For the first time in a long while, Chiya spent the night holding himself.
Paris Tracen had a fairly relaxed dorm culture. There were no strict rules in the student dorms, curfew was late, students were not required to return every single night, and there was no dorm leader doing room checks. Shirayuki made it to the trainer dorm without alerting anyone.
Back at Tracen, there was always someone around. Sometimes it was Mejiro Dober, sometimes Hayakawa Tazuna, sometimes Akikawa Yayoi. One way or another, there was always someone beside him, leaving him with very few chances to spend the night with Shirayuki.
Aside from the night when he had helped massage Shirayuki to sleep, it had been a long time since Chiya had held his other body.
To adjust to the time difference and force his mind to settle down, he treated Shirayuki as a body pillow for the first time in ages, stroking her head with one hand and smoothing her tail with the other.
The nerves in Shirayuki's tail were extremely sensitive. The moment Chiya touched it, Shirayuki could not help letting out a sound. But at the same time, having her tail stroked felt ten times better than having her head patted. Soon, wave after wave of pleasure washed through Chiya's mind. He could enjoy the feeling of touching Shirayuki while also enjoying the feeling of being touched.
Shirayuki was not just lying there either. Leaning against him, she gently brushed her ears against his chest. Rice Shower often did the same thing whenever he patted her head, and that faint, delicate touch felt incredibly soothing.
With both sensations layered together, Chiya, who had been wide awake only moments before, gradually grew sleepy. Holding each other like that, he finally drifted off.
When morning came, both bodies opened their eyes at the same time.
No phone calls. No messages. No one knocking on the door.
He could barely remember the last time he had woken up this peacefully.
Chiya yawned, rubbed his eyes, and looked down at Shirayuki in his arms. Maybe she had moved around too much in her sleep, because the buttons of her sleepwear had come undone, revealing the white bra underneath. The soft, pale curve of her chest was faintly visible.
Hm…
Did Shirayuki get bigger too?
After Rice Shower mentioned it yesterday, Chiya had started paying attention to that sort of thing. Recently, Shirayuki often felt a tightness around her chest, especially while running. But since she still had a few new pieces of underwear, she had never bothered buying more.
Was the size no longer right?
Chiya looked seriously at Shirayuki's fair body, and Rice Shower's words suddenly flashed through his mind.
"If you rub it, it might grow faster."
No, no, no.
What was he thinking?
Why was he suddenly worrying about Shirayuki's bust size?
Even if she were smaller, that would be fine. Chiya already thought Shirayuki's figure was perfect. Her waist had not a trace of excess softness, her arms were slender, and her thighs were full and beautifully shaped. If she wore her racing outfit and walked down the street, the number of people turning to look would probably be terrifying.
Chiya had always projected his ideal image of beauty onto Shirayuki. Tazuna, Rice Shower, Mejiro Dober, and the others were all beautiful girls in their own ways, each with their own charm. But the one who most closely matched the image in Chiya's heart was still Shirayuki.
Her delicate features. Her soft pink lips.
Every time Chiya admired her from up close, his heart stirred.
Looking at Shirayuki's glossy lips, Chiya froze for a while. He slowly leaned closer, then suddenly jerked his head back.
That was close!
He had almost been tempted by the impulse in his heart.
He had almost made a move on himself!
Chiya knew that once he opened that door, there would be no going back.
No. He absolutely could not do that.
But other things were still fine.
For example, he could knead Shirayuki's soft cheeks, and Shirayuki could gently bite his finger. The feeling of her teeth lightly scraping his fingertip was surprisingly pleasant.
Did I eat something earlier?
Why does my finger taste sweet?
Shirayuki touched Chiya's finger with her tongue and could not help wondering.
Just as Chiya continued entertaining himself, the alarm on his phone rang.
Before he knew it, it was already past eight.
That was terrifying.
Chiya felt as though only a few minutes had passed, but in reality, he had spent half an hour lying in bed playing around with Shirayuki.
The pull between the two bodies was frighteningly strong. It made him completely lose track of time.
He hurriedly sat up and began changing clothes. Shirayuki also got out of bed with bare legs, slipped into her slippers, and ran into the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth.
After changing, Chiya went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast, while Shirayuki came back to tidy the bed. They split the work without needing to say anything, and within minutes, the room was neat again.
Shirayuki brought over Chiya's jacket, then sat down and ate breakfast.
At that moment, there was a knock on the door.
"Chiya, are you awake?"
After sending Shirayuki into the inner room, Chiya opened the door.
It was Satake Mei.
"What's wrong?"
"I want to take you to Longchamp Racecourse today. Do you have time?"
"I do."
"We'll take a car there later. By the way, did you just wake up?" Mei glanced at the plate on the table.
"Yeah… I got up a little late today."
"Still haven't adjusted to the time difference?"
"No, I'm fine now."
He had slept very well last night. With Shirayuki soft and warm in his arms, sleeping badly would have been harder.
Shirayuki had been the same. Curled up in Chiya's arms, she had felt an inexplicable sense of security. When he and Shirayuki were together, they were both comfortable and at ease.
Maybe they should just sleep together from now on.
Back at Tracen, he had no choice. But here, in order to maintain proper sleep quality, letting Shirayuki come over should not be a problem. Resting well was also part of preparing for a race.
Besides, when he and Shirayuki were together, the result was more than simple addition.
Seeing how refreshed Chiya looked, Mei nodded.
"That's good. The sooner you adapt to the environment here, the sooner everything can get on track. Eat more breakfast. I'll come back for you later."
After Mei left, Shirayuki came out of the room holding the small snacks Chiya had bought, eating them one bite at a time.
This time, Mei was probably taking him to scout the location and speak with the staff. After that, he should be able to go there by himself.
Chiya had seen Longchamp Racecourse on television before. It was a vast, complex track, but mostly flat. Compared with courses that had many slopes, there were fewer techniques that could be used there.
Recovery on turns, position battles, timing.
Those were the skills Shirayuki would have to rely on.
It was a little unfortunate. She was very good at slopes. Her running form gave her strong acceleration on uphill sections, which had helped her shake off plenty of opponents on the final straight.
Now that this strength had been weakened, Shirayuki would have to make up for it somewhere else.
Standing in front of Chiya, she straightened his clothes for him.
Then Chiya left the room and met up with Satake Mei. The two took a thirty-minute car ride and arrived at one of Paris's most famous landmarks, a place that could stand alongside Notre-Dame and the Louvre in reputation.
Longchamp Racecourse.
Looking at the course wrapped in trees, like a vast green screen spread out before him, Chiya felt his heart begin to beat faster.
For a moment, he almost heard it.
The thunder of hooves echoing across the track.