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Lately, Sirius teases me a lot.
Pinning me against the wall, lifting my chin... if I started listing everything, there'd be no end to it.
The other day she even kissed me on the cheek.
When I was completely flustered about it, she said, "Ha! Going all red in the face... that's perfectly normal in foreign countries, you know?"
I told her she shouldn't do that kind of thing to just anyone, and she told me she only does it to me.
Please say more things like that.
No, wait. What am I thinking...
I'm the trainer. And Sirius is my trainee.
There's such a thing as our positions here. If this keeps going much longer, I might have to think about it a little.
...Well, the Sirius who kissed me was incredibly cool, though.
............
Sirius... I like you........
No, wait, that's not it. My thoughts are full of noise. That's not the point — a man can't just keep getting pranked without striking back. Next time, I'm the one who's going to tease Sirius.
Well, there's no way Sirius would get flustered over something small. Which means...
Maybe I should try confessing to her...
I want to see what kind of reaction she'd have, and maybe — just maybe — I could see Blushing Sirius (SSR). Well, that might be a bit too full of myself...
Ah, but... what if she genuinely rejected me with a serious tone... that'd be too painful. I might never recover.
In that case... right. I'll cry and grovel on the floor and beg forgiveness. I'd probably get branded as a dumb puppy, but if Sirius got to discipline me again—
Wait. Why am I already thinking about what happens when I lose? That's exactly why I'll always be a puppy. I'm getting back at Sirius and graduating from being a puppy — I'm going to become a Golden Retriever.
The trainer made up his mind. And then —
Click
Sirius walked into the trainer's room.
"I'm going to hang around here until my next plans."
Without waiting for the trainer to reply, she dropped herself heavily onto the sofa.
(What do I do... should I just go for it now...)
He wavered over whether to carry out what he'd just been planning.
"What's wrong? You've got a thinking-too-hard face."
"Oh, uh..."
Sirius, sitting on the sofa, stared intently at the trainer's expression.
(This is bad... if Sirius keeps reading me like this, she'll definitely figure it out... Alright! I'm just going to do it now!)
The trainer psyched himself up on the inside.
"Sirius. There's something I need to tell you."
"Hm? What."
Sirius half-listened, scrolling through her phone.
"I like you. I want to marry you."
"Oh. ......... Huh?"
Clatter!
Sirius dropped her phone on the floor.
"What... did you just say...?"
Sirius stared at him with a stunned expression.
"I like you, Sirius. For real. You're the only thing I can think about. That's why... I want you to marry me."
"........."
(Ahh, I panicked and skipped straight to marriage... what do I do...)
As the trainer was thinking that —
"Are, are you teasing me?"
Jolt.
Bulls-eye. But when he looked at Sirius, she was making a kind of expression he'd never seen before.
(This... could it be that Sirius is... actually flustered? O-okay! Then just a little more...)
"No, I'm serious. I'm not trying to tease you."
"......... You're too sudden... and if you're going to propose, you've got nothing prepared, and you picked this place of all places."
Jolt.
T-true... normally no one would just spontaneously propose without preparing anything... this is bad, I'm about to fall apart... I need to say something...
"Sorry. Every time I think about you getting into a relationship like that with someone else, the... feelings just ran ahead of me... That's why, regardless of the outcome, I needed to get this out at least."
"...There's no way I'd be swayed by anyone other than you....."
Sirius murmured it small and quiet.
"Huh?"
"Don't make me repeat it. Don't look at me. Face the other way."
"Huh? S-sorry..."
He was told to, so the trainer turned his back to Sirius for the time being.
"...A trainer at Tracen Academy proposing to an enrolled Uma Musume, huh. Ha! You're not normal, are you."
"Y-yeah... I guess not..."
".....For a puppy, that was unusually passionate."
Jolt.
O-oh no... she's about to catch on... I'm already in too deep, I've got no choice but to ride the momentum...
"Sirius!"
The trainer spun around sharply.
"!? H-hey! I said don't look at me!"
Sirius turned away, but the trainer paid no attention and gripped her hand tightly.
"!?!?"
"Sirius. Right now — only right now — I don't want to be your puppy. I want you to see whether I'm worthy enough to stand beside you. These feelings I have for you... they're real..."
"........."
(...Ugh, I just blurted out something ridiculously cheesy on impulse... even I think that was way too much... I went straight through the middle of Cheesy Street... I passed Kusaya fish... this is unbearably corny...... Sirius has been looking down the whole time, is she angry... Maybe I should just say it was a prank before she gets any more upset...)
"Let go of my hand."
"Ah, sorry..."
He let go when told.
(Alright! Now's my chance!)
"Actually, this is a pra—"
"Alright."
"Huh?"
"...That proposal...... I'll accept it."
With that, she looked up. Her eyes were slightly unfocused, her cheeks flushed, and she looked embarrassed.
(YESSSSSSS!! I GOT TO SEE BLUSHING SIRIUS!!)
The trainer was dancing a victory dance inside his head. The long-sought Blushing Sirius (SSR) had finally appeared before him.
"For the quiet type, you sure say things straight... honestly, you're entertaining..."
(Now all I have to do is tell her it was a prank... well, she's always teasing me, so if I say it's payback, it should be fine somehow.)
"Ta-daaaa! Actually this was a pra—"
BANG!!
The door of the trainer's room flew open.
"Sirius! You promised to teach me billiards today!!"
One of Sirius's kouhai had shown up.
"Hah? It's still early."
"I couldn't wait! Let me in... hm?"
She stopped mid-sentence, looking at Sirius's face.
"What. Don't stare."
"Sirius, you look incredibly happy right now! Did something happen?!"
"W-wha!? ///"
"I can tell because I always watch you! This is the first time I've seen Sirius look like this!"
"H-hey! Stop talking! We're leaving now!"
Sirius practically shoved her kouhai out of the trainer's room.
"A-uh, Sirius..."
"Trainer. Sorry, but this one had a prior claim on me today. Well... it's not like we're in any rush, right? We can talk... tomorrow, okay."
Sirius said it with her head slightly bowed.
Her cheeks looked a little red.
"Oh, uh, actually, this was a pra—"
SLAM!!
The door closed.
Did something happen to Trainer?
Sh-shut up!
Oh, something DID happen? Something DID happen?
The voices faded further and further away as Sirius and her kouhai left.
"Actually, this wa~as a prank!!! ......"
The trainer revealed the punchline to an empty room.
Only emptiness remained.
"W-well... I guess I have to tell her tomorrow..."
"........."
There was no point thinking about it, so he went home for the day.
The next day.
Click
Sirius came to the trainer's room.
"! S-Sirius! About yesterday!!"
The moment she arrived, the trainer tried to immediately reveal the prank.
"Hey, don't be so pushy."
"Ah, sorry..."
"Relax."
"Huh?"
Wow, as expected of Sirius — she'd already figured it out. Well, of course she would, my acting was that terrible.
"I already told my parents."
"Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh?"
The trainer was flabbergasted.
"W-wait a second? You told your parents?! For real?!"
"Ha... my father-in-law, mother-in-law, huh... geez... what an impatient person..."
"I feel like the letters are slightly different!! ...That's not the point! Wait, weren't they massively opposed!?"
"No, they were largely in favor, actually."
"Why?!"
"Well, I'd told my parents about you before... anyway, none of that matters right now. I've set up arrangements for you and me to visit my family home sometime."
"Oh nooooooooooooo..."
The trainer leaned against the wall with the face of a man who had lost everything.
There was now no option other than to tell her immediately that it had been a prank.
"Sirius! Actually! This was a pra—"
BANG!!
The trainer's door flew open with great force.
"Sirius! And Trainer!"
Yesterday's kouhai who adored Sirius had returned.
"S-sorry, I'm in the middle of an important conversation with Sirius, could you come back later?"
The trainer gently said.
"Congratulations on your engagement!!!"
"Huh....."
Flabbergasted.
"Hey, I haven't married this person yet."
Even as she said it, Sirius had a happy face and was wagging her tail back and forth. The fact that the usually cool Sirius would show a gesture like that was adorably cute.
But the current situation was not cute at all.
"Sirius... did you tell this girl too?"
"She kept pestering me and I couldn't get rid of her..."
"Because I saw Sirius looking so happy! I had to ask! And then she told me... she's get-ting ma... married... sniff... hic..."
"!?"
Sirius's kouhai had been talking energetically, but then she suddenly started crying.
"Wh-what's wrong...?"
The trainer handed her tissues.
"WAAAAAHHHHH!!"
"!?"
The kouhai made a strange noise while blowing her nose and wiping her tears.
"Sorry. I've calmed down."
"S-so you have... good..."
"So? Why'd you start bawling all of a sudden?"
Sirius asked her kouhai.
"Sorry. Sirius always looks after all of us, and when I thought about her getting to be happy... it got to me..."
"That's dumb... is that all it is..."
"N-no, that's not, I mean—"
"Sorry for crying in front of Sirius's husband-to-be..."
"Hey, husband? How impatient are you."
Wag wag wag wag.
The tail is wagging hard.
"A-anyway! All of us are quietly cheering for you, Sirius!!"
"That's, um, this is a pra—"
"Ha! I don't need your cheering."
"That's so mean, Sirius...~"
"My turn is too short for me to say anything—"
"Even if I'm married... I'm not planning on leaving you lot. So just act normal."
"Sirius!!!"
"I can't get a wo—"
"All of you are invited to the ceremony too. Make sure you get good and rowdy for me."
"SIRIUUUUUUS!!!"
The kouhai was so moved she latched onto Sirius in a hug.
"Oh nooooooooooooo..."
The trainer pressed his back against the wall with the face of a doomed man.
"Ah, sorry for interrupting your couple time! Then, Sirius, see you later!!"
Saying that, Sirius's kouhai was gone.
"Geez... she's always so loud..."
"........."
The trainer knew it was already too late, but there was no option other than telling her as soon as possible that it had been a prank.
"Sirius!! About that!! Actually!! It was a pra—"
Knock knock.
"......... C-come in."
"Pardon me."
Of all days to have so many visitors... as he was thinking that, the one who entered was Tazuna.
"It seems the director has a message for you, Trainer."
"Huh? From the director? Isn't the director on a business trip right now?"
"Yes. So... if you would look here..."
Tazuna took out a tablet.
"Uh, Sirius is here too, is that okay?"
"Yes. The message was meant for the two of you if possible."
"Me too?"
"Y-yes..."
She operated the tablet and showed them the screen, where the director appeared.
Sirius looked at the screen too, puzzled.
(Calling in via video from a business trip...? What does this mean?)
"Hmm, it appears to be recording."
The director began speaking.
"Trainer! I hear you confessed your love to your trainee!!"
"How has it spread this far in just ONE day!?!?"
Third time being flabbergasted today.
"Wait, Director, who told you that?!"
"Trainer, it's a recording."
"Oh, right..."
"As an institution, it can't exactly be praised that a trainer and his trainee have stepped into that kind of relationship!!"
"No, that's not what this — hmm?"
The trainer thought. He thought about using the Director's disapproval to create an atmosphere where it would be easier to reveal the prank. Maybe it was actually a good thing this had gotten out.
(Phew, that was close... the school tries to maintain healthy relationships... there's no reason not to take advantage of the current situation...)
"But as an individual, I'm rooting for you two!!"
"WHY?!?!?!?!"
The trainer spoke rudely to the most important person in the school.
"I hear that normally quiet, diligent you gave a passionate proposal! If you have that level of resolve, I won't stop you!!"
"Director!! What are you saying!! This is where you scold me hard and stop me!!"
"Trainer, it's a recording."
"Oh, right..."
"Cases of Uma Musume assaulting trainers have been increasing on campus lately!! In those cases I'd stop it with full force, but the reverse — it can't be helped!!"
"It can absolutely be helped!! That's the case you should stop with full force!!"
"So passionate!! I wish you two every happiness!!"
"What's so passionate about it!! Are you even using that right?!"
And with that, the video on the tablet cut out.
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhh..."
The trainer pressed his forehead to the wall, his body at a perfect 45-degree angle like Michael Jackson. Needless to say, he had the face of a man in despair.
"To have even won over the Director... not bad."
"No wait, I didn't do anything!"
"Ha, still keeping up the act, are you..."
"No, really, I mean it! I'm not trying to be cool!"
With even the Director's seal of approval, there was truly no escape left.
At this point...
"T-Tazuna! What do you think about all this?!"
"Me?"
He turned to Tazuna, who had put away the tablet and was about to leave the trainer's room.
(At this point my only option is to get Tazuna to say something negative so I can use that to create an atmosphere where I can say it was a prank...)
"I think... if the Director has no objection, then I don't particularly..."
"No, I want to hear your personal opinion, Tazuna! What do you think about a trainer and an Uma Musume getting into that kind of relationship even if both parties are willing?! I want to know!!"
Please say something like "I think it's wrong"!!, the trainer begged in his heart.
"Hmm... what I would convey is..."
"Yes!"
"As you and Sirius spend your days together, the ignorant and shallow will seek to stick their noses in. Like cheap candy — advice with neither merit nor harm. That meddlesome interference—"
"........."
"Huh...?"
"—you need not hear even a single word of it."
"........."
"........."
Both the trainer and Sirius were silent.
"What one reaches at the end of abstinence is a trifling thing indeed..."
"If you wish to grow stronger — devour it!!!"
"That's insane....."
The trainer was genuinely stunned.
"Sirius."
Sirius looked at Tazuna, slightly taken aback.
"Please continue to elevate yourself. As an Uma Musume."
"Ha! You didn't need to tell me that."
"Fufu... it seems Sirius is doing just fine."
Saying that, Tazuna walked to the door of the trainer's room and placed her hand on the doorknob.
"I bless you both."
Ha...
Tazuna's figure vanished without a trace.
"Huh? Yujiro Hanma?"
The trainer was genuinely stunned.
"I always knew she was no ordinary person, but... I didn't know it was this extreme..."
Even Sirius looked surprised, though not quite as much as the trainer.
"The way she left the room was the same too."
"Never mind that — I'm taking you to get a new suit. You're coming to my family home soon... can't have you looking like a puppy."
"AHH!!"
The trainer realized. That the situation had not improved in the slightest. And from here on, it likely wouldn't.
(There's nothing else... I have to say it now...)
The trainer made up his mind.
"Sirius. Listen to me."
"What."
"The truth is... that proposal... it was a prank....."
"Huh?"
"Uh... I was going to get back at you for always teasing me— or, well....."
"........."
"The prank was a big success~... or, well....."
"I see...... is that so..."
"Hahh, hahaha....."
"I was the one who got carried away on my own....."
"Hahaha.........."
"All of it... was a lie......"
"........."
"........."
"........."
"........."
"........."
"........."
"........." Drip drip...
"—KIDDING!! Hey hey, Sirius~!! There's no way a proposal could be a lie~! www"
"Really?"
"Of course it's real~! www I just thought I'd tease Sirius for once~ww"
"Marry me?"
"Of course I will~! wwww Come on~ww A few tears doesn't suit you, Sirius~ww"
"Geez... what an untrained puppy..." Rub rub
Sirius wiped her eyes with her hand. They were still a little wet with tears.
The trainer wrapped himself in the window curtain with the face of a man in despair.
(There's no way I can say it!! Getting chewed out and pummeled would have been so much better!! After seeing that sad expression — the complete opposite of usual — and seeing her cry, my chest can't take it!! My chest is going *squeeze*!! I cannot endure that expression from Sirius!! But AAAAHHHHH!! The prank got pulled on ME instead!! I can never deny it myself now and there's nobody around who would stop it either!! Calm down, calm down, count prime numbers..... 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!)
(I was just counting in order from onnneeee aaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!)
The trainer was having a complete meltdown inside his head.
And a few minutes later,
"Alright!! Let's... get married!!!"
The trainer emerged from the curtain with a face full of hope.
"Actually I really like Sirius a lot!! I can do this!! Let's go!!"
"Ha, what's gotten into you suddenly..."
Sirius still looked a little downcast.
"Sorry about just now, Sirius!! But I'm seriously for real going to marry you!!"
"Then I suppose we need to go buy you a suit. Get yourself ready, puppy."
"WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF!!!"
Yes — the trainer had no option but to flip a complete switch and just commit. The marriage was 100% confirmed. There was no point moping about it forever. The trainer, for all his fumbling, was an elite at Tracen Academy. He was well-versed in the means of keeping his own mental state in check. (Roughly speaking.)
And so he became known throughout Tracen Academy as the man who gave his trainee a passionate proposal.
X years later.
"Sirius. There's something I need to tell you."
Kya kya!
"Hmm? What. Oh — hey! Don't go running around after eating! Your show is starting soon, so sit still!"
"Now now, I'll keep an eye on them."
"Geez... won't listen to a word... who do they take after... Anyway, what did you want to say?"
"It's just... I didn't need to say this, but I don't want to hide even small things from you, Sirius... it'd feel like I had something to feel guilty about..."
"You're building up to this an awful lot."
"The truth is..."
The trainer honestly confessed to Sirius: that the original proposal had actually been a prank, and that by the end, he'd been unable to say so — and had ended up married almost entirely on momentum.
"Hmm... so that's how it was..."
"I'm sorry!! But ever since we got married I've loved you completely for real!! Please believe me on that at least!!"
The trainer bowed his head.
"Look up. You don't need to apologize."
"But from the start it was practically the same as lying to Sirius... are you not angry?"
"I'm not angry. How things started doesn't matter."
"Huh?"
The trainer looked up and looked at Sirius.
"Are you happy right now?"
"Incredibly happy."
"Ha! Instant answer. Well, there's your answer right there. Fretting over old stuff doesn't do anything."
"Sirius... thank you..."
"If you've got time to thank me, go take care of the kids."
"Got it! Oh, and..."
"What."
"Are you happy right now too, Sirius?"
"........."
"Sirius?"
"Tch, don't make me say it, you idiot ///"
"Heh..."
"I'm washing the dishes, so go on and get over there already!"
"Got it!"
The trainer sat down next to the kids watching TV.
Splash splash
Sirius washed the dishes.
Daddy, can I sit next to you?
Hmm~
Hey hey, no need to hesitate, is there?
If you can ask nicely, you can sit there!
!?!?!?
"That proposal the first time was a prank, wasn't it."
She murmured under her breath.
"I knew everything from the very start."
End