Uma Musume: To The Top!!

The next morning, early.

Sunlight slipped through the gaps in the curtains like beams of light, stabbing diagonally into the dim room and casting mottled shadows across the floor.

On the bed.

A man, bare from the waist up, had his eyelids flutter. Then he cracked his eyes open, still hazy.

Kuroha's brain was still half-frozen. His memories needed a moment to spool back into place.

For some reason, he hadn't slept all that well.

In his dream, he'd turned into a golden monkey raising havoc in heaven, only to get pinned under the Buddha's Five-Finger Mountain for an entire night. He couldn't even catch his breath.

"Hah…"

He blinked. A few seconds later, his awareness returned, and he finally understood.

What pressed against his chest wasn't cold, heavy stone, but warmth and softness.

He lowered his gaze on instinct and saw a playful strand of purple hair spilled across his chest.

Following that hair, he found an adorable ash-gray girl clinging to him like a koala, sprawled on top of him and sleeping like the dead.

Her breathing was long and even. Warm air brushed his collarbone with every exhale, tickling him faintly.

So that was the culprit…

"…McQueen's sleeping posture really needs work," Kuroha sighed inwardly.

His refined, elegant young lady, dignified as could be when she was awake. How did she turn this shameless the moment she fell asleep?

With her glued to him like this, he didn't dare move carelessly at all.

Still, yesterday's Arima Kinen had been the final race of the Twinkle Series.

There was nothing urgent to do today.

After this, aside from the Asahi Hai forecast race after the New Year, the only thing left was the first URA Finals, more of an exhibition than real competition.

With that thought, the tension in Kuroha's nerves finally drained away.

He carefully slid his left arm around the girl's smooth, rounded shoulder, then used his right hand to tug the blanket higher, covering her bare back.

Then he freed one hand, picked up the phone on the nightstand, and started scrolling through the news.

The instant he unlocked it, a dense storm of notifications popped up.

The first thing he saw was his friends in the racetrack social feed absolutely bombarding him.

Symboli Rudolf, Mr. C.B., Super Creek… all his usual friends from Central had sent congratulations.

Even trainers like Ginjirou Musaka, Hideto, and Fumino had messaged him.

Fumino's, however, came with a little extra.

After a cold little snort emoji, she said she wouldn't bother him for a while.

But later, he was going to pay back everything he owed her. All of it.

Kuroha couldn't help but shake his head with a helpless smile.

And it wasn't just his friends from Central.

From Oi, Tatsuko and Taro, and from Kasamatsu, Kitahara and the others had all sent sincere well-wishes too.

Kuroha patiently replied to each one, his fingers hopping across the screen.

After dealing with the messages at home, he moved on to the overseas chat windows.

[Haitoshi: Kuroha! According to what Lisi is planning, I've already booked my debut for around next July!]

[Haitoshi: That's right around when you'll be on break too, yeah?]

[Haitoshi: Um… I'm not saying this because I want you to come watch or anything. I'm just telling you, that's all! Don't get weird ideas! Anyway, congrats on the huge Arima Kinen win!]

Reading the obvious tsundere energy she couldn't hide between the lines, Kuroha's mouth tugged up into a smile.

His gaze dropped naturally, and beneath Haitoshi's name was another.

[Haito Star: Kuroha onii-chan, I miss you.]

"…"

Kuroha covered his face in silence, feeling something deep and soft inside him get poked.

A cute little girl's straightforward affection was lethal.

He smiled and sent a few gentle replies to soothe them, then kept browsing the news for a bit.

Before long, he felt something squirm against him.

He looked down and saw McQueen's small purple head lift slightly, sleepy eyes slowly opening.

Her usually clear gaze was fogged with a watery haze right now, making her look especially blank and innocent.

The instant she opened her eyes, she saw her trainer's handsome smile, wrapped in the morning light like it came with its own soft-focus filter.

"Morning, McQueen."

Out of habit, Kuroha reached out and lightly pinched her soft cheek. The texture was absurdly good.

McQueen, however, went perfectly still, like she'd been hit with a paralysis spell.

She stared at Kuroha, her brain visibly buffering, spinning in place.

A few seconds later, a blush spread from her neck upward in a rush, flooding her pale cheeks until she looked like a fully steamed shrimp.

Kuroha almost swore he could hear an imaginary kettle whistle. The girl in his arms felt like she was about to puff out white smoke.

"Tr-tr… Trainer…"

McQueen stammered the word a few times.

Then she noticed something under her palm that felt very wrong.

She glanced down.

Her hand was planted boldly on her trainer's firm chest, her fingertips even brushing the lines of his abs in a way that made her heart slam.

"!!!"

The young lady of the Mejiro family blanked completely.

A moment later, her memory finally snapped back into place.

Last night's mortifying, heart-racing scenes crashed into her mind like a wave.

I… I actually did it?!

I finally worked up the courage and got close with my trainer?!

As her memory returned, so did her thinking.

McQueen finally realized that right now, both she and her trainer were in a state of absolutely nothing at all.

"Pff!"

Instead of pulling away, she lunged even closer, burying herself tight in his arms, then tried to bluff with an aggressively innocent tone.

"Trainer, I… I want to sleep a little longer…"

Last night you were that direct and pushy, and after one night you're already retreating.

Kuroha was helpless. If he had to say it, McQueen really wasn't as bold as Ardan in this regard.

"Ahem. Since you're awake…"

Kuroha leaned to her ear and murmured, voice low. "Want to go again?"

"!!!"

Under the blanket, McQueen jerked violently.

Then she shot her head up. Her face was red as an apple, but her eyes were unwaveringly determined.

"Yes!!"

With the Mejiro girl's decisive answer, the morning battlefield opened once more.

The morning light was perfect, and the fire spread.

What followed was intense, thorough, and completely satisfying.

…

More than an hour later.

After thoroughly "subduing" McQueen and coaxing her back into a dozing nap, Kuroha, refreshed and in a great mood, got dressed and opened the door.

The moment he stepped into the hallway, a familiar figure greeted him head-on.

Blue hair, green eyes, a graceful figure, and that gentle, affectionate smile.

Right now, this goddess was putting on an act, hands resting on the second-floor railing.

She looked like she was admiring the lobby below, but the cute horse ears on her head were twitching nonstop in the direction of Kuroha's room.

"…"

Kuroha shut the door, walked over quietly, then reached out without mercy and pinched Godolphin's delicate cheeks, tugging them outward.

"So the goddess has a hobby of listening at doors?"

"I do not!"

Godolphin didn't resist, just made a pained face and spoke through squished cheeks.

"I don't! I was just… passing by! I swear, I was only passing by!"

Kuroha let go and gave her an exasperated look.

They played around for a bit, the atmosphere light and natural.

Once they were done fooling around, Godolphin pointed at her slightly reddened cheeks and obediently opened her mouth.

Kuroha understood immediately. His finger tapped lightly at her lips, feeding her a clean stream of Blessing Power.

Godolphin closed her eyes and savored the nourishment, satisfaction blooming across her face.

It had become a habit between them over this stretch of time.

The so-called "two months" of staying power from before had been under the condition that she remained only as a spirit form, not interacting with the outside world.

If she wanted to stay manifested for long periods and constantly touch the affairs of the human world, she naturally burned through Blessing Power at a frightening rate.

Which meant every few days, Godolphin needed Kuroha to "recharge" her.

Once she was topped off, they went downstairs for breakfast.

While they ate, the blue-haired goddess's eyes glittered, and she suddenly spoke.

"Kuroha, you really are someone surrounded by love, huh?"

"Hm?"

Kuroha paused, then nodded easily. "Love… yeah. That's true."

He took a sip of hot porridge, a genuine smile lifting at the corner of his mouth.

"My horse girls all like me. And I feel… lucky, honestly. Lucky to be loved by them."

"Lucky…"

Godolphin blinked playfully, her tone turning strange.

"Maybe…"

"?"

(End of Chapter)

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