Just a few words should be fine. No matter what, he's my trainer. He's helped me so much. It's only right that I give him something in return.
Comforting herself, Mejiro Dober walked towards his office.
Wait, what if he's already eaten! Wouldn't it be awkward for me to give him a bento then? Even if he does eat it, he might not like it... I should have asked Shirayuki what flavors the trainer likes!
She regretted it.
But it was too late to turn back now. She could only brace herself and move forward.
Arriving at the trainer's office, she took a few deep breaths to calm her racing heart, then knocked on the door. Hearing the response from inside, she pushed the door open and entered.
"Excuse me, Trainer."
"Dober, please sit." Chiya pointed to the sofa. "What's wrong? Why are you here at this time?"
She clutched the bento box tightly.
Sitting on the sofa, she began cautiously, "Trainer, about last time... my exam."
"I saw. Congratulations on passing."
"Thank you, but that's not what I wanted to talk about."
She nervously fiddled with her hair. "My score improved a lot compared to last time. I couldn't have done it without your help. Although it's just a small token of my gratitude, I hope you'll accept it."
She placed the bento box in front of him.
"This is?" he asked, pretending not to know.
"I made it. You haven't eaten, right...?"
"That's right. I've been so busy with work lately that I've been eating quite late."
Hearing this, Dober breathed a sigh of relief.
"You should take care of your own body too, Trainer. If you can't even take care of yourself, how can you take care of your Horse Girls?"
"You're right. Can I eat it now?"
"O-of course..." she stammered. Having him eat the food she made right in front of her felt a bit embarrassing.
She felt her face burning up.
Untying the knot, he picked up the chopsticks and took a small bite.
The taste wasn't amazing, a far cry from Hishi Amazon's cooking. But as a gift of thanks, he could see that she had put a lot of effort into it. The food inside was carefully arranged.
"Thank you."
"Th-thank me for what... This is my thank you gift. If you thank me, it defeats the purpose..."
"I think the happiest thing for a trainer is to receive a thank you gift from a Horse Girl, because it means I really helped you."
Hearing this, Dober's pupils flickered nervously.
"Well, of course... you helped me improve my time by a whole second. That would have been impossible with the instructor." As she spoke, she looked up. "The gift is one thing. I've been troubling you and Shirayuki all this time. I think it's time for me to take a step forward."
Her eyes darted around a few times, then finally met his.
"I've seen all your efforts. Even though I was just observing, you took such good care of me. So, that is... if you don't mind... could you be my real trainer?"
Hearing this, he felt his vision blur.
That's right. He had put in so much effort just to get her to join his team!
As a member of the Mejiro family, he firmly believed that her potential had just not been unlocked yet. She was a very promising child.
And today, his efforts had finally paid off.
"I'm also a new trainer. If possible, I'd like to grow together with you Horse Girls. If you can accept an immature me like this, then I'm willing to sign with you."
Perhaps because he was too excited, he felt his vision swim.
"I'm willing."
After getting her reply, he took out the application form he had prepared long ago and stood up to give it to her.
But the moment he left his seat, a huge sense of weightlessness came over him. He grabbed the desk, his head spinning, and collapsed.
"Trainer Chiya?!"
Before he lost consciousness, he thought he heard her scream.
Meanwhile, affected by the sense of weightlessness, Shirayuki took two steps on the ground to steady herself.
That's right. Even under such a severe dizzy spell, she could still maintain her balance. She found that her abilities had grown considerably.
"No! This is not the time to be thinking about that—!"
She clutched her head and shouted.
The view from Chiya's perspective in her mind had suddenly disappeared.
Did he disconnect?!
She was shocked. She didn't know this thing could disconnect.
Wait.
Something was wrong.
Recalling the last image she saw, it was the ground! The ground was approaching him.
Did I faint?!
She suddenly understood.
But why? He hadn't stayed up late yesterday, and his body was healthy. Why would he suddenly faint?
She hurried to the office, opened the door, and found it empty.
Not here?!
Did I get up and run away on my own?
She quickly dismissed this idea. She found that Dober was also not in the room.
Obviously, she had taken him somewhere.
If he had fainted, there was only one place to go.
The infirmary.
With that thought, she galloped to the infirmary and, sure enough, saw him lying on the bed.
Dober sat beside him, tightly holding his hand, her eyes a little red.
"Dober-senpai."
"Shirayuki!" Seeing her, Dober seemed to have found a lifeline, her voice tinged with tears. "Trainer Chiya fainted."
"I know, I know. It's okay. His body is very strong. Don't worry," she comforted her. "Where's the school nurse? Is she here?"
"I just called her. She'll be here soon."
"I see. Then let's wait for a bit."
She sat on the edge of the bed.
She tried to wake up on her own but couldn't. Looking at his sleeping form, she suddenly felt a little scared. If something happened to her body, she would have to live as a Horse Girl for the rest of her life.
While he was unconscious, Dober held his hand tightly.
"Dober-senpai, are you not afraid of men anymore?"
To distract herself from her unhealthy thoughts, she asked.
"I'm still afraid... but, in this state, Trainer Chiya can't do anything to me."
Her fear was mainly of a man's voice and gaze. When he was unconscious, she could interact with him normally.
"I see."
Looking at the way she was holding his hand, she didn't say anything more. Five minutes later, the school nurse hurried in and began a series of examinations on him. In the end, she came to a conclusion.
"Trainer Chiya's body is completely normal. The reason he fainted is probably due to too much stress recently. He's exhausted."
"Too much stress?" she repeated.
"That's right. He just needs to rest for a while."
How could that be?
Although his workload had increased compared to before, it was definitely not to the point of fainting from exhaustion.
But the nurse was very certain that it was due to stress. His body was very healthy.
Helpless, she could only accept this fact.
"Could it be that he fainted because of me...?" Dober said with a worried expression. "Revising the training plan every day, and then exhausting his body, all because of me."
"Impossible," she flatly denied. "You are the most hardworking and least troublesome one in our team. Trainer Chiya said that you always complete his training content seriously, and he's very confident in you."
"Really...?"
"Of course."
Hearing this, Dober looked at the sleeping Chiya with a complicated expression.
She once again tightened her grip on his hand.
It was very strong, and very firm.
This was a man's hand.
Besides her father, this was the first time she had seen another man's hand up close.
"You have to get better, Trainer."
Don't forget, you just became my trainer.
"Let's go, Dober-senpai. The nurse said he just needs to rest for a while."
"...Yes."
After one last look at him on the bed, Dober stood up, gave him a slight bow, and the two of them left the room.
Two hours later, while Shirayuki was doing her self-training, a strange ceiling suddenly appeared in her mind.
It was Chiya. He was awake.
The nurse who had returned checked his body again and confirmed that there were no problems before letting him go.
Rubbing his groggy head, he returned to his office.
Have I really been too tired lately?
Leaning back in his chair, he couldn't help but think.
Because of the race, because of the exam, a lot of stress had accumulated, and he hadn't even realized it.
On top of that, with Shirayuki, he had been multitasking, and in the end, his brain had given out.
For now, this was all he could think of.
It seems I need to pay more attention to rest in the future.
With a long sigh, he organized the messy files on his desk. On the application form he had given to Dober, her name was already written.
Seeing the elegant handwriting, he felt his mood instantly brighten.
Just like this, he would change the Horse Girls step by step, gradually.
In the end, when they had completely accepted him, he could sign with them.
He believed that the Horse Girls under him would spend three complete years with him.
As he was organizing the files, his gaze happened to fall on the incense on the desk.
A wisp of pink smoke was rising from it.
Picking up the incense, he frowned and observed it.
Isn't this color a bit strange?
Before he could think further, a rich, sweet scent rushed into his nostrils. In less than five seconds, in Shirayuki's mind, the view from Chiya's perspective disappeared again.
-------
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