"Waaah...! Well, nothing's changed much, actually."
The school farewell and appreciation ceremonies had taken a lot of time, but thankfully, I had still managed to catch my Shinkansen in the nick of time. I took a deep breath of the crisp, cold winter air and walked through the same grand gate I used to pass every day, two year ago. Central Tracen Academy was still as magnificent as ever. It was surprising how just two year away was enough to refresh such a marvel..
Let's go to the administrative office to take care of my transfer back, I thought, adjusting the strap of my bag on my shoulder.
"To think I get to transfer here twice," I murmured to myself, my breath misting in the air as I walked towards my destination. "Though now, I'm transferring here alone."
The administrative office was just behind the main front building, so I knew I could get there quickly. Along the way, I passed many unfamiliar faces. New students, probably. They glanced curiously in my direction, their whispers following me down the path. Well, I was still wearing the green and white uniform of the Kyoto Trainer School as I hadn't had time to change due to the rush.
"A new trainer?"
"She's so young! Amazing!"
"She's cute, too! I want her to be my trainer!"
"But she looks familiar..."
"Yeah! I feel like I've seen her before."
"Eh!? How!?"
Amidst those whispers, a sudden, loud scream came from above. I looked up, in the direction of the scream, and found someone standing on a ledge of the second-story window, with a... tanuki? cradled in her hands. The scene was somehow nostalgic, but why was she up there? And why was there a tanuki in the academy?
"Long time no see, Inari-san," I greeted her, quickly scanning the area around the base of the building. Thankfully, they weren't there.
"What're you doin' here!?" Inari-san shouted down, her voice echoing across the courtyard. "Wait! Don't tell me you've transferred back here already!?"
"Sushhhh, Inari-san! It's a surprise!" I hissed, putting a finger to my lips, trying hard to keep her voice down. "So please, keep this from them. I still need to take care of some things."
"Ahhh! I see, I see! Hehe, interesting!" Inari-san kept shouting, not lowering her volume in the slightest. "Don't worry! The great Inari-sama won't say a thing!" Our distance was quite far, so I guessed it couldn't be helped, but please, don't be so loud...
"Thank you, Inari-san! I'll go first. Please be careful on your way down!" I called up to her.
"Don't worry! I'm used to it!" she replied easily.
I could only smile wryly at her carefree attitude. Shortly after, I arrived at the administrative office. I met one of the staff members, and with her help, my transfer was quickly formalized. Due to my unique circumstances, I was then directed to the Trainer and Support Department to give them a copy of my documents, especially my recently acquired Central Trainer License. The department office was connected to the main block of trainers' offices, but luckily, I didn't see him yet, so my surprise was still intact.
I exited the office and walked towards my next destination: the Student Council office. Since I was transferring back here still technically as a student, and not yet as a full-fledged trainer, I needed to submit my documents and my old Student ID to get it reactivated. My previous experience in the Student Council office hadn't been a particularly good one. I hoped Kaicho was in a good mood today. The memory of her intense, unwavering pressure was still stuck in my mind.
After a short walk while maintaining extreme vigilance, I finally arrived at the large, imposing doors of the Student Council office. I was nervous, but I wanted to surprise them soon, so I had to get this finished. I let out a long, steadying breath and knocked on the door.
After just two knocks, the dignified, unmistakable voice of the Emperor came from behind the door, granting me permission to enter. I opened the door gently and stepped inside, offering a polite bow.
"Sorry to bother you, Kaicho. Thank you for your hard work."
As I entered the office, I saw the Kaicho sitting at her desk, her attention focused on a racing tabloid. It was the January issue of Monthly Twinkle. The cover featured the triumphant winner of the recent Hopeful Stakes, framed by a huge, bold title that read: "The Most Competitive Classic in Recent Years! The Golden Generation is Here!"
I had read one myself. It was quite an uncommon sight. Usually, the cover of the January issue from a big publisher like Monthly Twinkle would be graced by the winner of the end-of-year Grand Prix, the Arima Kinen. It was even weirder as the winner of last year's Arima Kinen was also a triple crown winner.
But the impact of the Hopeful Stakes had been so great that it had stolen the spotlight instead. This showed just how enthusiastically both the experts and the fans were looking forward to this year's Classics. The testament of how fierce this supposedly "Junior" race had been was like a preview for how competitive this year would be.
And I agreed with them. The hype around this generation was a given, especially after knowing how many elite runners were competing. There were seven Umamusume who were predicted to lead this generation. So far, two of them already had G1 titles: Grass Wonder as the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes winner and King Halo as the Hopeful Stakes winner. But that didn't mean that the others weren't promising. The Hanshin Juvenile Fillies, another G1, had been won by the seventh favorite of the race, Ein Bride. On G1 dirt, with El Condor Pasa's sudden withdrawal due to health concerns, Zen-Nippon Junior Yushun was won by a Central runner, Wing Arrow, who had to run her third maiden race before. These all pointed to a generation that would not have a single, overwhelmingly dominant leader like last year. Upsets would be more common than anyone thought.
"What do you think of this year's Classic?"
Kaicho suddenly closed the tabloid, her amethyst eyes looking directly at mine. Her expression was serious, but her smile showed that she was somewhat delighted.
"I'm glad I was able to come back here quickly," I said honestly. "Observing them up close will be much more exciting. I'm sure that in each race, it will be difficult to predict who'll win."
"It certainly will be," she agreed. She then let out a soft, contemplative sigh. "And it seems your trainer, who was just promoted here himself, was able to find another diamond in the rough that even I wasn't able to detect."
"He knows what he's doing," I just smiled at that. He had already done it once. It wasn't really shocking for him to do it again.
"Please, take a seat," Kaicho said, gesturing to the sofa. "And let me see your documents. You're in a rush to meet them, aren't you?" She walked over to the sofa and sat down. I followed suit and handed her my folder of documents.
"Thank you, Kaicho," I said.
She took the folder, but for a moment, she just looked at me, her gaze analytical. "You've really changed," she said finally. "You look more mature compared to the last time I saw you. And not just your looks, but the way you carry yourself is also different. You're no longer just the timid friend of the gray monster. You have more confidence now."
"Kaicho must have heard about what happened in the later part of her career," I said, the bitter memory replaying itself in my mind. "After that incident... I didn't want to just helplessly watch my best friend breaking down and do nothing. I felt that if I could have done more, she wouldn't have been in that state. That's why I vowed to support her better."
"I see," she said, her expression softening. "That's also the reason you asked to be transferred to the Trainer School, right?" She opened the folder and began to look through my documents. "Hmm? Highest scorer in the Kyoto Trainer School, even though you were enrolled in an accelerated course... and one of the youngest ever to receive a Central Trainer License? It seems you're also a monster in your own right." She looked up at me, with a new kind of respect in her eyes?
"I just did what I had to do," I said, a little embarrassed. I gave a wry smile, scratching my cheek with my finger. "The real monsters are the ones on the track. More than that, I had promised to come back soon. And most importantly... I was worried about her."
"I see," she said, her hands moving swiftly, stamping and signing the documents. "And you are applying to become the assistant trainer under him? You three are finally reunited here in Central. Congratulations."
I nodded, my thoughts already turning to my would-be junior. "Though it seems there'll be another monster I need to take care of," I said.
"Yes," the Kaicho smirked, handing me back a piece of paper and my newly reactivated Student ID. "Please take care of them both." She then stood, offering me a genuine, warm smile. "Welcome back, Belno Light. I'm glad to have you here."
"Thank you, Kaicho," I said, bowing slightly, a smile of my own on my face.
I'm back, Trainer Kitahara, Oguri-chan.
---
My body hurt. My legs were aching very badly. My lungs had no breath left. My brain was experiencing severe oxygen deficiency. All of this combined, and I didn't know if I could even stand up again.
The Chief and Oguri-san had just come back from their homecoming, and we had finally hit the gas for my training. The plan for the early part of this year was so grueling that I had already designated it the "Winter Campaign." This training regime had several key objectives that I had to reach to increase my chances of winning against my targets. No, that wasn't quite right. It was more that I had to reach these objectives to even have a chance.
And this afternoon, I had only completed four repetitions of this new routine, but the experience of my entire body breaking down was something I hadn't felt for a long, long time. It seemed it was true that we had been too conservative in our training recently. The regimen that we had thought to be so intense was not increasing in parallel with my own rapidly improving body.
It was like trying to fill a pool with our strongest pump, but we hadn't noticed that the pool itself was getting larger and larger. We were supposed to upgrade to an even stronger pump, but we had kept using the same one as in the beginning. And during the Hopeful Stakes, we had finally noticed that the pool wasn't filled enough.
"Rest up for fifteen minutes, Ko-kun," I could hear the Chief say. He then continued, his voice sharp and clear, "Oguri, keep going with your skipping. Change to high knees next."
I was lying down on the dirt track, just past the finish line. I didn't have any energy left to even sit up. With each laborious breath I took, drops of salty sweat flowed into my mouth. I had only run a total of 2400 meters, but it had been far more taxing than the usual double marathon I did at night.
I heard footsteps and turned my head in their direction. I saw the Chief, a huge bottle of hydration drink in his hand, walking towards me.
"Here," he said, helping me to sit up and handing me the bottle. "You made progress in every single run. The longest you held it so far was around 340 meters before you slowed down. And it's only been your first day, but you're already doing better than expected. I believe you'll be ready by the time of the Yayoi Sho."
I slowly drank the hydration drink in between my ragged breaths and nodded at him. After finally stabilizing my breathing, I spoke.
"I will, Chief," I said, my voice hoarse but firm. "I will conquer Nakayama's short homestretch. I have to, if I want to defeat them." I looked down at my shaking hands as they gripped the bottle.
It had come to our attention during the Hopeful Stakes review that I had actually underestimated my own deep stamina reserves and, at the same time, overestimated the stamina consumption of my newly discovered Gear Three. After passing the finish line, I had realized I still had some legs left. If I had just pushed a little bit more on the backstretch, I could have won.
It had been frustrating when the Chief had pointed it out during our race review session. If I had just been more aware of my own limits, if I had practiced more with my Gear Three, I wouldn't have made that wrong decision. My overconfidence in my new weapon had also been a problem. I had treated it like it was a wunderwaffe, as if I could close any distance with it, even on a short final stretch like that of Nakayama.
"Ko-kun..." the Chief said, and I thought I heard a tinge of concern in his tone. Or had I misheard it? "Yeah," he continued, his voice returning to normal, "let's defeat them." I looked up at him to make sure, but I only saw his usual, confident smile.
It was the same smile he'd had when he proposed the two new directions of development as follow-ups to my mistakes and shortcomings in that race.
One direction was to spread my stamina management in a more balanced way. I would burn more stamina in the early-to-mid stages of the race to maintain a closer striking distance, keeping the familiar 300-meter trigger to start the sequence of my Ideal Strides. This direction was more tactically complex and reactive in nature. I would have to truly understand the flow of the race and base my strategy on how the other runners acted. The plus side was that I would be using an already-familiar trigger for my Ideal Strides, so there would be less chance of trouble in the launch sequence. But the negative side was that this strategy was prone to manipulation from the likes of Seiun Sky. And, as the Chief had pointed out, I often lost my cool when it came to competing with them, so my judgment was often dulled because of that.
The second direction was to go all-in during the late stage. I would run at my own, steady pace in the early-to-mid stages, conserving my endurance with the sole intention of spurting as early as possible. This direction was more about running my own race than reacting to the others. This strategy was both vulnerable and invulnerable at the same time. It was invulnerable in a way that it would make any pacing strategies used against me a non-factor. A slow pace would help me by shortening the overall gap of the field. A fast pace would help me by grinding down the others' stamina. An erratic pace would be of no use if I just spurted much earlier than expected. The only real counter to this was someone like Mejiro Palmer-san or Daitaku Helios-san, who was able to run at full speed for the entire race. On the other hand, by going all-in during the late stage, any disruptions to my launch sequence would be fatal. And by lengthening the sequence and using an unfamiliar, earlier trigger, the chance of such a disruption increased as well.
So, it was either play on the same field as them, countering their machinations in a back-and-forth battle, and then striking the decisive blow in the final 300 meters. Or, just set my own pace, observe the others from a distance, and then blow them all away with a much bigger cannon at the end.
The former was the tried and tested strategy of End Closers. It had a clearer path forward and was relatively similar to what I had always done. The latter was unproven, sounded unfair, and was a brainless move. But war was never supposed to be fair, or to show who was smarter. It was about who won at the end.
Faced with those considerations, our final decision was to choose... both.
We were greedy. That much was clear. If I could potentially do both, why should I compromise? The grand, long-term scheme of my progression was towards this new doctrine: fighting them on the battlefield with the biggest cannon. Superior Firepower. But for the start, my immediate mission objectives were to acquire and learn how to operate that cannon. So, the strategy for now was to adopt the second direction first. I would set up my ambush point at the last 400 meters with my biggest cannon. Once my stamina improved and I had more experience, I could then learn to fight them head-on in the mid-race as well.
And this 600-meter flying sprint was the main training and assessment tool for developing that bigger cannon. The aim was to start the entire sequence at the 400-meter mark. It might not have sounded like much of a difference, but it was 33% longer than my usual launch. Along with that, the main issue became whether I could maintain or even continue to accelerate in Gear Three for a full 200 meters. Which was double the usual sequence, where Gear Three was only engaged in the last 100 meters. For me now, it was a monumental task.
And to say that even my deep stamina reserves felt like they had a large hole ripped in them when using Gear Three was an understatement. For a 100-meter burst, I needed to burn through at least 20% of my total stamina. Not bad, in my opinion. But now, we were doubling it. It had just been a theoretical number before, but after actually trying to do it, the theory had been somewhat proven. The Chief had said it was because I was still unfamiliar with Gear Three, so my body hadn't yet found a more efficient way to perform it. That was why we were trying to hammer it into my body through brute force. Like usual.
The thought made me remember that funny skit about the development of the British Sherman Firefly tank.
'Chief, the 17-pounder gun won't fit!'
'PUT IT IN SIDEWAYS.'
'The radio won't fit!'
'CUT A HOLE AND HAVE IT STICK OUT THE BACK.'
'The engine's no good!'
'GET FIVE CAR ENGINES AND PUT THEM TOGETHER.'
"Hehehehe," I couldn't help but chuckle at the memory.
"I-is she okay?" I heard an unfamiliar voice, filled with concern, from nearby.
Maybe it was thanks to that skit that I was finally resurfacing from my deep, exhausted thoughts. I noticed I was lying down on the track, facing up at a sky that was starting to get cloudy. My body was no longer aching quite so badly, and my stamina was already good enough to go for another run or two. Just how long had I been out? I wondered.
"She's fine," the Chief explained, but his tone was half-joking. "It's just her being her."
I then sat up and looked at the Chief, at Oguri-san, and at an Umamusume I didn't recognize. She had long, brown hair with a distinct white blaze on her forehead and was currently being tightly embraced by Oguri-san. This Umamusume was wearing a Trainer School uniform. So, a new trainer? And an Umamusume trainer? That was quite rare. And she looked so young, maybe around Oguri-san's age, so from the high school division? Wait, a trainer, but also a student? Who was she?
Under my scrutiny, she struggled to survive Oguri-san's hug, a wry smile on her face as she looked at me. Oguri-san was looking utterly, completely happy, while the Chief was proudly smiling at the two of them, at their closeness. Was she an old friend of Oguri-san? An acquaintance of the Chief from a Trainer School? Too few data, too many assumptions. Let's just ask.
"Ko-kun! You're finally back! Come here! Let me introduce you to her!" the Chief waved at me. A nice cue.
"Yes, Sir!" I stood up, dusted the dirt from my tracksuit, and walked over to them.
I coughed once, a small, deliberate sound to adjust my mindset. A new acquaintance was a potential ally. Let's be friendly and polite.
"Ko-kun," the Chief began, his voice filled with an unveiled pride, "she's your other senior, and she was my trainee in the same generation as Oguri, back during my time in Kasamatsu. She's also Oguri's best friend, who came to Central with her. She was crucial for Oguri's career in the Twinkle Series, as her support. Her name is Belno Light." He then gestured towards me, his tone just as proud. "And Belno, this is Copenhagen. You must have heard about her. She's my new trainee here in Central."
"Nice to meet you, Belno Light-san," I said, offering a polite bow and my friendliest smile. "I'm Copenhagen, or you can just call me Ko, like the others do. Thank you for always supporting Oguri-san." I wanted to shake her hand, but she still couldn't escape Oguri's embrace.
"Nice to meet you too, Ko-chan," Belno-san said, her voice warm and clear. "You can just call me Belno. I didn't expect the 'Little Monster' to be this friendly. I thought you would be more like Oguri-chan. Let's do our best from now on, Ko-chan!"
"Polite and friendly Ko-chan... How nostalgic. It reminds me of her early days."
Oguri-san's voice, a soft, wistful murmur, suddenly cut in. As she spoke, she squeezed Belno-san even tighter. Hey, Oguri-san, I am trying to save my face here. The first impression is important.
"Oguri-chan! Kuh! Gughk! I can't breathe!" Belno-san's muffled cry sounded strangely familiar. Oh, right. I used to do this to the Director. A pang of guilt shot through me, and I quickly offered a deep, silent apology to the Director in my heart.
"Wait, Chief," I said, turning my attention back to him, "what did Belno-san mean by 'doing our best from now on'?"
"Belno here has just finished her Trainer School and gotten her Central Trainer licence," the Chief explained, his voice a complex mix of immense pride and a faint, bitter tone. "She was able to get her Central Trainer License in just one try, even though she took an accelerated course.."
"That's impressive..." I could only utter those words as I glanced at Belno-san again. And it was true. She looked mature and already knew her bearing. Not only a genius, but her mentality must have been strong, too. We could set aside her currently squeezed and pained expression for now.
"Yeah," the Chief continued, his chest puffing out slightly. "She transferred to the Trainer School in the spring two years back and just graduated as the Best Graduate of her class. She took the license test at the end of last year, passed as one of the youngest ever to do so, and now she's come back here as both a student and an assistant trainer to gain more experience."
"Goodness me.." I said, my gaze now fixed dead on the Chief. "And she's here... that means she's going to join us?"
"Yeah," he smirked. "She'll continue to support Oguri, and she'll be supporting you too, from now on."
"Byerly-sama blessed us..." I glanced at the two best friends, who were now finally separated as Oguri-san had let go, and pumped one of my fists into the air.
"Hahaha!" the Chief laughed instantly.
Oguri-san then eased off her grip completely to laugh together with the Chief. Even Belno-san, catching her breath, followed suit with a warm, genuine laugh of her own.
Shortly after that ruckus, we continued our training, with Belno-san now observing intently from the Chief's side. With each new run, I was able to add a few more meters to my record. Even under the concerned gaze of Belno-san and with the searing aches that spread across my body, I would quickly get back up and run again after each brief rest. The quicker I reached my mission objective, the more time I would have to train and become proficient in this new doctrine. As in an ambush, a single, masterfully and accurately placed shot was what made or broke the entire operation. And I didn't want to regret and blame my lack of time to master a new weapon, like I had done in the Hopeful Stakes.
Though Belno-san would only be joining our team officially tomorrow, she proposed to do the post-training palpation in place of the Chief. She said it would be more appropriate if she, as another girl, was the one who did it. Well, both Oguri-san and I didn't really mind. It wasn't as if there would be any real difference.
While she meticulously checked our muscle conditions, Belno-san told us her story, of her time away. I heard about her promise to Oguri-san to come back as soon as she could, the reason she had let her hair grow long, and many other things. She was even supposed to meet us during our trip for my Kyoto JS race last year, but she couldn't make it because it had clashed with her exam schedule.
Anyway, tomorrow, we decided we would have a proper homecoming party for Belno-san, with just the four of us. Honestly, to have an overqualified, brilliant member like Belno-san joining Team Arcturus... I couldn't be more grateful. And with her here, I felt our bunker would be getting warmer and stronger.