I'm in Teresin, dedicated to playing badly

However, opinions aside, if you were to ask whether Grasshopper had romantic feelings for him, the answer would definitely be no.

After all, they haven't communicated much so far, and most of their interactions have revolved around Zhou. They don't know each other very well, and their relationship is at most that of ordinary friends.

But if you ask her if she likes him, the answer is yes.

However, this liking is not the kind between men and women, but rather a fondness similar to that for beautiful flowers blooming by the roadside.

Or perhaps "appreciation" would be a more appropriate term?

That's pretty much the feeling I'm talking about.

Therefore, she could understand why so many people in Shinji Kitahara's team were attracted to him.

Yes, that's right. As a Yamato Nadeshiko who is proficient in... no, has some knowledge of psychology, Kusakabe is actually the one in the whole team who enjoys the gossip the most.

She could sense not only the feelings of the Emperor of the East Sea and Alice, but even those of Special Week.

Putting everything else aside, she had known Zhou for quite some time, and although, like Silent Suzuka, she had never heard Zhou mention their past, she was well aware that Zhou was not good with men.

And for a girl who is not good at, or even somewhat resistant to, men to act so intimately with a man, only a fool like Suzuka, whose brain is only focused on running, would not realize what this means.

As for her feelings about it?

She doesn't care.

Who Zhou likes is none of her business.

Although through some of Shinji Kitahara's actions, Hibiku Kusakami gradually realized that he seemed to think she had some strange feelings for Special Week, and she did not deny it.

The problem is that he and she may have different definitions of wonderful feelings.

Perhaps in his eyes, her feelings for Special Zhou were based on some kind of unspeakable desire, but in reality, she simply regarded Special Zhou as her best friend, or perhaps a nemesis who was both friend and foe.

She doesn't have many friends to begin with, and she's the only one who can be considered her best friend. Isn't it normal for her to feel disappointed when she feels neglected?

Since they are rivals who are also friends, it's only natural that she would want to come here to see how Special Week's training is going, and also find an opportunity to compete with each other, encouraging each other to grow and improve.

When preconceived notions lead to biased judgments, subsequent decisions will be based on subjective conclusions rather than objective facts.

However, if we remove these glasses, discard those preconceived notions, and re-examine Grasshopper's behavior so far, we will find that she has never done anything out of line, nor has she ever admitted to being a woman.

She knew that there were indeed many girls in Tresson Academy, and that they didn't discriminate against them, but she wasn't, and was even completely straight.

And thinking about it, it's easy to see that she held herself to the standards of a Yamato Nadeshiko (ideal Japanese woman).

The Yamato Nadeshiko, in a sense, represents 'tradition,' and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call her old-fashioned, so it's naturally difficult for her to be compatible with some progressive views on love.

She considered Te Zhou a very good and important friend. Although her behavior might have been a bit excessive in some ways, she really had no romantic feelings for her whatsoever.

If we had to categorize it, in terms of a single emotion, she felt more for Shinji Kitahara than for Special Week.

After all, his personality, way of doing things, and abilities are quite in line with her definition of a good man. It's just that his womanizing and lack of awareness about it is a bit of a headache.

But it doesn't matter. Whether he gets involved with other women or not is none of her business. After all, she doesn't intend to get involved in this battle; she just plans to be a spectator.

When I have free time, I drink tea and chat with Eclipse, or I talk to Special Week about competitions, practice, or life, or go out for fun. If I have the chance, I'll lend a hand when I can, since he's a nice person.

As for the rest...

Even if she is a Yamato Nadeshiko, she is still a woman after all. How could she not enjoy watching this kind of excitement?

and......

Recalling the turmoil in her mind during a misunderstanding about a solar eclipse, a forbidden thought flashed through her mind and was quickly suppressed. Her brows furrowed and then gradually relaxed.

Even so, even though the thought had been suppressed.

But thinking about what she had experienced in the past two weeks, about how Special Week and Silent Suzuka clung to each other and ignored her, and about the figure that always appeared by her side when she was most down, she paused slightly, and dark waves began to ripple in her heart.

Even on a special week, if something you really like is taken away, you'll definitely be sad and disappointed for a long time, right?

Just like she was before.

But soon, faced with something called dignity and self-control, the ripples were quickly suppressed.

No, no, Grasshopper, what are you thinking?

Grasshopper gently patted his face, banishing some strange thoughts, and his eyes returned to normal after a moment of unease.

That kind of behavior is not befitting of a Yamato Nadeshiko; even just thinking about it is impolite enough.

With a soft sigh, the strange emotions were suppressed, and the ripples sank to the bottom of the sea, never to cause another ripple.

......

On the other hand, after accepting Ms. Cao's formal application to join the team and slowly shifting his gaze away, he took out his notebook and prepared to make some plans for Ms. Cao.

As for the danger of Ms. Cao staying on the team, since the agreement has already been made, there is no need to dwell on it anymore.

Moreover, as he said before, based on his performance last Saturday, it can be basically confirmed that Ms. Grass treats him as a good brother or brother-in-law. In addition, given her yin attribute, she might actually be the safest one in the team.

And even if she wasn't the safest one, at least he was absolutely safe until her gaze left Te Zhou.

And after she moved away...

Let's move it then. Anyway, we can be sure it's safe and there are no problems now.

While these random thoughts swirled in his mind, he began to doodle and sketch in his notebook, drafting a new plan for Ms. Cao.

As he was writing and thinking, he heard two footsteps cautiously approaching him from behind.

But he didn't care.

On the one hand, this is a training ground. It can't be said to be sparsely populated, but it's at least bustling with people. There are also members of the Treson Guard standing guard nearby, so security is definitely guaranteed.

On the other hand, it's because Eclipse is standing right behind him. If the other party really harbors malice towards him, then even if he breaks through Treson's guard, he will be torn to shreds by Eclipse the moment he attacks.

So although he found the two footsteps a bit strange, and they were so faint that they didn't seem to belong to Tressen's students, he didn't pay much attention to them and didn't turn around. He remained focused on his notes.

Just as he had expected, the two footsteps crept up behind him but did not make any further moves. Eclipse also did not react, so there shouldn't be any major problems. At most, they were just two horse girls trying to play a prank and scare him from behind.

However, if the person involved is unaware of such a prank, it's fine, but once they realize it, they're unlikely to be scared at all...

After finishing writing the plan in his hand, he turned around with a smile, wanting to see which two silly kids were trying to scare him.

Then, the moment he saw those two 'little idiots' clearly, his smile froze, and his heart skipped a beat.

"Good morning, Mr. Kitahara!"

Northern Black Horse greeted him with a big smile.

Following behind was Hikari Satomi, whose expression was somewhat tense and whose eyes were darting around.

Chapter 63: He's not some kind of madman.

Since parting ways with the elderly woman at her clothing store on Saturday, Shinji Kitahara thought he would never have any further contact with these two heavyweights.

Logically speaking, the two of them are still young, haven't even started their formal education, and aren't Treson's students. Their only chance to meet him is with the elderly horse girl.

As for the other side, although he would go there once a week on Saturdays, he spent most of his time discussing various serious matters related to horse girl costumes with the elderly horse girl. The two little ones also had their own family situations, so they couldn't always go there to watch over him.

And most importantly, there's no reason for it.

It's one thing for the Northern Black Horse; although her family has some influence, it's rather unique and they don't really connect with Treson. So it's normal for her to be curious about what's going on inside Treson and ask the trainers outside.

However, Satomi Hikari is the eldest daughter of the Satomi family, and her family has a lot of dealings with the Treson headquarters. In fact, many Treson headquarters trainers have gone on to work for her family's businesses after leaving the headquarters.

She only went to the Mai Ma Niang clothing store last year to accompany Northern Genko. She herself had no interest in the situation in Tresenne. It was obvious during the conversation that she had no reason to go there a second time. So naturally, there was no possibility of further interaction.

but now......

Looking at the two little ones who suddenly appeared in front of him, Shinji Kitahara managed to maintain a smile, his voice trembling slightly.

"Why are you here?"

"Little Drill, she..."

Just as Kita Genko began to speak, Satomi Hikari suddenly interrupted her.

"Well, Xiao Bei and I will be enrolling here next year, so we thought we'd come here in advance to get familiar with the area. We didn't expect to run into you here."

Hikari Satomi's eyes still looked a little nervous, but he spoke with composure and gave a reasonable explanation.

This explanation only left the Northern Black Horse looking confused.

Huh? Didn't you say you were coming to see Mr. Kitahara? How come you suddenly came to visit Treson?

Although he was very puzzled, looking at Kozumi Satomi's eyes, Genko Kita ultimately couldn't bring himself to ask the question and could only swallow it back down.

Genko Kita wasn't the only one puzzled; Shinji Kitahara also frowned upon hearing Kozumi Satomi's words.

next year?

That's not right. These two kids look like they're only at the elementary school level. They're more like fourth or fifth graders than sixth graders.

Treson only has middle and high school divisions, meaning that the lowest level of transfer students is a junior high school student. These two kids don't seem to fit the bill at all, otherwise he wouldn't have thought that he wouldn't be able to interact with them until he ran out of Treson's main campus.

Seemingly noticing the confusion in his eyes, Satomi Hikari gave a slightly shy smile and then explained.

"Although most horse girls grow up in a similar way to human females, there are a very small number who grow slowly before they become fully mature, but develop rapidly once they begin to mature. Xiao Bei and I are like that, so we may look a little younger."

Shinji Kitahara had actually heard of this situation before.

Furthermore, it is said that such horse girls have greater potential for becoming fully orthodox and growing. Therefore, some horse girl families will deliberately suppress the growth of promising candidates before they become fully orthodox through certain methods. It is likely that Satomi Hikari is one of these families.

The thought of this instantly filled Kitahara Shinji with a sense of danger and unease, and his heart even raced. He was terrified that the two of them would ask, "Mr. Kitahara, could you please be our trainer?"

Fortunately, this fear did not materialize.

Moreover, not only were they not invited to be their trainer, but the process and content of Satomi Kozan and Kita Genko's interactions with him were also quite normal. He could even vaguely sense that Satomi Kozan seemed to be deliberately keeping his distance from him.

This relieved Shinji Kitahara. He thought to himself that she was indeed a young lady from a prestigious family who saw through his true nature as a slacker trainer. His anxiety began to subside.

He knew it! He wasn't some kind of ponies, so how could a dangerous stallion girl like him?

It's normal for someone like Hikari Satomi to deliberately keep their distance from him, even to the point of being somewhat aloof, even though they know each other.

What he didn't know was that the reason Satomi Hikari was keeping his distance from him now was simply because, based on summarizing past information, he realized that Satomi didn't seem to like associating with women from powerful families, especially large ones, so he was deliberately behaving this way.

As for her own wishes...

I wouldn't say I'm extremely eager, but if the opportunity arises now, I'd like him to sign a contract of appointment.

After a brief chat, Satomi Hikari, using the excuse that the group already knew each other, asked him to show them around the academy.

Shinji Kitahara originally intended to refuse, citing his need to supervise the trainers of his horse girls.

But looking at the expectant eyes of the two children, and considering that he really didn't have anything else to do, and that Brother Zuan didn't seem to have any feelings for him, he thought for a while and couldn't refuse.

The other horse girls in the team didn't say anything about it. After all, Satomi Hikari and Kita Genko were still too young, and they might not even grow to a threatening level after their three-year term ended, so they let Kitahara Shinji leave.

The subsequent stroll around campus was quite ordinary.

With the return of Tsuna and the main guard, the security and environment on campus are now completely different from what they were in the first two weeks.

Not to mention the strange noises coming from certain places, even the trainers and their assistants walking on the road rarely acted intimately under so many eyes, which can be described as extremely healthy - at least on the surface.

As for what happens in private...

He subtly led the two little ones away from abandoned warehouses, trainer dormitories, and other private locations that the headquarters security forces had tacitly allowed, so as not to let any unpleasant sounds or scenes taint their pure hearts.

At this point, some friends might question, "With Green Hat and the main security team back, how can they let this kind of thing happen in broad daylight? Is Treson some kind of matchmaking agency disguised as a school and a den of cannibals?"

Shinji Kitahara can tell you this very clearly.

That is it.

But that's not entirely true.

In reality, although a large number of trainers at Treson headquarters refer to the headquarters as a terrifying den of cannibals and are reluctant to have much contact with the horse girls, this is only the case when dealing with outsiders.

Despite the unexpected things that might happen, despite the other party's occasional tantrums and even the fact that I sometimes have to be hospitalized because of them, I take responsibility for my actions.

However, with very few exceptions, almost every trainer at Treson headquarters is terrible at treating their trainees well. In some cases, they might even turn on someone immediately if they hear a few bad things about them.

This sounds strange, considering that some trainers were tortured so much during the previous meeting, and even their eyes lit up when they found out that the green hat had returned. How could they still have such a good feeling about their responsibility?

That's just being clueless about romance.

To put it simply, if the trainer really didn't have a good relationship with the person in charge, would things have turned out like that?

To put it bluntly, while the horse girls certainly bear a lot of responsibility for the current state of affairs at Treson headquarters, the trainers are also definitely to blame, perhaps even more so—because they've spoiled the place!

No, it's not suitable for habit; it should be said to have been rolled up.

It is said that when Treson was first established, the atmosphere on campus was very good, and the relationship between trainers and supervisors was also quite normal.