"Itadakimasu!"
"Itadakimashuu…"
"Itadakimasu—wait, hold on!?"
"What's wrong?"
"Is it just me, or are both your portions huge? And why does Rice-chan look so… defeated?"
It was supposed to be a casual lunch with Lovely, but Rice Shower tagged along, so the three of us ended up eating together.
The school café offered an all-you-can-eat buffet—basically paradise. I loaded up my tray with everything.
"Well no. In fact, Lovely-san, isn't your portion kind of small?"
"This is a regular lunch set!"
Lovely had chosen Set A. It was a decent amount for a human girl, but definitely not enough for a horse girl athlete.
"Are you trying to lose weight?"
"I'm just eating normally!"
Meanwhile, I'd grabbed Sets A, B, and C. I figured that's what a proper horse girl would do. I even added katsudon and a dessert parfait for good measure.
Cutlets and parfaits were rare treats at the facility. Here, they were unlimited. This is heaven!
"If you eat that much, won't you gain weight?"
"It's called growth. Rice-chan and I are both on the skinny side."
"Huh—wait I guess they are…" Lovely muttered, clearly overwhelmed.
"If Rice doesn't like it, she could just say no, right?"
"The good thing about Rice is that she takes her trainer's guidance seriously."
I do ask for her preferences, but I mostly decide her menu. Today's lineup: a mountain of rice, ten stacked carrot hamburgers, a bowl of carrot salad, and a pot of carrot potage.
Carrots, carrots, and more carrots. But hey, they're proven to be great for horse girls' health.
"Oh! Do you two have a contract?"
"Well, yeah. I apologized for our fateful hallway collision by becoming her trainer."
"What does that even mean!? I don't understand anything!"
Lovely's brain couldn't keep up.
"So the food quantity is part of her training. Right, Rice-chan?"
"Mhm- Remember this during training."
"…She's radiating a jet-black aura. Is this okay?"
"Maybe?"
I could already imagine the teasing we'd get during evening slope training. But it was a necessary sacrifice.
"Are you sure you're okay? Isn't this too much food?"
"If you train hard, you need this much. It's written in the textbooks."
"What kind of training are you doing?"
"If you're curious, want to join us?"
"Eh? Really? I'm a little curious…"
"No problem. We're friends."
And just like that, Lovely was recruited into the afternoon training session.
She cried out on the third slope.
Rice Shower ran five rounds like it was nothing. I hit my limit after the first, but Rice wouldn't let me quit. Even with my legs shaking, I was forced to run all five rounds side by side.