Nakajima Shin frowned, his expression growing even more irritated.
Honestly, Hagino’s proposal was highly beneficial for him.
Given Daiichi Ruby’s strength, signing her now, getting a feel for her condition, and entering a G3 major race would basically guarantee a win.
After that, signing Teio wouldn’t be an issue.
That way, both his financial woes and his promises would be perfectly resolved.
But—
“Are you treating Teio like a commodity?
Just shoving her aside to do it later whenever it’s convenient?”
“What kind of person do you think I am?
And what kind of person do you think she is?” Nakajima Shin said, his voice edged with anger as his hand on the desk clenched into a fist.
Hagino traced the wedding ring on her left ring finger, quite satisfied with his responses so far.
She spoke gently, “Don’t be angry.
Didn’t I say it was just a proposal?
If you’re not satisfied, we can still discuss it.”
“If your premise is that I have to dismiss Teio, then even for a single second, I won’t entertain it,” Nakajima Shin said coldly.
“She’s already been hurt enough.
I won’t let her get hurt again because of me.”
“So please, take your leave.
There’s nothing more to discuss.”
With that, he leaned back in his chair, his expression cool, waiting for her to end the video call.
Hagino watched him thoughtfully, the admiration in her eyes growing stronger, but quickly fading away.
She then clasped her hands, bowed her head apologetically, and said, “I apologize, Nakajima-san.
Those words were deliberate.
My daughter thinks you’re highly suitable to be her trainer, so I wanted to test what kind of person you are.
Please forgive me if I offended you.”
“I forgive you,” Nakajima Shin said coldly.
“You definitely haven’t forgiven me yet, but that proposal I made is completely sincere.
I truly do hope you’ll consider it,” Hagino said with a light smile.
Nakajima Shin crossed his arms and said flatly, “I don’t feel like explaining why I won’t do it a second time.”
“But you don’t know why I made that proposal, do you?” Hagino smiled, lifting a stack of investigation files beside her and pointing to a specific line.
“Look here.
According to the information we’ve received, your only trainee is Urara.”
“Tokai Teio doesn’t seem to be your trainee yet.
The URA hasn’t received any information about her.”
Hearing this, a flicker of shock passed through Nakajima Shin’s eyes.
He instinctively shifted his gaze to look, and realized there really wasn’t any record.
“That’s impossible.
Teio went to the student council to register the contract this afternoon.
How could zero information have reached the URA?
It should be marked as pending review at the very least.”
Urara’s contract transfer had already succeeded.
How could Teio’s contract, which was submitted earlier, not have been received?
This defied all logic!
“I wouldn’t know about that,” Hagino said, setting the files down.
She looked up at him frowning in thought and added softly, “Perhaps her family doesn’t want to see her run.
They might have advised her to give up, and she accepted it.
After all, her legs are in such bad shape.
It’s hard not to feel sorry for her.”
“…If that were the case, Teio would definitely have messaged me.
But I haven’t received anything,” Nakajima Shin said heavily.
“Then I’m not sure,” Hagino said, crossing her hands with a faint smile.
“But if what I said is true, I still ask you to keep my proposal in mind.
The Gorgeous Clan welcomes you to become our trainer.
I hope you’ll give it serious thought.”
“I understand.”
“Then that’s all.
Goodnight, Trainer Nakajima.”
“Goodnight, Ms.
Hagino.”
After the call ended, Nakajima Shin stared at the screen, blankly wondering what could have happened to the contract that it hadn’t reached the URA after all this time.
Could it really be that Teio’s family was interfering, just as Hagino suggested?
With no clues in hand and it being too late to find Teio and question her, Nakajima Shin thought it over and decided to take a page from a veteran gamer’s book: temporarily put it on hold.
Teio hadn’t said anything about an emergency anyway.
It was probably just a paperwork issue, like a minor error where her name was written in the wrong field.
He shouldn’t keep worrying.
He’d just sleep well, handle tomorrow’s assessment, and then go to Tracen to ask the student council for clarification.
Nakajima Shin closed his laptop, turned off the light, and lay in bed with his eyes closed.
But after tossing and turning for nearly an hour, he couldn’t sleep at all.
His mind was razor-sharp, and flashes of Teio’s tear-streaked smile from the afternoon kept popping up, making him increasingly worried that something worse had happened.
Annoyed, he scratched his head, then gritted his teeth, got up, turned on the light, sat back at his computer, and continued finishing the training plans for Urara and Teio.
If he couldn’t sleep, he might as well skip it entirely and pull an all-nighter.
It was the perfect chance to let this body experience the excellent traditional culture of college students from an ancient Eastern civilization.
Pulling all-nighters like it’s a meal, staying up till dawn like it’s drinking water.
As long as the dorm supervisor didn’t cut the power, staying up till sunrise was nothing.
And so, Nakajima Shin powered through straight until 7 AM.
His eyes were bloodshot as he flawlessly completed the training plans for both Urara and Teio.
“Haa~” Nakajima Shin opened his mouth and let out a yawn.
“Getting sleepy right now.
What terrible timing.”
He rubbed his eyes, feeling even more drowsy, so he went to the bathroom to splash cold water on his face.
Then he picked up the landline to order breakfast and a few bottles of Red Bull energy drinks.
After eating breakfast and chugging all the energy drinks, he stood around waiting for the caffeine to kick in.
By the time his spirits lifted, it was already time to head to the banquet hall for the assessment, so he hurried off.
Since he hadn’t agreed to become the Gorgeous Clan’s trainer yet, the assessment naturally had to continue.
Besides, he figured even if he had agreed, they’d still make him go through it.
The only difference would be that he’d probably be the only participant left.
As for becoming Daiichi Ruby’s trainer, honestly, he didn’t feel particularly resentful about the late-night incident.
After all, Hagino’s words were just annoying at first.
But her apology, combined with the heads-up about the contract issue, had long since cooled his anger.
Right now, he was just thinking that he’d probably have to wait three years before signing Daiichi Ruby.
And she likely wouldn’t agree to wait that long anyway, so he hadn’t taken it too seriously.
When Nakajima Shin arrived at the banquet hall and saw familiar faces, the male trainer from last night remarked in surprise, “Why are you still here?
Don’t you already have Urara to train?
The Gorgeous Clan wouldn’t accept you.”
“She’s just a temporary trainee.
It shouldn’t be an issue.
If they have a problem with it, I’ll just leave when they tell me to,” Nakajima Shin replied offhandedly.
The male trainer thought for a moment.
“Fair enough.”
He then eagerly awaited to see what the Gorgeous Clan would do next.
After a while, the assessment began.
No one from the Gorgeous Clan drove Nakajima Shin out, and thanks to Daiichi Ruby’s one-on-one coaching last night, he passed the assessment smoothly.
Amid the low murmurs of others discussing his special case, Nakajima Shin hurried out, changed into the academy-issued uniform, and boarded a bus to Central Tracen Academy.