As Kitasan Black shifted in her sleep, the warmth under her hand slowly changed.
What had felt soft and harmless a moment ago suddenly turned… different.
At first, Kita-chan was curious.
Then confused.
Then, finally—
Her pupils practically quaked.
Even with her embarrassingly limited knowledge of this sort of thing, she understood what this meant.
Kitasan Black froze.
She yanked her hand back in disbelief.
Then, after a moment of stunned silence, she reached out again.
She had to check.
She had to make sure.
Unfortunately, reality was cruel.
It was not her imagination.
Only then did Kitasan Black realize it.
It wasn't just Chiba's identity as an Uma Musume that was fake.
Even "her" identity as a normal girl had been fake from the very start.
No.
Everyone had misunderstood something huge about Chiba.
"Chiba"… was a lie.
Kita-chan swallowed hard.
This was the deepest secret Chiba had been hiding. All those strange little behaviors before suddenly started making sense. But even then, one question still refused to leave Kita-chan's mind.
Why did Chiba have stamina like an Uma Musume?
Why would "she" disguise herself as one and blend into Tracen just to race?
Kita-chan couldn't figure it out.
Her face turned so red it looked like steam might hiss out of her ears. She slowly pulled her hand back.
Originally, she had thought Chiba was a girl. In that case, everything she had done tonight could still be passed off as clingy Uma Musume skinship.
But now?
Now that Kita-chan knew Chiba's real identity, the entire situation had changed.
Wait.
Isn't this basically a midnight ambush?!
Kita-chan buried her face in her hands.
The shock was too much. Her poor little brain had been tossed into a blender.
Then, staring at the hand that had touched Chiba, Kita-chan noticed a faint scent lingering there.
She sniffed.
Then, for some reason even she couldn't explain, she gave it the tiniest lick.
"...Chiba's scent."
It was so strong.
Kita-chan's eyes went hazy for a second.
Then she snapped back to herself and shook her head violently.
No, no, no! What am I doing?!
Why am I acting like some kind of weirdo?!
Chiba isn't a girl!
But…
So what?
Kita-chan thought back on everything she had experienced with Chiba.
The training.
The races.
The laughter.
The way Chiba always stood ahead of her, shining like a goal she wanted to chase.
She looked at Chiba's gentle sleeping face.
Tonight's discovery had completely shattered her understanding of Chiba, sure. But the time they had spent together hadn't been fake.
The Chiba in front of her was still the Chiba she liked.
Her feelings hadn't changed just because Chiba's identity had.
No—if anything, Kita-chan realized something even more embarrassing.
Maybe she hadn't liked girls at all.
Maybe she had only ever liked Chiba.
Whether Chiba was a boy or a girl didn't matter.
Wait, does that mean I'm straight?
That is so not the point right now!
Kita-chan tried to slip out of Chiba's arms, but Chiba seemed to have found the world's most comfortable body pillow and refused to let go. The leg she had carelessly hooked over him earlier had now become her own trap.
Unless she woke him up, there was no way out.
Which means…
I'm being hugged by a boy right now?!
The instant that thought hit her, Kita-chan's heart started pounding like a taiko drum.
The nervousness came back even stronger than before.
Chiba's face was right there.
Close enough that she could feel his breath.
Kita-chan swallowed.
She couldn't describe him as "pretty" anymore. If Chiba was a boy, then the word she should use was probably "delicate." His features were soft, gentle, and strangely soothing—like something she could stare at forever and never get tired of.
Curled up in Chiba's arms, Kita-chan gently rubbed against his leg.
Even though everything tonight had smashed her worldview to pieces, being held by Chiba still made her feel incredibly safe.
Tomorrow, she would ask him.
Why had he pretended to be an Uma Musume and come to Tracen?
Of course, she wasn't trying to blame him.
She was just curious.
Chiba was still her best friend.
Her best rival.
And also…
Kita-chan hugged him tighter.
Now…
Could she finally say what she truly felt?
The next morning arrived.
Fujiwara Chiya shifted slightly.
Something was hugging him.
By instinct, he assumed it was Shirayuki. He reached out and stroked the other person's hair.
But almost immediately, he realized something was wrong.
There was no feedback from his own head.
Chiya opened his eyes.
A black-haired Uma Musume was lying beside him.
His brain spun for a few seconds.
Then he snapped fully awake.
This is not Rice Shower!
Chiya remembered.
Last night, he had gone to Kitasan Black's dorm room.
He was not in his own room.
Wait.
Did I get half-asleep and launch a night raid on Kitasan Black?!
Half of Chiya's heart went ice-cold.
But soon, he noticed that he was still lying in his own spot. He hadn't rolled onto Kita-chan's bed.
So that meant Kita-chan must have gotten groggy in the middle of the night, fallen out of bed, and somehow rolled over to him.
Yes.
That was a reasonable explanation.
Probably.
Either way, he had to separate from her first.
If they stayed like this, things were going to get very, very bad.
Unfortunately, separating was easier said than done.
Kitasan Black's arms were locked firmly around his waist. Her legs were wrapped around him like an octopus refusing to let go.
At this point, Kita-chan had completely fused herself to Chiya.
Crap…
Maybe Chiya's struggling woke her up, because Kita-chan rubbed her cheek lightly against him. Her smooth, rounded legs shifted as well.
A dangerous sensation shot straight to Chiya's brain.
He felt the coolness of Kitasan Black's skin.
Oh no.
If I don't get away now—
"Haa…"
A cute little yawn came from the nearby bed.
Satono Diamond slowly sat up.
"Good morning, Kita-chan."
Rubbing her eyes, Diamond looked toward the other bed.
No one was there.
Then she turned her gaze to the floor.
And saw Chiba and Kita-chan wrapped around each other.
"Y-Yo. Morning, Diamond," Chiya said stiffly.
"..."
Their voices woke Kitasan Black.
She opened her eyes and saw Chiba in front of her.
Then she turned and saw Diamond sitting on the bed, staring at them in complete shock.
Kita-chan blinked.
Then she felt something press against her.
"Uwaaah!"
Her scream tore through the quiet morning.
...
"Ahaha… I must've gotten half-asleep last night and somehow ended up beside Chiba," Kitasan Black said, scratching her head as she tried to explain things to Diamond.
Diamond gave her a sweet, patient smile.
"My, Kita-chan. That's a little too careless, don't you think? Sleeping on the bed and sleeping on the floor feel completely different."
"My body's tough, so it doesn't really matter where I sleep!"
Diamond stared at Kita-chan's awkward grin for a while.
Then she sighed.
Honestly, she already had a pretty good idea of what happened.
Kita-chan probably snuck into Chiba's blanket in the middle of the night to cuddle.
And yet she was the one who screamed the loudest this morning.
Really, Kita-chan…
For the sake of her childhood friend's dignity, Diamond decided to accept that incredibly stiff excuse for now.
She turned to Chiba.
"I'm sorry, Chiba. Kita-chan can be rather airheaded sometimes."
"It's fine."
Fujiwara Chiya paused for a moment before answering.
Compared to the sleeping arrangement itself, he was far more worried about whether Kitasan Black had noticed anything.
After all, she had definitely felt something when they woke up.
No matter how airheaded she was, there was no way she hadn't noticed.
But Kitasan Black didn't look especially shocked.
In fact, she had even pulled the blanket over him afterward.
That only made Chiya more suspicious.
"Well then, I'll head out first. Diamond. Kitasan Black."
"Mm. See you at training," Diamond said, waving.
"Chiba."
Kitasan Black called out to him.
Her red eyes looked straight at him.
Then she smiled.
"See you later."