The autumn sun was warm, not as scorching as the summer's. On the racetrack where shouts and commands echoed, the athletic Uma Musume were a beautiful sight.
"What? This is no good at all."
Reaching the finish line first, Eishin Flash wiped the sweat from her cheek with the back of her hand and complained with a disappointed tone.
Panting heavily, Tamamo Cross took the towel handed over by Takeda Makoto and draped it over her neck. Resting her hands on her knees, she tried to speak several times, but her chest was heaving so violently she could only wave her hand.
Seeing her like this, Takeda Makoto spoke for her, "Tama took a month off, and she's still slowly recovering her form."
Training alongside another Uma Musume is more effective, so it was originally meant to be a simple joint run, but somehow these two turned it into an all-out race.
Tamamo Cross, having rested for a month, was naturally no match for the current Eishin Flash and was left behind by a significant margin.
The current Eishin Flash felt different than she did a month ago.
Eishin Flash firmly believed that Uma Musume races were for the strong. Tamamo Cross, who had beaten her in a race, earned her respect and ignited her competitive spirit.
If only she could have been a little bit faster back then, just a little bit faster, she wouldn't have lost.
Eishin Flash didn't know about Tama's talent, nor did she know that Tama was equipped with a Support Card that boosted training effects.
Tamamo Cross, whom she had completely outpaced just half a month ago, had evolved to an unsettling degree in only fifteen days.
Whether it was her pacing, her ability to handle interference, or her speed and endurance, everything was growing at a terrifying, visible rate.
Such a frail girl could catch up to her in such a short time, while she herself was being complacent, standing still.
I want to... race her again. I want to... beat her!
With this conviction, Eishin Flash threw herself wholeheartedly into training, waiting for a chance to face her again. She never expected that upon meeting a month later, Tamamo Cross would be even weaker than before, which left Eishin Flash very disappointed.
"Ah..."
Finally catching her breath, Tamamo Cross let out a deep sigh, straightened her back, and said aggressively.
"Don't get cocky! Once I've trained for a few days, I'll definitely leave you in the dust!"
The distance between the two girls closed instantly. Eishin Flash walked up to Tamamo Cross, almost touching foreheads, and spoke right in her face.
"Fine, try it if you can. But... I'm no longer in the mood for playing around at the pre-debut level. I'm participating in a Debut Race next month..."
Eishin Flash raised her right fist and continued, "If you have what it takes, we'll meet in a race sooner or later. Let's settle it then, Tamamo Cross!"
Striking her fist against Eishin's, Tamamo Cross said without hesitation, "Suits me! When the time comes, I'll let you have a good look at my back! Eishin Flash!"
The two looked at each other and sneered, then simultaneously withdrew their fists and turned their heads in one fluid motion. Each gave a cold snort and walked off in opposite directions to find their respective Trainers.
Eishin Flash: "Trainer, I want to do two extra laps of Resistance Running!"
Tamamo Cross: "Trainer, I want to add four sets of toe-tip runs!"
"I'll add another six sets of strength training!"
"When I get back tonight, I'm running three laps around the mountain!"
Gensei Reiichi waved his hands repeatedly, shaking his head so hard his glasses nearly flew off, and advised, "Today's training has already met the target. Any more will have negative effects. Training isn't something that happens overnight..."
Takeda Makoto was much more direct. He didn't bother lecturing Tamamo Cross and simply rewarded her with a hand-chop to the head.
"Stop fooling around. Do your cool-down exercises, then we're going home to eat."
Watching Tamamo Cross being dragged away while rubbing her head, Gensei Reiichi looked at his own hand, then at Eishin Flash, and shook his head, shaking the dangerous thought out of his mind.
———————
In the following days, Eishin Flash and Tamamo Cross practiced hard for their debuts. Takeda Makoto and Gensei Reiichi's relationship also grew closer as they shared training insights.
Takeda Makoto shared some of the small methods for improving training efficiency that the Takeda Family had compiled over the years with Gensei Reiichi, while Gensei Reiichi shared many advanced scientific concepts.
From these conversations, Takeda Makoto learned about more and more devices for Uma Musume that were slowly becoming popular: heart rate monitoring Horse Girl sports watches, portable machines to measure muscle lactic acid levels, miniature specialized earpieces for talking to Trainers while waiting in the paddock, VO2 max testing machines, and Super treadmills capable of withstanding the power of an Uma Musume.
With the help of these technologies, they could help the Uma Musume maintain peak condition at all times, monitor their physical data, and avoid hidden injury risks.
It was all great, just expensive... The two Trainers just shot the breeze, dreaming of the day they could get a set for their own Uma Musume.
A gust of wind swept across the turf track. A grey-white figure trailed long, flowing hair behind her. Her sprinting posture was captivating, drawing the eyes of everyone at the racetrack.
Relying on the training boost from the Support Card, Tamamo Cross completed her post-injury recovery faster than Takeda Makoto had expected, and all her abilities began to grow further.
"Tamamo Cross's Forward Lean Sprint Posture is so standard. Eishō's gap in sprinting speed is just too large. Takeda, how are you training Tamamo?"
Takeda Makoto was momentarily at a loss for words and could only laugh it off with a smile, "Hahahaha, I don't know either. Tamamo Cross just figured it out herself while running."
"Ouch~"
On the nearby turf track, Eishin Flash, who was practicing her Forward Lean Sprint Posture, let out a cry of pain.
She had been eavesdropping with perked-up ears, and upon hearing that answer, she lost her balance and fell to the ground.
Eishin Flash's endurance was superior to Tamamo Cross's; she could maintain the lead the whole way and still have energy for a final sprint. However, Tamamo Cross's sprinting ability was something Eishin Flash could only dream of reaching.
The image of Tamamo Cross chasing her down was still etched in her mind. She had set that photo as her phone wallpaper and had marveled at that perfect posture countless times.
"Damn it, why can't I even do the forward lean posture?"
Eishin Flash pounded the grass where she fell in frustration. Feeling that wasn't enough to vent her frustration, she angrily ripped out a handful of grass.
Pounding the ground right where she fell—that was the hot-tempered Eishin Flash.
Gensei Reiichi offered comfort, "It's okay. The forward lean sprint is something some Uma Musume learn very easily, while others find it more difficult. But as long as you practice more, you'll eventually master it."
The Forward Lean Sprint Posture, a sprinting method that pursues extreme speed, not only requires physical flexibility but also places a huge test on an Uma Musume's balance during a high-speed run. It can only be used for short bursts of sprinting; using it for too long will cause injury.
There was a saying among Trainers that a few gifted Uma Musume are born knowing the Forward Lean Sprint Posture and, with practice, can even attempt the Ultra-low Forward Lean Sprint. But for most Uma Musume, even the basic Forward Lean Sprint Posture requires enough training to transition into it smoothly.
Tamamo Cross's previous sprinting posture wasn't standard, but after performing an Ultra-low Forward Lean Sprint in a Berserk state during the last race, her Forward Lean Sprint Posture had become increasingly standard.
"If Eishō could master this sprinting posture, she would definitely go further in the Local circuit. In that case, even Tamamo Cross wouldn't be a match for her." Gensei Reiichi, being a bit of a nerd, was very direct in some ways and didn't hide his thoughts, which made him quite similar to Eishin Flash.
Takeda Makoto smiled and shook his head, "Maybe. Starting tomorrow, for the next half month, Tamamo Cross and I plan to practice on the dirt track."
This also meant leaving Hanshin for the Hyogo Prefecture Local racetrack.
Gensei Reiichi nodded, "Mm, we're heading out too. Himeji or Sonoda?"
Most Uma Musume from Hanshin would choose one of the two nearest racetracks.
"Sonoda. There happens to be a Debut Race on November 25th." Takeda Makoto frowned, getting a headache just thinking about Tamamo Cross's severe motion sickness. Just how severe was it? Did she get sick on the shinkansen too?
Although Japan's shinkansen does shake quite a bit—even Takeda, who usually didn't get motion sickness, felt a bit uncomfortable sometimes—it should still be better than a car or a bus.
"We're at Himeji on the 26th, one day later than you."
"Good luck, Gensei. We'll have a celebration party on the night of the 26th. I hope you and Eishō won't miss it."
"Ah... I hope the party won't be cancelled on short notice on the 25th."
"Hahahahahahahaha."