"How does it look, Rice?"
Fujiwara Chiya handed her the newly revised training plan. "I made some changes to the way we trained before. It should fit your physical condition better now."
Rice Shower carefully looked over the schedule written on it, then praised him with a bright smile. "It's wonderful, Onii-sama!"
Chiya had the feeling that even if he handed Rice Shower a piece of elementary school homework, she would still say, "It's wonderful." Of course, hearing it did make Fujiwara Chiya rather happy, but what he needed was not unconditional praise like that. Good was good, and bad was bad. When it came to training, there could be no carelessness.
"Let's try it for a few days first. If there's anything wrong, make sure you tell me. This is important, Rice."
Seeing Fujiwara Chiya's serious expression, Rice Shower nodded. "Yes! Rice will definitely tell Onii-sama her true thoughts."
After finishing with Rice Shower, Fujiwara Chiya called the others to his office one after another and gave each of them a new training schedule. Inside the room, Mejiro Dober looked at the training contents, which had been completely overturned and remade, and could not help asking, "Trainer, why did you suddenly make such major changes to the training plans?"
"In the past, I focused too much on stamina training. But actually, spreading the training content across different areas and replacing simple rest with balanced physical conditioning can produce better results."
"I see." After flipping through the plan several times, Mejiro Dober could not help letting out a sigh of admiration. "It feels like Trainer is also constantly improving himself for our sake."
"Well… If an Uma Musume would win a race no matter which trainer she had, and would never win a race she couldn't win no matter which trainer she had, then there would be no value in trainers existing at all. A qualified trainer is someone who takes races you girls cannot win and, through training, turns the impossible into the possible. That is the meaning of training. So while all of you are getting stronger, I can't just stand still either."
Fujiwara Chiya smiled.
Hearing his words, something in Mejiro Dober's thoughts was touched. A moment later, she showed a gentle smile. "I see. So that's how it is. Cousin, you really are a very good trainer."
"You don't need to call me 'Cousin' anymore. Just call me Trainer or Chiya."
"Eh?" Mejiro Dober widened her eyes. She had heard the same thing from Chiya that Shirayuki had said before.
"Why can't I call you 'Cousin' anymore?"
"That title was originally created to avoid reality. But now, there's no need to run away anymore."
"Hah…" Mejiro Dober did not understand, but she still called out, "Chiya… Trainer."
In the end, she added the honorific title. Calling him directly by name was simply too embarrassing.
"By the way, does Dober still feel disgust toward men now?"
"It's all right, I suppose. Sometimes I still feel uncomfortable, but most of the time, I can communicate normally now." Mejiro Dober twirled the ends of her hair around her finger. "That's all thanks to Shirayuki and Trainer's efforts. Back then, I really caused you two a lot of trouble."
"Don't say that. Uma Musume and trainers are supposed to take care of each other. And honestly, during the time I was looking after you, I was actually quite happy."
Looking at Chiya's relieved gaze, Mejiro Dober felt her heart give a sudden thump, as if something inside her had been touched. She nervously lowered her head and gave him a bow.
After leaving the office, Mejiro Dober pressed a hand to her chest. For some reason, Chiya's gaze had strangely overlapped with Shirayuki's recent expression. Shirayuki had also once said, "I like taking care of Dober-nee." The two of them felt so similar that it was almost unbelievable.
And then there was what Trainer had said just now. That the title was created to avoid reality. What exactly did that mean?
It felt like Trainer Chiya was hiding many things from them. Even so, Mejiro Dober did not feel any resentment toward him because of it. Through those training schedules, she could feel the care Trainer had for her.
Even Mejiro Dober herself did not realize that Trainer's weight in her heart was growing heavier and heavier.
After arranging everything, Fujiwara Chiya lay tiredly on the sofa. Rearranging the training plans for so many people was no small amount of work. Even though Shirayuki had shared some of the pressure on her side, considering that she needed more energy for training, Chiya still placed most of the work on himself.
After reaching the level of an intermediate trainer, Chiya had discovered many shortcomings in his previous training methods and constantly filled in the gaps he had left behind. Once he became a senior trainer, he would probably look back at his current training plans and find them full of holes as well. Still, he had already done his best to make each stage as good as he possibly could. That way, even if he looked back later, he would not feel regret.
"Onii-sama, thank you for your hard work."
He did not know how much time had passed. Fujiwara Chiya felt something supporting the back of his head. It was very comfortable, and very soft. When he opened his eyes, he saw the black-haired girl above him, her beautiful purple eyes looking down at him.
"Rice, why did you come back?"
"When we were talking about the training plan, Rice noticed Onii-sama's expression. You looked very tired. Onii-sama must have spent a lot of effort on this…"
"It's just work."
"If it were only work, you wouldn't be this tired. Rice knows. Onii-sama has been constantly studying to improve as a trainer recently, all the way until late at night. And Rice also knows about Onii-sama kissing Trainer Nase."
Hm!?
How did she even see that!? Fujiwara Chiya remembered that the place where the two of them had stood was rather secluded. He became a little flustered, feeling as if he had been caught doing something wrong.
"Trainers take care of Uma Musume, and Uma Musume also take care of trainers. Just like Onii-sama is always watching over Rice, Rice is always watching over Onii-sama too. That is why Rice knows that Onii-sama is tired, and Rice also knows Trainer Nase's feelings. But Rice does not hate Onii-sama, because Onii-sama is an excellent person who is very easy to like."
Rice Shower gently touched Fujiwara Chiya's face. Her smile was as cute as ever.
"No matter when, no matter where, as long as Onii-sama calls Rice's name, Rice will come to Onii-sama's side. Because the person Rice loves most is Onii-sama."
As she said that, Rice Shower bent down and kissed Chiya on the lips. The man's figure was reflected in her clear purple eyes. After the kiss, Rice Shower showed a happy smile. She hummed a song that sounded slightly childish as she reached out with her delicate fingers and gently combed through the man's hair.
The sounds outside gradually faded away.
At this very moment, inside the office, on this small sofa, there was a world where no one could disturb them.
A world that belonged only to Rice and Chiya.