The next morning passed peacefully in leisurely slacking.
After finishing training, the usual five of them went to the cafeteria for lunch. They ate under the watchful eyes of the cafeteria staff, who looked as if they were facing a great enemy. After a short rest in the team clubroom, it was afternoon.
Tokai Teio had classes in the afternoon, so she didn't stay at the training grounds. Special Week and Oguri Cap, however, were training with great enthusiasm.
As for Eclipse?
She didn't have any classes today and had been by his side since the morning. But she was like a transparent person, neither training nor speaking. Besides staring into space, she was just looking around, and it was impossible to know what she was thinking.
Perhaps to others, Eclipse's behavior might seem strange, but to Shinji Kitahara, this was her most normal state.
Eclipse rarely showed interest in anything and didn't like to talk. When they were together, apart from necessary communication, she spent the rest of the time in a daze.
It wasn't that he was mistreating her or forbidding her from having fun. On the contrary, whenever he had spare money in the past, he would try to take her out or encourage her to make more friends at school.
But all of it ended in failure.
Eclipse seemed to be without desire, showing little interest in almost everything. Whether it was games, TV, novels, or even running, she would just stay by his side in a daze when she had nothing to do. Sometimes she could stay like that for an entire day.
Although she would definitely do whatever Shinji told her to, she would basically just follow his instructions mechanically, without showing any happiness or joy in the process.
He had tried asking her what she liked, but he never got an answer. Although she would try her best to answer most of his questions, whenever it involved her thoughts—such as her preferences, her ideas, or her goals—she would either pretend not to hear him and not answer at all, or, like when he asked if she had manipulated Tokai Teio, she would give an obviously fabricated answer.
At first, he was a little resistant to her enigmatic behavior, but over time, he gradually got used to Eclipse's style and gave up trying to change her.
Anyway, she's right here by my side, and she doesn't seem to hate this life. So let her be. As long as she likes it, it's fine.
But while he had adapted, Eclipse's behavior was a bit strange to others.
They had only known each other for less than three days, but Tokai Teio had already cast numerous puzzled glances at Eclipse, who was always standing by the training grounds but never participated in the training. Even Special Week and Oguri Cap had gradually noticed that something was off with her. A few times, they looked like they wanted to ask him about Eclipse, but they always hesitated.
This was a problem he would have to face sooner or later. He had to think of an excuse to fool them.
As for why he didn't tell the truth? Was he supposed to say that although he had never seen Eclipse train, he had also never seen her lose? That would be asking for a beating.
Besides, this was the main Tracen campus, not some local branch school. The level of the horse girls was completely different. Although Eclipse had never lost before, many horse girls here could also maintain an undefeated record against local competition. Shinji couldn't be sure what level Eclipse was at here.
As he ate dinner, these random thoughts swirled in his mind. By the time he was finished thinking, the meal was also more or less done.
After dinner, he took the group of five to the team clubroom as usual. They rested and scrolled through their phones.
Perhaps because she had been studying intensely all afternoon, Tokai Teio was a little sleepy and was dozing off in the corner. Eclipse was still staring into space, her gaze occasionally sweeping over the others in the room, her thoughts unknown.
But Special Week and Oguri Cap weren't so quiet. Since they were just starting out, their training load in the afternoon wasn't heavy. Now that they had just eaten, they were full of energy and had no intention of sitting still. Oguri Cap responsibly took out her phone and started tapping on the screen, either chatting with someone or doing something else.
As for Special Week, she was also about to take out her phone to browse for a while. But just as she took it out, she seemed to remember something, put her phone back, and then, while no one was paying attention, she quietly left her seat.
One step, two steps, three steps.
Since everyone was focused on their own business, no one noticed, or rather, no one cared about her small movements.
She easily sneaked up behind Shinji Kitahara and secretly peeked at his phone screen.
She had been curious since yesterday.
Although Shinji was Tokai Teio and Eclipse's trainer, he never guided their training. Instead, he would take out his phone to look at something whenever he had free time.
Is he using his phone to simulate guiding their training? Or is he looking at something good?
She was very curious.
She quietly peeked over Shinji's shoulder and happened to see him pull up his phone's Browse history.
...What is all this?
The moment she saw the history, Special Week froze.
"You want to look too?" Shinji suddenly spoke without turning his head. "If you're interested, we can learn together."
Special Week froze for a good while, then immediately backed away, flustered.
"No, no, no, that's okay! I think things are fine as they are!"
If you asked Special Week to train, she wouldn't complain even if she was drenched in sweat. But learning... She had been forced to stay at school for remedial classes during the holidays last semester because she failed her exams, and it had left her with a deep psychological scar. Now, the mere mention of words like 'tutoring' made her hair stand on end.
Shinji didn't mind. It wasn't like he was looking at anything indecent. If Special Week wanted to look, he'd let her. As for why he was looking at these things? He was idle anyway, so he might as well look at something useful. If he ever encountered a situation, it might just save his pelvis. It was better to be prepared.
In any case, after this small interlude, the clubroom fell silent again.
As evening passed, the view outside the window grew dim. Since no one had classes tonight and there was nothing else to do, no one left. They all sat quietly in their seats, tapping on their screens.
Training at night was not recommended. On one hand, the limited visibility could easily lead to accidents. On the other hand, if the training intensity during the day was sufficient, the evening was a time for the body to recover and recuperate. Arbitrarily adding extra training could affect the next day's condition and reduce the effectiveness of the training.
A normal trainer would probably choose to take a walk with their charge at this time, chatting about the upcoming training plan or other things. If they had a team, it would be a time for team chat or activities, which could both relax them and deepen the understanding and bond between team members.
The problem was, Shinji Kitahara was not a normal trainer.
Chatting or team activities that could deepen relationships—forget about him initiating them, he might not even agree to participate passively. He was not one of those idiot trainers who didn't know their limits, nor was he one of those 'talk is cheap' types who said they would keep their distance but flirted all day.
He, Shinji Kitahara, always did what he said. If he said he wouldn't get close to horse girls, he wouldn't. If he said he would slack off, he would slack off to the very end.
Want him to liven up the team atmosphere and deepen their bonds? Hmph, no way!
He was determined to slack off today. Not even Jesus could stop him. He, Shinji Kitahara, had said so!
—Knock, knock, knock.
Just as his mind was filled with heroic ambitions, there was a knock on the clubroom door.
Shinji sheepishly put away his phone, went to open the door, and saw a horse girl with black hair, yellow eyes, and a bandage on her nose standing outside.
The vice president of the Tracen Student Council, Narita Brian.
She first glanced at the horse girls inside the room, a flash of surprise in her eyes, then her gaze returned to Shinji.
"Trainer Kitahara, the President has something to discuss with you."
Shinji was taken aback. "Now?"
Narita Brian nodded. "Now."
...
After saying goodbye to the girls in the clubroom, Shinji left with Narita Brian.
After he left, the horse girls in the room looked at each other.
Just as they were wondering what to do next, Oguri Cap, who had been quiet, suddenly looked up and turned her phone screen towards the other three.
"I just found this while Browse the forum."
The other three small heads huddled together, and then they saw the post that had been at the top of the forum all day, which now had thousands of replies and was still rapidly increasing.
'Shocking! Tokai Teio actually chose a rookie trainer who just started!'
After a round of low whispers, accompanied by the sound of a door opening and closing, the clubroom fell silent once again.
-------
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