Uma Musume: From Being Knocked Ten Meters Away

Chapter 546 Escape
"Xiao Bei is really serious."

After a moment of reflection, Satomi Hikari thought for a moment:

"But don't stay up too late. You have a competition tomorrow, so you must be in top condition."

"Besides, I'm not completely inexperienced like I was last year, so if you have any difficulties, we can discuss and analyze them together, and maybe I can help you."

"Mmm! Thank you, Diamond-chan! You're welcome!"

Nodding gratefully, Beifang Xuanju was about to continue studying when his phone on the table suddenly vibrated.

She glanced at the screen and saw the contact name "Yamato-senpai" pop up. Puzzled, she answered the phone.
"Hey, Yamato-senpai? What's up so late?"

"It's not that I have something to say. If I had to, I would just tell you to go to sleep early."

Yamato Akama said:

"It's Yasui. He's here to see you. He's outside the dormitory building. Can you come down now?"

"Ah Zhen?"

Beibu Xuanju froze, glanced at the time in the lower right corner of the computer, and realized it was already past ten o'clock. She quickly stood up:
"Okay, I'll be right down!"

After hanging up the phone and explaining to Hikari Satomi, she hurriedly changed out of her pajamas, put on her school uniform, went out, went downstairs, and ran to the dormitory building.

The night breeze carried the chill of late autumn. She glanced around and saw Yasui Makoto standing under a streetlamp not far away, head down, hands behind his back, with the disciplinary committee member and Extraordinary Junji standing in front of him.

She rushed over, but before she could even greet him, she heard the extraordinary steed sighing helplessly:
"So, what do you mean, it's you again, Trainer Yasui?"

"If I remember correctly, you stayed out overnight, right?"
"So why are you still at the academy so late? Don't you need to sleep?"

"And you're even wandering around the Uma Musume dormitory area... This is putting me in a difficult position."

"This...I'm so sorry..."

"I'm so sorry, Senior Junji!"

At the same time as Yasui Makoto apologized, Kita Genko quickly stepped forward:
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's just... right, tomorrow is the Emperor's autumn viewing, and we wanted to discuss some tactical details..."

"Oh? Tianqiu..."

The extraordinary steed's eyes brightened, and its tone immediately softened:

"Indeed, you are the one in charge of training Yasui. There have been quite a few reports about your performance in this auspicious autumn recently."

"Hmm... As for Tianqiu, we really need to prepare well, after all, the players who can leave are not pushovers."

Nodding, she glanced at Yasui Makoto and waved her hand:

"Then you two can chat, but not here. It's better to go to the courtyard. According to the rules, male trainers are not allowed here."

"Don't chat too late, it wouldn't be good if it interfered with tomorrow's match."

"By the way, although I can't go to the competition tomorrow, I'll still watch the live stream at the academy to cheer you on."

"Yes, yes! We understand, thank you, senior!"

Watching the extraordinary steed depart, the Northern Black Horse breathed a sigh of relief. Just as he was about to call Yasui Makoto to go to the courtyard together, he suddenly saw a bottle of drink being offered to him.

She instinctively took it and discovered it was her favorite carrot flavor, even the sugar content was the same as the one she usually drank. A warm feeling welled up inside her.
"Thank you, Zhen! How did you know I like this?"

"I'm usually in charge of purchasing."

Holding a bottle of beverage in his hand, Yasui smiled and led her towards the courtyard.

"And I've noticed that you often buy this when you go out and have fun."

"Oh, I see... Ah-zhen is so thoughtful."

"It's alright, we'll know once we keep an eye on it."

As they spoke, the two went to the courtyard and sat down on a bench.

The moonlight of an autumn night filters through the gaps in the leaves, casting dappled shadows on the ground.

Yasui Makoto unscrewed his drink, remained silent for a long while before speaking, his voice carrying an unprecedented solemnity:
"Actually... I'm here to talk to you about something."

"It's about some news reports, and the pressure of tomorrow's game... I've been very worried."

Northern Black Horse blinked, not understanding what he was trying to say.

“I didn’t mention those exaggerated reports to you in the previous meeting because I was afraid of adding to your burden.”

Yasui Makoto gazed at the training ground in the distance, his tone tinged with frustration:

"But just now when Suko reminded me, I realized that I was actually the one running away from things."

"I'm used to planning everything out, but when faced with this kind of unquantifiable pressure from the outside world, I have no idea how to deal with it."

"I mean, I haven't experienced it, so I subconsciously want to avoid it."

"So you could say..."

He paused:

“I’m running away from these things.”

"Ah Zhen, are you... joking?"

Northern Black Horse opened its eyes wide in surprise.

In her mind, Yasui Makoto was always calm and composed, as if nothing could stump him. She never expected that he would encounter difficult situations, or even try to escape because of them. "It's true."

Yasui Makoto turned his head, his eyes sincere:
“I don’t even dare to discuss these things with you, for fear of revealing that I myself would be at a loss.”

"These past few days, seeing those headlines about 'the new generation of kings' has made me even more nervous than you, but I don't know how to say it out loud."

Beifang Xuanju froze, the beverage can in her hand feeling slightly cold in her palm. She suddenly remembered how frantically she had been reviewing her study materials these past few days.

She always felt that Yasui had everything planned out, and if she couldn't keep up, she would be a burden to him.

Those moments of worrying about tactics notes late at night, those anxieties about not being strong enough, were not something she was alone to bear.

Yasui Makoto looked at her in silence, and couldn't help but feel a little flustered:

"Did...do what I said put more pressure on you? Actually, I..."

"No!"

The Northern Black Steed suddenly laughed, its eyes sparkling in the moonlight:

"On the contrary, I feel very happy."

"...Huh?" Yasui Makoto was completely dumbfounded.

"I've always thought that Ah-zhen can do anything, just like Superman."

Northern Black Horse shook the beverage can in his hand, his smile widening:

"But after a while, you might wonder if you're being too useless?"

"Even though Ah Zhen helped me so much, I can't even share a little bit of the pressure."

“These past few days, as I've been going through those tactical analyses, I'm always afraid that I've misunderstood your ideas and will hold you back…”

She turned her head to the side, her smile filled with relief:

"Now that I know that even Ah-zhen has times when she doesn't know what to do, I suddenly feel much more relaxed."

"So...we were facing all of this together."

Yasui Makoto stared at her blankly.

Under the moonlight, the girl's cheeks glowed with a soft light, and her crimson pupils held no gloom, only pure brightness.

He suddenly realized that the pressure he had always worried about was never a burden in the face of this ever-forward-moving racehorse girl, but rather a driving force that made her run even faster.

"you're right."

He laughed too, the anxiety in his heart dispelled like mist by the evening breeze:
"We...are facing this together."

……

The clock tower in the distance chimed eleven o'clock. Northern Black Horse stood up and patted his skirt.

"I'll head back now. I want to show Ah-Zhen the best version of myself tomorrow!"

"Ah."

Yasui Makoto nodded, watching her run towards the dormitory building, and suddenly called out:

"Xiao Bei!"

Northern Black Steed stopped and looked back at him.

"actually……."

Yasui Makoto's voice was exceptionally clear in the night breeze:

"That's what I thought."

"……Eh?"

Northern Black Horse tilted its head: "What...you think that way?"

"that is……"

Yasui Makoto smiled and said:

"The new generation of queen, the strongest racehorse girl... I've actually thought about that too."

"That's what I want to say."

The girl paused for a moment, then flashed a bright smile and waved vigorously:
"I know! Ah-Zhen, you should get some rest too!"

Watching her figure disappear at the entrance of the building, Yasui Makoto sat on the bench and looked up at the moon in the sky.

He had drunk most of the drink in his hand, and the remaining liquid swayed gently in the can, just like his relaxed state of mind.

Perhaps, there are indeed many things he doesn't understand, and many situations he can't handle well.

But as long as there is such a figure always running forward by your side, even the most difficult challenges seem less daunting.

Tomorrow's Emperor's autumn appreciation event is sure to be a spectacular competition.

He had a hunch.

(End of this chapter)