Truly, Special Week Senpai!

Over the next few days, every morning and evening, Kitasan Black ran side-by-side with Daiwa Scarlet for over an hour.

Through these joint sessions, while Trainer Yasui was delighted by Kitasan Black's progress, he was also secretly awestruck by the talent and strength of Daiwa Scarlet.

Generally speaking, a Horse Girl's golden career period lasts about three years; once that time passes, their performance levels in all aspects tend to decline.

But for a select few top-tier athletes, this is not the case.

Not only is their decline much slower, but even if they cannot reach their peak form again, they can maintain a relatively stable level of performance.

Daiwa Scarlet was exactly that kind of Horse Girl.

The data made it quite obvious: she handled every training session with ease, and from the most basic speed and power to technique and awareness, she could be said to surpass Kitasan Black in every category.

With such a senior providing guidance, Trainer Yasui felt he had gained a great deal, to say nothing of Kitasan Black's own improvement, which made him wish the other party could keep up this pace as a training partner indefinitely.

But that was clearly impossible.

Daiwa Scarlet had work and research to attend to upon her return to the academy, so he certainly couldn't keep imposing on her.

After training finished that morning, Daiwa Scarlet indicated that this would be their last joint run for a while, with the next one likely not happening for another two or three weeks.

"Haa—that was great."

Taking a long drink of her energy beverage and wiping the sweat from her brow, Daiwa Scarlet remarked with emotion:

"Choosing to come back was truly the right call. I get to train with Little Kita and even relive the feeling of being a student again."

Also drinking an energy beverage and wiping away sweat, Kitasan Black felt a touch of regret.

"It's a shame Senior Daiwa will be so busy afterward; otherwise, I would have wanted to keep running with you... Ouch."

Retracting her hand from the flick she'd just delivered, Daiwa Scarlet laughed.

"Why the long face, as if you'll never see me again, Little Kita?"

"Don't forget, I'm going to be a Kurito Dormitory administrator, so we'll be seeing each other almost every day."

"Just make sure you don't get caught coming back late, or I'll lock you out as a suspicious Horse Girl."

When she mentioned "suspicious Horse Girl," she seemed to recall something amusing and began to giggle.

Rubbing the forehead where her senior had flicked her, Kitasan Black asked curiously:

"Senior Daiwa, what are you laughing at... I definitely won't be coming back late."

"I'm not laughing at you."

Wiping her nose with her index finger, Daiwa Scarlet looked nostalgic. "It's about your Special Week Senpai."

"Special Week Senpai?"

Kitasan Black grew even more curious. "What about Special Week Senpai?"

"The first time Special Week Senpai came to Tokyo, she didn't go straight to the academy, did she?"

Daiwa Scarlet laughed:

"That was the time she saw Suzuka Senpai's race and decided she wanted to be on the same team as her."

"After watching the race and the Winner's Stage, she only remembered it was the academy's registration day when it was almost over."

"She panicked and ran all the way back to the academy from the racecourse in one go."

"Oh, right, she also got off at the wrong station when she arrived, so she had to run to the racecourse, too."

"In one go..." Kitasan Black said in surprise, "As expected of Special Week Senpai, that's amazing!"

"Well, 'in one go' is a bit of an exaggeration, but Special Week Senpai was certainly running very fast at the time; she even overtook cars along the way and scared quite a few drivers."

Daiwa Scarlet shrugged with a laugh:

"Anyway, Special Week Senpai hurried as fast as she could, but she was still late in the end and almost got locked out by Fuji Senpai for being a suspicious Horse Girl."

"S-so that's what happened? Hahaha..." Laughing awkwardly, Kitasan Black promised repeatedly, "Don't worry, Senior Daiwa, I definitely won't trouble you to open the door for me at night!"

"Good. Since you said so, don't blame me if I lock you out when you're late."

After saying that half-jokingly, Daiwa Scarlet looked toward Trainer Yasui.

Trainer Yasui had been organizing and analyzing data on his tablet, but he hadn't ignored their banter.

He found it quite interesting, especially the mention of "Special Week Senpai."

She was a top-tier Horse Girl who had won the Japanese Derby—one of the Triple Crown races—and was the second Horse Girl in history to achieve consecutive victories in the Tenno Sho Spring and Autumn, earning her the title of "Japan's Number One General."

From the URA promotional videos about Special Week, he remembered her looking quite imposing.

He hadn't expected to hear such a goofy side of her from her close friend.

Noticing Daiwa Scarlet's gaze and assuming she was reminding him of his duties, Trainer Yasui nodded.

"I will keep an eye on the training schedule and remind Little Kita to return to the dormitory on time."

"I certainly believe you on that, but..."

Smiling casually, Daiwa Scarlet asked curiously, "I was actually wondering, how do you plan to arrange the afternoon training, Trainer Yasui?"

She was indeed curious.

After training together these past few days, she increasingly realized that Anjing Zhen was no ordinary person.

In the past, let alone an 18-year-old, it was difficult for her to find a similar temperament even in 28-year-old trainers.

The vast majority of rookie trainers were timid, terrified of making a mistake in their instruction.

The older ones were much the same; at most, they wouldn't show panic in front of a Horse Girl, only to rush off to seek help from their seniors the moment they turned away.

Anjing Zhen was different; compared to his overly youthful appearance, his training style was remarkably mature and seasoned.

It wasn't that he was without oversights, as he often made the same mistakes common to newcomers regarding various details.

However, he would quickly identify his errors, never minding telling Little Kita that he had messed up, and would find a solution in an incredibly short amount of time.

Then there was his specific approach to training.

In Daiwa Scarlet's experience, the trainers she had encountered all loved to follow the guidance of their seniors, adhere to textbook content, or rely solely on past experience.

Anjing Zhen was different; he didn't care about established methods.

As long as he was certain it was effective for Kitasan Black, he would use it, adjusting it in a timely manner and never sticking rigidly to convention.

So, with such an unconventional training style, what kind of training would he arrange for Little Kita besides running...?

"The afternoon schedule is the same as yesterday, but I generally don't schedule training on Friday nights so she can have a good rest."

Explaining this to Daiwa Scarlet, Anjing Zhen looked at Kitasan Black with a smile.

"Besides, she told me yesterday that she has plans to go to KTV with her friends tonight and wanted to head over a bit early, so I agreed."

"Mm-hmm! Is Trainer coming too?" Hearing about the evening plans, Kitasan Black suddenly became excited.

"I won't be going."

Shaking his head, Anjing Zhen pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket.

"I studied basic music theory while preparing for my exams, and I've written a few songs in my spare time; you can try singing them when you go to KTV."

"If it feels right, I'll find a way to record it later and post it to your Racing Account."

"Racing Account?" Kitasan Black was stunned, then took the paper and opened it to look. "Eh? Trainer, you know how to write simplified notation?"

"Music was an elective for my certification, so I learned a little bit."

Anjing Zhen nodded, then smiled:

"You're the expert in this area, so if there's anything wrong, just tell me directly."

"What expert..."

Laughing shyly, Kitasan Black nodded and said, "Then I'll try humming it first."