In Fujiwara Chiya's eyes, Hayakawa Tazuna was the ideal woman. Gentle, thoughtful, mature, beautiful, responsible. In short, she possessed every quality he could think of when praising a woman. He had developed a crush on her from his very first day at Tracen.
For someone like that to confess to him should have been a once-in-three-lifetimes kind of blessing. It even made Fujiwara Chiya wonder whether he had saved the world in a past life.
And yet, just as he was about to accept her feelings, he hesitated.
He thought of that night, and of Rice Shower clutching him tightly as she called him Onii-sama.
Yes, he had told Rice Shower to wait for him, to wait until everything was settled before he gave her an answer. If he agreed to go out with Hayakawa Tazuna now, would that not mean he had broken the promise he made to Rice Shower?
At the same time, he could not find a clean reason to reject Hayakawa Tazuna either. Looking into her tender green eyes, Fujiwara Chiya could almost see a peaceful, happy future with her, a life anyone would call ideal.
Just as he was caught in that hesitation, Hayakawa Tazuna brought the date-like outing to an end with a single sentence.
"Trainer Chiya, you don't have to answer me right now. Tell me once you've made up your mind. Until then, I'll wait."
She had given him time.
Honestly, even the hardest final questions on Central's exams had never felt this difficult. Sitting in his office, Fujiwara Chiya rubbed his face. He had barely slept for several days, and there were now shadows under his eyes. Even Katsumura Yota had started telling him not to stay up every night doing work, and that slacking off at the office once in a while was perfectly fine.
People's joys and sorrows truly were not the same.
"Trainer."
A brown-haired Uma Musume with star-shaped pupils stepped into the room.
"Apparently my race schedule is out now, Trainer."
"This is your race schedule." Fujiwara Chiya handed the notice over.
"Mhm, I see, I see. I've already prayed to Shiraoki-sama, and that day is a day of great luck. Fortune is on my side."
"By the way, Fukukitaru." Fujiwara Chiya called out just as she was about to leave.
"What is it, Trainer?"
"This whole luck-in-love thing… can you tell fortunes about that too?"
At those words, Matikanefukukitaru immediately slapped a hand to her chest.
"Of course! Whether it's romance luck or career luck, I can read them all! Don't tell me…" She leaned in with a smile. "Trainer's love life is finally blooming?"
"Whether it's blooming or not… I'm currently stuck in a kind of half-blooming state."
"Then let Fukukitaru read your fortune!" With that, she pulled a crystal ball from behind her back.
"Where did you even take that out from!?"
"As a fortune-teller, carrying a crystal ball at all times is perfectly normal."
"That is absolutely not normal. It's bigger than your fist. Where were you hiding it?"
"Trainer, don't casually pry into a girl's secrets." She placed the crystal ball on the desk. "Alright, let the divination begin."
Seeing the almost magical way she handled herself, Fujiwara Chiya swallowed hard. Maybe Fukukitaru really does know some kind of occult technique.
Following her instructions, Fujiwara Chiya placed his hand on the crystal ball. Matikanefukukitaru began chanting under her breath as if feeling out something unseen. Her hands moved slowly above the crystal ball, and her starry pupils began to shine gold.
"Ooooo… I can see it…"
"See what?"
"It's bad."
"Bad? Don't tell me I already got dumped before even starting?"
"It's worse than that…" Matikanefukukitaru stared intensely into the crystal ball. Fujiwara Chiya stared too, but he could not see anything at all.
If she was acting, then she had to be at the level of a top actress. She genuinely looked like she was seeing something inside it.
After two or three minutes, Matikanefukukitaru wiped away a bead of sweat.
"Great misfortune!"
"What?"
"Great misfortune, Trainer!" she declared seriously. "Your romance luck is great misfortune!"
"Explain that in a way a normal person can understand."
"You're going to face unprecedented trouble. It may even endanger your life. Trainer, for you, romance is no longer merely romance. It has become a kind of escape."
"Hah!?"
What was that even supposed to mean? Why would wanting a girlfriend somehow turn into a life-threatening event? Was he trying to fall in love with the Grim Reaper?
"Trainer, I advise you to leave Tracen right now and run as far away as possible. Otherwise, it'll be too late. No… actually, it already is too late. At this point, Trainer, all you can do is pray for your own survival. This problem has no perfect solution."
"Fukukitaru, don't scare me like that. Let me tell you right now, I only believe fortunes when they're lucky ones."
"I swear to Shiraoki-sama, every word I've said is true."
Seeing how serious she looked, Fujiwara Chiya tugged at his collar, which suddenly felt too tight.
"So in your view, I'm doomed?"
"I can't say for sure yet. But if you mishandle this, Trainer… then yes, it's possible people may never see you again."
A chill ran down Fujiwara Chiya's back. For the first time, he began to suspect that all those stories his seniors used to tell about trainers disappearing were not just meant to scare him. Maybe I really am the next one.
"Fukukitaru, do you have any advice? I'm stuck between two impossible choices."
"Although Trainer is Fukukitaru's destined person, and although Fukukitaru truly wants to help, there's not much I can do in a matter like this. Still, Shiraoki-sama gave a divine message: 'When there is no road ahead, search for yourself.' Trainer, do you understand what that means?"
"How could I possibly understand that!?"
"Divine messages can only be understood by the one they're meant for. I don't really understand it either. Trainer, I can only help you this much."
At that point, Fujiwara Chiya could only let her leave in resignation.
He truly could not understand how one confession had somehow turned into something possibly life-threatening. Was Fukukitaru exaggerating? For now, Fujiwara Chiya decided that over the next few days, he would observe very carefully.
In the Director's office, Hayakawa Tazuna stood before Akikawa Yayoi.
"Tazuna."
"Yes?"
"Did you confess to Chiya?"
Without even trying to soften it, Akikawa Yayoi asked the question directly.
"I did." Hayakawa Tazuna answered calmly. "How did you know, Director Akikawa?"
"I saw the two of you go to the courtyard. And when Chiya came back, his expression looked strange. I also heard him muttering your name."
"You guessed it just from that?"
"How I figured it out doesn't matter." Akikawa Yayoi tightened her grip on her fan. "What matters is something else. Did he accept?"
The moment she asked that question, Hayakawa Tazuna's expression shifted.
Her gentle smile did not disappear, but something underneath it sharpened. Just standing in front of her, Akikawa Yayoi could feel a frightening pressure, like something that could tear a person apart.
"He hesitated."
"He hesitated?" Akikawa Yayoi gripped her fan even tighter, forcing herself to endure the pressure.
"When I told him I wanted us to be together, Chiya hesitated. Strange, isn't it, Director Akikawa? From the very first day he came to Tracen, his gaze was always on me. I've spent all this time becoming the very image of the perfect woman in his eyes. So why, when I confessed, did he look troubled? Why didn't he accept me immediately?"
Each word from Hayakawa Tazuna seemed to make the air itself heavier. Akikawa Yayoi felt as though an enormous weight had been dropped on her chest, making it hard to breathe.
"I know why, of course. It's because of that little black cat. That mischievous little cat, sneaking in when the owner isn't looking, nibbling away at what belongs in the house, acting spoiled because she knows how adored she is. And I was foolish enough to let it continue, because I believed that no matter how cute a cat might be, it could never take a human's place."
She smiled, and the sight of it sent a cold chill through Akikawa Yayoi.
"But I was wrong. Chiya's eyes have already been led astray. He can no longer clearly see what's right in front of him. So I'll have to correct that. I need to guide his thoughts back toward me. Even if I have to be forceful about it."
"Forceful?" Akikawa Yayoi's voice sharpened. "You're not seriously saying you'd corner him like that, are you!?"
"If it truly came to that, then yes. I might have no other choice."
"You've lost your mind! You can't force Chiya!"
"Force?" Hayakawa Tazuna opened her eyes fully, and her green gaze glimmered with a dim light. "Director Akikawa, have you forgotten what my trainer once said? He once asked if, when this child grew up, I would marry him. At the time, I accepted that so naturally. Chiya and I were acknowledged long ago."
"Tazuna, you were six back then. And Trainer only said that casually."
"I used to think so too. But I saw it. When I ran, Chiya's eyes were always on me. The look of devotion and affection in his gaze never wavered. Even without our trainer's words, I would still have fallen for him. If not for my acceleration into adulthood, I could have stayed by his side the whole time."
At the mention of that transformation, Akikawa Yayoi's body tensed.
She knew exactly what Tazuna meant.
The phenomenon that rapidly transformed a young Uma Musume's body into a mature one had come for Hayakawa Tazuna earlier than anyone else, and it had lasted far longer too. A girl who could have dominated the racing world had stepped away instead, and now that transformation had long since ended. Both Tazuna and Chiya now stood as adults, with no difference in appearance left to separate them.
Akikawa Yayoi's feelings were deeply complicated. Once Hayakawa Tazuna decided on something, there was almost no stopping her. After all, when Akikawa Yayoi had first met her, Tazuna's temper had been far more explosive than the polished composure she wore now.
Only when it came to Chiya did Hayakawa Tazuna display a terrifying amount of patience.
"Don't worry, Director Akikawa. My main goal right now is simply to correct his way of thinking. If I'd pressed him more strongly that day, he might have accepted me. But then a thorn would have remained in his heart. He would have kept thinking about that little black cat. I don't want Chiya's heart occupied by anyone else. I want him to place me first. Always."
The perfect, alluring smile returned to Hayakawa Tazuna's face.
She plans to take both his heart and his mind, Akikawa Yayoi realized.
"You… can't go too far. If you do, I'll tell Trainer."
"My trainer once said Chiya could be stubborn and unwilling to listen, so it was alright to be a little rough with him if necessary."
"That's not what he meant."
"I know that," Hayakawa Tazuna said with a soft laugh. "But that doesn't stop me from interpreting it that way. Well then, I've explained everything clearly to you, Director. Unless there's something else, please allow me to take my leave."
Hayakawa Tazuna exited the room.
Left behind, Akikawa Yayoi sat heavily in her chair, breathing in great gulps. Her back was drenched in sweat.
She had endured that terrifying pressure the entire time.
With strength like that, why doesn't she go win the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe herself? If Tazuna entered, Central wouldn't need to do half the things it does now.
Akikawa Yayoi pulled out a handkerchief and wiped away her cold sweat.
More than anything else, the problem right now was Chiya. She was deeply afraid that if Chiya lost his head and rejected Hayakawa Tazuna outright, Tracen might end up one trainer short.
Though in truth, part of the blame lay with Hayakawa Tazuna herself. If she had not decided the timing was not yet right and kept waiting, the two of them might already have been together by now.
A whole year. An entire year.
If she had moved a little faster, they might even have had a family by now.
And now, with someone else having gotten emotionally close first, Tazuna had been forced to confess ahead of schedule, which had only pushed Chiya into a hopeless dilemma.
Akikawa Yayoi let out a long sigh. At this point, all she could do was try to restrain Tazuna from going too far. If she didn't, then given Tazuna's nature, there was a real chance she would stop caring about Chiya's choice entirely.
Please, Three Goddesses, don't let it turn into that. If it does, I won't be able to face my trainer at all.
Leaning back weakly in her chair, Akikawa Yayoi waited until her breathing calmed, then moved aside a row of books and took out a photograph.
As she touched it, a memory of an old conversation came back to her.
"Yayoi, this child is waving at you."
"Really? Come here, little one. Let me hold you."
"Haha, he went right over."
"Trainer, can he talk yet?"
"Not yet. He only babbles."
"Then should I teach him a few words?"
"Sure. Though he can't even say Papa or Mama yet."
"If he says my name first, doesn't that mean he's closer to me than to his parents?"
"You think big sister beats father and mother? I don't believe it."
"Come on, little one, say Yayoi-onee-chan. Watch my mouth. Ya-yo-i onee-chan."
"Yah… Yay…"
"Trainer! He said one syllable!"
"This child… Chiya, say it again. Yayoi-onee-chan."
"Ah… Ya… nee…"
"Trainer! He said it!"
Akikawa Yayoi held the little boy in her arms.
The very first words Fujiwara Chiya learned in this world were not Papa and not Mama.
They were Yaya-nee.
What a precious child.
Akikawa Yayoi stroked the photograph with her fingertips.
As long as Chiya chose willingly, matters of love were one thing. But if anyone tried to force him into anything—
Akikawa Yayoi would never allow it.
She would protect that child.
She would hide him somewhere no one could ever find.