“Suzuka, are you okay?
Did you get hurt?”
Kenji pulled Suzuka up from the floor and checked on her condition.
“I’m fine!
I just got startled…”
Even though she’d been pressed down by an adult man’s weight, an Uma Musume’s lower back was built for both flexibility and support.
That much pressure wasn’t enough to cause any damage.
After straightening her skirt, Suzuka turned to Special Week, who was still kneeling by the door, and asked with a puzzled look:
“But… Spe-chan, why are you here?”
“Uh…!” (What do I do?!
What do I do?!) She’d imagined Suzuka being pressured by her Trainer, standing while holding up her legs… but this was completely different from what she’d pictured!
Now that her stalking had been exposed, how was she supposed to explain herself?!
Special Week was too honest to lie well.
Her violet eyes darted around as she panicked, completely at a loss for words.
Kenji was seeing this “protagonist” of the Uma Musume world for the first time.
Special Week had shoulder-length brown hair tied in a princess braid, white M-shaped bangs framing her forehead, and a purple bow on her right ear.
Cup size… at least a B.
Confirmed: medium cup.
Was this really the Uma Musume known as Japan’s “Supreme Commander”?
Then why did she look like she’d just witnessed the apocalypse?
Anyway, Kenji decided to give her an out first.
She looked completely flustered, so he needed to calm her down before anything else.
“Looks like you have a good roommate, Suzuka.
Spe-chan probably followed along because she was worried about you.”
“Ah… I see…”
Suzuka smiled warmly, walked over to Special Week (who was still kneeling), and took her hands gratefully.
“Thank you for worrying about me, Spe-chan.”
“Ugh… Suzuka~~~!” Overcome with emotion, Special Week hugged her tightly and started acting clingy.
Even without a motherly figure, Suzuka’s personality definitely had a motherly warmth to it.
After rubbing her face against Suzuka’s chest and calming down, Special Week shot Kenji a grateful look.
This new Trainer was a good guy!
She’d made such a terrible misunderstanding… It really was her fault.
Straightforward Special Week immediately started reflecting on her misjudgment and felt ashamed of her wild imagination.
“Um… I wanted to train with Suzuka, but when I went to the training grounds, she wasn’t there, so I just followed along…”
She left out the part about having stalked them for a week and nearly toured the entire Tracen campus.
After briefly explaining her reason for coming, she stood up and bowed ninety degrees to Kenji in apology.
“I’m so sorry!
I shouldn’t have eavesdropped!
Please punish me!”
There was no way he’d actually give an Uma Musume a personal punishment, plus he didn’t exactly have the strength for that anyway… Kenji waved his hand dismissively.
“Oh, it’s fine.
Your concern makes sense, it is unusual to skip running training entirely, but this is a special regimen I’ve designed specifically for Suzuka.”
“Trainer-san!
Please just call me Spe-chan like Suzuka does!”
“Okay.
I’m Aoyagi Kenji.
Suzuka’s probably mentioned me to you, right?”
“Yes!
Um… can I ask what kind of training you’ve arranged for her?
And why not use the gym?
It has better equipment over there… I’m just curious!”
Even though it wasn’t the censored scene she’d imagined, Special Week still had questions about what she’d just seen.
Modern Trainers emphasized scientific training methods, but Kenji sitting on Suzuka’s back felt very old-school… like inefficient physical conditioning.
If he’d pulled out a bamboo cane and occasionally spanked her butt, it would’ve fit the stereotype even better.
“As you just saw, I’m using planks to build Suzuka’s stamina.
My seventy kilograms is more than enough weight for now, so we don’t need the gym equipment yet.
The only slight variation is that I’m focusing on strengthening her right side as much as possible.”
His goal was simple: prioritize stamina first, so she could maintain an Extreme Lead until the very end without slowing down.
That’s also why he’d limited her running distance and avoided excessive sprint training.
Since Suzuka’s Speed was already an S, pushing it further would be extremely difficult with minimal returns.
It made more sense to conserve energy, strengthen her weaker areas first, and look for opportunities later to break through the speed bottleneck.
“Her right side?”
“Right.
Suzuka’s better on counter-clockwise tracks, and she’s left-foot dominant, so her left foot inevitably takes more pressure.
I’m adjusting her body to compensate.”
Silence Suzuka added from the side:
“Exactly.
You’ve noticed before, Spe-chan, that I sometimes walk in counter-clockwise circles.”
“Yeah!
I was wondering why you hadn’t been doing it lately!”
“I’ve been consciously holding back… It’s basically a bad habit, and Trainer-san is helping me correct it.”
If Kenji hadn’t pointed it out, Suzuka wouldn’t have realized she even spun her pen counter-clockwise.
She never knew she was so fond of going counter-clockwise… Problems like these were hard to spot on your own, which is exactly why Trainers were important.
Kenji crossed his arms and nodded as he continued:
“In soccer, there’s a term called ‘two-footed.’ It refers to the balanced ability to use both feet skillfully.
I’m planning to develop Suzuka into a two-footed Uma Musume as well, capable of handling both clockwise and counter-clockwise tracks equally, while also preventing her from subconsciously overloading her left foot.”
“Ooooh…!” Special Week made an admiring sound.
Despite doing basic training herself, it was the first time she’d heard a Trainer explain their goals so clearly.
“However, transforming her into a two-footed runner will be grueling if done directly, so I’m making subtle changes in everyday life instead.
Like brushing teeth with the left hand, spinning pens with the left hand, and so on…”
With the pen-spinning mystery finally solved, Special Week’s eyes sparkled.
She thought this training was incredibly interesting, way more fun than boring running drills.
Plus, Kenji explained everything so thoroughly that her curiosity only grew.
Unable to resist, she raised her hand and asked:
“Why the left hand?
Didn’t you say you were reinforcing her right side?”
Kenji chuckled.
“Haha, Spe-chan, do you run with your arms and legs on the same side?”
“Ah…!”
“When you step with your left foot, you naturally swing your right arm.
By the same logic, to strengthen her right leg, I have to train her left hand.
It’s about adjusting balance and coordination.”
“Amazing!
Kenji-san knows so much!”
“That’s basic stuff.
Even though I’m still a rookie, I’m a legitimate professional Trainer.”
Watching her best friend and Trainer chatting so happily, Suzuka felt… not exactly happy about it.
Well, she was a bit bothered by how Special Week had addressed Kenji just now.
Kenji-san?
She’s already on first-name terms with him?
Sure, Spe-chan was straightforward and sunny, definitely not scheming to get close to Kenji… but still… wasn’t this too fast?
She herself hadn’t even called him by his name yet…
But before that jealousy could fully sour, Suzuka heard the next words, and they made her heart ache.
“Um!
Kenji-san, can you train me too!”
Special Week had completely recovered from her embarrassment.
She was genuinely just asking for his guidance, after all, every Uma Musume wanted to run faster.
But those innocent words took on a different meaning the moment they reached Suzuka’s ears.
Train… Spe-chan?
That definitely meant he’d have to “check her condition” first, right?
And the Trainer’s method for checking conditions was…
No!
Stop it!
Kenji… He’s my Trainer!
He can only do that kind of thing to me!