completely, irreversibly emotionally compromised.
I carefully scooped the cat into my arms, cradling it like it was the most precious thing on earth, and began scanning the room for an empty table.
Behind me, I heard Emu sigh.
“I knew this would happen.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“It’s not. It’s just… wow. You really folded instantly.”
“I have no regrets.”
Once we found a table, a waiter approached us with a small notepad and a polite smile.
“Ready to order?”
“Can I get the Berry Bliss Parfait with honey?” Emu said instantly.
I stared at him.
“Did you even look at the menu?”
“No.”
“…Right.”
He had ordered the exact same thing every single time we went to a café.
Without fail.
I looked down at the menu in my hands.
“I’ll just get some fries.”
“Anything else?” the waiter asked.
I glanced down at the tuxedo cat currently curled up in my lap like it had legally adopted me.
The cat blinked at me slowly.
I blinked back.
“And a cat treat.”
“Of course,” the waiter said with a nod. “That’ll be 1,500 yen for the parfait and 450 yen for the fries and cat treat. You can pay later at the counter.”
“Thanks,” I said.
Once the waiter walked off, Emu leaned forward across the table, suddenly looking much more serious.
“So,” he said. “What was the favor you wanted to ask me?”
I opened my mouth.
For a second, the image flashed again—
pink hair, blue eyes, that ribbon, the way she looked me—
Then I looked down at the table instead.
“...Actually,” I muttered, my gaze dropping to the table, “forget it.”
Emu blinked.
“...Forget it?”
“Yeah,” I said, exhaling quietly through my nose as I rubbed the back of my neck. “It’s nothing.”
“That is definitely not nothing,” Emu said immediately. “You don't go from ‘I need a favor’ to ‘nevermind’ in five seconds unless it’s something.”
I let out a small breath through my nose.
“...Even if I wanted to find her,” I said, a little quieter now, “I wouldn’t even know where to start.”
He didn’t interrupt this time.
Didn’t joke.
Just listened.
“She showed up out of nowhere,” I continued. “Saved me, panicked, and then just… disappeared.”
I leaned back slightly in my chair, eyes drifting towards the window.
“It’s not like she left behind a name or anything.”
“...So you're just going to drop it?” Emu asked.
There was a pause.
I thought about it.
About the way my heart had nearly stopped.
About how real everything felt—except her.
“...No,” I said after a moment.
Then, after a beat—
“I’m just not going to chase something I probably won’t catch,” I said, a little more quietly than I meant to.
Emu studied me for a second, like he was trying to figure out if that was really how I felt—or just the version I was willing to say out loud.
“...That doesn’t sound like you,” he said, watching me a little more carefully now.
I shrugged.
“Maybe I just don’t feel like running after someone who already ran away.”
That got a small huff out of him.
“...Fair enough,” he muttered. “Still think you should’ve at least asked for her name before almost dying.”
“Yeah,” I said dryly. “I’ll keep that in mind next time I’m about to get hit by a car.”
“Good. Growth,” he said with a satisfied nod.
Before I could answer, the waiter returned with our order.
“Here’s your food—one Berry Bliss Parfait with honey, one serving of fries, and one cat treat.”
“Oh, finally—the parfait’s here,” Emu said, sitting up straight like he’d just been revived. “Itadakimasu.”
Then he proceeded to absolutely demolish the parfait at a speed that violated several laws of nature.
“Calm down, Emu, you’re going to choke on—”
“Mm?” he said.
I stopped.
Looked down at the empty glass.
Then back at him.
“…What?”
He blinked.
I blinked.
“You finished that in—”
I checked the little table clock nearby.
“—thirty-four seconds.”
He wiped his mouth proudly. “A new record.”
I stared at him.
Then at the empty parfait glass.
Then back at him.
“You need to stop eating parfaits so fast,” I said. “You need to savor every bite. That’s how you get the full parfait experience.”
He looked offended.
“I did savor it.”
“You inhaled it.”
“I inhaled it with appreciation.”
The tuxedo cat in my lap stared at its treat with sparkling little eyes.
I tore open the packet and held it out.
The cat began licking it with slow, refined elegance.
Graceful.
Dignified.
Civilized.
I pointed at the cat.
“See? Even a cat has better eating manners than you.”
Emu placed a hand over his chest.
“Wow.”
He looked genuinely wounded.
“That was personal.”
“It was accurate.”
Just then, my flip phone started ringing.
I froze.
Then slowly reached into my pocket and pulled it out.
The screen lit up with one name.
Rin-chan.
My little sister.
I answered immediately.
“Hello?”
“Onii-san, where the hell are you?!”
I winced and pulled the phone slightly away from my ear.
“I’m with Emu right now,” I said. “It started raining, so we stopped by a cat café nearby.”
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?!” she snapped. “I was worried sick that you got into an accident!”
She wasn't wrong. I had almost been in an accident. But I couldn't tell her that.
Emu and I both went completely still.
Then, very slowly, we looked at each other.
Our eyes widened at the exact same time.
“Uhhh…” I said carefully. “So I kind of got into a slight accident.”
There was a pause on the other end of the line.
Then Rin spoke again.
Quietly.
Dangerously quiet.
“What happened?”
Shit.
My mind blanked instantly.
What the hell was I supposed to say?
Emu leaned across the table and whispered into my ear.
“Say you slipped on a puddle and landed on your back.”
I stared at him.
Then nodded once.
Bless this idiot.
“I tripped on a puddle and fell on my back,” I said into the phone, doing my best to sound normal. “I got a slight bruise, but other than that, I’m perfectly fine.”
Rin let out a breath on the other end.
“Oh, thank the Three Goddesses,” she said. “I was worried you got into a car accident or something.”
Emu and I froze.
Again.
I felt my soul physically leave my body.
Then her voice sharpened.
“But you need to be more careful about your surroundings.”
Fuck. She’s onto me.
“Yeah, yeah, I know, Rin-chan,” I said quickly. “I’ll be more careful, okay?”
“Get home soon, okay?” she said, sounding calmer now. “The sun’s starting to set.”
“I’ll see you later at home, Rin-chan,” I said gently. “And I’ll make you katsudon when I get back.”
There was a brief silence.
Then—
“REALLY?! YAY!”
I had never seen someone go from suspicious detective to excited child that quickly.
“Goodbye, Onii-chan!” she chirped.
“Goodbye, Rin-chan.”
I ended the call and slowly lowered the phone.
Then I looked up.
Emu was already staring at me.
“Your sister has to be psychic,” he said, sounding genuinely unsettled. “Seriously, how the hell did she guess that?”
I raised one hand while chewing on a fry.
“Let me finish my fries first.”
After we finished eating, we headed over to the counter to pay.
“Thank you for visiting Whiskers & Brews,” the receptionist said with a polite smile. “We hope to see you again.”
“Trust me,” I said, glancing down at the tuxedo cat one last time, “you probably will.”
Outside, the rain had already eased into a faint drizzle.
The streets were damp, the sky washed in soft evening colors as the last bit of daylight began to fade.
Emu shoved his hands into his pockets as we started walking again.
“So,” he said, “you sure you’re just gonna leave it like that?”
I adjusted my bag slightly on my shoulder.
“For now,” I replied.
He frowned a little.
“For now?” he repeated.
I shrugged.
“If I run into her again, I’ll say thanks properly.” I paused, then added, “If not… then that’s just how it is.”
Emu studied me for a second, like he wanted to argue.
Then he exhaled.
“...Man,” he muttered, “if it were me, I'd be running around the whole city asking every Umamusume I see.”
“I figured,” I said.
“You know I would,” he said, grinning.
“I do,” I replied, shaking my head slightly.
He clicked his tongue, but there was a small grin tugging at his face now.
“Well,” he said, stretching his arms slightly as we walked, “if you ever change your mind, I'm in.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
We kept walking until we reached a fork in the road.
Emu stopped first.
Then he glanced ahead and jerked his chin toward the path in front of him.
“Looks like this is where we part ways.”
“Yeah,” I said, looking toward the road to the left. “See you tomorrow.”
“See ya, Takumi.”
“You too, Emu.”
As I headed back to my apartment, the drizzle clung to the air, dampening my uniform as the streets grew noticeably quieter.
My shoulder still ached a little.
Not enough to slow me down—but enough to remind me.
You almost died today.
I exhaled slowly.
“…Yeah,” I muttered to myself. “Let’s not do that again.”
By the time I reached my house, the sky had darkened completely. Warm yellow lights glowed from the windows above, including ours.
I opened the door and stepped inside, slipping off my shoes by the entrance as the familiar warmth of home settled around me.
“I’m home,” I said flatly, my voice quieter than usual
For a moment, everything felt normal—almost as if the day hadn’t nearly ended with me becoming roadkill.
Then–
And then–
In front of me stood my little sister.
“You’re late.”
“What happened?”
I blinked once, then shrugged lightly, forcing my shoulders to stay relaxed
“...Nothing happened.”
Rin didn’t respond right away, and the silence that followed stretched just long enough to make it uncomfortable, her eyes fixed on me like she was trying to peel back a layer I hadn’t meant to show.
“…You’re lying,” she said at last, her voice steady in a way that made it worse.
“I’m not,” I replied, a little too quickly, even to my own ears.
Her gaze sharpened
“You are.”
I exhaled slowly through my nose, already realizing this wasn’t going to be something I could brush off with a single sentence.
“I just slipped on a puddle and landed on my back,” I said, keeping my tone as even as possible, like if I didn’t make it a big deal, she wouldn’t either. “It looks worse than it actually is.”
Rin stared at me for another second, clearly unconvinced, before tilting her head slightly.
“...Turn around.”
I hesitated for half a second—just enough.
Her eyes narrowed immediately.
“Oni-chan.”
Yeah.
There was no getting out of this.
“...Fine,” I muttered under my breath, turning slightly and pulling my collar aside just enough to reveal the bruise on my shoulder.
Her expression shifted, just slightly.
“...That’s not a small bruise,” she said quietly, her voice losing some of its earlier sharpness as she took a step closer.
“I told you, I’m fine.” I replied, glancing back at her. “It just looks bad.”
She didn’t answer right away, her eyes lingering on the bruise as if memorizing it, her hands curling slightly at her sides like she was holding something back
“...You scared me,” she said after a moment, her voice softer now—quieter, but heavier.
I paused.
Right.
Of course she would.
“...Sorry,” I muttered, looking away.
She clicked her tongue under her breath, though it sounded softer than before.
“You always say that,” she murmured, stepping closer until she was right in front of me again. ”And then you do something that makes me worry anyway.”
“I didn’t exactly plan on slipping,” I said, a bit defensively
“That’s not the point,” she replied, reaching out and grabbing my sleeve, her grip firm but careful
For a moment, neither of us said anything.
“...Next time, be more careful,” she said, her voice steady but quieter than before, her fingers tightening a little.
I let out a small breath.
“...Yeah. I will.”
She didn’t let go immediately.
Instead, she held on for a moment longer before letting go.
“...I’ll make you katsudon,” I said.
Rin blinked, then looked at me.
“..You will?” she asked, her eyes lighting up slightly.
“Yeah.”
Her eyes lit up almost immediately, like the tension from earlier had vanished.
“Then hurry up,” she said, way too quickly, like the earlier tension had been completely overwritten. “I’m starving.”
I stared at her for a second, trying to process how fast that just happened.
“...You were just worried.”
“I’m still worried,” she said without missing a beat, crossing her arms like that somehow proved her point, even as the excitement in her voice completely gave her away. “But I’m also hungry.”
…
Right.
That made sense.
In a way.
I let out a small sigh and turned towards the kitchen, rolling my shoulder once as the dull ache reminded me it was still there—not enough to slow me down, but just enough to be annoying.
Behind me, I could already hear her follow, her footsteps lighter now, almost impatient as she leaned against the counter, watching me like she was expecting something worth the wait.
Yeah. She was definitely excited.
I grabbed a pan and set it on the stove, reaching for the ingredients as I moved through the motions, letting the familiarity of it take over.
Rice.
Eggs.
Onion.
Pork.
Simple.
Familiar.
And judging by the way she was watching me now, shifting her weight slightly like she was counting down the seconds—
Yeah.
I didn’t have much room to mess this up.
By the time I finished, we were already seated at the table, the bowl of katsudon set in front of her as the faint steam curled up into the air.
Rin didn’t wait.
She picked up her chopsticks almost immediately and took a bite, her earlier impatience showing in the way she barely paused.
For a second, she said nothing.
Then another bite.
And another.
I leaned back slightly in my chair, watching her in silence as she kept eating, the tension from earlier nowhere to be seen now, replaced entirely by quiet focus.
…Yeah.
She liked it.
She just wasn’t the type to say it out loud.
She kept eating without saying much.
I didn’t comment on it. I didn't need to.
For a while, the only sound between us was the soft clink of chopsticks and the occasional shift of her chair as she worked through the meal a little faster than usual.
“...Good?” I asked after a bit.
She paused for half a second, then nodded once.
“...Yeah.”
That was it.
High praise, coming from her.
I huffed quietly and looked away, resting my chin against my hand as I let the moment settle, the normalcy of it all sinking in slowly.
No shouting.
No questions.
No tension in the air.
Just this.
By the time she finished, she leaned back slightly, letting out a small breath as she set her chopsticks down.
“...I’m full.”
“Glad to hear it.”
She glanced at me for a moment, like she wanted to say something else.
Then didn't.
Instead, she stood up and picked up her bowl, heading towards the sink without another word.
I watched her go for a second before pushing myself up as well, gathering the rest of the dishes and following after her.
“Leave it,” I said, reaching past her to turn on the tap. “I’ll handle it.”
“...You sure?”
“Yeah.”
She hesitated, then nodded and stepped aside, lingering for a moment before quietly heading off towards her room.
The sound of her door closing came a few seconds later.
And just like that—
It was quiet again.
I stood there for a bit, rinsing the dishes under the warm water as the steady sound filled the room, my thoughts drifting without much direction now that everything had settled.
By the time I finished and wiped my hands dry, the house had gone completely still.
I turned off the lights and made my way to my room.
The bed creaked softly as I dropped onto it, staring up at the ceiling as the day finally started catching up to me, the exhaustion settling in along with that dull, lingering ache in my shoulder.
I shifted slightly, the soreness pulling at my side just enough to remind me it had actually happened.
I exhaled slowly.
Tried not to think about it.
Tried to let my mind drift to something normal.
School.
Tomorrow.
Anything else.
…
It didn't work.
Because the moment things went quiet—
She was there.
Already ingrained in my memory.
Pink hair.
Blue eyes.
That ribbon.
The way she looked at me.
Why did she save me?
Why did she run away immediately?
…
The question lingered, circling back no matter how many times I tried to push them aside.
I turned slightly onto my side, staring at the wall now instead of the ceiling, the faint glow from the streetlight outside slipping in through the curtains.
It was quiet.
And somehow, that only made it worse.
Every time I closed my eyes, the moment replayed itself—the sudden impact, the force of being shoved aside, and then her face, clear for just a second before she disappeared.
I exhaled slowly, letting my eyes fall shut again.
“...What was that about…” I murmured under my breath, like saying it might somehow make it make sense.
No answer came.
Of course it didn’t.
Eventually, the exhaustion started to win out, dragging my thoughts into something slower, heavier, the edges of everything beginning to blur.
But even then—
Right before sleep finally took me—
Her face was still there.
Clear.
Unfading.
Like it wasn’t going anywhere—like I’d already crossed paths with something I wasn’t done with yet.