Even after lunch, with the dishes already loaded into the dishwasher by Sea City, Sea the Stars was still sitting at the table, another pair of chopsticks pinched between her fingers as she kept trying to manipulate them.
For the first time in her life, Sea the Stars had run into something she simply could not master.
Yes. That was right.
In all her years, this was the first setback she had ever encountered.
Training as a horse girl had never stopped her. School exams had never stopped her. And yet now, two tiny wooden sticks had brought her to a dead halt. During lunch, she had barely eaten any of the dishes at all—she had mostly just shoveled rice into her mouth. All those fragrant stir-fries had been sitting right in front of her, and because she couldn't conquer the mysterious technique known as "using chopsticks," she had been reduced to eating plain rice in humiliation.
It was, without question, the most embarrassing experience of her life.
"Miss Sea the Stars? Still practicing with chopsticks?"
Dyna had just found an outlet for her phone after Sea City told her where one was, plugged it in to rescue its dying battery, and returned to the living room—only to find Sea the Stars still sitting there, grimly wrestling with the chopsticks. Watching the way her usually composed face betrayed faint little signs of stubborn concentration, Dyna found it oddly endearing.
Sea the Stars nodded. But no matter how hard she tried, her stiff fingers refused to obey her, and the chopsticks might as well have been wild animals in her hands. In the end, she gave up.
"This is impossible… Why is there something this difficult in the world? How do you people tame these things? In my hand they're like… completely disobedient huskies."
Actually, huskies were pretty cute once you got used to them. As far as Sea the Stars was concerned, even a husky was far better than a pair of cold, unfeeling chopsticks.
Dyna pressed her lips together to hold back a laugh. She still wanted the two Sea the Stars—real and spiritual—to meet someday, but for now, teaching her to use chopsticks came first. After all, Dyna doubted there was anyone else in the world who would ever get to see the genius Sea the Stars stumped by anything.
Then again, for someone born and raised entirely in Europe, chopsticks probably really were an incomprehensible object. To them, knives and forks were the very definition of convenience. It was just a shame they had so few opportunities to eat stir-fried dishes.
"Look—hold them like this," Dyna said, demonstrating. "This one gets fixed in place between your middle finger and ring finger. Then this one goes between your index and middle finger, and about a centimeter above the place where the two chopsticks meet, you press down with your thumb. See? That keeps them stable."
The motion was effortless for Dyna. It was so ingrained in her that it had become part of her bones.
Sea the Stars tried to imitate her, but her movements were still clumsy. Her cheeks had already begun to flush with embarrassment when Dyna suddenly leaned in, placed her own right hand over Sea the Stars' hand, and began guiding her fingers directly.
Sea the Stars froze.
Her fingers, already stiff, turned almost rigid.
Dyna's hand was soft—truly soft, almost boneless. That was an objective fact. And the faint, lingering scent of wheat that always clung to Dyna was equally undeniable.
But psychologically… why had Dyna so naturally moved in that close? Why did she seem so at ease touching her like this, guiding her hand with such casual intimacy?
Every teacher Sea the Stars had ever known had stood at a distance and instructed her verbally, or repeated a few key points from the sidelines, after which she would perfectly reproduce the technique or even extrapolate from it. That had always been enough.
But now, for perhaps the first time in her life, Sea the Stars didn't feel like a good student at all.
Instead, she felt like a hopeless one—one who wanted a gentle teacher to look at her just a little longer, stay near her a little longer, create just a little more time alone together.
Sea the Stars… felt strange.
As for Dyna, none of this felt particularly odd. In the spirit world, she was already so used to touching both Sea the Stars and Cody's Wish that it felt almost natural. Somewhere deep in her mind, a voice was telling her, This is Sea the Stars. You can do whatever you want with her. She won't reject you.
So when she saw the awkward way Sea the Stars was struggling, she had gone over almost instinctively and covered her hand.
By the time Dyna herself fully realized what she was doing, their hands were already completely overlapping. She could feel the faint coolness on the back of Sea the Stars' hand. Sea the Stars, in turn, could feel the warmth in Dyna's palm—and the slight dampness there, because Dyna's hand was slowly beginning to sweat.
…What the hell.
Inside Dyna's mind, the spirit-version of Sea the Stars sat at the other side of the table, staring in utter disbelief.
The soul-Sea the Stars had known Dyna and her had become very close, yes. But she had still thought Dyna could distinguish between reality and the spirit world. Who would have guessed she'd just go right up and do this without hesitation?
Cody's Wish was watching the scene with amusement. "That actually shocked Miss Sea the Stars enough to make her throw out internet slang. Looks like you really are surprised by this. But I think it's perfectly normal. Dyna has never treated the two Sea the Stars as separate people. To her, you're one and the same. There's no need to treat you differently."
Soul-Sea the Stars was already thinking ahead to that night—how she would "play" with Dyna properly in the spirit world once she fell asleep. Because now she wanted Dyna to take her hand too, of her own accord…
Not just sit there at the side, watching and feeling jealous.
Cody's Wish narrowed her eyes with a smile. Sea the Stars' mood was obvious—she was absolutely sulking with jealousy. Still, Cody's Wish wasn't worried that the real Sea the Stars would do anything to Dyna. Because she was there.
Cody's Wish would never allow anyone to do anything improper to Dyna ever again.
No matter who it was.
Even a good friend from the spirit world would receive exactly the same treatment.
Meanwhile, in reality, Dyna finally let go and asked, "How is it? Did you get it?"
At the same time, the two spirits—Sea the Stars and Cody's Wish—were sitting across the table watching.
Soul-Sea the Stars muttered, "Even knowing all that, it still feels… strange. Cody's Wish, do you know what I mean? Watching Dyna hold another version of my hand—yes, I know I'm her horse-girl soul, but the feeling rising in my chest is still so unpleasant."
Sea the Stars' body remained silent for a moment. Then she moved her fingers.
"Not bad," she said, though her expression was still a bit stiff.
"Then try again," Dyna said brightly.
And so, in a strange little living room in a house in Europe, one of the greatest geniuses in horse-girl history began receiving hand-over-hand chopstick lessons from a horse girl from faraway Japan.
For a while, Sea the Stars' focus was entirely on the chopsticks.
But her mind kept wandering.
To the warmth of Dyna's hand.
To the scent clinging to her.
To the calm, matter-of-fact way she had just touched her.
And the more she thought about it, the stranger it all felt.
By the time Dyna finally pulled away, Sea the Stars flexed her fingers slowly, as though trying to preserve the sensation.
Then she looked down at the chopsticks again.
And for the first time all afternoon, they didn't seem quite so impossible anymore.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 147)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter185)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter105)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter215)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 185
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 170
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/1
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 206
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 190
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/23
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 106
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 125
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 105
I Can Copy Unique Skills 90
Summoning an Evil God, but the 70
Supernatural Multiverse 90
My Harem Is Indescribable 80
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 86
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 68
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 81
Still playing traditional Honk 65
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 65
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 57
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 45
Transmigrated as Sukuna 59
Checking In in Demon Slayer 59
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 73
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 45
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 36
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 40
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 60
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 30
Why did they assign me to Uma 35
MYGO Beauties 43
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 30
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 31
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