"What's wrong?"
Hearing Sakura Laurel's scream, Offside Trap hurried over. As she steadied the trembling horse girl, her gaze turned toward the desk that had caused the commotion.
Then Symboli Rudolf, the Student Council president, slowly rose from beneath it, her expression grave as she fixed the five horse girls with an extremely stern stare.
"P-President…"
Offside Trap flushed red at once and hurriedly lowered her head. She had never imagined that Rudolf had been hiding under the desk the whole time, hearing and seeing everything they had done.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
Her authoritative voice carried a simmering anger that had not fully leaked out before. Sakura Laurel, standing closest, instinctively looked away. She did not dare meet Rudolf's eyes, but Rudolf deliberately moved until she was directly in Laurel's line of sight.
"You were looking for this, weren't you? Go on, tell me why."
The carefully measured puzzlement in Rudolf's tone made the sarcasm land even harder, and Laurel bit her lip.
This was my idea. I should be the one to take responsibility…
"I wanted to find out where the trainer dorms are."
Offside Trap spoke first, cutting in before Laurel could answer. Rudolf's eyes narrowed slightly. She did not deny that Offside Trap now held a very high place in her regard, but that did not mean the girl could do whatever she pleased.
If something was forbidden, then it was forbidden.
"You knew perfectly well this is absolutely not allowed."
Offside Trap fell silent. Rudolf slowly walked up to her. The girl tried to avoid the president's gaze, but in the end forced herself to meet it.
The apology and shame in those eyes made Rudolf merely shake her head.
"Bakushin O, you knew too, didn't you? When I gave you that key, it was because I trusted you."
Her attention shifted abruptly to Sakura Bakushin O. Normally loud and carefree, the girl now looked like a defeated rooster, practically wishing she could bury her head in the ground.
"Honestly… what is this? The whole Sakura family acting as a gang?"
Bakushin O lowered her head even further. She had always had a good attitude when it came to admitting fault.
A mistake was a mistake.
But unlike the obediently subdued Bakushin O, Sakura Laurel was not so meek. She had clearly seen that Rudolf had not been the only one under that desk. Combined with the fact that Rudolf was holding the trainer dorm register, Laurel felt a surge of indignation.
She suddenly strode over to the desk and crouched down.
"What about her? She was looking at that register too, wasn't she?!"
Rudolf froze for a beat, then turned a strange look on Laurel.
Laurel no longer cared. She reached out and switched on the desk lamp, intent on seeing exactly which horse girl Rudolf was protecting so carefully.
And then she saw Narita Brian's face, flushed bright red with embarrassment, pain, and humiliation.
"Brian?"
Laurel's startled question made Offside Trap whip her head around. She did not need Laurel to spell out the chain of events for her. One look at the dorm register in Rudolf's hand, and at the place Brian had emerged from, was enough for the whole scene to take shape in her mind.
The vice president of the Student Council had come here to the council room to look up a trainer's dorm room number together with the president.
Seeing Brian standing up and rubbing her tail, Offside Trap felt her heart slowly sink.
She did not want to think further. She did not dare.
If she had not come here tonight… would some horse girl really have gone alone to find their trainer?
"Offside Trap…"
Seeing the darkening expression on Offside Trap's face, Brian immediately realized she had probably overthought things.
There had likely been no team outing after all.
Saint King Halo must have gone to see her mother. Offside Trap being here meant that Teruizumi Shinji had not spent New Year's Eve with any one of them.
An immense weight lifted from Brian's chest in an instant. She even forgot that Offside Trap had clearly lied when she said she would be spending the evening alone. Letting out a long breath, she stepped toward her friend.
"Brian, why were you looking for the trainer's room? You were going to find him?"
The question came suddenly, and Brian vaguely sensed that something was wrong with Offside Trap's tone. The girl was trying very hard to sound calm, but the anxiety underneath was impossible to hide.
"Yes… but that's because—"
At that point, Brian looked up sharply at Offside Trap's face.
Only then did it occur to her—her same-generation friend had said she would be spending the evening alone, yet here she was now with their other same-generation friends.
Whether Sakura Laurel or Sakura Super Creek, these were all girls they usually chatted with often. Brian had started to think she had simply grown too sensitive after losing so much of her strength…
But looking at the scene before her, she could not help feeling that sensitivity was justified.
This was deception.
"Yes? Didn't the trainer tell you?!"
Offside Trap's urgency made it sound like an accusation. She could no longer fully control her tone. She desperately wanted to know whether Teruizumi Shinji had only used "I'm going to sleep" as an excuse to brush her off, while still communicating differently with his other trainees behind her back.
Even though she believed he was not that kind of person, it still made no sense. He had always treated the other two trainees the same as her in training and matches—yet saying he would sleep all day on a day like this was absurd in itself. She had just won the Arima Kinen. In the past, whenever she won like this, Shinji would always go out and spend the day with her.
How could today be any different?
How dare it be?
The mounting unease made her emotions twist and repeat inside her. Offside Trap stepped forward, and Symboli Rudolf's pupils contracted sharply at the sight.
She had known it.
Narita Brian's current sensitivity and insecurity absolutely stemmed from problems inside Teruizumi Shinji's team. Even if Offside Trap was now the undisputed Horse Girl of the Year, she still should not be acting like this toward Brian.
"Tell you what?!"
Brian's own temper flared. She had already been miserable enough all day. She had not been able to reach her trainer, had been scared half to death by Rudolf, had her tail stepped on painfully by Laurel—and now she was being interrogated by her own friend.
She had done nothing wrong, and yet misfortune after misfortune had piled up on her.
Just like every night over the past month, when she had sat on her bed clenching her fists, that same helpless feeling rose up again, enough to suffocate her and keep her awake.
In her dreams, she no longer saw herself winning G1 races. Instead, she found herself falling to the very back of the field, watching every opponent cross the finish line ahead of her.
Her maturity, her status, her experience—all of them told her that she should not say these things to her trainer, her teammates, her colleagues, or even her friends.
But was it really wrong to simply want to stay near her trainer?
Was even that too much to ask?
"How would I know what he told you?!"
"He didn't tell me anything!"
Offside Trap drew in a sharp breath. The harsh sound was especially clear in the quiet room. Rudolf frowned and finally stepped between the two horse girls.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 139)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter171)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter100)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter184)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 168
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 156
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 105
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 185
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 160
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 150
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 76
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 97
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 116
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 75
Uma Musume: I Want All 93
I Can Copy Unique Skills 79
Summoning an Evil God, but the 55
Supernatural Multiverse 75
My Harem Is Indescribable 68
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 70
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 66
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 69
Still playing traditional Honk 49
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 53
What Should I Do After Switchi 42
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 50
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 38
Transmigrated as Sukuna 35
Checking In in Demon Slayer 40
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 55
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