Yasui Makoto instinctively glanced at Hokubu Genkoma, only to find her staring at Kikō Misuzu in surprise, seeming ready to turn and look his way.
He quickly looked away and walked over to the training equipment in the corner of the room, acting as if nothing had happened as he casually said,
"Yeah, I never made a point of mentioning it. It's not really something that needs special emphasis..."
He patted the whiteboard leaning against the wall and changed the subject.
"There's no projector here, so I guess we'll have to use this whiteboard. Xiao Bei, is that all right?"
His change of subject was so natural that everyone's attention was indeed drawn over.
"Mm-hmm! No problem!"
Hokubu Genkoma answered at once and hurried over. Together, she and Yasui Makoto moved the somewhat heavy whiteboard to the table in the middle of the room.
Seeing this, the others helped arrange the tables and chairs. Before long, the room had been set up like the team's usual meeting space for analyzing race tactics.
This time, however, it wasn't Yasui Makoto standing in front of the whiteboard.
It was Hokubu Genkoma, looking distinctly nervous and a little uneasy.
In truth, even before coming to the strategy room, Hokubu Genkoma had understood that although Yasui Makoto would probably offer reminders from the sidelines, just as he had at the training grounds, the tactical arrangements and on-the-spot guidance for this race would mainly depend on her, the "assistant."
But when she thought about having to analyze the strategy and give instructions on her own, especially after just making the habitual mistake of thinking in terms of a "front-runner" strategy, she couldn't help worrying that she might mess up again.
That unease grew even more pronounced when she stood in front of the whiteboard and