By the time Shinji Kitahara returned to the clubroom, almost an hour and a half had passed.
Hearing the door open, Tokai Teio was the first to look up. Her nose wrinkled slightly, and she showed a dissatisfied expression.
"Trainer-san, you're so slow! What took you so long— what happened to your arm?"
At Teio's words, the gazes of the others instantly focused on his somewhat twisted left arm.
"This? I tripped on the way back," he explained with a smile. He put the two bags on the floor and was about to continue speaking when his collar was suddenly grabbed.
"Trainer, I want the truth," Tokai Teio said, grabbing his collar, her expression frighteningly grim. "Or do you think a horse girl's sense of smell is just for decoration?"
From the injured area, besides the faint smell of blood that had been washed away, there was the scent of an unfamiliar horse girl. And it wasn't just the smell. Shinji's appearance was also a bit disheveled. The most obvious was his jacket, which was intact when he went out but was now torn in several places and stained with some dirt, looking exceptionally ragged. This was clearly not something that could happen from just a fall.
Plus, Shinji was not good at lying, and he hadn't been able to deal with many of the details before coming back. Forget Teio, even Special Week could tell he was lying.
Shinji was taken aback and then turned a pleading gaze to Eclipse.
Then he found that Eclipse's expression was even more terrifying than Teio's. She hadn't come up to him directly, but her cold gaze was clearly stating one word.
Speak.
Now Shinji was out of options. He could only truthfully recount what had happened on the way to the girls. He only omitted the part where he had won, saying that while he was running away, the other person had accidentally hit her head and passed out, and he had thus been spared.
Except for Eclipse, no one else doubted this story. After all, in their eyes, the probability of a human defeating a horse girl was about the same as an ant biting an elephant to death. Although what he said was indeed ridiculous, it was the most reasonable explanation at the moment.
"Where is that horse girl?" Teio's tone was different from usual, her face seemingly covered by a layer of gloom. "Why did she attack you?"
"I don't know why she attacked me," Shinji shook his head. "As for the person, I've already sent her to the Chairwoman. The Chairwoman said she would handle the rest, so I came back."
"The Chairwoman can be a bit indecisive in these matters. You should have handed her over to the President."
"I didn't have time to think about all that. Besides, I just argued with her yesterday. I wouldn't dare go over there again." Speaking of that woman, he remembered the rumors he had heard earlier, and a shiver ran down his spine, making him shrink his neck.
"Alright, it's over. You don't have to worry—here, I bought everything. Let's open them up and see. There's UNO, poker, Monopoly, Ludo, everything."
Although he said that, after such an incident, even Special Week had no desire to play. After Teio, she and Oguri Cap anxiously asked him if he was okay, if he needed to go to the infirmary, and if he should go home and rest in the afternoon.
As for Eclipse, she just stood by the wall, watching. Only after everyone had fussed over him did she walk over.
"You've been too lax these days," she said.
The others didn't know what she was talking about, but Shinji understood and smiled bitterly. "Come on, she's a horse girl. When that kick came at me, I thought I was going to die—look, my suit was kicked open." He pointed at the cheap suit that had been tattered from his evasive maneuvers, a helpless look on his face.
But Eclipse wasn't buying it. She continued, "After your injury heals, I plan to resume your previous training, and the intensity will be increased by half."
"Increased by half?" Shinji was shocked. "And I'm working now. Where am I going to find so much time to exercise..."
"And yet you have time to scroll through your phone all day?"
Shinji was at a loss for words. "Fine."
He sighed and was about to negotiate with Eclipse about not increasing the intensity by half, but he suddenly felt a warmth in his palm. He looked up in surprise and saw a rare look of tension on Eclipse's face.
"I... don't want to lose you." She held his hand, her tone different from usual. "If this isn't working, let's go back to living at home. At least then I..."
"Eclipse."
Shinji sighed and gently touched her face. "I'm very safe. The other person was holding back a lot at the beginning. I could tell she didn't intend to blow things up or really do anything to me. And the Chairwoman has promised me that she'll investigate the reason behind this incident soon."
In fact, if the other person hadn't held back at the beginning, or had really wanted to kill him, he wouldn't have had such a hard fight.
"But..."
"It's okay. I won't act alone until I'm sure it's safe. I'll either be with you all, or I'll go find other trainers to hang out with. In short, I won't give the other party another chance to make a move." He looked directly into Eclipse's eyes, his tone sincere. "Trust me, okay?"
"...Okay."
Eclipse was silent for a long time, then slowly nodded, her expression returning to its usual state. "I understand."
She slowly backed away, but compared to before, her eyes held a new coldness.
Although their voices were very low and the others in the room didn't hear what they were saying, they saw the actions. No one found it strange. After all, they had long known about Eclipse and Shinji's relationship. It would have been stranger if Eclipse hadn't shown any reaction after her family member, with whom she had depended on for survival, had been injured, even almost killed.
An attack by a horse girl was no joke for a human, especially one with obvious malicious intent. Even if the attacker didn't intend to kill, with the frailty of a human body, a single careless mistake or accident could result in serious injury, or even instant death.
They didn't know what had happened during the process. They didn't know that Shinji's clothes were torn because of his large movements, or that the dust on them was from when he had actively thrown his jacket on the ground. They could only see Shinji's ragged appearance now and speculate on the situation based on the damage and injuries. They concluded that things weren't as simple as he said and that he was just saying it to reassure them, which only deepened their worry.
Nearby, watching the intimate display between Eclipse and Shinji, a flash of envy appeared in Tokai Teio's eyes. A strange emotion flickered in her heart, but it was quickly suppressed by another feeling. If I were injured, the President would probably worry about me like that too.
The rest of the break was spent with various questions directed at Shinji.
Then, in the afternoon, at the strong and unanimous insistence of the others, Shinji was escorted to the Tracen infirmary for an examination.
Only after the school doctor repeatedly emphasized that he was fine and just needed to rest did the others reluctantly leave the infirmary and go about their business.
For some reason, however, Eclipse, who was supposed to go to class, did not head towards the classroom building. Instead, she started walking towards the Chairwoman's office. And Tokai Teio, who was supposed to go to the training grounds to practice, did the exact opposite of Eclipse and headed towards the classroom building, where the organization known as the student council was located.
Shinji was unaware of what was happening outside. After everyone left, he rolled up his sleeves and began to check his injuries.
The four bottles of orange drink were something called Stamina Potions, which he had taken from his system space. Although they were called stamina potions, they actually had considerable healing and recovery effects. While they were useless against diseases, their recovery effect on physical injuries was quite good, and the sooner they were used, the better the effect. They were one of his trump cards.
Perhaps because he had been injured not long ago and the treatment was timely, although his left arm still looked a bit bent and the skin outside was frighteningly swollen, the inside, especially the most crucial bone, was fine.
But even so, he didn't plan to continue chugging potions to heal himself. After all, there were people watching, and his injury had been seen. He couldn't just take out a stamina potion from his system out of thin air in front of people, chug it down, and perform a great healing spell, then explain to them that he was just messing with them, right?
After thinking for a while, he decided to just wait for treatment honestly and also take the opportunity to see the level of Tracen's medical technology.
"You're very lucky. The other person probably didn't intend to really hurt you and didn't use too much force. Otherwise, a comminuted fracture would have been unavoidable," the school doctor said after examining his arm, then took out a tube of ointment. "But it's good that the bone isn't broken. I'll apply some medicine for you. Just rest here for a day to stabilize the injury. After that, just be careful, and it should be fully healed in about a week."
"Thank you." Shinji cupped his hands in thanks and let her apply the medicine. Then he suddenly remembered something. "Um... can the treatment fee here be reimbursed?" he asked cautiously.
It was only his fourth day of work, and he hadn't even received his salary yet. He had just paid out of his own pocket to buy a bunch of entertainment items for those kids. He didn't have any extra money for medical expenses now.
Seeing his cautious look, the school doctor couldn't help but laugh. She explained while laughing, "No need. Tracen's medical care is completely free. After all, being a trainer is a high-risk profession, and injuries are inevitable, so our medical system is very complete. Don't worry."
"...That's good, that's good." He nodded, and after seeing the school doctor off, he lay down on the hospital bed.
Phew, I can finally continue to slack off, and it's even justifiable slacking. This is great.
Just as he was about to take out his phone and go on the forum to see what idiotic questions the other trainers had posted, his expression suddenly stiffened.
Wait, did I forget something important?
He carefully recalled the content of his previous conversation, and his face gradually turned pale, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
He... seemed to have... forgotten to negotiate with Eclipse about that half-increase in training intensity.
I'm screwed.
-------
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