Upon her return to Japan, Speed Symbol did not immediately go to the Symbol Family residence.
Instead, she followed the roads in her memory, eventually arriving at Tracen Academy.
There was no one at Tracen Academy.
This was natural, as it was currently vacation time.
Not a single person appeared in Speed Symbol's sight, neither Rudolph nor Sirius, nor any other student.
"Isn't that Speed Symbol? It's been a long time."
A somewhat familiar voice came from behind her.
Speed Symbol turned her head and saw a woman in a green work uniform.
"It's you, Hayakawa."
"Hmm, what made you decide to come back?"
Walking past Speed Symbol, Hayakawa Tazuna stood by the entrance of Tracen Academy, just like in the old days:
"Do you want to see Tracen Academy?"
"No need. This time, I just came back for a quick look at the Academy, and then I have some other work to do."
Speed Symbol declined Hayakawa Tazuna's offer.
Although re-entering Tracen Academy to see its current state held some allure for Speed Symbol, the more important matters lay ahead.
"I won't go into details. I'm leaving now."
She had no intention of staying.
Speed Symbol's decisive actions made that clear to Hayakawa Tazuna.
So Hayakawa Tazuna didn't say much more.
She simply turned and walked into Tracen Academy.
Like Speed Symbol, she was also there for a reason.
After leaving the entrance of Tracen Academy, Speed Symbol followed the roads around the Academy and arrived at the Shopping Street.
This Shopping Street was also a very distant memory for Speed Symbol.
Back then...
"Ah, I found it."
Following the memories in her mind, she walked to the end of the Shopping Street.
Speed Symbol saw the storefront she was looking for.
"This should be it, right?"
She looked up at the restaurant with its doors closed, then lowered her head to look at her phone.
The content displayed on her phone was mainly photos of this shop.
Although she wasn't in the country, it wasn't difficult for Speed Symbol to investigate the shop where Tokai Shizen had previously been.
That's why she came here before dealing with that other matter.
However, she only stood at the entrance for a moment, then turned to leave.
After all, she didn't have a key, so it wasn't convenient for her to enter.
"Are you a customer? I'm sorry, the owner seems to have gone abroad to recuperate, so this shop is temporarily closed."
An Uma Musume with silver-white hair stood in front of Speed Symbol, explaining the situation of the shop.
The explanation was superfluous to Speed Symbol, but it made Speed Symbol think of another matter:
"Are you friends with the owner?"
"Ah, friends..."
Pondering her relationship with Tokai Shizen.
The small Uma Musume shook her head:
"Not really. That person is probably my fan!"
"A fan, huh..."
"Yes, my first fan!"
The girl, saying this proudly, looked at the other party:
"Are you also looking for her?"
"Not really."
Saying this, Speed Symbol looked at the small silver-white Uma Musume, then averted her gaze:
"I just heard about it from a friend. But my friend doesn't seem to know about the shop closing..."
"Now that I see it, I should go take care of the main business first. I'll probably come back when the owner returns."
Speed Symbol did not mention family matters.
She only used vague words to keep the other party from delving into that area.
After all, most of the Uma Musume who could come here now were students of Tracen Academy.
So it would be better not to let them get too involved in family matters.
"Are you leaving?"
"Yes, I am. I'll go take care of the main business first."
Saying this, Speed Symbol took a step, passing by the girl.
Watching Speed Symbol turn and leave, the girl turned her head to look at her.
But only a faint silhouette remained in her sight.
After staring at her for a few seconds, the girl scratched her head:
"Miss Fan really has a lot of friends."
Saying this, the girl took out a key and opened the shop door:
"Oh well, it's none of my business~"
——————————————————————
Waking from her sleep, it was already ten o'clock in the morning.
Rudolph Symboli, lying in bed, simply pulled the covers tighter.
Even at ten in the morning, a room without heating was still cold.
And the place where Rudolph Symboli was currently staying was neither the Symbol Family residence nor the dormitory provided by Tracen Academy.
She was living in Tracen Academy's Old School Building.
After using her authority as Student Council President to get the key, Rudolph Symboli rarely returned to the Symbol Family residence.
After all, those matters had already been handed over to Sirius Symboli, so Rudolph had little reason to go back.
Taking out her phone, Rudolph Symboli saw that its battery was already in the red.
Without a power source, it was quite fortunate that it had lasted so long.
However, even a red battery couldn't stop Rudolph Symboli from opening Twitter.
As always, Rudolph Symboli stopped at that interface.
Without the courage to click into it, she watched the phone's battery slowly drain, eventually shutting down completely.
Only blackness remained, the shattered screen reflecting Rudolph Symboli's face.
Staring at her reflection in the screen, a face as shattered as the screen itself.
Looking at her shattered self, Rudolph Symboli finally put down her phone.
She didn't know what to do, but there was no need to do anything either.
Without the work that had originally weighed on her, without the matters the Student Council needed to handle.
Rudolph Symboli putting down her phone was no big deal.
Anyway, no one would look for her anymore.
So, she simply pulled the covers tighter and curled into a ball.
She wanted to sleep again, but the gradually entering light prevented her from doing so.
Finally, after an hour of tossing and turning in bed,
the gradually appearing physiological needs told Rudolph that it was time to get up.
Sitting up abruptly, the sudden uncovering of the duvet made Rudolph shiver.
While putting on her Tracen Academy uniform, Rudolph Symboli enumerated what she needed to do today.
"First, find a place to eat something, although it's highly likely I won't find a suitable place."
"The second thing is..."
Her words trailed off.
There was no second thing she ought to do.
All of this plunged Rudolph Symboli into confusion.
"Next..."
"What should I do next..."
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