I'm in Teresin, dedicated to playing badly

But she seemed to have forgotten her current physical condition. Halfway there, she tripped over her own feet and fell right into Kitahara Shinji's arms, and Kitahara Shinji immediately turned off the screen.

The things that trainers talk about in the group chat are not for children.

"I said, 'It's especially good.'"

Feeling the pressure from her arms, Shinji Kitahara looked helpless and habitually reached out to rub the small tuft of white hair on her forehead.

"You're already in this state, so don't do anything strenuous. Can't you just stay quietly on the sofa? Get up quickly, I'll help you back."

But this time, Zhou did not immediately respond to his question.

After a two-second silence, she suddenly looked up at Shinji Kitahara with a slightly silly smile on her face.

"Hehehe, Mr. Shinji really hasn't changed at all. He still loves to rub my hair."

After Zhou finished speaking, Kitahara Shinji realized what his hands were doing, and a look of embarrassment appeared on his face. He then tried to pull his hands back.

But as soon as they retreated a little, Zhou's head jutted forward, and he proactively moved closer to Kitahara Shinji's subordinate.

"If Mr. Shinji likes it, I don't mind, and I actually really like this feeling too."

"What's so enjoyable about rubbing your hair?"

Shinji Kitahara looked helpless.

"And you get up right now! Don't you know how heavy you are?"

"I wasn't talking about rubbing your hair."

Zhou blinked, his eyes clear, and a silly smile appeared on his lips.

"I mean, I like the feeling of lying in Shinji's arms."

"After all, Shinji always used to lull me to sleep like this."

Chapter 48: You're a big kid now

If Special Week were replaced by another horse girl, such as either Tokai no Teio or Airi Soko, and she made such a move and said such a thing to him, then Kitahara Shinji would probably already be thinking about how to run away with his bucket.

But special week is different.

On one hand, it's because she's a bit of a simpleton, and on the other hand, it's because of some things that happened between him and Zhou in the past.

Unlike Oguri Hat, Kitahara Shinji met Tetsuya in the countryside, and much earlier than when he met Oguri Hat, around the time when Tetsuya's fame had just begun to spread.

At that time, he and Eclipse had just finished looting a town. Seeing that the granaries there had been almost completely plundered, they prepared to find the next place to wreak havoc, and that's when they arrived at the countryside where the Zhou family lived.

Although there was no Teresen there, not even a decent training institution for horse girls, the number of horse girls was surprisingly large.

Moreover, because it was in the countryside, with vast land, abundant grain, and low prices, and no need to consider transportation costs, it quickly attracted his attention. He planned to plunder the place and spread the word about how to contact him.

Then, he encountered Special Week.

Moreover, their meeting was actually a misunderstanding.

At that time, Tetsu-Chou's adoptive mother had a high fever, and Tetsu-Chou was very worried about her. Then he heard someone say that hanging three carrots in front of the door would invite someone to help, so he tried it. Then he and Kitahara Shinji, who came to his door, stared at each other.

"Is there a problem with you?"

"No, it's my mother who is sick."

Is your mother a horse?

"No, she is human."

Then why the hell did you call me? To see a doctor!

However, despite his complaints, since he was already there, he still took out a bottle of energy potion, poured out about a third of it, and had Special Zhou feed it to her adoptive mother under the guise of cold medicine.

As for the payment, on the one hand, it was just a common fever that would have healed in a few days, and on the other hand, seeing that their family wasn't wealthy and that Kitahara Shinji was busy harvesting crops at the next house, he didn't ask for payment and left after giving them the medicine.

But who knew that after hearing about this, Zhou's foster mother recovered from her illness the next day and immediately inquired about his former residence. She originally just wanted to visit him to express her gratitude, but after meeting him, she noticed something unusual.

"Where are your parents?"

"Dead long ago."

Do you live alone?

"I also have a younger sister who currently lives at school; she's a horse girl."

"...You'll support her?"

"Yes, what's the problem?"

Shinji Kitahara initially thought it was just casual conversation and didn't take it too seriously.

But to his surprise, his door was knocked on early the next morning. When he opened it, there was his adoptive mother standing outside, carrying a packed lunch.

She said it was payment for helping him with his medical treatment, but everyone could see that she just wanted to find an excuse to help him out.

Shinji Kitahara did not refuse, after all, he was happy to save himself some trouble, and especially since his foster mother's cooking skills were indeed quite good.

However, later on, because Special Zhou's adoptive mother had to work and her house was on Special Zhou's way to and from school, Special Zhou became the one who delivered the meals.

Over time, they became friends.

He is also her only friend.

As for the reason?

Because Zhou is rather naive, the other female horse girls at school feel that she has disgraced the horse girls. Although it hasn't escalated to the point of physical violence, they basically don't hang out with her.

As for humans, although young horse girls are not as strong, human cubs are also very fragile, so it is rare for humans to play with horse girls.

Moreover, it wasn't just his classmates; even his teachers didn't seem to like Zhou very much.

After all, her academic underachiever status wasn't something she acquired after coming to the Treson headquarters; it was an innate talent.

So, having no friends at school, she would go to see Shinji Kitahara whenever she had free time after meeting him.

Even if he doesn't have time to play with her, she will follow him like a shadow. As long as he doesn't tell her to leave, she will keep following him, and sometimes she will even skip class to follow him.

If the story ended here, it would probably be just a heartwarming tale of a typical boy and girl meeting.

However, this gentle story did not continue to be heartwarming; instead, a blood-stained page was inserted.

Horse Girl Hunting.

As the name suggests, it means hunting horse girls as if they were wild animals.

Admittedly, there are many people in the world who love horse girls, and the regulations and measures for protecting horse girls are very comprehensive.

In addition to their own great power and the blessing of the three goddesses, the horse girls rarely encounter accidents, let alone be kidnapped or sold.

But precisely because of this, the scarcity of the goods only highlights their value.

Thus, the profession of horse hunter came into being.

The city is a no-go zone for horse hunters. It's full of people and surveillance cameras. If they're discovered, the police or other relevant personnel don't even need to arrive; the passersby will beat them half to death first.

Larger towns won't work either, because there will be horse-girl guards there. Once they discover them, given the horse-girls' sense of smell and tracking ability, they will most likely face death.

After eliminating these two types of areas, the countryside naturally became their best target.

Moreover, it's not just in certain regions. Because they worry that the fully-fledged horse girls are too powerful and might cause accidents, they never target adult horse girls, and they rarely even consider junior or high school girls. They only target the youngest and most naive children.

And the special week at that time just happened to meet these requirements.

So she simply disappeared.

What's a little strange is that at the same time she disappeared, a boy named Shinji Kitahara also went missing.

Some speculated that Kitahara Shinji had abducted Special Week, but those he had helped and the horse girls asserted that this was absolutely impossible, with Special Week's adoptive mother being the most steadfast among them.

Then, more than half a month later, just when everyone thought there was no hope left, he emerged from the mountains with Special Zhou, looking somewhat disheveled.

They encountered horse hunters, but managed to escape.

Shinji Kitahara explained it this way, and Tetsuichi agreed with his explanation, so no one doubted it.

Then it's just the usual procedure.

They called the police, searched the mountain, and indeed found the horse hunters that Shinji Kitahara had mentioned.

However, it's sold in chunks.

They seemed to have encountered some kind of accident; their bodies were devoured by various wild animals, a truly gruesome scene.

After returning, Zhou was probably frightened by the incident and was left with some psychological trauma. She clung to him for a full two weeks and couldn't even sleep without him by her side.

Including the nearly two weeks it took to walk out of the forest—mainly because she got lost, this damn system didn't even have a small map—she slept in his arms for almost a month, and that's when she developed the habit of rubbing his hair.

I didn't mean anything by it, I was just bored and looking for something to do to pass the time.

Then, after some time, he suddenly disappeared without a trace, just like he had in other places.

Well, he knew this was a bit much; he should at least say goodbye to Special Zhou and her adoptive mother, after all, he had received a lot of care from them.

The problem was that he had encountered some difficulties at the time, so he left in a hurry and didn't have time to say goodbye. He didn't have the chance later, and he was too embarrassed to go back, so he simply went with the flow.

And then, time has come to the present.

Looking at Special Zhou, who was craning his neck and staring at him with eyes that seemed to say "I want a hug," Kitahara Shinji raised an eyelid.

Because she had been very well-behaved before, and it happened when she was a child, and quite a long time ago.

He originally thought that even if Zhou didn't completely forget him, he would at least not be as clingy as before.

After all, based on his understanding of Special Zhou, this kid had nothing but carrots in his head; he was not only incredibly carefree but also had an extremely poor memory.

She would forget the texts she had memorized the day before, and she would also forget all the criticisms and sadness she had received the next day. Sometimes, he even suspected that she was actually a goldfish girl with a memory that only lasted seven seconds.

Other children who experience something like that will at least be afraid for a while, if not leave with lifelong psychological trauma.

But Zhou recovered completely in just half a month, and her personality became even more cheerful and lively than before.

She hasn't completely forgotten those terrifying memories, but she doesn't remember much of them either. Even when asked about them, she just looks blank, as if none of them were her own experience.

Because of this past offense, Shinji Kitahara felt it was already quite good that she could still remember him.

But now it seems that she not only remembers, but her attitude towards him is exactly the same as before, without any change.

Her previous docility was probably because she didn't have a chance to be alone with him, so she didn't come up to him directly. But now that she has the opportunity, she immediately starts to act cute.

If it were any other horse girl who had done this to him, Kitahara Shinji's heart rate would be over 120 right now.

But the problem is that the other party is particularly meticulous.

That guy whose brain is full of carrot juice, nicknamed "Specially Silly Zhou".

Therefore, Shinji Kitahara not only didn't panic, but his heart wasn't even flustered; he only felt a slight sense of helplessness and melancholy.

After sighing, he reached out and forcefully pulled Special Zhou, who was still trying to squeeze into his arms, away.

"You said it yourself, that was in the past, this is now."

"...Is there any difference?" Zhou asked, looking completely bewildered.

"Of course."

Shinji Kitahara had a serious expression.

“You’re a big kid now, you can’t keep doing this.”

That's definitely a big kid now.

Although he's a bit silly, perhaps because he eats too much, especially since Zhou's development has always been good. His slightly chubby figure gives him a plump and soft feel, which can only be described as juicy and delicious.

Furthermore, perhaps because she comes from a single-parent family and has little experience interacting with men, she might lack knowledge in certain areas. When she was trying to rub against someone, she didn't pay attention to her position at all, and as a result...

It can only be said that physiological reactions are unavoidable.

Although Kitahara Shinji noticed that Special Week looked somewhat disappointed after he said that, between hardening his heart and hardening another, Kitahara Shinji decisively chose the former and quickly pressed her back onto the sofa.

The whole process of pressing it back went very smoothly.

Although Special Zhou is one of the strongest even among the horse girls, just as she said during training, she trusts Kitahara Shinji and will unconditionally carry out his orders.

Kitahara Shinji also noticed Zhou's obedience and could sense that her feelings for him were purely and unconditionally trusting; otherwise, he wouldn't have placed her in the safest tier of horse girls.

A little kid, a simpleton, a goofball, a glutton, obedient, and also the female lead in The Trison Photo Album, surrounded by a bunch of girls...

The buff stacked up so high it was practically impossible to fail, even several orders of magnitude higher than the Little Chestnut Hat buff. It was so high that it seemed impossible to fail no matter how you looked at it.

Therefore, even though Special Zhou had just acted that way, looking at her innocent and naive eyes, Kitahara Shinji found it difficult to be wary.