“Bakushin, Bakushin, Bakushin~♪” That night, Kouki—having successfully recruited two three-star Umamusume into his team in a single day—was in an extraordinarily high spirit.
He hummed the “Bakushin March” while crafting custom training regimens for Special Week and Tokai Teio.
Thanks to Silence Suzuka’s presence on the team, Special Week had been eager and cooperative when signing the team registration form.
What surprised Kouki a bit was that, despite Spe-chan’s reputation for poor academic grades, her handwriting on the form was surprisingly neat and elegant.
Tokai Teio, on the other hand, had thrown a huge fit, complaining about being tricked by an unscrupulous adult.
However, after Kouki threatened to bring the matter directly to Student Council President Symboli Rudolf, Teio reluctantly signed her registration form.
Granted, Teio still refused to give Kouki any friendly cooperation, storming right back to her dorm room the moment she signed.
But Kouki didn’t mind in the slightest.
For him, as long as Teio’s training UI panel was unlocked, he had plenty of ways to win her over step by step—after all, no one could resist a Trainer equipped with a game system!
No one!
Not even Tokai Teio, whose current affection bar was below 50%, could resist forever!
Speaking of affection levels, however, Kouki was a bit perplexed when inspecting his system panel.
He wasn’t surprised by Rice Shower’s sky-high affection level.
After all, they had spent over a month together and even gone on a date, so a maxed-out bond made total sense.
What baffled him was Silence Suzuka’s affection level—which was also completely maxed out!
Kouki racked his brain: ‘Did I ever flirt with her?’ She had only transferred to his team two days ago, and he hadn’t even had the chance to officially court her yet!
‘Ah, women truly are an enigma…’ Special Week’s affection level was much more normal: sitting at a steady 50% without any wild fluctuations.
*** “Phew…
finally finished.” Kouki, who had been hunched over his desk for hours, finally completed both customized training programs.
He stretched his aching back and let out a long yawn, planning to walk Tokai Teio and Special Week through his training ideas tomorrow.
Having a system that clearly displayed each Umamusume’s exact stat parameters was incredible.
But what was even more game-changing was its ability to directly simulate growth outcomes based on training intensity.
Simply put, Kouki could design a training schedule, run a mental simulation of each Umamusume’s progress, get instant data feedback, and adjust the schedule accordingly.
This was how Kouki managed to draft two comprehensive, high-efficiency training plans in a single night.
Any other Trainer would have needed weeks of observation and trial-and-error to tailor an effective plan, constantly making manual adjustments along the way.
That traditional method was exhausting and heavily reliant on guesswork.
Without a deep understanding of their trainee, a Trainer could easily misguide an Umamusume—much like Suzuka’s former Trainer, a senior who wasn’t even worth mentioning.
After tidying up his messy desk, Kouki switched off the office lights, ready to head back to the dorms for a warm shower and a good night’s sleep.
In Kouki’s opinion, the best perk of being a Trainer was that Umamusume attended academic classes every morning.
Unless there was an upcoming race requiring extra morning practice or an away match in another city, a Trainer’s morning schedule was practically wide open.
Kouki had fully intended to sleep in until noon tomorrow.
“Onii-chan!” Just as Kouki was humming the Bakushin anthem while stepping out of the break room, a familiar, trembling voice called out to him from the dark.
Kouki turned his head and froze.
Standing in the biting night wind was a small, shivering figure—Rice Shower.
Even though it was freezing February, she stood outside the building wearing nothing but her thin gym tracksuit.
Her small face was flushed red from the cold, and she kept cupping her hands over her mouth, blowing hot air onto her fingers before rubbing them together furiously.
The moment Kouki turned around, she hurriedly dropped her pale, frozen hands and jogged toward him with small, shaky steps.
With her teeth chattering from the cold, she whispered: “Onii-chan…
you worked so late tonight…
thank you for your hard work!” “Why are you here?!” Kouki asked, his eyebrows furrowing deeply.
It was already 11:00 PM, and the dorm curfew was 9:00 PM.
There was zero reason for her to be standing outside at this hour.
“Rice…
was waiting for Onii-chan.
Because…
Rice really wanted to see Onii-chan…” Rice Shower forced a small smile.
It was a genuine smile, but after standing in the freezing wind for hours, her face was so numb she couldn’t even form it properly.
“I didn’t ask that!
I asked why on earth you didn’t go back to your room!” Kouki’s tone grew sharp and stern.
Setting aside the curfew violation, just seeing Rice Shower standing there shivering in the cold sparked an uncontrollable wave of anger inside his chest.
‘How could she be so careless with her own health?!
What if her body gets ruined from this and she can’t run anymore?!
What then?!’ An Umamusume’s racing career was a constant battle against injury and illness.
Even runners who took meticulous care of their bodies could suddenly have their careers cut short by a freak accident or sickness.
And here Rice Shower was, recklessly risking her own health!
‘If she needed something, couldn’t she just call?!
Whenever she wanted to see him, had he ever turned her away?!’ The more Kouki thought about it, the angrier he became.
Seeing Rice Shower standing there dazed, her eyelids drooping as if she were about to lose consciousness, Kouki reached out and grabbed her hand, intending to drag her straight back to the dorms and talk sense into her tomorrow.
However, the moment Kouki’s palm touched Rice Shower’s tiny hand, an icy chill shot through his skin.
Her hand was as cold as ice!
Just as Kouki opened his mouth to scold her, Rice Shower’s legs gave out, and her body collapsed backward.
Kouki’s heart leaped into his throat.
He immediately reached out, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her firmly into his chest.
The thin fabric of her tracksuit offered almost no warmth holding her close, Kouki realized with a jolt that she wasn’t wearing any warm thermal layers underneath.
He quickly pressed his palm against her forehead.
While her hands and feet were ice-cold, her forehead was burning like an oven!
‘She has a severe fever!
Damn it!’ “Hello?!
Is this the medical clinic?!
I am so sorry to bother you this late, but one of my Trainees has a burning fever!
I’m bringing her over right now, please prepare a bed immediately!” Kouki dialed the academy clinic’s emergency line thankfully, on-duty staff were available 24/7.
Hanging up, Kouki shoved his phone into his pocket, unzipped his thick jacket, wrapped it tightly around Rice Shower, slid one arm underneath her knees, and scooped her up into his arms.
“I am going to lecture you so hard tomorrow!” Kouki said fiercely, breaking into a run toward the clinic.
Suddenly, he felt a tug at his collar.
Kouki looked down.
Rice Shower was leaning her head against his shoulder, her eyes half-closed as she gasped heavily for air, cold sweat glistening across her burning forehead.
One of her small hands hung limply, while the other was weakly clutching his tie.
Tears welled in the corners of her eyes—whether from the excruciating fever or deep sadness, he couldn’t tell.
“Onii-chan…
please…
don’t be angry…” “Today…
Rice received a phone call…
from back home…” “The old Grandpa Trainer…
who used to…
train Rice when Rice was little…
the one who believed in Rice…” “…passed away…” “Rice…
has always been small and skinny since childhood…” “Nobody…
ever believed in Rice…” “Before…
meeting Onii-chan…” “Grandpa Coach was the only Trainer…
who trusted Rice…” “That’s why Rice…
was able to come to Tracen…
and meet…
Onii-chan…” “So…
Rice…” “Rice didn’t know what to do…” “Rice just wanted…
so badly to see Onii-chan…
so Rice walked here…” “But…
when Rice saw Onii-chan…
working so hard inside…” “Working so seriously…
Rice didn’t dare…
to disturb Onii-chan…” “So…
Rice wanted to wait…
wait for Onii-chan to come out…” “Rice just…
wanted to see Onii-chan…
that’s all…” “Rice didn’t mean to do something bad…
Onii-chan…” “Please…
don’t be angry at Rice…
okay…?”