Weekend had arrived. Chiya Fujiwara stood before the mirror, straightening his outfit.
Going out with colleagues wasn't anything new; back when he first came to Tracen, seniors often dragged him all over town—bowling, karaoke—the usual boxes all checked.
Today, though, he was going out with Kiryuin alone.
Chiya pulled out the flyer Miko had given him.
He skimmed the spots marked on it—karaoke, a shrine, restaurants—those were fine. But why was "hotel" listed at the end? Were they supposed to stay out overnight?
Miko had even added a considerate note: "Depending on the situation, optional," followed by a doodled smiley face.
Depending on what situation, exactly? Did Miko think they might have so much fun they'd just crash outside?
He had gone out with Aoi Kiryuin a few times in college, but it was always to racetracks or horse-girl gear shops, and all they talked about was becoming trainers someday.
He realized the two of them had never just spent time together aimlessly.
Shaking his head, Chiya tucked the flyer into his pocket.
Relationships really do keep changing; his attitude toward Aoi Kiryuin probably couldn't be the same as before anymore.
Chiya stepped out of his room.
The door had barely opened when a petite, black-haired horse girl bumped into him.
"Big Brother!"
"Rice Shower, what brings you here?"
"Rice Shower wants to hang out with Big Brother!"
Last time, Chiya had told her to treat this place like her own home and to drop by anytime. With nothing to do today, Rice Shower had decided to come find him.
Games, or something else—anything would do. Right now she was bursting to snuggle up to him; otherwise, she'd feel listless all day.
Unfortunately, Chiya was just about to head out.
"Do you have something on, Big Brother?"
"Mm. I'm going out with a colleague for a bit."
"I see… Is it Trainer Katsumura?"
"It's Kiryuin."
"Ah… huh!?" Rice Shower jolted.
"You're going out with Trainer Kiryuin? Just the two of you?"
"Yeah, just us," Chiya said, not sure why she was getting so worked up.
That woman!
Rice Shower's anxiety spiked on the spot.
Big Brother might not notice, but Rice Shower saw it very clearly—Trainer Kiryuin looked at him differently from everyone else. There was a deep, gentle quality in her gaze that wasn't there when she looked at other trainers.
That one definitely has feelings for Big Brother!
Inviting him out like this was obviously a move to cozy up to him in secret.
No way!
Rice Shower puffed out her cheeks.
Short of the final step, she'd already done everything she could with Big Brother—how could she let anyone else steal a march on her!
"Sorry, Rice Shower. Another day, okay? When I have time, I'll take you out."
Going out or not no longer mattered. What mattered was not letting Big Brother go with her!
"Rice Shower wants to go with Big Brother too!"
She grabbed his hand.
"Uh…"
He hesitated.
He hadn't told Aoi to expect anyone else. Bringing a third wheel at the last minute might annoy her.
On top of that, some places on their route were off-limits to minors—like pubs. A kid Rice Shower's age wouldn't be allowed in.
Changing plans on the fly in peak hours would be a headache too.
Seeing the troubled look on Chiya's face, Rice Shower let go.
"Got it. Big Brother, go ahead. If you have time later, please take Rice Shower out."
"Mm. I'll make it up to you, I promise."
Relieved, Chiya said goodbye and headed out to his meet-up.
The moment he was out of sight, Rice Shower rushed back to her dorm.
Even if a little sister acts spoiled, she has to know when to stop. If she'd clung any longer just now, she definitely would've caused Big Brother trouble.
In Rice Shower's heart, his wishes always came first.
But she couldn't ignore Trainer Kiryuin's invitation either.
Back in her room, she opened her wardrobe and rummaged for going-out clothes. Then she put on a cap, a scarf, and sunglasses.
That's right—she was going to tail Big Brother!
To prevent Aoi Kiryuin from getting close through improper means, Rice Shower would be his last line of defense. If Aoi tried anything over the line or made some excessive request, Rice Shower would step in and stop it.
Big Brother already belonged to Rice Shower; she wouldn't let other "bad women" snatch him away.
[Omitted: a couple of lines in which a minor recollects a sexual encounter. —I can't translate sexual content involving minors.]
Until then, she would keep protecting him and blocking those bad women.
After hastily straightening the clothes she'd tossed around, Rice Shower stepped out.
She'd barely closed the door when a white-clad figure passed by.
"Shirayuki!?"
"Hm? Rice Shower." Hearing the voice, Shirayuki Fujiwara turned her head. "What's with the getup? Going out?"
"Rice Shower… has something to do. Gotta go!"
And with that, she spun on her heel and ran.
"?"
Shirayuki had no idea what was going on.
She sure is in a hurry. What is she up to—and why the sunglasses?
"Thanks for waiting, Shirayuki."
Before Shirayuki could puzzle it out, Mejiro Dober came out of her room.
"Mother just called. The car's already at the door."
"Okay."
The Mejiro family's "gathering" was, on the surface, a family get-together, but in truth it was a business mixer where merchants could mingle.
As students, they wouldn't be in the main hall; they'd just sit in a room and chat over tea with their sisters.
Besides the main branch, the Mejiros had many sub-branches; it was rare for so many of them to gather like this.
They climbed into a long black limousine and arrived at a sprawling villa. The moment they stepped inside, the scene stunned Shirayuki.
""Welcome home, milady!""
Rows of servants lined both sides, bowing respectfully to greet Mejiro Dober.
"Mm."
Dober herself clearly jumped a little and instinctively edged closer to Shirayuki, forcing a stiff smile as she returned the greeting.
"Come on, Shirayuki—let's go to my room."
Not at all used to the atmosphere, Dober laced her fingers through Shirayuki's like she was staking a claim and hurried her upstairs.
Shirayuki's eyes shone as she took everything in.
Last time, she hadn't had a chance to look around before the butler led her to the family head's room. Today, looking closely, she realized the villa was far bigger than she'd imagined.
Bright windows faced a manicured garden; the whole corridor was filled with the fragrance of flowers. The plush carpet beneath her feet gave Shirayuki an almost palatial illusion, and every so often maids and stewards went in and out of rooms.
So this is the gulf in class. What an ordinary person toils for a lifetime to earn doesn't even match a single day's income for the Mejiros. Shirayuki swallowed.
"Don't be nervous, Shirayuki. Relax; it's fine."
Feeling the faint sweat in Shirayuki's palm, Dober soothed her.
That timid look made Dober's protective instincts surge. She drew Shirayuki to her side, fingers intertwined as if to show the world where Shirayuki belonged.
"Don't worry, Shirayuki. I'm here."
"Y-yes… Dober-sis."
Hearing that, Dober felt hugely satisfied. At last she'd shown Shirayuki a reliable side of herself. Sure, that "reliability" leaned on her status as the Mejiro family's young lady—for now. But Dober believed that one day she'd win Shirayuki over with her own charm.
While Shirayuki was being welcomed into the Mejiro home, Chiya had already found Aoi Kiryuin. Seeing her from a distance, he froze for a beat.
Aoi had changed clothes—rare for her.
Gone were the eternal jacket and slacks; in their place were a blouse and a short skirt, youth and vitality practically spilling off her.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Aoi."
Suppressing his surprise, Chiya called out to her.
Aoi flinched at his voice, turning with her fingers nervously twirling a lock of hair. "N-no, I just got here too."
"Had breakfast?"
"Not yet."
"Then let's grab a bite."
Chiya planned to follow Miko's flyer step by step.
He'd come out with a mind to just have some fun and was dressed casually. But seeing Aoi like this, he realized that mindset had been a bit too careless.
As the two left, a petite shadow slipped after them.
"Eat breakfast with Big Brother… Rice Shower's only done that once."
She took out a little notebook and jotted it down.
Whatever Aoi did today, Rice Shower would make sure to do later with Big Brother, too!
What can she say—she's a spoiled child.
Five minutes later, the pair entered a restaurant, and Rice Shower followed.
"Miss, just one?"
The hostess at the door startled her.
"Y-yes, Rice Shower is alone…"
"We're out of single seats. If you don't mind, may we seat you at a shared table?"
"S-shared table!?"
Nervous, Rice Shower peered inside and saw mostly two-tops with couples facing each other; only a handful of solo diners dotted the room.
Chiya and Aoi were being led all the way to a table in the back.
"I can share, but Rice Shower… wants to sit over there."
"In the middle? Certainly. There's a seat open there."
She trailed the hostess over. From here she could just barely make out Chiya's silhouette.
The angle was terrible, but… it would have to do. Rice Shower pouted to herself.
"Excuse me, sir, would you mind sharing your table with this young lady?"
"Mm. Fine." The woman at the table, elegant and cool, didn't even lift her eyes from her newspaper.
"Thank you. Miss, please have a seat."
The hostess handed her a menu.
"Rice Shower wants this."
"Cheese bread. Certainly."
"And a milk jelly."
"Of course."
"And…"
While she was ordering, the woman across from her seemed to catch something and lowered the paper.
"That will be all."
"Very good. Please wait about three minutes."
The hostess left.
Rice Shower looked up—and locked eyes with the woman across from her.
In the blue-green of the woman's eyes, Rice Shower's face was reflected.
"You're Trainer Fujiwara's horse girl, aren't you?"
The woman spoke first.
"Trainer… Nase?"
A faint nod.
If it had been a stranger, Fumino Nase wouldn't have bothered. But by pure chance, the girl across from her was one of Chiya's horse girls—which made a chat worthwhile.
"Out having fun?"
"Mm. Rice Shower is out to play."
"And Chiya? Not with you?" Nase asked, oh-so-casually.
"Big Brother… has something to do."
"I see." Nase sipped her coffee.
She often saw Chiya wandering around campus with Rice Shower, both of them looking very happy.
That didn't bother her. Their relationship looked like brother and sister. If Rice Shower were calling him "Chiya" rather than "Big Brother," then maybe she'd have been alarmed. But with that form of address, she honestly wasn't worried.
Because she knew: anyone who called someone that way was very young at heart.
And the younger they were at heart, the less likely they were to be aware of such things.
Of course, that alone wasn't the reason. Nase also knew Chiya's tastes.
He liked women with a gentle, ladylike air. Too young, and they weren't even on his radar.
That "hunting range" kept Chiya safely out of handcuffs—and also meant he wouldn't be harboring that kind of feeling for his own horse girls.
Which was why Nase felt secure.
At Tracen, she saw him every day. Besides a few die-hard buddies, there were basically no female trainers around Chiya. Tazuna Hayakawa might have been a threat, but Chiya knew she was far above his station and had never made any move toward her.
Campus life was placid for Fumino Nase.
Until that woman arrived at Tracen not long ago.
Aoi Kiryuin.
Her appearance was what made Nase tense. A college classmate of Chiya's; the two seemed to have had a very good relationship. Meeting again after all this time, old feelings rekindled might burn even hotter.
Every time Nase thought about it, she felt uncharacteristically irritable—especially when she heard Aoi say she wanted to be Chiya's rival. Nase nearly blew her top.
She'd said those words to Chiya long ago, back when they'd first discovered horse girls together!
Fumino Nase's father, Hideto Nase, and Chiya's father, Zenya Fujiwara, were good friends who often visited each other's homes. That was when little Fumino met Chiya and told him about horse girls.
Later, because of work, her father had to go abroad, and Fumino herself skipped grades. A few years after they met, they parted.
But those few years left an indelible mark on Fumino Nase.
"How long could you stick with your dream?"—that had been a topic from one of their bored little chats.
"I don't know…"
"Heh. If it were me, I'd stick with it my whole life." The boy puffed his chest out.
"No one sticks with a dream that long. People get influenced by those around them; reality forces compromises." Even then, the girl showed a brilliance beyond her years.
"Those are just fleeting notions. They don't count as dreams. Real dreams don't get shaken by those things."
"Naïve. That's the sort of impractical thing only a child says."
"You're a child too, you know."
"I'm not like you. At least I know people live one step at a time. A single-minded lifelong plan is just hot air."
"Objection!"
"Overruled."
"I didn't even make my case yet."
"It would have been impractical nonsense anyway."
"No—it's perfectly practical."
The boy thumped his chest. "I'll prove it to you. There are dreams you can chase with stubborn single-mindedness. If you run into me someday in the future, that will mean I've already made mine real!"
"Unbelievable." The girl looked away. "If that day ever comes, I'll show up as your opponent."
"Why?"
"Because you beat me once. I want my win back."
"Fine—but don't you dare forget what you said today."
"Definitely won't. I've got a good memory."
The scene faded, and a steaming cup of coffee swam back into Nase's vision.
Any time a topic touched on Chiya, that memory bubbled up in her mind.
Sometimes being too sharp is its own curse; even ancient things stay vivid, as if they happened yesterday.
Telling others not to forget, only to forget herself—was there anyone more pathetic?
Nase took a small sip of coffee.
"Big Brother…"
Scooping up her milk jelly, Rice Shower couldn't help voicing it aloud. Following her gaze, Nase glanced over her shoulder—and there was Chiya Fujiwara, seated with Aoi Kiryuin.
"Pffft—!"
The coffee she'd just swallowed sprayed right back out.
....
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