Chapter 227: She's Standing Too Close
Seeing that Kitasan Black was still immersed in shock, Makoto spoke with greater emphasis:
"So, do you understand now? Your own personal reason for running comes from everything you've experienced up until now."
"The laughter and tears, the successes and setbacks, the smooth days and the hardships—they all come together to form the one and only you."
"Only by looking back on those things can you discover a source of strength that doesn't rely on anyone else, something that supports you purely through your own belief and keeps you running forward."
"When that happens, you'll find a reason that truly belongs to you. It'll be like an everlasting light, guiding every step you take."
Kitasan Black had still been wearing a stunned expression, but after hearing his words, her eyes suddenly lit up.
"Looking back at the past… Right! Trainer!"
Unable to suppress the excitement swelling inside her, she leaned in close, practically pressing half her body against Makoto as she fired off her words like a machine gun.
"The Kikuka Sho!"
"At the very end of that race… I felt flashes of everything from before!"
"All those moments with you, Trainer, and with everyone!"
"So that means…"
She pressed her lips together. Her tone carried both cautious testing and a slowly solidifying determination.
"If what I think about in moments like that are all the things I experienced with you and everyone… then maybe that's what I need."
"As long as everyone keeps supporting me, I'll definitely be able to keep running on the track."
"As for a reason that's completely my own…"
The hesitation and determination vanished instantly. She scratched her head and laughed sheepishly.
"Hehe… I still can't think of one at all… hehe…"
Makoto, meanwhile, found himself momentarily dazed.
Maybe because Kitasan Black was too excited…
She was standing far too close.
His gaze fell unconsciously on the girl in front of him.
Her cheeks were slightly flushed from excitement. Her eyes sparkled brilliantly, as if they held a sky full of stars, filled with firm resolve toward running and toward the future.
The corners of her lips curved into a faint smile. Her small nose rose and fell with her quick breaths, making her look especially cute.
As his eyes trailed downward, for some reason they first landed on the arm exposed outside her school uniform.
Under the cafeteria's warm yellow lighting, her fair skin gave off a soft glow, radiating the vitality unique to a young athlete. Faint but well-defined muscle lines showed strength beneath the softness, and the sports band around her wrist added a hint of agility to the gentleness.
Lower still, her knee-high socks wrapped neatly around her legs, outlining their graceful shape. The soft fabric creased slightly with her movements, accentuating the firmness of her thighs and the length of her calves.
And from her body drifted a faint, clean fragrance—shampoo and body wash from after training, mixed with something else he couldn't quite place.
Suddenly, Makoto felt his throat grow unbearably dry, like it was stuffed with cotton. His thoughts slowed, his mind turning into a mess.
He forced himself, with great effort, to pull his gaze away and look to the side.
To calm himself down, he subconsciously licked his lips, then dug his thumbnail hard into his palm, using the sting to chase away the strange feeling in his chest.
After a long moment, he finally spoke with difficulty.
"…Anyway… I mean… in short…"
"What I said just now might still be too abstract, too philosophical. In an actual race… it's better to focus on practical things."
"Since you've already met Sounds of Earth, let's talk about this opponent."
Taking a deep breath, Makoto finally felt his emotions settle. He fully switched back into work mode.
"This actually connects to what we were talking about earlier."
"When you were chatting with Oguri Cap, I was discussing something similar with Tamamo and the others."
"Do you remember the 'zone'?"
The topic changed so abruptly that it almost felt out of nowhere.
However, Kitasan Black was still caught up in her excitement and didn't notice anything strange at all.
The moment she heard the word "zone", her attention shifted instantly.
Ever since learning that the zone existed, it wasn't like she hadn't secretly wondered how she could master it.
But she also understood that with her current ability and knowledge, achieving that in the short term would be extremely difficult.
And with her Trainer by her side, something this advanced and complicated was obviously better left to the trainer she trusted most.
Now, hearing that Makoto might have some new insights about the zone, she couldn't help but ask seriously,
"Zone… so does that mean you learned some kind of trick about it from Tamamo–senpai and the others, Trainer?"
Makoto quickly shook his head.
The zone wasn't something you could simply learn. Even if you could, it required firsthand experience.
And now that he was no longer an athlete but a trainer—someone responsible for guiding others, more like a coach—it was even harder for him to experience it himself.
What he had learned from Tamamo and the other Umamusume wasn't how to enter the zone.
Instead, it was how to optimize their existing training methods so that, even without the zone, they could still have a chance to defeat opponents who had it.
Of course, they had also talked about ways to make triggering the zone slightly more likely.
As for optimizing training, the most valuable advice had come from Super Creek.
At the time, Super Creek had spoken slowly and seriously:
"Trading a massive loss of stamina for a brief burst that exceeds your limits—the zone can indeed be a surprising weapon in a race."
"But honestly, not every runner is suited to winning that way, even if they can successfully enter the zone."
"For example… me."
"In the end, the zone is just a temporary special state. Worse, it drains stamina tremendously."
"My specialty is long-distance races."
"For me, stamina management and overall pacing are crucial. If I enter the zone, it actually disrupts my control over the race's rhythm."
"And besides, Oguri, Tamamo, and Inari are all powerful runners who can enter the zone. They already have terrifying closing kicks, and their explosive power in the zone is practically unbeatable."
"If I abandon my own strengths and gamble everything on a zone that I'm relatively worse at… that kind of decision would be foolish."
"So in that Autumn Tenno Sho, I made one thing clear from the very beginning: give up chasing the zone, and defeat Oguri and Inari head-on using the advantages I've honed through countless hours of training."
"If I'm not mistaken, Kitasan Black seems to have strong talent for long-distance races as well."
"If that's true, then Trainer Yasui, I sincerely hope you'll carefully consider my advice."
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