When Chihaya Yui opened her eyes, the sky was still a dim gray.
Her first thought was, Oh no... did I oversleep? Is it already evening?
Her eyes went round as saucers, and for a moment she couldn't process anything.
Fortunately, her mind cleared quickly enough for her to realize dawn simply hadn't broken yet. It wasn't that she'd slept all the way through to nightfall.
Once she relaxed, she yawned, and immediately started feeling sleepy again.
Was it because that terrible cold had left her body a little weak? Or because Seiun Ryoka had "worked her over" so thoroughly last night that she hadn't slept properly?
Feeling that warm, soft body close at hand, Chihaya had to admit it again: Seiun Ryoka really did have an amazing figure. Those sharply defined abs were enough to make anyone jealous.
The room was still dim, but Chihaya didn't mind. Groping through the dark, listening to Ryoka's steady breathing, she turned to look at her.
Even if all she could make out was a vague outline, what did that matter? Ryoka's face had long since been branded into her memory. Reconstructing it piece by piece from memory wasn't bad at all.
More importantly...
Realizing Ryoka was still asleep, Chihaya suddenly had a bold idea.
Last night, Ryoka had barely let her sleep, and had "caused" her to wake up so early. In that case, wasn't it only fair for her to do something a little... unspeakable while Ryoka was sleeping?
The more she thought about it, the better the idea sounded.
There was no rule saying a horse girl could do this and that to her trainer while the trainer wasn't allowed to do a little this and that back to her horse girl, right?
Chihaya wasn't fully convinced her logic was sound, but at a time like this, what was the point of overthinking? Better to just be honest with her desires.
So she took a deep breath, flexed her fingers, and slowly reached toward Seiun Ryoka's sleepwear. She lifted the hem a little, then cautiously extended the tip of her index finger.
The moment she touched Ryoka's body, Chihaya was trembling all over. And when that soft yet firm sensation traveled from her fingertip to her brain, it honestly felt like her brain itself shuddered.
This was the first time she had ever done something this daring. And it was also the first time she had so vividly felt how wonderful a beautiful girl's body could be.
How was she supposed to describe it? Ryoka's skin was fine and smooth, yet beneath it she could feel abundant strength, as though softness and power—two nearly opposite qualities—had somehow coexisted in perfect harmony.
Chihaya felt like her heart was about to leap out of her chest.
Was it because she hadn't obtained Ryoka's permission in advance? Or because simply touching her once had already left her completely spellbound, giving rise to even bolder thoughts?
She didn't know. She only knew that she was supposed to be a good girl.
And yet now...
Not only did she feel no shame or embarrassment at all, she wanted to touch more and more of Seiun Ryoka's body. In fact, she was already doing it.
Was that really okay?
Chihaya felt this behavior of hers was deeply suspicious, but she couldn't quite stop herself.
Taking another steadying breath, she let her fingertip travel carefully over Ryoka's stomach, as though she wanted to trace those sculpted abs line by line.
She swallowed hard and blinked, unconsciously curling her toes.
Her reason told her this was already outrageously rude behavior, a total failure on the trainer's part. She ought to apologize to Ryoka for this offense at once.
But her desire told her something else: this was merely an ordinary person's longing for beauty. That was perfectly natural. After all, she wasn't doing anything truly out of line—she was only touching Ryoka's abs. It wasn't that serious.
Besides, Ryoka had already bathed with her and other horse girls before. Chihaya had seen those abs then. Touching them now was hardly some great disrespect.
Just as she was seriously reflecting on all this, a melodious voice sounded out faintly.
"Yui... could you stop for a second? Look, your heartbeat and breathing are all over the place. That won't do."
"Yes, I'll just— I—"
Chihaya began to answer automatically, but almost immediately realized something was wrong.
That voice was far too familiar to her. She heard it nearly every day. She'd even fallen asleep to that voice last night.
If you heard that voice the moment you woke up, wouldn't it almost feel like you'd spent the entire night sleeping together?
Whether that was true or not, one thing was certain: she was feeling monstrously guilty.
After all, she had spent a while secretly groping her assigned horse girl while said horse girl was asleep. That counted as a serious crime, didn't it?
If her assigned horse girl were anyone else, maybe it would be one thing. But this was Seiun Ryoka—the world's first undefeated five-crown champion, a girl who might even achieve a dual Triple Crown and perhaps go on to seize this year's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
The moment Chihaya imagined newspapers all over the world running those enormous headlines, she felt like her career as a trainer might be over.
Granted, all of that was still just speculation. Reality hadn't confirmed it yet. But there really wasn't much room for doubt, was there? Ryoka had already won the King George. She had already beaten Europe's current elite. The St Leger might still be uncertain, since that was a long-distance race—but for the Arc, the race the Japanese cared so deeply about... wasn't that crown practically already hers?
Seiun Ryoka was the strongest active world-class middle-distance queen. At this point, hardly anyone would deny that. Unless some freak accident occurred, Chihaya honestly couldn't imagine her losing.
Which meant...
She had let her hand run wild and disturbed the precious sleep of that very person.
Was she about to become the disgrace of the entire Japanese horse racing world?
Chihaya didn't know, but she was terrified all the same.
"Yui?"
Sensing the tiny tremors coming from Chihaya's fingertip, Ryoka couldn't quite understand it. Just now, hadn't she been gleefully running her hand over her abs? So why had she suddenly turned into this?
Ryoka wasn't some strange woman. Did Chihaya really need to be this nervous?
With that thought, Ryoka leaned in, then promptly shoved Chihaya down onto the bed.
"Yui, why aren't you saying anything? I thought maybe I'd spent all last night on some international long-distance call and left you mentally and physically exhausted, to the point that you were tempted into a little prank."
"I'd like to think Yui wouldn't do something like that, though."
Wouldn't secretly stroke someone's abs while they slept. Wouldn't grin broadly while doing it. And certainly wouldn't pretend nothing had happened after being caught red-handed.
Ryoka said again, "I believe in you, Yui. There's no way you'd do anything like that, right?"
Chihaya was drenched in cold sweat.
At this point, she had a very serious suspicion:
Had Ryoka... been awake from the very beginning?
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