"Urk—"
[Negative Energy +5]
The girl braced both hands against the ground, no longer caring whether it was dirty or not, and vomited helplessly toward the drain.
Once she felt a little better, Offside Trap regretted eating so much that morning. She lifted her head—only to meet Terazumi Shinji's deeply suggestive gaze.
"Urgh—"
She doubled over and started retching again.
At this point, she was absolutely certain that what she regretted was not eating too much for breakfast, but how on earth she had let herself be bewitched into agreeing to become Terazumi Shinji's horse girl.
This man was cold, vicious, and utterly heartless. Even the most despicable scumbag in romance stories—the kind who toyed with a horse girl's feelings—would still be more likable, more approachable, than the man standing before her now, who looked as though he might even be trying not to laugh.
"T-Trainer…"
Her broken voice carried a note of grievance. Shinji raised a brow and cut in before she could continue.
"If you're about to ask me to help you up, you'd better keep it to yourself, because I'm definitely going to refuse."
Without even looking at Offside Trap's expression, Terazumi Shinji dusted off clothes that had no dust on them to begin with.
"You know, vomit's pretty dirty. It probably splashed onto you."
[Negative Energy +10]
[You're unbelievable.]
In the end, the system failed to hold back. It had personally witnessed how Terazumi Shinji had drilled Offside Trap all morning long. That near-demonic regimen made the system feel that Shinji was probably the one who needed medical attention.
[Didn't you see her status panel?]
Isn't the important part of "recently recovered from serious illness" the word "recovered"?
Terazumi Shinji replied in his mind as if it were perfectly self-evident, casually taking two steps backward in the process and causing Offside Trap—who had been about to borrow a little support to steady herself—to stumble.
Faced with her look of utter disbelief, Shinji's expression did not change in the slightest. Everything seemed so natural to him, so entirely reasonable.
Besides, she's throwing up so badly that anyone else would've started gagging too. Only I watched the entire process without the slightest urge to vomit.
[…]
The system's silence made its shock plain.
Shinji ignored it, turned around, and began walking out of the training ground.
Behind him, Offside Trap gritted her teeth, but still followed.
She felt she must be sick herself. He treated her like this, and yet she still kept chasing after him.
Could the books really have been right? Once a trainer and a horse girl officially established their relationship, the trainer would stop treating the horse girl the way he had before?
Maybe Sakura Super O had not been wrong at all—once you became a trainer's horse girl, it was the same as stepping into a grave.
[Negative Energy +5]
When the notification sounded again, the smile on Terazumi Shinji's face became noticeably more genuine.
His Emotion Energy had just been emptied out, yet after only one morning it was already climbing toward fifty again. How could that not make him, as a trainer, feel delighted?
This seems easier to earn than I expected.
[That's only because a certain girl still hasn't seen someone's truly disgusting side yet.]
Ignoring the system's slander, Shinji turned his head slightly as they stepped onto the academy road.
"Offside Trap, go back and clean yourself up first. After lunch and a rest, meet me at the academy gate at two in the afternoon."
"Hm?"
She looked at him warily.
Offside Trap had every reason to suspect that Terazumi Shinji had some new method of torment prepared for her that afternoon.
After just one morning, her legs were already so weak she could barely straighten them. If there was a whole afternoon more of this, whether her body could even take it would become a serious question.
She was a patient who had only just recovered. The doctor had specifically told her to rest, yet this damn man seemed not to care about her health in the slightest.
Even if she was supposed to train hard, surely it was not supposed to look like this.
"What kind of expression is that?"
The way Offside Trap looked at him was as if she were staring at an idiot, as though to say that his question was so painfully obvious it made him look ridiculous.
"This afternoon, I'm taking you to buy clothes. It'd be better if you changed your race outfit. We also need to take a photo, and I still have to hand in your registration form to the student council today."
As he spoke, Terazumi Shinji remembered the item he had gotten from his inventory, and his gaze drifted toward Offside Trap's shoes.
After an entire morning of training, they were completely filthy. The mud caked all over them seemed to accuse Shinji of his utter lack of care for her.
"You'll also need to prepare a pair of racing shoes. Give them to me when the time comes."
"Give… them to you?"
Offside Trap hesitated for a moment, then still nodded.
Even the system was moved.
[She's so obedient. She'd actually hand them over to you. With how you've been acting so far, any normal person would suspect you wanted her shoes for some shady reason.]
?
Terazumi Shinji was baffled. For a moment, he suddenly felt that his system might not be a particularly wholesome one either.
Sure enough, whether human or ghost, once the mask came off there was always some utterly shameful true self underneath.
Ignoring the system's strange muttering, Shinji headed toward his office.
For quite some time now, he had hardly shown up there at all, having been wholly occupied with trying to make Offside Trap become his horse girl. So when he suddenly appeared again, Fukutani Fumie, who sat beside his desk, rubbed her eyes.
"What are you doing here?"
"Am I not allowed to be?"
Terazumi Shinji looked at Fukutani Fumie in confusion, though from the corner of his eye he was also noticing the Tokyo Love Story drama currently playing on her computer.
[If the heroine ate the hero, wouldn't she catch some kind of virus?]
What virus?
[Doesn't the internet say people aren't supposed to eat people?]
You're a system and you're asking me?
Because he had gotten distracted by his exchange with the system, Fukutani Fumie also noticed where his gaze had strayed. She flushed slightly and hurriedly hid the video player.
Having a few odd entertainment tastes was perfectly normal, but being seen indulging in them was a different matter.
Shinji withdrew his gaze.
The female trainer, who was only just thirty, seemed never to have had a relationship before. In the past, Shinji had genuinely felt indignant on her behalf. She was, after all, a G2-level trainer with a decent amount of savings, not especially old, and attractive besides. Other than being a little socially anxious and withdrawn, she had no bad habits to speak of. So why had no one ever pursued her?
Now, however, Shinji felt Fukutani Fumie might need to wait a little longer for her destined romance.
[Don't be fooled by the stuff she watches. The moment it comes to love, she's obviously the type to lose her mind over it.]
The system spoke like some seasoned veteran, sounding absurdly convincing, which left Shinji at a loss for words.
You've really got opinions on everything, don't you?
[That's right.]
The system sounded as if it had seen countless such things before, making it strangely persuasive.
Naturally, Shinji did not let himself be led around by it. He merely withdrew his gaze and lightly ran his fingers over the desktop.
To his surprise, there was no dust.
Then he heard the woman's voice behind him.
"I figured you'd been busy lately, running around because of your trainer qualification situation, so I took it upon myself to wipe it down a little…"
There was a cautious note in her voice, as though she were worried Shinji might mind that she had touched his desk without permission.
But how could he possibly mind? Anything truly important would never have been left out on this desk in the first place.
He turned and smiled at Fukutani Fumie, expressing his thanks. Then he noticed that she looked as though she wanted to say something, but hesitated.
There was a letter lying by her hand. Shinji had not paid it any attention before, but when he looked more closely at the sticker sealing it, his pupils contracted.
It was the kind of sticker she had always liked to use.
That made the sender obvious without needing to be said.
"Sansho Drum didn't dare come see you herself, so she asked me to pass this letter to you."
"Didn't dare?"
Shinji did not believe that for a second. That was only the excuse Fukutani Fumie had found after placing herself in his shoes.
"At this time of year, she's off at training camp. That's why she mailed it."
"And besides, she just couldn't be bothered to make a special trip. I know her."
His words made Fukutani Fumie's face go pale.
Her mind was more delicate than most, and she could sense that beneath the man's unchanged expression, flames were already beginning to rise.
Without even looking at the letter, Shinji could guess its contents from how well he knew her.
It was probably an invitation to come watch some race.
That horse girl had underestimated just how much her departure had affected him. She actually seemed to believe that even though they had lost the title of trainer and student, the emotional tie called "the past" still remained between them.
That was impossible.
Shinji guessed Sansho Drum was about to challenge the G1 stage, and the thought brought a contemptuous smile to his lips.
After leaving Terazumi Shinji, that other trainer had failed to make Sansho Drum any better. Her abilities had inevitably declined. It was only through that veteran trainer's experience and tactical arrangements that she had barely managed to maintain her current state—occasionally placing in G2 races.
But she no longer had any possibility of going further.
Shinji took the letter and casually tossed it into the trash can.
"How… have you been? Did you find a new horse girl yet?"
Deliberately moving her gaze away from the letter—and even more deliberately not looking at him throwing it away—Fukutani Fumie carefully chose her words.
"Actually, the student council's intentions weren't bad. The president didn't mean anything by it either…"
At her words, Terazumi Shinji nodded.
The agitation in his heart subsided, and a faint smile returned to his face.
"I've already found a new horse girl."
He did not respond to the second half of what she had said.
Everyone was born with a position they stood from, and above every such position there were always questions of right and wrong.
Fukutani Fumie's eyes lit up. She sincerely wanted this junior colleague, almost like a younger brother to her, to be well. The moment she heard the good news, she started to rise from her chair.
"But I have a few things I need to take care of this afternoon. Tomorrow, I was thinking of inviting you, Nishizaki Ryu, and the others out for a meal."
Fukutani Fumie, who had only half-risen, sank back down into her seat. The soft cushion outlined her full curves, and Shinji's gaze flicked over them almost unconsciously.
[She noticed.]
[…]
Terazumi Shinji had not expected the system to have that kind of function, much less that even a passing subconscious glance of his could be detected.
So he sat down at his desk with a touch of awkwardness, staring blankly at the computer screen that had already been turned on.
[Forgot your password?]
He ignored the system's teasing.
He had not come here in so long that, now that he was actually sitting down, he found himself not knowing what he was supposed to do.
The old files had already been wiped after she left. There was hardly anything left on this computer anymore.
System.
[I'm here.]
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 175)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 126)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter134)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 87
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 79
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 64
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 73
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 45
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 49
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 45
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 45
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 31
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 27
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 26
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