Although they hadn't signed a contract yet, Kitasan Black had already changed how she addressed him. The tall stack of folders and videotapes in her arms was the material she'd mentioned.
Anjing Zhen had asked Tokai Teio to help provide it that afternoon.
Unlike other academies, the student council president at Central Treisen Academy wielded considerable authority. She could handle all kinds of affairs on the Academy's behalf without going through the board of trustees or the chairperson.
That included access to the Academy's archives, many of which were unavailable to the Outside World.
Anjing Zhen was only a rookie Trainer and didn't yet have permission to consult them, but Tokai Teio's approval took care of that.
"Thanks for your hard work, Little Kita."
After opening the door, he turned and headed straight into the living room, casually pointing at the floor.
"Just put them anywhere. I'll get you some water."
"Oh, okay... No need to trouble yourself, Trainer. President treated me to plenty of honey drinks, so I'm not thirsty."
"Then make yourself comfortable... Have you eaten?"
"Not yet..."
Kitasan Black shook her head, then perked up.
"I also told President that I'd take care of you for the next few days, Trainer. Just let me know if you need anything!"
"I don't need anything. Just make yourself at home."
Taking out his phone, Anjing Zhen asked, "Want me to order you some takeout?"
"Does Trainer always eat takeout?"
Kitasan Black was taken aback and unconsciously surveyed the room.
Aside from a few pairs of shoes, there wasn't much in the entryway. The living room, on the other hand, was filled with books and videotapes about racehorses, Uma Musume, and Trainers, along with stacks of handwritten notes and documents. There was also a laptop on the coffee table.
There was a lot of stuff, but apart from the many open books scattered across the sofa, everything was neatly arranged. The room wasn't messy, and there was plenty of space to walk around.
If anything, the only thing that stood out was the overflowing trash bin, filled with crumpled notes and takeout containers bearing the words "Gray Hut."
"Cooking for myself is too much trouble. Besides, there's a restaurant down the street from the Academy that makes great food and delivers quickly. I got used to ordering from there."
Setting his phone on the sofa, Anjing Zhen sat down and casually flipped through the materials Kitasan Black had set aside.
"If you don't like takeout, I guess I can't invite you to stay for dinner."
"Huh? No, it's fine."
Kitasan Black waved her hands repeatedly, then took out her phone.
"Then I'll order takeout. The place you mentioned must be Gray Hut, right?
"That restaurant's really popular at the Academy. If people aren't eating in the cafeteria, they usually go there.
"Oh, right! It's run by a few older students. I wonder if you've met them, Trainer... Huh?"
She'd just found the takeout app on her phone when she looked up and saw Anjing Zhen turn on the computer on the coffee table, as well as the television and video player in the living room. Curiosity got the better of her.
"Trainer, what are you...?"
"I'm going to look at some races from Tokyo Racecourse and compare them with your data."
Choosing a videotape, Anjing Zhen slipped it into the player and sat back down on the sofa. He placed a stack of documents next to the computer and casually explained,
"I don't have any recordings of your training, so I'll use this to get a general idea of your situation.
"The archives have recordings from multiple camera angles. They're hard to find online or anywhere else, and the information about each race's participants is unique, too.
"Comparing those with your data will make it easier to understand your situation. But once we've signed the contract, I'll definitely need to see you run in person."
As he spoke, Anjing Zhen noticed that Kitasan Black's attention was almost entirely fixed on the race playing on the screen. He couldn't help but nod to himself.
Running was instinctive for Uma Musume, and it was something they aspired to do.
Yet even with the same instincts and aspirations, Uma Musume were different from one another.
For instance, many of the Uma Musume he'd met back home weren't especially enthusiastic about competing. At the very least, they weren't as absorbed in races as Kitasan Black was.
That showed she already had an excellent competitive spirit.
The recording was showing pre-race interviews, which weren't particularly important, so while quietly praising her, Anjing Zhen glanced at the phone in Kitasan Black's hand, picked up his own from the sofa, and casually ordered two meals.
After that, he compared the footage with the various statistics and entered calculations into the computer.
For racing, the most direct measure was speed. The three most important kinds were Start Gate speed, Cruising Speed, and Last Spurt speed.
Start Gate speed measured the time between the gates opening and the Uma Musume reacting. In theory, the fastest possible reaction time was 0.1 seconds, while the average was 0.25 seconds.
That difference often came into play when jostling for position early in a race, and could affect the tactics used later on.
Cruising Speed lasted the longest, and generally referred to the speed maintained between the early battle for position and the final stretch.
In most races, this speed ranged from 15 to 17 meters per second. The difference depended on factors like the course, the competitors' abilities, and track conditions.
Last Spurt speed could also be called maximum speed, and was used to decide the race in the final 600 meters.
Depending on the course, tactics, and the state of the race, this distance could vary by up to 200 meters in either direction, with speed changing accordingly.
Compared to the speed data shown in the recordings, Kitasan Black's records in the archives weren't particularly impressive. Both her peak and average speeds were considerably lower.
Anjing Zhen wasn't surprised, though. The former came from official races, while the latter came only from training—training before her debut, at that.
What he was mainly interested in was the fluctuations, or the variance within each set of data.
The smaller the variance, the more stable the data. A larger variance meant the data was less stable.
After calculating and checking the results more than a dozen times, the conclusion was clear: Kitasan Black's training data currently had a high variance, meaning her speed was unstable.
This could certainly be explained by her ability to control her strength, but that wasn't nearly enough to account for it.
Speed was only the outward sign, and strength control was just one possible cause. Other factors included oxygen intake, body fat percentage, gait characteristics, and running habits. Every one of them could affect performance in training and official races.
After trying a few other algorithms and data sets, Anjing Zhen soon came up with a theory that went beyond her strength control.
"Little Kita, have you ever specifically trained your racing Gallop?"
"Go! Go! Go! ...Huh?"
When Anjing Zhen asked, Kitasan Black had been watching the race with great enthusiasm, loudly cheering on the Uma Musume on screen as if she were there in person.
"Gallop...? We learned about it in class, but..."
She scratched her head, looking a little embarrassed. "I haven't had a Trainer before, and none of the older Uma Musume in my family taught me..."
Anjing Zhen fell into thought.
He'd already had a vague impression of it, and had just looked through the records as well. Kitasan Black had been born into a large family, and there were other Uma Musume in her family besides her.
But none of them were particularly outstanding, so it was only natural that no one had specifically pointed out the problem.
"Trainer, if I haven't mastered the Gallop, what about my upcoming races...?"
Knock, knock, knock. A sudden knock interrupted Kitasan Black, and at the same time, Anjing Zhen's phone rang.
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