After the meeting, Kitahara stayed behind with Little Bay.
"Ah… Kitahara-sensei is worried about me?"
Super Creek's face carried a trace of unease, but even more of it was confidence.
"I know I've spent a long time in rehabilitation, and it'll still take some time for my overall level to catch up with Oguri and the others…"
She pressed her lips together, then clenched her fist, a firm light gradually appearing in her eyes.
"But I'm confident that if it's just training and running, I won't lose to them!"
"And, this is for Tamamo's complete recovery — I will give it my all!"
Kitahara froze for a moment.
He wasn't doubting Super Creek's abilities.
With his intervention, Super Creek would no longer have problems with "glass legs." Given her talent, even with only average training, by January next year, entering any debut race would be no problem.
What Kitahara was thinking about wasn't just a debut race.
"I'm not worried about you. There's something else I want to discuss with you."
Smiling, he waved his hand. Meeting Super Creek's puzzled gaze, Kitahara paused in thought.
"I want to register you for the 'Triple Crown' route, once I've been accepted into the Central District."
Silence fell in the office for a while.
"'Triple Crown'?! Kitahara-sensei… you mean me?!"
Little Bay covered her mouth in disbelief.
Kitahara smiled again.
"What's wrong? No confidence?"
He walked over, patted her head, and said softly: "All this time, your hard work has been plain to see. Recovering so quickly from inflammation and improving the quality of your legs so fast — Kyoko said it herself, 80% of Uma Musume wouldn't be able to do that."
"You've worked really hard, Super Creek."
"Not just worked hard — you should also remember what I said before. I wanted you to learn endurance. But I suppose you've already forgotten about that."
"…I-I'm sorry, Kitahara-sensei, I…"
Super Creek's long ears bent down slightly, her tone lowered. "These days, I've been training, eating, and playing together with Oguri and the others. I guess I forgot about that."
"No, but…" She started speaking a little flustered.
Before she could finish, Kitahara smiled and raised his hand.
"But that just proves you've already learned endurance."
Looking at the stunned Super Creek, Kitahara thought for a moment.
"If I told you, 'Don't think about a white-haired Uma Musume,' what would you think of, Super Creek?"
"I'd think of Oguri and Tama."
Super Creek replied honestly, then added a bit confused, "But their hair is kind of silver-grey…"
Kitahara chuckled.
"That's not the point. What I mean is, when I tell you something, you'll think of it, and you'll clearly realize that I'm the one who made you think that way."
"In other words, if you keep obsessing over what I said about 'endurance,' you'll end up focusing only on that word instead of yourself."
"Right now, you aren't even paying attention to the word 'endurance.' You're happily and earnestly training every day with Oguri and the others — and that already means you've achieved it."
"So, there's no need for you to worry about whether you've done it or not…"
Smiling, Kitahara placed his hand gently on Super Creek's head and patted it. "You've already done it."
Her long ears trembled rapidly, scattering a soft chestnut-colored gleam.
"Mm!" She nodded hard.
"All right, then can you tell me your answer?"
Kitahara's smile grew wider. "The 'Triple Crown' route — do you want to try challenging it, Super Creek?"
This time, Super Creek was silent for a long while. But during that silence, her beautiful face didn't show hesitation or unease — instead, her expression grew clearer and firmer by the moment.
"Oguri carries the hopes of her mother, of Kitahara-sensei, of everyone in Kasamatsu…"
She suddenly began speaking of something else, her gaze turning to a corner of the sky, as if looking far into the distance.
"Tama is running for her grandfather, for her younger siblings…"
"Inari wants the world to know that Ōi has an Inari One…"
Slowly, her gaze returned, and in her azure eyes burst forth a dazzling, diamond-like brilliance — firm, radiant, and unwavering.
"I, too, have eyes upon me that I must bear…"
"My father and mother are watching me, Kitahara-sensei is watching me, Oguri and the others are watching me too…"
"I've endured so much, suffered through so much…"
"If, as Kitahara-sensei says, this endurance is for the sake of 'breaking the cocoon and becoming a butterfly'…"
"Then why not choose the widest, most open sky?"
Kitahara's hand was still on Super Creek's head when, at that moment, Super Creek reached out with both hands, took Kitahara's hand from her head, and held it before her in both of hers.
"I want to challenge it."
"To challenge that sky called 'Triple Crown.'"
The strength in her firm grip clearly pressed upon Kitahara's hand, conveying her resolve.
After confirming her determination, the next day's training proceeded as scheduled.
"As for Super Creek's debut race, I'm planning to schedule it for January next year — the same month I'll be entering Central along with Komiyama and the others."
Holding a clipboard and stopwatch, Kitahara announced to the horse girls warming up on the training field:
"For now, I'm considering a 1200-meter turf debut. The exact event will be decided about a month beforehand. But for the time being, Little Bay should train according to that standard."
"Yessir! I'll do my best!" Super Creek nodded vigorously.
"Mm, good spirit."
Nodding slightly, Kitahara continued: "But right now, our focus is Tamamo's recovery, so this week we'll train at the Naruo Kinen distance."
"The Naruo Kinen is 2000 meters. Tamamo has already run plenty of races at this distance — no problem with adaptation."
"Super Creek should be fine as well."
"Kyoko's medical data shows that Super Creek's respiratory system, circulatory system, and other endurance physiology foundations are excellent. Her heart's ejection capacity, skeletal muscle metabolism, and muscle glycogen content are all above average. Especially her lung function — her oxygen intake per unit of time is the best among you."
"She's an outstanding long-distance Uma Musume."
[Swinging Maestro goes wild]
"So, don't let her long rehabilitation or limited practice fool you. If you take her lightly, you might lose — Oguri, Tama, Inari."
At those words, the three Uma Musume turned blazing gazes toward Super Creek. Super Creek's delicate face flushed slightly at first, then she pressed her lips together and stared back, unwilling to be outdone.
Very good — morale is in perfect condition.
Nodding inwardly, Kitahara continued:
"Oguri, Inari — you two lack experience in this area."
"Especially Oguri — you've only run in sprints so far, just one mile race. This 2000-meter practice race will be your first taste — make sure you feel it out."
"Inari, I've discussed with Yuzuhara — you'll be moving toward middle and long distances later, so you need to give this practice everything you've got."
"Understood, Kitahara."
"No problem!"
With Oguri and Inari's confident replies, Kitahara nodded in satisfaction and waved his hand.
"Excellent! Head to the starting line — practice race, prepare to begin!"
(End of this chapter)