That night, the two of them slept separately.
Reason could not always fully control action. Their behaviour the previous night had already crossed that line.
Something similar had happened before. When he and Shirayuki kissed, the overwhelming stimulation had nearly melted their minds. If Chiya had not pulled away in time, they probably would not have been watching that movie at all.
Now there was an even simpler, more direct trigger.
As long as Shirayuki tasted the sweat on his body, the two of them would experience a stimulation even stronger than kissing.
What was the principle behind it?
Chiya thought of what Agnes Tachyon had said. Shirayuki's body produced hormones that stimulated desire, but those only worked on uma musume. To Fujiwara Chiya, Shirayuki's sweat just smelled like ordinary sweat. If it was left too long, it even turned a little sour.
Then what about him?
Had he also started giving off that kind of scent?
After inheriting Shirayuki's traits, had he become walking uma musume catnip too? And was the target of that catnip Shirayuki herself?
Why had it happened so suddenly?
What had he done yesterday?
He had visited several famous sights, met an uma musume named Byerley, and received a ring from her.
After that, nothing special had happened.
Surely his body scent could not have anything to do with that ring.
Chiya had already accepted the fact that he was gradually becoming more like an uma musume. But he had not expected the direction of that change to be not a normal uma musume, but Shirayuki.
Even their special traits were becoming identical.
Was the phrase "I'm tempting myself" really about to come true?
While Chiya's thoughts were a complete mess, and while he brushed his teeth wondering what he should do from now on, someone knocked on the door. Satake Mei's voice came from outside.
"Chiya, are you awake?"
After spitting out the toothpaste, Chiya went to open the door.
"The car is ready. When should we leave?"
"Right away."
For now, Chiya put aside the strange changes in his body and brought his uma musume to Longchamp Racecourse.
Montjeu and Treve were already running together on the track.
Seeing such a large racecourse for the first time, Rice Shower and the others showed excited expressions. The grandstand in the middle had five full levels, and there was even a restaurant inside. In both scale and facilities, Longchamp was truly world-class.
"Why even be an uma musume? Isn't it better to just be a spectator? This is great. This is too great!"
Sitting in the glass observation area, Gold Ship asked the staff to pour her a glass of juice and spoke with complete confidence.
Idiot, the things here are expensive!
Chiya was about to tell her to restrain herself, but Satake Mei informed him that as long as he agreed to appear in the exhibition races, the drinks and juice here could be ordered freely.
Good.
Chiya liked privileges.
But next time, could he please be the one benefiting from them?
"Rest for a bit, then you're all going down to train too."
"Isn't this training for Shirayuki? Why do we have to go down?"
"Even if you don't have races in Europe, you'll still have races after we go back. Shirayuki training doesn't mean you get to laze around!"
"What a pain."
Gold Ship sucked down her drink at storm speed.
"Onii-sama, will you run with us?" Rice Shower asked excitedly.
"I…"
"We share blessings and hardships together, Trainer."
Chiya had no choice.
"I'll run with you."
Rice Shower and the others smiled.
A trainer who blended in with uma musume like this was probably the first of his kind.
On the other side, Shirayuki found Montjeu and Treve.
"Welcome, Shirayuki."
Treve spoke in stiff Japanese.
"Run with me."
It was clear that Treve had been studying Japanese recently. She could already say more complicated phrases. Shirayuki felt something strange in her chest. In order to understand her, Treve had gone out of her way to learn the language of her country. Shirayuki could feel the weight she held in Treve's heart.
Whether Treve wanted to become her friend, or whether she wanted to approach her as a rival, she had still taken action. That alone greatly increased Shirayuki's affection for her.
At first, Shirayuki had thought the uma musume praised throughout the West as a "genius" would be more proud and aloof. But in reality, Treve was very approachable. She never acted high and mighty. If anything, she felt like a friendly younger girl from next door.
Since Treve treated her this sincerely, Shirayuki also had to respond properly.
She replied using one of the few French phrases she had learned.
When Treve heard it, she froze for a second, then burst into laughter.
What?
Did I say something wrong?
Montjeu explained from the side.
"You probably wanted to say, 'Let's run together.' But what you just said meant, 'Come at me together.'"
Looking at Treve laughing so hard her body trembled, Shirayuki's face went flat.
Oh.
Is that so?
I'm never speaking French again.
During the training that followed, Shirayuki kept watching Treve's movements.
As long as someone was an uma musume, they would have flaws to some degree. Acceleration, cornering, judgement, sustained speed. As long as those pieces of information were gathered, a counter-strategy could be created.
And if she truly could not find the opponent's weakness, then she would create one. Interfere, obstruct, disrupt. There was always a way to make the other side reveal an opening.
Mid- to long-distance races did not test only an uma musume's speed. Rather, on tracks beyond two thousand metres, speed became secondary. Decision-making, stamina, and willpower accounted for the greater part of victory.
In other words, middle-distance races tested an uma musume's overall ability.
In terms of experience, Treve was far beneath her.
But in terms of talent, Treve held the title of "genius."
Against someone with that kind of natural advantage, all Shirayuki could do was stack every bit of her own experience against it. Her experience in training, and her experience in racing.
Shirayuki watched Treve's movements seriously, recording them over and over in her mind. Where she turned, the angle of her body, the timing of her acceleration.
During this shared run, Shirayuki did nothing else. She simply followed behind Treve and burned her figure firmly into her memory.
In an international race, even a slight mistake could separate victory from defeat.
"When turning, she keeps about half a body from the rail…"
"Trainer, are you slacking off? Run faster!"
Gold Ship's voice came from ahead.
Chiya raised his head and picked up his pace.
Without realizing it, he had already started thinking through countermeasures and had completely forgotten that he was currently running with them.
Racecourse staff gradually gathered nearby. They watched Chiya and whispered to one another, thinking this was preparation for the exhibition races.
"This won't do, Trainer. You're not suited for a late-chaser style at all. If you ask me, you might as well be a front-runner. That way, even if you lose, people will still say you ran an exciting race!"
Gold Ship slowed down and called out to him.
"A great escape? Are you going to run a great escape, Trainer?" Meisho Doto grew unusually excited.
"I'm a betweener… Forget it. Since I'm going to be racing several times anyway, I might as well demonstrate every running style."
Gold Ship gave a whistle.
During the break, Chiya sat on the grass, panting.
A trainer who could train with uma musume to this extent probably did not exist anywhere else in the world.
"Onii-sama, please drink some water."
Rice Shower held out a water bottle and obediently sat beside him.
"Thanks, Rice."
At this point, he could no longer tell whether he was training the uma musume, or whether the uma musume were training him.
Just as Chiya was replenishing his water, Rice Shower suddenly twitched her nose.
"Onii-sama…"
She looked at him.
"You smell so good."