"Dia, listen to my tail for a second. Does it make any weird noises?"
Kitasan Black lay flat on her bed, hips raised, tail pointed toward Satono Diamond like she was presenting evidence at a crime scene.
Satono Diamond stared at her childhood friend—who was currently striking a pose that was, to put it mildly, not suitable for public viewing—and covered her face with both hands.
"Kita-chan… ever since you and Chiba played with each other's tails, haven't you been a little too conscious of your own?"
"No, I just want to check…"
"Check what?"
"Nothing."
Kita-chan sat back up.
After washing the soaked underwear from yesterday, her head had finally cooled down. And once her mind cleared, Kitasan Black realized something.
Chiba's tail was weird.
The feel of it. The way it moved. Everything about Chiba's tail was stiff, almost lifeless.
Of course, that was not even the most important part.
Kita-chan had clearly heard it.
A faint electrical buzz from Chiba's tail.
Right after that sound, Chiba's tail had moved.
It felt almost like…
Like Chiba's tail was motorized!
The question had been bothering Kitasan Black nonstop. She had to figure out what was going on. Why did Chiba's tail feel so unsatisfying to touch?
If Chiba could make her tail feel that good, then she should be able to return the favor and make Chiba feel good too!
Kitasan Black resolved to uncover the truth.
During training, Kita-chan followed behind Chiba and secretly watched her tail.
When Uma Musume sprinted at high speed, they used their tails to help keep their balance, swinging them firmly from side to side. But Chiba's tail…
Yes, it was moving.
But rather than swinging on its own, it looked more like it was being whipped around by the sheer speed of her run.
Suspicious.
During the mid-training break, Kita-chan found Chiba sitting on the grass—and Chiba had her tail tucked directly under her, like a cushion.
Normally, no Uma Musume would ever sit on her own tail. It would get dirty, and more importantly, it would feel awful.
Suspicious x2!
When Chiba was talking with someone else, her tail suddenly started wagging. The movement was the kind of happy, excited wag that screamed "I'm in a great mood!" and yet Chiba's face did not change at all.
Her tail and expression did not match!
Suspicious x3!
Finally, after finishing her run, Chiba always reached toward the base of her tail and tugged something left and right. The gesture looked exactly like someone adjusting a crooked necktie. Only after fixing it did Chiba let out a breath of relief.
Suspicious x4!!
"What's wrong, Kita-chan?"
"Eh!?"
"You've been staring at me all day." Fujiwara Chiya walked over and stopped in front of Kitasan Black. "Did you want to say something?"
Looking at Chiba's gentle face, Kita-chan's heart gave a violent thump. Blood rushed straight to her cheeks.
"N-Nothing. I was just looking…"
"Looking? At what?"
"At Chiba's butt. It's really perky."
"What?"
Fujiwara Chiya turned his head.
That was the first time in his entire life anyone had told him his butt was perky.
Realizing what had just flown out of her mouth, Kitasan Black smacked herself in the face.
"Slip of the tongue! Slip of the tongue! Forget I said that!"
In order to cover up the fact that she had been observing Chiba's tail, Kita-chan had blurted out the first lie her brain could produce.
Unfortunately, her brain had apparently sprinted straight off a cliff.
"I-Is that so…" Fujiwara Chiya pinched his chin, genuinely wondering if he had been overtraining lately. Maybe he needed to go get his joints loosened up.
"Let's go eat, Chiba!"
Kitasan Black grabbed his hand and dragged him toward the cafeteria.
Once they reached a quieter area, Kita-chan stealthily reached out.
She had to touch Chiba's tail.
The more she watched, the stranger it seemed. No matter how she looked at it, Chiba's tail seemed fake! It had none of the natural liveliness an Uma Musume's tail should have.
For example, when an Uma Musume was startled, her tail would practically shoot into the air.
Chiba's tail never did that.
At least, Kita-chan had never seen it make any big movements.
Staring at the tail hanging behind Chiba, Kitasan Black grabbed for it.
Bzzzt—
A faint electrical sound zipped through the air.
Without warning, Chiba's tail spun in a circle.
The hand that had been aiming for the tail landed directly on Fujiwara Chiya's backside instead.
Feeling something tighten around his thigh, Chiya froze mid-step.
"Kita-chan!?"
"Y-Yes!"
Kitasan Black yanked her hand back at lightning speed. Seeing Chiba's eyes go wide, she immediately broke into a cold sweat.
"Listen, Chiba, I can explain! I didn't mean to do that! I just got possessed by a weird impulse! So, um… I'm really sorry! I grabbed the wrong place!"
"???"
Where were you trying to grab?
Fujiwara Chiya had thought he had run into some random creep. For one horrifying instant, the phrase "train molester" had flashed through his mind.
For once, Fujiwara Chiya had been groped by a girl.
Looking at Kitasan Black as she desperately apologized, Chiya waved his hand.
"It's fine, it's fine. You just startled me."
He had not expected Kitasan Black to be such a bold girl.
To test whether his butt was actually perky, she had gone straight for a hands-on investigation.
Fujiwara Chiya realized he might have underestimated Kita-chan.
This little one was aggressive.
Meanwhile, beside him, Kitasan Black was screaming internally.
Oh no, I grabbed the wrong thing!
She had accidentally squeezed Chiba's butt. It was so springy, like jelly. She kind of wanted to touch it again—
No!
What am I thinking!?
Kita-chan shook her head furiously and forced herself back to her senses.
She had definitely heard the electrical sound again.
There was no mistake.
The noise from last night had not been some hallucination brought on by having her tail pampered too much. Chiba's tail really was strange!
But why?
Why did it make that sound?
Why did it feel like that?
Based on the information currently available, Chiba very likely had a fake tail!
Then where had Chiba's real tail gone?
Kitasan Black could not figure it out no matter how hard she thought.
She wanted to get to the bottom of it.
And the best way to uncover the truth was to see Chiba's body for herself.
With that in mind, Kitasan Black said, "Chiba, let's take a bath together!"
"…Huh?"
"I want to bathe with you."
"No, um, Kita-chan, didn't I tell you I'm embarrassed about people seeing me?"
"I don't care about that kind of thing! Chiba is perfect in my eyes! You don't need to feel insecure at all!"
"That's not exactly the issue…"
"Please, Chiba! Take a bath with me!"
Kitasan Black clasped his hand and kept closing the distance.
"Can I ask why?"
"Because good friends do things like that. I want to enjoy skinship with Chiba."
Looking into Kitasan Black's bright red eyes, Fujiwara Chiya swallowed.
"That doesn't mean it has to be in the bath, does it?"
"If not the bath, then where else can we enjoy skinship?"
Kita-chan blinked.
Then, as if she had realized something, her face went boom—bright red from ear to ear.
"T-The bed? Is Chiba talking about the bed? That's way too… No, if Chiba wants to, then since we're good friends, I guess we can sleep together for one night!"