Chapter 221: Learning to Cook: Kitasan Black Is Serious
After Oguri Cap made the suggestion, Super Creek quickly nodded. The two arguing Umamusume also stopped and turned to look at Makoto.
"We're fine with it. And when we watched this year's Kikuka Sho, we already heard about Yasui-san," the small silver-haired Umamusume said first, flashing a grin that revealed a little fang.
"Guiding a G1 runner right after debuting as a trainer—honestly, we really admire that."
"Exactly. Our academy's been around so long and we still haven't produced anyone like that," the other small Umamusume chimed in.
"Even if Ooi's resources are a bit worse compared to here, we still haven't seen any trainer with similar talent. You're really impressive, Yasui-san."
Hearing this, Makoto couldn't help feeling a little excited.
The two Umamusume who had just praised him were Tamamo Cross and Inari One, and the other was Super Creek.
Although Super Creek hadn't spoken, the approving look in her eyes showed she agreed with her friends.
The strength and results of these Umamusume were beyond doubt, so naturally their judgment carried weight.
Especially Inari One.
She came from Ooi Tracen Academy. Although it was considered a regional school, it was still located in Tokyo, so its resources were much better than those of most local academies.
After retiring and continuing her studies, Inari One began working at Ooi Academy, so she must have met plenty of trainers on a daily basis.
Even after making those comparisons, she still described him as "really impressive." That clearly meant she thought highly of him.
So without much hesitation, Makoto quickly stood up and, in place of Oguri Cap, joined the mahjong table.
Makoto wasn't unfamiliar with Japanese mahjong.
Back home, his father loved inviting friends over to play mahjong during breaks from training and racing, and he still did. Because of that, Makoto was fairly familiar with both the rules and the strategies.
Having watched from the side just now, he felt that even Super Creek—who had just won big with a Four Concealed Triplets single-wait hand—was probably only average at mahjong. That last round had likely been luck.
Tamamo Cross and Inari One were about the same level—just casual players.
That meant he didn't need to worry about a big skill gap making things awkward.
"Great! Makoto, you're really straightforward!"
Seeing Makoto sit down, Tamamo Cross familiarly changed how she addressed him.
She rolled up her sleeves excitedly, looking like she was about to go all out at the table.
"Let's fight it out properly! Starting over!"
As she reached out to stack the tiles, Inari One glanced sideways at her and teased, "You just don't want to admit what happened last round, huh…"
"Oh, don't say it out loud! Besides, Creek didn't complain," Tamamo Cross said casually while stacking tiles.
"We're just playing for fun anyway, no need to take it so seriously."
Smiling, Super Creek nodded and looked at Makoto.
"So Yasui-san, just play casually too. We can chat while we play."
…
While Makoto's game was starting, over in the kitchen—
Standing in the spacious, brightly lit kitchen, Kitasan Black wore a clean apron and was fully focused on organizing the ingredients.
Her fingers moved deftly among fresh vegetables and meats, carefully plucking off yellowed leaves and trimming away excess tendons and membranes.
Her concentrated expression made it seem as though she were preparing for an extremely important race.
At that moment, Oguri Cap—now wearing a chef's hat and apron—entered the kitchen. Seeing how focused Kitasan Black was, she chose not to disturb her.
Walking lightly over to her side, Oguri Cap quickly swept her gaze across the ingredients on the cutting board, which had already been mostly prepared. Satisfaction flickered in her eyes, and she gave a small nod.
She turned, about to take the neatly stacked carrots, when Kitasan Black noticed her and looked surprised.
"Ah? Senpai? When did you get here?"
"Just now. You've done really well, Kita-chan."
Smiling, Oguri Cap praised her, then glanced in the direction Kitasan Black had been reaching.
"Next… it's my turn."
"Mhm! I'll leave it to you, senpai!"
She nodded vigorously and obediently stepped aside, watching Oguri Cap's movements with curiosity.
Oguri Cap placed a washed carrot on the cutting board and picked up the kitchen knife from the rack. She smiled at Kitasan Black, then focused back on the carrot.
"I should've told you before, if you're making soup, it's best to cut the carrots into evenly sized chunks or short pieces."
"That way, when they simmer, the broth seeps in better, and the carrots won't fall apart."
"As for how big the pieces should be…"
"Some chefs measure them. I just go by feel."
"So watch carefully first."
As she spoke, she deftly spun the knife once in her hand and began demonstrating.
For a moment, the knife seemed to come alive, rising and falling across the cutting board with a rhythmic tap-tap-tap.
In just a dozen seconds, the whole carrot had been cut into evenly sized pieces, each one looking like it had come out of a mold.
After finishing one carrot, she didn't rush to start another. Oguri Cap put the knife down, stepped back a few paces, and smiled at Kitasan Black.
"Here, you try."
While Oguri Cap had been demonstrating, Kitasan Black hadn't taken her eyes off her for even a second, nodding from time to time, just as seriously as she did during class or training.
Hearing the instruction, she nodded confidently, stepped up to the cutting board, recalled Oguri Cap's movements, picked up the knife, and began cutting the carrot carefully, copying her form.
Watching from the side, Oguri Cap nodded to herself.
Although she hadn't interacted much with Kitasan Black before—only seen some of this junior's races—and didn't really know what her studies or training at school were like, these days of teaching her cooking had made one thing increasingly clear.
Putting aside her running talent, this junior possessed an exceptionally rare steadiness and diligence.
Oguri Cap herself had never formally studied cooking. She simply cooked whenever she felt like it. Being praised by many people for her food tasting good was more of a pleasant surprise—perhaps even an unnoticed talent she'd always had.
But she had seen the chefs at her family's restaurant and elsewhere. She knew that for most people, learning to cook was actually very tedious.
Take her own restaurant, for example. Unless someone was already famous, new hires could only start as kitchen assistants.
Picking vegetables, cutting meat, wiping tables, washing dishes—doing all kinds of odd jobs.
Many people quit during that stage, no matter how impressive their past experience was.
That was true even for those who intended to cook professionally. For people who came only out of interest, it was even harder to stick with it.
At first, she'd thought Kitasan Black might just be acting on a whim—wanting to try cooking for fun.
But unexpectedly, when learning to cook, this junior was no less serious than when training as a runner at the academy.
Oguri Cap found that deeply admirable, and she began to vaguely understand why Kitasan Black could achieve such outstanding results in races.
A diligent Umamusume might not necessarily become exceptional, but an exceptional Umamusume could never be without steady, down-to-earth training.
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