The night air had swept away his drowsiness. Besides, he had slept the entire day, so Shinji was not tired in the slightest. Reclining against the grass, still faintly damp with dew, he looked up at the sky and smacked his lips.
"That's basically what happened. If you ask me whether it was unexpected, then yeah, it was pretty unexpected."
At his explanation, Offside Trap puffed out her cheeks. Narita Brian and King Halo had never really dealt with Sansho Drum before, but Offside Trap had once been mocked by her to her face.
[Negative Emotion +100]
The moment she recalled that scornful look, Offside Trap still could not understand how Sansho Drum could have acted so self-righteously. She had been the one in the wrong. She was the one who had foolishly let go of a trainer who had only ever had eyes for her. So what right did she have, after regretting it, to act as though reconciliation were possible?
Even in the cases of Rudolf Symboli and Air Groove, Shinji had not forgiven them. Sansho Drum's behavior meant there was no chance at all between her and Shinji anymore.
"She's such an awful, awful horse girl."
She finally muttered it out, still simmering. Seeing her so displeased, Shinji felt rather helpless that he now had to comfort his own trainee in return, so he waved a hand at her.
"Alright, alright. The outcome wasn't bad in the end. Honestly, there were too many people. Getting out early wasn't the worst thing."
Only then did Offside Trap let it go. Narita Brian, meanwhile, seemed thoughtful. She vaguely remembered meeting Sansho Drum once, though she no longer recalled what she looked like.
She had been pretty, probably. Narita Brian wasn't sure, so she turned to Shinji.
"Luckily Air Groove was there. Otherwise it really would've been troublesome."
"Yeah. I really do owe her thanks this time."
Shinji shrugged. Air Groove's shift in attitude toward him was mostly because he had started delivering results, but it still had softened some of his own hostility toward her.
Then he looked at his three trainees. He clearly had no desire to stay on this topic any longer. The image of those green tresses still drifting through his mind had stirred up too many old memories. The moment Sansho Drum had grabbed his wrist had frozen them all in place. Now he only wanted to turn the page on that sudden surge from the past.
"So? Did you all have fun?"
"Mm-hm~"
Offside Trap's face immediately brightened with delight. She really had enjoyed herself. Compared to Narita Brian's quiet heaviness and King Halo's slight sense of regret, Offside Trap felt that seeing such beautiful fireworks had been the happiest part of the night.
Even if her trainer had not stayed beside her the whole time, having him come along at all was already enough.
King Halo, who understood Shinji's temperament less well, felt somewhat regretful. She had made her wish just moments before, only for him to disappear soon afterward. If Offside Trap had known what she was thinking, she probably would have called her greedy.
The man's willing to come with you at all, and you still want more.
Narita Brian, on the other hand, was closer to Shinji in temperament. She had not cared much about the fireworks themselves. She had only wanted to remain near him, to preserve that sense of security.
She was a horse girl afraid of shadows, but now that sensitivity, once aimed only at darkness, seemed to be spreading. It made her need more and more something to hold on to.
"That's good."
Resting both hands behind his head, Shinji lay back on the grass. The three girls copied him and lay down beside him.
Tonight's moonlight could not really be called beautiful, but when the people you wanted near you were right beside you, the atmosphere was perfect anyway.
"Hey…"
Offside Trap suddenly spoke. Shinji looked puzzled, though he did not turn his head until she poked his cheek.
"What is it?"
"Why did you sleep all day today, Trainer? Were you really that tired?"
"Not especially," Shinji replied. "I just felt like getting some real rest. Isn't sleeping supposed to be the best way to recover? You girls should sleep more too."
"Sleeping all day is boring!"
Offside Trap finally voiced her dissatisfaction, drawing a helpless smile from Shinji. These energetic horse girls were all the same. Skip a single day of training and the energy pent up in their bodies started driving them up the walls.
[It really just means you haven't trained them hard enough, Shinji. I told you before, you're always too soft.]
'?'
Shinji almost laughed on the spot at the system's sudden remark. If not for the three trainees lying beside him, he probably would have burst out laughing.
You told me? Since when? Aren't you always the one trying to talk me out of things? How's it suddenly "I told you so"?
The system, shameless as ever, had no reaction at all to his sarcasm. It simply went dead silent again, as though that remark had only been made to prove it was still awake.
His mouth twitched. Shinji was starting to think the system had grown far too comfortable with him. It no longer bothered pretending; it did whatever it pleased.
Sometimes he felt closer to it because of that. Other times, he found it unbearably annoying.
"Trainer."
"Hm?"
"What did you wish for just now?"
Offside Trap's curiosity drew King Halo's and Narita Brian's attention too. All three pairs of eyes turned toward his face, only for them to see a sly smile tug at his lips.
"My wish," he said, "was that everyone here would have their wishes fail."
Three faces filled with identical confusion.
Shinji casually stretched one leg and grinned smugly.
"That's so mean, Trainer. I was making my wish very seriously."
Offside Trap pouted.
"I'm joking. How could anyone make a wish like that?"
"Then you were tricking me!"
"You can't say your wish out loud," Shinji replied matter-of-factly. "If you do, it won't come true."
"Really?"
Offside Trap widened her eyes, and Shinji found it rather funny. He assumed his trainee was just pretending a little.
"Of course. Then tell me, what did you wish for?"
"I wished that next year I could become even closer to you."
At once, everything went quiet.
Shinji pursed his lips, at a loss for what to say. The other two girls also turned to look at Offside Trap, their expressions different.
She was already so close to him, and still not satisfied. That was King Halo's immediate thought. If she wanted to become the trainer's finest horse girl, then she would have to give one hundred percent of herself.
Narita Brian, meanwhile, felt an inexplicable sting in her chest. She did not want to admit how much she envied the bond between those two master and student, yet she also did not dare dream of ever reaching that same place herself.
The closeness her friend openly longed for was something Narita Brian would never even dare to ask for.
[Negative Emotion +70]
[Negative Emotion +50]
As the negative emotion notifications flared up again, Shinji looked at Offside Trap's serious gaze and turned his face away.
"What about you, Trainer?"
Offside Trap refused to let it go.
She… no, she really wanted to hear the answer.
Something like the unfinished words from that earlier interview.
"I didn't make a wish."
The answer he gave was utterly different from what she had hoped for. There was a trace of bitterness in his tone, and Offside Trap fell silent at once.
That had not been the answer she expected at all.
"Why?"
Narita Brian asked, partly out of curiosity, partly on Offside Trap's behalf.
"Because wishes don't make anything come true," Shinji said, gazing at the fireworks fading into nothingness overhead. "Just like fireworks themselves—beautiful, but fleeting."
As soon as he said it, he sensed the faint redness in his trainee's eyes. Realizing how easily his words could be misunderstood, he smiled and patted Offside Trap gently on the head.
"Of course, I'm not saying nothing can ever come true. I just mean wishing itself doesn't actually do anything. Reality is what matters—"
Offside Trap only half understood. She just stared into his deep eyes.
Then a sudden thought struck her.
Was her trainer hinting something to her? Telling her that if she wanted to become closer to him, then she had to actually do something?
The more she thought about it, the firmer her gaze became.
"I understand now, Trainer."
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 139)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter171)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter100)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter184)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 168
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 156
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 105
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 185
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 160
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 150
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 76
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 97
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 116
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 75
Uma Musume: I Want All 93
I Can Copy Unique Skills 79
Summoning an Evil God, but the 55
Supernatural Multiverse 75
My Harem Is Indescribable 68
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 70
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 66
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 69
Still playing traditional Honk 49
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 53
What Should I Do After Switchi 42
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 50
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 38
Transmigrated as Sukuna 35
Checking In in Demon Slayer 40
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 55
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