Garden Gale jolted upright.
Her gentle adjustment of Fine Motion's hair ornament froze instantly. She felt exactly like she'd been caught red-handed.
Snapping back to reality, she hastily withdrew her hand and lifted both palms in surrender, forcing a stiff smile. "G-good afternoon, Teio-san."
"Nope, nope~!" Tokai Teio cheerfully corrected her, strolling past and playfully poking Garden Gale's forehead—real skin-on-skin contact, teasingly intimate. "Silly GG-san! It's already past noon, you know~!"
Fine Motion watched curiously, puzzled by the interruption, when Tokai Teio immediately leaned closer with a dazzling, sunshine-bright smile. Direct and energetic as ever, Teio asked bluntly, "So, what are you two doing here?"
For some reason—that innocent question sent a chill down Fine Motion's spine.
But when she paused to think, Teio's question was perfectly normal. It was natural for her to wonder what they'd been up to. The odd feeling was merely intuition, a vague sense something was off, quickly dismissed as Fine Motion cheerfully explained:
"I'm aiming to become a ramen-themed Umamusume Tuber—an UMATuber! Garden Gale-san was kind enough to help me film a video just now."
"Oh, I see~!" Teio's voice rose joyfully, immediately matching Fine Motion's enthusiasm.
The two instantly hit it off, chattering excitedly like a pair of cheerful sparrows. Teio picked up the topic eagerly. "I follow a travel-themed UMATuber—do you know Seaside Wolf?"
"Of course I do!" Fine Motion exclaimed in surprise. She hadn't expected this genius, Teio, to share the same interests. Her tone warmed immediately. "She's super popular! Her videos are great—high-quality content, great editing… Honestly, she's amazing in every way!"
"I know, right?"
Teio seemed unstoppable, promptly sliding into the seat beside Fine Motion. She casually gestured for Fine Motion to scoot further in, leaving room for Garden Gale to sit next to her. Gale, trapped by social etiquette, obediently sat down. She shot a desperate glance at Air Shakur sitting opposite, but Shakur merely returned an indifferent look before resuming her absent-minded daydreaming.
Utterly detached—as if she didn't exist at all.
Garden Gale felt a pang of envy.
Deciding to imitate Shakur's invisibility tactic, she quietly sipped water, lowering her presence to the absolute minimum—
Then...
Garden Gale felt it.
A warm sensation enveloped her other hand, soft and delicate fingers lightly brushing hers. A tingling warmth spread through her skin, like tiny sparks dancing along her nerves.
"Eep—!"
The startled squeak slipped out before she could stop it.
"Exactly! Seaside Wolf's transitions are super creative; you should try something similar!" Teio continued enthusiastically, then paused, turning to Garden Gale with an innocent expression. "Hm? GG-san, what's wrong?"
She's totally playing dumb!
Garden Gale bit her lip, frustration bubbling beneath her polite exterior.
Her gaze shifted downward—to where Tokai Teio, while innocently chatting away with Fine Motion, had quietly captured Garden Gale's hand beneath the table, caressing it teasingly. It was obvious who'd provoked her startled reaction.
No choice but to endure…!
"It's nothing," Garden Gale hurriedly changed the subject.
Yet Teio didn't relent—instead, she gave Garden Gale's hand a playful squeeze at precisely the wrong moment. It wasn't exactly painful, but it sent a surge of inexplicable electricity through her. As a severely anxious Umamusume, Gale had never experienced close physical contact aside from what was necessary for the Selas System.
Sometimes even the slightest touch overwhelmed her—
"Are you sure you're okay?" Fine Motion paused, her concern evident as she looked over.
Garden Gale nodded emphatically. "I'm really fine."
Teio finally let go. Relief flooded Garden Gale for a brief moment—until, to her shock, that mischievous hand immediately settled on her thigh instead!
What kind of weird game is this?!
Teio-san, this is way too strange!
Mortified, Garden Gale mustered all her courage, quickly gripping Teio's wandering hand with both of her own, gently but insistently pushing it away, eyes silently pleading.
It was more begging than refusing.
Teio caught the desperate look in Garden Gale's eyes and pouted slightly.
Without another word, she abruptly stood up, abandoning her teasing demeanor. Flashing a bright, innocent smile, she declared, "I'll handle filming for you, Fine Motion-san! I'm pretty experienced with this sort of thing myself!"
"Really?!" Fine Motion's eyes sparkled.
"Of course~!" Teio confidently accepted.
Just like that—the filming responsibilities shifted hands.
...
With Teio happily occupied filming Fine Motion's ramen debut, Garden Gale was left mercifully alone. Relieved, she returned to sipping her water quietly, fully content to fade into the background. Fine Motion's ramen really was delicious—the broth was so tasty she'd nearly finished it entirely. An impressive effort!
She spaced out, recalling the bizarre moment from earlier...
Garden Gale's cheeks reddened slightly.
Teio really is such a troublesome girl.
Wait—despite all that intimate teasing, hadn't the Selas System's affection bonus triggered at all? Maybe it didn't count as "clingy flirting."Still, the thrill of secretly fooling around like that felt strangely addictive—though it didn't change her conclusion:
Teio-san really is trouble incarnate!
She had no idea her rival's odd behavior was simply jealousy bubbling up.
Garden Gale suddenly remembered something else: back when she'd left Curren Chan earlier by the willow trees near the lake, she'd received a reward from the Selas System, but she hadn't actually checked it yet!
Without hesitation—
Garden Gale opened the Selas System interface and eagerly navigated straight to her unclaimed reward panel.
---
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