After blurting out 'please give me that hair tie,' Chiya wore the expression of a man facing his own execution.
That's right. As a normal person, how could he possibly make the kind of request Agnes Tachyon had suggested? Only someone with a few screws loose would follow her instructions.
Chiya had seen plenty of guys confess to Hayakawa Tazuna only to be rejected. Now, those same guys couldn't even bear to look her in the face.
This was the world of adults. After a complete loss of face, you couldn't even be friends. He had no desire to become one of them.
So, he had chosen the safest possible route.
"Um... if I heard you correctly, you want my hair tie, Trainer Chiya?" Hayakawa Tazuna asked, a look of bewilderment on her face.
"Yes."
Having come this far, there was nothing more for him to explain.
"I think that hair tie is very pretty, so could you give it to me?"
Chiya clenched his fists, mustering all the courage he had to speak to her.
For him, this was already the most audacious request he could possibly make of her at this stage.
A hint of confusion appeared in her emerald-green eyes. She raised her hand, and just as he thought she was about to slap him, she reached behind her head and removed the yellow tie holding her lower twin tail.
Her beautiful brown hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall. She placed the hair tie in his hand.
"I found this at a clothing store. The clerk said it suited my hair color very well, and I quite like it too, so I bought a few extra at the time. It's nothing precious. If you like it, then please take it," she said with a full-faced smile.
Staring at the hair tie in his hand, which still emitted a faint fragrance, Chiya was stunned for a long moment. Finally, he bowed his head to her.
"I will treasure it."
"Then, good luck with your work, Trainer Chiya." After a gentle wave, she turned and left.
As she was leaving, she glanced back slightly, watching him stare blankly at the hair tie in his hand.
A hair tie? Was it really a hair tie?
Recalling how he had stuttered while speaking, and the way he had said "that," she had thought for a moment that he wanted her underwear.
At that thought, her face instantly turned red.
It seems I was overthinking it... That kid doesn't have that much courage.
However, as a strong and healthy young man, it was normal for him to have such thoughts.
Tazuna caressed the hand that had given him the hair tie, as if stroking his head, and then brought it to her lips for a kiss.
Now is not the time. Until I've raised you into a reliable man, for now... I'll just have to endure.
After she had left, Chiya carefully placed the hair tie in his pocket.
Is this normal?
Generally speaking, a woman wouldn't just give her personal items to someone else, right?
Thinking about it the other way, if Tazuna, Kiryuuin, or Nase asked him for something, would he give it to them?
Like a hat or gloves...
Of course. I definitely would.
Chiya silently returned to his team and began to direct their training.
The competitors for next week had been chosen. He planned to rearrange the training plan for the three of them, or more accurately, for two of them.
Since the rookie exchange meet was a competition between teams of four Horse Girls, tactics were extremely important. He planned to teach these undebuted Horse Girls how to use their running rhythm to disrupt their opponents' acceleration timing.
"Alright, that's it for today's training," he said, raising his hand and addressing the group. "For tomorrow's training, Dober, Rice Shower, and Shirayuki, you three will train with me separately. The rest of you, continue according to the plan."
""Yes, sir!""
After everyone had left, Chiya returned to his office.
Alright, I'll work a little overtime today and get tomorrow's schedule done.
Oh, right. And this.
Chiya felt the hair tie in his pocket.
He would find a small box to put it in when he got back. This was the first gift he had ever received from her.
Returning to his office, he started to work. The sky outside gradually darkened. Shirayuki also returned to her dorm, bored and scrolling through her phone. Half working, half relaxing, an unknown amount of time passed before a knock sounded on the office door.
Who is it, so late?
He looked up. Before he could speak, the person outside had already walked in.
Looking at the dull, dark-red eyes, he instantly felt a chill run down his spine.
"My, my?"
As if seeing something, Agnes Tachyon raised an eyebrow.
"Shirayuki? What are you doing here? Where's Trainer Chiya?"
Tachyon looked around.
"Are you here to work for him?"
"Eh? No... I'm not here to work for him."
Just as he said this, he felt something was wrong. In his other perspective, Mejiro Dober walked into the room and asked, "Shirayuki, when did you get back?"
If Shirayuki is in that room, then this room should be Chiya. But why is Tachyon talking to him in that tone?
Could it be?!
By the time he looked at Tachyon again, a triumphant smile was on her face.
"Agnes Tachyon!"
"Is that any way to talk to your senpai, Shirayuki-san?"
"I'm sorry, Tachyon-senpai!"
Damn it!
He quickly covered his mouth.
It was an answer that came almost instinctively, without any thought, like a cat's ears perking up at a sound, or a person instinctively turning their head when their name is called. His body had developed a conditioned reflex.
When he heard someone call him 'Shirayuki,' he would think he was Shirayuki. He wouldn't actively differentiate between Chiya and Shirayuki; his reaction was entirely dependent on how others addressed him.
"This is truly interesting, Trainer Chiya."
Tachyon clicked the door lock and slowly approached. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
He felt like the Grim Reaper was swinging a scythe at him. One wrong move and he would be dead.
"What do you want? Stay away from me..."
He hunched over, shrinking further and further into his seat until, by the time Tachyon was in front of him, he was almost lying flat in the chair.
"I'm just a little curious. Why do you react when I call for Shirayuki? Could it be, Trainer Chiya, that you are Shirayuki?"
"How could that be? I'm Fujiwara Chiya. What nonsense are you talking about?"
"Heh, don't try to fool me. In the lab, I clearly told you to ask Miss Hayakawa for her panties to prove her affection. Didn't you carry out that order properly?"
"Nonsense! What I asked for wasn't panties!"
"Oh?" Hearing this, a corner of her mouth lifted. "So you don't deny what happened in the lab."
"Hiss!"
Terrifying! This girl is simply terrifying! Her lusterless eyes seemed to see right through him. From the moment she had entered, she had been leading him by the nose.
"Get up first, Trainer Chiya. Let's have a proper chat."
Hearing her words, he sat up straight. The moment her gaze left him, he bolted for the door. But before he could take two steps, a small but powerful hand reached out from behind and grabbed him firmly.
"Where do you think you're going, Trainer Chiya?" she said with a smile that sent shivers down his spine. "Do you really think a human can escape from the grasp of a Horse Girl?"
Her slender fingers were like steel, holding him so tightly he couldn't move.
"If you're going to be this uncooperative, then don't blame me for using special measures."
Under his terrified gaze, Agnes Tachyon took out a rope she had prepared from her pocket.
-------
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