Chapter 1025: NO．148：It

NO．148：It's not certain that pretending will become real.

AM 8:15, Central Teslen

Even if just passing by the window or door, it would draw students' puzzled gazes—Aomo Lindun was on his way to the activity room.

Carrying a bit of youthful melancholy, as well as the subtlety of past and present intertwined, his steps were not exactly easy.

But even without the boss watching, an instructor shouldn't put on a P-face when dealing with the kids.

So I just wanted to cheer up a bit.

Think about it, this place is Central.

Think about it, I'm already an instructor here.

Think again, I already have four subordinates who have gathered information; rounding up, they're basically D-rated horse girls.

Then……

Alright, that's enough!

If I think more, my steps will feel lighter; there's nothing left to fear.

Compared to the digital teacher, Umastar, who is more professional in mindset control and expression management, has arrived at his loyal post.

Then, unusually—no one immediately greeted him.

The closest to the door, Aimu Zhiji, sat quietly reading on the chaise lounge she had added earlier, while Mei Pu Bo Pang, a bit farther away, was playing on her phone, and an exaggerated, affected male voice leaked slightly from her headphones.

Meanwhile, Ailisuzhi, who usually stood steady at the lab bench, was unusually brewing tea.

By contrast, the Manchester Chazuo opposite her seemed to be behaving normally—steadily pouring out her coffee.

But this still felt off.

Even with much on his mind, Aomo still noticed the problem before such an obvious anomaly.

After all, one thing his team could be proud of was that everyone was very polite.

Even the most 'troublesome' Ailisuzhi would give a normal greeting, and Aimu Zhiji, who always wore a 'you're annoying' expression, would not neglect that rather distant surface courtesy.

But at this moment, everyone was quietly doing their own thing, not even glancing at Aomo, as if the door hadn't been opened and there was no such formally dressed boy standing at the entrance.

This also caused the greeting that had risen to his lips to falter; he silently walked to the windowsill side of the table and set down the briefcase containing his documents.

Only after that did he again survey the activity room.

The activity room had certainly not become some dimensional rift, nor did the door possess the property of separating dimensions.

Once he realized this, the boy had to regretfully admit that his earlier guess about frequent signal reception was fatally wrong.

The girls' frequent urgings were perhaps not eagerly anticipating training; on the contrary, each of them was rather unhappy.

Moreover, the blame was directed straight at him.

But if it were because he had stepped on something, being late and getting angry… after withdrawing his gaze from the tea table and Bo Pang, who were minding their own business, Aomo ruled out this most ideal, strictly speaking, most easily handled possibility.

Those two were the best-tempered among his female subordinates.

The reason for letting them join this 'Jidong-style bullying' shouldn't be so arbitrary.

But… how to put it?

Have I done anything today that would especially provoke anger?

Whether it was pure thinking or applying youthful memory's thought logic, Aomo couldn't help but… if saying he had no clue at all… he almost linked it to the earlier incident involving Zhen Ji Ling and ailishuma.

But the problem probably wasn't there.

Although the interpersonal relationships among these same-age girls could be countless threads, for them to be so united, at the very least they'd need to be a sisterhood, not just best friends.

Moreover, they'd have to be real sisters, not a backup ammo pack calling each other 'cutie'.

But just as he was still deep in thought, a girl with black hair down to her waist suddenly stood up, placed her cat-patterned coffee cup on the table, and pushed it toward the boy.

The aroma of black coffee was as usual.

""

The girl didn't speak, her dark-gold eyes revealing nothing, but after her, another cup was placed on the table and pushed toward him.

The cup bearing chemical-bond patterns held a vivid red liquid, its rising steam carrying an unmistakable tea fragrance.

"Guinea pig kid, which side?"

Ailisuzhi, who pushed this cup of tea, became the first to speak now, which left the boy feeling especially confused.

The atmosphere shifted instantly from a Hongmen banquet to a pledge of loyalty; the change didn't mean ease, after all, the very notion of choice points to inevitable loss.

"What kind of bet is this?" he looked at the coffee and tea before him.

He also noticed that Bo Pang and Aizhi's gazes were darting this way.

The girls' anger seemed to come and go quickly; logically there should be a reason to vent it, but he couldn't fathom it.

Or maybe it's all just an act? The Jidong-style bullying posture might just be meant to startle him.

"Never mind those, just say which one you pick, don't overthink," Ailisuzhi, who could clearly guess that Aomo was brainstorming, said irritably, "It's just to scare you; who let you come so late today?"

Is that really it? That posture doesn't look fake at all……

The boy lowered his gaze again at the two cups before him, sighed, raised his hand, hooked and slid, and the liquids in the two cups rose, cooled, mixed, then were gently pressed by a palm and slowly pushed to his throat.

"Ugh…" Suzi instantly showed a look of disgust.

She had already imagined what a nightmare mixing black tea with black coffee would taste like.

Meanwhile, the tea table remained a thoughtful cotton-padded jacket, worry already showing on its face: "…instructor…"

But a manic laughing evil spirit burst out from its shadow.

Then Aomo flicked his hand, pinning it to the ceiling.

As if stuck there with double-sided tape, its back against the ceiling, only a head of black hair dangled down, covering much of its face.

It looked more like the female lead's first appearance in a supernatural film.

Indeed, when she shouted, she resembled a thug sidekick, prompting the boy to add another layer of soundproofing to her.

It's a bit hard to hold up, but it's still okay.

He kept shaking his hands, yet it didn't hinder the nausea from pressing his chest while head down; the boy's expression was somewhat strained, but he ultimately endured that aftereffect.

His eyes still bore the ice-blue of the Ren Dragon and the white stripe of the Rainbow Snake; at first glance one might think he was stuck in some adverse state.

After half a minute he recovered, and even sighed: 'Good thing I'm still young.'

Whether facing the desire to have it all or drinking some random junk, these are the carefree privileges of youth.

But having said that……

「Usually there isn't much age difference, 」 Aimu Zhiji said lightly, 「nowadays it's probably a three- to four-year gap? 」

At this moment she had already set down the book in her hands and began scrutinizing the present Aomo, as if the person who had fainted yesterday from her sister's stimulation wasn't her.

To be honest, the boy had thought she would be absent today, but not only did she come, she also managed to hold herself together so well.

「Three years old. 」 Suzi beside him, holding something like a temperature gun, pressed it against Aomo's forehead and then glanced.

「A physical age of sixteen, really just as she said, not illegal at all. 」

「Her? 」 Aomo frowned.

It seemed his earlier question now had a clue.

But if he were to incorporate this clue, he couldn't run the full course.

Isn't that too illogical?

Faced with women's thoughts, he once again let out this useless sigh.

「Alright then, girls, the prank is over, the choice is made—should we listen to today's training plan? 」

He said this while pulling out today's training schedule from his briefcase, as well as the attendance sheet prepared for the horse girls.

Although both electronic and paper versions were available, he actually preferred the electronic one, but today Miss JunChuan was especially 'enthusiastic,' already greeting him with concern at the gate while he was still pulling the trailer into the school.

She also specifically asked him to come back to the office later to pick up the roster.

When he went to get the roster, she again expressed concern about his recent situation, even joking that he could call her 'Rope Sister' or something… which once put him on alert, almost making him think it was another Marusan Sukii two-name monster.

It seemed not.

Uncertain, let's take another look. jpg

That may be so, but there wasn't much chance to look again before getting back to work; fortunately, a trainer's job is mainly behind the scenes anyway.

——Preparing training plans, arranging training conditions, and handling the registration process for competitions—these are the busiest times.

Aside from that, the actual training sessions instead make the trainer a mere spectator.

As long as he stands at the sidelines, poolside, or beside fitness equipment, waiting to time and correct movements, doing this kind of pointing-and-instructing is enough.

Trainers who feel more involved often rig some kind of vehicle and charge alongside the horse girls.

Of course, that vehicle is a balance wheel, a scooter, etc., not a jeep.

And even further……

「Uh……」

「Run a lap? 」

While Aomo was still gazing into the distance at a colleague driving a jet-powered wheelchair, wondering if he could also get something similar, the rapidly approaching footsteps inevitably made him turn his head.

To face the student council vice president who had just braked sharply in front of him.

「Forget it, I'm still a bit nauseous and can't do intense exercise. 」 the boy said frankly.

Chengtian Bairen raised his eyebrows: 「No need to make excuses if you don't want to run. 」

「It's not really an excuse either. 」 the boy, having lifted his mineral water bottle and taken two gulps, sighed.

「What about you—got nothing to do? If you're free, you can go run with Chazuo. 」

「Aren't you supposed to be doing strength training? 」 he glanced at the few horse girls pulling tires as they ran on the track, and Bairen was somewhat surprised.

「If you're going to start teaching, changing the order of the training plan isn't out of the question, 」 Aomo said, as if hearing something else, he turned his head and looked toward the stairs beside the nearby spectator stands.

There, the gray-haired and cherry-blossom-haired horse girls were stepping down here; the former noticed his turning and waved openly.

The latter, meanwhile, noticeably spotted Bairen beside her, standing at attention with arms and legs pressed together like a military posture.

They really came……

The boy felt resigned, but only a little, after all he hadn't truly hoped that changing locations would let him escape perfectly.