Chapter 145. Somehow Teio was On Fire
The next afternoon, after lunch at the academy, Shuta An hurried to the hospital to accompany Tokai Teio, just as she had instructed the night before.
When the young man reached the ward door, he looked through the glass and saw Rice Shower and Agnes Digital reading a picture book to Tokai Teio.
"Are they really treating Teio like a child?" Shuta An thought to himself. "This is a little too amusing."
What made him even more speechless was Tokai Teio's satisfied expression, as if she were quite pleased with Rice Shower and the others reading stories to her.
"I really don't get it..."
Shuta An muttered.
However, he didn't dwell on it and simply pushed the door open.
The sound startled Rice Shower and Agnes Digital. Rice, who had been reading aloud, stopped and looked up.
"Trainer, good afternoon."
"Good afternoon, Rice, Miss Agnes Digital."
Shuta An nodded, then looked at Tokai Teio.
"It seems Teio is having a very pleasant time."
"It's alright." Tokai Teio stuck out her tongue. "I can't say it's especially pleasant, but I really like the novels Rice-chan and Digital-chan are reading to me."
He didn't ask what novels they were reading. Shuta An figured they were probably the sort he wouldn't be interested in.
That wasn't prejudice.
He had once tried reading the collected novel Josee, the Tiger and the Fish that Silence Suzuka had bought. How should he put it—the writing was good, but it just wasn't his taste.
In his free time, he preferred novels like Legend of the Galactic Heroes.
"Thank you for your hard work, Rice and Miss Agnes Digital."
Shuta An turned to the two Uma Musume who had been keeping Tokai Teio company.
He also glanced at the bedside table, confirmed that Tokai Teio had already eaten lunch, and said, "Rice and Miss Agnes Digital, go out for lunch. I'll stay here with her."
"There's a yakiniku restaurant called Jojoen just a few minutes' walk from the hospital. I went there yesterday," the young man offered, "Rice, you can go there to eat. I'll cover the cost."
"Then thank you for your kindness, Shuta."
Agnes Digital said,
"If Dober-chan knew Rice Shower-chan and I had Jojoen for lunch, she'd definitely want to go there after the Comic Market celebration."
"If you can successfully participate in Comic Market, eating Jojoen every day is fine." Shuta An smiled and wagged a finger.
In fact, with Mejiro Dober's current income, eating Jojoen every day would probably ruin her figure completely.
Of course, as an active Uma Musume in the Twinkle Series, she still had the awareness to control her diet and wouldn't do that.
"Even if she's not an Uma Musume in the future, Dober probably still wouldn't do that."
Shuta An was confident of that.
Look at Suzuka's slender figure—Mejiro Dober would definitely maintain her weight.
After Rice Shower and Agnes Digital left, Shuta An sat in the seat Rice Shower had vacated.
"To be honest, it must be pretty uncomfortable for you to be stuck in a hospital bed," the young man said first, breaking the silence.
Tokai Teio nodded repeatedly.
"Yes, yes. My injury isn't that serious. Actually, I could be discharged now."
"Indeed, there's no major problem, but I feel you'll get better care staying here." Shuta An shrugged. "So, Teio, you'd better honestly stay here for a full month."
"Hmph..." Tokai Teio pouted and turned her head away.
"But speaking of which, Teio, I haven't heard that tone from you before."
Shuta An steered the topic back.
"Did you learn it from Rice Shower? No, she probably couldn't produce that kind of intonation. Agnes Digital? She's seen a lot, so there's a good chance she taught you to speak like that."
"!"
Tokai Teio's hair stood on end—her Trainer had guessed right.
That rising tone at the end of "Yes, yes" was indeed something she had learned from Agnes Digital.
"That sounds pretty lively."
Agnes Digital herself didn't normally speak like that, but having observed many Uma Musume, she naturally had her own insights.
"Digital-chan... is completely unreliable!!" Tokai Teio grumbled inwardly.
Shuta An didn't know why Tokai Teio wanted to talk like that, so he assumed she was just finding some little amusement to pass the time while bored in the hospital.
"It's a pity I can't let you go to the Dubai Sheema Classic," Shuta An said, looking out the window with a sigh.
Then a good idea occurred to him.
"Even though Teio can't go on the Dubai expedition, Dober can."
Shuta An turned back to Tokai Teio, excitedly making a suggestion.
"Since Teio will be in recovery training anyway, I'll take a few members of the team with us to cheer Dober on."
"I can't participate in the race, but I can go sightseeing,"
Tokai Teio muttered, then nodded, her voice growing brighter.
"Being able to travel abroad is definitely better than staying at the Academy. I have no objections."
"This winter break training camp was also canceled for now. We can make up for it with the Dubai trip, more or less. The actual training camp will have to wait until summer,"
Shuta An continued.
"But Rice Shower definitely can't go; she'll have to prepare for the Satsuki Sho prep race then."
"She'll have to prepare for the Kikuka Sho in the summer too, right?" Tokai Teio took over. "Rice Shower-chan will have a lot of pressure from her race schedule next year."
"After all, I won the Undefeated Triple Crown the year before, so as my junior, the media will definitely focus on her," the Undefeated Triple Crown Uma Musume said, shaking her head.
"Even losing one race will invite gossip. Thinking about it, Trainer, you'll have to pay close attention to Rice Shower's mental state next year."
"Rice Shower doesn't have a very high goal of herself in the classic, and I've already told her that her big goal next year is the Kikuka Sho, and that she should just do her best in the Satsuki Sho and Japanese Derby,"
Shuta An shrugged.
"Mihono Bourbon, who won the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes this year, is very strong. Not to mention the Japanese Derby and Kikuka Sho—she'll definitely be an opponent Rice Shower has to face with full effort in the Satsuki Sho."
"It's not bad," Tokai Teio said, pouting slightly as the previous Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes winner. "I feel like she's not as good as me."
"What are you saying?" Shuta An flicked Tokai Teio on the forehead. "You're the Undefeated Triple Crown. Why lower yourself to compete with a junior who only has one G1 win? Aren't you ashamed?"
Tokai Teio covered her forehead and pouted.
She knew this was true, but hearing her Trainer praise Mihono Bourbon caused an unidentifiable anger to rise in her heart.
She couldn't get angry at Shuta An, so she could only direct that resentment at her junior.