Yorozuya Eiyuu had her arms wrapped around a long pillow in a corner of the training grounds. The towel on her forehead was still warm from her post-training fever. The heat had not yet subsided.
I'm so tired...
His cigarette smoke had a faint smell. The tip of it glowed red, a burning sensation against his skin. She looked at his pale face, at the circles under his eyes, and for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to push him away.
She was now completely used to his presence, so much so that she found it comforting. She wiped her face with a towel, thinking about the training menu for the next day.
A sudden commotion made her look up. A red-haired horse girl, her short school uniform worn with an arrogant swagger, swaggered into the room. Her expression was like a firecracker, her eyes restlessly scanning the room. She was followed by two other girls, one quiet and one cheerful, both wearing the same "I'm with her" expression.
The three of them swept through the training grounds, their presence sucking all the air out of the room. Sakikawa noticed them too. He let out a sigh, his shoulders slumping. He had come here to check on the repair costs for the equipment, only to run into this troublesome bunch.
Tokai Teio's eyes landed on Eiyuu, her lips curling into a sneer. She gestured with her thumb, first at Eiyuu's training clothes, which were the old ones she had been wearing before Sakikawa bought her new gear, then at Sakikawa himself.
"Oh, so this is the new trainer's little toy?" Her voice was sharp and loud, laced with a mocking tone. "I heard you made quite a scene in your race. Your owner must have pushed all your buttons, huh?"
Sakikawa's eyes narrowed. He discreetly pulled up his tablet and began quoting the repair bill. But his ears were pricked, listening.
He used that signature, emotionless tone of his to provoke her. "I'm just giving her a pressure test to see what her limits are. You little brats, always making a fuss over nothing. Go home and cry to your mommy."
Eiyuu's head shot up. She subconsciously took a step back, a nervous fire in her chest. The trainer was doing this for her own good, but why did she have to be the one to deal with this? The thought had barely formed before she pushed it down. After all, machines that are too delicate break easily. She was tough.
Teio's face was a mask of playful malice. Her heart, however, was a chaotic mess of emotions. She took a step forward, her shadow falling over Eiyuu.
"So this is the new person?" Her voice was sweet, but her words were poison.
"You're a monster," she said, her voice dropping to a whisper. "A puppet who can't control her own power. You call that running? You're a joke."
Eiyuu flinched as if she had been struck. These words, one after another, pierced through her defenses. She wanted to lower her head, to hide from the burning intensity of Teio's gaze.
Teio leaned in closer, her voice a low, seductive hiss. "I heard... you surpassed Oguri Cap." Every word, every syllable, landed like a physical blow on Eiyuu's heart.
Eiyuu's body stiffened.
Teio smiled. "Do you think you're worthy?" she whispered, the words meant for Eiyuu's ears alone. "Are you worthy of her?"
Eiyuu's mind went blank. Am I... worthy?
That one question, that one doubt, was all it took. Am I worthy of being her rival? A puppet who can't even control her own power, a monster... How could I possibly stand beside the sunny, radiant Oguri Cap?
"The presence of a monster like you... is an insult to Oguri Cap!"
"I'm standing on the side of Yorozuya Eiyuu," a new voice, calm and steady, cut through the tension. Oguri Cap stepped forward, her expression unreadable. Her face was flushed from the heat of the race, but her eyes were clear and resolute.
"Her strength is immense," Oguri said, her voice unwavering. "She is a living legend, a legend that belongs to everyone!"
Teio sneered. "You?" She looked Eiyuu up and down. "With this kind of shady support... you're nothing but a fake! You don't even have the qualifications to have a name!"
"Your existence... is an insult to Oguri Cap's dream!"
Those two words, like a poison-tipped knife, stabbed through all of Eiyuu's defenses and pierced her most treasured place.
But he told me to fight... to live for my own dream. In a world where I was alone, he became my... idol.
Eiyuu took a half-step back, her face bloodless. My effort... Is my dream... wrong? The trainer told her to find her own way... was that wrong too? That belief, the two simple words he had given her, was now crushed into powder.
Her self-confidence, her very beginning, was shaken.
Just as Eiyuu was about to be completely swallowed by her despair, a figure moved to stand in front of her. It was a firm, unyielding presence that blocked Teio's venomous gaze.
He hadn't said a word, but his silent support was all the answer she needed.
He hadn't gone to the rest area as he usually did. Instead, he was standing here, calmly tapping away at his tablet, the screen reflecting in his glasses.
A string of dense data scrolled across the screen.
"Should I read it out for you?" Sakikawa asked, his voice flat and devoid of emotion. "Or do you want to eat something first?"
He looked up from his tablet, his eyes cold and analytical. "Your image... it's just that." He held up the screen. The flickering light showed a series of numbers, a cold, hard analysis.
"Stride 198, lactate buildup... hmm, so this is your limit. Go back to the factory."
His heart pounded. An expression he had never seen before appeared on his face. "Unbelievable. This goes beyond the realm of time and cost."
He lowered the tablet. "Look," he said, his dead-fish eyes locking onto Teio's. "Stop surrounding my horse girl like a bunch of yapping chihuahuas."
This one sentence rendered Teio speechless.
"This 'guardian' mission," he said, turning to Eiyuu. "I'm giving it to you. Stand up and guard the dream you're holding."
Eiyuu looked up, her eyes wide. She looked at the man standing in front of her, then at Oguri Cap standing beside her. She took a deep breath.
She knew. She had always known. She knew she had Oguri Cap's footsteps to follow. She knew that he had been protecting her in his own way, using his own methods to block every attack, to shield her from the parts of her that even she couldn't face.
The warmth that had been extinguished was now rekindled, forged into a new and unshakeable resolve. She took a step forward, standing beside Sakikawa for the first time.
Her eyes, which had been downcast and full of doubt, were now blazing with a new fire.
"I will be on the racetrack with Oguri Cap," she declared, her voice clear and strong. "And then, I will beat her."
The trio of girls was stunned into silence by her sudden display of confidence.
The silver-haired girl in front of them, who just moments ago had been a trembling mess in the corner, was now a completely different person. The look in her eyes... it was sharp enough to cut through them.
A few seconds later, a flicker of annoyance crossed Teio's face. It was the frustration of having her provocation fail.
"Hmph. Big words from a little chick." She tossed her hair and sneered. "Then we'll see you on the track! Don't come crying to your mommy then!"
With that, she turned and stormed off, her two friends trailing behind her like bewildered puppies.
As they left, Eiyuu's tightly coiled body finally relaxed. She stumbled, and her legs almost gave out. Just those few sentences had taken all the courage she had.
But in her heart, a fire had been lit. She would not waver. She would not doubt herself again.
Sakikawa glanced at her, then turned and began to walk away, his hands back in his pockets. "You finally figured it out," he said, his voice a lazy drawl. "I thought you were a coward."
He paused, then added, "Alright, stand up straight. Go rest."
With that, he walked off towards the rest area, leaving Eiyuu with a back that was, for the first time, not entirely unreadable.
-------
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 (330 Chapter)
Reborn in Type-Moon, My Sister is Aoko Aozaki (254 Chapter)
MyGO!! A Story Voiced by Me (130 Chapter)
BLEACH: Blade of Purification (140 Chapter)
Konoha: Starting the Game as Yoriichi (330 Chapter)
My Real Job is Spying on Konoha, but I'm Also its Hokage (140 Chapter)
The Pinnacle of the Navy! Starting from Being Captured by Garp (160 Chapter)
Watching Yu-Gi-Oh! short videos is making the veteran players lose...(80 Chapter)
Uma Musume : The Trainer Who Just Wants to Live (200 Chapter)
Zenless Zone Zero The Random Kamen Rider (170 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: It All Began With Me Being Stepped On by Arlecchino (120 Chapter)
Naruto: I Can Synthesize Summoning Beasts (90 Chapter)
Demon Slayer: The Great Swordsman's System, Disciple of Yoriichi (130 Chapter)
My Wife is a General, but I'm an Emanator of Abundance! (140 Chapter)
Type-Moon: My Nine-Fold Path (140 Chapter)
Uma Musume: They're Peeking at My Diary, and All of Tracen is Panickin (Ending)
The Wild History of Type-Moon world (70 Chapter)
Reborn in Conan, But I Refuse to Be the Bad Guy (80 Chapter)
Ruan Mei is begging me to go back? But there's no going back anymore (140 Chapter)
Just a Slacker at Tracen Academy (140 Chapter)
Survival in Blue Archive (70 Chapter)
Kimetsu no Yaiba: Doma Wasn't Hated Today, Either (100 Chapter)
The Vibe of This Chat Group is a Little Off (100 Chapter)
Heartbreak Simulator: I Broke Them and Made Them Cry (80 Chapter)
The Talentless Trainer Doesn't Want to Restart (80 Chapter)
A Journey Starting as a Quincy (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: The Master of Romance Obstruction (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: You Can't Be a Hero Without a Little Chemical Enhancement (40 Chapter)
Honkai Impact 3rd Your Boyfriend is Really Amazing (40 Chapter)
Warhammer 40K: My Fiancée, Fulgrim (140 Chapter)
Classroom of the Elite: Trying to Capture Me! (110 Chapter)
Genshin Impact My Named Senji Muramas (150 Chapter)
A Chef, the Vice-Captain of the Rocks Pirates? (120 Chapter)
Naruto : My Uchiha Girlfriend is Too Tsundere (70 Chapter)
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it.