As Kitasan Black emerged from the underground passage and squinted at the suddenly brilliant view, the last conversation she had shared with her seniors echoed in her mind.
Or rather, it was a question that had suddenly occurred to her.
"Um... Teio-senpai, I have a question. I had a dream a few days ago, and it suddenly made me wonder... before the Japanese Derby, what were you thinking about?"
At the time, not only Tokai Teio but the other seniors had been taken aback as well.
"Japanese Derby, huh..."
Teio-senpai smiled, recollection flickering in her eyes.
"The Winner's Stage, probably."
"Huh...?" She froze, having never expected that answer.
"What Teio means," Gold Ship-senpai said with a smile, "is that before the race, she was already thinking about what would happen after she won."
"Yeah, pretty much."
With both hands clasped behind her head, Teio-senpai revealed a playful expression she rarely showed outsiders these days and grinned.
"And I wasn't only thinking about the Winner's Stage. I was also thinking about what I'd say when I saw the President."
"That's still something that happens after winning..."
"Right, Spe-chan, Vodka, what about you two?"
Ignoring Gold Ship-senpai's jab, Teio-senpai looked toward Special Week and Vodka Senior.
"Me and Vodka?"
After tapping her chin in thought, Special Week-senpai pumped a fist.
"As for me... I was thinking about how to win."
"How to win the race?"
Her ears twitched, and she could not help asking, "Then... what did you come up with?"
"Well..."
Using one hand as the track and the other as herself, Special Week-senpai smiled.
"I'd shoot out of the start gate like this, then dash off with a whoosh, and finally zoom, zoom, zoom across the finish line. I think that's what I was thinking."
"Ah...?" She was dumbfounded again.