Inside the Team Spica club room, [Tokai Teio]'s ears and tail were drooping, her whole body emitting a negative aura of failure, looking just like an abandoned puppy.
The moment [Mejiro McQueen] arrived at the club room and put down her school bag, she saw [Tokai Teio] squatting in the corner, and her tail stood up in fright.
"Why are you squatting here without making a sound?"
"..."
[Tokai Teio] stared blankly ahead with lifeless eyes, as if she hadn't heard [Mejiro McQueen]'s voice at all. That appearance attracted [Mejiro McQueen]'s attention.
[Mejiro McQueen] found the NPC [Gold Ship] hiding in the club room and asked [Gold Ship], who was struggling with a Rubik's Cube, "Um... what's wrong with [Teio]?"
"Want to know?" [Gold Ship] looked up upon hearing this, casually put away the unsolved Rubik's Cube, and said to [Mejiro McQueen], "If you want to know the intel, you know what the price is, right?"
Seeing signs that [Gold Ship] was about to act up again, [Mejiro McQueen] directly revealed her small fist and said calmly, "I advise you to say it voluntarily."
[Gold Ship], who was originally slowly leaning in, stopped immediately. The goofy expression on her face vanished instantly, replaced by a serious face as she said, "Don't be like this, okay?"
"Not okay."
[Mejiro McQueen] raised her head, feeling exceptionally refreshed.
As expected of the move the other her used to deal with [Gold Ship]; she found the effect of this move was really good.
Dealing with this kind of guy who likes to be naughty, using violence is the best solution.
"Damn it, Gold Ship will not succumb to violence!"
[Gold Ship] yelled at the top of her lungs, but seeing [Mejiro McQueen]'s fist getting closer bit by bit, she quickly changed her tune.
"I don't know! She's been like this ever since she went to the Student Council."
"You don't know, yet you let me ask you?"
[Mejiro McQueen] said, a fierce expression appearing on her face.
Because if she hadn't used this move, she would have fallen for [Gold Ship]'s trick just now.
"Damn it, [McQueen], don't you feel your temper is getting more and more irritable lately!"
[Gold Ship] tried to awaken [Mejiro McQueen]'s instinct. You shouldn't be such a Horse Girl; hurry up and change back to your original self.
Ever since [Mejiro McQueen] inherited life experience from the other McQueen, [Gold Ship] found that the originally simple and easy-to-trick [McQueen] was gone forever.
"Hmph hmph~ I don't think so. I only feel everything has been going very smoothly lately, desu wa!"
When [Mejiro McQueen] said this, her tail swayed happily. It seemed she had really been doing quite well recently.
This was only natural.
Her strength had increased, and she could watch the past experiences of her other self through dreams, learning a lot of useful knowledge from them.
It was like the GM opened a cheat for her alone in an MMO.
Needless to say how awesome that felt; it could only be described as super happy.
When encountering unsolvable problems, she could always find a solution by looking into her other self's experiences.
This feeling is simply too wonderful, desu wa!
"That innocent young lady has finally been dyed black!"
[Gold Ship] let out a painful wail.
Teasing [Mejiro McQueen] used to be one of the great joys of her life, but now this joy was lost!
After all, [McQueen] sometimes couldn't control her increasing strength well. In this situation, if Gold Ship dared to mess around and got accidentally beaten to death, she wouldn't even have a chance to appeal for justice.
"Hmph!"
[Mejiro McQueen] raised her neck proudly.
[Gold Ship]'s wailing sounded so pleasing to her ears right now.
Is this the scenery only the 'strong' can see?
But she quickly calmed down.
No, I can't indulge in this!
Because the other her never became proud just because she stood high.
That person always looked toward the scenery further ahead, never staying in the original place.
Since she aimed to be like her other self, merely subduing a mere [Gold Ship] shouldn't be something to feel smug about.
She must face it with a calm mind.
That's right, just like the other me!
[Mejiro McQueen] seriously convinced herself, but judging from her tail and ears, one could tell she was holding back with great difficulty.
The club room door opened again, and dazzling sunlight shone in.
[Mejiro McQueen] stared blankly at the figure walking out of the light. The little pride and secret delight generated from bullying [Gold Ship] vanished instantly.
The Tokai Teio from another world! This guy—is a strong enemy.
[Mejiro McQueen] still couldn't forget the race she saw yesterday.
What impressed her most wasn't Tokai Teio's final [Hyper-Acceleration] explosion, but the start Tokai Teio made at the beginning of the race.
Damn it, how can a Horse Girl who isn't a Runner (Escape) master such a perfect and magnificent start!
One must know that even with the ability to watch her other self's experiences in dreams, she hadn't been able to replicate a start of that level.
But this Tokai Teio did it easily.
This gave birth to a sense of urgency in [Mejiro McQueen]'s heart.
With the world constantly changing now, having grasped the opportunity, was she still going to lag behind others?
No!
Absolutely impossible!
As a Horse Girl of the [Mejiro] family, she absolutely wouldn't allow such a thing to happen to her, [Mejiro McQueen]!
"Yo~ Good afternoon, everyone from Spica. Did you miss me? It's okay if you don't answer."
Tokai Teio walked into the club room very familiarly, as if returning to her own home, completely lacking the self-awareness of an outsider.
[Gold Ship] suddenly raised her head with a serious expression, sniffed the air earnestly, and then pointed at the cloth-wrapped box in Tokai Teio's hand.
"I smell something very good. Teio from another world, is that thing you brought a tribute to offer to Lord Gold Ship?!"
"Ho, can you sense the nobility of this item?"
As Tokai Teio spoke, she synchronized movements with [Gold Ship]. The two approached each other as if performing a play, locking eyes after getting close.
[Mejiro McQueen] was somewhat at a loss on the side.
What is this feeling that only I am out of the loop? Why am I the only one who doesn't understand your conversation!
"Ah, yes. That must be a quite precious item. But precisely because of that, it should be enjoyed by me, Lord Gold Ship."
[Gold Ship] imitated the image of a certain Demon King tyrant.
"Now, Teio from another world, hand over the thing in your hand."
"That won't do. This is something to be shared with everyone. As the one responsible for escorting this item, I won't hand it over to you."
Tokai Teio also answered seriously.
The appearance of the two was like the hero and villain fighting over some 'treasure.'
[Mejiro McQueen] pulled out a chair and sat down.
She also took a bottle of honey drink from [Tokai Teio]'s cabinet.
When she took that bottle of honey drink, she specifically shook it in front of [Tokai Teio].
She found that [Tokai Teio]'s spirit was indeed dead; there was no reaction at all.
"So tasty."
[Mejiro McQueen] said deliberately.
[Tokai Teio]'s ears twitched twice, but she ultimately held back and didn't explode.
Current her didn't have that mood.
Her lifeless eyes had been staring at this guy who looked exactly like her from another world since Tokai Teio arrived.
Hopeless.
[Mejiro McQueen] thought.
Then she put back the honey drink she hadn't actually opened and took out the tea set from her drawer.
"Hand the thing over to Lord Gold Ship!"
The performance over there was still ongoing.
"Can't do that!"
Accompanied by a series of crackling sounds.
After making a move, [Gold Ship] hit the floor without lasting two seconds.
Although this guy fell down herself with very exaggerated acting.
Afterward, Tokai Teio finally formally walked into the club room and placed the box-like object on the only table in the room.
"So what exactly did you come here for? Don't tell me you came here deliberately to play with that idiot. And what is this?"
[Mejiro McQueen] stared curiously at the object wrapped in cloth like a square box. It looked like a bento box?
But for a bento box, it was a bit too big.
"It's a treasure~"
Tokai Teio responded playfully, then quickly gave the answer.
"This is a special bento made by the President and me. Consider it a comfort gift brought specially for you. I'm quite confident in my cooking."
Actually, at first, she just wondered what gift to bring for a formal visit.
And coincidentally, she had some skill in cooking, so she made this decision.
As for the President, she joined later after knowing Teio's idea, adding immense value to this originally simple gift.
"The... the President's cooking?!"
[Mejiro McQueen]'s eyes widened.
As for Tokai Teio herself, she was ignored, because [Mejiro McQueen] completely hadn't expected that President to cook personally.
No, ultimately, can the President really cook?
And Teio...
One must know she had never seen [Tokai Teio] here cook herself.
"There's my share in it too. And no need to be so surprised that the President can cook. You know, knowing how to make nutritious meals oneself is an essential skill for a Horse Girl."
"...Is, is that so?"
[Mejiro McQueen] suddenly realized.
Because in her dreams, she indeed saw that her other self also had cooking skills and made nutritious meals herself.
At this moment, she felt regret.
Why did I skip the cooking classes arranged by my family in the past?!
Damn it, should I replan the curriculum later and add cooking classes back in?
And at this time, the aura from [Tokai Teio] over there became even lower pressure in this instant. Even [Mejiro McQueen], who was spacing out, was scared back to her senses by that gaze.
"Do you know what happened to [Teio]... um, the one on our side? I just heard from [Gold Ship] that she became like this after returning from the Student Council."
If something happened at the Student Council, then Tokai Teio, who had been following the President today, should know something.
Tokai Teio glanced at the 'self' who had fallen into a vegetative state, thinking of what happened earlier at the Student Council.
Actually, it wasn't anything major.
Just that [Tokai Teio] came to the Student Council to play as usual, and then got lectured by the President.
Of course, the reason this happened was that she was helping the President handle Student Council work, while [Tokai Teio] was playing around there, causing the President to feel unhappy.
After all, when a better one is placed in front of you, you subconsciously dislike what you originally had, not to mention these two are actually the same thing.
"No problem, leave it to me."
Tokai Teio took on this task on her own initiative.
[Mejiro McQueen] watched her approach [Tokai Teio] hesitantly, her mood becoming nervous because of it.
"Oh! Delicious!"
Suddenly, a familiar voice came from the side.
[Mejiro McQueen] turned her head and instantly saw a scene that made her fume with rage.
"You guy! Who let you open it and eat without permission!"
"Eh? But wasn't this meant for us to eat anyway?"
[Gold Ship] played the "Invincible" card, successfully defending against [Mejiro McQueen]'s attack.
"Although that's true, how can you open it yourself when the person hasn't spoken? Don't you understand manners?"
"That kind of thing can't be eaten as rice... Oh! [McQueen], come try this sushi. This isn't like the buffet the Trainer took us to before; it's so delicious!"
[Gold Ship] turned into a ruthless eating machine. Although she was just curious about the President's skill level at first, the finished product simply exceeded her imagination.
She even suspected if this was made by a top chef from the President's family on her behalf. The selected ingredients, knife work, and seasoning were all perfect golden ratios.
And what is this?
Clearly just a plain seaweed rice ball mixed among high-class sushi.
But why could she taste the flavor of 'mother' in this rice ball?
"Restrain yourself a bit!"
[Mejiro McQueen] was about to faint from anger at this guy.
"Another me, what's wrong with you? Have you not walked out from yesterday's failure yet? Here, eat this special rice ball; you will definitely regain your energy."
Tokai Teio stepped forward holding a rice ball.
[Tokai Teio] subconsciously wanted to refuse: "No..."
But Tokai Teio's next sentence instantly finished her off.
"This was specially prepared for you by the President."
Ac-actually prepared for me by the President?!
Thinking of this, the words of refusal [Tokai Teio] wanted to say couldn't come out no matter what.
After all, this was a rice ball specially made for her by the President!
Tokai Teio didn't tell the whole truth.
Although the President did help, the head chef was her, Tokai Teio.
After all, although the President could cook, she was better at making nutritious meals.
Although she felt the meals made by the President were actually quite tasty—the bento she used to eat was made by the President.
But she could be sure that wouldn't fit the taste of [Tokai Teio], this child.
And especially this kind of rice ball with extra thick honey added—it was simply challenging the President's bottom line as a nutritionist.
But she could guarantee this would definitely fit [Tokai Teio]'s preference.
Sure enough, [Tokai Teio]'s eyes lit up after just one bite.
The originally dark shadow on her body vanished instantly.
Her whole person became sparkling.
"Delicious! As expected of the President, even cooking is so perfect!"
The little grievance in [Tokai Teio]'s heart dissipated completely at this moment because of this rice ball. Since the President specially prepared a special rice ball for her, it meant the President still loved her!
Really easy to coax.
Tokai Teio looked at [Tokai Teio] who instantly became energetic, and her mood became happy too.
[Tokai Teio] charged into the battlefield, shouting at [Gold Ship]: "Damn it, [Gold Ship], don't touch that! That special rice ball was made for me by the President!"
"These things are first come, first served. If you have the ability, come grab it!"
[Gold Ship] obviously wouldn't listen obediently; otherwise, she wouldn't be Gold Ship!
...
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