"Twenty eight, twenty nine, thirty," Yusuhara Tarou continued counting up as he stared at the stopwatch in his hands. "Thiry one, thirty two, thirty–"
"GRAAHH!!" Inari One shouted as she abruptly straightened up from the pose she'd been holding for the past half a minute. "Stop it! D'is is torture…!"
Tarou sighed as he stopped the stopwatch. "Thirty three seconds."
Belno Light smiled as she pulled back the dropper she'd been holding over Inari's head. "That's a two-second improvement!"
Tarou smiled wryly. "I suppose it is."
Inari whimpered as she frantically shook her head, trying to get the awful, awful prickling sensation she felt on the top of her head. She knew that Belno was no longer dropping water droplets on the top of her head, but she could still feel the ringing in the back of her skull!
"You're awful, Belno-aneue…" She whispered as she clutched her head.
Belno shrugged. "You're the one who wanted my help." She said, her smile completely without remorse. "And we don't even have a week left before the [Japan Cup]. Nothing conventional worked, so it's time to pull out something more effective."
Inari shivered. She knew Belno was speaking the truth; right now, her weakest point remained her inability to restrain herself whenever she got too excited. Her trainer had tried everything he could, but she was as stubborn as an ox—nothing seemed to work, and her patience had only gotten worse as the nerves began creeping up on her.
Tarou watched as the usually foxy umamusume cowered at the corner of the room in terror, and he couldn't help but sigh. "Very well. Let's take a break."
And the moment he said that–
Inari's ears perked up, and with a renewed vigor, she immediately stood up and bowed. "Then I'mma be off f'r now, Belno-aneue!" And with a speed befitting of a renowned umamusume like her, she rushed out of the small room. The door loudly slammed behind her, and he could've sworn he could hear the door's hinges screeching from the sheer force of the impact.
He shook his head. "I must apologize, Belno-san."
Belno chuckled softly. "It's fine." She smiled faintly as she placed the dropper back into the beaker sitting on a nearby stool, emptying it from any water it had left. "I think all of us deserve a break by this point."
He hummed. "I suppose that's true."
He began packing everything back into the bag he'd carried them in. Belno helped out as well, and not long after, the room was entirely cleaned of any signs of use. Belno was the first to leave, with Tarou following right behind her. He made sure to turn off the lights as he closed the door behind him.
And the moment he came outside–
"ORYYAA!!" He heard Inari One scream as she ran around the track, grinning ear to ear as she zoomed past them. She was clearly making up for all the discomfort she'd felt during their training.
He sighed. "What an unruly child."
Belno chuckled softly. "Well, that's who she is, after all."
He nodded faintly, his smile slightly fond. Inari One was loud, stubborn, and easily excited regarding anything related to racing—but she was his trainee. She'd begun as that little girl his family had picked up during that midsummer evening, and now here she was, just a few days away from competing against umamusume from all around the world.
He couldn't be any more proud.
He subtly wiped his eyes as he heard Inari's fox-like laughter echo from the distance.
Belno pretended not to notice. "What do you think of the seven foreign representatives for the [Japan Cup]?" She asked instead, offering him a bottle of cold water she'd bought from the nearby vending machine.
He muttered a soft 'thank you' as he accepted the water bottle. "It will be an uphill battle for her." He said, frowning thoughtfully. "Thiefcrow, Sunday Silence, Eve Binti—this year has no shortage of record-breaking umamusume."
"And Folkqueen as well." Belno added.
He opened his mouth, and then paused. "The New Zealand representative?" Belno nodded as she unscrewed her own bottle of water. He narrowed his eyes. "Why her?" He asked. He couldn't remember anything particularly outstanding about her
Belno frowned. "I can't give you a concrete explanation as to why. It's just-, instincts, I guess."
"Instincts…" He whispered, before he smiled wryly. "Fascinating. You're not the first person to specifically mention her."
Belno blinked. "I'm not?"
He nodded. "Kitahara-senpai warned me about her when he first shared his observations." He began, recalling the somewhat haphazard explanation Kitahara Jo had given when they had lunch together nearly a week prior. "And just the other day, Nase-senpai also shared the same feeling, warning me that there might be more to Folkqueen than what is commonly portrayed."
And now Belno Light had shared the same insight, specifically singling out Folkqueen amongst the other foreign representatives. Just what was it about her that sent all of them on edge like this? He couldn't personally find anything out of the ordinary, and neither could Inari One, but the fact that the same feeling was shared across such a wide variety of individuals meant there was likely more to it than he thought.
He smiled. "Perhaps it is I that lacks the experience to notice the unusual." He sighed as he shook his head. "But I'll keep your words in mind, Belno-san."
Belno flashed him a thumbs up in response. She opened her mouth to speak, before they're both abruptly interrupted when Inari One suddenly zoomed past them, cackling with glee as she ran forth without a care in the world. Tarou let out another severe sigh, and Belno just chuckled. "She sure is fired up."
"As one might expect." He agreed. "There is only a few days before the [Japan Cup], after all. I would be more worried if she displayed no signs of excitement at all."
She nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense." She smiled. "I mean, even Star looks more excited than normal these days!"
He hummed. "Speaking of, I have yet to see either Blossom-san or Oguri-san today." He said as he glanced at her. "Are they not currently in Tracen Central?"
"They're in Gunma again." Belno said.
He blinked. "But, isn't Kitahara-senpai still here…?"
She shrugged. "Oguri and Star's been training on their own for a while now, while Kitahara's preparing for his Final Exam." She smiled wryly. "And I don't have anything to do right now, which is why I'm-, y'know." She said, waving her hand towards Inari One.
He hummed.
Team Kitahara was truly a strange team. Kitahara himself was still technically an Apprentice, while his three main trainees were more than capable of training themselves. By all rights, the team was more than dysfunctional and should've fallen apart years ago.
And yet they hadn't. Team Kitahara was still here, and they were stronger than ever.
"On that note, I must thank you for being here." He said, bowing slightly. "I doubt Inari could've improved as much as she had in the past few days had it not been for your help."
Belno giggled as she waved her hand. "It's fine! I have a lot of time to spend, and it's not like we're strangers or anything!"
"Even if it means aiding your opponent?" He asked, mostly as a jest.
And to that, Belno just grinned. "Then that'll just make it more interesting for Oguri and Star, no?"
He huffed, though he didn't attempt to disagree.
What a truly strange team they were.
…
4 Days before the [Japan Cup].