But Then Again

After hearing Hokubu Genkoma's account, Yasui Makoto sent Tokai Teio a message and arranged a time to meet.

He really didn't like getting involved with work on his days off, and judging by Tokai Teio's brief reply, it didn't seem like she was in much of a hurry, either.

So he didn't arrive at the student council office until noon on Monday.

As soon as he entered the office, he backed right out.

Behind the desk, wearing a pair of glasses, was Tokai Teio.

Beside her was an Uma Musume with short brown hair and red eyes patterned like blinds.

She wore an oversized white coat with sleeves so long they made you want to pull them over and tie them in a knot.

Her hands were hidden inside the sleeves as she cradled a steaming cup of black tea.

She had been chatting with Tokai Teio, but when she noticed someone entering, she glanced over, her eyes lighting up.

"Heh heh heh, long time no see, Anzai-kun..."

Before she could finish, Yasui Makoto had already backed out into the hallway.

He looked up at the nameplate on the door.

This was definitely the student council office.

So why was Alice Speed here?

Inside, Alice Speed had frozen for a moment at his retreat. The corner of her mouth lifted as she looked at Tokai Teio.

"Am I really that scary?"

"Ahaha, well..."

With an awkward laugh, Tokai Teio pushed up her glasses and gave a dry cough.

"Trainer Yasui, please come in. Dr. Speed has a good suggestion, and I think you should hear her out."

Yasui Makoto had actually already come back in.

He wasn't sure what Alice Speed was doing here, but leaving without a word would have been terribly rude.

Even if the rumors about her human experiments weren't entirely baseless, with Tokai Teio here as president, Alice Speed probably wouldn't actually make any outrageous suggestions...

Probably?

"Good afternoon, you two."

Still puzzled, Yasui Makoto asked:

"So the one who wanted to see me this time wasn't the president, but Dr. Speed?"

"More or less."

Before Tokai Teio could answer, Alice Speed's eyes glinted.

"I happened to watch Hokubu Genkoma's race the other day. It was an excellent victory.

"Congratulations. The first Uma Musume you've trained won her very first race. Anzai-kun, you really are no ordinary person."

...What do you mean, "happened to watch"? You've definitely been keeping an eye on me since the day I came in for a checkup, haven't you?

And what was that about me being no ordinary person...

So now you're even more eager to do strange things to me, aren't you?

After grumbling to himself, Yasui Makoto grew even more confused.

It had been a month since his visit to the hospital, and he had barely been in touch with Alice Speed during that time.

At his last checkup, the Uma Musume had said his health was excellent, and she had never asked him to come back for another examination.

So had she really been keeping tabs on him—or rather, on him and Hokubu Genkoma? Did she actually have some sort of bizarre ulterior motive?

But when you got down to it, he had simply started training himself early, and his physical abilities were quite good by human standards.

By comparison, an Uma Musume with a powerful physique like Hokubu Genkoma was far more worth keeping an eye on, wasn't she?

As he pondered this, he heard Alice Speed change the subject.

"I have another consultation shortly, and I'm sure Anzai-kun has training to attend to, so I'll get straight to the point."

She took a sip of tea, her voice turning persuasive.

"I took a quick look at the publicly available race registrations. You've chosen the classic route for Hokubu Genkoma.

"Winning the Triple Crown isn't easy. You must have planned a lot of training for her, right?

"For example, pace work?

"I asked Teio about it earlier, and she said you haven't applied for a training partner yet.

"I happen to have someone in mind. Would you be interested?"

Yasui Makoto wasn't surprised that Alice Speed knew so much about the upcoming races and training.

Like the schedules of other active runners, Hokubu Genkoma's race schedule was public. Anyone could find it with a quick search.

As for how she knew about the training, the reason was simple.

Alice Speed wasn't just a former active Uma Musume; she was also the Satsuki Sho champion.

She had won all four of her races from her Debut Race through the Satsuki Sho. Before the Satsuki Sho, she had received nearly 60 percent of the support, making her the most popular runner by far.

Because of her astonishing winning streak and the incredible speed she had displayed on the track, the racing world had dubbed her "the Superluminal Particle."

Rather than guessing what kind of training Hokubu Genkoma would need, an Uma Musume like her was probably just casually sharing the experience that had won her the title.

Just as Alice Speed had said, Yasui Makoto had indeed assigned plenty of training to his Uma Musume. One of those exercises was pace work.

As the name suggested, this training involved working alongside other Uma Musume. It was useful for developing race awareness and could help determine the running style best suited to a runner.

Generally, established trainers had multiple Uma Musume under them and could even invite famous runners, so finding a pace-work partner wasn't a problem.

Yasui Makoto didn't have that kind of network. He could only apply through the academy.

There was no telling what kind of Uma Musume that method would get him. Most of the time, they were of average ability, or even weaker than Hokubu Genkoma.

After all, stronger Uma Musume had little free time to help others with pace work. They had their own training to do.

But having someone was better than having no one. Besides, the Debut Race had gone according to plan, and now it was time to consider which running style suited Hokubu Genkoma best. He couldn't abandon pace work.

Yasui Makoto had already filled out the application, but hadn't submitted it yet.

He didn't like changing plans once they were set, and he couldn't figure out why Alice Speed was suddenly offering to help.

After thinking it over, he shook his head.

"Thank you very much, Dr. Speed, but if you'll pardon my frankness, I've already filled out the application, and I don't like changing plans once they've been decided. Besides..."

"Yamato Akagi."

"...But then again, Dr. Speed took time out of her busy schedule to help me and Xiao Bei with our troubles. It would be terribly rude to refuse out of hand. I'm very interested in the pace-work partner you suggested, so please pretend I never said any of that. I have nothing but gratitude for your kindness."

Yasui Makoto changed his tune without batting an eye.

"Oh? So Anzai-kun accepts."

With an amused lift of her brows, Alice Speed smiled, stood up, and stretched.

"Then I'll leave you two to it. I have another consultation shortly, so I'll be off."

The Uma Musume left as quickly as she had arrived. Soon, only the surprised Yasui Makoto and Tokai Teio remained in the office.

"President, what was Dr. Speed...?"

After a moment's hesitation, Yasui Makoto looked at Tokai Teio.

Noticing the meaning in his gaze, Tokai Teio thought for a moment.

"Honestly, I was surprised, too.

"The night before last, Speed suddenly called me and said she wanted to recommend a pace-work partner to Trainer Yasui.

"I asked why she'd suddenly decided to do that. She only said she was interested in the trainer and Xiao Bei.

"Trainer Yasui has probably heard the rumors about Speed... Um, some of them are rather strange.

"But I can guarantee, in my capacity as president, that her experiments... Um, they've never caused any real harm.

"And when I heard who she had in mind, I thought it would be a good thing for both you and Xiao Bei.

"After all, it's Yamato Akagi.

"Trainer, you know how strong she is, right?"