I'm in Teresin, dedicated to playing badly

They're all liars...

It hurts so much, it's so painful, I want to cry...

Her petite figure curled up on the bed, her thin body trembling uncontrollably. She was clearly in extreme distress, but she couldn't even cry; she could only sob silently.

As for her roommate, the girl named Chongpao, although she has a rather eccentric personality, she has been quietly taking care of her ever since watching the game that day, right up until this afternoon.

But tonight, after receiving a phone call, it seemed that something had happened at home, so I left after bringing her some food.

So now, she's all alone in the room.

The pain is brewing.

She kept her eyes tightly shut, because if she opened them, the boundless darkness around her would remind her of the scene at the Satsuki Appreciation, and of that despairing gap.

She began to doubt—whether all her previous efforts had truly been effective, whether the president and trainer had been deceiving her all along, and even whether her existence still held any meaning in this situation…

Boom, boom, boom.

That was the sound of something being knocked.

Has someone come to see her again?

The Emperor of the East Sea thought about it, but did not respond.

Heavy Artillery has left, and there's no one else in the dorm now. She doesn't want to see anyone at this time, and if she doesn't respond, things will probably calm down soon...

Boom, boom, boom.

The sound of something being struck rang out again.

Upon hearing the sound again, the Emperor of the East Sea suddenly trembled involuntarily.

Strange, the location of this sound seems off. It doesn't sound like knocking on a door; it sounds like...

Boom, boom, boom.

In the darkness, a rhythmic tapping sound rang out on the window.

The moment he realized what was happening, the Emperor of the East Sea froze.

Late at night, silent, dark...

Alone, a young girl, despair...

Recalling the horror movies he and Chongpao used to secretly watch together, the East Sea Emperor's hair stood on end.

But if that were all there was to it, the Emperor of the East Sea might not be so afraid.

The problem is, if she remembers correctly, her dorm room is on the fourth floor and doesn't have a balcony...

Boom, boom, boom.

The rhythmic tapping sounded again, exceptionally clear in the quiet night, as if each tap was striking the heart of the Eastern Sea Emperor, causing her heartbeat to gradually quicken.

Panic began to fester, and the body trembled involuntarily. All the previous frustrations were completely replaced by fear, and the person even subconsciously covered themselves with the blanket and plugged their ears.

But it didn't work.

A few seconds later, the rhythmic tapping sound, with the blanket and the hand covering her ears, entered her mind again.

And this time, after knocking, she also heard the sound of the window being opened.

No, no...

The Emperor of the East Sea clutched his head, trembling like a guinea pig under the covers.

Footsteps sounded, approaching the bed of the Eastern Sea Emperor step by step in the silent night, in the boundless darkness, and finally stopped beside her bed.

But at that moment, the trembling of the Emperor of the East Sea suddenly stopped.

After a long silence, a teary-eyed head peeked out from under the covers like a little turtle, looking at the figure standing beside her bed.

"Trainer..."

"Well, it's me."

Shinji Kitahara nodded, then reached out and gently pulled the little turtle in the blanket into his arms, speaking softly.

"I've come to see you."

Chapter 287: Extinction

Shinji Kitahara climbed in from outside the building.

As for why he climbed in, it was naturally because he was worried about the Emperor of the East Sea and wanted to come and see her.

This doesn't mean he sneaked into the East Sea Emperor's dormitory. It's just that even though he had informed them in advance and obtained permission from the relevant personnel, this place is still a girls' dormitory after all, and the East Sea Emperor's dormitory is on the fourth floor. Walking up there was still a bit awkward.

Furthermore, and this is also very important, if Shinji Kitahara were to walk right up like that, it would, to some extent, shake Treisen's ironclad rule that 'trainers are not allowed to enter or leave the Uma Musume dormitory'.

Although this ironclad rule may seem meaningless, since trainers are not allowed to freely enter and leave the horse girls' dormitories, it has become commonplace for the horse girls to enter and leave the trainers' dormitories.

The problem is that no matter how vulnerable or freely accessible the trainers' dormitories may be, they are still ultimately the trainers' dormitories and their territory. If something unexpected happens, the trainers can prepare in advance or put up a weak resistance based on their prior preparations.

But if you were to enter the horse girl dormitory, and those 'innocent, cute,' and 'harmless' little horse girls harbored some ulterior motives, then...

All we can do is pray that there are still hospital beds available, and that someone will discover the situation as soon as possible and report it to Tresson.

Therefore, Shinji Kitahara chose to climb the building directly from the outside. On the one hand, it was to avoid embarrassment, and on the other hand, if others asked about it, Yayoi Akikawa could say that if you could climb four floors by hand, you could too, thus continuing to uphold the ironclad rule that trainers are not allowed to enter or leave the Mama Girl dormitory.

However, although she had entered, met him, and even embraced the Emperor of the East Sea without showing any resistance, the matter was not over yet; in fact, it could be said that it had only just begun.

How can we comfort the Emperor of the East Sea and help her resolve her inner conflict?

Even as he pulled the Emperor of the East Sea into his arms, Kitahara Shinji still couldn't come up with the answer to that question.

He was never good at comforting people, and the situation of the East Sea Emperor was particularly serious. Not to mention Kitahara Shinji, even Rudolf couldn't figure out how to help her get out of the shadow of this failure.

Even though he didn't know what to do, Shinji Kitahara still came.

"I've come to see you."

After pulling the East Sea Emperor into his arms, Kitahara Shinji didn't rush to speak. Instead, he stroked her hair, silently feeling the small body in his arms go from stiff to soft, without uttering a word.

The Emperor of the East Sea remained silent. Kitahara Shinji's sudden appearance and bizarre entrance had a considerable impact on her. Although it diverted her attention to some extent, it also temporarily rendered her unable to react.

silence.

After an unknown amount of time passed in a silent embrace, the East Sea Emperor, gradually regaining his senses, finally realized what had happened. After hesitating for a while, he spoke softly.

"Trainer, what are you doing here...?"

"Didn't I tell you? I'm here to see you."

He paused, then added.

"Don't worry about the impact. The chairperson and I had already spoken to them in advance, and Heavy Cannon (Donghai Emperor's roommate, also known as Maya-chan) also agreed."

After another period of silence.

"...I'm sorry, Trainer, I made you worry."

The Emperor of the East Sea said in a dejected tone.

As soon as he finished speaking, a crisp snap on the head rang out.

boom--

The Emperor of the East Sea, in pain, instinctively shrank his head like a little turtle, and even the corners of his eyes were faintly filled with tears. It took him a while to react, and he raised his head, looking at Kitahara Shinji with teary eyes.

"Trainer, why...?"

"You still remember that I'm your trainer."

Shinji Kitahara pinched the tip of the East Sea Emperor's small nose, looking at her pitiful yet somewhat confused expression.

“You are my responsibility, and I am your trainer. No matter what happens to you, it is only right for me to care about you and help you. You don’t need to thank me, let alone apologize to me.”

"Especially since I bear some responsibility for this incident, I was the one who agreed to your idea of ​​independent training, and I also helped you change other people's minds. If you think this failure was a mistake, then I am your accomplice, understand?"

Accomplice...

Kitahara Shinji's words startled the East Sea Emperor slightly. She instinctively wanted to refute him, but before she could organize her thoughts, Kitahara Shinji spoke again.

"I know that the failure of the Satsuki Sho has made you very sad, and you may even be questioning your own necessity. But Emperor of the East Sea, ask yourself in your heart—do you really think you are weak?"

"I......"

Faced with Shinji Kitahara's questioning, the Emperor of the East Sea was speechless for a moment.

Although she did lose in the Satsuki Sho, and even achieved a score of four, in her heart, the Tokai Empress could not say that she was weak. In fact, she could be considered a top-tier horse girl. Looking at all the horse girls in her class, only a few monsters in the team could beat her.

But as he thought about the situation within the team, the image of that dark figure involuntarily appeared in the mind of the East Sea Emperor, and his body began to tremble involuntarily.

"But......"

"There are no 'buts,' Your Majesty."

Shinji Kitahara interrupted her again.

"I know you're talking about Eclipse, but I can tell you right now that Eclipse isn't a normal horse girl. You could even say she's a different species from horse girls. I can't reveal the specifics."

“But you don’t need to compare yourself to her, because comparing yourself to a horse by the standards of a horse is like comparing a horse by human standards, which is inherently unfair, and she herself thinks so.”

"And if we exclude the solar eclipse, the gap between you and the other two is not that big. I watched the video of the game several times afterward."

"Although you were a few horse lengths behind the two of them in the end, I noticed that the gap between you and them started to widen after the eclipse when you accelerated again and the combined force collapsed. Your running posture and physical exertion at that time were very different from those during normal training, which ultimately led to your defeat."

"Or, to put it more bluntly, your raw strength at the time was not much worse than the other two, but the eclipse affected your mindset, which in turn affected your performance, ultimately leading to the final result."

A moment of silence.

"But I still lost." The Emperor of the East Sea lowered his head, his expression unreadable.

Yes, you lost.

Shinji Kitahara nodded without hesitation or attempt to comfort him.

"But Your Majesty, horse racing is a competitive sport. Winning or losing is a normal part of it. Even your most beloved president has lost many races."

President...

The mention of Rudolf caused the expression of the East Sea Emperor, who was shrouded in shadow, to become increasingly complex.

She buried her head in Shinji Kitahara's arms, clutching his shirt, her voice low and menacing.

"Trainer, can you tell me what your relationship is with the president?"

She paused, then added.

"besides."

"You can't lie to me."

How did the topic suddenly veer off course like this?

Upon hearing the question from the Emperor of the East Sea, Kitahara Shinji was slightly confused. After thinking for a while, he decided to answer honestly.

"I do not know."

Shinji Kitahara spoke frankly, his eyes clear.

Emperor of the East Sea: "..."

Emperor of the East Sea: "What do you mean you don't know?"

"I just don't know."

Shinji Kitahara shrugged.

"To be honest, I'm not sure what kind of relationship I have with the president."

"Superior-subordinate? I don't work in the student union. Friends? It doesn't feel like we're friends. Best buddy? I feel that's more appropriate, and lately she seems to be treating me like a best buddy too, starting to forget our gender differences, and her jokes are getting more and more outrageous. I've been wanting to talk to her, but I've been too busy lately and haven't had the time..."

Shinji Kitahara was not lying. Although Rudolf confessed his feelings to him with a forceful kiss during the Yayoi Prize, Shinji was busy with other things afterward, and Rudolf's follow-up advances were not able to keep up. As a result, Shinji gradually forgot the feelings he had on that day.

Especially before, when he went to the symbolic family, Rudolf and Sirius had put on various scenarios in front of him for various reasons, giving him a heads-up.

As a result, after Shinji Kitahara realized what was going on, he gradually began to think that Rudolph might have said those words to him that day for some other reason, such as competing with Sirius, and it couldn't be considered a confession.

After all, it is common knowledge that as the top horse girl at present, the number of suitors of 'Emperor' is so large that it could circle Treson three times. Among them are many outstanding individuals in various aspects, so it is unlikely that they would be interested in a trainer like him who is just giving up.

Moreover, according to rumors, Rudolph seems to have never shown any interest in any women so far, but he is more enthusiastic and even excited when he is with female horses.

Combined with her permissive attitude towards Treson, it's hard not to question her sexual orientation.