"Kitasan, pick up the pace! Stop looking all over the place!"
"Yes!"
"If you want to run in the Classics, then you'd better give me one hundred and twenty percent! Chiba! You too, take this seriously!"
"Sorry about that."
"What do you mean, 'sorry about that'?! Say, 'Sir! Yes, sir!!'"
"Huh?"
"Say, 'Sir! Yes, sir!' If you don't, you're running ten extra laps."
"Sir! Yes, sir!"
"Barely acceptable. Looks like you're still not very obedient. Don't think being team captain means you get to slack off. You're supposed to set an example for the whole team! Come see me after training. I'm going to educate you properly."
"…"
Nase Fumino was messing with her childhood friend as usual. Fujiwara Chiya was already used to it. Most likely, she would make him massage her feet after training, help her relax, and then rope him into dinner while she was at it.
Fumino's way of asking him out had gotten more and more blunt lately.
After answering Fumino, Chiya shifted his attention back to Kitasan Black behind him. Ever since training started, Kitasan had been sneaking glances at him. Again and again, her gaze drifted toward his tail.
And his backside.
This was no longer a question of whether his butt looked too perky or not. Chiya was ninety percent—no, nine hundred percent—sure that Kitasan had noticed something. The two of them had been pressed that close together. There was no way she had felt nothing.
There had been a whole part between them that definitely should not have been there!
But Kitasan had chosen to stay quiet. She had not exposed him on the spot. Instead, she kept chatting with him like usual, and even actively helped him cover it up.
Suspicious.
Very suspicious.
When break time came, Chiya went to find Kitasan Black.
"Kitasan, there's something I want to talk to you about."
As if she had expected this, Kitasan nodded. The two of them walked over to a flower bed not far from the training grounds.
"Last night, when we were sleeping… did you notice something?"
"Yeah. I did."
So she had.
"Even though I don't really know much about that kind of thing…" Kitasan's face turned red. "Chiba, you're really impressive."
"Thank you—wait, no! That's not what I meant!"
"Huh? You weren't talking about little Chiba? Then what?"
"It is about little Chiba, but not in that way!" Chiya slapped a hand over his face. Kitasan's thought process had thrown him completely off track. After taking a moment to gather himself, he said, "Aren't you curious why I'm pretending to be an Uma Musume?"
"I'm super curious!" Kitasan's eyes lit up at once. "I want to know why Chiba is pretending to be an Uma Musume! Is it because you wanted to race?"
"Well… yes, actually. Wait, you're a lot calmer than I expected."
"I'm not calm at all! I was really shocked. Honestly, when I touched it last night, I almost jumped out of my skin."
"I see… hm? Touched it?" Chiya stared at her. "Weren't you half-asleep when you came over?"
Realizing she had let something slip, Kitasan clapped both hands over her mouth. After a moment, she carefully said, "Because we promised we'd have skinship, right? But Chiba didn't come over, so I had no choice but to go over to you. Then, when I was sleeping beside you, I accidentally touched it."
Chiya had no words.
Kitasan Black had not only grabbed his butt.
She had even checked the front!
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!"
"No, um…" Chiya had no idea what he was supposed to say. The whole situation was too absurd. Still, part of the blame did fall on him. He had been the one hiding the truth first.
"Okay, I get it. Let's put the touching thing aside for now. What I mean is, since you found out who I really am, why didn't you tell anyone? I thought you'd go to our trainer, or the chairwoman, and expose me."
"I never thought about exposing you." Kitasan shook her head. "I was really surprised that Chiba was a boy, but to me, Chiba is still the same girl as before!"
"…"
Have I been feminized that much already?
"What I mean is," Kitasan hurriedly continued, "no matter what Chiba's gender is, you're still my rival. You're still my friend. And if Chiba hid your identity, then there has to be a reason. If you want to tell me, I'll listen. If you don't want to tell me, then I won't tell anyone else either. In my heart, Chiba has always been Chiba!"
Kitasan thumped her chest, her eyes burning bright.
Looking at her, Chiya's eyes widened slightly.
He could feel it.
There was something strong in her words. Something honest. Something warm enough to hit him right in the chest.
"So, Chiba…" Kitasan hugged her arms close and fidgeted with her fingers. Her voice was nervous, but hopeful. "Can you tell me why you're pretending to be an Uma Musume?"
"The reason… Well, it really is because I wanted to race. There's nothing that complicated behind it."
"I knew it!" Kitasan accepted it without the slightest doubt. "Because Chiba is a boy, but you have the physique of an Uma Musume, so you wanted to come here and race. But because of the race rules, you couldn't enter normally, so you disguised yourself as an Uma Musume!"
If he ignored all the messy details, she was basically right.
"Hmph, don't underestimate my detective skills!" Kitasan proudly put her hands on her hips. "I noticed something strange about Chiba a long time ago. Then I finally caught my chance and discovered your true identity! I'm the first person to figure out that Chiba had a secret, right?"
No.
You probably aren't even in the top ten.
"It's okay, Chiba! From now on, I'll help you protect this secret!" Kitasan grabbed Chiya's hands, her tail wagging happily behind her.
At that moment, Kitasan Black was completely drunk on the overwhelming sense of superiority that came from being "the first one to discover the secret."
In reality, if she thought about it for even a second, she would realize that Seiun Sky and Grass Wonder, who had both met her and claimed to have a connection with Chiba, definitely knew as well.
But Kitasan was too excited to care about any of that.
Originally, Chiya had thought that once his identity was exposed, it would bring all kinds of trouble.
But from the looks of it, things were not nearly as bad as he had imagined.
It was just like when Agnes Tachyon first discovered the issue between him and Shirayuki.
And now, Agnes Tachyon was Chiya's wife.
Then what about Kitasan Black?
What kind of story would unfold between the two of them from here on?
Chiya could not imagine it.
But surely, it would be a story like the one he had shared with Shirayuki.
A story of supporting each other.
Of striving together.
Holding Kitasan Black's hand, Chiya returned to the training grounds.
In the distance, Orfevre and the others were watching the races with amused smiles. Shirayuki was training Duramente, and as if sensing something, Duramente turned her head and looked toward Chiya from afar.
"Your Majesty, what's the next training item?"
"Let me see. The next training item is…"
The world continued to move in perfect order.
Far away, on the racetrack, a new flame had begun to burn.
Fujiwara Chiya took a deep breath.
"Kitasan."
"What is it, Chiba?"
"My real name is Fujiwara Chiya. I'm a trainer. And at the same time, I'm also an Uma Musume. I'm sorry for hiding it from you. From now on, I hope I can run beside you as an Uma Musume."
"Fujiwara Chiya…"
As if she had finally remembered something, Kitasan Black's eyes went wide.
Fujiwara Chiya smiled.
Now, the story of the Uma Musume named "Fujiwara Chiya" was about to begin.
Though, wait.
Did an Uma Musume boy still count as an Uma Musume?
"Hold on, Chiba! Was what you just said true? Chiba!"