☾☾☾
IT was finally time for the next challenge to begin.
Aritomo and I each had our own challenges against Lady Chouko.
As she was almost a complete beginner, Aritomo would be competing in a time trial along a prescribed course.
And since I was a tad better than a beginner, I would be competing in a show jumping competition against her. It would be best two out of three, and our advisor Mikazuki and judge Izayoi had already warned me that there would be irregular scoring rules in place.
This wouldn’t be a standard show jumping competition, where knocking the bar off or disobedience from the horse would result in docked points. Instead, speed was the primary measure, and a normal rule subtraction would add more time. In other words, knocking the bar off would add four seconds, and while disobedience wouldn’t add time, if it happened more than once, the challenger would be disqualified.
This would all be added to each competitor’s time. The fastest time would be the winner.
“That should be easy enough to understand, right?”
“You sure thought of everything, huh, Ui?”
Mochizuki’s unforgiving words pierced the self-satisfied look on Mikazuki’s face.
“No, I was the one who came up with this,” Izayoi said softly, holding up his hand.
“Ui was the one who insisted, since Shirazu was the judge and all,” Shimozuru explained.
“You two are like a manzai act, aren’t they, Chouko?” Shinmyou, rejoining us for the first time in a while, was wearing a fake smile that made him look as if he were ill.
“...Yes they are,” Lady Chouko responded in a cold tone.
“Those two are so scary! Having them together is like a powder keg waiting to explode!” Aritomo said, blunt as usual.
After a month of practice, it was finally time to show the fruits of our labor. It was the first Saturday since summer break had started and finally time for the equestrian competition.
The week prior, we trained from morning to night, getting basic instruction from Mikazuki. Even I was beginning to see my rudimentary abilities improve.
This was a sport where speed and precision were important components in a time trial, and since there were no plans to lower the bar, he told us it would be critical to follow the course as directed.
Galileo wasn’t merely intelligent; he was strong and fast, too, and I was able to guide him without hindering him. We were ready to give it our all together.
And so we began our playday.
“Do your best!”
“Well, this should be fun,” Aritomo replied shockingly, sitting astride Roselila as I tried to encourage her. She continued, a serious look on her face, “I’m leaving it all to her,” before guiding Roselila to the starting line.
She sat properly, unlike the first time, with her back straight, so her equestrian equipment finally looked as if it actually belonged on her.
Just as she said, Aritomo genuinely seemed to enjoy her ride with Roselila. Her words were not mere boasting.
Her time was close to her personal best at 45.7 seconds, and that was more than adequate, but she looked dejected as she rode back.
“I guess it just wasn’t enough. And here Roselila and I had finally gotten so comfortable with one another.”
“Yeah! Well, why don’t you join the equestrian team? I’m all for you joining...”
Aritomo tilted her head at Mikazuki’s invitation, actively contemplating it.
“We already built a clubroom. You could practice jumping. I could teach you,” Mikazuki was saying. Shimozuru smacked him on the head.
Lately, Shimozuru had been a bit aggressive with Mikazuki.
As they bantered back and forth, Lady Chouko approached the starting line.
Seeing her standing there with Mondaiser, with whom she’d finally become at ease, I thought she looked more elegant and cool than merely beautiful. I couldn’t help being fascinated by her.
From the very start, she moved with even more grace than I expected, as if she was flying through the air.
As a result, her time was 39.8 seconds. It wasn’t as fast as I expected, but enough to beat Aritomo.
“A difference of 5.9 seconds, that’s pretty close.”
“Yes. But now it’s my turn. I’ll do my best.”
I clenched my fists, trying to show off my biceps. I could hear giggling from somewhere nearby.
Huh? Something felt off.
“Yes, give it your all. I’m counting on you, Urara!”
“Okay! You can count on me,” I exclaimed, then turned to Galileo. “Let’s do our best, Galileo.”
Galileo made his own show of agreement, neighing as if to say “Leave it to me.”
I exhaled deeply, then held my breath, waiting for the start signal.
In my present life, I hardly ever exercised outside of school, but I had a great deal of experience with dance and horseback riding in my past life. Because of that, I knew one thing above all others: the importance of synchronizing your breathing.
In dance, you synchronize with your partner; in horseback riding, it’s with your horse, which seems very obvious, but it’s hard to do without conscious thought. That’s why I held my breath until we began.
I gently patted Galileo’s neck.
Time to go.
We bowed and jumped over the fence together. Once, then again, we leaped over the bar, increasing our speed until our surroundings became a blur.
I continued along the course, feeling Galileo move beneath me.
Faster and faster, as high as we could go.
And then, after clearing the final hurdle and sliding into the finish line, everything seemed to glow, and I was filled with a feeling of exhilaration.
“Whew...”
We did everything we could.
I breathed a sigh, relieved. Aritomo rushed toward us, waving her arms.
“That was incredible, Urara! You made no mistakes! And that was so much faster than before,” she praised me in a pant.
“Yes, that was fast. I never thought you’d pull off something that amazing. Don’t you want to try competing for real sometime?” Shimozuru exclaimed, coming up behind Aritomo.
“Wow, thank you so much. So, how was my time?”
“We decided not to announce that until after Chouko goes again. That way, it’ll be more interesting, right?”
As we laughed lightly, Shinmyou approached us.
“Good work. I’ve heard you’ve been taking good care of Galileo. You’re to be commended for your efforts.”
“Th-Thank you very much. Riding Galileo was a pleasure for me as well.”
“You needn’t be so modest. You can ride much better than any of us.”
“No, really...”
Shinmyou was chatting with me with a smile that didn’t quite feel genuine, but I was trying to forget what had happened between us, so I flashed him a smile in return.
But apparently, he wouldn’t be satisfied so easily.
“So, what is it you’re hiding from us?”
He had jumped right to the point.
“Saku! You’re so rude!”
“I’m sorry? Oboro, you must want to know, too. How is it she can so masterfully handle a horse with no prior experience? More importantly...how is she far more refined than anyone else here?”
As Shinmyou spoke, Shimozuru paused.
“Mitsuru, I know you and the others must be thinking it. You just won’t say it. Because Chouko will get mad at you. Isn’t that it?”
“...You know that already.”
Shimozuru glanced at the starting line, ensuring Lady Chouko still hadn’t gotten into position.
“You better not push your luck. You don’t wanna tick Chouko off again.”
Lady Chouko came from a family on par with the Mochizukis, and yet everyone treated her completely different from how they treated Mochizuki.
I looked to Aritomo. She must have known what I was thinking.
“Tsukuyomi is the heir to the entire Tsukuyomi empire.”
Shimozuru and Shinmyou looked shocked.
“...Aritomo, how did you know that!?”
“Huh? Ah, well...damn it.”