Chapter 23: The Calm Before Satsuki

Today, I finally got my hands on a wonderful item. It’s a complete list of all the ongoing races.

You might think I’m being ridiculous. “You can just look that up on your phone,” right? Sure, but checking a full list on a phone is surprisingly troublesome. You either get a racecourse-specific list or a wall of tiny text—either way, it’s a nightmare… probably.

But this item neatly organizes everything into a clean chart. On top of that, my trainer has already marked the races I’m eligible for, so I don’t have to think about conditions or any other annoying details.

Why does such a convenient thing exist? Because it was sitting on my trainer’s desk. He always says he “carefully picks races,” but judging from this sheet, it’s pretty obvious which ones I should enter.

So while he’s off talking to some reporter, I might as well look through them myself.

The first thing that catches my eye is the Satsuki Sho. It’s written in bold, so it must be a huge race. The course is 2000m at Nakayama—feels a bit long. Looking at the date… April 19th. An entire month from now…?

During the Kyodo Tsushin Hai, I wound up covered in mud, freezing, and for a moment I thought training might actually be easier than racing—but no, racing is way easier. And at least it won’t snow this time of year.

Looking for other candidates… ah, there it is. Two weeks before the Satsuki Sho, there’s the Crystal Cup.

And get this: it’s only 1200m. That’s a 400m discount compared to the usual 1600m. Probably around 40% off. It’s also at Nakayama. Seems like a pretty nice option.

Checking the schedule after the Satsuki Sho, it looks like Nakayama Racecourse goes on summer break. How dare it take a summer vacation before me.

Since that’s no good, I check Tokyo Racecourse and see the word “Derby.” And just one week before that, there’s another GⅠ—the Oaks. If I remember right, Air Groove won that one.

Comparing them, both are 2400m—long races with identical conditions. Hmm. Strange. I feel like someone explained why, but I can’t remember.

Well, I’m probably supposed to enter the Derby, so looking at the races before that… NHK Mile Cup. Turf, 1600m.

Nice and short.

Which means if I run four more races, I can basically skip most training and roll straight into summer vacation. Thinking about it that way, things suddenly feel pretty easy!!

"Wh—whaaaat!? Hold on, Wee!? I thought the plan was to go straight to the Satsuki Sho! Why the Crystal Cup? And this is a short-distance race!"

"Uhh, is that… bad?"

The moment my trainer walked back into the room, I proudly showed off my custom-made race plan. His first reaction was a strangled groan.

Looks like he isn’t very fond of short-distance races. As expected of the Demon Instructor—he probably saw right through my plan to slack off by choosing shorter races.

But against that demon, I unleash my secret weapon: my begging face. Even King-chan falls for it one out of every three times. But lately, my trainer’s resistance has gotten annoyingly strong.

"No, no, it’s not that it’s bad. I just wondered what brought this on so suddenly."

Oh? Maybe it’s working after all.

"Well, if I go a whole month without racing, I feel like I’ll lose the sense of competition. I thought it was kinda long."

"Ahh, so you want to race more. Well, true, there aren’t many other options besides these."

He gave a half-hearted reply, but it looks like he reached some satisfying conclusion in his head. Smart people are great—they think up reasons for my actions for me.

"But think about it. Wee, you ran that much just the day before yesterday. And if you run a short-distance race again in two weeks, the strain on your legs is going to be huge. You might think shorter distance means less burden, but because you run faster, the actual strain on you can end up even heavier.

"And the Derby is 2400m. If you don’t have enough stamina, even if you don’t lose, you’ll be forcing your legs way too hard. Actually—do you even have enough stamina right now? And your distance aptitude… If you end up entering the Kikuka Sho someday, you’ll need even more stamina… and the Kikuka Sho requires registration… right, yeah… definitely… and if you enter the NHK Mile Cup too… El…

"Uh, Wee? Are you listening?"

The trainer’s signature high-speed incantation began. His words easily outpaced my brain’s processing speed—individual words reached my ears, but their meanings refused to connect. How does he even produce sounds at that speed?

Well, in the end, it’s just him talking while organizing his thoughts, so whenever he does this, pushing a little harder usually gets me what I want. As far as dramatic techniques go, it’s surprisingly useful.

"I want to race. Please!"

I threw my arms around him, looked up, and delivered the finishing blow. Even I must admit—this technique is terrifyingly powerful.

And yet, this move still fails sometimes. Terrifying indeed.

"Granting an Uma Musume’s wishes is what a trainer does. All right, all right. I’ll adjust things so you can enter. Just—stop with those eyes."

Thanks to my relentless push, I managed to secure his promise: if I ran the four races on my list, I’d get the entire month of July off. Even though the new term hasn’t even begun, the only obstacle still blocking the path to my summer vacation is the final exams. What a glorious Uma Musume life.

The Crystal Cup is 1200m—less than half the distance of last week’s Nikkei Sho at 2500m. However, the annoying part is that we have to walk all the way to the starting point first, so oddly enough, it doesn’t feel like much of a bargain.

My trainer instructed me to stay in second the whole way and only pass once we hit the stretch. Since I picked the race, he said he’d pick the running style.

He also told me absolutely not to run wild. I wish he’d stop talking like I’m some delinquent. That’s Suzuka-san’s territory—she’s the one always being chased down by Air Groove-san.

The race went smoothly, and when we came out of the curve, I took the lead. After that, it was just a straight dash to the goal.

The board showed a time of 1:07.3—barely a minute of work. Short-distance races really are wonderful.

…For some reason, my trainer scolded me afterward.

But the race wasn’t all. Yamato Ripple Rose-chan and Machikane Sorekara-chan—Uma Musume I’ve run with a few times—were also in the Crystal Cup, so I went to talk to them.

During the Spring Stakes, I ended up left out after the race, raising suspicions that I was some kind of loner in front of the massive crowd. But seeing me today, that rumor must be dead by now.

It seemed like they remembered running with me too. Looks like my communication skills have recently taken a great leap forward. Their faces seemed a bit stiff, but if I talk to them a few more times, I’m sure we’ll get past that.

As the Satsuki Sho draws closer, you’d expect everyone to be restless—but surprisingly, that’s not the case.

Spe-chan has been thrilled lately because she’s been training with Suzuka-san more often. She mentions Suzuka-san even more frequently than usual.

Suzuka-san, meanwhile, is apparently entering the Kokura Daishoten, a race held at Chukyo Racecourse near Nagoya on the day before the Satsuki Sho.

Seiun Sky-san—well, Sei-chan—hasn’t shown up in the nap room recently. She probably found another place to nap. I tried to get it out of her a few times while eating with King-chan and the others, but she dodged every question like smoke slipping through my fingers.

As for King-chan, she’s been showing up in the old science room a lot to fill the vacancy left by Sei-chan’s disappearance. Sometimes she grills me about the condition of my legs, sometimes she launches into old stories, and sometimes she suddenly declares war. However, all of this happens while I’m lying on her lap, so the tension is… nonexistent.

And today again, with my cheek resting on King-chan’s thigh, I drifted off to sleep.