Perhaps because their talk earlier had taken effect, Kitahara Sota noticed during their subsequent conversation that the atmosphere between Special Week and Grass Wonder improved significantly.
As their talk went on, this improvement grew even more noticeable. The awkward, uneasy tension between the two gradually weakened and, by the time their conversation was nearing an end, had practically disappeared altogether.
What good girls...
Kitahara silently marveled in his heart, continuing to gently rub the ears and tail in his hands.
Yet, for some reason, he couldn't shake off the feeling that the way the girls were looking at him felt a little...strange.
Especially whenever he thought about releasing the ears and tail to go back to work, that strange sensation only intensified.
Must be my imagination, right?
He lowered his head to glance at the two exceptionally obedient girls curled up comfortably in his embrace. Seeing nothing unusual in their expressions, Kitahara quickly dismissed his suspicions and went back to earnestly discussing their upcoming debut race.
Then, as time passed and their conversation continued, there was a cheerful patter of footsteps, and the door to Kitahara's dorm swung open.
"I'm back...huh?"
Nice Nature, having just finished training, still had a few blades of grass clinging to her clothes. She was about to greet Kitahara cheerfully, but the words died on her lips and her body stiffened slightly when she clearly saw the scene before her.
Noticing Nice Nature had arrived, and with discussions about the debut race basically wrapped up—plus the two girls in his arms looking sufficiently content—Kitahara gave the ears and tail in his hands one final vigorous rub, making both girls shiver lightly, before letting them go off to the side to relax.
"Welcome back, Nice Nature."
Kitahara greeted her warmly with a smile.
Oddly enough, however, Nice Nature didn't respond with her usual happy expression. Instead, after a silent pause, she seemed to pretend as though she hadn't heard him at all, turning abruptly to head straight into the bedroom.
...Is she upset?
Kitahara was stunned for a moment. He briefly tried recalling if he'd done anything recently to upset her, but nothing came to mind.
Even though he didn't understand, Nice Nature had helped him greatly and was always taking care of him. Therefore, despite his confusion, Kitahara waited patiently, thinking she'd calm down after a while. Then, while she was tidying up the room, he approached her quietly.
"What's wrong, Nice Nature? Did something happen?"
Hearing the sudden voice behind her, Nice Nature stiffened slightly, her drooping ears giving a small twitch.
But after a brief pause, she neither turned around nor answered him, continuing silently with her cleaning—clearly still upset.
Seeing her like this, Kitahara didn't press further. Instead, he quietly walked over and began tidying up alongside her.
After a while, as Nice Nature stretched upward on tiptoes, trying to reach something in a high cabinet, she accidentally lost her balance due to some water droplets on the floor and her own distracted state. Her body lurched backward, about to fall to the ground.
Thud—
The sound of hitting something echoed in her ears, yet the expected cold, painful landing didn't come. Instead, warmth and softness enveloped her.
"Are you alright?" Kitahara asked gently.
Only then did Nice Nature snap back to her senses, realizing Kitahara had caught her, preventing her fall.
"...I'm fine."
After a brief silence, she gave her quiet answer. Yet, even after responding, she showed no intention of leaving his embrace. Instead, she reached out and lightly grasped his clothes, silently keeping her head lowered.
Seeing this, Kitahara didn't push her away. After hesitating briefly, he gently placed a hand on her head, softly stroking her hair.
"What's wrong, Nice Nature? Ever since earlier, you've seemed unhappy. If I've done something wrong to upset you, please tell me directly. I promise I'll fix it..."
There was no reply. Instead, the hand clutching his clothes tightened slightly, and her head dipped even lower.
Kitahara didn't rush her, simply standing quietly and waiting.
After a long while—accompanied by a subtle trembling and the twitching of her ears—a small, faint voice emerged from his arms.
"Ears..."
Ears?
Kitahara was briefly puzzled, not quite understanding what she meant. Before he could question further, Nice Nature seemed to gather her courage and whispered once more.
"My ears and tail…I groom them regularly. They feel nice too…"
Kitahara paused, taken aback. But quickly recalling the earlier events, he soon realized exactly what she meant.
"Nice Nature, you couldn't possibly be asking me to... touch your ears and tail, could you?"
After a moment of stiffness, a tiny nod—warm and shy—brushed softly against his chest.
Kitahara's mind went blank.
He was well aware that children sometimes developed a strange sense of rivalry or competitiveness over the most trivial things.
But even knowing that, he'd genuinely never expected Nice Nature to obsess over something like this.
Of course, he could understand—just like a child being jealous because every other kid had a toy car while they didn't. But still, the problem was...
After a brief silence, Kitahara spoke slowly.
"Nice Nature, you understand that sort of thing is a bit inappropriate, don't you—"
Before he could finish, Nice Nature's grip on his shirt tightened even more, and she directly interrupted his sentence.
"Then why is it okay for those two?"
"They—"
Kitahara almost replied that their situation was special. After all, Special Week had been raised in his arms since childhood, and Grass Wonder had her own unusual circumstances, making it feel normal to stroke their ears and tails.
Yet the words stuck in his throat.
Firstly, Grass Wonder's true identity wasn't publicly known yet, and Kitahara didn't want to cause trouble for her.
Secondly, even though he'd raised Special Week, he'd also known Nice Nature from when she was very young and had groomed her many times before. Add to that all the help she'd given him lately, constantly caring for him without expecting anything in return…
After a moment's hesitation, Kitahara let out a sigh, slowly lifting his hand and gently grasping one of Nice Nature's ears.
Nice Nature stiffened slightly, then immediately hugged him tighter, pressing herself closely against his chest. She breathed in his comforting scent while quietly savoring the gentle, indescribable sensation coming from her ear.
Unlike Grass Wonder and Special Week, Nice Nature had received Kitahara's grooming many times before—often with substantial pressure. Her tolerance—or rather, adaptability—for this kind of contact was much higher. Thus, her current reaction wasn't nearly as extreme as theirs had been earlier, allowing her to maintain at least some sense of self-awareness.
However, instead of using that awareness to resist, after a moment she quietly lifted her tail, offering it directly to Kitahara's hand.
"Th-the tail too…please? I groom it carefully, you know…"
Seeing she'd already gone this far, Kitahara didn't refuse her shy request. He silently reached out his other hand, gently taking hold of her tail and carefully stroking it.
After quietly enjoying this for a while, Nice Nature mustered the courage to softly ask:
"How does it feel? Not worse than theirs, right…?"
Why do you have to get competitive over something so strange...?
Kitahara silently sighed inwardly but gently patted her head with the hand that had been stroking her ear, speaking quietly:
"There's no need to compare something like this."
Nice Nature fell silent for a moment, then muttered softly, "Is it because…my touch isn't as nice as theirs?"
Thud.
As soon as she said that, Kitahara lightly flicked her forehead.
It wasn't particularly hard—but not gentle either.
Immediately afterward, Kitahara resumed gently rubbing her ears as he spoke:
"What are you even thinking? I just meant that something like touch is entirely subjective. It's like food—some prefer their rice softer, others firmer. There's no universal standard for something like this, let alone rankings."
"They're them, you're you. If judged by anyone else's standards, maybe they'd come first. But you're you, and in my eyes, you're my number-one Nice Nature. Do you understand?"
Kitahara lowered his head, softly scratching Nice Nature's ear again.
"...Tch, you always know what sweet things to say."
Even as she murmured those words, the corners of Nice Nature's mouth curled upwards slightly, pleased—at least in some way—to have been called "number one."
After seeing her mood improve, Kitahara rubbed her ears and tail for a bit longer before preparing to let go and continue tidying the room.
But once again, the moment he loosened his hands, before he could even open his mouth to speak, Nice Nature instinctively moved, firmly placing both her ears and tail back into his hands.
"Nice Nature, what are you…?"
Nice Nature was silent for a long moment.
When she'd first opened the door earlier, she'd wondered why Special Week and Grass Wonder had appeared that way. She'd even assumed they'd teamed up against her.
But now that she'd experienced it herself, she realized: It wasn't that those two wanted to become like that, nor that they'd teamed up. They simply had no choice but to become like that.
After a prolonged silence, even knowing it wasn't appropriate, even though her face was burning so hot it felt like steam might rise off her skin, Nice Nature quietly pleaded with trembling lips:
"Please, Sota-san... just keep going like this..."
Kitahara froze briefly. "Then, what about cleaning the room...?"
"You just keep doing this, and leave the cleaning to me..."
Eh? Can that even work...?
Kitahara Sota was a bit confused, unable to shake off the sense that something was quite wrong here.
Yet, given Nice Nature's stubborn insistence, after several failed attempts to dissuade her, he eventually yielded.
And so, keeping this strange pose, Nice Nature began cleaning up the room.
Meanwhile, Kitahara stood behind her, gently rubbing her ears with one hand and stroking her tail with the other, his expression becoming increasingly complicated.
Why does this feel even weirder now...?
Yet, while pondering this oddness, observing Nice Nature's reaction, and recalling Special Week and Grass Wonder's previous behaviors, another question arose in Kitahara's mind:
Is it really that comfortable?
It was common knowledge that an Uma Musume's ears and tail were strictly off-limits.
But according to Kitahara's understanding, the reason these spots shouldn't be carelessly touched wasn't because it was extremely pleasurable for them—rather, it was quite the opposite.
The concept of extreme sensitivity sounded questionable enough on its own; in some exaggerated stories, there were even scenarios of "three-thousand-times sensitivity," which seemed unrealistic to the point of absurdity.
In truth, sensitivity, to some extent, was synonymous with fragility. Forget about three thousand times—even just triple the sensitivity would quickly transform pleasure into pain once the sensation crossed a certain threshold.
For Uma Musume, the tail and ears were indeed forbidden, partly due to moral reasons—but mostly because these places were fragile, and touching them carelessly might trigger a severe stress reaction, potentially earning you a swift kick to the afterlife.
But now...
Feeling the soft sensation transmitted through his fingertips, and watching how obviously Nice Nature seemed to be enjoying it, Kitahara considered it carefully, deciding it would be best to directly ask the person concerned.
Lowering his head slightly, he voiced his uncertainty:
"Nice Nature, I have a question."
"...Yes?"
"Is this sort of thing really that comfortable?"
Hearing this sudden question, Nice Nature stiffened immediately. The blush that had gradually faded while cleaning surged back in full force, and shame instantly overwhelmed her. Her movements froze completely.
How am I supposed to answer something like that...?
Seeing her reaction, Kitahara assumed she'd only wanted to compete with the other two earlier and actually didn't enjoy this at all. Without thinking, he began to loosen his grip.
But the moment he started withdrawing his hands, a small, panicked voice called out urgently:
"It feels good...!"
"What?"
Nice Nature's voice had been so faint that Kitahara couldn't quite catch her words.
"I said…it feels good. Really good..."
With her back turned, Nice Nature's voice trembled slightly.
"Please...don't stop, Sota-san. It feels good. Really, really good. So please…continue..."
Oh, so it does feel nice after all?
Once again slipping back into his one-track mode, Kitahara failed to notice the unusual nuance in Nice Nature's voice. After confirming that she found it comfortable, he gently placed his hands back on her ears and tail.
With his hands moving again, Kitahara sank into deeper thought, recalling various information and personal experiences he'd heard before, attempting to analyze the current situation.
And as he became absorbed in these thoughts, lost within the flow of time and his single-threaded thinking pattern, he unconsciously increased the force in his hands.
As the strength of his rubbing increased, Nice Nature's movements gradually slowed until, after a while, she stopped entirely.
So, was the common knowledge wrong, or is this situation just special...?
Just as Kitahara pondered this question, faint sobs suddenly snapped him back to reality.
Hm? Is someone crying...?
He froze momentarily, quickly realizing the sobs were coming from the girl in front of him.
Before he could even ask, Nice Nature slowly turned to face him, her cheeks flushed redder than a ripe apple, her eyes filled with tears. With a pitiful, trembling voice, she spoke accusingly:
"Sota-san…is bullying me really that fun?"
Kitahara: "...?"
Wait—what exactly did I just do...?