Aside from Kitasan Black, Trainer Nase's team had two other new uma musume.
One had long chestnut hair, golden eyes, and a diamond-shaped streak of white in her bangs. Her hair was tied into a princess braid behind her head, and her serene expression looked a lot like Mejiro McQueen's. She gave off that unmistakable refined young lady aura.
Standing beside her was an uma musume in a naval cap. She had short brown hair and beautiful sky-blue eyes. The moment her gaze met Fujiwara Chiya's, she lowered her head and quietly looked away.
The former was named Satono Diamond.
The latter was Cheval Grand.
"She is our new member, Chiba. At the same time, she will also be our new team captain. If any of you have questions, feel free to come to her."
Standing at the front of the team, Nase Fumino introduced him to everyone.
"She's so tall…"
"Is she a new student?"
"She's really pretty."
"New captain?"
Listening to the students whisper among themselves, Fujiwara Chiya felt complicated.
Apparently, he had blended perfectly into the uma musume crowd. Not a single person suspected a thing.
Was no one going to question whether this "girl" might actually be a man?!
Fujiwara Chiya suddenly felt like the first twenty-something years of his life had been a lie.
Shirayuki had completely remodeled him.
"Trainer," said the uma musume named Satono Diamond, raising her hand.
Oh? Finally, someone was suspicious!
Fujiwara Chiya was just about to get excited, only for her to ask, "Why is Chiba-san becoming captain?"
OH SHIT!
"Because she's strong enough, and she has good coordination skills," Nase Fumino replied. "Making her captain will make it easier to adjust the team as a whole. You'll understand the specific reasons as you spend more time with her. All right, training starts now."
The team lined up neatly.
Fujiwara Chiya, meanwhile, stood beside Nase Fumino with his hands behind his back.
"What are you still standing here for? Hurry up and get in line!" Seeing him standing there like an idiot beside her, Nase Fumino couldn't help kicking him.
"Sorry, sorry. I forgot."
Fujiwara Chiya scratched his head awkwardly and silently stepped into the team. The uma musume around him looked at the two of them with strange eyes.
What was with that tiny couple squabble energy?
"We'll start with warm-ups. Ten laps around the training field."
"Yes!"
While Fujiwara Chiya trained with the team, he spotted Orfevre and the others from far away.
They were sitting by the training field like they had come for a picnic, snacks and fruit spread out beside them as they chatted while watching.
"This is the finest entertainment imaginable. I am most satisfied."
"Onii-sama's uma musume form… Rice will treasure it forever."
"When my dear husband gets tired, I shall go give him water."
Fujiwara Chiya couldn't hear what they were saying, but he was absolutely sure they were watching him make a fool of himself.
Those women.
Shirayuki being an uma musume was fine, but when he became an uma musume, suddenly it was hilarious?
I am Shirayuki! What's so funny about that?!
Fujiwara Chiya felt the pure malice of his wives.
As the head of the household, he would have to properly educate them tonight. Teasing their husband had to be banned.
"Chiba, what are you doing? Run seriously!"
Just as Fujiwara Chiya was silently grumbling about Orfevre and the others, Nase Fumino's voice rang out.
Fujiwara Chiya quietly turned his head.
Every uma musume around him was staring at him.
Ah…
So embarrassing.
"Next, we'll begin today's start practice. Chiba."
Fujiwara Chiya was called out again by Nase Fumino.
"Show everyone the most commonly used starting posture."
Fujiwara Chiya did as told.
"Pay close attention. Different uma musume have different starting postures. Some are better suited to a low-center-of-gravity start, while others prefer a higher stance…"
After finishing her explanation, Nase Fumino said, "Now let her demonstrate. Chiba."
"Why is it me again?"
"Hm?"
"Nothing. Everyone, please look this way."
Fujiwara Chiya bent down and pressed power into the balls of his feet.
Bang!
With a sharp burst, he shot forward like a cannonball.
"!"
"!?"
"…"
The students' reactions varied wildly.
Kitasan Black's eyes went wide.
Satono Diamond covered her mouth.
Cheval Grand frowned slightly, surprise flickering across her face.
"That is a start that gathers the full body's power into the feet," Nase Fumino explained. "Fast and forceful. However, this kind of start has a drawback. For the first five seconds after launching, an uma musume's speed becomes difficult to adjust. That is when your rhythm is most unstable. If other uma musume squeeze into your position during that window, your early pace may be completely disrupted."
However, not much of Nase Fumino's explanation actually reached the uma musume's ears.
Everyone was staring at Fujiwara Chiya.
His speed was nothing like a rookie uma musume's.
So fast!
When Fujiwara Chiya finished one lap around the field and came back, Kitasan Black clenched her fists.
No wonder Trainer said she was qualified to be captain.
No wonder President Rudolf said this uma musume needed at least a senior trainer to teach her.
Neither of them had exaggerated at all.
It was Kitasan Black's first time seeing an uma musume with a start of that level.
So strong…
Terrifyingly strong.
Was someone like that going to become an opponent on her road to the Triple Crown?
She had to treat this seriously.
"Kita-chan…"
Satono Diamond looked at Kitasan Black, then glanced at the black-haired uma musume racing in the distance at frightening speed. Worry surfaced in her eyes.
After start practice ended, Kitasan Black found Fujiwara Chiya.
"Where are you from, Chiba-san?"
"Tokyo."
"I see. My hometown is in Hokkaido." Kitasan Black chatted with him casually. "Is your goal also the Classic Triple Crown, Chiba?"
"Mm…"
Fujiwara Chiya hesitated for a moment.
"I guess… it's along that route."
Fujiwara Chiya had no intention of actually racing.
He only said that to stimulate Kitasan Black.
In truth, aside from Kitasan Black, his own team also had an uma musume aiming for the Classic Triple Crown this year.
By provoking Kitasan Black and helping her grow, Fujiwara Chiya was indirectly lowering his own uma musume's odds of winning. But just like when he had trained Orfevre in the early days, uma musume grew by constantly competing against one another.
He stimulated Kitasan Black.
Kitasan Black, in turn, would stimulate his own uma musume.
It was a healthy cycle.
As races became more intense, uma musume would become faster and stronger.
Beyond that, Fujiwara Chiya also wanted to pass on the feelings Shirayuki had once carried when racing against everyone else.
He wanted them to treasure their rivals.
"Looks like our race is unavoidable, then!" Kitasan Black laughed brightly.
"Hello, Chiba-san."
As they were talking, Satono Diamond also walked over.
"I'm a little late with my greeting. I'm Kita-chan's childhood friend."
"Hello, Satono-san."
"You can call me Diamond. Since we're teammates now, there's no need to sound so distant."
"All right, Diamond."
The girl smiled gently.
"So, Chiya. How was training together with the uma musume?"
After training ended, Nase Fumino called Fujiwara Chiya over.
"If shame could take physical form, I'd be blown to pieces right now."
"Really? From where I was standing, you looked like you were having plenty of fun." Nase Fumino's lips curved. "You looked exactly like a real uma musume."
"I'll be honest with you. I actually am a real uma musume. The world just hasn't acknowledged me yet."
"Then work hard and earn that acknowledgment." Nase Fumino put her hands on her hips. "Come eat with me later. You're hungry too, aren't you?"
"About that… they called me home for dinner."
"Your wives." Nase Fumino's gaze suddenly cooled.
"Yeah."
"Then do whatever you want."
"Won't you come with me?"
"Why would you invite me? Don't tell me you're trying to pull me in too."
Fujiwara Chiya said nothing.
Nase Fumino sighed.
"Humans are different from uma musume. Humans aren't as pure as they are. If uma musume are sheets of blank white paper, then humans are an ugly black stain. If I went there, I'd only contaminate that harmonious little world."
"I don't think that."
"Chiya."
Nase Fumino stood in front of him.
"I'm not going to ask for too much. I just hope you can stay the way you are now. Come out and spend time with me often. I don't want to fight your group of uma musume over anything. You remember that favor you still owe me, right?"
"I remember."
"Then I'm collecting it now. Do as I say. Stay the way you are. Don't break this rare harmony. Got it?"
"Yes… I understand."
Nase Fumino stood on tiptoe and lightly touched her forehead to his.
"When you have time, eat with me again. Give me a little of your time too."
"I will."
"Then I'll see you tomorrow, Chiya."
The two waved goodbye and went their separate ways.
…
"And so, to celebrate our trainer becoming an uma musume, cheers!"
At the dinner table, Gold Ship raised her soda.
"Cheers!"
Everyone happily dug into dinner.
Fujiwara Chiya stared at them with dead-fish eyes.
Nope.
This house was hopeless.
Every last one of them was enjoying his suffering.
Were they not afraid their husband might actually turn into an uma musume one day?
They'd be the ones crying then!
Just as the Fujiwara household was enjoying its lively dinner, someone knocked on the door.
Rice Shower hopped down from her seat and ran over. A few minutes later, she hurried back.
"Onii-sama, your uma musume is here to see you!"
"I'm coming."
"Wait, Trainer, you haven't changed clothes yet!"
"You're still wearing the uma musume uniform," Seiun Sky and Treve reminded him at the same time.
Halfway to the door, Fujiwara Chiya hurriedly turned back.
"Tell me that sooner!"
"We wanted to see Trainer's uma musume form a little longer."
"…"
After changing clothes, Fujiwara Chiya stepped out of the room.
Standing outside was a girl with long brown hair that shifted from deep to light shades. At the center of her bangs was a lightning-shaped streak of white.
When she saw Fujiwara Chiya, the uma musume lowered her head.
"Good evening, Trainer Chiya."
"Good evening, Duramente."
Fujiwara Chiya waved to her and invited her inside, but she shook her head.
"I only came to check on your health, Trainer. I heard from Her Majesty the Empress that something unusual had happened to your body and that you could not train, so I wanted to visit."
"I see. Sorry for worrying you."
The uma musume before him was the one Fujiwara Chiya had mentioned.
The one who would be entering her Classic year.
Duramente.
When she had first enrolled, she drew enormous attention. She came from an uma musume family, one that had raced for generations, creating history with every race.
As the descendant of a prestigious bloodline, Duramente received immense attention from the moment she entered the academy. Countless trainers wanted to sign with her.
She rejected them all.
Until Fujiwara Chiya appeared.
"The strongest. That's what you said, right?"
"Yes. I want to become the strongest, like the Empress, standing at the top of the world. If you, who once served as the Empress's Scepter, agree to train me, then I will sign with you."
Fujiwara Chiya accepted.
With "the strongest" as their condition, he became Duramente's trainer.
And then, not long after he signed with her, his older sister, Akikawa Yayoi, shoved him into Tracen Academy as an uma musume and turned him into a student.
To deal with the situation, Shirayuki lied and said that Fujiwara Chiya was sick, so she would temporarily handle the training in his place.
Since she had been the world's strongest last year and was also Fujiwara Chiya's wife, Duramente did not say much.
He just hadn't expected her to come over that very night.
"When will your body recover, Trainer?"
"Probably in a few weeks. Don't worry, Duramente. Even if I'm sick, I can still train you. Shirayuki is only helping me keep time. At night, I'll still arrange your training plans."
"I'm not worried about the training. I'm worried about your health…"
"My body is fine. Great, actually."
"That's good."
A pretty smile appeared on Duramente's face.
"Please give my regards to your wife, Her Majesty the Empress. I apologize for interrupting your dinner, Trainer."
"Not at all. Oh, right. Why don't you come in and eat with us?"
"Thank you for the invitation, but I've already eaten."
"Then come over next time when you have the chance."
"Yes."
After saying goodbye, Fujiwara Chiya returned to the room.
Hayakawa Tazuna poked her head out and asked, "What happened, Chiya?"
"A student came to ask about my condition."
Fujiwara Chiya sighed.
"Nee-san really turned my schedule into a complete mess with all this."
"You say that, but didn't you look pretty happy running today?" Tazuna's lips curved. "I was watching from the side the whole time, you know. You were every bit as impressive as Orfevre back then."
"I hate being used as a comparison," Orfevre snorted. "Because most are unworthy of being measured against me. But if it is my husband, that is another matter. Trainer had some of my old presence today. If he does not claim a GI victory with thunderous force, I shall have to punish him severely."
"Oho? Just asking, but what kind of punishment are we talking about?" Gold Ship cut in at the worst possible moment.
"A royal punishment, naturally. Enough to make Trainer squirm and beg for mercy."
"Yep. Sounds about right."
"I recorded that one time with Orfevre and guinea pig-kun. Does anyone want to watch?" Agnes Tachyon asked.
"Seriously? I want to see it," Mejiro Dober said immediately.
"Tachyon, didn't I dismantle your camera?" Shirayuki said, looking like her tooth ached.
"That was the one in the room. This was a backup I secretly installed on Orfevre. Shirayuki can also review guinea pig-kun pleading with Orfevre. Quite fascinating, really."
"Don't make me remember that!"
"Tachyon, you wretch. You secretly put such a thing on me… wait. Show me the recording later."
The Fujiwara household was as noisy as ever today.
The next day, in front of Fujiwara Chiya's team, Shirayuki was giving training instructions.
Duramente came to her side.
"Your Majesty."
"What is it, Duramente?"
Shirayuki looked up at the girl, who was even taller than her.
"I heard that an incredible new student transferred into Tracen. She is in Trainer Nase's team. I would like to meet her."