Chapter 120: Kita-chan Who Loves Extreme Sports
After several days of training, Makoto found himself genuinely surprised by Kitasan Black's performance.
When it came to extreme stunts, this Umamusume possessed a talent far beyond anything he had imagined.
He knew that Umamusumes were born athletes—or rather, that they couldn't even be judged by human athletic standards.
For humans, just getting started with extreme stunts required around half a year of basic physical conditioning.
Once the foundation was laid, they would need another six months or more of specialized training.
During that process, they'd have to undergo all sorts of physical assessments to ensure their cardiovascular function, core and limb strength, and joint flexibility could keep up with the demands of the sport.
Umamusumes, however, didn't need to worry about any of that.
Because of their special developmental phase called Honkakuka, most of them—once they went through it—would reach a level of physical capability that far surpassed what humans could achieve even after years of intensive training.
Physiologically, the same applied.
The only thing they lacked was technique.
Makoto had originally thought he'd have to spend a lot of time explaining those techniques carefully. After all, based on past training sessions, Kitasan Black wasn't bad at theoretical learning, but she wasn't exactly the kind of student who could infer new concepts from one example either.
Yet over the past few days, whenever he explained the principles or demonstrated something in person, the girl's eyes would light up and she'd exclaim, "I've got it!"—then proceed to replicate what she'd just seen with nearly perfect accuracy.
'So this—this must be Kita-chan's hidden, unique talent…' Makoto couldn't help thinking that.
Over the years, as he prepared for his career as a trainer, and especially over these past few months of hands-on experience, he had come to love Umamusume racing even more deeply.
Extreme stunts were a private passion of his—something he had never shared with anyone. And just as he had never told anyone, he had long wondered how far beyond human limits the Umamusumes could go.
Now, seeing his own Umamusume showing such a gift for extreme stunts, along with such genuine excitement, he couldn't help but feel thrilled—and eager to see what kind of future awaited Kitasan Black.
. . .
Friday night, at the Tracen Academy cafeteria.
With her eyes sparkling, Kitasan Black waved her fork—still dripping with curry sauce—so enthusiastically that she almost poked Satono Diamond's strawberry milkshake without noticing.
"I'm telling you guys, Trainer showed me a new move today! This time it was a triple wall spin into a cat pounce!"
"The walls were so high, and before I could even blink, he just whoosh—up and over, like it was nothing!"
"But ugh, it's so annoying—no matter how many times I ask, he keeps saying I should just practice basic wall runs first. He won't teach me the cool moves yet…"
Glancing at her sister moving the milkshake out of danger, Satono Crown twitched her mouth, quietly slid her carrot-and-meat platter a bit farther back, and said with a smile:
"Kita-chan sure does love these kinds of thrill-seeking sports– I mean, extreme stunts."
Leaning back in her chair with the milkshake in both hands, Satono Diamond nodded, a mischievous glint flashing in her eyes.
"Well, it is Kita-chan we're talking about. Climbing up and jumping down from things—she's always been like that since we were little."
"There was this one time we went camping in the mountains. I was setting up the tent when suddenly I heard her scream—oh, let me see…"
Clearing her throat, she imitated Kitasan Black's voice.
"'Oh no! Dia-chan! A monkey stole my banana!'
"And then I turned around—and there she was, scrambling up a tree after the monkey."
"Dia-chan!!"
Kitasan Black's ears turned bright red as her fork clattered against the edge of her plate.
"Y-you—! A-anyway! Speaking of Trainer—he really loves extreme stunts, you know?"
"You remember how you said he usually talks like a teacher during training? But when he's explaining extreme stunts, it's like he becomes a completely different person!"
"And when he demonstrates the moves—he's practically glowing! "
Satono Diamond's eyes widened in surprise, while Satono Crown blinked in mild astonishment before nodding thoughtfully.
"Now that you mention it, your trainer does give off a mature and composed kind of vibe."
"But thinking about it… he's what, eighteen? Nineteen?"
"At that age, a guy being into that kind of adrenaline-packed sport isn't exactly shocking."
Summing it up with a matter-of-fact tone, her ears twitched as a smile crept across her face.
"Speaking of which—if we're talking about extreme stunts… Kita-chan, has your trainer ever watched movies made by that martial arts superstar?"
"Movies? A martial arts superstar?" Kitasan Black blinked, confused.
"Mhm! An international legend from HK!"
Satono Crown's eyes lit up as she said excitedly, "I'm a huge fan of Indigenous-senpai! I travel there often, and she once said in an interview that her idol is that very star!
"He's made so many incredible films—so many of the stunts are absolutely thrilling!
"When I first watched them, I thought the scenes were just like in superhero movies, all CG and special effects—but it turns out they were all real!"
"I remember now!"
Kitasan Black exclaimed, "Trainer showed me those movies too!"
"He said that was his idol, and that this idol was actually one of the pioneers of parkour and extreme stunts! He even used clips from the movies to teach me some moves!"
"Just yesterday we watched this scene where he slides down the side of this super tall glass building—I couldn't believe it was real!"
Satono Crown's eyes sparkled again.
Usually, neither at school nor at home did she ever meet anyone who shared her interest in HK films. She hadn't expected Kitasan Black to know even a little about them.
Even though Kita-chan's knowledge was clearly limited, it was still enough to make Crown genuinely delighted.
Leaning forward eagerly, she pulled her chair closer and launched into an enthusiastic discussion.
"—Right, right! And at the end of that movie, there's a behind-the-scenes clip! You can see him sliding down from a pole seven or eight stories high—it's all real!"
As Satono Crown and Kitasan Black animatedly moved on to another movie, the usually quiet Duramente suddenly lifted her tray and stood up.
"I'm done eating. You guys keep talking."
Their conversation halted for a moment. Kitasan Black looked up in surprise, then awkwardly scratched her cheek.
"Uh, Duramente-chan… did we get too loud?"
Over the past weeks, Duramente hadn't just grown closer to her, but also with the Satono sisters.
However, due to her quiet personality, whenever everyone gathered together, Duramente rarely said much—making her seem somewhat left out.
She froze for a moment, then offered a fleeting smile and shook her head calmly.
"Too loud…? No. What you were talking about was interesting. I was listening."
"Then…"
Halfway through her sentence, Kitasan Black's gaze flicked down to Duramente's tray—and she paused.
"Duramente-chan, you… didn't eat much, did you? Will that really fill you up?"
"Not much? It should be fine."
Glancing down at her tray, Duramente pulled a folded sheet of paper from her pocket, scanned it quickly, and nodded.
"This is the training meal Groove-nee prescribed. It's not too little—if I don't follow it, she'll get angry."
"Training meal? Wait, are you… going to train tonight?"
Kitasan Black blinked, and both Satono sisters looked over in surprise.
"Yeah. Groove-nee finally gave me permission. Tonight's for practicing stride rhythm on the fourth corner."
She said it plainly, without a hint of hesitation, though her eyes flashed with a sharp gleam.
"The fourth corner—of the Japanese Derby."
"This race, Kita-chan… I'm not going to lose."
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Note:
Honkakuka stage: Honkakuka is a term for the stage where Umamusumes will grow so fast and start reaching their peak time. This term first appears in Kitasan URA story.
Indigenous: Indigenous was an Irish thoroughbred racehorse who also raced in Hong Kong.
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