In truth, Rice Shower had long known about her Onii-sama's relationships with other uma musume.
But Rice Shower had never said anything.
Every time Fujiwara Chiya came close to her, she would always smile and silently enjoy the time she could spend together with him.
She was that kind of adorable little girl. Even if she occasionally acted on impulse, she was still a good child.
"Affection is not something one person gives unilaterally. Only when two people support each other can they go further. Trainer, relying unconditionally on past goodwill can dig out something extremely terrifying hidden in the heart. Uma musume are simple children, and precisely because they are simple, they can become frighteningly intense when it comes to feelings."
"What are you talking about now?"
"I'm just giving you a reminder. Pay attention. If you take someone's affection for granted, you'll have to pay the price for your actions."
Darley smiled.
Fujiwara Chiya narrowed his eyes.
"I understand that, of course."
"As expected of Trainer. It has been a long time since I last saw someone as courageous as you. I hope you can become a master of time management and take care of every side properly. The last person who failed to manage it well had even their grave dug up."
"Why does it sound like I'm going to die…"
"Don't think like that. Caution keeps the ship sailing for ten thousand years. Besides, I quite like Trainer. If something happens to you, I'll be very troubled."
"I'll take that as concern."
Fujiwara Chiya snorted.
Darley had probably noticed his relationships with the uma musume long ago. She had simply kept some things to herself. Since she always followed him around, she would more or less notice the strange relationships between him and the uma musume.
Other trainers maintained a certain distance from their uma musume, and physical contact rarely happened.
Things like massage were usually only joked about verbally. If a trainer truly wanted to massage an uma musume, very few would agree. Not only would they refuse, they would also look at the trainer with considerable wariness.
So a trainer like Fujiwara Chiya, who could massage his uma musume's feet on the training grounds, was an oddity among oddities.
Unless affection had broken through the heavens, no uma musume would allow him to do something so bold.
Because of this, Fujiwara Chiya was often teased by his colleagues.
"You're not raising uma musume. You're clearly raising wives."
Forget it. He should think about Rice Shower's situation first.
Even if Rice Shower knew about his relationships with others, what happened yesterday would definitely have hurt her.
Since Fujiwara Chiya had already decided to walk this road to the end, he would not leave Rice Shower alone.
Taking out his phone, Fujiwara Chiya called Rice Shower.
…
"Onii… sama…"
The curtains were drawn in the room.
Soft, uneven breathing slipped from Rice Shower's lips as she curled up in the corner between the bed and the wall.
Recently, Fujiwara Chiya had been busy preparing for the race and had rarely accompanied her.
Rice Shower understood.
That heavy workload often kept Fujiwara Chiya working late into the night before he could return.
Even so, Rice Shower treasured the little time she still had with Onii-sama. But the more she enjoyed it, the more lonely she became.
The moment Fujiwara Chiya took his hand away from her head, Rice Shower immediately felt as if a piece of her body had gone empty.
And after Fujiwara Chiya left her, he would turn and go beside another uma musume.
That loneliness corroded Rice Shower's heart even more.
Her Onii-sama was very outstanding. Many people liked him.
Rice Shower knew that.
She liked Onii-sama just like everyone else did. In fact, she had even taken something precious from him first.
As more and more uma musume gathered around him, Rice Shower also understood that she could not always occupy the most important place in Onii-sama's heart.
But as long as her Onii-sama still liked her, Rice Shower would be satisfied.
Even so, even this small wish was becoming harder and harder to realize.
As Shirayuki's races became more intense, Fujiwara Chiya spent more and more time on others. Aside from training, Rice Shower rarely had any time alone with Onii-sama.
Rice Shower missed the old days.
Back then, she could stay beside Onii-sama every day. They went shopping, bought things, ate snacks. Just thinking about it made Rice Shower so happy she could not stop smiling.
Holding that feeling in her heart, Rice Shower came to Fujiwara Chiya's room.
For certain reasons, he had moved to the Director's dorm, leaving this room empty.
Rice Shower lay on the bed and breathed in Fujiwara Chiya's scent from the bedding.
That scent allowed Rice Shower to imagine that the one holding her was Onii-sama.
This method gave Rice Shower a small trace of satisfaction in her loneliness, and that hollow feeling disappeared a little. Afterward, whenever she had time, Rice Shower would come here. She would find his clothes, the sheets, the blanket, and quietly hold them, breathing in the scent inside as she imagined him beside her.
But yesterday, when Rice Shower came here again, she heard sounds from inside the room.
At first, Rice Shower thought Fujiwara Chiya had returned.
Just as she happily wanted to go in, she heard another person's voice.
It was Mejiro Dober's voice.
In that instant, Rice Shower felt as if she had been struck by lightning.
That familiar tone made Rice Shower understand what was happening inside the room.
She had known it long ago.
The one who liked Onii-sama was not only her.
Those people's feelings were no weaker than hers.
So something like this was only natural.
Even so, Rice Shower still ran away.
Knowing and hearing were two completely different things.
That night, Rice Shower tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Her mind was filled with Fujiwara Chiya's figure.
She remembered that night with Onii-sama.
A night that had belonged only to the two of them.
"Rice… loves Onii-sama the most…"
She looked through the photos she had taken with Fujiwara Chiya on her phone and bit the corner of her blanket. Her hair clung to her damp forehead.
At that moment, her phone rang.
Rice Shower froze.
She looked at the caller notification on the screen.
"Onii… sama…?"
It was Onii-sama calling!
It had been so long since she last heard his voice like this.
She hurriedly wiped her fingers and answered the call.
"Hello? Rice?"
"Yes, Onii-sama!"
She called out happily.
"Are you in the dorm?"
"Mm. Rice is in the dorm."
"Um… do you have time recently?"
"I do! Rice always has time!"
"I feel like after the race, I haven't gone out alone with Rice much. If you're okay with it, do you want to go out together? Just the two of us. There are some things I want to say to Rice."
"Of course! Rice also has something she wants to say to Onii-sama."
"Then I'll come call you when the time comes."
"Yes! Rice will wait for Onii-sama."
After hanging up, Rice Shower hugged her phone tightly to her chest.
Just when her longing for Onii-sama had reached its peak, he had called her.
Perhaps this was fate.
She had not expected Onii-sama to invite her out again!
Rice Shower was extremely happy. She wanted to go find him immediately.
But before that—
She had to wash the sheets first.