In the blink of an eye, another week had passed.
The atmosphere of the Lunar New Year gradually faded.
As Tracen Academies across the Far East reopened for the new term, the Twinkle Series also entered a new cycle.
And Central Tracen Academy naturally welcomed a brand-new semester as well.
Early morning.
Mejiro training grounds.
Trainer's office.
Click.
With the crisp sound of the lock, Kuroha pushed open the door for the first time in half a month.
What greeted him was bright morning sunlight and a spotless room.
Clearly, even during his absence, the Mejiro family staff had continued cleaning the place with impeccable diligence.
Yet as Kuroha stood in the doorway, looking at this familiar room, a subtle sense of emptiness rose in his chest.
Once upon a time, this semi-open trainer's office had always been noisy and lively.
During breaks between training sessions, Inari One loved sitting cross-legged in the corridor, spacing out. Obey Your Master would usually pull some random book from Kuroha's bookshelf and read it.
March would be out on the grass below, loosening up.
Chiyo and Ardan would gather around the tea table, drinking tea and chatting.
Back then, McQueen and Teio were still little horse girls who would run around full of energy, making everyone laugh.
It all felt as if it had happened only yesterday.
Even though everyone was still by Kuroha's side now, things had still changed with time...
"...Everyone's grown up."
A gentle softness entered Kuroha's eyes as he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.
He sat down at the desk and began reviewing the materials he had prepared earlier. After checking everything over to make sure nothing could go wrong, he quietly waited for his girls to arrive.
He did not have to wait long.
Soon enough, a bright, energetic voice broke the calm of the training grounds.
"Trainer! I'm here!"
Accompanied by quick, lively footsteps, a cute brown-haired, blue-eyed girl with the same crescent bangs as Rudolf came hurtling in like a gust of wind.
Her face was overflowing with excitement and energy that she could hardly contain.
Rather than entering through the normal way, she leaped up from the semi-open hallway between the training grounds and the trainer's office, jumped straight into the room, and skidded to a stop at Kuroha's side.
"Good morning, Trainer!"
Teio threw both hands into the air and shouted with a wide, toothy grin.
Just looking at that pure, adorable smile was enough to calm both body and mind.
"Morning, Teio. Looks like you had a pretty good break."
Kuroha smiled and rubbed Teio's head.
"Hehe, it was okay." Teio nuzzled against the hand on her head. "This year is my Classic year, you know. Lady Teio is definitely going to show everyone what she can do!"
"Right, right. Teio's the best."
Kuroha answered with a smile, then added, "Take a break for now. We'll talk once everyone else gets here."
This start-of-year meeting had fewer attendees than usual apart from Kuroha himself.
After all, there were very few Umamusume left in Team Chasing Light now.
Oguri and Ardan counted as half.
Like Inari, both of them had already decided that at the start of this year, they would choose a race to serve as their retirement run.
So the truly active racers left on the team numbered only two.
McQueen, who had just entered her senior year, and Teio, who had just stepped into the gates of her Classic year.
With Teio's arrival, the Mejiro training grounds gradually grew lively.
Before long, everyone who was meant to be there had arrived.
At that moment, the trainer's office at the Mejiro training grounds was completely full.
McQueen and Teio, the two main focuses of this meeting, sat obediently on either side of Kuroha.
On the sofa nearby, Aoi sat on one side of Ardan, while Kuroha sat on the other.
Both of them knew that this meeting did not really have much to do with them.
On the bench opposite them sat the team's "three little ones," lined up in a row.
None of the three young horse girls had gone through True Blooming yet.
On the far left sat Bourbon, posture perfectly straight, expression flat, like a precision machine in Umamusume form.
In the middle was Rice Shower, experiencing this kind of meeting for the first time and looking a little nervous, a blue rose hat perched atop her head.
On the far right, Suzuka held a notebook with serious focus.
Even though she still had quite a while to go before her True Blooming, in terms of attitude she was not losing to anyone.
Click.
Just then, the lock turned and Aoi Kiryuin walked in carrying a stack of freshly printed materials.
"Sensei, everything's ready!"
The girl was wearing a sharp, capable business outfit today, giving her an especially neat and efficient look.
There was also a blazing determination in her eyes.
At the end of last year, Aoi had finally graduated early from the Trainer Academy with outstanding results.
Not only that.
She had also passed the strict examinations, successfully obtained her local trainer's license, and formally entered Central Tracen Academy as Kuroha's direct student.
Now, her official title within Team Chasing Light had changed from assistant to trainee trainer.
The reason she was not yet an "assistant trainer" was simply because Central Tracen Academy had an extremely strict hard rule:
To serve as an assistant trainer in a Central team, you had to possess a Central trainer's license.
Take Kitahara, for example.
After suffering through a full three years of Central licensing exams, he had finally passed at the end of last year.
Now he was learning how to manage a Central Umamusume team as an assistant trainer under Ginjirou Musaka.
"Thanks, Aoi."
Kuroha took the materials from her, had Aoi find a seat, then flipped through the documents in his hand.
After confirming there were no issues, he separated half the stack and handed it to the three purple-haired women beside him.
"Fumino, take a look first."
"...Mm."
Sitting beside Kuroha, Fumino frowned slightly as she took the materials and began reading through them carefully.
She was now the assistant trainer of Team Chasing Light.
Though her words were always sharp, she had still honestly accepted Kuroha's request in the end.
Of course, part of the reason was that this year, there really was not a single proper active-racing Umamusume left on her own team...
While Fumino was occupied with the documents, Kuroha rose to his feet and walked to the whiteboard at the front.
He picked up a marker and turned to face the Umamusume and trainers in the room.
The familiar old faces were no longer all there.
But looking into those bright, spirited eyes before him, it was obvious that the flame of Team Chasing Light had been perfectly passed on into the hands of a new generation.
He clapped his hands, and the sharp sound pulled everyone's attention back to him.
"All right, everyone. The New Year holiday is officially over. Let's stop the small talk there."
The expression on Kuroha's face gradually turned serious and focused as he spoke softly.
"Next, we'll hold this year's first internal team meeting and properly map out your race schedule for the new year."
(End of Chapter)
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