Overcome with guilt, Suzuka bowed repeatedly in apology.
“Sorry!
Kenji-kun!
I made your clothes dirty!
It’s all my fault… You’re covered in my sweaty smell…”
“Huh?
Ah, it’s fine.
I didn’t even notice until you said something… Probably because you always take good care of your skin, Suzuka.”
Kenji even pinched a corner of his shirt up to his nose and sniffed it carefully.
It had a bit of sweat, but not too strong.
In fact, it was mostly covered by a pleasant scent… Was this a girl’s natural fragrance?
Or shampoo?
“…!!!”
The action made Suzuka’s cheeks burn with embarrassment, letting out a silent scream.
He’s sniffing… Stop it!
But I want him to keep sniffing… Ahhh!
This left-brain-vs-right-brain conflict was exactly what they called “the complicated heart of a young girl.”
Kenji wasn’t observant enough to catch that.
He just confirmed it and said, “Mhm, really no weird smell at all.
It’s not even unpleasant.
I’ll just let it air dry.”
“No!
Please take it off!”
“Huh?”
“I mean, I’ll wash it for you!
Please don’t just leave it unwashed because it’s troublesome… Please!
It’d make me feel awful!”
This seemed to be the first time Kenji had ever heard Suzuka sound so agitated.
Girls really did care a lot about their scent, huh?
“I know, Suzuka.
There’s no need to be so worked up, I’ll wash it when I get back.”
“Please!
Right now!
Take it off!”
“…!”
Kenji’s body froze.
A bad memory flashed in his mind.
That unyielding, commanding tone… No!
Don’t remember it!
But his body’s self-defense mechanism kicked in, and Kenji obediently unbuttoned his shirt and took it off.
Because disobeying meant getting beaten… To avoid more pain, to avoid being knocked unconscious, he had no choice but to obey the “command” of an ultimate creature far stronger than a weak human like him, named Uma Musume.
It was a conditioned reflex born from his dark past.
Suzuka noticed Kenji’s face turn pale and his expression grow uneasy.
“Kenji-kun?”
“Ah, I’m fine.
It’s just… um, maybe I’m a bit tired.”
Kenji pressed his forehead with one hand, his face still pale.
He hadn’t realized the psychological shadow from being attacked by that horse-faced auntie was still lingering.
Probably because he’d never been ordered around by an Uma Musume since then, so he’d never noticed it had become a hidden trauma.
He hadn’t expected Suzuka’s extreme embarrassment over him wearing her sweat-stained shirt to make her use that commanding tone, accidentally triggering his reflex.
Good thing he’d noticed it now… He needed to find a way to cure this trauma.
If he kept reflexively obeying every Uma Musume’s command, it’d be bad news.
What if he ran into another one with ulterior motives?
He’d be like fish on a cutting board!
At the root of it, he was just too weak… If he had the strength to resist, would he still have no choice but to comply?
Kenji’s obsession with stats deepened once more.
Once he recovered from his frozen state, Kenji handed the shirt to Suzuka.
“Then I’ll leave it in your hands to wash it for me.”
“Okay…”
Suzuka was a sensitive girl, so she naturally noticed Kenji’s condition was off, like he’d just woken from a nightmare…
Was her tone too harsh just now?
She shouldn’t have been so forceful… Suzuka immediately regretted it.
She thought she’d scared him, even though he said he didn’t mind, and she was secretly happy that he didn’t dislike her sweat smell…
But because of her silly sense of shame, she made him upset… She’d repaid kindness with trouble!
Once Kenji recovered, he said, “Alright, Suzuka.
Wipe off your sweat and go take a hot shower.
You’ll catch a cold if you don’t.”
“Yes…”
Suzuka still felt down.
She wanted to make up for her mistake, do more for Kenji…
And looking at Kenji’s bare arms after he’d taken off his shirt, she suddenly thought of a “good idea” and blurted it out without thinking.
“Um… Kenji-kun, want to wash together?”
“Huh?
Me?
Together???”
Kenji pointed at himself blankly, silently asking: Are you sure?
Suzuka, who had just invited her trainer to bathe together, was equally confused.
Uh oh… What did I say?
How could I invite my trainer to take a bath with me?!
But the words were already out… Having messed up once, even at her most embarrassed, Suzuka didn’t raise her voice.
Instead, she explained weakly:
“I’m wearing a swimsuit, so… um, it’s fine…”
“No, even if you say that…”
Where were they supposed to wash together?
The rookie trainer’s training room didn’t have a shower.
Uma Musume had their own dedicated bathing facilities.
Kenji could only take showers back at the trainer dorms.
Was Suzuka implying he should bring her back to his dorm?
Just for… a bath together?
Or was she asking him to follow her into the Uma Musume-only bathing area?
Even with most of them away for summer camp, trainers still couldn’t just wander into that “forbidden zone!”
Either way, this was bad!
And why had Suzuka made this invitation… Did she really not know what happened when a trainer and his assigned Uma Musume bathed together?
He was a “male trainer”!
It wasn’t impossible.
Suzuka looked like an innocent girl who didn’t know much about the world, and Tracen apparently didn’t teach health class… No no no, that’s not the issue!
The real problem was: Suzuka might not have any ulterior motives, but he wouldn’t be able to handle it!
Kenji didn’t know how to respond.
More accurately, he didn’t know how to refuse her without hurting her pride, so he was stuck.
And if refusing made her angry and she gave him a command again… would he be able to resist?
He was in a “stuck on the horse” situation now.
Fortunately, a knock came at the training room door.
Before Kenji or Suzuka could answer, the door pushed open.
“Suzuka-san!
Training’s probably over by now, let’s go grab dinner… together?”
It was Special Week, who had realized it was dinner time and came looking for Suzuka when she hadn’t returned yet.
Then she saw this scene: Suzuka in a school swimsuit, completely soaked; her trainer shirtless; and a puddle of unknown liquid on the floor…
“Y-You two…!”
Special Week pointed at them with a trembling finger, unable to believe what she was seeing.
Just hours ago, she’d thought she’d misunderstood everything and felt ashamed about it… Now, seeing this “hard evidence,” her vision went black.
The world spun.
Then with a soft “Ugh…” she fainted backward.
“Spe-chan?!”
Watching Suzuka rush over to check on Special Week, Kenji actually felt relieved.
At least misunderstandings could be cleared up with an explanation… And it looked like he didn’t have to answer Suzuka’s bath invitation after all.
He’d better go back to the trainer dorm and take a proper shower… And handle himself while he was at it… Today had been full of eye candy, plus his hands still remembered certain sensations.
Using his assigned Uma Musume as mere “side dishes” felt a bit unethical… but it was necessary to avoid mistakes.
Being a trainer at Tracen was like being a teacher at an all-girls school.
If he didn’t want to lose his teaching license, he’d better find ways to handle the restless urges himself.
Kenji realized once more: even with a gentle, obedient Uma Musume like Suzuka, he had to be careful.
Never let his guard down.
Suzuka’s commanding voice still echoed in Kenji’s mind… Even just the echo could stun-lock him for a few seconds.
At the end of the day, Uma Musume were monsters after all.