No one knew what kind of mood Special Week was in when she joined Tracen Academy in the name of the already-dead Kitano Ryuichi and wanted to see Silence Suzuka. But everyone knew that her request could not be granted. Because she was so aggressive and claimed to be his charge just like Suzuka, she must have already known the reason for his death.
And at this time, letting her see Suzuka would definitely be a kind of harm to her. It was even very likely to cause greater conflict and violence, which would absolutely not be allowed.
And... another reason was that since his death, Suzuka had fallen into a seemingly endless depression. Now she... was not in a suitable state to see people.
But in the end, her proposal was still approved. The person who approved it was none other than the "Empress" Air Groove, who had once lost to Suzuka in the Takarazuka Kinen and was both a senior and a guide to her.
"Perhaps it's better to let the current Suzuka see her. She can't go on being so depressed... I'm very worried about her current state. If she continues to be trapped in his death, she might do something foolish."
"Let them meet. I'll supervise outside to prevent anything extreme from happening."
Finally, with Air Groove's guarantee, after communicating with the student council and the director, they reluctantly agreed to let Special Week go and see this horse girl who had once been the most talked-about at Tracen... this Silence Suzuka, who, after losing her closest person in an accident, had been unable to recover ever since.
Air Groove took Special Week to her current dormitory—since his death, Suzuka had not had a roommate. And the academy, considering her unstable mood at the time, had tacitly approved this request. And now, Special Week and Air Groove had become the few who had actively visited her in this year.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Suzuka-san? Are you in there? There's someone here who you might know. She claims to be Special Week, one of the former charges of... your trainer."
"..."
However, Air Groove's knock did not get a response. She tried again, and then finally tried to open the door directly. However, the door, which was locked from the inside, made her finally realize the seriousness of the matter.
"Suzuka! What foolish thing are you doing?! Come out!"
"—Let me."
However, just as the anxious Air Groove was about to break in, Special Week had already made the decision for her. When she subconsciously made way, she only felt a gust of wind, and Special Week kicked down the dormitory door with one foot.
And in the next second, neither of them had expected that they would witness the scene before them...
In the dim dormitory, Silence Suzuka was sitting alone in the aisle between the two rows of beds. Her usually well-groomed, reddish-brown hair was now messy and scattered, her bangs covering half of her face, making it impossible for anyone to see her expression, only feeling her dejection.
But all of this was not the reason that had scared them. What truly shocked them was... her left leg, which was still bandaged, was now pierced with numerous needles of unknown origin... She seemed to be trying to give herself acupuncture, but the final result was a hundred times more horrifying.
Because the position was incorrect, and the operator's mind was in a daze, her left leg, which was full of needles, was bleeding profusely. Lines of blood flowed from the needle holes all the way to the floor. Some of the bloodstains had even dried, but her actions had not stopped.
She repeatedly pulled out a needle that had already been inserted into her flesh without a word. With another trickle of blood, she did not cry out in pain. Instead, while muttering to herself, she raised the needle in her hand again:
"Why can't I get it right... Trainer-san's acupuncture position should be right here... let's try again."
"Now... let's try here."
Saying this, faced with her bleeding and even swollen left leg, she showed no mercy and struck herself again without mercy, the needle in her hand falling again, about to pierce her leg!
But this time, her action was stopped. Her wrist was fiercely grabbed by an unknown but exceptionally strong hand. She tried to exert force several times but could not overcome the other party. Only then did she belatedly and blankly look up.
And in the next moment, when her gaze met the familiar bangs, familiar hair color, but a cold expression completely different from the innocent and cheerful Spe-chan in her memory.
"...Spe-chan?"
SLAP!
However, what no one had expected was that the moment she had just come to her senses and called out softly, in the next moment, she was met with a merciless slap from Special Week.
Her slightly pale cheek was hit by this unannounced slap, making her whole head buzz. And the one who had done such an excessive thing, this horse girl who had been known for her coldness since she had just enrolled, before Suzuka, gritted her teeth, but still could not hold back the two lines of clear tears in her eyes, which began to fall uncontrollably...
"What are you doing... what are you doing."
"Do you think Trainer-san will come back if you give up on yourself like this? Do you think his spirit in heaven will be moved if you self-harm and self-abuse like this?"
"You were his charge for so long! What do you think you're doing?! You're doing the one thing he would least want you to do!"
"Look at yourself! What kind of person did he save?! Is the Silence Suzuka he saved with his life this kind of self-pitying, moaning and groaning person?!"
Her last sentence was practically roared at Suzuka. When she had just arrived at Tracen, she admitted that she had initially come with the intention of questioning her, questioning how this detestable person had caused her beloved Trainer-san to die. This was a hurdle she could not overcome in her heart, and it was a pain that would last a lifetime.
Although she had only been with him for three months, she would never forget the trainer who had extended a helping hand when her mother was worried about how to send her to Tracen. He had not even asked for anything in return and was willing to take on her, who was just a country horse girl at the time.
She would never forget... in those three months, this person, who was like her brother, had taken her to face the classmates who had once said she was a "fatherless horse girl." From then on, in her middle school, everyone knew she had a "brother" who was a trainer at Tracen.
She would never forget, in those three months, he had paid out of his own pocket to make her one delicious dinner after another. He had taught her how to run, how to get along with other horse girls, taught her things... that her own mother had not had time to teach her.
Until now, she still couldn't tell what he meant to her... He was like her brother, sometimes even like her father. But no matter what, she had always regarded him as her second family, the person closest to her besides her mother.
And all of this... until one day, she saw such news on TV, which was actually the last news of her closest person...
"A very sad piece of news. At the Tennō Shō (Autumn) racetrack, Silence Suzuka's trainer, Kitano Ryuichi, rushed into the track to save his fractured charge. He did his best to avoid a trampling incident. Silence Suzuka suffered fractures in her left leg and multiple parts of her body, but her life is not in danger."
"But unfortunately, Kitano Ryuichi, who was already suffering from late-stage bone cancer, passed away during emergency treatment, at the age of 23..."
Click!
She would never forget that day. In a daze, she had not been mentally prepared at all and was met with the news of her closest person's death... On that TV screen, the familiar faces of Silence Suzuka and Kitano Ryuichi slowly appeared. And finally, his photo slowly turned into a black and white background, and the smiling photo of the bay-haired horse girl beside him deeply pierced her heart at this moment.
That day, she cried at home for a whole day, until not a single tear could be squeezed out of her eyes... A full week later, when she first walked out of her room, she had somehow quietly completed her development.
But that day, her blood-red eyes were filled with an unprecedented coldness, aloofness, anger, and all the expressions that had never been seen on her face before, were all integrated into her body.
From that day on, she had never shed another tear. She became cold, became tough, became a strong general among the horse girls that ordinary people could not reach.
And from then on, she developed a strange quirk that ordinary people could not understand—hating horse girls, especially those with reddish-brown hair.
And this time, seeing Silence Suzuka again, Special Week, who had originally come with the intention of possibly fighting her, after seeing her so self-deprecating, her belly full of anger suddenly had nowhere to vent. Her hatred for her for causing her trainer's death also dissipated by more than half because of her miserable state.
But what replaced it was her burning anger and disappointment. She looked at the vacant-eyed Suzuka in front of her and roared, word by word:
"You just live in the past forever! And I will make everyone remember his name! I will run with his portion, I will carry my mother's and his expectations and become Japan's number one horse girl!"
"You watch me, Silence Suzuka! I will surpass you! I will make everyone remember his name forever! If you can't respond to his expectations, then let me realize his wish for you!"
"And you, are you going to sit here and wallow in self-pity, or are you willing to realize his ideal with me?"
"..."
That day, Suzuka, who was speechless after being scolded by her, just stared blankly at the indignant Special Week... And her eyes, which had been without a trace of luster since his death, seemed to finally flicker with a long-lost light at this time...
-------
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