In the afternoon, Hayato finally finished organizing a proper training plan for Urara.
Having just started receiving structured training for the first time, Urara was completely exhausted. She sat slumped on a rest chair with a pained expression on her face, like she was about to cry, shoulders drooping forward.
"How are you feeling, Urara? You okay?" Hayato handed her a drink.
Urara forced herself to stand up, both fists clenching tight. "I'm still okay! Urara can still keep working hard, keep persevering!"
She shouted it with everything she had, voice ringing out energetically across the training grounds.
Then she deflated like someone had pulled her plug. All the air seemed to leave her at once, her posture collapsing. Even her ears drooped down.
Her condition dropped straight to poor.
"Alright, let's stop training here for today." Hayato kept his voice gentle. "We'll continue tomorrow fresh."
"Eh? Didn't Halo say training goes until really late?" Urara looked confused by the early stop, blinking up at him.
She knew King Halo returned to the dorm incredibly late every single day.
"Yes, but today's special. It's an important day for Urara joining the team." Hayato smiled warmly. "Let's go celebrate properly."
Hayato didn't directly say she was too exhausted to continue. Better to protect her feelings.
"Really? Are you holding a welcome party for me?"
"Yeah."
"...Haha, so there's a welcome party?" Oguri Cap touched her already bulging stomach with visible regret. If she'd known about this, she would've eaten way less earlier.
Urara laughed happily, completely unaware of the real reason behind the early stop. Seiun Sky was already mentally calculating how to make up for the lost training time later.
The welcome party inevitably included Oguri Cap. Ines Fujin and Yukino Bijin joined as well, making it a proper celebration.
That night, after the welcome party wrapped up, Seiun Sky returned to the dorm and immediately changed into athletic wear before slipping back out.
No matter what, she had to make up the time she'd lost.
In reality, she'd been sneaking out for way more than just a day or two, it was almost every single night at this point. As long as she didn't get caught, it didn't count as breaking the rule. That was her logic anyway.
Sakura Laurel was sneaking out with her tonight, too. As they walked toward the training grounds, Seiun Sky spotted King Halo and Silence Suzuka running toward them through the darkness.
"So that's how you're improving so fast!" The pieces clicked into place for King Halo all at once, understanding hitting sharp and sudden. The gap between her and Seiun Sky that kept widening finally made sense.
"Don't say it like that, Halo-chan." Seiun Sky looked somewhat proudly happy about being discovered. "We're all the same here."
"I'm not doing extra training." Silence Suzuka's voice came out shy, almost embarrassed. "I just think running is fun."
"Yes, yes, yes. None of us is doing any training at all." Seiun Sky didn't want to argue semantics. "We just all happen to think running is fun."
She was ready to start already.
To avoid getting discovered by dorm supervisors, she didn't plan to train until super late tonight. Just do what she could manage in a reasonable timeframe.
"Eh? We're all here already, so who's that over there?"
Another uma musume appeared in the dark night for a run, hoofbeats echoing against the track in a steady rhythm.
"Probably just another uma musume who likes night running too." Silence Suzuka, who frequently ignored curfew herself, was pretty familiar with the phenomenon.
"Whatever, let's get started."
The moment Seiun Sky finished speaking, she took off running.
Morning arrived bright and clear.
Urara walked into the trainer's office radiating energy, practically glowing. "Hehe, Urara's all ready for training! I ate lots and lots of carrots this morning. This time there's definitely no problem!"
Hayato had the other three head out to do basic training first, while he called Urara over to the actual training grounds.
After thinking it through carefully, Hayato had decided to teach Urara the late-surger running style first.
Urara lacked any real late-stage acceleration, and the great escape strategy was simply too dangerous at her current skill level. After weighing his options, he decided to start by teaching her a late approach and see where that led.
"Urara, listen carefully. There are many different types of running styles out there, and you're best suited for the late approach." Hayato kept his explanation simple and clear. "The Late-Surger running style means positioning yourself in the middle of the pack, conserving your stamina early on, pushing a bit harder during the mid-race, and only going all-out during the final corner."
Urara's head tilted as she seemed to grasp part of it. "So I just need to run in the middle?"
"Right, but not entirely. It's mainly about how you distribute your stamina throughout the race."
To help Urara actually understand the concept, Hayato divided the thousand-meter dirt track into several clear segments and marked each one visibly.
Today's task was straightforward: get Urara to understand the basic idea of stamina distribution.
"Let's do a practice run. First, try conserving your stamina before you hit the midpoint, then sprint with everything you've got after the midpoint."
This kind of training was also called pacing work.
Only Yukino Bijin was available to train alongside her today.
"Urara, if you train seriously and give it your best effort, you can have delicious ice cream afterward!" Yukino pulled out an ice cream cone like a magician revealing a trick, holding it up enticingly.
Urara's condition shot up to excellent instantly, her eyes sparkling like stars had been lit inside them.
"Ice cream, wait for me! Urara's coming to save you right now!"
Due to her lack of concentration, Urara was late out of the gate every single time they practiced.
But as the days passed, she gradually started picking up tricks here and there. Small things that helped. Ways to reach the finish line even when her stamina was completely depleted, techniques for pushing through when her body wanted to quit.
Hayato stood at the five-hundred-meter mark of the track, watching and waiting. "Go, Urara! Time to speed up here!"
The training pattern was simple enough. Run once, rest for ten minutes, then go again.
The effect was slow, progress measured in tiny increments rather than leaps. But there was improvement. By afternoon, Urara could already conserve her stamina properly until the five-hundred-meter mark before accelerating.
Then something clicked.
When proficiency reached a certain level, Haru Urara awakened a skill: Be Still.
Be Still (Normal/Blue) — If positioned at the back of the pack during mid-race, becomes slightly less prone to fatigue.
After a hard day's work, Hayato was finally seeing tangible results.
With this skill, Urara wouldn't run into situations where she couldn't complete the full distance or end up so exhausted she could barely move. It was a small thing, but it mattered.
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