The next morning, Shirayuki opened her eyes.
Something soft pressed against her arm.
She turned her head and saw Grass Wonder lying beside her. Her silky brown hair fanned across the bed, and her fair skin glowed faintly in the morning light.
So Grass Wonder really had done that to her…
Shirayuki had always thought of Grass Wonder as a friend. They raced together, chatted together, shared happiness together. Kissing, bathing together, all of that had still been within the boundaries of friendship.
So how had it turned into this?
Logically speaking, girls like Mejiro Dober, who were attracted to other girls, should have been the minority. But now that Shirayuki thought about it, almost every uma musume she had come into contact with had shown at least a little tendency in that direction.
Were uma musume just naturally bisexual or something?
Whether it was Shirayuki or Chiya, every uma musume around them treated gender with terrifying equality. Even Rice Shower, who was supposedly the most normal one, had secretly come over to bury herself against Shirayuki before. When it came to satisfying their desires, uma musume seemed perfectly capable of throwing the usual standards of male-female relationships straight out the window.
Of course, plenty of pure friendship existed between girls too. Like Special Week and Silence Suzuka. Shirayuki's relationship with the two of them was completely clean. The three of them had never done anything overly intimate.
The line between girls was just much blurrier than it was between men. Sometimes even kissing could be counted as friendship or affection, so judging things based on that alone was impossible.
Shirayuki was talking about something else.
Grass Wonder reaching past that final boundary had undeniably torn through the last layer of paper between them.
She had broken out of the realm of friendship.
But looking back carefully, most of Shirayuki's other friends were still normal enough. Only Grass Wonder had always carried an excessive intimacy toward her. The signs had been there since a long time ago. Shirayuki simply hadn't noticed.
When Shirayuki got food on the corner of her mouth, Special Week and the others would wipe it away.
Grass Wonder would lick it off directly.
How was that friendship?!
Shirayuki had always thought it was just close-friend behavior, but in Grass Wonder's eyes, it had apparently been couple-level flirting. Even those pajama photos Shirayuki had secretly taken and exchanged with Grass Wonder hadn't been friendship. They had been some kind of play.
Shirayuki had affection for Grass Wonder.
But Grass Wonder had affection and desire.
To be honest, Shirayuki had been attracted to Grass Wonder at first. Grass Wonder had a beautiful, gentle face, smooth brown hair, and a soft Yamato nadeshiko aura that Shirayuki liked very much. When they hugged, Shirayuki would sometimes imagine Grass Wonder as something that belonged to her, occasionally showing a faint sense of possessiveness. Back then, Grass Wonder would also press close to her and respond happily.
But that was then.
This was now.
Shirayuki had indeed fantasized about Grass Wonder before, but she had never acted on it. She had simply maintained that close relationship without letting it rise to Mejiro Dober's level.
That relationship had continued until Shirayuki went to Europe.
After that, things became wonderfully complicated.
Shirayuki's awareness awakened. She turned toward Chiya, became complete in herself, and the fantasy she once held for Grass Wonder died before it could ever bloom. Now, when she looked at Grass Wonder, her gaze was perfectly clear.
A very good friend.
That was all.
And right when Shirayuki thought their pure friendship could continue forever, Grass Wonder stopped pretending.
She laid her cards on the table.
She did not want to be just friends.
She wanted to get much closer.
Her feelings for Shirayuki were the kind of feelings one held for the opposite sex.
And then she had pushed Shirayuki down onto the bed.
Afraid of waking Meek in the next bed, Shirayuki had kept covering her mouth while Grass Wonder showered her with affection. But that reaction seemed to stir up Grass Wonder's teasing spirit instead, making her even more enthusiastic.
By the time everything finally ended late into the night, Shirayuki was so exhausted that she lost consciousness. When she woke up, the sun was already high in the sky.
Looking at Grass Wonder asleep beside her, Shirayuki felt a storm of complicated emotions churn in her chest.
If Grass Wonder had confessed earlier, Shirayuki probably would have accepted her gladly. After all, back then, she had still thought of herself as a man, and the ones she liked were girls.
But now Shirayuki had already joined with Chiya. Her body had become that of a true girl. What she craved was Chiya's heat, Chiya's scent, his powerful kisses, his sweet lips, and those familiar touches she knew better than anyone else.
Grass Wonder could give her physical stimulation.
But she could not satisfy Shirayuki's heart.
Shirayuki placed a hand over her lower abdomen.
No, not only had she failed to feel satisfied, Grass Wonder had successfully lit the hunger smoldering inside her instead.
She missed Chiya.
Shirayuki lifted her fingers and pressed them against her tongue. A thin trail of saliva slipped down the corner of her mouth.
Her body twisted slightly as she briefly imagined Chiya's embrace. She lightly bit the pad of her finger, and only then did the itch deep inside her ease a little.
This was the only way she could hold back for now.
So what was she supposed to do?
Shirayuki didn't know whether she should tell Grass Wonder the truth.
Chiya and Grass Wonder barely interacted. Their relationship was even thinner than Hayakawa Tazuna and Shirayuki's had been back then. If Shirayuki suddenly told Grass Wonder everything, it would be like dragging some completely unrelated man in front of her and saying, He is me.
How could anyone accept that?
Grass-chan, you were way too impulsive! Couldn't you at least have given me some preparation time? A warning? A little emotional buffer?!
Shirayuki's head was a tangled mess.
A few minutes later, Grass Wonder opened her eyes.
Her beautiful sky-blue gaze landed on Shirayuki, and then she smiled softly.
"Yuki-chan…"
Her voice was lighter and happier than Shirayuki had ever heard it.
Grass Wonder took Shirayuki's hand, lowered her head, and placed a kiss on the back of those clear, delicate fingers. Then she smiled with bliss written all over her face.
Grass-chan… sure, you had fun. But what am I supposed to do now?
Shirayuki did not want her female body to be pushed down again. Remembering what happened last night, she felt so embarrassed she wanted to dig a hole and crawl inside.
She sat up, her long hair clinging to her back.
"I'm going to take a shower," Shirayuki said.
She needed to think carefully about Grass Wonder.
"Mm."
Grass Wonder lifted the blanket to cover her chest, then nodded with a flushed face like a shy girl after her first night.
Watching Shirayuki enter the bathroom, Grass Wonder twirled a lock of hair near her temple. The corners of her mouth simply would not stop rising.
See? She knew it.
Yuki-chan was light and soft. Winning her over didn't have to be complicated at all. All Grass Wonder had needed was to be a little more forceful. If only she had made up her mind sooner.
Grass Wonder stretched lazily, then smacked her lips twice.
The rich sweetness of Yuki-chan still seemed to linger on the tip of her tongue.
Yuki-chan… really was wonderful.
Rustle, rustle.
A sound came from the next bed.
Grass Wonder turned her head and saw Meek, who had just woken up.
"Good morning, Meek," she said with a smile.
Right now, Meek was no longer a threat to her.
"Mm. Good morning."
Happy Meek nodded. She rubbed her sleepy eyes, wearing her now-dried outerwear, then casually adjusted her collar. After that, she looked at Grass Wonder and said,
"Onee-san is a girl. A very complete girl."
"Hm? Yes, I know."
"No. You don't."
Happy Meek shook her head.
"You're not ready yet. You still don't understand Onee-san."
Then she said, very calmly,
"You chose the wrong person."