The Trainer With Little Time Left Just Wants to Live [20]

“—After all that happened, Kitano, what do you think? What exactly are they trying to do?”

After giving Symboli Rudolf and Mejiro Ramonu a harsh round of sarcasm, Nakayama Festa did feel much better. Afterward, though, it belatedly hit her that she had talked back to Symboli Rudolf, the student council president, at Tracen Academy. Worried she might be targeted for it later, she immediately went to the hospital where Kitano was. Perhaps she felt that only by his side could she regain a little sense of safety.

By the time Festa arrived, it was almost bedtime. Oguri Cap, who had originally come to bring dinner, had naturally already left. Not far from Kitano’s hospital bed, an empty tatami mat stood out conspicuously—that was where Gold Ship slept.

Yes, Gold Ship had been staying by Kitano’s side these past few days, taking care of him through the night. Festa knew that too. What she was a little curious about now was where Gold Ship had run off to at a time like this, when she usually wished she could stick to Kitano all day long.

“Golshi-chan said she was going to bring me some late-night snacks. I think she should be back soon.” Kitano explained from the hospital bed, but right now, he had no time to worry about Gold Ship. What Nakayama Festa had told him drew his attention far more.

Symboli Rudolf and Mejiro Ramonu had actually proposed shoving an Umamusume into his team? Something like this was unprecedented.

This was not Kitano’s first time entering Tracen Academy, nor was it his first time working as a Trainer under the student council managed by Rudolf. Although, because of his special circumstances, Rudolf had paid him a little more attention than she did other Trainers in the past, Kitano also knew that beyond that attention, Rudolf had always done her best to control his influence.

The reason was obvious. In the eyes of outsiders, Kitano was a severely ill patient who could die at any moment. Yet his trainee Umamusume were all full of personality, and as long as they could properly display their strength, they were capable of running impressive results.

And as luck would have it, what Kitano was good at was dealing with odd-tempered Umamusume—though admittedly, a certain amount of that had been forced on him.

Because the Umamusume who would choose Kitano, or agree to the application of a sickly Trainer like Kitano, were mostly those whose personalities were somewhat abnormal, or those willing to challenge themselves. And because Kitano naturally wanted to live a few more years, he had tried every method he could to get along well with these Umamusume. As a result, without anyone teaching him, he had learned how to interact with Umamusume with strange personalities.

On top of that, Kitano’s advantage as a veteran Uma-otaku transmigrator could also help him avoid many detours and more quickly find those Umamusume’s strengths. Because of that, most of the Umamusume under him could run better, more outstanding results.

But this created a problem. Kitano was sickly, and had not even entered Tracen Academy through proper channels, yet he led Umamusume whom no one had originally thought well of and achieved things most Central Trainers could not. For Umamusume, a story like that was far too legendary, and carried an irresistible allure.

A sickly Trainer wanting to burn the last of his passion before death, and his trainee Umamusume desperately realizing his ideals for him—was there any story more inspiring than that?

Because of that, in several loops, even if Kitano lived until after his first trainee achieved fame and success, the process of finding his next trainee became very difficult. Many Umamusume, drawn by his “legend” and blindly believing they would become the next legend, wanted to choose him as their Trainer, without knowing that Kitano’s trainees were actually moving forward under tremendous pressure as well.

In this regard, Rudolf had provided Kitano with quite a bit of help. What Rudolf had worried about was that if Kitano someday died of illness, his death would negatively affect too many Umamusume, causing their emotions to deteriorate and even directly affecting their races and future careers. Therefore, in Kitano’s impression, Rudolf had always been busy controlling his influence and guarding against certain people deliberately “deifying” Kitano and causing negative effects in the future.

But in this loop, Rudolf had actually gone against her usual behavior and wanted to introduce a new Umamusume to his team? That did not fit her old style at all.

“Did Rudolf tell you her reason?”

“She did, but I think she was just making excuses.” Nakayama Festa nodded as well. Bringing this up still made her rather unhappy. Her horse ears drooped slightly, and she spoke with a pout. “It’s not like I’m stupid. I could hear what she meant between the lines… She just doesn’t trust my ability, right? She thinks an Umamusume like me carrying such high expectations from a Trainer like you is basically a waste of your trust.”

“That’s not true, Festa.” Hearing Nakayama Festa mutter to herself, Kitano gave a soft laugh and took the initiative to reach out, rubbing her horse ears. After feeling that Festa had no intention of resisting, he continued without stopping. “Didn’t I say it before? You and I are actually very similar people. Neither of us is the type to blindly gamble everything with confidence when facing a situation where we have no advantage at all. I placed all of my expectations on you because I have confidence in you.”

“—Of course, if you really feel suffocated and exhausted, I will respect your choice too. You are still my trainee Umamusume. No matter when, I will have faith in you, and I believe you will absolutely be able to win.”

After his conversation with the Three Goddesses, Kitano had clearly realized his mistake, as well as how little attention he had paid to Nakayama Festa. When he had just woken up, he had not been able to convey everything he wanted to say to her, but fortunately, it was still not too late now.

Kitano had also realized that he should not be like parents who, because their own lives had been failures, forced all of their regrets onto their children. He should not place all of his hopes for survival on Nakayama Festa alone. That would only crush her, causing her, who should have been able to display her full strength, to perform abnormally from excessive pressure. If that happened, things might become even worse than her experience in actual history.

The reason the real Nakayama Festa was so legendary in actual history was mainly because people had “placed” its owner’s dying wish upon it, and it had successfully answered that wish, winning a race that played out like a scripted “race it absolutely could not lose.” Kitano did not know whether that was coincidence, or whether all things truly had spirits, but he did know that the Nakayama Festa of actual history had at least obtained that victory after its original owner passed away. Even if it had truly been a display of its resolve, that had happened after the owner was already gone.

But Kitano was still alive right now. The expectations he placed on Nakayama Festa were not bringing her the resolve to win no matter what, but a tremendous amount of pressure. That was why Kitano was trying every way he could to make up for his mistake.

Kitano’s words, which could be considered the first time he had truly laid his heart bare, made Nakayama Festa, whose ears he had been playing with the entire time, fall into silence. But before long, as her horse ears visibly perked up at a rapid speed, Kitano knew his words had indeed worked.

“—Heh. Who do you think I am? I’m not the kind of person who gets trapped by a dead end. My creed is that winning and losing are separated by a single thought.”

“What I pursue is the ultimate thrill of a race at the limit. Pressure only becomes motivation for me to break through. That’s all there is to it.”

Nakayama Festa’s mutters gradually grew louder, just like the confidence swelling within her now that she had settled down and felt reassured. She glanced slightly to the side, and when she turned her gaze toward Kitano, a confident and dangerous smile appeared on her face as she said, word by word,

“So don’t worry about whether I’ll be crushed by pressure. You, on the other hand, had better remember to expect everything from me—remember, you absolutely have to stay alive until the day you see me win a world-class victory for you.”

“Until that day comes, I absolutely won’t allow you to die, and I won’t allow you to look down on me either. Got it?”

“—Yeah, got it. Open the eyes of everyone who looks down on you, Festa.”

Facing the fist Nakayama Festa held out to him, Kitano, as always, showed not the slightest doubt. The moment he lightly bumped fists with her, heartfelt smiles bloomed on both of their faces, born from their connected feelings.

However, just as the feelings between the two of them in the hospital room were warming at unprecedented speed, the hospital room door was suddenly knocked open without warning. Nakayama Festa, who had been smiling with full confidence, instantly pulled her hand back as if she had been shocked, even putting a small distance between herself and Kitano.

“Kitano-chan! I brought you late-night snacks—ah! Nakayama-nee, why are you here too?”

Without a doubt, the person who had interrupted the warming atmosphere between them was Gold Ship, who had gone out earlier to buy late-night snacks. Faced with this youngest sister of the Gold Family, who was also the strangest and most mischievous, yet happened to be the sharpest, Nakayama Festa looked awkward and pulled her knit cap lower to hide her embarrassment as she answered,

“My debut race is tomorrow. I just couldn’t sleep.”

“S-speaking of which, why were you gone so long? Kitano’s alone in the hospital, so shouldn’t you watch over him a little more?”

“Hehe, Golshi-chan is different from Nakayama-nee. I’ve been busy for Kitano-chan, you know?” Gold Ship spoke in her usual incomprehensible, mischievous tone, making it truly difficult to tell whether her words were true or false. But very soon, Gold Ship gave everyone no time to react before pulling out a stack of papers from who knew where and handing them to Kitano herself.

“Kitano-chan, here’s the receipt for the late-night snacks. Remember to reimburse Golshi-chan later~”

“And this is the hospital bill. The doctor said you can be discharged tomorrow after your checkup, so he asked me to bring the bill along too. You just need to sign it.”

“Hm? The Mejiro family is that rich. They still care about this little money?”

However, when Gold Ship handed the bill to Kitano, Nakayama Festa, who had always been sensitive about money, suddenly asked that. Kitano shook his head and answered softly,

“You can’t put it that way, Festa. Without Ramonu, I might not even have made it through emergency treatment. The Mejiro family has already done more than enough for us. We can’t morally blackmail them just because they’re rich.”

“But… signing, huh. I hope my hand still has enough strength.”

Kitano looked over the bill and did not notice anything strange. But when he tried to gather his energy and sign the bill, he looked around and could not find a pen anywhere.

“Golshi-chan, do you have a pen? I can’t sign without one.”

“Nope. But it’s fine! Golshi-chan didn’t bring a pen, but Golshi-chan has this! Ta-daa!” At that moment, Gold Ship also looked as if she had suddenly realized something. That was not surprising, after all. How many people went out carrying a pen with them? But in the next moment, what Gold Ship suddenly changed the subject and pulled out from who knew where left even Kitano silent.

“…Why are you carrying around an ink pad for stamping red fingerprints?” Nakayama Festa looked at the small box Gold Ship had taken from her pocket. She had originally thought it was a compact mirror, but when Gold Ship revealed the red ink pad inside, even Nakayama Festa could no longer keep up with Gold Ship’s bizarre train of thought.

“All right, all right. Kitano-chan, hurry up and press your fingerprint. It’s convenient and quick!”

Gold Ship clearly had no intention of explaining. Instead, she moved with great speed, grabbing one of Kitano’s fingers and immediately pressing it onto the unexpectedly moist red ink pad, then forcefully pressing a clear fingerprint onto the paper in her hand.

After finishing all of that, Gold Ship immediately let go of Kitano’s finger. Without giving anyone time to react, she ran out the door again, shouting as she went,

“All right, Golshi-chan is going to hand the bill to the doctor! Kitano-chan, take good care of your body!”

“…What an impossible person to figure out.”

Faced with the hurried Gold Ship, this time, both Kitano, who considered himself quite experienced at dealing with strange Umamusume, and Nakayama Festa, who had been sisters with Gold Ship for more than ten years, gave this Umamusume the same evaluation. Yet from their helpless smiles, which carried a hint of indulgence, it was clear that neither of them had any intention of changing Gold Ship.

Because they both knew one thing clearly: no matter what Gold Ship did, there was absolutely no need to doubt that she alone would never harm anyone. Therefore, one could absolutely leave important matters to her. She would definitely be one of the most reliable people when it came to major issues.

However, neither Kitano nor Nakayama Festa knew that after running out of the hospital room, Gold Ship did not head toward the hospital counter. Instead, she ran all the way out of the hospital and sprinted in the direction of Tracen Academy.

And now, Gold Ship’s face very rarely held not even a trace of a smile. Instead, it had become serious as never before. What she was focused on was not running, but the document in her hand.

Under the hospital bill marked with Kitano’s red fingerprint, there was another sheet of paper… Kitano’s red fingerprint had soaked through the paper and remained on the sheet underneath as well. And the spot it happened to correspond to was the seal representing “agreement.”

In the rush of wind, the writing on the top line of that paper slowly revealed itself, showing the eye-catching words “Trainer-Trainee Agreement.”

At that moment, the eyes of the gray-haired Umamusume sprinting down the street were hidden beneath her long bangs, as if no one could see through what this mysterious Umamusume was thinking. Only she herself knew that everything she did was for the sake of saving the person she most wanted to keep by her side.

A person who still had not recognized her even now, but whom she absolutely had to save.

T/N: oooooooooh goldshi is gonna be a trainee too

This is a fan translation of 时日无多的训练员只想活下去 by 许氏子谦 Rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!