"I see. So something like that happened too."
Inside the lab, Chiya told Agnes Tachyon about what had happened recently. Across from him, she sat with her legs crossed, sipping black tea.
Occasionally, unexpected situations like this did happen.
Of course, that was not the main thing Chiya wanted to talk about.
Ever since Hayakawa Tazuna had discovered his secret, Shirayuki's identity had become blurred by one layer. From time to time, he found himself unable to tell which body he was currently using.
"You want to reinforce your awareness of your own identity again, then?"
Agnes Tachyon understood why her trainer had come to her. She took out that ring. As long as he wore it for a while longer, the state between the two of them could be stabilized again.
However, Agnes Tachyon did not immediately hand it over.
Instead, she asked,
"Guinea Pig-kun, you still haven't given me your answer to that question. Do you want to become two separate individuals from Shirayuki and live different lives? Or do you intend to regard Shirayuki as an existence equal to yourself, and bear the responsibility of your relationship together?"
Fujiwara Chiya found himself at a loss for words.
"If you leave things as they are, the difference between you and Shirayuki will only continue to grow. It may even develop into a situation where you can no longer control Shirayuki's body. Eventually, you'll become nothing more than a spectator who can only feel what she feels. From my experiments during this period, I've confirmed that the separation between you two is growing increasingly severe. Even after removing the ring, it hasn't stopped. If this continues, you will completely become a person with two minds, unable to affect each other."
Hearing those words, Chiya's gaze wavered.
"I… and Shirayuki…"
"Guinea Pig-kun, are you afraid?" Agnes Tachyon asked.
Afraid that his secret would be discovered.
Afraid of not knowing how others would look at him.
Afraid that he would no longer know who he was, and therefore be unable to live normally.
If he were not afraid, then there would have been no need for him to deliberately come to her.
And if that truly was the case, then as his Uma Musume, Agnes Tachyon had to give him one piece of advice.
"Guinea Pig-kun, your way of thinking is far too one-sided."
"What do you mean…?"
"You believe that you must either be Chiya or Shirayuki. That you can only occupy one identity."
Agnes Tachyon lowered her legs and looked at him seriously.
"You don't want to accept the fact that your identity is different from others. Even if something utterly absurd happens to you, you still want to live an ordinary life. To put it bluntly, you're simply running away from your own uniqueness. You're trying your best to act like a normal person."
"But Guinea Pig-kun, what's wrong with that?"
Agnes Tachyon asked in return.
"You don't need to demand that you do everything the same way as other people. Shirayuki is Shirayuki. Chiya is Chiya. You are different from others. So what if you sometimes confuse the two identities? The things you want to do, the things you need to do—aren't they all born from your own original purpose?"
Fujiwara Chiya could not say anything.
"Guinea Pig-kun, you've already done wonderfully. You have lived with two bodies until now without any real obstacles, and you've even allowed Shirayuki to achieve rather excellent results. That alone is something very much worthy of praise."
Those dull, dark-red eyes completely captured Chiya's attention.
Agnes Tachyon's words reached deep into his heart.
"You don't need to force yourself to change anything. Don't ignore or hide what makes you special for the sake of so-called 'normality.' Living like that is far too exhausting, Guinea Pig-kun. It isn't something shameful that must be hidden from sight. Rather, it should be an ability worth boasting about. Don't let Shirayuki become your burden."
Agnes Tachyon stood up, brewed another cup of tea, and placed it in front of Fujiwara Chiya.
The man looked down at the reddish-brown tea, countless thoughts filling his mind.
He lifted the cup and took a sip.
Then, he remembered what had happened with Kiryuin last night.
If it had been Shirayuki, she would never have thought that way.
She would never have called Kiryuin "Aoi."
There was no need to force himself to change.
No need to be so fixated on who he really was.
He only had to do what he wanted to do, just like this.
He could let go of the restrictions brought about by identity.
That was the answer Agnes Tachyon had given him.
A cloying sweetness spread through the man's mouth.
Once again, it was basically syrup with a bit of tea added to it.
Unexpectedly, however, it did not feel unpleasant.
"Guinea Pig-kun, do you still want this ring?"
The man hesitated for a few moments.
In the end, he said,
"No. That thing… once I put it on, I won't be able to take it off."
"Hehe. I thought you'd say that."
Agnes Tachyon casually placed the ring back into its box.
Perhaps it would never be needed again.
After Chiya left, the curtain in the middle of the lab suddenly opened.
A black-haired girl walked out from behind it.
When Agnes Tachyon saw her, she raised a hand in greeting.
"Ya, Cafe. You heard all that?"
"You two were… too loud."
Manhattan Cafe furrowed her delicate brows slightly.
She had no intention of letting Agnes Tachyon accuse her of eavesdropping.
"Make sure you don't tell anyone, all right? About Guinea Pig-kun."
"I already knew."
"Hm? How did you know?"
"The color of their souls…"
Manhattan Cafe spoke in her unique, slow manner.
"Trainer Chiya and Shirayuki-san… the color of their souls is the same. Even with twins, the souls of two people would still be different. That is why… those two are different from others. They are existences… who possess the same soul."
It was a line that Agnes Tachyon could not understand at all.
Compared to Guinea Pig-kun, she was more interested in researching Cafe.
Of course, that was only a thought.
If she actually tried to do that, the lab would probably catch fire or explode for some inexplicable reason.
In the past, Agnes Tachyon had once touched Manhattan Cafe's belongings without permission. As a result, her computer had suddenly started emitting black smoke without warning and died on the spot.
And it had not happened only once or twice.
Cafe's room seemed to possess some kind of special power, one that even Agnes Tachyon, who believed obsessively in science, could only stay away from.
In any case, she did not dare make Cafe angry now.
Otherwise, she would definitely suffer terrible misfortune.
"To think you had already discovered it. Have you ever considered using Guinea Pig-kun's weakness to threaten him into doing something? I believe he would absolutely obey you, hahaha."
Agnes Tachyon joked.
Manhattan Cafe looked at her with disgust.
However, she did not argue with Agnes Tachyon. Instead, she clasped her hands behind her back and spoke softly.
"It is not only Trainer Chiya. Everyone has secrets they do not want others to know, to a greater or lesser extent. But… if those secrets are discovered one day, that may not necessarily be a bad thing."
Her clear golden eyes looked at Agnes Tachyon before her.
"Occasionally, you do say something proper… Of course, only occasionally."
After saying that, Cafe returned to her own room like a phantom.
Agnes Tachyon blinked, her head full of question marks as she took a sip of black tea.
What exactly did Cafe come here for?
Suddenly, a certain unrealistic thought appeared in Agnes Tachyon's mind.
Could it be that what she said just now… was praise for me?
"Shirayuki, I'm very sorry!"
During afternoon training, Kiryuin Aoi came to find Shirayuki and lowered her head to her.
"I heard from Meek that you were the one who took me back after I got drunk. I truly caused you trouble! As the trainer, I should have been the one watching over everyone, but in the end, I was the one who got completely drunk."
"It's all right. A trainer doesn't have to always play the role of guardian. On a rare happy day like that, it would be a little too stiff not to let loose at least a little."
"R-right… I suppose so…"
Kiryuin Aoi paused, then asked,
"By the way, Shirayuki, I didn't say anything strange yesterday, did I?"
"Strange, as in?"
"You know, something rather selfish or embarrassing. If I didn't, then that's good. Ahaha… See you next time, Shirayuki."
After waving her hand, Kiryuin Aoi hurriedly ran away.
Shirayuki watched her retreating back, then turned and returned to Chiya's side.
At that moment, when she looked at the man's face, she no longer felt any sense of strangeness.
It was as if she were looking into a mirror.
And Chiya felt the same way.
"Hehe…"
"Haha."
The two of them laughed at the same time.
Perhaps one day in the future, his secret would be completely exposed.
But Chiya was already prepared to accept everything.
He was Chiya.
He was Shirayuki.
He was a trainer.
And he was also an Uma Musume.