Ever since they came back from that small town, Mochizuki had noticed her mom seemed to have changed a lot.
It was only a vague feeling, but she really had gotten brighter.
At first, after noticing something was up, Mochizuki had wanted to figure out why.
But after she realized her mom's mindset shifting a little didn't seem like a bad thing, she decided not to dig any deeper.
After her mom changed in a lot of ways—Mochizuki's own life still went on as usual, only with small changes here and there.
"Mochizuki, morning~"
Tokai Teio came back from outside in her training wear, greeted Mochizuki, then sat down across from her.
Every morning, Teio would go for a light run as a warm-up or to tweak her condition a bit, so every morning, she was always coming in from outside.
And compared to Teio—Mochizuki didn't need to get up that early. She didn't have to grind herself down like an Uma Musume.
Looking at Teio sitting across from her, Mochizuki thought for a few seconds before speaking. "You haven't even gone through honkaku-ka yet and you're already that serious?"
"Dunno. But getting the basics down first is never wrong."
As she said that, Teio picked up her chopsticks. "Curry today?"
"Leftovers from last night, but Mom still tweaked it a bit." As she spoke, Mochizuki used a spoon to spread a small part of the curry aside, revealing sliced venison underneath.
"She added some venison."
Mochizuki looked at Teio. "Yours should have it too."
"Venison? Why would there be something like that?"
"Mom tries new dishes sometimes. Of course, it could also be…"
Remembering the noises from last night after she and Teio had gone back to their room to sleep, Mochizuki shifted her gaze slightly. "...it could also be that she made it for someone else?"
Mochizuki didn't say what might've happened last night.
After all, there were only a few people who could've come.
So…
...
"So last night, Maruzen-senpai and C.B.-senpai both went to your place."
"Mm. Yeah. Those two really are a headache." Tokai Natural sighed, then continued to Chiyono O, "But at least they knew to come after Teio and Mochizuki were asleep. Otherwise it would've been pretty rough."
There was plenty of complaining in her words, but clearly Tokai Natural didn't actually feel bad about this sort of thing.
If she did, she wouldn't be speaking in that tone right now.
Chiyono O, seated at the counter, took a sip of the drink in front of her before speaking. "Mmm… the taste is really… kind of subtle…"
"See? I told you last night it wouldn't work, didn't I?"
A voice came from behind Tokai Natural. As someone who had already tasted the drink Tokai Natural prepared last night, Tokai Roman quietly added that line.
Hearing Roman, Natural sighed.
She'd tried before, but now she could finally be sure—she really didn't seem to have talent for making drinks.
Watching Tokai Natural sigh like that, Chiyono O fell silent for a few seconds, then continued, "If it's meant to be a beverage, it really isn't very appropriate."
"Is it really that bad?"
With even Chiyono O saying that, Tokai Natural looked utterly pained.
And Chiyono O, looking at Natural, just quietly turned her head away.
It seemed the answer didn't really need to be said out loud anymore.
Noticing that, Tokai Natural shifted her gaze to the side. "Tracen Academy's starting up again soon."
"In a few days, yeah."
As she spoke, Chiyono O bit her straw and thought for a few seconds—then finally remembered something she'd been ignoring this whole time.
"Ah…"
"What is it?"
"Tokai Teio—she's an Uma Musume, right?"
"Yeah. She seems really talented. She'll probably enter Tracen Academy before long." Tokai Natural turned her gaze to Chiyono O. "But that's only if the Peak Cup series is already shut down by then. Otherwise, I won't let Teio enter Tracen Academy."
"The Peak Cup series already stopped."
As she said that, Chiyono O looked at Tokai Natural and continued, "It seems like the Peak Cup series got hit with massive pushback from a lot of Uma Musume, and then the families joined forces and gradually put pressure on it too—so President Rudolf had to come out and announce the Peak Cup series was being discontinued. At the same time, she stepped down from her position in Tracen's Student Council, and Mr. C.B. took over handling it."
"Eh?"
The information Chiyono O had just said—Tokai Natural could honestly say she hadn't known any of it.
"No wonder Mr. C.B. and Maruzensky haven't been coming by much lately. It's probably because of Student Council stuff."
Realizing how serious this was, Tokai Natural turned her gaze back to Chiyono O and continued, "Student Council work is brutal."
"It really is brutal, but it seems like the main thing is still reviewing whether former President Rudolf made any wrong calls over the past year."
"I see… that sounds even more brutal."
"It sounds pretty brutal. So lately, the pick-ups and drop-offs seem to have been entrusted to me." Only then did Chiyono O finally say why she'd come over so early. "Let's tell those two about it when they get here."
Hearing that, Tokai Natural simply took away the drink in front of Chiyono O—only half-finished—and replaced it with a bowl of clear broth. "As for those two, they should be on their way over right now. It won't be lo—"
Before she could finish, the front door was pushed open.
"Mom, I'm here."
"Auntie Natural…"
Unlike Mochizuki, Teio's voice was a little guilty—like once her brain caught up, she didn't know how to deal with Tokai Natural.
Seeing Teio like that, Tokai Natural didn't really care. She just said, "The clothes are on the second floor."
At that, Teio and Mochizuki jogged past behind Chiyono O and went upstairs.
Only after the two of them went up did Tokai Natural step out from the open kitchen again.
She had to go flip the sign at the entrance—from "Closed" to the other side.
Watching Tokai Natural walk out, Chiyono O turned and looked toward Tokai Roman, who was still in the back kitchen finishing the prep work.
Compared to Tokai Natural, Tokai Roman wasn't good at kitchen work, so she mostly only handled prep steps, plus the server side of things.
In the end, Chiyono O's gaze shifted away from Tokai Roman.
She could feel it—Tokai Natural's way of living seemed to have gotten quite a bit better.