"One omurice, one chicken liver truffle pasta… ah, and one cake. For drinks, anything non-carbonated is fine."
"And another order: grilled salted salmon, miso soup, and rice. Thank you."
Kitano Ryuichi ordered two lunches at the counter of the Tracen Academy cafeteria—but not for himself. There was no way he could eat that much. The first set was for Mihono Bourbon.
Along the way, Kitano had chatted quite a bit with Mihono Bourbon. He was also curious why, in this timeline, her experiences were somewhat different from what he remembered. In his previous timeline, he met Mihono Bourbon inside the school, and at that time, she had already been enrolled for quite a while.
But now, in this timeline, she had just enrolled. This made Kitano wonder if the timeline had shifted earlier somehow. He wasn't entirely sure.
However, during their conversation, he learned what she had gone through—
She had originally been on her way to school by car, but it broke down halfway. She had no choice but to transfer to a train, only to find that the line was suspended that day. In the end, she had to drag her luggage and run all the way there. To make things worse, one of the suitcase wheels broke along the way, forcing her to carry it slowly to Tracen Academy. By the time she arrived, she was already exhausted and starving.
Honestly, if Kitano didn't know Mihono Bourbon wasn't the type to lie, he might have suspected she had somehow switched souls with Rice Shower—otherwise, how could someone be this unlucky?
But no matter what, since he had run into her, and as her former trainer, he couldn't just ignore her. So he decided to treat her to lunch out of sympathy.
"Go ahead and eat. I ordered this especially for you."
Kitano placed Mihono Bourbon's meal in front of her. At this point, she was already extremely hungry, but she still clasped her hands together and said seriously:
"Thank you. I will begin eating."
"Take it slow, don't choke," Kitano said with a smile as he picked up his own steaming bowl of miso soup and prepared to drink it.
"—Please wait!"
At that moment, Mihono Bourbon—who had been quietly eating—suddenly froze when she saw him about to drink the hot miso soup. For the first time, her voice rose in urgency as she stopped him.
Her sudden reaction startled Kitano so much he nearly dropped the bowl. Mihono Bourbon rarely showed emotional fluctuations, but just now, her tone and movement were as if she had seen someone poison his soup.
Kitano immediately put the bowl down. Around them, the scattered horse girls in the cafeteria also paused and looked over. Mihono Bourbon had stood up, hands on the table, her expression unusually intense.
…Were they arguing? A few of the horse girls exchanged glances, considering whether to step in.
Mihono Bourbon quickly realized she had overreacted. She slowly sat back down and resumed speaking in her usual emotionless tone:
"Mihono Bourbon's reminder: please do not consume food too quickly, especially hot soup. It may negatively affect your esophagus."
"Please allow it to cool before consuming. Be sure to take care of your health."
"Phew… that scared me."
Kitano finally let out a breath of relief, and the surrounding tension eased.
He patted his chest and said with lingering fear, "I thought someone poisoned the miso soup…"
"But thanks for the reminder. I'll make sure to cool it down before drinking."
"..." However, Mihono Bourbon did not relax at all. Her eyes remained fixed on the bowl of miso soup in his hands, as if facing a great enemy.
"Um… Miss Mihono? Why are you staring at me like that?"
"Mihono Bourbon requests: may I have the miso soup?"
She reached out her hand, asking for the bowl. Kitano looked confused, but because he trusted her deeply, he handed it over.
In the next moment,
after taking the bowl, Mihono Bourbon made a move that shocked Kitano—and everyone nearby who had been watching the situation.
All they saw was Mihono Bourbon lowering her head toward Kitano's bowl of miso soup. She slightly puffed her soft, cherry-colored lips and gently blew a cooling breath toward it.
The cool air from the horse girl's breath caused the steam rising from the hot miso soup to disperse slightly.
And Mihono Bourbon didn't stop there—she patiently continued blowing on it again and again, repeating the action without the slightest sign of annoyance.
"Hiss—"
At that moment, someone in the cafeteria couldn't help but gasp.
In an instant, everyone looked at Kitano Ryuichi with shocked expressions—the culprit who had somehow gotten such a beautiful horse girl to personally cool down his soup for him!
There weren't many people in the cafeteria. Although it was lunchtime and Tracen Academy's cafeteria operated 24 hours a day, not many horse girls were eating at this hour. Still, there were a few scattered groups dining together—some horse girls in small groups, and others eating with their trainers after finishing training.
And precisely because there were fewer people, the cafeteria was quiet—making every move between Kitano and Mihono Bourbon all the more eye-catching.
Several trainers, upon seeing that Kitano could receive such treatment from a beautiful horse girl, showed expressions of both envy and sorrow.
They envied him for having such a stunning horse girl.
But they pitied him… because Mihono Bourbon's behavior had already made these "experienced" Tracen trainers see Kitano's future.
This was absolutely the kind of behavior only seen when a horse girl's affection level had maxed out! This guy had definitely already been "marked" by his 담당 horse girl—his future was probably already planned out in secret.(TL:담당 means a person in charge)
Horse girls' emotions were famously sincere. This was a universally accepted fact in this world. And within Tracen Academy—a nearly closed environment—both trainers and horse girls were exceptional individuals. Naturally, outstanding people are drawn to other outstanding people.
But in such an environment, over time, many relationships that started pure and sincere would gradually change…
Most experienced trainers at Tracen Academy understood this all too well. The horse girls they once treated like children would grow closer day by day, until before they realized it, they had already fallen into a "trap"…
And as everyone knew, humans were far weaker than horse girls physically. Even the most average horse girl possessed three times the physical ability of a normal adult. If they truly decided to do something to someone, no one could resist them.
Every year, Tracen Academy had several cases of missing trainers.
Most of those missing trainers would eventually be found—either in club rooms within the academy or in abandoned classrooms.
Or… in the homes of horse girls, even in their dorm rooms.
The latter situation was the worst.
Because horse girl dorms were shared rooms. If a trainer appeared there, it meant both horse girls were involved.
And when those trainers were found, most of them were already completely "worn out."
As for those who were kidnapped or confined, it wasn't because of hatred. On the contrary—they had once been model partnerships with deep bonds. But after failing to accept their horse girl's confession, the suppressed emotions would eventually explode.
Therefore, trainers at Tracen Academy lived in constant fear, walking on thin ice when interacting with their 담당 horse girls.
They couldn't be too cold, or it would affect their partner's mood and performance.
But they also couldn't be too warm… or their personal safety—and even their "purity"—would be at risk.
And those trainers who, before they realized it, were already completely enveloped by their horse girl's overwhelming affection…
…could only pray for their own survival.
Most of them did not end well.
Accept the confession = immediate "umapyoi" = shattered pelvis.
Reject the confession = knocked out = confined = forced "umapyoi" = shattered pelvis.(TL:choose your own hell)
These seemed to be the only two paths in front of them.
So trainers were extremely cautious in their relationships, afraid their fragile pelvis might break at any moment. After all, there were already several seniors lying in hospital beds—don't forget that.
After seeing how Kitano and Mihono Bourbon interacted, the trainers all silently pitied his future.
This poor kid… he still had no idea what awaited him.
Hopefully, he had already reserved a hospital bed.
Meanwhile, a few horse girls, seeing how Mihono Bourbon treated Kitano, had their eyes light up. They picked up their trainers' miso soup or drinks and began imitating her by blowing on them.
Their reasons were all the same:
"Oh my, trainer, your soup is too hot, let me cool it for you."
"This drink is too warm—it'd be bad if you got burned."
The trainers, of course, knew exactly what their horse girls were trying to do. They could only look on helplessly as their partners blew on drinks that already had ice in them, wondering what exactly they were worried about—were they afraid they might swallow the ice or that carbonation would destroy their stomachs?
At this moment, after blowing on the soup for a while, Mihono Bourbon finally seemed satisfied.
Just as the extremely embarrassed Kitano thought she would return the bowl—
She instead picked up her spoon, dipped it into the soup, stirred it slightly, and scooped up a small spoonful.
Then she brought it to Kitano's lips.
"Please test the temperature, Mr. Kitano."
Her eyes showed a serious, focused look. Her expression remained completely unchanged as she spoke word by word:
"Please open your mouth… ah~"