The training process was even harder than expected. It was not people running while wearing parachutes. It was more like the parachutes were running while dragging people along. Looking at the Uma Musume struggling to move one step at a time, Fujiwara Chiya's eyebrows twitched wildly.
Did I raise the training difficulty too much? Maybe we should start from level one after all.
"Ushoo!" Gold Ship was standing on a wooden board she had obtained from who knew where, holding onto the parachute as if she were surfing. Rice Shower and the others chased after her from behind.
"Gold Ship-san, I don't think this is how we're supposed to train!"
"What Uma Musume pursue is speed! Speed, I tell you! As long as I'm fast enough, nature itself becomes your friend! Right now, I'm borrowing the power of nature to become a Pegasus!"
"Gold Ship-san! There's a rock ahead!"
"Ah… Guhah!"
Gold Ship was launched into the air, flying more than twenty metres before finally landing back on the ground. Just as she had said, she had indeed become a Pegasus.
By the time the sun began setting in the west, Fujiwara Chiya called everyone together to return to Tracen. Along the way, he also collected the dirty parachutes. These things could trip people, send them falling, and then wrap them up at the same time. In other words, wherever you fell, that was where you lay down.
"Trainer, how effective was our training?"
On the way back, Mejiro Dober quietly asked him.
"It was decent, but we'll have to use it depending on the situation. It isn't suitable as daily training."
The place was too far from Tracen, and going back and forth took a fair bit of time. On top of that, they had to train in pairs, so the efficiency was not high.
Fujiwara Chiya planned to treat it as special training before important races.
Mejiro Dober nodded, looking as if she wanted to say something but could not quite bring herself to speak.
"What's wrong?"
Since they lived together every day, Fujiwara Chiya was very familiar with her expressions. Mejiro Dober clearly had something on her mind.
"…Trainer, could you come out alone tonight?" After hesitating a few times, Mejiro Dober finally spoke.
"I can."
"Nine o'clock. I'll wait for you near the flowerbed."
After arranging the time and place, Mejiro Dober quickly ran off.
Something she wants to discuss privately with me, not Shirayuki?
This was the first time Fujiwara Chiya had been called out by her like this.
Beside him, Rice Shower's ears perked up. She glanced at Mejiro Dober, her delicate brows furrowing slightly, then pretended as if she had noticed nothing and continued walking beside Fujiwara Chiya.
By evening, Fujiwara Chiya arrived at the flowerbed as promised and saw Mejiro Dober sitting on a bench.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
Fujiwara Chiya greeted her and sat down beside her. Mejiro Dober trembled for an instant, but quickly relaxed again.
Her fear of men was no longer anywhere near as strong as it had been at first, especially when it came to Trainer. After her body reacted instinctively for a moment, Mejiro Dober returned to normal.
"Sorry, Trainer, for suddenly calling you out."
"It's fine." Fujiwara Chiya smiled. "There's something you can't tell other people, right?"
By "other people," he meant Shirayuki. Before Mejiro Dober left, Shirayuki had asked where she was going. Mejiro Dober had only laughed it off and said she was going for a walk, clearly not wanting Shirayuki to know.
Deliberately hiding it from Shirayuki and coming to him, her trainer. Could it be that she had argued with Shirayuki?
Impossible. Ever since he had entered that dorm room, he had never once argued with Mejiro Dober. Whenever they disagreed about something, the two of them would calmly exchange their thoughts, and the atmosphere between them was unbelievably close. How could they possibly have fought under those circumstances?
Mejiro Dober's hands twisted nervously together. After hesitating for a while, she said, "The training volume isn't enough…"
"What?"
"My training volume isn't enough."
Fujiwara Chiya heard her clearly this time. Mejiro Dober made up her mind and spoke seriously. "Trainer, you had Shirayuki take responsibility for my training plan, right? But the training content Shirayuki arranged isn't enough for me to improve quickly. Trainer, I want to become stronger. Stronger than Shirayuki. I want to defeat Shirayuki in the upcoming race."
Her beautiful purple eyes shone with determination.
Fujiwara Chiya froze slightly. Then he understood why she had called him here.
It was not a fight, but it was related to Shirayuki.
At the moment, Shirayuki was responsible for Mejiro Dober's training plan. The two of them were also opponents. So when Mejiro Dober felt that the training volume was not enough, she felt too embarrassed to say it directly to Shirayuki. After all, it would be the same as saying, "I want to beat you, so increase my training intensity."
Or perhaps it would sound like she was implying, "You don't want me to get stronger, so you aren't increasing my training."
Of course, Shirayuki would not think that way. But Mejiro Dober would. She was afraid that saying such a thing would damage their relationship.
Fujiwara Chiya understood what she was thinking.
There could only be one winner on the racecourse. No matter how close her relationship with Shirayuki was, it could not hide the fact that they were competitors. But asking Shirayuki directly to change the training plan might make the other girl think strange things. Because of that, Mejiro Dober had kept those words buried in her heart and had never said them aloud.
This was related to Mejiro Dober's personality. If it were Seiun Sky, she would not have been troubled by something like this. She would definitely laugh casually and ask Shirayuki to increase the difficulty, or quietly sneak out to train while Shirayuki was asleep.
However, there was one point in which the two of them were similar.
Both of them wanted to surpass Shirayuki.
Ever since that Keisei Hai, Mejiro Dober had realized that if things continued like this, she might never be able to catch up. Mejiro Dober was an Uma Musume, and an Uma Musume of the Mejiro family. Her desire for victory was even stronger than most. She had made up her mind. She would win the Triple Tiara. Even if her opponent was Shirayuki, she would not be soft-hearted.
That was why Mejiro Dober had turned to Trainer for help instead.
He was the only person who could raise her training intensity without damaging her relationship with Shirayuki.
Understanding Mejiro Dober's worry, Fujiwara Chiya fell silent in thought for a moment.
"It was my oversight," he said. "I thought that since Shirayuki is in the same room as you, she could ask for your thoughts when making the training plan, and that would be more convenient. But I forgot that there are some things you can't say out loud. Sorry, Dober. I made things difficult for you."
"No, you didn't." Mejiro Dober shook her head.
"I know Trainer did it while thinking of me. And Shirayuki's training content is very suitable too. It's just that for me, it still isn't enough. I want to become stronger. I want to become stronger quickly. This isn't Shirayuki's fault. So… Trainer, I hope you can help me win in the race."
"How can you say you hope? A trainer's responsibility is to help you." Fujiwara Chiya looked at her seriously. "In the past, I didn't have a choice. But now, I've become an intermediate trainer. Handling several people at the same time is no longer that difficult. So it's about time I take back the work I entrusted to Shirayuki."
"Trainer." Mejiro Dober clenched her fists. "I've caused you trouble."
"You're my Uma Musume, so don't say things like causing me trouble."
Fujiwara Chiya habitually reached out and patted her head. Then he suddenly remembered something, and his movement abruptly stopped.
"Sorry, I forgot…"
"It's fine…" Mejiro Dober said softly. "I don't dislike it."