.
As the time for the joint training race came closer, Akoi's heart became heavy with fear.
The red wolf was closer now. He could no longer guarantee Crazy's safety.
He sighed, blinking his worry of the red wolf away.
"What you put in, is what you put out."
A gentle breeze blew across the track ahead of them. 1000m of turf and dirt, prime for racing.
"We've put in the work, so—"
"Promise me."
Akoi turned to Crazy in Love, only to find she was standing over him. Silver hair blowing in the evening breeze.
"Promise me…that you trust me to win this race."
Akoi felt his heart accelerate.
The race today was a special kind of race, a pre-open race that would allow pre-debut racers to get a chance to cut loose, and attract a trainer who could nurture a star regional or central runner.
At the time, Akoi was merely a regional trainer, and wouldn't be able to stay her trainer if she joined Central. She'd need a new trainer, who could take her to new heights.
If he didn't pass the National Trainer License exam in a month -
'I̶̼̻̰̤̯̝̹̝̰̒̿̑̏̆͝͝'̶͕̓̋̎́̇͝L̶̘̲̑̏L̷̨͍̟̟̞̘̗̣̬͕̎͒̊̋̇́ ̴̖͔͊͂́͛̇͝M̵̡̡̪͍̙͚̲̭̩̼̹̈́̊̀̿̈́͋̃͐Ȧ̷͓̟͓̲̙͗͌N̷̬̻̩̘̩̤͔̳̮͐̌̃̊͆̈́̃͐̓̀͠͝G̵̪̘͇̬̤͕̙͓̻̦̜͐̌͌̌̃͛͆̆ͅĻ̶̢̢̠͔̬͍̃Ě̴͙͈̲̗͐̌͌͆̆̽̃́̕͘͠ ̷̢̻̩̖̭͎̪̘̈́̐́̆͊͗̃̀́͜Y̵̙͈̪͕̗͗Ò̴̦̙́̒U̸͔̭̓̉͠'
"Akoi-san?"
He heard the trembling in her voice, and steeled himself. She needn't worry today. All she needed to do was to go out there and perform.
There was no red wolf. Just Crazy in Love, his sole trainee, and 1000m of turf.
"I trust you to pass that exam next month." Her eyes trembled a bit, steeling herself, patching the dam that threatened to explode.
"I need you to trust me to run today. I need you to trust me to pass the Central exam."
Slowly, Akoi nodded. "I trust you, Crazy-san."
Suddenly, he began to chuckle.
"Trainer-san!? Are you - are you laughing?"
A smile rested on his face, as he resisted the urge to laugh with all his might.
"Trainer-san, I just asked you to promise me! This is serious!"
Akoi merely lifted his head to the sky, and even as tears trickled from beneath his eyelids, he dared not laugh.
"Akooooiii-saaaaaan!!"
Crazy began to shake him in mock anger, even crying a little.
Akoi calmed himself, before staring at his shoes.
"I'm sorry Crazy-chan, but…why did your parents give you that name…"
"AKOI-SAN!"
"WHAT KIND OF NAME IS CRAZY IN LOVE!?"
Crazy pouted before pounding her little fists into his shoulder in mock anger. Akoi merely chuckled, well aware of the actual serious damage she could do to him if she was serious. As the pace of her punches slowed, Akoi turned to her.
"I'm serious now. I trust you to win today."
Crazy nodded, before turning to leave.
"AH AH, come back here."
"Wah-"
It was strategy time. Crazy had a habit of abandoning race strategy mid race in favor of a pure speed tactic when it seemed all hope was lost, so Akoi had taken up the habit of going over strategy directly before a race.
Akoi grabbed her by the back of her tracksuit, and laid out his tablet before her on his lap.
On the tablet was a diagram of the track, with labeled sections where she'd accelerate, maintain her pace, decelerate, and go all out.
"It's 1000m, and based on your stats, you have enough stamina for at least 2000m at 50% pace."
Crazy nodded as he continued.
"Remember, strong start, 80% for that first spurt. 75% for the clubhouse bend, ramp it back up to 80% for the homestretch, and then?"
Crazy nodded.
"110% for the homestretch."
Akoi powered off his tablet and reclined in his seat, sighing.
He paused, turning to her. "You did your warmups ri-"
Two strong hands came down on his shoulders, pushing him back into his seat.
Crazy stood over him, a mix of battle lust, and…something else. She turned her head away, looking at something or someone, and then turned back to him with a stern look on her face.
"You just trust me to win today." She turned away for a second, taking a deep breath. "You always reward me with ice cream after a successful training session -"
She leaned towards him, faster than he could react. Akoi could only close his eyes in fear.
'It's so over, it's so over, I'm going to become a statistic…'
"Today, let me give the rewards…"
Akoi opened his eyes, only to see Crazy in Love mid-leap off the edge of the stands.
"Crazy-san!!"
He rushed to the edge, and watched as Crazy landed mid crouch from a 10 foot drop (an easily survivable fall for a human, and even easier for an Umamusume), and walked into the tunnel.
He merely sighed returning to his seat. He checked his watch (3:30 p.m., 30 minutes before the turf race would start). Hopefully she warmed up properly.
'A̶̡̮̼͖̳̺̘̘͒͜r̴̡̛̜̠̲͈̣̞͍̼̝͎̬̅̅̊͊̌̈͋̕ͅe̵̼͓͑͊͝ ̵͉̈͊̀y̸̙͈̳̤̌̔̽̽̉͛̕͘͜o̸̧̠̯̭̠̯̺̟͎͔̟͋͛́̋̆̇̒̔̾̄̚u̸̜͉͇͕̪̝͚̩̅̎̓̌͒̉̀͛͂͌̒͂͘ ̵̡̯̫̼̮̹̮̲̟̹͖̿̀͒̀͊͒ş̷̤̹͙̍̅͐̑͒͆̓͐͝ữ̶̻̀̋̀̏͒̀̓̐͂͝r̵̛̭͈̝̪̥̞͎̖̫̦͎̃͠ę̵̟̦͍̼̈̈́ ̷̨̭̱̭͍̙̼͖̓͆͗̿̀̃͘͝ͅs̴͉̗͕̳͓̹̥̓̈́̃h̷͔̣̥̟̮̭̭̊̎̔̏ë̵̬͚̳̬̝̭̬̹̹̣̼̫͇́̔͒́ ̴̛̗̾̔̓̒͋w̵̻̮̭̹̫̘̖̱̳̯̅͂̍͛̅̐͑̈́͋̈́͊̕͠i̵̲̩̍̊̎̐̀̌l̶̡͚͙̯͚̺͇̮̹̺͕̳͊̇̄̆̇̑̐̕ļ̸̧͙̮̦̮͈͖̳̂́̈́̒͜͝ͅ?̴̡̭̹̲̫͎̺̮̜͈̄̀̃̎̈́͊͋̍̈́̇̑̐̑'
Akoi grit his teeth, visualizing the voice in his head as a pane of glass, before shattering it with a single punch.
'My mind is my domain. I'm the only one up here.'
.