After hearing Mejiro Dober's confession last night, Fujiwara Chiya revised her training plan overnight.
He had overlooked something. No matter how much Mejiro Dober usually took care of herself, no matter how much she liked clinging close, she was still an Uma Musume of the Mejiro family. She carried the glory of Mejiro on her back.
Mejiro Dober would not allow anyone to take victory from her hands.
Now, Mejiro Dober had already begun viewing Shirayuki as her greatest rival and had started special training specifically aimed at her.
While revising the plan, Fujiwara Chiya's feelings were rather complicated. Every single line he wrote was special training meant to target Shirayuki. Shirayuki was weak against high-endurance, long-distance acceleration types, so Fujiwara Chiya focused mainly on improving Mejiro Dober's ability in that area.
He was stabbing himself with a knife.
And every stab was fatal.
Every time he changed one detail, Fujiwara Chiya pushed Shirayuki a little closer toward the gallows. If Mejiro Dober trained according to this plan, it would become difficult for Shirayuki to defeat her in the future.
Right now, Fujiwara Chiya was basically fighting himself with his own left and right hands. On one side, he arranged training content aimed at countering Shirayuki. On the other, he strengthened Shirayuki's own ability. He had heard of boomerangs coming back to hit their thrower, but he had never heard of someone aiming a boomerang at himself before launching it.
It was during this tense self-battle that Fujiwara Chiya finished revising the plan.
The next day, at the training grounds, Fujiwara Chiya announced, "Starting this year, all of you will step onto your own paths. Graded races are only the beginning. The Triple Crown and Triple Tiara are not the end either. Don't forget our final goal. Europe. The world!"
After finishing his passionate speech, Fujiwara Chiya walked over to Shirayuki. "In order to deal with European races, we need to look through a lot of information. Shirayuki, I'll leave that to you. Can you do it?"
"Yes." Shirayuki gave a proper reply.
"And I'll handle the training plans from now on. I'm already an intermediate trainer, so I don't need you to help me share the pressure anymore."
"Okay."
"Then let's begin today's training."
Fujiwara Chiya walked over to Mejiro Dober and handed her the revised training plan.
"How does it look?"
"Trainer… thank you." Mejiro Dober no longer knew what else to say.
"I won't let you bring shame to the Mejiro name."
"Yes!" Mejiro Dober lowered her head.
She had never imagined that one day, Trainer would become the guiding light in her heart. At that moment, the last remaining distance between Mejiro Dober and him disappeared.
She was his Uma Musume.
"Do you want to do independent training after the main session ends? If you do, I can watch from the side and help check things for you."
"Then I'll leave it to you, Trainer…"
"Leave it to me."
Fujiwara Chiya patted his chest. In the end, what he was doing in front of Mejiro Dober was basically a two-person act performed by himself. The problem between Mejiro Dober and Shirayuki had never truly been a problem. He was only doing this to remove the worries in Mejiro Dober's heart.
Ultimately, Mejiro Dober was simply too thoughtful. She cared too much about Shirayuki's feelings, to the point that she had forgotten the thing an Uma Musume should be chasing.
Fujiwara Chiya needed to correct the influence Shirayuki had created.
"Uwah, uwah~ Is Trainer training himself?"
Suddenly, a soft voice sounded from behind him. Fujiwara Chiya was startled and sharply turned around. There, he saw Seiun Sky wearing a teasing smile.
"Sky, what are you doing over here? Isn't Kiryuin's training area over there?"
Ever since this girl learned his identity, she had started coming over more often. Every other sentence was "Trainer," and the same went for Shirayuki's side. When they were changing clothes, she had even deliberately leaned close to Shirayuki and whispered in her ear, "Interested in taking a look at Seii-chan's body?"
What kind of joke was that? He already knew the female body inside out, all right?
But when Seiun Sky hugged Shirayuki from behind and deliberately pressed close, Chiya still could not help reacting. All he could say was that Seiun Sky's jokes were becoming more and more excessive. Did she really think he was some kind of herbivore?
"It's training time. No causing trouble."
"Seii-chan hasn't caused any trouble. I'm only having a few friendly interactions with Shirayuki from time to time, and chatting with Trainer while I'm at it. Or could it be that Trainer is having strange thoughts? Hm? Is Seii-chan that charming to Trainer?"
You big cat, you've started causing trouble openly now!
"Just kidding. Actually, our field is under renovation, so we can't use it. We can only borrow Trainer Chiya's field for now."
Seiun Sky pointed toward the Uma Musume who were currently ploughing the ground.
"So, let's all train together." Seiun Sky placed both hands behind her head and spoke leisurely.
"Sorry, Chiya. Our side…"
"Ah, I get it. It's fine. Use it however you like."
Kiryuin Aoi walked over, but before she could finish speaking, Fujiwara Chiya interrupted her. A few unfamiliar Uma Musume walked past beside her.
"You added new members?"
"Hm? You mean these girls? They're Uma Musume who came to sign with me after the Trainer Cup."
"The Trainer Cup?"
"That's right. We were captivated by Trainer Kiryuin!"
"Her running form was simply heroic among humans. If we follow her, we're sure we'll become amazing too!"
They swayed their tails, full of excitement.
What kind of logic is that? Since when was a trainer's ability linked to physical combat power? And normally, it's the trainer who chooses the Uma Musume. How did it become the other way around?
"I tested them, and their potential is fairly good, so I signed with them," Kiryuin Aoi said with a smile.
Her innocent expression made Fujiwara Chiya's brows tighten. As someone with experience, Fujiwara Chiya wanted to remind Kiryuin that signing contracts was something that required careful consideration. However, the rice had already been cooked, so saying that now would be too late.
Still, as Kiryuin's friend, Fujiwara Chiya added, "Next time you want to sign someone, you can ask me to take a look. The relationship between an Uma Musume and a trainer isn't something you can understand overnight. Ability is one thing, but there are other things you need to pay attention to as well."
Commenting on another trainer's choices like this was overstepping his boundaries. The moment he said it, Fujiwara Chiya also realized that. Just as he was about to explain, Kiryuin Aoi nodded firmly with a bright smile.
"Mm. When the time comes, I'll ask you to check whether that person is suitable to become my Uma Musume."
Unexpectedly, Kiryuin Aoi accepted Fujiwara Chiya's words very naturally.
"Yo, Hero! Long time no see!"
The last one to appear was a little brat. She grinned and darted in front of Fujiwara Chiya, making a face at him.
"Looks like you and our trainer are pretty close. No wonder she spends all day, mmph…"
Before she could finish speaking, a black shadow appeared in front of Fujiwara Chiya in an instant. Kiryuin Aoi covered Shinko Windy's mouth, gave Fujiwara Chiya an apologetic smile, and dragged her back to the training grounds.
No matter how Shinko Windy struggled, she could not break free from Kiryuin's restraint. In the end, her ears drooped, and she gave up resisting.
"You're really popular, Trainer."
"Sky, you're still here?"
"I was here the whole time." Seiun Sky opened one eye. "Well then, I'm going to train. With Trainer Kiryuin."