Chapter 198: The Nice Guy Card
As for how Kitasan Black would talk to Satono Crown, Makoto didn't press her for details.
Everything he'd experienced in the past had taught him one thing: as a trainer, he could rely on his broader life experience to analyze situations, explain causes and consequences, and offer what he felt were reasonable suggestions, but he couldn't overstep and make choices on Kitasan Black's behalf.
In his current view, this was a hurdle every racer had to pass on her path to growth, one whose importance was in no way inferior to training or racing itself.
And hurdles like this could only be overcome through personal experience and independent choice. Only then could true transformation occur, forging a tougher mindset capable of facing whatever challenges lay ahead.
In truth, Kitasan Black's bright and outgoing personality made her quite capable of handling things like this.
Combined with her past experience with Ribbon Victory, Makoto figured that once she understood the circumstances surrounding the Satono family and formed an initial idea, she would develop her own thoughts and find a way to deal with it properly.
Interfering any further at that point would only be superfluous.
Sure enough, when they returned to the field that afternoon, Kitasan Black came hopping over with a light, springy gait, humming some unknown cheerful tune. She was practically overflowing with energy.
"Trainer! Let's get started with the afternoon practice already! What are we training next?"
Her eyes sparkled as she clenched her fists excitedly, brimming with enthusiasm.
Makoto didn't rush to explain the afternoon's training plan. Watching the girl's lively figure, a sudden curiosity welled up in his heart.
"So… about Satono Crown. You've already taken care of things on her end, right? She's okay now?"
"Of course not—"
She smiled as she got half the sentence out, but then Kitasan Black suddenly froze. Her expression stiffened, and her body went rigid, stretched taut.
After waiting quite a while without hearing the rest, Makoto couldn't help but feel puzzled.
"What's wrong? Did something else happen?"
"…Not really, it's just…"
Mumbling, Kitasan Black bit her lip, looking a little bashful.
"Trainer, you… why are you suddenly so concerned about Crow-chan…?"
The words "Isn't it because you looked so troubled earlier?" nearly slipped out of his mouth. But Makoto stopped himself at the last second, realizing that saying something like that might sound a bit too ambiguous.
At the same time, he felt something strange.
Kitasan Black was giving off a peculiar aura—hard to describe, but clearly something he'd never felt from her before.
Angry… didn't seem like it. Her ears weren't folded back.
Sad… even less so. Her ears weren't drooping.
Her tail was wagging pretty quickly, though… but what did that mean?
Most of the time, an Umamusume's emotions were easy to read, especially with those long ears and tail.
When they were in a good mood, their ears stood upright; when excited, they even trembled slightly. Their tails behaved similarly.
When they were sad, their ears drooped forward, and their tails hung limply. For particularly sensitive individuals, even the color of their ear fur and tail would dull a little.
If they were angry, their ears would fold back—the more they folded, the angrier they were. This was commonly called "airplane ears."
Their tails would stiffen and lash forcefully, always flicking toward the person who'd made them angry.
But right now, Kitasan Black's ears and tail didn't match any of those patterns, leaving Makoto completely at a loss.
Just as he was puzzling over it, Kitasan Black suddenly grew flustered. Her eyes darted about, and she spoke rapidly.
"Well, um… concern is fine, concern is fine! Trainer, you're a really nice person to begin with, so it's totally normal for you to care about others…"
'Why does this suddenly feel like I'm being handed a 'nice guy card'?'
Makoto grew even more puzzled. Before he could ask anything, Kitasan Black hurriedly spoke up again, cutting in first.
"A–anyway…"
"At noon, I had a video call with Crow-chan. I told her everything I was thinking."
"She smiled right away and said, 'That really is just like you, Kita-chan.'"
"But she also said there are some things you don't really understand, though she really appreciated your concern."
"I think she still cares a lot about her family's decision, but she's been training incredibly hard too."
"When I saw her, she'd just finished training, and I could even see Pentatonic-chan training in the background."
As she spoke, a spark of fighting spirit ignited in Kitasan Black's eyes, and she continued with renewed vigor:
"I just talked on the phone with Ribbon-chan and Hayabane-chan yesterday too, they're all giving it their all to prepare for the Kikuka Sho."
"So we really can't waste any time, Trainer. Let's start training already!"
From the moment she heard Makoto mention his "concern" for Satono Crown, Kitasan Black had felt a strange, inexplicable sourness well up in her chest.
Yet she couldn't quite explain where that feeling came from.
But after chattering on for a while, it suddenly occurred to her that her trainer was a genuinely good person to begin with and that she herself had been the one worrying endlessly about Satono Crown in the first place.
If trainer asked about it, then it must have been because he cared about her.
Thinking that way, her heart leapt with joy, and the odd sour feeling vanished without a trace.
Staring at the highly motivated Kitasan Black for a while, the thought "What a strange one" popped into Makoto's head. He couldn't help but chuckle softly and shake his head.
Even though he still didn't quite understand what emotion he'd just sensed, with his trainee so strongly insisting on starting training, there was no way he, as her trainer, could lag behind.
So he gathered his thoughts, pondered for a moment, and pointed toward the field.
"Then I won't waste words either. Go warm up first, after that, we'll review the running strategy from the St Lite Kinen."
"Aye! I'm off!"
Snapping to attention, she gave an exaggerated salute. With a cheerful shout, Kitasan Black dashed toward the track.
Smiling unconsciously, Makoto picked up his tablet and watched her warm-up progress, sinking into thought.
Using the St Lite Kinen as a warm-up for the Kikuka Sho had proven to be a very effective decision.
Judging from her race performance, Kitasan Black couldn't make Burst Front Running her primary running style, she simply lacked the innate talent for it.
Compared to Burst Front Running, Slow Front Running, standard Front Running, or racing from a forward position suited her much better.
That said, it didn't mean the techniques of Burst Front Running were unusable.
Take Slow Front Running as an example: the lead gained through front running was small, and the key lay in seizing the right moment to accelerate in the middle phase.
At that point, most Umamusume trying to keep up with Kitasan Black would inevitably expend more stamina, leaving their final sprint less explosive. The advantages of strong closers would be correspondingly weakened.
If they didn't follow, then it became the classic winning pattern for front running type runners—using a distance advantage to make up for a lack of raw speed, and withstanding the late charge from behind in the final stretch.
By applying Burst Front Running techniques at this stage—especially the explosive start and early-phase acceleration she'd shown in the St Lite Kinen—the chances of opening up a stamina gap mid-race and fending off pursuit in the final phase increased significantly.
What needed to be strengthened next was refining this tactical approach until she could deploy it freely and naturally in the Kikuka Sho.