Chapter 313: Only One Year Left—I’ll Become a Legendary Uma Musume! 2 [257]

Resting in this familiar yet unfamiliar room felt, unexpectedly, perfectly ordinary.

Or rather, maybe it was because Mejiro Ramonu was holding her so tightly that Gotham Song didn’t have room to feel much else...

Other than the fact that her sister was just about strangling her, more or less...!

Still, perhaps because the embrace was so tight, Gotham Song could make out something else too—a rather special emotion, maybe because...

When their bodies were pressed so close together, didn’t that make the closeness between their feelings show even more clearly?

She couldn’t tell. Gotham Song really couldn’t tell. And since she couldn’t tell, she had no particular desire to keep thinking about it.

In any case, it wasn’t bad. Her sister was someone she could rely on. If that was the case, then she might as well just follow her lead.

And so, a new day began.

When Gotham Song woke up, she did want to pretend she was still asleep.

But since it was called pretending to sleep, that meant the act hadn’t succeeded.

It wasn’t that she was diligent enough to suppress the urge and obediently get up.

It was just that...

The gaze on her was a little too blinding, wasn’t it?

Among Umamusume, there was a technique—or rather, a "skill"—called something along the lines of a sharp gaze.

The basic idea was that during a race, with enough scorching emotion behind it, you could use your stare to agitate another Umamusume’s overly sensitive mind and interfere with her.

You could call it a dirty trick. Part of the psychological game.

But still—still, this was the first time Gotham Song had realized that her sister was a master at that too.

And that her sister could actually use a skill like that in everyday life?!

Why say that?

Because right now, Gotham Song could feel all too clearly the incomparably intense heat in her sister’s gaze...!

What sort of emotion was hidden inside it?

She didn’t know. She couldn’t sense it at all. It was like something hidden behind a veil—mysterious and ancient, impossible to probe.

But more importantly, never mind what emotion was actually in that gaze. What mattered was that since her sister was looking at her like that, then...

Pretending to sleep...

"Eek...!"

"Do you want to sleep a little longer, my silly little sister?"

There was a size difference between Gotham Song and Mejiro Ramonu. In everyday life, it wasn’t always that obvious...

So when was it the most obvious?

Naturally, when they were pressed right up against each other and there was all sorts of physical contact involved...!

For example, when she was being held tight in her sister’s arms, and their spooning position slowly turned into Gotham Song being completely sprawled across Mejiro Ramonu’s chest...!

Soft—she could feel it so clearly—but, but this was way too embarrassing, wasn’t it?!

Being cradled like a child in her sister’s arms, pressed up against her like this, lying on her chest and all—it filled Gotham Song with pure embarrassment.

Obviously, her sister had absolutely noticed that she was already awake...!

And precisely because she’d noticed, she was deliberately maintaining this exact position and casually trapping Gotham Song in a situation that was guaranteed to be mortifying.

That was the hateful thing about her sister...!

Ugh, she was the worst. There was no way to fight back against this.

Well, there was one way.

The only way was probably to open her eyes right now, look straight at her sister, and face her with such stern resolve that the other girl would lose the nerve to keep messing with her.

If only it were that easy...!

The idea that her sister would give up just because of that was laughably impossible.

So then... should she just keep pretending to sleep?

On her sister’s chest, inside this warm blanket, relaxing so easily and comfortably, without the slightest discomfort...

Should she just sink into it?

The blanket really was comfortable. It felt like she could sink into it forever. Like some magical seal, as long as she stayed here, even her breathing would slow. It wasn’t too hot or too cold—just right, exactly the kind of warmth that made a person sleepy.

And besides, her sister wasn’t doing anything more after that.

She was just holding her, stroking her, staying pressed against her in a way that was impossible to resist, dutifully fulfilling her role as a pillow.

Thinking about it that way, maybe sinking into this wasn’t so bad after all?

It was only being lazy once or twice. That was completely acceptable, right...?

Right?

But when she thought about it carefully, even if there really was nothing wrong with it, being held like a little kid and being forced to directly confront the fact that, even by her sister’s standards, she counted as one of the smaller ones...

That was seriously infuriating!!!

In her past life, her sister wouldn’t even have counted as particularly tall!!!

Gotham Song opened her eyes and bit down hard on her sister’s cheek, leaving a faint mark at the side.

"Awoo!! Umamusume will never be slaves!!!"

Probably because Gotham Song’s sudden uprising came far too abruptly—even though Mejiro Ramonu had more or less expected something like this, she still reacted a beat too late and got thoroughly bitten by her little sister.

Not that Mejiro Ramonu had any intention of resisting.

At least her little sister still had some sense and hadn’t gone for the tip of her nose with those sharp little tiger teeth, only the side of her cheek.

That meant covering it up later wouldn’t be too difficult.

What a shame. If she’d bitten the front, maybe there’d have been no need to cover it at all.

To be fair, Mejiro Ramonu felt that line of thought had been pretty dangerous.

But still.

This was the cry of her heart...

And surely there was nothing wrong with that, right?

But while Mejiro Ramonu was still lost in thought, Gotham Song had already grabbed her sister’s cheeks and squeezed hard.

"So my bad big sister already knew I was actually awake, didn’t she?"

"Oh my, did I? Maybe I did? Even your sister doesn’t know."

Mejiro Ramonu had absolutely known...!

Otherwise she never would’ve reacted like that.

Gotham Song was completely, absolutely certain.

That attitude was just way too awful...!

Faced with her sister’s performance, all Gotham Song could do was puff out her cheeks and do her best to put on a very obvious I am not happy face, hoping to make her feelings unmistakably clear.

But obviously, Mejiro Ramonu didn’t seem affected by that in the slightest.

If anything, it was as though she were looking at a very cute cat with its fur all puffed up in protest, bestowing upon it the equal affection of a composed, powerful adult human.

Ah, how adorable. A side of her completely different from usual. That sort of feeling.

Gotham Song could naturally see right through what her sister was thinking at a glance, but all she could do in response was glare back even more furiously.

Too mean. So mean there was no saving it...!

Like a balloon on the verge of bursting—full of threat and menace.

That was how Mejiro Ramonu privately assessed it.

Then again, it was only because their world was such a peaceful one. If they’d really lived in one of those webnovel worlds so popular in recent years, where danger lurked everywhere, who knew what terrible things her little sister might have run into...?

Gotham Song might not be as fragile as she looked, but as her sister, Mejiro Ramonu couldn’t help worrying that way.

Maybe that was simply an emotion unique to older sisters...?

Mejiro Ramonu didn’t quite know how to put it into words.

Still, she did know one thing clearly: if she didn’t do something soon, her little sister was probably about to die of embarrassment on the spot.

Fortunately, she already had the perfect excuse to change the subject.

"So, Song, have you thought it through yet?"

"Eh? Thought through what?"

From the moment she’d held her little sister in her arms and indulgently watched her pretend to sleep, Mejiro Ramonu had already guessed what was going to happen.

Which meant she’d also already thought of a way to keep her sister from dwelling on something like that.

As an older sister, of course she understood her little sister—knowing exactly how she’d react was hardly surprising.

This was the setup she’d planted yesterday.

Seeing that her sister had fallen into complete confusion and bewilderment, Mejiro Ramonu’s lips curled up quite visibly, and then she spoke words that could only be described as devilish whispers.

"Why, of what you’re going to do with me today, of course, my dear little sister."

Ah...!

That!

Gotham Song went silent.

Or rather, silence was all she could manage.

She was doomed. She had absolutely no idea at all...!

When she’d been asked yesterday, she hadn’t had any time to think. After that, before going to sleep, she hadn’t given it much thought either—not to mention after waking up.

Yes, technically a long time had passed since the question had first been asked, and by any reasonable measure, after that much time she really ought to have come up with an answer...

But!

But that whole stretch of time had been spent asleep! How was she supposed to think of anything? It wasn’t as if she’d been brainstorming this in her dreams!

It felt like her brain had simply ceased to exist for a moment.

Gotham Song could only feel her mind go blank, and caught in that indescribable situation, the expression on her face turned vacant in every possible sense.

Who am I, where am I, what am I doing—oh, right, I just woke up, didn’t I? Time to wash up, haha...

Seeing Gotham Song like this, Mejiro Ramonu couldn’t hold back her laughter.

She truly hadn’t expected her little sister to wear such an absurd, foolish smile, and for a moment she didn’t even know how to describe what she was feeling.

"It looks like you really hadn’t thought of anything at all, hm?"

"Ahaha... um, well, that, I..."

Gotham Song had gone clear-eyed and stupid.

In the face of something so helplessly funny, Mejiro Ramonu finally gave up on the idea of continuing just to see how her sister would react.

"All right then. Since little sister has no ideas, what else can big sister say?"

"Go wash up and get dressed. I’ll arrange the schedule instead, shall I?"

There was no helping it. Or rather, this was the only option, wasn’t it?!

Helpless in the face of it all, Gotham Song could only nod and accept it.

At the same time, however, she felt utterly miserable inside.

Why on earth did the you from back then have to make a request like that?!

Gotham Song, speak up! Was this your problem or not?!

Private Gotham Song, step forward!

Present!!

Well, what else was she supposed to do? It wasn’t as if she could stubbornly insist that there was absolutely no problem.

So spoke Gotham Song, who never, ever doubled down when she was wrong.

Then she let out a long sigh.

Ah, life was hard. Song could only sigh over it all. Really now.

...

Still, Gotham Song didn’t stop moving.

After washing up, she changed into the cropped outfit she’d once worn while going out to play in Dubai with Dancing Brave.

And Mejiro Ramonu, meanwhile, had clearly changed into more casual clothes as well. She was already sitting in the spacious, brightly lit reception room downstairs in Mejiro Manor, waiting for Gotham Song to make her move.

Today, her sister wasn’t dressed in anything particularly close to her usual style. Instead, she wore a long dress that was very simple—simple enough to almost be called plain.

At that, Gotham Song suddenly had a new wicked idea.

She quietly crept down the stairs, then tiptoed up behind her sister.

And then, all at once, she covered those completely defenseless eyes with both hands...!

"Heheh. Guess who I am!!"

Even with her voice lowered, Gotham Song’s voice was still unmistakably obvious to Mejiro Ramonu.

In fact, Mejiro Ramonu had already noticed her sister approaching the moment she came near. She simply hadn’t moved because her sister clearly wanted to do this.

Still, how should she answer?

Blurting out that it was her little sister right away didn’t seem quite right.

That might ruin Gotham Song’s fun.

Perhaps out of pure indulgence, Mejiro Ramonu softly gave her first answer.

"Is it... Ardan?"

"What—?! Of course not! Guess again!"

Ah, guess again.

What a cute reaction.

What a strangely unfamiliar experience, too.

In truth, this was Mejiro Ramonu’s first time experiencing something so ordinary—this sort of playful roughhousing that might happen between sisters as they laughed and messed around.

How should she describe it?

This was probably what ordinary sisters’ everyday lives looked like.

This was...

The real beginning of the day when she and Gotham Song had only each other.

In that case, she was absolutely going to enjoy this time to the fullest.

My time with Song.

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T/N: tsk song you should have bit her boobs