“Didn’t I just say my legs fracture easily as soon as I run?
Why are you still asking me to run?”
“Are you one of those villains who likes watching people get hurt?”
Hearing Tokai Teio’s slightly teasing words, Nakajima Shin kept his hand extended, his voice calm.
“If you can walk, a slow jog should be fine, right?”
“Hmm…
I guess…
it should be fine?” Tokai Teio tapped her cheek, tilting her head in thought.
“Then let’s go.”
Nakajima Shin grabbed her hand, yanked her up, ignored her protests, hoisted her over his shoulder, vaulted over the railing, and only set her down once they were on the grass.
“Hey~!” Tokai Teio pouted in protest, hands on her hips.
“Are you a chauvinist or a control freak?
I haven’t even said yes yet.”
“Call me whatever you want,” Nakajima Shin said lightly.
“But I’m serious about wanting you to run with me.
So I’d rather not hear you say no.”
“Sigh…
fine, fine.” Tokai Teio shook her head helplessly, choosing not to refuse.
As an Umamusume, she possessed far sharper intuition and observation skills than normal humans.
She could easily tell if someone was lying, and just now, she’d sensed not a single lie from Nakajima Shin.
If he was being genuine, she might as well run with him.
Tokai Teio stretched her waist, warming up her arms and legs as she asked, “But why are you so set on me running with you?
Trying to bully a cripple?”
Nakajima Shin replied calmly, “Because I want to see a monarch run.
That’s all.”
Tokai Teio paused, then burst out laughing.
“Just for that?
Nobody wants to watch me run anymore.
If I get hurt again, they’ll just waste time buying flower baskets to visit me.”
“But I want to watch,” Nakajima Shin said immediately.
“Why?” Tokai Teio suppressed the upward curve of her lips, smiling tightly.
Nakajima Shin pulled a contract and a pen from his backpack.
“Because I want to invite you to be my trainee.”
Tokai Teio froze for a second, then burst into laughter so hard tears welled up.
The way she looked at him was like she was watching a clown.
“A runner who can’t run, a patient with habitual fractures, an Umamusume who’ll never win a race.
And you still have the nerve to invite someone like me to be your trainee?”
“Is it April fools?
Telling a joke like that with a straight face.
Impressive!”
Seeing her smile and the look in her eyes, Nakajima Shin realized she genuinely believed it.
His lips pressed together, a heavy weight settling in his chest.
His expression quickly turned solemn, shutting out her influence.
He spoke in a measured, serious tone:
“You can jog, so you’re not useless.
You can stand on the ground without crutches, so you’re not a cripple.
By your own logic just now, you’re an absolute undefeated Umamusume.
If I run into someone that impressive, how could I possibly not invite her?”
“…”
Tokai Teio’s smile gradually faded.
She wiped away the tears from laughing and asked seriously, “You really want to invite me to be your trainee?”
Nakajima Shin nodded.
“Give up,” Tokai Teio said coldly.
“There are plenty of Umamusume stronger than me in this world.
Don’t waste three years of your life on me.”
“Orfevre and Almond Eye have already been picked.
There’s no one else to choose,” Nakajima Shin stated flatly.
Tokai Teio raised an eyebrow, stepped back a few paces, and carefully sized up this strange trainer.
Handsome features, well-proportioned build, strong limbs.
He was a handsome, charming young man, but what was wrong with his head?
He actually thought I was the strongest after Orfevre and Almond Eye.
Even when my legs were fine, I wouldn’t necessarily beat them.
Let alone now, with them in this state.
(TL note: Peak international ratings of Teio, Orfevre, and Almond Eye are: 124-126 estimated for Teio, 129 for Orfevre and 124 for Almond eye, among Umas in game El Condor Pasa is the strongest at 134-136 depending on the ranker, only matched/surpassed by Equinox in Japan in 2023.
Teio’s is an estimate as Japanese horses weren’t being formally rated internationally at the time.
I’m gonna keep going, the way ratings work is that the difference (129 vs 124) implies at equal weights the 129 horse should beat the 124 horse by 5 lengths in a 1600m race.
115-124 are international elites, 125-134 are world champions 135+ are among the strongest of all time.
There is also a 3-5 point handicap for fillies which makes Almond Eye an equivalent to a 127-129 colt)
Tokai Teio couldn’t help but put her hands on her hips, shake her head, and sigh for a moment.
Then she snatched his contract, tore it to shreds, tossed it on the ground, and said lightly, “I won’t be your trainee.”
“You didn’t have to tear it up and throw it on the ground.
The support staff will cry,” Nakajima Shin muttered, glancing at the shredded paper.
“Tch.
I’ll do what I want.”
Tokai Teio stomped on the paper scraps a few times, stretched her waist again, and said, “Enough about that.
Let’s jog already.
Once we’re done, I’m going to eat some carrot cookies.”
“By the way, how many meters are we running?”
“One lap.” Nakajima Shin pointed to the 2000-meter track beneath their feet.
Hearing that, Tokai Teio looked at him with a hint of worry.
“Do you actually have the stamina for that?
Don’t tell me you’ll turn it into a walk halfway through.”
“Relax,” Nakajima Shin said lightly.
“I’ve run a full marathon.”
Tokai Teio gave him a surprised look.
She hadn’t expected someone who participated in the even more niche marathon to be standing right in front of her, especially when running was already considered a niche human sport.
But she didn’t press the matter.
If he could run, she might as well run with him in peace.
So Tokai Teio turned around, took a few short steps, and said, “Let’s get going.”
Nakajima Shin nodded, jogging alongside her.
The wind picked up, blowing broken weeds across their line of sight.
The air carried the fresh scent of grass and earth.
The vast training field now held only the two of them.
For a moment, Nakajima Shin felt like he was back on the vast grasslands of home, back in the happiest days of his life.
But in the blink of an eye, there were no cattle or sheep around him, no prized horse beneath him.
Only an Umamusume with horse ears and a tail jogging by his side.
His steady breathing suddenly grew erratic.
It took a few seconds for him to recover.
Faint sounds of breathing reached his ears.
Tokai Teio twitched her ears, suddenly remembering something.
“Hey, we’ve been talking for so long, and I still don’t know your name.”
“Nakajima Shin.”
Tokai Teio nodded.
“Do you need me to help you find a trainee?
I’ve been living here for a few years, and I know plenty of promising friends who haven’t debuted yet.”
Nakajima Shin replied calmly, “I only want you.”
Tokai Teio rolled her lips.
“I really don’t get it.
We just met, so why are you so set on me being your trainee?”
“Can you tell me the reason?”
Nakajima Shin thought it over.
There were plenty of reasons.
The emotional carryover from the similarities between Tokai Teio and White Lily, pity for her broken legs, and the impulsive influence from anime and games…
But in the end, his mind went back to White Lily collapsing in his arms on the Arc de Triomphe track.
As a son of the grasslands and a top-tier jockey, horses were his companions from the start.
Watching one get injured, let alone die, naturally stirred a deep sorrow in his heart.
So when he saw Tokai Teio so indifferent to her own pain, even making jokes about it and hurting herself, a fierce anger ignited in his chest.
If a companion was tearing themselves down, wasn’t it his duty to step up and scold them back to their senses?
So he said:
“Because I want to see Tokai Teio run!”
“Even if it’s just a jog, you have to run!”
“But what is this current state you’re in?!
Fractures shouldn’t defeat a Monarch!”
“If you give up, I’ll just become your trainer and order you to run!”
I probably should’ve put the ranking stuff here