Chapter 181: Can We Try Burst Front Running?
How did she know…?
That fleeting doubt had just crossed Makoto's mind when he suddenly remembered the guess he'd made the moment Kitasan Black stepped into the room.
Even then, he'd wondered if the girl in front of him had sensed something. Now, it seemed he hadn't been wrong.
Seeing Makoto fall silent for a moment, Kitasan Black gently pressed her lips together and spoke softly,
"I don't know if I'm guessing right, but… is it about Ai-chan?"
This time, Makoto was genuinely surprised.
"…You could even tell that?"
"So it really is."
Kitasan Black nodded, then also fell quiet for a moment.
"Trainer must've been thinking about it nonstop. After all, I really want Ai-chan to come train with us too, so I figured that's what Trainer had been worrying about these past few days."
Recalling how Kitasan Black and Almond Eye had looked when they were out together, Makoto felt a slight sense of realization.
"Then… what do you think?" he asked instinctively.
"As for me…"
Kitasan Black thought for a moment. "I think I can understand Uncle and Auntie—I mean, Almond Eye's mom and dad."
"If you think about it carefully, they're probably really worried. Worried about your future, Trainer."
"My future…?" Makoto froze.
"Like my grandpa," Kitasan Black nodded. "He's taught so, so many disciples."
"No matter how talented those students were, they weren't recognized by everyone right from the start."
"Even Grandpa himself had to go through performance after performance before he slowly built up the reputation he has now."
"So I think you're probably at a similar stage, Trainer."
As she spoke, she tilted her head slightly. Her eyes curved into crescent moons, and a gentle smile formed on her lips.
Feeling that thoughtfulness, a warmth surged up inside Makoto—something hard to put into words.
Like a soft spring breeze, it swept away a gloom he hadn't even realized had been weighing on him these past few days.
At the same time, a peculiar sense of loneliness quietly surfaced.
It wasn't the loneliness of having no one around, but the loss that came from never truly being understood for so long.
Because of his memories from a previous life, he had tried, from childhood onward, to get along with his "peers."
But no matter how hard he tried, the words and behavior shaped by those past-life experiences inevitably made him feel out of place.
As a result, he was never able to truly integrate into the circles around him. Gradually, it was as if a high wall had been built around his heart, and he stopped opening up easily to others.
He could talk about some things with his parents, but even then, he couldn't reach every corner of his heart.
Conversations like the one with Almond Eye's parents—the worries that lingered afterward—were things that, even if he told his parents, would likely only add to their anxiety and concern.
And in the end, the responsibility for solving those problems still rested with him alone.
Yet at this moment, facing Kitasan Black, he suddenly realized that it wasn't true that no one wanted to understand him.
That there were people who could stand in his shoes and try to understand, try to analyze things from his perspective.
That feeling was like groping through darkness for a long time, only to suddenly glimpse a ray of light—awakening an urge in him to pour everything out.
And so, carried by that impulse, he told her about his conversation with Almond Eye's parents that day—their polite yet firm stance, the guesses and thoughts that had taken shape in his heart because of it—all of it, bit by bit.
As he spoke, he kept his eyes fixed on those crimson pupils before him, as though he could find comfort and strength in that gaze.
After a long while—
"So just winning the Classic Triple Crown… still isn't enough, is it…"
After listening to Makoto's outpouring, Kitasan Black murmured softly, her mind unconsciously recalling the expression she'd seen earlier.
That look—like the obsession she'd seen in extreme sports—whether it was the fleeting confusion, the helplessness, or the quiet desolation that came with a faint sigh…
She had never once seen that expression on her trainer before.
In a daze, she realized that the trainer who had always seemed omnipotent in her eyes also carried hardships and loneliness that were hard to put into words.
And at this moment, being able to become someone he could confide in made her feel that she understood her Trainer even better—and along with that came a strange, unfamiliar feeling.
However, that feeling was quickly pushed aside. She suddenly clenched her fist.
"If winning the Classic Triple Crown isn't enough, then we'll just win even more races!"
"The St. Lite Kinen! Then the Kikuka Sho!"
"And then the Arima Kinen at the end of the year!"
"I'll give everything I have to win those three races and show everyone just how amazing my trainer is!"
"Trainer…!"
In an instant, she was back to her usual liveliness and passion, staring straight at Makoto.
"Didn't you just say that maybe I could try Burst Front Running in the St. Lite Kinen?"
"Then let's decide on that!"
"Let's run a race that leaves everyone wide-eyed and stunned!"
"Starting with the St. Lite Kinen!"
…
Kitasan Black felt that ever since she was very young, she had been especially good at sensing the emotions of the people around her.
There was happiness, there was sadness—and somehow, there always seemed to be more sadness.
For reasons she herself didn't quite understand, she rarely felt sad, and she hoped that the people around her could be cheerful too, free of worries.
She didn't know whether her way of thinking was right, but she was willing to share her own easily satisfied, easily happy feelings with others.
After noticing changes in her Trainer mood recently, she'd wanted to find an opportunity to ask him about it. As it turned out, just as she'd expected, her trainer really was troubled by something.
Out of habit, she tried to encourage him in her own way.
And during the final stretch of the training camp that followed, she was delighted to feel that her Trainer no longer gave off that faint sense of worry she'd sensed before.
The training camp ended, and after spending the last few days of summer vacation enjoying time with her friends, the blink of an eye brought the start of the new term.
On the first day after school resumed, the classroom was filled with the laughter and chatter of the horse girls, everyone sharing stories from their summer break.
A sudden cry broke the atmosphere.
"What? Dura-chan was actually… sick?!"
Eyes wide, Kitasan Black stood there with her mouth agape, clearly unable to process the news she'd just heard.
"How could that be… why didn't she say anything before? No wonder every time I asked her out recently she said she had something to do…'
"So, Crow-chan, what exactly happened?!"
Standing opposite her was Satono Crown. Her face showed concern mixed with helplessness as she glanced around and let out a soft sigh.
"I don't really know either. I just happened to overhear the teachers talking about it in the office just now."
"And also… Kita-chan, could you keep your voice down a bit? The whole classroom can hear you…"
Catching the startled looks being thrown her way out of the corner of her eye, Kitasan Black finally realized how she'd overreacted. Her face flushed red, and she hurriedly bowed toward everyone around her.
"Um… sorry, everyone, for disturbing you… sorry, sorry…"
Without waiting for any response, she quickly turned back, looking at Satono Crown with eager eyes.
"Then… after training, let's go visit Dura-chan together."
"That's fine," Satono Crown nodded. "I was planning to—"
Suddenly, the back door of the classroom was slammed halfway open with a loud bang, and in the next instant, a voice just as loud as Kitasan Black's earlier shout rang out:
"Hey! Which one of you is Kitasan Black?"
<+>
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[1] https://www.patreon.com/collection/1617249?view=condensed
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