Upon returning ho, Shuta An stepped into the foyer and imdiately saw Oguri Cap and Berno Light sitting on the living room sofa.
"I'm back," he greeted.
The two Uma Musu looked up.
"You're very punctual," Berno Light said, watching the young man hang his trench coat on the rack. "Oguri and I thought Ann would return much later."
"We agreed on a ti beforehand," Shuta An replied as he sat down across from them. "Breaking the promise wouldn't be appropriate."
He glanced at the two of them.
"So…were you waiting for ?"
"Of course," Oguri Cap finally spoke. "It's Christmas Eve. Berno and I still haven't given you the gifts we prepared."
Shuta An vaguely sensed a trace of jealousy in the air, but he chose not to point it out.
"Then I'll look forward to Oguri and Berno's Christmas gifts."
The two Uma Musu went upstairs, leaving the young man alone in the living room watching TV.
A few minutes later, they returned.
To Shuta An's slight disappointnt, both Oguri Cap and Berno Light were still wearing the sa clothes as before. He had briefly imagined they might have prepared so interesting outfits.
The two sat down again, placing Shuta An between them.
Oguri Cap spoke first.
"This year, during the Dream Trophy Series, I received sponsorship from Suntory. Through that connection, I asked them to arrange a one-year supply of Suntory Yamazaki sparkling water delivery for Ann."
She handed him a card.
"After thinking about it carefully, I felt this was the only thing Ann would really like. I've seen you choose Suntory sparkling water from the box every ti you go to the racecourse."
"I love it." Shuta An accepted the card and examined it carefully instead of putting it away.
"This card can be used by others too…I could even have the water delivered to the academy. That would solve the office's drinking water problem."
At that mont, Berno Light also handed over her gift.
It was a charcoal-gray cotton wide-brimd hat.
"I noticed Ann often wears a fedora when he goes out, so I bought this hat in Minato Ward. I hope you'll like it."
Shuta An took the hat and tried it on.
It fit perfectly. The cotton made it light and comfortable.
"I'll wear this when attending events overseas," he said with clear satisfaction.
After adjusting the charcoal-gray hat, Shuta An stood up.
"Then it's my turn to give you two the gifts I prepared."
"Speaking of which, I never saw Ann go out to buy anything," Oguri Cap said with mild dissatisfaction. "But I'll like whatever it is."
"It's definitely not an ordinary gift." Shuta An had already inspected the items earlier, so he spoke with confidence.
Hearing that, Berno Light blinked.
Ann rarely described things that way, which only made her more curious.
Turning his back to the two pairs of questioning eyes, Shuta An walked upstairs. He entered his study and retrieved the two gift boxes.
When he returned to the living room, both Uma Musu imdiately focused on the boxes.
Oguri Cap didn't recognize the logos.
Berno Light did.
After looking at them briefly, she tapped the box with the Chanel logo.
"I guess this one is mine."
"That's right." Ann-san raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised.
It sounded like a guess.
"Because Harry Winston—" Berno Light continued calmly, "their most famous item is the 'The One' ring. I think Oguri suits that better than I do."
Her reasoning was incorrect.
But the result was right.
Ann smiled helplessly.
"Although both boxes contain jewelry, neither of them is a ring."
He handed the gifts to them.
"Anyway, open them."
Oguri Cap followed his instructions and opened the Harry Winston box.
The first thing she saw was the vivid erald-green Paraiba tourmaline.
"It looks very appetizing," the gray Uma Musu comnted. (Oguri really one-of-a-kind, tsk tsk tsk)
Ann-san nearly rolled his eyes.
The raw Paraiba tourmaline that had apparently triggered Oguri Cap's appetite. Even though, it had once sold at auction for enough money to fund the Dubai World Cup Race Day for three years.
"Try it on," Ann-san said.
He was honestly a little worried she might test the gemstone with her teeth.
Fortunately, Oguri Cap wasn't that reckless.
She carefully put on the necklace.
The Paraiba tourmaline settled into the valley of her chest. She lifted it slightly and examined it.
"It really is beautiful," she murmured.
Then she looked at the young man beside her.
"I'll wear this necklace often from now on. It feels perfect for ceremonies in the Dream Trophy Series."
anwhile, Berno Light had opened her own box.
Inside were two large diamonds surrounded by smaller stones forming the shape of a star.
"So beautiful…" she whispered.
At the sa ti, she ntally compared it with the Chanel jewelry she had seen in magazines.
She was certain of one thing.
This necklace had never appeared in any magazine.
Berno Light imdiately understood what that ant.
She turned her head and glanced at the Paraiba tourmaline on Oguri Cap's chest.
"No wonder you said that."
The Uma Musu pursed her lips and tugged at Ann-san's sleeve.
When he turned to her, she lowered her voice.
"What about Suzuka's?"
"It's the sa type," Ann-san answered simply.
Hearing that, Berno Light let out a quiet sigh of relief.
"That's good. Otherwise, I wouldn't dare wear this necklace in front of Suzuka."
"How could I do sothing that would make you worry like that?" Ann-san pinched her cheek lightly. "You're overthinking."
Later that night, in the early hours of Christmas, Berno took her "revenge" by pinching the young man several tis in bed.
Eventually, Ann-san drifted into sleep and entered the Dream World.
When he opened his eyes, he found himself in the apartnt he had purchased there.
"It's Christmas here too…but nothing's prepared."
He walked around the room and shook his head.
"Looks like I'll just go out and find sothing simple to eat."
He had just finished changing clothes and was about to leave when soone knocked on the door.
Ann opened it.
Standing outside was Yutaka Take, smiling, with two children beside him.
"Ann-san," he said cheerfully, "if you don't have plans tonight, co out with us."
Ann-san indeed had no plans, and at first he intended to refuse. But after glancing at one of the children standing behind Yutaka Take, he changed his mind and agreed.
It wasn't because he was interested in the child. Rather, the boy's face resembled Yutaka Take sowhat, and Ann guessed he must be a relative. In that case, Yutaka Take probably wouldn't dare bring children sowhere like Gion in Kyoto for another night.
"So, where are we going?" Ann-san asked after following Yutaka Take downstairs. He didn't bother taking his own car and simply got into Yutaka Take's sports car.
"I already finished the Christmas party with my family earlier," Yutaka Take said as he started the engine. "This is my second gathering tonight. I figured Ann-san was probably bored at ho, so I dragged my younger brother and Fukunaga-kun along to find you."
"If you're bringing your younger brother, then you shouldn't go sowhere unsuitable for children, right?" Ann-san said casually. "Speaking of which, last ti you took Fukunaga-kun there, didn't his family scold you, Take-san?"
"No!" Fukunaga Yuichi answered imdiately. "Mom asked where I went with Yutaka Take-senpai, and I told her we went to Kyoto Zoo and then explored the night market."
"Well, I'll be damned—" Ann-san muttered. "This kid might grow up to love Gion just as much as Yutaka Take."
"Speaking of which," Yutaka Take suddenly changed the topic, "Ann-san, have you never thought about getting a girlfriend or sothing? Spending Christmas alone is too lonely, isn't it? If I hadn't co to find you, today would've been no different from any other day."
"Never thought about it," Ann-san replied bluntly. "And Take-san, you don't have a girlfriend either. Why are you pressuring ?"
"Haha." Yutaka Take laughed. "No plans for now. You know how it is—jockeys are well-paid professionals and athletes. High social status too. If I wanted to find soone, I could easily date a young idol or sothing. But if I actually started a relationship, my family would probably start pushing to get married."
"I really don't understand where you people find the ti to flirt," Ann-san said.
"That must be why Shuta-senpai beca this year's champion jockey!" Fukunaga Yuichi imdiately chid in.
Yutaka Take shot his junior a glare.
"Even if you praise Ann-san like that, I'm still the only one who can take you out to have fun."
"Take-senpai is amazing too, of course!" Fukunaga Yuichi quickly corrected himself.
Ann-san noticed that Yutaka Take's younger brother had remained silent the whole ti, so he decided to speak first.
"What's your na, younger brother-kun? This is our first eting, right?"
"Hello, Shuta-senpai!" the boy replied confidently. "My na is Koushirou Take. Although this is our first eting, my older brother talks about Shuta-senpai quite often at ho."
"I hope Take-san only says good things about ," Ann-san said, the corner of his mouth twitching.
"Except for the Tenno Sho (Autumn), it was all good things," Yutaka Take admitted.
"The Tenno Sho (Autumn)—I didn't even think much about it myself." Ann-san shook his head. "Honestly, Take-san didn't need to be so aggressive when fighting for position back then."
"I wasn't even looking behind at the ti," Yutaka Take argued while driving. "I thought McQueen had already opened a gap from the horses behind. Cutting across to save ground is a perfectly natural move in that situation."
"With his strength, he would have won easily even without saving ground. But the result ended up being a disqualification because of that move." Ann-san shook his head again. "Quite a pity."
"Next year I'll face Tokai Teio in the Tenno Sho (Autumn), and I'll definitely do it again," Yutaka Take said without hesitation. "You have to give everything in every race."
"I used to think that too," Ann-san said calmly. "But after riding in so many races, I feel that winning is enough. There's no need to push to a hundred percent every ti."
"That's easy for you to say," Yutaka Take replied as the car stopped at a red light. "Ann-san gets far fewer riding requests on race day than I do."
"I've started choosing the quality of the racehorse I partner with," Ann-san said openly. "I want both a high number of wins and a high win rate."
"Senior jockeys never thought that way before." Yutaka Take shook his head. "To be honest, so of the seniors aren't very happy with what you're doing. They think you're being disrespectful to the horse owners."
"Why are they so nervous?" Ann-san shrugged. "If I ride fewer races, that just ans more opportunities for them. In that sense, they should be thanking ."
"That's true." Yutaka Take didn't argue. His relationship with those senior jockeys was nowhere near as close as his friendship with Ann-san, so he naturally leaned toward Ann-san's side.
If conflict really broke out in the future, Yutaka Take was certain the JRA would still stand with Ann-san.
After all, the amount of money currently being invested to promote both him and Ann-san was enormous.
And beyond that, Ann-san had Shadai Farm and the Kasamatsu local racing association behind him.
If the seniors tried to maneuver behind the scenes, it would be useless. And if things were brought into the open, they had even less chance.
This year alone, Ann-san had recorded 224 wins in the JRA, breaking the previous annual record of 130 wins. Many experts in newspapers and magazines even predicted that the record might stand for decades.
Against such results, even if the senior jockeys joined forces, they simply couldn't compete.
"So where are we going?" Ann-san asked from the back seat. "I don't recognize this road."
"Osaka Castle," Yutaka Take replied. "There are plenty of shops open all night there tonight. After all, with these two kids in the car, I can't exactly take you to Shinchi for a night out."
"If you try to take to any 'Shinchi,' I'm calling a taxi and going ho imdiately," Ann-san said flatly.
"Shinchi" was a well-known red-light district.
Even in the Dream World, the young man had no intention of visiting such places.
He was already a married man.
Well—just not in this world.
"No way I'd go there," Yutaka Take scoffed. "What's good about places like that? Only people with no taste go to Shinchi."
He grinned slightly.
"People with taste go to Gion to chat with geishas and talk about life. That kind of vulgar entertainnt isn't our style."
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