Kitasan Black was startled at first, but quickly became delighted.
"Oh! Are you meeting Verxina-senpai and Impact-san? Then let's watch the concert together! Later, we can all join Gold Ship-senpai's victory party!"
"No! Th-that's not necessary!"
Suddenly panicking, Cheval Grand shook her head vigorously, frantically waving her hands.
"I-I mean... right! My sisters don't like noisy places, so...so it's better not to disturb them."
"B-but it's not that I haven't enjoyed these few days. Even though I'm not really comfortable around people, I still—"
"Anyway, these past two days really have been fun…"
"Please thank everyone else for me, I—I really have to go now…"
Before Kitasan Black could even react, Cheval Grand spun sharply and dashed down the corridor behind the audience seats, as though sprinting in some kind of race.
After running dozens of meters, she abruptly skidded to a halt, turned around, pinched the brim of her hat, pursed her lips, and suddenly gave a deep bow.
"Th-thank you…very much!"
Having said her thanks, she spun back around and took off running once more.
Her ears twitched nervously, tail flicking uncertainly behind her; it took Kitasan Black quite a while to come back to herself.
"Uh...isn't that the exit direction? Could it be...Verxina-senpai and the others have already left the venue?"
She scratched her head in confusion, then quickly brightened up again.
"Well, whatever. Cheval-chan said she had fun these few days, and that's what matters. Looks like we can hang out together again sometime!"
"…Hang out together sometime?"
"Yeah, of course—wah! Wh-who's there?!"
Instinctively replying, Kitasan Black turned to discover someone suddenly standing beside her. She yelped involuntarily, jumping backward.
When she realized the person was Yasui Makoto, who had just left the audience area together with Orfevre, she relaxed, rubbed her chest, and approached him with a faint complaint:
"Geez, Trainer...you scared me half to death! Why did you suddenly sneak up without making any noise?"
"…I should be saying I was startled by you."
Rubbing his ear, still buzzing from Kitasan's high-pitched scream, Yasui Makoto laughed a little and pointed in the direction Cheval Grand had gone.
"I was just finishing talking with Orfevre-san and was about to go back when I saw you two over here, so I walked over."
"What's the matter—did she leave already?"
"Seems like it. Cheval-chan said Verxina-senpai and Impact-san were around here too, and she was going to find them…" Kitasan replied uncertainly.
At her words, Yasui Makoto thought for a moment.
After spending these two days together, he'd developed a decent impression of Cheval Grand.
Whenever Kitasan Black and the others eagerly went off to have fun, Cheval Grand always appeared disinterested at first, only reluctantly joining when pulled along by Kitasan.
At first glance, she seemed similar to Duramente, but on closer thought, there were clear differences.
Duramente wasn't good at talking to people, yet she'd always happily accept any invitations. These past two days, he could clearly feel Duramente genuinely enjoyed herself.
Having spent enough time with Kitasan, she even started proactively suggesting activities.
Cheval Grand, however, was a different story altogether.
When spending time with the other Uma Musume, while it was true she occasionally showed happy smiles, most of the time she gave off an awkward feeling, always being the first to leave the group.
Just like now.
So...could it be that girl is actually socially anxious?
As Yasui Makoto mulled this over, Kitasan Black turned her gaze briefly toward the direction Cheval Grand had left, then curiously peered behind Yasui.
"Oh, right—Trainer, where's Orfevre-senpai? Didn't you leave together earlier? You were discussing the upcoming training race, right?"
"Yeah, we briefly confirmed the participants and schedule."
Yasui returned to himself, pointed behind him casually, and smiled, though his expression quickly grew more serious.
"We initially planned to do the training race in two days, but Orfevre-san felt last time there were too many people watching, so we moved it to next weekend instead."
"That timing works out anyway, since I can fine-tune your training routine a bit more."
"Afterward, she said she needed to head over to the restaurant ahead of us—the same one we'll go to later for Gold Ship-san's celebration."
His expression became increasingly serious.
"Though it might dampen the mood a bit to mention this now, after enjoying yourself these past couple days, remember to pull your focus back tomorrow and train seriously again."
…
The following morning, before even approaching the Tracen Academy track, Yasui Makoto realized his earnest advice the previous night had been completely unnecessary.
As dawn's mist still lingered over the field, the ponytail of the black-haired girl sliced through the haze like a battle flag.
Dew droplets clinging to blades of grass were shaken loose before she even passed, whipped away by the swift wind, scattering in every direction.
The moment her figure rounded the far end of the track, morning sunlight happened to pierce through the clouds, reflecting off her sweat-soaked bangs in flashes of dazzling white.
"Haaa—Yaaah!"
When she sprinted back towards the start line, she let out an excited shout, scattering several startled birds into the air.
She cheerfully waved at the birds fluttering skyward, trotted toward the fence, and casually grabbed a bottle of energy drink sitting on the railing.
Twisting off the cap, she was just about to lift her head and drink deeply when she noticed Yasui's figure. Her eyes brightened, and she immediately rushed over.
"Good morning, Trainer!"
Unable to suppress a smile, Yasui stepped forward to meet her.
"And here I thought I'd gotten here pretty early myself…you weren't training here since last night, were you?"
"No way! After coming back on the shinkansen so late, I just fell straight asleep, you know!"
She rebutted with playful annoyance, then took a huge gulp of the energy drink.
"But yeah, I woke up really early this morning—probably because I slept so soundly. Anyway, as soon as I woke up, I headed straight here to train."
"So Trainer, what are we practicing today? I'm completely ready!"
Finishing the last sip of her drink in one go, she started doing high-knee exercises on the spot, eyes sparkling expectantly, though she couldn't help glancing curiously at the large bag beside Yasui.
Unlike usual, Yasui was still carrying his regular shoulder bag today, but instead of his drone equipment, he had brought along a bulging travel backpack.
"Let's go over there first—I'll explain."
Hefting the large bag and pointing toward the wall along the front of the spectator seats, Yasui Makoto took the lead without any teasing.
"We'll keep practicing 'horizontal wall-running.'"
Kitasan, who had just been brimming with excitement, immediately pouted in disappointment.
"Still just that? I was hoping we could finally start learning that cool move of yours—the one where you go 'swoosh' straight up the wall..."
"You think 'free solo climbing' is something easy? Besides, you think you've already mastered 'horizontal wall-running'?" Yasui asked, amused but not offering further explanation.
"Eh? I haven't?"
Kitasan's eyes widened in surprise. "But I can already run such a long distance on the wall—surely that's good enough, isn't it?"
She stretched out her arms as wide as possible, gesturing that she really could run very far.
Yasui Makoto didn't deny that fact.
Usually, someone encountering horizontal wall-running for the first time would find even two or three meters difficult, and would hardly make noticeable breakthroughs within a single week.
Yet Kitasan Black had managed four or five meters right from the start, and by now had nearly doubled that distance, far surpassing the limits of what an ordinary human could achieve.
Part of this was naturally due to the unique physique of Uma Musume, but the girl's personal talent couldn't be overlooked either.
Yet the purpose of this training wasn't simply to challenge distance records. Like other training routines, they also had to impose strict limits—not just on length, but also on the specific routes taken.