Ritto Dormitory.
King Halo had just returned to Tracen Academy, ready to show off her triumphant win, when she heard laughter echoing through the hall.
It's Urara's voice.
"Halo-chan, that trainer came to watch my race today! I used the running style Sei-chan taught me and got sixth place, sixth place!" The excitement was practically bubbling over. "He also thought I was amazing, so he wanted to recruit me. So now, Urara already has a trainer!"
King Halo's expression darkened immediately, her hand shooting up. "Wait." She crossed her arms over her chest, voice taking on a protective edge. "Urara, choosing a trainer is a very serious matter. How can you just go with someone you don't even know? He approaches you after sixth place, and you actually believe that? This trainer definitely has problems."
"Eh? Huh?" Urara blinked her bright pink eyes, head tilting in genuine confusion. "But he's your trainer too!"
The words hit like a physical blow.
"Wait." King Halo's voice went flat. "You're saying my trainer went to watch your race before?"
"Yeah! And now he's my trainer too. He said to come report together with you tomorrow morning."
King Halo's eye twitched. "Damn it. That Juvenile Horse Girl Kidnapper!"
The next day, early morning.
The moment Hayato walked into the trainer's office, he found King Halo already waiting with her arms crossed and the sourest expression he'd ever seen on her face.
She turned away deliberately, voice dripping with irritation. "Morning, Juvenile Horse Girl Kidnapper."
Stare.....
"Hehe, that was... Seiun..." Hayato's face gradually twisted as the excuse crumbled in his mind before he could even finish forming it.
If Hayato hadn't actually signed Urara, that excuse would have worked perfectly. Having signed her, getting caught was inevitable.
Just as Hayato was about to try deflecting responsibility somehow, Seiun Sky spoke first. She pointed straight at Hayato without a moment's hesitation. "Trainer forced Seiun to do it!"
Her eyes went wide and innocent, the picture of someone who'd been unfairly treated.
"Seiun, it was clearly all your idea..."
"Don't twist the truth, Trainer." She didn't even blink. "Who was it that shoved the phone into Seiun's hands and told her to think of something? Seiun can find lots of witnesses to confirm this."
"I, I..."
She was right. That was exactly what had happened. Hayato knew he'd never win an argument against Seiun Sky. Not in a million years.
"Halo-chan, I'm sorry." Hayato gave up immediately, bowing his head slightly. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have missed your race."
"Hmph." King Halo's mood lifted almost instantly, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips despite her attempt to look stern. "Seeing as your attitude is sincere, I'll forgive you."
She wasn't angry at all anymore. In fact, she felt rather pleased. The reason was simple: that one word from Hayato. Halo-chan.
"Next time something like this happens, just tell me directly. No need to hide it from me." Her chest swelled slightly with satisfaction as she spoke, trying to sound magnanimous. Trainer finally called me Halo...
"Yes, yes, yes. If something like this happens again, I'll definitely consult you first."
"Trainer, good morning!"
"Good morning, Haru-chan."
Urara bounced into the room, practically vibrating with energy. "Time to start training?" She patted her stomach enthusiastically. "Don't worry, I've made plenty of preparations. I ate lots of carrots this morning!"
Won't eating that much make training impossible?
"Alright, then let's talk about running styles first." Hayato decided to start with the fundamentals before anything else. "I need to explain the different types and what you need to watch out for."
"Okay!" Urara's face lit up with anticipation, bouncing slightly in place.
Half a day later, Hayato finally finished his explanation.
Seiun Sky shrugged her shoulders, looking somewhat amused. King Halo stared at Urara with pure confusion written across her face. Silence Suzuka glanced at Urara once, then said nothing.
"Hey, hey." Urara looked between them all with bright, confused eyes. "What was Trainer talking about just now?"
She genuinely had no idea. Not even a clue.
"Trainer, Haru-chan she..." King Halo hesitated, worry flickering across her face. She seemed concerned that Hayato might do something drastic like dismissing Urara.
"It's fine." Hayato waved it off, keeping his expression calm. "You all take her to do basic training first. Same routine as usual."
After sending them away with seemingly casual instructions, Hayato pulled out a thick pile of materials and spread them across his desk.
Urara's learning ability was extremely low. That was the real reason behind her consecutive losses, laid bare in black and white.
In this situation, even with stats far higher than those of other Uma Musume, Urara had no realistic way to win Grade races or higher-level competitions. The gap in comprehension was just too wide.
Below Grade races, though, she could probably manage with the mindless great escape strategy.
"Am I really sticking myself with the escape runner trainer nickname?" Hayato rubbed his forehead as a headache started forming behind his eyes.
Hayato made his way to the library, hoping to find more specialized knowledge about training uma musume with learning difficulties.
If Agnes Tachyon were here, he'd want to discuss this with her thoroughly, even at the cost of becoming her guinea pig for whatever experiments she had in mind. Agnes Tachyon was dangerous, sure, but she really was Tracen's smartest uma musume and knew more than anyone else.