When Orfevre opened the door, she found quite a few people already gathered inside.
Rice Shower and Mejiro Dober from the same team. Agnes Tachyon. The secretary, Tazuna Hayakawa. Grass Wonder and Seiun Sky, who were often together with Shirayuki.
Including Orfevre herself, that made seven.
What was this?
Orfevre had no idea why Trainer had suddenly called her here. Judging by how nervous he had looked, she had honestly assumed he was frustrated again.
"Orfevre, over here."
Mejiro Dober patted the sofa. Orfevre walked over and sat down.
Agnes Tachyon was brewing black tea in the kitchen. Rice Shower was setting out desserts. Tazuna Hayakawa was tidying the bed. Everyone else was acting completely at home, like this place belonged to them.
This was supposed to be Trainer's room, right?
Were they seriously okay with being this casual?
Orfevre felt a little irritated.
She was allowed to make herself comfortable in Trainer's room because her position was special.
What right did the others have to be so open?
I am the master here. You lot are the guests!
Of course, irritation was one thing. Orfevre did not actually say any of it out loud. She simply sat there and waited for Trainer to return.
About ten minutes later, Fujiwara Chiya entered the room.
Shirayuki was beside him.
The moment the two stepped inside, everyone greeted them.
"Sorry. A coworker stopped me just now."
"It's fine."
"Trainer, why did you call us here?" Seiun Sky asked from the sofa, giggling. "This isn't a party, right?"
Her expression was relaxed, but there was a rare trace of tension in her eyes.
She had more or less guessed what he was about to say.
"Yeah. Not exactly. There are a few very important things I need to tell everyone."
"Sit down first, Chiya. Take a breath."
Tazuna Hayakawa guided Fujiwara Chiya to the sofa. Agnes Tachyon handed him a cup of freshly brewed black tea. Rice Shower set out the sweets.
Meanwhile, Grass Wonder pulled Shirayuki over to her side. She had no idea why she had been called here.
"I'll explain everything in a moment."
Shirayuki held Grass Wonder's hand and gently reassured the bewildered girl.
After finishing his tea, Fujiwara Chiya looked around at the gathered uma musume.
He had not called everyone here.
Only the people closest to him.
Of course, he would tell the others one by one afterward, people like Director Akikawa and Gold Ship included. But first, Fujiwara Chiya wanted to share his thoughts with this group.
"The reason I called you all here is because there are a few things I want to tell you."
Fujiwara Chiya clasped his hands together.
He had given speeches in front of Central executives. He had sung and danced under the eyes of hundreds of thousands of spectators. He had even competed on the world stage.
And yet, not once had he ever been this nervous.
The gazes of just seven uma musume pressed down on him so hard he could barely breathe.
But he had come this far.
All he could do now was face it head-on.
The bonds he had formed with everyone, the relationships he had tied with his own hands, their final consequences were his to bear.
Fujiwara Chiya had no intention of continuing to hide the truth about himself and Shirayuki.
He would face his feelings.
"First… it's about me and Shirayuki. The truth is…"
He swallowed.
"Shirayuki and I are the same person."
"Uh-huh…"
"Mm."
They barely reacted.
After all, they already knew.
Orfevre and Grass Wonder, however, had never heard this before.
The two of them furrowed their brows.
"What does that mean, Trainer?" Orfevre asked.
Everyone around her was so calm that it made her feel like she was on the wrong channel entirely.
"I mean it literally. Around two years ago, I… became Shirayuki."
And after that, Fujiwara Chiya had continued living as two different identities.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Orfevre clutched her head. "Are you making up stories for me? You expect me to believe that the one who has been fighting me this whole time was Trainer from the very beginning?"
"That's right."
"Yuki-chan?"
Grass Wonder tightened her grip on Shirayuki's hand.
"Sorry, Grass. I've been lying to you all this time. 'Shirayuki' is just the name of this body. Ever since I transferred in, I was actually—"
"Me," Fujiwara Chiya said.
"What kind of joke are you playing on me?!" Orfevre snapped. "How could I possibly accept something so ridiculous?! The Empress is Trainer? That is utter fantasy!"
"The world is full of mysterious things, you know," Seiun Sky said, casually lacing her fingers behind her head. She looked very pleased with herself as one of the people in the know. "I was pretty shocked when I first heard, too."
"Rice loves Onii-sama and Onee-sama both the same!"
"Well, everyone reacts like that at first," Mejiro Dober said, gently comforting the completely overwhelmed Orfevre. "I only got used to it later, too."
"So… is Shirayuki Trainer Chiya? Or is Trainer Chiya… Shirayuki?" Grass Wonder asked blankly.
"At school, one may be a teacher. At home, one may be a husband. So which is it, then? Is the teacher my husband, or is my husband my teacher?"
Agnes Tachyon took a sip of black tea and continued smoothly.
"In the end, it is merely two identities belonging to the same person."
She set down her cup.
"Guinea pig-kun is guinea pig-kun. Shirayuki is Shirayuki. Guinea pig-kun is Shirayuki, and Shirayuki is also guinea pig-kun. They are both one person and two people. Think of it as one person playing two roles, then splitting those roles into separate forms."
It was a simple, clear explanation.
"So… from the very beginning, the person who was with me was Trainer Chiya?" Grass Wonder asked, her expression complicated.
"To be precise, it was guinea pig-kun accompanying you while using the identity of Shirayuki. I believe that is different from simply being guinea pig-kun. Guinea pig-kun is a trainer, while Shirayuki is an uma musume. Just as a teacher and a husband are not the same role. They can be the same person, but the difference in identity forces him to act in ways appropriate to each position."
Grass Wonder more or less understood.
But accepting it right away was another matter.
Her best friend.
The person she loved most.
Was actually another identity of Trainer Chiya.
Honestly, Grass Wonder had never interacted with Chiya all that much. They had only exchanged a few words now and then at Shirayuki's celebration parties. He would sit off to the side, drinking alone, quietly watching over Shirayuki and the other uma musume.
Her impression of him had never gone beyond "an outstanding trainer."
If there was anything special about him, it was that he was Shirayuki's cousin.
But now, it seemed that "cousin" had merely been a cover to hide his relationship with Shirayuki.
In truth, Shirayuki was him.
Grass Wonder's mind spun into a storm.
She was fairly good at accepting strange things. But even she had limits. This much information slamming into her all at once was simply too much.
Looking around, the others did not seem shaken at all.
They had probably known for a long time.
Whether they had figured it out on their own or Shirayuki had told them, Grass Wonder did not know.
But she felt a little disappointed.
To think she had only learned something this important from Shirayuki this late.
Orfevre was in the same boat as Grass Wonder.
In fact, Orfevre was still deep in a daze. It felt like Trainer had gathered a whole group of people just to prank her, and everyone was acting far too convincingly.
"That's the first thing. There's one more."
Fujiwara Chiya folded his hands together and propped them under his chin.
His heart was pounding so hard it felt like it might burst out of his chest.
After taking several deep breaths, he said:
"I'm planning to marry Shirayuki at the beginning of next year, on New Year's Day."
The people who had just been enthusiastically discussing the whole matter of Shirayuki and Chiya suddenly went silent.
Then—
""Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh?!""
Including Orfevre and Grass Wonder, even the people who already knew the truth all screamed at once.