Five hours later, inside Room 1207.
"I'm an idiot. Really."
In Room 1207, Kitahara was slumped on the sofa, eyes vacant.
"I only knew that getting people to chat would cut down on trouble and save some effort… and I forgot you can't chat too much…"
Just a moment ago, after wrapping up a discussion session that lasted about five hours, Kitahara's attention finally returned to reality—only for him to see a scene so terrifying it nearly stopped his heart.
People. A sea of people. Three layers inside, three layers outside, packed around him, every single gaze locked straight onto him—like students in a huge lecture hall listening to their advisor speak.
And only then did a certain someone, snapping back to his senses, finally realize what he'd just done.
After that, once they saw he'd finally come back to himself, the other Umamusume let out a quiet sigh of relief. Then, using the excuse that he'd been talking for five straight hours and that the dinner banquet was coming up soon, they brought him back to Room 1207 so he'd have time to calm down.
On the way back there was a small incident: Ardan and Satono Diamond each said they wanted to take him to their own family's room to get ready.
At the time, Kitahara was so shaken he didn't even have the energy to choose or think. In the end, it took Rudolf and Sirius actually teaming up for once to get him back to 1207.
"Alright, alright—quit looking like somebody died. Weren't you having fun talking just now? And it's not even a bad thing…"
Sirius patted Kitahara's shoulder, trying to comfort him.
On the other side, Rudolf took out her phone and called a number. After a couple of sentences, her brows gradually knitted together.
"Hey, why are you making that face too?" Sirius asked. "Did that old woman's matchmaking partner finally show up?"
"No. It has nothing to do with matchmaking. It's something else."
Rudolf shook her head. She hadn't wanted to bring it up, but after glancing at Kitahara sprawled on the sofa and thinking for a moment, she decided it might be better to say it—maybe it would help distract him.
"I just called Teio's parents and asked why she didn't come today. They said Teio is sick…"
As the Tokai family's young lady, Tokai Teio was one of the rare few who hadn't stayed with Kitahara for the New Year. By rights, she should've attended this gathering.
But even now, after the five-hour discussion, Rudolf still hadn't seen a trace of her.
Normally, because she'd been preoccupied with the matchmaking issue, Rudolf hadn't noticed. But with her earlier thoughts…
Even though she still couldn't figure out what information she was missing, she'd realized this, and the moment they got back, she'd quickly called Teio's parents to find out what was going on.
"Teio's sick?"
Hearing that, Kitahara—who'd been wallowing in self-pity—shot upright and turned to Rudolf, expression serious.
"Is it bad?"
"Don't worry. It's just a normal cold—apparently on New Year's Eve she drank a ton of frozen honey drinks, and the next morning she woke up with a fever."
"…Yeah. That's absolutely something she'd do."
Q&A over, Rudolf looked at Kitahara and smiled.
"Well? Feeling a little better?"
At first, after hearing Teio was fine, a trace of a smile had surfaced on Kitahara's face.
But the moment Rudolf asked that, the smile collapsed again.
"Better… I guess a little."
Kitahara looked miserable.
"But honestly, I don't know what I'm supposed to do next. You both know what I'm like—I'm always scared of trouble. I just want to coast along quietly, and now…"
If anyone else said that, Rudolf and Sirius would probably call it getting the advantage and still complaining.
After all, for an ordinary Trainer, standing out like this at a gathering, winning the appreciation of the top brass across Japan's Umamusume-related factions—that was the kind of thing people dreamed of.
But with Kitahara… they were used to this idiot's brand of abnormal by now. They knew he meant it, so neither of them refuted him.
"Honestly," Sirius said slowly, "with how you performed earlier, you're probably going to be the star of the dinner banquet. I bet a lot of people will come looking for you."
Kitahara looked like he might cry.
"Is it still in time for me to leave right now?"
"Probably not." Rudolf shook her head. "With how you acted earlier, even if you leave now, they'll find you sooner or later. Running away won't solve anything."
"And did you forget? You told us earlier that you came here with your own matchmaking task too, and up to now you still haven't received any message."
"And since there hasn't been a single message all day, it's very likely your arranged partner will show up at the dinner banquet. If you leave now, you might just end up having to take a taxi back here yourself."
Hearing that, Kitahara's expression sank even further.
"Then what am I supposed to do…?"
Just as he was getting more and more despairing, Sirius suddenly spoke.
"What do you do? Isn't it simple?"
Simple…?
Rudolf and Kitahara both turned to Sirius. She didn't tease it out, just said it directly.
"We do the same thing we did during the day—just keep doing it tonight."
As she spoke, she lowered her chin and snapped her fingers.
"Only the roles are reversed."
"Then you mean…" Kitahara realized something. "You're going to be my shield?"
"Correct."
Sirius answered with a grin. She was about to stand and make a little "inviting" gesture toward Kitahara, but before she could rise, a pair of hands pressed her back down onto the sofa.
"That is one way."
With both hands on Sirius's shoulders, Rudolf deliberately didn't look at her face. She met Kitahara's eyes and continued.
"At this point, it's impossible to avoid trouble entirely. But if Sirius and I step in, then in everyone else's eyes you'll be tied to the Symboli family, and you'll have fewer problems afterward…"
"And because of what you did this afternoon, the two of us have a little breathing room now too. We'll have the time and energy to block some of it for you…"
"Don't refuse. You helped us a lot today. Now it's our turn to help you."
After a pause, Rudolf added,
"Oh, right—after the dinner banquet there's a dance. You talked for five hours straight this afternoon, so you're probably tired. Go rest for now. When it's time, Sirius and I will come get you."
"…Then thanks."
Since Rudolf put it that way, Kitahara didn't stand on ceremony. After chatting a few more lines with them, he went into the adjoining room to rest, leaving the two of them behind, facing each other.
A moment later, when they heard the click of the door locking, the friendly expressions on their faces changed instantly, and the room once again filled with thick gunpowder.
"Rudolf, what's your problem?" Sirius spoke first. "This was my idea. What does it have to do with you?"
"What does it matter whose idea it was?" Rudolf met her gaze calmly. "He wasn't only shielding you today. So it's perfectly normal for me to shield him a little too."
Then Rudolf added,
"And Sirius—while I don't know what you're plotting, I need to remind you: Teio has real feelings for Kitahara. You'd better watch your behavior and not do anything that's easy to misread… Do you understand what I mean?"
"I'll give that right back to you, Rudolf."
Sirius leaned back, calm.
"And I'll remind you too—when you say 'Teio,' you'd better mean that child, and not someone else."
"…Sirius, what are you implying?"
Sirius looked at Rudolf and answered seriously.
"The same thing you mean."
---
T/N: WOAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH FIGHT1!!
bonus chaps
100 stones -> 1 chapter
200 stones -> 2 chapters
300 stones -> 3 chapters
and so on
discord.gg/wisetl
patreon.com/wisetl