"Fujiwara Chiya, you are ten minutes late!"
In the Chairwoman's office, a Horse Girl in a purple Western-style dress and a round hat raised the fan in her hand and scolded him.
"I am very sorry!"
"Since this is your first offense, this is just a warning. Next time, you will write me a formal apology."
"Yes, Chairwoman Akikawa."
Fujiwara Chiya lowered his head.
The short, orange-haired Horse Girl before him was the Chairwoman of Tracen Academy, Akikawa Yayoi. As one of her employees, Chiya had come to her office today to discuss the matter of the terminated contracts.
But because of the situation with Shirayuki, he had been delayed for so long.
"To err is human, to repent is divine," Akikawa Yayoi said, flicking her fan. "Now, tell me who this little white-haired girl next to you is. She's a Horse Girl, I presume, but not a student at Tracen?"
"Correct. She is my cousin, Fujiwara Shirayuki. She just arrived at Tracen Academy today," Chiya said, reciting his prepared excuse.
"You have a cousin, do you?"
Hopping off her chair, Akikawa Yayoi began to circle Fujiwara Shirayuki.
"This child seems to have good potential. Excellent leg structure, well-proportioned body... I wonder about her strength..." she evaluated. "Has she ever raced?"
"No."
"A bit of a shame. Chiya, you're a trainer. You should train her."
"Chairwoman Akikawa, that is precisely why I brought her here," Chiya said seriously. "I hope you will allow Shirayuki to transfer to Tracen Academy and become a Horse Girl."
"Transfer?"
"Yes."
The Three Goddesses had given him a new chance to understand Horse Girls. As such, Chiya was determined to seize this opportunity.
He would use Fujiwara Shirayuki to understand what Horse Girls think during training and races, how they feel when they win, and how they feel when they lose. Only then could he truly consider things from their perspective and become a qualified trainer.
Chiya believed this was the purpose behind the Three Goddesses' help.
He looked at the Chairwoman with burning intensity, awaiting her answer. He knew his request was sudden, but no matter what...
"Very well."
"Huh?"
"What's with the 'huh'? I said I approve of this child's admission to Tracen." Akikawa Yayoi tapped her fan. "Tracen Academy will never turn away a student who wishes to become a Horse Girl. Since she has the determination to race, let her study here. Besides, isn't her cousin, the trainer, already here?"
"Ha..."
Fujiwara Chiya blinked.
That easily?
He had prepared a whole speech, ready to appeal to her with logic and emotion, but Akikawa Yayoi had agreed with just a single sentence. It felt so easy it was almost unreal.
"Tazuna, I'll leave her in your care."
"Understood."
The door opened, and a woman in a green uniform walked in.
"Good morning, Trainer Fujiwara."
"M-morning..." Chiya nodded.
The woman Akikawa Yayoi called 'Tazuna' was her secretary, Hayakawa Tazuna. When he had first arrived at Tracen, she had been an immense help to him, a rookie trainer who knew nothing. When his contracts were terminated, she had also gone out of her way to comfort him.
She was one of the people Chiya was most grateful for.
Beautiful, diligent, and kind-hearted—in Chiya's eyes, she was the perfect woman.
And yet, it was in front of this perfect person that he had been fired by a Horse Girl for the second time and summoned to the Chairwoman's office.
He felt utterly ashamed.
"Is this the child transferring to Tracen? She's so cute. What's her name?"
"Fujiwara Shirayuki."
"What a lovely name. Come here, please," Hayakawa Tazuna invited with a warm smile.
"Huh? Is she leaving?" Chiya asked, a little flustered.
"Of course. Do you expect her to complete the transfer procedures in here?" Akikawa Yayoi waved her fan.
"No, I didn't mean..."
Led by Hayakawa Tazuna, Fujiwara Shirayuki walked out. The two perspectives in Chiya's mind grew further and further apart until they finally vanished from each other's sight.
"Shirayuki, where are you from?"
"Yokohama."
The two walked down the corridor.
"That's not too far from Tokyo. Why the sudden desire to come to Tracen Academy?" Tazuna asked habitually, trying to ease the atmosphere and build rapport with the new Horse Girl.
"I want to understand the hearts of Horse Girls."
"Their hearts?"
"Ah, no, what I mean is, I want to know what it feels like to race. To stand on the track, competing against everyone... winning or losing, what kind of feeling is that? I want to understand everything about being a Horse Girl."
"That's a rather... novel answer."
Hayakawa Tazuna had asked many students why they wanted to come to Tracen. Some said they wanted to win, some wanted the thrill of the race, others wanted to become famous. There was a wide variety of answers.
While she marveled at the students' diverse ambitions, Tazuna had also noticed that everyone's goal was ultimately clear.
To win races.
At their core, the purpose of a Horse Girl was to win—be it the Spring Triple, the Autumn Triple, or the Classic Triple Crown that represented the pinnacle of achievement. They raced to leave their names in history, to be celebrated for generations.
But this was the first time Tazuna had met someone like Fujiwara Shirayuki, who wanted to understand Horse Girls.
"Why do you want to understand them?" Tazuna asked, uncharacteristically probing deeper.
Why...
The seeds of this desire had been planted when Fujiwara Chiya was very young.
It was because of admiration.
Admiration for a certain Horse Girl.
Chiya recalled the memory and spoke through Shirayuki's mouth:
"Harvest Time."
"When I was little, I happened to watch a race featuring a Horse Girl named Harvest Time."
It was her debut race. In an 800-meter sprint, she finished a full eight horse-lengths ahead of second place. With a power that was ahead of her time, she shattered the Japanese race record in a single run, creating a legend in racing history.
In her next race, she won by a massive margin again, defeating another Horse Girl who had been on a three-win streak.
Her strength, her aloofness, her beauty—they all deeply captivated Fujiwara Chiya. The young boy chased after her shadow, running to the racetracks just to cheer for her.
"I was mesmerized by her," Shirayuki said.
With ten wins in ten races, the undefeated Horse Girl retired after claiming the first two crowns of the prestigious Classic Triple Crown.
In the decades that followed, even stronger Horse Girls emerged. The record Harvest Time had set—a full six seconds faster than the previous best—was finally broken. People gradually forgot about the genius who had been ahead of her time.
But Fujiwara Chiya never did.
He never forgot the thrill he felt watching her cross the finish line.
"I look up to her. Because of her, I fell in love with racing, wanted to understand Horse Girls, and worked hard to come to Tracen Academy."
Speaking of his idol, Chiya openly expressed his adoration until a strange sound from behind interrupted him.
"Ngh..."
It was Hayakawa Tazuna.
For some reason, her face was so red it looked like it might burst. Her green eyes shimmered with a mix of joy and shyness. Blood rushed to her cheeks, making her part her lips and exhale a puff of warm air.
"Miss Hayakawa..."
Her strange behavior caught Shirayuki's attention. She walked over to Tazuna and looked up at her face.
"Are you okay?"
"Eek!" Tazuna let out a cute yelp, as if startled by Shirayuki.
"I-I'm fine. I was just reminiscing a little..." Tazuna subtly touched her own burning cheeks.
"So, you came to Tracen because you admire Harvest Time. I thought no one remembered her anymore."
"How could that be? I remember every single one of her races clearly. I still have the newspapers from her victories, and I've treasured all her race photos..."
With every word, Tazuna's face grew redder. As if trying to hold something back, she pressed her lips tightly together, her eyes starting to swirl. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore and covered Shirayuki's mouth with her hand.
"Okay, I get it, you admire Harvest Time! Can we please stop for a moment?!"
"Mmph mmmph..."
Her words muffled by the soft, warm hand, Shirayuki was cut off.
After taking a few deep breaths and waiting for the blush on her face to subside, Tazuna finally let go.
"I'm sorry, Shirayuki."
Looking at the girl she had so abruptly silenced, Tazuna bowed her head in apology.
"It's not that I dislike hearing you talk about Harvest Time, but... now that you're at Tracen, instead of admiring others, you should focus on improving yourself. For example, set a goal like, 'I'm going to become an even greater Horse Girl than Harvest Time'..."
"You have a point."
"Right?"
"A greater goal, a greater Horse Girl... Why did Harvest Time have to retire before the final crown? She was so close to becoming the greatest of them all..." Shirayuki's voice trailed off.
To this day, he still felt regret over Harvest Time's retirement. Not being able to see her become a Triple Crown winner was Fujiwara Chiya's greatest sorrow.
Seeing Shirayuki's dejected expression, Hayakawa Tazuna wore a complicated look.
"Perhaps she went on to do something more important than racing," she suggested softly.
"More important than racing..."
"For example, helping those children become amazing Horse Girls themselves."
"What is she, some kind of saint?"
"Well, I wouldn't go as far as to say she's a saint..." Tazuna laughed awkwardly.
"Let's not talk about this for now. Shirayuki, do you have your own trainer yet?" Tazuna said, changing the subject.
"I was hoping to train under my cousin."
"Trainer Chiya?"
"Yes."
"That's not a bad idea. Your cousin is very talented. The first time I saw him, I knew he was special."
"Huh? Really?!" Shirayuki's mood suddenly lifted.
"That's right. Both of you are very special."
"So that's what Miss Hayakawa thinks..."
Heh, hehehe...
"What are you giggling about over there?!"
Smack!
A fan struck Fujiwara Chiya on the head.
-------
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