Because Shirayuki had been ruled by her lower half, something quite serious had happened between her and Treve.
To be precise, it was Chiya who had been ruled. Shirayuki's excitement came entirely from Chiya. She had a female body, so she would not have the same physical reaction, but the male body would.
When she had been pressing down on that light, soft little foreign uma musume, Fujiwara Chiya's heart had nearly leapt out of his chest, and Shirayuki had been swept up in that excitement too.
But if she thought about it carefully, it was not really anything major.
She had touched Treve's face, blown into her ear, and Treve had kissed her on the cheek.
They had not gone any further.
Of course, if that phone had not rung, things might have been different.
Something was wrong…
Nine parts out of ten, something was very wrong.
Right now, she should have been focused wholeheartedly on defeating Treve. So why had she suddenly started getting close to her?
"Becoming friends through rivalry" was not supposed to be used like this. Besides, she had not even truly fought Treve yet. Their matches so far had only been in training.
What had originally been an honest agreement to reveal their true strength to each other had somehow turned into showing each other their bodies instead.
She had touched Treve all over!
Was that reasonable?
Fujiwara Chiya fell into deep confusion.
"How is the race preparation going?"
At the regular check-in time, Hayakawa Tazuna called.
"It's going all right."
"Have you investigated your opponent?"
"I have."
"How is Treve?"
"She's very smooth."
"Huh?"
"No, I mean her quality is very good. She's an opponent who can't be underestimated. I'm thinking about how to deal with her."
"I see… that's good. On my side, we received an exchange student application from Paris Tracen. They seem very interested in us and want to begin an exchange partnership."
"That's a good thing, isn't it?"
"It is. Central even sent congratulations. They're preparing to give you an honorary trainer commendation. Mei said the reason Paris became interested in Japan was entirely because of you. Chiya, on behalf of Tracen, thank you."
"Thank me…? We don't need to say something that distant, do we?"
Whether it was Akikawa Yayoi or Hayakawa Tazuna, both of them had deep ties with him.
He could even say, "Tracen is my home."
"Public and private matters should be kept separate. The formalities still matter. As for me, I can reward you separately when you come back. A reward from me alone, as praise for your hard work."
"Then I'll look forward to it."
"Mm. If anything happens, remember to contact me right away. I'll always be here."
"Okay."
"Who are you talking to?"
"My god, Gold Ship!"
The sudden voice behind him scared Fujiwara Chiya so badly that he almost dropped his phone.
"What's with that reaction? You look like a man flirting with his mistress and getting caught by his legal wife. Are you afraid of me or something?"
"No, why are you here?"
Fujiwara Chiya had deliberately found a quiet, remote place to make the call, yet Gold Ship had still somehow found him.
"I'm taking secret photos," Gold Ship said, holding a camera.
"Who are you secretly photographing?"
"You."
Fujiwara Chiya's brain failed to process that for a moment.
"What?"
"Trainer, you're hiding some secret you don't want anyone to find out, right? Today, I, Gold Ship, will dig it all out. Right now, Rice is going to your room, Shirayuki is going to your room, and soon I'll be going to your room too. I'm going to see exactly what you're up to. Of course, if you're making little foals, I can step away for a bit. But if you're doing anything else, I'm going in."
"What kind of illness are you having this time?"
"Isn't this your fault, Trainer? Everyone trusts you so much, yet you're hiding secrets from us."
"What exactly am I hiding?"
"Don't you know that better than anyone?"
He did indeed have secrets he had not revealed, things known only by a few people.
"Some things can't be said immediately. They need time and preparation."
"Nonsense. They don't need preparation at all! My Gold Ship secrets never need preparation."
"Can your secrets really compare to mine?"
"Why not? My biggest secret is this: Trainer, I actually kind of like you."
Hearing that, Fujiwara Chiya froze in place.
"Hahaha! See? I told you, there's no need for preparation at all!"
Gold Ship laughed a few times, then backed away with her camera in hand.
"Just you wait, Trainer. I'll dig out your secret and announce it to the world. You'll be completely exposed in front of us, with nowhere to hide… nowhere to hide… to hide… hide…"
While providing her own echo effect, Gold Ship slipped into the bushes, leaving only the camera lens poking out.
Fujiwara Chiya slapped his face.
That sentence just now had been spoken entirely in Gold Ship's joking tone, but the more she said it like that, the more Fujiwara Chiya felt she had not been lying.
"Gold Ship, it's time to train. Stop peeping from there. This doesn't even count as peeping. You're basically watching in broad daylight," Fujiwara Chiya said toward the bush.
The lens outside wobbled twice.
"Come on, Gold Ship. If you want to watch, watch from beside me. Don't hide in a bush full of bugs."
There was still no response.
Fujiwara Chiya walked over directly and pushed the shrubbery aside. Then he saw a plastic piece that looked like a camera lens hanging on the leaves.
Gold Ship herself was long gone.
"Hahaha! Trainer, you fell for it!"
Gold Ship's voice came from above.
Fujiwara Chiya raised his head and saw Gold Ship crouching on a tree branch, one hand holding the trunk, the other holding her camera.
"From now on, you shall live in fear of being controlled by the great Gold Ship! Everything about you will be exposed before my eyes!"
Fujiwara Chiya stared blankly with his mouth open. Facing Gold Ship's threat, he said:
"White…"
A branch came crashing down from above.
…
"Shirayuki, let's run together."
During training, Treve came over. She wore a bright smile and spoke with great enthusiasm.
Treve could now speak fairly fluent Japanese. According to her friends, Treve studied Japanese until two in the morning, practised pronunciation after waking up, and even memorised Japanese vocabulary during breaks between classes.
Her goal was to communicate with Shirayuki as soon as possible without relying on a translator.
Shirayuki also hoped Treve would learn Japanese quickly. She had discovered that translation apps were sometimes inaccurate.
Shirayuki had clearly wanted to look at Treve's training plan, but Treve had handed her the socks she had just taken off.
She had wanted to go out with Treve, but Treve had picked her up in her arms.
In a princess carry, no less.
Shirayuki had been completely stunned. What exactly had the translation app turned her words into?
And this was after she had paid for a premium membership and calibration. It should not have been that bad, right?
The most outrageous time was when Shirayuki wanted to invite Treve out shopping, but Treve took her to an empty place, lifted her shirt, and showed Shirayuki her stomach.
Was that really a translation error?
Shirayuki was already considering switching apps. And this one had the highest reviews too. Were all the positive reviews fake?
If Treve could learn Japanese properly, it would help both of them a lot.
While running together, Treve said, "Shirayuki, my next race is the Prix Vermeille."