Chapter 47: The Reason for Her Tears
A look of disbelief instantly crossed Kitasan's face.
Her eyes widened, her mouth fell open, and though she tried to speak several times, it was like her throat had seized up—no words came out.
It took a while before she could stammer, completely flustered:
"Dismissed…? Fired…? Why?"
"Rasen-san's results have been really good!"
"Trainer said she's already taken two championships, two second-place finishes—"
"Ah—now it should be three second-place finishes, and two third-place."
"She's been in the top five almost every time—her name always shows up on the display board. With a record like that… why would her trainer be replaced?"
"Well…"
Vodka paused for a moment.
"Remember? At lunch on the day of the race, Opera-senpai mentioned that Rasen's trainer used to be her trainer too."
She put extra emphasis on the words "used to."
Kitasan immediately picked up on that—but she didn't understand why her senpai had stressed that part so much.
Vodka didn't make her wait long.
"You know Opera-senpai's record, right?"
"Fourteen career victories, seven of them in G1 races—one of the very few in the Twinkle Series to be a 'Seven-Crown Champion.'"
"But before her debut, she was just like you—nobody expected anything from her."
Kitasan was shocked.
"N-No way— Someone like Opera-senpai… she went through that?"
At that moment, Scarlet chimed in.
"It's not that hard to imagine, Kita-chan."
"Same goes for Oguri Cap-senpai."
"My trainer used to work with her back in the regional leagues."
"You know how skilled my trainer is—probably one of the best active trainers out there."
"But even he didn't notice Oguri Cap-senpai's potential at first. He never thought she'd be capable of winning at the central level—or taking multiple graded titles and G1 races."
"And when he finally realized just how much talent she had, he gave up his contract with her of his own accord."
"Even though he knew what kind of fame and recognition he could earn if he stayed with her, he encouraged her to go to the central leagues."
"That's how she found her true stage."
"So yeah—having talent but no stage to show it on… That's not rare. It's actually pretty common."
Until now, Kitasan had never heard about things like this—especially not the hidden stories of her senpais.
Hearing them all at once left her completely stunned. She didn't know what to say.
"That's more or less how it went," Vodka continued.
"After being turned down by trainer after trainer, Opera-senpai didn't give up. She kept looking for her chance."
"And that's when she met the one person willing to support her."
Kitasan Black fell silent for a moment.
"You mean… her trainer?"
She didn't want to say "former" or "supposedly."
To her, the bond between a trainer and an Umamusume should be like what she had with Makoto—mutual trust, shared effort, walking the road together to the very end.
Vodka seemed to sense that and didn't correct her wording.
"Yeah. That's right."
"But back then, her trainer was still just a student at the trainer academy, serving as an assistant to some newly certified trainers."
"What exactly happened between her and Opera-senpai… honestly, no one knows. Probably only the two of them ever will."
"In the end, thanks to her persistence, one of her senpais agreed to take a chance on Opera-senpai."
"You know the rest—Opera went from complete obscurity to becoming an Umamusume known across the entire country. And that same person who believed in her eventually passed the exam and became a licensed trainer."
At this point, Kitasan Black seemed to understand… kind of. She gave a hesitant nod, then immediately shook her head again.
"I think I get it… but…"
She hesitated for a moment.
"If that trainer met someone like Opera-senpai even before she debuted, she must have learned a lot. She should be an amazing trainer by now, right?"
"If that's true… then why would she be fired…?"
Her voice trailed off—because all three of her senpai were now wearing extremely awkward expressions.
It was a look she recognized. She'd seen it once before—on the day of the race at lunch, when she said something similar and saw that exact same face on Makoto, Scarlet, and Vodka.
"…Kita-chan, can I ask you something? Or rather, let you take a guess."
Vodka suddenly changed the subject, taking a deep breath.
"Since that trainer got her license… how many G1 wins do you think the Umamusumes under her care have achieved?"
Even without knowing the exact details, Kitasan Black could sense from her senpai's tone that the answer wouldn't be good.
She pressed her lips together, hesitated, then slowly raised her hand.
"Opera-senpai alone won seven G1 races, right? Even if her later trainees weren't as strong… surely the trainer won at least five G1s total?"
Vodka stared at her upraised hand for a moment, then gave her a strange, lopsided smile and shook her head.
"Nope. Try again."
"…Not five?" Kitasan blinked. "Then… four? Three?"
As she lowered two fingers in quick succession and saw Vodka still shaking her head, her shock began to grow.
"Don't tell me… just one? That's way too—"
She stopped mid-sentence, her face freezing.
Because Vodka shook her head again.
"The correct answer is… zero. Not a single one."
Silence fell once more.
Kitasan Black had never imagined such an answer—but at the same time, she knew Vodka wasn't lying.
And seeing the heavy looks on Daiwa Scarlet and Ines Fujin's faces, both nodding silently in agreement, she had no reason to doubt.
More than shocked by the number itself, she began to understand why that trainer had been dismissed by the Satono family.
Though they never talked about it in detail, she'd picked up enough from small comments to sense the intense expectations the family placed on their Umamusumes.
And by coincidence—or perhaps not—just like that trainer's barren record in recent years, the Satono family had yet to win a single G1 title in the Twinkle Series despite having entered it for several seasons.
It wasn't hard to imagine the pressure that must have been placed on Rasen and her sisters.
That kind of pressure didn't just fall on the girls—it fell on the trainer too.
And if they couldn't win, the solution was simple: replace the trainer.
That, it seemed, was how the Satono family treated their staff.
And they had the resources to make that kind of call without hesitation.
But even if the trainer hadn't brought them a G1 win, she must have worked just as hard for Rasen as Makoto did for her.
In fact, maybe Rasen's previous victories were all thanks to that trainer's dedication.
In that case, Rasen must have felt the same way she herself did about Makoto—grateful, deeply so.
So with her trainer dismissed over a single failure… it was no wonder she'd been crying.
Opera-senpai, Crow-chan, and Diamond-chan were probably trying to comfort her, weren't they?
Thinking of that, Kitasan Black couldn't help but picture Makoto in her mind.
And as she did, she began to understand—just a little—what this all meant.
"…So, trainer…"
She murmured under her breath, eyes drifting toward the direction of Makoto's apartment.
"He must already know all of this."
"When I asked him that day and he didn't say anything… maybe it was because he didn't want me to feel pressured…"
"He didn't want me to worry about him…"
<+>
If you want to see more chapter of this story and don't mind paying $5 each month to read till the latest chapter, please go to my Patreon[1].
Latest Post In Patreon: Chapter 54: Thinking About the Spring Stakes?[2]
Link to the chapter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/134931107?collection=1615744[3]
https://www.patreon.com/collection/1615744?view=condensed[4]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/collection/1615744?view=condensed
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/134931107?collection=1615744
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/134931107?collection=1615744
[4] https://www.patreon.com/collection/1615744?view=condensed