Fujiwara Chiya's training continued.
Just as he had promised Agnes Tachyon, once work ended, he would head to the lab, drink a little black tea, and nibble on some biscuits. Shirayuki did the same. As the girl who had become his accomplice from the very beginning, Chiya gave her a rather special kind of care.
Shirayuki had turned down Spe-chan and the others' invitations.
Chiya had done the same, though in his case, he had to go through all kinds of trouble just to get Orfevre settled in her room first.
For some reason, Orfevre had gotten ridiculously clingy lately. Whenever she had nothing to do, she would drift into the office, then forcibly drag Chiya into talking with her. Though rather than "talking," it was more like she wanted him to pull every trick he knew to make her happy.
Thanks to Orfevre, Chiya's conversational skills had leveled up again. He could now make that stern, arrogant queen laugh lightly out loud.
Compared to that serious, imperious face she usually wore, Orfevre was honestly much more charming when she smiled like a normal girl. At the time, Chiya had blurted that honest thought right out.
The result?
Orfevre froze for a long moment, stood up, and left the office.
She only came back a full two hours later.
Maybe it was just Chiya's imagination, but after she returned, Orfevre wouldn't look him straight in the eye. And yet, whenever he wasn't paying attention, her eyes would slowly turn toward him and lock onto his face without moving.
Sometimes, when Chiya was training his slow-motion Zone, he could feel Orfevre's gaze on him. She seemed to have something she wanted to say, but kept it stuffed behind her lips.
In any case, getting the newly clingy Orfevre, who was now somehow even clingier than Rice Shower, to settle down had taken no small amount of effort. In the end, Chiya had to promise that once they arrived in Paris, he would personally act as her tour guide and take her out to play before Orfevre finally let him go.
Even though Chiya himself wasn't exactly familiar with Paris either.
When he arrived at the lab, Chiya let out a long breath and sank onto the sofa. The curtains were drawn. Pale white light washed over the room. Colorful reagents shimmered on the counters, and incomprehensible chemical formulas were scribbled all over the place.
The first time someone came here, they would probably find it fascinating. There were all sorts of strange and interesting devices everywhere.
The second time, they would probably start feeling afraid, because nine times out of ten, they had been dragged in by Agnes Tachyon for an experiment.
But after coming here dozens, even hundreds of times, the only thing left was relaxation.
The room was quiet. There were endless sweets and endless black tea. Sometimes, when he got sleepy and dozed off, someone would even thoughtfully drape a blanket over him.
"Guinea pig-kun, you're here."
Agnes Tachyon wiped her hands. Chiya noticed her fingers were wrapped in bandages.
"What happened to your hand?"
"Ah, this?" Agnes Tachyon glanced down. "I accidentally cut myself during an experiment. I've already treated it. Nothing to worry about."
She poured tea and brought water for Chiya. Before long, Shirayuki walked in as well. The three of them sat down on the sofa, with Agnes Tachyon leaning against Chiya at the very edge.
"Sonoda Tracen sent a notice. We can head over the day after tomorrow." Worried that Agnes Tachyon might not know, Shirayuki reminded her.
"Is that so? The day after tomorrow." Agnes Tachyon set down her teacup. "Once you leave the day after tomorrow, the next time I get to see guinea pig-kun will be after the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, won't it? October. Almost five months from now. One hundred and fifty days."
"You're really not coming with us?"
"Who's going to France this time? Guinea pig-kun, Shirayuki, Orfevre, and Gold Ship. Not a single person unrelated to the race. Central didn't tell you to bring the whole team either. I think their meaning is already quite clear. They want you to eliminate distractions and focus entirely on preparing for the race."
Chiya knew that.
The Central Committee Chair had personally called him in and told him that this trip to Europe needed a streamlined group. It wasn't that Central couldn't afford everyone's travel expenses. The problem was that this race was too important. The more uma musume Chiya had to train, the less energy he could devote to each individual competitor.
So for the time being, Chiya's team would be managed by the assistants. He would focus entirely on preparing for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
"Five months… actually, it's not that long."
"But for certain people, five months without seeing you is a very painful thing. For example, Rice Shower. For example, Mejiro Dober. And for example…" Agnes Tachyon pointed at herself. "Me."
"Guinea pig-kun, I told you before that Shirayuki's body is very sensitive, didn't I? That after she experienced what it felt like to be a girl, she would get addicted to it. But what was the actual situation?"
It was true that Shirayuki had come to like that feeling. But it wasn't as extreme as Agnes Tachyon had claimed. It wasn't like she was ten or a hundred times more sensitive, craving it day and night without pause.
Shirayuki had not reached that point. If she needed to endure, she could still endure.
Like right now.
Because she had been training while stuck close to Chiya all this time, her body had been constantly simmering with heat. According to Agnes Tachyon, Shirayuki, whose body had become infinitely sensitive, should have pounced on Chiya ages ago.
And yet, she had managed to hold herself back through sheer stubborn willpower.
"In truth, that was a lie. I simply didn't want you and Shirayuki to come together."
"…Why?"
"Do you really need to ask? Right now, aside from Shirayuki, do you still feel desire for anyone else?"
Shirayuki alone possessed both the male and female sides of sensation. No one else could give him that kind of intense stimulation. The rapid rush of dopamine created a happiness so strong it felt like ascending to heaven itself. Their physical compatibility had already surpassed one hundred percent. Trying to squeeze between the two of them under those circumstances was practically impossible.
That was why, once the two of them came together, their warmth toward the people around them would cool rapidly.
And reality had unfolded just as Agnes Tachyon expected.
Chiya's attitude toward other girls now was so pure he was practically a saint. If someone came to him naked, Fujiwara Chiya would probably just tell her not to catch a cold.
"But now, I feel like it doesn't matter anymore."
"Hm?"
"You haven't abandoned your relationships with everyone. Even after Shirayuki filled your heart, you still haven't cut away the things you consider unnecessary."
"Is that supposed to be praise?"
"Take it that way."
Agnes Tachyon took his hand.
"The others will have a hard time accepting what's happening between you and Shirayuki, because they'll think Shirayuki is going to replace them. But I won't. No matter how excellent Shirayuki is, she will never be able to replace me."
Watching Agnes Tachyon's face come closer and closer, Chiya swallowed.
"Let me ask you a question, guinea pig-kun."
"…What?"
"Would you be willing to let some strange man you've never met come and claim me?"
"Hah?"
"Answer my question."
Chiya's fist tightened.
"…No."
Agnes Tachyon smiled.
"Neither would I. So then… I'll leave the role of that man to you, guinea pig-kun. I can't endure being separated from you for one hundred and fifty days."
The sweet taste of black tea spread through his mouth.
Beside them, Shirayuki's eyes went wide. She covered her mouth.
"Tachyon, you…"
"Relax. I know my body can't give guinea pig-kun an especially strong sense of pleasure, so this time, I'll have to ask guinea pig-kun to find the stimulation himself. But he does have the stamina of an uma musume, after all. So while he's finding his own stimulation, it shouldn't be a problem for him to satisfy me as well, right?"
"Huh??"
Shirayuki was stunned.
"Tachyon, you're playing way too big!"
"What does it matter? This is already one of life's necessary processes. Humans are born from this very act, and yet they turn around and consider the act itself shameful. Truly, humans are such contradictory creatures."
While kissing Fujiwara Chiya, Agnes Tachyon reached out and pulled Shirayuki onto the sofa.
She had given so much for guinea pig-kun.
It was about time she claimed her reward.