The moment Fujiwara Chiya spotted Kitasan Black standing beside the fountain, he picked up his pace.
"Ah, Chiba!"
Kitasan Black waved at him happily.
Worried she might be late, she had arrived more than half an hour early. The instant she saw Chiba, it felt like even the sky had turned brighter.
She trotted over in high spirits and hugged his arm.
"Good morning!"
"Morning, Kitasan."
Fujiwara Chiya reached up and rubbed her ears.
Kitasan Black let out a delighted little "Hehehe."
Lately, Kitasan Black had started giving him the same feeling Rice Shower once had. She was clingy. Very clingy. The difference was that Kitasan Black was much livelier, the kind of girl who made you want to cup her cheeks and kiss her face.
Chiya had felt that urge more than once.
And every single time, he had forced himself to hold back.
Sure, among girls, a little kiss here and there was basically normal. Even Shirayuki, who did not like girls that way, often kissed the younger Uma Musume to calm them down and help them reset their mood.
But if he did it, the flavor changed.
It would feel like he was using his Uma Musume disguise to take advantage of Kitasan Black.
No matter how he dressed, his body was still male. Fujiwara Chiya could not treat clothing as gender. He was, without question, a full-grown young man.
After getting his fill of Kitasan Black's soft ears, Chiya's mood improved quite a bit. The two of them prepared to wander around the nearby streets.
Not far behind them, three heads poked out from cover.
Gold Ship.
Treve.
Rice Shower.
"Trainer's moving. Let's follow him!"
Gold Ship gave a sneaky little wave.
Back at the breakfast table, the moment she heard Trainer was going out alone with a friend, Gold Ship had sensed something was off.
That excuse was not pure.
To be honest, she had three main reasons for getting Trainer into Tracen as an Uma Musume.
First, because it sounded fun.
Second, because it sounded fun.
Third, because it sounded fun.
Gold Ship had suggested Trainer pretend to be an Uma Musume because she wanted to see him get all embarrassed and flustered. That was the whole point.
But as Trainer gradually blended into the herd, he stopped being so easy to embarrass. Worse, he had started winning people over with that mature, big-sister vibe of his.
Naturally, Gold Ship went on high alert.
She was afraid Trainer might use his current identity as an excuse to openly get all touchy-feely with the Uma Musume.
And that?
That was not fun at all.
The reason she had once pushed Fujiwara Chiya toward building a harem was mostly because she wanted a way in herself. Now, just as planned, she had successfully joined the Fujiwara household.
Under those circumstances, adding more Uma Musume would only reduce the amount of time she got to spend with Trainer.
There were no official rules, but the Fujiwara household had already developed a set of unspoken ones.
At night, no more than three people were allowed to ambush Trainer.
No consecutive-night attacks.
Everyone had to give the others a turn.
During the day, it was every girl for herself.
If another person barged in under those conditions, wouldn't everyone's happy time get even shorter?
Gold Ship would not allow that.
Being with Trainer was her happiest time outside of causing chaos.
She still remembered her first night with him. After she took off that strange hat, the look in Trainer's eyes had been so subtle.
Actually, Gold Ship knew everything.
She knew Trainer liked her silver-haired beauty mode.
She knew he liked quiet, graceful girls.
For Gold Ship, turning into that kind of girl would be easy.
But she did not want to.
Maintaining that refined young-lady image all the time was way too much trouble. It was better to save it for special moments, then hit Trainer with the full force of her beauty and leave him helpless.
"How about it, Trainer? The Gold Ship you like is right here."
"No. You are not Gold Ship."
"Idiot."
That night, she had pounced on Fujiwara Chiya and kissed him.
After struggling a little, the man had accepted her.
Gold Ship had built that other image of herself up to a very special place in Trainer's heart, then used it to capture him without much effort.
On one side, there was chaos gremlin Gold Ship.
On the other, there was refined young-lady Gold Ship.
Gold Ship had split her two selves apart.
By day, she could be mischievous, lawless, and impossible to predict.
By night, she could switch into the image Fujiwara Chiya liked, letting him accept her without resistance.
I am me.
And I am also not me.
That was the feeling Gold Ship had given Fujiwara Chiya.
She had made her nighttime self "someone else."
Now Gold Ship could tease Trainer every day, then switch modes at night and enjoy herself to the fullest.
In other words, Gold Ship had made an absolute killing.
Under these circumstances, dressing Trainer up as an Uma Musume was supposed to make teasing him even better.
If someone tried to steal her nights away?
Gold Ship would never agree.
She told Treve and Rice Shower, her usual partners in nighttime raids, about the situation. After hearing her out, both of them expressed their firm agreement.
Trainer's energy was precious.
If there was any extra, it absolutely could not be shared with outsiders.
It had to be kept for themselves.
And so, the three of them decided to investigate.
They would find out whether their husband was really just going out to play with someone else, or whether he planned to do anything suspicious along the way.
The moment they caught him making an improper move, they would strike.
With the three of them taking turns, no matter how strong his stamina was, they could wring him dry into a sage.
"By the way, Onii-sama has been holding hands with that girl this whole time," Rice said, pointing at them.
"Hand-holding is fine," Treve said. "Girls holding hands is normal. What we need to watch is anything besides the hands."
"Besides the hands…"
Rice remembered the way she sometimes used her tail to tease Onii-sama.
"Mm. True. Hands are way too basic! We need to watch Onii-sama's tail. No, wait, we need to watch that girl's tail!"
"Rice sounds like she knows a lot," Gold Ship said.
"Of course Rice does! Rice was the one who took Onii-sama's first time!"
Rice puffed out her chest proudly.
Because of that, she had been unbearably smug at home. Whenever she got the chance, she would bring it up and show off.
Unlike everyone else, her matter had commemorative value.
"They're moving!"
Just as Rice was happily reminiscing about that unforgettable night, Fujiwara Chiya and Kitasan Black left the park. The trio immediately followed.
"Morning, Kita-chan!"
"Good morning!"
People along the street greeted Kitasan Black warmly.
"Kitasan, you're really popular around here," Chiya said with a sigh.
"I help the people here a lot, so we naturally got close after a while. Sometimes they even give me ingredients and stuff."
Kitasan Black smiled and leaned against Chiya.
There were two reasons she had invited Chiba out today.
First, she wanted to get closer to him and build a better friendship.
Second, she wanted to test what Diamond had said.
Did Chiba have feelings for girls?
To confirm that, Kitasan Black had to stick even closer to him.
She pressed herself against his arm.
"Kitasan?"
"What is it, Chiba?"
"You're holding on kind of tightly."
"There are a lot of people here. It'd be bad if we got separated."
"Oh, I see."
Even in that way, Kitasan Black really was a little like Rice Shower.
She wouldn't suddenly wrap her tail around me too, would she?
Chiya thought it as a joke.
Then, very quickly, he felt something soft brushing against his thigh.
He looked down.
A thick black tail had wrapped itself around his leg.
That girl has made her move!
The moment they saw Kitasan Black's action, Gold Ship and the others instantly understood.
For an Uma Musume, the tail was one of the most important parts of the body, second only to the legs. If an outsider touched it carelessly, getting kicked into next week would be the lightest punishment.
So actively wrapping one's tail around someone else was a sign of absolute trust.
Normally, Uma Musume who were on good terms might occasionally twine their tails together. It was a display of closeness.
But wrapping a tail around someone's thigh?
That went way beyond closeness.
That was practically an invitation.
Rice Shower, who had reached level ten in tail language, instantly saw through Kitasan Black's intent.
"That girl wants to get closer to Onii-sama!"
"I knew there was nothing pure about this outing!" Gold Ship hissed.
"What do we do?" Treve asked.
"We wait for a chance, then separate them. For now, it looks like only that little girl is making moves. Trainer hasn't reacted yet."
Gold Ship pinched her chin thoughtfully.
"Because Trainer's tail is fake, right?" Treve said. "Even if he wanted to wrap it around her, he couldn't."
"No, that's not the kind of reaction I mean. If Trainer responded to her, he'd suddenly get shorter."
"Hm? Why?"
"To hide the bulge under his skirt."
Treve and Rice understood immediately.
"Trainer is still standing straight, so that means Kitasan Black's tail hug hasn't affected him much. Her plan failed!"
"Onii-sama is probably already used to it."
Used to the feeling of being wrapped up by a tail, that is.
After moving in together, Rice had used her tail on Fujiwara Chiya more than a few times. Her control had gotten better and better, almost as dexterous as fingers.
Sometimes during breakfast, Rice would sit in Fujiwara Chiya's lap and secretly curl her tail around him, enjoying the way he wanted to say something but did not dare.
Rice had never told anyone about that.
It was a secret that belonged only to her and Onii-sama.
Even though she had been scolded many times, Rice still enjoyed it immensely.
After all, she was a bad girl.
And besides, Onii-sama's embarrassed face was really fun to look at!
After all those experiences, there was no way Onii-sama would react to a mere tail hug.
"Hmph."
Seeing Kitasan Black's clumsy attempt, Rice let out a tiny, disdainful snort.
If it were Rice, she could wrap him up and do far more than that.
In a pinch, she could even stop him right at the edge. She had learned that from Orfevre, though Rice rarely used it. Doing that made Onii-sama uncomfortable, and Rice liked seeing him comfortable.
So compared to Rice, Kitasan Black was still far too inexperienced.
"Come on. Let's find a way."
The three of them slipped into an alley.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Fujiwara Chiya looked down at the black tail around his leg and raised an eyebrow.
"What's wrong, Chiba?"
"No, it's nothing."
Without him noticing, Kitasan Black had come to trust him this much.
She was even giving him a tail hug.
Chiya felt a little moved. This was something only people who were extremely close would do.
He remembered when Shirayuki used to interact with the younger foals. Her body would end up surrounded by tails that came from who knew where. It was like watching someone wander into a spider's den.
Uma Musume tails were soft, flexible, and smelled nice, but if too many wrapped around you, it became incredibly hot and stuffy. Their heat retention was no joke.
Kitasan Black's tail felt especially thick and solid. Wrapped around his leg, it had a comforting weight to it.
Not only was her body strong, even her tail had power.
"Kitasan really is amazing."
"Eh?"
"Your body is in great shape," Chiya repeated.
Kitasan Black's eyes went wide.
She had secretly wrapped her tail around his leg to test Chiba's attitude. If he showed that he disliked it, that would mean Chiba had no special interest in girls. If he accepted it and wrapped back, that would mean Chiba did like girls.
Any Uma Musume would know what wrapping one's tail around someone's thigh meant.
Sure, Chiba had not wrapped back.
But he said my body is in great shape.
Was that some kind of hint?
Kitasan Black's thoughts gradually tilted toward Diamond's theory.
Maybe Chiba really did have special feelings for Uma Musume.
She needed to test him further.
"Chiba… what do you think of me?"
"Hm?"
"I mean, from an Uma Musume perspective. What do you think of me?"
"You're very good."
"More specifically?"
"You have an excellent body. You're powerful, smart, and you learn a lot of things quickly."
"That's not what I mean."
Kitasan Black scratched her head.
"I mean, from a girl's perspective. Is there anything about me that you'd like?"
"A girl?"
Fujiwara Chiya thought for a moment.
"Your lively and cute personality, I guess… Also, you're very pretty."
The instant she heard that, Kitasan Black's face turned bright red.
"Um, just hypothetically! This is only a hypothetical! If Chiba liked girls, would someone like me be possible?"
"…"
"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked so suddenly. I just wanted Chiba to think from a male perspective and tell me what you think of me. Like, if you had to…"
"Probably."
Fujiwara Chiya's answer cut off Kitasan Black's frantic explanation.
The girl stared at him in a daze.
"If I looked at it from a male perspective, then yes. Kitasan is a really good girl."
To Fujiwara Chiya, this was only an objective evaluation.
There was no deeper meaning behind it.
After spending this much time together, he had basically come to understand what kind of girl Kitasan Black was.
Cute.
Smart.
Warm-hearted.
A girl like that was definitely wonderful.
It was a shame he had not noticed her back then. Nase Fumino had been the one to sign her, and Kitasan was technically her Uma Musume.
Otherwise, Chiya would definitely have taught her with everything he had.
But this was fine too.
Even as an Uma Musume, staying by Kitasan's side allowed him to help raise a powerful racer.
To Fujiwara Chiya, training no longer needed to be tied to identity.
After becoming a senior trainer, he could train whoever he wanted, wherever he wanted.
Since when was training supposed to be such an inconvenient thing?
Fujiwara Chiya was no longer the rookie he had once been.
Hearing Chiba's words, Kitasan Black felt blood rushing up through her body. Just as she was about to say something, three people suddenly burst out from the side.
They wore masks, sunglasses, and black coats.
Each of them held a camera.
They surrounded Chiya at once.
"Student Chiba, are you the Student Chiba from Tracen? We're from Horsey Hop-Hop TV, and we'd like to invite you onto our program!"
"Hm?"
Fujiwara Chiya looked at the three familiar figures.
"Please come with us, Onii—please come with us!"
"Sorry, miss. We'll be taking Student Chiba now."
With that, the three of them hoisted Fujiwara Chiya up and bolted away in a flash.
Kitasan Black blinked.
It took her a few seconds to understand what had just happened.
"Eh?? Chiba!"
…
"You're back early, Kita-chan."
Seeing Kitasan Black return to their room, Satono Diamond greeted her.
"So? How did things go with Chiba?"
Kitasan Black did not answer.
Instead, she swayed unsteadily, then collapsed face-first onto the bed.
"Kita-chan?"
Diamond blinked.
"What's wrong? Did you and Chiba have a fight?"
"Diamond…"
Kitasan Black looked at her childhood friend.
"What do I do…? I think I might like girls too…"