They are so perfect for each other…
*Scritch* *Scratch* *Scritch* *Scratch* *Scritch* *Scratch*
Mejiro Dober was furiously scribbling in her notebook as she listened to the young man and Palmer's conversation and watched them dance. She couldn't believe she got so many materials for her original manga in just one instance.
Hehehehe~~
Don't worry, Digital Sensei!! With this material, we'd be able to finish the third volume!!!
It doesn't matter if we have to pull a month full of all-nighters!!
"Thank you for the dance, my Prince."
"You're welcome, my lovely wife."
Dober quickly retreated once she saw the pair part. The last thing she wanted was to be seen stalking her cousin and brother-in-law.
"Ah! I'll be going to the ballroom first then!"
*Tap* *Tap* *TAP* *TAP* *TAP* *TAP TAP TAP TAP*
*BBBAAAAAAAMMMMM*
*SSLLAAMM*
"I'm going first then!! See you there!!"
With no warning, Palmer kicked the door open, and it swung right onto Dober's face. It took all of Dober's will not to wail in pain. She seriously wonders if her nose is broken or not.
"Yeah… I'll go after you soon enough…"
Huh? What is he waiting for?
"I'm waiting for you, Dober. Why are you hiding behind that door?"
"Eek!!"
Dober's body shivers the moment the young man answers her silent question. Like a kid being caught red-handed doing something stupid, Dober silently slides out of the shadow. Dober saw his crimson eyes shining, locked onto her the moment she walked into the light.
"I was…"
Dober thought hard for her answer. Igo Heita is now essentially her brother-in-law. He now isn't just some random man that she won't be meeting again after McQueen graduated from Tracen.
"Sigh… If you don't want to answer, then sure. I won't pry."
So he is still keeping a distance because of my androphobia.
"Just promise me one thing."
"!!!"
Dober's body stiffened when the crimson eyes stared straight into her eyes. It was an eye she never saw in the young man who rarely ever expressed any sense of seriousness.
"Don't try to stop Palmer. She is doing her best for her future."
The young man extended his right arm toward Dober. He slowly moved his hand near Dober's cheek as if he was pointing a knife at her face.
"Or I'll make you regret it."
"..."
Usually, Dober would be screaming and kicking the man in front of him for his stunt. Putting your hand as man so close to the face of someone who has an androphobia is an invitation for disaster. It makes it even worse when the person is an umamusume with a powerful leg.
So he is trying to weaponize my fear against me…
When most would try to help me with my fear, he is the only one who tried to use it to his advantage.
He is doing it for Palmer, though…
*Plop*
"!!!!"
Dober drifts into her thoughts and becomes unexpectedly comfortable with the young man's hand, and she rests her face on it out of pure instinct.
What is happening?! Why is she being comfortable with a man?!?!
Did they change her character!?!?! Isn't that Dober's entire selling point?!?
The unexpected attack makes the young man pull his hand in a hurry. This is the last thing he expects Dober to do. He had wished for Dober to be intimidated by a man's sudden show of affection, but the result is something else.
So he can make that kind of face too, huh…
"I don't know what is going on between you and Palmer, but I wouldn't get in the way of her happiness."
"Thanks…"
Palmer might not be Dober's biological sister, but the Mejiro Family raises both of them as if they are. For Dober, Palmer's happiness is also hers.
Except when it comes to Igo Heita…
Dober had been sketching like crazy during Palmer and Igo's dance. She was extremely happy to get a ton of material, but a sense of jealousy sprouted in the darkest corner of her heart.
For someone who suffers from androphobia, dancing with the opposite sex is an impossible occurrence. She had danced with women before, but she couldn't dent the little pang in her heart from not being able to answer multiple dance invites by men. Some of those men genuinely were trying to help her, but she could only give them the cold shoulder. Even she could feel bad for those who only tried to help her in any way they could.
Maybe… He is my cure…
"I promise I will keep your secret if you dance with me just like you did with Palmer."
"...what?"
For the second time tonight, the young man was hit by a flashbang straight to the face. He became more certain that Cygames had fucked up Dober's characterization. Why would someone with androphobia ask a man for a dance?
"Are you listening to yourself?"
"Yes. I'm asking you to dance. I'm very much aware of what I'm asking of you and what that would entail."
"..."
"Or is there perhaps a line drawn between us unlike between you and Palmer?"
The young man couldn't answer Dober's question right away.
Yes, there is a line between them.
It's only Dober who has androphobia, so of course the drawn line would only be in front of Dober. Unlike most umamusumes, flirting with Dober as a man would only make things worse. This is why the young man didn't bother trying to raise Dober's affection point.
But now the umamusume in question is stepping over the drawn line. What should he do? Should he grab her hand and pull her towards him or draw a new line to reinforce the stepped one?
But… She will step on the new line anyway…
"It would be my absolute pleasure, Mejiro Dober."