No, seriously, bro.
Looking at the utterly earnest Sirius before him, Kitahara felt a faint throbbing in his temples.
Is there something wrong with every Umamusume in the Symboli Family?
He had thought Rudolf wanting to turn their fake relationship into a real one was absurd enough, but Sirius was apparently operating on an entirely different level.
Yes, he admitted that branding her had been his fault, and he was willing to take responsibility for it.
But did taking responsibility really have to mean paying with his body?
He had so much else of value to offer. His training methods, his care techniques—sharing even a fraction of either could benefit her entire family. Why was she so fixated on that particular part of him?
As for Sirius liking him? Impossible. Absolutely impossible.
Sirius was a hardcore butch lesbian who spent her days prowling around Tracen and leading girls on.
He would sooner believe Rudolf had secretly been in love with him for years than believe Sirius could ever be attracted to him.
They had not even known each other that long!
Regardless, Kitahara had now accepted one fact.
The old Umamusume at the clothing store had been right. Not a single Umamusume in the Symboli Family was normal.
Still, he did not regret getting involved with them.
Setting aside their habit of constantly trying to drag him into bed, the two of them were genuinely dependable and made good bros.
Even if the last bro he had trusted had ended up sleeping with him.
But surely one person could not be that unlucky, right?
Surely every bro he made could not possibly want to sleep with him?
That would be terrifying.
Even so, he truly had no idea what to do in the present situation.
Even between bros, putting that sort of mark on someone's lower abdomen was going too far. This really was his fault, and there was no excuse for it.
So even if Sirius lost her temper with him, he was willing to take it.
He could hardly screw over his bro and then expect her to stay quiet about it.
What he did not know was that Sirius had no idea what to do next either.
She might have been dependable in every other respect, but when it came to romance, Sirius's Symboli upbringing placed her at a natural disadvantage.
She could act cool and charm girls well enough, but when it came to her own feelings, she had no idea what to do.
If only I could beat him, I'd just use force...
Should I consider drugging him? But Agnes Tachyon is one of his Tantou—his assigned Umamusume...
They remained locked in that stalemate for an unknown length of time until a woman's voice finally broke the silence.
"Trainer Kitahara should stay here tonight. Leaving everything else aside, we still have a mountain of intelligence to organize and analyze."
Maruzensky offered the suggestion.
It was a solution both of them could accept.
And so the standoff temporarily came to an end.
After informing the girls that he would be staying out overnight, Kitahara picked up the information gathered over the past several days and began discussing it with them.
Whatever else could be said about her, Sirius was thoroughly dependable when it came to serious business.
Once they began talking about work, she did not mention the earlier subject again, and her previous attitude disappeared as well.
As they exchanged ideas and analyzed the intelligence, time slowly passed.
The sky gradually darkened.
"By the way, where am I sleeping?"
Kitahara suddenly realized the issue over dinner.
"My room."
Sirius answered without looking up.
"...Don't you have a guest room?"
"We do, unless you want people finding out Kitahara came to the Symboli Estate."
"...Never mind, then."
Kitahara shoveled down a couple of bites before something occurred to him.
"Wait, Rudolf isn't coming back tonight, right? Then her room should be empty. Could I—"
SNAP.
The sound of chopsticks breaking.
Kitahara raised his head and met Sirius's gaze, her anger barely suppressed.
"Do you think I'm inferior to her?"
Though he had no idea how he had stepped on that land mine, Kitahara quickly explained.
"No. I just thought sleeping in the same room as you would be inconvenient. If there's an empty room, I could make do with the sofa for one night..."
"I told you, you're sleeping with me tonight. Don't even think about running—"
Wait.
Sirius suddenly frowned.
Rudolf was not coming back tonight. Her room was empty. And he had just said that...
"Tonight, you and I are sleeping in Rudolf's room."
"...Huh?"
Kitahara stared at her in bewilderment.
"Why?"
"Didn't you say you wanted to go to her room?"
Sirius gave a cold snort.
"I'll go with you."
"No, that's not—"
"It's settled."
Watching Sirius lower her head and return to her meal, leaving him no room to argue, Kitahara thought, If you weren't my bro, and if I didn't genuinely owe you today, you'd find out real fast whether I'd talk back.
...
After that came dinner, followed by more work on the documents.
The sky continued to darken.
"I'm going to take a shower."
Sirius left the room.
Kitahara waved without looking away from the papers.
"Go ahead. I'll organize these in the meantime."
And so Sirius departed.
Kitahara continued reading by himself for a while. Even with the sound of running water nearby, he did not so much as furrow his brow.
He genuinely could not feel any attraction toward Sirius.
With the way she usually carried herself like some dashing pretty boy, Kitahara had trouble even seeing her as a woman. At most, his brain registered her as a guy with breasts.
Rudolf at least occasionally displayed something feminine and could be said to possess a little womanly charm.
But aside from the swell of her chest, Sirius could practically be mistaken for a man from head to toe.
Under those circumstances, even if he truly agreed to Sirius's demand, there was no way he could—
"I'm done. How are the documents coming along?"
Kitahara turned around, about to answer, only to freeze.
A delicate fragrance drifted into his nose.
Slightly damp strands of hair hung beside her face.
Her ordinarily gallant features now possessed a different sort of beauty, framed by lashes still dotted with water and cheeks faintly flushed from the heat of the shower.
She was not wearing her usual androgynous clothes, either, but a soft, silky, semi-transparent dress trimmed with lace.
She even wore matching gloves.
Her gemstone-like eyes quietly watched him. Upon seeing his reaction, she gave a satisfied smile.
"What's wrong? Mesmerized?"
Kitahara fell silent.
Rather than mesmerized, he was mostly shocked.
It was like waking up one morning to find that the guy in the bunk above him had turned into a woman.
He was having trouble processing it.
"...I didn't expect you to wear something like that in private."
"Oh, this isn't mine."
To his surprise, Sirius Symboli shook her head.
"I was planning to buy a set, but I haven't figured out what style would suit me, so I haven't purchased one yet."
Kitahara paused.
"Then whose clothes are those?"
"Rudolf's."
Sirius Symboli smiled.
"Didn't I tell you? That woman's been thinking about nothing but tricking you into bed. She even had the outfit and accessories ready..."
"Though it seems a little tight around the chest."
Kitahara fell silent.
He did not believe Rudolf liked him, but based on what he knew of her, this did sound like something she might do.
After all, her thought process could be remarkably absurd in certain areas.
"Stop messing around, Sirius."
"I'm not messing around."
Sirius glanced at the documents on the table.
"Looks like you've finished with those too. Let's go to Rudolf's room."
"...No, why do we have to go to her room?"
"You were the one who suggested it, weren't you? Come on, stop dragging your feet. Let's go."
---
T/N: like father like daughter? cuckai teio and now symboli cuckolf?
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