The day after King challenged the spring Tenno Sho.
I was relaxing in the clubroom with a cup of coffee, reading the sports newspaper I had bought from the convenience store.
"King Halo, victory in the rain"
"King Halo, third G1 victory"
"King Halo, only one G1 victory away from conquering all distances"
I bought several sports newspapers, and those headlines were on the front page of all of them. By winning the spring Tenno Sho, King not only conquered all distances in graded races but is now on the verge of conquering all distances in G1s. She can achieve it with one more G1 victory in a middle-distance race...
(She has four chances... the Takarazuka Kinen, the autumn Tenno Sho, the Queen Elizabeth II Cup, and the Japan Cup, huh...)
The Takarazuka Kinen is the last race in the spring Senior Triple Crown series, and the autumn Tenno Sho and the Japan Cup are part of the autumn Senior Triple Crown series. If nothing happens to King, she plans to challenge all three of them.
The Queen Elizabeth II Cup is held in early November. But considering the autumn Tenno Sho is in late October and the Japan Cup is in late November, it would be tough for her to challenge the Queen Elizabeth II Cup.
Even though there's no problem with her distance aptitude, her fans might throw raw eggs at her if she runs in three consecutive G1s every two weeks. Well, it wouldn't have been surprising if they had thrown eggs at her the moment she ran from the Sprinters Stakes to the Kikuka Sho.
I thought about that while reading the newspaper. The newspapers had pictures of the moment King crossed the finish line, the moment she was supported by Special Week and the others after the race, and pictures from the winning live.
There were articles about King's victory and about how Team Kitalpha had won the Tenno Sho three consecutive times, following Rice's victories in last year's spring and autumn Tenno Sho, and this year's spring Tenno Sho.
I should cut them all out and make a scrapbook... but still, it's not a situation where everything is great just because we won.
King won the race, but the impact of the mud hitting the right side of her face was not insignificant.
She washed her eye with running water, used the eye drops for horse girls that we always have, and somehow managed to get through the winning live, but the eye remained bloodshot and didn't heal, perhaps because of inflammation from the mud or a scratch on her eyeball.
So, after the winning live, we rushed to a hospital that is affiliated with Tracen Academy, had her examined, got her eye drops, and returned to Tracen Academy just before midnight last night.
I first sent Urara and the others to the dorms, and I also went home and fell into a deep sleep, waking up just now. I'm currently eating a sandwich I bought, which is serving as my breakfast, while drinking coffee and reading the newspaper.
As I was munching on my breakfast, there was a knock on the clubroom door. And when I opened it, it was King, walking slowly into the clubroom.
"Good morning, Trainer."
"Good morning, King."
King greeted me, but she had a white eye patch over her right eye. Of course, she wasn't going through a chuunibyou phase, nor was it a fashion statement. It was something the hospital gave her along with the eye drops.
"Oh, are you eating breakfast now?"
"I just woke up. I bought it at the convenience store."
"I see... Then, shall I make you some coffee?"
King said that and started walking toward the coffee maker, but I stopped her since I was already drinking some. If I had known she was coming, I would have asked her.
"I made my own, so it's fine. Besides, your depth perception is off with one eye, right? It would be a disaster if you got a burn."
"I wouldn't make such a clumsy mistake."
King let out a chuckle. But with the right side of her vision blocked, her movements were a bit clumsy.
"How's your right eye? Is the swelling a little better?"
"I used the eye drops and slept for a night, so the swelling has gone down a bit. But I still feel a bit of discomfort."
"Let's see..."
I stood up and walked in front of King, gently reached out, and took off her eye patch. Then I placed my hands on both of her cheeks and looked into her right eye.
"Hmm... it's still swollen, for sure."
I gently pulled down her lower eyelid with my thumb and checked her eye. It was better than yesterday, but the redness was still there. According to the doctor who examined her, the mud had caused an inflammation, but it looked like it would take some time to heal.
"It's a good thing your eyeball wasn't scratched. There are some things you can't help no matter how careful you are, but I'm glad it's just this."
The white of her eye was red and bloodshot, but King's ruby-like pupils were as beautiful as ever. At worst, if the mud had scratched her eyeball, it would have had a huge negative impact on her vision... I was truly glad it was just this much.
As I was staring at King's eyes, she let out a big sigh.
"I'm happy that you're worried about me, but... you really are... look, you're too close again."
"Huh? Oh, sorry."
We were staring at each other so closely that I could feel her breath on my face, and I apologized honestly. I had just been warned by King the other day... but I'm worried about her... isn't a little bit okay?
"Didn't you just think, 'Isn't a little bit okay?'"
King said that while putting on her eye patch, giving me a half-lidded glare with her left eye. If I'm not mistaken, her cheeks were tinged with red.
"I did."
"Good, you're honest. Honestly... you're so silly."
King laughed amusedly. But when she checked the clock on the clubroom wall, she turned on her heel and headed for the door.
"Well then, I'm going to class. You work hard, too."
"Yeah. You study hard, too... Do you want me to walk you to your classroom?"
"I'm fine. Well... see you later."
King smiled softly one last time and left the clubroom. Before she did, I called out to her back.
"King. I thought about it while watching the race yesterday... just as you said I'm the best trainer for you, I also think you're the best horse girl."
"....Aren't Urara-san and Rice-senior also the best? Silly."
King didn't look back and left the clubroom.
And then, in the afternoon.
I had finished processing the expenses for yesterday's race and today's work and was now greeting Urara and the others who came to the clubroom.
Perhaps yesterday's race lit a fire in them, but both Urara and Rice looked full of spirit. Well, I feel the same way after seeing King's run yesterday. A fire has been lit in me, too.
"King, how's your eye?"
I asked again, following up on the morning. I didn't expect a dramatic recovery in just half a day, but I was still curious.
As I asked the question and got closer to King, I took off her eye patch just like in the morning. King lifted her face slightly but surely, so I could see it better. I put my hands on both of her cheeks and brought my face close to hers—
"Huh? Rice, what's wrong?"
Somehow, Rice slid in between me and King with a "squish."
"R-Rice was just wondering too! I was wondering if King-chan was okay!"
Saying that, Rice put her big horse ears between my face and King's face. It seems Rice was also curious about the condition of King's right eye.
But Rice, you can't see King's right eye if you're facing me, right? There's a horse ear of yours right in front of my face... When I moved my face a bit to the left, Rice's right ear flopped over and moved in front of my face. When I moved my face to the right, her left ear flopped over and moved in front of my face again. This is so cute.
"Rice-chan, what are you doing?"
"Urara-san, don't worry about it. Just stay where you are."
Urara looked puzzled, and King spoke kindly to her.
In the end, it seemed like King's right eye would take a few more days to heal completely.
After checking King's right eye, I gathered Urara and the others in front of the whiteboard in the clubroom before training.
"Alright... King's next race is the Takarazuka Kinen. But her eye isn't healed, and she's also tired from yesterday's race. So today, we'll be doing a light training menu."
"Yes. That's understandable."
The Takarazuka Kinen is held in late June. Like the Arima Kinen, the runners are decided by fan vote, but if King registers, she'll surely be able to run. In that case, what we need to decide is Urara's race.
"There's almost two months left, but... putting King aside... Urara, do you want to run in a race?"
There are no G1 dirt races between the February Stakes and the Teio Sho. The only graded race is the G3 Heian Stakes in late May. By the way, it's a 1900-meter race, a distance not often seen in the Twinkle Series.
The immediate goal is the Teio Sho, but I think it's okay for Urara to run in a G3 or an open race if she wants to. There are a decent number of open races, and the current Urara can probably beat most horse girls as long as she doesn't run into Smart Falcon.
As for King, she just ran in the spring Tenno Sho yesterday, so there's no need to push her to run in a race. We could have her run in the G3 Niigata Daishoten or the Naruo Kinen, which are middle-distance graded races, but I think it would be better for her to focus on the Takarazuka Kinen.
Unlike King, I'm a bit concerned that Urara hasn't run in a race since February... but she did mention Oishii Parfait as a horse girl to be careful of in the Osaka Hai, and Urara is the type to run with a unique sense of intuition when it comes to races.
Her racing sense might get dull... but if I ask my colleagues, juniors, and new trainers, maybe they'll gather for us again... We could hold another mock race to sharpen her racing sense.
When I asked her that, Urara furrowed her brows.
"Hmm... I feel like I want to run, but if I think about other things, I wonder if I can beat Falco-chan..."
I thought, "You're right," in response to Urara's answer.
Should we focus on a race, even if it's an open race, or should we immerse ourselves in training with only the Teio Sho in mind? Fortunately, Rice has also recovered, and we can train Urara even more in two months.
Since King has the Takarazuka Kinen as well, we'll mostly be having Urara train with King and Rice.
(But even if we train her like that, I wonder if she'll be able to beat Smart Falcon...)
Not only Urara but also Smart Falcon is growing. When that Smart Falcon is our opponent, running in other races could just be a detour.
The Teio Sho is a 2000-meter middle-distance race, so we have to train Urara's stamina as much as possible.
(But Urara's stamina growth is reaching a plateau... it's still growing, but the growth is weak despite the amount of training.)
The problem is that the slowdown in Urara's growth that I've been feeling for a while has become more pronounced. It might be difficult to extend her stamina any further. On the other hand, her speed and power still seem like they can grow, and her guts are standard equipment.
"Urara... you should continue training as you are. Rice, can you help as much as you can?"
"Yes! Leave it to me, Onii-sama! Rice will train Urara-chan and King-chan properly!"
When I brought it up, Rice nodded with a big smile. By training Urara and King, she must be thinking of training her own sluggish body as well.
All I can do for Urara and the others is to provide daily training and to gather and analyze information as much as possible.
There are two months left until the Takarazuka Kinen and the Teio Sho. After that, summer will come again. And at that time, Rice will also have her first scheduled race in the Summer Dream Trophy.
It will also be time for Team Kitalpha's second summer training camp... and by then, Rice should have fully recovered.
Two months until the next G1. I thought I would make sure Urara and the others get through it safely and become even a little bit stronger.
However, in early May.
An unexpected event occurred. No, "event" is not the right word; in a way, it was a celebratory occasion.
"Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss! My one-of-a-kind is the stroooooooongest!"
In the 1600-meter G1 race, the Victoria Mile, the horse girl my colleague was training defeated Kiryuin-san's Meek and won first place.
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