A few days later, just as Fujiwara Chiya was making the final preparations for the debut races, a figure in green stepped into the room. The moment he saw who it was, he stood up at once to greet her.
"Tazuna-san."
He invited her to sit on the sofa, then took out his treasured gyokuro tea and brewed her a cup.
"I came to see how your preparations are going, Trainer Chiya," Hayakawa Tazuna said, looking at the tea as green foam gathered on the surface.
Where in the world did this child get something this expensive…?
"They're going alright." Fujiwara Chiya smiled. "Right now I'm filling out their registration information. Once I submit that, it'll all be finished."
"I see. Would you like me to help? I happen to have some free time right now."
"No, no, there's no need to trouble yourself, Tazuna-san. I can handle it myself."
"It's fine, Trainer Chiya." Hayakawa Tazuna smiled. "You have the most complicated and varied workload out of everyone. If I help you, things will go much faster, and you'll have more time left to adjust the training plans."
Under her sincere offer, Fujiwara Chiya finally agreed.
Sitting beside him, Hayakawa Tazuna began helping him process the documents.
She's so close…
Fujiwara Chiya lowered his head nervously.
At this distance, all he had to do was shift a little and he would be able to see Hayakawa Tazuna's mature, beautiful face right beside him. Her fair skin carried that soft pink glow almost like a baby's. Honestly, even if she put on a student uniform and sat among the students, it would not feel out of place at all. Hayakawa Tazuna was youthful and beautiful to that extent.
Since it was a single-person desk, the two of them were squeezed together a little. Fujiwara Chiya had no choice but to move slightly inward, but as soon as he did, his leg accidentally brushed against Hayakawa Tazuna's. A soft, springy sensation came through his thigh.
Fujiwara Chiya jerked in surprise. He hurriedly glanced at Hayakawa Tazuna, but she continued filling out the papers as if she had noticed nothing.
Thank goodness.
He quietly let out a breath of relief. Just as he was about to move his leg away, Hayakawa Tazuna suddenly leaned in closer on her own.
The black-stockinged thigh against his leg began to rub lightly. Even through the desk, he could hear the faint rustling of nylon against fabric, and a prickling sensation ran up from his lower leg.
"T-Tazuna-san!?"
"Hmm? What's wrong, Trainer Chiya?"
Hayakawa Tazuna wore the same mature smile as always.
"Um… your leg…"
"My leg? What about it?" Hayakawa Tazuna stopped moving.
"N-Nothing." Seeing the innocent, puzzled look on her face, Fujiwara Chiya answered stiffly.
What was wrong with him? Was it just his problem? Tazuna-san was probably just casually shifting her leg, and he was the one having unhealthy thoughts.
Fujiwara Chiya looked at the black stocking, which faintly revealed the fair line of her thigh underneath, and could not help swallowing.
Chiya, what are you even thinking!?
Tazuna-san is taking her precious time to help you work, and this is what's going through your mind?
Hurry up and finish this properly, then thank her!
Scolding himself internally, Fujiwara Chiya threw himself into filling out the forms.
Watching Fujiwara Chiya suddenly enter full work mode, Hayakawa Tazuna raised a brow slightly.
That reaction was not quite what she had expected.
His self-control was way too strong. Boys were supposed to be a little more impulsive than that.
Hayakawa Tazuna brushed a strand of hair aside.
"Trainer Chiya."
"Hmm?"
"As for the Uma Musume evaluations, it's better to write them in more detail." She placed a form in front of him. "Most trainers write exactly the same things: hardworking, earnest, serious. If you want Central to find any useful information in these evaluations, it would be better to include other aspects too. That way they'll catch the attention of the Central inspectors, increase the girls' visibility in Central, and even help them gain some fans."
"I see… then I'll think about what else to add."
"It's actually very simple, Trainer Chiya." Hayakawa Tazuna leaned in close, as if she were seriously explaining something, and placed a hand lightly against him. "For example, what do they usually do in daily life? What do they like? What do they dislike? Do you understand those things about them?"
She spoke softly by his ear, and her breath brushed into it. The warm current of air invaded the nerves that were already stretched tight with tension. Fujiwara Chiya gave a small shiver and forced his wildly beating heart back under control.
"I understand them fairly well, I think."
"That's good. For someone in the role of an educator, understanding a student's daily habits is very important." In a near-whisper, like she was nibbling the words right beside his ear, Hayakawa Tazuna continued, "By coincidence, I'm also speaking from the standpoint of an educator."
"Tazuna-san must have it much harder. After all, you're helping manage all of Tracen's Uma Musume."
"Trainer Chiya, you misunderstand." Her green eyes looked straight at him. "The standpoint I'm speaking from isn't one of understanding Uma Musume. It's one of understanding trainers."
"Trainers?"
"That's right, Trainer Chiya."
Hayakawa Tazuna smiled gently. At this distance, Fujiwara Chiya could see the shine on her lips and catch the faint fragrance drifting from her body.
"Tazuna-san wants to… understand me?"
Fujiwara Chiya repeated the words back in disbelief.
"After the races are over, I'd like to find some time to sit down and talk with you properly. What do you think?"
"Of course. That's… no problem."
Fujiwara Chiya tugged at his collar as though he could not quite breathe.
"In that case, when the time comes, I hope you'll spare a little of your precious time and give me the chance to understand you better."
With those words, Hayakawa Tazuna withdrew, and finally the two of them were no longer at a distance where their lips nearly might have touched.
Fujiwara Chiya quietly let out a shaky breath. He replayed that conversation in his mind.
A chance to understand me better… Why does that sound almost like being asked out?
From the perspective of the director's secretary, he supposed he really was someone being guided and looked after. But no matter how he thought about it, that conversation was incredibly easy to misunderstand.
Fujiwara Chiya cautiously studied her expression. She seemed strangely happy, almost humming to herself.
Forget it. I'll think about it when she actually invites me.
He returned his attention to the registration forms in front of him, and his eyes landed on Fujiwara Shirayuki's identity form.
Among the items was one for a racing alias, a separate name a Uma Musume could use on the track.
Originally, that system had been introduced to give race names that matched a runner's style more closely. But these days, real names were far more common, so almost no Uma Musume bothered with aliases anymore.
After thinking for a moment, Fujiwara Chiya asked, "Tazuna-san, are Uma Musume still allowed to use aliases?"
"In principle, yes. There's no special restriction. But if an alias is used, Central will keep the real name confidential. Interviews, race coverage, anything official will all use the alias. Even Tracen's own school interviews would be handled that way."
In other words, once an alias was registered, newspapers, race interviews, pre-race and post-race coverage, all of it would refer to the Uma Musume only by that name.
"Which of them are you planning to give an alias to? You'll need the Uma Musume's own consent first."
"I want Shirayuki to use one," Fujiwara Chiya answered.
He did not want Shirayuki to enter the races under her real name.
The reason was simple. That name did not actually exist in Japan. Or rather, the Uma Musume known as Fujiwara Shirayuki did not truly exist at all.
The world had never given her a fully reasonable identity. As someone who had appeared out of nowhere, the fact that Shirayuki had even been accepted into Tracen had already been far beyond anything Fujiwara Chiya expected. Her background and identity were nothing more than something they had improvised on the spot. He had even prepared himself to argue with the director if necessary, asking her not to investigate Shirayuki's origins too deeply.
And yet Akikawa had accepted Shirayuki's enrollment without even questioning it.
Central had done the same. They simply accepted the Tracen documents. If she could enroll, then entering races was no problem too.
So inside the world of racing, Shirayuki's identity was treated as legitimate.
Outside of racing, however, that might not necessarily remain true.
Fujiwara Chiya needed to be careful ahead of time. He did not want too many outsiders learning the name Shirayuki.
Central and Tracen had always handled confidentiality well. There had even been Uma Musume in the past who raced entirely under aliases, and no one ever learned their real names until they retired. Fujiwara Chiya wanted to put one more layer of protection over Shirayuki.
In the alias field, Fujiwara Chiya wrote the name Shirayuki would use on the track:
Snow Dancer