Chapter 283: What Kind of Runner is Almond Eye?
"…If the straight were a bit longer… it's hard to say,"
Taking the towel her Trainer handed her, Kitasan Black wiped the sweat from her face and thought aloud:
"Orf-senpai's corner cutting, Festa-senpai's way of using centrifugal force to tighten her line, and Gold Ship-senpai's perfectly timed early acceleration…"
"And Dream Journey-senpai and Stay Gold-senpai too—the way they handled things has a lot I can learn from."
"If the straight had really been longer, whether I could've won is still up in the air."
Hearing this, Makoto felt very pleased.
He had originally planned to comfort Kitasan Black like usual. After all, in practice races with her seniors, she rarely won, and she would often feel down afterward.
And practice races are meant to find weaknesses—winning or losing isn't that important. Plus, this track wasn't one she was familiar with.
But unexpectedly, Kitasan Black didn't seem to need that kind of comfort anymore.
Not only did she not need it—she was actively reflecting on her shortcomings.
Makoto's eyes filled with admiration as he patted her shoulder.
"I'm really glad you're thinking this way.
"The point of practice races is to help us find problems. Look—on this special track today, you realized your weaknesses in cornering and track familiarity, didn't you?"
He paused slightly, glancing at Orfevre and Gold Ship, who were bickering nearby, then continued:
"Runners like Orfevre—on tracks they're familiar with, they can maximize their strengths. That's something worth learning from."
"But you have your own strengths too."
"Your stamina and pace control have always been excellent. You were just limited by the complex corners today."
Kitasan Black listened carefully, nodding from time to time. At the end, she added:
"I was thinking something similar."
"I feel like I relied too much on my usual techniques and didn't adjust to the track in time."
"But next time, I'll be more careful."
As she spoke, she clenched her fist, determination shining in her eyes.
At that moment, Inanami Takatoshi walked over with Lucky Lilac. A gentle smile rested on his face, and his gaze toward Makoto and Kitasan Black was full of approval.
"Yasui-san, your Umamusume is really outstanding," he said warmly.
"This training ground here is quite special, too many corners and the straights are too short."
"Gold Ship and the others grew up running around here, so they naturally have an advantage."
"For Kitasan Black to perform like this on her first run—and to reflect and analyze afterward—is truly impressive."
He then turned to Lucky Lilac and gently patted her shoulder.
"Lilac, you should learn well from Kitasan Black."
Standing beside him, Lucky Lilac looked at Kitasan Black with admiration and respect. Hearing his words, she nodded vigorously.
"Yes, Grandpa Inanami!"
"I'll learn from my senpais, and…"
"During the race just now, my cornering was all over the place. Compared to them, I'm still far behind."
Seeing her sincerity, Kitasan Black walked over and smiled, gently patting her head.
"That's not entirely true, Lilac."
"I think you did really well today too. You never gave up during the race and kept chasing—that's already amazing."
"And I also grew through repeated training and races. You've got plenty of time to improve."
"Oh right!" she added enthusiastically.
"I'll introduce you to Almond Eye later. You'll probably both be studying and training at Tracen Academy, so you can work hard together!"
Kitasan Black spoke excitedly, while Lucky Lilac became curious about Almond Eye.
She had previously heard from Takatoshi Imanami that Makoto and Kitasan Black were visiting partly as a courtesy, and partly to learn more about her—for the sake of Almond Eye.
At first, she felt a bit uneasy about this kind of visit.
She hadn't even known who Almond Eye was before, but after learning that she was also a candidate for Tracen Academy, she had already begun to see her as a rival.
If they were rivals, then having the other party's senpai and trainer come to visit—wouldn't that affect her own entrance exam?
She didn't hide this thought and asked Takatoshi Imanami about it at the time.
Imanami had simply smiled and said—what does it matter? Setting aside the fact that the entrance exam includes many different components, Lilac would surely meet the requirements.
So Makoto and Kitasan Black had only come to aim for better results in a practice race. This particular race would not determine admission.
More importantly, Makoto had deliberately brought only Kitasan Black—perhaps also with the intention of exchanging experience, which was a good thing.
In exchanges like this, not only can trainers discuss and improve with each other, but Lilac herself could also learn from them—it would benefit her greatly.
And now, looking back, after just one practice race, she really had gained a deeper understanding of racing.
Moreover, Kitasan Black was very strong—and Makoto was probably no less capable.
So then, as Kitasan Black's junior, and someone trained by Makoto… what kind of runner was Almond Eye?
Thinking of this, Lucky Lilac couldn't suppress her curiosity. She looked up at Kitasan Black, tilting her head slightly and blinking.
"Kita-senpai, Almond Eye… what kind of personality does she have?"
"Ai-chan?"
Caught off guard for a moment, a gentle smile quickly appeared in Kitasan Black's eyes as Almond Eye's image came to mind.
"Almond Eye… she's a very hardworking and adorable girl. Just like you, she's full of passion for becoming an excellent runner."
Recalling the times she had spent with her, she couldn't help but let out a soft laugh.
"She's extremely serious during training—she always gives it her all, and no matter what difficulties she faces, she never gives up easily."
"Just like you today, always maintaining that competitive spirit on the track."
Listening to Kitasan Black's description, Lucky Lilac couldn't help but form an image of Almond Eye in her mind, murmuring softly:
"She sounds… really amazing."
She bit her lip slightly, then asked again, "Then, senpai, what kind of races is Almond Eye best at? Would she be very different from me?"
Inside, she was already making comparisons, trying to understand the differences between herself and Almond Eye through Kitasan Black's words.
"As for that…"
After thinking for a moment, Kitasan Black looked toward Makoto.
"I'm not entirely sure about that part—Trainer?"
Hearing this, Lucky Lilac also turned her curious gaze toward him.
"Almond Eye's strengths in racing…" Makoto hesitated slightly.
It wasn't that he didn't want to share his thoughts—rather, much of his judgment about Almond Eye didn't come from her past performances, but from his own memories.
From her actual track record, due to her family's prior arrangements, Almond Eye had always been trained for sprint and mile races.
Her results were naturally decent—but trying to infer her abilities in middle-distance or even long-distance races from that kind of training was something no one in the runner world could realistically do.