Tang Han was still exhausted that morning and had no mood to read, so he found a quiet spot with no horse girls around, took out his phone, and pre-wrote a pile of praise for King Halo in his notes app. After setting several alarms, he lay down on the ground and went to sleep.
From then on, every forty minutes, the alarm would wake him up. He would copy a few hundred words from his notes into his chat with King Halo, hit send, then lie back down and continue sleeping.
So every time class ended and break began, when King Halo took out her phone, she would always find a fresh new message from Tang Han.
"Hohohohohoho—"
Looking at the chat window packed full of praise, King Halo was in an exceptionally good mood.
And yet, alongside her delight, she was growing impatient.
Tang Han had been flattering her since last night and all through this morning too, so why was he still not getting to the point?
She had already sent him so many "And then?" messages. Wasn't that basically a hint that he could go ahead and invite her to become his trainee? And she would definitely agree.
Well, she would act tsundere for a bit first, of course, before finally agreeing.
"King Halo, what are you looking at? You seem awfully happy."
A horse girl with fluffy blue-green short hair, radiating a lazy, catlike air, seemed to catch wind of something interesting. She ambled up behind King Halo and peeked over her shoulder at the phone.
It was Seiun Sky, King Halo's friend.
Because she was always so languid, skipped training whenever she could, and constantly found excuses to go fishing instead, people jokingly called her a fishing addict.
But if you thought she was genuinely slacking off, you would be dead wrong.
On the surface, she looked like she was lazing around and dodging practice. In reality, she was secretly grinding hard behind the scenes, to the point that the horse girls who fooled around with her could never catch her in races.
And in matters of romance, Seiun Sky was nothing like the harmless airhead people assumed her to be. In truth, she was bold, knew exactly how to tease, and compared to the more innocent horse girls, she could practically be called an emotional master.
"Whoa, that's a lot of text," Seiun Sky said. At first glance, there was so much text in the chat that she could not tell what it even was.
"Eh?! Sky?!" Startled, King Halo immediately hid her phone.
"Oh?" Seiun Sky narrowed her eyes, now even more intrigued by whatever was in that chat.
"So mysterious. Is it your boyfriend?"
"Of course not! A first-rate King Halo would never take him as a boyfriend! That is absolutely, absolutely impossible!" King Halo hurriedly shook her head.
"Oh? So it really is a guy, then?" Seiun Sky said with a meaningful smile.
"Guh..."
Still teasing her, Seiun Sky went on, "You never chat with guys normally, and just now you were grinning like a girl in love. And you're saying he's not your boyfriend?"
"It's just a trainer trying to poach me!" King Halo shot back at once. "And I was happy because what he said was pretty nice and showed that he understands what true first-rate elegance is!"
"I don't buy it," Seiun Sky said.
"If you don't believe me, then look!" King Halo, successfully baited by Seiun Sky's challenge, actually shoved the phone toward her.
"Mhm." Smiling faintly, Seiun Sky leaned in and finally got a clear look at the conversation.
You're so beautiful that one extra glance would make me explode, and getting any closer would make me melt...
She quietly read the message to herself.
I see. So all that dense text is just him praising King Halo?
"Hohohohohoho— See, Sky? My future trainer has been praising me nonstop since last night, all in an effort to poach me~" King Halo said proudly, holding up the phone for Seiun Sky to admire.
"Your future trainer?" Seiun Sky squinted, suddenly struck by an amusing idea.
But she did not show it. Instead, she clasped her hands behind her head and said in a lazy tone, "King Halo, why not change future trainer to future husband?"
"Eh? Why?" King Halo froze for a second, then frowned angrily and began explaining at once, "Tang Han is only saying all this because he wants to poach me, not because he wants to be my boyfriend! Our relationship is pure! Stop teasing me, Sky! Even the generous King Halo can get angry!"
Seiun Sky sighed, putting on the air of someone reluctantly delivering the truth.
"King Halo... don't you think that's strange?"
"What's strange?"
"If he really wants to poach you, has he ever actually said he wants to train you?"
King Halo thought back and slowly shook her head.
"It doesn't seem like... he has..."
"Exactly," Seiun Sky said, hands still behind her head, looking thoroughly in control. "That proves it."
"Proves what?" King Halo asked, not understanding.
"That becoming your trainer was only ever the excuse. What he really wants is to become your lover."
"Eh?!" Hearing that conclusion, King Halo's eyes went wide. "Re-really...?"
Seiun Sky did not answer directly. She only tossed the question back.
"What do you think?"
Seeing how confident Seiun Sky looked, King Halo found herself believing her a little more.
"Well..." King Halo slowly nodded.
To begin with, as a first-rate girl, she was obviously someone anyone would like, Tang Han included. That much was beyond dispute.
Second, Tang Han had ignored the signals she had been sending. Not only had he never once said anything about wanting to train her, he had instead done nothing but praise how first-rate and beautiful she was. It was hard not to suspect some other motive.
"But..." King Halo still could not quite sort it out.
Because Tang Han always kept his distance from every horse girl.
He treated Haru Urara like a daughter. He treated Rice Shower like a little sister. He treated Mejiro McQueen like a customer buying a drink from a vending machine. He treated Gold Ship like one of the boys. And Tokai Teio... she had no idea how he saw Tokai Teio, but he definitely respected her immensely. More, perhaps, than he respected first-rate King Halo herself.
King Halo truly could not imagine Tang Han falling in love with a woman.
"Wait!" King Halo suddenly thought of another possibility.
Just because Tang Han had never openly shown any intention of dating a horse girl did not mean he had not been sending secret signals all along.
He was not just a trainer, after all. He was a ninja who always hid his true face. And what did ninjas love doing most? Passing covert messages!
The hidden clue Tang Han had been sending all along was something she already knew, but had overlooked:
Tang Han treated Haru Urara like a daughter... and King Halo herself also treated Haru Urara like a daughter...
Then wouldn't that make her relationship with Tang Han...
"Guh..." King Halo suddenly flushed and lowered her head, her ears twitching.
So Tang Han had been hinting at it from the very beginning! And first-rate King Halo had failed to notice!
If Tang Han really was confessing to her... should she accept?
"No way!" King Halo shook her head.
"A first-rate King Halo would never become someone's lover that easily..."
"At the very least... at the very least..."
"Let him praise me for a few more days and prove his sincerity first..."
"Damn it! Why am I already thinking from the premise that I like him?!"
"W-well... it's not like I like him or anything... it's just that his drinks are really good..."
"And his personality is gentle... and he speaks nicely... and he's kind to everyone..."
"Damn it! Why am I only thinking of his strengths?! Think of his flaws!"
"Yes! His fashion sense is terrible! Not first-rate at all! And he's timid! Always shrinking back and hiding his face!"
"Though I suppose those are all things I could compensate for..."
"Ah... what am I supposed to do..."
King Halo's brain overloaded, and steam practically began rising from her head.
"Oh..." Seiun Sky watched her with great amusement.
She had no idea exactly what King Halo had worked herself into under her careful guidance, but seeing that hopelessly flustered expression told her all she needed to know.
"I guess you don't know what to do now, huh? Feeling troubled, are we..."
With a self-assured smile, Seiun Sky leaned close to King Halo's ear and whispered,
"I can teach you, you know~"
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 150)
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 (Chapter190)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter105)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter225)
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 195
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 170
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/5
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 225
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 210
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/30
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 115
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 130
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 105
I Can Copy Unique Skills 100
Summoning an Evil God, but the 70
Supernatural Multiverse 90
My Harem Is Indescribable 85
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 90
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 68
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 100
Still playing traditional Honk 69
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 75
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 60
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 71
Checking In in Demon Slayer 75
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 80
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 66
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 58
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 65
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 63
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 59
Why did they assign me to Uma 55
MYGO Beauties 56
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 45
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 49
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 36
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 35
The Uma Musume Who Became 30
I'm Definitely Not the King of 25
After Maxing Out Every Class 25
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