Winter break passed quickly, and it was time for the new school term to begin.
Although the weather was still cold, at least it wasn’t snowing.
The academy’s training grounds rarely saw a return of some liveliness, and to avoid hindering their movements, many Uma Musume were wearing light sportswear as they warmed up and ran.
Thud, thud, thud!
Solid and powerful footsteps struck the grass, emitting a dull sound.
Rice Shower’s petite figure sprinted on the track, her speed consistently maintained in a relatively fast cruising pace.
After running about eight furlongs, which was 1600m, Rice Shower transitioned to a walking pace.
After a certain distance, she repeated the 1600m sprint.
Kaito stood at the observation post on the track.
While checking the data fed back by the heart rate strap, he calculated Rice Shower’s condition and then called out.
“Hang in there, Rice Shower!
Two more sets!” “Yes!” The response was followed by increasingly powerful running sounds.
It had been three days since school resumed, and the pair had returned to their previous training rhythm.
The good news was that Kaito’s worries were unfounded.
The obedient Rice Shower hadn’t binge-eaten during the break, keeping her weight and physique in peak condition.
But entering her Classic Class year, the challenges Rice Shower faced had increased significantly.
Her biggest rival was undoubtedly Mihono Bourbon.
To meet this challenge, Kaito decided to rebuild Rice Shower’s foundation from scratch.
He divided the week’s training into five parts.
Based on a unified half-day of running training each day, he sequentially arranged other training activities.
Monday was for learning and refining running skills and techniques.
Tuesday was for conducting training to consolidate stamina foundations.
Wednesday was for strength training in the gym.
Thursday was for honing guts through extreme and overload training.
Friday was for watching race videos, studying, analyzing, and improving intelligence.
Saturday was undecided, and Sunday was for rest.
Simply put, it was just like in the game, raising the Uma Musume’s five stats.
From the perspective of the Uma Musume, these training regimens were all highly useful.
Although they lacked technical flair, they could effectively consolidate Rice Shower’s foundation.
Kaito’s main role here was to guide her training and learning methods to boost efficiency.
However, Kaito wasn’t just relying on the basics.
He lowered his head to look at the training schedule, which had a line of text written on it.
“Lactate threshold run.” “In running, the lactic acid that continuously accumulates in the muscles due to intense exercise is a major factor in causing fatigue and the inability to run.” “The lactate threshold run, through alternating cycles of cruising runs and rest, allows the Uma Musume’s body to learn to quickly eliminate the produced lactic acid while in motion.
This clears the burden for subsequent running and maintains explosive power in the late stages of a race.” “During the Heather Stakes, Rice Shower actually couldn’t accelerate in the final stage due to lactic acid accumulation.
She only managed to maintain her advantage through willpower and her experience from steep slope sprints, but that’s not a sustainable strategy.” “By training with lactate threshold runs to increase the lactic acid clearance rate, we can build a physical advantage for the late stages of the race.
This is the foundation we need to lay.” “Understand, Rice Shower?” After Kaito finished explaining, he looked at Rice Shower in front of him.
“Yes!” Rice Shower had just finished four sets of lactate threshold runs.
Wiping the sweat from her forehead, her face flushed as she replied.
Kaito had an illusion.
He felt that Rice Shower had grown somewhere compared to before the break, but the physical examination showed absolutely no changes.
“Onii-san?” Rice Shower spoke softly, then looked shy.
“I-I knew I couldn’t hide it from Onii-san, didn’t I?” “What’s wrong?” Kaito’s heart tightened.
Could it be that Rice Shower actually caught a sleep deprivation, slacking off, or some other debuff?
Should he just take her straight to the infirmary?
As Kaito was letting his imagination run wild, he heard Rice Shower lower her head and say very embarrassedly.
“During the post-break physical exam, it seems my chest got a bit bigger.
The heart rate strap wasn’t adjusted, so it feels a bit weird when I run…” Oh, it seems the problem isn’t what I imagined.
Kaito understood Rice Shower’s meaning and couldn’t help but chuckle.
“That just means Rice Shower is growing up properly.
Let’s get Tachyon-san and the school doctor to help adjust it later, okay?” “O-Okay!” Rice Shower nodded, her face bright red, and then her stomach let out a loud rumble.
“Uwaa, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!
It’s Rice Shower’s fault for being useless, even though it’s not time to eat yet!” “It’s fine.” Kaito stepped forward to pat her head and comfort her, but he stepped on an unmelted patch of ice and immediately fell to the ground with a thud.
“Onii-san?!” “It’s fine, I can get up by myself!” “It’s all Rice Shower’s fault, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!
It’s because Rice Shower is an unlucky child, waaah…” Rice Shower kept apologizing, her face bright red.
Kaito, who got up while rubbing his butt, didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
How did things go back to the way they were after just one winter break?
After finally comforting the self-blaming Rice Shower, Kaito hurried toward the Staff Room to get today’s lunch bento.
Because he had stockpiled a lot of ingredients during the break, Kaito’s cooking these past few days had been quite lavish.
Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but feel a bit proud, planning to use good food to make Rice Shower forget her morning embarrassment.
“I already dropped off Tachyon-san’s portion at her door this morning.
I hope she doesn’t forget to eat it.” Muttering to himself, Kaito returned to the Staff Room.
Hana looked up at the sound of the door opening.
Seeing Kaito, she smiled.
After seeing Rice Shower’s performance in the Heather Stakes, her impression of this kouhai had improved significantly.
Later, when she ran into Kaito at the Uma Musume sports products exhibition and learned he was the designer of the heart rate strap, she had grown to appreciate him more and more.
But from Kaito’s perspective, his thirty-year-old, perpetually single senpai smiling at him like that was genuinely a bit creepy.
“Senpai, your smile is kind of scary…” “If you can’t say anything nice, just shut up!” Hana’s smile vanished.
She rolled her eyes at Kaito, then stuffed a stack of documents into his hands.
“I’ve read all about Rice Shower’s current training status.
You previously asked me to give some suggestions for improvement, but to be honest, your training design is very well done.
I don’t have anything to add.” “I see.
Still, I’m grateful you remembered to look at it.” Kaito had previously wanted to use Hana’s experience to fill in any gaps.
Before, she was on sick leave and too busy, but now this weight was off his chest.
But Hana changed the subject and said, “Although I can’t give much advice on the training itself, I think you shouldn’t just stick to basic training.
You should find some suitable sparring partners for Rice Shower.
It will both test her progress and help her accumulate race experience.” “Sparring partners?” Kaito really hadn’t thought of that.
Sparring, as the name implied, meant having several Uma Musume run together for training.
This allowed them to check their strengths and weaknesses, and also use the competitive spirit between the Uma Musume to maintain training motivation.
“If I’m looking for one, I’d like to base it on the requirements for the Yayoi Sho.
I want to find an Uma Musume who excels at 2000m turf races.
It would be even better if she has won a race at Nakayama Racecourse, or even better, is a Satsuki Sho champion.
Can I trouble Hana-senpai to find one?!” “Are you making wishes now?
Satsuki Sho champions aren’t that easy to find!” Hana couldn’t help but retort.
She did have a Satsuki Sho champion under her wing, the Tracen Academy Student Council President, the “Emperor” Symboli Rudolf.
But Rudolf was busy with a million things a day.
How could she possibly have time for frequent sparring runs?
In the end, Hana told Kaito to find someone himself and shooed him out of the Staff Room after he grabbed his lunch.
“Sigh, begging for favors really isn’t easy.” Kaito sighed, carrying his lunch as he walked down the hallway.
He really did want to find a suitable sparring partner for Rice Shower, but sparring was conducted for the mutual benefit of both parties.
You either had to find someone at a similar level and with similar goals, or invite a high-level Uma Musume to be a training partner.
But suitable people were rare, and those willing to come were even rarer.
He probably wouldn’t have the time to specifically go looking for someone either.
He couldn’t just bump into one by chance, could he…
Just then, a panicked voice echoed through the quiet hallway.
“O-Oguri?!
Hang in there a bit longer, we’re almost at the cafeteria!
Even if they haven’t started serving yet, please just hold on a little longer!” “Gu, but my stomach, I’m already…” In front of Kaito, his old acquaintance Belno Light was panicking as she supported a gray-haired Uma Musume.
The girl seemed to have been starving for a long time.
Her eyes were vacant and her expression weak, her stomach keeping up a loud rumbling sound, which was remarkably similar to Rice Shower’s situation.
“Oguri?
Oguri Cap-san?
Don’t pass out from hunger here…” Belno Light tearfully cried out the Uma Musume’s name, which instantly delighted Kaito.
The “Gray Monster”, Oguri Cap!
Wasn’t this the perfect sparring partner?!