At the very front of the stands, Yasui Makoto finally lowered the binoculars he'd held up throughout the race, exhaling softly with relief and amusent.
"Heh, tripping right after winning the race... I don't even know what to say about that..."
Hearing this, Satono Crown looked at him with mild shock, while Satono Diamond appeared concerned.
Satono Crown sighed lightly.
"...Yasui-san, isn't it a bit inappropriate to say sothing like that about your assigned Uma Musu?"
anwhile, Satono Diamond's concern grew more evident.
"Nee-san, never mind that now... Yasui-san, Kitasan fell down... Aren't you going to check on her?"
From a rational perspective, Yasui Makoto wasn't worried at all about Kitasan Black's fall.
He ticulously monitored training data every day, and he knew very well how extraordinarily robust his assigned Uma Musu was.
Moreover, he'd overheard a few anecdotes from Kitasan herself in the cafeteria, which further proved his point.
Once, when the topic of constitution ca up, Kitasan ntioned casually that she'd always been exceptionally healthy since childhood.
She rarely fell sick or got hurt.
Whether climbing mountains, exploring forests, or even going swimming far from shore, she'd always remained energetic long after her companions collapsed in exhaustion.
Once, during elentary school, she and her classmate Satono Diamond spotted a kitten stuck in a tree. Trying to rescue it, Kitasan accidentally slipped and fell from a height equivalent to three stories.
In the end, she'd only sustained minor scrapes—and left a small crater on the ground where she'd landed.
Kitasan was perfectly fine, but she'd frightened Satono Diamond terribly.
At the end of that anecdote, Kitasan had even said that her usual training felt too easy and she'd wished Yasui would increase the intensity.
Of course, Yasui had no intention of abruptly changing his carefully planned training schedule.
In his mind, intensity should steadily increase over ti, never rushed.
Yet despite his rational understanding, seeing Kitasan Black fall with his own eyes, Yasui couldn't help but feel uneasy.
So, hearing Satono Diamond's suggestion, he nodded briefly and hurried toward the back of the stands.
Satono Diamond anxiously moved to follow him, only to find her wrist suddenly caught.
"Nee-san…?"
She looked at Satono Crown in surprise. "What's wrong…?"
"...There's sothing I'd like to ask you."
Satono Crown shifted her gaze toward the scoreboard.
"Look at the race data: 1 minute, 51.9 seconds; last three furlongs in 34.1 seconds. Those are Kitasan's finishing ti and closing splits."
Satono Diamond glanced at the scoreboard, verifying her sister's words, but this only made her more confused.
"Yes, that's true, but… I haven't even made my debut yet, so I don't really understand the aning of those numbers."
Satono Crown pondered briefly.
"If I told you my debut race was at the sa 1800 ters here, and my finishing ti was 1 minute, 50 seconds flat with a final three furlongs of 33.5 seconds—would that give you any ideas?"
Satono Diamond gasped slightly.
"Wait—are you saying Kitasan actually… wasn't as fast as you, Nee-san? But why does it seem like… she was clearly much faster than you were at the ti?"
She vividly rembered cheering for her sister during that debut race, watching the entire event from start to finish.
Her sister had won beautifully, and the data had been excellent.
Yet inexplicably, her intuition told her that Kitasan—whose recorded tis were slower—had sohow been running faster.
"I don't know either. Since you're roommates with Kitasan, I thought you might understand sothing I missed. But you're right; if even I don't get it, there's no way you would before you've even debuted."
Shaking her head slightly, Satono Crown stared thoughtfully in the direction Yasui had gone.
"Kitasan trains with us, and we've all seen her regular sessions. But over the past month, her special training has been exclusively handled by that trainer. Clearly, that young trainer's thods differ greatly from others. Maybe the answer to the question neither of us can understand lies with him—Trainer Yasui Makoto."
...
Yasui found Kitasan Black in the infirmary—but not because she'd been injured.
Every race was physically demanding, requiring routine pre- and post-race check-ups. And given the spectacular fall Kitasan had taken imdiately after crossing the finish line, naturally the staff wouldn't overlook it.
The examination results matched Yasui's expectation exactly—his assigned Uma Musu was perfectly healthy, as if she'd never fallen at all.
Upon spotting Yasui, Kitasan burst forth with incredible energy, not at all like soone who'd just run 1800 ters. In a few quick strides, she launched herself at him, enveloping him in a tight hug.
"Trainer! Did you see that?! I—I really won!"
"I… cough, cough—I saw you win. Congratulations... but could you let go of first...?"
"A-ah, I'm sorry! I—I got too excited..."
Realizing Yasui's face had flushed, Kitasan released him hastily, stepping back with anxious concern.
"Trainer… you're okay, right…?"
Flexing his arms slightly and relieved to feel only mild numbness, Yasui shook his head wryly.
...She really does have incredible strength. If I didn't know how to disperse the force a little, that hug might've dislocated my shoulders.
"I'm fine. Congratulations again, Kitasan. You've won your first official race."
He smiled gently, reiterating his congratulations.
After thanking Doctor Agnes Tachyon, Yasui walked toward the lounge area with the excited Kitasan at his side.
All the way, the black-haired girl kept chattering energetically.
One mont she described how she hadn't even realized she'd crossed the line until she heard the crowd cheer.
The next, she regretted not inviting her grandfather and family to watch in person—but figured they'd surely watched it live on TV.
Then she wondered aloud if Teio-senpai had watched her race, determined to call her idol regardless.
Eventually, she ntioned the "Winner's Stage."
This was an indispensable tradition in Uma Musu races. Like other idol industries, Uma Musu engaged not only in racing but also singing and dancing performances, for which the Academy's dance halls had been specially designed.
There were also solo concerts, endorsents, and rchandise.
Additionally, every race day concluded with an evening performance involving all participants. The star of each performance was always the winner—that was the "Winner's Stage."
When ntioning the Winner's Stage, Kitasan suddenly stopped walking, turning her gemstone-clear, crimson eyes toward Yasui.
"You know, I've talked so much already, but just realized I haven't even said the most important thing yet… hehe…"
She giggled bashfully, stepping closer to him.
Slowly this ti, just as she had done earlier—but much more gently—she wrapped her arms around him once more, pressing her cheek softly against his chest.
"I thought a lot about how I should thank you, and even considered writing it down while I was still in the infirmary. But no matter how hard I tried, even writing it on my phone, I realized… I just don't know how to put it."
"Hehe… Trainer, you already know how clumsy and slow I can be. It must've been really tough, guiding soone as dense as to victory."
She closed her eyes softly, smiling warmly against his chest.
"So… Thank you, Trainer."
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