"Kyoto? Tokyo?"
Kitasan Black repeated Yasui Makoto's question. She didn't answer—instead, she looked curious and asked back:
"Trainer… do you want to go back to Tokyo?"
"Yeah. I want to visit an Uma Musume senpai and learn a few things from her."
Yasui Makoto didn't hide anything, speaking frankly:
"Sakura Bakushin O. You've heard of her, right?"
Wanting to seek advice from Sakura Bakushin O—these days, it came from something Manhattan Cafe had said to him during St. Lite Kinen.
And even before that, he'd already known her name.
The Sakura family, much like industry powerhouses such as the Mejiro family and the Satono family, was also a famous clan that produced outstanding Uma Musume.
Sakura Star O, Sakura Chiyono O, Sakura Laurel…
They'd repeatedly taken major wins in the Twinkle Series, including plenty of G1s—big-name Uma Musume, all of them.
Sakura Bakushin O was the same. At first, though, Yasui Makoto figured he had no reputation, didn't know her personally, and barging in on her would be inappropriate—so he'd never considered bothering her.
But now, because of Kitasan Black, in everyday training and racing, the two of them had received help from quite a few Uma Musume.
Little by little, he'd realized: compared to ordinary people, Uma Musume were especially easy to get along with.
In Japan, asking someone for help could be difficult. People took favors and obligations very seriously—neither wanting to owe a debt lightly, nor wanting others to feel indebted to them.
That was exactly why daily socializing here came with so many tedious formalities.
In contrast, Uma Musume weren't just easygoing—they also tended to agree readily when it came to helping juniors.
Even after realizing that, Yasui Makoto still hadn't tried to approach Sakura Bakushin O.
Mainly because of the distances she excelled in—and her somewhat "unique" reputation.
Sakura Bakushin O was unquestionably an extremely powerful Uma Musume in racing history, but the races she specialized in were all short-distance.
Take her retirement race, the Sprinters Stakes—over 1200 meters, she'd led the runner-up by four lengths, opening up a massive ten-meter gap. Her strength was obvious.
And at 1200 meters, she'd only ever lost once. In 1400-meter races, she was outright undefeated.
With such outstanding performances, she'd been named that year's Best Sprinter.
Now look at Kitasan Black. From the beginning, she'd chosen the Classic Triple Crown line—three races, all middle-to-long distance.
If she later went down routes like Arima Kinen, Tenno Sho (Spring), Tenno Sho (Autumn), she'd still be competing in middle-to-long distance races as well.
Different race distances meant significant differences in training content and race tactics. That was one reason Yasui Makoto had never thought to go visit Sakura Bakushin O.
As for that "unique" reputation—based on all the rumors, this Uma Musume seemed…
Stupid in a very special way.
They said she'd originally wanted to run middle-to-long distance too.
But her Trainer, seeing where her talent really lay, had talked her into it with the reasoning, "If you run three 1200-meter races, that's basically the same as running one 3600-meter race."
She believed it completely, and that led to her later astonishing results.
But at the same time, her academics were excellent. Back when she was active, she'd been class president—and also the student council president.
After retiring, she went on to study in the university division and graduated with outstanding grades.
Now she served as the university division's sprint events club leader, and she was also one of the URA Association's sprint committee members.
So in Yasui Makoto's view, calling her "weirdly stupid" might be more accurate as: in certain areas, this Uma Musume was simply too pure.
So pure she was missing a screw.
"Eh—? Bakushin-senpai—?!"
Right then, Kitasan Black's ears suddenly twitched. Her tail shot up, and she let out a startled yelp:
"Trainer's going to see Bakushin-senpai—?!"
Caught off-guard by the sudden reaction, Yasui Makoto blinked, confused.
"You… from that tone, it sounds like you've already met her?"
"Th-that… it wasn't like I went looking for Bakushin-senpai…"
Rarely seen, a complicated expression crossed Kitasan Black's face—equal parts troubled and embarrassed.
"It's just… uh, how do I put it—this senpai… gives off a really strange vibe."
"I ran into her right after the term started. I don't even know what happened—she came right up to me and said I felt really familiar."
"And then she said stuff like she could feel the 'Bakushin Spirit' inside me, and that I was definitely going to become a short-distance star…"
As she said that, she scratched her head.
"But I want to become an Uma Musume like Teio-senpai, you know? That means I have to run middle distance, long distance. So it was really awkward…"
"I didn't know how to refuse, so I just made an excuse and ran away."
"After that, Bakushin-senpai kind of… locked onto me. Every time she sees me, she says the same things, and she even came to the academy specifically to look for me…"
Hearing this, Yasui Makoto couldn't help thinking of that rumor about Sakura Bakushin O. It was funny, but it also made him think.
"So there's that kind of… interesting story."
After a moment of consideration, he said, "From what you're saying, it sounds like you don't really know how to deal with her. Then I'll go meet this Bakushin O classmate."
"Trainer really wants to see Bakushin-senpai…?" Kitasan Black looked shocked.
"Yeah. Even if the distance you're running isn't the same as hers right now, you can't deny that you do have talent for sprint races."
Yasui Makoto explained:
"Besides, your leading style is rare."
"In terms of pure speed, you're not top-tier among your year. But you've got extremely strong power and stamina, and you use that to make up for the lack of speed."
"Among Uma Musume who lead from the front, I've compared a lot of them. Sakura Bakushin O and you really are extremely similar."
"Your current special training results are already good, but I want to help you go one step further."
"Maybe from your senpai, we can get some pretty good advice."
Hearing that, Kitasan Black hesitated. After thinking for a bit, she took a deep breath.
"Then… okay. I want to go with you too, Trainer!"
"…Aren't you not good at dealing with this senpai?"
Yasui Makoto looked surprised, then teased her half-jokingly:
"Aren't you afraid she'll lure you into running sprint races?"
"It's fine—because you're there, Trainer."
Kitasan Black answered without hesitation, her face full of confidence:
"I suddenly realized that actually, the way I handled Bakushin-senpai before was just like with Musee Alien—I didn't just say what I really thought, honestly."
"If I'm not planning to go down the sprint line, I just need to say it properly."
"Senpai is really stubborn about this, but she's not some unreasonable person. She'll definitely understand me."
"Besides, it's been a while since I went back to Tokyo. The two of us can go together—just treat it like a trip for the two of us."
What kind of "trip" is that…?
Yasui Makoto chuckled, but didn't argue. He agreed quickly.
Contacting Sakura Bakushin O was, of course, to help Kitasan Black perform even better in the upcoming Kikuka Sho.
Her overall running styles, tactics, strategy—and the training to match—were progressing steadily and in order. What they were missing now were certain details.
In that case, besides asking humbly for advice, maybe letting Kitasan Black run side-by-side with Sakura Bakushin O once…
Might bring them an unexpected harvest.
---
T/N: BAKUSHIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
bonus chaps
100 stones -> 1 chapter
200 stones -> 2 chapters
300 stones -> 3 chapters
and so on
discord.gg/wisetl
patreon.com/wisetl