As the backs of the three rivals faded into the distance, Yorozuya Eiyuu's gaze gradually hardened into a small, dark pinpoint. She turned her head, but the man who had been standing beside her was gone. She only saw his back as he walked away, a solitary figure disappearing into the sunset.
That's right. He's still that same deadpan guy.
This spark of anger, in Eiyuu's eyes, was so much better than his usual indifference. A sudden, sharp ringtone broke the silence of the training grounds. Sakikawa pulled a beat-up old phone from his pocket and swiped the screen. His already lifeless face seemed to lose another shade of color.
"Fun times," he muttered. He held the screen out for Eiyuu to see. It was a short, simple message.
[From: Vincennes Eishin Flash]
[Content: Three days from now, Aisong Racetrack, 1400m dirt track, short distance. Are you coming?]
It was a challenge.
Eiyuu's blood instantly ran hot, her fingertips tingling. She looked at Sakikawa, her eyes wide with a question she didn't dare to ask.
Sakikawa didn't even look at her. His gaze was fixed on the screen as his thumbs flew across the keyboard, typing out a reply.
[To: Vincennes Eishin Flash]
[Content: It's on.]
He sent the message, and his phone immediately began to buzz with what was presumably a string of angry replies. He shoved the phone back into his pocket. "Alright, I've got to go out for a bit. Got some business to take care of."
Eiyuu held his sleeve. "These few days of basic training... I've already memorized it. I'll stick to the plan."
"Stubborn," he grumbled, then walked away. His back was as straight as ever, but there was a slight slump to his shoulders, as if he were heading to a pawn shop to sell his last prized possession.
Eiyuu watched his back disappear, then turned and walked towards the training plan posted on the wall.
The next three days were a blur of sweat and exhaustion. Eiyuu pushed her body to its absolute limit, the fatigue seeping into her very bones. But her mind was clear, her will as sharp as steel. The shadow of her trainer was always there, a silent presence that pushed her forward. Her blood was on fire. She wanted to get stronger.
On the third day, training ended. Eiyuu, covered in two layers of sweat, returned to the trainer's office. Sakikawa still wasn't back. She pushed open the squeaky door.
The office was as messy as ever, filled with half-eaten bentos and piles of spare parts. It reeked of a strange mixture of oil and disinfectant. Eiyuu held her breath and carefully tiptoed through the mess, intending to find some reference materials on the bookshelf.
Her eyes fell on a document lying on his messy desk. At the very top, two large, black characters stood out.
Contract.
She wasn't trying to snoop. She just reached out a hand, as if drawn by an invisible force, and gently picked up the document.
[Lease Agreement]
The crisp, white paper felt heavy in her hands, her heart pounding in her chest like a drum. With trembling fingers, she turned to the last page. Her eyes fell on the signature at the bottom. It was his. And below it... a long string of numbers, the amount of the loan.
Her mind went blank. Her gaze uncontrollably drifted downwards, to the pile of receipts tucked under the contract. The date on the receipts was three days ago. The day she had run into the three rivals. The day he had received the challenge.
Eiyuu's brain, which had been buzzing with exhaustion, suddenly went quiet. Her eyes were fixed on the contract, her vision blurring.
This was the truth he had tried to hide from her.
A montage of images flashed through her mind, each one a piece of a puzzle she was only now beginning to understand. The high-end tech gear, the data-analysis shoes, the endless supply of custom-made supplements. The money he had to pay for the equipment she broke, the carrot patch expenses that were deducted from her nonexistent salary every month. His promise to "look after" and "scrape together" a horse girl.
The casual words, the sarcastic remarks she had never paid much attention to... were all true.
It was all for her, to support her dream, a dream he was now shouldering the heavy burden of. He wasn't some kind of emotionless stone. He was just a normal person, a person who felt pressure, a person who ran out of money.
He had... sold himself?
In that moment, an indescribable image formed in her mind, so painful it made her want to laugh.
She, for him... was a flesh-and-blood, living, breathing... ordinary person.
Yorozuya Eiyuu held the papers in her hand, her vision blurring with unshed tears. She took a deep breath, carefully folded the contract and the receipts, and put them back where she had found them, not a single crease out of place.
She stood up and looked out the window. The setting sun had painted the entire training ground in a sea of gold. The place where she had been drenched in sweat just hours ago. Her eyes, which had lost all their weight, were no longer heavy.
On the contrary, she let out a long breath, and the last of her hesitation and doubt vanished with it.
From this day forward, she was no longer running for the hero she had once been.
She was running for him.
-------
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