"Trainer, could you please not talk to me in that tone? You're being too formal!"
Hayato looked up, startled. Hayato saw Grass Wonder angry for the first time. When she got angry, her small mouth puffed up slightly. "But you always talk like that, don't you?"
"I'm me, and Trainer is Trainer. You can call them Seiun, Halo, Urara-chan... but with me, it's still my full name. I don't like it. And also, you've never had a heart-to-heart with me or asked me out all this time..."
Her blue pupils rolled up as she opened her eyes wide, lifting her gaze straight toward Hayato.
Every statement hit home. It was true. Hayato still called Grass Wonder by her full name. Since joining the team, aside from training, Hayato had barely talked to her.
Isn't that what a trainer's job is, though? The work is to train uma musume, not to date them.
"Grass Wonder... when you talk to me so formally, I can't help but use this tone too."
Is this my fault? You're the one who started talking like that. If you were like Seiun, it definitely wouldn't be like this.
"You're still calling me by my full name!" Grass Wonder clenched her small fists, forcibly suppressing her voice. Even though she was that angry, her voice wasn't loud. She was still trying hard to maintain her ladylike image.
"W-Wonder..." Hayato tried tentatively. Hayato felt today's Grass Wonder was particularly strange, completely opposite from her usual calm demeanor. She was barely holding back from raising her voice to scold him.
"Whew..." She touched her chest and let out a light breath. "That's more like it. Keep it that way. Don't change it."
"Hehe, Trainer, let's go back." Grass Wonder's mood suddenly improved. She'd finally said what had been weighing on her heart.
"Yeah, okay."
After Grass Wonder purchased the aster seeds, she and Hayato slowly walked back together.
As they walked, Grass Wonder casually said, "Trainer, wouldn't it be nice if we were a couple? The two of us walking together look just like a couple."
Hayato clutched his chest, struck by Grass Wonder's sudden arrow. Hayato didn't say anything.
Fiuh, why does everything suddenly become chaotic just because I ran away for a day without contact? That was close...
Noticing Hayato's flustered expression, Grass Wonder even laughed. So trainer is this interesting. No wonder Maru-nee is so interested in him.
She continued, "Life should bloom like a flower, showing yourself. Even if it's just for a moment, you should be the most perfect version of yourself. What do you think, Trainer?"
"You're absolutely right. Be the best version of yourself!" Hayato felt there was nothing wrong with that statement. A life without such confidence and determination would be tragic.
"I want to be the most perfect version of myself, climbing to the peak of this race. Trainer is also aiming to be the best trainer, right?"
"Yeah..."
"Let's work hard together." She extended one hand toward Hayato.
Did this extended hand have some special meaning? Hadn't they already shaken hands? Rejoining the team, so they needed to shake hands again?
"Yes, please take care of me." Hesitantly, Hayato still extended his hand.
Hayato didn't know if it was his imagination, but he saw a subtle, barely noticeable sly smile flash across Grass Wonder's face. Before he could react, Grass Wonder grabbed his hand and started walking, with no intention of letting go. For convenience, she even switched from her right hand to her left.
Hayato was certain that if he ever wanted to talk to other uma musume, Grass Wonder wouldn't hesitate to raise its naginata.
Entering school like this, trainer's office would truly become a battlefield.
"Um, Wonder."
"Yes!" Grass Wonder responded, smiling. "Trainer doesn't need to be so reserved. It's fine to speak naturally."
"Your hand..." Hayato pointed with his other hand at the hand being held, gently reminding her she was still holding it.
"Oh my!" Grass Wonder pretended she'd just remembered she was still holding hands. "I just assumed we were a couple earlier, so I naturally held hands. But it looks like we really do look more like a couple now!"
She spoke words that even Urara wouldn't believe, yet the strength in her hand didn't loosen. "Trainer, what do you think the process of two people falling in love is like?"
Don't change the subject. Could you please let go first?
Grass Wonder answered her own question. "Meeting, knowing each other, then growing old together. The most important part is holding hands first, and only then can you be together until your hair turns white."
Being cultured really makes a difference in how you speak. Every sentence is a classic. But could you please let go first?
Hayato tried experimentally to pull away. Only then did Grass Wonder embarrassedly release his hand. If Hayato's strength had been any weaker, she would've broken his hand bones.
Uma musume are getting more and more brazen. Weren't they afraid I'd run away again?
Having failed at hand-holding, Grass Wonder felt a bit awkward and sighed. "Sigh, Trainer really is a man who doesn't understand romance."
"I'm your trainer."
"So what if you're a trainer? There are plenty of trainers who date their Uma Musume."
Did she really think I was that easy to fool? Don't you know how strong uma musume body is compared to humans?
Since he'd chosen to come back, Hayati never expected to escape unscathed. But wasn't this development a bit too fast? At this rate, he wouldn't even make it to the end of King Halo's Triple Crown, let alone Urara's Arima Kinen.
Based on Urara's training intensity, it would take at least her third debut year before she could run in the Arima Kinen. Three and a half more years...
"I'm different from them. I have my own professional ethics. Besides, didn't you say I should also work hard to become an excellent trainer? To become an excellent trainer, I can't have this kind of negative influence."
"Hmm?" Grass Wonder's expression went blank. Her eyelids fluttered. He didn't know if she truly understood, but she nodded slightly. "I hope Trainer can achieve what's in his heart soon."
"You too."
"Hehe, of course."
Hayato knew what Grass Wonder meant by the peak.
To be called the strongest Uma Musume, you naturally had to defeat the strongest. So all along, her target had been Maruzensky. In her mind, Maruzensky was the strongest.
This goal was incredibly ambitious, putting considerable pressure on her.
Compared to her body, Hayato didn't want her to push herself too hard.
Because a monster like Maruzensky, without a speed stat of 1000 and a comprehensive rating of A, couldn't win against her. A perverted red skill like Speed Devourer was unique to Maruzensky only.