It was still dark outside by the time I finished my jog around Tracen Central Academy. Not for a lack of trying—I'd jogged for nearly an hour with Maruzensky. But since it was still dark and Maruzensky really should be sleeping by that point, we decided to head to the cafeteria to get a quick meal.
Sadly, it was too early for the cafeteria to be open when we went in, so we just decided to get some snacks at the nearby vending machine.
"I feel like you shouldn't eat that." Was what I said as I saw the packets of chips Maruzensky just dropped onto the table.
She just returned a small grin as she ripped one open. "Oh, it'll be fine~. A little snack here and there won't hurt."
I opened my mouth to argue, and then sighed. I knew nothing I said would convince her. It wasn't really my place to say otherwise. Maruzensky was long retired by this point; she didn't need to meticulously worry about her own weight like I did. And besides, Maruzensky was still an umamusume—she burnt away her calories much faster than normal humans could.
So I kept quiet as I unwrapped the sandwich I got. I took a bite out of it, and my expression flattened slightly as I slowly chewed. The sandwich wasn't…great, so to say. But I wasn't surprised; I got it from a vending machine after all. I wasn't exactly promised the best quality food.
Maruzensky giggled as she saw my expression. "Is it really that bad?"
I cautiously swallowed. "I mean-, not really." I smiled wryly. "It's fine. A little stale, maybe." I sighed as I took another bite. "I'm just used to having fresh food ready at all times, that's all."
And in retrospect, I really had been spoiled by Secretariat. Having maids I could constantly rely on, having my own track to run across, having my own private jet whenever I wanted to travel anywhere—it was a level of indulgence that was practically unmatched. For those months, I was probably even more privileged than the Mejiro Family.
"Eeh~? It was because of Secretariat-san, right?" Her smile grew. "So, were the maids cute~?"
I returned an unimpressed stare. "Why is that important?"
Maruzensky pouted. "Mou, how dull~" But her grin then returned as she leaned forward. "But maybe I shouldn't be surprised. After all," she pulled out a chip and pointed it at me. "You only have eyes for one girl, right?"
"Hmph." I ignored her and took another bite of my sandwich, though I couldn't stop my tail from wagging slightly.
Maruzensky giggled. "Ah, I'm so jealous." She sighed dreamily. "If only I had someone too~"
I raised an eyebrow. "What's stopping you, Maru-nee?" I tilted my head slightly. "Surely you have people you like, right?"
"Mm, who knows~?"
I hummed as I took another bite.
Thinking about it, Maruzensky really didn't get paired with anyone. Her career began years before most umamusume, and though she was often grouped with the rest of the student council, she was mostly a senior to them. Or in simple terms: She was just too old compared to everyone else.
Although, if there was one person she was paired with, it'd have to be with a certain Hayakawa Tazuna. I mean, wasn't there even an official comic where Maruzensky and Tazuna went out to drink together?
And then, as if by fate–
"Hm? Is that you, Blossom-san?" Hayakawa Tazuna asked as she entered the empty cafeteria, before she blinked. "And you as well, Maruzensky-san?" She frowned slightly. "What are you two doing here? It's still far too early."
I raised a hand in greeting. "Yo, Hayakawa-san." I smiled lazily. "Decided to go on a jog, since I'd been asleep for basically an entire day. We're just here for a quick snack after our jog."
"And I'm just here to accompany little Star~" Maruzensky said, conveniently skipping out on the whole Midnight Racing stuff.
But Tazuna was clearly familiar with Maruzensky, and her eyes immediately narrowed as she understood what Maruzensky wasn't saying. "Maruzensky-san…" She whispered, her voice sharp and threatening.
Seeing that her deflection hadn't worked, Maruzensky slumped, knowing that she was inbound for a lecture from Tazuna.
My lips twitched, but I did my best to restrain a smile as I calmly stood up. "Well, I won't intrude then." I said, Maruzensky sent me a pleading look, but she then shriveled when she felt Tazuna's glare on her back. "It's nice meeting you, Hayakawa-san. I'll be leaving now."
Tazuna nodded slightly. "And you too, Blossom-san." I gave her one last thumbs up as I turned and left. I could faintly hear Maruzensky's whimpers as Tazuna approached her, but I only smiled as I quickly made my escape from the scene of the crime.
Not much happened after that little escapade.
Since it was still too early for sunrise, I decided to head to Team Kitahara's clubroom. The place looked just as I last remembered it, and after once more claiming my place at my self-designated sofa, I began flipping through the television channels to see if there was anything interesting being broadcasted.
Unfortunately, no. No there wasn't. It was still too early; the only thing being shown were repeats of anime and cartoons aimed at kids.
In the end, I just went over to the pile of newspapers and began reading through them, trying to see if there was anything that might catch my eyes. The first few I read didn't show anything special, but that wasn't a surprise; enough time had gone by since the [Osaka Hai] by this point, and Tokyo News was clearly trying to find something they could put onto the daily newspaper.
But as I went further back, more and more of the newspaper began talking about the [Osaka Hai].
The breadth of topics being covered was quite interesting. Some were discussing Tamamo Cross' battle against Belno Light during the final straight—with some umamusume chiming in to better describe the clash of their Domains to the public. Some instead covered Oguri Cap, and her strange decision to run as a Pace Chaser instead of her usual Great Chase.
I couldn't help but smirk slightly when I first read that.
Of course, I knew better. Oguri was no Pace Chaser, and while it might've looked that way at first, the truth was that Oguri was pacing herself based on my Great Escape. Maybe because the [Osaka Hai] had happened not long after Oguri arrived back in Japan, but she was clearly still using the same pace she used whenever she and I practiced together.
Still, it was rather funny when I saw all the written debates in the newspaper, and I couldn't help but wonder what everyone would think when we finally raced together once more.
But that wouldn't happen for a while. Our next clash would happen in the [Takarazuka Kinen], and that was still a couple months away.
And until that happened, the only thing people could do was speculate.
…
Anyway,
I ended up spending the next hour just reading through all the newspapers that'd accumulated over the past month, searching for any interesting stories that stood out from the rest.
But even that got boring after a while, and after procrastinating for a bit, I decided to head back out for another jog. This one was far quieter, and was cut short when I began seeing the sky beginning to brighten—the orange and reds of the rising sun beginning to paint across the dark of the night.
Seeing that morning had finally arrived, I decided to finally head back to my dorm room to get ready for the morning classes.