"Morning, Kagura!"
"Morning, Nature. You're unexpectedly early today."
Early in the morning, while busying herself in the cafeteria kitchen preparing breakfast, Kagura saw Nice Nature—who usually woke up late—arrive surprisingly early today.
"Well...I fell asleep halfway through checking my phone last night, and forgot to cover myself with a blanket, so I woke up freezing this morning…"
Nice Nature sheepishly scratched her head, clearly embarrassed.
"...Nature, you know Trainer Minamizaka would really worry if you keep this up."
With a sigh, Kagura reached out and gently flicked Nature's forehead.
Having your own trainee fail to get proper rest was probably every trainer's biggest nightmare. Not sleeping properly was destructive, draining stamina and ruining training the next day. And if Nature caught a cold from this...
"Poor Trainer Minamizaka..."
"Hehe… But Minamizaka-san really is great! He treats me like his own daughter. I'm really thankful you went through all that effort finding me such a wonderful trainer!"
"As long as you know, don't do things that make people worry next time!"
Kagura circled around the kitchen busily, responding to Nature's cheerful chatter from outside.
"I know, I know! By the way, Kagura, winter break is almost here, right? Do you have any plans?"
"Not exactly. The director and Ardan-san both invited me to visit them, so I'll probably be busy for a day or two. Why?"
"I'm planning on going back home for the holiday. My family asked me to check if you're free—so I could bring you back with me... Ahaha… Honestly, my family says such strange things."
"I probably can't travel that far during break. There's still stuff for me to do here, so I can't go somewhere so far that I can't rush back easily."
Even though Kagura didn't mind visiting others, Nice Nature's hometown was objectively too distant. At this stage, Kagura still wasn't capable of comfortably traveling such long distances. Still, thinking about it, this was the first time in her life that she'd had so many invitations over a winter break.
"Yeah, figures…"
Nice Nature scratched her head apologetically again. While she really did hope Kagura could come, she knew that, with Kagura's fragile health and the long distance, it just wasn't feasible. She hadn't expected Kagura to agree anyway.
Handing Nature her neatly packed breakfast, Kagura suddenly noticed someone sneaking suspiciously around the cafeteria entrance.
Why does that figure look so familiar...?
Feeling an odd sense of familiarity, Kagura squinted at the doorway. The sneaky figure seemed to realize Kagura had spotted her, dropped all pretense, and stepped openly into view, waving energetically.
"Morning, Kagura-chan!"
"Good morning, Mr. C.B.-senpai. Aren't you usually still asleep at this hour? Waking up this early, won't you get enough rest?"
It was Kagura's first time ever seeing Mr. C.B. in the cafeteria this early in the morning—her impression was that Mr. C.B. was never this diligent.
"Of course not, I definitely won't get enough sleep waking up this early—actually, I haven't slept all night! If I don't sleep, then lack of sleep isn't an issue, right?"
"Senpai, I can practically see your trainer storming over here with a knife already…"
Looking at the two irresponsible girls standing in the cafeteria, Kagura couldn't help but sigh sympathetically for their trainers. Luckily, Rudolf Ojou-sama had recently started avoiding overtime after Kagura had dragged her away a few times; otherwise, Trainer Tojo's stress would've spiked as well.
"Aaah, no worries! That sort of thing is trivial, doesn't matter! Anyway, you're done here, right? I saw on the news your team's trainer announced no more races scheduled this year, so you're probably free during winter break, aren't you?"
"Um... yeah? Since I'm not returning to the Symboli estate, I suppose I'm technically free...?"
Kagura had the vague sense something was off. She suddenly realized she'd answered this same question several times recently. Her task queue seemed to be growing alarmingly long.
"Even better if you're not going back! Wanna hang out with me sometime during the break?"
"Uh…well, I guess it's not impossible… But lots of other people have invited me already..."
"No worries! I'm super flexible. Just let me know whenever you're free."
With that, Mr. C.B. naturally sat herself at the counter outside Kagura's kitchen window. Nice Nature, who was already there waiting for her food, was so shocked her ears wilted slightly. The legendary Triple Crown winner was casually seated right next to her! She'd heard of Mr. C.B.'s fame and admired her from afar as a semi-fan. As an Uma Musume who hadn't even debuted yet, Nature had no idea how to handle this situation.
"Sorry, Mr. C.B.-senpai, but if you came hoping for radishes, I didn't prepare any today. Even the pickled radishes I had were secretly eaten by Director Akikawa and Maruzensky-san a while ago."
"No worries at all. Your cooking is always amazing—I'll eat whatever you make."
Mr. C.B. clearly came to freeload breakfast. Despite being a total radish-head, she genuinely appreciated Kagura's cooking, and as someone who wasn't picky, she certainly didn't mind other dishes either.
"Senpai sure is carefree... Wait, senpai, don't tell me you're the type who just eats instant ramen whenever you can't think of what to have?"
"What's wrong with instant ramen? Well, when my trainer's around, at least I eat decently."
"So basically, whenever your trainer can't supervise, your diet's a total mess, huh... You're lucky your body's holding up despite how carelessly you eat…"
Kagura could already guess Mr. C.B.'s dietary habits. Honestly, she was a little worried Mr. C.B. would suddenly collapse on the street someday, given how casually she treated nutrition, the intense daily training, and her dreadful sleeping habits. Kagura genuinely felt for Mr. C.B.'s trainer's enormous pressure.
Mr. C.B.'s trainer sure has it rough…
This morning, Kagura had prepared extra handmade wonton wrappers, intending to cook some for Nice Nature. She hadn't anticipated Mr. C.B.'s arrival—but fortunately, she'd prepared enough for one more.
She grabbed two large bowls, sprinkled dried shrimp, seaweed, and chopped green onion at the bottom, added seasoning, and checked the large pot on the stove. The soup was boiling perfectly. She ladled hot soup and fresh wontons into each bowl, releasing an enticing aroma throughout the kitchen, causing the two hungry Uma Musume outside to swallow audibly.
"Here you go—sorry for the wait!"
As Kagura handed out the steaming bowls through the window, Mr. C.B. suddenly turned toward Nice Nature, who was eagerly about to dig in.
"You're so lucky~ Getting to taste Kagura's cooking every single day—I envy you."
"Eh? Um... Mr. C.B.-senpai...you know me?"
"Nice Nature, right? Rudolf mentioned you before. You're Kagura-chan's good friend, aren't you? I hear Kagura-chan put in a lot of effort for you."
"Yes! Kagura's always helping and caring for me... she tutored me before, even helped with my training…"
"No need to be nervous, Nature-chan—relax! Do I really seem that scary?"
Noticing Nature's stammering, Mr. C.B. almost laughed, impulsively reaching to pet the younger girl's head—then quickly reconsidered, realizing Nature might not be as relaxed as Kagura, and lowered her hand.
"N-no, senpai! It's just... I've always admired you so much! I want to shine on the track someday just like you!"
"Hehe, that's a great dream. But you know, Nature-chan, when you get further along, you'll realize ordinary moments are nice too. Like chatting right now—I'd much prefer you treat me like a normal senpai. No need to be so tense. Anyway, hurry up and eat—won't taste as good if it gets cold."
Mr. C.B. quickly began eating. It was her first time tasting Kagura's handmade wontons—tender meat filling, springy wrappers, and delicious broth revitalized her instantly, a fresh burst of energy rushing through her body.
Nature also took a bite, her eyes widening in delight, quickly matching Mr. C.B.'s frantic eating pace.
"Hehe, slow down, you two. Nobody's competing with you. Anyway, ingredients are limited. I still have to bring some to Ojou-sama later. Even if you inhale these, I can't make more for you."
Kagura packed Rudolf's share, then fixed herself a smaller bowl. Sitting beside them, she began eating slowly. Though hers was much smaller, it was perfectly enough.
Nostalgic taste… Guess I haven't forgotten this skill after all.