[Orfevre: Ojisan, no matter what happens, I will support you.
No matter what happens, I will wait for you.]
“…?”
During his afternoon break, Kato Akira looked at the message Orfevre sent him and was completely bewildered.
What was this?
Why did this sound exactly like a line a weak, incompetent male protagonist would say to the heroine in an NTR manga or some incredibly angsty drama?
It felt super weird.
But he figured an obedient, shy girl like Orfevre couldn’t possibly know about things like NTR.
Maybe something had happened, and she was just feeling overly sentimental.
(Ah, horse girls these days are naturally emotional creatures) he thought.
She probably saw something that triggered a minor existential crisis and came to him for some reassuring words.
After all, she was a racing Uma Musume, it was completely understandable.
It was better to comfort her now so her emotions didn’t spiral out of control.
After taking a sip of his energy drink to recharge, Akira started typing on his phone.
Drawing upon his knowledge of Uma Musume’s sentimental nature and the slightly cheesy, dramatic dialogue popular in this era, Akira typed quickly and fluently, sending some reassuring words back to Orfevre.
[Akira: Did something happen over there?
Sorry I can’t be there to help right now, but I believe in you.]
[Akira: If someone bullies you, go find an instructor or a teacher.
If your running isn’t going well, practice with Deep Impact.
If you guys get caught, just blame everything on me.
No matter what happens, I will support you.]
[Akira: So just run with all your might.
That way, when the time comes, I can proudly invite you to take responsibility for my future.]
[Akira: You don’t need to worry too much about me.
I’m an adult, I can take good care of myself.]
[Akira: As long as you and Deep Impact are okay, I can rest easy.]
Hitting the send button and looking at those warm words, Akira felt that any Uma Musume would definitely be moved to tears by this.
It might look a bit cringe, but he couldn’t deny that Uma Musume really loved this kind of stuff.
They ate up this so called “sincerity.” If they didn’t, Akira wouldn’t be nearly as confident in his Dark Trainer master plan.
That being said, a minor obstacle named Symboli Rudolf had appeared on his path, but it wasn’t a huge problem.
High school girls in black stockings were ultimately just driven by temporary passion.
Once some time passed and she got busy and stopped caring about him, he would have plenty of opportunities.
By that time, he would just mobilize his bottom tier horse girls to stop him from quitting Tracen.
That would be his life saving gold medal—there was no way he could fail.
But for some reason, even though he could see the “Read” and “Typing…” indicators, Orfevre didn’t reply for a long time.
It felt like she was drafting a massive essay.
Just as Akira’s break was almost over, she finally sent a group link and a remarkably calm message.
[Orfevre: I understand, Ojisan.
Let’s join the group.]
[Akira: Alright.
Let me add you guys.] Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
Clicking the link, he saw that the group chat only had Orfevre, himself, and Deep Impact.
Soon, the little group of three became lively.
[Orfevre: This is the group.]
[Deep Impact: Ooh~]
[Akira: Hello, everyone.]
[Deep Impact: Eh?!
Who is this?!
Orfe!
I think you pulled the wrong person in!]
[Orfevre: That is Ojisan.]
[Deep Impact: Oh, oh!
Sorry!
Then Ojisan, hurry up and add me as a friend~ This is a historic friend request from a future hero~ Don’t miss it!]
“…”
Wasn’t she the one aggressively trying to add him as a friend?
Seeing the friend requests popping up continuously like her life depended on it, Akira indirectly realized just how lonely this girl was and how desperately she loved talking to people.
The moment he accepted the request, Akira watched as the direct messages from Deep Impact started multiplying at a terrifying rate.
Despite her somewhat eccentric introduction, Deep Impact was actually an incredibly friendly person.
As soon as she added him, she immediately bombarded him with text messages.
She asked about his hobbies, how he managed to find Orfevre, what he was eating for lunch, and if he wanted to tour the Tracen campus with her tomorrow.
It was as if she had found it incredibly hard to find someone to talk to before, and now her words were overflowing like a broken dam.
If Orfevre really hated chatting, then Deep Impact must have been annoying her to death.
Akira was genuinely shocked to see Deep Impact continuing her fierce barrage of direct messages to him while simultaneously holding a completely separate conversation with Orfevre in the group chat.
Honestly, it was a bit scary.
But just as Akira was hesitating over which of the dozens of greetings to reply to first, an unknown number suddenly called his phone.
This conveniently saved him from having to reply to Deep Impact right away.
Feeling lucky, Akira answered the call.
“Hello?
May I ask who is calling?”
“Ah, it really is Akira’s number—” (TL:She found you already lmao)
Click.
Hearing a woman’s voice on the other end, Akira hung up the phone with a completely deadpan expression.
However, along with a sudden, surging sense of crisis in his heart, a faint, familiar fragrance crept into his nose.
The free spirited horse girl quietly emerged from the shadow of the wall.
Holding her smartphone, she naturally threw her arm around his shoulder like an old friend, leaned in, and flashed a brilliant smile.
“Why are you avoiding me, Akira?
I even helped cover up your secret, and you still treat me like this.
It breaks my heart a little, you know?”
C.B.-san…”
Looking at Mr.
C.B.
right next to him, Akira tried to say something, but she pressed a finger to his lips.
“Just call me C.B.
Adding ‘san’ is way too awkward.”
The brown haired, blue eyed girl curved her eyes into a bright smile.
“Just calling me C.B.
is fine!
After all, I was the one who started calling you Akira first, so you can relax.”
“So, C.B., do you need something from me?”
“You really are stubborn, aren’t you?”
Seeing Akira’s reluctant expression, Mr.
C.B.
sighed, spread her hands, and shook her head.
“So, to deal with a stubborn guy like you, I’ve decided to use my rights.
Come with me for a bit.”
“Go out?
Outside of Tracen Academy?”
“Yep.
Let’s go to Tokyo Tower.”
Mr.
C.B.
brushed her long hair back and looked up at the blue sky with a somewhat wistful expression.
“I want to go look at the scenery, but it’s a bit too lonely to go by myself.
So you’re coming with me.”
“I still have things to clean up around here—”
“Oh~ Are you still planning on taking the Trainer exam?
You really are ambitious.”
“—I’m coming with you.”
“That’s great!
Well then, without further ado, let’s go!”
“…”
Why?
How did things end up like this?
He had never even thought about getting chummy with a Triple Crown horse girl!
Could she just let him go?
He just wanted to become a Dark Trainer…
Staring at Mr.
C.B., who was holding his arm and completely ready to drag him out into the city, Akira felt a deeply complicated mix of emotions.