"Shirayuki, why are you putting those things back on again?"
When she returned to the room, Mejiro Dober saw Fujiwara Shirayuki hammering the shoe nails back in place, the thick oversized horseshoes in her hands.
Dober had worn them too.
After Gold Ship and the others finished training, it had been Rice Shower's group's turn. Since there were only so many weighted horseshoes available, they had to train in shifts.
During that period, Dober had truly understood what hell felt like. Even walking normally became a luxury. No wonder Gold Ship and Meisho Doto had looked like prisoners being released the moment the weights came off. Dober had felt the same way. The instant the shackles on her feet disappeared, she had felt as though she had regained her freedom.
And now Shirayuki was voluntarily putting them back on.
Dober felt that her little sister might have at least a slight tendency toward self-torture.
In that case, rather than letting the horseshoes torment her, wouldn't it be better if Dober did it instead?
"For training."
Shirayuki's reply cut off Dober's wandering imagination.
"For training... ah, for the next race, right? McQueen really is strong. If you let your guard down, it'll be easy to lose."
Dober had already looked into McQueen's schedule and knew she would be matched against Shirayuki.
As a member of the Mejiro family, Dober wanted Mejiro McQueen to win.
But as an older sister, she wanted even more to see Shirayuki win.
Even if that was a little unfair to the Mejiro name, there was no helping it. She only had this one little sister. Shirayuki's importance in her heart had gradually come to rival the honor of the family itself. If possible, she wanted a way to have both, so she would not have to feel divided over whom to support.
Wait. If Shirayuki just took the Mejiro name, wouldn't that solve everything? Then I'd be supporting my little sister and supporting the Mejiro family at the same time, and I'd also tie Shirayuki to me too. That's three wins in one move!
"Shirayuki, what do you think about being called 'Mejiro Shirayuki' from now on?"
"Huh?"
"Mm... ahem."
Realizing she had spoken her thoughts aloud, Mejiro Dober quickly coughed a few times.
It was not the right time yet. If she suddenly asked Shirayuki to change her surname, there was no way Shirayuki would accept it. More importantly, their relationship had not yet been approved by the head of the family.
How had she blurted that out so thoughtlessly?
Why was it that every time the subject involved Shirayuki, her brain stopped working properly?
The same thing had happened on mock-race day too. She had even mixed up the race entries and completely missed her chance to see Shirayuki. In the end, she had not caught sight of her at all.
That had been a complete waste of the whole day.
Well, not a complete waste, maybe. There had been an unexpected delight at the end of the mock race. Dober had run into a family friend, Ms. Kitachi Maito.
Kitachi Maito was close to Dober's mother and used to visit often when they were children. Back then, Dober had called her Maito-onee-san.
But now that she was older, she could not address her so casually. To maintain the Mejiro family image, all forms of address needed proper honorifics.
Who would have thought that the legendary American hall-of-fame Uma Musume had already returned to Japan? If she had the chance, Dober intended to visit her.
Ah, I'm getting off track...
Dober shook her head and brought her attention back to Shirayuki.
"What I mean is, Shirayuki, if you want to beat a Mejiro Uma Musume, you can't relax at all. Especially McQueen. She's one of the very strongest."
Dober's explanation was clumsy.
McQueen was undeniably strong, but this time, the one Shirayuki was most wary of was not her.
It was Twin Turbo.
"Twin Turbo?"
"I watched her training. It was unbelievable. It's hard to even call it training. It looked more like self-abuse, except she was enjoying it."
What is Shirayuki even talking about?
Still, from Shirayuki's tone, Dober got the impression that Shirayuki was preparing to start that kind of brutal training herself because of Twin Turbo.
That made her worried.
"If you keep wearing those, won't they rub your ankles raw? Why not wear my shoes instead?"
Dober pulled a shoebox out from under the bed. It was true that Shirayuki would need a stronger training load for the coming race, but Dober still wanted her to train as comfortably as possible.
"These have a lower collar, so they won't rub your ankles as easily. The material is soft, and they absorb sweat well too. I think they'd suit you."
Dober took out a beautifully made pair of running shoes designed for Uma Musume.
"I've only worn them twice. You don't mind, do you, Shirayuki?"
"I don't mind at all. If Dober-Onee-chan has worn them before, then I feel like I'll be protected by your good luck. I'll be much more confident in the race."
This girl is way too cute!
Dober sat down beside her and affectionately patted her head.
Fujiwara Shirayuki continued changing over the horseshoes.
If she wanted to win, then she had to keep improving her foot strength. The Zone was something you could not chase directly. Mindset and realization could only be discovered slowly through racing. Right now, physical ability still mattered most.
Once the weights were attached, Shirayuki lifted the shoes and tested them.
This method was useful because it turned daily life itself into training, but it also had limits. Constant pressure on the feet could make the muscles accumulate too much fatigue and possibly lead to ligament inflammation. If she injured herself from overtraining, it would be completely counterproductive.
So it had to be done in moderation.
The more flexibility and the better the body condition an Uma Musume had, the less likely fatigue was to build up.
Speaking of body condition...
Fujiwara Shirayuki put the shoes down and sat on the bed, looking seriously at her own feet.
"What's wrong, Shirayuki? Do the shoes not fit?"
"No, that's not it. I'm just checking my body."
"Checking your body?"
"Yeah. They say the stronger an Uma Musume's feet get, the softer her soles feel. I wanted to see whether mine have changed after all this time."
Fujiwara Shirayuki examined the bottoms of her feet herself. Once, Fujiwara Chiya had rubbed them for her, and the comfort of that moment had been unforgettable. Doing it herself, though, did not create any special sensation.
Still, they did seem softer than before.
Back then, she had only lasted two weeks of this kind of training before reaching her limit. Now, maybe she could manage even longer, perhaps three weeks, then rest for one week before starting again.
Watching Shirayuki quietly press at the sole of her own foot, Mejiro Dober swallowed.
That pose made Shirayuki look almost like a cat grooming itself, and it made Dober's heart itch unbearably.
I want to touch them too... But would that make Shirayuki uncomfortable?
Uncomfortable?
Suddenly Dober remembered the private thing Shirayuki had once done under the covers.
Right. Shirayuki was a bad girl with even more pent-up feelings than she had. There was no way she would actually be repulsed. Once that thought took root, Dober suddenly found her courage.
"Let me do it, Shirayuki."
"Hm?"
"If you're trying to judge it yourself, it might be hard. People aren't very good at noticing changes in their own bodies. But someone else can tell just by touching and comparing. Shirayuki, if you want to know whether your feet have really gotten stronger, let me help you check."
As she said it, Dober could feel her own face heating up, but she forced herself to continue.
"T-That doesn't seem necessary, Dober-Onee-chan."
Did foot checks really need to be done by another person?
"What do you mean, unnecessary? We've even bathed together before. Are you really going to get embarrassed over something like this? Come on, Shirayuki. Give me your foot."
Dober's eyes were fixed on Shirayuki so intensely that it made her uneasy.
Before Shirayuki could keep hesitating, Dober simply took her foot into her hand.
"Dober-Onee-chan!?"
So soft! So small!
In an instant, Dober felt heat flare up inside her.
Back when she had seen Trainer Chiya rubbing Shirayuki's feet, Dober had been overcome with jealousy and longing. For an Uma Musume, the feet were the most important and delicate part of the body. To be allowed to touch them meant being trusted deeply.
At that moment, Dober felt as though Shirayuki were placing all of herself in Dober's care.
She carefully pressed and kneaded the small foot in her hand. The skin was soft and smooth, and the round little toes showed pale crescent moons beneath the nails.
How adorable. It's like a work of art.
Dober could not get enough.
Perhaps because Shirayuki was nervous, after only a few moments the sole had turned warm and faintly damp.
"That's enough, Dober-Onee-chan..."
Fujiwara Shirayuki was breathing unevenly now. The soles were one of the most sensitive parts of the body. Being handled there by someone else was genuinely hard to endure.
"Then let's call today's softness a ten. We'll check again every three days and compare the changes."
"Every three days sounds way too frequent, doesn't it?"
"The more data points you have, the more accurate the results."
Dober gently held Shirayuki's foot and smiled.
"Don't worry, Shirayuki. I'll make sure to keep careful track of every change in your body."