Sunday Silence.
Born in Kentucky, she had originally been nothing more than an utterly ordinary horse girl.
But her luck was terrible.
Her family were hardly what you'd call good people in the usual sense. They regularly shouted at her over tiny things, and they never really cared much about her.
When she was small, she caught a viral stomach illness; the diarrhea wouldn't stop, and she nearly died.
The doctors who treated her at the time all concluded that Sunday Silence's days were numbered—but she clamped her teeth together and somehow hung on…
Even so, her life didn't really get any better after that.
Petty misfortunes clung to Sunday Silence like maggots on bone.
Seeing all this, her family stuck another label on her: a walking jinx.
They didn't exactly deprive her of food or beat her on a daily basis, but the cold indifference with which they treated her left wounds far deeper than any blow.
So her temper grew volatile, and she began to learn how to shut people out.
She thought that once she entered the American Tracen Academy, everything would finally change for the better. With that hope in mind, she took part in the academy's entrance recruitment.
But on the way to school, the bus carrying her toward American Tracen crashed in the suburbs.
The bus rolled over.
Of the dozen or so horse girls on board, only she survived.
By the time Sunday Silence woke up in the hospital, the rumors about her had already spread throughout the American racing circuit.
The title "black jinx star" had been slapped onto her head and refused to come off.
At that point, getting into American Tracen was clearly out of the question.
"Ahhh… why am I this unlucky…?"
"Why am I the only one this kind of thing happens to…?"
On the hospital bed, the black-haired girl pressed her lips together, tears shimmering at the corners of her eyes as she cried out, her voice heavy with helpless frustration.
Just then, her family suddenly appeared in front of her and tossed an admission letter onto her blanket.
"Starting today, you're going to Japan to study."
"There's no place for you here anymore, so please stop causing us trouble."
Their words were the final straw that broke the camel's back.
Sunday Silence numbly picked up the admission letter.
Jinnai Academy…
She had never even heard the name…
So they were going to dump her in some strange place and let her fend for herself…
"…Fine, I'll go."
I'm just an unwanted jinx anyway…
Maybe if I go to some roadside academy like this, I won't drag the family down.
Her cold, impersonal journey abroad went unusually smoothly—so smoothly that Sunday Silence felt a faint, unreal sense of disorientation.
No documents went missing, she suffered no sudden illnesses, the flight wasn't delayed, and there was certainly no horrific air disaster.
The plane landed smoothly at New Chitose Airport in Sapporo, Hokkaido. Outside, the foreign air was chilly and clean. Everything was so painfully normal it felt almost cruel, as if even misfortune had grown tired of her and couldn't be bothered to bother her anymore.
Following the address she'd been given, she took a train, then transferred to a bus, heading step by step toward the academy somewhere in Hokkaido.
Inside, she was a barren, numb wasteland. She had already braced herself for a rundown, remote, roadside school that might not even have a proper training track.
Being exiled here was probably where a "jinx" like her was meant to end up.
However, when the bus turned the final corner and a sprawling complex rose into view against a backdrop of wide-open fields and distant mountains, Sunday Silence's numb pupils tightened sharply. Her lips, which had been pressed into a thin line, parted slightly without her realizing.
This… is Jinnai Academy?
What she saw was the complete opposite of the desolate ruin she'd imagined.
The imposing, modern main gate had streamlined lines, its tall metal frame gleaming with a cold, solid sheen under the northern sun.
As far as the eye could see, neatly trimmed lawns stretched out into the distance, dotted with meticulously planned tracks and training facilities. Stylish buildings and arenas, their glass curtain walls catching and reflecting the light of the sky, stood among them.
The size and pristine newness of the buildings spoke of financial might and ambition no weaker than any prestigious academy she had ever heard of.
The dormitory buildings in the distance were laid out in pleasing tiers. She could even see wisps of steam rising from what looked suspiciously like an indoor hot spring facility.
How was this some bankrupt backwater where you dumped people to fend for themselves?
This was clearly a well-equipped fortress of a rapidly rising powerhouse!
A faint ripple—so faint she didn't even notice it herself—passed over the dead-still surface of her heart.
Confusion began to replace pure numbness.
What kind of place was it that her family had casually thrown her into?
This "Jinnai Academy" was nothing like the barren exile she had imagined—so different that it was almost absurd.
She tightened her grip on her thin suitcase handle and stood there, gazing at the view in front of her—so lavish it felt like a deliberate challenge to all the grim futures she'd pictured.
For the first time, she felt a strange, directionless sense of bewilderment toward the new life she was about to step into.
Is this really some roadside local school?
Where on earth have they sent me?
Her fingers relaxed slightly around the handle. Sunday Silence glanced around and finally noticed she wasn't the only one frozen at the gate.
Several other horse girls, likewise dragging suitcases and wearing the exhaustion of a long journey and deep confusion on their faces, were standing there staring up at the campus—this place that looked nothing like anyone's idea of a "remote local academy."
Their hair and eye colors were all different; they were clearly from various countries. The same sense of not belonging, the same awkward distance hung around each of them.
"You must be the new students for the international class, right?"
A gentle voice broke the silence.
A security guard in uniform, smiling warmly, walked over as if he'd already grown used to scenes like this.
"Please come with me. I'll take you to the dorms to settle in first, and then a teacher will show you around the campus."
The feeling of being properly arranged for—rather than casually discarded—seeped, quiet and unnoticed, into Sunday Silence's awareness.
Wordlessly, she followed the guard, along with the other new students, through the imposing main gate and into Jinnai Academy.
The dormitory area shattered her expectations yet again.
It wasn't a cramped, noisy old student barracks; instead, one modern, minimalist building after another stood there, looking more like upscale apartments than dorms.
Inside, the corridors were spacious and bright. The rooms were comfortable singles or doubles, fully equipped with brand-new amenities: private bathrooms, desks, wardrobes—even little balconies that looked out over manicured courtyards or the silhouette of distant mountains.
These living conditions were in no way inferior to those at the famous American academies she had heard of—in fact, they might even be more thoughtfully designed.
Silently, she placed her meager luggage down in the single room that had been assigned to her, her movements carrying a faint, careful awkwardness.
Is a place like this really somewhere I'm allowed to stay?
Once everyone had settled down, a kindly smiling female teacher in thin-framed glasses was already waiting downstairs.
She led the still somewhat dazed group of freshmen along carefully laid-out, greenery-filled campus paths until they arrived at a grand main building.
Pushing open the heavy glass doors, they stepped into the academy's main lobby.
The high ceiling made the space bright and open. Huge crystal chandeliers spilled warm light down onto the spotless marble floor, which reflected the passing figures like a mirror.
On one side was a sleek, modern reception desk; on the other was a comfortable lounge area.
On the wall hung a massive electronic screen, cycling through an introduction to the academy, recent activities, and… highlights of Tamamo Cross thundering down the track and taking the win.
In the middle of the large lobby, which was almost uncomfortably spacious, a tall figure stood with his back to them, apparently looking up at Tamamo Cross's final sprint on the screen.
As if he'd heard them come in, the figure turned around.
He was a man who looked rather young, dressed casually but neatly, his open, sunny smile both fitting in with the luxurious surroundings and setting itself apart from them in a strange way.
His gaze swept across the group of somewhat stiff new students, confusion and wariness flickering in their eyes. For a brief instant, it seemed to linger especially on Sunday Silence's lowered yet sharply gleaming black eyes—but the pause was so short it was almost imperceptible.
"Ah, you must be the new students joining the international class, right? Welcome to Jinnai Academy!"
He took a few steps toward them; his voice was clear, his tone natural and warm, and he shattered the rigid, distant mood in an instant.
"I'm Su Luo—more or less one of this academy's… hmm, investors. No need to be nervous, just think of this place as your new home."
Su Luo delivered his self-introduction in impressively fluent English.
Investor?
Something in Sunday Silence's chest gave a tiny twitch.
His smile was too infectious, too bright. For someone used to shadows and indifference, it felt almost blinding, almost unreal.
"You've all had a long trip. For now, just rest up and get used to the place. The teachers will explain your course and training schedules in detail later," Su Luo continued.
He spoke with the easy attitude of someone greeting old friends, not a group of complicated foreign newcomers he was meeting for the first time.
"Here, all you need to focus on is running and improving yourselves. As for everything else—any inconveniences in daily life, or worries about your future…"
He paused for a moment. His smile didn't fade, but his gaze seemed to deepen, as if he could see straight through to the unease in their hearts as newcomers.
"You can come find me anytime. My office is on the third floor of the main building, or you can just ask any staff member how to contact me. Jinnai Academy might not be the most famous place yet, but I hope at the very least it can be somewhere you feel safe, and where you can give everything you've got to chase your dreams."
His words flowed like warm water, trying to melt the ice that had crusted over the new students' hearts.
The tension on some faces eased; someone even gave a tiny nod.
But Sunday Silence only pressed her lips together more tightly.
Safe?
Chasing dreams?
Those words were far too distant and far too extravagant for someone like her.
Looking at Su Luo's bright smile—one that seemed ready to accept and solve any problem—what rose in her heart wasn't warmth, but a deeper, heavier wariness and doubt.
Kindness with no apparent reason, acceptance that was too perfect…
In a life soaked through with misfortune and coldness, these were exactly the kinds of things that seemed suspicious to her.
This investor called Su Luo, this gorgeously unreal Jinnai Academy…
What exactly did they want from a cast-off problem student like her?
She let her gaze drift away, dropping it to the mirror-bright floor of the lobby, where the crystal lights shattered and twisted into fragments of reflected glow—and where her own face, full of distance and guardedness, showed up in a faint, hazy outline.
As Sunday Silence stared at the reflection at her feet, trying to stamp down the too-bright crystal light along with her jumbled thoughts, she heard light footsteps draw near. A clear, precise voice sounded right beside her:
"Sunday Silence?"
Her whole body jolted, as if pricked by an invisible needle.
She snapped her head up, golden eyes wide with disbelief—and crashed straight into Su Luo's smiling gaze.
She had no idea when he'd gotten there, but he was already at her side, bending slightly at the waist to look at her from a distance that was close, yet not so close as to feel oppressive.
How does he know my name?
The question exploded in her head like thunder.
She'd always thought of herself as completely unremarkable, her background a mess. Even the other new students who'd come with her hadn't exchanged names yet.
Being recognized so precisely didn't make her feel seen or welcomed at all. On the contrary, it set all the alarms in her long-built defenses blaring at once, her cold detachment hardening into armor.
Su Luo seemed not to notice the sharp wariness that had suddenly flared in her eyes. He kept that same cheerful expression and explained in an easy tone:
"Don't look so shocked. As an investor, remembering the names of every student who joins Jinnai Academy is the bare minimum of my responsibilities, you know."
He chuckled and glanced around at the others, who were also looking a little surprised as he called each of them by name, as if to prove his point.
"Especially you international class students—you've all come from so far away. I have to put in the extra effort to remember, right?"
It was a perfectly reasonable explanation, and there was a sincerity in it that was hard to argue with.
Even so, not an ounce of Sunday Silence's doubt faded.
Responsibility?
Effort?
In her past experience, those words tended to go hand in hand with neglect and abandonment.
Su Luo's gaze settled back on Sunday Silence. His smile seemed to deepen, taking on a quiet, penetrating quality, as though he could see right through the heavy armor to the panic and unease beneath.
He lowered his voice slightly, speaking clearly and slowly at a volume only the two of them could hear:
"No matter what you went through overseas… or in the past,"
He paused there, in a subtle way that seemed to embrace everything left unsaid.
"From now on, this is your shelter. Jinnai Academy exists precisely for that."
Shelter.
The word was like a key cut to perfect fit, suddenly prying open the weakest seam in Sunday Silence's defenses.
It struck squarely at the truth buried deep inside her—that feeling of having been exiled, with nowhere in the world she truly belonged.
She almost blurted the words out, her voice dry from tension, carrying a faint tremor she herself didn't notice:
"Really… I can really treat this place as a shelter?"
The instant the question left her mouth, she regretted it. It sounded too much like showing weakness, too much like a pathetic plea for reassurance.
She pressed her lips tight again and fixed her golden eyes on Su Luo, determined to catch even the slightest trace of insincerity or perfunctory comfort in his reply.
Su Luo did seem genuinely surprised by her direct question. He blinked, and for the first time, that always-cheerful face showed a brief, almost stunned expression.
But the surprise lasted less than half a second.
His smile softened, losing some of its brilliant radiance and settling into something steadier and more grounded.
He didn't look away. Meeting Sunday Silence's searching, uneasy gaze head-on, he answered crisply and without a shred of hesitation:
"Of course you can."
His tone was calm, yet carried a weight that left no room for doubt, as if he were stating the simplest fact in the world.
"This place was built for exactly that."
He added this quietly, his eyes drifting for a moment toward the race images hanging on the lobby wall—symbols of glory and struggle—or perhaps toward some deeper meaning that this academy held.
"So just stay here and don't worry, Sunday Silence. At least in Jinnai Academy, you won't have to be afraid of being kicked out for being a 'burden.'"
That last sentence was delivered lightly, almost casually, yet it was like a stone dropped into a stagnant pond, sending messy ripples racing through Sunday Silence's heart.
She stood rooted to the spot, watching as Su Luo gave her a small nod, then turned away and, in that same gentle tone, began speaking to the other new students.
The iceberg-solid calm she kept wrapped around her heart suddenly cracked.
She watched the gentle smile he showed the others and thought:
He's different.
....
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