Early in the morning, Seiun Sky entered the trainer's office, not wearing her athletic clothes or school uniform, but instead a white shirt and black pleated skirt.
"Trainer, let's go fishing."
The moment she came in, it was all about fishing.
Because the Tenno Sho Spring had taken so much out of her, she'd been given a week off. With that much free time, of course, the only option was fishing.
After a trip to Gold City's beauty salon, Seiun Sky had completely transformed. Hayato almost didn't recognize her.
Her hair had been trimmed, and her clothes suited her current look perfectly.
The usually laid-back slacker Seiun Sky had instantly become the energetic go-getter Seiun Sky.
She sat backwards on a chair, blinking at him. "How's this? Does Seiun now make your heart race? Is the Trainer completely mesmerized?"
"You look good." Hayato smiled, but answered in a calm tone.
"Only two words? Praise me more! I asked City to help me with this look." She spoke with a slight lisp, her tone becoming more playful.
She'd asked Gold City what kind of clothes trainers liked, and Gold City asked her back what colors or clothes her trainer liked, and then it became this.
"Hehe, can you not copy Gold City? You don't sound like her at all."
"Aw man, I guess knockoffs can't fool the Trainer..." She quickly returned to her normal tone, looking seriously at Hayato. "But really, how is it?"
She took a shy breath, somewhat expectantly, waiting for Hayato to speak.
Hayato leaned close to her ear and whispered quietly, "Yeah, beautiful!"
Feeling Hayato's breath, Seiun Sky's face instantly flushed red. Her face red, she looked down shyly and said, "Then does Trainer want to keep a photo with me?"
After a pause, she continued, "It's okay, I'll allow it. I grant you the right to take a photo."
"To exorcise an evil spirit?"
"Don't say that, Trainer. Even as a joke, that really hurts Seiun's feelings."
She shook Hayato's arm, acting spoiled.
"Alright, alright, slip of the tongue. You suddenly got all proper, it's hard to adjust right away."
"Huh? That was a slip of the tongue? So you're saying what Trainer said was actually true?"
While she was still making a fuss, King Halo walked into the trainer's office.
At first, she didn't react. "Who's this beautiful..."
When did a beautiful girl in uniform show up in our club room?
"Morning, King Halo." Seiun Sky waved at her.
Hearing Seiun Sky's voice, King Halo finally recognized her. She looked at the current Seiun Sky repeatedly, hand on her chin. "You're Seiun Sky?"
"Yep. King Halo didn't recognize me either?"
She was kind of tempted to completely change her whole persona.
"Of course not, hehe." Seiun Sky said smugly. "So, Trainer, want to go fishing with a beautiful uma musume like me?"
"You got all dressed up just to go fishing? But..." Hayato shook his head. Today was an official workday, and besides, he had plans with Daiwa Scarlet. He couldn't go fishing with her.
"You should just go by yourself. I'm busy."
When Seiun Sky was about to say something more, she was blocked and scolded by King Halo. "If you want to fish, go by yourself. Don't lead my trainer astray."
"Huh? What do you mean, lead astray... Fishing isn't... playing around. It's a very profound discipline." She already knew that inviting Hayato fishing was impossible. If she really went fishing, there's no way she'd wear this outfit. She just wanted to try.
"Wow wow wow... Seiun looks so pretty today..." The moment Haru Urara came in and saw Seiun Sky, she couldn't help but praise her.
One by one, the team members walked into the trainer's office, each praising her first, then strongly opposing her taking the trainer fishing.
Seiun Sky was under group attack. A whole group is attacking her alone.
"Alright, alright, if I can't go, I can't go. Such a big fuss." Seiun Sky dejectedly fled the scene.
Dressed up so nicely, yet all she could do was go back to the dorm and sleep. Ever since experiencing the fun of fishing with someone else, she couldn't go by herself anymore.
Going alone would feel so stupid. She didn't know why it was like this. She definitely hadn't felt this way before.
After arranging for the uma musumes to train, Silence Suzuka stayed behind. She said very quietly, "Trainer, I seem to have encountered a problem while running. I don't know what to do?"
Her next race was the Yushun Himba, coming up soon, and there were definitely still quite a few problems to solve. First was the stamina issue.
Her stamina was already at 240, but Hayato hoped it could reach 300. Then there was late-race power.
The distance was too long. When she ran without holding anything back, she had almost no way to sprint in the final stretch.
Energy recovery skills couldn't solve the problem. What Silence Suzuka disliked most while running was thinking. Activating one or two energy recovery skills was already her limit.
"What problem? Can you explain in detail?"
"Um... it seems like a late-race power issue. I can't use my strength in late-race, if Air Groove senpai overtakes me in late-race...." She seemed to be thinking as she spoke, bringing up something that might not even count as a problem.
Hayato already knew about this problem. It was also the great escape running style weakness. Seiun Sky could run long distances as a Front Runner because she was good at managing stamina and could use recovery skills. Silence Suzuka was different.
2000 meters was Silence Suzuka's optimal running distance. 2200 was still okay, 2400 was a bit difficult, and 2500 was pretty much her limit.
"Anything else?"
"Um... no, if I think of something... I'll tell Trainer."
Feeling like she'd said too little, she paused, then added, "Does Trainer really like running? If possible, could you run with me?"
Hayato's head went buzzing. Daiwa Scarlet with speed not even at 200 was already enough for him to handle. Silence Suzuka with speed already at 500, that really wasn't possible.
Silence Suzuka seemed to see his hesitation and added, "I can run slower, just run alongside Trainer. It doesn't have to be for harsh training."
She probably thought Hayato, like her, shared a love for running. Because no one would accompany her, she could only run alone, but then Daiwa Scarlet beat her to it.
She'd always wanted to say to Hayato: I really want to run with Trainer until dawn again, like last time.
If only I'd had the courage to suggest this earlier... she lamented inwardly.
Silence Suzuka was different from Daiwa Scarlet. She genuinely wanted to run alongside me. In that case, what should I do?
If Hayato refused, Silence Suzuka would definitely be hurt and probably wouldn't talk to him anymore. Because Silence Suzuka didn't talk much to begin with.
Hayato had been hoping Special Week would arrive soon so Silence Suzuka wouldn't be so lonely.
"Okay, let's do morning runs then. I can do morning runs with you for half an hour, but you have to promise me you won't stay up late."
"That's great, Trainer." After hearing Hayato's words, she showed a happy smile, nodding vigorously. "Mm, I'll be mindful of curfew time."
Among all the uma musumes, only she and Haru Urara were the most obedient.
"So... Trainer, how about we do morning run training today?" She still didn't dare look at Hayato, but stole a glance at him with concern.
"Mm, okay, let's go now."
Hayato quickly went with Silence Suzuka to the training field, picking a 2000-meter track.
Since it was a jog, there wouldn't be rest time in between. He needed to prepare well.
At the training field, they quickly started running.
It was fine at first. Silence Suzuka occasionally glanced at Hayato's position. The scenery slowly receded as they ran, but Hayato's position remained constant.
You know, Trainer, you're the most beautiful scenery in my heart. I'm so happy!
She showed a beautiful smile. This smile had appeared when she awakened her unique skill, and this was the second time.
What she didn't know was that as she ran, she entered a state of oblivion. When she turned back to look, Hayato was long gone.
"Huh? Where's Trainer?"
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*As usual, the illustration is commented on.