Tenderness Before Punishment!
20: Chapter 20: A Life-or-Death Decision!
Tenderness Before Punishment!
“Ah…
my head is pounding.
That bunch of local directors really went overboard last night.” Kouki sighed, rubbing his temples with one hand.
By now, Kouki and Rice Shower were already on the bullet train heading back to Tokyo.
Still suffering from a nasty hangover after drinking with the local school board the night before, Kouki had needed Rice Shower’s gentle support just to board the train.
‘Ugh, why is this salaryman drinking culture everywhere in Japan?’ “Onii-chan…
are you okay?” Rice Shower, sitting beside him, asked with a deeply worried expression.
“I’m fine…
I just might need to visit the restroom a few more times…
Ugh…” Under Rice Shower’s anxious gaze, Kouki stood up unsteadily from his seat and walked toward the restroom in the connecting train car.
After throwing up in the toilet and splashing cold water onto his face, Kouki pulled out his smartphone.
He found unread LINE messages waiting for him from Silence Suzuka and Tokai Teio, sent late last night.
Kouki tapped open Silence Suzuka’s LINE chat first.
*[“Trainer Kouki, Special Week’s starting gate exit test went extremely smoothly today.
Her average exit reaction time of 0.5 seconds earned high praise from the track Trainers.
(Attached: Test Scorecard)”]* *[“Recently, Teio-san has also taken time out of her schedule to join our dance practice.
Spe-chan is making remarkably rapid progress, and I imagine she will put on a spectacular show after her Debut race.”]* Attached was a cute sticker of Silence Suzuka smiling gently.
*[“By the way, Teio-san seems to be participating in an official school selection race tomorrow afternoon.
Student Council President Symboli Rudolf is currently away attending a regional racing committee, so Teio-san has seemed a bit distracted lately.”]* Silence Suzuka’s message ended there.
Kouki really appreciated Suzuka’s communication style—concise, thoughtful, and warm.
Without any unnecessary filler, she conveyed essential updates directly while maintaining a gentle tone.
In just three short paragraphs, she had given Kouki a clear summary of everything that had happened at Tracen over the past few days, leaving him thoroughly impressed.
*[“Received!
Thank you for your hard work, Suzuka-san.
You truly are the pillar of Team Lord.
I brought back some delicious Hokkaido specialties as a token of appreciation, so please don’t decline!”]* Kouki sent back a cheerful Suzuka sticker.
In truth, the two of them didn’t speak with overly formal stiffness in private.
Whenever Kouki teased Silence Suzuka like this, she would playfully send a sighing sticker in return—a reaction Kouki found endlessly endearing.
Suzuka remained silent and didn’t reply right away.
Since it was morning, she was likely attending her academic classes.
Cell phones had to be switched off during lectures, so she couldn’t reply immediately.
Kouki then tapped open Tokai Teio’s LINE chat.
Teio possessed an innocent, energetic, and playful personality—just like a pampered little princess—and her text messages were a wild, entertaining ride.
*[“HEY!
Where on earth did you go?!
Ever since Rice-chan was feeling unwell, I haven’t seen your face ONCE!
Can you even call yourself a qualified Trainer?!”]* (Emperor Stern Face Sticker) *[“You clearly tricked me with sweet words into joining Team Lord, and then you just dumped me here to train all by myself!
If Team Rigil hadn’t closed their new member registration, I would have asked the President to transfer me out immediately!”]* (Emperor Sighing Sticker) *[“Today, I personally coached Spe-chan in singing and dancing at the studio and karaoke room!
Spe-chan is pretty good at singing, but she’s a total disaster at dancing!
Teaching her was absolutely exhausting, but she finally made some progress by the end of the day.
You should be bowing in gratitude to the great Teio-sama!”]* (Emperor Smug Smile Sticker) *[“GEEZ!
You’re supposed to be MY Trainer!
But you haven’t replied to a single one of my LINE messages!
Teio-sama is a genius, you know!
Tons of Trainers are dying to recruit me!
If you keep ignoring my texts, I’m going to get snatched away by someone else!”]* (Emperor Pouting Face Sticker) *[“Argh!
Teio-sama has sent SO MANY messages and you haven’t even read them!
Fine!
Tomorrow afternoon is my selection race!”]* (Emperor Angry Face Sticker) *[“Trainer…
please reply to my message…
The President’s phone is switched off because of her meetings…
and now even my own Trainer is ignoring me…”]* (Emperor Crying Face Sticker) That final message had been sent around 10:00 PM last night.
Tokai Teio’s tone had shifted from outrage to helplessness, from boastful pride to frustration, and finally to a heartbreaking sense of loneliness—all in the span of a single afternoon.
While Kouki had been out drinking with the local board, Teio had gone through an emotional rollercoaster.
This was the exact Tokai Teio from the game that Kouki knew so well.
Although Teio was a prodigy on the track, her emotional maturity was still that of a needy child.
Her deep reliance on Symboli Rudolf was so intense that even “The Emperor” herself was often helpless against it.
With the President away on official business and Kouki unreachable, Teio had naturally sought comfort from her contracted Trainer.
Yet Kouki hadn’t even seen her messages in time.
One could only imagine how lonely and abandoned Teio must have felt sitting by herself in her dorm room last night.
Kouki let out a long sigh.
Even though this was an unforeseen emergency, imagining Teio’s adorable face wrapped in a blanket while tearfully clutching her phone made a pang of guilt strike his heart.
And so, he made a drastic decision—one that he would remember for the rest of his life, but would never regret…
“Hey…
Maruzensky-san?
It’s me, Kouki.
Could I ask you for a huge favor…?” “I’ll be arriving at Tokyo Station in about three hours.
Could you pick me up?
Please…
drive your beloved red sports car…” “Yes, just me.
As for Rice Shower, I’ll have her take the express bus home safely…
I wouldn’t dare subject her to your driving…
Ah, never mind that!” “Thank you so much!” Hanging up the call, Kouki felt instantly sobered up.
The terrifying realization of the wild, death-defying ride awaiting him at Tokyo Station was enough to clear any hangover!
Leaving the restroom and returning to his seat, Kouki chatted with Rice Shower for a bit before pulling out his phone to watch race highlights together.
Since they were inside a quiet bullet train carriage, they kept their voices down to a whisper, excitedly pointing out familiar faces on the screen.
As one video ended, YouTube automatically autoplayed the next trending clip.
Seeing the familiar dirt track on screen, Kouki and Rice Shower looked at each other, slightly confused.
Sure enough, in the video, a petite girl in a black lolita dress surged up the steep incline with explosive power, plunging down the decline at an unbelievable speed.
Her heroic sprint, crossing the finish line six lengths ahead of the local runners, had triggered a wild wave of comments and exclamations filling the screen.
Kouki minimized full-screen mode, opened the comment section, and began reading through the top comments alongside Rice Shower.
*”Does anyone know who this Umamusume is?!
That downhill sprint was insanely reckless!”* *”Found her!
She’s called Rice Shower, a student at Tracen Academy.
She hasn’t run her Debut race yet!”* *”What?!
No way!
How can an un-debited trainee pull off a downhill sprint like that in a local match?!”* *”I checked the race records.
It was an unofficial exhibition match hosted at her hometown academy, no entrance fee charged.”* *”This girl is 100% a future G1 contender!
Rice Shower…
I’m marking her down right now.
Definitely watching her Debut!”* *”+1!”* *”+2!”* *”+10086!”* “Rice-san, you’re a massive internet celebrity now~” Kouki pointed to the millions of views and tens of thousands of comments on YouTube, smiling at Rice Shower.
“No way…
that’s too exaggerated…
Rice was just trying her best to complete Onii-chan’s training…
It’s Onii-chan’s training schedule that’s too intense!” “To be honest, that’s completely true,” Kouki nodded without a hint of hesitation, causing Rice Shower to giggle softly.
“Onii-chan…
your skin is so thick!” Rice Shower reached out her small hand and playfully poked Kouki’s cheek.
“Rice-san isn’t far behind either,” Kouki teased back.
The two looked at each other and shared a warm, happy smile, continuing to browse through Umamusume videos and news together as the train sped toward Tokyo.