"Ah…" Mizuno's lips twitched as he glanced at Agnes Tachyon, who was covering her mouth and giggling beside him.
Gold Ship digging a basement for him? Yeah, right. That was impossible.
Who was Gold Ship, again? She was his sworn bro and personal bodyguard—the one who'd spent all this time keeping him out of basements, not digging him one!
That said… it was kind of weird that after dropping him—her actual charge—off at Tachyon's lab, she'd just vanished with a shovel in hand.
Still, Mizuno refused to doubt her. Broshi had to have a good reason. Something important enough that she couldn't even stop to explain.
As her sworn brother, all he could do was trust her completely.
"I trust Broshi. She'd never hurt me!" Mizuno declared, dead serious.
"Hmm, not necessarily…" Tachyon tilted her head, studying his face like she could already see the countless tragic trainers who'd once said the same.
"I've seen plenty of guys like you," she said. "Blindly trusting their beloved Uma Musume—until one day they drink the tea she brewed, and end up Uma Pyoi'd so hard they can't even crawl out of bed for two weeks."
She leaned close, voice dropping to a whisper beside his ear.
"Even though I'm an Uma Musume myself, let me give you some advice: never put one hundred percent trust in us. Whether she's a colleague, a friend, or someone you treat like a little sister—one wrong spark, and her possessiveness wakes up. Next thing you know, you're chained up in her basement, the rice already cooked into porridge… Unless, of course, you actually want to spend your life with her. Because once an Uma Musume falls in love, she doesn't handle sharing very well."
Mizuno went quiet for a moment, thinking. Then he muttered,
"Of course I know that. Ever since I joined Tracen, I've been careful to keep a safe distance from all Uma Musume. But…"
His tone hardened, and he looked Tachyon straight in the eye.
"You don't get it—Broshi's different!"
"Eh…" Tachyon pressed a hand to her forehead. "That's exactly what they all said."
"But she really is special!" Mizuno insisted, like a kid convinced his pet rock had feelings.
"Fine, fine, fine." Tachyon gave up with a sigh, waving her hand lazily.
"If you say Broshi isn't safe, then tell me—who is?" Mizuno shot back, irritated.
"Hehe~" Tachyon's lips curved into a smug smile, clearly waiting for him to ask that.
She lifted her sleeve dramatically—clearly rehearsed—and pointed at Daiwa Scarlet, still sleeping quietly at the bedside.
"Of course it's Scarlet-chan~!"
Mizuno: "?"
"Scarlet-chan's a sweet, gentle girl. Stay with her, and you'll never have to worry again~" Tachyon smiled brightly.
Mizuno: "??"
Why did that sound exactly like when Symboli Rudolf had tried to sell him on Tokai Teio?
"But… isn't Daiwa Scarlet also an Uma Musume?" Mizuno asked.
"You don't understand," Tachyon countered smoothly. "Scarlet-chan's different from the others!"
"OI! That's exactly what I just said!" Mizuno exclaimed, incredulous.
"Are you saying Scarlet-chan's a bad girl?" Tachyon's ears drooped as she turned away, her tone dripping with sorrow.
"Uh…" Mizuno hesitated. "Not really…"
"Scarlet-chan's not ugly, right?" Tachyon continued, voice trembling pitifully as she hid behind her sleeves, looking ready to cry.
Feeling guilty, Mizuno sighed. "She's… pretty cute."
"And she's talented, right?" Tachyon pressed, still hiding her face.
"Yeah, she's got potential," Mizuno admitted. With proper training, Scarlet could easily win a G1 someday.
"So," Tachyon said suddenly, peeking through her sleeves, "if Scarlet-chan were seriously ill, and the only way to save her was for you to become her official trainer—would you do it?"
"Of course I'd—wait, huh?!" Mizuno froze mid-sentence as alarm bells went off in his head.
Why did this suddenly sound like a trap?
"Uuu…" Seeing his hesitation, Tachyon covered her face again, her shoulders trembling like she was quietly sobbing—acting so heartbreakingly pitiful it almost worked.
But Mizuno wasn't that gullible. Especially not when it came to Agnes Tachyon, the notorious mad scientist who'd ruined countless trainers, gotten them Uma Pyoi'd by their own students, and single-handedly spiked Tracen's trainer-Uma marriage rate from 40% to 90%.
So no—her little act only made him more suspicious.
She was clearly up to something.
Mizuno narrowed his eyes, watching her closely. The way her shoulders trembled looked staged, every motion calculated. She was trying to distract him from something.
He tore his gaze from her and scanned the room.
That's when he noticed Daiwa Scarlet looked… off.
Her cheeks were flushed, her ears fluttering rapidly—like butterfly wings. Almost like she was having a really good dream.
"Huh?" Mizuno frowned. Uma Musume ears moved a lot, sure—but this fast?
"Hehe~" Tachyon dropped her hands, flashing a grin so wide it practically split her face.
"Scarlet-chan, you heard all that, didn't you~?"
The "sleeping" Daiwa Scarlet immediately stirred.
"Mm…" she murmured softly, straightening up. Her cheeks burned bright red as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and looked shyly at Mizuno.
"?!" Mizuno's eyes went wide.
She'd been pretending to sleep?! Which meant she'd heard everything he'd said while arguing with Tachyon!
"Hehe~" Tachyon propped herself up on one hand, resting the other on Mizuno's shoulder, and announced cheerfully,
"Scarlet-chan, he just said he's willing, you know~"