Marked with Spe's scent.
No matter how dense he was, after so many maneuvers, there was no way Kitahara still failed to understand what those words meant.
Also, Grass-san, what exactly do you mean by saying that? Whose side are you even on?
Ten thousand questions sprang up in Kitahara's mind.
But now was not the time to dwell on that.
Looking at Special Week before him, Kitahara found himself a little short of breath for a moment.
If this were before, or if it were some other Umamusume, he definitely would have refused outright.
Then after refusing, he would talk to her about how feelings were not limited to romance, how she was still too young, and so on and so forth...
But Special Week was different.
Because she truly had gone through all of this with him, and then been abandoned by him.
Those hypothetical feelings were not hypothetical to Special Week. She had already lived through all those proper, reasonable arguments.
Back then, she had truly treated him as family, with boundless dependence and trust in him.
But what had happened in the end?
Of course Kitahara could say that something really had come up back then, that leaving had been unavoidable, that it had been normal.
No one would blame him. Even Special Week would not object at all.
But the act of abandonment itself was something no reason could change.
Just like the wound he had left in Special Week's heart, which had still not healed even now.
So, facing Special Week again, he knew that for her, his old approach would no longer work.
He had to offer something deeper, something more serious than before.
Only then could he prove that he would not abandon her again. Only then could he put her heart at ease.
He also knew that right now, he could absolutely order Special Week to get off him first.
She would listen, and then he would have time to think. After thinking it through, he could find reasons to talk to her and soothe her.
But...
Looking at the familiar Special Week before him, the one who had shed all her masks in front of him, Kitahara fell silent for a while.
"If it will put you at ease, then as long as it's something I can do, anything is fine."
"I won't abandon you again. No matter what happens."
He gave her a firm answer.
Special Week's body stiffened.
And yet, just as Kitahara had mentally prepared himself to accept certain things he had experienced some time ago...
Special Week made no move.
In fact, her eyes even started to dodge his.
At this point, saying Special Week did not want to do anything to Kitahara would obviously be impossible.
But first of all, today's sudden exposure had not been part of Special Week's plan to begin with.
Whether it was coming here, playing a prank on him together with Grass, or having her emotions suddenly collapse halfway through the conversation...
None of it had been planned in advance.
Just as she had said, she did not want to use those messy schemes on Kitahara.
The reason she had appeared here was exactly as she had said before. She had purely come to find Grass Wonder and join in the fun.
But now...
Looking at Kitahara, who was so close before her, and hearing the seriousness in his words, Special Week instead had no idea what to do.
Well, including Grass Wonder, quite a few Umamusume had a misunderstanding of Special Week.
They believed she was a master at playing dumb, a hidden Heavy Track.
Although in truth, Special Week had indeed hidden many things and could play dumb.
But beyond that, they had overlooked one very important point.
Special Week was a country girl.
A country girl from the countryside, raised by humans, with very traditional values.
Fine, traditional values were traditional values. At Trape Main Campus, there were plenty of Umamusume who had risen up from the regions, and it had not taken long before they were assimilated too.
But Special Week was different.
For one, she had not been here as long as the other Umamusume.
For another, ever since she came to Tracen, she had never focused on socializing. She had little contact with other Umamusume and was not interested in gossip.
After coming to Tracen, she had basically done three things.
Eat, sleep, and take remedial lessons.
Umamusume and Trainers, romantic gossip, Umapyoi.
If she had not run into Kitahara, she would probably have kept eating and drinking all the way to graduation, taking remedial lessons when she had nothing else to do, calling her mother, and finally worrying over her diploma.
Just like a certain flat-chested fellow.
That was also one of the important reasons the two of them were able to get along.
And she also knew that although Kitahara had now agreed to let her do anything, and if she demanded it, he would definitely comply...
Afterward, he would probably feel awful.
After all, leaving aside everything else, even her age fell below Kitahara's bottom line.
If she really did it, then in essence, it would not be much different from him abandoning her back then.
Yes, Special Week understood very clearly that she had every reason and every right to demand that he be marked with her scent right now.
But back then, Kitahara really had also had proper reasons for leaving without saying goodbye.
She was not doing this to take revenge on Kitahara or torment him.
She really did like him.
"...Um, let's stop here."
She lowered her head, her face as red as an apple.
"I believe you, Sota-san."
It was not that she did not want to do it, but the two hurdles—hers and Kitahara's—were things she truly could not cross right now.
Even with Grass Wonder behind her, flicking her with her tail, she still could not cross them.
This girl really was...
Grass Wonder, behind her, finally could not take it anymore.
I've assisted you this far, and you still don't dare take the final step?
Isn't there something wrong with how you're playing this hand? Hm? Special Week?
"Stop here?"
Grass Wonder smiled, then moved her butt aside, revealing the little tent beneath her.
"But from what I can see, Trainer Kitahara does not seem to think so..."
After saying that, she even rubbed it lightly with her finger.
Silence.
Kitahara had originally still wanted to say something to Special Week, but after Grass Wonder made her move, he turned his head and looked at Grass Wonder.
Then he gently patted Special Week on the back.
"It's all right, Spe. Even without doing that, I still have a way to be marked with your scent."
"...Really?"
"Really."
He comforted Special Week softly.
"So get up for a moment. I need to talk to Grass-san about something."
So Special Week obediently left his body.
Kitahara sat up, placing one hand on Grass Wonder's shoulder, his gaze serious.
"Grass-san."
"...Yes?"
Looking at Kitahara before her, for some reason, a sense of unease surfaced in Grass Wonder's heart.
And very soon, her premonition came true.
"You're not actually into women, are you?"
Silence.
The smile on Grass Wonder's face stiffened slightly.
"Trainer Kitahara, what do you mean by that...?"
"What I mean is that I do have a temper."
Kitahara's expression was serious, and something unreadable appeared in his eyes.
"These days, I've already had more than enough to be annoyed about. And now I find out that someone I trusted a great deal has been lying to me all this time."
"And even tried to lure one of the girls around me into it."
Whether it was schemes or trades, Kitahara considered them perfectly normal behavior.
Even Shanish's fanning the flames did not involve fabricating anything, but rather digging up the feelings in other people's hearts.
But deceiving him under the name of being bros was no longer within the range Kitahara considered normal.
And that was not even mentioning how this girl had tried to lure Special Week along.
Even Shanish could tell that making a move on Spe right now violated his bottom line, so even though she had fanned many flames, she had never set her sights on Special Week.
Yet Grass Wonder, clever as she usually was, had been foolish only in this.
She had even exposed herself.
"Mm, Trainer Kitahara, I do not understand what you mean..."
"What I mean is simple."
Kitahara looked straight into her eyes.
"Whoever started the fire takes responsibility for it."
Although Grass Wonder's True Awakening and racing timeline lined up with Special Week's, Grass Wonder was older than her.
To be more precise, her age cleared the line.
Then he had no reason to hold back.
"I've put up with you for long enough, Grass Wonder."
"Spe, help me out—"
"Mm, the weather today really is lovely..."
---
T/N: wow
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