The weekend arrived.
Fujiwara Chiya took Rice Shower to the amusement park. Today, Rice Shower had changed into a beige dress, with white ankle socks and little leather shoes. She looked several times cuter than usual. Just standing there made people want to hug her tightly.
"Onii-sama~"
That soft face, paired with a voice that was unbelievably gentle, made Fujiwara Chiya unable to resist going over and rubbing her for a while. He cupped Rice Shower's cheeks in both hands, and she narrowed her eyes, looking as though she was enjoying it very much.
In the past, Rice Shower had looked soft and adorable. But as an uma musume, her physical strength far surpassed Fujiwara Chiya's.
Now, Fujiwara Chiya felt that he finally had the strength to compete with Rice Shower to some extent.
Of course, that did not mean Fujiwara Chiya actually wanted to compete with Rice Shower in strength. Rather, he finally felt he could show a more masculine side in front of her.
How tragic.
Men were a disadvantaged group in front of uma musume. They were basically like children. Saying "I'll protect you" in front of an uma musume was as ridiculous as a newborn baby shouting that it wanted to protect an adult.
Of course, even if he said it, the other party probably would not dislike it. Compared with feeling reassured, they might find him cute instead.
And uma musume were all creatures who respected strength.
The faster you ran, the stronger you proved yourself to be.
Shirayuki was like that. The faster she ran, the more reliable she became.
Wait. If that was the case, wouldn't I seem more reliable if my speed surpassed Rice Shower's?
Fujiwara Chiya suddenly had this thought.
No, no, no. What am I thinking?
Am I actually thinking about overtaking my own uma musume on the racetrack?
Fujiwara Chiya no longer wanted to add more strange labels to himself. Choosing to defeat his uma musume on the track just to increase their trust in him, how wrong did his brain have to be to do something like that?
Fujiwara Chiya was not planning to become history's first male uma musume.
No, that would not be called musume anymore.
It would be uma musuko!
"Onii-sama?"
"I will not become an uma musuko. Absolutely not!"
"Onii-sama!?"
While Fujiwara Chiya and Rice Shower walked together, Mejiro Dober and Shirayuki followed behind them while drinking honey drinks.
"Everything seems normal," Mejiro Dober muttered.
Of course it's normal!
They were going to an amusement park, not a hotel.
And Rice Shower was such a cute child. What mature thoughts could she possibly have?
Even though Rice Shower had already crossed a certain adult threshold with Fujiwara Chiya, in Fujiwara Chiya's heart, Rice Shower had always been a symbol of purity.
If she occasionally wore clothes that were a little too charming, that was because Fujiwara Chiya's own thoughts were impure.
If she made teasing movements, that was because Fujiwara Chiya's own heart was not clean.
In short, Rice Shower's pure and adorable image had never changed in Fujiwara Chiya's heart.
The one with a problem was him, not Rice Shower.
This time, he had come to the amusement park simply because he wanted to take Rice Shower out to play. He had no other intentions. There was no way things would somehow end up somewhere they should not.
"Dober, why don't we walk around too? This place is pretty big."
Ever since they left Tracen, Mejiro Dober had been secretly following behind Fujiwara Chiya. If she were alone, that would still be one thing. But she had dragged Shirayuki along with her too.
Was this really necessary?
Tracking myself like this?
Also, Dober's tracking movements are way too practiced. This doesn't feel like her first time.
Mejiro Dober glanced at Shirayuki.
"What are you planning to do with Rice Shower?"
"Obviously play around here."
"No other thoughts?"
"No. I just felt that I hadn't spent time alone with Rice Shower in a long while. Back then, the little one liked amusement parks the most. Look, aren't there lots of parents bringing their children around here?"
Shirayuki pointed around them.
Mejiro Dober hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
She was not worried about Trainer-san doing something.
She was worried about Rice Shower.
That little one's gaze when she looked at Fujiwara Chiya contained a kind of longing. In the past, Mejiro Dober had not noticed it. But after focusing all her attention on Fujiwara Chiya, she had discovered the abnormality.
The way the uma musume around him looked at Fujiwara Chiya was strange.
There was some kind of desire hidden in their eyes.
That desire was very similar to hers.
The only difference was that she had expressed it because of impulse, while the others were still hiding it.
But one day, it would burst out.
Mejiro Dober did not want her Trainer-san to be taken by someone else.
Trainer-san was hers.
Shirayuki was also hers.
Mejiro Dober wanted to grasp both with both hands.
Since Shirayuki promised nothing would happen with Rice Shower, she would believe her once.
In an amusement park, if an adult and a small girl did something too strange, it would definitely attract attention. Rice Shower should not dare do anything excessive either.
Thinking this, Mejiro Dober finally turned her attention back to Shirayuki.
She had been paying too much attention to Trainer-san's side earlier and had instead neglected Shirayuki beside her.
She took a sip from Shirayuki's honey drink, then held her hand.
"Let's go. We'll look over there."
After shaking off Mejiro Dober's gaze, Chiya's side immediately felt much less pressured.
He really had not planned to do anything with Rice Shower, but being watched the whole time was still quite tiring. It felt as though he had to maintain his image every single moment.
Going on a date with one uma musume made Fujiwara Chiya happy.
Going on a date with two uma musume made Fujiwara Chiya nervous.
Going on a date with three uma musume left him with only fear.
If Shirayuki had not been nearby sharing the pressure, he would not have been able to handle so many people.
"Onii-sama, cotton candy!"
"Let's go buy two."
"Buy one. Rice and Onii-sama can eat one together."
"That works too."
In any case, today was a day for accompanying Rice Shower. Whatever Rice Shower wanted to do, they would do.
Fujiwara Chiya felt that the decision to take Rice Shower out had been absolutely correct.
It had been a long time since he had seen such a happy smile on Rice Shower's face.
And from earlier, Rice Shower's tail had been mischievously stretching toward him, wrapping around his waist and pulling the two of them closer together.
Mm…
Something seemed a little off?
He realized that Rice Shower's tail was not only wrapped around him, but had also slipped toward the inside of his clothes. The tip of her tail had lifted the hem of Fujiwara Chiya's shirt and was moving like a little snake.
Uma musume could control their tails, but there was a limit.
For example, Shirayuki could use her tail to curl around things, but only to that extent. She could not make more complicated movements.
However, Rice Shower seemed to be able to precisely control countless little motions in her tail. The warm tail, together with its soft hair, continued extending, quietly brushing against his abdomen.
"Rice… Rice Shower?"
"What's wrong, Onii-sama?"
She revealed an innocent smile.
"Aren't we going to buy cotton candy?"
That expression and the increasingly dangerous movement of her tail formed two completely different impressions.
Just as Fujiwara Chiya wanted to say something else, his body suddenly stiffened.
Rice Shower had wrapped him with her tail.