The Winner's Concert ended.
After happily finishing her dance and chatting a little with the other Umamusume, Tokai Teio hummed a tune as she bounced back to the lounge.
I won beautifully this time too. I'm still a long way from the undefeated Triple Crown, and for now, I still can't get all cuddly with Trainer-san, but if possible, maybe I can ask for some kind of "reward" for this victory...
With that thought, Tokai Teio pushed open the lounge door. But before she could say anything, the tip of her nose twitched, and she blinked.
Strange. Why is there a weird smell in here? And why does it feel kind of familiar...?
Although she found the sudden scent strange, she had just won the race and was still in high spirits, so she did not dwell on such a small thing. She looked toward the two people in the room, planning to take the opportunity to go over and act spoiled.
But once she looked, Tokai Teio realized that the two of them were positioned differently from before she left. Not only were they farther apart, the atmosphere between them also seemed rather subtle.
Kitahara, for one, did not seem to be in a very good mood. Before she came in, he had kept his head lowered the entire time, and after she entered, he only looked up at her. During all that time, he never once looked at Rudolf.
As for Rudolf, although she was barely keeping her expression normal and looked no different from usual on the surface, Tokai Teio had followed her around for years like a little shadow, and she still noticed some things that were off.
For example, her movements would sometimes stiffen slightly. Her gaze would occasionally flicker and slide away. At certain moments, a blush unlike anything Teio had ever seen before would flash across her face, and she kept avoiding looking at Kitahara.
"Um, Trainer-san, did something happen while I was gone...?"
Tokai Teio asked quietly, but Rudolf beside them still heard her. Her ears instantly stood up.
Faced with Tokai Teio's question, Kitahara fell silent for a moment, then sighed and reached out to ruffle her head.
"Nothing much. Just now, when I was talking with the President, I told her about some problems I'm dealing with at the moment. She helped me resolve them. Also, on certain issues, we had a few differences of opinion..."
Differences? They had a fight, didn't they?
Tokai Teio looked at Kitahara in front of her with some concern. She caught the faint scent of Rudolf on him, as well as some shallow marks that were still exposed and had yet to fade, and could not help suspecting that what had happened between these two just now had probably not been a simple argument. They might even have come to blows.
Seeing her gaze focus on those marks, Kitahara sighed softly and pinched her little cheek.
"All right, don't worry. The matter has already been resolved. The President and I only have slight differences of opinion. It won't affect anything... More importantly, you won the Yayoi Sho. Have you thought about what reward you want?"
A reward...
Hearing Kitahara bring that up, Tokai Teio's eyes lit up. She was just about to use this chance to ask for something that would let her get close to him.
But at that moment, the strange atmosphere between Kitahara and Rudolf after she entered the room suddenly flashed through her mind. The words that had already reached her lips were swallowed back down. After another moment of silence, she slowly nestled into Kitahara's arms and spoke softly.
"I want Trainer-san and Prez to make up. Is that okay...?"
What a good child!
Hearing Tokai Teio's words, Kitahara was so moved he almost shed tears.
He had already been busy enough lately, but in the middle of all that, his little sources of comfort around him had all "betrayed" him one after another.
It was true that they had not helped him any less than before. In fact, after realizing how busy he was, they had become even more proactive about sharing his burdens. But the regular "physical examinations" alone were enough to give him a headache.
Under those circumstances, Rudolf, whom he had always regarded as a "good buddy," had also "betrayed" him just now, leaving him briefly questioning his entire life.
But at that moment, Teio stood up and proved through her actions that pure, considerate girls still existed in this world, instantly making him feel better.
He had not doted on her for nothing...
Thinking that, Kitahara reached out, pulled Tokai Teio into his arms, and spoke softly.
"Teio, it's all right. Didn't I just tell you? There's no conflict between me and the President. You don't need to worry..."
"But..."
"No buts."
Kitahara rubbed Tokai Teio's ears and said indulgently,
"These marks on me were only left behind while solving the problem just now. The President and I only have slight differences in some areas. At most, we're feeling a little awkward. We didn't fight, so you don't need to worry."
After a pause, Kitahara continued.
"Oh, right. I remember you mentioned before that a pretty good arcade opened near Tracen. You really wanted to go, but because of training, you never got the chance... How about we go spend a day there?"
He paused again, then turned toward Rudolf beside them and smiled.
"The three of us together. How does that sound?"
Faced with Kitahara's invitation, although Rudolf still felt somewhat awkward, she did not refuse.
As for Tokai Teio, seeing that the three of them could go out and have fun together, and that she could use the chance to get close to Kitahara, there was no way she would refuse either. And so the matter was quickly decided.
However, just as the three of them had made their decision and were preparing to leave the racecourse, Tokai Teio had only just gotten into the car when her expression suddenly changed.
"Um, Trainer-san, President, wait a moment. I think I dropped my dorm key at the racecourse..."
Perhaps because she had been too happy after winning the race and had been bouncing around the entire time, the dorm key in her pocket had fallen out at some point. She only discovered it now.
"Then shall we go look with you?" Rudolf asked.
"No need. I'll go find it myself. I'll be right back."
After saying that, Tokai Teio jumped straight out of the car and jogged back into the racecourse.
However, after entering the racecourse, Tokai Teio did not immediately retrace the path she had taken. Instead, she first went to the organizers and asked the staff whether anyone had seen a silver-white key. After confirming that no one had, she asked whether she could check the surveillance footage.
Tokai Teio's thinking was very simple. Searching blindly would take too much time, and she might easily overlook it. It would be better to check the footage of herself bouncing around. It had not been that long anyway, so it should be more efficient.
Faced with Tokai Teio's request, the organizers discussed it briefly and did not refuse.
Considering the guests' privacy, the racecourse did not have many security cameras, and in theory, the footage generally would not be shown to outsiders. But Tokai Teio was, after all, the star racer who had just won the race. On top of that, she was only looking for a key. Checking a few minutes of footage should not be a problem.
Then, led by the organizer's staff, Tokai Teio quickly arrived at the monitoring room. Using fast-forward, she began reviewing the footage of herself bouncing back after her victory, and soon locked onto where she had dropped her key.
If all she had done was locate the key, what followed would probably have been Tokai Teio retrieving it, happily going back, then heading to the arcade with the two of them and playing to her heart's content before returning to the academy.
The problem was that, while watching the surveillance footage and searching for her key, she also noticed something else.
Hm? So Trainer-san and the President were watching my race from here?
Because that corner was relatively secluded and difficult for people to notice, the racecourse had been worried that someone there might suffer an accident, such as a sudden heart attack, and be unable to call for help because of the location. So they had installed a separate camera there. Although the image was not very clear, it still captured the figures of Kitahara and Rudolf.
The footage was somewhat blurry, and the two of them were at the edge of the frame. Rudolf had even deliberately disguised herself. Logically speaking, an ordinary person should not have been able to identify them.
However, as someone who clung to the two of them every day, Tokai Teio very easily recognized them, even through the blurry image.
Although she recognized them, Tokai Teio did not pay much attention to the footage at first. After all, it was not the first or second time the two of them had hidden in a corner to secretly watch her race. There was nothing strange about that.
The problem was that after Tokai Teio locked onto the time when she had dropped her key and pressed pause—
Once she confirmed the key's location and was about to set off to retrieve it, she took one last look at the footage from that secluded camera, and her footsteps instantly stopped.
That was...
Tokai Teio widened her eyes. Then she immediately turned back, adjusted the recording slightly earlier, and stared fixedly at the footage from that secluded camera, watching the two people's movements frame by frame.
Chatting idly. Turning around. Then slowly closing in...
Holding hands. Kabedon. Finally overlapping together...
Once. Twice. Three times...
Tokai Teio watched that blurry footage over and over, trying hard to make something out from it, and at the same time seeming to work hard to prove something. The force with which she pressed the buttons unconsciously grew heavier.
Unfortunately, she was far too familiar with those two. Even facing footage that an ordinary person would have struggled to identify, no matter how much she wanted to deceive herself, she could not.
President. Trainer-san...
Just as Tokai Teio was watching the footage again and again, her eyes already beginning to turn somewhat numb, the phone in her pocket rang.
"Teio, have you still not found the key? Why don't we go help you look?"
Silence.
"Teio?" Kitahara's concerned voice came from the other end of the call.
After another moment of silence, Tokai Teio clenched her fist.
"Sorry, Trainer-san. The signal here isn't very good... Did you say something just now?"
"The key? I already found it. I'll be back right away. Don't worry..."
After chatting for a little while, Tokai Teio hung up the call. She stood in place for a long time, then looked back at the frozen image from that secluded camera. After that, she left the monitoring room without looking back.
Only, compared to the lightness of her steps when she arrived, as she left—
Her footsteps seemed somewhat heavy.
---
T/N: GULP
T/N: hehehe sorrgeee well not really but i actually forgot about webnovel LMAOOOO anyway heres ur 4 chapssss
bonus chaps
200 stones -> 1 chapter
400 stones -> 2 chapters
600 stones -> 3 chapters
and so on
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