Time is the best medicine. It smooths over the pain of any wound, whether it's the passing of a beloved family member or the loss of a love thought to be the truest of all... In the end, this invisible hand will gently erase every scar.
The tale of the "unbeatable perfect pair," once praised by the Japanese public and envied by countless horse girls, finally came to a close. The end was one everyone could have predicted, but no one had expected it to happen then.
What was even more bewildering to everyone was that after Kitano's passing, Mr. C.B., who should have been devastated, showed not a single sign of grief at the funeral. Even more shockingly, after the service, she chose to continue her travels, not lingering for a moment in the sorrows of the past.
Mr. C.B.'s detached demeanor caused a massive uproar in Japan. For all the citizens who had been moved by their bond and had hoped for their fairy-tale ending, it was as if a beautiful dream had been shattered overnight.
What they found even harder to accept was that the dream wasn't just broken by death. For those who had poured all their fantasies of sincere love and perfect partnership onto the pair, watching them overcome impossible odds time and time again, the reality was a cruel, merciless disillusionment.
It turned out that the irreplaceable perfect pair, the partners who supported each other, was all a lie. There was no mutual love that conquered all foes; it was just a label people had arbitrarily placed upon them.
But most of the outcry was the hysterical backlash of those whose dreams had been broken. Curses, accusations, and questions were hurled at her—but C.B. no longer cared. Her heart felt nothing. Faced with the vile curses, she offered no rebuttal, no explanation. Because even she felt that perhaps she was just as they said... a person without a heart, without feelings.
But... isn't this what you wanted to see, Kitano? I truly no longer feel sad about anything related to you. I'm truly, slowly, forgetting everything about you.
Mr. C.B. felt she was almost there.
As time passed, far from the place of sorrow, she erased and forgot the traces of him, bit by bit. She could clearly feel herself recalling memories of him less and less each day. At first, thinking of the past would bring uncontrollable tears. Now, after a month of busying herself with her own affairs, it was hard to even recall anything about him.
And so, under a boundless, empty feeling, Mr. C.B. repeated this trial for ten years... until not a single trace of him remained in her mind, until all news of him in Japan had faded into silence. Only then did she finally return to this land.
Her return was quiet, attracting no attention. Just as she had for the past decade, she moved like a solitary traveler in a new country. The world had changed dramatically in ten years. For C.B., aside from her parents still being here, everything was a new experience.
The pair of Mr. C.B. and Kitano Ryuichi had become history. A new generation of horse girls had risen, and a super-genius named "Tokai Teio" had become the new hot topic. Some said this calm, unyielding Emperor, personally trained by the "other Emperor," would be the third Undefeated Triple Crown horse girl, surpassing even Rudolf.
"Rudolf... so the child she trained has come this far?" Having just returned to Japan, C.B. heard a familiar name and couldn't help but smile. But in her hazy memory, she couldn't quite recall who this child was connected to, or why the thought brought her a rare feeling of joy.
Before she could find the answer, a figure passing by noticed her and stopped, their voice surprised and a little hesitant. "...Senior C.B.? Is that you?"
"Hmm? Are you... Nice Nature?"
Nice Nature. A junior C.B. had met once at the end of her career. Because she often worked part-time jobs around Tracen Academy and had some family difficulties, C.B. had a particularly strong impression of her. C.B. had an excellent memory; once she met someone, she rarely forgot.
"I didn't expect you to come back so suddenly, Senior C.B. It's been almost ten years. We haven't heard any news about you. We were really worried something had happened."
"But now that you're back, shouldn't you go see your parents first?"
"It's alright. I call them every week. They know I'm fine. I'm planning to surprise them this time."
Having just returned and still unfamiliar with everything, C.B. chatted with the junior for a while. She was as dashing and relaxed as ever, and Nice Nature herself was a talkative girl, so they had plenty to talk about.
And Nice Nature was tactful enough not to bring up Kitano or their past.
"Your parents will be so happy."
Nice Nature looked at the smiling C.B., a complex emotion flashing in her eyes. As someone who had witnessed the rise of their duo, who had been inspired by their story to step onto the racetrack with the dream of "finding a supportive trainer like Mr. Kitano," seeing the now-solitary C.B. and remembering the talk of their shattered fantasy filled her with complicated feelings.
But unlike those who attacked C.B. out of disillusionment, Nice Nature chose to believe their feelings had been real. They had definitely loved each other; it was only due to many obstacles that they had ended up this way.
Because back then, in the coffee shop... Kitano had asked a favor of her. If, in that final conversation after C.B.'s retirement, she had chosen not to leave him, not to stubbornly choose to forget him...
Then, Kitano would have proposed to her.
Nice Nature had seen the ring he had prepared. It wasn't the most expensive ring she had ever seen, but it was the most beautiful. He had entrusted it to her, asking her to present it at the right moment. That had been the most exciting day of her life.
...But all of that had become a forbidden past. Though she didn't know if C.B.'s ten years of experience had allowed her to truly let go, she chose not to touch the scars he had left in her heart.
"While you were away, Senior C.B., I would occasionally visit your parents. It wasn't just me; President Rudolf and Teio also visited often."
"Is that so? Thank you," C.B. said with a nod. Seeing her normal reaction, Nice Nature felt relieved. Before finding an excuse to leave, she casually remarked, "I actually quite like visiting your home, Senior. The ginkgo tree in your yard has grown so well. It looked like it was about to die several times, but now it's grown so big. It's a permanent fixture in the garden now."
"If you go home, you should take a look. That ginkgo tree is so eye-catching now. The moment you see it, you'll know you're home."
"Is that so? I'm relieved. Mr. Trainer and I planted that one together."
Hearing about the ginkgo tree in front of her home, C.B.'s smile widened more than usual, and she replied reflexively. Her tone was so natural that neither she nor Nice Nature noticed she had mentioned the one person they would never mention.
It wasn't until they had walked a few more steps that C.B.'s feet slowly came to a halt. The smile on her face froze, her eyes widened slightly as she realized the name she had subconsciously uttered...
Mr. Trainer... who is that?
The moment the question surfaced in her mind, the memories she thought she had forgotten—his face, their time together, everything... erupted like a volcano, instantly overwhelming her.
No, no... I... I had already forgotten him. Why would I mention him?
Memories... no, I don't want to remember those things. Please, stop... let me forget him, please...
But her mind was beyond her control. All the suppressed longing, all the pain, flooded back with the tide of memories. Starting from that one ginkgo tree, bit by bit, it made her remember...
"C.B., would you do me the favor of doing one last thing with me?"
"C.B., we'll avoid the fight. We'll face Rudolf together in the Spring Tenno Sho."
"C.B., congratulations. The first Undefeated Triple Crown horse girl. You really did it."
"C.B.... why did you put this ring on me?"
The memories paused for a moment. In her daze, C.B. was transported back over a decade, looking at this man who had made her heart flutter, feeling the warmth he brought her. That day, knowing no worries, no retreat, she had wanted to make this splash of spring her own.
The free wind cherished this spring. She put a ring of love on the spring, using every means at her disposal to keep him by her side, to never be separated.
"Because I don't want you to leave me, Mr. Trainer. With this ring, everyone will know that you belong to me."
...Drip.
A single, crystalline tear, a decade late, slowly fell from C.B.'s cheek... The ten years she had painstakingly spent trying to forget, effortlessly reclaimed her mind in an instant. C.B. felt her heart beat again. It was no longer empty. Her life was no longer void.
Only now did she understand that all the beauty, all the joy in her life, all the memories that had painted her life in vibrant colors, had, from the very beginning, been filled with his presence.
He had given her life memories. He had illuminated her gray world, given it color. Unknowingly, he had become the only color in her world.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."
"I can't forget... Kitano... I can't do it... Forgive me... I really can't do it..."
I can't forget you, the only color in my life. Without you, the world is so dim. And the places you left your mark are the spring I long for.
...Mr. C.B. understood. But she understood too late. Her world had lost its color the moment he left her. No matter how much she wanted to get it back, it was futile.
From then on, she became increasingly quiet. The smile never returned to her face. She would go days without speaking, without interacting with anyone, no longer running in the rain... All the things that had once been meaningful to her vanished from her life.
The only thing she still cared about was the ginkgo tree she had planted with him. She would often spend the entire day sitting silently against it, watching it grow, day by day, as if it were the only meaningful thing left in her life.
That ginkgo tree became the only color in her black and white world. She accompanied it, watched over it. This time, she never wanted to leave its side again.
Until, after an unknown number of years... the weary C.B. leaned against the ginkgo tree, and in its peaceful, comforting presence, she quietly fell asleep, never to open her eyes again...
The golden ginkgo leaves fell like a blanket, covering her entire body, as if a gentle person had draped a golden coat made of leaves over her thin frame. And so, she rested against him, and finally, as she had wished, became one with him, never to be separated again...
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