Kitano first met Mr. C.B. a long, long time ago.
At that time, Kitano had just experienced his first failed playthrough, a "study-to-death" failure due to a lack of information. Even after being reborn, he couldn't think of a good way to enter Tracen Academy. He could only watch helplessly, thinking that because of his failed physical, he might never be able to enter the academy he longed for, no matter how many times he was reborn.
It was then that Kitano met the first horse girl of his new life—or rather, the first horse girl who extended a helping hand to him in his helplessness.
"Why are you always lingering outside the school gates? If you're worried, why not come with me?"
Back then, Kitano's illness hadn't progressed to the point where he needed a wheelchair. He stood there, holding a stack of rejected resumes and admission notices from the central association, lingering helplessly in front of Tracen Academy's gates, on the verge of giving up. It was Mr. C.B. who helped him break the deadlock.
What was even more unbelievable to Kitano at the time was that not only did Mr. C.B. help a complete stranger, encouraging him to go to the Director's office to submit his application, but afterwards, in front of the Director and the then-student council president "Shinzan," she chose Kitano to be her trainer without any warning.
And at that time, Mr. C.B. was a horse girl who had just won her debut race. Even though her very existence was controversial throughout Tracen Academy and the entire Japanese horse girl world, her performance had already proven she had a bright future and immense potential.
But she didn't choose any famous trainer, not even a properly licensed one. She chose a person who had been lingering at the academy gates, disheartened, seriously ill, and looking like a pathetic, homeless puppy just minutes before, to be her one and only trainer.
This decision not only shocked the Director and Shinzan, but even Kitano himself couldn't understand her choice.
Kitano had even, more than once, considered his encounter with Mr. C.B. to be some behind-the-scenes manipulation by the "Three Goddesses" who brought him to this world. But in the end, that reason didn't make sense. If the Goddesses were going to give him a special advantage, why didn't they do so in the first playthrough?
Ultimately, this question lingered in Kitano's mind until one day, he finally learned the truth from Mr. C.B. herself.
"...Perhaps it's because I felt that you, Trainer, were just like me. We were both children born with sin."
"You should know, Trainer-san, right? My birth, the pressure my parents endured... that's why before my debut, not a single trainer was willing to take me on."
"And the trainers who only came after seeing my talent debut... I would never accept people like that as my trainer."
"I am the freest of winds, Trainer-san. At this point, only you, who are just like me, can be the one to command me."
"—Of course, it's also possible that you and I met much earlier than you think."
The one to command the freest wind?
Kitano hadn't forgotten the title—or rather, the expectation—Mr. C.B. had given him back then. After all, even now, Kitano never felt like he had truly commanded her, especially since at that time, he lacked the resolve he had now to simply live.
It was almost laughable. Back then, Kitano was just as terminally ill, yet he thought like some people who, upon transmigration, want to play God, wanting to use his knowledge to change the fates of others.
But in the end, Kitano discovered that it was easier said than done.
Having spent several years with Mr. C.B., with his fate intertwined with hers, Kitano understood her personality all too well. Just as she said, she was the freest of winds, a horse girl who would run unrestrained even in a storm. No one could restrain Mr. C.B., and no one could make decisions for her.
Mr. C.B. loved a challenge. The more adverse the environment, the more it ignited her fighting spirit. Of course, this was her own assessment. But having been with her for so long, Kitano had a different understanding.
He was willing to believe she loved a challenge. But when she pushed herself onto the most brutal racetracks even when she was in poor condition, risking exhaustion and the recurrence of old injuries, such self-destructive behavior had nothing to do with a "challenge."
Kitano always felt that her desperate struggle wasn't a "challenge," but more like an attempt to "prove" something.
Mr. C.B.'s parents had eloped; Kitano knew this well. And her mother, before eloping with her trainer, had been a rising star among horse girls. Thus, Mr. C.B.'s birth was criticized from the very beginning. This was why she called herself "born with sin."
What she wanted to prove was simply that her birth and her parents' choice were not a sin. Although she never spoke of it and was incredibly moved and proud of her parents' story, Kitano still felt that she cared deeply about the criticism, which was why she fought so desperately to prove them wrong.
...What reason did he have to stop her then?
If Kitano failed, he could start over, choose again. But what choice did Mr. C.B. have? She only had one life, one chance... one chance to prove herself.
Kitano didn't try to restrain this freest of winds. Instead, he did everything he could to let her howl and gallop more freely. Therefore, Kitano never felt he had truly commanded her; rather, she had taught him a great deal.
It could be said that without Mr. C.B.'s help, Kitano might have seen reality for what it was and given up on his path as a trainer long ago.
And Kitano... he always felt that everything he had done for her could never repay her for saving him.
Her injuries, her fate, the criticism she faced... Kitano couldn't change any of it. There was so little he could do for her.
She had saved him when he was lost and dejected, but he had failed to rescue her from her endless cycle of "proving" herself.
Now, seeing her again without warning, even knowing she had no memory of their past, he couldn't hide the turmoil in his heart. Even his eyes, usually dim from his severe illness, seemed to regain a faint glimmer of light.
As Kitano was looking at Mr. C.B., she was also looking at him. This Triple Crown horse girl, who had long since achieved fame and no longer needed to prove anything, stared with curiosity at the sickly man in the wheelchair, whose expression was anything but that of a patient.
"Is this child your charge?" Mr. C.B. inexplicably asked Kitano. But before he could answer, Nakayama Festa stepped forward from behind him, positioning herself in front of Mr. C.B., and warned concisely:
"He is my trainer. He's not well, so don't scare him."
"...You have a trainer you trust a great deal."
However, Mr. C.B.'s words seemed to be directed at Nakayama Festa, but she was using her taller stature to cast curious glances at Kitano. Soon, her familiar, spring-breeze smile returned, and she said:
"You must be the Nakayama Festa and Trainer Kitano Ryuichi that Rudolf mentioned. I've heard about you. It's just as Stay Gold said."
"Although we're meeting for the first time today, I can feel that your chemistry is excellent. I have a feeling you two will achieve great things in the future."
"Praising us like this on our first meeting makes me feel like you say that to everyone."
Nakayama Festa was clearly not buying it. Or perhaps, it was because she sensed Mr. C.B.'s interest in Kitano. With her usually sharp intuition, she keenly picked up that the way Mr. C.B. looked at Kitano was different from how others did.
There had been people interested in Kitano before, Festa knew. But most of their gazes were filled with pity after the initial shock of his condition. The reason Festa and the rest of the Gold Family were able to keep Kitano was that they all knew about his illness, but none of them treated him like a patient in their daily lives.
But Mr. C.B.'s gaze just now was different... Festa couldn't quite describe it, but she knew that feeling—like someone was eyeing her treasure—and it made her very unhappy.
And in fact, Festa's guess was correct. The moment Mr. C.B.'s eyes met Kitano's, she was captivated. It was because she saw that his eyes lacked the despair and gloom of a terminally ill person. Instead, they were filled with fighting spirit, with a hope for life.
That composure in the face of desperation... it was very special.
Perhaps Rudolf will also be very interested in this special trainer, Mr. C.B. thought to herself, feeling an urge to introduce Kitano to their student council president.
"Then let's go— Oh, right, Rudolf might come by later. Be prepared. She's someone who doesn't tolerate any nonsense. She's quite opinionated about Stay Gold bringing you, Trainer Kitano, into Tracen."
Rudolf... Hearing the familiar name again, Kitano sighed deeply after a moment of silence, still filled with emotion for this horse girl he had known for so long.
...Should I be glad that, for now, I'm the only one who knows certain things? Otherwise, that Emperor whom I once 'neglected' would probably never forgive me.
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