Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“If you didn’t act so smug all the time, then maybe I wouldn’t want to kiss you so bad!”

“Me?! You’re the one who- wait what was that?”

The few who had stayed in the classroom all turned their heads to Vodka and Daiwa Scarlet, the latter of whom was turning bright red by the second.

“...wait, no, I-”

Vodka cut her off with an awkward laugh. “W-Wow, that’s a new one. You’re really going the extra mile to throw me off my game, aren’t you?”

Scarlet’s hands clutched the desk she was leaning on. “Y-Yeah! I just wanted to see how you reacted to something so ridiculous, t-that’s it! And you totally tripped up on it!”

“Well yeah, anyone would!” Vodka retorted. “It’s so stupid and lame and out of left field!”

“Obviously,” Scarlet agreed. “W-Whatever. I’m done arguing with you! Do me a favor and stop talking to me for the rest of the day.”

With that, the redhead stomped her way out of the room, making sure to stop and slide the door just hard enough for emphasis.

Vodka sunk back into her seat and glared at the other students who were snickering over the exchange.

What the hell just happened?

The thought was repeated in Scarlet’s mind, as she leaned against the classroom wall and put her face in her hands and tried not to scream. “Why did I say that?” she whispered. “What is wrong with me?! I would never in a million, billion years ever want to kiss that stupid face of hers!”

Scarlet forced herself to take a deep breath. Two deep breaths. “Okay, it’s fine. It’s fine. You just had a weird slip of the tongue. Just play it off like a joke. Everyone will forget about it by tomorrow, anyway. It’s not a big deal.”

Her stomach growled. All that arguing must’ve worked up an appetite, it seems. A quick straightening out of her uniform, and Scarlet was off to the cafeteria as if nothing had ever happened.

---

There were a good number of other students already having lunch. Of course there was the tower of whatever Oguri Cap had put together in one corner, who was one-handed fighting off Tamamo Cross, but the atmosphere was much more relaxed than in the classroom. There was simply less to worry about in here.

Daiwa Scarlet picked up a few lighter foods- a sandwich, some fruit, a small piece of cake- and headed for a table. Special Week, already halfway through her second bowl of curry and rice, waved hello as Scarlet sat down. Next to Spe was Grass Wonder, who verbalized her greeting instead.

“Good afternoon, Scarlet,” said Grass. “How has your day been so far?”

Scarlet beamed in trademark fashion. “I happened to get full marks on the math test from yesterday,” she stated with cheer. “Though it was nothing for such a model student like myself.”

“Yay!” Special Week exclaimed with a full mouth, splattering her tray with bits of rice in the process. “Oops- sorry, I know I shouldn’t chew with an open mouth…”

Grass nodded as congratulations. “That seems to be the case, Scarlet. You really do put everything you have into your studies.”

“Well, since my next race isn’t until the fall, I have plenty of time to study and train.” Scarlet wasn’t the biggest fan of it, but at least having a break between outings to the track gave her the space to work on some of her minor issues. She couldn’t wait to go back to the course and show everyone how perfect she was.

“But there’s not really much for me to talk about. I’ve just been doing what I can to improve, same as ever. How’s everything with you two?”

Spe swallowed so she could go first. “Ooh! Suzuka offered to do some partner running with me today! I’m really excited to show her how much I’ve grown since my last race!” she declared. With a determined twinkle in her eye, she added “And today’s the day I finally catch up to her!”

Scarlet gave a polite chuckle. Special Week’s determination to match Silence Suzuka was admirable to say the least. It did remind her of someone in particular…

The redheaded uma sighed quietly. Vodka. Of course she thought of Vodka first. That cocky mare was her biggest obstacle to being number one. Somehow Vodka was always there to get in her way, to piss her off and look like the big hero of the hour. What with that smug grin, that short-cropped hair, that loud mouth, that sad-but-cute look on her face when she lost-

“Scarlet? Is everything okay?” called Grass.

Daiwa Scarlet blinked and realized she had her sandwich hanging halfway out of her mouth, like a robot that stopped mid-orders. “What? Oh- I’m fine! Don’t worry about me,” she sputtered. “I was just… thinking. What were we talking about?”

Grass and Spe both had concerned looks on their faces. “Sorry, um,” Spe said, “you just look really distracted. Did something happen during class?”

It was that obvious, it seemed. Even Scarlet’s perfect poker face couldn’t mask it this time. With folded-back ears and a defeated sigh, the redhead leaned in and grew quiet. “Well… Vodka-”

“Ohh, okay,” said Grass and Spe in unison.

“H-Hey!” Scarlet huffed with a red face. “I wasn’t even finished!”

Someone from a table over giggled, and was promptly silenced by a glare from Miss Perfect. Daiwa turned back to her friends and tried to continue. “Vodka just can’t stop herself from being the most annoying idiot in the room, and tried to take it out on me. Only, this time, I may have said something that was way over the line…”

Grass tilted her head while Scarlet rambled, “I don’t know, I feel like maybe I took it too far this time. It’s sort of bugging me, I guess.”

“It sounds like the guilt is eating at you,” Grass suggested. “Have you tried to apologize for it yet?”

Daiwa Scarlet puffed out her cheeks and folded her arms. “As if. She should be apologizing to me for driving me crazy.”

She looked out across the cafeteria, not wanting to discuss it further. Her gaze caught something, however- on the other end was the one and only rival she hated, sitting with Mayano Top Gun and Kawakami Princess. Vodka looked to be cracking jokes with the others, but ceased her laughing as she turned and caught sight of Scarlet.

Silence. Furrowed brows. A strange tension filled the air between them, with both tables stopping to stare at the other. The moment lasted for several heartbeats.

Vodka then stuck out her tongue and turned back to her table.

Fumes just about erupted from Scarlet’s ears. “That little-”

Grass Wonder reached to grab Daiwa’s arm before the latter could fully stand up. “I wouldn’t if I were you,” said Grass.

Scarlet yelped in fear. With the calmest voice in the world, Grass really spooked her when she was least expecting it. Scarlet sat back down and stared at the table.

“W-Well, look on the bright side!” Special Week intervened. “You guys do share a dorm room. You could just tell her you’re sorry when you both get back, right?”

Miss Perfect sighed and put her sandwich back in her mouth. Spe would get no answer from her.

---

“Ooh, Scarlet’s really not happy with you,” said Mayano, still staring across the cafeteria. Vodka just shrugged as she took a swig of her tea.

That redheaded brat had the audacity to pull a stunt like that earlier and still stare daggers? What a joke. Vodka had never felt so disrespected in her life.

“My, my,” Kawakami chimed, “it seems like your fight must have really bothered her. I could’ve sworn she was about to come over here to start all over again!”

Vodka, again, shrugged. “She’s always like that. Little Miss Perfect really doesn’t like it when things go even just a little bit wrong for her.”

She chugged the rest of her drink and slapped the bottle down with a sigh. “Still. It was a really weird insult. Who says they wanna kiss someone in the middle of an argument like that?”

“Maybe it was just an accident?” Mayano suggested. She scrunched up her face in thought. “Then again, Scarlet doesn’t usually say something unless she really, really, really means it. I wonder what’s gotten into her…?”

Vodka waved down any sort of thought about it. “Who cares? She’s still gonna keep acting like the queen of castle at the end of day. It’s not my problem she can’t use words right.”

Though, Mayano did have a point. Daiwa Scarlet was a perfectionist by every measure; the tiniest slip-up meant something was off. Vodka admitted that she could use that against her rival- but that would probably lead to so many more questions from everyone and the thought of having to defend herself over it… it made her shudder.

Still, even knowing it was probably a mistake, Vodka couldn’t help but think about it. Scarlet said it out of anger but it felt genuine. Unexpected, but sincere. It got the dark-haired mare to think about every other fight they’ve had recently. How Scarlet just kept screeching, how she lost it over little things, how she refused to back down, how blindingly bright her smile was when she beat Vodka-

“Vodka? Your nose!” Kawakami said in fright.

Vodka could smell the copper before she felt it. That was new. She wasn’t thinking anything strange, right?

She reached for a napkin to blot away the streak of red and stood up to leave. “S-Sorry! I’ll be back in a minute!” She was off to the restroom before anyone could stop her.

Man, that was sudden, Vodka lamented. I feel so lame now. How am I supposed to surpass her when just talking to her gives me trouble?

Daiwa Scarlet could ask herself the same question.

Chapter Text

Vodka frowned through the window and stared at the massive rainstorm outside the academy walls. The practice track was absolutely flooded. She had been banking on improving her endurance, but with training being forced indoors for the day, those options had firmly shut down by her own trainer.

So now she found herself inside one of the classrooms for an impromptu joint video review session. Biwa Hayahide’s trainer had suggested this operation as a way to make up for the downpour scuttling everyone’s plans (and the fact that said trainer was out sick for the day).

Of course Daiwa Scarlet and her trainer were invited to join by Vodka’s trainer, because nothing Vodka did ever seemed to happen without her.

Vodka sighed in dramatic fashion. At least their trainers were here to intervene when things went sideways. Not if- when. Even Vodka could admit there was rarely a peaceful interaction between the two of them. Not that she had anything to do with it, Miss Perfect over yonder was always trying to rub something in her rival’s face.

Her rival, huh…

“Yo, Vodka! We’re about to start, come on over,” called Al- her trainer. The dark-haired mare gave a nod in the direction of the rain and headed to the last open seat in front of the TV. Separating her from Scarlet was Biwa, who must have had the patience of saint to be willing to do so.

“Alright,” said Al, “we’re going to be taking a look at a race from each of you and breaking it down phase by phase. We’ve got specific examples we’d like to go over in detail for each scenario, and yes Vodka we are going to be looking at Scarlet’s race too. Please don’t complain, okay?”

Vodka gave a dramatic sigh and sunk into the chair. How was she supposed to learn anything when Scarlet was just going to brag about how well she did over top of the video? She could only take that grating voice for long.

Scarlet somehow made a chuckle sound smug. “You’ll just have to watch me be the best again!” she cheered.

Biwa Hayahide pushed up her glasses and cleared her throat, hushing the other two umas. “May we begin, please?”

“Of course,” said Scarlet’s trainer, Camilla. “First, we’ll analyze Scarlet’s race from last month. It was a fine win, without a doubt- but I’d like you all to pay attention to…”

The lecturing voice of the trainers faded out in Vodka’s ears. The footage had started playing already, and frankly she was inclined to tune it out as well. She had watched this race before, where Scarlet got out to a big lead early and refused to give it up all the way to end, fighting in the last stretch to keep another runner from passing by.

“You have very clear control of the pace here, Scarlet,” Biwa commented. “I can see why you have changed over to a front-running strategy.”

Scarlet made some modest remark about it that Vodka didn’t quite catch, nor did she care to hear.

“She just likes to have all the attention,” Vodka mumbled. A glare burned into the side of her head a moment later, which she ignored.

There was the back stretch, then into the turn up the slope, and then down into the final corner…

Vodka squinted. Her ear twitched. What was that?

Something looked different- no, felt different about the race this time. The camera was focused right on Scarlet leading the last push to the line, and to Vodka it seemed to run in slow motion. Twintails fluttering in the wind, arms cutting through the air like knives, and Scarlet’s gaze- fixated. Hungry. Determined. Even with her head facing front it was like she could see the runner behind just starting to catch her, and hit the jets a few hundred meters out from the finish.

It was, for lack of a better word, awe-inspiring. Majestic, even.

That thought twisted Vodka’s emotions into some strange mix. She had watched this very same sequence several times since the race happened; while she definitely would have called it fierce before, never had she wanted to call Scarlet’s running style beautiful. For the first time, she could see exactly how hard Daiwa pushed herself, and how practiced her moment to unshackle her power looked in action.

Was Vodka even watching the same person anymore?

“...Vodka? Vodka, are you listening?”

The voice of a trainer brought the mare back to reality. She had leaned so far forward that she was on the edge of falling out of the chair and hitting the screen with her face. Embarrassed for going into her own world so hard, Vodka quickly nodded, scooted back into the seat and put on her best fake smile.

“That’s a big, fat no, I think,” chimed in Scarlet. Vodka whirled her head around, smile gone and ready to bark nonsense back at her rival.

“Excuse me?! That’s-”

“Vodka, Scarlet, please. Let’s not do this today,” Camilla begged. Vodka rolled her eyes at the woman. Scarlet started it, but arguing was not going to win favors now. Getting chided like children was already humiliating enough, so the pair of umas left it alone.

The human woman sighed and motioned back to the screen. “Moving on… as mentioned before, what we wanted to point out was this moment here…”

And once again Vodka tuned it all out to retreat into her own bubble. How did I miss that last time? she thought, pressing a hand to her temple. Scarlet always runs like that, right? But she looks really strong, way stronger than I’ve ever seen her… and I’m so mad about it.

She drew in a long, quiet breath to steady herself. Man, I must be really tired if this is getting to me. It’s just little Miss Perfect, Daiwa Scarlet, same as she ever was.

...she really is starting to live up to the name.

Vodka buried her face into her hands, leaned back, and groaned.

“Is everything alright, Vodka?” asked Biwa.

“Huh?”

She peeked out from between her fingers and nearly jumped as she saw everyone else’s gaze on her again. Biwa’s calculating visage said that she could tell everything was not alright, but for the sake of being polite gave Vodka a chance to play it off.

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine,” she stammered and casually scratched the back of her head. “I think I’ve just got a headache setting in… y-yeah, that’s it.”

Nobody in the room seemed to believe that. Vodka stayed as cool as she could, rubbing her temple again to sell the point better. It was going to be really hard to explained why she was distracted if anybody asked.

Thankfully for her, no one seemed that interested in challenging the excuse. All eyes turned back to the screen again, and Vodka let go of the breath she held.

Get it together, girl. You can’t lose focus, not against her. Just… relax.

---

Daiwa Scarlet was more than happy to humble-brag about the race, even if her trainer pulled her mood back down with constructive criticism. Still, it was proof that she was very much the number one umamusume in the room.

So she assumed.

“Next we have one of Vodka’s races, from just a couple of weeks ago,” said Al. He flipped the screen over to a new video.

Vodka chuckled with pride. “Finally. Now you get to see just how cool I was!”

Scarlet kept her urge to scoff to herself. No point in making more of scene; she had yet to watch the footage of this race, actually, so for once she was genuinely interested in paying attention.

The video began with Vodka getting a late jump out of the gate. Scarlet could feel the runner in question cringe in their seat over yonder. “Oh man, I knew it was a bad start,” said Vodka, “but I didn’t think it was that bad…”

A small smile appeared on Scarlet’s face and disappeared just as quickly. The schadenfreude was nice, but not the point of the review.

The early race saw Vodka getting jammed towards the back, and with this being a mile format, there was little room for errors in judgment. But despite that, Vodka found a way to slip past one, two, then four runners in the span of a few seconds. Managing to push halfway up the pack coming out of the final corner was impressive.

The mad dash to the finish line was nothing short of chaotic. Several runners handed off the lead between each other, but when the camera shifted back to the midfield and caught Vodka…

Scarlet felt her heart skip a beat as Vodka exploded into high gear.

The mare dove through two more runners, squeezing herself through the gap they left open, and hit the gas in the last spurt. She zoomed up to the front and effortlessly passed by third, second, taking the lead by a nose at the very last moment, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.

The Vodka in the room was cheerleading for herself the entire time. “Haha! That’s how it’s done!” she proclaimed with a bright smile plastered on her face. “Just goes to show you can’t count me out no matter what!”

Biwa Hayahide pushed up her glasses in deep thought. “Impressive. Despite your start being 741 milliseconds slower than everyone else, your navigation from the rear of the pack shows your willpower to succeed.”

Scarlet, on the other hand, sat in stunned silence. What on earth was that? Vodka was fast, Scarlet knew that; if she wasn’t then there would have been no rivalry. But for the first time it felt like she saw a real glimpse at how Vodka strategized. How she refused to give in no matter how desperate the odds were.

It was, for lack of a better word, incredible. Inspiring, even.

Daiwa Scarlet put a hand to her forehead and curled up in her chair. That tenacity, that drive paired with the ability to slip through traffic like a knife through butter laid bare everything Vodka was about.

Had Scarlet truly underestimated Vodka this whole time?

“Trainer,” the redhead blurted out, “can you rewind back to the start of the final straight?”

Everyone in the room now had their attention on her and it made her cheeks burn. Did she say something out of line, or…?

“...well,” said Camilla, “I was about to get back to that, but since you’re so eager...”

The video went back to the final sequence up to the finish. Scarlet didn’t dare blink on the rewatch, looking for exactly the moment when Vodka made her move. She didn’t understand how that move looked so flawless, so powerful. But more than that- she was just compelled to watch it again. And again. And again.

I guess I never saw it since I’m always ahead of her, thought Scarlet, but her moves are so precise. I don’t know where she gets it from; she barely even puts trash in the bin properly. Is this how she keeps nearly stealing wins from me?

...I can’t believe I’m getting so worried about this. I won’t let her sneak up on me like that.

Scarlet was so ingrained in her personal analysis that she jumped as something brushed her arm. Just Biwa, it seemed, trying to bring her down from the clouds. “S-Sorry!” Scarlet bumbled. “Was there a question for me?”

“I’ve got a question for both of you,” said Vodka’s trainer, pointing to his trainee as well. “Are you two alright? You seem really distracted for some reason.”

“W-Well, it’s a lot to take in,” Vodka answered. “It’s one thing trying to review your own races, it’s so much extra work to review someone else’s. Even if the flaws are obvious.”

That felt very pointed towards Scarlet, but for once, she didn’t have a good chirp to send back at Vodka. She vaguely agreed with a nod and settled back into her chair.

Both trainers sighed, and Al addressed the white-haired trainee. “Biwa, I think we’re gonna take a short break. We’ll come back to your footage in a few minutes, alright?”

Vodka was the first to step out to the hallway, and Daiwa followed behind her without thinking. They both let loose a simultaneous sigh of exasperation, followed by silent pacing. Somehow they wandered down the same path and wound up near the corner of the corridor. Scarlet could see something was on the other mare’s mind, but didn’t want to ask.

“...so?” Vodka began anyway. “Did I look cool or what?”

“Hmph! Not nearly as amazing as I was,” Scarlet huffed, already taking a defensive stance. She checked her nails with a dismissive, casual flair. “You were good, don’t get me wrong, but you’ll never outshine me at this rate.”

“Ugh- do you ever have anything nice to say?!” Vodka barked. Anger started burning in her eyes as everything stood up on end slightly, her body ready to get on the offensive. “Little Miss Perfect just can’t seem to handle the presence of someone better than her.”

“As if, dummy!” Scarlet shouted back. “You’re the one who’s second-rate! I led that whole race from gate to wire! So what if your sense of timing and position is first-class?”

“Yeah, well-”

Vodka hesitated. Scarlet paused.

That was… a little backhanded of me. I mean, I do mean it, but did I have to say out loud like that? The redhead pondered.

Vodka cleared her throat to get her train of thought rolling again. “W-Well, you’re the one who’s stupider! You think getting to the front and having amazing pace control is all that?!”

“That’s- what?”

The pair of them stalled out into silence. Scarlet felt her cheeks turn to her namesake, and she couldn’t maintain eye contact anymore. Even Vodka would have been able to see the turmoil in her irises.

Vodka continued to stare and looked just as confused. I don’t think I’ve ever actually complimented her before on anything, she thought. Or the other way around. Something about that doesn’t feel right...

The worst part is Scarlet liked it.

She wanted to hear it again.

Vodka suddenly balled up her fists and growled with irritation. “Grrah! This is so stupid! I can’t believe how fired up watching you run makes me!” said the mare. “That’s it- we’re settling this now!”

Scarlet snapped back to reality and saw that Vodka’s face was also bright pink. Hiding her embarrassment behind a big bravado, it seemed.

“Okay then. Settle it how?” Scarlet questioned.

“The only thing we know how to do. We race. Out on the track.”

Scarlet’s eyes opened wider. “Are you crazy?!” she said, aghast. “It’s pouring buckets of rain outside! We could get seriously hurt, or worse!”

“What’s the matter? Don’t tell me the big number one Daiwa Scarlet is scared of getting her feet wet,” Vodka taunted. Fury rumbled through her voice and in her stare, yet under that was something more complicated. Scarlet couldn’t pick out what exactly it was. 

She would not let anyone call her chicken, though.

“You- stupid- aagh! Fine! We’re going outside! If I catch a cold because of this, I am so going to kick your ass!” Scarlet snapped. She stomped her way towards the doors, not looking back.

Vodka let her go out first. She held a hand to her chest and tried to breathe again. This was such a stupid idea and she knew it, yet her body and soul demanded her to follow through. She needed to see something with her own two eyes.

But what was she even looking for?

Chapter Text

Endless rain. Thunder booming in the distance. Visibility severely limited.

And Vodka and Daiwa Scarlet were about to have a race.

The two of them stood soaking wet on the course in water an inch deep that drowned the grass and mud beneath. Every step took considerable effort. But they would not be deterred. Not until whatever feud they had in their heads was settled.

Scarlet tried to stretch, but the weight of her sopping wet tracksuit made it more difficult to move. Whatever; it wasn’t going to matter much in a few minutes here. She’d leave Vodka in the mud to sulk and get cleaned up afterwards.

Vodka was thinking much the same. She was starting to regret her impulsive challenge at this point, but she could dry off later. Prove that she was the best between them, and finally she could get Scarlet to eat some deserved humble pie.

They stood their ground and held back their shivers. Their eyes, furiously bright, were locked into a battle of attrition and waited for someone to blink first.

Scarlet conceded this first point to her rival and sighed. This entire charade was ridiculous, and she knew that. But what else could she do? Her own pride would never let her live it down if she backed out now.

“So are we gonna just stand here for nothing? Are you reconsidering how dumb this is?” she asked. The chances of bluffing Vodka out were slim to none, but if nothing else it’d get Scarlet into the other mare’s head.

If only Vodka could get out of Scarlet’s head.

“Not a chance,” Vodka coughed. “I don’t back down like a coward. That’d be super lame. And I’m not lame.”

“You’re more stubborn than anything else, dummy!” Scarlet barked back. Then she pointed to the red-and-white post at the end of the stretch. “I’ll prove to you that you’re all talk when you cross that finish line after me.”

She set herself into a ready pose and stared down Vodka until the dark-haired mare followed suit. “This is the last time you underestimate me,” growled the other uma.

Unbeknownst to them, a couple of frantic spectators had made their way into the stands. One of them waved his hands in the air to try and get their attention, to no avail.

“Vodka! Scarlet!” Al called in frustration. His umbrella was doing its best to shield his shoulders from the rain. “What the hell are you two doing?! Get up here right now!”

The competitors either didn’t hear him over the downpour or didn’t care to listen. They stood stock still at the midpoint of the back straightaway-

Then Daiwa Scarlet jumped first, and the race was on.

Al cursed out loud. “Dammit, you two! You’re going to get sick out there- or worse!” Vodka’s trainer continued to shout.

“It’s no use, they’re not going to listen,” Camilla said in defeat. She tugged her rain poncho closer to her body and shivered as she stepped out from behind the man. “You know they’re not going to back down until they’ve settled the issue.”

Al ground his teeth and looked back at Scarlet’s trainer. “I know. I know… I just wish they’d actually hear us for once instead of taking out their frustrations on each other. They’re rivals, sure, but this is ridiculous!”

Both trainers shook their heads in dismay. Even for how heated the tension between Vodka and Scarlet got, it only really escalated into shouting matches. What in the world had gotten into them now?

“We need to stop them before they get seriously hurt,” said Camilla, and gestured for her fellow trainer to follow her down the slick concrete steps towards the course.

On the track, Vodka and Daiwa were pushing hard through the third and soon fourth corner. The splashes created from their footfalls made sure nothing was left dry on them. They stayed neck and neck coming into the straightaway.

Vodka breathed in a fast, heavy rhythm. The softness of the ground was eating away all of her stamina, and the pooling water forced her to work around them instead of powering through straight ahead. She wasn’t quite able to push past Scarlet yet, but there was still plenty of space to go.

Scarlet could hardly see in front of her. She didn’t need to, anyway; Vodka’s presence was powerful enough to feel breathing down her neck. Scarlet would not break though, nor ever. She would hold this tiny lead to the end of time if she had to, so long as her legs kept propelling her forward.

The flame of their spirit was easy to spot through the fog of the storm. But would that hold out against the ceaseless misery of rain? Against each other?

“You know, something’s been going on between these two for the past few days now,” said Camilla, using the railing at the landing to catch herself. “Scarlet’s been… strangely distant. Even with me. It’s like she just can’t focus on anything for some reason.”

Al took his time picking his way down the stairs, but caught up fairly quick. “You know, I’ve been thinking the same thing about Vodka. Do you think something happened between them?”

“I’m sure something did,” Scarlet’s trainer replied, turning to take the last flight down to the grass. “She hasn’t told me anything, but I can see something is weighing very heavily on Scarlet’s shoulders. I really wish she’d open up to me so I could help her… but I can’t force her.”

Her counterpart gave a slow nod. “Yeah,” he said, “we can only do so much to help them with their mental game. The rest is on them.”

As they touched down on the turf, the two of them looked back out to their runners. There was no way they could stop them now, not without getting bowled over by the closest facsimile to a freight train. But they ducked under the outer rail and marched through the swamp of grass to reach the line, hoping they could catch them after the race concluded.

Al took up the discussion again. “If this turns out to be the pettiest and dumbest escalation of their rivalry, then I don’t know what I’m gonna do. Vodka has to understand how dumb this is, but...”

Camilla looked to the sky, then back to Al. “They could just be settling their issues the only way they really know how. And yet… I think this is different.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think they’re trying to answer a question. For themselves, and for each other.”

Al stared at the ground, then back at his trainee in the distance. “So then… what exactly is the question?”

Less than two hundred meters remained. Vodka was using up every last ounce of energy she could muster to eek out some kind of edge against Scarlet, but the latter was unrelenting and unwilling. It was getting too close to call.

I can’t lose this! Vodka screamed in her head. I need to see her give everything she’s got! I have to figure her out!

I won’t back down! Scarlet screamed in her head. I want to see what she’s really made of! I have to see her best!

They could hear each other’s heartbeats at this distance. The fire in their veins crackled as they readied for one more big push.

And Daiwa Scarlet suddenly found herself flying.

In an instant, her leg caught too deep of a puddle and almost buried itself into the sinking mud. The change in force ripped her balance away and sent her tumbling at high speed- straight into Vodka.

The footfalls on the track were silenced in the blink of an eye. There was a shriek of panic from the finish line, followed by new footsteps thundering towards the crash site a few dozen meters away.

Vodka awoke from her brief trance to find herself laying face down on something. She made a loud groan as she pushed up on her forearms to right the ship. She could get up faster, and still win this-

She was instead greeted by the sight of Daiwa Scarlet, face burning bright red and eyes wide open, lying face-up underneath her.

The two of them stared at their respective rival for what felt like an age. All they could see was each other and the rain falling around them. They held their breath, as if exhaling was a deep sin. They felt their heartbeats pound in time in their chests.

And for only the briefest moment, did both of them think they could see the stars in their rivals’ eyes.

Then Vodka realized what were her hands were sitting on and gasped.

She flung herself backwards as the nosebleed came in full force, which she desperately tried to hide behind her hands. Scarlet had not the time nor the capacity to make any kind of remark before their trainers were upon them.

“Oh goddesses, are you two alright?!” Camilla called as she and Al neared. “Are you hurt?!”

Scarlet opened her mouth to reply but only managed to weakly yelp. The adrenaline subsiding let her feel the soreness in her thigh. Something was going to be very bruised by tomorrow. She reached out for her trainer to get her up and out of the mess she stupidly agreed to be in.

While Camilla was gentle with her trainee, Al was more rough in trying to peel his own up from the soggy grass. “Come on, Vodka, get up! What happened?!”

Vodka’s brave face wavered. She felt something strain in her ankle as she was lifted off the ground, enough to make tears start to form in her eyes. Though, the physical pain wasn’t the only pain she was feeling.

Both of the trainers looked at their charges and their rival’s mentor and sighed both in small relief and terrible disappointment.

“What on earth are we going to do with you two…?” Al asked no one in particular. “Look. Let’s get you to the infirmary. We need to take a look at you after a collision like that. Can you walk?”

Vodka nodded. Scarlet nodded when asked the same. They hung their heads low and plastered their ears to their heads as were slowly escorted out of the rain and into somewhere dry. Every so often, they would glance up at the other’s sad, soaking wet form.

Scarlet felt sorry for herself for allowing herself to be dragged into this. But more than that, the nagging thought she had in the video room bloomed into a more complex emotion. One that she was rather scared to think about.

Am I seeing Vodka’s real self for the first time?

Vodka could ask the same question about Scarlet.

Chapter Text

Daiwa Scarlet was running somewhere.

She looked down. Lush, green turf. Her feet were slamming into it with all her might, but she couldn’t feel it beneath her.

She looked back up. Nothing but inky black darkness that stretched to infinity. It crowded and overwhelmed her vision. It forced itself into her lungs and threatened to choke her out.

Scarlet started to cry as she ran even faster. She was barely outpacing the shadows, and she was terrified it was going to swallow her whole.

She opened her mouth to scream. Nothing came out; the sound was wiped away from existence the instant it left her throat.

No! I can’t go like this! Someone, help me! PLEASE!

No response, not even an echo. She tried to scream again and couldn’t.

Scarlet was going to die here, alone.

Then, a light appeared. Far off in the distance, but bright enough to burn away the darkness. As she kept running, it started to grow in size.

Scarlet cried out to it, but no sound reached the target. Her legs were starting to give out under her.

The light grew closer and closer at high speed. Eventually she could see what exactly was shining so brightly-

Vodka.

Scarlet sobbed and outstretched her arms towards her rival, desperate to get to safety. The darkness around her eyes screeched and recoiled as she got within a few dozen meters of the other mare.

Vodka wore the happiest smile and reached out in kind. Scarlet drew one more breath and pushed it all out of her lungs-

Daiwa Scarlet screamed herself awake.

She immediately choked on the sob that tried to escape after it. A panicked response arose from her roommate on the other side of the dorm room.

“Oi! What are you screaming about?!” Vodka fretted. She was propped up on her arms and stared at Scarlet with a mix of annoyance and frantic concern.

Daiwa forced herself to take several deep breaths and push the adrenaline out of her system. A quick gaze around the room informed her that it was the middle of the night, and that she had, up until a moment ago, been sound asleep in her bed.

She lifted her hands and felt her fingers cramp from how hard they had been digging into the mattress. How long had that nightmare been? It felt like the longest minutes of her unconscious life, and the image wasn’t leaving her head.

Vodka growled something unintelligible and dropped back onto the bed. “Fine, whatever, just go ahead and wake me up whenever you like, I guess. Jerk.”

Scarlet only had enough energy to heavily sigh in rebuttal. All she could think about was the last few seconds of that terrible nightmare.

She finally let her gaze cast over Vodka after a moment of silence. They were already trying to return to sleep, not caring even a little bit if Scarlet was really okay. Frankly she was insulted. But how could she explain the horrors that burned into her brain?

Unfortunately for her, it seemed she would have to try. A set of soft but fast knocks at the door alerted her to someone outside.

“Scarlet? It’s me, Fuji,” said the woman outside. “Is everything alright in there?”

Dammit. The dorm leader. She probably heard Scarlet scream from down the hall and sprinted into action at the noise. Though, out of everyone in the building, maybe she would be the most understanding to her plight...

Scarlet’s legs threatened to crumple underneath as she tried to push herself off the bed, and stumbled forward before catching her balance against the desk. “C-Coming!” she called back. She breathed in, breathed out, and moved to unlock the door.

Standing on the other side was Fuji Kiseki, wearing her nightgown and with a very worried look in her eyes. “Oh thank goodness,” said the dorm leader, sighing with her whole body as she saw Scarlet, disheveled as the latter was. “What happened? I heard you scream and came over as quickly as I could.”

“I’m okay,” Scarlet said. Half of a lie, really; she wasn’t hurt but the damage had been done nonetheless. “I just… had a nightmare, that’s all. I’m really sorry, Fuji, I-I didn’t mean to wake anyone else up.”

“Oh my dear pony, it’s quite alright,” Fuji assured her junior. She gently took Scarlet by the hand and pulled her in for a comforting hug, which Scarlet did not fight.

Fuji took a more relaxed breath before stepping back. She looked over Scarlet, noting the light puffiness around the redhead’s eyes and her frazzled hair. “I’m just glad that nothing truly bad has happened to you,” the senior student said. “But if you want to talk about it, I’m all ears.”

Scarlet dropped eye contact. She wasn’t sure if she even had the vocabulary to explain what her night terror was about. She certainly didn’t have the energy to decipher any meaning from it, not at this hour.

Just hours earlier, Scarlet and her trainer paid a visit to the infirmary alongside Vodka and Vodka’s trainer after having an accident out in the rainstorm. Both of the umamusume got an earful from their respective trainers (and afterward, the student council) for being incredibly reckless and endangering themselves and each other. They were both very, very lucky that the crash hadn’t been more serious, but the doctors ordered them to rest for the next day or two as a precaution. No training, no time off-campus, nothing.

Effectively, they were grounded. Vodka hated the idea and nearly swore up another storm trying to defend herself, yet ultimately got nowhere- if anything, she almost earned herself a bigger punishment. Scarlet, on the other hand, nodded along and accepted her fate. She was the one who accepted the stupid challenge despite knowing better, and so felt more disappointed in herself for allowing her rivalry take priority over all else.

How could the model student of Tracen Academy let her emotions get the best of her like that? Scarlet had always been very careful about the image she crafted in the presence of the other students, and this incident might as well have shattered it into dust.

And that was on top of the weird funk she had been feeling for the past few days. Ever since blurting out that dumb remark to Vodka, she hadn’t been able to stay as focused as she would have liked. It didn’t matter how hard she tried to push it out of her head, Scarlet was doomed to keep thinking about it. More importantly, about why she had said it in the first place.

It was a lot of stress. Yeah, stress. That had to be it. And maybe some sleep deprivation, too.

That would have been a very long story to explain to Fuji, however. Scarlet felt guilty enough about waking two people from their slumber, and therapy past midnight was not on her to-do list at the moment.

“...maybe later,” she replied. “I think I should try to get back to sleep first. Thanks for checking in on me. I’m really sorry I woke you up.” She hoped she wouldn’t regret this decision.

“Think nothing of it, dearie,” Fuji asserted with a hand wave. “I am more than happy to help regardless of when someone needs it. If you do want to talk later, just come find me, alright?”

Scarlet nodded silently. “Goodnight, Fuji.”

She stepped back into the room and locked the door with a silent click. She let go of her breath and put her warm-feeling face into her hands. She was flustered, tired, and in pain from earlier; she had enough of today and wanted to get back to sleep as soon as possible.

But as Scarlet sat down on the edge of her bed once more, she looked up at Vodka. They seemed to be fast asleep again. At relative peace, instead of the wild twister they usually were when awake.

Something about the scene was missing to Scarlet. Something was telling her that it needed one more piece to feel complete.

The answer hit her like a truck.

Scarlet felt her face start to burn with a deep blush. “No... no, no!” she whimpered, pushing her hands to her cheeks to feebly shove this wave of emotion back down. “This can’t be right! I would never… oh goddesses, why?”

Her heart pounded like a jackhammer. It was the conclusion she had been desperate to avoid for the past few days. It was so blatantly obvious that it hurt.

No, this was stupid. Ridiculous. And yet every fiber of her being dared Scarlet to go prove herself wrong. How, though…?

A devil whispered into her ear with an idea. She shook her head, dismissing it. “No, you can’t. If I do that then there would be no going back. It’s too risky,” she whined.

But she blinked and found herself standing at the edge of Vodka’s bed, hovering over like a hawk watching prey scurry below. She couldn’t muster the strength to pull herself back from the edge of danger. There was only one thing to do from here.

If she was quick and quiet about it, then no one would be bothered and she could forget about this whole thing.

With incredible hesitation, she started to bend down towards Vodka. Her breath quickened as she drew near. The desperate urge was burning her alive but she couldn’t go any faster without risk. Closer, closer, closer still. She was almost at Vodka’s soft lips...

Then Vodka’s eyes opened a little. Then a lot.

Her face lit up crimson as she stared slack-jawed at Scarlet just mere centimeters away from her. Scarlet looked back with even wider eyes, looking almost sunburned with how deep her blush was.

The shock turned to anger over the course of a few seconds. “What the hell are you doing?!” Vodka whisper-shouted. “Get off my damn bed!”

Scarlet sputtered and stammered and stepped back. Her knees buckled, her fingers twitched mid-air. She had no good excuse and nothing to cover up what she had just attempted.

Vodka ripped her pillow out from under her and swung it straight into Daiwa Scarlet’s beet-red face. “What were you trying to pull, huh?! You creep!”

Scarlet took the feathery blow and let it push her back towards her own bed. She nearly fell over upon crashing into it with her calves. “I… I wasn’t…!”

“You weren’t what?” Vodka growled. She huffed like a bull and glared her rival down with an intense irritation. “Geez, what is wrong with you? You’ve been doing weird shit all week, and now I catch you trying to…”

Vodka trailed off. That was not a sentence she wanted to finish aloud. She scratched her head and quickly thought of a pivot away from the topic.

“Tch. Will you ever stop being so damn annoying? If you keep being weird and lame, I’m gonna ask the student council to swap me to a new room. Clear?”

That threat cut Scarlet down like a sword across flesh. Miss Perfect meekly nodded and eased herself down onto the mattress, looking only at the floor.

“...good,” snarled Vodka. “Now go to bed, stupid. We got class in the morning.” And with that, she rolled over to face the wall.

Scarlet sat in silence until her tears refused to be held back any longer, where upon she buried her face into her pillow to muffle the sobs that left her lungs. She got her answer in the worst way possible.

...Goddesses help me, I think I’m in love with a complete idiot.

Chapter Text

Vodka had been flustered plenty of times before. From couples holding hands and kissing in public, to witnessing romantic gestures as a third party, she had seen a lot. Much of it was so overwhelming that she broke out into a nosebleed every time.

But under the covers of her bed, after witnessing the closest thing she had gotten to being part of it herself, Vodka was as flustered as she was upset.

Her cheeks burned with an intensity she had never known before, almost frying her fingers to the touch. Everything else in her body was warmer than a heat lamp. And despite the small trail of blood dripping from her nose, she was mad. At both Scarlet and herself.

Should I have stopped her at all? thought Vodka. She could have just been checking on me… maybe I snore weird or something. Right?

But Vodka knew what she saw. It wasn’t anger or frustration on Daiwa Scarlet’s face, nor concern. She looked so uncharacteristically nervous, like a kid trying to hide something from a parent.

Vodka buried her face into the pillow and took many deep breaths over the course of several minutes. She felt a rumbling storm of emotions brewing in her, and she was not interested in letting it wash over her. Yet that image of Scarlet being just a breath away was seared into her brain. No matter how hard she pushed it away, it would not be discarded until Vodka acknowledged it for what it was.

The dark-haired uma flipped in and out of sleep, waking with a start every other hour. By the fourth time, sunlight was peeking through the window past the curtains and casting itself across the center of the floor. Morning. Nothing good about morning, now.

Vodka rubbed her eyes, felt their puffiness. Had she been crying in her sleep? The abstracted dreams she had might have confirmed it if she were able to remember anything about them. She rolled onto her side, slowly and lazily, not wanting to look across the room to see her roommate- who was surprisingly missing.

Vodka sat up. As roommates, they usually woke up at the same time, typically due to one of their alarms going off. There was no recollection of any alarms blaring, so the only assumption to make was that her roommate had slipped out quickly and quietly.

She sneered. They were probably just trying to ignore last night’s events and get on with the day before Vodka could hold them down for questioning. A cowardly move. Then again, Vodka might have done the same.

Slowly she sat up, ruffled her hair, and took a deep breath. There wasn’t much to do about it right now. At the very least, she needed to think and process everything that had happened to get to the bottom of her own tangled emotions, for there was something inside the web that she just could not place properly.

She certainly wasn’t going to do that on an empty stomach, however; her stomach growling prodded the mare to get moving. Food was at least one problem she could solve of her own volition.

Hopefully she didn’t drive herself crazy over this by the end of the day.

---

Vodka set her tray of breakfast down at the table, once again sitting with Mayano Top Gun and Kawakami Princess. The other two had first looked at her with the same bright smiles, only for them to twist into slight frowns. Did she stick out that bad today? Or was everyone better at reading her than she was?

“Good morning, Vodka,” said Kawakami, twirling half a strawberry on her fork. “Is everything okay? You look dreadful.”

“Eh, I didn’t sleep well last night,” Vodka started as she slumped into the seat. “Scarlet and I…”

“Ohh, okay,” said both Kawakami and Mayano.

“Oh come on. Do you think all I do with her is fight? Because- well. You’re not exactly… wrong.”

There was sympathy in Mayano’s eyes as she asked, “So what did you fight about? I heard that Scarlet screamed so loud that she woke up the entire hallway of the dorm.”

Vodka clamped her mouth shut before she could say anything dumb. The situation wasn’t going to be easy to explain- and if she said too much, it might give away something else.

“Y-Yeah, don’t believe the gossip,” she asserted. “She was just having a really bad dream. Woke me up for sure. Not that I had anything to do with it, of course. But it took me forever to get to sleep again. So if I seem really out of it today, that’s why.”

She opened up her carton of juice and took a long sip. The bite of citrus was not as refreshing as it usually was, though it was better than the bitterness she was holding on to.

Kawakami tilted her head but said nothing. The thwap of her tail against the table indicated she was waiting on further explanation, like she didn’t believe Vodka was telling the whole truth. And she was correct. How in the world could Vodka explain what actually happened? Everyone would just laugh at her.

And if they didn’t laugh, both Mayano Top Gun and Kawakami Princess were the type of girls who want to drill down to the core of any issue, to see how they could help. They were all friends, after all, and friends supported each other through tough times.

But this was one matter that Vodka didn’t want them poking their noses into. Too embarrassing. If they knew what was going through her head she would never hear the end of it.

Mayano put on a friendly smile and said, “Well, maybe you should talk to her about it? You are her roommate after all; I don’t know if I’d be able to sit back and not help if it were me.”

Vodka blinked. Could it really be so easy? Surely not after the history they’ve had. They’d probably just bicker about who was to blame, get mad at each other, and then feel even worse later.

Besides that, however, there was another issue at play. “Actually,” Vodka answered, “I haven’t seen her since last night. She was out of the dorms by the time I woke up. Probably went for a morning run or something. I dunno.”

“Well, you could talk to her now,” said Kawakami. She pointed out towards the center of the cafeteria, and Vodka turned her head to follow.

It was Daiwa Scarlet, sitting alone at a table with a minimal amount of food on her tray and refusing to eat. Just her staring out into space with an empty, hollow look in her eyes.

For some reason, it hurt to witness her look so sad.

“...she looks worse off than I do,” Vodka muttered.

“What makes you say that?” asked Mayano.

“Look at her hair. It’s all… frazzled and frayed. She never goes anywhere without brushing it all straight and clean, including her tail. Even if she’s in a rush, she’d at least try to put some effort in. That’s all fresh bedhead.”

Vodka’s friends stared at her like they had just witnessed some kind of confession. Vodka took a moment to realize how that had sounded and blushed.

“W-What? I’ve been her roommate for so long, of course I’d know her routine. It’s not that weird, right…?” Surely everyone instinctively knew their roommate’s personal care routines?

Neither of the other uma really refuted the claim. She wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.

“Then she must be awfully distracted. I could go speak with her if you’d like, Vodka,” Kawakami offered. Vodka shook her head.

“No, I’ll… I’ll try to talk with her between classes today. I think we just need some space away from each other for a while,” she said with a loud sigh.

The faster they had this discussion, the better.

—

Hiding in the library. Brilliant idea, Vodka told herself with all the sarcasm in the world.

Behind the dustiest bookshelf known to umakind, Vodka crouched down and lay in wait. The books back here were all outdated textbooks and encyclopedias; anyone who came through this section was more likely lost than in need of ancient tomes. A perfect place to hole up for a stakeout.

Vodka sighed, blowing a few dust bunnies off the shelving. She hated sitting around more than anything, but this was her last resort.

In the first class of the day, Scarlet had made it plain she wanted to be alone. She didn't even acknowledge Vodka’s presence and took up a desk far away from her normal spot and isolating herself against the wall. 

The lack of Scarlet’s presence nearby was shockingly distracting for Vodka. The room just felt a little smaller, and emptier. Cold, even.

After the class, Vodka had tried to approach but wasn't able to get a word in before being shooed away by other students, who sneered at her for invading their space.

“You can't just have her all to yourself, y’know,” one of them had mocked.

Like hell I can't.

So that led her here. If Vodka couldn't take the direct approach, she would be sneaky about it. Not her style but a necessary step.

“Scarlet usually comes in here right after lunch to get some extra studying done,” Vodka mused. Five minutes out of her rival; that was all she needed to get an answer.

“Yeah, okay. It's cool. Just… be casual,” Vodka told herself, and leaned against a wall with her arms crossed. “Blend in. Don't look stupid. You got this.”

Five minutes passed. She idly pulled out her phone to read a few messages.

Ten minutes. She started to dance in place to get rid of the building nervous energy.

Fifteen minutes. Another sigh broke the dead silence in the room.

“...I should have figured,” the mare chastised herself. What a waste of time. “Man. What do I do now? The only other place I could find her is training, but-”

Her ears twitched. The sound of a door softly clicking shut drew her attention to the entrance. Through a gap in the books, Vodka peered for visual clues.

The familiar red twin tails were just visible between the cracks. Scarlet looked nervous, her eyes dancing around the room before settling on a table, where she opened up her bookbag and emptied it.

Relief washed over Vodka. Finally, some hope. But as she watched Scarlet move, doubt crept in. The redheaded mare had let her guard down and she looked so… lifeless.

Was this a good idea? After what happened last night, Scarlet was sure to be pissed. And what was Vodka even going to say to her? Gah, she didn't think this through at all.

Come on, Vodka. It's just a conversation about… stuff. The self-rally was not very convincing. Just ask what happened, hear her out, and apologize for losing your cool. Easy. You got this.

Brave as can be, Vodka stepped out from her hiding spot. “Hey, Scarlet,” she said in a low voice.

Her roommate jumped slightly. Scarlet’s face was mixed with irritation and melancholy. “H-Hey, Vodka… did you need something?”

She’s not yelling at me for spooking her. Damn, she really is having a bad time.

“Hey, uhm… you doing okay?” Vodka asked from the other side of the table. No point in sitting down.

Scarlet huffed back, “As if you had to ask. No, I’m not. I feel like I barely slept at all last night. No thanks to you.”

“Me? I didn’t-”

Vodka bit her tongue. It was so easy to fall into that trap time after time. She just couldn't help it. But she had to be the bigger person today.

“Look, Scarlet. I just wanted to talk with you for a minute,” she said, putting every bit of sincerity into it. “I wanted to… to say I’m sorry for how I reacted.”

Scarlet’s features noticeably softened. Her eyes went wide. “...really?”

“I know- feels weird to me, too,” Vodka muttered, eyes darting to the side. “I don't know what you were up to, but I feel like I overreacted. And I'm not sure why, but I can't stop feeling guilty about it all.”

The dark-haired mare growled under her breath. This wasn’t the first time she’d apologized to Scarlet, but it felt heavier and harder to get out. Pressure in her chest made it hard to breathe and get everything out.

“So, yeah. I'm sorry. Are we cool again?”

Scarlet’s vision drooped down to the books on the table, letting silence sink in for a while. Vodka tensed up the longer she waited. Did she say something wrong? Was it not good enough for her?

She felt her heart skip a beat when the other uma finally looked up.

Vodka could have sworn Scarlet was about to cry.

“Do you mean it?” said the redhead, wiping her eyes clear. “Like, you’re actually sorry?”

Vodka nodded. “Yeah. I’m sorry for all that.”

Scarlet nodded back. “Then, yeah. We’re cool again. But I think I want to be alone for a while, so...”

Vodka’s heart broke a little inside. All that work and Scarlet still turned her away from trying to better the situation. It angered her. But mostly, it stung and burned.

“...fine. I'll see you later then.”

Fists balled up and eyes closed, Vodka turned and started to stomp her way towards the library doors.

“Vodka, wait-”

She whirled on her feet. Scarlet had stood up, hands flat on the table, a tremble in her eyes. Vodka stood perfectly still, waiting for Scarlet to say something. Anything. Please.

Whatever Scarlet had wanted to say died in her throat, and she slid back into the seat. “...nevermind,” she said weakly, gaze back on the floor. “I'll see you at training.”

Vodka had to force herself to be gentle with the door on the way out, walking fast with her head down and tears in the corners of her eyes.

She was mad. She was upset. She wanted to scream so badly, because that desperate stare from Scarlet made everything finally click into place.

I'm so stupid… I'm in love with a complete idiot.

Chapter Text

Daiwa Scarlet held her head low throughout the day. She had so little energy to work with, and it showed in how sluggish were movements were. The other students took notice and started to whisper among themselves about it, which only pulled Scarlet’s mood down further.

The redhead had woken up quite earlier than usual, well before her alarms went off. There was no real point in trying to go back to sleep, she decided, and so she got up to take some extra time with her wake-up routine.

But even the simplest of tasks were a burden. Just looking at herself in the mirror told her everything she needed to know. She skipped brushing her hair- who had time for that these days, anyway.

“...this sucks,” she said to herself as she got dressed for the day. “Of all the people I end up falling in love with… why does it have to be her?”

As Scarlet tied up her uniform ribbon, she took a long, unsteady look at the sleeping Vodka. A frown formed on her face. Part of her wanted to slap the other mare and ask her how dare she do this to Tracen’s model student. It wasn’t her fault. Scarlet just had no where else to place this angry sadness.

She took a deep breath again. She could handle herself this time.

Daiwa tiptoed over to Vodka’s bedside and tried to stand still; merely observing was the plan. Her eyes flicked through the details of Vodka’s face one by one.

Just like the night prior, Vodka looked rather cute when she was at peace. Her thin ponytail spun into a half-moon around her head, and Scarlet wanted to trace it with her fingers to memorize the silky threads.

She wanted more than that, really. She wanted to spill her guts and beg for forgiveness, to hold Vodka tight and never let go, to feel- something. A confirmation, maybe, that this feeling was real and not made up out of whatever funk she was in.

But Vodka must really hate her right now. After that humiliating and utterly shameful display- and the complete rebuking of it- there was little chance she’d be willing to hear Scarlet out. They’d just end up arguing again and that sounded so exhausting. Maybe she was better off not bringing it up again.

She didn’t need an answer right now anyway. Because right now, she needed to leave before she did something even dumber.

Fortunately for her, the dorm halls were empty as the rest of the student body was still waking up themselves. Scarlet threw on her tracksuit and went for a quick jog around the outside of the building. The crisp air felt great on her skin, but only served to contrast the heaviness of it back in the dorm room.

When she returned to change into the school uniform, Vodka was already gone. Somehow, that was a relief. Scarlet could feel tears well up in her eyes the longer she kept thinking about what happened last night. She let herself fall so far so fast and she couldn’t stand it at all.

Her stomach interrupted by protesting a lack of nourishment. All at once Scarlet realized how hungry and dehydrated she was. There was an easy way to fix it, but that meant going out in public when she’d rather curl into a ball and wither away here.

One step at a time, Daiwa told herself. One step at a time and you’ll figure this out.

---

Sadly, her hunger proved to be false. Despite the wonderful variety of foods available for breakfast, Scarlet felt like throwing up at the idea of actually eating anything. She grabbed a few fruits and a juice almost for show before finding the emptiest, loneliest table possible and sitting down alone with her thoughts.

Awful would have been a kind way to put how Scarlet felt at this moment. One would think that discovering new feelings for someone close would bring joy, or at least curiosity. Scarlet had neither. Just confusion and misery.

She stared and stared down at her tray for what seemed like forever. She wanted to cry but this was no place to throw a fit- she still had her reputation to uphold after all. But she should at least try to eat, get some strength back for the day ahead.

And then she looked up to see a particular someone sitting at a faraway table. Vodka, talking with her friends and seeming no worse for wear.

First Scarlet felt a pang of agony, followed by insult, then guilt. It all stemmed from the same place.

“How am I supposed to talk to her about this?” the redhead whispered, staring out into space. “Where do I even start? ‘I’m sorry I woke you up, I was having a dream about you rescuing me?’ She’d think I’m insane. Maybe I am already.”

“For what it’s worth, I don’t think you’re insane.”

Daiwa Scarlet yelped and nearly fell out of her chair. Out of nowhere, Grass Wonder had appeared at her table and was staring at her.

“G-Grass?! How long have you been here?” Scarlet exclaimed.

Grass formed her trademark smile. “Oh, not very long,” she insisted. “I saw you sitting by yourself, looking very down. Is everything alright?”

Scarlet took a breath. No one was supposed to know about… anything, yet. She could just play it cool, smile and nod, and pretend she was daydreaming or something.

“No, it really isn’t alright, I feel like a complete fucking mess right now and I don’t know what I’m supposed to do,” Scarlet blurted, eyes and ears drooping towards the floor in one swoop.

Shit. So much for staying composed.

Grass Wonder again smiled, this time in understanding. “It’s alright. I can keep a secret or two,” she assured her friend. “Can you tell me what’s happening?”

Daiwa Scarlet retreated into her chair and wondered if she could spill the beans. It was just Grass. She wasn’t wrong in that she was a great confidant; though she did seem to know a lot of secrets, Grass Wonder never turned that information against the people who shared it. Usually.

But would she understand any of Scarlet’s current problem?

She had to try. Better than being stuck in her head the whole day.

Scarlet breathed out with force. “Okay. Please don’t tell anyone else, alright?” she pleaded.

“So, last night, I ended up having… a really bad nightmare. I was just running on an endless track, everything around me was dark and I… felt like I was going to die. No matter how hard I ran, I was getting swallowed up by some shadowy thing, but right before I lost, I saw a light.”

Grass Wonder nodded in acknowledgment. It was always hard to tell what was going on behind those sharp blue eyes of hers, but she waited for Scarlet to continue.

“I ran to the light as fast as I could, and in the center I saw V- someone really important to me. They were reaching out, waiting for me, as if… as if they were here to rescue me.”

“And then I woke up screaming. Vodka was pretty mad at me about that, and I apparently woke up Fuji, too… It’s been bothering me since I woke up. I don’t know what any of it means.” Scarlet slumped down and heaved a sigh. “Not that you’d know either, Grass. You’re not exactly a therapist.”

The brown-haired uma continued to smile. Again, she was so hard to read. It was a little terrifying not knowing exactly what she was thinking under that calm mask she wore.

“Well,” Grass Wonder said, “dreams are not my specialty. You might gain better insight from someone like Manhattan Cafe. But to me, it seems that you really treasure the person who came to save you. I don’t know what the shadows are, though I would guess that they merely represent some sort of stress you could be under.”

Scarlet looked off to the side and thought about it. Stress, huh? She thought back to the crash with Vodka yesterday, and the complicated web of emotion that came out of it. It seemed silly, but did that count?

“It seems that, whoever this person is, they give you a sense of security and stability in your life. Perhaps you should talk to them about whatever is bothering you,” Grass concluded.

That was out the question… almost. Vodka couldn’t be both a source of anxiety and security, that sounded absurd. Yet with what Scarlet was now learning about herself, it did track somewhat.

Scarlet looked back at Grass and tried to phrase the next question carefully. “But… what if that person is also the problem?”

Grass’s ears flicked, but her demeanor did not change.

“Then I’d say it’s even more important to tell them how you feel,” said Grass. “Trust can only come from clear communication, after all. You can’t expect people to change if you don’t let them know how they’re hurting you.”

Scarlet opened her mouth to rebuke the idea as the last thing on her mind was talking to Vodka. But Grass was absolutely right, Scarlet had to say something. She was barely holding it together not twelve hours after the incident; she was never going to able to keep it down forever. Especially not when the girl who now owned her heart was her damn roommate.

Still, it gnawed at her insides. Love was not exactly something Scarlet had been through before. Of course she had crushes when she was younger, every girl did, just nothing this unwieldy and intense. The question of how to approach it was a daunting one. The possibility of it all blowing up in her face even more so.

She needed to think for a while.

“...and I thought you weren’t an expert in dreams,” Scarlet said, smile returning to her face. Grass Wonder laughed quietly.

“It seems I’ve helped you at the very least. And that’s all that I can hope for,” said the uma. Grass stood and flattened out her uniform skirt, then said, “I should be headed to class now. If you need any help with talking to Vodka, I would happy to assist.”

Scarlet nodded- then froze, blushing. “Wait, who said that it was-”

And Grass was already long out of earshot.

Scarlet pulled on her hair and hid her face behind her twintails. She hated how easy it was for Grass to read her like that. I swear, if that girl starts telling everyone, I’m going to kill her myself.

After a moment in her thoughts, Scarlet got moving, dumping her uneaten food into the trash and hurrying out of the cafeteria before anyone saw her. 

Her first conclusion was that she could not talk to Vodka. Not yet, at least; not until she had a real plan. She might have to play coy for the day to figure it out. Risky, and scary, but she was smart. She could put something together.

As the number one umamusume at Tracen Academy, she had everything to lose if anyone found out before she was ready to go. But as Daiwa Scarlet? If she played this right, she could have something more precious than winning a big race.

Time to do some research and hope that nobody else figures it out.

---

Vodka’s surprise appearance in the library caught Scarlet entirely off-guard. All she could do was try and hide the materials she had unloaded from her bag and hope that her roommate didn’t ask about them.

She played it off as politely as possible, while in her head shouting for Vodka to leave the room so she could work. Scarlet had already put a good bit of thought into this during class, and she was not going to have the surprise ruined now.

However, it seemed Vodka was also here on a mission. And she wasn’t mad about the dumb things that happened overnight- she was the one apologizing for the mess. Scarlet was dumbstruck, to put it mildly.

Is she… does she actually care? Scarlet wondered. If she really means it, then… oh goddesses. This might actually work.

But hearing the apology only made her heart thump louder in her ears. Vodka wasn’t usually bothered by many things, even as much as they would be petty over tiny things. This whole situation was clearly hitting them both hard. Scarlet had her reasons. What was Vodka thinking?

If only she had the space to say much at the moment. Right now her focus was this little project, and Vodka being in the room was a problem. She had to get her out of here in the most polite way possible.

It still hurt. Plain as day on Vodka’s face was frustration and sorrow. Scarlet didn’t mean to hurt her. Her body leapt into action before she could think about it, calling out to Vodka before she left the room altogether.

And then Scarlet froze entirely. What was the plan here? The chance to apologize for herself had already passed. There was nothing she could do, however, not unless she wanted to potentially blow the lid off of her plans early.

She would have to apologize later, when this was all over.

The door slid shut with a definite thump. As the footsteps started to fade down the hall, Scarlet put her head to the table, wrapped her arms around to hide her face, and tried her best not to panic.

You idiot! She screeched in her head. ‘I’ll see you at training’?! What sort of lame-ass goodbye is that? If she wasn’t mad at you before...

No, stop it. This isn’t helping. Once I get this together, maybe she’ll forgive me for not being honest. I have to get this right. I have to get this right.

With a gasp of air to steady herself, Scarlet pushed up from the table and forced herself to get to work. She couldn’t fail now.

Dramatic as it sounded, her whole world depended on it.

Chapter Text

Vodka looked down at her phone while she walked, rereading a particular message.

It was from Grass Wonder, of all people. ‘Please meet me here tonight,’ read the text. ‘I would like to speak to you about a private matter.’ Attached was a map of the school grounds, with a tag pointing to one of the classroom wings on the far end of campus.

Vodka didn't understand what was going on, but it'd be pretty lame of her to not show up. It sounded important, at least. And talking to Grass might bring up her spirits a little. Maybe she knew why Scarlet was being so cagey recently, too.

She sighed. Her rival, roommate and now crush, Daiwa Scarlet. Vodka hadn't talked to her since the conversation in the library.

Though, if Vodka had wanted to talk to Scarlet, she could have done so at any point in the past day. But when both of them were in the same room together, Vodka’s bravery vanished and Scarlet stayed as far away as possible. The rest of the student body was grateful, as that meant the usual shouting matches between them also disappeared.

Vodka’s readiness to bark back all of a sudden felt out of place. She had almost snapped at her other friends out of habit, with that energy having nowhere else to go.

Never thought she'd actually miss Scarlet.

Vodka held her head down the entire way to the meetup point. So much of her energy was devoted to figuring out what she should say to Scarlet- then getting flustered at all of her ideas, as her daydreams kept wandering back to her kissing Scarlet. Even now, she couldn't stop fantasizing.

“Grrh, get it together, girl,” she told herself. “You're going to be fine. Just… tell her how you feel. That's how it works in movies, right?”

Then Vodka got out of her head and realized she had arrived. But looking up, Grass Wonder was not to be seen in the halls. Vodka was already behind by a few minutes, and Grass was never late- did she have the right place?

She was about to send a text off when she saw movement at the opposite end of the corridor. It wasn't Grass- it was Scarlet. Headed straight this way.

Vodka frowned. Scarlet’s steps sold her usual confidence, but the look on her face was anything but calm and collected. The redheaded mare kept glancing up at Vodka, eyes otherwise locked to the floor, and held her hands behind her back. Holding something, maybe?

And where was that floral scent coming from?

“Hey, Scarlet,” Vodka called out. By chance, it seemed she had an opportunity to talk with her rival, and she was going to take it. “Have you seen Grass anywhere? She wanted to meet me here like, now.”

Scarlet halted a stride away from Vodka. Her feet were planted firmly under her, but her swishing tail and twitching ears contradicted the stance.

…She's nervous. Why is she so nervous? Vodka wondered.

Scarlet drew a breath and started to speak. “I actually wanted to talk to you. Alone. I had Grass ask you here, because… because I couldn't say it myself.”

Vodka felt a twinge of fear amongst the shock. The tone they used was demure, almost hesitant. And now Vodka had a feeling that she was about to be backed up against a wall.

Though her chest tightened up, Vodka nodded and made a response. “Okay… sure, alright. Uh. What did you want to talk about? And, why all the way out here…?”

“Because-”

Scarlet visibly choked on her words. She was struggling. It made Vodka only more anxious.

“...because I didn't want anyone else hearing what I wanted to- needed to tell you, Vodka. So you better not tell anyone else, got it?”

Vodka slowly nodded. Her breath caught in her chest, her pulse quickened. Was she… excited? Or was she scared?

Scarlet struggled to speak. “I… I wanted t-to ask…”

Scarlet’s face turned pink, then red, as she fumbled through more words, losing the plot.

“...oh dammit- forget it! Here!”

Scarlet lunged forward, pulling her hands from behind her back and shoving what she had been holding onto at Vodka. The dark-haired mare instinctively grabbed it and held it to her chest before looking down to see what it was.

“H-Huh? Flowers…?”

A bouquet of bright red roses. Freshly cut, and wrapped in a sheet of paper. They were beautiful. Vodka stared at them, lost in the hue and mesmerizing array of the petals.

Then it hit her. Her fingers wrapped themselves around the flowers and threatened to crush the stems, and a deep crimson invaded her cheeks.

“W-Wait, are these for me?!” Vodka exclaimed. She was not used to getting gifts, let alone flowers, let alone from her own rival.

Scarlet quickly nodded behind her hands and mumbled something inaudible.

Vodka blinked. “W-What?”

“I said will you go out with me?!” Scarlet shouted.

The words echoed down the hall and in Vodka’s mind. She stood in silence for a long, tenuous moment as her mind processed the question with the slowest speed possible.

…no way. There’s no way I heard that right. She didn’t just…?

“Y-You wanna g-g-g-go on a d-date with… me?!” Vodka stammered. Her hands shook, her legs wobbled as she said it out loud.

Scarlet just nodded and looked at the floor, looked like she can’t believe it herself. “Y-Yeah. I wanna go out on a date with you…”

All Vodka could do was stare back at her rival. Blood rushed to her face and warmth spread throughout her body. Vodka felt her lungs finally unlock but lose any sense of control, making her breath fast and shallow. All of her senses became hyper-aware and overwhelmed themselves with useless information.

A tiny laugh escaped her mouth. “T-That’s really funny, Scarlet! Haha, good joke and all!” she tried to say, faltering with every word.

T-This can’t be real! A million more flickers of half-formed thoughts zipped through. Did she know? Is she joking? Why can’t I breathe? How long has she been planning this?!

Scarlet, with a look of bewilderment and frustration, barked back at Vodka. “Excuse me?! L-Look, I know it sounds dumb! I know you’re probably thinking that I’m joking. But I’m not! I swear! I really mean it. I can barely believe it myself; after all the pointless arguing we’ve done I don’t blame you.”

Vodka blinked. Scarlet was looking right at her, and she could see in Scarlet’s eyes a fire, the same fire that burned when they raced together. A ferocity and grit that Vodka only saw when they were laying everything on the line.

And that meant Scarlet truly was absolutely serious about this.

“Honestly, I-I didn’t even know I wanted this until the other day,” Scarlet explained, voice starting to crack under the pressure. “But… even with you being the most annoying person I know, I just can’t stop thinking about you. About us. We’ve been rivals forever, but now I can’t help but wonder if we could be more than that. Together.”

Scarlet stepped closer and managed to break the spell on Vodka, the latter gasping as if she had been touched by a ghost.

“So yeah. I want to go out with you. Do you… want to go out with me?”

Vodka screamed internally for her body to move, do something, anything- but nothing would respond properly. The biggest spotlight of her life was on her and with it came the biggest case of stage fright.

This was supposed to be incredible news to hear. And yet… why was she so scared? Why couldn’t she just tell her that she wanted this too? That she spent hours last night dreaming how she was going to say to Scarlet that she-

Her body finally responded.

She pushed the flowers back into Scarlet’s hands and bolted past.

“Wha- wait! Vodka!” Scarlet called. “Where are you going?! Come back!”

Vodka didn’t look back. She rounded the corner and disappeared from view.

Hot tears fell down Daiwa’s cheeks and to the floor. Her expression twisted into rage as she screamed, “You think you’re too good for me, is that what it is?! Then fine! Stupid idiot! See if I care!”

The loud thunk of a trashcan provided her punctuation, petals and paper scraps fluttering to the floor. It took everything for Scarlet to not choke on her sobs as she ran in the other direction.

Chapter Text

Vodka sprinted out the first door she could find. She kept running to the edge of the campus grounds, past the gates and onto the street. She kept running, running, running away.

Eventually she reached the riverbank that looped around the town and cut through near the academy perimeter. The wet grass under her feet here gave her no grip as her legs finally gave out, sending Vodka to the ground in a heap and tumbling down the embankment, where she slid to a halt a dozen meters away from the shoreline.

Vodka lay motionless and stared up at the sky, just now turning a darker indigo as the sun set behind the town’s skyscrapers and buildings. She breathed hard and fast, lungs clawing for every ounce of air they could get.

She tried to take in one deep breath- and everything inside of her exploded out at once.

“I’m such a fucking idiot!” Vodka cried, tears overwhelming her vision and running freely down her cheeks. She clapped her hands over her face to hide from the heavens. “Why? Why did I run away? She was right there! Waiting for me to say yes and all I could do was run and hide and cry!”

Vodka imitated a snail by curling into a ball and rolled onto her side. The sobbing would not stop. “She loves you, you goddamn moron! Was it not obvious?!” Her cries hurt her throat, but she didn’t care. “Why are you such a coward?! You’ve ruined everything!”

Spending hours imagining how to say the words ‘I love you’ was, in hindsight, far easier than actually saying them. Vodka had wanted to take her time, play it out, and find the right moment to drop those words to Scarlet. But her hand had been forced, and in her panic forfeited the chance.

“I’m so fucking lame,” Vodka moaned. “What am I supposed to do now? Scarlet, she… she’s never going to forgive me for it… all of this for nothing…”

It took an age for the crying to trail off and cease. Vodka’s newly raging headache kept her still, enduring her punishment for her horrendous crime. She stared at the grass through hazy vision.

“...I had one chance. One. And I’m never gonna get it back. Congrats, I officially suck. How am I ever going to talk to her again?”

It could have been great. She could have been happy. She could’ve at least tried. But now Vodka’s body and soul ached, and she was left knowing that she broke two hearts this evening.

Vodka didn’t know love could hurt so bad.

In her thoughtless fugue state, she could hear a few things around her. The soft splash of water hitting the edge of the riverbank. A family of ducks searching for easy food. And footsteps… headed straight for her.

“Oh my goodness! Vodka?! Are you alright?”

Vodka sniffled and tried (and failed) to clear her tears enough to look back up the hill. At the top, on the pedestrian path, stood two figures. They were hard to see clearly through the sadness, but based on the language of one of them, and the poofy white hair of the other…

Fuji Kiseki and Biwa Hayahide looked down at the emotionally mangled Vodka with deep concern. Fuji was already starting to pick her way straight down the hill, with Biwa slowly following her.

This was the point where Vodka sucked it all back inside, stood up, dusted herself off, and went about as if nothing had happened. Like an action star walking away without looking back at the giant chain of explosions behind them.

But the weak shake of her head and a tiny ‘no’ was all she had in her. There simply wasn’t a point in fighting anymore.

Fuji knelt down next to Vodka and held up her hands. “Oh dear, you look awful. Are you hurt? What happened to you?”

Through another sniffle, Vodka said, “I… I was running and slipped. Fell down the hill. I… I don’t think anything’s broken.”

Fuji offered out her hand to Vodka. “Well, let’s get you upright. Biwa, do you-”

“I have it right here,” said Biwa, appearing at Vodka’s other side and lowering down a bottle of water to the dark-haired mare. Vodka weakly took it in her hands as she was pulled up into a sitting position, and forced down a sip.

Fuji and Biwa sat down in the grass, surrounding Vodka on both sides, and waited patiently for the brokenhearted one to catch her breath and calm down. The silence was a good change of pace, at least.

After the quiet stretched out into multiple moments, Vodka looked up at Fuji with red eyes and puffy cheeks. “...what are you guys doing out here?”

Fuji put on a small smile. “Biwa and I here were out shopping for some new equipment for our upcoming races,” she said. Her voice was a beacon of calm and serenity, soothing even the weariest parts of the soul. “We were just on our way back when I heard an awful cry and came running. I never expected it to be you, dearie.”

“You do tend to be loud,” Biwa noted, “but this time your shouts seemed very despondent. Something terrible must have happened, I would guess.”

Vodka nodded. Just the thought of her meeting with Scarlet brought forth tears. “Y-Yeah, um… Scarlet and I-”

“Ohh, okay,” said Fuji and Biwa both.

“It’s not like that, dammit!” Vodka snapped. Her face morphed into a snarl, then switched back to despair immediately. “...sorry. Just… it wasn’t exactly a fight this time. Scarlet, she…”

One more deep breath to find the strength to say it out loud. “Scarlet asked me out on a date.”

The other two umas stared at Vodka, wide-eyed and mouth agape. “...I’m sorry, did I hear you correctly?” Biwa asked. “Daiwa Scarlet- your biggest rival- asked you out… on a date?”

All Vodka could do was nod.

...fuck. Scarlet had told her not to tell anyone. Could she be doing any worse right now?

Fuji held a look of confusion on her face, but not for the statement itself. “Then… tell me, why are you all the way out here?” the senior student inquired. “It sounds like you turned her down, and then she grew upset with you.”

Vodka laughed mirthlessly. “Turned her down? Goddesses, I did far worse than that. She was right in front of me. She gave me… she gave me roses. As a gift.”

She leaned back on her hands and put her head back towards the sky. “And I just froze. I didn’t know what to say. I mean- I didn’t know how badly I wanted to say yes until yesterday. I didn’t realize that I was in love with her all this time, and I didn’t even stop to think that it might be mutual.”

A pause. “So I ran away. I gave her back the flowers and just started running, as fast and as far as my legs could carry me. And now I feel like absolute shit.”

Biwa blinked and took off her glasses. “This is… quite a lot to unpack, Vodka. I apologize if I don’t immediately understand your situation, but… you have my sympathy.”

“Don’t tell anyone I told you this,” Vodka said, gaze whipping over to Hayahide with a glare that lacked bite. “If anyone finds out, I will kill you.”

Biwa merely nodded and replaced her glasses. “Of course. You have my complete secrecy, as well. So, you ran out this way and…?”

“From the looks of it, you took a tumble, my dear pony,” Fuji interrupted. “You’re lucky that you aren’t worse for wear, but… oh dear. That is an incredibly heavy burden to keep in your heart, Vodka. I’m so sorry to hear all of this.”

“...thanks,” Vodka whimpered. She didn’t really want the pity. Pity made her feel worse. But it was harder to go lower than rock bottom, she supposed.

Silence again. Everyone unsure of what comes next.

“Do you plan on talking with her again?” Fuji asked.

Vodka felt her spine shake. “I don’t think I can. Not after that. I’d just embarrass myself again. And I don’t think Scarlet wants to see me ever again, anyway.”

She wiped away the drip of snot from her nose. “Maybe it’s for the best. After today, I don’t think I’m good enough for her.”

“Don’t say that!” Fuji chided. “You’re more than worthy of someone’s love, my dear pony.”

“But she’s my rival,” Vodka added. She bit back a sob and carried on, “We’ve fought each other for so long already that anything else just feels… weird. I wanted to prove that I was better than her. But what she said, what I’ve done… we can’t just take those back and pretend it didn’t happen. Even if part of me wishes it didn’t. It wouldn’t hurt as bad, then.”

Vodka paused to think about that. If they weren’t rivals, who would they be? Would any of this have mattered as much to her? This could have happened with anyone other than Scarlet, and… it wouldn’t have been nearly the same. Hell, it might’ve been far more boring.

Scarlet was never boring. Vodka hated how she gloated and paraded herself around like the best thing since pre-sliced carrot cake, but it always lit a fire under her. She always kept wanting to one-up Scarlet. It didn’t matter how dumb or petty it is, she wanted to challenge her. To impress her.

To be validated as an equal to her.

Vodka failed to keep a new wave of gentle sobs inside of her, and breathlessly let it out into the world. “I don’t know what I’m gonna do,” she confessed, face back in her palms. “I can’t lose her like this… I need her. I need her to be with me, or else it’s just not worth it. But I’m so scared…”

She felt an arm wrap around her. As Fuji Kiseki pulled her in for a hug, she turned and pressed her face into her senior’s shoulder. Fuji, meanwhile, looked silently at Hayahide with a look of determination in her eyes.

“Vodka? My dear pony, can you do me a favor?”

Vodka cleared her eyes and looked up. “What?”

Fuji smiled. “Talk with Scarlet. Tell her everything you just told us. I’m sure she’s just as upset as you are about this, and it would mean the world to her to hear it from you.”

Vodka felt her chest tense up. “But-”

“No, no. No buts, I’m afraid,” Fuji interjected. “The best thing you can do is apologize for the mistake. The next best thing after that is to be honest- both with Scarlet, and yourself.”

“I must agree with Fuji,” Biwa chimed in. “While I may be less experienced with romance, clear communication is the basis of any relationship. You can get quite far with transparency.”

A sudden laugh escaped Fuji. “Less experienced? My dear Biwa, I’ve seen how you look at Taishin from time to time.~”

Biwa suddenly found the most interesting piece of grass to study as her cheeks burned red.

“The point is, Vodka,” Fuji continued, “it’s better to try than to sit around feeling sorry for yourself. I know it hurts. But I think you’ll find a way to make it work. And if you need help, you have my full support.”

Vodka sniffled again and returned Fuji’s hug to her. “...thank you. I’ll think of something, I swear,” she said quietly.

Eventually it came time to head back home. Fuji and Biwa helped Vodka to her feet and stayed with her the entire way back to the dorms, silent as statues.

Vodka stayed with her thoughts; no pushing them away or dwelling on them too much. For at least the next few hours, she’d have to find a way to face her fears.

She did still share a room with Scarlet, after all.

Goddesses, please don’t let me screw this up again.

Chapter Text

Daiwa Scarlet let her feet carry her back to the dorms. To hide, and cry away the heartbreak before Vodka inevitably returned. Her thundering steps warned everyone nearby to clear out, stay out of her way.

Even as several other residents looked on with fear and worry in their eyes, nobody dared to make a move. To them, it seemed like Scarlet was on the warpath. If only they had seen the tears streaming down her face.

The door to the room was yanked open and slammed shut in one solid motion. And in here, Scarlet finally cracked. One more step had her falling to her hands and knees like a bag of bricks. She wailed and cried, no longer caring who was nearby to hear her.

Everything was ruined. All that planning, the worry and headaches- all of it was for nothing. Scarlet’s broken heart bled out until her vocal chords strained and her vision went dizzy.

Vodka had rejected her. Forget what it meant romantically; what did that mean for their rivalry? Their tenuous friendship? Did it all mean nothing to Vodka, after all this time? How could Scarlet have been so confidently wrong about it all? She thought that after the library- hell, after that race in the storm, that there was something to this. That maybe, just maybe, her comment about wanting to kiss her wasn’t so out of place.

Now she just felt like the biggest idiot on the planet.

The quiet world outside let Scarlet piece herself back together at her own pace. She slowly pushed off of her hands, sat back on her legs, and wiped her eyes dry.

“...why? What did I do to deserve this?” she meekly asked the empty room. “I thought… why did she… oh, goddesses. What am I supposed to do now?”

Her vision mostly returned, she cast her gaze over the room for answers. It settled over Vodka’s side, with all the car and bike posters and general untidiness that came with its owner.

She scowled as a horrendous thought crossed her mind. Regret and shame was quick to follow and chase said thought away, but she curled back into a ball all the same.

Just as the redhead was starting to compose herself again, a set of frantic knocks on the door caused her to yelp and fall over. Scarlet scrambled to sit back up and called out, “Vodka?!”

The door slowly swung open. Behind it was not Vodka, but Grass Wonder, who had the look of a concerned mother. Behind her was another student in a mask- El Condor Pasa, Scarlet recalled. Grass’s roommate. It seems they both had heard the shattering of her heart.

“Scarlet?” Grass asked softly. “May we come in?”

Scarlet did not have the energy to shoo them away. She simply nodded, then pushed herself up with her back against the dresser, and put her head between her knees.

The pair from outside stepped in and closed the door with a soft click. Grass knelt down, and Scarlet reacted so fast with a clinging hug that Grass had no time to ask questions. She could see the answer plain as day, anyway.

“I am so sorry, Scarlet,” said the chestnut mare. “You did your best. I’m sure it’s not your fault.”

“Uhh, not to intrude,” said El as she sat on the bed, “but can someone fill me on what’s going on? I’m kinda… lost.”

Grass pulled herself away from the comfort that Scarlet needed. “Do you want to explain, Scarlet? Or should I?”

Daiwa Scarlet shook her head. She really didn’t want to tell anyone about this disaster, but Grass had helped her work out some final details. She owed it to her at least. El being here wasn’t ideal, but the Phantom Bird might as well also know- the whole school might find out by the end of the week, anyhow. Nothing mattered anymore.

“I-I… I went to meet with Vodka like we planned, Grass,” the heartbroken uma started. “I sort of messed up what I wanted to say, so I gave her the roses first and then asked if she wanted to go out with me.”

El’s eyes widened at hearing that, then her brow furrowed at Grass. So many questions were visible on her visage, but she held onto them for later.

“A-And I don’t know if I did something wrong,” Scarlet went on, “or if I accidentally insulted her, or… or what, but Vodka shoved the roses back at me and ran away. I didn’t- I didn’t get to-”

The sobs started up again. She coughed the first few out from trying to hold them down, but it was an impossible task. “She b-barely said anything, so I didn’t get a yes or no out of her. But I don’t need one. She isn’t… she doesn’t…”

Scarlet kept crying. Saying it out loud made it more real. It made it hurt even more this way. She could see the truth, and the truth was Vodka was never going to love Scarlet back. Too competitive, too focused on beating Scarlet to actually care about her.

How could Daiwa Scarlet have fallen for someone like her?

A tissue was presented to her from Grass, which she gratefully accepted to clear her nose before speaking again. “I’m such an idiot. I wasted so much time on this. All for nothing. Vodka probably hates me even more, now,” Scarlet lamented.

Grass had taken up a seat on the bed next to El. Both of them pitied Scarlet.

El responded first. “Wow, that’s muy mala, Scarlet. But I didn’t think that you liked Vodka at all, much less like that.”

“I’m sorry this didn’t work out,” Grass added. “I suppose we both assumed that this was going to be a success.”

“It’s not your fault,” Scarlet insisted. “I’m the one who fell in love with that stupid moron. It’s my fault for… for thinking I had a chance.”

“And you did your best. I think that’s all you could have asked for.”

It was almost insulting. All Scarlet had asked for was the chance to win over the heart of someone she held dear, flaws and all. A chance to perhaps turn her biggest rival into her biggest fan, in a way. But really, she had wanted a chance to sort through these complicated feelings with Vodka, instead of hiding away alone.

El Condor Pasa scratched her head. “So, do you think you’re gonna try again?” she asked, receiving stares from Grass and Scarlet. “I mean, you said that Vodka didn’t straight up tell you off, right? Maybe she just got overwhelmed by your pasión, eh?”

Scarlet didn’t even entertain the thought and shook her head. “I don’t think I can. I’m so humiliated. How would she take me seriously?”

“Yeah, but you know Vodka’s not so bueno with cute romantic stuff,” El argued. “Like Grass here and hot sauce- maybe they’ll take a while to warm up to it.”

Grass directed a sharp glare at El, prompting her to go quiet. Grass swapped back to her usual soft gaze turning back to Scarlet.

“El could be right. Maybe you should give Vodka the space to think it over, Scarlet,” she said, putting a hand on the redhead’s shoulder. “It may be awkward, considering that you still share a room together. But give it time. She’ll give you an answer eventually.”

I’m not counting on it, thought Scarlet. At this point she can go kick rocks for all I care.

No, that wasn’t right. Love wasn’t easy to throw away like trash. Her whole soul yearned for Vodka, and yet it made that small fantasy of getting close to her- even intimate- pierce her heart like thorns.

But El was right. Vodka could have just panicked. Maybe Scarlet moved too fast for her, scared her. And that meant there was still a way to get this back.

Did she really deserve a second chance, though…?

The masked uma groaned, “Ay, this is a really complicated situation. Kinda like Grass’s relationship with- AIE!”

El sat up straight as a post with her arms tensed up at her side. She looked at Grass Wonder, who still had that calm smile on her.

“I’m sorry, what were you saying?” said Grass. The threatening undertone was unmistakable.

“Nothing! Ow ow ow ow, let go let go!” El pleaded. Her tail wrapped itself around her once it was released, and the girl looked at the floor, her face matching the color of her mask.

Scarlet involuntarily chuckled. She bit down to keep herself from all-out laughing. “I-I’m sorry,” she tried to say, “but you two just remind me of Vodka and I, a little bit. It’s so stupid.”

Sighing, she added, “I wish I could say we’d be able to go back to that even if this doesn’t work out.”

It suddenly hit her all at once how tired she was. Crying for what felt like an hour would do that to you. Scarlet made one final check to dry her eyes before standing up and dusting herself off.

“Um… thanks for coming to check in on me,” she offered to Grass and El. “I think I need to be alone for a while, so… if you wouldn’t mind?”

“Of course. Please let me know if you need anything.” Grass stood from her seat and gave a polite bow, then pulled El by the hand out of the room. As the door clicked shut once more, Scarlet felt all of her muscles relax and pull her to the bed, letting gravity do most of the work.

She flopped face first into the pillow, not even bothering to change clothes. She just shut her eyes and waited for sleep to take over. It did not come for a while, though, and Scarlet had one last thought.

I don’t want to lose her. But what am I supposed to do?

---

Grass Wonder marched down the hall with El Condor Pasa in tow. Fresh from the check-in with Daiwa Scarlet, the chestnut mare was moving swiftly to a new objective.

“Hey, Grass,” El said while struggling to keep pace, “where are we going? Our room’s the other way.”

El could see the steely determination in Grass’s eyes; she already had an idea of what the other was planning, but just wanted to make sure they were on the same page.

“I will not allow Scarlet to beat herself up over something so important,” Grass said with a flat tone. “You heard her speak. She has given up already. That is not like her. So, I’m going to get help.”

“Oh yeah? What’s the plan?”

Grass smiled, nothing more.

Eventually their walk brought them to the trainers’ office block. The one at the end was their destination. A few knocks were answered by a “Come in!”, and the pair of umas stepped inside.

Al sat at his desk rifling through several papers. He looked from the mess with surprise. “Oh- Grass? El? Wasn’t expecting you two.”

Grass bowed and lightly slapped El on the thigh to do the same. “I apologize for intruding so late in the day. We need to speak with you immediately.”

Al’s brow furrowed. He tucked away some of the documents off to the side and leaned forward in his chair. “...about what, exactly?”

“We wanted to talk to you about Vodka and Daiwa Scarlet.”

Chapter Text

Al had been a trainer for over a decade at this point. He had worked with all types and temperaments, and even led a small team before deciding to go back to working one-on-one with a trainee. He had been through all kinds of trouble and witnessed many incredible achievements.

Setting up this trap for his trainee was, somehow, a first. Even more so that he was assisted by the trainer of his trainee’s rival.

“Are we sure this is going to work?” Camilla questioned. Her usual thoughtful demeanor was muddied today. This was unexpected territory for her, too.

Al gave her a nod and leaned against the railing of the practice course. “It’s gonna work. If nothing else, it’ll give those two the space to clear the air and move on from all this.”

Camilla looked down at her feet and took a breath. “Right. But we’re still hoping for the best, right?”

Al again nodded. The plan was simple. Not foolproof- nothing ever was. But the idea was that both of their trainees would be free to speak and not hold back their emotions if given some time alone. The training course being otherwise empty was going to be a massive boon to that strategy.

So they hoped.

Camilla ran a hand through her hair, unable to sit still. “You know, I’m still surprised you came to me to help with this idea. Let alone that our trainees were more… involved than we knew about.”

That prompted Al to laugh. “With how intertwined their rivalry is, I don’t think anyone else could help me. Believe me, I’m still shocked that I got the news from Grass Wonder first. But we’re in this together.”

“Yeah. We’re their trainers. We did say we’d do anything for them when we scouted them. Even if it means using unconventional methods.” Saying it aloud brought Camilla a rush of energy. Her determination was coming back to her. “We’ll do right by them.”

Al smiled wider, then looked up the hill past the stands. Now cresting over the top and making her way down to the course was his trainee.

“Right on schedule. You ready, Camilla?” Al said, taking a deep breath to steel his own nerves.

Camilla saw her trainee come down the same path just a moment later. “Ready as I can be.”

“Alright. Time to make sure these lovebirds put a nest together.”

---

Vodka was awake. Had been awake for a while. It was hard to fall asleep when all she could think about was how badly she messed everything up. How badly she wanted to set it right.

Every so often, she would steal glances over at Scarlet, who somehow seemed to be sleeping soundly in her own bed. Scarlet had already been asleep by the time Vodka returned, which was both fortunate and unfortunate. The latter had no energy to do anything about the situation, yet her body would not allow her to escape reality for very long. For that, she envied Scarlet. Vodka floated the idea of waking her up, and getting this over with now, but had not the willpower to do so. A better opportunity would surely come tomorrow.

And if not tomorrow, then the day after. However long it took, Vodka would be ready for it.

Unbeknownst to Vodka, however, was that Scarlet could barely sleep herself. She had gotten in a couple of hours upon first hitting the mattress, but for the rest of the night, rest remained elusive. Scarlet had gotten up, used the bathroom, changed into proper sleepwear, even tried brushing her hair as a calming task. Nothing worked very well.

Her mind was still locked on the image of Vodka, so obviously overwhelmed while holding the roses she was given. She kept picking it apart, searching every last corner for a sign that it was just panic. That Vodka wasn’t trying to find a way to turn her down politely before giving up.

She needed it to be true. But there was only so much she could do at this point.

And as the sun rose to greet the earth for a new day, both of them realized just how goddamn exhausted they were from all of it.

Scarlet silenced her alarm right as it went off. Too late to sleep now. There was classwork and training to do. Time to get up.

...is what she kept telling herself. Her body refused to move from its horizontal position. Vodka, on the other hand, moved way faster than she usually did most mornings. Where did she get that burst of energy from, nobody knew. Vodka didn’t even know.

Scarlet had seen Vodka change clothes many, many times since they had become roommates. It had never been an issue. But now, the model student stared at the dark-haired mare’s backside and found herself blushing. Yearning for all the lines of muscle that outlined her rival’s form, to just once trace her fingers along them and feel the power beneath her skin.

Yet it was just out of her reach…

Two pings sounded off, one from Vodka’s phone and one from Scarlet’s. They both looked at the devices, then at each other, and then, grimacing, back to the phones.

Scarlet read the message carefully, then more carefully a second time. From Camilla, it read: “Joint training with Vodka today, be prepared for scenario drills.” An unusually short and curt message from her trainer.

By the time Scarlet had rolled out of bed, however, Vodka was long gone. Scarlet cursed herself for not doing anything, as little as she could have said, anyway. Classes come first; the model student had a reputation to uphold. Her focus would wind up elsewhere, of course, but she was an expert at pretending to pay attention.

Just give it time. Scarlet needed some time to prepare.

---

Vodka sat in the back of the classroom, intentionally sitting far away from Scarlet. The students around her had been grateful for the past few days being more or devoid of the rivals’ bickering, though a few of them were starting to grow concerned.

“I almost miss it,” said one student. “It just feels so weird without them being background noise non-stop.”

“I get it,” said another. “But I’m just going to enjoy the peace and quiet while I can.”

“Do you think something really bad happened between them? They don’t even want to be in the same room anymore.”

“Who cares? I’m sure they’ll go right back to fighting next week, anyway.”

Vodka growled, “It’s not cool to talk about me when I’m right here, y’know.”

The two umas jumped in fear and quickly returned their seats, apologizing for the gossip. Vodka merely sighed. It seemed everyone else only saw her and Scarlet as bratty rivals, nothing more or less. She couldn’t just it shrug it off like she normally did; every minute she couldn’t bring herself to talk to Scarlet gave her heartache. But Vodka wasn’t ready to give it another shot. And she wasn’t sure when she would be.

She glanced back down at her phone. “We’ll be doing partner runs with Scarlet and Camilla today. Meet us at the practice course at the usual time,” said the message from Al. It was the last thing she wanted right now.

Vodka knew she was going to have to talk to Scarlet eventually, but not this soon. She had to make a cool plan to make up for her mistakes. She wasn’t going to be able to do that if her rival- her roommate- her crush was going to be around.

The mare rubbed her eyes and put her head down on the desk. This was going to be a very long day.

---

Vodka was first to arrive to the track. “Hey, trainer,” she said, doing her best to hide her melancholy. “Do we really have to do this partner running thing? I just-”

“I know, I know, I’ve heard it before,” Al asserted. “But you’ve got a race coming up soon. I’ve been meaning to work through some situational awareness drills before then. Camilla was kind enough to lend a hand.”

“Right. And despite my trainee not having plans until later in the year,” Camilla said, “I figured it would be wise to keep her senses sharp.”

Vodka threw her head back and groaned. Too much on her mind to focus right now. But she was going to have to deal with it for now. Maybe it would go by quickly.

A moment later, Scarlet appeared. “Hello! I’m looking forward to this today,” she said.

Vodka frowned. That happy, chipper tone was more fake than a bad art forgery. She opened her mouth to chirp at Scarlet, get her riled up. It was purely out of habit that the dark-haired mare wanted to pick a fight, picked up from having been around Scarlet for so long.

Yet she said nothing. It would not help her case to piss off Miss Perfect right now. And, in a way, it felt almost cruel to take free jabs at Scarlet now.

Don’t kick people when they’re down, her dad would have said. And she was inclined to agree this time.

A moment of awkward silence befell the group, then brushed away with a cough from Al. “Okay… we’re all here. So, we’ve got a few scenarios to go through today, and we’re going to start with-”

The loud ring of a phone pierced through the explanation. Al paused, looked at Camilla, and then at his pocket. “Oh, sorry, I think that’s me. Gimme a second.”

He turned away from the group and pulled his phone up to his ear. “This is Al. How can I help?”

The voice on the other end was loud enough to be faintly heard by everyone else, though they couldn’t discern its owner. Vodka looked at Scarlet, then Camilla, both of whom stared back.

“...what? What do you mean?” Al paused for a response.

“...oh come on. You’ve got to be kidding me. The entire thing?”

He swore under his breath. “Alright, alright, I understand. I’ll swing by to deal with it. Thanks for letting me know.”

The man hung up, shoved his phone back into his pocket, and groaned into his palms.

Camilla tapped Al on the shoulder to ask what he had been told. He slowly turned back with a disgruntled expression.

“Sorry… that was Director Akikawa,” he said. “Said that something had gone wrong with the paperwork for the upcoming races and I need to come by and redo it all.”

All three ladies blinked. “All of it? As in… all of it?” asked Camilla.

“Yeah. And given how close we are to Vodka’s next race, I don’t think I can sit on this one.” Al threw his frustrated gaze at the trainees. “I’m sorry you two. I have to go take care of this immediately.”

He turned to Camilla. “You should come, too. Something in the Director’s tone seemed to imply that you might have had issues too.”

“What?!” Camilla visibly tensed up. “Oh, for-”

“Hopefully we’ll be back with enough time to continue the plan. Uh, for now-”

Al pointed to the course behind him. “Why don’t you two run some warm up laps? If we’re not back in half an hour, just do some solo training until you hear from us. Okay?”

Both Vodka and Scarlet narrowed their eyes at their trainers. Clerical errors were a real pain to sort through, and they knew both their mentors were very careful to not let them happen. Something wasn’t fully right about this.

But knowing this, they both looked at the other umamusume and silently agreed to let it go. If there really was an issue, then best to let the folks in charge go and handle it.

Vodka nodded to Al, not saying much else outside of a muttered acceptance. Scarlet stepped to the side as both Al and Camilla exited the trackside and went up the hill towards the administrative building.

Out of earshot, the trainers spoke in hushed voices.

“It’s all on them now,” whispered Camilla. “I hope this works.”

“Yeah,” said Al. “Me too.”

Chapter Text

The practice course was now empty. Just Daiwa Scarlet and Vodka on the outside of the outside railing by the stands, watching their trainers head out.

If anyone watching was missing this context, they would have thought this was an awkward meetup between students. Neither Scarlet nor Vodka seemed willing to do… anything.

Scarlet looked around; everywhere from the grass to the benches to the sky. Anywhere except her rival standing right in front of her. It wasn’t nerves on her part, but fear. Fear that if she looked for even a second into Vodka’s eyes, one of two things would happen.

Either Vodka would see the pain she put upon Scarlet yesterday through her ruby eyes, or Scarlet would burst into tears and become inconsolable.

Keep calm, Scarlet, she repeated to herself. Get on the track. Start running. Just don’t think about it. You’ll be fine.

Scarlet held her breath and turned to enter the track. “I’m going to do a few laps.”

By the time Vodka realized she was being spoken to, Scarlet had begun a light jog down the front straightaway, going clockwise. “R-Right behind you,” she said, ducking the railing and trailing after the redhead.

The only sound that could be heard was the infrequent songs of birds, and the soft pressing of grass underfoot. No one wanted to speak. They knew exactly where the conversation would end up and neither of them wanted to be responsible for what came of it.

Vodka stayed back a dozen meters from Scarlet, resigning herself to watch her rival’s back. She had witnessed this image several times before. In a race, that twintail hair and sleek actual tail would be flowing in the wind, matching the majesty of the greatest mountain peaks.

Truth be told, Vodka had never seen Scarlet go slow. She had always pressed forward at top speed, dragging everyone else along with her and forcing them to take her tempo. Daiwa Scarlet made sure that she was being followed, never the one following.

Never looking behind her, either. Almost as if ignoring the threats nipping at her feet would make them simply disappear altogether.

On the other hand, Vodka contained her explosive edge until late in the game. Wait for a moment, a perfect opportunity to strike, slip past, and seize victory from an unexpected place. She didn’t go slow; she was just patient. Frankly, she hated setting the pace. There was a lot of pressure in being the leader.

A sudden pang of anger struck her. Vodka always found a way forward, but going forward meant going through her. The one person who was considered to be her fiercest rival and biggest competition.

And watching her jog away, watching her try to step out of the situation like it never happened, infuriated her. It pissed her off so much that the Scarlet she knew and loved was going to give up on Vodka and play it safe.

To hell with caution. This time Vodka would take the lead, and drag Scarlet with her kicking and screaming if she had to.

She picked up speed and pulled alongside Scarlet, who didn’t dare to look at her. “...Scarlet?”

Scarlet didn’t answer.

“Scarlet.”

No answer.

“Dammit- talk to me!”

“Shut up!” Scarlet shouted back.

There was a measure of silence. “...I don’t want to talk to you right now,” Scarlet pleaded. “Please leave me alone.”

“No. We need to talk,” Vodka demanded. Her usual irritated scowl was not present, the anger replaced by steely determination.

“About what? Me being made into the biggest fool at Tracen?” Scarlet barked. Still refusing to look at Vodka. She couldn’t let them see the sadness clouding her vision; she didn’t want nor deserved the pity.

Vodka didn’t know how to respond to that. This wasn’t Scarlet’s fault. This was all on Vodka. But the other was clearly blaming herself, and that struck Vodka deep. There had to be a way to get Scarlet to listen to her...

“I already tried to talk to you yesterday,” Scarlet went on. “I got an answer. You don’t have to keep being nice about it.”

She started to accelerate away. Vodka reached out and grabbed Scarlet’s wrist before she got too far and brought them both to a halt at the start of the backstretch. Stunned and scared, Scarlet’s eyes went wide. And just as Vodka got to glimpse into those ruby irises, Scarlet could see into the hazel of hers.

The glimmer of stars were still there, in each of them.

Scarlet wrenched her hand away and turned her back to Vodka. Her heart was starting to pound again, and not from the exercise. That welling of emotions she first felt in the video room was coming back, alongside the guilt from the dorm room and the despair from the hallway. It threatened to bring her to her knees.

“...just say it.”

“Say what?” Vodka asked.

“Just say that you hate me and get it over with,” Scarlet cried. “Tell me that I’m a stupid idiot who let these weird feelings get the better of me. That the big plan I had to ask you out was a waste of everyone’s time and there’s no point in asking ever again.”

Scarlet choked back tears. “Do it quick so maybe it’ll hurt less.”

The fire in Vodka’s heart mellowed. Oh, fuck me, she thought. She knew what she had to say now.

The dark-haired mare balled her fists and took in a long breath. “I don’t hate you.”

“Liar,” Scarlet snapped.

“I really don’t. I don’t think I ever have hated you, Scarlet,” Vodka confessed. “Yeah, we fight a lot. We bicker like old couples over the dumbest stuff. And it’s exhausting. But I… I can’t hate you.”

The redhead froze, hands held over her chest. No words yet.

“We’ve been at each other’s throats forever. But you give me the reason to keep pushing for the top. Hell- you are the reason I keep pushing. Because you’re like me. You can’t stand losing and it hurts when someone else is the cool cat, the big dog, whatever.”

Vodka made a sweeping gesture to the track. “So I’ve fought every single day to prove that I’m not just your equal- I’m better than you. And you’ve done the same. Because we… because…”

She started to lose her train of thought and looked to the ground for help. She had to keep it together here, or her whole argument was going to sound insincere. All or nothing, now.

“...because without you, I don’t know who I would be,” Vodka stated. “And after everything, I think I lo-”

The last few words were stuck like jam in her mouth. A second attempt failed to breach her lips.

Say it! Vodka ordered. Say it with your whole damn heart!

Vodka tightened up her whole body and bent down into a deep, stiff bow.

“I think I’m in love with you! A-And if you still wanna go on that date, then you got it!”

The following silence was deafening. Vodka’s body shook in place as she waited, growing more nervous with every passing second. Why wasn’t Scarlet saying anything?

…was that crying?

Vodka unrolled herself to look at Scarlet. The latter’s expression did not match any sort of emotion. A forced stoicism held back the dam of tears starting to fill her up her eyes.

Scarlet stepped in closer. “Prove it, then,” she said with an uneasy hush.

Vodka blinked. “H-Huh?”

“Prove to me that you mean it,” Scarlet demanded, “and that you’re not just saying all this to give me some false hope, so that you can feel better about yourself.”

Daiwa Scarlet stared right at Vodka. The intense fire in her eyes contrasted everything on the inside; she wanted so badly to throw herself at Vodka and cry in joy. Grass was right. Vodka loved her back.

Vodka loved Daiwa Scarlet.

The revelation had sent chills up Scarlet’s spine. But she refused to celebrate yet. She had to make damn certain this time, and squash any remaining doubt. She was not going to screw this up again.

Vodka looked away and scratched her head. “Man, was that not enough…? Alright, fine,” she muttered. “Prove it how?”

Scarlet pointed to the front stretch, and the finish line post of red and white. “We do what we always do. Race me. If you can beat me, then I’ll take you seriously. If you lose… then you better forget any of this ever happened or I will kill you myself. Got it?”

It was like taking orders from a commanding officer. Vodka couldn’t help but shrink back from the oppressive aura Scarlet gave off. This really was all or nothing. Vodka had only beaten Scarlet in a handful of races up until this point, so the odds weren’t impossible, but with such high stakes it tilted them pretty heavily.

However, Vodka's resolve had already steeled itself. She was not going to back down from this challenge.

This was going to be a chase she would win at all costs.

Her ears flicked as she started to stretch her arms. “Alright. You’re on. Where do we start?” she said.

“Now.”

Daiwa Scarlet turned on a dime and bolted down the straightaway.

“What?! Dammit, Scarlet!” Vodka shouted, and booked it down the turf after her.

The hunt was on. Halfway into the backstretch, Vodka was a dozen or so meters behind, but slowly chipping away at the lead. Scarlet pushed forward, intending to leave her opponent far, far behind. It was such a cheeky move to get a head start that Vodka found it hard to be mad. She still had a goal to catch, she needed to focus and close that gap as soon as possible.

Scarlet, up ahead, buried her thoughts with each footfall. The turf tore in places from the power she was putting down.

Fears that Vodka would lose ate at her. She couldn't go back on her words, not after that speech; she'd be forever a coward if she did. But she also couldn't let Vodka win easily. Scarlet wanted her to fight for it. To fight for Scarlet herself.

And besides, the competitive streak in her wouldn't have it any other way.

Into the first half of the turn. Footfalls thundering over the course as the two of them pushed harder, harder than ever before. Their legs strained to reach higher speeds. Their minds narrowed into tunnel vision with only the goal and their rival in sight.

Vodka was close enough to grab Scarlet’s tail now. She watched it flap in the wind like a ribbon, scanning for any errant moves that would give away a mental stumble.

In contrast, Scarlet took deeper breaths to stay steady. She pushed hard early and was feeling the problems that came with not warming up properly. But she still pushed. Vodka was bearing down on her and there was plenty of grass left to cover.

They came out onto the front stretch. Less than 1000 meters to the line ahead, and the contest only grew fiercer.

A surge of energy spiked through Vodka’s feet as she laid on the gas and got alongside Scarlet. In kind, Scarlet floored it and opened the gap back up just a little, clinging to the lead by a head.

600 meters. Vodka, eyes wide and face snarling, let herself loose. Weaving through traffic was her specialty, which made her final push much more dangerous one-on-one.

400 meters. Scarlet lunged to stay ahead. A streak of fire seemed to pour out from her eyes. The last well of strength in her unlocked, and the wind around her became blistering.

200 meters. A dead heat. Storming down the course were two rivals fighting their most bitter battle yet.

If you wanted a fight, you got it! Vodka shouted in her head. I'm not losing this time! I'm not losing you, Scarlet!

100 meters. Vodka and Scarlet’s battle cries echoed over the grass.

0 meters.

They crossed the line, side-by-side.

Vodka witnessed her legs give out as she slowed down, and she fell to the grass with a soft thud. All of her energy was gone and all she could do was lie there on her back and breathe heavily. She looked to her right to see Scarlet standing over her- then Scarlet dropping to her knees in a heap.

They spent a long time catching their breath again. As far as they could tell, neither was injured, and yet the exhaustion was plain. They hit their limits.

“...did I… did I win?” Vodka asked, voice low and humble.

Scarlet nodded. “I think- I think you did. That was… yeah. G-Good job.”

Vodka smiled and laughed. “Nice. Really nice. So, uh… what now?”

The redheaded mare moved her gaze to the turf. “...I don't know.”

Silence again. Uncertainty filled in the gaps.

“Do you really love me?” said Scarlet.

“...yeah. I do,” Vodka restated. “I really do.”

She groaned and put her hands to her face. “Goddesses, this was so stupid. If I hadn't panicked yesterday, we could've avoided this whole damn thing and gotten on with it already.”

Vodka looked through her fingers at Scarlet. “I'm really sorry about all that, by the way. I… I didn't know what to do. I wanted to say yes and be all cool and tough but I just couldn't. I'm a coward. I'm so lame.”

“You're not lame, Vodka.”

Scarlet held her arms close to her chest and sighed. “You're the farthest from lame anyone’s ever been. You're stupid and hotheaded, don't get me wrong. But not lame.”

She scooted closer to Vodka and hovered over her rival. “It hit me like a train a few nights ago. That I… that I’m in love with you, too. So I made this big plan to ask you out and- and when you ran off I thought that I was wrong. That you didn't feel the same.”

Scarlet let a sob fall out. She clenched her fists into the grass. “And out of everything we've done to each other, that hurt the most. Because I thought I made you hate me more and threw what we did have out the window.”

Vodka pushed herself up and wrapped her arms around Scarlet. She pulled her tight and let the redhead rest against her shoulder, and sighed.

“I guess we're both idiots, then,” said Vodka.

They both laughed through the happy tears that fell down their cheeks. And when the laughter quieted down, Vodka let more silence fill the air for a moment, then pulled back and looked into Scarlet’s bright eyes.

“Hey… are you still so mad that you wanna kiss me?” she asked.

Scarlet pouted and replied, “Ugh, you big dummy.”

She leaned in and placed a kiss right on Vodka’s lips. Tender, hesitant, quickly growing into something hungrier. As shocked as Vodka was, the dark-haired mare let herself fall into it. She didn't push, but stood firm, and drank in everything Scarlet was willing to give her. She laid her hands on either side of Scarlet’s head and held her as close as she could.

It was starting to heat up and run through more passionate territory when Scarlet suddenly pulled away, sputtering.

“Gah- gross! Vodka, your nose!” she exclaimed.

Vodka put a finger up to her face and could smell the copper.

“Oh dammit!” she cried, hiding the nosebleed behind her hands. “Man, it's not like I do that on purpose! I've never been k-kissed before…”

Daiwa Scarlet sighed as she wiped off the trace of blood on her lips. “You're gonna have to get that under control if we’re gonna be dating. Bleh.”

She stood up and offered her hand to Vodka, who took it as leverage to stand up. There was a brief pause before the latter asked, “So. What now?”

“Well, we still haven't heard from our trainers, so I think we’re on our own,” Scarlet assumed. “Not a problem for us though, right?”

Vodka put on her trademark grin. “You bet.”

Up the hill, hidden behind a tall bush, two human figures gave themselves a high five.

—

“Ugh- you're horrible, you know that?” Daiwa Scarlet barked.

“What? All I did was tell you that you're pretty,” Vodka said, scratching her head.

“You might as well have said it to the whole restaurant with how loud you were! We’re supposed to be keeping this a secret!”

The two of them were headed down the streets of town. The warm, summery evening was bustling with life as crowds of vacationers milled about the walkways. Scarlet had on her best summer dress, a crisp sapphire blue halter with a fairly deep neckline. Vodka wore the same thing she always did- a brown leather jacket, t-shirt, and slacks.

Vodka got an earful for not dressing for the occasion, and argued this was her most comfortable outfit. She was already nervous as hell, she didn't need her clothes to make her look even more so.

“It’s hardly a secret when both of our trainers know,” Vodka rebutted. “And Grass. And El. And Fuji, and Biwa, and-

“Oh, forget it. Just keep moving,” Scarlet yapped through her blush. She dragged Vodka by the wrist through the waves of people and out of the center of town.

Before long, they were at the river. The sun had just finished its setting, leaving the moon alone with the few clouds hanging about. The last vestiges of purple sky sat just over the horizon. Some ducks passed by on the water, quacking incessantly.

Scarlet sat down on the nearest bench with a loud exhale, and Vodka sat next to her date. They were quiet for a moment, taking in the scenery.

“You know, I did still have fun,” Scarlet admitted. “Even if we did argue like usual.”

“Eh, I didn't expect anything less,” Vodka casually stated. “It’s just how we've always been. It makes us… well, us.”

“Geez. Aren’t you the optimist,” Scarlet sighed. She set her gaze on the calm surface of the river just down the slope. “Do you think we could do this again sometime?”

Vodka smiled. “Yeah. I'd like that.”

“Great. But next time, I'm picking where we go,” Scarlet asserted. “I'm not letting you drag me to a plain old ramen shop again.”

“Suit yourself, you're the one missing out,” said Vodka.

Scarlet turned to argue with Vodka, and caught a surprise kiss to the cheek.

Vodka smirked as she pulled away. “See? I can be smooth if I want.”

Scarlet’s face turned pink again. “...you dummy.”

“Huh?”

“If you're gonna kiss me under the moonlight… then do it like this.”

Scarlet leaned in and planted a firm, weighty kiss on Vodka’s lips. She put a hand on her date for balance, and Vodka returned the favor. They tasted like the broth and noodles they had moments ago, but they didn't mind.

Their rivalry was never going to be the same. And neither Vodka, nor Daiwa Scarlet, would want it any other way.