After hearing Twin Shine's explanation, Oguri Cap calmed down slightly and began to think.
She reached a conclusion: I knew the Trainer wouldn't just leave without a word. We made a promise. And as long as it's a promise, he would never break it. Just like before, when he said he would come back and reach the summit of racing with me—he really did return.
Oguri recalled the day she had asked her mother if she could run as freely as the Horse Girls on TV and become strong. Her mother had fallen into a brief silence, seemingly contemplating her daughter's future.
At that moment, Fujimaru Ritsuka had told her with absolute certainty: "We will make Oguri the strongest Horse Girl together. You don't need to worry about anything else; just focus on recovering for now. We have a long road ahead of us."
Thinking back on that conversation, a smile naturally touched Oguri's lips—a feeling of warmth and happiness, much like the life she had led until now.
If Twin Shine knew what Oguri was thinking, she would have started complaining: So that's it. No wonder Oguri made that judgment; she's feeling a heavy dose of paternal love from the Trainer. In that case, it's easy to rely on him like a father, but... normally, shouldn't he be an 'older brother' figure?
Having resolved her primary concern, Oguri calmed down significantly and moved on to further logic.
The girl tilted her head, a look of confusion crossing her face. "But, if he's going to continue being our Trainer, wouldn't it make more sense for us to live together? Like we do now."
Oguri couldn't wrap her head around it. If they didn't live together, would they even still be Trainer and Trainee? Clearly not.
Twin Shine wanted to explain further—after all, Ritsuka provided remote guidance for foreign Horse Girls and seemed to be helping former classmates, but that would be a never-ending conversation that would only distract Oguri.
Besides, even if she told Oguri, the girl would likely interpret it in some bizarre way. Her thought process was already "natural" to a fault.
Maybe, Twin Shine thought, it's precisely because Oguri doesn't clutter her mind with all these trivial things that she can fully realize her talent.
Thinking this, Twin Shine felt she needed to work even harder. She stammered out a vague explanation, hoping to end the topic and find another way.
Unexpectedly, Oguri's ears suddenly flopped down, and her entire aura became dejected.
Twin Shine blinked, bewildered. Oguri had been fine just a second ago—excessively fine, if the shattered tile was anything to go by—so why the sudden 180? Nothing had even happened.
Twin Shine asked what was wrong.
Oguri's "art style" seemed to change; she looked shaky and hesitant. "The... the tiles..."
"Ah..." Twin Shine understood immediately. "It's okay, it's just one—"
She turned her head slowly to point at the wall and reassure her, but as she saw the prominent, crumbling crater and the spiderweb of cracks spreading across the wall...
"...Oh." She could only manage a short, stunned syllable.
Now she knew why Oguri looked like she'd swallowed a bitter melon. It wasn't just one tile; it was several. This wasn't something they could just ignore.
Oguri's eyebrows were now slanted in worry, her mouth turned down, and her blue eyes were filled with a sequence of: "This is bad," "I caused trouble," and "What do I do?"
That silver-gray tail hung low, making her look like a guilty raccoon. Like a child caught red-handed after doing something wrong, she muttered, "Trainer will be angry, won't he? Repairs must cost a lot of money... and it'll take time... what should I do?"
The girl was practically at her wit's end.
It had to be said—she had absolutely no concept of money. Even though regional prize money wasn't huge and was only split between the top three, she had already won several races. Replacing a few tiles was a drop in the bucket.
Seeing the girl who had been terrifyingly powerful a second ago now crumbling over a few tiles, Twin Shine's complex emotions were replaced by a mix of laughter and exasperation.
She let out a helpless sigh and rubbed her temples.
"Leave it to me," she said decisively, switching instantly into logistics-support mode. "Oguri, go to the warehouse behind the cafeteria right now and get some tiles and tools. I'll... wait, you probably won't recognize them. I'll go. Oguri, you stay here and clean up the—EEEEK!"
Having made a mistake, Oguri was desperate to make amends. So, while Twin Shine was still hesitating, she took action.
Go to the warehouse? Shine wants to go herself?
Oguri felt that with Twin Shine's small frame, she wouldn't be able to carry much and would have to make several trips. Oguri was strong; she would be fine. She grabbed Twin Shine's arm and bolted—leaving an actual afterimage.
The experience was far less pleasant for Twin Shine. She felt like she had been strapped into a drop-tower ride; her stomach lurched, and she felt a bit nauseous.
However, after so much training, she was no longer the frail little girl she once was. Even aboard the "Oguri Express," she managed to steady herself and endure.
A short while later, they returned with the tiles and the necessary tools.
Twin Shine grabbed a broom and dustpan from the supply closet, clearing away the shards at top speed. She carefully wiped the wall and floor with a damp cloth, making the damage look as much like "natural aging and detachment" as possible.
Then things got even busier. The girl transformed into a mason, carefully prying away the cracked tiles and setting the new ones.
Oguri, meanwhile, jogged back with a "Caution" sign, placing it near the area to perfectly "destroy" the crime scene. This way, if anyone thought the wall looked odd, they could just say the tiles had suddenly fallen off and the reliable Twin Shine had fixed it herself!
Twin Shine thought happily: If the Trainer finds out, he'll just think I'm a capable Horse Girl and like me even more.
Twin Shine: Plan success!
Turning a crisis into an opportunity, making something brilliant out of a disaster—this is what a logistics Horse Girl should do!
Twin Shine wiped away a bead of sweat and stood with her hands on her hips, looking quite proud of herself.
Seeing the problem solved, Oguri also let out a sigh of relief, looking deeply moved. "Shine..."
She instinctively opened her arms for a big hug, but caught herself.
After they had officially started training, Ritsuka had explained the physical differences between humans and Horse Girls, as well as between Horse Girls themselves. While Oguri didn't fully grasp the science, she remembered one thing: Fujimaru Ritsuka was special, so it didn't matter how much she relied on him.
Although this conclusion was a far cry from what Ritsuka had intended... Oguri believed it firmly. Consequently, she never used her "sprint-into-tackle" combo on anyone else. Even with other Horse Girls, she never hugged with full strength.
Granted, it was mostly because she didn't have many friends...
Regardless, before crushing Twin Shine, she remembered the warning and gave her a gentle squeeze instead as a thank-you.
Even so, Twin Shine was startled. For a moment, she thought her secret motives had been discovered and Oguri was about to snap her spine like a dry twig!
"..." Once Oguri sat down obediently, Twin Shine let out a quiet sigh of relief. Regardless, the problem was solved. Now she just needed a reason to retreat and pretend nothing happened.
But at that exact moment, a spark of inspiration flashed through Oguri's mind. She felt like today's events weren't as simple as they appeared.
She knew she wasn't good at handling "complex" human relationships, so she followed Ritsuka's advice: trust her intuition and act on her first reaction. This sometimes made her look like a slow-witted goose, but she was never a fool. Now that she had cooled down, a question naturally emerged.
Why did Twin Shine ask me that question?
"Shine," Oguri said, her blue eyes filled with genuine confusion. "Why did you ask me that? It sounded like the Trainer already has other Horse Girls on the side."
She tilted her head and asked, "Trainer is amazing—so very strong. Maybe even stronger than us. He can help more and more people; isn't that a good thing? Just like how he helps me, you, Norn, and the others."
Oguri felt this was perfectly normal. If Twin Shine was feeling bothered by it, Oguri was willing to try and convince her otherwise. Ultimately, Fujimaru Ritsuka was a good person, and many people would benefit from him. That was a positive thing.
Twin Shine's body stiffened. In her eyes, this was the most terrifying and dangerous question possible. If she didn't handle it right, the current harmony would collapse!
Likely because Oguri cared about Ritsuka so much—to the point where she would unconsciously give her all for him. The pulverized "Tile-kun" was the perfect example. Twin Shine didn't want to see a new victim.
Her brain went into overdrive, her cheeks heating up slightly. Her only thought was: I absolutely cannot let her discover these hidden feelings!
"B-because!" she shouted, trying to grab Oguri's attention.
She forced herself to maintain her most serious expression, adopting the professional tone of a logistics officer. "The Trainer's time and energy are limited! If he's constantly focusing on other Horse Girls, that means the time and energy he can invest in our team—especially in you, Oguri—will decrease! Oguri, you wouldn't want the Trainer to spend all his time looking at other girls..."
Twin Shine trailed off. Not because she forgot her lines or was too embarrassed to continue, but because that terrifying aura was once again radiating from Oguri Cap.
Twin Shine was genuinely worried that Oguri would bolt upright and smash the table into splinters!
The girl trembled. Table-kun, we have to stay strong and survive!
Fortunately, Oguri didn't act impulsively. She stood there blankly, seemingly lost in thought. After a moment, she nodded, appearing to have understood everything. "So, Shine is worried the Trainer's time will be stolen by other things and he won't be able to stay with us. That's why we have to help him."
"Huh?!" Twin Shine thought: Wait, is that what I meant? Is it?
Most importantly, if this continued, knowing Oguri's style, she would definitely go and ask Ritsuka directly. If that happened, Twin Shine would be totally exposed!
They were still just teammates; if she was already monitoring his movements outside the team, Ritsuka would think she was a troublesome, possessive woman, wouldn't he?
It felt like she was going to fail before she even started!
Twin Shine wanted to deny Oguri's theory, but the other girl had already spoken. "We just need to speak clearly with the Trainer."
Twin Shine waved her hands frantically, gesturing with everything she had, and finally managed to talk Oguri out of that "dangerous idea."
Oguri eventually agreed. "You're right. If the Trainer knows we're spending too much time on things unrelated to training, he'll worry. Instead of lessening his workload, we'd become a burden."
Then, Oguri blurted out, "In that case, next time the Trainer goes out, why don't we just follow him and see what he's doing?"
Twin Shine froze. "St-stalk the Trainer?!"
She felt it was far too aggressive. If they were caught... she couldn't even imagine the fallout.
"Mhm," Oguri nodded, as if it were as natural as eating when hungry. "We'll observe from the shadows and find out what he's doing and if there's anything we can do to help. If it's just normal work, then it doesn't matter. If it's something complicated, we can help him together."
She spoke with such sincerity, as if there wasn't a single ulterior motive in her heart. But the fact that her first suggestion was stalking... one could only say this child's way of thinking was truly unique!
Twin Shine's heart hammered against her ribs.
Stalking? That was going too far!
But Oguri's suggestion was like a devil's whisper, perfectly scratching that itch of uncontrollable curiosity and concern hidden deep within her.
She, too, wanted to know what Fujimaru Ritsuka had been doing all these days.
Looking at Oguri's eyes—bright with pure, eager anticipation—a battle raged within Twin Shine between her sense of guilt and her hidden expectations.
Ultimately, the latter won by a narrow margin.
"...Fine," Twin Shine said, her expression hardening as she gave her instructions. "But we must be extremely careful. We cannot let the Trainer discover us! And the main goal must be 'understanding the Trainer's workload to provide better support'!"
She tried to wrap the absurd plan in a cloak of legitimacy.
"And we have to consider what to do if we are caught. I have an idea for that."
Perhaps it was because she had finally let go of her inhibitions, but Twin Shine felt a surge of inspiration. She thought of several plausible excuses.
She couldn't help but think: Everything is coming to me so smoothly... wait, am I actually a bad girl?!
But to find out the truth about Fujimaru Ritsuka, she felt she had no other choice!
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Musume: Oguri Cap Grand Order (119 Chapters – Ongoing)
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