"I'm doing fine here. Mm… everything's good… I'm getting used to it."
Chiya was on the phone with Hayakawa Tazuna.
Before this, he had already called Akikawa Yayoi, Mejiro Dober, Grass Wonder, and several others. Of course, some of those calls had been made using Shirayuki's phone.
By the time he finished checking in with everyone, almost an hour had passed. He had never really paid attention to it before, but now that he was reporting his safety to each person one by one, Chiya finally realized that the number of people close to him could no longer be counted on two hands.
"How is Shirayuki?" Tazuna asked.
"She's fine too. If I'm fine, Shirayuki is fine."
"That's true. By the way, Chiya… you haven't… had anything happen with Shirayuki, have you?"
"Hm? What do you mean by anything?"
"I'm not there, so I can't always look after you. If you and Shirayuki run into any trouble…"
"Don't worry. I can take care of myself."
"That won't do!"
Tazuna's voice suddenly rose.
Realizing she had lost her composure, she coughed twice before explaining.
"It's still a little hard for you to manage everything alone. Don't carry everything by yourself. Rice Shower… if there's really no other option, go to Rice Shower. That child will definitely be willing to take care of you."
When she said "Rice Shower," Tazuna sounded as though it had taken all her strength. Even so, she still insisted that if Chiya had trouble, he should go to her.
"…All right. I understand."
Feeling that Tazuna's reaction was a little too strong, Chiya simply followed along with her words.
"If anything happens, tell me immediately, understood? I can take a few days off."
"Okay."
Seeing that Tazuna sounded as if she might actually come over, Chiya gave a few more replies and then ended the call.
Nothing had happened on his side, so there was no need to trouble her by making her come all the way here. Between the jet lag, the language barrier, and all the other problems, it had taken Chiya a full ten days before he had gradually adjusted to life here.
What exactly was Tazuna worried about?
"Chiya, want to have some wine?"
Just as he put down the phone, Satake Mei knocked and walked into the room. She was holding two bottles of red wine, her face full of cheer. She looked very happy.
After pouring Chiya a glass, she said,
"Recently, those trainers have been asking me about you all the time. They're very curious about the training methods in Japan. The idea of training alongside uma musume is something even people who've been in the field for half their lives have never heard of."
As she drank the sweet red wine, Mei continued,
"They're considering cooperating with us. They could send uma musume here to study abroad with us, and we could also send our uma musume over here. The travel expenses and other costs would be shared by the two academies."
"So, exchange students?"
"Exactly. Exchange students."
Mei's face was red as the alcohol rushed to her head.
"Chiya, this is all thanks to you. You keep catching their interest. Right now, they've only started thinking about it and haven't made a formal decision yet. Do you know what they're waiting for?"
"What?"
"Results."
Mei looked at him and said,
"They're waiting for your uma musume to produce results. If they're satisfied, it'll prove that your training methods are special and worth learning from. Then they'll choose to cooperate with our academy. This is a rare opportunity for us. Paris Tracen is one of the best in the world. Building a relationship with them would be a huge benefit to our academy, and to Central as a whole. So…"
Mei looked at him seriously. His face was reflected in her yellow eyes.
"The hopes of all Tracen are resting on you, Chiya. Once we go back, I'll definitely explain your contribution to Central. Please, you have to produce results."
"I'll do everything I can."
"The other bottle is a gift for you. That's Perrier-Jouët. It's absolutely worth enjoying slowly. Also, I heard from Gold Ship that you all want to have a proper trip around Paris. In that case, I'll be your guide. Whether it's the Louvre or Notre-Dame, I'll take you there."
After saying goodbye to Chiya, Mei left the room.
Even if Mei had not said anything, Chiya had always intended to produce results here.
Not to build a relationship between the two academies.
Simply because, as an uma musume and as a trainer, he wanted to challenge a higher stage.
That night, Shirayuki came to Chiya's room.
Recently, she had been sleeping here every night. After experiencing the sense of security that came from sleeping together in a foreign country, she had completely grown fond of it. Her sleep quality was surprisingly good, and she had plenty of energy for training the next day. Since that was the case, there was no need for them to sleep separately.
Tazuna had told him to let Rice Shower take care of him, but Chiya could not keep troubling Rice Shower all the time. She had finally made friends here and spent every day communicating with those students through gestures. Seeing that made Chiya feel warm inside, and he did not want to disturb her.
Besides, there was no need to trouble someone else over things he could do himself.
Here, he and Shirayuki could manage their lives perfectly well together. With the two bodies dividing the work, their efficiency was incredibly high.
Back then, Chiya had always lived separately from Shirayuki, each side going through its own routine. Now that they were staying in the same room, he finally realized that even if it was only himself, he could still live very comfortably.
After returning to the room, Shirayuki opened the bottle of red wine on the table and poured herself a glass.
Chiya preferred beer and did not care much for this kind of wine. Shirayuki's sense of smell and taste were sharper than his, so she liked sweet things more.
For her, the red wine tasted much better than it did for Chiya.
Chiya turned on the television, which was playing some program he could not understand at all. Shirayuki drank the wine as if it were juice.
He had to admit, the taste was quite good. It was sweet on entry, with a mellow aftertaste. Satake Mei had praised it for a reason.
Just as Chiya was about to take a bath and head to bed, a wave of heat suddenly spread through his body.
A strange warmth flowed through him without warning.
No, not his body.
Chiya turned to look at Shirayuki.
A faint blush had appeared on her fair face, and her originally clear blue eyes were now hazy and unfocused.
It was Shirayuki.
She was drunk!
Chiya immediately picked up the bottle. The packaging did not show the alcohol percentage, but he had drunk a bottle earlier too. Forget getting drunk, he had barely even tasted the alcohol.
Why was Shirayuki unable to handle even this much?
This is bad. My vision is already starting to blur…
Chiya pressed a hand to his forehead and controlled Shirayuki to stand.
But under the wave of heat surging through her body, Shirayuki felt soft and weak. Her leg stretched out without strength and kicked against the chair. A moment later, she fell forward.
Chiya took a step closer and caught the dazed Shirayuki in his arms.