It was another refreshing day in every sense of the word.
Morning.
Kuroha carefully moved aside the pale arms and legs draped over him.
Then he quietly got out of bed and went downstairs to wash up.
Downstairs, a breathtakingly beautiful girl like polished glass had already been waiting for some time.
"Trainer~"
Mejiro Ardan was wearing an apron, her face full of smiles as she waved at Kuroha. "Breakfast will be ready soon. Please wait just a little longer."
"Oh—!"
Kuroha gave a soft laugh, quickly finished washing up, and walked out.
When he came to the kitchen, he naturally wrapped his arms around the girl's slender waist from behind.
Then he lowered his head and gently rested his chin on Ardan's shoulder.
"Why didn't you sleep a little longer? Just look at yourself right now."
Kuroha looked at the unconcealable drowsiness beneath Ardan's eyes and teased her softly.
"Mm~"
Mejiro Ardan affectionately rubbed her cheek against her Trainer's, then said, "Aren't we going back home later? I can sleep in the car."
"And Mother wants to talk to you, Trainer, not me. I can just catch up on sleep at home."
As she spoke, the girl blinked playfully.
"As long as Trainer doesn't finish talking and forget me at home by myself."
"Of course I won't."
Kuroha was amused by her words. Then he casually took the spatula from Ardan's hand.
"All right. Go sit for a while. Leave this to me."
"Okay~"
Ardan did not refuse.
Instead, she obediently stood on tiptoe and lightly pecked Kuroha on the cheek.
Only then did she leisurely walk to the dining table and sit down.
In the kitchen.
As Kuroha cooked the noodles, he thought about his upcoming schedule.
His wedding with Ayano still needed some time to prepare.
During that period, Kuroha naturally could not truly remain idle.
Sunday Silence's sudden addition to the team yesterday had been purely unexpected. In truth, he still had three proper matters to handle during this stretch.
The first was the debut races of Miho Bourbon and Rice Shower.
Both of those children were little fillies he had raised since they were small.
Miho Bourbon went without saying. In the original timeline, she had been a dominant, undefeated two-crown powerhouse.
Among the Central Uma Musume of this generation, almost no one could stand against her, aside from Rice Shower, who could still contend with her in long-distance races.
As for Rice Shower.
The last time he returned, he had only just helped her deal with her psychological issues.
During this month back, he could properly observe how effective that had been.
The second matter was Tokai Teio's expedition.
Yes, an expedition.
Just like with Mejiro McQueen, Kuroha did not intend to let Tokai Teio continue wasting her youth on Central's racetracks.
Therefore, her overseas expedition route had basically been planned out.
After all, McQueen had not yet prepared to retire.
If two top Uma Musume from the same team went on expedition at the same time, then considering that their race schedules could not overlap, he really would be hard-pressed to be everywhere at once as their Trainer.
So Kuroha was seriously considering something.
Should he find a way to abduct one of the Three Goddesses over to serve as free labor...?
The third matter was the issue Ardan had mentioned yesterday—the Mejiro family had something they wanted to discuss with him.
Although he still did not know the specifics, since he happened to have free time right now, he might as well go early and resolve it quickly.
"Noodles are ready—"
While he was thinking, two simple bowls of hot soup noodles were already finished.
After serving them at the table and eating breakfast together with the somewhat drowsy Mejiro Ardan, Kuroha directly carried the girl into the car, started the engine, and drove toward the station.
The Mejiro family's main residence was not in Tokyo, but in Hokkaido.
Since driving there would take too long, Kuroha and Ardan chose to take the Shinkansen.
...
Several hours later, the train was about to arrive.
Kuroha turned his head.
Looking at the delicate face that had been sleeping against his shoulder the whole way, he could not help reaching out and lightly brushing the girl's nose.
"Ardan, wake up. We're almost at the station~"
"Mm..."
The girl rubbed her sleepy eyes and slowly woke, then stretched with great elegance.
The train came to a stop.
The two of them skillfully put on hats and masks, fully armed and looking thoroughly suspicious as they left the station.
By the roadside, the Mejiro family's car had already been waiting to pick them up.
Before long, Kuroha once again arrived, after a long absence, before the gates of the prestigious Mejiro family's main residence.
Looking at the vast estate before him, whose grounds were absurdly enormous, Kuroha still could not help clicking his tongue softly.
As expected of a top conglomerate that had long since taken root in Central.
This was pure financial power.
No matter how many times he saw it, it was still astonishing.
The scale of the Mejiro family's main residence was almost comparable to the large estates in Europe specifically used for overseas team training.
At the very least, the two estates Kuroha had stayed in back in Ireland and Great Britain were not necessarily larger than the Mejiro main residence.
"Trainer Kuroha, it has been a long time."
At that moment, a mature, magnetic, older-sister-like voice sounded from not far away.
Kuroha looked toward the voice and immediately gave a soft laugh.
"Same here. Long time no see, Takane."
At the imposing front gate of the main residence stood an urban beauty with black hair and black eyes, wearing a black-and-gold evening dress, her long hair elegantly pinned up.
Mejiro Takane lifted the hem of her skirt slightly with both hands and curtsied to Kuroha, saying softly, "Mother has been waiting for you for some time."
(End of Chapter)
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