After pouring Orfevre a glass of water, Fujiwara Chiya returned to the sofa.
This time, he remembered what she had asked of him before. He sat right beside her, close enough that their shoulders nearly touched.
Orfevre jolted like a startled cat.
"Trainer, why are you sitting so close to me?!"
Then, in a much smaller voice, she added, "I… I have not prepared myself yet…"
"?"
Weren't you the one who told me to sit closer from now on?
Still, Orfevre only acted awkward for a moment. After that, she said nothing else and gulped down the entire glass of water.
"Why did you come over so late, Orfevre?"
Fujiwara Chiya looked at the golden-haired girl beside him. Instead of sleeping, she had changed into pajamas and come all the way from the student dormitory to his room in the middle of the night.
If this were Rice Shower, Fujiwara Chiya would have more or less understood what she wanted.
But Orfevre?
He really could not read her.
Don't tell me she wants to sleep with me… Is that even possible?
"I merely came to inspect the premises and see what my trainer does at night." Orfevre glanced around the room. "It is fairly tidy. Not bad."
"Thank you for the compliment," Fujiwara Chiya replied, looking rather pleased with himself.
Even in places no one could see, Fujiwara Chiya kept up good habits.
When Shirayuki acted as his ideal girl, he, too, was acting as the ideal man in his own eyes.
If he wanted to like himself more, there was only one thing he needed to do.
Become better.
That was why Fujiwara Chiya had always been quietly improving himself, whether in work or in daily life.
"These sofa covers were freshly washed?" Orfevre asked, catching the pleasant scent from the cushion.
"Something like that. I bought them recently and gave them a quick wash…"
Because two nights ago, when Shirayuki had been sprawled over the sofa, she had gotten far too comfortable. Her voice kept slipping out, and since Fujiwara Chiya was worried the people next door might hear, he had her bite the sofa cover.
Then she accidentally tore it.
So he had only replaced it yesterday morning.
"I see." Orfevre nodded. New things always put one in a good mood.
"What does Trainer usually do at night?"
"What do I do…" Fujiwara Chiya hesitated. "I, uh, I do…"
Right.
"I play games."
"Oh? Those games boys like?"
"Yeah."
So computer games, then.
In that regard, Trainer was surprisingly normal.
Well, fine. Playing on the computer was hardly a big deal.
"What about you, Orfevre? What do you usually do?"
"I read. I also maintain my body."
"Maintain your body?"
"Correct. The body is an uma musume's capital. Without a healthy body, an uma musume cannot race."
"I deeply understand that."
Every night, Shirayuki carefully took care of herself. Part of it was so she could keep her best appearance in front of Chiya, but it was also to recover properly and step onto the track in peak condition.
The "games" the two of them played every night were a kind of relaxation for Shirayuki as well.
When she served Chiya, it eased her heart.
When Chiya served her, it eased her body.
Either way, both sides were satisfied.
Before going to bed, Shirayuki used to wash up first, rinsing away sweat and making herself perfectly clean. Lately, though, she had stopped being quite so particular. A little warmth, a little scent, all of it made the relaxation feel even more real.
"Trainer, would you like to see?"
"Hm?"
"My hair. Would you like to touch it? This is one of my greatest points of pride. I put a great deal of effort into caring for it every day."
"I would."
"Hmph. Greedy man."
Orfevre turned her back to him.
Her soft golden hair swept across Fujiwara Chiya's thigh. He reached out and stroked it. Those beautiful orange-gold strands were like silk, sliding smoothly between his fingers.
Growing hair this long must have taken ages, right?
Shirayuki had not cut her hair for two years, and it had only grown from her shoulders down to her back.
Orfevre's hair reached all the way to her thighs…
It was to her thighs, right?
Fujiwara Chiya noticed the golden ends seemed to extend even farther downward, so he curiously reached for them.
"Eek!"
That "hair" sprang up with a sudden flick.
It was Orfevre's tail.
"Trainer!"
The unexpected touch left Orfevre both mortified and furious.
She had told Trainer to touch her hair, not her tail!
Her tail was incredibly sensitive. The last person who had dared touch it without permission had practically vanished from this world!
"Sorry! I didn't mean to!"
Fujiwara Chiya had not expected to grab an uma musume's danger zone so directly.
Orfevre puffed out her cheeks. She stared at his face for a while, then turned her head away and placed her tail on his lap.
"You already touched it. In that case, touch it properly."
"?"
Fujiwara Chiya suspected his ears had betrayed him.
"But you had better be prepared. If you make a mess of my tail, then from now on, my body will be yours to maintain."
I'll maintain Orfevre's body?
What kind of maintaining are we talking about?
Brushing her hair? Or…
No. Best not to think too deeply about it.
Fujiwara Chiya focused his attention on Orfevre's beautiful, golden tail. Compared to Shirayuki's and Dober's, her fur was fuller. It was fluffy, smooth, and so soft that he almost wanted to hug it and bury his face in it.
As his fingers combed through it, a faint sweet fragrance drifted up from within.
It did not smell like shampoo.
It was more like the natural scent of a young girl.
Having handled countless tails before, Fujiwara Chiya instinctively began searching for the spots that made uma musume relax. His fingertips moved over the tail, tapping, stroking, rubbing, and kneading with practiced rhythm.
As his technique changed, Orfevre's body trembled along with it.
With her back to Fujiwara Chiya, Orfevre covered her mouth. Her legs pressed together without her permission.
Trainer… you scoundrel. What shameless thing are you doing to my tail…?
It feels so good.
My head… my head feels like it is melting…
Originally, Fujiwara Chiya had been thinking of asking Shirayuki to come over and help him relax, but this soft, fluffy tail purified his soul all by itself.
Right now, he only wanted to say one thing.
Orfevre was amazing.
"H-How is it, Trainer…?" Orfevre asked, her voice trembling. "My body… is excellent, is it not…?"
"Excellent."
Fujiwara Chiya, completely unaware that Orfevre's face had gone soft enough to nearly cry, nodded in satisfaction.
He was going to sleep well tonight.
"That is enough for today. I… I will come again another time!"
The moment Fujiwara Chiya finished, Orfevre looked like she could no longer endure it. She threw down those words and hurriedly fled.
Fujiwara Chiya glanced at the time. It was already midnight.
He planned to call Rice Shower and the others, let them know he was safe, and then go to bed.
Sitting on the sofa, Fujiwara Chiya swept his hand over the cushion, searching for his phone.
Then his fingers brushed against something warm and damp.
He looked down at his sticky hand in confusion.
Turning his head under the lamplight, he saw that where Orfevre had been sitting, a clear damp patch had spread across the cushion in two curved marks.