The train slowly pulled into Kasamatsu Station, and Kitano followed the crowd out of the station.
The air was filled with the familiar scent of Kasamatsu—a rustic aroma mixed with the unique fervor of racing.
He walked with practiced ease toward the home where he had lived for so long, his steps light as if returning home.
Just as he reached the courtyard gate, the door slid open with a whoosh.
Aunt Narubi stood there, wearing an apron, her face beaming with undisguised joy.
“Kitano-kun!
Come in quickly, we were just waiting for you!”
“Auntie, I’m home,” Kitano replied with a smile, his tone familiar, like family.
Although Aunt Narubi had adopted and cared for him after his parents passed away, he had grown accustomed to this address over the years, and their familial affection remained undiminished.
He naturally took up the conversation.
“Is Cap still at the training ground?”
“Trainer Kitahara is with her, making the final adjustments,” Aunt Narubi said as she helped him put away his luggage, a proud look in her eyes.
“That girl said she absolutely has to win tomorrow’s Golden Youth Cup, and then…”
She gave Kitano a meaningful glance, “…she’ll have a legitimate reason to come to Tokyo to find you.”
Kitano cleared his throat and wisely changed the subject.
“I’ll go check out the training ground.”
“Remember to come back for dinner!
I made your favorite dishes!”
Walking down the familiar street, Kitano spotted the focused figure on the training ground from afar.
Trainer Kitahara stood by the field with a stopwatch, his brows slightly furrowed as he watched Oguri Cap doing a cool-down run.
“Trainer Kitahara,” Kitano greeted as he approached.
Trainer Kitahara turned his head, a genuinely relaxed smile appearing on his young yet serious face.
“Kitano-kun, you’re here.”
His attitude toward Kitano clearly showed a respect different from what he would show an ordinary junior.
“Oguri Cap is in great condition, thanks to all the training advice you provided earlier.”
At this moment, Oguri Cap also noticed Kitano and nodded to him from a distance, but she maintained her training rhythm.
“Tomorrow’s Golden Youth Cup…” Trainer Kitahara looked toward the track, his tone serious.
“Fujimasa March is a strong opponent; her pace control is excellent.”
Kitano nodded calmly.
“Cap won’t lose.”
After a moment of silence, Trainer Kitahara suddenly said with solemnity, “Kitano-kun, regarding the transfer to the central circuit…
thank you.”
Kitano raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised.
“Although you didn’t say it explicitly, I know you pulled some strings.
Otherwise, a local trainer like me would have to wait until Oguri Cap had established herself in the central circuit before a transfer was even possible.
Yet now, I can go almost at the same time…
I won’t forget this favor.”
“I just did what I should,” Kitano said with a smile.
“Cap needs a trainer who understands and respects her, and you deserve a better stage.”
“No,” Trainer Kitahara shook his head, his gaze still following Oguri Cap’s figure, his voice full of emotion.
“That girl…
Oguri Cap, her mind is very pure, sometimes even to the point of seeming overly simple.
Her eyes are only on running and…
eating.”
He paused, the corners of his mouth seeming to twitch upward slightly.
“But precisely because of that, she needs something more…
beyond the racetrack.”
His gaze returned to Kitano, and that look was now mixed with a deeper, more complex emotion, blending gratitude, trust, and a kind of…
relief that Kitano often saw in Oguri Cap’s mother’s eyes, which always left him a bit bewildered.
“I know you’re not particularly interested in Uma Musume stuff,” Trainer Kitahara’s tone was calm, without the slightest hint of dissatisfaction, “but you are genuinely devoted to Oguri Cap.
The fact that she can interact with you so casually, without having to think about races, victories, or fan expectations, is a very precious adjustment for her.
I can tell that every time she contacts you or sees you, her condition becomes more relaxed, and the light in her eyes during training shines brighter.”
Hearing this, Kitano felt a little enlightened, yet also a bit awkward.
He and Oguri Cap were indeed childhood friends, but hearing Trainer Kitahara say it with such a solemn tone, as if entrusting something to him, felt strange.
Moreover, Trainer Kitahara’s current gaze, and Auntie’s relieved look from earlier, were increasingly overlapping, making him feel uncomfortable all over.
“Trainer Kitahara,” Kitano couldn’t help but ask directly, trying to break the subtle atmosphere, “why do you and Auntie sometimes look at me…
strangely?
I just did what was right, didn’t I?”
Trainer Kitahara’s expression became even more meaningful upon hearing this.
He didn’t answer directly but instead showed a smile that carried a hint of teasing and insight, its meaning far richer than words.
He gently patted Kitano’s shoulder, like an elder treating a promising junior.
“Heh, some things don’t need to be said too clearly.
This way is perfectly fine.”
He paused, reining in his smile slightly, and his tone became serious again as he looked into Kitano’s eyes and uttered a phrase that was almost a clear entrustment:
“Oguri Cap…
please take good care of her from now on.”
The tone of this sentence was less like a trainer’s courtesy to a friend and more like a handover and acknowledgment filled with trust.
The implied meaning made Kitano’s heart skip a beat; that feeling of being given strange high hopes grew stronger.
why does this sound more and more off?
What does take good care of her mean?
How?
Should I continue cooking for her?
And that smile…
what exactly did it mean?”
Kitano complained wildly in his heart, but seeing Trainer Kitahara’s “you know what I mean” expression, he knew that asking further would only yield more riddles.
He had no choice but to swallow his myriad doubts, nodding somewhat helplessly.
“…I will.
After all, she’s my friend.”
Upon receiving this answer, Trainer Kitahara’s smile deepened; it was the knowing satisfaction of someone whose goal had been achieved.
“Good, that’s good.”
At this moment, Oguri Cap also ran over, her breathing already steady.
She looked at Trainer Kitahara, then at Kitano.
Although she didn’t speak, her eyes darted between the two, seemingly sensing a special atmosphere but unable to pinpoint why.
Seeing that Oguri Cap’s training had ended, Kitano took the opportunity to bid farewell.
“Trainer Kitahara, Cap, you both must be tired.
Get some rest.
I’m heading back to Auntie’s place now.”
“Alright, see you at the race tomorrow,” Trainer Kitahara nodded.
“Mhm,” Oguri Cap also responded.
Kitano nodded to both of them and turned to leave the training ground.
On the way back, Trainer Kitahara’s phrase “take good care of her” and his enigmatic smile still echoed in his mind, and the feeling of having something arranged for him while he was completely unaware of it lingered.
“Forget it, if I can’t figure it out, I won’t think about it.”
He shook his head, casting aside this subtle feeling.
“Anyway, being good to Cap is what I should do.
As for the rest…
let them think what they want.”
He refocused his attention on tomorrow’s race.
Regardless, he first needed to watch the race smoothly and complete this support mission.
As for Trainer Kitahara and Auntie’s meaningful glances…
he’d just take them as the unique way elders show concern.
It really helps the fic grow!