At this time, her phone buzzed again.
Hayato: Seiun, are you really that bored? If you're that free, come help me carry stuff.
Seiun Sky: Oh my, the trainer's calling me bored! š
Seiun Sky touched her chest dramatically, feeling genuinely hurt by the accusation.
Hayato: How can you not be bored? I said it's a day off. Everyone else is busy enjoying themselves at tea parties, and you're the only one who still wants a training.
Seiun Sky: Seiun doesn't want to lose races either!
There was a pause before the next message came through.
Hayato: Anyway, come to the shopping district right now.
Seiun Sky: Roger that!
A reluctant smile appeared on her face despite the commanding tone.
Before long, she'd changed into casual clothes and arrived at the shopping district. Hayato had already accumulated a large pile of shopping bags waiting for her. Just running shoes alone numbered over ten pairs in various styles and sizes, plus multiple sets of specialized horseshoes for different track conditions.
"Oh my, trainer was shopping?" She nonchalantly picked up one of the heavier bags, testing its weight.
"More or less. Just take these things back to the facility."
Hearing this blunt instruction, Seiun Sky was not happy at all. "Huh? Seiun just got here, and you're immediately sending her away? You're actually making an underage girl run errands for you like some kind of pack mule?"
"What, you think I called you here to mooch food and drinks off me?"
"Isn't that exactly it?" She glanced meaningfully at the ramen shop beside them, giving Hayato a very obvious "you know what I mean" look. "Before Seiun runs your errands, at least treat Seiun to something first."
"Fine." Hayato sighed, looking at the ramen shop's steaming windows. He'd originally wanted to help her relax anyway, the pressure on her had been heavy lately, training even on her supposed day off. A meal wouldn't hurt.
The two entered and ordered super-large bowls of ramen each. After both enthusiastically shouting "Itadakimasu!", they dug in with gusto.
"By the way, Sky," Hayato looked up after taking a few bites, "King Halo and the others are having that tea party, right? Why didn't you go?"
"Hmm? Why indeed?" She lifted her cute, round face. Some broth had gotten on her nose without her noticing.
Feeling the slight discomfort, she wiped at it with a tissue, though not quite cleanly enough, it turned slightly red from the rubbing. She probably rarely ate spicy food like this. After just a few bites, her face flushed red from the combination of spice, heat, and steam rising from the bowl.
Still, she inhaled appreciatively, clearly finding it delicious despite the burn.
She swallowed and took another enthusiastic bite. "Maybe because I'm not suited for that kind of scene? Table etiquette and all that formal stuff is such a pain."
"Uh, well, I think King Halo and the others wouldn't mind if you were a bit casual." Hayato tried to sound reassuring. Actually, he felt the same way about formal gatherings. He found them pretty troublesome, too.
Princess Kawakami, from what he'd heard, paid particular attention to proper etiquette, the type who'd say "be elegant" in a refined voice while casually swatting a fly dead with perfect form.
If he hadn't also heard the rumor that she casually tossed disrespectful trainers into the air for three complete spins, he might want to interact with her circle more.
If he really went to that kind of formal gathering though...
Nothing to say, he'd just learn from Oguri Cap's approach. Being able to eat the food without embarrassing himself would be good enough, right?
"Etiquette and formality are actually secondary concerns." Seiun Sky shrugged, slurping more noodles. "Mainly, I'm genuinely not interested in tea parties as a concept. It seems like it's just a gathering where you drink tea, eat fancy snacks, and chat about polite things. I'm saying, wouldn't using that time to sleep be objectively better?"
"Shouldn't it be 'for training or fishing'? You said it backward." Hayato felt somewhat speechless. The ramen's spiciness combined with Seiun Sky's casual logic made him cough slightly.
"Same thing, same thing!"
It's totally not the same, okay?
"But you should relax once in a while, right?" Saying this, Hayato felt something was fundamentally off about his own statement.
This girl relaxes every single day, doesn't she?
For a moment, Hayato didn't know whether to characterize her as diligent or lazy. She occupied some strange middle ground.
Sometimes Seiun Sky really would find a comfortable spot for an afternoon nap instead of training. Knowing she might be genuinely tired and needed rest, Hayato didn't disturb her and pretended not to notice.
"I know, trainer. So, isn't Sky here relaxing right now with you?" Even she found her own reasoning amusing. "If that's not enough relaxation, you can accompany me fishing later too."
"Pretend I didn't say anything." Hayato silently returned to eating his noodles. The bowl was almost empty already.
"Trainer eats so much. Your appetite actually exceeds an uma musume's normal intake."
"Hehe, maybe because I burn quite a bit of energy too." He didn't really want to explain the full details.
"Then does the trainer want another?"
"No need. Still have errands to run. Can't eat too full or I'll get sluggish."
"Seiun is treating you, you know." She suddenly looked very seriously at Hayato's nearly empty bowl.
"Eh? Seiun, you're treating me? Can I say this is literally the first time ever?" Hayato looked at her suspiciously, then noticed the broth still on her nose and reached out to wipe it clean for her.
"Yeah, so trainer, you need to treasure this incredibly hard-earned opportunity."
Just when Hayato thought she'd actually order him another bowl of ramen, she casually dumped all the remaining noodles from her own bowl into his.
"Don't be polite, eat up. Since this is technically ramen the trainer treated me to, you're still ultimately paying for it anyway."
Ugh! Shouldn't have believed this girl's nonsense for even a second.
"But is this okay? You already ate from this bowl, right?" Hayato's expression looked dead inside. Seiun Sky had gotten him again with her weird logic. Do you want to see me embarrassed that badly?
"It's fine. Seiun and Seiun's little sister do this all the time back home." She said it so casually, like it was the most normal thing in the world. "She dumps the noodles she can't finish for Sky to eat, or after Seiun finishes mine, I'll eat what's left in her bowl. She says she'll 'just take one bite,' then eats half of her portion in that supposedly one bite."
Seiun Sky seemed somewhat nostalgic for her days back home. Besides fishing, spending time with her little sister was genuinely the happiest thing.
"Wait, you have a little sister?" Hayato asked with sudden urgency, genuinely surprised. He also found himself remembering his own little sister from his previous world. This kind of thing, sharing food, eating from the same bowl, had happened often back then, right?
Eating the same snacks, sharing the same instant noodles, splitting the same spicy sticks... That was completely normal among siblings, wasn't it?
If Seiun Sky hadn't mentioned it so casually, he wouldn't have thought anything of it, wouldn't even have cared or consciously remembered those small moments.
What's fundamentally different about eating at the same table with family?
"Yeah, a very well-behaved little sister. Still in elementary school, only nine years old." Seiun Sky's expression softened noticeably. "I advise the trainer not to get any weird ideas about her, though."
"What kind of person do you think I am?!" Hayato protested, though he obediently started eating the transferred noodles. "I was just surprised you had a little sister. You never mentioned her before."
"Well, you never asked." Seiun Sky grinned. "She wants to be an uma musume too when she's old enough. Keeps asking me to teach her how to run fast."
"Does she know her older sister spends half her free time napping and fishing?"
"Hey! Seiun trains very hard when want actually!"
They continued their banter as Hayato finished the combined noodles, the shopping bags waiting patiently beside their table for the inevitable return trip.
--
*As usual, the illustration is commented on.
Approaching Tenno Sho Spring in ch 131... Monster in the Shadow Narita Brian vs Mayano Top Gun, Sakura Laurel, and Seiun Sky. A monster that is even said to be almost equivalent to the final kick of Symboli Rudolf.