Chapter 72
Standing in place, Daiwa Scarlet watched helplessly as her two friends raced off, then shook her head and turned to Kitasan Black with an apologetic look.
"Kita-chan, with them acting like this… your grandfather and the others won't get angry, right?"
"Ah? No, no, they won't."
Kitasan Black waved her hands quickly.
"Actually, Grandpa told me a long time ago to make more friends and invite them over to play whenever I want.
Like Satono Crown, Dia-chan, and Copano Rickey, they come over all the time.
Back then the place wasn't renovated like this. It was just a huge garden.
We used to play hide-and-seek and chase butterflies and bees. It was so much fun!"
"Is that so…?"
Daiwa Scarlet breathed a sigh of relief and nodded. Then her eyes sparkled.
"In that case… I won't hold back either."
She turned and charged after Gold Ship and Vodka.
"What kind of rotten pace are you two setting? One's a chase horse and the other's a mid-pack horse?!"
Daiwa Scarlet's sudden change was so swift that Kitasan Black stood stunned for a long moment before she recovered. She looked at the lively scene beside her with a mix of amusement and embarrassment.
"…Ahaha, the seniors really are full of energy. Special Week-senpai, do you want to go run with them too?"
Special Week was still standing next to Kitasan Black.
When Kitasan Black asked, Special Week was watching her friends with a look of relief and nostalgia.
Hearing the question, she turned and waved her hand with a smile.
"I'll pass for now."
After a brief pause, she asked in return, "Kita-chan, aren't you going to run and play with them?"
"I won't go either for now."
Kitasan Black shook her head, looking a little embarrassed.
"Before the Spring Stakes, I wanted to practice more, right? So I ran by myself on this track during the weekend.
I didn't tell my trainer about it at first. I only mentioned it on the way here today.
I feel like my trainer… he probably wasn't angry, but he told me it's fine to practice more as long as I explain it to him first."
Special Week nodded.
"That was a little careless of you, Kita-chan. Running isn't something you can just do however you want.
And don't laugh, but when I was at Tracen Academy my grades weren't very good… Ah, I mean my academic grades. My race results were still fine.
To pass exams and finish homework, I often bothered Suzuka and Grass Wonder for help with tutoring.
Even so, I still failed a bunch of times, hehehe…"
She scratched her head with a simple smile, then grew serious.
"Even so, I know that the grass quality, soil, slope, and turns are all different on every track.
This place looks comfortable to run on, but no matter what, it's not an official track. There could be shallow pits or uneven spots somewhere.
If you accidentally step on something like that, it's really easy to get injured."
"Injured?!"
Kitasan Black shivered and looked worriedly at Daiwa Scarlet and the others on the lawn. "Then the seniors…"
"Relax, relax."
Special Week smiled. "They know everything I just said even better than I do, and they have way more racing experience.
Look closely. At that speed, they're clearly just running for fun, right?"
Following Special Week's words, Kitasan Black watched her seniors carefully for a while and realized it really was exactly as Special Week said. She immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Then her ears twitched and drooped, and she looked even more embarrassed.
"So that's how it is… If I train by myself, my trainer would really get very worried and very angry, wouldn't he…?"
"Well, there's no need to look so down."
Smiling, Special Week turned around, reached out, and gently rubbed Kitasan Black's cheek. After thinking for a moment, she comforted her:
"Everything we need to learn, our trainers learn too, and they learn it even more deeply. This is their profession and their job.
So your trainer should already anticipate that you might train on your own, and he would be mentally prepared for it."
"He can anticipate it…?" Kitasan Black repeated blankly.
"Hmm, how should I put it…?"
Special Week recalled. "Ah, do you remember my Kyoto Daishoten race?"
"Kyoto Daishoten?"
Kitasan Black was startled. After a moment of recollection, she instantly looked embarrassed.
"That… that race…"
"Yes, I lost very badly. It was the first time I dropped out of the top three in a race."
Knowing why Kitasan Black was stammering, Special Week smiled and frankly admitted her blunder from that year.
"I also lost the Takarazuka Kinen right before that.
Losing Takarazuka, plus calling Suzuka after she finished the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe… how should I put it… during that time, I was actually really anxious.
It was probably similar to your idea of wanting to train extra on the weekend. I added extra training on my own, outside of what my trainer had arranged.
The result was that I neglected my diet while training, gained a lot of weight before the Kyoto Daishoten, and ultimately couldn't exert any strength after coming out of the bend.
So wanting to win and wanting more training, those things are all fine."
At this point, Special Week emphasized her words.
"But you must believe in your trainer and tell him any thoughts you have in a timely manner.
Because he, just like you, also wants you to win the race more than anyone. And among everyone, he is the one who can support you, help you, and understand you the most."
…
Meanwhile, in Kitajima Saburo's study.
"Perhaps Yasui does not fully understand, but witnessing Kita-chan win the graded race with my own eyes truly brought tears to my eyes."
With a grateful expression, Kitajima Saburo said sincerely:
"And all of this is thanks to Yasui.
I don't like to offer empty words of thanks, so Trainer Yasui, please take a look at these legal documents."
He instructed the attendant in the study to hand over a stack of documents and explained:
"Even from my perspective, 'Uchiage Hanabi' is a rare masterpiece.
I am deeply grateful that we were able to gather fans for Kita-chan with such a song.
Regarding races, I don't understand as much as Trainer Yasui.
But when it comes to music, I should be able to discuss a thing or two.
So I believe that for the income from this song outside of races, Trainer Yasui should reasonably receive a share."
While Kitajima Saburo explained, Yasui Makoto roughly scanned several documents.
Simply put, because "Uchiage Hanabi" was released through Kitasan Black's racing account, the ownership legally belonged to the Tracen Academy for the time being.
Kitajima's music company was responsible for production and related operations, so the ownership could be divided among Yasui Makoto, Kitasan Black, and the music company.
The meaning of these documents was that Yasui Makoto could register with those music companies and become a nominal artist, which would make it easier to acquire and distribute song revenue.
Yasui Makoto felt there were no issues. He indeed had no further ambitions in music.
Moreover, having the identity of a musician would certainly make future songwriting or other operations much more convenient.
So after finishing his review of the documents, he looked at Kitajima Saburo and nodded.
"I have no problems whatsoever. Compared to music, I still want to focus on guiding Kita-chan."