[Uma Musume: Pretty Derby fan fiction]
All grown up, just as Mejiro McQueen thought things would settle into something stable, Tokai Teio brought up changes neither of them expected, with long-reaching consequences.
It took Nature a really long time to realize how selfish she really was.
And it wasn't even a matter of how selfish she had been—that question lost all meaning the moment Nature asked Teio to move in with her, really—because Nature's considerations were in present tense. The harder Nature thought about it, the deeper her brows furrowed.
"Nature, what's wrong?"
It was Teio who snapped her out of her thoughts, and the best Nature could offer was a small awkward laughter. "It's nothing," she said. "Just a bit of overthinking, like usual."
"That's not a healthy habit, you know," Teio said with clear worry plastered on her face. "It'll just make you more anxious over time."
Nature knew that. Oh, she knew that by heart. It was the exact same advice she'd heard from the shopping district folks all the years over, because they knew exactly how Nature thought and behaved, and they knew exactly how easily she worried over others—occasionally even to the point of giving up what she herself wanted.
However, the issue this time was about none other than that very something she herself wanted. Last time she gathered enough guts to push for her own demands like this was when she tried to convince her Trainer to let her run the Kikka-shou, believing that Teio would finish her rehab on time. Unlike that time, however, Nature presently did not have as much faith about the outcome of things—she had nothing to tether herself to, like she did with the faith that Teio would recover quickly. This time, the only thing she believed and knew for sure was the simple fact that she'd come to realize what she'd wanted.
And the thought gave her more uncertainty than she could ever ask for.
The heater let out a familiar tune, and Nature quickly switched back to her usual housekeeping mode to finish making tea for herself and Teio. She would drop a pack of sugar for herself and a teaspoonful of honey for Teio's—she knew how much Teio liked honey, and lately, she's been experimenting with more and more dishes and drinks with it. For Teio's part, she looked absolutely delighted. More honey to come home to was a welcome change, it seemed.
"Here," Nature said as she served Teio her tea. Teio gave her a beaming smile.
"Thanks," she said.
Nature smiled back, then turned around to pick her own tea. But as soon as she had her back on Teio, she bit her lip.
I didn't blush, did I?
Nature was plenty sure that her face felt hotter than usual, and the beating of her heart was as erratic as it was after she ran a good spurt. There was a strange warmth on the tips of her fingers that just handed Teio her tea.
And there was something really dazzling about the way Teio smiled.
Nature realized this some ways back, but Teio was really charming. Nature quickly caught up to Teio's little antics: how she usually placed her toothbrush in the holder, how she rolled the cable of her hair dryer, the little mumbles she still did when she slept by accident on the dining table whenever she was too tired from work. Heck, Nature even noticed that Teio would still sometimes touch her own leg in the middle of her napping, as if she was unconsciously making sure that her legs were alright.
All of these antics felt so new and grounded to Nature, but at the same time, the more she learned about Teio, the more she felt that Teio was further and further out of reach. Teio was her rival, and she was her very good friend. She knew Teio was just a horse girl, much like she was. She knew Teio's real distinguishing feature was the insane amount of effort she put into her own ambitions, and that Teio was no sort of something superhuman. However, none of these mattered to Nature—Teio was floating, almost flying with every step she toom, and Nature had no idea how she should face this beaming, little angel of a girl.
In middle school, when Teio came back to the turf after her long hiatus in that one legendary Arima Kinen, Nature remembered declaring her challenge to Teio. She also remembered congratulating Teio's return with her back on her—Nature had to hide her face because she knew she had a stupid grin plastered all over her face. She did not want Teio to see that.
Nature realized too late that she was doing the exact same thing right now.
Oh no.
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Nature finished preparing her tea—or pretending to, at least—and she finally joined Teio on the table. Teio excitedly began telling her about a new junior at work, a fellow horse girl. Their team was recently reshuffled due to a shift in their client majority, and Teio was tasked with supervising the three new recruits their team just accepted. One was particularly attentive to everything Teio said and did, which made Teio nervous at the beginning.
"She reminded me of Kita-chan," Teio said. "Ah—Kita-chan was a junior, also in Team Spica, she—"
"I remember her," Nature said with a small chuckle. "She was cute."
"She was! So, this girl—"
Teio continued on, telling Nature of how the junior was apparently her fan back when Teio was on the turf, and she stuck to Teio like a glue throughout orientation. Teio said she was set to look out for the juniors for another three months, and that she couldn't wait to see them on the team.
"They're promising!" Teio said.
Nature listened closely to everything Teio said, making sure that her ears and mind were in the right place, and she would respond accordingly. However, when she sipped her tea, she would find her eyes occasionally wandering elsewhere—sometimes to Teio's brilliant blue eyes, sometimes to Teio's wide smile, and sometimes to Teio's hands, which held her cup of warm tea. The air had grown rigid cold lately, maybe Teio was looking for warmth. It made Nature rather happy to see Teio enjoying the tea she made for her.
And after each and every single time her eyes wandered, Nature would snap back to reality, and her heart would sink.
Oh no.
It took Nature a really long time to realize how selfish she really was. All of this, everything in this moment, it was perfect. Nature would not give it up for the world, and she endlessly, silently prayed that the moment would never end. This time, the only thing she believed and knew for sure was the simple fact that she'd come to realize what she'd wanted.
And the thought gave her more uncertainty than she could ever ask for, because Nice Nature, way past two decades of her life, finally realized that she'd always been in love with her current flatmate since they were in middle school.
