"Where am I? What is this place?"
Meisho Doto, in a daze, was completely clueless about her current whereabouts. She opened her eyes to look around, only to find that everything was pitch black. She could only vaguely see a beam of light in front of her, and she… seemed to be floating in mid-air.
"This is…"
"—This is your heart."
Just as Meisho Doto was at a loss, a voice that sounded very familiar to hers broke the silence. Meisho Doto was startled and instinctively tensed up, asking, "Wh-who are you? Why does your voice sound so much like… like mine?"
"…Do you think that everything you've done is worth it, Meisho Doto?" The voice did not answer Meisho Doto's question, but instead retorted, "To choose to fight for a goal not to one's own benefit, but for another when you still had the chance to take everything for yourself. Why did you choose to let T.M. Opera O win?"
"…To be honest, I don't know." The voice, which was very similar to Meisho Doto's, quickly allowed her to regain her composure from her initial panic. Facing this voice, which seemed to come from her own heart, Meisho Doto, after a long silence, finally smiled and said, "But I think that some obsessions can be let go. Compared with choosing to fall together, I think that the choice I made was the correct one."
"Aren't you jealous?" the voice asked with a hint of surprise. "Of T.M. Opera O, of your Trainer."
"…To say I'm not jealous would be a lie." At this point, Meisho Doto's expression visibly dimmed slightly, but she quickly regained her determination and replied,
"But it's wrong to be jealous of T.M. Opera O because she's stronger than me. Even though her natural talent is better than mine, that talent could only be brought out from countless exhausting training sessions. Trainer told me… that him and I are very similar. We are both ordinary people that try our hardest… We may not have talent, but as long as we have the will to carry on, I will keep moving forward. Because Trainer… gave me the courage I needed most."
After Meisho Doto finished speaking, she felt the beam of light in front of her rapidly expand and fill her entire vision. Soon, in a daze, she felt as if her soul had returned to her body…
"Ah…"
Meisho Doto suddenly opened her eyes, and before her was the white ceiling of a hospital room. After a slight gasp, she felt her consciousness return, and some memories from before she fainted flooded back into her mind. During the race… she had to face the combined Auras of Narita Top Road and Admire Vega completely alone all the way through to the finish line… Then she saw T.M. Opera O cross the finish line, and she herself fainted afterward…
"Is the stamina and mental consumption from clashing Aura really that high? I'm only just realizing it…" Meisho Doto finally understood the reasoning behind her fainting. Although it was her first time engaging in a battle of Aura against other Uma Musume, she hadn't expected the drain to be so great that it would directly exhaust her to the point of fainting.
"Waaah… Trainer will be angry about this… I didn't listen to his instructions… and I fainted too… Trainer will definitely scold me…"
Meisho Doto also just remembered that her strategy in the race had completely deviated from the strategy Wada had initially given her. Not only did she perform worse this time compared to the Satsuki Sho, but most importantly, Meisho Doto knew very well that Wada would absolutely bar any of his Uma Musume from being as reckless as she was.
This time, Meisho Doto went completely solo. To respond to Wada's unspoken expectations, she had chosen such a strategy, originally thinking that after an apology, and with T.M. Opera O's victory, Wada wouldn't blame her too much… But now that she had fainted, the consequences would likely be very serious.
"Gwwwaaahhh… I'm such an idiot…" Meisho Doto let out a wail like a small animal. As if being scolded by Wada was going to be the end of the world.
But just as Meisho Doto was thinking this, the door to the ward suddenly opened. Meisho Doto instinctively looked up, only to meet the eyes of Wada, who had just entered. For a moment, neither the Uma Musume nor the Trainer had expected this scene. After a long silence, both spoke at the same time: "Trainer (Meisho Doto)…" x2
Then, both sides closed their mouths again, seemingly too embarrassed to speak. Finally, Wada quietly closed the door, held up the bag he was carrying to Meisho Doto, and said to her, "I have some gifts here, Meisho Doto, you…"
However, as he spoke, Wada suddenly felt that his question was a bit redundant. He immediately changed his approach, walked directly to Meisho Doto's bedside, pulled over a chair, and began to take out the gifts from the bag for her. Most of the items were food, including some snacks Meisho Doto liked to eat. Of course, what caught Meisho Doto's attention the most was the cat plushie.
Almost as soon as Wada took out the cat plushie, Meisho Doto couldn't help but hug it to her chest. The plushie was quite large, and Meisho Doto, rather embarrassed, buried her face in it, forcing herself to say shyly, "Th-thank you, Trainer…"
"I got this from a claw machine a while ago. Meisho Doto, you really like cats, right?" Wada said with a smile, seeing that Meisho Doto seemed very fond of the plushie. "I've always wanted to find an opportunity to give it to you, but I kept forgetting about it. But hey, now there's one."
"Trainer… aren't you mad at me?" However, Wada's usual gentle words made Meisho Doto feel uneasy. She cautiously peeked out from behind the plushie, her ears drooping listlessly on her head, and asked carefully.
She had already prepared herself to be lectured by Wada, but now that Wada was treating her with his usual gentleness, Meisho Doto's unease grew stronger. She was very worried that this was the calm before the storm… just like Orfevre, whose temper tantrums came without warning… Not only that, Doto had never seen Wada lose his temper before and she knew very well that the kinder a person is, the more terrifying they become when they get angry. Therefore, Meisho Doto's heart was very anxious, fearing that Wada was about to berate her…
Seeing Meisho Doto's timid appearance, Wada didn't say much. He just smiled gently as usual, and reached out his hand to ruffle Meisho Doto's head, just like before.
"…Mad at you? How could I be mad at you, Meisho Doto? On the contrary, I should be the one apologizing. I'm sorry that I'm an unqualified Trainer… I actually let my Uma Musume get into such a dangerous situation, failing to discuss tactical arrangements with her in advance, and even neglected her feelings and thoughts… This truly is my dereliction of duty. Fortunately, Doto, you're not seriously hurt, otherwise I would never forgive myself."
"No, that's not it!" Meisho Doto quickly waved her hand and said, "Trainer already planned everything for me. It was me... it was me who didn't follow your instructions that caused me to be in danger. You aren't bad, it's just that I became too— Ugh?!"
However, the next moment, Meisho Doto's words were abruptly cut short. She felt her vision blur, and the next thing she knew, she was gently pulled by Wada and directly embraced.
In that instant, Meisho Doto's brain had completely shut down. Her eyes turned into swirling spirals. At this point, she had completely lost all means of defense, becoming frozen like a doll.
Thisthisthisthisthis— What on earth is she supposed to do???!!!!
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Common Wada W, he can't stop being goated!!!!
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If you spot any errors, feel free to comment about it and I will fix it as soon as I can.