Bringing the newly acquainted Almond Eye onto the school track, Kitasan Black took a deep breath, gently pressing her hand against her chest before turning to smile.
"Almond-chan, you know how to warm up, right?"
Almond-chan…?
Almond Eye had been quietly observing her senpai all along, but hearing the nickname made her blink slightly in surprise.
"…I do. My family senpais taught me."
As I thought, she's from a prestigious family too… Kitasan nodded inwardly.
In the classroom hallway earlier, Kitasan had only asked about Almond's running experience, not her family. But she'd already noticed something in the girl's demeanor resembling that of Dia-chan or Crown-chan—hints of noble upbringing. Now her suspicions were confirmed.
Recalling Yasui-san's careful teachings, along with how Crown-chan and Duramente-chan usually trained, Kitasan pointed toward the track.
"Great! Then start with your usual warm-up. I'll prepare some things over here."
"Understood."
Without hesitation, Almond nodded. Keeping an eye on Kitasan from the corner of her eye, she began doing stretches on the spot.
After finishing her stretches, Almond steadied her breathing, jogging quickly onto the track.
Even after stepping onto the track, Almond's attention lingered subtly on Kitasan.
From an early age, she'd been repeatedly told her duty was to uphold her family's honor in short-to-mile distances—trained specifically for the 1000-to-1800-meter range.
At first, she had no idea what the Twinkle Series really entailed and simply followed her family's instructions. But as she grew older, she witnessed thrilling races on much grander stages and longer distances. A powerful yearning took root deep within her heart.
She wanted to break free from her family's constraints, to showcase her talents in greater challenges and longer races.
When she cautiously expressed these feelings to her parents, their rejection had been immediate and harsh.
After a few attempts, she stopped mentioning it altogether.
Just like races that couldn't be won had no meaning, conversations that changed nothing were pointless.
She decided she would find her own way to surpass the 1800-meter limit.
That's when she had come across Kitasan Black's races. Curious, she'd quietly asked around about this unusual senpai.
The answers surprised her.
Before her debut, almost everyone agreed this senpai would be limited strictly to short distances. Yet upon debuting, Kitasan Black stunned them all with three consecutive middle-distance victories, thoroughly proving them wrong.
Ever since then, Almond had wanted to meet her, to ask how exactly she had overcome the limits others imposed on her. She'd never imagined encountering her by pure chance at this "Mini Satsuki Sho" event.
Naturally, the event's distance was 2000 meters—exactly the distance she had always dreamt of running.
Now, how exactly will this senpai guide me...?
Eager and thoughtful, Almond finished warming up and hurried back to Kitasan.
"Senpai, I've finished my warm-up."
Her voice was steady and composed, revealing none of her internal eagerness, though her eyes subtly focused on the notebooks and equipment at Kitasan's feet.
While warming up earlier, she'd noticed her senpai pulling several notebooks from her backpack, some palm-sized, others like textbooks. Most had worn edges from frequent use; others looked newly purchased. There was also a tablet and a stopwatch.
These must be the preparations Senpai made specifically for coaching…
"Yes, yes! Your warm-up looks great! You clearly train hard, Almond-chan!"
With a tablet in one hand and a notebook in the other, Kitasan praised her cheerfully, then consulted her notes.
"Okay, next—run a 1000-meter lap at your usual pace. Can you do that?"
Hearing "1000 meters," Almond frowned slightly.
Short-distance events ranged from 1000 to 1400 meters, while mile races covered 1401 to 1800 meters.
Ever since childhood, she'd heard these numbers repeated endlessly, to the point they grated on her ears.
But quickly relaxing her expression, Almond calmly nodded, turning toward the track.
"Should I start right away, Senpai?"
"Yep! Right now. Let me just adjust the stopwatch."
Holding the stopwatch hanging from her neck, Kitasan quickly set it up and raised her hand energetically.
"Ready? On my count! Three, two…one!"
A gust of wind blew past as Almond shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow. Kitasan stared, astonished.
What an explosive start! And this speed... Amazing!
Quickly recovering, she carefully tracked Almond's form, hitting the stopwatch button precisely each time the younger girl passed a distance marker.
From the warm-up until now, Kitasan had faithfully imitated Yasui-san's methods. She'd even replicated their pre- and post-training conversations, carefully recording every critical detail in her notebook, rewriting them neatly afterward, and reviewing them whenever possible.
For this event, she'd purchased new notebooks, specifically to organize notes on coaching younger Uma Musume.
The crucial points were distilled in the small notebook she now held.
Currently, they were working through the first point:
Assessing Almond's basic running capabilities, just as Yasui-san had done for her initially.
After Almond completed the 1000-meter lap, Kitasan quickly referenced her notes, calculated briefly, then widened her eyes again in surprise.
Clearly, Almond was nowhere near honkaku-ka—the competitive maturation phase. Her arms and legs were slender, her height barely reaching Kitasan's chest.
Yet, she had just clocked nearly 15 meters per second for the full 1000 meters.
This speed approached that of an Uma Musume who had just begun her honkaku-ka period.
Kitasan herself remembered her earliest training results just after entering honkaku-ka had only been slightly over 15 meters per second. It seemed this younger Uma Musume's raw talent might actually exceed her own, at least in pure speed.
Moreover, Almond still looked fresh and energetic after finishing, suggesting considerable endurance.
Considering all this, Kitasan continued arranging additional tests, deep in thought.
With this kind of speed, Almond-chan must have great finishing power. Maybe she can run from behind and burst through at the end…
Wait. Trainer-san said you need experience to master the timing of a late kick. Almond-chan hasn't raced yet, so running too far back might be risky.
Then, a stalker position? But that demands excellent stamina management…
She shouldn't run too far back, so mid-pack and chaser strategies are out. Stalking risks stamina depletion…
Could I have Almond-chan try running as a front-runner like me…?
Ugh…this is harder than I thought. Is being a trainer always this tough?
No! I can't think like that!
Come on, Kita-chan! Almond-chan placed her trust in you, and you promised Trainer-san you'd do your best! You absolutely can't lose heart now!
Maybe I need to observe Almond-chan just a little bit longer…
Oh—I've got it!
After briefly feeling conflicted, Kitasan's eyes suddenly lit up, and she waved enthusiastically at Almond, who had just completed another test run.
"Hey—Almond-chan! I've got an idea! Come and run with me right now!"