To be honest, Kitahara was not especially surprised that Teio finished fourth in the Satsuki Sho.
And it had nothing to do with whether he had trained her. If he had truly stepped in and designed a dedicated training plan for her the way he had for the others, then yes, her current strength would certainly have improved to some degree, but not to some absurd extent.
Because although Teio was not officially part of his team, once they had gradually grown familiar with one another, she had basically enjoyed every team benefit there was—care, potions, even customization for her Racing Outfit.
Even the training plan she had made for herself had absorbed experience from the others. Its effects were definitely still a fair distance from what Kitahara could provide, but for her day-to-day training, it was more than enough.
But even if Kitahara had given her a plan, even if her strength had risen by another large margin, Kitahara dared say that in this Satsuki Sho, she still would have finished fourth.
Because Teio's greatest problem had never been strength.
It was her mentality.
Unlike Agnes Tachyon and Manhattan Cafe. Those two were both famous eccentrics at the academy, and their ability to withstand pressure had never been low to begin with.
On top of that, before meeting Kitahara, the two of them could only be considered first-rate Umamusume. They had some ability to accept defeat, and aside from being Umamusume, they also had other interests.
So even after being struck by Eclipse's impact on the track, they could still maintain basic rationality. After the race, Kitahara could also approach their conditions from other angles and ease them that way.
But Teio was different.
As a rather pure Umamusume, from the moment Teio came to Tracen, she had arrived with the goal of becoming a top Umamusume.
And after arriving at Tracen, everything had gone smoothly for her.
Born into a great family. Cheerful personality. Excellent grades. Outstanding talent as an Umamusume. Considerable attention before she had even officially stepped onto the professional track. And afterward, she had even gained Rudolf's appreciation—basically, she had been cultivated as the next Student Council President...
One could say that aside from her feelings toward Kitahara, Teio had hardly experienced defeat. She had hardly even experienced setbacks.
Even before the Satsuki Sho, although the team's many extra practices had made her vaguely sense that Agnes Tachyon and Manhattan Cafe's strength might have already surpassed hers, even then, she had not believed she would lose. She wanted to use this race to prove something to Trainer-san.
But the result... could only be said to have exceeded everyone's expectations.
It was not that Teio was weak. Quite the opposite. She was very strong. If one removed the exceptional factor that was Eclipse, she absolutely had the strength to contend for first place.
And her will was not fragile either. Umamusume with truly fragile wills would not have been able to run at all under the corrosion of Eclipse's black fog. It would have been possible for them to give up on the race, or even on life, right then and there.
But not only did Teio not give up, after regaining her senses, she even awakened a Domain, a performance trance/zone, under the stimulus of Eclipse's black fog, forming the first line of resistance against Eclipse together with the other two.
If that counted as mental fragility, then there probably were not many Umamusume who could be called strong-willed.
But precisely because her will was so firm, Teio's problem became especially difficult to handle.
What was too rigid broke easily. The sturdier something was, the harder it was to repair once damaged.
When their joined Domains were once again crushed by Eclipse, and after that, no matter how they struggled, all they could do was watch the gap between the two sides grow wider and wider.
As she watched that black figure gradually recede into the distance, Teio felt as if something in her heart were quietly collapsing. Her steps slowed along with it, ultimately leading to her fourth-place finish.
Her long years of smooth sailing had nurtured Teio's firm will, but at the same time, they had also bound her life to this path.
For other people, even if they suffered defeat on the track, even if they never achieved anything on the track for the rest of their lives, they would still have other ways out.
But for Teio, the profession of Umamusume, even if it was not everything in her life, made up at least eighty percent of it.
There was no need to mention Agnes Tachyon's devotion to experiments. Manhattan Cafe had also privately studied hand-brewed coffee in great depth, and she had even planned to become an actress after retiring.
Nice Nature had intended from the beginning to become a housewife, and all her skills were aimed toward being a good wife. As for Oguri Cap and Special Week, those two would be more or less fine after a big meal following a loss. If that was not enough, they could cry it out once, and after a couple of days, they would definitely return to the training grounds in even better form.
But Teio could not.
After the Satsuki Sho ended, staring at that despair-inducing gap, Teio's mind went completely blank.
And afterward, despite Kitahara repeatedly asking her to stay, she still refused his invitation. She silently returned to her dorm alone. Even when Rudolf came to see her, she gave no response at all.
Her effort, her pride, her faith, even her life's goal and the meaning of her existence all seemed to shatter like bubbles beneath that gap of one hundred and eighty-four lengths.
And under these circumstances, when she remembered the scene she had seen before on the surveillance footage, the two people who should have become her support at a time like this instead became, whenever she recalled them, sharp blades stabbing into her heart.
Liars. They were all liars...
It hurts. It hurts so much. I feel awful. I want to cry...
The petite figure curled up on the bed, her slender body trembling uncontrollably. She was clearly devastated to the extreme, yet she could not even cry. All she could do was choke in silence.
As for her roommate, the lively younger girl named Mayano Top Gun, after watching that day's race, she had quietly taken care of her all the way until this afternoon.
But tonight, after receiving a phone call, it seemed something had happened at home, and after bringing her a meal, she had left.
And so now, in this room, only Teio remained.
Pain fermented.
She squeezed her eyes tightly shut, because once she opened them, the boundless darkness around her would make her remember the scene at the Satsuki Sho, remember that despair-inducing gap.
She began to doubt. She doubted whether all her previous efforts had truly meant anything. She doubted whether the President and Trainer-san had been lying to her all along. She even doubted whether, under these circumstances, there was still any meaning in her own existence...
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK.
It was the sound of something being tapped.
Had someone come to see her again?
Teio thought so, but she did not respond in any way.
Mayano Top Gun had already left. There was no one else in the dorm now, and she did not want to see anyone at this hour either. As long as she gave no response, they would probably soon...
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK.
The tapping sounded again.
Hearing it a second time, Teio's body suddenly trembled on instinct.
Strange. The position of that sound seemed wrong. It did not sound like someone knocking on the door. It sounded like...
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK.
In the darkness, the rhythmic sound of someone tapping on the window rang out.
The instant she realized this, Teio's body went rigid.
Deep night. Silence. Darkness...
Alone. A girl. Despair...
Remembering the horror movies she had secretly watched with Top Gun before, every hair on Teio's body instantly stood on end.
But if that had been all, Teio might not have been quite so frightened.
The problem was, if she remembered correctly, her dorm room was on the fourth floor, and there was no balcony...
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK.
The regular tapping rang out again, especially clear in the quiet night. Every knock seemed to strike Teio's heart, making it beat faster and faster.
Panic began to ferment. Her body trembled unconsciously. All the gloom from before had been completely replaced by fear. She even instinctively pulled the blanket over herself and covered her ears.
But it was no use.
A few seconds later, through the blanket and the hands covering her ears, that regular, rhythmic tapping once again entered her mind.
And this time, after the tapping, she also heard the sound of the window opening.
No. No...
Teio clutched her head and trembled under the blanket like a guinea pig.
Footsteps sounded. In the silent night, within the endless darkness, they approached Teio's bed step by step. Finally, they stopped beside her bed.
But at that moment, Teio's trembling suddenly stopped.
Catching that familiar scent, after a long silence, a tearful head poked out of the blanket like a little turtle, looking toward the figure standing by her bed.
"Trainer-san..."
"Mm. It's me."
Kitahara nodded. Then he reached out and gently gathered the little turtle from the blanket into his arms, saying softly,
"I came to see you."
---
T/N: poor teio.........
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