— you get away, if you need to. So feel free to stay here as long as you need.”
A hand of hers did stray to her side, where the old scar was, underneath her clothes.
“I wouldn’t say “don’t worry”, because that’s stupid, but. . .I’m kind of used to having to do a rearguard action if I need to. I’m no stranger to bad odds.”
It was how she got stabbed, really. . .
“And you were my trainee before. It’s only natural for me to hide you, or help —
❛ I am. . . Actually unsure if you have met them.
But I would suggest not engaging should you see them .ᐟ
They are an Umamusume of extraordinary strength and size, not so easily toppled .ᐟ
. . . They are another victim of my pride I loathe to say. ❜
—
— had for a long time now, y’know.~” Anne said with one of her rare smiles, holding a lock of Grass’s hair between her thumb and index finger.
“Yeah, that’s. . .my fault. I had stuff going on the past few months, ahaha. . .”
Anne’s eyes and her expression would soften as Grass stayed by her chest, with Anne reaching up a gloved hand to run her fingers through Grass’s hair, her other hand holding the umamusume close during the hug.
“You greeting me like this is already better than any birthdays I —
"I'm happy, happy to be here with you, and happy to share this moment. Hehe~
—Grass place her head on Anne chest, not letting her go, trapping her into a lovely hug
"I... I missed you, it's been a while since the last time we talk
“. . . !” She let out a small gasp of surprise, taken off guard by both the realization that it was her birthday, and the hug from Grass, herself.
anne.exe has stopped working...
Rebooting...
“Ah, that’s right. It /is/ my birthday, haha. Thank you, Grass!”
She kinda wished —
“. . .Oh. Right, that’s a thing. I just havent celebrated my birthday in over a decade, really. . .I guess that makes me 29 this year? I dont really pay much attention to it so I didnt share it, haha. . .”
"Geh?"
Maybe instead of repeating herself...she'd pull out her phone.
Then show Anne her Calendar App with "TRAINER'S BIRTHDAY" clearly marked.
"Uwah. . .I don't think ya ever told me or anyone else your age."
— said simply, pulling her best friend along. This time, she was the one pulling her along. . .
If some of her fans knew what she were doing though, just taking their idol’s hand like this. . .Anne smiled wryly to herself.
In spite of herself, Anne shivered, hearing Manaka call her by her name again. She didn’t know why she did. . .only that it was.
As her hand was let go of, it’d drop to her side. But, at that point, Anne was done walking on eggshells. And the one other thing she was good at —
She choked on what to do now, having done something that she would find out of character for even herself especially with the Manaka of today.
As if frozen, Manaka stood there trying to process what she had done before pulling her hand away from Anne. It'd be difficult—
— now, was that when she needed to convey something, she went straight to the point.
She quickly took Manaka’s hand, the same way Manaka used to do for her, whenever she’d pull her along when they were in kindergarten, even as they grew older. . .
“Come with me,” Anne —