Chapter 130: The Socially Anxious Cheval Grand
Kitasan Black froze for a moment, then her expression lit up with delight.
"Wait, Verxina-senpai and Vivlos are here too? Then let's all watch the show together! And afterward, we can go to Gold Ship-senpai's victory party!"
"N–No! That's not necessary!"
All of a sudden, Cheval Grand flailed her hands frantically, panic written all over her face.
"Um, it's just that… right! My sisters don't really like crowds, so… so it's better not to bother them!"
"N–Not that I mean anything bad by it! It's just… I'm not very good with people, but anyway—"
"I just wanted to say, these past few days have been really fun, so…"
"Please tell everyone that for me, okay? I—I really have to go now…"
Before Kitasan Black could even respond, the Umamusume suddenly spun around and bolted down the corridor behind the stands as if she were in the middle of a race.
After sprinting for dozens of meters, she skidded to a stop, turned around, tugged nervously at the brim of her hat, pressed her lips together—and suddenly bowed deeply.
"Th-thank… you."
With that, she turned again and dashed off once more.
Her ears twitched, and her tail swished back and forth as she ran. It took Kitasan Black quite a while to process what had just happened.
"Uh… wasn't that the direction of the racecourse exit? Don't tell me… Verxina-senpai and Vivlos already left?"
Scratching her head in confusion, she quickly broke into a bright grin.
"Well, whatever! As long as Cheval-chan had fun these past few days, that's all that matters. Looks like we can hang out together more often from now on!"
"—Hang out together?"
"Yep—Ahhh! Wh-who's there?!"
Responding on reflex, she turned her head and nearly screamed again—only to realize it was none other than her trainer, Makoto, who had just left the spectator seats with Orfevre.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Kitasan Black pressed a hand to her chest, still flustered as she walked over, half complaining.
"Trainer, geez… you scared me half to death! How do you sneak up without making a sound like that?"
"…I could say the same about you."
Rubbing his ear, still ringing from her sudden shriek, Makoto chuckled lightly and pointed in the direction Cheval Grand had run off.
"I was just talking with Orfevre before heading back, then I saw you two over here, so I came by."
"What's up? She heading home already?"
"Probably," Kitasan Black said uncertainly. "She mentioned Verxina-senpai and Vivlos being around, so she went to find them…"
Hearing that, Makoto paused in thought.
After spending the past couple of days with her, he'd gotten a pretty good impression of Cheval Grand.
Whenever Kitasan Black and the others were playing around, Cheval would always look uninterested at first—until Kitasan dragged her along.
She reminded him a bit of Duramente, but not quite the same.
Duramente wasn't bad at talking to people—she just didn't initiate things much. When someone invited her, she was happy to join in, and you could tell she genuinely enjoyed herself. After knowing Kitasan for a while, she even started inviting others herself.
Cheval Grand, on the other hand, was different.
She did smile and laugh sometimes when she was with others, but most of the time she looked awkward—like she didn't quite know what to do. And she was always the first one to leave.
Just like today.
So in other words… could it be that this kid's socially anxious?
As Makoto pondered that, Kitasan Black glanced in the direction Cheval Grand had gone, then curiously peeked behind Makoto's shoulder.
"Speaking of which… where's Orfevre-senpai? Weren't you with her just now? You were probably talking about the practice race, right?"
"Yeah, we just confirmed the lineup and the schedule."
Coming back to himself, Makoto pointed behind him and smiled slightly, his tone turning a bit more serious.
"The plan was to run it in a couple of days, but Orfevre thought there were too many spectators last time, so she decided to move it to next weekend instead."
"That actually works out for me too, I can adjust your training plan in the meantime."
"She said she was heading to the restaurant after this—the same one we're going to later for Gold Ship's celebration."
His gaze grew sharper.
"I know this might sound like I'm spoiling the fun, but you've had a good couple of days to relax. Starting tomorrow, make sure you shift back into training mode, alright?"
. . .
The next morning, even before he reached the Tracen Academy training grounds, Makoto realized that his reminder the night before had been completely unnecessary.
The dawn mist had yet to lift, and through the pale haze, the black-haired girl's ponytail fluttered like a battle flag cutting through the fog.
Dew clinging to the tips of the grass scattered before she even passed, bursting apart into sparkling droplets carried away by the morning breeze.
At the far end of the track, her silhouette sliced through the mist—and at that moment, the rising sun broke through the clouds, casting white streaks of light across her sweat-drenched bangs.
"Hee—yah!"
As she turned back around, she shouted with excitement, startling a few birds perched beyond the fence into flight.
Waving cheerfully at the birds soaring into the sky, she walked over to the railing and picked up a bottle resting there.
Twisting the cap open, she was just about to take a long gulp when her gaze swept across the area—and spotting Makoto, she lit up with joy and ran over.
"Good morning, Trainer!"
Makoto couldn't help but smile.
"I thought I came early enough already… Don't tell me you stayed here training all night?"
"Of course not! I got back so late on the Shinkansen last night—I fell right into bed!"
Pouting a little, she took a big swig of her energy drink.
"But yeah, I did wake up super early. Probably because I slept so well last night. Anyway, as soon as I woke up, I came here for morning practice!"
"So, Trainer—what are we doing today? I'm totally ready!"
Draining the rest of the drink in one go, she started doing high knees on the spot, brimming with energy. Then, as if noticing something, her eyes darted toward the bag at Makoto's side.
Unlike before, the trainer still carried his usual shoulder bag—but instead of the drone equipment, he was holding a bulky travel bag this time.
"Come on, let's talk over there."
Hoisting the travel bag, Makoto pointed toward the low wall by the front row of the spectator seats and started walking. He didn't bother keeping her in suspense.
"We're going to keep practicing wall-running."
Kitasan Black's bright expression instantly deflated.
"Still that one? I thought we could finally practice that move where you just whoosh—run straight up the wall like you do!"
"You think free climbing is that easy? And tell me—do you honestly think you've already mastered wall-running?" Makoto asked with an amused look.
"Eh? Haven't I?"
Kitasan Black blinked in surprise. "I can run so far along the wall now! Isn't that good enough?"
She spread her arms wide to emphasize the impressive distance she could cover.
Makoto didn't deny it.
For most beginners, being able to run even two or three meters along a wall was already quite good, and it usually took at least a week before any real improvement showed.
Kitasan Black, however, had managed four to five meters right from the start—and now she had nearly doubled that distance, well beyond what a human could ever achieve.
Of course, that was partly thanks to her being an Umamusume—but her natural talent was undeniable as well.
However, the point of this training wasn't about breaking records.
Just like any other exercise, it had specific goals: not only the distance covered, but also the path taken.
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