A Lucky Day Turned Around

On December 28, with the end of the year approaching, I left Hokkaido.

My destination was the Shinagawa Prince Hotel in Tokyo, where trainers, jockeys, and owners from the competing camps would gather for the draw that would determine the gate positions for the year-end grand race, the Arima Memorial.

After stepping out of the bustling Haneda Airport crowd, I opened the map app to check the route ahead.

It was unexpectedly convenient.

It took about twenty minutes north from the terminal on the Keikyu Airport Line.

As I scrolled through my phone along the way, X kept pushing voting updates from people connected to various camps and racing media outlets.

After the news of an Arima Memorial withdrawal was announced, Noda Power, previously in first place, saw its vote growth visibly slow.

In contrast, Atalanta, who had declared her intention to lead from the front, saw another surge in votes despite already being close behind Noda Power.

[Mejiro Atalanta: 349,482

Noda Power: 348,963]

When voting closed at two in the afternoon, Atalanta ultimately overtook her rival by a narrow margin.

That made her the rightful first choice.

Thinking that, I left the ticket gate and headed toward the hotel a block away.

Soft winter afternoon sunlight streamed through the gaps between the skyscrapers, but the wind blowing straight at me remained bitterly cold.

I instinctively pulled my coat tighter around myself.

"President Kitano—"

I was slightly startled when I heard someone call out.

I unconsciously slowed down. Majima emerged from around the corner, holding a phone in each hand.

"I thought you'd take a taxi here."

"Not at all. The train is pretty convenient too, isn't it?"

"That's true... In that case, shall we walk together?"

The light changed, and we crossed the street side by side