"Ardan."
"Hm? What is it? Did you need something, Ramonu-nee?"
Having sat down at a seat she'd found at random and started eating the food she'd brought back, Ardan suddenly heard Mejiro Ramonu call to her.
"I saw Kagura over there. Aren't you going to go eat with her?"
Mejiro Ramonu had actually been watching Kagura's side for a while. When she first saw Kagura tucked away in a quiet corner eating, she'd thought it would be best not to bother her. But then, after a bit, Bizen Nishiki happened to pass by, sat down with Kagura, and the two even looked rather close. At that point, Mejiro Ramonu felt it would be a little inappropriate to just keep observing, so she came over to give her little sister a nudge.
"Ah…"
Ardan blinked, set down her knife and fork, and looked where her sister pointed. She saw Bizen Nishiki and Kagura sitting there together, chatting and laughing, like they were having a great time talking about something.
Huh? Is that… Bizen Nishiki?
When Ardan had first arrived, she'd searched for Kagura for a while. Not just her—Nice Nature and Maruzensky had tried too. But they had no idea where Kagura was, and the three of them couldn't find her at all. In the end, they each took some food and found places to sit.
"I watched you look for something for ten whole minutes after you came in. You were definitely trying to find where Kagura was sitting, weren't you? Don't just stare—if you want to go, then go. Now."
Mejiro Ramonu popped a cherry tomato into her mouth with her fork as she reminded her.
"Okay! Thanks, Ramonu-nee!"
Ardan nodded, thanked her, and immediately picked up her plate and hurried over.
Watching Ardan jog off, Mejiro Ramonu let out a long sigh, swallowing the cherry tomato.
"Is there something about Kagura that's especially… compelling? Everyone around her… seems to like her a lot."
Mejiro Ramonu hadn't interacted much with Kagura. She only knew a little about Kagura's web of relationships, and at school she often heard classmates mention her—almost always in glowing, positive terms. It was obvious Kagura was popular at the academy, and got along extremely well with the people around her. After all, whenever Ardan called home or checked in, she could hardly get two sentences out without mentioning "Kagura"...
Should I try getting to know this kid too?
With her curiosity thoroughly stirred, Mejiro Ramonu thought to herself.
...
"Nature, weren't we looking for Kagura earlier? I think I saw her."
Elsewhere, Maruzensky—also sitting in a fairly out-of-the-way spot—ate what she'd just gotten and spoke to Nice Nature across from her.
At Kagura's name, Nice Nature's ears twitched. She immediately lifted her head to look where Maruzensky pointed. Over there, she saw a blue-haired Umamusume who looked like she'd just arrived and hadn't sat down yet, and the chestnut-haired Bizen Nishiki, whom she'd only properly met today.
Bizen Nishiki-senpai and Ardan-senpai? Ah… they already found Kagura…
Nice Nature had wanted to eat dinner with Kagura tonight in the first place. She just hadn't been able to find her at the start, so she'd followed Maruzensky to sit down somewhere and eat. She hadn't expected Maruzensky to spot Kagura again like this.
"They've already gone over there to sit. You coming?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah! Good thing you noticed in time, Maruzensky-senpai! Let's go—right now!"
Since they'd found Kagura—and she'd even seen people already sitting down with her—Nice Nature had no intention of staying put. She grabbed her plate and hurried over at once.
"Oh my… Nature really is in a hurry~"
Maruzensky couldn't help curling her lips into an amused smile. It was obvious Nice Nature depended on Kagura quite a lot. And thinking about it… she herself rather liked clinging to Kagura too. In that sense, she really had no right to laugh at Nice Nature.
[Mom]:How's it going, Maruzensky? Did you get to the hotel today? Are you having fun?
[Maruzensky]:I'm having a great time. I saw a lot of really interesting things.
[Mom]:Good. Do you have any photos you can share with Mom?
[Maruzensky]:[Image]
[Mom]:Ooh—got it! So cute! How did you convince that kid to pose like that for you?
[Maruzensky]:Truth or Dare, of course~
...
Kagura didn't know if she was imagining it, but ever since Bizen Nishiki had come over, the number of people at her table had exploded—though they were all people she knew.
"Hey, Kagura-chan~ Here, try this carrot hamburger steak. Aah~"
"K-Kagura! Want to taste this?"
"Kagura, this fruit cake will definitely be your kind of thing. Want a bite?"
More familiar faces was one thing. What left Kagura at a loss was the fact that, for some reason, every single one of them wanted to feed her. One or two would've been fine, but with Bizen Nishiki included, there were four Umamusume surrounding her. She'd just taken a bite of something from Nice Nature, and then Ardan immediately followed up by practically pushing food right into her mouth.
Why does this feel like going to Grandma's for New Year's?!
Honestly, the last time Kagura remembered facing a scene like this was when she'd gone back to her hometown for the New Year. At the table, her elders had kept stuffing her with food—every meeting started with, "Hey! Why are you even skinnier again? Eat more later!" and then they'd relentlessly fed her all kinds of things, like they were terrified she'd go hungry.
She'd originally planned to go get more dishes herself to try, but now… well, that plan was dead. Kagura simply stayed in her seat without moving. Her friends could bring her everything she needed.
"Mmph…!"
With this crowd that had wandered over gathering around Kagura and feeding her, Bizen Nishiki—who'd wanted to feed Kagura a few more times herself—got squeezed out. Seeing Kagura over there getting overwhelmed, she couldn't help letting out a muffled, unwilling huff.
I was here first… even if they're all Kagura's old friends…
For some reason, Bizen Nishiki felt a little annoyed.
...
Ah, I'm so full… I think I ate a bit too much tonight… ugh… next time I really should be more proactive about refusing when people try to feed me.
——Satisfied, I'm sooo satisfied~ You got to taste so many different kinds of food tonight. Thanks for putting your poor little stomach through all that~ Much appreciated~!
It was delicious, sure… but I really can't eat this much. I'm not going to gain weight over the next few days from this, am I?
——It's fine. If you end up overweight, I'll teach you a way to slim down fast. I guarantee you'll burn off everything you overate!