"Trainer, tell Shirayuki to learn some boundaries. What right does she have to keep butting into matters between you and me?"
The next day, Orfevre lodged her complaint with Fujiwara Chiya in a very offended tone.
Watching Chiya lying on Shirayuki's lap with that blissed-out look on his face had made Orfevre feel like an outsider standing on the edge of the room.
That was supposed to be her spot.
The trainer should have been lying on her.
Orfevre felt as if someone had stolen her place. One moment she had been sitting comfortably in the heroine's seat, and the next, someone had tapped her on the shoulder, shoved her aside, and said, "Your screen time is over. Off you go."
Naturally, Orfevre was furious.
She had slept terribly that night. At one point, she had almost stormed over in the middle of the night to launch a surprise attack on her trainer and vent every last bit of her frustration.
"Shirayuki's position is a little special," Chiya said.
"I know. She's your little sister, right? But even if she is your sister, there are things she shouldn't interfere with."
"Actually, she isn't."
"She isn't what?"
"She isn't my little sister."
"Hah?"
Orfevre's eyebrow twitched.
"Not your little sister? Then could she be… your older sister?"
She covered her mouth.
Hold on.
Did that make Orfevre the junior here?
If that was the case, then every single thing she had done up until now had been horribly rude. If Shirayuki was his older sister, then yes, Orfevre had nothing to say. She could only bow her head and apologize. Shirayuki would have every right to meddle in family matters.
"No. She isn't my older sister either."
"Then what is she?"
Fujiwara Chiya.
Fujiwara Shirayuki.
They had the same surname. They were not brother and sister, nor older sister and younger brother.
So what exactly were they?
"It's a complicated relationship. If I told you now, you'd probably get thrown into chaos, so I'll explain after the race."
"You're keeping secrets from me now? It's just a relationship. Why make it sound so mysterious?"
It was not like Shirayuki could be his childhood friend or anything.
"Because it requires an adjustment period. Shirayuki is… a very special existence to me."
"How special?"
"Without her, there would be no me."
"You two are twins?!"
Orfevre was shocked.
So Shirayuki and Chiya were the same generation?
No, wait. That made no sense. If they were the same generation, then why was one a trainer and the other an uma musume?
"Something like that. Kind of like twins. The details are a little different."
"Then…"
"All right, all right. Any more questions and I might as well tell you directly. The race is coming up soon anyway, so just wait a little longer."
Orfevre puffed out her cheeks at the sight of Chiya's smile.
"You'd better explain everything properly when the time comes. I'm starting to feel like someone's going to steal you away from me."
"You don't need to worry about that. I belong only to myself. I don't belong to anyone else."
"How confident, Trainer. But if someone does manage to lure you away, I am going to be furious."
"That won't happen. That much, I can promise."
"Good."
Orfevre stood up.
"Then I shall take my leave. Gold Ship called me over for training. Conveniently enough, I am rather interested in her as well. That one usually acts like a complete lunatic, but her strength is absolutely nothing to laugh at."
"Got it."
Chiya saw Orfevre off.
After she left, Shirayuki entered the room.
She pulled over a stool and sat beside Chiya.
Working alone was rough. Chiya had to run his brain at double speed just to keep up. Looking over the report Hayakawa Tazuna had sent him, Chiya recorded the growth curves of Rice Shower and the others while Shirayuki handled the calculations.
With the two of them splitting the work, the result was more than one plus one.
Their hearts were in sync. The moment Chiya raised his hand, Shirayuki placed what he needed into it. The instant Shirayuki finished a calculation, Chiya could write down what she had seen directly onto the paper.
What should have taken three hours was finished in one.
This was also why Chiya could train so many uma musume at once and still take care of every little detail.
When it came to work, he was practically superhuman.
Stretching his arms, Chiya looked at Shirayuki beside him. Her hands were sore from all the work, and she looked completely drained.
He reached out, pulled Shirayuki onto his lap, and gently stroked her hair.
Orfevre was a little tall. Rice Shower was a little short.
But Shirayuki was just right.
She fit perfectly in his arms, as if she had been custom-made for him.
Chiya indulged in the softness of the girl in his embrace and breathed in the faint fragrance clinging to her. A person could not smell their own scent. Only when the two of them were together like this could Chiya catch Shirayuki's fragrance.
He brushed aside her pale, delicate hair, exposing the smooth curve of her fair neck. Then he wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her there.
"Mmn…"
A soft little sound slipped from Shirayuki's lips.
Her ears flicked, and she leaned into him with everything she had. As she kissed him and felt his lips against her skin, the exhaustion from earlier melted away like snow under sunlight.
Her arms.
Her cheeks.
Her neck.
After kissing those places, Chiya felt so relaxed it was as if he had fallen into a field of cotton.
"Chiya…"
Shirayuki's head went hazy. She made a tiny sound like a kitten and curled against Chiya's chest. Her tail swayed as she stretched her slender waist, clinging tightly to him.
"Chu…"
It was only a simple kiss, yet the dopamine it sent flooding through them was several times stronger than what either of them felt with anyone else.
In terms of physical compatibility, Shirayuki stood alone.
No one else could compare.
Others were others.
He was himself.
The time Chiya had spent with Orfevre recently had helped him understand his own feelings. Once they returned, he would tell everyone what he truly felt.
For the others, what he felt was affection, trust, and the desire to protect them.
But for himself, it was peace.
It was happiness.
It was love.
Love for Shirayuki, who had changed herself for him.
Love for the Shirayuki he had created.
And love for the self who had given everything without holding back.
Fujiwara Chiya wanted to marry Shirayuki.
He wanted to offer his vow to the girl who had always stayed by his side.
It would not be easy.
There were quite a few girls he had become involved with. They definitely would not be able to accept it right away.
But Chiya believed that marrying himself was the best ending for them, and for him.
"A calamity of romance! This is a calamity of romance, Trainer!"
Chiya remembered what Matikane Fukukitaru had once told him.
"To survive this calamity, you must believe in yourself."
Now that he thought about it, maybe his ending had been decided from the very beginning.
Back when Shirayuki had first appeared, Matikane Fukukitaru had already pointed him toward the answer.
Chiya had simply taken a very, very long detour before finally understanding what those words meant.
"Sorry for making you wait, Shirayuki. Once we go back, let's get married…"
Chiya held her tighter.
Become a father.
Become a mother.
Have their own child.
Shirayuki happily narrowed her eyes.
She was already prepared to marry herself.
Bang!
The door flew open.
An uma musume in a yellow leather jacket strode inside.
Looking at the two of them clinging to each other in panic, both startled and confused, Byerley curled her lips into a grin.
"Yo, Chiya. I came to watch your race."