At Tracen, I'm Good at Doing Time

Watching the man and Horse girl leave, Passerby T sighed. Then he remembered that his own Horse girl was nearby.

He whipped around in fright and found himself facing a beautiful face—one that had kept him awake for days.

"Trainer-san, what were you doing with that woman and that man just now?"

Her sweet voice drained the color from Passerby T's face.

"It's just... They said the Student Council was planning to check trainers' offices for prohibited items. Come to think of it, with all those sachets and things piled up in my office, the school might give me a warning."

Passerby T spoke in a panic. The desk piled high with gifts had been robbing him of sleep and appetite.

His Horse girl's expression did not change. Though she had heard Zhou Yuang's loud declaration earlier, she kept her eyes fixed on Passerby T.

She reached up and patted the back of his collar, where Zhou Yuang had rested an arm.

She sniffed it, then frowned.

The scent was not bad, but it belonged to another trainer.

She did not like it.

She preferred the scent of her own Aroma and her trainer.

"I understand. I won't put those Aromas on your desk again, Trainer-san."

She smiled at Passerby T. Just as he breathed a sigh of relief, her tone abruptly changed.

"But it would be such a waste to throw them away. How about this, Trainer-san? I'll help you move them from the office to your home."

"Huh?"

Air Groove.jpg

Oguri Cap Likes Her Trainer

"Miss Air Groove, does what happened with that trainer happen often at Tracen Academy?"

The question occurred to Zhou Yuang on a whim. After all, he had never set foot inside Tracen Academy before this.

Only seven thousand Horse girls were born in Japan each year.

Meeting one was rare enough. It was only after starting this job that he had come into close contact with them.

"Anything that would tarnish Tracen Academy's reputation is certainly uncommon."

Air Groove felt a headache coming on.

Incidents like that were extremely rare. Tracen was a respectable academy for Horse girls.

How could Horse girls regularly end up planning to marry their trainers and getting jealous?

The Student Council would not sit idly by. It would set them straight and ensure both sides had a healthy environment in which to grow.

"That's good to hear."

Zhou Yuang was quietly delighted. Who would want to live under constant pressure?

"By the way, trainer, shouldn't you go find your Horse girl? You've written so many plans for her."

Air Groove was politely telling Zhou Yuang to get lost, but he did not leave.

Because the most dangerous place was the safest place.

Honestly, Air Groove was someone he had to win over.

He could not let her keep digging into his background. If Rudolf decided to do the same, he would be finished sooner or later.

He would be better off establishing himself as someone trustworthy in Air Groove's eyes, then bringing her over to his side.

That way, she might cut him some slack later.

"Doesn't this path lead out of the office building?"

Zhou Yuang's answer left Air Groove wearing a thoroughly sour expression.

She told him to suit himself, then prepared to report to Rudolf.

At the stairs, Air Groove hurried off. The moment she was gone, a familiar Gray Coat came into view.

All hail the Cap!

"Oguri Cap."

Zhou Yuang called her name softly.

"Trainer, I'm back from the cafeteria. Can we train now?"

Oguri Cap looked as cool and distant as ever, but what she said—and the crumbs at the corner of her mouth—made Zhou Yuang want to laugh.

"Oguri Cap, you've got something by your mouth."

Zhou Yuang pointed, breaking her cool composure.

"Really? Where?"

Oguri Cap froze. Instead of wiping her mouth like most people would, she stood there in a daze.

Seeing that, Zhou Yuang took a handkerchief from his pocket.

"Don't move."

The moment he said it, Oguri Cap stood ramrod straight. Even the ears on her head and the tail behind her stopped moving.

"This isn't military training."

Does Oguri Cap trust me that much already?

He had only meant to test whether she would let him wipe her mouth. Once he saw she really was staying still, Zhou Yuang used the handkerchief to clean it.

Even through the handkerchief, he could feel how soft Oguri Cap's cheek was.

"We're about to train. Are you feeling okay?"

Exercising right after a meal was not ideal, but this was Oguri Cap.

In the real world, the Horse Oguri Cap was based on was unlike other horses. When other horses ate feed containing grain husks, they could not digest the husks.

The real Oguri Cap, however, could digest them completely.

Perhaps her mother had not produced enough milk when she was born. She had grown up eating whatever she could get and forcing her body to draw every bit of nourishment from it just to survive.

As for Oguri Cap in this world, common sense probably did not apply to her either.

"I'm fine! I'm at one hundred percent!"

Oguri Cap raised both arms like a strongman showing off her muscles. Her arms were slender and long, but they undoubtedly held more explosive power than those of many wrestlers.

Her legs were even more striking than her arms. Unfortunately, she was wearing her classic red-and-white training outfit. If she had been in her Victory Outfit, he could have admired those legs, with their perfect blend of strength and beauty.

It's fine. Once I win Oguri Cap's heart and marry her, I can admire them all I want.

Zhou Yuang thought this to himself, then smiled at Oguri Cap.

"Let's go, then. If we're late, all the good spots will be taken."

"Mm!"

Zhou Yuang set off, and Oguri Cap followed behind him at an easy pace.

As a Horse girl, Oguri Cap naturally walked fast.

But she liked walking behind Zhou Yuang.

Whenever he walked ahead, the wind carried his scent back to her.

Oguri Cap could not describe what it was like. Perhaps she was as short on words as a certain Narita Top Road.

But it made her feel a little more at ease.

She liked her trainer.

Oguri Cap still remembered her first day at school clearly. She had gotten lost, unable to find her way around at all.

She had not even realized she had been walking in circles for ages.

Then this trainer had come along and kindly led her to the cafeteria.

As it happened, she was hungry.

Just as she had back home, she hurried to fill her stomach. At the cafeteria on her first day there, she had carried a mountain of food to a table.

Zhou Yuang had brought food over too, though as a human, he could not eat nearly as much as a Horse girl.

Oguri Cap ate, and so did Zhou Yuang.

But compared with hers, Zhou Yuang's eating speed and appetite were those of a snail beside a tiger.

When he saw Oguri Cap had nearly finished, Zhou Yuang offered her the food on his plate, then asked if she wanted another serving.

Oguri Cap was baffled. Back home, the cafeteria had usually closed after she had eaten only a few servings like that.

When she discovered the central cafeteria would keep serving food, Oguri Cap was overjoyed and nodded again and again.

Seeing she did not mind, Zhou Yuang transferred the food from his plate to hers so she could eat first. Before long, he returned with another plate like the first.

Oguri Cap paused for a moment, then dug in. When she was nearly finished again, Zhou Yuang asked once more.

Of course Oguri Cap wanted more. And so she ate, while Zhou Yuang brought her another serving whenever she was close to finishing.

After several trips, nearly every Horse girl and trainer in the cafeteria had noticed the pair clearing out the food.

Oguri Cap was sitting down and easy to overlook. Zhou Yuang, on the other hand, kept walking around with an iron tray piled like a small mountain, drawing plenty of attention.

Everyone wondered why he kept going back and forth. If the cafeteria staff had not seen him bring the food to Oguri Cap for her to finish off, they might have come out, grabbed him by the collar, and asked if he was trying to cause trouble.

Others were watching Zhou Yuang, and Oguri Cap was watching him too.

Oguri Cap could eat with her eyes open or closed. As she watched Zhou Yuang carry plate after plate of food back and forth, she remembered someone.

It was her mother back in her hometown, who was a Horse girl too.

Every time Oguri Cap's mother came home, she brought a mountain of food with her.

Of course, it had never been enough for Oguri Cap. It was nothing like this.

Watching Zhou Yuang work so hard for her brought back more and more memories of her mother and the friends back home who had believed in her and looked after her.

So when Zhou Yuang later asked if she wanted to sign a contract, she agreed without hesitation and became his Horse girl.

Someone who treated her this way had to be trustworthy, just like them.

That was what Oguri Cap thought as she went with Zhou Yuang to Miss Hayakawa to sign the contract.

That night, Oguri Cap happily told her mother over the phone, "I've made a new friend."

Several more days passed. Life with Zhou Yuang was not especially exciting, but Oguri Cap was satisfied.

She had only been at the central academy for a few days and had not made many friends. Without question, this new friend was her first there.

"What are we training today?"

Oguri Cap followed Zhou Yuang eagerly, her ears and tail swaying.

Compared with training on her own in the Countryside, the training Zhou Yuang gave her made her much happier.

When they reached the track, Oguri Cap saw Zhou Yuang stop. She was about to ask why when she noticed him staring into the distance.

What's Trainer looking at?

Oguri Cap followed his gaze and saw three Horse girls standing there.

Zhou Yuang knew all three of them: Silence Suzuka, Air Groove, and Agnes Digital.

The three of them had somehow gathered together.

I'm Still the Faster One, Right?

"..."

Who are those three Horse girls?