That ashen grey shadow-
That stride full of confidence and fire..
Always just ahead…
Oguri’s teeth clenched. Her muscles screamed. She had tried everything—shifted her pace, cut tighter corners, waited for the right opening. But the gap never closed. Tamamo was relentless.
“I won’t lose… I can’t.”
Every nerve in her body buzzed. The roar of the crowd drowned out her thoughts. Her vision tunneled. She pushed harder—forcing her legs to respond, ignoring the tremor in her right foot, the burn in her calves, the warning signs screaming from deep within her body.
“Just a little more!!!” She gasped for air her vision focused on Tamamo right infront of her- it’s so close… “Just!!—”
Then—snap.
A sharp, tearing pain exploded through her right foot. It felt like her body had stepped into fire. Her rhythm shattered. Her leg gave way.
The pain made her stumble. At the speed she was running, she’s sent flying into the boarder walls of the racing course.
The crowd fell silent at the sight of the incident. Oguri Cap, who’d had been winning almost every single race she’s been in- who has garnered the attention of many- had now gotten into a serious incident..
The track rushed up to meet her as she crashed forward, her body tumbling and skidding in the dirt.
She didn’t scream. But her eyes squeezed shut, her teeth grinding together as the agony surged up her leg and into her core. “Why?… Couldn’t she catch up?- why did this happen now?..” She wondered…
She lay there, clutching her foot, her chest heaving. The pain was intense—but not as sharp as the bitter realization that she’d lost. Her eyes blurring in and out as the paramedics rushed to aid her
The next thing Oguri knew- she awoke in a hospital bed, with her right foot lifted and cast.