Chapter 44: Friendship Training – Seiun Sky

Since the summer training camp began, a little time has passed. Everyone’s gotten used to the environment, and now I often spot posters recruiting for joint running sessions.

Still, if I showed up, people would definitely give me that look…

The other day, I did a name search online, and… well, people were calling me things like “The Missile” or “The Crasher.” I may or may not have cried a little.

But hey, I guess that just means they recognize how amazing my runs are. Not that I can feel entirely good about it.

"Hmm, this one’s for middle-distance runners, and this one’s for long-distance… huh? Where’s the sprint section?"

And there it was again—the curse of being a sprinter.

No short-distance postings. None at all!

I mean, I’d even settle for a mile, but those are super rare too.

"What should I do… huh?"

"Hey, Mithialx! Catch that girl, quick!"

"Ugh, no way—one of King’s followers!? Is Seichan in trouble!?"

Charging straight toward me was a gray-haired horse girl. Wait—that’s… Seiun Sky.

Just before colliding, she slammed on the brakes and turned her back toward me, keeping a careful distance from King Halo.

"Uh, King’s follower girl? Any chance you could just let Seichan go this once…?"

"I cannot. Lady King has ordered it. By her decree, I cannot allow your escape…"

"Hold on a second!? That’s not your personality, Mithialx! Whatever—just keep her from slipping past!"

"Got it!"

With her escape route blocked by me, Seiun Sky was caught in under a minute by King Halo’s iron grip.

Seriously though, what even happened here?

"Huff… huff…! You realize we’ve got no one to cover the long-distance division without you! Special Week and Grass Wonder both got snatched by other teams!"

"Ahaha, well, you see… Seichan was kinda hoping to skip out if possible."

Ah, I get it now. This must be like that team race we did last year.

So Seiun Sky was supposed to be their long-distance member, but she bailed. No wonder King chased her down.

"So, King-senpai, have you actually gathered the rest of your team yet?"

"Oh? You knew about the team race? Well, as it happens… You can do both mile and sprint races, right?"

"Uh, yes. Anything longer than middle-distance is hopeless for me, but below that, I’m confident."

King Halo’s gaze flickered for a moment, then she clasped my hand with a decisive grin.

"Then I hereby grant you the honor of running the mile for King’s team! How about it? It’s a mock race, but some pretty high-ranking seniors will be competing."

"! I’d love to! Please let me join!"

For someone like me, who hardly ever gets asked to train with others—or gets accepted when I ask—this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

As my excitement built, Seiun Sky just looked on with a half-baffled, half-amused expression.

Well, can’t blame her. She probably doesn’t want to “reveal her tricks,” so to speak.

"You sure are passionate, huh. Seichan can’t handle all that hot-blooded stuff, y’know. Why not take it easy instead?"

"You’re really something, you know that…"

Seiun Sky is stuck. And King definitely knows it.

Even with her own race coming up soon, she’s still taking the time to help others. That’s just the kind of horse girl King Halo is.

And maybe Seiun Sky understands that too, since her resistance is… mild, at best.

"The winning team gets a prize, so you’d better aim for that, all right?"

"Well, if you put it that way, maybe I’ll put in a little effort. Get ready to witness Seichan’s masterful running!"

"And you, Mithialx? You okay with this? If so, I’ll introduce the rest of the team now."

"Sure. So King-senpai’s covering sprints, Sky-senpai’s got long-distance, and I’m on the mile… that leaves middle-distance and dirt track, right?"

Hmm, who could those be? It’s possible they’re girls I’ve never met before.

Following King, I stepped into a meeting room tucked away in a corner of the campgrounds.

Unfortunately, I didn’t recognize any of the horse girls inside.

Well, I don’t really keep up with the middle-distance or dirt divisions, so that’s fair.

"All right then, this’ll be our team! Let’s hash out some basic strategies, then get started with training!"

"King-senpai, when’s the race happening?"

Shouldn’t be too far off, I imagine…

"Tomorrow. So today we’ll just do a light joint run to get you all in sync."

"Tomorrow!? Isn’t that way too soon!?"

"I can’t help it! Do you have any idea how hard it was to gather four people!? You’re the one who finally made it five!"

Yeah, I totally get that. If your competition includes people like Special Week or Grass Wonder, no wonder others avoid signing up.

I’m the opposite, though.

"Well, no point complaining now. I said I’d join, so I’ll give it my all."

"Thank you, Mithialx. Oh—and I’m putting you in charge of watching over Seiun Sky, okay?"

"Watching over!? What, you think Seichan’s gonna run away!?"

"You literally just ran away earlier!"

These two sure have a lot of energy…

"Anyway, I’m counting on you, Mithialx. I’m sure you’re the only one who can keep Sky in check!"

And where exactly does that faith come from?

I took Seiun Sky by the hand and led her to the practice field next to the campgrounds.

If I let her out of my sight, she’d probably bolt, so I made sure to neither let go nor look away.

"Hey, mind if I… you know, introduce myself properly?"

"Ah, good point. My name’s Mithialx. I specialize in sprint and mile races—closing type. Nice to meet you."

"Ahh, so you’re the ‘high-maintenance junior’ King talks about sometimes, huh?"

"Wait—what!?"

Yeah, I knew I was a bit of a handful as a junior, but—wait, she’s been talking about that to other people too!?

"She said, ‘She’s troublesome and a pain to deal with, but a cute junior nonetheless.’ Also that she wishes you’d rely on her a little more."

"Ugh… I can’t even argue with that…"

Crap, I’ve totally fallen into Seiun Sky’s rhythm here.

She’s the kind of horse girl who runs at her own pace—the complete opposite of someone like Mihono Bourbon, who shuts out everything around her.

Calm down, me. Don’t get swept up in Seiun Sky’s flow…

"So, we’re running together, right? I can’t handle anything longer than a mile, so… uh, could we skip the long-distance thing, please?"

"Hmm, what should I do? Seichan’s not exactly great with mile races, you know?"

That said, lately she’s been training her stamina enough that she could probably manage a middle-distance run. Barely.

All right, guess I’ll go with middle-distance then…

"I can’t promise my energy or focus will hold up, but let’s try a middle-distance run. Is that fine?"

Seiun Sky nodded, and we both took our positions at the start line.

At the signal, she kicked off with a light, clean dash. I sprinted after her.

"This… is really tricky…!"

Barely a few seconds in, I realized something.

I’ve never run against this type of escape runner before!

Just when I thought she was slowing down, her speed would spike—and when I tried matching her pace, she’d suddenly ease off again.

It was maddeningly difficult!

"Hmm, maybe around this pace?"

"Hah… damn it, not yet… I can still go!"

A rhythm designed to break her opponent’s tempo. So this is basically the “escape-runner” version of what I usually do, huh…

And then, at the final corner—just as I moved to overtake her—I missed my chance.

"Nya-ha-ha! Too slow!"

"You’ve gotta be kidding me!? I—can’t—catch up!"

The moment she rounded the curve, her acceleration spiked. She pulled away fast, leaving me in the dust.

So that earlier pace wasn’t even her real speed!?

Damn it… no way I can close that gap now. In the end, I crossed the finish line several lengths behind Seiun Sky.

"Haa… haa…"

"Seichan wins~! Hehe, that was a pretty good run though. You’ll definitely get stronger from here. No wonder King’s keeping an eye on you."

"Th-thank you… very much…"

Still, there’s plenty to learn from that run. That burst of acceleration at the end—I need to analyze that.

As I tried to catch my breath, a voice called out from afar.

Huh…?

"Oh crap, it’s Trainer! D-do I look weird or anything, Seichan!?"

"I think you’re fine…"

Before I could say more, Seiun Sky dashed toward the figure standing at the edge of the training ground.

Ah, I see. So that’s how it is.

Her tail was swishing back and forth like crazy as she chatted cheerfully with her trainer. She looked like she was having the time of her life.

Yeah… I get it. That’s the kind of thing this is.

"Sorry, sorry! I forgot to tell my trainer I changed my schedule."

"It’s fine. I actually got to see something pretty nice."

"Huh?"

How wholesome. Seriously, watching these horse girls live out their youth like this is kinda heartwarming.

From the way Seiun Sky’s cheeks were still faintly pink, her affection for her trainer was clearly sky-high.

"Sky-san, you really love your trainer, don’t you?"

"Wha—!? N-no! It’s not like that! Trainer’s not like that, he’s more like… my savior!"

"Sure, sure. Anyway, let’s keep going."

"Mmph!"

I somehow managed to calm the sulking Seiun Sky down, and we continued our parallel run.

That day, I managed to keep up with her until the very end without letting her slip away.

And then, the next day—

"All right, let’s go for first place!"

"Yeah!"

"Seichan’s not really feeling it today."

The team race venue was already buzzing with excitement.

Well, of course—it had races ranging from short to long distance, and just the number of participating Uma Musume alone was enough to draw a crowd.

Winning among this many people... that’s gonna be rough.

"Come on, Sky-san, get it together! Your trainer’s over there!"

"Eh!? No way!?"

"It’s true. There’s no way he wouldn’t come watch when his own Uma Musume’s running."

"H-Hmph... Sei-chan might just have to get a little serious, then..."

Wow. That was fast. Almost too easy to motivate. No wonder she’s considered a ‘romantic lightweight’ in that world.

"All right, I’m off then!"

"Do your best!"

And what Seiun Sky showed next was a grand escape.

Seriously, she’s so versatile.
When we ran together, she used a pace-control escape to throw me off.
That means she can pull off at least two different escape styles.

Man, good thing she’s not running the short or mile routes...

"How’s that! Sei-chan’s running—did you see it?"

"Yes, that was an excellent race. By the way, shouldn’t you go report to your trainer over there?"

"I-I’ll be right back!"

So wholesome.

While I was smiling softly at that sweet little scene, my turn came up.

All right then, let’s do this.

"Okay!"

"Oh? Mithialx-san? Your trainer’s over there too, you know."

"Seriously!? Hey, Trainer!"

Now I’ve got even more reason to give it my all.
Can’t show my trainer a lame run.

I took a deep breath, stepped onto the track—

—and then…

"Yesss! First place! How’s that!?"

"Amazing! Getting first among that lineup shows real skill!"

"Well, there wasn’t Taiki Shuttle or Bourbon, though."

Thanks to a strong performance, I managed to cross the finish line in first place.

"So, aren’t you going to your trainer now?"

"Hm? I’ll give him a proper report later. We’ll have a good, long reflection session in his room tonight."

"...You’re bold, you know that?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Anyway, Seiun Sky still hadn’t come back even after my race was over.

Jeez... she’s totally glued to him, huh?

"Is Sky-senpai always like that?"

"Pretty much. And she actually thinks she’s hiding it, too."

"Eh... that’s kind of impossible, isn’t it?"

Yeah, no kidding.

"Her tail and ears give her away completely... Sky-senpai’s kind of oblivious sometimes."

"………………Let’s just... not say anything."

In the end, our team narrowly missed first place.

Even so, we made it onto the podium and got a nice little prize.

Might as well save it for use during the summer camp...