With Kitasan Black's current popularity, even without the Arima Kinen fan voting underway yet, gaining a starting position wouldn't be difficult.
But that also meant her opponents wouldn't just be rivals from the same year, like Dura-chan or Satono Crown—there would also be veteran senpais from older-horse seasons.
The Arima Kinen, huh...?
Unconsciously gripping the training report tighter, the rustle of paper filled the quiet room. Yasui Makoto muttered softly to himself:
"With her popularity, Kita-chan shouldn't have a problem making it in through fan votes. But winning the Arima Kinen as a Classic-year Uma Musume..."
Just as he was about to click into the archives for past Arima Kinen races, a gentle knocking at the door interrupted his thoughts. Without thinking, he answered absent-mindedly:
"Come in."
"Trainer, you're still awake? Then, I'm coming in!"
Hearing the familiar voice, Yasui snapped out of his daze, startled.
Instinctively turning around, his gaze was immediately captivated by the figure standing at the doorway.
Clearly fresh out of the bath, Kitasan Black had an unfamiliar charm around her right now.
Her hair, normally tied up with bow-shaped ear accessories, now hung freely, cascading softly over her shoulders, glossy and smooth like black satin.
Her red eyes still brimmed with her usual vitality and warmth, yet under the gentle lighting, there seemed less playful liveliness and instead, a hint of quiet tenderness.
Yasui's gaze froze involuntarily on the girl, slightly different from his usual image of her, and only after a long pause did he snap back to his senses.
Realizing he'd been staring a bit obviously, he awkwardly cleared his throat.
"Ahem, well… Kita-chan, it's so late. You haven't gone to sleep yet?"
"Trainer isn't asleep either, right?"
Not noticing Yasui's earlier stare, Kitasan Black turned and pulled the wooden door shut behind her, smiling playfully as she threw back her question.
Shuffling over in slippers, she walked toward him with both hands clasped behind her back. Upon reaching Yasui's desk, she leaned forward slightly, her upper body bending gently closer as she curiously peered down at the training reports and notes scattered there.
A few strands of her hair slipped from her shoulder, dangling above the papers. She swiftly caught them between her fingers, casually scanning the report.
"Still working after all, huh…? Oh right, my training today was pretty good, wasn't it, Trainer?"
"Of course. In the afternoon—"
Responding naturally to her question, Yasui suddenly paused, realizing something unusual.
The intensity of training during this camp was high, but sessions were deliberately shorter than usual to ensure enough rest.
Today's training had ended before dinnertime, and he'd already summarized Kitasan's performance thoroughly.
Then, asking this question now...
After a brief confusion, something clicked, and Yasui felt Kitasan probably had another reason for coming.
Thinking back to earlier, when Kitasan had comforted Duramente or helped Air Groove persuade her, Yasui realized his Uma Musume wasn't nearly as carefree as she seemed at first glance.
Never mind her sharp intuition in training and races—even in daily life, she had that natural perceptiveness.
Duramente was a perfect example, or how she'd looked after Almond Eye, or her outings with Satono Crown and the others…
Maybe because of her natural warmth since childhood, Kitasan was extremely sensitive to her friends' emotional states.
She might not always know the perfect thing to say, but she'd always give her absolute all to support her friends.
Does that mean she noticed something's been troubling me lately, and specifically came to talk...?
If that's really the case...
With that thought, warmth unconsciously welled up inside him, bringing a faint, gentle smile to his lips.
Yet he didn't reveal his feelings too openly, instead picking up the report from the desk and immediately turning focused and serious, methodically analyzing her recent training results.
"Overall, the overload training these past two months has had the most noticeable effect. Your endurance has clearly improved."
As he spoke, Yasui took a pen and circled several sets of data on the page.
"For instance, cruising speed at 15 meters per second over a 3,000-meter run. This is routine training."
"Normally, an average Uma Musume can complete about five reps per session, but you manage at least seven."
At this point, Yasui raised his head slightly, noticing Kitasan leaning in even closer, carefully staring at the data he'd highlighted.
She was so close, he could faintly sense a fresh fragrance—maybe body wash, maybe something else altogether.
His ears warmed unconsciously, and Yasui quickly turned his gaze back, twirling his pen a couple of times in his fingers before marking another set of data.
"…At higher pacing, although the number of training reps naturally decreases, your completion times remain consistently around 5% faster than the average."
"Five percent, huh..."
Kitasan murmured thoughtfully, nodding as she reached behind without looking and pulled a chair over from the desk side, seating herself comfortably beside Yasui.
Resting her chin on her hand, brows slightly furrowed, she puffed out her cheeks.
"When you put it that way… It doesn't sound that impressive?"
"How could it not be impressive?"
Yasui laughed helplessly, glancing around briefly before grabbing the calculator from the corner of the desk, quickly pressing a few buttons, then tapping gently at the display screen.
"Don't underestimate this 5%. In your races, even a 1% improvement would be significant."
"Taking last year's Kikuka Sho finishing time of roughly 3 minutes and 1 second as an example, if you ran in that exact same race today, theoretically, you'd be almost a full second faster."
"To translate that concretely, it would amount to an absolute advantage of about six lengths—approximately 17 meters."
"Seventeen meters…"
Kitasan blinked, suddenly astonished, realization dawning vividly on her face.
"I never realized my progress was... that much?"
With a soft, surprised exclamation, she extended a finger curiously toward the calculator.
Instinctively placing it back on the desk and withdrawing his hand, Yasui scooted his chair slightly backward.
"That's why I said many of your current abilities have seen substantial improvement."
"Especially judging from your medical check-up and these recent training sessions, the techniques you've learned from Suzuka-senpai and Rice-chan have also improved considerably."
"Combined with the tactics I observed during the Dream Trophy, these should all greatly elevate your actual race performance."
"Of course, actual racing conditions like opponents, terrain, and weather conditions mean reality won't always be so ideal."
Yasui's expression gradually became more serious, even stern.
He picked up his pen again, writing several keywords, circling relevant data, and unknowingly began to outline strategies for the upcoming race.
Matching his seriousness, Kitasan gradually straightened up, eyes fixed unwaveringly on Yasui, occasionally raising questions or quietly nodding in understanding.
After a long while, Yasui's throat began to feel dry. As he glanced around absentmindedly, Kitasan suddenly stood up.
Moving gracefully toward the water dispenser, she filled a cup, returned, and handed it over with a bright smile.
"You must be thirsty, Trainer."
"Ah… thank you."
Accepting the cup gratefully, Yasui took a sip, finding the water at just the perfect temperature. He felt another surge of gratitude rise.
But before he could speak, Kitasan's voice softly reached him, eyes filled with quiet concern as she gently asked:
"Trainer… Is something bothering you lately?"