Uma Musume: From Being Knocked Ten Meters Away

Chapter 320 Like a Sleeping Princess from an Exotic Fairy Tale
When the topic turned to work, Yasui Makoto became very enthusiastic and talked non-stop, quickly immersing himself in professional analysis and explanation.

At the beginning of his explanation, he could hear voices of agreement and questions from those around him.

Whenever he heard this, he would quickly respond with an explanation, but gradually, the responses and inquiries disappeared.

When he realized this, he suddenly felt a weight on his shoulder. He turned his head in surprise and found that Beibu Xuanju had fallen asleep at some point and was now resting his head on his shoulder.

Clearly feeling the weight on his shoulder and the soft touch and warmth from his side, Yasui Makoto's cheeks flushed instantly, and he was somewhat at a loss.

He instinctively wanted to move his shoulder, but then froze, afraid of waking up the Northern Black Steed.

After a moment, he hesitated for a moment, then reached out somewhat flusteredly, carefully supporting Beifang Xuanju's neck with one hand and her knees with the other, and gently laid her down on the sofa.

His movements were slow, and the Northern Black Horse continued to breathe evenly.

The moment his head touched the sofa, Beifang Xuanju mumbled twice, as if he had dreamt of something happy, and chuckled softly.

Then she smacked her lips, turned halfway around and lay on her side on the sofa, with her arms side by side in front of her and her legs together, curled up.

When the Northern Black Horse hummed softly, Yasui Makoto thought she had woken up. He froze, holding his breath as he stared at the girl on the sofa.

The girl bent over like a baby, tucked her arms in, and drew her knees to her chest, breathing evenly.

When he was focused on the Northern Black Steed, his senses, which were not usually noticeable, suddenly became clear.

The lingering sensation between my fingers was the soft touch of when I lifted her up, and the warmth I felt in the crook of my arm as I gently laid her down.

The tip of my nose seemed to smell of shower gel, shampoo, or something else, and my heart was beating much faster than usual.

In my perception, the air seemed to freeze, and the ticking of the quartz clock in the living room and the slight hum of the computer tower suddenly became deafening.

The posture while staring was awkward, like when Yasui Makoto got up halfway after using the toilet and realized that his knees were twitching a little. Only then did he realize that he had been staring for a long time and holding his breath for a long time.

After catching his breath silently for a while, he slowly stood up.

His legs were a little numb from holding the strange position for too long, so his movements slowed down, and he reached out to touch the sofa on the other side.

After standing up straight, he slowly turned off the computer and other devices. He noticed that the lights in the room were still on. He looked down, took off his slippers, and tiptoed to the living room near the entrance to turn off the lights.

Then, without realizing it, I looked at the sofa.

The curtains in the room were only drawn with sheer curtains. After the lights were turned off, the moonlight shone through the sheer curtains onto Beifang Xuanju's face, giving her eyelashes a silvery edge.

The gold-embellished gauze dress shimmered in the dim light, and Beifang Xuanju, lying on the sofa, looked like a sleeping princess from an exotic fairy tale.

After watching silently for a while, Yasui Makoto tiptoed into the bedroom and carefully took out the quilt and pillow.

Back in the living room, she gently covered Beifang Xuanju with the quilt and then slowly placed a pillow under her head.

During this time, the Northern Black Steed hummed and groaned a few more times.

With her eyes closed, she reached out and grabbed the pillow under her head, pulling it into her arms and legs like an octopus. She let out a comfortable hum and then began to breathe evenly.

With a silent laugh, Yasui Makoto went back to the bedroom, took out a new pillow, and placed it under Kita Genko's head once more.

Then walk to the window, close it, and draw the curtains.

I walked to the light switch in the living room and turned on the air conditioner.

Just now, when he was covering himself with the blanket and putting up the pillow, the edge of his palm brushed against Beifang Xuanju's arm and cheek, and the temperature of his skin was cooler than he had expected. After doing all this, he slowly tidied up the scattered papers on the table and was about to stuff them into the folder in the corner of the table when he suddenly paused.

The top sheet of paper was covered with his handwriting and data.

The words "accumulated oxygen debt" were circled in red, and next to them was a crooked little figure clenching its fist, as if it were cheering itself on.

It should be said that he painted a self-portrait of the Northern Black Horse.

With short hair, a side-swept fringe, and arched eyebrows, she exudes energy and liveliness; anyone familiar with her would recognize her at a glance.

With a silent laugh, Yasui Makoto slowly stuffed the documents into a folder, went into the bedroom, and lay down on the bed.

I definitely won't be able to fall asleep anytime soon.

Looking at the moonlight outside the window, he recalled his conversation with his mother when he returned to his hometown for the Chinese New Year.

It wasn't like the joke about "cohabitation" when he went to his rented apartment in Tokyo; it was an extremely rare inquiry, even more serious than that from his old-fashioned and stern father.

"Xiao Zhen, do you like Xiao Bei?"

If it weren't for his mother's expression and tone at the time, Yasui knew he would have definitely rejected the idea outright.

He felt that he wasn't very good at relationships. If it was about liking someone, there was no reason why he wouldn't like a lively and cheerful girl like Beifang Xuanju.

He wasn't sure if this feeling of affection counted as liking someone, but his intuition told him it probably wasn't.

What he knew was that his mother's expression and tone didn't seem like she was asking whether he liked it or not.

So instead of answering, he asked:
"...No, could you please just say what you mean?"

"To put it bluntly, you need to take some time to seriously think about this issue, Xiaozhen."

My mother was unusually serious at the time: "You've been sensible since you were little, and you've thought about and understood a lot. So even though you're still a child, I should make this kind of thing clear to you."

"Actually, I've told you before that your parents don't object to dating, as long as you're happy and don't hurt anyone."

"I was quite worried because you've never been close to any girls before, and I wondered if you didn't like girls."

"But thinking about it later, it doesn't seem like there's a big problem if you don't like girls. Fortunately, during this trip to Tokyo, I found out that you probably do like girls."

Upon hearing this, he interrupted, somewhat speechless:
"...So, what exactly are you trying to say, sir?"

"What I'm trying to say is that you may not know whether you like him or not right now, but you seem to have a very good impression of Xiao Bei."

Her gaze softened and became much gentler. Mom continued, "If I'm not mistaken, that child... probably also has a good feeling about you... Don't rush to deny it, wait until I finish."

"If you don't have a good relationship with them, what child would take care of you so closely for so long and even live with you?"
"Sometimes I even find your dad annoying, so you know what? In my eyes, Xiao Bei is even more virtuous than I am."

"Since you both have feelings for each other, Xiao Zhen, you're not an immature child. When your mother says this, you'll definitely think about it seriously, right?"

"So what I really want to say is that if you eventually find that you do like that child, you have to be patient and restrain yourself."

"After all, every female racehorse has a very short career, and your father proposed to me after I retired, you understand?"

(End of this chapter)