Some times between Hopeful Stakes and Satsuki Sho.
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RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING
"Alright everybody, that will be the end of today's class. We will meet again after tomorrow" The teacher announced before leaving the class.
The quiet classroom suddenly becomes very loud. Astonishing snapped out of her daze, her ears twitching upright as the sudden burst of noise broke her concentration.
"It's over! Finally!" someone yelled from the back row.
"Did you know there's a new ice cream shop not far from here? Let's check it out" another voice chimed in eagerly.
Astonishing sat quietly, watching her classmates scrambling toward the double doors.
"Hey, hey, Aston! Let's go to check the new ice cream shop together!" Dorazora's face appeared in front of her, completely obstructing the blackboard from her point of view.
Astonishing blinked, momentarily startled by the sudden close-up of her classmate's cheerful face. "Mmh, Dora... stop appearing out of nowhere" She slumped back to her desk.
"Hehehe, my bad, my bad!" Dorazora chuckled, completely unabashed. "But you're just too easy to sneak up on"
Dorazora leaned her hip against the edge of Astonishing's desk. "Hey, what's wrong? Come one, if we don't hurry up then the shop will be packed by students!"
"Sorry, Dora. But I can't come with you today." Astonishing murmured, finally pushing herself up. "I'm heading over to the team room."
Dorazora blinked, her twitching ears dropping slightly in disappointment before snapping right back up, filled with curiosity. "The team room? Right now? Did you planned a meeting or something?"
"No, it's not that," Astonishing said. " I just want to check on my trainer. And maybe bring him something. I noticed he had been working a little too much lately"
Dora's eyes widened, but slowly, mischievous grin slowly spreading across her face. She crossed her arms, leaning back against the desk. "Ah, look at you! The dutiful trainee looking out for her trainer. Honestly, Aston, that's actually really sweet."
"Enough of it, Dora," Astonishing murmured.
"Alright, alright! I'll save a cone for you in spirit!" Dorazora laughed, giving her a playful wave as she finally turned and dashed out the door toward the wherever that shop is located.
Soon, she too left the classroom, heading towards the building next to the main school building. When she arrived at the team room, the door was slightly ajar. Astonishing peered inside.
Takeda was slumped over his desk. To put it clearly, he was asleep.
Astonishing stood in the doorway for a moment, thinking if she should enter or not. In the end, she stepped inside silently, careful not to make any sound.
He looked completely wiped out. His forehead was resting flat against an open binder with his right hand still loosely gripped a pen.
Her eyes softened. "Sigh... guess he didn't really took care of himself..." she whispered.
She scanned the room and noticed his jacket laying on the couch, so she picked it up. The familiar smell of it immediately sneaked into her nose.
Yep, this is the same jacket she sniffed.
'I was out of my mind'
Shaking her head, she turned back toward the desk with the jacket.
Carefully, she leaned over and draped the jacket over his shoulders.
"At least now you wouldn't caught a cold"
Slowly, and carefully, she took off his glasses and folded it. Next, she slipped the pen from his loose fingers, and place it next to his glasses.
She looked toward the door, then back at her sleeping trainer. Leaving him alone in the dim office felt entirely wrong.
Decision made, Astonishing quietly walked over to the corner of the room, grabbed a spare folding chair, and carried it back to the desk without making a single sound before finally placing it next the his desk.
Once settled, she tucked her skirt neatly and rested her elbows on the edge of the desk, propping her chin in her hands.
She watches as his chest moves up and down slowly. Up close, without his glasses, and asleep, he looks completely defenseless. Not quiet like the person she interacted with everyday.
Suddenly, Takeda let out an incoherent murmur.
Astonishing instantly went rigid. Her ears snapped straight up, completely alert, and she held her breath, freezing her posture until she was as still as a marble statue. She kept an eye on his face, waiting to see if his eyes would flutter open. But after a few tense seconds, his breathing slowed back down, and he sinks back into the deep sleep.
A tiny, silent sigh of relief escaped her mouth. 'That was too close'.
She settled back into the folding chair, she decided that she will stay here, keeping a watch on him.
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Minutes bled into hours.
A sharp, sudden cramp in his neck was what finally pulled Takeda out of the abyss.
He blinked open his heavy eyelids, trying to get his sight to focus. His brain felt thick, completely disoriented by the depth of a sleep he hadn't intended to take. Slowly, he pushed himself upward, his joints popping as he uncurled his spine from the edge of the desk.
As he moved, a heavy weight slid down his back. He caught it instinctively with a stray hand it was his own jacket, carefully draped over his shoulders.
Takeda blinked down at it, thoroughly confused. 'Did I put this on before I passed out?'
"Where's my glasses...?"
His hand blindly patted the surface of the desk, tracing the edge of the open binder until his fingers brushed against smooth, folded plastic. He picked up his glasses, and put it on.
The world instantly snapped into sharp focus, and the first he sees is a dark haired umamusume sleeping right in the other side of the desk.
At some point, the exhaustion had finally caught up to Astonishing. Her ears, usually so hyper-alert to every kind of sounds, had dropped into a soft, relaxed drape. Her chin had slipped from her palms, and she had leaned forward, resting her forehead entirely against the desk.
Slowly, the logical sequence of events pieced itself together in his head. The jacket draped over his cold shoulders. The placement of his glasses and pen.
She had marched right in here, witnessed his total collapse, and instead of disturbing him, she had quietly rearranged his workspace and then stayed to keep watch over him.
"I guess I got caught off guard this time" he murmured. A soft, incredibly fond smile pulling at his lips.
His first thought is to to wake her up, but he's... hesitant. Seeing her sleeping so peacefully like this... it's just too precious.
They have been together for a year but this is new. While she has a pretty gentle personality, at least around him, seeing herself sleeping so peacefully like this is something he never imagine could ever see.
She had completely let her guard down in front of him.
And he...
He wanted to pat her.
Takeda swallowed hard. "M-Must protect..."
Even after saying it, the urge to reach out didn't fade. If anything, only made it worse.
He wanted to pat her head. He really, genuinely did.
Takeda slowly extended his right hand. He held his breath, half-expecting her to wake up and catch him in the act.
But she didn't.
Gently, , he lowered his palm until it made contact with her head.
The moment his palm brushed against her dark hair, he froze.
It's not the first time he pats her head, it was after the Satsuki Sho when he found out about the injury. But back then, her hair was damp from the sweats.
But now? Her hair is incredibly soft. Dry, smooth, and remarkably warm.
Takeda exhaled the breath he was holding, and his shoulders relaxed. He didn't ruffle her hair or push down, he simply let his hand rest there for a few quiet seconds.
Slowly, and carefully, Takeda began to move his fingers, smoothing down a few stray, dark strands before he moves his hand entirely and stroke her head gently.
As his hand moved, Astonishing suddenly hummed. Even her ears flicks whenever his hand got too close with it.
Takeda instantly went rigid as he waited for those eyes to snap open.
Instead, her body relaxed even more.
He smiled. He continued the gentle motion for a few more quiet moments.
But to be honest, If any of the senior staff or even Tazuna herself were to open that door right now, his would be compromised.
A sudden bead of cold sweat broke out on his temple. With that, he retracted his hand. He had enough for today.
GRUMBLE~
'Well, I skipped lunch, after all'
He stood up and slowly walks towards a mini fridge not far away. He opened it and grabs two bento boxes. The last two...
Next, he put one inside the microwave, because it can only hold one box, then turned it up.
Within a minute, the rich, savory scent of a classic convenience store katsudon began to seep past the rubber seals of the microwave door. The thick aroma of dashi broth, sweet mirin, and fried pork cutlet bloomed into the room, rapidly drifting across the small space toward the desk. It was an undeniable, heavy olfactory assault, designed specifically by food engineers to trigger an immediate appetite baseline.
Takeda's eyes locked onto her head. He knew how acute an umamusume's senses were. It will only take seconds for her to wake up.
"Mmn..."
A soft, profoundly groggy murmur escaped her lips. Slowly, her forehead lifted up. For a second, she looked entirely lost, staring blankly at the empty desk space. From there on, her nose takes control.
SNIFF SNIFF
"Hmm~~"
PING
Astonishing blinked rapidly, rubbing her eyes with the back of her forearm as her vision returned into focus. She instinctively turned her head towards the source of the smell.
"Good evening, Aston," Takeda said, pulling the steaming container out. "It seems you caught me food handed. Ahaha..."
GRUUUUUUUMBLE
Astonishing froze entirely, her horse ears flattening flat against her dark hair in embarrassment, and she looked away instantly.
"Perfect timing," Takeda remarked, entirely unbothered as he set the steaming katsudon on the table in the middle of the room. He grabbed a pair of wooden chopsticks and slid them onto the desk beside the container. "Well, at least can you wait until I warmed mine?"
"I... I can wait," she murmured.
Takeda chuckled softly, turning back to the mini-fridge alcove to grab the his portion. A few minutes later, his food is ready.
Takeda set the second steaming container on the tableacross from Astonishing. The savory scent of the katsudon was now double the intensity.
He looked up to her and it seems like she couldn't hold herself any longer, better to let her eat already before she starts seeing him as food. "Okay, okay, let's eat"
"Thank you for the food!" Astonishing murmured.
She picked up her wooden chopsticks, carefully snapping them apart before taking a piece of the fried pork cutlet.
Takeda watched her across the table, taking bites of his own meal. The sheer speed which she ate was a proof of how hungry she is.
He could only watches as the her food vanished in a blink of an eye.
As she finished her meal, Astonishing lowered her chopsticks, resting them across the rim of the container.
"That was quick" he said in disbelief. "Are you satisfied now?"
"Hmm... I don't think so... I can go for another"
A cold bead of sweat slowly rolled down the side of his cheek.
Umamusume do have a big appetite, but some are monstrous.
"W-well, in that case..." He pushed his own container, still holding a perfectly intact, crispy piece of pork cutlet. "Do you want another piece? I haven't touch this one"
"Ehh! But it's yours"
"It's fine, I'm already full" he replied. "Or do you want me to feed you?"
Her ears snapped upright upon hearing that. Meanwhile, Takeda is completely oblivious to the tactical nuclear strike he had just delivered.
He was already holding his chopsticks, ready to handover the pork cutlet.
"I can feed myself just fine!"
SNAP.
Astonishing snitched the cutlet right out from under his nose, clamping her chopsticks around it just a millisecond before his own could make contact.
Takeda's chopsticks clicked together against the empty plastic bottom of his box. He froze, staring blankly at the vacant spot where the katsudon had just been, then slowly raised his eyes to look at her and sees that she's already chewing it.
Another cold bead of sweat slowly rolled down the side of his cheek.
She swallowed the food, and...
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...
GRUUUUUUUMBLE
'Still hungry?!' he screamed internally.
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Meanwhile on a nearby tree.
"Hehehehe, I've been waiting here for hours and I don't regret it!" Dorazora stared at the photo she just took. "Oh, Aston-chan~~you abandoned your friend to have a nice office date with your trainer I see~~"
Dora happily swung her legs from her perch on the heavy tree branch. "This is so peak"
She turned to the umamusume sleeping beside her. "Digital-senpai, wake up! I got what I want, let's get out of here before the disciplinary committee caught us!"
Agnes Digital gasped, her eyes snapping wide open as she nearly lost her footing on the tree bark.
Her specialized, high-intensity otaku senses immediately assessed the situation. "T-Trainer... and trainee... having a meal together inside the team's office. The raw, unadulterated wholesomeness..."
"Senpai, shhh! We're going to get made!" Dora hissed, grabbing Digital's collar just as the senior umamusume began to emit a high-pitched, ecstatic squeak.
"Tactical retreat, senpai, go, go, go!" Dora whispered frantically.
Mission completed, return to base.