The claw machine lesson came to an end.
As Kitahara Sota withdrew his hands, Agnes Digital's slightly stiffened body gradually began to recover.
After leaving the shop, she hugged the stuffed toys Kitahara had helped her catch, reminiscing about the warmth she'd felt during his hands-on teaching moments earlier. Something deep within her heart began to swell, slowly expanding with each passing second.
They continued on in this state for a while, until suddenly Kitahara halted in his tracks, fingers pressed thoughtfully against his chin.
Sure, he was supposed to be spending today accompanying Eclipse—but Eclipse's personality was always like this.
Normally, even if he took Eclipse out, if he didn't actively do something, they'd just wander aimlessly, drifting around until the day ended.
But today was different.
Because this time it wasn't just the two of them—Agnes Digital was here too.
And from what he'd just observed, Eclipse didn't seem to reject her presence. She even, incredibly rare for her, had taken some initiative for Agnes's sake.
Realizing this, Kitahara thought that today he might try a different approach: maybe he could reach Eclipse by actively entertaining Agnes Digital instead.
It wasn't only for Eclipse's benefit, either. It was just as much for Agnes Digital's sake.
Truthfully, Kitahara had always felt a bit indebted to Agnes Digital for various reasons.
He was an adult, a trainer at that, yet he'd caused her quite a bit of trouble and hadn't been able to properly repay her for any of it.
Maybe today was the opportunity he needed to finally make up for it—to spend some quality time with her and see her happy and relaxed.
Thinking this, Kitahara stopped abruptly and turned toward the two girls, telling them what he had in mind.
Just as he expected, Eclipse readily agreed. There was even a flicker of rare curiosity in her eyes, seemingly interested to see what exactly Agnes Digital would come up with.
On the other hand, Agnes Digital herself immediately resisted.
"No, no, no, we can't do that! Senpai, you brought Eclipse-san out to play—I've already intruded far too much by tagging along. I absolutely couldn't…"
Of course, Agnes Digital wasn't opposed to Kitahara's company.
But just as she'd said, she felt guilty enough forcibly inserting herself between them. Taking things even further would leave her conscience unbearable.
Yet, despite her protests, the other two seemed only more intrigued by her reaction. They didn't pressure her or insist outright, but simply stared at her expectantly, clearly signaling they wouldn't move unless she agreed.
After holding out for a long while and seeing neither of them intended to relent, Agnes Digital finally agreed reluctantly, her face flushed with embarrassment.
Once she'd agreed, Agnes Digital—who had previously hung back awkwardly as a self-conscious third wheel—squeezed herself in between the two, visibly nervous and unsettled.
As they started moving again, she hesitantly recommended various interesting places and products. With her leading, the trio began their stroll through town.
Before long, Agnes Digital's nervousness had completely melted away.
Because, after just a little while of wandering around, she noticed that far from resisting, both Kitahara-senpai and Eclipse-san seemed surprisingly pleased to let her guide them.
It wasn't all that surprising, actually. Kitahara Sota might have been incredibly skilled at many things, but due to past circumstances—primarily his perpetual lack of money—he had absolutely zero talent for shopping. Whenever he took Eclipse out, he never knew where to go or what to do.
Even with the claw machine earlier, he'd barely touched one before. It was purely thanks to his absurd reaction speed and control skills that he'd quickly picked it up on the spot, just by observing Eclipse and Agnes Digital's attempts.
Beyond that, however—fun places, interesting attractions, good snacks—he was completely clueless.
It was no coincidence that during the earlier Uma Musume hunting patrols, he always ended up relying on Hayakawa Tazuna's guidance and initiative.
But Agnes Digital was different.
As a jack-of-all-trades Uma Musume, though she wasn't exactly skilled with claw machines for some rather embarrassing personal reasons, she was incredibly capable elsewhere. Her work often had her running errands, supporting her favorite Uma Musume, or helping out those in trouble, so she knew the ins-and-outs of shopping and local spots very well.
Thus, with her help, the two previously hopeless shoppers' experience improved dramatically.
It wasn't long before their hands were filled with various things: Purikura photo stickers taken together, sparkling trinkets, and countless snacks Kitahara kept feeding directly to Eclipse.
Agnes Digital was absolutely thrilled.
After all, Kitahara-senpai and Eclipse-san were both people she greatly admired—and they also happened to be the ship she was currently most passionately promoting.
Just getting to be close to them like this was already enough to make her ecstatic. But now it wasn't just closeness.
She could directly watch her favorite ship in action while controlling exactly what they did—this, for a fervent DD (Daredemo Daisuki) fangirl like herself, was basically the happiest day of her life.
Honestly, if it weren't for Agnes Tachyon's potions, she probably would've fainted by now.
As for seeing the senpai she liked paired up so closely with the Uma Musume she admired—
She didn't resist it in the slightest.
Due to her self-esteem issues, Agnes Digital never saw herself as the heroine. Forget being a heroine—she never even felt qualified to stand on stage.
Though outwardly she always appeared carefree and enthusiastic, deep down her inferiority complex was far worse than even Nice Nature's.
Because, even though Nature-chan was accustomed to third-place finishes, she still quietly yearned for victory, even if she didn't fully expect it.
But Agnes Digital…
She could only ever see others' shining brilliance, instinctively overlooking the glow emanating from herself.
But now—
"Digital really is amazing, huh. At everything she does."
Kitahara Sota expressed his admiration like this.
Even Eclipse, standing beside him with hands full of snacks, gave a rare nod, before adding a snide remark.
"Far better than a certain idiot."
The moment those words dropped, Kitahara raised an eyebrow, turning his gaze toward Eclipse. But when she shifted her eyes away, he stretched out his hand with a gentle smile, fiercely rubbing her colorful, black-and-white rice-ball hair while speaking with mock menace.
"Who're you calling an idiot? Care to name names?"
Eclipse didn't answer, simply letting him mess up her hair while casually munching on snacks between gaps in the attack.
Watching this unfold, Agnes Digital nearly passed out from excitement again—but luckily, thanks to Tachyon's potion, she managed to remain conscious.
When the hair-rubbing was finished, it was nearly noon. Considering they were close to the elderly Uma Musume's clothing store, the trio headed there at Kitahara's suggestion.
When the elderly Uma Musume spotted Kitahara entering, she originally planned to greet him with her usual sharp remarks, but the moment he got close enough, catching the thick, overwhelmingly terrifying scent of marking signals emanating from him, she decided against it.
After exchanging greetings and picking out clothes, they had lunch together.
Since they'd already bought plenty of snacks along the way, the elderly Uma Musume just stir-fried a few simple dishes this time. After eating, Agnes Digital and Eclipse helped clear the table, while Kitahara was quietly pulled aside by the elderly Uma Musume, who began carefully probing if anything strange had happened recently.
"Strange things?"
Kitahara thought carefully for a moment, then shook his head.
"Nope. I think life's been pretty normal lately."
Hearing this response, the elderly Uma Musume's eyelid twitched involuntarily, a reflexive urge to smash her smoking pipe right into this brat's face surging up within her.
But halfway into the swing, she reconsidered, feeling like it'd be too unlucky to actually hit him, and stopped herself.
Just as she abandoned that violent thought, Kitahara spoke up again.
"Well, even though nothing strange has happened exactly, there is something I'd like to discuss with you."
He proceeded to explain Hayakawa Tazuna's condition, mentioning his plan to pretend to be her boyfriend to help treat her trauma.
When finished, he requested the elderly Uma Musume's assistance in creating special therapeutic clothes for Tazuna, to aid her recovery...
As he described all this, the elderly Uma Musume's expression gradually became more complicated.
Though she couldn't confirm it yet, she felt she'd identified the source of that previously unknown, terrifying marking scent from earlier.
Thinking of this, her expression grew even stranger.
After all, she'd long heard the rumors about that "Green Devil," and recalling the human woman named Komata Hajime he'd brought over before...
Had the little brats in his own team stopped being enough, so he was now turning toward colleagues and even his superiors?
What the elderly Uma Musume hadn't anticipated was that this was merely the beginning.
After Kitahara had finished explaining Tazuna's matter, she offhandedly remarked, "You've pretended to be a boyfriend twice already. Do it again, and soon you'll become Tracen Academy's public boyfriend."
Kitahara hesitated briefly, then cautiously added,
"Actually, it's three times. And one of them is still ongoing…"
Intrigued, the elderly Uma Musume raised her eyebrows.
"Who?"
"...Symboli Rudolf."
She blinked, visibly confused.
"...Who?"
"Symboli Rudolf."
Seeing her reaction, Kitahara coughed awkwardly a few times, clarifying with embarrassment:
"You know, from the Symboli family. Undefeated Triple Crown winner… Symboli Rudolf…"
After all, not long ago he'd explicitly told her only a complete idiot would get involved with someone from the Symboli family—but now...
Though he didn't exactly see himself as an idiot, it was undeniably awkward admitting something so blatantly contradictory.
In response to this revelation, the elderly Uma Musume fell silent for a very long moment, inhaling deeply from her pipe. She began to seriously reconsider whether it had been wise to even let this kid inside today.
After all, this wasn't exactly a coffin shop or a crematorium—bringing in someone as good as dead did seem a bit unlucky.
But even this wasn't the end.
"Um, actually, there's one more thing I'd like to ask for your help with…"
Kitahara spoke again.
The elderly Uma Musume remained quiet for a long while, then slowly nodded.
"Speak."
She was mentally prepared at this point. Even if this brat suddenly confessed he'd managed to snag the chairwoman herself, she wouldn't be shocked.
"Well, it's just that the Chairwoman might also need my help solving some physical problems soon, so I'll probably need your assistance again—are you alright?"
I was only thinking it hypothetically—did you seriously manage to snag even her?!
After hearing Kitahara's latest confession, the elderly Uma Musume's gaze turned outright horrified.
Earlier, she was reasonably certain the mysterious marking scent had originated from that green-haired devil. But now that even Akikawa Yayoi was somehow involved with him, she was no longer confident in her earlier judgment.
Though Tazuna was still the strongest suspect, she couldn't rule out the Chairwoman entirely.
Moreover, even though there was currently only one unfamiliar marking, given Kitahara's increasing interactions with Tazuna, Yayoi, and even Symboli Rudolf, it might only be a matter of time before that one marking became two, or even three...
For the first time in her life, the elderly Uma Musume felt genuinely thankful she was already old.
If she had encountered this brat in her younger years, she might have fallen into the trap herself...
But following that thought, besides feeling increasingly unlucky having Kitahara around, another peculiar feeling began bubbling up within her.
Sure, she'd been known since her youth for her nasty temper and frequent mischief. But looking back, even the biggest trouble she'd caused was nothing compared to the massive mess this brat had managed to create entirely unconsciously—and judging by current trends, it would only keep escalating.
The bigger the trouble, the greater the amusement. And the greater her anticipation grew.
Originally, she'd thought of lending him a helping hand. But now, as time had passed and the situation developed, it was already far beyond the stage where anyone could help. Instead of thinking about how to help him out, it might be more entertaining—and possibly even safer—to just fan the flames and make the mess even bigger.
Thus, recalling her past, she thought of a certain young girl who was still in touch with her, and a mischievous grin gradually curled up the corners of her mouth.
"Hey, brat."
"...Yes?"
"You're not exactly young anymore, yet still single..."
Hearing those familiar words, a sudden, enormous sense of crisis surged inside Kitahara's heart.
"Wait, you don't mean…"
"Mhm. I happen to know a promising little lady."
"How about I arrange for you two to meet up when you have the time?"