Over the next few days, Kuroha began personally guiding Tokai Teio through her new training program.
Because of the New Year holidays, aside from the three Uma who had already retired or were about to retire, practically all of the girls in Team Chasing Light had been forcibly put on rest at Kuroha's instruction.
After all, they had just finished four straight months of intensive training and a packed racing schedule. There was no way Kuroha would let them be willful enough to keep self-training even during the holidays.
As a result, for now, Teio was the only one in all of Chasing Light still in training over the New Year.
After a brief consideration, Kuroha decided to move her training venue from the Mejiro training track to the public track at Central Tracen Academy.
Not only were there almost no other Uma using the facility.
It was also closer to the home Kuroha and Teio shared.
Which made it far more convenient for Teio to come over to Kuroha's villa for a meal, or for massages and recovery treatment after training.
You could call it killing three birds with one stone.
So.
Because most of the students had gone home for vacation, the Central Tracen campus, which felt empty and desolate to everyone else, instead became the perfect private training ground for Tokai Teio.
…
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
At dawn, before the first rays of sunlight had even pierced the morning mist, heavy footsteps were already echoing across the Central training track.
"Hah!"
Teio gritted her teeth and pushed forward on the track.
Her form was crisp and agile. With just a light push off the ground, she could spring forward an impressive distance.
But right now, the girl was gasping for breath, drenched in sweat. Every time she lifted her legs, it felt like she was dragging a thousand-pound weight.
True Blooming hadn't only given her speed and power.
It had also unlocked deeper layers of her body.
Which was why the plan Kuroha had tailored for her was far beyond anything from before.
"Teio! Hold that speed! Focus!"
Kuroha stood at the rail, stopwatch in hand, his voice cold and devoid of emotion.
"Your focus is starting to wander! An undefeated Triple Crown Uma doesn't get distracted by training at this level!"
This was nothing.
If you stopped when your body just felt worn out, that couldn't even be called training.
Now that she had undergone True Blooming, the regimen Teio had to endure was no longer the little-filly-level foundational development course.
It was the formal program that every active Chasing Light racehorse was expected to go through.
Watching Teio's form on the track starting to show hints of breaking down, Kuroha leaned back against the rail with a quiet sigh.
He suddenly remembered two years ago.
The first time he took over Fujimasa March and trained her until she was puking.
He actually felt a little nostalgic…
"You're still not worked to where you need to be, Teio." Kuroha murmured.
…
The morning session ended quickly.
"Uu…"
Teio lay sprawled on the track, limbs flung in all directions, her chest rising and falling violently.
Even her signature crescent forelock was soaked through with sweat, strands of hair sticking messily to her forehead.
"N-no more… Trainer… I feel like I'm going to die…"
"Training's over."
Kuroha pressed the button on his stopwatch and jotted down today's data in his notebook, his tone easing back into its usual warmth.
He walked over, crouched down by Teio's side, and looked at her "salted fish" posture with an amused expression.
"Done in after just one morning? I seem to recall a certain someone saying she was going to be an undefeated Triple Crown Uma."
"Even an undefeated Triple Crown Uma… can die from exhaustion…"
Teio kept her eyes closed, muttering weakly, "Besides, it's not just the three races that are brutal… this training is the real devil… demo… demon…"
"Oh?"
Kuroha raised an eyebrow. "Devil Trainers don't provide lunch. I was actually planning to go back and make honey-glazed char siu rice with special daikon spare-rib soup…"
"!"
Before he could finish, the salted-fish on the ground tried to kip up like a carp—
…and failed.
In the end, Teio only managed to slowly push herself to her feet and leaned against Kuroha's side, voice suddenly sugary as she clung to his arm and shook it.
"Trainer~ I wanna eat, and I want a massage too."
One of the reasons she was pushing herself this hard these days…
Aside from that vow in her heart to surpass Symboli Rudolf's glory, become an undefeated Triple Crown Uma, and step onto the World Circuit…
Was all the delicious food her Trainer and her senior Uma made, and the blissful massage-and-therapy time that came after each meal.
Watching the girl skillfully play up her spoiled act at his side, Kuroha couldn't help but chuckle.
Then he tossed a dry towel he'd prepared in advance onto Teio's head, covering that pitiful little face.
"Let's go."
"Got it—!"
Teio answered with a long, drawn-out note and let Kuroha rub her face dry.
Days like this… didn't feel so bad at all.
Squinting her eyes, the girl happily soaked in her Trainer's gentle care, a blissful smile spreading across her face.
…
After a quick clean-up, the two of them headed home.
Teio walked in front.
Even after a round of "devil training," her body still recovered at a frightening pace.
She was already lively enough to skip along, humming her own improvised "Hakimi Song" as she went.
Kuroha followed behind her, his gaze soft as he watched the small, adorable figure up ahead.
"At the rate Teio's progressing now, by the time the spring races open, she'll probably be able to go head-to-head with the Classic-year Uma Musume of this generation."
Kuroha couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
The Central girls were already the cream of the crop in this far eastern island nation. The graded-race candidates among them were geniuses among geniuses.
And Tokai Teio stood above even them.
A genius among geniuses among geniuses.
The gap in base stats alone…
Was the most fundamental difference between a heaven's chosen child and an ordinary prodigy.
Not to mention that Teio was just one step away from completely stepping into the second stage of Domain.
She probably had a very real chance of sweeping this year's Classic Triple Crown outright.
Well… assuming McQueen didn't exist…
"La-la-la, la-la-la…"
Teio hummed her little tune up ahead.
Then, as if she'd noticed something, her song gradually slowed and she glanced off in one direction…
"What is it, Teio?"
Kuroha walked up alongside her, his eyes narrowing slightly as he followed her gaze.
Teio tilted her head, a little unsure. "Trainer, aren't those two Elementary Division students over there training?"
She had only undergone True Blooming a few days ago.
Her mindset still hadn't caught up from "little filly in the Elementary Division" to "active Middle Division Uma Musume."
Kuroha's brows drew together into a frown.
He followed Teio's line of sight.
Not far away, on a slightly smaller public track, the kind usually used for Elementary Division PE classes, a tiny figure was pushing herself to run through the cold wind.
Another girl stood on the sideline, watching.
One had chestnut-colored long hair, the other distinctive black curls that covered her eyes, adorned with a blue rose hair ornament.
Both of them were still very small. At a glance, you could tell they were Elementary Division Uma Musume.
"That's weird…" Teio cocked her head and muttered to herself, "Isn't it still vacation today? The teachers said we're not allowed to train on our own."
"…"
Kuroha's frown deepened.
Teio had voiced exactly what he was thinking.
As far as he knew…
Across all of Central Tracen Academy, aside from the handful of noble-bloodline Uma Musume who were allowed to receive coaching from any trainer even before True Blooming…
The vast majority of little fillies hadn't been taken into any trainer's team yet.
And since it was New Year's break, ninety-nine percent of the students and trainers had gone home.
Letting two Elementary Division kids train unsupervised at a time like this?
That wasn't "hardworking" anymore. That was reckless.
"Teio, you head back first."
Kuroha's tone sank.
"Eh?"
"Go back to the villa and get the table set. I'll go check things out."
"Okay… got it."
Teio was curious, of course, but she also knew that whenever her Trainer showed that expression, he meant business.
"Then I'll go back and wait for you, okay! Trainer, hurry back and cook!"
"I know."
Kuroha answered, watching Teio hop away into the distance. Only after she had disappeared from sight did he turn toward the smaller training track and start walking.
He wanted to see exactly whose kids were being pushed this hard, and whose nerves were this big.
Kuroha stepped slowly into the training ground.
The little Uma who had been running finally came to a stop, bracing her hands on her knees and panting heavily.
"B-Bourbon, I really think we should stop… Didn't Sensei say we're not allowed to train on our own before we've gone through True Blooming?"
The girl standing at the rail was a cute little loli with black curls covering her eyes and a blue rose accessory in her hair, her face full of worry.
The chestnut-haired filly on the track drew in deep breaths, then straightened her back. A flash of cool, unyielding light passed through her eyes.
"… Diagnosis: all systems, nominal. Confirmed: any difficulty can be overcome."
(End of Chapter)
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