After the Shiwasu Special Cup, Kitahara arranged mainly rest for Oguri Cap and Super Creek.
The intensity of an official race is not something training can compare to.
Compared to daily training, formal races consume much more energy and exert more violent strain. Muscles, bones, nerves, and other physical structures are subjected to destructive stress in races. If this stress isn't promptly recuperated and healed, at first nothing may seem wrong — but over time, problems are inevitable.
Tendonitis, myofascitis, meniscus wear — these illnesses are all extremely serious. In the worst cases, they can't be cured at all. Whether for human athletes or horse girls, these are conditions spoken of with fear. Aside from congenital weaknesses, such illnesses often stem from overwork and failing to rest properly after intense competition.
However, this time, when he arranged for rest, Kitahara ran into a bit of friction with his horse girls.
"Kitahara, I want to do extra training."
"Mr. Kitahara, I also—"
"Denied."
Sorting through the data from the Shiwasu Special Cup and the Naruo Kinen in his office, Kitahara, unusually firm, rejected Oguri Cap and Small Bay's requests without the slightest compromise.
"Why not?"
Oguri Cap was puzzled.
"Inari didn't even say goodbye before leaving. She must've secretly gone back to Ōi to train, right? I can't lose to her!"
Small Bay didn't speak, but the eager look in her eyes clearly showed her thoughts were the same as Oguri Cap's.
Kitahara finally raised his head, confused.
"…Who told you Inari went back to train?"
"Just a guess, of course."
Oguri Cap said it as if it were obvious.
"Because I'm here asking you for extra training too."
Super Creek kept nodding at the side.
"Oh? So what you're saying is, if Inari isn't training, you two wouldn't be clinging here? Is that what I should understand?"
His eyes flashed as he gave a subtle smile, pretending to ask casually.
"Naturally."
"…Eh, Oguri…"
The two horse girls had a tiny disagreement — Oguri Cap nodded rapidly, and while Small Bay hesitated, tugging at Oguri Cap's sleeve, Oguri had already blurted it out.
"Good. That's what you said."
Tricking Super Creek in as well, Kitahara pulled out his phone, scrolled, and brought up a video from his chat history, then handed it over.
"Here. Watch this."
The two glanced at each other in puzzlement and then looked at the screen.
On the screen was a lively, bustling bonfire festival.
In the far background, dozens of thick wooden poles as wide as a man's embrace had been stacked to build a massive bonfire tower, turning the night vivid red.
Around the bonfire, men and women wore carefully prepared festival outfits, clanging wooden ladles, faces glowing with smiles.
They sang and danced, carrying a flower float borne by eight people.
On the colorful float sat a small figure.
She wore a bright purple festival robe, holding a big flower wreath in each hand, waving them mechanically.
A brand-new red fox mask sat askew on her head, under which was a face full of lifeless despair.
On her cute, pretty face was a stiff, unnatural smile as if carved into place.
From the video came the voice of Tarō.
"…Hello? Brother Kitahara? It's a bit noisy here."
"Everyone's like this normally. This time Inari didn't win the championship, but the race was incredible — even the central newspapers reported it. So we decided to hold a bonfire festival to celebrate."
"The festival's lively — everyone in the neighborhood came. Some senior students, coworkers, and many of Inari's classmates came too."
"They all came to congratulate Inari for her performance."
"Inari's very happy. Look — isn't she smiling so brightly—"
Suddenly, Yuzuhara Tarō's words were violently interrupted.
"Where do you see me smiling brightly?! What part of my face says 'happy,' huh?! Don't think I didn't hear that! I'm a horse girl — I heard what you said just now, Tarō! Both ears heard it loud and clear!"
"See? Full of energy, right?"
Tarō's face filled the screen, blocking most of the festival behind him. You could just faintly see the flower float wobbling.
"Anyway, Inari said she got a bit tired from this run and just happens to be taking a little break."
"Brother Kitahara, next time you get the chance to bring Oguri Cap and the others to Ōi, I'll take you all to an even livelier festival."
The video ended.
"…Inari clearly doesn't look very…"
"Damn, that looks so fun. I wanna go."
Kitahara's two horse girls immediately split in opinion again.
"Huh? Oguri, you…"
Small Bay looked at Oguri in disbelief, opening her mouth.
"Weren't we here to—"
"Ōi has something that fun? If I'd known, I would've asked Inari more… Hmm? What did you say, Small Bay?"
Oguri stared at Small Bay blankly for a moment before realizing.
"Oh, oh — extra training, right…"
"Ahem, uh, Kitahara…"
Clenching a loose fist and coughing dryly, she turned her head toward Kitahara.
"I said no, and no means no. You just promised me — if Inari's not training, then neither are you."
Without mercy, Kitahara rejected them again — and added another blow:
"By the way, Tamamo isn't doing extra training either."
"She called last night saying Komiyama's personality somehow changed — he took her to eat a super delicious, super expensive okonomiyaki, and today he's taking her to eat something else good."
"So, the four of you — for this period — are all going to rest properly for me."
Why… does it feel like we got played by Kitahara / Mr. Kitahara… ×2
And probably Tamamo and Inari got played by Komiyama and Tōra too… ×2
Scratching their heads in sync, the two horse girls' long ears drooped.
Seeing this, Kitahara felt a bit bad. He didn't relent, but he decided to explain.
Thinking for a moment, he casually picked up his tea cup from the desk and also a pen.
"Watch this."
Ding.
He tapped the pen tip against the tea cup — a crisp sound rang out.
"One little bump like this — no one would think the cup would break, but…"
He moved the tea cup closer to Oguri Cap and Small Bay, signaling them to look closely.
"Right where I tapped — do you see a little black dot?"
At the spot he described, indeed there was a small black ink mark barely visible to the naked eye.
Oguri Cap and Super Creek nodded — then both shook their heads.
"Kitahara, I don't really get it…" Oguri Cap voiced their shared confusion.
"It's simple. One collision like this does almost nothing to the tea cup — just like that little black dot, hardly noticeable, maybe even invisible."
Kitahara explained patiently:
"But if you keep colliding over and over, the invisible damage in the cup will build up."
"Eventually, the cup will be full of cracks — and then you won't even need to hit it. Just pick it up lightly, and the whole thing will shatter."
"If you don't believe me, try it yourself sometime with a cup or something."
Seeing the two horse girls' expressions shift into thoughtful ones, Kitahara quietly chuckled — and then suddenly thought of another excuse.
"Besides, I've got a few things to take care of during this period. I don't even have the time to run proper training sessions, so…"
"During this time, you two — rest well for me. Understood?"
(End of Chapter)