"If it were a little longer… I'm not sure about that."
Taking the towel Yasui Makoto handed her, Kitasan Black wiped the sweat from her face and could not help thinking aloud.
"Orfevre-senpai's way of cutting into turns, Festa-senpai's technique of using centrifugal force to tighten her line, and Gold Ship-senpai's perfectly timed early acceleration…"
"And Dream Journey-senpai and Stay Gold-senpai, too. There's a lot I can learn from how they handled it."
"Even if the straight really had been longer, I still don't know whether I could have won."
Hearing that, Yasui Makoto felt deeply gratified.
He had originally meant to comfort Kitasan Black the way he usually did. After all, in mock races and practice races with her senpais, Kitasan Black rarely won, and after losing, she would often feel down for a while.
And the point of a mock race was to find gaps and fix weaknesses. Winning or losing was not that important. On top of that, this was a field Kitasan Black was not used to.
But unexpectedly, the Kitasan Black of today did not seem to need that kind of comfort anymore.
Not only did she not need it, she had begun thinking about her own shortcomings on her own.
Yasui Makoto's eyes filled with approval as he patted Kitasan Black on the shoulder and said, "I'm really glad you can think about it that way."
"Mock races exist so we can find problems. See? Today, on this special field, you found weaknesses in things like handling turns and adapting to the course, didn't you?"
He paused briefly, glanced toward Orfevre and Gold Ship as they bickered with each other, then continued, "Umamusume like Orfevre can bring out their strengths to the fullest on a field they know well. That's something worth learning from too."
"But we have our own strengths as well."
"Your stamina and rhythm control have always been quite good. It's just that today, these complicated turns limited you."
Kitasan Black listened carefully, nodding from time to time. At the end, she could not help adding, "I was thinking something similar."
"I feel like I was too fixated on using my old techniques and didn't adjust to the field quickly enough."
"But next time, I'll pay attention."
As she spoke, she clenched her fist, a firm light shining in her eyes.
At that moment, Imanami Takatoshi walked over with Lucky Lilac. A kind smile hung on his face, and his eyes were full of praise as he looked at Yasui Makoto and Kitasan Black.
"Yasui, this Umamusume of yours really is outstanding."
Imanami Takatoshi said with satisfaction, "The training grounds here are special. There are too many turns, and the straights are too short."
"Golshi and the others have been playing here since they were little, so they already had quite an advantage."
"For Kita-chan to run like that on her first try, and then to reflect and think things through afterward, is truly rare."
As he spoke, he turned toward Lucky Lilac, reached out, and gently patted her shoulder.
"Lilac-chan, you should learn properly from Kita-senpai."
Lucky Lilac stood to the side, her eyes full of admiration and respect as she looked at Kitasan Black.
Hearing Imanami Takatoshi's words, she quickly nodded hard and said seriously,
"Yes, Grandpa Imanami!
"I'll learn from my senpais, and…"
She blinked, a hint of shyness on her face. "During the race just now, my turns were a complete mess. Compared to my senpais, I still have so far to go."
Seeing how earnest Lucky Lilac looked, Kitasan Black could not help walking over. She smiled and patted her on the head.
"I wouldn't put it that way, Lilac-chan."
"I think you did really well in today's race too. You never gave up during the race and kept trying to chase after us the whole time. That's amazing in itself."
"And I got here through training and races, one at a time. You have plenty of time to grow and improve."
"Oh, right. I'll introduce you to Almond Eye later. You'll probably both be studying and training at Tracen Academy from now on, so you can work hard together!"
Kitasan Black was full of enthusiasm, while Lucky Lilac grew curious about Almond Eye.
She had heard from Imanami Takatoshi before that Yasui Makoto and Kitasan Black had come partly to pay a visit, and partly because they wanted to learn more about her for Almond Eye's sake.
At first, that visit had felt a little strange to her.
She had originally not known who Almond Eye was. Later, when she learned Almond Eye was also a candidate preparing for the Tracen Academy entrance exam, she had already begun thinking of her as an opponent.
And if Almond Eye was an opponent, would a visit from her senpai and trainer affect Lucky Lilac's own exam?
She had not hidden that thought, and had asked Imanami Takatoshi about it at the time.
Then Imanami Takatoshi had smiled and said, "What does that matter?" For one thing, the entrance exam covered many different items, and Lilac-chan would definitely meet the standard and get in.
So Yasui Makoto and Kitasan Black had only come so Almond Eye could get a better result in the assessment mock race. This one race would not decide whether anyone got admitted.
More importantly, Yasui Makoto had deliberately brought only Kitasan Black with him, which likely meant he had come with the idea of exchanging experience as well. That was a good thing.
In an exchange like this, not only could the trainers discuss things and improve together, Lilac-chan could also ask the other side for advice, which would bring her many benefits.
Looking at it now, after just one mock race, she really did understand much more about racing.
And Kitasan Black was amazing. Yasui Makoto was probably no less impressive.
Then as Kitasan Black's kouhai, and as someone being guided by Yasui Makoto, what kind of Umamusume… was Almond Eye?
Thinking that, Lucky Lilac could not suppress the curiosity in her heart. She looked up at Kitasan Black, tilted her head slightly, and blinked.
"Kita-senpai, Almond Eye… what kind of personality does she have?"
"Almond-chan?"
Kitasan Black paused, then a soft smile quickly appeared in her eyes as Almond Eye's image rose in her mind.
"Almond-chan is a very hardworking, very cute girl. Just like you, she's full of passion for becoming an excellent Umamusume."
Remembering the time she had spent with Almond Eye, she could not help laughing softly.
"She's especially serious when she trains. Every time, she gives it everything she has, and even when she runs into difficulties, she never gives up easily.
"Just like you today. You kept that unwilling-to-lose spirit the whole time you were on the track."
Listening to Kitasan Black's description, Lucky Lilac unconsciously began sketching Almond Eye's image in her mind and murmured, "She sounds like… Almond Eye is really impressive."
She bit her lip, then asked, "Then, Senpai, what kind of races is Almond Eye good at? Will she be very different from me?"
In her heart, she compared herself against Almond Eye, trying to find the differences between them through Kitasan Black's description.
"As for that…"
Kitasan Black thought for a moment, then looked toward Yasui Makoto. "I'm not very sure about that part. Trainer?"
Hearing this, Lucky Lilac also looked curiously toward Yasui Makoto.
"The races Almond Eye is good at…" Yasui Makoto hesitated slightly.
It was not that he did not want to tell Lucky Lilac his thoughts. It was only that much of his judgment regarding Almond Eye did not come from her past performance, but from his memories.
But going by her past performance, because of her family's arrangements up until now, Almond Eye had always trained for sprint and mile races.
Her results were naturally decent. But trying to infer middle-distance or even long-distance ability from that kind of training was impossible anywhere in the world of Umamusume.
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