The first time Mr. C.B. heard the name Symboli Rudolf was after she had won the Japan Derby, when Kitano's condition had stabilized.
At the time, having just won the Japan Derby, she was only one G1 race, the Kikuka Sho, away from achieving the unprecedented feat of "Undefeated Triple Crown horse girl." She would surpass all her predecessors, stand at the true peak of Japanese horse racing, and realize her dream.
What made her feel both happy and strange was that after her victory, her parents had actually suggested inviting Kitano to their home for dinner, as a small thank you for his careful training of their daughter.
"That's... not a good idea, is it?"
Returning home after winning the Japan Derby, C.B. was celebrating with her parents when she heard their decision. After a moment of her mind going blank, she showed a rare hesitation. "He's... not well, Mr. Trainer. You know that, Mom and Dad."
"It's fine, you'll be there, won't you, C.B.? You can bring him," her father said, nonchalantly looking at the newspaper, pretending not to hear the meaning behind her words. "I have two good bottles of wine. Looks like I have a reason to open them. I have to have a few drinks with him to show my gratitude."
"He can't drink, Mr. Trainer... Mom? Say something."
"I think your father is right, C.B.," her mother said, to her surprise. C.B. had thought her mother would be the most rational one in this matter, but she was now encouraging her, not hearing her evasiveness. "We both really want to meet him in person, to see how amazing the person who can make our freest daughter willingly stay by his side is."
"...He's a patient, Mom."
C.B. now vaguely heard her parents deliberately avoiding a question, the most direct one. She felt she understood the meaning behind their words. After a moment of hesitation, she finally tentatively asked the question she was most worried about, the one that was the deepest reason for her fear of getting too close to him.
To this, her mother just smiled and replied matter-of-factly, "Patients need to eat too."
"When you go back to Tracen Academy tomorrow, C.B., remember to discuss a time with him. Your father and I need to prepare."
"—Of course, if it's really difficult for him and he can't come, we won't press the issue. What do you think, C.B.?"
Undoubtedly, her parents knew about the unusual relationship between their daughter and her trainer. It was a hot topic of discussion all over Japan now, whether she would follow in her parents' fine tradition and marry her close trainer, a matter that the entire country supported and saw as "inevitable."
Her parents couldn't not know what kind of terminally ill person their daughter was rumored to be with. If it were ordinary parents, upon learning their daughter was close to someone who could die at any moment, they would never have let her have anything to do with him again.
But her parents ultimately chose to give their daughter the power to decide for herself. Perhaps because they knew that once she made up her mind, no one could persuade her. Or perhaps because... they vaguely guessed that the person their daughter had fallen for was someone she could never let go of.
Since the ending is known, it's better to love fiercely, without regrets. That might be the best ending.
...But C.B. didn't understand all this. Or rather, she understood, but she ultimately chose to silently avoid all these questions.
She had tasted the feeling of losing him. She said she wouldn't be scared anymore... but she knew that was just an excuse to numb herself.
Back then, after only half a year together, she was already addicted to the motivation he brought her. A terminally ill trainer, a "non-interference" distance they had agreed upon at the beginning... but she could still feel that she was being watched, that she was being supported.
When the whole world scorned her, there was always that one gaze on her. He was so weak himself, so sick he had been hospitalized several times, yet he never forgot her for a moment.
He would prepare her training plans in his hospital room during his breaks. When he was discharged, he would always give her the new plans in time.
He was alone in his hospital room, yet it was as if he had a monitor on her. He always knew what she had done all day, whether she was distracted or focused as usual. She later learned from President Shinzan that he would always call her, asking her to pay more attention to C.B., to tell him how she was doing so he could rest easy.
He... was so weak himself, yet he never let her take care of him, because he knew she didn't like taking elevators. He wanted her to do what she was interested in at all times, to go see kabuki, to run freely in the rain, not to let his affairs affect her.
In just half a year, this gentle poison named "Kitano" had deeply affected her. And on the eve of the Satsuki Sho, when she thought she was going to lose him forever, the suffocation, the urgency, the feeling of her heart being torn apart—she would never forget it.
She could bear it that time. And now? A year later? Could she... still quit this "poison"?
The wind had felt the warmth of spring, the tenderness of the spring water. To ask it to return to the freezing winter, to become a biting hurricane again—would it be willing?
Perhaps it could. Perhaps... as long as she hadn't completely surrendered to the warmth of spring, she could still endure the biting cold wind. As long as this light hadn't completely illuminated her entire world, that dark corner... she could still accept it.
If you know you will be hurt in the future, it's better not to have fallen in the first place... It seems my trainer was more far-sighted after all.
—And with these thoughts, C.B., upon returning to his side that day, noticed his unusual mood. This trainer who had illuminated her world, who had never given up no matter how desperate the situation, for the first time showed a hint of dejection and low spirits.
What caught her attention most was him, alone, constantly toying with the red pendant he had long put away. He seemed to be reminiscing about something, but also seemed to be in pain and sadness because of it... All this drove her to involuntarily step forward and ask the question.
"...Mr. Trainer, you, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing, C.B. I just... saw the owner of this memento. But I can't return it to her in person anymore."
"Don't worry about it. I was actually prepared for this. Don't ask any more questions. Get some rest."
...His childhood friend has come to Tracen Academy?
As usual, Kitano didn't mention anything that might affect her condition. But in the end, after learning this news, she still found out and gradually confirmed the most likely suspect through her own means—this horse girl named "Symboli Rudolf," a newcomer who held some hostility towards her and wanted to become an "Undefeated Triple Crown horse girl."
This childhood friend whom he had mentioned once or twice, whom he had met when he was very young, was now standing before her. She was hot-tempered, boasting that she would challenge her position, that she would personally take away her title of "Japan's strongest horse girl."
And faced with this challenger, this junior who held some obsession with her, who was full of anger towards her, as if she had stolen the achievement that should have been hers—C.B. smiled.
She sensed an aura in Rudolf that was very similar to her own back then... that disgust and anger towards everything around her. Except she had suppressed it in her heart, using a relaxed expression as a disguise, while Rudolf had expressed it loudly, without hiding her emotions.
This biting cold wind-like sharpness, this stubbornness that seemed to need no love or support, made C.B. see herself, and also a glimmer of hope.
A glimmer... of escaping this spring that she was doomed to lose, of re-acclimatizing to the winter hurricane.
C.B. knew that her trainer had recognized his childhood friend, but Rudolf had not recognized him. But none of that mattered. Rudolf was destined to challenge her. The two of them would inevitably have a showdown.
Since this childhood friend holds such an indelible mark in his heart... then he will probably favor her a little, right?
That's fine too... Let this spring wind that is destined to leave me one day go and warm others who need it more. Instead of losing it in a heart-wrenching way in the future, wanting to chase back this warmth but being unable to, it's better to let this wind blow towards others.
Then, as I slowly return to being alone, I will also re-acclimatize to this coldness, this state of running alone.
That year was a glorious but confusing one for C.B. She achieved the unprecedented feat of the Undefeated Triple Crown, becoming the truly recognized number one horse girl in Japan. She and her trainer were also pushed to the highest heights in Japan, becoming the "perfect, unbeatable pair" in people's mouths.
But it was also that year that made her decide to leave this warmth that bound her. She knew she couldn't enjoy this warmth forever. Once this warmth left, it would make her fall apart, make her unable to become the hurricane of the racetrack again. She had to make up her mind to leave.
The next year was Rudolf's glorious year. C.B. witnessed how this junior, with a heart full of unwilling anger, went from a rookie to the second Undefeated Triple Crown horse girl in quick succession.
Now, the "Emperor" in her prime had finally challenged her. In this year that belonged to Rudolf, in this year that C.B.... was in a slump.
Having entered her senior year, C.B., at the moment she decided to return to being the "freest wind," seemed to have lost all her form. She didn't follow up her Undefeated Triple Crown victory by participating in the Japan Cup and Arima Kinen. Instead, her physical condition deteriorated, and she entered a long period of rest.
She only won one race that year, the Autumn Tenno Sho. And after that, she felt her physical condition declining even more. She knew that her peak as a horse girl had passed.
Next... would be Rudolf's era. Her challenge to her was destined to end in her defeat. Her and her trainer's so-called "unbeatable" myth would also be shattered.
—But perhaps, that was for the best. She could finally return to her past self. She no longer needed to live up to anyone's expectations, no longer needed to be driven to run. She could return to that freest self. She could get her wish, couldn't she?
"—C.B., I've turned down Rudolf's challenge for a showdown in the Arima Kinen or Japan Cup. We're avoiding the fight."
Yes, avoid the fight. Let your childhood friend win all the victories with unstoppable momentum. C.B., in her slump, didn't even object when she heard his decision that day. She knew that a gentle person like him, even if forgotten by his childhood friend, would still want to see her succeed.
But in the end, what she didn't expect was that just as she thought he was paving the way for Rudolf, he said to her in a righteous tone, "I've postponed our showdown with Rudolf to the Spring Tenno Sho. C.B., rest well during this time, adjust your condition. We will face this Emperor's challenge together!"
"...Together?"
C.B. looked up, slightly dazed, at his determined face. His words just now had clearly chosen to stand with her, not, as she had expected, to bring his warmth to the one he favored.
He had chosen to stay by her side. He had chosen to have a complete break with his past.
"Yes. We will face this challenge together."
Kitano smiled gently and slowly came to her side. Faced with this charge who was now in a slump, always out of sorts, he still chose to trust her completely. He still chose to use that warmth that had made her surrender to melt this hurricane.
"I believe you can beat Rudolf, C.B. We just need to muster our strength one more time, and we can do what we thought we couldn't. As long as we face it together, we can be like we were before, from being abandoned by the world to shaking the world."
"C.B., back then, you were the one who pulled me up when I was disheartened, who gave me the achievements I have today."
"This time, let me be the one to pull you up. I won't let you fall into the abyss. If I can't... then let me fall with you."
Fall together... you fool.
Don't you know that you were the one who saved me? You were the one who first caught that "freest horse girl," making this wind circle around you, never wanting to leave your side again.
Why... just when I've made up my mind, can you so easily pull me back again... My heart, why can't it just leave you?
Honestly, I've lost to you.
"Let's face it together, Mr. Trainer."
As long as you are here, I can become a biting hurricane at any time, just for you... For the one who saved me, I will become any kind of wind you desire.
This is the only thing I can do for you, Mr. Trainer.
-------
Enjoying the story? Support the author and get access to early chapters by joining my Patreon!
Find me at My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
I, Herta's Fiancé, the Universe's Number One Male Fist (114 Chapter (Simulpub-Full) )
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Succubus in Sixth Street (260 Chapter)
Reborn in Type-Moon, My Sister is Aoko Aozaki (230 Chapter)
MyGO!! A Story Voiced by Me (100 Chapter)
BLEACH: Blade of Purification (110 Chapter)
Konoha: Starting the Game as Yoriichi (280 Chapter)
My Real Job is Spying on Konoha, but I'm Also its Hokage (110 Chapter)
The Pinnacle of the Navy! Starting from Being Captured by Garp (130 Chapter)
Watching Yu-Gi-Oh! short videos is making the veteran players lose...(60 Chapter)
Uma Musume : The Trainer Who Just Wants to Live (162 Chapter)
Zenless Zone Zero The Random Kamen Rider (130 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: It All Began With Me Being Stepped On by Arlecchino (90 Chapter)
Naruto: I Can Synthesize Summoning Beasts (60 Chapter)
Demon Slayer: The Great Swordsman's System, Disciple of Yoriichi (90 Chapter)
My Wife is a General, but I'm an Emanator of Abundance! (100 Chapter)
Type-Moon: My Nine-Fold Path (90 Chapter)
Uma Musume: They're Peeking at My Diary, and All of Tracen is Panickin (75 Chapter)
The Wild History of Type-Moon world (50 Chapter)
Reborn in Conan, But I Refuse to Be the Bad Guy (60 Chapter)
Ruan Mei is begging me to go back? But there's no going back anymore (70 Chapter)
Just a Slacker at Tracen Academy (70 Chapter)
Survival in Blue Archive (40 Chapter)
Kimetsu no Yaiba: Doma Wasn't Hated Today, Either (50 Chapter)
The Vibe of This Chat Group is a Little Off (50 Chapter)
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it.