"Yeah… figures. We got kicked out."
Out front of the buffet restaurant, Takayama Gamu stared at Oguri Cap—whose stomach was now swollen like a perfectly rounded ball—and his mouth twitched.
He glanced back.
A pale-faced employee was silently hanging up a sign that read:
"We Do Not Serve Gray-Haired Horse Girls."
It looked like discrimination against gray-haired horse girls, but Gamu found—against his will—that he could actually understand where they were coming from.
"Do you want to rest a bit?" Gamu muttered an apology to the kitchen staff—whose hands were probably still cramping thanks to Oguri—and then looked to his two trainees.
The Japan Derby wouldn't start until 6:00 PM. Oguri had eaten for an hour before being politely escorted out, and it was only 1:30 PM now. They had plenty of time to kill.
As a trainer, Gamu could take his trainees through the staff entrance at the racecourse later, so queues weren't a concern.
But right now, exercise after eating was a bad idea. Looking at Oguri's inflated belly, Gamu was genuinely worried it might pop.
"It's only… eighty percent full," Oguri said, patting her stomach with absurd confidence.
"I'm fine too," Tamamo Cross added.
She'd been forced to stop halfway through the meal because of Oguri's "incident," so she was only comfortably full—not stuffed.
"In that case…" Gamu said, scrolling through Google Maps for a moment. "How about an arcade?"
He'd been in this world for a while now, but he still hadn't played any of its games. He'd spent all his time building gadgets instead. There was no way he wasn't curious.
"Then let's go," they agreed.
The three of them set off on foot.
...
"Horse-girl merch is everywhere."
The moment they stepped into the arcade, Gamu took a slow look around. The décor and machines felt like they were one or two generations ahead of Earth's—and his excitement spiked.
"The graphics are gorgeous," he said.
"This world's way ahead in internet and entertainment, at least."
He turned to them. "Tamamo Cross—have you two ever been to an arcade before?"
The answer was, of course, no.
Tamamo wouldn't waste money on something like this, and for Oguri, saving money for food mattered more.
"This is my first time too," Gamu said as he exchanged cash for tokens. "Let's play together—all three of us."
"First up—this shooter."
There weren't many machines that supported three players at once. Gamu immediately picked a story-based co-op shooter where up to four people could team up to blast dinosaurs on a giant screen.
"So realistic…" he said, taking the center seat with shining eyes.
On his Earth, 3D graphics still weren't anywhere near this level. Most "3D models" looked like rough, angular polygon beasts.
Tamamo and Oguri sat on either side of him, awkwardly lifting their plastic guns. They watched the on-screen crosshair wobble as their hands moved.
"Coach Gamu looks really professional," Tamamo thought, noticing his grip and posture.
She copied him.
"That won't be stable," Gamu said immediately. "Pull your hands in a bit more."
"Coach Gamu… have you used a real gun before?" Tamamo asked, curiosity winning out.
Then she realized how weird the question sounded.
Coach Gamu was a proper scientist—he wasn't some shady military operative. And Japan had strict gun laws.
"There's no way he—"
"I've never used a gunpowder gun," Gamu answered smoothly.
See? Tamamo relaxed.
…Wait. Are there guns that don't use gunpowder?
A water gun?
Surely not a laser gun.
"The game's starting," Gamu said, cutting off her spiraling thoughts.
All three focused on the screen. Gamu skipped the story. The screen went black—then snapped into a scene of a roaring off-road vehicle.
Their player characters were crouched in the back, guns up, ready to fire.
"This feels… weirdly familiar," Gamu muttered.
"Wah—!"
A T-rex suddenly burst in from the left side of the screen. Oguri flinched and instinctively leaned into Gamu—
—and in the same motion, Gamu calmly swung his aim to the highlighted weak point and dropped the dinosaur in two seconds.
"My shooting's pretty decent," he said with a proud grin.
He'd actually trained in proper close-quarters shooting techniques. His aim was solid.
If anything, in XIG, being bad at shooting was the rare exception.
Like a certain Lightning Team captain.
Once Oguri realized the dinosaur had been handled, she sat up straight again—then guiltily glanced at Tamamo.
Tamamo's small face was half-lidded, her expression sharp, a tiny tiger fang showing at the corner of her mouth.
For a brief moment, Oguri saw something even scarier than a surprise T-rex.
Tamamo was angry.
Better not make eye contact…
Oguri quietly turned away, eyes darting, nervously sneaking peeks at Tamamo anyway.
"Honestly…" Tamamo muttered under her breath.
How could Oguri just casually lean on Coach Gamu like that? It was outrageous!
It wasn't respectful at all, and it completely ignored the proper social distance between a trainer and a trainee!
Team Sirius isn't some lovey-dovey dating club, okay?!
Tamamo simmered, deciding she'd have a serious talk with Oguri tonight and make her reflect properly.
No disrespecting Coach Gamu!
"…But I think I also…"
Tamamo suddenly froze, remembering the morning—when Gamu had held her hand while walking through the crowd.
It wasn't fingers interlaced or anything romantic. It was the way an adult held a child's hand.
But still.
It was indisputably, undeniably hand-holding.
Oh no. Does that mean I did something bad too?!
And I did it first!!
"Tamamo Cross—your HP is almost gone!!" Gamu shouted.
"Huh?!" Tamamo squeaked.
She scrambled to aim and fire, her refined little face flushing bright red under the arcade's screen glow.
"This is really fun," Gamu said, completely absorbed in the game.
.....
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