The reason Kitahara was so eager to get away from the training grounds wasn't because he'd sensed some kind of danger.
He just couldn't eat any more chocolate.
The girls before these ones had all been from his team, and Kitahara had wanted to be fair and not let any of them feel like he was treating them differently.
So aside from the ones who had explicitly told him not to eat it—like Tamamo Cross—he'd basically followed Tokai Teio's example from the start: ask first, then eat it on the spot and give his thoughts on it. At this point, even his breath smelled like chocolate. Forget five more pieces—even one was enough to make him want to refuse.
So the moment Narita Brian finished speaking, Kitahara immediately seized the chance to slip out of the encirclement.
He had no idea why Narita Brian had suddenly changed her tune, or why she was so resistant to letting him follow, but for the sake of his health, he shamelessly stuck to her anyway and went with her to see Rudolf.
Of course, before leaving, even though there was no tasting segment this time, Kitahara still accepted the chocolates from the other five girls and carefully put them away in his bag, which at least made their expressions look a little less awful.
Then, after collecting the chocolates, it didn't take long for Kitahara, following Narita Brian, to find Rudolf, who was patrolling by the roadside together with Air Groove.
Once Rudolf saw Kitahara arrive, she exchanged a few words with Air Groove, then sent her off to patrol with Narita Brian, leaving only herself and Kitahara where they stood.
"Good morning, President Rudolf."
Kitahara greeted her, then asked,
"What did you need me for?"
Rudolf didn't waste time.
"You know about the Truth Serum, yes?"
Kitahara nodded.
"I do. Tachyon told me about it yesterday, and I already notified the Chairwoman so she could warn all the Trainers to be on guard."
"Simply telling them to be on guard is nowhere near enough."
Rudolf sighed, then turned her gaze toward the road, where Trainers and their Tantou moved back and forth in an atmosphere that could only be called bizarre.
"To be honest with you, this situation may be more serious than any incident we've dealt with before."
"According to the reports I received this morning, it's not just that Truth Serum was mixed into the chocolate. Quite a few Umamusume also inhaled some of it during the chocolate-making process, and the effects are still active even now... and many of them haven't even realized it themselves."
"Uh..."
Hearing that, Kitahara had no idea what expression he was supposed to make.
It was definitely bad news, and on top of an already awful situation where Truth Serum chocolates were everywhere, it was like throwing fuel on the fire. But unexpectedly, hearing it didn't stir much of anything inside him.
How to put it...
Under normal circumstances, hearing something like this would have made him tense up immediately, contact the Chairwoman, and start thinking of countermeasures.
But right now, it felt like a terminal cancer patient being diagnosed with heart disease on top of everything else. Things were already bad enough that making them worse somehow didn't feel like it changed much.
"So then, President Rudolf, what exactly did you call me here to do?"
"It's simple. In order to maintain order on campus and prevent a serious incident from breaking out, I plan to patrol the academy all day today and do everything I can to keep the situation under control."
That sounded perfectly reasonable, and Kitahara didn't think there was anything wrong with it, but...
"Then why did you call me here?"
He looked genuinely baffled.
If she wanted to patrol, then fine—what was he doing here?
Faced with Kitahara's question, Rudolf remained as composed as ever and explained calmly,
"I need an assistant."
"You know this already, Trainer Kitahara. As Student Council President, I need to maintain a certain image in front of the students at all times, so there are some things that aren't convenient for me to do. But you, Trainer Kitahara—not only do you have considerable standing among the Umamusume, your personal ability is also highly reliable. So I'd like to ask you to carry out today's patrol with me..."
"I see..."
After listening to her explanation, Kitahara nodded and fell into thought.
He didn't particularly enjoy getting dragged into this kind of mess, but this whole situation had been caused by Agnes Tachyon, and he was her Trainer.
Strictly speaking, he didn't bear any responsibility for the incident at all, and he hadn't done anything wrong.
But it was still a mess caused by one of his own kids.
Even if it had nothing to do with him, if he could help, then as the adult here, he didn't mind helping clean up his child's mess.
And then, after the cleanup was done, he could go back and beat the hell out of her for it.
"Fine."
Having reached that conclusion, Kitahara nodded.
"But the Chairwoman seems to have something for me this afternoon, so I can probably only patrol with you until the lunch break ends..."
"That will be enough."
Rudolf wasn't in a hurry. So many people were already keeping an eye on Kitahara that the fact she'd managed to secure even this much time with him was enough.
Besides, on patrol, she would be the one deciding where they went. Time was tight, yes, but as long as she could lead Kitahara to certain designated places, then whatever little maneuvers she wanted to pull would be effortless...
But just as Rudolf was thinking that, a voice suddenly spoke up beside her.
"In that case, if you're patrolling, why not take me along too?"
At the sound of the voice, Rudolf turned—and saw Hayakawa slowly stepping out of the shadows with a gentle smile on her face.
The Green Devil...
Rudolf's eyes shifted slightly at Hayakawa's sudden appearance. She was just about to say something when another voice sounded from the other side.
"I was wondering why I couldn't find you at the training grounds. So you were here."
With both hands in her pockets, Sirius Symboli strode over with her usual brazen swagger. Her gaze moved between Kitahara and Rudolf before she said,
"Not that I'm thrilled about patrolling with Her Majesty the Emperor, but since the situation's this serious, I guess I can compromise a little and go with you."
Serious situation? Compromise?
Who was she trying to fool?
Not only Symboli Rudolf—even Hayakawa beside her picked up on something from Sirius's attitude. Her gaze moved from Sirius to Kitahara, then back to Rudolf, and a thoughtful look crossed her face.
And since the fact that Hayakawa had feelings for Kitahara was basically an open secret by now, neither Sirius nor Rudolf needed to guess at her motives. The three of them began quietly sizing each other up, and the atmosphere gradually grew heavier.
But at that very moment, standing in the middle of this increasingly Heavy Track-like atmosphere, Kitahara looked completely at ease.
If anything, he seemed to be in an even better mood than before.
The more people, the better!
Leaving aside how having more people on patrol would help keep the campus situation under control, just looking at it from his end, the larger the patrol team got, the less likely it was that he personally would have to do anything. The difficulty of slacking off would drop like a rock. No matter how he thought about it, this was good news...
Maybe it was because he was in such a good mood, or maybe these three really were just that good at hiding it, but in any case, Kitahara failed to notice the strange atmosphere around them at all, and cheerfully set off on patrol with the three of them.
...
Some time later.
Because the other two had joined and created a kind of balance, Kitahara managed to patrol safely all the way until lunchtime.
And as for how effective the patrol had been—it wasn't merely not useless.
It had been far more effective than anyone expected.
Originally, while Rudolf had invited Kitahara over partly to help stabilize the situation on campus, she hadn't actually expected it to have that great an effect.
After all, if just walking around on patrol had been enough to scare those fillies into behaving, then Hayakawa wouldn't have worked herself half to death and collected injuries all over the place.
Rudolf would have been satisfied if it had only served as a deterrent—enough to keep the girls from going too far.
But now...
Feeling the terrifying Heavy Track aura radiating from the three Umamusume surrounding Kitahara, the girls who had already been a little far gone were scared sober on the spot.
Some were so badly frightened they froze where they stood, and in the end had to be dragged away by their own Trainers once those men came back to their senses.
There were certainly quite a few girls in the academy harboring feelings for their Trainers, and among them were some whose thoughts ran so deep they would look downright dangerous to any ordinary person.
But in the face of the extravagant lineup formed by the Symboli sisters and the Green Devil, forget ordinary Umamusume who merely had feelings—even the dangerous species worthy of making it onto Kitahara's list turned meek as sheep before that team, careful even with the way they breathed.
Yet while everyone else could see this with perfect clarity—and had even formed a bizarre vacuum zone around the patrol team as they tried to avoid them—
The person standing right in the middle of that vacuum zone didn't notice a thing.
Even after the patrol ended, when he looked at the pile of messages Trainers had sent him—things like "You saved our lives," "You sacrificed yourself to feed the tiger," "We'll remember your sacrifice," and "We'll never forget what you've done for us; when we get the chance, we'll burn paper offerings for you"—he still didn't suspect a thing.
He just wondered what kind of nonsense those idiots were spouting this time.
With that confusion lingering in the back of his mind, Kitahara ate lunch, rested for a bit as usual, and then, remembering that Hayakawa had said the Chairwoman wanted him for something that afternoon, headed straight to the Chairwoman's office once he was done.
"Chairwoman, Hayakawa-san told me you wanted something from me this afternoon. Is there some work that needs handling?"
Kitahara got straight to the point, making Yayoi Akikawa look up in confusion. Even the cat on her hat seemed baffled.
Work? With him?
When had she ever said that?
But it didn't take Akikawa long to understand that this must have been an excuse Hayakawa had made up to stop certain Umamusume from luring him away, so she simply played along.
"Correct! I was just wondering whether I should call and remind you again, but you got here so fast..."
After a pause, Akikawa continued,
"Outrageous! I called you here, Trainer Kitahara, because I wanted to discuss those attacks against you that have been appearing online recently, as well as the countermeasures we should take afterward..."
Kitahara blinked.
"But didn't we just talk about that the day before yesterday? Has something new happened?"
At that question, Yayoi Akikawa's expression stiffened.
The truth was, she'd never intended to bring Kitahara in to work on Valentine's Day in the first place. She had only grabbed the first excuse she could think of, and only after hearing his response did she remember that yes, they really had already talked about that, so naturally there wasn't any new information.
"Slip of the tongue! Yes, we did discuss that before. I called you here this time for something else—such as the situation in the academy today..."
"I already patrolled with the President this morning. I'm not sure why, but the situation didn't seem as bad as expected. The moment those kids saw us, they all behaved themselves, admitted fault, and quieted down. And I'm pretty sure I already reported that to you too. Your side showed it as read..."
"...Indeed! I did receive your message. You and Rudolf did a wonderful job. But there's something else I wanted to use this chance to talk to you about, such as... that matter I asked you about before."
"You mean the body development issue? I'm pretty sure I told you last night that I've already got some ideas on my end, and I even sent you the rough outline. Then you yourself said it was too complicated and you couldn't understand it, and that you only wanted the final result..."
He paused. Looking at Akikawa in front of him, Kitahara's expression gradually turned strange.
"Um, Chairwoman... you don't actually have anything you need from me, do you? You're just making up excuses on the spot to string me along, aren't you?"
Hearing that, Akikawa's little face flushed red. With a flick of her fan, she hid her face behind it and spoke in a slightly guilty voice.
"...Ridiculous! I am the Chairwoman. How could I possibly do something so tasteless?!"
"...Really?"
Looking at the word "Crap" written on the fan she was using to hide her face, Kitahara thought it over and decided he should at least preserve a little dignity for his superior.
For reasons he didn't understand, the words on Akikawa's fan changed to reflect her actual thoughts. When she was calm, she could control it as she pleased, but once her emotions got worked up, her inner thoughts had a habit of leaking out.
Now that he had confirmed Akikawa really was just dragging him here for no reason, Kitahara still didn't leave right away, partly to save his boss some face. He stayed a little longer before finally asking to excuse himself.
"Chairwoman, if this isn't especially urgent, I still have some things I need to do this afternoon, so I won't impose any longer."
It wasn't that Kitahara didn't want to give his superior face. The problem was that he knew about Tamamo Cross's financial situation, and he knew how important a major discount sale was to that girl.
Normally, if the Chairwoman wanted to fool around, he wouldn't have minded staying with her a bit longer.
But under these circumstances, that clearly wasn't an option.
Faced with Kitahara's request to leave, Akikawa's expression behind the fan also grew increasingly conflicted.
To be honest, she really did want to keep Kitahara in the Chairwoman's office. Forget their personal friendship—her chances of going through a second round of physical development might now very well rest in his hands. If she could, she truly did want to help him out a little.
The problem was that, on such short notice, she genuinely couldn't think of any way to keep him here. And even if she did manage it, she wasn't sure she could protect him. She might even make others suspicious, or cause them to misunderstand and think she planned to enter the fray herself, which would only make the whole mess even worse...
Forget it.
"Then go take care of your business first."
After turning it over again and again in her mind, Akikawa ultimately chose to let him go, watching as Kitahara left the Chairwoman's office.
Of course, before he left, as a matter of professional courtesy, Akikawa also gave Kitahara a piece of chocolate.
And whether that piece was giri or honmei...
Honestly, Akikawa hadn't paid attention. She had just handed out chocolate to the people around her—three pieces in total. The first two had gone to Hayakawa and the acting Chairwoman, and the last one ended up in Kitahara's hands.
Meanwhile, after leaving the Chairwoman's office, Kitahara prepared to head back to the training grounds and find Tamamo Cross so he could help her shop at the big discount sale.
But not long after leaving the office, while he was on his way to the training grounds, a familiar figure suddenly appeared in front of him and made him stop.
"Grass?"
Kitahara looked at Grass Wonder in surprise.
"What are you doing out here? Aren't you training?"
"...I had something come up."
For some reason, Grass Wonder looked a little gloomy. Her ears drooped limply, and only the tail behind her kept trying to perk up, only to be ruthlessly suppressed by sheer force of will each time.
Something came up...
Looking at the dejected Grass Wonder in front of him, Kitahara thought for a moment and decided to deal with her situation first before going to find Tamamo Cross.
The big discount sales usually didn't start until evening anyway.
"Can you tell me what happened?"
Grass Wonder pretended to hesitate for a moment, then nodded.
"There are too many people here. I'd be a little embarrassed to say it."
"Then let's go somewhere quieter."
With that, Kitahara led Grass Wonder to a secluded corner nearby.
And then, after they sat down, just as Kitahara was about to ask what had happened, something suddenly landed in his lap.
"Grass, you..."
"Special Week has been with Suzuka the whole time."
Sitting in Kitahara's lap, Grass Wonder wrapped both arms around one of his and murmured softly,
"The whole time. From morning to night."
On that point, she wasn't lying. Aside from the moment they gave Kitahara chocolate, Special Week and Silence Suzuka really had been glued together.
"...I see."
And hearing Grass Wonder say that, Kitahara—who had already mentally placed her in the role of a lovesick best friend—naturally interpreted it as the lament of a losing heroine.
Originally, remembering how Grass Wonder had acted toward Special Week that morning, he had wanted to lecture her a little and tell her that acting like that was never going to make Special Week like her.
But looking at the listless way Grass Wonder sat in his lap, Kitahara fell silent for a moment and ultimately chose not to lecture her after all. Instead, he reached out and started rubbing the tail that had somehow wound itself around him.
A moment later.
While Kitahara was still thinking about what he ought to say to her, Grass Wonder suddenly spoke again from his lap.
"Kitahara-san... can you let me be a little selfish?"
Her voice was soft, her posture lowered, and paired with that wronged, aggrieved look on her face, it made Kitahara's heart ache for her. His guard dropped to almost nothing.
"Mm, go ahead and be selfish. Whether you want to cry or make a scene, as long as it helps you let out what you're feeling, then whatever you need is fi—"
His words stopped short.
Because before he could finish, Grass Wonder had already lifted her head, used Umamusume strength to push him down against the chair beneath him, and pressed her lips to his.
And this time, the kiss was nothing like the first, when she had been awkward and restrained. Her tongue wound around his with fluid ease, and even her body pressed tightly against him, rising and falling with the rhythm of their entanglement, laying bare every sensation that should have been there and every sensation that shouldn't.
Grass Wonder knew this was wrong. She knew this was absolutely not the way a Yamato Nadeshiko ought to behave.
But the more clearly she understood that, the stronger her shame became—and the stronger her shame became, the more intensely and frequently she rubbed herself against him.
Especially after she noticed a certain reaction from Kitahara, her face reddened even more, and her body began to squirm slightly. Her hands climbed up to the ones he had raised to stop her, gently pried apart his fingers, and interlocked with them.
A long while later.
When the long tangle between them finally came to an end, Grass Wonder lifted her flushed face, her eyes seeming to ripple with moisture.
"Grass..."
Kitahara had just opened his mouth when one finger pressed to his lips.
Grass Wonder looked at him with a smile. With her other hand, she caught hold of the tie at the front of her clothes and gave it a light tug. The jacket that had been fastened snugly around her loosened and fell open, spilling apart like her hair.
"Kitahara-san, just let me be selfish this once."
She sat on top of him with her head lowered, the strands of her hair brushing over Kitahara's face, her tail behind her affectionately rubbing against his legs.
Then, as the words left her lips, one of her hands settled on the buttons of Kitahara's shirt. Undoing them one by one, she slowly lowered her head, and the looseness at the front of her clothes gradually drooped further.
She knew this was wrong. She knew this was not how a Yamato Nadeshiko should behave.
But she also knew that she could no longer resist this sort of thing.
If anything, she was already addicted to it.
And she had not the slightest intention of regretting it or turning back.
"Kitahara-san, I..."
Her face was right in front of his, their breaths twining together, warm and lingering. Now that everything was in place, Grass Wonder no longer intended to hide it.
But just then—right as she was about to say something—
"Grass Wonder!"
Along with that furious roar, an enormous force slammed into Grass Wonder's side. Not only did it cut her off, it sent her flying bodily off Kitahara. She hit the ground, rolled several times, and only then came to a stop.
In the next second, Kitahara came back to himself and looked up—
And saw Special Week standing beside him, staring fixedly at Grass Wonder in the distance.
And he also saw the unmasked brutality and madness in her eyes.
---
T/N: FIGHT???????? MORTAL COMBAT?! also i do want him to go with tamamo cross to shop...
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