Due to restraints from all sides, Kitahara Sota's life had remained relatively peaceful during the first two days after Hayakawa-san moved in.
Time slipped by quickly, and soon the debut races for Tamamo Cross and Super Creek arrived.
He woke up as usual, washed up, ate breakfast, and headed to the meeting spot.
After a few minutes of waiting, Super Creek and Tamamo Cross appeared from around the corner in their Racing Outfits, each with distinctively different expressions.
Compared to before, Super Creek hadn't changed at all, still overflowing with motherly warmth.
Actually, since recently there were plenty of "little ones" who'd turned helplessly dependent, she'd been happily indulging her caregiving instincts, looking positively radiant because of it.
But when she turned her eyes toward Kitahara, the desire burning in them hadn't diminished one bit due to caring for others—rather, it had intensified noticeably.
On the other hand, Tamamo Cross looked somewhat worse for wear.
Though it wasn't so bad as having dark circles under her eyes—nothing severe enough to affect the race—the fatigue and resignation in her gaze were plainly visible.
As for what caused her current state...
Of course, it was none other than the oblivious man standing right before her, Kitahara Sota.
And it wasn't something that had just started recently, either.
Ever since joining Kitahara's team and realizing just how dangerous his situation was, Tamamo Cross had been trying desperately to warn him about the abnormal atmosphere around him.
At first, she tried dropping subtle hints, then indirect nudges.
Eventually, she couldn't hold back any longer, and during a rare private moment, she'd bluntly confronted him, telling him outright that many Uma Musume on the team harbored feelings for him and asked him directly what he intended to do about it…
But faced with her straightforward attack, though Kitahara hadn't confidently insisted—as he usually did—that all his relationships with the Uma Musume under his care were perfectly normal,
He simply bent down, smiled gently, patted her head, and told her she was overthinking things. Then he offered example after example, explaining in earnest detail why it was impossible for them to actually like him.
Truthfully, if she hadn't already been around the team for several months and witnessed the truth herself, Tamamo Cross might've nearly believed his nonsense after hearing his earnest analysis.
Moreover, upon coming back to her senses, Tamamo Cross realized to her astonishment that she couldn't actually win the debate against Kitahara.
This outcome wasn't hard to understand, either.
Even though she knew perfectly well that those Uma Musume had feelings for Kitahara, they always restrained themselves publicly, so Tamamo Cross genuinely lacked direct, concrete proof to present.
And at several critical moments, she herself hadn't been present—so no matter how much she argued, she was repeatedly beaten back by Kitahara's counterarguments.
She'd even begun to doubt her own reasoning, nearly accepting his absurd explanations as truth. Finally, in a moment of desperate frustration—afraid her own perceptions might be contaminated—she jumped up, bit him, and ran away.
After that incident, once she realized logic wouldn't reach Kitahara, Tamamo Cross had no other option.
She resorted to trying to subtly wake him up whenever possible, while secretly disrupting the other Uma Musume's attempts and doing all she could to protect his safety.
And this situation continued right up to today.
It could be said that Kitahara's continued survival until now owed much, apart from the Uma Musume pulling each other back, to Tamamo Cross's diligent protection.
However, that wasn't the main cause behind her tired state today.
Though guarding Kitahara was indeed exhausting, especially since the wooden-headed man constantly raised her blood pressure with his oblivious antics,
After surviving the initial phase, Tamamo Cross had gradually become accustomed to such headaches.
Additionally, because everyone knew she genuinely wanted only to protect Kitahara—and acted somewhat like a safety valve—none of the other Uma Musume disliked her, despite occasionally ruining their plans.
Rather, they considered her an outsider worth befriending, and so their attitudes toward her were actually much friendlier than toward others.
Another important factor was that, although Kitahara remained utterly oblivious about his own condition, his thinking about everything else was perfectly clear.
Thus, despite his abnormality possibly being the greatest of all, the two still managed to come together frequently, venting frustrations about Tracen's bizarre situations—which significantly relieved Tamamo Cross's mental strain.
But the problem was, just when Tamamo Cross had slowly adapted to this situation and begun thinking that, given enough time, she'd eventually succeed in convincing Kitahara,
A few days earlier, a piece of sudden news had stunned her on the spot.
On that particular day, utterly drained from Kitahara's recent series of blood-pressure-raising behaviors, Tamamo Cross didn't join the team for lunch as usual, instead temporarily stepping away from the heavy track (Jū Baba) to relax her nerves.
Midway through her meal, a pure-white Uma Musume—white from head to toe except for her eyes—had quietly sat down across from her.
At first, Tamamo Cross didn't pay attention to this newcomer's arrival.
The cafeteria was crowded anyway, so sharing tables with strangers wasn't uncommon.
However, after eating for a while, she suddenly noticed that the white Uma Musume sitting across from her hadn't placed any food in front of herself.
Then, before Tamamo Cross could even begin wondering, that pure-white Uma Musume suddenly spoke—her voice echoing as if directly inside Tamamo Cross's head, ethereal and airy.
"Hello, Tamamo Cross. It's our first time meeting—would you mind if we talk?"
…She's here for me?
Tamamo Cross paused her meal, slowly raising her head. After observing carefully, she blinked once in surprise.
At first glance, it hadn't been obvious, but now upon closer examination… doesn't this white Uma Musume look a little like Eclipse-san…?
But she didn't dwell long on that, quickly replying instead:
"I don't mind, exactly, but what do you want to talk about? I'm kind of short on time here—I need to finish eating quickly so I can keep watch over a certain idiot. If I'm late, who knows what trouble he'll get into…"
The white Uma Musume nodded softly, responding gently.
"What I wanted to discuss... is precisely about that 'idiot.'"
Without waiting for Tamamo Cross to respond, the white Uma Musume spoke again, immediately sharing a piece of information that froze Tamamo Cross right where she sat.
"Although many believe trainers are dense because they're constantly soaking in sweetness, causing them to become insensitive to sweetness itself—"
"This explanation isn't incorrect, but it's incomplete. It's indeed an important cause behind their obliviousness, but not the whole picture."
"Another significant reason for their obliviousness is the Uma Musume themselves."
"To put it simply, Uma Musume inherently possess a certain ability that disturbs others' perception to some degree."
"In other words—it can also be termed as a form of 'mental contamination.'"
...What in the actual hell?
Frankly, right after hearing the white Uma Musume's explanation, Tamamo Cross was utterly dumbfounded.
Her initial reaction wasn't trying to comprehend the words at all, but rather wondering if perhaps this was just some chuunibyou Uma Musume from middle school running wild with delusions.
But after calming down a bit and recalling all the bizarre incidents she'd observed at Tracen Academy—especially the inexplicable circumstances surrounding Kitahara Sota—
Gradually, though still broadly convinced the white Uma Musume before her was talking nonsense, Tamamo Cross nonetheless couldn't help feeling a faint suspicion taking root in her heart.
Although her claims were incredibly far-fetched, somehow within Tracen's abnormal environment, they suddenly didn't seem completely impossible…
After this suspicion sprouted, Tamamo Cross considered for a moment, then cautiously decided to probe further:
"So, what you're saying is that this 'idiot' hasn't noticed his own unusual situation because he's affected by this… contamination?"
After asking that, Tamamo Cross had assumed the other party would simply nod in agreement, since this was essentially a logical extension of her previous statements.
Yet surprisingly, after a brief silence, the white Uma Musume shook her head instead.
"You can't entirely blame contamination. Normal contamination wouldn't reach the extreme he's experiencing. At the very least, it certainly wouldn't reach the point where he'd let them openly move into his dorm without noticing—never mind anything more extreme."
Hearing this, Tamamo Cross raised an eyebrow.
Sure enough, this white Uma Musume knew exactly who the "idiot" she'd mentioned was—and seemed unusually knowledgeable about him…
After pausing briefly, Tamamo Cross asked cautiously:
"Then… do you know how to fix this situation?"
"I do," the pure-white Uma Musume nodded.
"Under normal circumstances, separating the affected person for a period of time usually clears up this 'contamination.' About one month should suffice. However, during that period, the individual must not have contact with any Uma Musume who harbor 'romantic feelings' toward him, otherwise, the contamination will quickly reestablish itself."
A month's separation…
Remembering those relentless overachievers at Tracen, Tamamo Cross thought to herself, Forget a month—it's already a miracle if they can manage even one week of separation.
But before she could think deeper, the pure-white Uma Musume spoke again.
"However, the method I mentioned earlier only applies to ordinary situations—not to him."
Tamamo Cross froze.
"...Why? Is he special somehow?"
"Is he not special?" The white Uma Musume replied back evenly.
Tamamo Cross hesitated again. Reflexively, she wanted to nod and say, What's special about him anyway?
Yet before the words left her mouth, memories of all the bizarre things she'd seen since joining the team flashed before her eyes, and she swallowed the sentence back down.
"…Alright, he's definitely pretty special," she conceded awkwardly.
"But even if he's special, isn't that just in terms of trainer abilities? It shouldn't have anything to do with this… contamination you mentioned, right?"
"If it was just trainer-related abilities, you'd be correct."
The white Uma Musume readily acknowledged, then continued:
"But his uniqueness isn't limited to just trainer abilities; it also includes what I mentioned earlier."
"Unlike other trainers—who only suffer mild contamination from a few Uma Musume at most, making them a bit emotionally dense and unaware of romantic feelings—"
"In his case, from the past until now, the number of Uma Musume he's come into contact with, the sheer cumulative amount of 'contamination' he's absorbed... even I've lost track of it."
"But even that's not the real issue."
"The biggest problem is, aside from the massive external contamination he's accumulated, he also has an internal contamination spreading from within."
"It's even more severe than the external type, and it's the main reason behind his current state."
Internal contamination?
Tamamo Cross paused for a moment.
"But didn't you just say this contamination thing is something exclusive to Uma Musume?"
"He's a special case," the pure-white Uma Musume clearly didn't want to elaborate further, quickly changing the subject.
"Therefore, regarding your efforts to continuously remind him, my advice is: you can stop now. There's no need to waste your energy."
"He was already an exceptional blockhead to start with. Now, layered with this amount of contamination, even if you literally slapped proof right in his face—even if you brought the person here and had them openly admit it—he might still refuse to believe it."
Tamamo Cross fell silent.
"Then…is there any other way to remove this 'contamination'? Aside from the one-month separation method you mentioned?"
"There are other methods, yes, but you couldn't manage them. And even if you could, none of them would work on him anyway."
The pure-white Uma Musume paused briefly.
"Also, don't think of 'contamination' as something negative. I'm only used to calling it that. In truth, it doesn't actually harm anyone. It might even be considered beneficial for trainers."
"…Beneficial?" Tamamo Cross's tone was skeptical.
"Yes," the white Uma Musume said calmly.
"The 'contamination' merely dulls their sensitivity toward romantic affection, preventing them from easily realizing the feelings Uma Musume have toward them. However, it doesn't affect their genuine emotional development. At worst, it simply leaves Uma Musume nursing hidden regrets."
"But for trainers, this 'contamination' is advantageous."
"Because even if they discover a Uma Musume under their care has developed feelings, after being together for so long, they couldn't possibly abandon her. The awkwardness from acknowledging those feelings might interfere with their training."
"Moreover, emotional dynamics differ drastically depending on whether they remain unspoken or are made explicit. Unspoken, they might coexist peacefully for years until everything smoothly resolves itself."
"But once that curtain is pulled aside, the emotional train accelerates dramatically and often uncontrollably—at the very least, things like mare-jumping and basin fractures would certainly happen much earlier."
"So although I habitually call it 'contamination,' it's actually a subconscious protective measure Uma Musume generate toward trainers. There's really no need to fix it."
After hearing this explanation, Tamamo Cross felt a wave of profound frustration rising up inside her.
It wasn't exactly fear or horror. Instead, she was overwhelmed with complaints, yet unsure where exactly to even begin.
What kind of absurd mess is all this?
Feeling her confidence gradually crumble, Tamamo Cross's expression fell further.
"So basically, you're saying that idiot's hopeless..."
"He can still be saved," the white Uma Musume corrected calmly.
"Once he completes his True Awakening and fully controls 'that thing,' he'll become immune or even capable of manipulating this contamination."
After a short pause, she added dryly:
"But I advise against too much hope. Given how dense he is, I'm beginning to doubt whether the contamination ever truly affected him. Maybe he's always been like this."
Tamamo Cross tugged at her hair irritably.
"I actually think he's pretty badly affected. After all, he seems perfectly normal when talking about other people's issues..."
"Hard to say," the white Uma Musume shook her head slowly.
"Some people never see their own situation clearly. Long before his contamination reached severe levels, his actions were already giving others high blood pressure."
The white Uma Musume's words carried a strange power, causing Tamamo Cross to unconsciously overlook all the odd details she hadn't intended her to notice—
Like how exactly this person knew about Tamamo Cross's intentions, or how she seemed familiar with Kitahara Sota's past.
After a brief silence, the white Uma Musume spoke again.
"However, whether or not he's actually affected by contamination, I'm certain there's someone who is deeply affected by it."
"Who?" Tamamo Cross asked curiously.
"Tamamo Cross."
"Oh, Tamamo Cross, she's—"
Halfway through her sentence, Tamamo Cross abruptly cut herself off, eyes widening in shock.
"Wait… Who did you just say?"
The white Uma Musume nodded gently.
"I meant you, Tamamo Cross."
"What the hell?" Tamamo Cross blurted, startled. "Hey, talk all you want, but why drag me into this? I'm not like that idiot—I'd definitely know if someone had feelings for me!"
"I never said you couldn't sense others' feelings," the white Uma Musume stared directly at her, calmly clarifying.
"Your contamination is actually even more special than his. His contamination may be greater in quantity, but his external behaviors remain relatively normal. Yours, however, directly blocks your self-awareness."
"To put it plainly—you can't recognize your own affection."
"That's impossible!"
Unaware of it herself, Tamamo Cross raised her voice slightly, her left hand subconsciously slipping into her jacket pocket.
"I'm not an idiot—how could I not realize something like that?"
The white Uma Musume stared at her quietly for several seconds, then slowly spoke again:
"How about you take your left hand out right now, hold it in front of us, open your fingers, and show me what you're holding?"
Tamamo Cross froze abruptly.
Because she was indeed holding something in her left hand—
A button.
It was something Kitahara Sota had accidentally left behind when visiting her home years ago. She'd kept it as a good-luck charm ever since, always carrying it close to her, never leaving her side for even a single day.
Whenever she felt nervous, she'd subconsciously grip it. By now, it had become instinctive.
"Kitahara-san once helped me…" Tamamo Cross murmured, voice strangely dry.
The white Uma Musume replied evenly.
"I never said whose button it was."
Silence.
A few moments later, Tamamo Cross opened her mouth to argue further—but before she could, the white Uma Musume spoke again.
"I doubt that he's the only person who ever helped you in your entire life—but did you keep buttons from anyone else?"
"You desperately seek victory; you urgently need money to send back home. You rarely allow yourself leisure or even rest—yet you always make time to help someone who frustrates you enough to bite him."
"You can claim your feelings toward him are only gratitude and camaraderie—that you just want to protect him and that's why you kept his button. I won't argue."
"But, Tamamo Cross, I have one question for you."
She stood up, leaned forward, gently pulling Tamamo Cross's left hand from her pocket and opening her fingers to reveal the small button.
"If I say I'm going to take this button away, would you—"
Chomp.
Before she finished speaking, sharp teeth sank into her pale arm. A slender hand roughly snatched the unassuming button back, carefully returning it to its safe place.
After securing it, Tamamo Cross looked up at her, voice firm and clear:
"This is mine. You can't touch it."
Curiously, despite being bitten fiercely, the white Uma Musume's arm showed neither blood nor marks. She displayed no sign of pain. Instead, after Tamamo Cross reclaimed the button, her lips curled into a gentle smile.
"You see? You can realize it after all."
Tamamo Cross looked away sharply. "…I have no idea what you're talking about."
"If that's what you prefer, I won't argue," the white Uma Musume replied calmly.
"But whether you admit it or not, there are two more things I need to tell you—it's why I came here today."
"The first concerns that idiot's True Awakening..."
She began sharing Kitahara's situation, leaving Tamamo Cross speechless with disbelief.
When she'd finished, Tamamo Cross, digesting it all slowly, finally asked skeptically:
"And the second thing?"
"The second thing…"
The white Uma Musume abruptly stood and reached out, thrusting her hand straight into Tamamo Cross's chest, directly grasping her heart—
Crack.
Instead of pain, a sound like glass shattering filled her ears, followed by an inexplicable relief.
The white Uma Musume whispered gently:
"I may have lost many things—but at least in this matter, I can still help you."
"From now on, you can control that 'self-contamination' however you wish. I'm only providing the opportunity. The rest is up to you."
"I look forward to your choice."
Her voice faded, and the world shattered.
When Tamamo Cross regained awareness, she sat alone at an empty cafeteria table.
As if no one had ever come.
---
T/N: HUH??? WHO WAS THAT???
Hey everyone, thanks for reading. If you're enjoying the translation, dropping some Powerstones would really help out your hardworking translator (100 stones = 1 bonus chapter, 200 = 2 chapters, and so on—easy math, right?).
If you're feeling especially generous, or maybe just impatient, you can support the translator at patreon.com/wisetl. Totally optional, but hey, early access is always a nice bonus.
Oh, and don't forget—join the Discord at discord.gg/wisetl. Come chat, share theories, or complain directly to the translator—trust me, they love it.
Anyway, see you in the next chapter~
say thank you to hayasaka guyss