Resting on the bench for a short while, Kagura finally recovered enough to move again and resumed their outing with Rudolf.
It was already close to noon now. Calculating that it was about lunchtime, Rudolf brought Kagura to a restaurant inside the amusement park. After letting Kagura sit down first, Rudolf picked up the menu to start ordering.
"Kagura, is there anything you especially like to eat?"
"As long as it's not super weird-tasting, I'm fine~ Whatever you order, I'll eat~"
Kagura was crunching on the pocky Rudolf had bought on the way to the restaurant. Listening to the long list of dishes Rudolf was reading out, nothing in particular stood out to her. For Kagura, as long as it wasn't gross, she was satisfied—anything cooked in a normal way wouldn't be too scary. Well… unless the ingredient itself tasted suspicious.
"I often see students walking around school with these little sticks in their mouths. The taste feels… fairly ordinary?"
Rudolf was also chewing from her own pack of pocky. She'd been curious what snacks students liked to eat, so she bought two packs to try. The flavor was just okay, but it was admittedly fun to dangle one from her mouth—good for when she's bored in the office.
"At the end of the day, it's just a biscuit. At most they coat a layer of flavoring on the outside. No matter how good the coating is, it can't change the fact that it's just a biscuit."
"True… that reminds me, I keep hearing students talk about something called the 'pocky game'? Does it have anything to do with this snack?"
Rudolf remembered passing the Cafeteria or the playground and hearing some Uma Musume mention this to their trainers. She figured it was another trendy thing among young people, so she asked Kagura if she knew anything about it.
"The pocky game, huh…"
Kagura knew what it was, but she'd never really played it—she only knew from friends telling her, and from seeing it in some anime.
"It's two people biting the same pocky stick from opposite ends, and you both nibble toward the middle. Whoever lets go first or snaps it loses… something like that?"
"That sounds a bit abstract… is it supposed to be fun?"
Rudolf couldn't quite imagine the gameplay—and honestly, it didn't sound that interesting.
"I don't know. I've never played it either, so I can't give you a proper review. Whether a game is fun or not mainly depends on the person, not on other people's opinions."
"That makes sense… Young people's tastes really are hard to understand. By the way, do you still have some left? Should we try it and see how the game works?"
Wanting to understand modern youth trends, Rudolf glanced around—they were alone, and they had pocky. She might as well ask Kagura if she'd like to try.
"Mm? Ojou-sama is interested in that?"
"Mm. Kizuna and Maruzensky-san also told me to learn more about current trends among young people. Since it's something the students enjoy, I should understand it too."
"I see…"
Kagura nodded in understanding. She knew Rudolf was always trying to learn about the students' hobbies and the latest trends. Rudolf encountered plenty of new things in daily work; whether she could actually make use of them was another matter.
"Okay then. If you want to learn, Ojou-sama, I can try it with you."
They were both girls, so Kagura didn't think too much of it. She took out a pocky stick, held it between her teeth, then leaned slightly toward Rudolf, tilting her head up so the pocky lined up properly.
Rudolf, curious, lowered her head and bit the other end of the pocky Kagura was holding.
"Nn!"
Kagura made a small noise to signal Rudolf to bite forward. Since it was her first time, Rudolf carefully nibbled a bit, then she copied Kagura's "Nn!" to signal her turn.
A single pocky wasn't long to begin with. Since both were first-timers, neither paid attention to how much they were biting at once—they were too focused on not breaking it. As a result, neither noticed that with those two bites, Rudolf's face was already nearly touching Kagura's.
Rudolf suddenly found herself staring at Kagura's face from mere inches away. Their lips were practically about to meet. Kagura, eyes closed, head tilted back, held the pocky in her mouth waiting for Rudolf's next move—submissive, trusting, completely open.
Rudolf felt a sudden, inexplicable jolt in her chest.
An impulse surged through her—an urge to just reach out, pull Kagura into her arms, and kiss her right then and there.
She instantly understood why students liked playing this with their trainers.
Isn't this basically a mini-game you'd play only with your lover?!
Rudolf might not understand youth entertainment, but that didn't mean she was clueless about this sort of thing.
"I understand now. Thank you for cooperating, Kagura."
Predicting what the next step in this "game" would be, Rudolf crushed the impulse rising inside her with the sheer force of her will and decisively bit the pocky in half.
"No need to thank me, Ojou-sama. I'm glad I could help."
Kagura nodded, smiled softly at Rudolf—whose face had suddenly flushed—and then scooted back to sit properly in her seat.
That was close, that was close… What on earth was I just thinking? Kagura hasn't even begun her honkaku, and I was about to do something that disrespectful to her?!
Seeing Kagura's innocent smile, Rudolf felt that the dark little thought that had risen in her heart was definitely not normal. She was deeply relieved she'd resisted the impulse—otherwise that introverted child would surely have come to hate her.
Rudolf fell into an odd silence, unable to think up a new topic. She tried to calm down, look inside her mind for something—anything—to talk about… only to find her thoughts full of Kagura's submissive, trusting expression from moments ago.
"Ladies, your food has arrived."
To Rudolf's immense relief, the waiter arrived just then, delivering the dishes at the exact moment the awkward tension had reached its peak.
"Okay, thank you~"
Kagura accepted the plates from the waiter and set them on the table, thanking her politely.
The waiter nodded, looked at Kagura, then at Rudolf—as if recognizing the suddenly very popular celebrity—paused for a second, then left to continue her work.
That was close… saved…
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T/N: OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH RUDOLF X KAGURAA
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