The appointed time arrived quickly. After a day of training, Zero declined Special Week's request to stay over, citing her appointment with Maruzensky. With Special Week giving her a look that said, "Do you have another Uma Musume outside?" Zero bid farewell to everyone.
Maruzensky thought it would be too strange for friends to arrive separately, so she simply had her family wait at the agreed-upon restaurant. She and Zero would meet near the restaurant and go in together.
The destination was a high-end Western restaurant nearby, a Michelin three-star establishment.
Zero generally didn't go to such restaurants. For no other reason than that she could make all of their signature dishes.
If she encountered something she couldn't make, she would search online for food bloggers who specialize in restaurant reviews, and by listening to their introductions, she could pretty much reverse-engineer it, even making improvements.
When it comes to cooking, you can't beat me.jpg
And in a situation where she could make all the dishes, and even make them better, Zero was still reluctant to spend a lot of money to eat out. Even if she had money, this wasn't how she would spend it.
It was only because of her pride that she was unwilling to tell the Emperor about the unfinished virtual racing device. Otherwise, if the Emperor knew about such a device and collaborated with Tracen Academy and the Uma Musume Association to find suitable talents to assist with her data collection and bug adjustments, it wouldn't take so long.
No need to say more, she just wanted to suddenly bring out this thing and see the Emperor's admiring expression (though it would most likely be surprise rather than admiration).
If she could completely subjugate her because of it, all the better (obviously dreaming).
While thinking about various things, the car Zero was in arrived at the meeting point. After getting out, she saw Maruzensky wearing a dress.
It must be said that, if one were to disregard the extremely anachronistic old jokes that occasionally came from Maruzensky's mouth and some historically significant ( ) accessories, she truly was a first-class beauty.
Incidentally, Maruzensky's aesthetics were already common knowledge. She had an influencer friend on Umatwitter named Smart Falcon, a very cute and somewhat devilish Uma Musume who often posted her daily life online as a selling point. Once, when the other party was showing off newly bought accessories in a chat, Zero suddenly remembered where she had seen this accessory before, and then... [Ah, I saw Maruzen-senpai wearing this accessory just a few days ago]
[!!!]
Afterward, the other party seemed to have deleted the tweet she originally intended to post with daily life photos and rewrote it, not mentioning the accessory at all.
Feeling that mentioning this would make Maruzensky depressed for a long time, Zero could only occasionally smile to herself in private.
Occasionally, when Maruzensky made her blood pressure rise, she would feel a slight urge to tell the other party about it, such as during the preparations for the Tracen promotional VTR last time.
Getting off-topic, at this moment, even Zero was quite stunned to see Maruzensky, who lacked her usual playful demeanor and exuded maturity.
"Hehe, how about it, am I, Big Sister, captivating you?" Seeing Zero's somewhat dazed expression, Maruzensky couldn't help but show a smug look.
"Tsk, why did you have to open your mouth?" Zero's cheeks flushed slightly, and she quickly turned her gaze away, offering her assessment.
"Eh hehe? Really?" Zero being slightly venomous when shy was a well-known trait in the Student Council, except for Symboli Rudolf. Although the sky was a bit dark and she couldn't clearly see the other person's blushing face, Maruzensky, who could roughly guess, chuckled.
"Shut up, or I'm not going."
"No, no, no, I was wrong, sorry, sorry~" Seeing Zero's gaze turn fierce, Maruzensky immediately admitted her mistake.
Zero, out of respect for meeting elders, also wore a specially styled outfit today.
Like her hair color, it was a pitch-black jacket with a single white stripe in the middle of the shoulders. Inside was a white shirt with a black horseshoe-shaped pattern.
Below were black shorts and black and white stockings, one short and one long. The leg with the short stocking had a leg ring of the opposite color to the stocking on her thigh. Despite her childlike physique, she appeared unusually alluring.
Zero's outfit, like her racing uniform, was almost exclusively black and white, making her stand out without overshadowing her as the protagonist.
Well, I'll have to thank Z-chan for this later. I'll use the cat-petting technique I learned at the cat cafe recently!
Maruzensky thought to herself, pleased, unaware that she was about to make a huge mistake.
It can be explained beforehand: the next day, when Maruzensky did this in the Student Council Room, Zero slapped her across the face with her tail amidst the twitching gazes of others, and then Zero ignored her for a full three... hours.
"To be honest, Z-chan's tail strength is really powerful." This was Maruzensky's comment when everyone later asked about her experience.
I heard Narita Brian got an idea and then drew a manga about an Uma Musume hero who is good at fighting with her tail, sent it in, and then it was rejected because of the art style.
Ahem, back to the topic. At this moment, Zero also followed Maruzensky to meet the two culprits who turned Maruzensky into a speed demon... uh... her parents.
"Oh, isn't this Z-chan? Welcome, welcome! I didn't expect the friend and junior Little Maruzen said she was bringing to be you~ Come, sit here~" Maruzen's mother seemed very happy at this moment, enthusiastically greeting Zero.
Maruzensky's mother was an Uma Musume, and her father was also an Uma Musume, a classic pairing.
"Eh, shouldn't you be welcoming me, your daughter who you haven't seen in a long time?" Maruzensky's expression was a bit stiff.
"What's there to welcome about you, an old aunt? Come Z-chan, can you sign here?" Maruzen's father pointed to the shirt on his chest.
"Ah, this..." Zero was also a bit helpless by the unusually enthusiastic elders at this moment, asking Maruzensky with her eyes.
She eventually signed below the shirt. After her elegant handwriting and characteristic pattern (the emblem on her racing uniform shirt) were signed, the other party declared that this shirt would be vacuum-sealed into a glass frame as a family heirloom when they returned home.
And Maruzensky's mother was even more solicitous towards her, while this forgetful couple completely ignored Maruzensky.
Zero suddenly felt that for Maruzensky to only be an occasionally eccentric speed demon after so long in such a family, she truly had it rough.
It was also fortunate that this was a private room with excellent soundproofing, otherwise, anyone could tell that this family was quite odd.
"So, why did you suddenly say you were coming over this time?" Maruzensky asked while cutting her steak, and seeing Zero being fed pickled ginger by her excited mother with a look of horror, she couldn't help but slap her hand over her face and rescued Zero.
Good, Z-chan doesn't like ginger, weakness get √
In the end, these two, seeing that she hadn't returned for a long time, decided to go on a honeymoon. They stopped by to gather and tell her that she didn't need to come home before the end of the year.
Goodness, they really are a forgetful couple.
Afterward, listening to Zero's evaluation, Maruzensky also realized the true meaning of "parents are true love, children are just an accident."
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