Umamusume: Full of Flavor! [10]

In early August, Special Week returned to Tracen Academy from Summer Camp.

The reason she had temporarily withdrawn from Summer Camp was partly because Special Week was still a Middle Division student in Class C—the underage class, in other words, her training period. Although she was already qualified to enter races, she had not yet completed her Debut Race. Unlike the Umamusume who had just finished their Debut Races and needed to prepare for a Maiden Race or a one-win class race, she still had a fair amount of leeway.

The other reason was that Special Week, who had been born in Hokkaido, was bad with heat and bad in the water. Even though the training facilities at the camp were top-class, and Summer Camp could be called the best period for an Umamusume to grow stronger, she had still suffered heatstroke, and while learning to swim, she had nearly drowned before being rescued by El Condor Pasa. She really could not adapt to the Summer Camp training plan, so in the end, out of consideration for her condition, her Trainer decided to send Special Week back to the Academy to rest.

This, however, suited Special Week perfectly, because right now she was so desperate to know how Suzuka-san was doing that she could not focus on training at all. Even the drowning had happened because she was distracted.

Silence Suzuka was Special Week’s senior, her roommate, and the person she admired.

After coming from the countryside of Hokkaido to the big city of Tokyo, the first race she had gone to watch had been Silence Suzuka’s Debut Race.

Seeing Silence Suzuka cut such a gallant figure as she took 1st place, and seeing her shining form on the evening Winning Live stage, had only made Special Week more determined to become Japan’s No. 1 Umamusume. As a result, she had lost track of time and was late reporting in on her first day as a transfer student.

There were plenty of Umamusume like Special Week who were scouted from the regions and brought to central, so transfer students were common.

And even more fortunately, she had actually been assigned to Silence Suzuka’s dorm room, becoming roommates with the Umamusume she admired. Could this be a fated bond?

Special Week had been thinking that during the soon-to-arrive Summer Camp, she could train while also deepening her relationship with Silence Suzuka. On a personal note, she had also really wanted to see Suzuka-san in a swimsuit…

But not long after enrolling, she heard terrible news. Supposedly, Silence Suzuka had been asked to leave her Team because she had gone against her Trainer’s instructions.

Special Week felt extremely indignant on Silence Suzuka’s behalf. Hadn’t Suzuka-san taken 1st place in her Debut Race? Passing a Debut Race on the first try was already amazing, wasn’t it? Apparently, Umamusume with average aptitude usually had to attempt it four or five times, and some might not even complete their Debut Race at all.

She had clearly won the race, yet she was asked to leave the Team simply because she had disobeyed her Trainer’s instructions. Wasn’t that way too strict? Were Umamusume supposed to be Trainers’ slaves, absolutely obeying every order?

Special Week felt that Suzuka-san’s Trainer was a little too overbearing and tyrannical, and she did not quite understand the importance of Trainers.

This was because she herself was also a highly anticipated rising star. Not long after enrolling, she had passed the school’s selection and joined the newly formed Team Sirius. Her generation was also called the “Golden Generation,” with several future stars held in high regard by Trainers.

Special Week had originally planned to persuade her own Trainer to let Silence Suzuka join Sirius too, but her Trainer said that Silence Suzuka had already been assigned to a newly arrived rookie Trainer.

But wasn’t there supposed to be only one rookie Trainer this year, Ms. Kiryuin? Where had this new rookie Trainer come from? Could he be a Trainer transferred from the regions to central, just like her?

In any case, Silence Suzuka’s destination had already been decided by the Academy. A brand-new student like Special Week had no right to say anything about it. She only hoped that the Trainer Silence Suzuka met this time would be a gentle, good person who would let Suzuka-san run freely in the way she liked.

After getting off the long-distance bus, Special Week was already impatient to return to the dorm and see Silence Suzuka.

She jogged all the way back to Ritto Dorm, then suddenly remembered that this time of day was exactly when Silence Suzuka went out for her post-lunch digestion run.

After spending the past month together, Special Week had already figured out Silence Suzuka’s personality… She was simply extremely serious and extremely fond of running.

Although Special Week also loved running, she had never seen an Umamusume who loved it as much as Silence Suzuka. She went for a morning run, a digestion run after lunch, then after finishing independent Training in the afternoon, she went out for another run at night to clear her head… She was running nonstop from morning to night!

But that was what an Umamusume was!

That was right. That was exactly what an Umamusume should be like!

She had to learn from Suzuka-san too!

So Suzuka-san probably was not in the dorm right now. Special Week would have to look for her by the river.

Thinking that she should first put down her luggage and change into her tracksuit before going to find Silence Suzuka, Special Week rushed excitedly back to their room. But to her surprise, Silence Suzuka had not gone running. Instead, she was sitting at her desk and writing something, occasionally staring blankly at the pen in her hand.

Suzuka-san! Actually! Hadn’t gone! Running!

Special Week was so shocked that the luggage bag on her shoulder slipped off and fell to the floor with a THUD.

The sound brought Silence Suzuka back to herself. She turned toward the dorm room door and discovered Special Week standing there, dumbstruck.

“Huh? Spe-chan, why are you back? Didn’t you go to Summer Camp?”

Special Week scratched the back of her head and laughed sheepishly.

“Ehehe… Because of heatstroke, my Trainer let me come back early…”

“You got heatstroke? Are you all right?”

Silence Suzuka got up and came over to Special Week, asking worriedly about her condition.

“I’m fine, I’m fine! It was just mild dehydration. I’m completely better now!”

As if to prove that there was nothing wrong with her body, Special Week clenched her fists and raised both arms high, striking an energetic pose.

“By the way, Suzuka-san, you actually didn’t go running?”

To Special Week, compared with something as minor as her own heatstroke, Suzuka-san not going running was the far bigger matter. What on earth could make such an unshakable running fanatic give up on running? Was it really the blow from being asked to leave her Team?

“Mm. Trainer said I don’t need high-intensity running practice right now, so he limited how much I can run in a day. Now I only go jogging in the morning and evening.”

The key word was jogging. It was mainly used for warming up and adjusting her running form. Haruto had emphasized that in particular.

“Ah, you mean that newly arrived Trainer? Suzuka-san, you’ve already met him?”

“Mm… He’s a very good person.”

At the mention of Haruto, Silence Suzuka showed a warm smile, and even her gaze softened.

Huh? Huhhh?

What was with this sweet atmosphere?

Special Week could practically feel the maidenly aura radiating from Silence Suzuka. If this were a manga effect, flowers would be blooming all over the background.

Still, it looked like Suzuka-san had regained her spirits. Thank goodness.

Special Week still remembered how, not long after Silence Suzuka had been told to leave, she had often woken with a start in the middle of the night. Seeing that had made Special Week’s heart ache terribly, and she had always wondered whether there was anything she could do for her…

But in the end, it was not Special Week, but the newly arrived Trainer, who had helped her recover…

For some reason, Special Week felt just the tiniest bit unwilling to accept that. Even though Suzuka-san regaining her energy was clearly a good thing…

She suddenly had a powerful urge to shout, No, you can’t have her!!!

It seemed that a faint hint of [DOMINATOR] had awakened within her.

T/N: suzuka…. doroools

This is a fan translation of 赛马娘，味真足 by 夜幕下的鬼 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!