After T.M. Opera O had been gone for a while, Kitasan Black stared in the direction she'd left. After a long moment, she stiffly turned toward Anjing Zhen, as if her neck had rusted.
In Kitasan's eyes, Senior T.M. Opera O was one of the only "Seven Crown Champions" in horse-girl history. She'd achieved the astonishing feat of a "Year of Invincibility," and she was a Hall of Fame horse girl, too.
Kitasan had never really learned much about the trainers of seniors like her, but she figured they must be incredibly impressive.
That made her nervous.
"Tr-Trainer... is that, is that for real?
"Senior Benten... no, Benten's trainer...
"Is Senior T.M. Opera O's trainer..."
Kitasan Black froze.
She suddenly noticed that Anjing Zhen, Daiwa Scarlet, and Vodka all had strange expressions on their faces. She stammered, "Trainer, and you two seniors... what's wrong?"
In perfect sync, Daiwa Scarlet and Vodka exchanged a glance, then silently looked at Anjing Zhen.
"Don't worry about it."
Anjing Zhen shook his head and said evenly, "Even the best trainer can end up with a horse girl who's hard to put into words.
"And even the worst trainer might end up with an astonishing, peerless horse girl.
"Maybe that uncertainty is what makes the Shining Series so fascinating.
"I think I understand what you're thinking, Little Kita, so let me ask you something.
"You've found out your opponent has an incredibly capable trainer. Does that mean you're not going to run in this race?
"Or we could skip the race altogether, see whose trainer is the best, and hand her the championship trophy. What do you think?"
Kitasan Black shook her head without hesitation.
"Of course not!"
Then she let out a long breath, and her somewhat uneasy gaze gradually grew firm.
"I understand what you mean, Trainer.
"I'll prepare for the race properly. I won't let you down!
"And before I came here, I told you that Grandpa and the others were already on their way. I'm definitely going to win for them!"
Anjing Zhen smiled with relief, then pointed at the tray in front of the black-haired girl.
"Good. That's the spirit. Now—"
"Eat your fill first! Hehe..."
Before he could finish, the black-haired girl jumped in with an answer and chuckled foolishly. She put her hands together, said, "Let's eat!" and got down to her meal in earnest.
Anjing Zhen smiled with relief once more and began eating, too.
Beside them, Daiwa Scarlet and Vodka exchanged a quick glance. In perfect understanding, they pointed at their pockets, picked up their chopsticks, and pulled out their phones.
[Handsome Horse Girl of Tracen: Is this for real?! This trainer really is a rookie?]
[Beautiful Horse Girl of Tracen: I told you Trainer Yasui was something special. Though I was pretty surprised at first, too.]
[Handsome Horse Girl of Tracen: How could anyone not be surprised? Plenty of veteran trainers can't even handle pre-race pep talks. You've seen horse girls throwing tantrums right before a race, haven't you?]
[Beautiful Horse Girl of Tracen: You mean A-Fun?]
[Handsome Horse Girl of Tracen: I didn't say that. You did. I took a screenshot, and I'm sending it to A-Fun later.]
[Beautiful Horse Girl of Tracen: Why are you still so childish?!]
[Handsome Horse Girl of Tracen: Just kidding! Hehe. But I really am interested in this trainer now.]
[Beautiful Horse Girl of Tracen: What do you mean?]
[Handsome Horse Girl of Tracen: It shouldn't be too much trouble to talk to the dormitory manager, right?]
[Beautiful Horse Girl of Tracen: What, are you going to copy me again?]
[Handsome Horse Girl of Tracen: This isn't the time for jokes. I've already wondered whether my research would be suitable to carry out at the Academy. If you can do it, why can't I?]
[Beautiful Horse Girl of Tracen: Fair enough. And after seeing Senior Fuji apply for a transfer, and hearing that Senior Amazon is thinking about it too, I'll ask around for you.]
[Handsome Horse Girl of Tracen: You really get me. I'll leave it to you, then.]
[Beautiful Horse Girl of Tracen: It's no trouble. But you'll have to talk to Teio yourself.]
[Handsome Horse Girl of Tracen: OK. By the way, Little Kita doesn't seem to know about Senior T.M. Opera O.]
[Beautiful Horse Girl of Tracen: She probably doesn't. That's normal. We didn't know when we first enrolled, either.]
[Handsome Horse Girl of Tracen: True... But this trainer probably knows what happened back then, right? So he deliberately didn't tell Little Kita?]
[Beautiful Horse Girl of Tracen: Probably. Little Kita has plenty of talent, but a lot of the time she's as silly as you. Deliberately keeping it from her will put a little pressure on her for the race. It's just right.]
[Handsome Horse Girl of Tracen: Explain yourself! What do you mean, "silly"? We're cool and carefree! You wouldn't understand!]
[Beautiful Horse Girl of Tracen: ...]
[Beautiful Horse Girl of Tracen: All right, enough. If we keep chatting, someone might catch us.]
Daiwa Scarlet put her phone away first, ignoring the resentful look beside her. With a smug smile of victory, she enjoyed her lunch.
Kitasan Black finished eating first.
Her lunch consisted of energy-rich, low-fat foods like bananas, oats, corn, and carrots. They gave her plenty of energy while keeping her feeling full.
She also ate quickly and digested quickly.
This kept her efficient without making her blood linger in her digestive system for a long time, as it would after eating too many carbs, high-fat foods, or protein-rich foods. It was well suited to the race ahead.
"I'm full!"
She picked up her tray and stood. Seeing that Anjing Zhen had finished his ramen, Kitasan Black looked at Daiwa Scarlet and Vodka.
"Seniors..."
"No need to wait for us," Vodka said with a smile. "Your race is in an hour. Go get ready in the preparation room.
"Daiwa and I will cheer you on from the stands.
"By the way, Trainer Yasui, where do you usually like to watch the races?"
"Right at the front."
Anjing Zhen answered naturally, "That's where I can see Little Kita best. I can also use what I see in the race to adjust our review and training afterward.
"I noticed all the trainers standing there. Isn't that common sense?"
Vodka glanced at Daiwa Scarlet, then smiled.
"Fair enough... We'll meet you there later, then. Little Kita's in your hands."
She and Daiwa Scarlet waved and watched Anjing Zhen and Kitasan Black leave. Then Vodka nodded thoughtfully.
"He's really different from most Japanese trainers..."
"Hm? What did you say?" Daiwa Scarlet asked, puzzled. She hadn't heard her friend clearly.
"I've met a lot of foreign trainers and horse girls in Europe," Vodka explained.
"A lot of things are much more straightforward there.
"For trainers, for example, if you're capable, you'll raise excellent rookies, and the Academy will give you more resources.
"Over here, it depends on your credentials, seniority, and all kinds of other ridiculous rules.
"If I remember right, your trainer was troubled by that from the start, wasn't he, Daiwa?"
The recommendation drive didn't work out last time. Damn it.
There wasn't much I could do about it. Horse-girl stories really are pretty niche. And after hearing from a lot of readers that weird fanfiction about them tends to focus on intense racing, I took a look. There really isn't much about training, so I have to think through and plan out a lot of the storylines.
But I'm not saying this to complain. It just makes me feel like I should work even harder.
And when I start slacking off, I rewatch Season 3.
Then, in a fit of fury, I find myself with even more motivation to write.
Readers who haven't seen Season 3 probably shouldn't try it.
I also strongly recommend Season 2 and Gray Cinderella. Season 1 and the OVAs are great, too, so you can give those a try.
Anyway, here's an extra chapter. Please follow along! Thanks!
I'll keep working hard!
Before you continue