"So… why were you all crowding my door first thing in the morning?"
It wasn't until a little after seven—after the ruckus finally died down and Kagura went downstairs with the other Umamusume for breakfast—that she brought up the morning's surprise "incident."
"It was… it was an accident! I-I slipped on my way over. And Nishiki-san and Nature-san were talking in front of your door, and when they tried to catch me, we… we ended up crashing into it…"
Ardan-ojousama hurried to explain. Nice Nature and Bizen Nishiki both seemed to freeze for a beat, then nodded along quickly, backing up Ardan's version. Kagura thought she caught a faint, wordless gratitude in the way Nature and Bizen Nishiki looked at Ardan—but since she didn't know what had really been going on, she had no idea why.
If she couldn't untangle it right now, then fine. She wouldn't waste brainpower on it.
...
Aside from that one chaotic "accident," the most important topic at breakfast was naturally the proposal the trainers had put together early that morning—the matter of training and rewards.
In a few days, once the super typhoon calmed down, several trainers planned to hold a joint friendly match. First place would win a ticket—three days of Inari Kagura's cooking.
"Oh? Rudolf, you look pretty interested."
Maruzensky noticed Rudolf beside her, ears perked as she listened to Trainer Tojo and the others explain the upcoming friendly match. Rudolf was usually hard to read—outside of studying and student-council work, she rarely showed interest in anything. Seeing her actually look intrigued surprised Maruzensky a little.
Maruzensky herself was definitely interested—but Rudolf being this interested was unexpected.
"I am, a bit. If I heard correctly, the prize is having Kagura cook for three days, yes?"
"That's right. But isn't that just… your everyday life, you lucky thing? Why are you getting so fired up?"
What Maruzensky really wanted to know was why Rudolf cared. Kagura looked after Rudolf all the time—this "prize" was just part of Rudolf's normal routine. Why would she be so eager to compete for it?
"Loving victory is in our nature. Competing, winning—everything proceeds as usual. There's no need for a reason, is there?"
Rudolf's answer was so light it left Maruzensky with nothing to grab onto—no clue as to what Rudolf actually wanted.
The truth was, Rudolf herself was faintly puzzled.
As Maruzensky said, this was merely a piece of her daily life. It wasn't something she needed to fight for. And yet, for some reason, she couldn't shake the feeling that she couldn't simply ignore this match. Somewhere inside, a voice kept insisting she should enter—
And win.
She didn't understand why she cared this much. But she was already interested, and the impulse wasn't harmful, so she chose to follow it.
"Hehe… That really is you. Fine, then. If you've made up your mind, I won't go easy on you."
Maruzensky, for her part, had been craving that reward for ages. Hearing about this, she decided to join without the slightest hesitation.
"I wouldn't have it any other way. I, too, won't hand victory over so easily."
...
"Mm… so that many people are entering, huh…"
Mejiro Ramonu only found out at breakfast, when the trainers announced it. Her first reaction was immediate: she had to participate. The moment she heard the prize, she'd already decided.
Either she would enter, or her younger sister Mejiro Ardan would—or both of them would.
Iris-sama wants Ardan and Kagura-san to get along. If that's the case, then we should fight for this ticket…
That was what Mejiro Ramonu thought. But when she looked at the crowd of Umamusume present… putting Nice Nature and Bizen Nishiki aside, even heavy hitters like Rudolf and Maruzensky had shown strong interest too.
With those two joining, the difficulty of the match jumped to a whole new level.
Mejiro Ramonu still had some confidence in herself. But her sister Ardan… she couldn't imagine her frail sister standing up to those two. Which meant Mejiro's side only really had one reliable contender—herself.
This is going to be a problem. Rudolf-san and Maruzensky-san aren't easy opponents… and Bizen Nishiki has talent too…
Glancing at Ardan, who was eating at her usual slow pace, Mejiro Ramonu couldn't help feeling anxious.
...
"Hey, Nature-san—you're entering too, right?"
Nice Nature was looking down at her bread when someone lightly poked her shoulder. She turned, puzzled, and found Bizen Nishiki gently prodding her.
Nice Nature nodded. The prize was tempting enough that she had no reason not to enter. Even with senior powerhouses like Rudolf and Maruzensky participating, she wasn't planning to give up. More than anything, she saw it as a chance to grow. And if luck smiled on her, maybe—just maybe—she could snatch that precious ticket right out of a senpai's hands.
"Ah… yes. Bizen Nishiki-senpai, you wanted to talk about—"
"I'm entering too. But you know who's joining this time, right? Maruzensky-san, Rudolf-san, Ramonu-san… none of them are easy. If I go in alone, I don't think I've got much chance. But I want the champion's prize too…"
There were different prizes prepared for each placement, but everyone sitting there understood: the other competitors were all aiming for first. Kagura's cooking had a reputation now—at least among those present. They knew exactly how good it was.
"So… Nature-san, how about we help each other out? And in the end, we can split the good stuff Kagura makes. What do you say?"
Nice Nature thought it over. Bizen Nishiki's suggestion made sense. She wasn't counting on winning a straight-up solo fight against someone like Mejiro Ramonu or Rudolf. If she had someone to work with, maybe she could allow herself to dream a little.
And the terms were fair.
"I'm in, Bizen Nishiki-senpai. Then… here's to a good partnership?"
"Yeah! Here's to a good partnership!"
---
T/N: heres ur updates :3 meeting the 4 chaps a week quota :3 do u think itd be better to do it earlier in the week to make u guys wait more for the bonus chapters
bonus chaps
100 stones -> 1 chapter
200 stones -> 2 chapters
300 stones -> 3 chapters
and so on
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