"How is this possible... how is this possible..."
"Impossible, the gap can't be that big, that's impossible."
After being hit by the full brunt of Orfevre's Aura, Tokai Teio felt her brain constantly sending her a tense signal of crisis.
That sense of crisis made her fully understand why Twin Turbo had suddenly run off, and because of it, she almost did the same.
Not even on the same level; Tokai Teio realized for the first time that the gap between herself and another Uma Musume could be so vast, that the world, it turned out, was so far from her all along.
This feeling was different from anything she felt before. It wasn't Tokai Teio's first time racing with others, nor had she not experienced situations where she was completely suppressed.
If this kind of gap was something she felt from Symboli Rudolf, perhaps she would have been at peace; after all, Rudolf was her idol, and if her strength eclipsed her like this, she could accept it.
But if this huge disparity wasn't felt from Symboli Rudolf, nor from Air Groove, Narita Brian, or even T.M. Opera O, but from Orfevre, who belonged to the same team as her and even suffered three consecutive losses after her Debut Race.
Tokai Teio didn't understand, and was even a little unwilling to believe.
Clearly, everyone was an Uma Musume from the same team, and although they trained under different Trainers, the difference couldn't be that large, right?
Why exactly? Where was the difference? Tokai Teio couldn't understand the scene before her no matter how she thought about it.
"—You little newbies who haven't been on the Racecourse, do you know how big the gap between us is now?"
When Orfevre was racing, she could be said to have played the role of 'Golden Tyrant' to perfection.
At this moment, just her face alone could scare many children into tears.
She spoke to Tokai Teio and Nice Nature behind her with a sense of self-assured arrogance:
"You want to challenge me? In your dreams, you substandard losers!"
"Cough!"
And facing another wave of Orfevre's powerful Aura, Tokai Teio became so shaken that she couldn't speak.
She felt her legs trembling slightly, as if she had been targeted by some dangerous predator.
'Can't reach her, how could I possibly reach her level????'
—Tokai Teio thought despairingly in her heart. This was her first time admitting her defeat before even finishing the race.
But just as Tokai Teio felt a surge of timidity, beside her, another Uma Musume showed a completely different reaction from Tokai Teio.
"RRRAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!! DON'T UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF THE MEDIOCRE!!!!"
Under Orfevre's oppression, Nice Nature, instead of being overwhelmed by fear, was provoked into a 'nothing to lose' mentality.
She completely disregarded any tactics or plans to conserve stamina, desperately trying to move her legs and run forward.
What Nice Nature was thinking now was no longer how to win, but how to endure longer under Orfevre's oppression.
The thought of winning against Orfevre had already been crossed out, and she might not even beat Tokai Teio either.
But now, faced with this insurmountable trial, she just wanted to prove that she was no inferior to Tokai Teio in terms of willpower.
She could persevere, she could persevere and join Team Miracle!
She had already forgotten the ultimate goal of a race, because the difference in strength between the two sides was simply too great.
And as such, Nice Nature's thoughts had long since shifted from "how to win" to "how to endure longer than Teio."
And Nice Nature's persistence actually had some effect.
For a moment, Orfevre felt as if her Aura had a tear in it; a small but present resistance from Nice Nature slightly emerged under Orfevre's Aura.
'This girl... unexpectedly, she also has talent.'
This thought surfaced in Orfevre's mind, but she quickly suppressed it. The next moment, Orfevre's legs suddenly pushed off, and she finally sprinted towards the finish line!
Perhaps feeling that she had played enough, Orfevre completely lost the desire to toy with them.
She accelerated with all her might, running at full speed, and in an instant, the distance between herself and the two widened even more!
No one could stop Orfevre's advance, and the two Uma Musume behind her were already incredibly brave just for managing not to run away.
As for the final outcome of this Race... did it matter? There was absolutely no suspense.
After Orfevre had reached the finish line, a good ten-odd seconds later, Nice Nature and Tokai Teio finally arrived, running... no, at that speed, one could only say they shuffled to the finish line, basically walking.
The only difference was that after Tokai Teio reached the finish line, she collapsed to her knees in despair, while Nice Nature, who followed closely behind, managed to support her body, thanks to her courage not being completely shattered.
"Ha... ha... ha..."
"Why... why... am I, am I that far behind... a- am I really that far behind everyone?"
"...You won't win against me like this, Teio, never."
Orfevre, who had vented thoroughly after the race, had unconsciously pulled up her mask again.
Reason had re-occupied her empty noggin, and she finally realized what she had excitedly done to these kids just now.
However, looking at Tokai Teio, who was now kneeling on the ground, for some reason, Orfevre couldn't help but think of herself.
The self who wanted to unleash her potential in the heavy rain but made no progress, the self who cried miserably in the rain, lamenting her powerlessness.
As soon as these thoughts came to mind, Orfevre couldn't help but frown slightly.
For the first time, Orfevre, having regained her reason, chose to scold Tokai Teio without hesitation.
"Accept reality, Teio. You won't win against us like this. You won't win against me, you won't win against Meisho Doto, not against McQueen, and definitely not T.M. Opera O."
"If you continue like this, you will be the weakest Uma Musume in the team, in the true sense of the word."
"Weakest... weakest..."
Upon hearing that word, all of Tokai Teio's muscles twitched. She instinctively looked up, staring blankly at Orfevre standing before her.
If anyone had dared to speak to Tokai Teio like that in the past, this noble young lady, no matter how good-tempered she was, would immediately race against the other party and after winning, would have returned the exact same words.
But now, Tokai Teio's heart had already admitted her defeat, and she had no confidence to retort anything.
Because Orfevre was speaking the truth.
She couldn't even beat Orfevre, so what was she talking about, beating T.M. Opera O? Beating McQueen and Meisho Doto, who were only slightly behind T.M. Opera O?
Was she not, then, the weakest one in Team Miracle?
Although she hadn't debuted yet and still had a long time to train, even so, Tokai Teio couldn't stand to be labeled with the word "weakest."
"I... I..."
"I—I won't be the weakest! I'll get stronger! I'll get stronger! Even if I lost today! I'll win it back sooner or later!"
"Absolutely! I'll definitely crush you!"
Tokai Teio's psychological defenses finally crumbled at this moment.
After letting out a cry of unwillingness towards Orfevre, she ran off with a childish wail, and along the way, who knows how many students and staff members would be surprised that Tracen Academy's darling would cry so miserably.
And after Tokai Teio ran off, Ikezoe slowly walked up to Orfevre.
Orfevre, after a long pause, then hesitantly asked:
"Ikezoe... did I... do too much?"
"Hmm, it was a bit much, but I think Teio will understand it."
Ikezoe smiled faintly at her words, reached out, and ruffled Orfevre's head, saying softly:
"It must have been tough for you to be the bad guy this time, Orfevre."
"Don't touch my head! Idiot Ikezoe!"
Orfevre quickly resisted, extending her leg to kick Ikezoe.
Fortunately, Ikezoe had grown used to this and immediately jumped to dodge the blow, preventing Orfevre from getting her way.
"Um, uhhh."
And at this moment, Nice Nature couldn't help but step forward and say to Ikezoe:
"Ikezoe, Trainer Ikezoe, um, how is... Twin Turbo?"
"She's fine. Curren Chan has already sent her to the infirmary. She should be fine after a good sleep."
"Is that so..."
Just then, Nice Nature opened her mouth, but in the end, she still couldn't voice her desire to join Team Miracle.
She was probably influenced by her inferiority complex again, or perhaps she felt that her performance wasn't striking enough.
'In any case... maybe I should try to win a few more races? At least, if I got a few more races under my belt, I'll have more confidence when I submit my application... '
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Tokai Teio lowkey a punching bag in this fic.
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If you spot any errors, feel free to comment about it and I will fix it as soon as I can.