From the very first time Maruzensky helped Offside Trap with training, the powerful horse girl set aside one day each week thereafter to assist with her practice.
And Offside Trap's improvement was striking.
The shift in training focus that Terazumi Shinji had introduced paid off with remarkable results. The tempo of the training plan itself was the trainer's real contribution, allowing Speed—which had not previously been improving the fastest—to rapidly close in on her already stronger Power and Guts.
During this stretch, Shinji also gradually grew more familiar with Maruzensky.
From their increasingly frequent exchanges, he could sense a deliberate desire on her part to build a friendly relationship. It was not quite encouragement, but for a horse girl who had long since made her name, even that conscious effort to get closer allowed Shinji to understand more clearly that what he was doing now looked genuinely impressive in the eyes of others.
He accompanied Offside Trap into the mall.
By September, as summer began to withdraw, the temperature had finally started to drop. The academy had also grown livelier. He had heard that, after most of the horse girls returned from training camp earlier in the month, the student council was even planning some sort of event—something meant to let everyone at the academy relax and have fun for once.
But none of that had anything to do with Offside Trap.
Shinji had no intention of attending, and Offside Trap had probably been influenced by him, because she had never mentioned wanting to go either.
As for how she truly felt about it, Shinji did not investigate.
The situation Offside Trap faced was not exactly desperate, but when it came to the G1 domination she had always dreamed of, she still needed to put in even more effort and training.
"The air conditioning is set pretty low today."
Offside Trap brushed a hand through her hair. The slight sheen of sweat from walking there had already dried completely. Turning to Shinji, she broke into a bright smile.
Her behavior had become increasingly casual in daily life. The longer she spent around him, the more the reserve she once had gradually vanished amid those always-undignified training sessions.
Scratching the back of her neck, she added with a note of complaint, "You really rushed me out here today. I haven't even had lunch yet—and after my shower, I was planning to take a little nap."
"I'm taking you out for a proper meal today. No need to go back to school for lunch."
The corners of Shinji's mouth lifted slightly.
The sudden burst of light in the girl's eyes gave him a sincere sense of satisfaction. Time really did breed feeling. Shinji had never actually intended to maintain that slight distance from Offside Trap forever.
"Yay!"
The girl actually jumped with excitement.
Under Shinji's strict control, all those foods she had once thought delicious had long since lost their charm. She had been craving a proper indulgent meal for ages.
"Just looking at how happy that made you tells me your self-discipline still isn't good enough. We'll need to keep working on that."
"I don't care!"
Offside Trap stuck out her tongue. The soft pink tip bobbed once or twice, carrying the same smugness as its owner, and Shinji could only shake his head and laugh.
They rode the escalator up to the third floor. There was a large arcade there—the closest one to the academy—and it was a classic destination for trainers bringing their horse girls out to relax.
Offside Trap's eyes lit up again.
As if she had forgotten she was hungry, she looked instinctively toward Shinji.
"You can choose one: food or games."
"Why?"
Pouting, Offside Trap held up one finger and pleaded in a faintly coquettish tone, "Just ten minutes, okay? I haven't come to play here in forever."
Shinji followed her gaze to the claw machines at the arcade entrance.
The shop owner clearly understood the appeal. Horse girls always had a special fondness for claw machines, and many plush toys modeled after famous horse girls were displayed inside. Seeing them, Shinji fell briefly into thought.
"Ten minutes won't be enough to enjoy it anyway. Better to wait until there's a plush of you in there. Then we'll come play."
Looking at the utterly serious expression on her trainer's face, Offside Trap let out a small sigh and nodded.
If she had used that tone with most trainers, they would have given in immediately. After all, ten minutes was not long, and letting your horse girl enjoy herself a little was hardly a terrible thing.
Only Terazumi Shinji would be this stubborn.
Watching his back, Offside Trap's eyes filled with amusement, approval, and perhaps a sweetness she herself had not even noticed.
The man's seriousness and focus—the way he was steadily leading her, step by solid step, toward her dream and her goal—was exactly what she truly needed.
They soon reached the top floor.
In the custom race outfit shop, the clerk was still eating lunch when she suddenly saw Terazumi Shinji heading straight toward the office.
"W-wait—"
She hurriedly called out to stop him, then quickly stood and took a garment bag down from the wall.
Today was the day Shinji and Goodbye Halo had agreed upon for picking up the race outfit. For both Shinji and Offside Trap, it was something they had been looking forward to.
Offside Trap was looking forward to a brand-new race outfit, as though it marked the beginning of a brand-new stage in her career.
And from Shinji's perspective, he wanted to see whether the style he had once taken a liking to would, in its finished form, look as good as he had imagined.
"The manager isn't here today," the clerk explained. "She said that if you have any comments after trying it on, you can tell me, and I'll note them down so she can make any adjustments once she's back."
Shinji did not mind.
That was all secondary. The important thing was what Offside Trap thought.
He pushed her toward the fitting room, then leaned against the wall and exchanged a glance with the clerk.
"Aren't you going to finish eating?"
"At the very least, I should wait until you've finished trying the outfit on..."
Hearing that, Shinji let the matter drop. His attention had already shifted entirely to anticipating how Offside Trap would look in that race outfit.
This would also be the image she presented when she appeared in the Autumn Tenno Sho.
Among trainers, there were broadly two schools of thought when it came to clothing and presentation.
One believed that if a horse girl was going to compete, then she absolutely had to look dazzling, and so they put a great deal of effort into the design of her race outfit.
The other school believed that victory mattered above all else, and everything else was secondary—so as long as the outfit looked decent enough, the real energy ought to go into training and racing matters.
Shinji felt he belonged to the former.
Strength and first place were, of course, the most important things—but girls should still look beautiful. That was one of their natural advantages as well.
Just as that thought passed through his mind, he heard the curtain being drawn back.
The horse girl stood before him, lovely and poised, carrying a trace of shyness, yet also as though she wanted to show herself off. Slowly, she turned in place for him.
The fitted waist and gown-like design made the race outfit feel noble, yet at the same time a little more elaborate. The lines of the outfit emphasized the curves of her figure so well that Shinji's thoughts abruptly wandered in an entirely different direction.
How did she change so fast?
[That's the part you're focusing on?]
Seeing Shinji stare in a daze, delight flashed in Offside Trap's eyes.
She had always paid close attention to the little shifts in his emotions, but this was the first time she had ever seen him look at her so blankly, so intently.
She turned her face slightly aside, avoiding his rather direct gaze, and found herself strangely grateful that she had washed up so carefully today instead of half-assing it out of fatigue.
"Are you satisfied with it?"
The clerk's voice broke the atmosphere between them.
Offside Trap sighed inwardly, but still turned toward Shinji with obvious expectation.
His expression had already returned to calm. He now looked her up and down with measured seriousness.
"What do you think?"
"I don't think there's really any problem with it. What about you?"
Apparently both of them suffered, at least a little, from indecision when it came to design choices. Shinji, who was usually decisive and efficient, found himself hesitating now.
He wanted to say that it was already perfect as it was.
And yet he also felt that having no opinion at all might come off as perfunctory.
[Oh? So our Shinji actually worries about that kind of thing too? Aren't you usually just 'Yeah, let's leave it at that'?]
This is different...
Shinji looked carefully into Offside Trap's eyes, trying to see whether there was even the slightest trace of dissatisfaction hidden there.
"I think it looks really good. She really is a designer, huh~"
Perhaps sensing his hesitation, Offside Trap said it softly.
Her kindness came through clearly in her bright eyes.
Shinji said nothing, but he nodded.
"She's a really good girl."
Watching Offside Trap head back into the fitting room, the clerk spoke in a light, cheerful tone.
She did not really care whose horse girl Offside Trap was, or how decorated a racer she might become. What she saw was simply a girl trying on clothes, a girl who cared about beauty, a girl who wanted to show her best side to one particular person.
"Yeah."
Shinji did not object.
He closed his eyes slightly, and the clerk could not read any emotion from his expression.
Only the system sensed the ripple that passed through him in that instant.
[Ohhh? Found something rare, have we?]
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter108)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter144)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 99
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 95
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 99
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 92
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 47
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 44
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 43
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