Over the next week, in addition to her regular training and endurance drills, Kitasan Black had been trying to learn Great Escape techniques from Silence Suzuka.
Even without anyone pointing it out, she could tell she was not picking them up as easily as her senpai had.
She was already a Uma Musume skilled at leading runs. She understood how important posture, center of gravity, and the push off the ground were when leaving the gate. Only by exploding into an almost full sprint right at the start could she seize the lead early and build the foundation for pulling away later.
But what Silence Suzuka taught was something most Uma Musume simply could not achieve—even those who specialized in leading.
To get that extra step out of the gate required more than technique. It needed the right warm-up to adjust her state beforehand, plus raw explosive power. After that, maintaining the lead relied on the natural rise in her body's condition during the race, plus help from the track itself and even her opponents—using inclines, declines, turns, and the atmosphere of the final stretch.
Even after months of training and several official races, Kitasan Black knew the truth. Every time she managed to take the lead out of the gate, it was mostly because of her own overwhelming strength.
Suzuka's strength was clearly not as great as hers, yet she could still reach a faster starting speed without much warm-up at all. More importantly, her senpai did it directly, without needing the track, opponents, or atmosphere to help.
So how exactly did someone enter that state from the very beginning…?
For several days straight, whether she was training or resting, Kitasan Black kept turning the question over in her mind. She thought about it alone, and after every joint run she asked both Silence Suzuka and Yasui.
After training ended that day, when Kitasan Black brought the question up again, Silence Suzuka thought for a moment.
"I don't know much about the theoretical side. Yasui should be the one to explain that part."
She gestured toward Yasui, who was busy organizing data nearby, then continued.
"Just talking about state… I'm probably a Uma Musume who finds it easier than most to run at high speeds.
"Maybe it's been that way since I was little. Back then I never thought about becoming a Uma Musume or anything. I just liked running freely.
"Whether I was with friends or alone, as long as I could run without a care, I was happy.
"About that… actually, when I first came to Tracen Academy…"
She paused.
In her mind, her active career split into three stages.
At first she had been genuinely happy after passing the assessment and entering Tracen Academy. She felt she could finally run freely on a bigger stage.
Soon she realized that racing was completely different from the carefree feeling she had as a child.
Training was monotonous and boring. Leaving the gate, for example—at the beginning she had to practice it every single day. Enter the gate, wait for the signal, leave the gate, repeat. Each session lasted an hour or two. The other drills were the same. Only the content changed; the monotony and repetition never did.
Those drills eventually turned into specific instructions before every race. Races stopped feeling free. She had to run this way or that way.
It wasn't that she grew tired of running—no Uma Musume would ever dislike running. But little by little she felt herself drifting further from the goal, the dream, that had brought her to Tracen Academy in the first place.
Then, after winning some races, losing some, and meeting a Trainer, she rediscovered that original feeling.
She no longer needed to worry so much about instructions. Or rather, in the races that followed, there was really only one instruction left.
Run as fast as you want.
It wasn't that she stopped thinking about everything else. She simply practiced the necessary techniques every day until she no longer had to focus on them the way she once did.
From then on, every race felt joyful again.
Later an accident happened because of that running style. Adjustments were made after she returned to the track. But the sense of freedom she felt while running never disappeared.
She had found her own way of running.
While those memories surfaced, she also remembered her first reaction when Kitasan Black wanted to learn the Great Escape. She had not supported the idea at the time.
That style was rare in races, not only because the Great Escape itself was hard to win with for many reasons, but also because of the talent it demanded.
She had not been sure whether this junior possessed that talent. Even now she had only confirmed part of it.
So these past few days, rather than simply teaching techniques, she had been trying to help Kitasan Black find a running style that was completely her own.
"In short, it took a lot of experience for me to gradually turn my talent into skills I could actually use in races."
Her thoughts settled, and Silence Suzuka changed the subject.
"Your talent isn't the same as mine. I'm sharing my experience with you, but that doesn't mean you have to run exactly the way I do.
"And you don't need to feel anxious.
"I've been talking with Yasui these past few days. I'm pretty sure your starting speed is already better than before."
"Really?"
Kitasan Black, who had been listening intently, suddenly looked excited. She glanced at the smiling Silence Suzuka, then turned to Yasui.
"Trainer, what about my performance…?"
"Hmm… according to the data, yes."
Having mostly finished organizing the numbers, Yasui looked up from his tablet.
"Suzuka is right. Even if you've picked up some Great Escape techniques, there are still clear differences in actual performance."
He turned the tablet so the screen faced them, showing a chart full of curves and lines.
"Look. This is your gate departure data from the past few days, compared with Suzuka's.
"Putting everything else aside, just look at heart rate. Suzuka enters a high-frequency heart-rate state much faster than you.
"The higher the heart-rate frequency, the more efficient the energy conversion. That's one reason she reaches a high-speed state so quickly.
"Compared to her, you're a bit slower in that area.
"But it isn't a problem. Your mitochondrial conversion… in other words, your energy conversion efficiency itself is already high. Or to put it more simply, your strength is naturally greater. To a certain extent, that can make up for speed."
After offering the two different explanations, Yasui smiled when he saw Kitasan Black nodding thoughtfully.
"You could call this situation a miracle through strength, right?"
Kitasan Black started slightly, then scratched her head with a slightly awkward laugh.
"Compared to my senpai, I really… hehe, do have a lot more strength."
On the other side, Silence Suzuka and Rice Shower, who had also finished their assistance run, both smiled. Once the smiles faded, Silence Suzuka looked at Yasui again.
"Great Escape techniques… Kita-chan has grasped a little of them, but that shouldn't be the main focus of your plan, should it, Yasui?"
When Yasui nodded, she continued.
"The Kikuka Sho is ultimately an endurance race, and there are still more than two months left… You're not planning special training all the way until then, are you?"
"Certainly not. I've already arranged the race schedule."
Yasui nodded, then looked a little surprised.
"St. Lite Kinen on September 21st. Kita-chan's next race is that preliminary.
"What, she didn't tell you two?"