If someone asks "Won't you help her?" regarding a girl in pain, there's only one answer. She was a magnificent runner. As a trainer, I felt a deep, instinctive urge to see how far those wings could take her.
"I have one condition before I accept."
I wanted to help Rice. I really did. But I had a priority that came before all else.
"I need to let her meet Urara. If their chemistry is bad, or if it negatively impacts the girl I'm already responsible for, I have to decline."
I felt sorry for Rice, but Urara was my "number one." I couldn't make a decision that might hurt the girl who had made me a trainer in the first place.
"Hmph... No, ACCEPTED! Such consideration is only natural for a trainer!"
The Chairwoman frowned for a split second before nodding in agreement.
With that, the meeting ended. But deep down, I already knew how it would go. I hadn't introduced them yet, but some part of me felt certain they would get along.
Later that day, after school.
I waited at the track to greet Urara for her usual training session. Rice Shower stood nervously by my side.
"Huh? Hey, hey, Trainer! Who's that?"
Urara spotted her immediately and came running over, brimming with curiosity. Rice, meeting her for the first time, instinctively hid behind my back.
"Ah—yeah. Urara, this is Rice Shower..."
Man, this is awkward. I didn't know how to explain it. I'd rehearsed this in my head, but standing in front of Urara, the words felt heavy.
I felt like a man introducing a child from a previous marriage to his biological daughter. Not that I'd ever been in that situation in this life or the last.
But Urara's curiosity was faster than my anxiety. She beamed a radiant smile and reached out to grab Rice's hand.
"Rice Shower... oh, so Rice-chan! I'm Haru Urara! Just call me Urara!"
"U-uh, okay... Um, nice to meet you, Urara-chan."
"Ehehe! Trainer, I got a new friend! Yay!"
Urara flashed me a peace sign. To her, swapping names was the only requirement for a lifelong bond. Her purity was almost blinding to a middle-aged soul like mine.
"So, so? Why is Rice-chan here? Is she a practice partner, like Meeku-chan?"
Since Rice was wearing her training jersey, Urara assumed she was a rival like Happy Meek.
I gave a strained smile and explained Rice's situation as simply as I could. I told her that Rice was a G1 winner of the Kikuka-sho, that she currently had no trainer, and that she had been treated unfairly because of her victory.
Rice kept her head down the whole time, silent. She was likely terrified of how Urara would react. But her fears were misplaced. Predicting Urara's reaction was as easy as predicting that an apple would fall to the ground.
"What?! That's so mean! Do something, Trainer! Poor Rice-chan!"
Urara's eyes welled with tears as she tugged on my sleeve. She was genuinely devastated by Rice's story.
"I want to do something. The Chairwoman and Ms. Hayakawa asked if I would take her on as my second trainee."
"Really?"
I knelt down so I was at eye level with Urara and spoke seriously.
"But if I take on Rice Shower, I'll have less time to spend exclusively on your training. Are you okay with that?"
I didn't want to make Rice sound like a burden, but that was the reality. No matter how hard I worked, my time would be split. I intended to increase the quality of our sessions to compensate, but there were no guarantees.
"Eh? Of course I'm okay with it!"
Urara tilted her head as if I'd asked if the sky was blue. Seeing my stunned expression, she broke into a wide grin.
"Because Trainer is amazing! So it'll be fine!"
It was pure, unadulterated trust. She didn't doubt me for a second.
"Besides, training with Rice-chan sounds like so much fun!"
There it was. Urara's core philosophy: excitement and fun. But I noticed that the way she said it had changed slightly since we first met. Whether she realized it or not, she was evolving.
How they would influence each other was something I couldn't know until we tried.
Well... that was that. I'd looked for every reason to hesitate, but in the end, it came down to my resolve and my effort.
Training a dirt sprinter and a G1 stayer simultaneously... the difficulty wouldn't just double; it would be exponential.
But then...
"A-ah... maybe Rice shouldn't... I'll just be a bother..."