Chapter 23
While the two student council presidents were deep in discussion, on the other side in Fuchu, inside the lounge of a hot spring resort…
"Haaachoo—!"
"Trainer, are you coming down with a cold?"
Seeing Yasui Makoto suddenly sneeze, Kitasan Black immediately offered, "I'll go call the staff here…"
"No need. Someone's probably just talking about me behind my back~" he said with a light laugh.
He stopped Kitasan Black and looked her up and down for a moment before asking, "How is it? The hot spring here?"
Unlike her usual racing outfit or the sparkling costume she wore on the Winner's Stage, Kitasan Black was now wearing a deep crimson yukata.
The yukata hugged her body nicely, beautifully highlighting her athletic yet graceful figure. Since she was still in her growth period, there was still a hint of youthful innocence to her silhouette.
The butterfly hair tie she normally wore was undone, letting her smooth black hair fall gently over her shoulders. Slightly damp from the bath and with flushed cheeks, the usually energetic girl now gave off a serene, quiet charm different from her usual lively self.
Of course, the moment she opened her mouth with that bright, full-of-energy voice, her cheerful personality shone right through.
"Mhmm! It's super comfortable! Way nicer than any of the hot springs Grandpa took me to!"
Kitasan Black gestured excitedly as she spoke. "And the people here are amazing! Their massage technique is so good There were so many times I felt so good I almost wanted to moan out loud, da yo!"
…Okay, that wording sounded a bit strange, didn't it?
Yasui Makoto felt a little awkward for a second at her choice of words.
He quickly glanced around and noticed quite a few people nearby giving them odd looks. He cleared his throat.
"You performed really well in this race, and the post-race checkup showed you're perfectly healthy. Still, there's definitely some accumulated fatigue even if you can't feel it yourself.
"Hot springs are great for relieving fatigue, and this place also offers special physiotherapy tailored for horse girls. That's why I specifically brought you here."
The hot spring resort wasn't too far from Tokyo Racecourse. In addition to regular hot springs, baths, and massages, they provided specialized care just for horse girls.
Before coming to Tokyo, Yasui Makoto had already researched these places and planned to use them as part of post-race recovery. Right after the Winner's Stage, he brought Kitasan Black here.
From the looks of it, the resort was living up to his expectations.
If there was one downside, it would probably be the price.
The hot spring was charged by the hour, and with the special massage session for Kitasan Black, it came out to nearly 5,000 yen per hour on average.
For an eight-hour overnight stay, that meant around 80,000 yen for the two of them. It was definitely on the luxurious side.
However, Yasui Makoto didn't mind the cost at all.
In his previous life he never lacked money, and while he couldn't earn as much in this life, he didn't have many expenses either. Between his family allowance and the money he saved from part-time work in high school, a few tens of thousands of yen was no problem.
Plus, Kitasan Black's debut race victory came with a substantial prize of 6 million yen. According to their contract, after taxes, the remaining amount would be split evenly between them.
Kitasan Black's share would be handled by the academy and transferred to her family, while his portion came as a direct deposit.
Over 2 million yen was no small amount, so even though the money hadn't arrived yet, he was already feeling a bit flush.
He hadn't had a chance to enjoy the hot spring himself yet because he was waiting for Kitasan Black.
After explaining the plan to her, he stood up and said:
"From now until tomorrow, the only thing on your schedule is rest. How you spend that rest is completely up to you.
"I'm going to take a quick soak myself. You already have your room key. Feel free to stay here in the lounge or go back to your room and relax.
"Don't worry about the cost — I've already paid for everything. Just enjoy yourself to the fullest, Kita-chan."
"Mhmm! Thank you, Trainer Yasui!"
Kitasan Black nodded enthusiastically. "I was just about to call Teio-senpai and Diamond-chan to tell them about my win. I'll head back to my room then~"
After heading to the men's bath, Yasui Makoto didn't waste the money he'd paid and thoroughly enjoyed the hot spring and physiotherapy.
In his previous life, he had always followed the same principle: work hard when it's time to work, and rest properly when it's time to rest. Back then, rest was mostly to relieve mental stress. Now, it was pure enjoyment.
When he finally returned to his room after bathing, he opened the door and was surprised to find Kitasan Black inside playing video games, even though it was supposed to be his single room.
"…Did I walk into the wrong room? Or is there something you need, Kita-chan?"
"Huh? You didn't walk into the wrong room, Trainer Yasui! This is your room."
She was holding a game controller, eyes glued to the large screen. She glanced at him for a second before looking back.
"Just give me a moment, Trainer Yasui. I need to save my progress~"
Yasui Makoto walked in and casually glanced at the screen, then paused.
"Isn't this… Bayonetta 2?"
"Yeah! It's Bayonetta 2. Diamond-chan recommended it to me."
Kitasan Black turned off the screen, put down the controller, and smiled. Then she asked curiously, "Do you like playing games too, Trainer Yasui?"
"I guess you could say that."
Yasui Makoto thought for a moment and answered casually.
He had played games in his previous life because of work requirements. In this life, he found them to be a good way to relax during his free time and had played quite a bit.
"'Bayonetta'… I think one of the publishers is Sega… Oh right, that's part of the Satono family's business, isn't it?"
"Mhmm! That's exactly why Diamond-chan loves playing games, but she only plays titles released by her own company."
Kitasan Black nodded, pointing at the game console.
"This console was a birthday gift from her. She often recommends all kinds of games from her family's company.
"If you like games too, that's perfect! You can teach me how to play. I'm actually pretty bad at a lot of games…"
"Teach you how to play games? That's not exactly in my job description, you know," he said with a smile.
Seeing Kitasan Black freeze for a second with a slightly disappointed look, Yasui Makoto chuckled again.
"I'm just kidding.
"I'm not some old-fashioned stick-in-the-mud. I play games to relax when I'm not working too.
"My rule is simple: work hard when it's time to work, and rest properly when it's time to rest.
"So when there's no training or racing, playing games together is perfectly fine."
Kitasan Black's face lit up instantly. "Yay! Trainer Yasui, you're the best!"
Then her expression changed as she suddenly pulled out her phone.
"Oh right! If that's the case, you probably won't want to meet with Teio-senpai until Monday, right?"
Yasui Makoto blinked.
"Tokai Teio… Did she contact me?"
"Yeah! When I called Teio-senpai earlier to tell her I won the race, she was really happy and praised me for a long time.
"Then she asked me to tell you to contact her when you have time so you two can set up a meeting. She said there's something she wants to talk to you about.
"She didn't tell me what it was about, but I think it's probably work-related.
"I was worried I might forget tomorrow, hehe… My memory for these kinds of things isn't the best.
"So I waited here for you to come back so I wouldn't miss it.
"If you don't like working on your days off, should I tell Teio-senpai that you'll reply to her later?"
---
Bonus chapters
200 Stones - 1 chapter
400 Stones - 2 chapter
600 Stones - 3 chapters
And so on
Also visit my patreon for 30 advance chapters!
patreon.com/liztl