Maybe it was because everything had changed so strangely, but even after coming back to my room after so long, I couldn’t fall asleep. My sister’s voice kept echoing in my ears. The Satono Group was a company that was genuinely serious about supporting Uma Musume, and every year it poured an enormous amount of money into Tracen.
Thanks to that, in most races, advertisements related to the Satono Group were plastered in the most visible spots. Could someone like me possibly have anything to do with a giant corporation like that? No matter how I thought about it, there was no connection at all.
Maybe I was just forcing myself to feel uneasy because of my sister’s warning. I only had to do my best at my own job. I needed to start preparing from Oguri’s debut race. No, her ability was already more than enough. It would be better to prepare with the Hopeful Stakes she had mentioned in mind.
“Master, are you asleep?”
Carefully opening the door, Bourbon whispered in a tiny voice.
“I was just about to sleep.”
Bourbon came into the room, hugging a pillow tightly.
“I can’t seem to fall asleep, so would you approve of me sleeping beside you?”
Bourbon might be the kind of girl people would treat as a grown woman anywhere else, but she had only just entered middle school.
“...Just this once.”
Bourbon trotted over and burrowed into the bed. The moment she wriggled under the blanket, she quickly settled into a stable position and nestled in.
“It’s been a while since I slept in the same bed as Master like this.”
I gently stroked Bourbon’s head as she fidgeted in my arms. Her hair felt rough and soft at the same time between my fingers, and I combed it back over and over like I was brushing it with my hand.
“Now that Bourbon’s all grown up, you can’t come into your big brother’s bed like this anymore, okay?”
“I refuse.”
I patted Bourbon on the back as she clung to me. A faint heartbeat could be heard through the flesh pressed together. I moved my hand in time with it. She must have been sleepy, but came all the way here anyway. That thought crossed my mind briefly. Bourbon’s reddish-brown tail wrapped softly around my thigh. I closed my eyes to the pleasant warmth and scent.
“If you’re a middle schooler, then you’re an adult now. You can’t just sleep together like this.”
“Do you really think I’m an adult?”
Bourbon lifted her head and looked at me. Her blue eyes were so straight and unwavering that meeting them made me feel like I might break. They were the same kind of unshakable faith Oguri had in her eyes. For some reason, I felt embarrassed and looked away.
“Good doggy... good doggy...”
“I am not a child.”
Bourbon puffed out her cheeks. I poked and pressed at them, trying to let the air out, but maybe because she was so strong, my fingers just got pushed back instead. Bourbon looked at me with a faint smile and whispered in a very small voice.
“I missed you, Master.”
Still clutching my clothes, Bourbon leaned in, and I slowly stroked her head. She hadn’t changed at all since she was little.
“I missed you too, my little doggy.”
“I am not a doggy. I am an adult woman.”
“Yes, yes.”
Bourbon turned over and lay down with her back to me. She seemed to be pouting. I gently wrapped an arm around her stomach. Then I whispered into her ear.
“If you’re an adult, then you don’t need my arm pillow anymore.”
“Ngh...!”
“You don’t need a lullaby anymore either?”
“Uu...”
“Then we can’t sleep together like this anymore?”
“I-I’m... a child.”
At Bourbon’s instant change in attitude, like flipping a hand over, I held out one arm. Our little doggy climbed up as if it had been promised, nestling against my arm and lying down.
“Is the work at Tracen manageable?”
“Yeah. I’m learning a lot because I get to meet good kids.”
“I’m relieved. I was very worried.”
Unlike my sister or younger sister, who hardly seemed to care, every child I’d met lately had been worrying about me. I felt like I needed to work harder to become a more reliable adult.
“I told Father about it... If you have someone assigned to you, then that’s a relief.”
“Thanks for worrying about me. I guess I made our little doggy worry for nothing.”
Sleep began to crash over me. Bourbon’s warmth was so familiar that my consciousness kept cutting out in little gaps.
“Father said... if needed... then...”
“Mm... mm... mm-hmm...”
Her slowly fading replies were gone before I knew it. Master. Bourbon murmured softly. Only the faint sound of breathing came from behind me. Carefully, she turned her body and looked at her master, sleeping defenselessly.
She was still just a young girl and his little sister. But that was fine. The distance to the finish line was still far away. Still, if she kept running without giving up, she would get there. Run without doubting. Just like now. No matter how far, no matter how rough the road, she only had to keep moving forward.
Bourbon slowly moved her head. Feeling his breath, she barely managed to hold back the urge to throw herself at him recklessly. She would only keep running steadily. So that nothing would be ruined, slowly and faithfully.
Bourbon smiled faintly, feeling his breathing, and closed her eyes. It might be a little unfair, but sometimes this was okay. Feeling the soft touch left on her lips, she felt her tail tense up all at once.
All she had to do was keep looking ahead. Keep running.
Just like now.
**
“It’s a nice house.”
My sister admired the inside of the spacious home.
“It’s only a quarter of the price of my officetel, and it’s this good? I’m kind of jealous of the Trainer job. Did you at least buy some furniture? Isn’t it a little too bare?”
I had moved everything over from my rented room, but the house was so large that it couldn’t help looking empty. I needed to go buy furniture, but knowing my personality, I’d probably keep putting it off and end up living in this exact state.
By the time I had stuffed all the roll cakes from the trunk into the refrigerator, my sister had turned her attention to the yard. She seemed to like the yard where the white lilacs were blooming, because she took several photos with her phone.
“I’d almost want to live here too.”
“There’s an empty room. Want one?”
“Tempting, but it’s too far from the company.”
Minato said housing prices were too expensive. My sister let out a long sigh. The rent around here wasn’t exactly cheap either, but this house was special.
“The house itself doesn’t seem to have any problems. Bring me the contract. I need to look at it myself.”
“What, do you think they’d sneak in some tiny special clause in this day and age...?”
“Shut up and bring it.”
My sister still didn’t seem to have shaken off her suspicion, so she checked the contract over and over before letting out another long sigh.
“What’s the problem?”
“The fact that there’s no problem is what makes it suspicious. Well, whatever. Don’t eat nothing but instant food, and make sure you eat proper meals.”
“You’re getting paid by the Satono Group, and you still act like you’ve got a grudge against the Satono Group?”
“It’s only natural to hate your own company.”
After telling me not to follow her out, my sister slammed the door shut with a loud bang. As the sound of the engine starting outside faded with the car driving away, I lay down in the empty living room and stared blankly at the ceiling.
That woman really never changed. She only ever said what she wanted to say.
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