Nice Nature ran after Kagura until they stopped in front of a rack lined with balloons. There were "guns" laid out in front of the stall too, and Nature blinked.
"Shooting?"
Since she had helped set up festivals before, Nice Nature knew this kind of stall all too well. Goldfish scooping, shooting galleries, candy apple vendors—it felt like every festival had stalls like these.
She just hadn't expected Kagura to pick a stall like this. Nature had always thought of Kagura as a gentle, quiet Umamusume, almost like some noble young lady. She didn't seem like the type to come running over to a shooting gallery.
"Hm? Is that the impression I give you, Nature?"
"What else? Aside from when you're on the racecourse… I don't think I've ever seen you be that fierce anywhere else…"
"Mm~ hm? But you've come to the kyudo club to watch me practice before, haven't you?"
As she spoke, Kagura took out some money and handed it to the stall owner, then picked up one of the guns and passed it to Nature.
"Here. You try first, Nature."
"Huh? I'm shooting balloons?"
Nice Nature had seen stalls like this countless times, but she had never actually tried one herself. For one thing, she had never been interested. For another, she had a pretty good sense of her own aim. Anything shooting-related was basically outside her field of existence.
"Y-you're not allowed to laugh if I miss, Kagura!"
But since Kagura had invited her, Nice Nature decided to steel herself and give it a try. She picked up the gun with extreme awkwardness, aimed in a rough sort of way, and pulled the trigger with trembling hands.
BANG!
The curtain behind the balloons jerked hard. The angle was so visibly off that Kagura almost clapped her hands and shouted, "Now that's a fine horse!"
"That's weird. Where did I hit?"
"I just saw the shot graze the edge. You almost hit it!"
Kagura kept her expression under control and said it as calmly as she could.
The stall owner also looked like he was having a hard time holding it together. Especially when he saw Kagura, her face full of barely suppressed laughter, egging Nice Nature on to fire another two shots, his eyes went as wide as copper bells. He could barely keep it together, but he was happy too. After all, everyone on this street treated the two of them like daughters. Seeing them so close naturally put him in a good mood.
"Aah! Kagura! You promised you wouldn't laugh!"
After missing an entire round in a row, Nice Nature finally realized she'd been had when she saw Kagura and the stall owner both looking like they were about to break.
"I… I'm not! I've had professional training. No matter how funny something is, I won't laugh!"
"You've been laughing the whole time! You haven't stopped at all!"
"Ahaha~"
"You do it! I want to laugh at you too, Kagura!"
Nice Nature, a little flushed with embarrassment and irritation, shoved the gun into Kagura's hands and stood beside her with puffed cheeks, wanting to see whether Kagura would make a fool of herself once she tried it personally.
But her embarrassment made her overlook one thing. She really was a newbie who couldn't hold the gun steady and couldn't aim properly, but Kagura was not. Although Kagura did not usually practice with this sort of thing, her aim was absolutely not the kind that pointed at A and hit B.
"Oh—Kagura-chan's hands are very steady. Have you trained before?"
Seeing how stable Kagura's stance was, like someone who knew what she was doing, the stall owner asked in surprise.
"I usually practice with a bow, so my aim is… decent enough, I suppose."
"Oh… Then it looks like today's challenge won't be too hard for Kagura-chan."
"Hehe~ Watch carefully, Nature. This is how you're supposed to aim!"
Kagura raised the gun, took brief aim, then decisively pulled the trigger. With a crisp firing sound, one of the balloons on the rack burst.
After popping the first balloon, Kagura memorized where she had aimed, turned her body, and casually shifted into a one-handed shooting stance. She smiled at Nice Nature, who was staring in a daze, then fired without even turning her head. Another balloon on the rack burst. Nature's eyes widened despite herself, and the children who had unknowingly gathered nearby also let out cries of amazement.
"Kagura-oneesan! You're so cool!"
"Wow! One-handed aiming?! Kagura-oneesan, can you do it again?"
Kagura… is so cool…!
The last bit of sulkiness remaining in Nice Nature's heart vanished completely. Right now, her head was filled with the dashing, gallant image of Kagura holding the gun in one hand and shooting the balloons down.
She couldn't help wondering what kind of sight it would be if Kagura were standing there in her Race Outfit right now.
...
"These are your prizes, Kagura-chan~ Hope you two have a happy Christmas Eve~"
After Kagura finished an entire round with astonishing precision, the stall owner handed over the prize she had earned.
It was a gift with a very Umamusume-like flavor: a glittering golden carrot trophy. There was even a gun-like design on the trophy, and inside were apples wrapped with red ribbons. Perhaps because he had considered that there were two of them, the stall owner had specially placed two apples inside. It looked rather full.
After leaving the stall with Nice Nature, Kagura gave her one of the apples she had won. Originally, Kagura had planned to buy apples, wrap them properly, and give one to Nice Nature later. Since she already had one wrapped so beautifully now, she simply gave this little present to Nature in advance.
"Merry Christmas Eve~ Nature"~
"Ah… I… I don't think I prepared anything I can give you, Kagura…"
"It's fine~ Having you come out and have fun with me is the best present already~"
"Ah…"
Nice Nature accepted the apple hesitantly, but Kagura's words left her speechless for a moment. Looking at Kagura's sun-bright smile, she suddenly couldn't say anything. She felt as though her gaze had been caught, unable to move even a fraction away. She could no longer remember how many times today she had felt her heart stir like this.
"Ah! Nature! Look! There's a place selling Christmas souvenirs over there!"
Sharp-eyed Kagura immediately found another fun-looking stall. She suddenly felt a little emotional. Sometimes, going out did not need any particularly clear plan. As long as there was a general goal and you slowly made your way there, you could always discover plenty of little surprises along the road.
"Huh? Ah… right. But why do those two stall owners… especially that gray-haired Umamusume, look so familiar?"
...
Kagura and Nice Nature bought some wrapped apples from the souvenir stall to bring back for their respective friends. Kagura also bought a snow globe while she was there. Inside was a Christmas tree, and it had a very wintery Christmas-night atmosphere.
Incidentally, once Kagura and Nice Nature got closer, the two familiar old acquaintances who looked so familiar also recognized them—Spica's Trainer Nishizaki Ryu and Gold Ship. The two of them had seen Curren Chan's Umastagram post promoting the Christmas celebration on this street, so they had come over to take a look.
With the thought of supplementing Team Spica's tight budget, Gold Ship had somehow, by some unknown means and from some unknown place, acquired a batch of souvenirs suited to the current holiday atmosphere. And just like that, Spica's stall had somehow muddled its way into existence.
"Thank you both for your patronage!! We hope you two students have a happy Christmas Eve!!"
When Kagura and Nice Nature finished shopping and left the stall, the two living treasures that were Nishizaki Ryu and Gold Ship enthusiastically saw them off.
After leaving Spica's stall, Kagura lifted her head and looked up at the sky. By now, night had climbed into the sky with the evening clouds, spreading slowly like ink dripping into water.
"It's getting late…"
Of course, aside from nightfall, Kagura also saw something that surprised her very much—white snowflakes were drifting down from the sky.
"Ah, Kagura! Look! It's snowing!"
Nice Nature let out a surprised cry, pointing up at the sky with a very happy, excited look. Kagura nodded too. Snow at this time was indeed a little beyond her expectations, but thinking about how it was Christmas Eve, and how the snow was falling under the glow of the sunset, it did have a unique charm.
"The view feels really nice… It would be great if there were somewhere higher up where we could see the evening glow and the snowy scenery."
Kagura thought of this with some regret, because in her impression, there was nowhere nearby that could satisfy such an idea.
"Somewhere higher…"
Nice Nature looked up at the sky and thought for a while, then suddenly clapped her hands.
"I've got it!"
"Huh? Waaah…?! Nature, where are you going?!"
Some instinct—perhaps the desire to express herself like an adult, or perhaps driven by some other emotion—made Nice Nature take the initiative to reach out, take Kagura's hand, grip it tight, and start charging off in a direction Kagura herself was not familiar with.
Although Kagura had no idea what Nice Nature wanted to do as she was pulled away, she believed Nature wouldn't lead her around randomly. So she tightened her hold on Nice Nature's hand too and jogged to keep up with her.
...
Kagura had no idea how long she had run. Nice Nature's route was surprisingly winding, turning this way and that through the shopping street. Kagura was even pulled up a fairly long slope by Nature. When Nice Nature finally stopped, Kagura took a deep breath to steady her breathing while looking around.
This seemed to be a park. She could see rocking rides, swings, and other playground equipment. The park was behind the shopping street, in a place that resembled a large rooftop. When Kagura had come here before, she had never gone this far in, so she had never realized that there was actually such a high place a little beyond the shopping street.
Perhaps because today was Christmas Eve, there were no children playing here. They had probably all been summoned home by their parents for turkey dinner.
"Huff… Is this high enough?"
Panting, Nice Nature pulled Kagura over to the railing on the side facing the shopping street.
Looking down from the railing at the edge, they could take in the entire shopping street and the distant setting sun at a glance.
"Wow… This really is nice…"
Looking at the open view before her, Kagura felt refreshed and at ease. She did not forget to take out her phone either, capturing this rare and beautiful scene as a memento of today before the sky full of sunset clouds disappeared.
"This is great! Ah, right. Nature, since we have the chance, want to take a selfie?"
"Huh? With me?"
Nice Nature had been looking at Kagura's satisfied expression and secretly feeling happy inside, so when Kagura suddenly turned the topic to her, she couldn't help freezing for a moment.
Kagura nodded. She placed the little bag full of things on the bench in front of the railing, then pulled Nice Nature over with her to stand in front of it.
"Nature~ Come a little closer to me~"
"Ah… oh… okay!"
With the experience of taking photo stickers earlier, although she was still a little stiff, Nice Nature was able to lean in beside Kagura relatively naturally.
After her honkaku, Kagura and Nice Nature had grown to exactly the same height, so there was no height difference between them. Kagura raised her phone, and it was easy for her to fit both herself and Nice Nature into the frame.
Nice Nature could clearly see herself and Kagura leaning together on Kagura's phone screen. Behind them was a sky filled with sunset clouds, and the sunlight illuminated both of their faces, casting the brilliant glow of the evening sky over them too.
Looking at the camera, Nice Nature felt a little dazed. The scene was dreamlike and illusory, carrying a sense of unreality, as though it belonged in a dream.
"One two three~ Nature~ Peace sign! Smile~"
"…Ehehe~"
Trying her best to show a shy smile, Nice Nature let her other hand, the one she had not raised, move closer to Kagura's lowered hand. She brushed against Kagura's fingers, but in the end, she still did not take her hand.
Kagura did not pay much attention to that. Taking advantage of that brief moment, she caught the smile on Nice Nature's face, not knowing how long it would last, and pressed the shutter—
CLICK!
After leaving behind a memento of today's beautiful scenery, Kagura let out a long breath and sat down with Nice Nature on the bench in front of the railing. Beside her, where she did not notice, Nice Nature turned away with a flushed face. Even though it was snowing now, Nature felt her cheeks burning.
WHOOSH~
Just as Kagura sat down and stretched, relaxing her limbs, a somewhat strong cold wind howled past. As the snow fell harder and the sun set, the temperature had already dropped quite a bit. Blown by the cold wind, Nice Nature, who had not expected it to snow when she came out, couldn't help sneezing.
"Hm? Nature, aren't you dressed too lightly?"
Looking at Nice Nature's clothes, which were not exactly thick, Kagura couldn't help frowning.
She herself had a habit of wearing slightly thicker clothing when she went out in winter, no matter what the temperature was. She hadn't expected that habit to help her quite a bit today. If she hadn't dressed warmly, today's temperature would have been a little torturous.
"Well… I forgot to check the weather forecast before I came out. I didn't think it would snow…"
"Then should we run back to Tracen quickly?"
Kagura tried suggesting it, but Nice Nature shook her head and pointed at the beautiful view in front of them.
"No… I'm okay. I want to keep looking at today's scenery a little longer."
"…"
After thinking for a moment, Kagura untied her scarf, then moved closer to Nice Nature. She wrapped the scarf around both Nature's neck and her own, encircling the two of them together. The scarf, already warm from her body heat, wrapped around Nice Nature and immediately warmed her up.
"!"
With Kagura's face right beside hers, Nice Nature could feel Kagura's warm body heat. She could even smell the faint fragrance coming from Kagura's hair, as well as that indescribable but very comforting scent Kagura always seemed to carry.
An indescribable feeling filled her heart. For an instant, she felt as though her heart was about to stop.
"Now it's not cold anymore, right? Good thing I bought an extra-long scarf. We'll watch until the sun goes down, then head back to Tracen. How's that?"
"Mm… mm!"
Watching the sun slowly sink in the distance, Nice Nature, whose heart was overflowing with happiness, wanted to say something, but found herself unable to speak. She felt that being silent like this was fine too. She leaned a little against Kagura's shoulder, gathered her courage, and tried taking Kagura's free little hand. Kagura did not seem to mind and showed no sign of resisting.
Mr. Sun, please go a little slower… Let me enjoy this rare moment… just a little longer…
Pressed close against Kagura, Nice Nature could not help thinking a little greedily in her heart.
...
Come to think of it, do Umamusume all have really bad aim?
——No? Why would you say that?
Because they're race 'horse' girls, right? Isn't it about whose shooting is more horse?
——I… I'm a ghost, and even I'm freezing to death from that one…
---
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