The next morning, Yayoi Natural was discharged from the hospital accompanied by Chiyono O.
Meanwhile, Maruzensky and Mr. C.B. sat across from each other in the Student Council room, staring at each other in tense silence.
As for the third person in the room?
Better to just pretend she doesn't exist for now.
After finally finishing up the paperwork, Mr. C.B. and Maruzensky left the Student Council room side by side again.
This left the nonexistent third person in the room looking utterly bewildered.
She really couldn't figure out what was going on between those two.
But as stated previously, let's just keep pretending she doesn't exist for now.
Side by side, they entered the supermarket in the residential district.
Maruzensky glanced over at Mr. C.B.: "You know already, right?"
"Ahh, of course. We'll pick out ingredients easy to handle. Natural just left the hospital, so making her too busy wouldn't be good."
Having said this, Mr. C.B. fell silent for a few seconds before speaking again:
"When I wanted to confront her today, why did you stop me?"
The question Mr. C.B. raised was the reason the two had been at odds the entire day.
In response, Maruzensky merely grabbed a box of tomatoes, placed it into the basket casually, then answered plainly, "The Symboli family."
"...Tch."
Clearly, Mr. C.B. understood perfectly well the power behind the Symboli name. Facing Maruzensky's blunt reasoning, she could only turn away in irritation, toss a piece of oxtail into the shopping basket, and then mutter again:
"The Symboli family... what a pain."
"I wanted to ask too, but…"
Maruzensky's words were direct. Still, she ultimately sighed softly, and spoke the most important reason aloud: "Natural worries that something like that might happen again, so..."
After placing a piece of pork neck into the basket, Maruzensky continued: "Natural needs stability right now."
She didn't explain further, just plainly stated her reason for stopping Mr. C.B.
Hearing Maruzensky's reasoning, Mr. C.B. sighed softly again:
"...I suppose you're right."
Both Maruzensky and Mr. C.B. knew clearly that Yayoi Natural needed a stable life.
Yayoi Natural's child wasn't even a year old yet, and her fragile body couldn't handle much more strain. Maruzensky and Mr. C.B. were both thoroughly aware of this fact.
Precisely because of this, Maruzensky had stopped Mr. C.B. earlier.
Yet, even after understanding the reason, Mr. C.B. still felt deeply annoyed. She furrowed her brow and tossed another box of frozen chicken wings into the shopping basket.
...
"So, you two came back with all this meat?"
Looking into the plastic bags filled with at least six or seven different kinds of meat, Yayoi Natural wore a complicated expression.
Although there were still some leftover vegetables in Maruzensky's kitchen, they were mostly the rarely-used ones, and besides—
"You barely bought any vegetables…"
"Sorry."
"Our apologies."
Facing Yayoi Natural's slightly furrowed brows, both Mr. C.B. and Maruzensky chose to lower their heads in unison.
Seeing this, Sakura Chiyono O quickly stood up: "Ah, I can go out again—"
"No, it's fine," Yayoi Natural stopped Chiyono O from heading out again to buy groceries and took the shopping bags from Mr. C.B. and Maruzensky's hands. "Tonight, we'll have gaijiaofan (rice topped generously with meat and gravy)."
"Understood." x2
Their responses matched perfectly.
Hearing their synchronized reply, Yayoi Natural simply carried the groceries into the kitchen.
"Yayoi-san, let me help."
"Mm, thank you."
Only after Chiyono O followed into the kitchen and began helping did Maruzensky and Mr. C.B. sit back down on the sofa.
The two stared at each other in silence again.
When the sound of Yayoi Natural chopping something with a knife echoed from the kitchen, Mr. C.B. spoke once more: "How do you intend to deal with Rudolf?"
"…"
Remembering that Rudolf couldn't even recall who Tokai Natural was, Maruzensky replied flatly, "I won't. She doesn't even remember Natural, after all."
"Seriously?" Hearing Maruzensky's answer, Mr. C.B.'s expression instantly changed. "I thought she never forgets the face of someone she's met even once?"
"That means she never bothered remembering the name."
Adding that final jab, Maruzensky turned her gaze toward the kitchen.
From where Maruzensky sat, she could just glimpse a corner of the kitchen, specifically Yayoi Natural's slender back.
Watching Yayoi Natural quietly preparing dinner, Maruzensky closed her eyes for a moment, then rubbed the spot between her brows. "I really want to go out for a race right now…"
"Forget it. Even if your driving's good, you'd probably get into an accident with your current state, wouldn't you?"
"That's why I said I just want to," Maruzensky sighed again. "Well, never mind. Thinking about Rudolf anymore is pointless. Better to look forward to whatever Natural's making instead. Besides…"
"We can't buy that much meat again next time."
Reflecting briefly on their actions, Mr. C.B. turned her gaze toward the kitchen, where a faint fragrance had already begun drifting into the air.
Although it was quite different from the special diet served in Tracen's cafeteria for Uma Musume, both of them still felt certain it would taste delicious.
After all, when it came to cooking, Yayoi Natural had never once disappointed them.
So there wasn't anything left to discuss; they just needed to wait quietly until Yayoi Natural finished dinner.
By dinner time, Yayoi Natural emerged from the kitchen holding a large pot filled with simmering soup.
Smelling the meat aroma coming from the pot, Mr. C.B. immediately glanced toward Yayoi Natural with curiosity.
Yayoi Natural merely thought for a second before answering softly, "Gaijiaofan."
Upon hearing this, both Maruzensky and Mr. C.B. turned their faces away slightly in embarrassment.
Clearly, both of them understood immediately that this was because they'd bought way too much meat.
Watching the two share such a synchronized reaction, Yayoi Natural picked up a plate of steamed rice, placed a large chunk of oxtail on top, ladled some thick sauce over it, and set the dish in front of Maruzensky.
Mr. C.B.'s portion naturally contained a large piece of pork neck meat.
With no other suitable ingredients available, even though Mr. C.B. was a guest, Yayoi Natural could only provide her with the same kind of meal.
On Chiyono O's plate, however, were chicken wings, duck legs, and pigeon wings.
As for Yayoi Natural herself, her plate simply held steamed rice topped with a thin layer of gravy—no trace of meat was present at all.
Seeing Yayoi Natural's meal, Mr. C.B. fell silent for a brief second, then raised her gaze slightly to meet Maruzensky's eyes across the table.
Meeting Mr. C.B.'s questioning look, Maruzensky subtly shook her head.
Seeing Maruzensky's response, Mr. C.B. sighed quietly, lowered her head again, and began to deal with the pork neck meat in front of her.
---
T/N: mmmm meat yummy