"Do you want to eat this?"
Takayama Gamu didn't notice Tamamo Cross's inner struggle at all. He gave the carrot a little shake.
"I've got more. If you want some, you can take them—but I haven't actually eaten this carrot myself, so I can't guarantee what it tastes like."
"Come on in."
The smell grew even richer.
Tamamo Cross's nose led her straight to the source—an insulated styrofoam box Takayama Gamu had placed in the corner of the room.
Did Trainer Gamu grow these carrots?
That wasn't here last time…
For horse girls, carrots were as essential as salt. Chairwoman Akikawa Yayoi had even built a medium-sized carrot farm on campus just to provide the students with top-quality carrots.
In the Tracen cafeteria, all those horse-girl-tailored dishes carried a hint of carrot. Takayama Gamu had tried it once—maybe perfect for horse girls, but for an ordinary human like him it was… kind of a weird experience.
The trainer handbook even specifically warned trainers to be careful about their trainees hoarding too many carrots in the dorms, so their weight wouldn't spike before a race.
Right now, the training room was filled with a carrot fragrance humans couldn't even detect. For horse girls, it was like walking into a bakery—sweet, fragrant air everywhere.
"I washed it. Try some."
After rinsing off the dirt, Takayama Gamu handed the carrot to Tamamo Cross.
"Trainer Gamu… aren't you eating any?"
"Raw carrots are too hard. I can't bite them," Gamu shook his head. A horse girl's bite force was probably three times a human's too—eating raw carrots was as easy as crackers for them.
"T-Then I'll eat it…"
Tamamo Cross tasted carefully.
The texture was excellent—crisper than the chairwoman's carrots, and noticeably sweeter. But even with the extra sweetness, it felt clean and refreshing in the mouth, full of juice.
The aroma lingered on her tongue, making her eyes narrow in bliss—then she remembered Takayama Gamu was right in front of her and immediately forced her expression under control.
"Well?" Gamu asked, carefully watching her reaction.
"Do you feel anything special?"
Does wanting to eat another one count?
Tamamo Cross suddenly felt hungry. Even though she'd already eaten dinner, her stomach felt strangely empty—like she wanted to eat more.
"Other than being really delicious… I don't feel anything," she said guiltily.
As for the fact she was suddenly hungry again right after a meal—she definitely wasn't going to say that out loud.
Seeing that Tamamo Cross looked normal aside from slightly rosy cheeks, Takayama Gamu finally relaxed. He pulled all the carrots out of the styrofoam box, washed them, packed them into a bag, and set it beside her.
"When you go back tonight, take these to the dorm and eat them. Eat more—so you can grow."
Tamamo Cross was simply too small. At 140 cm, she looked like a kid. A petite body had certain advantages in a late sprint, but being a little taller would still be better.
That was how Takayama Gamu saw it.
And since Rudolf had mentioned Tamamo Cross had applied for low-income assistance, Gamu suspected her small frame might be tied to poor nutrition.
"Alright—let's continue yesterday's race analysis…"
"Guu…"
Tamamo Cross's stomach made an extremely ill-timed hungry noise.
"Then eat while you watch. Thinking burns energy—you can't do it on an empty stomach." Before the beet-red Tamamo Cross could explain, Takayama Gamu spoke first and placed the bag of washed carrots on her lap.
"Eat."
And so Tamamo Cross nibbled on carrots in tiny, hamster-like bites while listening to Takayama Gamu break down race footage for her.
...
"Trainer Gamu—my wound will be healed tomorrow. I can do normal training then." Carrying the carrots she still hadn't finished, Tamamo Cross lifted her pant leg. On her smooth, straight calf, the scab was already close to falling off.
Horse girls' average physical capacity was triple a human's, and that included recovery. Unless it was something like a fracture, most injuries healed quickly.
"Then I'll see you tomorrow, Tamamo Cross." Takayama Gamu waved goodbye.
"Okay… I should eat a little less," Tamamo Cross thought as she walked back to the dorm, taking small bites from a carrot.
This must be a really expensive variety. Even the chairwoman's carefully selected carrots weren't this good.
She'd eaten so many… it made her feel guilty.
Even though Takayama Gamu had given them to her, the feeling still stuck.
Tamamo Cross's family wasn't well-off. She'd grown up used to limiting how much she ate. Even after enrolling at Central Tracen Academy—where cafeteria food was unlimited—she still only ate a small amount.
But these carrots made her eat more without even realizing it.
It felt like she'd swallowed a whole lot of money…
"Also… why does it feel like someone's been watching me this whole time?"
Hugging the carrots as she entered the dorm building, Tamamo Cross felt as if countless eyes were staring at her.
"It's like I'm being watched by ghosts…"
She hugged the carrots tighter and hurried back to her room.
"Smells so good!"
"Is that the scent of carrots?"
As Tamamo Cross passed down the hallway, doors from several rooms slowly opened—horse-girl ears peeking out.
"Did Tamamo Cross bring that in?"
"Where'd she buy them?"
"Oguri Cap, I—"
Bang.
Tamamo Cross's dorm room door was pushed open.
"There's a really good smell outside."
Oguri Cap had her eyes closed, pouring all her perception into her sense of smell.
Just a minute or two ago, she'd caught a wonderfully delicious carrot scent drifting through the dorm building.
It grew stronger and stronger… until it was right outside her door.
Had a carrot grown legs and run into the dorm?!
That's amazi—no, that's terrifying!
So she opened the door before Tamamo Cross could.
"It's not a carrot with legs," Oguri Cap said in disappointment.
But the next second, she noticed the carrots in Tamamo Cross's arms—radiating a thick, irresistible aroma.
So it wasn't a carrot that grew legs and came to the door…
It was Lil' Tama bringing delicious carrots back?
Light flashed in Oguri Cap's eyes, and her tail nearly started spinning like a propeller.
"Lil' Tama, I want to eat that."
"Only one." Tamamo Cross set the small bag of carrots on the desk, took out one carrot and handed it to Oguri Cap, then locked the rest into the cabinet.
If she didn't lock them up, Oguri Cap would probably sleepwalk at midnight and eat every last carrot.
She felt a little sorry for Oguri Cap, but… Trainer Gamu's gift had to be treasured.
As Tamamo Cross sighed while fastening the second lock, she turned her head and said—
"Remember to wash it fir—"
"I'm digging in!"
She watched, eyes wide, as Oguri Cap swallowed the entire carrot in one bite.
The air suddenly went silent.
Oguri Cap's gaze turned unfocused. Then she clasped her hands together, tilted her head up slightly—
"H-Hey, wait—Oguri Cap, why are you glowing?! That's not right!"
"Why are you crying?! Hey, don't just kneel down all of a sudden—wake up! Wake up!"
After a while, Oguri Cap came back to her senses. She wiped away the drool at the corner of her mouth and said solemnly:
"I have returned from the Carrot Domain, Lil' Tama."
"What even is the Carrot Domain?!" Tamamo Cross snapped.
"Mhm. That was heaven." Oguri Cap wore a deeply serious, nostalgic expression—while drool started sliding down her lip again.
"The world became one gigantic, gigantic carrot. You could eat forever and never finish. Trees were carrots. Rocks were carrots. Carrots jumped into your mouth on their own…"
"That's a hallucination!!"
Tamamo Cross no longer had the strength to complain.
"Can I eat another one?"
"No! These are from Trainer Gamu. If we eat them all, we can't buy more!"
"…I see." Oguri Cap flopped back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling with a rare expression of real distress.
Trainer Gamu gave Lil' Tama carrots.
Trainer Gamu gives carrots to his trainee horse girls.
I'm not Trainer Gamu's trainee, so I don't have carrots…
Oguri Cap's eyes widened—she'd found the key point.
"I want to be Trainer Gamu's trainee horse girl too!"
Oguri Cap sat up and declared with complete seriousness.
-------
My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
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