At the entrance to the athletes' tunnel, Fumino and Kuroha quickly met the two girls coming off the track.
Inari was still all spark and swagger.
Super Creek, after those first few minutes of collapse, had somehow recovered her legs just as quickly.
Even when Kuroha checked with Body and Breath Perception, he couldn't spot any major issues.
The Panacea hadn't let him down—
even diluted several times, its effect was still the real deal.
After that came the usual routine—the winner's stage and the press scrum.
Kuroha ran the standard-issue answers and wrapped this season's Tenno Sho trip.
Time rolled; spring bled into summer.
In a blink, more than a month had passed.
In Central, the spotlight had perched squarely on the "slots that matter."
Following the Tenno Sho (Spring), Inari again took a G1 in an incontestable stomp—
the half-year closer of the spring meets, the Takarazuka Kinen.
Elsewhere on the team, Mejiro Ardan, Sakura Chiyono O, and the others were swiping G3s and even G2s with ease.
A half-year of zero losses.
"Chasing Light" shook Central to the core, and the media started calling Kuroha a "genius trainer of the new year's opening run."
Somewhere in there, Kuroha also received his promotion notice—
officially a Senior Central Trainer, a rank on par (position-wise) with Ginjirou Musaka.
Today—
Central Tracen Academy, Student Council President's office.
Symboli Rudolf sat behind a mountain of paperwork, massaging a throbbing temple.
In crisp contrast, the other side of the office felt like a café break.
Kuroha sipped Maruzensky's black tea, flipping through a handout at a lazy pace.
Maruzensky, all smiles, poured for them both; the room smelled softly of fresh tea.
"Huh?"
Kuroha snorted a laugh, lifted the sheet closer.
"This year's Central Trainer License pass list… why's it blank?"
Rudolf finally looked up from the drifts. The face was tired but still imperial.
"What else? Nobody passed."
Maruzensky twirled a lock of hair, still smiling. "Because you added those last-minute exam items back in winter, Rudolf."
Rudolf rolled her eyes. "How is that my fault?"
"Every new item is a major elective in the Trainers' Academy. The Association even extended the exam window by two weeks."
"If they won't study, don't pin it on me."
Kuroha and Maruzensky traded a glance as Rudolf vented on. They both swallowed their chuckles.
"Hey—hey!"
Rudolf rapped the desk.
"If you two have chit-chat time, you have help-me time."
For once the crescent-bangs president looked less like the distant Emperor on a battlefield and more like a girl griping to friends.
Kuroha set the papers down and grinned. "Runa, you gotta do your own chores."
Lately, after morning drills, he'd drop by to exercise his Senior Trainer privileges—
peek at Central's internal files so the pass didn't go to waste.
Every time, Rudolf was drowning in work.
Maruzensky did fetch a sheet or two… and then let the rest float past with that "not my department" smile.
As for the third in the student council—Representative Chiaki—
Kuroha had been at Central almost half a year and barely seen her. Show up like a dragon, vanish like a cloud.
The future "Empress" who would serve at Rudolf's side—Air Groove—was probably still in grade school.
No way she could share the load yet.
"Honestly…"
Rudolf stared at her two "helpers," sighed deep.
Just then Maruzensky tapped her cheek, remembering something.
"Speaking of, Oguri Cap should be back for the autumn meets. It'll get even busier."
"Autumn's trouble can wait for autumn," Rudolf declared, pure surrender, and slid into the seat beside Kuroha.
Maruzensky passed her a fresh cup with a smile.
"Thanks, Maru."
A sip later, the warmth smoothed the tension out of Rudolf's shoulders.
"Your string's been blazing in Central, Kuroha."
He only smiled, sipped, and answered mildly, "We got lucky. Mainly they worked hard."
"Luck?" Rudolf shook her head. "Luck doesn't birth monsters like Inari and Oguri."
She tilted toward him, serious.
"Fujimasa March and Inari—that way of using a Domain… that's your hand, isn't it?"
As someone who also holds a Domain—and sits at its summit—
once she'd watched the Osaka Hai and Tenno Sho cuts, she'd felt it at once:
beneath the "Second Step" frenzy lay a core honed by a thousand forges—
beyond the usual shackle of Domain power.
Beyond even what the older generation of Domain users—herself included—had done.
It bordered on unbelievable.
Kuroha just smiled, neither admitting nor denying.
"I only helped them find the way of running that fit best."
"Aiyaa~"
Maruzensky twined her hair and chimed in, teasing.
"Central's trainers are in a panic—studying your girls' tactics like holy scripture. You're famous, Kuroha."
Rudolf's face returned to put-upon president. She sighed and drew the topic back.
"What's the point of studying if your basics are mush? You can't even copy, much less understand. That's why I pushed the exam reforms."
Her tone carried weight. "Times are shifting. The horse girls are evolving."
"I can feel it. The next generation's prodigies will shine even brighter."
"If the trainers stay stuck in the past, they'll only slow them down—or wreck them."
Kuroha listened in silence and could only praise the Emperor's intuition.
True enough.
If the age keeps rising, the next wave—the golden era of Mejiro McQueen, Tokai Teio, and the rest—will burst forth.
Quality and quantity both will dwarf Oguri's time.
He looked at the Emperor who was burning herself for Central Tracen and set his cup down.
"Step by step. You can't eat the whole elephant. Reform is a long march."
Simple words—but they landed like a hand on the shoulder.
Rudolf blinked and finally let all the tension go, smiling in relief.
"…Yeah. You're right."
They drifted through more campus small talk; the office hush loosened.
Maruzensky lifted the pot, refilled all three cups, and asked with a grin,
"Summer break is just about here—got travel plans?"
At the word break, Rudolf's face fell flat; her eyes went full dead-fish.
"Where would I even go? I'll die in this office."
Maruzensky blinked, then laughed behind her hand.
"Oh right—I forgot you're the one who doesn't get a break."
Rudolf gave her a look. "By rights, you shouldn't, either."
"Ahaha…"
Maruzensky dodged and cut her gaze to Kuroha, who was quietly enjoying tea.
"What about you? Where to for summer?"
Kuroha's fingers rubbed the warm cup. His eyes drifted past the wall, as if he were already staring far away.
"I'm thinking… a trip back to my hometown."
"Back home?" Maruzensky blinked. "Got it all arranged?"
"Working on it," Kuroha chuckled.
Rudolf caught on instantly, pink eyes brightening.
"You mean—training camp in Tōkō?"
Kuroha nodded… then shook his head.
"'Training camp'… mostly to get them to breathe."
Seeing their puzzled looks, he explained softly:
"Seven girls on my roster. Teio hasn't True Bloomed yet, McQueen hasn't debuted, and the rest are Seniors or entering their peak."
"Their physical ceilings are basically reached—hard push won't move the needle much."
"So the plan is—rest to grow."
"Mm. We'll train, but that'll be second chair."
His voice gentled without his noticing, a touch of fondness there.
"No matter what, they're still at the brightest time of their lives."
"After you reach for running and victory… you should get to play, right?"
Silence pooled for a beat.
Rudolf and Maruzensky watched that mild smile—and their hearts both stuttered once.
"Ahem." Rudolf cleared her throat. "That's… not bad. I approve."
"Tōkō, huh…" Maruzensky's eyes gleamed. "I want to see it too."
"Then come along for summer. I'll play guide." Kuroha smiled.
"If it's no trouble, of course~" Maruzensky beamed.
"…And me?" Rudolf pointed at herself, helpless.
"Rudolf…"
"You'll be the academy's resident bound spirit," Kuroha and Maruzensky said in perfect sync, laughing.
"You two…!"
(End of Chapter)
[Get +20 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Zaelum"]
[Every 500 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]