Chapter 21
At the front of the grandstands, Yasui Makoto finally lowered the binoculars he had been holding the entire time and let out a soft, gratified, and excited laugh.
"Hah… She won the race and then immediately made a huge fool of herself. I really don't know what to say…"
Hearing this, the shocked Satono Crown and the delighted Satono Diamond both turned to look at him.
Satono Crown sighed and said:
"…Trainer Yasui, isn't it a bit inappropriate to talk about your own horse girl like that?"
At the same time, the delighted Satono Diamond became worried.
"Sister, never mind that for now…
"Trainer Yasui, Kitasan just took a big fall… Aren't you going to check on her?"
From a rational standpoint, Yasui Makoto wasn't worried that Kitasan Black's fall would cause any real issues.
He monitored her data every day and knew very well just how frighteningly strong her physique was.
Moreover, he had accidentally overheard a few stories from Kitasan Black while they were eating in the cafeteria, which only confirmed it.
When the topic of physique came up, Kitasan Black had said that she had been very strong ever since she was little.
She almost never got sick and rarely got injured.
Whether climbing mountains, exploring forests, or going on long hikes by the sea, her friends would be completely exhausted while she could still run around energetically.
In elementary school, she and her classmate Satono Diamond once found a kitten stuck in a tree.
When Kitasan Black tried to rescue it, she slipped and fell from the third floor.
The result? Only a few scrapes.
She even left a shallow crater in the ground.
In short, she was perfectly fine — it was Satono Diamond who got scared half to death.
Afterward, she even said that her usual training intensity wasn't very high and hoped Yasui Makoto would increase it.
Yasui Makoto certainly wouldn't change the training plan on a whim.
In his schedule, intensity would be increased gradually. There was no need to rush.
But no matter how rational he was, seeing Kitasan Black fall with his own eyes made it impossible to suppress his worry.
So when he heard Satono Diamond's words, he nodded slightly and quickly headed toward the back of the grandstands.
Satono Diamond followed worriedly for a couple of steps, then felt her wrist being grabbed.
"Sister…?"
She looked at Satono Crown in surprise. "What's wrong…?"
"…There's something I want to ask."
Satono Crown looked at the race results board.
"Look at the data up there.
"1:51.9 and 34.1 — those are Kitasan's finishing time and final 600m split."
Satono Diamond also looked at the board and confirmed her sister was right, but she became even more confused.
"That's correct, but I haven't debuted yet, so I don't really understand what these numbers mean…"
Satono Crown thought for a moment.
"If I told you that my debut race finishing time was 1:50 with a final 600m split of 33.5 seconds — also over 1800m here — would you have any thoughts?"
Satono Diamond was stunned.
"Wait, so that means Kitasan…
"Actually wasn't as fast as you, Sister?
"But why does it feel like… she was much faster than you were back then?"
She had, of course, gone to cheer for her sister on her debut day and watched the entire race.
Her sister had won beautifully, and her race data had been excellent.
But for some reason, she felt that her friend — who had a longer finishing time and slower final 600m — somehow felt faster in her gut.
"I don't know either. I thought since you're roommates with Kitasan, you might understand, which is why I asked. But you're right — even I can't figure it out, so it must be even harder for you since you haven't debuted yet."
Shaking her head, Satono Crown looked in the direction Yasui Makoto had gone.
"Kitasan is in the same class as us, so we used to see her training all the time.
"But for the past month, her special training has been handled entirely by that trainer.
"It's obvious that the training methods used by that seemingly very young trainer are quite different from everyone else's.
"It seems the root of the things we can't understand might lie with Trainer Yasui."
...
Yasui Makoto found Kitasan Black in the medical room, but it wasn't because his horse girl had any problems.
Every race was intense, so all horse girls had to undergo routine physical checks before and after.
Especially since Kitasan Black's dramatic face-plant after the race had been seen by everyone, the staff definitely wouldn't neglect her.
The examination results were exactly as Yasui Makoto expected — his horse girl was perfectly healthy, as if the fall on the track hadn't even happened to her.
The moment she saw Yasui Makoto, Kitasan Black showed unbelievable energy. She didn't look like someone who had just run 1800 meters at all. She dashed over in a few steps and threw her arms around him.
"Trainer! Did you see?! I… I… I won!"
"I… cough cough… I saw you win. Congratulations… but could you let go of me first…?"
"Ah?! S-Sorry! I-I got too excited…"
Only then did Kitasan Black notice that Yasui Makoto's face was a little flushed. She quickly released him, stepped back a few paces, looked him up and down, and became flustered with guilt.
"A-Are you okay, Trainer…?"
After moving his body a bit and feeling only slight numbness in his arms, Yasui Makoto secretly breathed a sigh of relief and shook his head with a wry smile.
…What terrifying strength. If he hadn't known a bit about force dispersion, that hug just now would have at least dislocated his arms.
"I'm fine. Congratulations, Kitasan. You've won the first championship of your career."
Following the shake of his head, he congratulated her once more.
Then, with the excited Kitasan Black in tow, he thanked the doctor and headed toward the rest area.
Along the way, the black-haired girl chattered excitedly nonstop.
One moment she was saying she didn't feel anything when she crossed the finish line — she just suddenly won, and only realized it when she heard the cheers.
The next moment she said she should have invited her grandfather and the others to watch in person, but they were probably watching the live broadcast on TV.
Then she said Tokai Teio might have watched too, but whether she did or not, she was going to call her idol later to share the good news.
After that, she started talking about the "Winner's Stage."
This was an indispensable part of horse girl races.
Just like in the idol industry, horse girls didn't only race — they also performed singing and dancing. The academy's dance studio was specially designed for this.
There were also solo concerts, endorsements, and merchandise projects.
In addition, every race day ended with a performance where all participants would appear.
The star of each performance was the champion of each race — this was the "Winner's Stage."
When she mentioned the Winner's Stage, the black-haired girl suddenly stopped walking. Her jewel-like, crystal-clear red eyes stared fixedly at Yasui Makoto.
"Hey, I said so much just now, but I suddenly realized I haven't said the thing I wanted to say most… hehehe…"
With her usual silly laugh, she walked over.
Just like in the medical room, she spread her arms and hugged him, pressing her cheek against his chest.
Compared to last time, her movements were much slower and gentler this time.
"I thought of so many ways to thank you. I even wanted to write them down in the medical room.
"But after thinking for a long time and trying to type a little on my phone, I realized I didn't know how to say it at all.
"Hehe, Trainer probably already knows I'm actually pretty dumb.
"So, it must have been really hard work carrying someone as dumb as me to victory.
"Therefore… thank you, Trainer."
---
Bonus chapters
200 Stones - 1 chapter
400 Stones - 2 chapter
600 Stones - 3 chapters
And so on
patreon.com/liztl for 30 advance chapters!