Chapter 75: A Date with a Justified Reason

Mid-December. I had taken a day off to go out with Tomio.

Today, under the noble pretext of "a change of pace" and the irrefutable excuse of wanting to visit a bookstore to look for training manuals, I had dragged my workaholic trainer out into the world.

I’d accessorized with a necklace like one my friend wore, taken cues from fashion magazines, and put together the perfect stylish look—all so he’d shower me with compliments like "cute." My oversized sweater left my legs a little cold, but as the saying goes, fashion is pain, so I gritted my teeth and bore the chill.

Now, the official purpose of today was "to look for training manuals at the bookstore." But the deeper goal? To devise countermeasures against horse girls who pulled vicious tricks like Double Trigger’s.

In gaming terms, I wanted "hints on stamina-recovery skills" and "to learn stamina-recovery skills"—something like that. Up until now, I’d fought purely on raw stamina, but the Stayers Stakes had made it clear: I’d hit my limit.

Thanks to Tomio, the stamina fanatic, my endurance had been boosted to unimaginable levels—but the same unpredictability applied to my rivals. They were too good at whittling down my stamina.

From Double Trigger to Seiun Sky (Satsuki Sho), Special Week (Hopeful Stakes), and more… it felt like the number of horse girls specializing in stamina drain was increasing. Not to sound conceited, but it almost seemed like they were polishing those skills specifically to counter me, Apollo Rainbow. Disgusting.

"Tomio, how about this one?"

"Ah, I already have that."

"Ehhh… Then, this book?"

"Don’t have that one. Let’s get it."

"Wheee!"

"Wh-what’s with you…?"

Until now, we’d focused on physical training. But from here on out, refining technique would be crucial—otherwise, things would get tough. To put it bluntly, I was a major obstacle to my own victories. And as that obstacle, I needed my own defensive measures.

After buying the books, we stopped by a quaint little shop known for its delicious sweets. Inside, the display case was lined with plain cupcakes, sweet cupcakes, royal bitter juice, and—for some reason—a BBQ set and what looked like gourmet cat food.

We hadn’t come in to buy anything, but the sweet cupcakes and royal bitter juice caught my eye.

"Hey, Tomio…"

"Hm?"

"Let’s buy these and eat them together?"

"Ah, sure. Which ones do you want?"

"This one, this one, and this one!"

"Three? You’ll get fat. At least narrow it down to—"

"…………No?"

I leaned against the glass display and hit him with my (no idea when I learned it) ultimate teary-eyed, upturned gaze. He let out a flustered noise but quickly steeled himself to refuse.

"Th-that face won’t work on me. No excessive sweets."

"No fair! Sniffle… I’ll train extra hard tomorrow, okay? Still no?"

"Guh… Apollo, you’ve really figured me out lately…"

"Tomiooo~ Pleaaase?"

I tugged at his sleeve, throwing in a cutesy voice for good measure—and shockingly, Tomio faltered. Unlike his usual indifferent self, he was visibly reacting to my pleading eyes and syrupy tone, fidgeting almost embarrassedly. Like a boy who couldn’t be honest in front of his crush.

I almost teased him for it—but then my brain lurched into overanalysis.

……Wait. Does this mean… Tomio’s actually starting to see me that way?

My romance-addled mind went into overdrive, dissecting his every move. But let’s be real—my love IQ is, generously speaking, garbage. So naturally, I arrived at the one conclusion:

—"Does Tomio like me back?" — "Are we mutual?"  — "Oh no." — "This reaction has to mean he’s into me."

A wildly premature assumption—one that, upon calm reflection, made zero sense. But I latched onto it gleefully, my brain short-circuiting with joy.

Speechless, I took stock of the scene:

A guy and girl chatting in front of a trendy sweetshop display. Me, dolled up; him, in mature, understated clothes. Exchanging jokes, sharing laughs, carrying each other’s bags—both of us careful not to touch the other’s ears. Smiling nonstop, eyes locked—

—Isn’t this what love looks like?
Hell, I had him all to myself on his day off—weren’t we basically dating already?

Side-eyeing a conflicted Tomio, I pressed both hands against the display. My reflection in the glass showed flushed cheeks, parted lips, and glistening eyes—definitely not a face I could let him see. I bit my lower lip and looked down.

Tomio might like me.

That possibility sent seismic waves through my heart.

I’d loved him for so long. A year and a half of pining for the guy who stood by me. The idea that he might feel the same? It was enough to make me float to heaven.

Sweat drenched my back as I psyched myself up to go for it—maybe cling to his arm? My heart pounded harder than during any race. I was so nervous I could vomit.

But—

I couldn’t cross that fatal line. What if I was wrong? That paralyzing doubt yanked me back to reality.

If I got carried away and confessed now… his warm gaze might turn icy. Awkwardness would replace our easy dynamic. And if our relationship became hollow, a shell of what it was—

I’d die.

He did care about me. But it was more familial, more platonic. Tomio liked me—just not like that.

But I loved him. Because I loved him, I couldn’t risk this. I couldn’t shatter these golden, sunlit days.

"…Apollo?"

"Hm? What’s up?"

"Well, you’ve been staring at them for a while, so I figured you really wanted one."

"..."

Tomio's voice snapped me out of it. Apparently, I’d been frozen in place in front of the cupcakes. The shop clerk looked at me with a smile that was somewhere between troubled and amused.

"Alright, alright. Looking at me like that—guess I’ve got no choice but to buy them."

Tomio scratched his head with a finger and began ordering the sweets I’d picked out. I could only watch his back at the register, feeling helpless for not having the courage to do it myself.

When we got back to the trainer's office, Tomio and I wasted no time lining up the sweet cupcake, royal bitter juice, and strawberry daifuku on the desk. The cupcake looked mouthwateringly good, and for some reason, the daifuku made me think of Silence Suzuka. As for the royal bitter juice… what even is this?

Since it’s supposed to be a “royally bitter” juice, I guess it’s like a coffee-based drink? Judging by the way it was sold alongside the cupcake, I figure it’s meant to balance the sweetness and bitterness for a nice contrast in your mouth.

"Looks so good! Tomio, take a picture for me!"

"Yeah, yeah."

I held the strawberry daifuku and cupcake to my cheeks for a cute photo to post on Umasta. I was a little worried I wouldn’t be able to smile properly, but Tomio told me, “That’s a great smile,” so I guess it turned out okay.

After getting my UmaPhone back from him, I took a separate picture of the royal bitter juice too. I made sure to show off my nails while holding it—gotta keep up the cute appeal. That way, my followers will definitely comment on how cute it is. Tomio didn’t say anything about my outfit though.

...Maybe this outfit wasn’t to Tomio’s taste? He usually says something, even just a little comment. If he doesn’t say anything, then what was the point of trying so hard...?

Feeling a pang in my chest, I uploaded the two photos to Umasta with a caption full of exclamation points.

"Alright, let’s eat. Want to do a toast with the royal bitter juice?"

"Uh, sure... Hey, Apollo, do you even know what royal bitter juice is?"

"Eh? Is there something weird about it?"

"...No, never mind."

Tomio hesitated for a moment, then silently picked up the drink. He looked oddly serious, but whatever.

I cleared my throat and started talking in an exaggeratedly formal tone.

"Good job to both me and Tomio on the Stayers Stakes! Ah, but saying ‘toast’ sounds like ‘total loss’ in Japanese, so let’s look ahead to the Arima Kinen and say ‘total victory’ instead!"

"Ooh, clever."

"Alright then, Trainer, cheers!!"

"Pfft!"

"Ah—total victory! Woohoo!!"

Tomio and I clinked cups in a rush, partly out of embarrassment.

Okay, time to try this bitter juice. Wonder what it tastes like?

"Uwehh! What is this?! It’s awful!!!"

"!?"

"I thought it’d be like coffee or something!! But it’s straight-up green juice!!"

"You really didn’t know, huh..."

Tomio started eating the cupcake with his head in his hands. The Trainer, in his usual low-key sadistic tone, said, “Royal bitter juice helps with fatigue recovery. Tastes terrible, but it works. Make sure to finish it.” Then he took a sip of the stuff himself. Immediately after, Tomio’s brow furrowed so deep it was hilarious. I burst out laughing and shoved some cupcake in my mouth to get rid of the taste.

Maybe it’s because I drank the royal bitter juice first, but the sweet cupcake tasted unbelievably good. Still... more than 80% of that juice was left. That’s just despair. It’s so undrinkably awful that if I keep this up, I’m gonna turn into one of those sparkly, tragic Uma Musume...

"Tomio... it’s soooo gross..."

"I told you."

"I can’t..."

"Too bad. Drink it."

"No."

"You need it to recover from the Stayers Stakes. Just drink it. I was gonna make you finish it anyway, so there’s no escape."

"Uugh..."

Not wanting the aftertaste to ruin the other sweets, I decided to just get it over with first.

...It was so harsh, I thought I might throw it all back up from deep in my throat. The bitterness clung to my tongue like it was trying to rot it away.

"Mmmgh... Tomio, is my tongue turning black? Look, 'blehh'!"

Tears were starting to well up in my eyes as I forced myself to keep drinking, so I decided to have Tomio check my tongue. Like after eating shaved ice—was there any color stuck to it?

Tomio stared at my tongue with an oddly stiff expression. His eyes darted back and forth a couple of times, then after checking my gaze, looked again. Thanks to him, I felt like I was doing something weird.

Even though I was the one who stuck it out, having him stare so intently made me feel kind of embarrassed, so I pulled my tongue back in and puffed out my cheeks.

"Don’t stare like that, you perv."

"Wh—What the hell!? You told me to look!"

"So? What did you see?"

"What do you mean?"

"My tongue."

"Oh, right. It was kinda black. Like it had shaved ice syrup on it or something."

"I knew it."

"..."

"..."

"Pfft"

"Why are you laughing?"

"No reason."

"Hehe."

"You're laughing too, you know."

"Tomio, your lips are totally black. It's hilarious."

"Well you’ve got cream and all kinds of stuff on your face too!"

And just like that, we started laughing for no reason at all.

After this brief moment of rest, we threw ourselves back into training once again.

---

During a weekday training session with the Arima Kinen approaching, I was running steadily on the treadmill to master stamina recovery techniques and endurance.

Tomio’s strict voice barked at me from behind on a diagonal angle. I didn’t say it out loud, but I was definitely thinking, “Shut up already,” as I cursed under my breath and pushed myself to the limit, mentally psyching myself up.

I used to have a certain bad habit—or rather, I should say I used to.

It was the tendency to constantly check behind me during races, unable to ignore what was going on back there. But thanks to my all-out run in the Kikuka-sho, I’d overcome that habit. In fact, I turned it into a weapon by looking back confidently at trailing rivals to put pressure on them. Now, though, we were trying to repurpose that old habit as a method to recover stamina.

Because checking behind me had been such a habitual thing, I could do it naturally—even when tired. Tomio was trying to bring the habit back, using those unconscious slowdowns as a trigger to let me recover stamina during races.

Eventually, we plan to remove the “look back” part entirely and incorporate just a slight deceleration and stamina recovery into races. Whether I want to push through without slowing at all is up to me, so learning this recovery technique definitely won’t hurt.

…We keep calling it a “recovery skill” or a “stamina restoration technique,” but to be honest, it doesn’t really restore stamina that much. It just reduces stamina consumption for a bit, or mitigates the stamina loss caused by pressure and stress during a race.

I mean, Uma Musume are basically sprinting at full or ultra-full speed the whole time. If we could actually recover stamina mid-race, we’d be able to run forever. So yeah, that’s how it is. But if a technique lets you run further, then that’s effectively the same as recovering stamina, right? That’s why we lump it all together.

The technique I was trying to pull off today was actually surprisingly simple.

"Now, Apollo!"

"!"

—Just as the treadmill's speed eased up, I twisted my body toward Tomio. As the speed dropped and my focus shifted away from just running, I took one huge, deep breath.

You get tired because oxygen isn’t reaching your entire body. There are other factors too, but in the end, it’s oxygen. According to Tomio’s extremely bold logic, if you’ve got oxygen, you won’t get tired.

He said that with a straight face as part of his training plan. Apparently it was backed up by a book he bought recently, so it wasn’t totally baseless, but still—my honest impression was that it sounded kinda sketchy.

—And yet, the fact that I could keep sprinting full-speed for five straight minutes afterward honestly shocked me.