"Out in these streets, we call it murder…"
A young man snapped awake, blinking softly before taking in the track before him. The sun was slowly drifting to the horizon ahead of him.
"Akoi-san…you've been out all afternoon…"
Akoi, Regionally Certified trainer, took in the sight of his trainee - cheeks puffed out in her signature pout.
[Crazy in Love]
Turf: B Dirt: D
Sprint: B Mile: B Medium: C Long: G
Front: B Pace: C Late: B End: F
He took a deep breath, before quashing Crazy's worries with a pat to the head.
'Before us lies Hakodate racecourse. A few months away from Make Debut, and she's made good progress…'
He studied her as she blushed while snuggling into his hand. 'She's a good kid, but she's aiming for Central…she needs to cut her time down by 10 seconds to even have a chance.'
As a sign of good will, both Hakodate and Oi Training Centers were holding a joint running event at the Hanshin course, one turf race, one dirt race.
He pulled his hand away before whipping out his tablet. He elected to ignore Crazy's groans of ill content at the lack of head-pats.
"Alright, I'm sure you understand what's at stake here, Crazy…"
She nodded, turning to the field. Her soft silver hair blew in the breeze… "This is my last performance assessment before I make my debut."
Crazy took a deep breath before turning to face her trainer.
He was an unusual one. Never smiled much, never said much, but was always watching, listening - far more physically capable than any of the other trainers.
And he always wore the same outfit. Black-grey dress pants with steel tied dress shoes, white dress shirt with a puffer jacket, and a watch on his left wrist.
"You'll take the examination for Central Tracen next month. If you break 2:13 today, you will be well on your way to accomplishing a passing grade."
Acceptance to a Tracen was a bit different than your usual academic facility. You would usually need to have completed (read - won) your debut/maiden race, decent grades (2.75 GPA), and a statement of confidence from a trainer, as well as relevant medical documents.
But there were special cases. Such as Central Tracen.
Akoi patted the seat beside him, and as Crazy took a seat beside him, he sighed. Crazy had been his trainee for 2 years, and she had made strides to her goal of gaining acceptance to Central.
But could she really?
"Torainah," Akoi's eyes turned to his trainee as she leaned into the plush of his jacket.
"You're anxious…I can hear your heart thundering away." She turned to look up at him. As they stared at each other, he could see the depths of her soul - no cheap tricks, no games.
"Do you trust me to win today?"
And for the first time in his life -
Akoi lied to her.
.
For seven days in a row, Akoi had a dream about a silver rabbit in flight. Sprinting across a field. Every night the rabbit got clear enough to see, he would jump awake in cold sweat. But every night, he'd recognize more things.
The fact that the rabbit was running on grass.
The fact that the rabbit wasn't merely running, but fleeing from something.
And on the seventh day, he saw it.
A sleek, red wolf. Young, female, pure carnal force, barreling towards it.
The wolf struggled to close the gap, and so it appeared as if the wolf was merely running in the same direction. It looked like a dog in that moment, a threat, but just a dog.
But when the rabbit and the red dog reached a dirt area, devoid of grass?
The dog morphed into a massive wolf; something akin to a direwolf from the history textbooks. It gained on the rabbit in vicious strides, before snapping it up in stride, mangling it mid air.
And just as fast as it had slaughtered the silver rabbit, the wolf barreled after a pack of wolves, clad in all colors, black, brown, grey, maroon.
He alone was left to cry his heart out over the poor rabbit.