At the end of the year, the uma musume finally swapped out their summer uniforms for winter ones.
Not that "winter uniform" meant much.
Sure, the design changed a little. The fabric looked marginally warmer. But as far as actual protection against the cold went?
Absolutely useless.
Shirayuki cupped her hands and breathed into them, trying to coax some feeling back into her fingers. Right now, she was painfully jealous of Chiya, who could freely bundle himself up in a thick cotton coat.
Honestly, she wanted to rip it off him, throw it over herself, and make him wear a skirt for once.
The other students around her, meanwhile, didn't seem bothered at all. Pale thighs exposed to the winter air, not a single shiver in sight.
Maybe they were just used to it.
JK girls are terrifying…
As a girl, Shirayuki was about to face the harshest winter of her life.
Fortunately, the Student Council room was much warmer than the hallway. Symboli Rudolf had thoughtfully turned on the heater, and when she saw Shirayuki trembling from the cold, she said, "It has been getting colder lately. You should remember to wear a scarf."
Shirayuki immediately drifted over to the heater and leaned beside it. Wrapped in the warm air, she let out a soft, satisfied hum.
"By the way, Shirayuki," Rudolf said, perhaps finding the silence too plain. "Do you know which part of this room is hotter than the heater?"
"Hotter than the heater?" Shirayuki blinked. "The heart, maybe?"
"Incorrect." Rudolf shook her head. "It is the corner."
"The corner? Why?"
"Because a corner is ninety degrees."
Rudolf puffed out her chest, looking far too proud of herself.
In that instant, Shirayuki could have sworn she heard something freeze.
Even the heater seemed to lose a little warmth.
"Ah… I see."
She forced out a dry smile.
Rudolf was not done.
"Shirayuki, what kind of music do you enjoy?"
"Me? For pop music, I usually—"
"I imagine you are fond of snow-field music."
"…"
For the rest of her time there, Shirayuki sat in a freezing wind that had nothing to do with the weather.
Only when Air Groove returned was she finally saved.
Compared to Shirayuki, Chiya had it much better.
There was no Rudolf beside him blasting cold air in the name of comedy, and the office temperature was perfectly comfortable.
"Chiya, are you planning to visit a shrine tomorrow?" Hayakawa Tazuna came to ask him.
"I am. Everyone else is going too."
Their group of trainers had already agreed to visit a shrine on New Year's Day. In Ibaraki, there was a place called Katsuma Shrine, which was something of a pilgrimage site for trainers. Every New Year, trainers gathered there to pray for victory for their uma musume.
Of course, quite a few active uma musume went there as well.
"Then I'll go too."
"Sure, that's fine."
Though if Hayakawa Tazuna came along, everyone would definitely behave themselves.
The occasional dirty joke that usually slipped into trainer conversations would immediately turn into refined, proper small talk. Men were creatures who loved pretending to be gentlemen in front of women, after all.
For now, Chiya and Tazuna's relationship was still being kept secret.
If people found out the woman who was practically every trainer's dream had already given her heart to someone, Chiya's life would become very difficult. He would probably get targeted wherever he went.
To avoid that kind of trouble, Chiya had reminded her that in public, they needed to maintain the proper distance between a secretary and a trainer.
Hayakawa Tazuna understood his reasoning and agreed easily.
"By the way, is Shirayuki coming too?"
"Shirayuki is going with Spe-chan and the others."
"So the student group is going together."
"If there's no trainer around, those girls can talk more freely with each other."
"No trainer around…"
Hayakawa Tazuna's eyes took on an unreadable look.
"W-what?" Chiya stiffened. "Shirayuki is a student. A genuine uma musume. Is there a problem?"
"Let's say that's true. Just don't forget who you are."
"I'm already past that stage."
The current Chiya had evolved into his complete form, holding multiple identities at once. He no longer separated one part of himself and treated it as some independent existence.
She was him.
And he was her.
Hayakawa Tazuna looked at Fujiwara Chiya's face, her gaze flickering slightly.
While Chiya had gone through so much, she had not even been able to stand at his side as a spectator.
The thought made her heart tighten.
"Chiya." Hayakawa Tazuna took his hand. "No matter what kind of trouble you run into from now on, the first thing you do is come to me. Understood?"
"I'll help you. Don't shoulder everything by yourself."
Hayakawa Tazuna was not someone who cared only about satisfying her own desires.
She had climbed to her current position step by step through her own ability. In terms of sheer work capability, she even surpassed Rudolf. She was the number one presence in all of Tracen, and there was almost nothing she could not handle.
From now on, she would become Chiya's strongest support.
"If I really run into something I can't solve next time, I'll ask you for help."
"Not something you can't solve. Everything," Hayakawa Tazuna corrected him. "I want to know everything about you."
"No, no, no. That's way too much."
"It isn't too much at all." Hayakawa Tazuna leaned closer. "I want to understand you, Chiya. The part of you that you show others, and the part you don't want anyone to see. I want to know all of it."
A pleasant fragrance drifted from her body.
Her emerald-green eyes shimmered like soft ripples on the surface of water, bright, lively, and dangerously alluring.
"No."
Unfortunately, Chiya's body had not fully recovered yet.
At the moment, he was still deep in his sage phase, completely unaffected by Tazuna's approach.
"No matter what, you can't treat me like some infant who hasn't grown up. I'm a trainer from Central. I've already gained the ability to act on my own."
He paused.
"Well… if something really happens that I can't handle, I'll definitely ask you for help."
"Ara~ I think it would be perfectly fine if Chiya stayed an infant forever, held in someone's arms and carefully taken care of."
Hayakawa Tazuna smiled beautifully.
"But since you've already said that, we'll do it your way. If you encounter trouble you can't solve, or if anything unusual happens, make sure you come to me."
After Hayakawa Tazuna left, Fujiwara Chiya sat there and thought back over what she had said.
Why did it feel like Tazuna's feelings for him were getting heavier and heavier?
The next day was New Year's Day.
Fujiwara Chiya arrived at the meeting place, where Nishizaki Ryuu and the others were already waiting. They were all wrapped in padded coats, their noses red from the cold.
"Finally, Chiya! We've been waiting for you!"
Chiya quickened his pace.
"Here's your New Year's money, Chiya. Happy New Year."
"Wait, I get New Year's money?"
"As your seniors, we obviously have to show a little goodwill to our junior."
Chiya eagerly opened the envelope.
A shiny five-hundred-yen coin dropped into his palm.
Nishizaki Ryuu and the others immediately burst into loud laughter.
I knew it.
Fine. I'll buy a bottle of soda on the way back.
The group arrived at Katsuma Shrine.
As expected, the place was packed. Ordinary visitors, trainers, and uma musume were all mixed together in the New Year crowd.
Fujiwara Chiya and Hayakawa Tazuna made their way to the front of the worship hall.
"Have you decided what to wish for, Chiya?" Tazuna asked.
"I'll pray for victory."
"I see…"
Hayakawa Tazuna tossed in a coin and clapped her hands.
Then I'll make this wish.
May every uma musume grow up healthy and happy.
With that beautiful wish held quietly in their hearts, they prepared to welcome the spring of their second year.