"Mm? Shirayuki, where was this photo taken?"
Looking at the photo on the desk, where Shirayuki, Spe-chan, and Silence Suzuka were leaning against each other, Mejiro Dober asked curiously. The three of them seemed especially close, with their heads leaning against one another's shoulders. Silence Suzuka, the oldest sister among the three, stood in the middle with a rare happy smile on her face.
This was the first time Mejiro Dober had seen Suzuka smile. Normally, she rarely interacted with others.
"At the Harvest Festival. I took it with Suzuka-senpai and Spe-chan beside the flowerbed."
"You all seem very close."
"Of course. Although Suzuka-senpai doesn't really like interacting with people, she's a very good person. As expected, you only understand another Uma Musume's thoughts after actually spending time with her. If you always watch from far away, you won't understand anything."
Integration and understanding. Fujiwara Shirayuki felt that her understanding of Uma Musume was becoming deeper and deeper. As she grew closer to other Uma Musume, Chiya's side also became better at understanding other people's feelings. Whenever he saw Uma Musume in trouble, he would help whenever he could. Thanks to this, his reputation was steadily improving.
The higher a trainer's reputation, the easier it was to recruit talented Uma Musume. Fujiwara Chiya believed that if things continued like this, when he tried to sign popular Uma Musume in the future, they would be more likely to choose him first.
So reputation was important, and Uma Musume were also important. Fujiwara Shirayuki felt the mission she carried: to build close and friendly relationships with all Uma Musume.
Fujiwara Shirayuki held the photo and smiled foolishly. Mejiro Dober's eyes shifted slightly.
She knew that Shirayuki's feelings toward those people were different from her feelings toward Dober. The photo was also taken with three people together, so Shirayuki clearly regarded both of them as friends. But considering Shirayuki's preferences, who knew whether that friendship might one day turn into something else?
Therefore, Mejiro Dober needed to pay attention. She could not become careless just because Shirayuki had agreed to date her. The boundaries between girls were very blurry. Even best friends sleeping together could be considered completely normal. Mejiro Dober needed to prove what made her special.
Just as Shirayuki found the most visible place to display the photo, her phone rang. The screen showed that Mejiro Dober had sent her a message. Turning around, Shirayuki found that Mejiro Dober had already turned her back and was lying on the bed.
Full of confusion, Shirayuki picked up her phone and opened the notification. Fujiwara Shirayuki then saw an image that nearly made her jaw drop.
In the photo, Mejiro Dober's face was flushed with embarrassment as she tugged lightly at her collar, revealing a soft and intimate glimpse of herself, enough to make Shirayuki's heart skip.
Could this have been taken just now?
The background was the dorm bed.
"D-Dober-oneechan?"
"Don't show anyone else..." Mejiro Dober pulled the blanket tight and spoke quietly.
It really was taken just now!
Shirayuki immediately saved it and even locked the album. Something this precious absolutely could not be seen by anyone else.
She had not expected Mejiro Dober to send her a special photo. This was far too blissful! Fujiwara Shirayuki lay on the bed in complete satisfaction.
The lively Harvest Festival had passed, and the students once again returned to their tense daily routine. Fujiwara Shirayuki, who had already cleared an OP race, would soon advance toward graded races. The others would also begin participating in races one after another.
As the number of times he studied cooperatively with Shirayuki increased, Fujiwara Chiya's knowledge grew richer and richer. Gradually, he began to realize the limitations of training. How to maximize an Uma Musume's ability within limited time became the difficult problem he needed to overcome.
When he was still only a rookie trainer, Fujiwara Chiya had not understood why experienced trainers would repeatedly study and revise a single training plan, even pulling up race footage of Uma Musume and watching it again and again.
Their purpose came down to two words.
Efficiency.
The higher the efficiency, the greater an Uma Musume's improvement within the same amount of time. Fujiwara Chiya had already experienced this through Nara Fumino. The training plan she made for Shirayuki completely surpassed Fujiwara Chiya's current level. The way different training items linked together also gave Fujiwara Chiya a refreshing feeling. Clearly, compared to single-item training, the more experienced a trainer was, the more they focused on improving the Uma Musume as a whole.
After finishing the day's training, Fujiwara Chiya went to the shopping street, preparing to buy some snacks for Rice Shower.
All the snacks he had prepared in his room had ended up in Rice's small stomach. At first, Fujiwara Chiya had wanted to save them, but every time he saw Rice eating so happily, he could not help wanting to feed her more, placing cakes and other sweets into her mouth. Rice would also lick his fingers afterward.
To be honest, Fujiwara Chiya had started to like the feeling of Rice's little tongue licking his fingers. It was soft and smooth, and afterward his fingers carried a very pleasant scent.
However, Fujiwara Chiya was a little worried. Would eating these things all the time make Rice gain weight? Recently, the weight of her leaning on him had clearly increased. But after thinking about it, Rice was in her growth period and her body was developing, so it should be reasonable.
Everyone was now at the stage of growing. Even Teio had developed quite a bit. Rice should not be an exception.
When he arrived at the shop he often visited and opened the door, Fujiwara Chiya saw a familiar figure.
An Uma Musume with tea-coloured curly hair and a large-brimmed hat was standing in front of the dazzling counter, hesitating over which item to choose.
"Matikane Tannhauser."
Fujiwara Chiya greeted her. Hearing his voice, Matikane Tannhauser turned around and showed a slightly silly and adorable smile.
"Ah~ Trainer Chiya, yahoo! Are you here to buy something too?"
The girl's name was Matikane Tannhauser. She was one of Trainer Nansaka's Uma Musume and also Matikanefukukitaru's roommate. Several times when Fujiwara Chiya went to the director's office, he had seen Matikane Tannhauser there. It was not because she was being scolded by the director, but because the director was asking about her recent training situation.
Because of that, Fujiwara Chiya had naturally become familiar with her.
"I'm here to buy some snacks."
"Trainer Chiya likes these things too? Then let me recommend some to you." Matikane Tannhauser picked up a bag and showed it to Fujiwara Chiya. "Potato Three Brothers! And this, melon jelly! Oh, and strawberry-filled white chocolate."
Rather than recommendations, Matikane Tannhauser seemed more like she was listing everything she wanted to eat. Fujiwara Chiya mercilessly exposed her.
"You're actually struggling over which one to buy because you don't have enough allowance, aren't you?"
"Ehehe, you noticed...? But Trainer Chiya, snacks that catch my eye are definitely first-class! You absolutely won't regret eating them."
Looking at Tannhauser's simple expression, Fujiwara Chiya felt like he was looking at Special Week. However, this girl was even more simple than Spe-chan, especially with every little expression she made.
For some reason, Fujiwara Chiya vaguely saw the director's shadow in her.
"Which one do you want? As thanks for the recommendation, I can buy you one."
"Trainer Chiya, you're so generous. Then please buy this one."
Matikane Tannhauser did not hold back and picked up the melon jelly.
The two sat on the chairs outside and chatted. Fujiwara Chiya mentioned his recent troubles. After listening, Matikane Tannhauser nodded in deep agreement.
"I see. I often feel like that too. But later, I realized that instead of worrying over it, it's better to relax and eat properly. When your thoughts are tied in knots, no matter how much you think, it won't help."
"Isn't that just giving up?"
"It's called strategic relaxation. The things Trainer Chiya mentioned must have been experienced by others before. Instead of figuring everything out alone, asking other people would be faster. If asking once doesn't work, ask a few more times. If one person isn't enough, ask several people. That's how I've always learned."
Matikane Tannhauser proudly shook her finger.
"So Trainer Chiya might as well look at how other trainers arrange things. Maybe you can learn something from them."
That sounded somewhat reasonable.
Fujiwara Chiya had never really seen how his seniors usually worked, nor how they arranged their Uma Musume's daily training.
However, Fujiwara Chiya was a little worried about whether he might cause trouble for them.
"It's fine, it's fine. If you cause trouble, just apologize." Matikane Tannhauser showed a simple smile. "I think most people are willing to teach technical knowledge like this. At least, the people I've met have been like that."
"Is that so?"
Fujiwara Chiya leaned against the back of the chair. Matikane Tannhauser scooped up a spoonful of jelly and held it out to him.
"For me?"
"Mm. After all, Trainer Chiya bought it."
Would two people eating one jelly together be a little too close?
However, Matikane Tannhauser did not seem to mind. In that case, there was no need for Fujiwara Chiya to act timid.
He felt that when he was beside Matikane Tannhauser, it did not feel like a trainer and Uma Musume relationship, nor did it feel like ordinary friendship.
Instead, it felt like family.
There was an indescribable sense of peace.