Although Maruzensky ran off in a flustered manner, it was, of course, impossible for Ikezoe with his human body to catch up to Maruzensky in a short time.
Luckily, there were quite a few students and staff who had seen Maruzensky along the way, and after a while, Ikezoe eventually found Maruzensky.
At a spacious area around the fringes of Tracen Academy, Maruzensky stood alone by a fountain; surprisingly, not a single other person was around.
Ikezoe took a moment to catch his breath before quickly walking over to Maruzensky's side.
"Teacher... are you alright?"
"—Ah, my dear student~ Why did you follow me?"
Despite an Uma Musume's enhanced senses, Maruzensky had failed to notice Ikezoe's arrival, only just realizing when he called out to her.
And from her reddened eyes, it was obvious she had cried.
However, in front of Ikezoe, Maruzensky refused to let her dignity as his teacher fall and did not let a single other tear fall.
But with how disheveled she looked, Ikezoe was certain she wasn't fine.
Even if his emotional intelligence was incredibly lacking, he knew that the current Maruzensky needed some comfort.
After all, although everyone within their team had become much more indifferent to winning or losing, for an Uma Musume, losing a race was still something worth crying over.
Especially since this defeat was of extraordinary significance to Maruzensky; even if it was just a mock race, her undefeated winning streak had been broken.
"Kouhai-kun, don't give me that look~ You'll make me cry again..."
Seeing the concern in Ikezoe's eyes, Maruzensky finally softened.
Perhaps it was because there was no one else around, but Maruzensky was a little more open than before.
"You won, my dear student, that's all there is to it. Why are you not with your beloved Uma Musume now but instead with your little old teacher~? You know how possessive that girl could be, right?"
"I just think Teacher needs my company more than Orfevre."
Ikezoe said, shaking his head before standing beside Maruzensky.
With their backs to the cool fountain, Ikezoe started to speak,
"Teacher, you clearly would've won. If you hadn't slowed down back then, Orfevre and I wouldn't have been able to catch up to you."
"Kouhai-kun, a loss is a loss. I still have the integrity to acknowledge that. And Orfevre is your Uma Musume, don't say such things!"
Maruzensky shook her head, showing discontent at Ikezoe's way of comforting her, even adding a cute little 'hmph~' at the end which would have looked adorable if it wasn't for her current depressed looking state.
However, Ikezoe, seemingly a bit more nervous, immediately added,
"No, I mean— Teacher, you haven't reached the point where you can't run anymore. You are still strong enough to keep running, so..."
"—I can't keep running anymore, my dear student. I really can't."
Just as Ikezoe was trying to help Maruzensky feel a bit more at ease, her eyes suddenly turned cold.
For the first time ever since they first met, Maruzensky faced Ikezoe without her usual smile or playful tone.
"You said I clearly could have won just now. And I thought so too."
"But when I saw Orfevre's final spurt and felt the limits of my own body today... even if I hadn't slowed down, me losing was merely an inevitability."
"...My shin was fractured once before. Although it was a long time ago, and it didn't seem to affect me in my races back then, it seems like the aftereffects are finally starting to show."
Saying this, Maruzensky extended her full left leg, rolling down her red stocking to reveal a reddish, inflamed leg.
Under Ikezoe's widened eyes, a bitter smile appeared on her face.
"After my retirement, my body also began to develop more and more problems... especially my heart."
"I remember the day I got a heart attack just like it was yesterday. It was very scary you know? I was just doing some light exercise and before I knew it, my chest started hurting like crazy, and I had to be rushed to the hospital."
"Luckily, no serious complications came out of it, and I was able to be discharged normally. But even to this day, I still have to rely on medication to regulate my body."
As Maruzensky spoke, she subconsciously clenched her chest where her heart was, a tinge of phantom pain apparent in her face.
"Ikezoe-kun, you didn't know these things, did you? It wasn't that I intentionally let you win... but because I genuinely... couldn't keep running."
The feeling of her legs possibly fracturing if she kept running, that feeling of her heart suddenly stopping if she kept pushing her body—
Ever since Maruzensky realized just how close to death she was when she was on the racecourse, she decisively chose to retire on the spot, never intending to return to the tracks ever again.
Her once trusty legs now seemed as fragile as glass, and her beating heart suddenly became no better than a landmine that could explode at the slightest pressure.
This, was Maruzensky's greatest fear.
The inability to run freely anymore, the encroaching fear that anytime she ran would be her last... it was the greatest fear for any Uma Musume.
In the end, Ikezoe, who suddenly had such heavy baggage thrusted onto him, could only remain silent.
Just like that, a long silence fell between the two as they wordlessly stared off into the distance.
After a long while, a smile reappeared on Maruzensky's face as her tone regained its usual playfulness.
"It's alright my dear student, don't look so downcast~ These are my problems, not yours. You and your adorable in charge Uma Musume can still keep running."
"The reason I choose to educate juniors like you is because I hope the new generation can continue to run well, unlike me."
"Good things must eventually end. It is only right that this era should be handed over to you youngsters."
'Yet, I still don't want things to end...'
Maruzensky helplessly murmured to herself in her heart, even if she knew it was an incredibly selfish wish.
"—No, Teacher, you can keep running."
However, suddenly, with eyes full of conviction, Ikezoe looked into Maruzensky's eyes and said very seriously,
"Teacher, I am your student. And most of what I teach Curren Chan and Orfevre, much of my current knowledge, come from you, right?"
"So, wouldn't you say that you've always been running through us? Orfevre, Curren Chan, all the other Uma Musume that you have helped in the past, are actually running your part, Teacher."
"...Running my part?"
Maruzensky was stunned and murmured to herself.
But before she could laugh it off and dismiss it, Ikezoe pressed on and said with absolute seriousness,
"Yes, Teacher. All those Uma Musume who are on overseas expeditions, those that you have given help before... all of them are running with a part of you inside them."
"Teacher, you've actually never truly left the track; in fact, you have always been running."
Saying this, Ikezoe also didn't forget to flash what he considered his most handsome smile at Maruzensky.
However, Maruzensky said nothing in response, only showing a blank stare at Ikezoe, with no emotions whatsoever.
After the one minute mark, he even started to inwardly panic, wondering if his face truly was that ugly.
"Bw—"
But eventually, Maruzensky cracked, her sudden laugh breaking the long silence.
"BWWAHAHAHAHA!!!! Ikezoe-kun, you're so adorable! Isn't that a line from "Numato"?!" (T/N: Uma version of Naruto)
"Ah, was I exposed...?"
Directly exposed by the Uma Musume of unknown age in front of him, Ikezoe's face flushed with a hint of embarrassment.
Indeed, his lines just now were plagiarized from the male protagonist that constantly shouted "Dattebayo!" for he did not have the EQ required to say such motivational words.
Damn it! If only Wada had given him half the emotional intelligence he possessed, then he wouldn't have gotten into this situation in the first place...
"Ha... ha... But I'm very happy, Kouhai-kun. Thanks for trying to cheer me up."
Maruzensky said, wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes as a natural smile formed on her face.
"Yes, I can't run myself, so I'll work hard to enable more children to run~ Really, I love watching them run so happily, so freely... just like me over ten years ago—"
However, as she said this, Maruzensky belatedly realized that she seemed to have subtly exposed her age.
Meeting Ikezoe's gaze, which seemed to have also caught on to this point, Maruzensky quickly pressed her finger on his lips, her cheeks flushed with a hint of embarrassment.
"...Please don't tell anyone, my dear student."
"You are now one of the few people who know my approximate age. Please, please, pleaseee~ don't tell anyone else."
"No worries, my mouth is sealed shut."
Ikezoe did a zipping motion across his mouth as he agreed. Even he knew well what a taboo age was for women.
And just like that, all the previous doom and gloom had disappeared, replaced with laughter and joy as the two joked around with each other.
However, facing such an honest Ikezoe, Maruzensky suddenly felt a bit bored.
At that moment, an idea suddenly popped into her head as a slightly reddish blush appeared on her cheeks.
"How boring~ You know, Kouhai-kun, if you had said something like: "Heh, Senior you wouldn't want your age to be revealed, would you~?" Then maybe you could—"
"...Never mind, pretend I didn't say anything."
In the end, it was Maruzensky herself who was too shy to continue on with the suggestive joke.
As the blush on her face reddened, she actually looked genuinely shy, looking like a fair and innocent high school girl.
And in the instant Maruzensky blushed, for some reason, Ikezoe, who had witnessed this scene, also felt his heart rate inexplicably quicken, causing his cheeks to suddenly turn red as well.
Luckily, just as it seemed that Ikezoe and Maruzensky were at an impasse in this awkward atmosphere, a joyful cry broke the silence.
"Ah! Found you! Trainer Ikezoe! Senior Maruzensky!"
The person who was running towards them was, in fact, the familiar Sweep Tosho, wearing her black robe and witch's hat.
"Trainer Ikezoe, Senior Maruzensky, do you, do you remember me?"
"Of course I do, my cute little witch~"
Sweep Tosho's fortunate intervention gave Maruzensky some respite from her pounding heart, her favorability of Sweep Tosho increasing by several levels.
"Is there something you need us for?"
"I've figured it out! I want to run step by step, and learn magic step by step too!"
Sweep Tosho nodded cheerfully, then turned to Ikezoe and handed him a book she had been holding.
"Trainer Ikezoe, I want to join your team! I want to be like you all, win more races, and then learn stronger magic!"
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Title: "Maruzensky Can't Run Anymore"
First sentence: ...Maruzensky ran off...
Which is it?
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If you spot any errors, feel free to comment about it and I will fix it as soon as I can.