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Chapter 46 - Uma Musume: Your Uma Has A Problem! [46]

"Hm? Nice Nature-san, why are you wandering around here?"

On her day off, Maruzensky-san was leisurely heading to Tracen's cafeteria to freeload a meal from Kagura when she saw Nice Nature pacing back and forth near the school building facing the training grounds, seemingly looking for someone.

"Ah, Maruzensky-senpai! Have you seen Kagura?"

"Isn't she in the cafeteria? It's almost lunchtime, after all."

"Kagura said she has today off, so she isn't in the cafeteria. I didn't see her there either."

"Oh, I see… Then Rudolf probably dragged her off somewhere. Anyway, why are you looking for Kagura-chan?"

Maruzensky-san felt slightly disappointed hearing that Kagura was off-duty today, suddenly remembering this.

"I heard Kagura finally has some free time, so I wanted to ask her to go out with me…"

Usually, Kagura always seemed busy with endless work, and whenever she did have spare time, she'd spend it tutoring Nice Nature. To avoid troubling Kagura even more, Nature rarely invited Kagura out anywhere. Today, hearing Kagura had a rare day off, Nice Nature had immediately wanted to seize the chance to hang out with her good friend. But now she couldn't find her.

"How about checking the Kyūdō club? Rudolf loves going there whenever she's free. Maybe she dragged Kagura along today?"

Maruzensky-san briefly thought it over. Rudolf was also coincidentally free today; if Kagura hadn't gone anywhere herself, Rudolf most likely had pulled her along. Knowing her friend's usual hobbies, Maruzensky-san couldn't imagine Rudolf would be anywhere other than the archery club or her dorm room.

"Um… Maruzensky-senpai, could you…bring me along? I don't know the way very well yet…"

Nature, still unfamiliar with the campus layout, had no idea where the clubrooms were located. Her only option was to ask Maruzensky-san for help.

"Of course! I'm curious about what Kagura-chan does on her rare days off anyway. Just follow me!"

"Senpai…um…can I ask you something?"

As they walked through the school building looking for the Kyūdō club, the petite Nature lifted her head slightly, looking up at Maruzensky-san.

"Hm? Something troubling you, Nature-chan?"

"Well…how do you talk to people so naturally, like you do? I always want to ask Kagura to play, and there's things I want to say to her…but I never know how to start…"

Nice Nature lowered her head shyly, her voice trailing off, cheeks turning bright red.

"Oh my~ Such a youthful question! But there's no real trick for something like this—it mostly depends on your personality. Maybe when you grow up a bit more, you'll naturally get better at it. But with Kagura, you need to be more proactive. She has such a passive personality; if you also hold back, neither of you will ever make a move."

"Be more proactive…?"

"That's right. For example, if you want to hug her, just act cute and ask her directly if you can hug her. She'll agree immediately, you know."

Maruzensky-san had developed a sense about Kagura recently. Despite Kagura looking young and innocent, she actually understood a surprising amount, giving Maruzensky-san an unpredictable yet gentle impression. Still, Kagura had a very accommodating personality toward people she knew well.

"For example, this time—you want to go out with her, right? You should've approached her a day earlier and asked if she'd like to go out tomorrow. Be proactive! It helps if you act a little spoiled. She definitely won't refuse you."

"I understand! I…I'll try to be more proactive!"

Nice Nature nodded earnestly, unsure whether she could actually follow Maruzensky-san's advice.

Actually, Nature had a small wish buried inside her heart. She wanted Kagura to pay more attention to her. She knew Kagura was a Support Uma, whose role was to support professional racers. So Nice Nature had always been working hard, hoping that one day she'd become someone like Rudolf—a worthy recipient of Kagura's support.

If I become outstanding enough…could I get Kagura to become my exclusive Support Uma? Would she look at me a little more?

Nature didn't really understand where these thoughts had come from. Still, she sincerely wished she could become even closer to Kagura, like real friends. Right now, their interactions always felt like an adult patiently taking care of a child.

"Youth really is wonderful~"

Seeing Nature thoughtfully mulling things over while walking, Maruzensky-san couldn't help but smile warmly.

The Kyūdō club wasn't located in any particularly remote spot. After about five or six minutes, Maruzensky-san brought Nice Nature to the entrance.

The clubroom door was left open slightly, and Maruzensky-san could hear movement from inside. Rudolf was most likely here, and that youthful, childish voice certainly belonged to Kagura.

Maruzensky-san and Nice Nature quietly poked their heads inside to peek. At the shooting range, Rudolf was gently holding Kagura, carefully adjusting her archery stance. Kagura's movements were still quite awkward—clearly, she hadn't been practicing long.

"Rudolf~ Shooting arrows again, are we?"

Maruzensky-san strode casually inside, calling out with natural ease. Seeing her step in, Nice Nature quickly followed behind.

"Oh? Maruzensky-san? What brings you here? Haven't you always been uninterested in archery?"

Rudolf straightened up, releasing Kagura. Kagura lowered her bow, turning around to wave toward Maruzensky-san and Nice Nature.

"I'm not here to shoot arrows! I ran into Nature-chan on the way to lunch. She said she was looking for Kagura-chan. I figured you must have kidnapped Kagura-chan and brought her here. She didn't know the way, so I led her over."

"Nature? What's wrong? Do you have homework you need my help with?"

Kagura, still wearing her protective gear, slung the bow onto her back, looking curiously at the now visibly nervous Nice Nature.

"Well…it's…I-I…wanted to go out with you this afternoon, Kagura… C-can we?"

"Hm? Seeing you so nervous, I thought you had some sort of big problem you needed help with. Something like this is fine, of course! Ojou-sama, do you have any plans that require my attendance this afternoon?"

It was rare for Nice Nature to actively invite her out. Kagura naturally had no intention of refusing. Just to be safe, she decided to confirm with Rudolf first.

"No, these few days are all rest days. You should also take this opportunity to go out with your friend more. It's rare for Nature-san to invite you out so proactively."

"True enough… Then, Ojou-sama, I'll be going first? Remember to stick to the menu plan for lunch!"

"I'll keep it in mind. Go on, have fun!"

Rudolf watched Kagura remove and neatly store away her protective gear, then follow Nice Nature—who was still nervously stumbling over her words—out the door. Suddenly, Rudolf felt rather touched.

"Those two kids are really something else. Especially Kagura-chan. You think so too, don't you?"

Maruzensky-san wandered over, patting Rudolf's shoulder lightly.

"Heh…isn't this good though? Kagura's been busy for months, constantly taking care of me without a break. She really deserves a little relaxation. I should find an excuse to give her some extra allowance and let her take more time off in the future."

"No kidding. She's practically your mom at this point. Didn't she just remind you to stick to your meal plan?"

Maruzensky-san had seen Kagura's meal plans for Rudolf before. Rather than detailed recipes, they were simply detailed lists of nutritional content. Kagura cooked daily meals based entirely on that chart.

But that wasn't the most remarkable thing. What truly amazed Maruzensky-san was how Kagura managed to create entirely different dishes for every meal, even though she followed the exact same nutritional guidelines. Rudolf's figure also stayed perfectly within the ideal parameters Kagura had calculated.

"Yes. After all, weight control is vital. If I become overweight, it'll negatively affect my training."

"I'm so jealous… Could you maybe lend Kagura-chan to me sometime? How much do I have to pay your family to redeem her? I'll double it!"

"Hey! What 'redeeming'? Stop making our Symboli family sound like human traffickers! Honestly, I can't even imagine how I'd cope without her now."

Rudolf gave up pretending and replied openly. She'd be quite happy if Kagura became entirely dependent on their family.

"I can't cope either! At least you get to eat Kagura's cooking daily! Do you know how I feel on days I can't have her cooking!?"

"That's your own fault for being too lazy to learn cooking yourself…"

"As if you could cook! Instead of arguing, think about lunch—what'll we do without Kagura-chan today?"

"We still have the cafeteria, don't we? Although Tracen's cafeteria doesn't match Kagura's cooking, it's not bad. Or did you want me to personally cook something up for you?"

"Please absolutely forget that dangerous idea! I'll head straight to the cafeteria!"

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