Ikezoe took quite a long time to step out of the shower.
When Curren Chan pushed him into the bathroom, she specifically warned him to thoroughly wash his body in order to 'get rid of the smell,' which he obediently obliged.
"Uma Musume are sensitive to smells, huh... But then again, they are 'horses,' so it's not surprising they'd be like that."
"Still, for it to be that serious? I really didn't know that. I wonder why the URA didn't include it in the Trainer exam syllabus or at least try to warn us about it..."
Muttering to himself as he turned off the showerhead, Ikezoe quickly took his bath towel before meticulously wiping each body part dry.
Emerging from the bathroom after wrapping himself in the used bath towel, Curren Chan was no longer anywhere to be seen; instead, a fresh set of clothes had been neatly prepared on top of a nearby drawer.
"...Sometimes, I really feel like Curren Chan's omnipotent in some way... All my clothes are clearly in my room, so how in the world did she get them?"
'Did she get a key to my dorm? No... that can't be. I don't even have spare keys in the first place, how could Curren Chan possibly get one?'
'And there's no way the dorm manager would've let Curren Chan into the Trainer dorms, right?'
For some reason, the more Ikezoe thought about it, the more unsettled he felt.
Shaking his head, Ikezoe chose to cast these scary ideas out of his mind and quickly changed into his clothes; after all, there was no way his sweet little angel would do any of that!
...After buttoning the last button on his shirt, it was only then that Ikezoe noticed a small, luxurious looking glass bottle placed next to where the clothes originally were that looked like perfume.
Because of the beautifully intricate engraving on it, Ikezoe couldn't help but pick up the glass bottle to examine it.
"Whose is this...?"
Curious, Ikezoe tried spraying a bit on himself, sniffing the affected area afterward.
However, as a human, his nose could not fully size up the intricate aroma, and as a man, he was clueless about subjects like this, only understanding that it smelled quite fragrant.
'It's quite faint... but it smells nice.'
'Orfevre's not the type to use perfume, and there's no way the perfume Sweep Tosho mentioned would use such a beautiful looking bottle.'
'Then... this is Curren Chan's?'
Thinking with some uncertainty, Ikezoe chose to ask Curren Chan later as he placed back the perfume.
But, just as he was about to do it, the door to the room suddenly opened, revealing Curren Chan's adorable face behind it.
"Onii-chan, I've placed your clothes in the dry cleaner— Huh? Onii-chan, did you use my perfume? You smell like it."
"Ah, sorry Curren Chan, I was a little curious so I sprayed it a little."
Immediately putting down the perfume, which was now officially revealed to be Curren Chan's, Ikezoe put his hands together and apologized.
"This must be very expensive, right? I'll buy you a new one later."
"Hehe, it's okay, Onii-chan. You can use any of my things anytime you want; this perfume isn't anything valuable anyway."
With a cunning smile, Curren Chan subtly approached Ikezoe and secretly took a whiff.
And, when she smelled her own scent emanating from Ikezoe, Curren Chan involuntarily trembled all over, her head feeling delightfully light. (T/N: Freaky as always...)
'What an incredible feeling... My Onii-chan smells of me...! Ah... If only Orfevre wasn't in the team, I would've loved to smother Onii-chan with my scent..!'
—Curren Chan had indeed deliberately left this perfume here, knowing what Ikezoe would do with it.
People are always interested in shiny things, both Uma Musume and humans alike, and her perfume bottle just so happened to be very shiny.
Combined with her knowledge of Ikezoe, Curren Chan thought there was a high probability that Ikezoe would curiously test it out, 'coincidentally' marking himself with her scent.
And as it turned out, Curren Chan's knowledge of Ikezoe did not fail her; his every move had already been fully calculated by her.
But just as Curren Chan thought, if it wasn't for the fact that Orfevre would most likely go wild if she smelled it, she would've truly wished Ikezoe's entire being to have smelled of her.
—Unfortunately, Curren Chan wasn't Ikezoe's sole Uma Musume now, so she had to consider everyone else.
"Hmph! Although Curren Chan thinks Onii-chan smells very nice, Orfevre would definitely get mad. Use this~!"
As she said this, Curren Chan pulled out another spray from her breast pocket and gave it to Ikezoe.
"This is a very potent refresher that can mask any scent; I use it all the time~! You can take it as a gift."
"Oh, thanks Curren Chan~"
But while Ikezoe smiled like an idiot and accepted the refresher, a sudden thought involuntarily crossed his mind.
—Since Curren Chan had this refresher the whole time, why did she still make him shower? If it can cover the smell of perfume, wouldn't it have been better to just spray him with it from the beginning?
However, while Ikezoe didn't think much further of it, in reality, this was not any ordinary refresher that was commercially available, but a unique, special refresher developed by Tracen Academy's infamous eccentric, Agnes Tachyon.
Spurred on by the promise of capital by certain rich students who were in a love war over their Trainer, this refresher had a unique property.
Although it was an incredibly effective refresher, masking most odours, with the exception of the affected individual themselves, if someone were to get too close, the previously masked odour would not only still be present, but would become even stronger.
After accurately guessing that Maruzensky had attempted to cross the line, tainting her Onii-chan with her scent, she immediately went to Agnes Tachyon's lab to purchase this item when Ikezoe was showering.
It would serve as a reminder and a warning to this old senior of hers if she couldn't control herself again.
If Maruzensky returned to the status quo and did not breach Onii-chan's personal space again, then she naturally wouldn't be able to smell Curren Chan's perfume.
But, if that Senior couldn't control her pants... then, even if Onii-chan would feel sad, it would serve to protect him from that sinful Uma Musume; he was her Onii-chan after all~
Curren Chan could already imagine the scene: as soon as that lustful Maruzensky attempted to assault her poor little Onii-chan, her overwhelming perfume would invade her nose... combined with an Uma Musume's enhanced sense of smell, her backing away would be an inevitable reaction.
As for what happens to her next, Curren Chan couldn't care less. After all, the one that tried to ruin a perfectly innocent teacher-student relationship was that Senior.
It was morally just for Curren Chan to protect her weak human Trainer from being ravaged, right?
Thinking this, Curren Chan's smile eerily grew several times wider as she began to anticipate such a scene unfolding in the future.
"—Onii-chan."
"Hmm? What is it, Curren Chan?"
"You have to always, always, look at Curren Chan, okay?"
The moment she said this, Curren Chan couldn't help but hug Ikezoe, looking up at his eyes while she pouted.
"Although you've been busy with Orfevre's lately, you mustn't forget to care about Curren Chan."
"Curren Chan can accept everything about Onii-chan; if there's something wrong, you can confide in me."
'In this world, there's no need to go and rely on people like Maruzensky, Onii-chan, because I will always be with you, from beginning to end~'
"I will definitely help Onii-chan, 'kay...?"
At this moment, the change in Curren Chan was so subtle that only the likes of Orfevre, T.M. Opera O, and Doto would notice that the tint of her eye colour had shifted slightly.
Yet, Curren Chan seemed to be handling her 'self' very well, or perhaps she had already reached a consensus with 'herself.'
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Don't stick your D in crazy.
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If you spot any errors, feel free to comment about it and I will fix it as soon as I can.