The Trainer With Little Time Left Just Wants to Live [9]

Click. Click.

As for what secret Mejiro Ramonu had learned about him, Kitano knew nothing at all. After taking a proper lap around Tracen Academy with Gold Ship, he returned early to the dorm the academy had arranged for him. By then, Nakayama Festa had more or less finished setting up his room.

As the one month of life he had left continued to drain away, Kitano’s physical condition was worsening by the day. His body felt heavier and heavier, and the little stamina he had left kept slipping away. Because of that, he went to rest early and never noticed that one of the notebooks no one at the Gold Family would ever secretly peek at had gone missing.

When the sky had only just begun to brighten, Kitano, who had woken early, immediately noticed the sound of his room’s lock. Just as he was wondering about it, the door slowly opened. Whoever was opening it moved so carefully that Kitano’s whole body tensed despite himself.

Can thieves even get into Tracen Academy?

The moment that thought appeared in Kitano’s mind, a light, airy voice, along with half a body peeking in, instantly dispelled all his wariness.

“Pardon the intrusion~”

As the door opened, Mr. C.B.’s head cautiously entered the room first. Her movements were extremely gentle, clearly because she was afraid of disturbing Kitano.

However, just as half her body had slipped into the room, Mr. C.B.’s eyes happened to meet Kitano’s as he sat in his wheelchair. After a brief silence, Mr. C.B. unexpectedly showed not the slightest wavering. Instead, she immediately stepped into Kitano’s dorm room with open composure.

“Good morning, Trainer Kitano. Do you still remember me? I’m—”

“I remember. C.B….-senpai.”

Kitano adjusted the direction of his wheelchair. His tone, even more awkward than his complexion, changed the familiar form of address at the last moment. Looking at Mr. C.B., who had appeared before him without warning, Kitano could not help feeling a slight flutter in his heart.

After all… he had to admit that this girl, as free as the wind, had once driven him so mad that he had even abandoned his own life. Back then, because of his lifespan, he had never confessed his feelings to C.B., nor had he ever considered doing something like leaving her with “lifelong regret” so she would sink into endless pain after his death.

Before he crossed over, joking about that sort of thing was one thing. But if someone had the same ability as Kitano and actually did whatever they wanted like that, then either they had no heart, or they were simply a bastard.

All that aside, if C.B. were still Kitano’s trainee, Kitano would not find it strange at all for her to come and go freely from his dorm. But this was a new loop. Mr. C.B. clearly had no memories of their past, so why would she come to his dorm for no reason?

For some reason, perhaps because the bond they once had still left some kind of resonance even without her memories, Mr. C.B. noticed Kitano’s subtle expression and immediately smiled as she gave him a perfect explanation.

“Trainer Kitano’s situation is a little special, so Rudolf and the others discussed it with me. We decided we should pay more attention to how you’re living here at Tracen Academy.”

“I originally planned to come over quietly today and see whether you were used to living alone in the dorm. From the looks of it… you seem to have settled in quite quickly.”

Mr. C.B.’s gaze soon fell on the desk in front of Kitano. The notebook spread open on it clearly showed that Kitano had already begun his work for the day. On a small plate to the side sat a half-eaten sandwich.

“You’re up working this early, Trainer Kitano? It’s only five o’clock.” Mr. C.B. smoothly shifted the topic back to Kitano because she was feeling rather guilty herself… Though Rudolf had indeed said they should pay more attention to Kitano’s life at Tracen Academy, she had not originally planned to hand that task to Mr. C.B. She had assigned it to Vice President Air Groove.

“Air Groove is better at this sort of work. You don’t need to worry, C.B. I’ll make sure everything in Trainer Kitano’s daily life is properly arranged.” That was what Rudolf had said. In the end, however, Mr. C.B. had still gone to Air Groove and used a method she believed would make Air Groove agree, snatching the job for herself.

As for why she had done that… to be honest, even Mr. C.B. herself did not know.

She simply felt that this was not something she could leave to someone else. Kitano’s current physical condition had concerned her greatly ever since they met for the first time yesterday. If she did not watch over this fragile man and make sure he lived properly, she might worry so much she would be unable to sleep. After all, they could not very well let a newly hired Trainer collapse in the academy, could they?

Tracen Academy already had enough trouble with occasional news of Trainers going missing, or being forcibly made to Umapyoi by Umamusume. C.B. did not want a Trainer to actually have an accident inside Tracen Academy—at least, that was how she convinced herself.

And everything before her now clearly proved her guess. Nakayama Festa, his trainee, was not at her Trainer’s side at all. As for Kitano’s current lifestyle… it worried her even more.

“Your body is already in poor condition. You should be sleeping longer and eating more to recover your strength.” Looking at the convenience-store sandwich on the desk, the one Kitano had only taken a bite from, Mr. C.B.’s tone gained a trace of worried reproach.

However, C.B. did not know that her scolding made Kitano’s heart pound violently once more. His suddenly active heart nearly made his frail body cough, and it took him a long while to suppress that fluttering feeling.

That was close… I really am bad at dealing with C.B. Subconsciously pressing a hand to his chest, Kitano found his lively emotions amusing… His life was clearly hanging by a thread, yet he still had the leisure to think about love.

He had already made up his mind that he had to survive in this loop. He had to cut off this fate of constantly restarting and live a complete life. He had chosen Nakayama Festa because he saw her potential, hoping he could inspire her to bring out all of her strength. Until his lifespan was long enough for him to live to old age, he no longer wanted to act emotionally because of his own soft heart.

Calm down. Calm down, Ryuichi Kitano…

Kitano forcefully suppressed the flutter in his heart. Facing Mr. C.B.’s question, he eventually took a deep breath and answered in what he believed was a cold tone:

“You don’t need to worry. I’m used to it. I know my physical condition very well. Though I tire easily now, I can’t really sleep for very long either.”

“As for eating, I honestly can’t eat much. It has nothing to do with what I’m eating. I simply can’t get anything down.”

Kitano only had the last month of his life remaining. Theoretically speaking, for a terminally ill patient, he was not far from being reduced to lying in a hospital bed, taking in nutrition through an IV and quietly waiting for death to arrive. Kitano himself understood that clearly. If Nakayama Festa could not win her debut race a week from now… he would probably really end up in the hospital.

It was precisely to prevent that from happening that Kitano did his best to complete his work, so Nakayama Festa could adjust her condition to its best and avoid any accidents. To Kitano, Nakayama Festa was his only hope of survival.

But Kitano was the only one who knew that. He subconsciously overlooked one point: to outsiders, his actions to save himself would undoubtedly look like he was placing his dream above his life, being irresponsible with what little time he had left.

When others saw Kitano do this, the more emotional among them might sigh, or perhaps feel regretful, but most would respect Kitano’s own choice.

But the person before him was Mr. C.B., the freest Umamusume in all of Tracen Academy, someone who did whatever she wanted and had never been bound by anything.

Especially since she already cared about Kitano. Even without a reason, she knew she cared about him.

“—That won’t do.”

Just as Kitano was about to pick up the sandwich again, a slender, delicate hand pressed down on his wrist. Before long, the sandwich in Kitano’s hand was gently taken away by Mr. C.B. Without the slightest hesitation, this freest of Umamusume took a small bite from the part Kitano had not touched. Her expression was as gentle as ever, but her attitude carried a familiar “forcefulness” Kitano knew very well.

“That can hardly be called a proper breakfast. Your body is in poor condition, Trainer Kitano, so you should be eating more. Even if you can’t get it down, you still have to eat more!”

“No helping it, then. I’ll make you the perfect breakfast. As it happens, I haven’t eaten either.”

As she spoke, Mr. C.B. rolled up her sleeves and gave Kitano a theatrical thumbs-up. But just as she started toward the stove, Kitano, stunned by her words, finally came back to himself and asked this most familiar Umamusume lady in a faint voice:

“—Can you cook, C.B.-senpai?”

“…”

However, with only that one short sentence, Mr. C.B.’s body froze in place as if the machine had jammed. Only after a long while did her cheeks redden in a rare show of belated, embarrassed shyness.

Please. Kitano knew Mr. C.B. far too well. Although this freest Umamusume had understood her mission from a young age—to wash away all doubts cast on herself and her parents—C.B.’s parents were in fact very happily married. Growing up in that sort of environment, C.B. might have had an independent personality, but when it came to housework, she was practically a zero.

As C.B.’s former Trainer, Kitano knew better than anyone that this dashing Umamusume on the surface was, behind the scenes, nothing more than a scatterbrained girl who obediently waited for Kitano to feed her and never remembered to bring an umbrella on rainy days.

“Th-then I’ll take you to the cafeteria.” The embarrassed Mr. C.B.’s cheeks were flushed red, but she immediately walked behind Kitano and began pushing his wheelchair outside. Just as in Kitano’s memories, she habitually did not ask his opinion. She simply made the decision for him and took him along to carry it out.

As for Kitano, all he needed to do was obey her and support her, just like before.

Of course, the current C.B. no longer needed his support. In this loop, the knot in her heart should have been untied long ago. She should have become the mature Umamusume he had seen once before he died back then.

Yet as Kitano’s mind echoed with some of the few beautiful memories from his countless short lives, behind him, where his eyes could not reach, Mr. C.B.’s expression as she pushed his wheelchair looked exceptionally confused.

C.B. felt that she… had become very strange.

She clearly knew she did not understand cooking at all. Why had she unusually offered to make Kitano breakfast back then? She had clearly never done anything like that before.

Why was it that, whenever she was with Kitano… she kept doing so many things that were unlike her?

Why was her heart… such a mess?

All sorts of questions troubled this free Umamusume, leaving her unable to understand no matter how she thought about it. However, the one thing Mr. C.B. understood clearly was that, while she was confused, she was not in a bad mood. On the contrary, she felt more at ease than ever before.

That feeling of relaxation was like running with the gentle wind over the softest grass beneath the finest weather. It was so pleasant it gave her an unprecedented sense of satisfaction, and yet left her wanting more.

I seem to be getting a little… carried away.

“—Kitano? Why are you down here?”

However, just as Mr. C.B. was still immersed in that brief enjoyment, before she realized it, she had already pushed Kitano out of the Trainer dorm.

At that moment, a familiar woman’s voice instantly shattered her comfort. Directly in front of Kitano and Mr. C.B., Nakayama Festa stood before them with a bag on her back and a piece of bread in her hand.

And in the next instant, Mr. C.B. felt it—the rage of a predator discovering that its prey had been taken by someone else. That hatred… She could sense it with perfect clarity.

Nakayama Festa was furious beyond the ordinary.

T/N: CATFIGHT ALREADY?

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!