[Mr. C.B.]:Thank you so much! Kagura-san, this is Mr. C.B.'s trainer speaking. I did receive the feedback about C.B.'s condition. Thank goodness you caught her when you did—otherwise who knows how much longer she would have dragged this out before telling me.
[Mr. C.B.]:The recovery notes you sent are extremely thorough and detailed. You must have spent a lot of time putting them together, right? When would Kagura-san have time to meet at school? Something this valuable isn't something I can just accept for nothing.
The next morning, Kagura was sitting on a swing in the garden, gently rocking back and forth, when she noticed the messages that had come in the night before from Mr. C.B.'s account. Judging by the contents, they were clearly from Mr. C.B.'s trainer. It seemed that from here on out, he really would be paying close attention to her physical condition.
I just hope there isn't anything else wrong...
What Kagura had noticed yesterday went beyond simple sleep deprivation and long-term malnutrition. Mr. C.B. had looked weak—alarmingly so. But Kagura did not know enough about her circumstances to say with certainty what the underlying cause was.
What she could say for sure was this: no matter how quickly they acted now, her run in the Japan Cup was definitely going to be affected. All anyone could do was hope she managed to recover afterward.
Thinking back on how Tojo's earlier strategic planning had been completely focused on Mr. C.B., Kagura sent her a message as a reminder. Once the final entry list was announced in a few days, she would go gather information on the other opponents as well. Given Mr. C.B.'s current condition, Kagura felt that a strategy centered on keeping such a close eye on her probably was not going to work.
"Kagura, you have a visitor."
She had only just set down her phone when she heard a maid calling to her. Sitting up a little on the swing, Kagura touched a foot to the ground and brought herself to a stop.
She was honestly curious who would be coming to see her at this hour. All the people she usually saw ought to still be in class at Tracen right now. She walked out of the garden and over to the front gate. At first glance she did not see anyone there, so she looked down in confusion—
and only then noticed a small figure standing outside and staring up at her.
"Dober? What are you doing here?"
She recognized the little visitor at once. Kagura was surprised Mejiro Dober had come all the way here at this hour. Usually, these young ladies did not seem like the type to go roaming around much.
"Ah~! Kagura-oneesan really is at the Symboli Household!"
There was not much change in Dober's expression, but the lively movement of her ears and tail completely gave away how delighted she was.
"I just... well... after seeing Kagura-oneesan's race, everyone kept saying we should come see you at least once... We were supposed to all come together, but then today Palmer and Ryan got dragged back by Iris-sama to do who-knows-what, Bright stayed up too late last night and still isn't awake, and McQueen said she had some race today and ran off..."
"So you ended up being the normal one, huh... Come on in first~ Standing outside forever isn't exactly ideal."
"Okay~!"
The little Umamusume outside answered obediently. Kagura opened the door, and Dober—holding a sketchbook in one hand and carrying something in the other—hesitated and fidgeted for a moment before edging over. Once she reached Kagura's side, she tugged lightly at her sleeve and looked up at her without saying a word.
Her whole face seemed to say, I want a hug!
"Haha~ If Dober-chan wants to be spoiled, you can just say so."
Seeing how adorable she looked, Kagura felt her heart melt. She reached out, hugged Dober, and pulled her into her arms.
Dober lifted the hand carrying the package and hugged her back, carefully, as though she were afraid moving too much might somehow upset Kagura. She gently nuzzled against Kagura's chest and leaned into her while Kagura stroked her head.
...
"So then, what was it you came to see me about today, Dober?"
After thoroughly enjoying herself petting Dober right there at the entrance, Kagura finally brought her into the garden and sat down with her in the little pavilion there.
Since the house staff had spotted Mejiro Dober coming quite some time ago, they had already laid out tea and little pastries on the table. Kagura picked up the teapot with practiced ease and poured Dober a cup. Dober accepted it and took a cautious sip. If Kagura had been watching her the whole time, she would have noticed that Mejiro Dober's ardent gaze had never once left her.
"I just... well, I wanted to come see Kagura-oneesan. And also... thank you for modeling for me before. I learned a lot from you, and I got a lot of fans too! This is just a little token of my appreciation... I hope you'll accept it!"
As she spoke, Mejiro Dober placed the little box she had been carrying the entire time in front of Kagura.
Even before opening it, Kagura caught a fresh fruity aroma drifting out from inside. Her keen nose told her exactly what it was—durian.
There was durian in there.
"Whoa... What made you think to buy this?"
She opened the box. Just as expected, it was a fruit cake. Judging from the shop label, it came from the same place Ardan had gotten her cake from before.
"I heard from Ramonu-nee that Kagura-oneesan likes durian cake... so I picked one up on the way. Ehehe~"
Mejiro Dober smiled awkwardly. To make it easier for Kagura to accept, she had even made a point of saying she had just gotten it while passing by. But from the look on Kagura's face, she could tell Kagura definitely liked the gift. That let Dober breathe easier. She felt the detour she had taken to buy it had been worth it after all.
Kagura had always assumed that her unusually niche preference was not the sort of thing anyone would bother learning about, so the fact that someone else knew did catch her by surprise.
But why did Mejiro Ramonu know?
"On the way," huh... Silly girl. I've got the map of everything within dozens of kilometers memorized. Did you think I wouldn't know where the cake shops are?
As for Dober's excuse, Kagura knew perfectly well what the truth was. But since Dober clearly had no intention of exposing herself, there was no need for Kagura to poke holes in it.
She knew this was Dober's kindness, so instead of keeping it all to herself, Kagura opened the box, took out some plates, cut off a few slices, and asked Dober if she wanted to eat some too.
"Eh... me? I... I'm not very good with durian, so you can just have it yourself, oneesan."
"Durian cake and durian aren't the same thing, Dober-chan. Here, try some~"
As she spoke, Kagura cut off a small piece of cake with a fork and, under Mejiro Dober's startled gaze, popped it into the little opening of her mouth.
Dober's pale face turned bright red all at once. She chewed on reflex, then raised her brows in surprise.
This did not taste nearly as hard to handle as she had expected.
If anything, it was unexpectedly good.
"See? Tasty, right~?"
"Mm... it's actually pretty good..."
Watching Kagura pull the fork back and spear another bite for herself, Mejiro Dober froze just as she was about to reach out and stop her. Her eyes widened.
Th-this... this is indirect... I... with Kagura-oneesan!?
All kinds of strange manga-like scenes began popping into Dober's little head of their own accord. Looking at Kagura's gentle smile, she felt her heartbeat quicken, as though some new burst of inspiration were about to erupt right out of her.
"By the way, Dober-chan, could I see your drawings? I'm kind of curious what you've been making."
"Mm... I-it's a little embarrassing..."
Dober hesitated for a bit, but in the end she still opened her sketchbook and pulled out the tablet tucked inside. Her finger hovered in the air for a moment before she finally tapped an icon and brought up one of her pieces.
It was a white-haired maid Umamusume, leaning sideways against a sofa with a mischievous grin, one small foot wrapped in white stockings cocked toward the viewer's point of view.
So that was indeed what Dober had learned from last time.
Whatever else might be said, at least in terms of texture and finish, Kagura felt Dober had recreated it very well.
That's... surprisingly normal? I was half expecting Dober to be drawing something weird... But she's still a kid. She probably doesn't know about that kind of weird stuff anyway.
After looking at it for a while, Kagura decided it was just a perfectly normal pretty illustration. Compared to the utterly deranged images one of her old friends had once shown her, this was good to the point of being on a completely different level. Honestly, this one could probably even be used as desktop wallpaper.
So she did not think too much about it. Dober was still such a young child, after all. Her work was bound to be limited by what she knew.
Thank goodness I prepared a normal picture in advance... Good thing Kagura-oneesan doesn't really know much about this stuff...
Seeing Kagura nod in approval, Dober finally let out a breath of relief.
Good thing Kagura did not know that artists often kept multiple versions of the same piece. Otherwise, this normal version she had brought along would never have saved her. If she had brought the tablet with all the other versions on it, and Kagura had seen them...
Dober felt her everyday life would probably have ended right there.
"Learning to draw is a good thing. Ah, right—since Dober-chan came all the way here, is there anything you want to do? Anything you want to play or try?"
"N-no, not really. I just wanted to chat with you, oneesan. Um... Kagura-oneesan... could I sit in your lap? So you can hold me?"
In truth, Mejiro Dober had not only come to thank Kagura for modeling for her before. Another reason was that she had been stuck lately, unable to come up with ideas for what to draw. She wanted to see Kagura and test whether being around her again would trigger another burst of inspiration like last time.
"Hm? Hehe~ So clingy, Dober-chan? If you keep this up, other kids might laugh at you later for not acting your age~"
That was what Kagura said, but she did not refuse. She understood the request. Kids wanting affection was perfectly normal.
Only after getting Kagura's permission did Mejiro Dober move closer and gently sit down in Kagura's lap. Once Kagura was sure she was settled properly, she slowly slipped an arm around her waist and held her close.
A pleasant fragrance enveloped Mejiro Dober along with that embrace, leaving her head a little light and dizzy. Her vision even blurred for a moment.
In that instant, countless thoughts stampeded through her mind like a herd of alpacas tearing across the grasslands.
She had absolutely gotten the burst of inspiration she came for—but the effect might have been a little too good.
Th-this is bad... my head is... completely full of Kagura-oneesan...
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