Tokai and her group stayed at this recuperation training base for about a month.
After all, Teio had not yet made her full-fledged debut, and prolonged training was not suitable.
And now, time had arrived at the last week of Tokai and the others' stay in this small town.
During this month, Tokai gradually became familiar with the place.
However, even after getting familiar with everything,
Tokai still had one room she dared not enter.
Every time she walked past that room, Tokai would subconsciously ignore it.
But... now, with only one last week until they left,
Tokai had no choice but to confront this room.
Because the original plan was to confess to Tokai Shizen during this summer break.
So, she stood alone in front of the door of that room, which was at the center of the entire house.
Looking at the closed door in front of her, Tokai wanted to raise her hand, but found that her hand, which could normally be lifted easily, seemed to be bound by some heavy object.
She didn't have the courage to open that door.
The reason was simple: she had once stayed in this small room for almost ten months.
If she hadn't known that pregnancy typically lasts around forty weeks, Tokai might have given an even more exaggerated estimate.
But, no matter what, the experience she had in that room had made Tokai afraid to enter it again.
So, she eventually turned around.
And walked in another direction.
And because of her fear of the room, Tokai didn't notice that another person, worried about her sudden health problems, had been following her the whole time.
After Tokai left the wooden door and disappeared around the corner of the hallway, Tokai quickly walked to the door of that room.
Looking at the tightly closed door.
Tokai didn't know why Tokai hadn't opened the door but had just stood there.
But some questions don't require much thought; one only needs to push open the door, and the answer to the question will be revealed.
So,
Tokai did the same thing.
The room was unlocked; anyone could open it.
Upon pushing open the door, Tokai saw a room that contained only a single bed.
Other than that bed, there was nothing else in the room.
Looking at the interior of this room, Tokai was very confused.
She didn't know why her mother would stand in front of this room for so long.
But after recalling her mother's expression from earlier, she knew she dared not ask, so she could only turn around and leave the room.
And by the next day, Tokai saw her mother standing at the doorway of that room again.
The same thing happened on the third day as well.
But, by the fourth day,
Tokai finally walked forward.
"Mom!"
The loud voice directly startled Tokai awake.
"W-what's wrong?"
Tokai's voice still carried a hint of lingering fright; it seemed Mochizuki had scared her quite a bit.
Seeing Tokai's reaction, Mochizuki didn't say anything more; she just quickly walked over to her mother's side and then spoke: "Mom, you've been standing at the door of this room for several days."
"..."
Tokai's overly direct statement made Tokai turn her head away.
Looking at Tokai's behavior, Mochizuki was silent for about ten seconds before speaking: "Did something happen?"
"Just some old things..." Saying this, Tokai finally refocused her attention on Mochizuki.
And after focusing her attention on the other person, Tokai noticed that Tokai had already placed her hand on the doorknob.
"I've looked inside, there's only one..."
At this point, Tokai turned her head to look at her mother: "Mom, what exactly are you afraid of?"
"I..."
Hearing this, Tokai was silent for about ten seconds, yet she didn't know where to begin.
Tokai's expression was also noticed by Tokai, who couldn't understand why such a complex expression appeared on Tokai's face.
Finally, after struggling for nearly a minute, Tokai finally spoke: "I'll tell you tonight."
Listening to her mother's reply, Tokai simply nodded.
Looking at the nodding Mochizuki, Tokai glanced once more at the tightly closed door.
She still had no intention of opening that room.
Mochizuki, noticing her mother's gaze passing over her, was silent for about ten seconds before shifting her gaze: "Mom, let's go, let's go. Tomorrow, we'll open this room."
With a slight push, Mochizuki turned Tokai's face in another direction and continued to push Tokai forward.
Tokai, being pushed away from the doorway of this room by Tokai, didn't say much.
She merely turned her head slightly, her gaze never leaving the door of that room.
--------------------
Rudolph Symboli, having packed the last of her belongings, looked at herself in the mirror on the wardrobe door.
"Does wearing these glasses make me look too old...?"
Looking at herself in the mirror, Rudolph raised this question.
During the time Tokai was completely oblivious to the news,
Rudolph Symboli had already completely stepped down, and even her apology press conference had concluded.
And today was Rudolph's last day at Tracen Academy.
Tomorrow, she would board a plane for the region farthest from the Japanese archipelago.
Irabu Island, a place so remote you could almost take a boat directly to the other side of the ocean.
Moreover, due to Okinawa's complete disregard for the Uma Musume industry,
No one there would recognize Rudolph.
Under these various conditions, Irabu Island could almost be considered the best, the very best place Rudolph had decided on for her life.
Of course, there was another reason Rudolph chose to go there.
That was that the number of Uma Musume in all of Okinawa was at a dividing point, roughly one in a hundred, making them relatively rare but not entirely unseen.
Considering the lack of development in the Uma Musume industry there, even if Rudolph went, she wouldn't attract attention from others.
Of course, Rudolph had also considered living in rural areas.
But the moment she thought of her reputation, Rudolph felt that if she were to live on the main Japanese islands, she would definitely be noticed.
Therefore, it was not strange that she chose to go to Irabu Island.
And for someone like Rudolph, instead of agonizing over what her decided destination would be like,
It was better to spend some time thinking about whether her casual clothes looked too old.