Chapter 78. Repeat Offender
Alarms aren't foolproof; at least, Shuta An profoundly experienced this today.
By the time he woke up, the moon was already hanging in the night sky.
"The alarm didn't wake me up."
Shuta An muttered as he instinctively reached for his phone—and found nothing.
He turned his head and saw his phone placed right beside him.
"I remember I put it under my pillow." The young man frowned, a little puzzled. "Did someone come in?"
Given Rice Shower's previous precedent, Shuta An immediately thought of this possibility. However, he couldn't confirm its veracity.
"Never mind, there's nothing else besides waking up late."
The young man rolled out of bed and yawned.
"I can still make it home now; it's only a little past seven."
After Shuta An tidied up the lounge, he double-checked everything before leaving.
However, when the young man reached the office door, he noticed Rice Shower playing a game with Kurofune.
"Don't play too late."
Shuta An instructed before striding out of the Sadalsuud team's activity room.
"Aye aye, Trainer, we know!" Rice Shower and Kurofune responded in unison.
After leaving the activity room, Shuta An shook his head.
"Rice Shower is with Kurofune this time, so it couldn't have been her who moved my phone."
But it was just a relocation of the phone, and the young man had checked—his phone apps hadn't been touched.
After the young man left, Kurofune spoke.
"Rice Shower-senpai rarely asks me to play games."
"Because Teio-senpai is back, she's definitely going to drag us into playing this, right? So I thought of getting Kurofune-chan to practice with me."
Rice Shower found a very suitable excuse.
"Teio-senpai won the Epsom Derby in Europe this time, and next month she'll be heading to France to prepare for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe... These are all famous and important races in Europe."
Kurofune looked up, lost in thought.
"Honestly, I really envy Teio-senpai. She's so talented, and for so long, she's received careful guidance from the Trainer. Her weekly training menus are all custom-made—"
"Isn't it the same for Kurofune-chan?"
Rice Shower interrupted Kurofune's lament.
"Everyone in the Sadalsuud team, once they start training, receives essentially the same treatment, right? Trainer attends everyone's races if he can. If there are problems in training, Trainer provides guidance just the same. Although Trainer might be a bit more attentive with Teio-senpai, that's also because of the intensity of her races. If Kurofune debuted in the Twinkle Series, she would also receive the same treatment."
"That's true."
Kurofune lowered her head, unable to deny what Rice Shower said.
After a few more rounds, Rice Shower easily won about seventy percent of them. Seeing that the curfew was approaching, she proactively suggested ending their game time for the day.
"It's really time to go back. If we delay any longer, Fuji Kiseki-senpai will definitely get angry."
Kurofune put away the controller and stood up to adjust her skirt.
"If Rice Shower-senpai needs a playmate later, I'll be available most of the time."
"Are you going out with Curren-chan for the remaining time?"
Rice Shower asked with a smile.
"That's right." Kurofune scratched her head. "Curren-chan's workload has increased now, so the time she can spend playing with me has significantly decreased. So, if she asks me, I definitely can't refuse."
"That makes sense."
Rice Shower nodded, pondering.
"Anyway, I only asked Kurofune-chan to come to the rescue this time—After all, I can't exactly ask Bourbon-san to play games; it seems like electrical appliances break whenever she touches them."
Thinking this, she, who had also stood up, took the lead.
"Let's go, we should head back too. Maybe the Trainer will ask us both in the Line group if we've returned to the dorms soon."
"That's true. If he asks and we haven't returned, Teio-senpai will definitely be curious about what we're doing, and if we tell her the truth..."
Kurofune shook her head repeatedly at this point.
"Teio-senpai would definitely laugh at us."
Rice Shower finished Kurofune's unspoken thought.
The two Uma Musume exchanged a smile and left the Sadalsuud team's activity room together.
As she locked the activity room door, Rice Shower let out an almost imperceptible sigh.
"It seems Trainer really didn't suspect me. It was so good to have Kurofune-chan come and help as an indirect alibi."
—
Rewind a few hours earlier, after Rice Shower finished her oil painting practice, she planned to rest in the office for a while, have some snacks, and then go back to organize her tools.
But as she passed the lounge door, she heard an alarm.
Rice Shower thought her Trainer was about to wake up, but after the alarm stopped, Shuta An still showed no signs of getting up. So, she cautiously stepped into the lounge, intending to help the Trainer turn off the alarm.
Standing tiptoe beside the bed, Rice Shower tilted her head, carefully observing Trainer's sleeping face, just like before the Japanese Derby.
"The Trainer flew back from London and came straight to the Academy without even going home. He must have accumulated too much travel fatigue, right?"
She whispered to herself as she moved a little closer.
Shuta An was sleeping soundly, completely unaware of anyone approaching.
Although Rice Shower had been bold and impulsive once before, that occasion was merely a brief attempt. Now, considering the alarm had just rung, she was hesitant to cross the line again.
But just by quietly watching her Trainer, Rice Shower unconsciously smiled.
"He looks so docile." She murmured to herself after a long gaze. "He always seems so sharp and prominent outside, but at this moment, he looks so approachable."
Not forgetting her purpose for entering, Rice Shower quietly picked up the young man's phone. The lock screen password was a very simple set of numbers:
"022540."
Shuta An had explained to everyone on the team why he used this set of numbers in many places—because it was Oguri Cap's finishing time when she first won the Japan Cup.
Rice Shower remembered it very clearly.
As she canceled the alarm, the Black Deer-haired Horse Girl's ears drooped, and her gaze fell upon the still-sleeping young man's face.
"I also want to win enough races to make Trainer proud."
Rice Shower put the phone back in its original place.
"Not races that the senpais have won, but races that I win, races that I and the Trainer win together for the first time."
—
Although he had a good sleep in the Sadalsuud team's lounge, when Shuta returned home, he simply took a bath and went back to bed. That nap in the lounge wasn't enough to alleviate his fatigue.
And unlike his nap that afternoon, Shuta An fell into the Dream World.
After winning the Personal Ensign Stakes with Hokuto Vega, Shuta An returned to Japan alone to prepare for the weekend's races, while Hokuto Vega, her Groom, and her training assistants remained in America to prepare for the Ballerina Stakes in half a month.
This was a dirt 1400-meter G1 fillies-only graded race, partly to stretch her legs and partly to earn enough to cover Hokuto Vega's various expenses in America.
On Shuta An's side, after returning to Japan, before he could even adjust to the time difference, his agent sent him the list of Racehorses he would be riding that weekend.
Because he was going to Shadai to visit Oguri Cap and Sunday Silence, Shuta An uncharacteristically chose to ride in Sapporo.
And the list of partners for Sunday caught the young man's attention.
"The fifth race's Oguri One, is that Oguri Cap's first foal?"
"Yes, and then in the sixth race, the Tasan Tsuyoshi that Shuta-kun is riding is a Sunday Silence foal. Originally, his Trainer, Tsurudome Akio, wanted to entrust it to another jockey, but Shadai ranch, the breeding ranch, specifically requested Shuta-kun to ride it, and the Trainer agreed to let Shuta-kun ride in this race."
"So even if I win, this Tasan Tsuyoshi behind me might not be able to continue riding?" The young man raised an eyebrow.
"That's right." The agent lowered his head. "Tsurudome Akio insists on supporting jockeys with poor results, just like his teacher, Mr. Toyama."
"Then let him do as he pleases. I just need to ride well in my race." Shuta An didn't care.
This world also needs more Trainers like Tsurudome Akio. The more Trainers who like to use good Racehorses to support third-rate jockeys, the easier it is for the young man to win.
"I even managed to win against Mihono Bourbon back then."
Shuta An thought to himself.
—
After a simple adjustment to the time difference, Shuta An returned to work. The new semester was about to begin, and considering this, the young man requested that all active and undeclared Uma Musumes of the Sadalsuud Twinkle Series undergo another physical examination.
There was no bad news.
The biggest bad news was that Kurofune's training during the holiday was inconsistent, leading to a smaller improvement than the young man had expected. So, Shuta An planned to strictly supervise Kurofune's training for a while.
As for the good news, Admire Vega's medical report indicated that this Uma Musume, who joined the team the latest, could now slightly increase her training intensity.
So the young man decided to tackle two priorities at once: have Admire Vega start training with Kurofune, but at a slightly lower intensity.
And he wasn't afraid of hard work. While the Uma Musumes of Team Sadalsuud trained, the young man didn't seek out a shady spot to rest, but instead stood by the track, intently watching their training figures, afraid that Kurofune might slack off again.
However, his focus couldn't remain sharp forever. After Kurofune and Admire Vega entered the straightaway furthest from him, the young man opened his attribute viewer, intending to check Kurofune's recent status.
But a new message from Admire Vega caught Shuta An's attention. He clicked on it and raised an eyebrow.
"Because the training intensity reached the minimum for an Uma Musume and other conditions were met… the SS Creator actually triggered on her?"
Shuta An looked into the distance and muttered.
"So the Admire Vega in the Dream World is the child of Sunday Silence and Vega?"
However, this discovery was of no use to the young man. For him, it was more gratifying that Admire Vega could trigger the SS Creator.
"After training ends, I'll test the effect after it's triggered."
Shuta An thought to himself.
—
After the training session concluded, Shuta allowed Kurofune and the others to move freely, but he called out only to Admire Vega.
"Ayabe, this was your first training session at this intensity today. How do you feel?"
The young man lowered his head, looking at Admire Vega's face, and asked.
"No… no problem."
Admire Vega somehow became hesitant.
"Are you feeling unwell?" The young man frowned, noticing her cheeks were flushed and hot. "If you're not feeling well, you can stop training directly; there's no need to push through it."
"No, it's just…"
Admire Vega first denied it, then didn't know what to say, and froze completely.
She looked at her Trainer, and for some reason, a sense of guilt, a desire to confide, welled up in her heart.
"No!"
Admire Vega turned and ran off, leaving a puzzled Shuta An who tilted his head.
"Why do I feel like my relationship with Ayabe has become stiff instead? Was the question I asked wrong?"
The young man narrowed his eyes, watching Admire Vega's retreating figure, and chose not to pursue her.
"Let Ayabe calm down first. Chasing her now probably wouldn't get me any answers."
After running out of the training ground, Admire Vega slowly stopped.
"What's wrong with me?" She cupped her cheeks. "Why did I suddenly want to share about my sister with the Trainer just now? This shouldn't be happening!"
"This is an expectation I should bear myself; Trainer shouldn't be involved."
Admire Vega closed her eyes.
"It must be that my mind was too active after my run. I'll calm down and apologize to the Trainer on Line."
Later that evening, on Line, Shuta An and Admire Vega talked about the afternoon's events.
"I'm sorry, Trainer. This afternoon, I had just finished my run and was a bit dizzy. I felt too embarrassed, so I ran away."
This was the reason Admire Vega gave.
"Then it seems the training intensity I arranged was still a bit too high."
Shuta An shook his head, typing his reply.
"It's okay, Ayabe, you have plenty of time. We can adjust slowly. To compete for the Twinkle Series and future honors, we need to work hard together in the coming years."
"I will try my best to adapt!"
Admire Vega typed back.