“How does it feel? Anything?”
“Itchy.”
“Huh?” Lu Jue looked up, his face a picture of confusion.
“No, no…” Special Week clenched her fists, not expecting to blurt out her thoughts when she got nervous.
She tried to lift her foot and indeed felt a resistance from gravity.
Special Week then tried lifting her leg in a wide arc, “Hey, it really works!”
“Of course. Would I give it to you if it didn’t work?”
“Hehe, thank you, Trainer.”
Lu Jue stood up and looked at Seiun Sky, “Xingyun Jiang, you try wearing it too.”
“Mhm.” Seiun Sky’s lips always held a faint smile, but it seemed a bit unnatural.
Why only give it to Special Week? Why not give it to her?
Seiun Sky increasingly felt that everything was specifically prepared by Lu Jue for Special Week, and she was just an afterthought.
“How’s the effect?” Lu Jue asked.
“Pretty good.” Seiun Sky shook her foot.
Lu Jue nodded, and after confirming there was nothing else to explain, he said, “Then… the two of you must work hard on your upcoming training.”
…
The Yayoi Sho was approaching.
In the weeks leading up to the race, various news posters were already circulating widely.
Among the many contestants, Special Week’s popularity ranked second, Seiun Sky’s third, and the first place went to the young lady King Halo.
“Trainer, look at Xiao Te and Xingyun Jiang on there, they’re so cool!”
After the afternoon training, Lu Jue, Uralala, and Silence Suzuka left the training ground together.
On the way, Uralala took out a newspaper and pointed to the content, saying.
“They are indeed cool.” Lu Jue glanced at it, “But Uralala, don’t be envious. One day you’ll appear on there too.”
“I can too…?” Haru Urara unconsciously gripped the newspaper tightly.
Interacting with these gifted teammates, she had actually always felt a lot of pressure.
Reality told her: accept reality.
“Of course you can.” Lu Jue rubbed Uralala’s head, “If Uralala doesn’t believe in herself, then try to believe in me.”
Uralala’s eyes trembled, like shimmering ripples on water, “Trainer…”
Silence Suzuka cleared her throat, breaking the atmosphere, “Speaking of which, I’ve rarely seen Xingyun Jiang lately.”
Uralala nodded and said, “That’s right, Xiao Te often comes to ask Trainer questions.”
At this, Lu Jue slightly furrowed his brows.
Since he handed over the training schedule to the two of them, he hadn’t required them to come for afternoon training.
But Special Week would still often come to ask for guidance, while Seiun Sky seemed to have barely come at all.
Lu Jue pondered, “Xingyun Jiang… she might be more independent?”
He wasn’t worried that Seiun Sky would slack off in the race, but if it was about things outside of the race, then as her Trainer, he had to pay close attention.
The three walked along, and Haru Urara and Silence Suzuka returned to their dorms one after another.
Lu Jue walked to the school gate, just about to drive away, when he unexpectedly received a call from Special Week.
“Trainer, can you come over…?”
“What’s wrong?” Seeing Special Week so hesitant, Lu Jue thought something bad had happened and also became a little nervous.
“Can you just come over first?”
“Okay, I’ll be right there.”
…
Driving swiftly, Lu Jue soon arrived at the location Special Week had given him.
This was a mountain with a shrine, and because it had many stone steps, Uma Musume often trained their climbing ability here.
However, Lu Jue had given Special Week the weighted ring precisely hoping it would replace stair climbing, as this mountain was too high and safety could not be guaranteed.
Lu Jue saw Special Week from afar and ran towards her, his gaze solemn as he checked her over, “What’s wrong? Are you injured?”
At this moment, Special Week was still wearing her training uniform, but sweat poured from her neck and forehead, and the hair on her forehead and back of her head looked drained of life, limp and flat.
Presumably, she had just been training.
“Injured? I’m not injured.” Special Week, seeing Lu Jue’s nervous expression, looked puzzled, but then she felt Lu Jue’s concern.
This feeling of being valued was like the cool breeze that now came, drying her sweat and stirring her heart.
“Not injured? Then what do you need me for?”
“It’s injured.” Special Week pulled up her pant leg and pointed to the weighted ring on her leg, “Earlier, when I was climbing the slope, I suddenly felt my foot lighten, and then when I tried again, there was no response.”
Lu Jue took it off and tried it a few times; indeed, there was no response.
He suddenly thought of a possibility, though the girl in front of him probably couldn’t, “So… is it possible it just ran out of battery?”
“Eh!?”
“Have you not charged it these past few days?”
Special Week shook her head, “No.”
Lu Jue pursed his lips, speechless, “You’re a bit ‘silly’…”
But he also breathed a sigh of relief; it was good that she wasn’t injured.
“I…” Special Week’s face flushed red, and she defiantly crossed her arms, muttering to the side, “Trainer is scolding me again! You didn’t tell me about charging when you gave it to me, and you didn’t give me a charger either!”
“An ordinary charger can charge it… You’re also a bit stubborn.”
“I don’t care, I just don’t care.”
“So proud.”
“Trainer!”
“So stubborn.”
…
After teasing Special Week for a while, Lu Jue then inquired about her recent training.
“Trainer, I really feel like I’ve gotten a lot stronger.”
The moment the weighted ring stopped working, Special Week felt her feet become especially light.
She ran a lap at that speed, and even though she was already very tired, she achieved her best time since she started training.
“That’s good. It’s getting late now, I’ll drive you back to school.”
“No, I haven’t finished my training for today yet.”
“I remember the training schedule I gave you didn’t include this training.”
“This is… something I added myself.” Special Week said cautiously, looking at Lu Jue.
She was afraid Lu Jue would blame her.
“Alright.” Lu Jue sighed, understanding. The closer the race, the more nervous one gets, and doing something is always better than doing nothing.
“But don’t get overly fatigued from the extra training, that would be counterproductive.”
“I know!” Special Week, seeing that Lu Jue wasn’t angry, her tone became a bit joyful. She then tentatively asked, “Then… Trainer, can you accompany me to finish the rest of today’s training?”
When Special Week’s expression was full of anticipation, like a budding flower waiting for just a word from Lu Jue to bloom, Lu Jue knew he couldn’t refuse.
Moreover, it was getting late, and Lu Jue wasn’t at ease leaving Special Week, a girl, to train here alone.
“Alright, I’ll accompany you, I’ll accompany you, but don’t let me starve for too long.”
“That’s great! Trainer, you’re just too good!”
…
(Many thanks for everyone’s gifts yesterday! So today’s power of love… please, please ╭(╯ε╰)╮)