"You see? All you have to do is this."
As soon as Kuroha walked in, he saw Tokai Teio lying face-down on the center massage table, burying her face into the headrest with a shockingly practiced posture.
"Then you just close your eyes and enjoy it. It feels super, super good!"
At her side, the two little girls stared with bright, sparkling eyes, watching her curiously.
"Teio, you're hyping it up again."
Kuroha walked over to the sink, carefully washing his hands in warm water as he spoke helplessly.
"This is just a professional post-training recovery massage. It relaxes your muscles and clears your circulation. Consider it a mandatory part of training here."
Mihono Bourbon nodded.
"Professional massage after training can quickly clear lactic acid buildup and relieve fatigue? Input stored in database."
A moment later, they saw Tokai Teio mid-massage, her whole body going slack and making her look even weaker than usual.
Back when she'd first joined the team, she had been the fastest to adapt and enjoy this.
Now, after almost two years, she was naturally a seasoned veteran.
There she was, sprawled on the massage table, her tail flicking up and down, humming strange little sounds, an expression of "I have no regrets" written all over her face.
"…"
She was having the time of her life, but the two little onlookers were utterly stunned.
Even the stoic, three-no Mihono Bourbon had a faint blush spreading across her pale cheeks.
Her small horse ears were noticeably red, twitching back and forth in agitation.
On the other side, Rice Shower had both hands clamped over her burning face, her little head shaking like a rattle drum, radiating pure "nope nope nope," and not daring to even glance Teio's way.
As time passed, Teio's session soon came to an end.
"Okay, Teio, up. Go stretch over there."
Kuroha gave Teio's backside a pat, signaling that she was done.
Then he turned to the two little horse girls frozen in place and gave them a gentle smile.
Before they could even think of protesting, Kuroha reached out with both hands, one on each side, neatly grabbing them by the scruffs of their necks like kittens and lifting them up.
Then, with a soft thump, he laid them side by side on the massage table.
"Alright, Bourbon, you're first."
Mihono Bourbon's body instantly went rigid, but she didn't make any other move.
She more or less understood what this "recovery service" was for.
"Tap."
Kuroha placed both hands on her small back and activated Body and Breath Perception.
The moment he probed her condition, his brows furrowed ever so slightly.
There was no surprise here.
After such long-term, high-intensity incorrect training, her body already showed plenty of "falling apart" symptoms.
Many muscle groups had developed chronic overuse damage, and several joint connections were showing mild adverse reactions from excessive load.
Reckless.
Kuroha sighed inwardly.
Even if Bourbon ultimately chose not to join Chasing Light, he would still look for a chance to get her a dose of [Panacea] and properly rebuild her body.
There was no way he was going to stand by and watch her drive a body full of hidden injuries into the ground in pursuit of her dream.
However, before he could prepare a [Panacea], he needed a very deep understanding of the horse girl's physical condition.
That would require a fair amount of observation time.
During that period, aside from constantly recording her body data with Body and Breath Perception, therapy through massage would also be essential.
As Kuroha's expert hands worked deeper into the muscle groups tightened and stiffened by high-intensity training…
An extreme mix of soreness, numbness, swelling, and pain surged through Bourbon's nerves.
"Nn…"
She let out a muffled sound, but immediately felt something different.
After that wave of pain came a hard-to-describe sense of relief, as if long-stagnant sludge had finally been flushed away.
Realizing the benefit, the little cyber horse girl quickly came to a conclusion.
"Kuroha Trainer's massage therapy has been registered as a mandatory task!"
Once she understood that Kuroha was doing this for her own good, Bourbon simply closed her eyes, cheeks still red, and followed in Teio's footsteps: lying flat and surrendering herself to the experience.
As for Rice Shower…
After finishing Bourbon's massage, Kuroha looked at the table and couldn't help but feel both amused and exasperated.
The future Black Assassin had, without any instruction, perfectly inherited Fujimasa March's "pillow over the head" tactic: she'd pulled a cushion over her face, leaving only a small tuft of black hair trembling outside.
This little girl had been very obedient, always listening to the Academy teachers and never doing any "unnecessary training."
Her base condition was genuinely healthy, unlike Bourbon's body full of hidden injuries.
But…
Since she had decided to attempt Chasing Light's reserve training starting tomorrow, he couldn't just let her stay a salted fish.
Kuroha chuckled, then pressed his hands down.
"Eek—!"
A clear, ringing cry echoed through the massage room, marking the end of Kuroha's first proper encounter with the two new-generation Chasing Light candidates.
…
The next morning.
When the first ray of sunlight pierced the morning mist, Mihono Bourbon and Rice Shower had already arrived punctually at the Central public training grounds Kuroha had designated.
After last night's deep massage, the two horse girls were in completely different states.
Mihono Bourbon felt her body was unbelievably light.
She had a strange sense that even though her physical parameters hadn't visibly increased, the nature of her body had changed.
In this state, any training she did would yield results several levels higher than before.
Because of that, she was especially punctual today. There was even a barely noticeable trace of anticipation on her usually expressionless face.
Rice Shower, on the other hand, was a completely different story.
Her cheeks were still pink, with faint dark circles under her eyes. Clearly, she had tossed and turned all night, stuck between embarrassment and that strange, lingering sense of comfort.
"Bourbon, we haven't even gone through True Blooming yet. Are we really going to join that super high-up team's training tomorrow?"
Bourbon paused for a moment, then replied quietly.
"No matter what trials that Trainer presents, I will join."
"But… Rice Shower, you're different. You don't need to force yourself to do something you don't like."
For some reason, when this cyber horse girl spoke to Rice Shower, there was a hint more life in her voice.
"I…"
Rice Shower hesitated for a while, bit her lip, but in the end didn't say anything.
The two of them continued talking as they walked into the training grounds.
Suddenly—
"Bang—!"
A powerful footfall exploded in their ears like thunder!
Both of them turned their heads at the same time.
On the emerald green track, a swift figure was sprinting past like a bolt of lightning!
It was a running form they had never seen before: a perfect fusion of explosive power and coordination.
With a single push off the ground, the distance between strides stretched out as if it could snap the air itself.
The figure kept tearing through the wind, almost skimming the ground as she charged toward the finish line.
Beside the track, the big brother who had worn a gentle smile yesterday now stood with a severe expression.
Stopwatch and clipboard in hand, his hawk-sharp eyes were locked on every motion of the runner.
"Teio, you're too fast. Slow it down and keep your rhythm. Don't let the urge to show off throw you off pace!"
He barked the order.
His voice wasn't loud, but it cut through the air and sank precisely into the runner's ears.
Even though the horse girl on the track was performing that well, Kuroha still accurately picked out the flaws.
…
Up in the stands, Mihono Bourbon and Rice Shower stared blankly at the scene unfolding below.
"S-so amazing…" Rice Shower whispered.
Mihono Bourbon's hands slowly clenched into fists.
"So this is… the training of a current active horse girl?"
That figure was none other than Tokai Teio.
Right now, Teio's eyes were so sharp they looked like they would tear open the sky itself, fixed firmly on the finish line ahead.
Her total focus and single-minded drive were completely different from the soft, spoiled "cute Teio" who had been lying on the massage table yesterday.
Now she radiated a sharp, terrifying sense of pressure.
Was this really a horse girl who had only undergone True Blooming a few days ago?
Bourbon was certain that at her current rate of growth, even if she went through True Blooming next year…
There was no way she could reach that speed in a short time. Not even a fraction of it.
Even as the self-deprecation flickered through her mind, her eyes shone brighter than ever.
A shiver ran up her spine, unlike anything she'd felt before.
It wasn't fear. It was a desire ignited.
This was the height her dream sought to reach.
This was the back she had to chase.
Ahead, Tokai Teio blasted through the finish line at high speed.
Kuroha clicked the stopwatch and glanced at the time.
"Your cadence in the last 200 meters is still a mess."
"Haa… hff… I'll… go again right away!"
Panting heavily with her hands on her knees, Teio didn't complain for a second. She took a deep breath and walked back to the starting line.
"Bang—!"
At Kuroha's signal, Tokai Teio shot out once more, her strides crushing the air above the track as if she intended to leave the entire world behind her.
Watching her receding back, a hint of satisfaction appeared on Kuroha's face.
"Her personality's a bit all over the place, but her talent and willpower really are impeccable."
It hadn't even been a full week since Teio's True Blooming.
Yet her rate of improvement had already exceeded Kuroha's expectations.
Her distance and running-style aptitudes, her adaptation to different track conditions, her grasp and application of various skills and techniques…
She was absorbing everything at frightening speed and fusing it together.
The clearest proof of her growth was her Unique Skill.
A horse girl's Unique Skill was her next big growth ceiling.
It was also the most intuitive indicator of how much she'd progressed.
And in not even ten days of training, Tokai Teio's "Ultimate Teio Step" had already climbed from Lv 3 to Lv 4.
For comparison, when Kuroha had first met Inari One, her Unique Skill had still been stuck wandering around Lv 2.
…Granted, Inari at the time really was overly reliant on her raw stats.
Even so, it showed just how scary Teio's mix of talent and effort was.
"At this rate, we might be able to move Teio's debut up a bit."
Kuroha rubbed his chin, deep in thought.
Just then, something small flickered at the edge of his vision.
He looked up to see the two tiny silhouettes standing not far away, staring at Teio's training.
"What are you two doing just standing there?"
Kuroha smiled. "Come on over."
Hearing his voice, the two little horse girls snapped out of it and hurriedly jogged over to stand in front of him.
As soon as she got close, Mihono Bourbon bowed.
"Master, awaiting instructions!"
"Master?"
Kuroha blinked. What kind of title was that?
The cyber loli answered very seriously,
"Current status: about to receive training from Chasing Light's head trainer. Confirmed: you are my second master."
…That sounds wrong in so many ways.
Kuroha pinched the bridge of his nose and, in the end, changed Bourbon's form of address to "Coach" instead.
(End of Chapter)
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