Uma Musume : The Trainer Who Just Wants to Live

"Hah—hah—"

On the training ground, Silence Suzuka was leading the pack. Her steps were as swift as a cheetah's, but her heavy panting, a sign of exhaustion and depleted stamina, could not hide her current predicament.

Even without being able to see behind her, just by relying on her remaining track intuition, she could feel two figures slowly approaching from behind! She could feel their footsteps!

"Roar!!!"

Behind her, Nakayama Festa and Gold Ship both let out a battle cry for their final sprint! She heard it all. She knew the situation was not in her favor. According to her experience, this final straight was the time for her to exert her strength again!

But... why couldn't she put any force into her left leg?

Suzuka, who was running, failed to make the crucial sprint in the final stage where she should have accelerated. She bit her lower lip slightly, trying to use a little pain to stimulate her leg to move faster—but all her efforts seemed to be in vain.

"Silence Suzuka, something seems to be wrong with Silence Suzuka! Is she going to give up the race at the fourth corner?"

"Still not! She hasn't given up, but she doesn't seem to be able to run anymore! She doesn't want to stop, but the horse girls behind her are catching up!"

The Tennō Shō (Autumn), all the sounds of that day were still lingering in her mind—on that day, known as "Silent Sunday," when she was leading the pack and everyone believed she would win her second G1, her left leg had fractured during the run.

This horse girl, who had failed to debut during her rookie period due to her slow development and had not been able to show her true strength in her classic year, had just entered the prime of her career in her senior year. But her prime had only lasted for less than a year before this tragedy ended her career. Even though she had never announced her retirement, everyone, including herself, knew that she could no longer return to the track.

Her heart was in fear, fear that this fractured leg would crack again. At that time... she would probably no longer be able to deceive herself that she had a chance to return to the track.

I can't... run so freely anymore.

Finally, on the training ground, with less than a hundred meters to the finish line, she did not choose to accelerate. Instead, after a strong inner struggle, her determination to win began to slacken, and her previously swift legs suddenly became weak, and she couldn't help but slow down...

"Whoosh!" Two strong winds successively whistled past her. And in front of her, the figures of the tall and short Gold Family horse girls crossed the finish line before her. This small race finally ended with her defeat...

"...Suzuka-san seems to be in a bad way."

And in the stands, Kitano's group, who were not far from the finish line, witnessed the final stage of this race. And as her roommate, Special Week could clearly see her slackening at the last moment. Her worry was evident as she murmured to herself:

"As expected, is it still the psychological trauma from that race? It hasn't been eliminated even now..."

"Yes, it's been over a year since her Tennō Shō, but she still hasn't recovered from that failure," Rudolf said, her eyes, when she recalled that tragedy, rarely showing any wariness, but more of a look of regret. She sighed and said:

"Her fracture has clearly healed, but a fracture for a horse girl is equivalent to a weakening of her upper limit. This means she can no longer exert her peak strength. The recovery time, where she can't maintain her condition, will only widen the gap between her and her peers."

"And more importantly, is that insurmountable shadow... Many people, including perhaps Suzuka herself, probably think that it was her high-load explosive escape tactic that led to her current tragedy."

This bet was a collaboration between Rudolf and Mejiro Palmer. And for every horse girl who had voluntarily joined, Rudolf had paid close attention. But even though she was very wary of the two "stray cats," Special Week and Oguri Cap, and even the one who had proposed this bet, she was not very suspicious of Suzuka, who had also joined.

Because her purpose for joining was very clear: she wanted to return to the track. Rudolf had even specially investigated her few contacts with him. Basically, it was her watching others interact with him from a distance. Compared to the others, her performance was that of a rare normal person.

"That child needs some courage," C.B. nodded. And at this time, her gaze subconsciously fell on him. And when she noticed his moved gaze, which was fixed on Suzuka, she was slightly taken aback.

But soon, as she read the irrepressible pity in his eyes and saw his hand tightly gripping the armrest of his wheelchair, after a moment of daze, instead of feeling jealous of his concern for Suzuka, a beautiful smile appeared on her face.

"...Trainer Kitano, can you go and help that child?"

"Hm?" And he, with a solemn expression, was pulled back by her words. But he saw her show a helpless smile and say softly:

"Just take it as a little selfishness of this senior. I really don't like to see the juniors sad."

"Everyone has no way to deal with her psychological trauma, but... didn't you help Oguri solve her psychological problem? And even when I was depressed, wasn't it you who helped me get out of it?"

"So, regarding her matter, if it's you, Trainer Kitano, you should be able to help her with something, right?"

"Yes! Trainer Kitano! Please help Suzuka-san!"

And the moment C.B. spoke, Special Week immediately turned her hopeful gaze to him. She quickly grabbed one of his arms, her tone originally pleading, but for some reason, it unknowingly became more like a spoiled child's:

"She's really pitiful. If it's you, maybe she can really get out of the shadow!"

"Well..." Faced with their request, he didn't think for too long. The initial worry in his heart that even if he intervened, it might not be good, quickly dissipated under their persuasion.

"Since everyone has said so, then I'll give it a try. But it's better not to have too high expectations of me."

Even though he had made up his mind to intervene, he didn't say anything like he also cared about her in front of the girls—he still had self-awareness. His time was still tight. If he let others think he had to interfere in every horse girl's affairs, would he still be able to live?

Gold Ship had just criticized him last night for not caring enough about Festa and the others. In this new playthrough, he should also focus on his own charges and try his best to live—perhaps then he could deal with the problems of his former charges more calmly.

As for Suzuka... just take it as helping to the end. He had saved her life once, but he didn't know how she had handled things after he was gone... This time, just take it as to make his conscience feel better.

He made a random excuse for his actions. However, all of this was seen by C.B. Listening to his somewhat "tsundere" speech, her smile widened even more. She actively went behind him and pushed his wheelchair towards the training ground, saying softly:

"Then let's go~"

"—Wait, Trainer Kitano."

And at this moment, Rudolf suddenly spoke up, making him and C.B. stop. And when C.B. pushed him to turn around, she saw the previously conflicted Rudolf, after seeing the determination in his eyes, silently retracted her hand.

Really... I can't do anything about your kindness. Rudolf looked at him now, and it was as if she had returned to that childhood, that naive self, completely attracted by the boy who, despite being a tragedy himself, was still optimistically comforting her. Rudolf knew very well that what she liked about him was his heartfelt concern.

If he didn't have this kindness, her life would probably not have been illuminated by him... that was him.

Therefore, Rudolf, who had originally wanted to stop him, after a helpless smile, immediately changed her tune and just said with concern:

"...Please don't push yourself too hard. Don't make me worry again."

"...I'll do my best."

And at this moment, faced with her concern, he was slightly taken aback, then returned a gentle smile. Then, he was slowly pushed towards the field by C.B., slowly towards Suzuka.

And at this time, when Special Week and Oguri had immediately followed him to the field, the one-step-slower Tamamo, who had wanted to pull Rudolf along, inadvertently found that their president's expression was not quite right when she looked up.

"...Rudolf, why is your face so red? Do you have a fever?"

"Huh? I, I'm fine."

And because of Tamamo's吐槽, Rudolf, who had been dazed by his gentle smile just now, belatedly realized her blushing. She fanned her cheek with one hand and clutched her chest with the other—at that moment, she felt her heart was about to jump out of her chest.

That gentle smile she hadn't seen for who knows how long, now seeing it again after such a long misunderstanding and life-and-death separation, Rudolf almost sank. If she had a status bar now, it would definitely show a red "焦躁 (Anxious)."

However, her unusual side was clearly seen by Tamamo Cross. Although Tamamo didn't know about the bet, she was a normal person! Seeing the usually dignified and caring Rudolf show such a shy expression for the first time, she immediately thought of the only possibility!

—Oh my god! Not only C.B., but this Rudolf person has also fallen for him?! Is this Kitano Ryuichi some kind of catnip for horse girls? All the horse girls revolving around him have fallen for him!

If this continues, what will happen to this Tracen Academy? In this whole place, can't there be a single one who has no feelings for him like me?!

At this moment, the light in Tamamo's eyes completely dissipated. The tired her, at this moment, only had the word "doomed" constantly echoing in her mind...

What kind of outrageous things would the two strongest Triple Crown winners do to fight over the same man... Tamamo had already seen it. She foresaw that if this continued, what kind of bloody storm would be stirred up in Tracen...

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