Even before training started, Yasui Makoto had already noticed Kitasan Black's mood was off today.
How to put it…
Her ears were drooping. And stayed drooping all the time.
Every time he called her name, she reacted half a beat late, responding with startled embarrassment.
She kept glancing guiltily in the direction of the classroom, then toward the dormitory, then toward the training grounds—even when listening to instructions.
Thankfully, she still trained seriously enough; at least on the surface, everything seemed to be completed properly.
But data never lied.
Compared to her previous training, today's results couldn't even reach her average.
Kita-chan is completely out of form today, huh…
Before the training even ended, Yasui had already reached this conclusion.
"Completely out of form" was trainer jargon referring to the emotional state of an Uma Musume—in short, very bad.
There were four other states that trainers used, ranging from worst to best: "out of form," "normal," "in good form," and "in peak form."
Compared to regular humans, Uma Musume were sometimes particularly sensitive emotionally, which greatly influenced their training and races.
Leaving racing aside, maintaining "normal" or better condition during training made a substantial difference.
Conversely, like right now—not only would the results be disappointing, but continued poor form might even lead to regression.
Thinking this, Yasui quickly jotted down a brief summary on his tablet, then waved toward the track.
"That's enough for today, Kita-chan."
Far away, Kitasan Black continued running for a bit more, until Yasui raised his voice again, signaling her to stop.
A few moments later, she jogged back over, wiping sweat from her face, surprise clear in her eyes.
"Stopping already…? I can still run more, Trainer."
"I know."
Already starting to pack up, Yasui paused briefly. "Something bothering you today?"
"How did you know…?"
With a small cry, Kitasan bit her lip, drooping her head again.
"Mm… Yeah…"
Suddenly, she felt her ear being gently pinched, making her jump reflexively. Her ears immediately perked straight up.
"…Eh?! Trainer, you—you…"
Smoothly retracting his hand, Yasui averted his gaze, silently cursing himself for losing control.
For humans, ears were sensitive—and for certain individuals, extremely so.
The same went for Uma Musume; indeed, most were particularly sensitive to any contact with their ears.
Yasui had studied this thoroughly, but seeing Kitasan's ears drooping continuously today, he couldn't help but tease her a bit by lightly pinching one.
Now that he'd done it, Kita-chan covered her ears, looking at him confusedly, a mixture of surprise and embarrassment in her eyes. He wasn't quite sure how to handle the aftermath.
But after covering them for a moment, Kitasan's ears drooped again. When she spoke, her voice was weak and drained:
"Yeah, something did happen. After class today…"
...
A few minutes later—
"…I really didn't do it on purpose! It's not that I don't remember Musee-san's name, but… but…"
Shoulders sagging, Kitasan looked at Yasui helplessly.
"At first, I was too focused on the challenge letter. And I only remembered Musee-san clearly by her racing outfit, so I didn't recognize her immediately…"
"Trainer, what… what should I do…?"
Kitasan had already recounted the whole incident after school. Seeing her confused, miserable expression, Yasui thought carefully before speaking.
"What about the letter? Mind if I take a look?"
Deciding to comfort Kitasan somehow, he chose to shift the subject briefly, buying himself time to think.
Intuitively, this wasn't a major issue—at least from the perspective of someone who'd experienced a previous life.
But recently, perhaps due to spending more time with these Uma Musume, Yasui's mindset had simplified, becoming closer to the actual age he appeared.
If he put himself in Musee Alien's shoes, back when he'd first started practicing extreme acrobatics or when he was in middle school—if he'd challenged a rival he deeply respected and admired, only for that rival to stare back blankly, clearly not recognizing him…
Well, that'd make him feel like a complete clown. Gotham-level clownish, practically ready to square up against Batman.
That was likely how Musee Alien felt, prompting her to openly challenge Kitasan like that.
"Mm… Here it is…"
Pouting slightly, Kitasan reached into her training jacket's pocket, handing over a slightly damp envelope.
Gently opening it, Yasui carefully extracted a sheet of letter paper. Upon unfolding and glancing at it, his entire face scrunched in confusion.
"…This is in Chinese?"
The paper indeed seemed to be written in Chinese, but it was riddled with errors, requiring guesswork just to grasp its meaning.
"It was written by Amakaze-san. She…"
Scratching her head awkwardly, as if she were the one failing Chinese class, Kitasan nervously tapped her fingers together.
"I think she said something about not being good at Chinese…"
"This isn't 'not good,' this is practically illiterate," Yasui muttered irritably. He folded the letter carefully, slid it back into the envelope, then steadied himself, collecting his thoughts.
"Anyway, I get the gist of things now, so…"
He looked directly at Kitasan. "Kita-chan, do you want to apologize to Musee Alien-san?"
"Yes, but…"
Kitasan nodded, biting her lower lip again. After a moment of hesitation, she continued uncertainly:
"I told Crown-chan about this, too, and asked her to reach out to Musee-san for me."
"But Musee-san must really be mad. Crown-chan tried sending her a message, but Musee-san immediately blocked her number…"
"It's all my fault. If only I hadn't…"
Waiting for a moment and seeing Kitasan unable to finish her sentence, Yasui slowly nodded.
"Then how about this… Accept the challenge, and beat her thoroughly first."
"Mm… Eh?!"
Instinctively nodding at first, Kitasan suddenly widened her eyes, startled.
"Beat Musee-san…?"
"What, don't have the confidence to?" Yasui smiled gently.
"It's obvious she's still upset right now."
"And fundamentally speaking, you didn't recognize her—even if unintentionally, you hurt her pride. Let's be blunt: it really is your fault."
"So, given that the mistake is yours and she's angry, your apology will only be effective at a suitable opportunity."
"I believe it was Special Week or someone who once said: When an Uma Musume encounters something difficult to express in words, convey it with your running."
"Thus, I think there's no better opportunity than the St. Lite Kinen."
"If there's any even better solution…"
A flicker of inspiration appeared in his eyes.
"Not only should you win, you need to win spectacularly."
"During the training camp, didn't you ask me if you could try a big escape in the St. Lite Kinen?"
"At the time, I was thinking mainly about the Kikuka Sho. For a 3000-meter race, a big escape is definitely not ideal, so I didn't give you a clear answer."
"But now, I'm telling you clearly—"
"For the St. Lite Kinen, put everything you've learned up until now into your legs and run."
"Make your escape so absolute that Musee Alien can't possibly catch you."
"If she really wants to challenge you, she'll understand your feelings."
---
everyone is on vacation so no character notes this week
patreon.com/wisetl
discord.gg/wisetl