Chapter 234: Trainer, Your Pajamas?
Filled with the nervous excitement of finally confessing what was on her mind, Kitasan Black rushed out of her dorm room like a whirlwind.
Her hurried footsteps struck the wooden floor and stairs in a rapid series of drumbeats. Seeing her like this, quite a few Umamusume chatting in the hallway looked surprised.
When Kitasan Black dashed past the dorm supervisor's duty room, Daiwa Scarlet—who was sorting through thesis documents—was startled by the commotion outside and looked up.
The fountain pen in her hand nearly slipped as she glanced outside in shock and quickly stepped to the doorway.
"Hey—Kita-chan! It's so late, where are you going?"
Already dozens of meters away, Kitasan Black heard the familiar voice and hurriedly skidded to a stop.
Turning around, she saw Daiwa Scarlet leaning against the doorframe with a puzzled look. Scratching her head, she gave a silly grin.
"Um… Daiwa-senpai, I've got something urgent to talk to my trainer about. I'm heading out!"
Before she even finished speaking, she spun around and dashed forward again, charging onto the campus path illuminated by streetlights.
Startled, Daiwa Scarlet suddenly remembered something and quickly raised her voice toward the direction Kitasan Black had disappeared.
"Don't forget the dorm curfew! If you come back too late, I'll lock you out! Be careful!"
The only response was the fading sound of footsteps.
"…That girl is always so full of energy…"
Shaking her head with a smile, Daiwa Scarlet turned back, about to return to the duty room and continue organizing her research papers. But suddenly she noticed a sneaky figure coming down the stairwell.
It was clearly Satono Diamond, but she wasn't wearing the usual Tracen Academy uniform or training clothes.
Instead, she was dressed in a black trench coat, black pants, and black flat shoes—who knows where she got them from.
"Diamond… are you going out this late too?"
Daiwa Scarlet looked puzzled as she took a few steps toward Satono Diamond, then glanced in the direction Kitasan Black had gone.
"And Kitasan as well… what's going on with you two?"
Satono Diamond had already been cautiously looking around. Being suddenly called out made her body stiffen.
Her eyes flickered nervously as she stammered,
"Um… I'm going to give something to my sister—no, I mean, Kita-chan just reminded me that I forgot to give something to my sister. Haha… I'm really careless, haha…"
"Something? But that outfit…"
Daiwa Scarlet looked her up and down at the all-black clothing.
"Ah—ah… this…"
A drop of cold sweat slid down Satono Diamond's temple. Thinking quickly, she raised a finger and hurriedly explained,
"I was originally just trying on clothes! I also felt like this outfit doesn't really suit me, but when I remembered I had to deliver something to my sister, I forgot to change back… haha…"
"I see…"
Daiwa Scarlet nodded half-convinced. Though she was still a bit suspicious, she remembered that Satono Crown's dorm wasn't far from here, so she nodded.
"Alright. Go quickly and come back soon. Don't stay out too late."
"Oh right—if you run into Kita-chan, remind her not to come back too late either. And tell her to go to bed early tonight."
"Tomorrow morning I happen to have some free time, and we're doing paired training together."
"I'll also send her a text message later to remind her."
"Mm-hmm! I'll tell Kita-chan!"
Seeing that Daiwa Scarlet had no intention of stopping her, Satono Diamond nodded repeatedly like a pecking chicken and rushed out of the dorm building with an apologetic smile.
Not knowing exactly where Kitasan Black had gone, Satono Diamond simply ran along a path for a while based on instinct.
Feeling that Daiwa Scarlet probably wouldn't follow, she finally let out a sigh of relief. While pulling out her phone to send a message to Satono Crown, she looked around cautiously.
Satono Diamond happened to run into a few classmates who were returning late. She stepped forward and asked each of them one by one. Her eyes rolled thoughtfully, and soon a slightly mischievous smile appeared on her face.
…
Meanwhile, on the other side, Kitasan Black ran excitedly along the familiar route. Before long, she arrived in front of a familiar apartment door.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Trainer? Are you asleep… Oh right, I probably should've called first…"
After knocking, Kitasan Black realized her oversight and hurriedly pulled out her phone.
Before she could dial the number she knew by heart, the door opened.
She instinctively looked up and saw her Trainer standing there with a puzzled expression that quickly turned to surprise. Kitasan Black put away her phone and scratched her head apologetically with a smile.
"Ahaha~ Trainer, you really aren't asleep. Coming to bother you this late is really—"
She stopped mid-sentence.
Her gaze kept moving over her Trainer as she looked him up and down.
Makoto was wearing a set of fleece pajamas.
The base color of the pajamas was black. However, the soft fluffy collar, along with the decorative lines on the cuffs and hem, were golden yellow.
Different from both the base color and the decorative trim, the waist belt of the pajamas was red and white, looking very much like the rope knots used at festival celebrations.
The color scheme looked extremely familiar to Kitasan Black.
In an instant, she thought of her own Signature Racewear.
Her eyes widened completely. The apology that had been on the tip of her tongue seemed to be blown away by the wind and vanished without a trace.
Her attention was completely drawn to the pajamas her Trainer was wearing, and images of herself racing across the track unconsciously appeared in her mind.
Those familiar colors strangely overlapped with the scene before her.
"T-Trainer… your pajamas…"
She stammered, her voice filled with surprise and disbelief as her finger unconsciously pointed at her Trainer's clothes.
"How come they look like my Signature Racewear—"
Halfway through the sentence she suddenly stopped. Her cheeks instantly flushed bright red from an inexplicable mix of excitement and embarrassment, like a fully ripened tomato.
Makoto froze for a moment and looked down at the pajamas he was wearing, a trace of awkwardness flashing through his eyes.
When he opened the door earlier, he had already recognized Kitasan Black's voice.
At the time he had only been puzzled about why this girl had come so late, so he opened the door without thinking much about it.
Only now did he realize that after the earlier mishap in the kitchen, he had quickly decided to change his usual habits of living alone and buy a set of pajamas so misunderstandings wouldn't happen again.
Coincidentally, after the Kikuka Sho, one of the projects that Ono Trading Company had been discussing with various investors and sponsors involved pajamas, and they had asked him for reference opinions.
At the time he hadn't thought too much about it. Especially when he saw that one of the design drafts combined elements of Kitasan Black's Signature Racewear with pajamas quite nicely, he agreed to produce some samples first to try them out.
The set he was wearing right now was exactly one of those samples—he had just received it today.
He hadn't expected that not long after changing into it—just after realizing how comfortable it was to wear—Kitasan Black would show up.
She… doesn't think I had this custom-made just for her, does she?
Well, I did suggest it, but it's not like that…
Feeling a little flustered, Makoto averted his gaze and coughed lightly.
"Um, Kitasan… don't misunderstand. I actually… don't have any strange hobbies, really…"
"This outfit… is actually a product from a company. It's merchandise released in collaboration with your Signature Racewear…"
"The one I'm wearing is just a sample, so it's not like I specially ordered it or anything. Please don't misunderstand…"
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Tn: I updated the story daily, but if you want to see more chapter of this story ahead of time, please go to my Patreon.
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