As Yasui Makoto stood stunned by Almond's sudden appearance, the girl herself, walking from the paddock to the starting gate, unconsciously scanned the spectator stands, searching for the trainer she'd heard so much about.
To find her own direction, she'd naturally paid close attention to Kitasan Black—and of course, she'd also looked up information on Yasui Makoto himself.
What she'd discovered had astonished her:
This trainer was none other than the young genius her family had occasionally mentioned.
Deep down, she felt he genuinely deserved the reputation.
She'd grown up meeting countless trainers and hearing endless stories, but she'd never once heard of someone becoming a trainer before twenty, let alone guiding an Uma Musume to victories—including a G2 stakes race—right from debut.
Although she hadn't even met him yet, she instinctively felt he was worthy of his fame.
When following Kitasan-senpai's training, Almond had carefully studied her senior's notes. The guidance was remarkably similar to her family's teachings—but there were new, insightful points she'd never heard before, clearly coming from Yasui Makoto.
Her family had employed only seasoned, respected trainers. If Yasui's theoretical knowledge rivaled theirs, his practical ability likely wouldn't disappoint.
This only deepened her eagerness to meet Yasui Makoto face-to-face, to witness for herself how capable this young trainer truly was.
Yet today's audience numbered in the thousands, tightly packed around the small elementary-school playground. Finding one person among that dense crowd proved too difficult.
After fruitlessly searching the stands, her gaze finally drifted toward the front rows.
"Hey—Almond-chan! Over here! Over here!"
Fingers gripping the railing until they turned white, eyes sparkling eagerly, Kitasan Black immediately met Almond's searching glance.
"You've got this! I'll be watching your race right here!"
"…Alright. I'll do my best."
By now accustomed to her enthusiastic senpai's personality, Almond responded softly, regardless of whether the other could hear her, then turned resolutely toward the starting gate.
Just like an official race, there stood proper racing gates, though they were shorter and narrower—perfectly sized for elementary-schoolers.
Several of her classmates were already waiting in their gates.
Seeing those familiar faces, Almond unconsciously smiled, her breath quickening.
She'd participated in similar events before, but those races had always been short distances specifically chosen by her family.
This was her first-ever attempt at 2,000 meters.
Even more importantly, she hadn't informed her family at all about signing up for this race.
Between the excitement and nervousness brought on by the unfamiliarity of an unprecedented distance, and the worry of secretly making this decision without her family's approval, Almond was experiencing a kind of exhilaration she'd never known.
I bet seeing me run this race must have surprised you all, huh?
She glanced once more toward the crowd, inhaled deeply, and suppressed her smile, stepping slowly into her gate.
Just as she was adjusting her posture, trying to recall Kitasan Black's advice from the morning, she heard a quiet voice of disbelief beside her.
"…Almond, are you really going to run this race?"
Glancing sideways into the neighboring gate, Almond again couldn't suppress the eager excitement tugging at the corners of her lips.
Yet her tone remained cool and calm.
"Why? Is there a problem?"
Countering sharply, she faced forward again. "Besides… since I'm already here, don't tell me you're going to persuade me to withdraw, Satono Shirazagi?"
Beside Almond, in the adjacent gate, stood another young Uma Musume with long black hair, a distinctive streak of white highlighting her bangs. Her delicate features bore a striking resemblance to the Satono sisters.
"…You misunderstand. I never meant that."
Momentarily stunned again, Satono Shirazagi pushed up her glasses and also looked ahead, responding with a careful tone.
"I'm just saying, rationally speaking, you've never trained at 2,000 meters before, and your family doesn't exactly support—"
Before Satono Shirazagi could finish, Almond interrupted in a low voice:
"This has nothing to do with other things."
"I wanted to run 2,000 meters, so I came. It's as simple as that."
"Also, you'd better focus on your own race."
"I wouldn't want you blaming me later if your start ends up slow because we chatted."
Satono Shirazagi unconsciously adjusted her glasses again, feeling a pang of helplessness.
She and Almond were classmates, so she roughly understood Almond's situation.
Combined with conversations she'd overheard from elders at home, she had a decent idea of the rigid expectations placed on Almond and knew her friend had her own aspirations.
When their teacher had announced that Almond was participating today, Shirazagi had been both stunned that Almond would choose a distance outside her short-distance specialty, and curious as to whether she feared backlash from home.
But now Almond was standing resolutely in the starting gate, and the race was about to begin.
She could only put aside surprise and curiosity, recalling the teachings she'd received from Satono Crown-senpai that morning, focusing her gaze firmly ahead.
Right… Senpai said the gate start is crucial. Any slight hesitation would immediately cost me a favorable position.
Afterward… from this position, maybe I could aim for the inside track. Although taking the outside wouldn't be impossible either, I'd just need to watch carefully going around the corners.
If everything goes well, I'll have enough stamina for a strong finish…
Just then, the announcer's excited voice broke through her thoughts, forcing Shirazagi to sharpen her focus:
"Our young stars of the future are in position, ready and eager in their gates!"
"And now, this 2,000-meter 'Mini Satsuki Sho' on turf is about to—"
"START—Ahhh?!"
Intent on not getting distracted, Shirazagi had concentrated fully as soon as she'd heard the signal, so the announcer's sudden exclamation came through clearly.
Yet, she didn't hear another word after that.
She, too, stared in disbelief from the corner of her eye as the gate beside her burst open, a chestnut-haired figure darting forward with explosive speed.
The announcer's stunned voice continued:
"It—it's contestant Almond-chan!"
"No, not contestant Almond-san… Almond the athlete!"
"The instant the gate opened, Almond burst forward with astonishing speed, immediately seizing the lead!"
"Is—is she running this as if it's a short-distance sprint?! Indeed, Almond-san comes from a family known for producing short-distance champions…"
Because the announcer was just a schoolteacher, the commentary wasn't exactly professional compared to official races.
Yet no one cared about professionalism right now.
Every eye was fixed firmly on Almond, astonished at the explosive speed bursting forth from her tiny figure.
It was as if she sought to tear something open—within mere seconds, she'd broken free of the gates by tens of meters.
And in doing so, she immediately pulled ahead of all her competitors, opening a clearly visible gap.
Instantly, the stands erupted into feverish excitement.
Most of the audience had arrived expecting nothing more than a playful elementary-school activity.
Yet none had anticipated that the moment this supposed game began, they'd witness something that sent chills down their spines—something as thrilling as a real race.