Back in the izakaya, the discussion about a suitable Mejiro family Uma Musume for Kitano Ryuichi went unnoticed by most. The pub was noisy, with trainers in groups of two or three venting the stress from their work, complaining about their little darlings' bad habits.
For example, Silent Suzuka's trainer, a man named Nishino Taishi, was complaining to his companions about how Suzuka always went for a run late at night, and stubbornly loved to run in the rain. Fearing she would catch a cold, he would chase after her on his electric scooter, but the more he chased, the more enthusiastically she would flee.
Then there was Twin Turbo's trainer, Kusunoki Hajime, complaining about how his charge had "reverse-jetted" again in the last race, making the audience and himself laugh out loud... Of course, he still treated her to a parfait afterwards, to encourage her to step onto the racetrack full of energy next time.
And Hishi Akebono's trainer, Moriyasu En, who had a feminine name but was a surprisingly small, shotacon-looking trainer of about 150cm, said his Akebono was getting less and less respectful of him lately. Not only was she huge, but she also loved to pounce on him and pin him to the ground, rubbing all over him.
His problem was a bit more serious. He felt the way Akebono looked at him sometimes was a bit strange. He was recently beginning to suspect his charge could swallow him whole...
Of course, these excellent trainers of Tracen Academy never breathed a word of these complaints or pressures in front of their charges. They always encouraged them to move forward, keeping their grievances locked away in this small room, venting them all before facing the next day with renewed vigor.
After chatting with Fujiwara Reiko for a while, Kitano silently left through a side door. No one noticed his departure, nor the thoughtful expression on his face.
Reiko had recommended a Mejiro family Uma Musume to him. She and Mejiro Ryan both agreed that this girl met his requirements. She, Ryan, and another girl, Mejiro McQueen, were all from the same generation, but only Ryan had found a trainer early on.
The reason they didn't recommend McQueen was simple—he wanted a Uma Musume who wasn't so outstanding in talent, to start from scratch.
And compared to Mejiro McQueen, it was clear that the other Mejiro girl was not as dazzling.
Of course, Reiko and Ryan didn't recommend her just because she met his requirements. Before she left, Reiko had also told him:
"Ryan said that although she seems ordinary now, Ryan believes her older sister will not be a mediocre existence. She hopes you can give her the strength to move forward, to guide her on how to win."
"You are the only person we've seen so far who has the ability and is even willing to accept her. So, both Ryan and I hope that you can take her sister to the GI stage."
—That's what Reiko had pleaded with him at the time. He hadn't agreed rashly, just said he would go and see for himself tomorrow.
With a stomach full of thoughts, Ryuichi found himself passing by the student council building again. When he looked up at the familiar room, he saw the lights were still on. He subconsciously checked his phone.
It was already past midnight. Strictly speaking, it was the next day. Hadn't Rudolf rested yet?
Ryuichi looked at the time, then up at the lights. Even though he really didn't want to see her, he couldn't just ignore this.
Should I go remind her to rest? Working this late is not a good habit. No matter how much work the student council has, it can't have piled up to this extent, right?
...
Knock, knock, knock.
"Rudolf—President? Are you in there? I'm coming in."
After knocking yielded no results, Ryuichi chose to push the door open. He found that Rudolf wasn't processing documents at all. She was completely slumped over her desk, fast asleep.
Seeing this, Ryuichi felt a sense of relief. So she was asleep. That was at least better than working overtime. If she worked until this hour, she would have a hard time recovering her energy the next day.
"But... it looks like the documents left are still enough to keep her busy tomorrow."
He quietly entered the office and closed the door. As her former trainer, he was very familiar with the student council's workload. After all, when he first helped her take over from Mr. C.B., that old troll had immediately gone off to get married to her own trainer in her hometown as soon as she stepped down, without even finishing the work handover.
Only after Rudolf became president did they understand why Mr. C.B. had run away so fast, as if she wanted to carry the subway with her overnight.
She was afraid of being kept to teach Rudolf how to handle the documents, which would have kept her busy for several more days. She was clearly fed up with being president; she couldn't stand it for another day, so she left immediately after the handover.
It couldn't be helped. The workload was enormous. Now with Air Groove, Rudolf could handle everything relatively stably. But in the first loop, before Air Groove had enrolled, Rudolf had to handle everything by herself.
Although she had her senior, Maruzensky, it was clear Maruzensky also hated this kind of work, speeding off in her sports car at 180 mph, leaving Rudolf in the dust.
During that period, the only one who could help Rudolf was him, this mediocre trainer. Together, they fumbled through learning how to process documents. He learned much more slowly than she did, and his efficiency couldn't keep up.
But fortunately, he persisted. And he persisted for three years, until Air Groove and Narita Brian successively joined the student council, finally freeing him from the documents that made his scalp tingle.
And now, looking at the exhausted Rudolf, and the few remaining documents, Ryuichi hesitated for a moment before reluctantly walking over. He picked up a pen and the files and sat down on a nearby sofa.
"...No one will know it was me anyway. Rudolf will probably think she finished them before she fell asleep. Or that Air Groove handled them. It would never occur to her that it was me. I'll just help you out this one time."
"Honestly, even though the weather is hot, leaving the AC this low in the room will make you catch a cold. And you're not even covering yourself with anything."
He didn't dare carry her to the sofa to rest. That would undoubtedly wake her up, and once she was awake, she would start working on the documents again, which would take at least an hour.
So he chose to let her rest well, quietly playing "Santa Claus" for once. And his gift to the sleeping good girl was just to drape a coat over her and help her finish the remaining work.
"Sigh, why didn't I have such a good Santa Claus when I was a kid? I also wanted a Santa who, even though it had nothing to do with him, would sneak in at midnight and help me finish my summer homework."
Ryuichi kept up a stream of mumbled complaints, but his hands worked flawlessly. However, a slight movement from Rudolf made him immediately shut his mouth and watch her cautiously.
Fortunately, the sleeping Rudolf only moved a little and quickly fell back asleep. Her breathing became steady and even, and Ryuichi didn't dare to breathe too loudly now.
For a moment, the night in the student council office was filled only with a single lamp, a single person, a single pen, and an hour of struggle. And the Uma Musume who should have been striving for this goal was enjoying a sweet dream... or perhaps, a dream that was not so sweet.
What did she dream of? Perhaps her past life. Or perhaps, another possible version of herself.
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