On the stage, Kitasan Black noticed Yasui Makoto quietly slipping away.
Her ears twitched involuntarily, and without thinking, she took a step forward.
“Kita-chan…” Behind her, noticing the unscripted movement, Satono Crown whispered gently, “We’re about to transition to the next song…”
Kitasan’s ears twitched again, snapping her back to attention.
Taking a deep breath, she quickly raised her arm, responding to the audience’s enthusiastic cheers as she led the group into their next formation.
The stage lighting shifted, and the lingering notes of “Winning the Soul” seamlessly blended into the next melody.
Night deepened, and after the bustling excitement of the Winner’s Concert concluded, everyone gathered backstage in the preparation room.
Holding up her cup, Kitasan Black smiled brightly and declared loudly:
“Great work, everyone! Here’s to the success of tonight’s Winner’s Concert—cheers!”
“Cheers!”
The gathered Uma Musume smiled as they joined Kitasan’s toast, relief and relaxation filling the room.
After quickly finishing her drink, Kitasan pulled out her phone.
Since noticing her trainer’s sudden departure, she’d kept an eye on his empty seat.
But even now, after the performance, the spot was still empty.
Why did Trainer suddenly leave…? Didn’t he promise to go to the celebration afterward with Teio-senpai and everyone?
Puzzled, she swiftly typed a familiar phone number.
The call started to ring, but before she could even lift the phone to her ear, the tone abruptly turned busy.
“Eh…? Bad reception, maybe…?”
Blinking in confusion, she was about to redial when a text notification popped up on the screen.
[Yasui Makoto]: If you’re ready to head to the party, go ahead first. I ran into Almond Eye here—I’ll join you later.
Almond Eye? What’s she doing here? Wasn’t she supposed to have private tutoring today…?
Questions filled her mind. Just as she was about to text back, a sudden icy sensation hit her cheek.
“Wah! C-Cold!”
With a startled squeak, she jumped away, turning to see Satono Crown standing beside her with a mischievous grin, holding a chilled bottle of juice.
“You were so absorbed just now, with such a worried expression… Huh?!”
Satono Crown’s teasing smile abruptly changed into exaggerated surprise, dramatically covering her mouth.
“Wait—don’t tell me our champion is reading someone’s love letter?!”
Kitasan Black froze.
In the next instant, her ears, fur, and tail all shot up simultaneously, her cheeks and ear tips flushing hotly as she squeaked loudly:
“Wh-wh-what love letter?! What on earth are you talking about, Crown-chan?!”
“But if it’s not a love letter…”
Satono Crown’s expression turned thoughtful again, cocking her head and spreading her hands in confusion.
“Then why did you look so anxious just now?”
“Th-that’s because…”
Kitasan stammered frantically, but before she could finish, a cool, thoughtful voice interjected from the side.
“A love letter… I think Air Groove-senpai once mentioned something about that. It’s letters exchanged between a man and a woman who love each other.”
Crushing Raise spoke seriously, arms folded and hand thoughtfully touching her chin, giving Kitasan an appraising glance.
“So, Kita-chan, are you writing to a man?”
“N-no! Raise-chan, don’t listen to Crown-chan’s nonsense—”
“Or perhaps she’s waiting for a man’s reply,” Satono Crown interrupted teasingly, mirroring Crushing Raise’s contemplative pose.
“Although, gender shouldn’t really matter, right? Kita-chan, even if it’s with a girl, Raise-chan and I will fully support you~”
It finally dawned on Kitasan that Satono Crown was deliberately teasing her.
Worse yet, she’d dragged along Crushing Raise, who clearly had little idea about love letters, into her prank.
And, annoyingly, it worked perfectly.
After all, hadn’t she just been about to text her trainer? That matched Raise-chan’s definition exactly—a man and a woman exchanging messages.
Wait a minute! Kita-chan, how did you fall right into Crown-chan’s trap?!
It’s just a normal question! How in the world did it suddenly turn into a love letter?!
There’s absolutely no need to panic like this, right?!
“Hold on! I can explain…”
Desperately waving her free hand, she lifted her phone to show them.
But before she could continue, a memory suddenly flashed vividly through her mind:
On the parking lot asphalt, she sat quietly on the back seat of a motorcycle, watching Yasui Makoto crouched down inspecting her racing shoes.
Without shoes, her feet—clad only in long white cotton socks—hung stiffly in the air, toes unconsciously flexing.
And accompanying that image was the sudden memory of her trainer carefully helping her put her shoes back on, his fingers gently gripping her ankle, along with the burning sensation at the tips of her ears.
Inexplicably, she no longer knew how to explain herself.
Flustered panic surged again, her throat drying up.
Before she could decide what to say, excited whispers erupted around her.
“Eh?! Seriously? Kitasan-san… is in love?!”
“Who with? Who’s she dating?!”
“Wait a minute… Doesn’t the academy have rules against dating…?”
“That doesn’t matter—just don’t get caught. Oh, right, everyone, don’t tell anyone what we heard today…”
“Definitely! Not a word!”
Overwhelmed by the eager gossip, Kitasan clearly felt dozens of heated gazes falling on her, feeling again the burning embarrassment from before.
She opened her mouth helplessly, struggling for words. Catching the playful amusement in Satono Crown’s eyes, she took a deep breath and finally raised her voice, both exasperated and amused:
“It’s Trainer! I was just asking Trainer about going to the celebration afterward!”
“What on earth were you all thinking?!”
“And Crown-chan, if you keep this up, I-I… I’ll get angry for real!”
To emphasize her point, she met Satono Crown’s eyes directly, puffing out her cheeks and glaring with mock seriousness.
“Okay, okay! It was just a joke, Kita-chan. You looked too serious earlier, so I couldn’t resist teasing you. Sorry~!”
Laughing softly, Crown waved off her concern, bowing playfully, before turning to the curious crowd.
“We were joking, everyone! Just kidding!”
Seeing the supposedly juicy gossip evaporate, the surrounding Uma Musume sighed in mild disappointment and gradually turned their attention elsewhere.
Satisfied she’d resolved the chaos she caused, Satono Crown smiled and started to back away.
“Well, since you’re waiting to go with Trainer, Kita-chan, I’ll head over to Dia-chan. If I delay too long, she’ll be stuck waiting.”
“I should go find Air Groove-senpai too,” Crushing Raise added calmly, reaching for her phone. “She just messaged me. I’ll leave first.”
“Mm! I’ll wait here until I talk to Trainer. See you later, Crown-chan, Raise-chan!”
After waving goodbye, Kitasan reopened her earlier text.
Her fingers hovered over the send button:
[No problem, I’ll wait for you, Trainer.]
But just before tapping send, her gaze unconsciously drifted down to her ankles, still snugly wrapped in purple thigh-high stockings from her stage costume.
Feeling her ear tips tremble slightly, she pressed her lips together and clicked send.
—
This is a fan translation of 赛马娘：从被撞飞十米开始 by 百升飞上天 All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!
Reader discussion
0 Comments
Be the first reader to share a thought about this chapter.