After seeing Tokai Nature walk back to the second floor.
The entire restaurant fell into silence.
Neither Maruzensky nor Rudolph spoke first.
The two of them tacitly sat on opposite sides of the table in the furthest corner.
Which was the table Teio and Mochizuki used for homework.
Rudolph, sitting on the inner side, only had to lift her head slightly to see Maruzensky staring intently at her.
Looking at the expression on her face, as if she was enduring something but didn't want to speak it aloud.
Rudolph responded: "Maruzen."
"Hmm..."
"Want to go out and fight?"
Words like those from a shonen manga came out of Rudolph's mouth.
"Huh?"
"Shizen taught me, but..."
Recalling the lines of the manga protagonists in the magazines she had bought, Rudolph just looked at Maruzensky: "Running a lap is also fine."
Rudolph's words were gentle and soft.
Completely devoid of her usual demeanor.
Noticing this, Maruzensky just opened her mouth, then lowered her head slightly.
Maruzensky didn't know why Rudolph had changed like this.
After all, her impression of Rudolph still lingered from a very, very long time ago.
Realizing this, Maruzensky looked up again at Rudolph.
Rudolph, however, wasn't looking at her; she was turning her head, observing the interior of the restaurant.
Unlike Maruzensky and the others.
Rudolph had hardly ever been to this restaurant, so she was turning her head to examine its interior.
Noticing this, Maruzensky said nothing.
She just let Rudolph look at the restaurant, and when her gaze returned to her.
Maruzensky finally spoke: "Rudolph."
"Please speak."
"What do you plan to do next?"
"Next..." Watching Rudolph turn her head towards the stairs.
Rudolph, looking in that direction, only returned her gaze to Maruzensky, and then responded: "First, return to where I should be, then resolve the matters with Shadai."
"After that is..."
With a slight focus of her gaze, Maruzensky could sense what Rudolph wanted to tell her.
But… "After that are some family matters."
Hearing these words, Maruzensky froze for a moment.
When she had seen Rudolph look at her just now, she had thought Rudolph was going to talk about matters concerning them, but instead, she skipped that point and spoke about the things she needed to handle next.
And Maruzensky, realizing this, just looked at Rudolph.
She didn't know the reason why Rudolph hadn't explained those things to her, just as she didn't know about Rudolph's changes over these past few years.
But...
Looking into her crystal-purple eyes, Maruzensky opened her mouth.
Then she closed it again.
After several seconds of thought, Maruzensky finally spoke: "Rudolph, you said earlier that you were planning to go for a run?"
"Something like that."
"...Shall we go for a run?"
After a brief hesitation, Maruzensky asked Rudolph this question.
"Alright."
Unlike Maruzensky, Rudolph didn't hesitate at all; she immediately responded and then looked towards the stairs: "How about tomorrow?"
"...Okay."
Saying this, Maruzensky fell silent again.
But Rudolph was not like before; she just looked at Maruzensky: "This restaurant looks really nice, Maruzen and Chiaki must have put in a lot of work, right?"
These words made Maruzensky fall silent.
The truth wasn't as Rudolph said; in reality, for this restaurant, Maruzen and Chiaki only provided the storefront. As for the interior decoration, although they also contributed money...
But... besides money, they didn't provide any more help at all.
Only after Rudolph raised this question did Maruzensky realize this.
Seeing Maruzensky's prolonged lack of response, Rudolph probably guessed the situation, so she didn't dwell on the question. She just looked at her, and then spoke again: "During this time, how about I take care of Shizen?"
This suggestion was met with Maruzensky's wary gaze.
Evidently, she was worried that what happened to Tokai would happen to Tokai Nature again.
Although the two of them didn't look like the same person, they ultimately shared the same body, so... it was natural for Maruzensky to be so worried.
Rudolph blinked, stared at by Maruzensky.
She thought about how to explain the situation, but in the end, she chose to state things directly: "You don't dare to get too close to her right now, do you?"
"..."
Rudolph's words made Maruzensky freeze for a second, and then Rudolph watched as she lowered her head in disappointment.
Maruzensky's sore spot had been hit.
She was worried that she would once again race with Tokai.
She didn't know if she could suppress her sudden urges at the critical moment again, so, facing Rudolph's question, she didn't respond.
"Once the medication wears off, I'll hand Shizen over to you to take care of."
Saying this, Rudolph looked at Maruzensky: "What do you think?"
"..." Maruzensky, without responding, simply stood up silently.
She looked at Rudolph, took a deep breath, suppressed all the words she originally wanted to say, and then spoke again: "Let's go for a run tomorrow."
"Mm, okay."
After Rudolph's response, Maruzensky didn't say anything more, just turned around and left the restaurant.
After the restaurant door closed again, Rudolph Symboli rushed upstairs.
Arriving on the second floor, she saw Tokai Nature already lying on the bed.
After quickly walking to one side of the bed.
Rudolph realized that she seemed to have fallen asleep.
Looking at her sleeping face, Rudolph simply sat on the edge of the bed and gently called out her name.
"Shizen?"
"Mm..."
Her voice was weak, and her eyes were not open; it seemed to be just an unconscious response made while sleeping.
Looking at Tokai Nature like this, Rudolph simply breathed a sigh of relief.
Then she reached out and held Tokai Nature's hand, which was exposed outside the covers.
Perhaps because it wasn't covered by the bedding, the temperature of her palm was a little lower than the room temperature.
But, it seemed.
Even just this touch was enough to put Rudolph at ease:
"Shizen..."
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