Chapter 200: A Pure, Almost Airheaded Umamusume
"Kyoto? Tokyo?"
Kitasan Black repeated her Trainer question. Instead of answering, she tilted her head in curiosity and asked back:
"Trainer… are you planning to go back to Tokyo?"
"That's right. I want to visit a senior Umamusume and ask her for some advice."
Makoto didn't hide anything and answered frankly.
"Sakura Bakushin O. You've heard of her, right?"
The idea of seeking advice from Sakura Bakushin O came from something Manhattan Cafe had mentioned during the St. Lite Kinen.
Even before that, Makoto already knew her name well.
Much like the Mejiro family or the Satono family, the Sakura family was one of the industry's great lineages, famous for producing outstanding Umamusume generation after generation.
Sakura Star O, Sakura Chiyono O, Sakura Laurel…
They had won numerous graded races in the Twinkle Series, including many G1 victories, their names are known to all.
Sakura Bakushin O was no exception.
However, at first, Makoto had assumed he had no real connection to her and that she probably didn't even know who he was. Visiting her out of the blue felt inappropriate, so he never considered bothering her.
But because of Kitasan Black, the two of them had received help from quite a few Umamusume during training and competitions.
Gradually, Makoto realized something: compared to ordinary people, Umamusume were exceptionally easy to get along with.
In Japan, asking others for help is often difficult. People place great importance on personal obligation—they dislike owing favors, and they also dislike making others feel indebted to them.
Because of this, everyday social interactions tend to involve a great deal of formality and caution.
By contrast, Umamusume were not only approachable, but also readily agreed to help their juniors without hesitation.
Even after noticing this, Makoto still hadn't tried to approach Sakura Bakushin O.
One reason was the distance she specialized in, and another was her somewhat… "peculiar" reputation.
There was no doubt that Sakura Bakushin O was an extraordinarily powerful Umamusume in racing history, but all the races she excelled at were short-distance events.
Take her retirement race, the Sprinters Stakes: over a distance of 1200 meters, she led the runner-up by four lengths—a gap of nearly ten meters—clearly demonstrating her overwhelming strength.
At 1200 meters, she had only ever lost once, and at 1400 meters, she was completely undefeated.
Thanks to such outstanding performances, she was awarded Best Sprinter of the year.
Kitasan Black, on the other hand, had chosen the Classic Triple Crown route from the very beginning, three races that were all middle-to-long distance.
If she continued on to races like the Arima Kinen or the Spring and Autumn Tenno Sho, she would still be competing in middle-to-long distance events.
Different distances meant significant differences in training methods and race tactics, and that was one of the reasons Makoto had never considered visiting Sakura Bakushin O.
As for her peculiar reputation… According to various rumors, this Umamusume was, well…
A bit unusually dumb.
It was said that she originally wanted to run middle-to-long distances.
However, after seeing where her true talent lay, her trainer tricked her with the logic of, "Running three 1200-meter races is basically the same as running one 3600-meter race."
She believed it completely, and that was how her astonishing career began.
At the same time, her academic performance was excellent. During her active years, she was the class representative and even served as the student council president.
After retirement, she went on to the university division, graduated with outstanding grades, and now held multiple positions: head of the university's sprint division and a member of the URA Association's sprint committee.
So in Makoto's view, calling her "very dumb" wasn't quite accurate.
A more precise description would be that, in certain aspects, this Umamusume was simply too pure.
Pure to the point of being a little airheaded.
"Ehh—? Bakushin-senpai—?"
At that moment, Kitasan Black's ears suddenly twitched, her tail shooting straight up as she let out a startled cry:
"Trainer is going to see Bakushin-senpai—?!"
Caught off guard by her sudden reaction, Makoto blinked in confusion.
"You… judging by that tone, it sounds like you've already met her?"
"It—it's not like I went to see Bakushin-senpai on my own initiative…"
Rarely seen, a complicated mix of distress and embarrassment appeared on Kitasan Black's face.
"It's just… um, how should I put this. That senpai… gives off a really strange impression."
"I ran into her right after the semester started. I don't even know why, but the moment she saw me, she said I felt very familiar to her."
"She said she could sense the Soul of Bakushin within me, and that I was destined to become a star of short-distance racing…"
As she spoke, she scratched her head awkwardly.
"But I want to become a racer like Teio-senpai, you know. That means running middle and long distances. So it was really awkward at the time…"
"I didn't know how to refuse her properly, so I just made up an excuse and ran away."
"And then it was like Bakushin-senpai locked onto me. Every time she saw me, she'd say the same things, and she even came to the academy specifically to look for me…"
Hearing this, Makoto couldn't help but recall that particular rumor about Sakura Bakushin O. Amused, he also found himself thinking it over.
"So that kind of… interesting thing happened."
After a moment of contemplation, he said, "Listening to you, it seems you don't really know how to deal with her. In that case, I'll go meet Bakushin-san myself."
"Trainer, you're really going to see Bakushin-senpai…?" Kitasan Black looked utterly astonished.
"That's right. Even though the distance you're running now is different from hers, there's no denying that you do have talent for short-distance races."
Makoto continued his explanation.
"Besides, your Solo Front Running style is extremely rare."
"In terms of pure speed, you're not at the very top among racer of your generation. But you have tremendous strength and stamina, and you make up for that lack of speed with those qualities."
"Among front running Umamusume, I've compared many of them. Sakura Bakushin O and you are actually very similar in that regard."
"Your current special training is already yielding good results, but I want to help you take another step forward."
"Perhaps from this senpai of yours, we can get some valuable advice."
Hearing that, Kitasan Black hesitated for a moment. After thinking it over, she took a deep breath.
"Alright then. I'll go with you, Trainer!"
"…Aren't you bad at dealing with this senpai?"
Makoto was surprised, then teased her half-jokingly.
"Aren't you afraid she'll trick you into running short-distance races?"
"It's fine. You'll be there, Trainer."
Kitasan Black answered without hesitation, her face brimming with confidence.
"I suddenly realized that the way I handled Bakushin-senpai before was just like how I dealt with Ribbon-chan, I never honestly said what I was thinking."
"If I don't plan on going down the short-distance route, I just need to say it properly."
"Senpai is really persistent about this, but she's not someone who's unreasonable. She'll definitely understand."
"And it's been a while since I've been back to Tokyo anyway. The two of us can go together—consider it a little trip."
What kind of trip is that supposed to be…?
Makoto chuckled inwardly, but didn't argue, quickly agreeing to the plan.
After all, the purpose of meeting Sakura Bakushin O was to help Kitasan Black perform even better in the upcoming Kikuka Sho.
Her overall running style, tactics, strategy, and the corresponding training were all progressing steadily. What they were lacking now were refinements in the finer details.
Under those circumstances, humbly seeking advice—and letting Kitasan Black run side by side with Sakura Bakushin O—might just bring about some unexpected gains.