There's Something Wrong With You, Logistics Uma Musume

"Hayakawa! Where did you run off to this morning? You just missed a great opportunity to try Kagura-san's cooking!"

"Due to yesterday's incident, there were some matters at the Mejiro family that needed to be taken care of..."

Hayakawa Tazuna saw that besides Akikawa Yayoi, Maruzensky was also sprawled out at the table, along with Nice Nature, who had just enrolled recently. At the table further away was Speed Symbol. As the head of the Symbol Family, Hayakawa Tazuna naturally recognized Speed Symbol, but for some reason, Speed Symbol was wearing a Tracen Academy uniform in the cafeteria today. When Hayakawa Tazuna was still far away, she thought it was some student she hadn't seen before.

Looking at the cafeteria's service window, the Uma Musume in the maid outfit was leaning against the wall by the window, looking down at her phone. However, there was obvious fatigue on her face. Seeing the people who usually wouldn't appear in the cafeteria eating their fill and collapsing on the table, Hayakawa Tazuna could guess what Kagura had gone through in the past two hours.

"Kagura-san, it must have been quite tiring for you this noon, right?"

"Ah... Hayakawa-san, it's okay, really. Although there were a few more people than usual."

Kagura looked up and greeted Hayakawa Tazuna. Although she was quite busy with the surprise freeloaders, seeing the happy and satisfied looks on those Uma Musume's faces, Kagura felt much better.

Of course, the biggest reason Kagura was in a good mood now was that she didn't have to wash the pots herself after cooking...

"Hayakawa-san, you've been busy all morning, right? Would you like to sit down and rest for a bit? I can give you a massage."

"Oh my~? But Kagura-san must be tired, right? Wouldn't that be too much..."

"It's okay, my stamina isn't that bad."

Putting away her phone, Kagura walked over and gently pushed Hayakawa Tazuna, who was still trying to decline, towards Akikawa Yayoi, letting her sit down in the chair first. Then, she reached out and put her hands on Hayakawa Tazuna's shoulders, tentatively kneading them a few times.

"How is it? Hayakawa-san? How does it feel?"

"Mmm... mmm! Kagura-san's technique... is surprisingly good!"

"Thank you for the compliment. Then I'll increase the pressure a little."

Seeing Hayakawa Tazuna squinting her eyes with a relaxed expression, Kagura knew that her strength was probably just right, so she started to increase the pressure. The massaged Hayakawa Tazuna leaned back on the chair with a look of enjoyment. Although her intuition told her that she shouldn't trouble such a small Uma Musume to do this and that for her, her body couldn't resist such comfortable enjoyment.

Kagura's hands gently wrapped around her neck, and then slowly pressed down on her shoulders. With simple little movements, Hayakawa Tazuna felt an enjoyment far exceeding the massages she usually got after work. She felt an unprecedented relaxation and peace of mind. That gentle, spring breeze-like aura warmly enveloped her, making her feel that the fatigue from the morning had all rushed up at once.

Seeing Hayakawa Tazuna immediately become addicted and unable to extricate herself, Akikawa Yayoi poked her waist with a mischievous smile and teased:

"Ho ho~ Hayakawa has fallen so quickly! Come to think of it, Old Symbol really has an eye for talent. The little girl is so cute, she'll definitely grow up to be a beautiful child. She has a gentle personality, excellent cooking skills, and does housework so well. Whoever marries the little girl will be so happy~"

"Akikawa, Kagura is only 11 years old this year, rein in your old habits..."

Before Hayakawa Tazuna could say anything, Speed Symbol, who was leaning back in her chair with her eyes closed, spoke up first.

"Objection! What do you mean by old habits! I'm just giving an objective evaluation! If I could have such a child to take care of me, I'd be overjoyed!"

"Yes, yes, yes... Kagura, you have to remember in the future, stay away from this kind of weirdo, or you might get eaten up by accident."

"Protest! Don't slander my innocent image!"

'Their relationship is really good... They must have been friends for a long time.'

Kagura, who was massaging Hayakawa Tazuna, watched Akikawa Yayoi and Speed Symbol bickering with great interest. It was obvious that their relationship was quite good, which made her even more curious about how old the director, who looked about the same age as her, was.

As for Hayakawa Tazuna, while she was helping her massage, the green-haired lady who could be seen at the school gate every day, rain or shine, had already fallen into a sweet dream. It seemed that she was really exhausted. In order to prevent herself from waking Hayakawa Tazuna up with too many movements, Kagura slowed down the rhythm of the massage and gradually reduced the movements, and then stopped.

Kagura quietly gestured to Akikawa Yayoi, pointing at the sleeping Hayakawa Tazuna. Akikawa Yayoi quickly returned a gesture, telling her not to wake Hayakawa Tazuna and let her rest for a while. So Kagura didn't bother Hayakawa Tazuna for the time being. She walked to the side of Nice Nature, who was lying on the table in a daze, half-asleep, and looked at Nice Nature's cute sleeping face. She had an urge to reach out and poke Nice Nature's soft-looking cheeks.

"By the way, Kagura, that little Uma Musume is your friend, right? Do you live in the same building as her?"

"Yes, Quality lives downstairs from me."

"Then we old folks will rest here for a while. You must be tired after working all morning, right? Take her back to the dorm, and you can go back and rest too. It's not good for a child's body to sleep in the cafeteria. We'll wake Maruzensky up later."

"Hmm... that's right. Then I'll send Quality back first. If you need anything, Head of the Family, you can call me at any time."

After saying that, Kagura squatted down and carefully carried Nice Nature onto her back.

Fortunately, Nice Nature hadn't gone through the so-called 'formalization' yet, and her height wasn't too much taller than her own. It was still easy for Kagura to carry her on her back. And for some reason, Nice Nature hugged her very tightly in her sleep, as if she was afraid that she would suddenly run away. Although it was a bit suffocating, it also perfectly prevented her from falling off Kagura's back.

Kagura did feel tired now, but before she rested, there was one thing she had to confirm.

'The sun is so fierce today... I should go to the playground to see if anything that shouldn't be there has been refreshed.'

Although she knew that Mejiro Ardan probably wouldn't be able to come out for a day or two, Kagura still decided to patrol the playground. After all, it's better to be safe than sorry. If Mejiro Ardan, with her weak constitution, collapsed in this kind of weather, it wouldn't be a joke.

However, she didn't see anyone on the playground at one or two in the afternoon today. At least, Kagura didn't see anyone when she passed by the playground with Nice Nature on her back. It seemed that Ardan really didn't have a chance to come out and exercise for the time being, which made Kagura relax a little.

Carefully carrying Nice Nature back to her dorm, she used the key on her to open the door to her dorm. In order to minimize her movements and prevent waking up Nice Nature on her back, Kagura made every movement very small and slow.

After pushing open the door, entering Nice Nature's dorm, and closing the door, she was still trying to figure out how to pull her off her back and put her on the bed to rest without waking Nice Nature up. She didn't stand too steadily on the edge of the bed, and Nice Nature, who was still drowsy and confused, lost her balance and brought Kagura down onto her bed with her.

"Uh..."

Kagura, who was knocked down by Nice Nature, tried to push away Nice Nature's arm that was pressing on her neck. But because her whole body was pressing down, it wasn't convenient for her to push her away directly with too much force. The sleeping Nice Nature rubbed against Kagura like a child acting spoiled with her parents.

Although the process was a bit unexpected, at least from the result, Nice Nature did go to bed and lie down without waking up, it's just that she was also stuck and couldn't get out.

"...Sigh, okay."

Seeing that Nice Nature was clinging to her so tightly, Kagura, who was already very sleepy, gave up the idea of continuing to push Nice Nature away. Anyway, Nice Nature didn't put a solid pressure on her body. At worst, she would take a nap with Nice Nature here. Anyway, the dormitory management regulations didn't say that it was forbidden to sleep in someone else's dorm.

"Sweet dreams... Quality."

31. EATING GOSSIP ABOUT HER OWN FAMILY

Kagura's sleep time has always been short. Even if she worked a bit harder in the morning, she would only wake up after dozing off for ten minutes or so.

When she woke up, Nice Nature had already released her neck. Kagura finally had a chance to break free from her embrace. After tiptoeing off the bed, Kagura also helped Nice Nature cover herself with the quilt.

'How did I unknowingly almost become Nice Nature's mom…'

Kagura sighed, took out her phone, and checked the time. It was just past three o'clock, so she still had plenty of time to do her own thing.

While she was busy at noon, she took a video of herself working and spent some time roughly editing it on her phone before uploading it to that UmaTube video site. Judging by the number of views, it was pretty good for a newbie's first video, but the comments section only had a few scattered bots.

Silently deleting the bot comment that said, "Check out my profile, got good stuff," and reporting it, Kagura sighed helplessly. She couldn't help but feel that spammers were an indispensable part of the internet.

Quietly leaving Nice Nature's room and closing the door, Kagura decided to go to the track and see if Rudolph Symbol and the others were training there, and maybe even run a couple of laps herself.

Unlike yesterday, the track was much livelier today. Kagura could see a large group of people on the sidelines from a distance. In addition to Toujou Hana's team, there were many more Uma Musume training here. Kagura saw the Mejiro family's trainer and Mejiro Takamine running on the track.

Of course, the extra Uma Musume were only a small part of it. Most of the extra people around the track were trainers, scattered all over the perimeter. But there clearly weren't that many Uma Musume on the track. Kagura figured that many of the trainers hadn't brought their Uma Musume. She was curious about what was going on, but a line of blue text on her phone stopped her in her tracks.

--Don't go over there yet, Kagura. So many trainers without their Uma Musume, sitting so far apart, they're definitely not there for training or a meeting. The Uma Musume on the track clearly already have trainers. The way they're looking around, they're not waiting for anyone on the track. Whoever they're waiting for hasn't arrived yet.

Eclipse's warning made Kagura stop. She decided to observe the situation before going over to join the gossip.

Kagura changed her route, approaching the track while maintaining a distance where she could hear what they were saying thanks to her Uma Musume's extraordinary hearing, without revealing her position.

"Is the Uma Musume you're talking about really here? Fifteen lengths! Are you sure there's really such a terrifying freshman?"

"Really! I was there at the time, I heard Trainer Toujou talking to Rudolph! It's the truth! It's just a pity I was too far away to see what the Uma Musume looked like. Such an amazing Uma Musume shouldn't be slacking off on training, she should be coming to the track today!"

"Is she really as amazing as you say?? Didn't Trainer Toujou try to scout her?"

"I don't know about that, but I think a person has to have dreams and can't give up without trying! What if that classmate really doesn't have a trainer yet!"

Hiding to the side and eavesdropping, Kagura was already sweating a little. Clearly, these trainers were talking about her. Although she didn't know how she ran yesterday, she was sure that she had left Nice Nature behind by a certain distance.

'Miss Eclipse, what do you think?'

--Fifteen lengths, not bad, not bad, I see my influence.

'I'm not asking you to look at the results! What should I do now?'

--It's a good thing, isn't it nice that trainers have taken a liking to you?

'I'm just a Logistics Uma Musume!! There are too many trainers over there! And I'm not old enough to sign a partnership contract yet!'

Looking at the large group of trainers outside, Kagura was already considering going back to the dorm to hide. Luckily, no one was able to see what she looked like up close yesterday, otherwise, she probably would have been ganked as soon as she walked over today.

In that large group of trainers, Kagura also saw Nishizaki Ryu, whom she had just met not long ago, but he looked helpless, frantically looking around as if he was looking for something.

Suddenly, a chill rose from Kagura's back. Instinct told Kagura that something was rapidly approaching her from behind. Eclipse on her phone immediately gave a warning in red text--

--Careful! Someone is approaching you quickly from behind!!

"Too late...!"

Before Kagura could react, she heard footsteps close behind her. She suddenly felt her body make a move she hadn't even thought of before she gave the command. She slightly shifted her body, avoiding a black shadow that flashed past her from behind at an extremely subtle angle.

Whoosh!!

A burlap sack fell from the sky, landing on the spot where Kagura had been standing. The white-haired little Uma Musume holding the sack looked at Kagura in surprise, seeing that she had missed.

"Oh, classmate, you're pretty good, you were actually able to dodge Gold Ship-sama's sack attack!"

"Gold Ship...-sama? Huh...?"

Seeing the other party suddenly give her a thumbs up, Kagura, at a loss, subconsciously asked back. She was still maintaining a defensive posture, wary of the other party. The other party's beautiful long white hair reminded her of the Mejiro family, but the other party didn't seem to belong to the Mejiro family.

The white-haired Uma Musume, who had missed her attack, nonchalantly put away the sack, then took a step forward and approached Kagura, holding up two fingers and saying to Kagura with a pyramid scheme con-artist look:

"I see that you, classmate, are exceptionally talented and have amazing bones! You're definitely good material for running races! Do you want to shine on the track? Come, a friendly price of just two carrots, and Gold Ship-sama can introduce you to a good place to train!"

0_o??

Even after living for so long, this was the first time Kagura had encountered such a situation. Kagura was stunned, and Eclipse seemed to be stunned as well. Eclipse's reply hadn't appeared on the phone screen for a long time.

"Gold! Ship!"

Just as Kagura was still in a daze, trying to understand the current situation, she heard a particularly familiar voice coming from behind the little Uma Musume, who was slightly taller than her. Nishizaki Ryu, who should have still been in the audience, had somehow flashed behind Gold Ship and was rushing over menacingly.

In Kagura's bewildered eyes, Nishizaki Ryu took a big step forward from behind and grabbed the white-haired little Uma Musume:

"Sorry, sorry, my charge is a bit of a weirdo, she just wanted to get some new people for the team, sorry for scaring you, Kagura-san."

"Uh...so...Gold Ship-san wasn't here to kidnap me?"

"Yes, yes, I hope you don't mind, that's just her personality...no malice."

"Hey! Trainer! You won't be able to recruit anyone like that!"

The little Uma Musume, who was being held up, struggled in Nishizaki Ryu's hands, making a dissatisfied sound.

"If you put that bag on them, our Spica will really be done for!!...Sorry, sorry, sorry for the trouble, we'll be going now!"

"Class-mate!! If you want to agree, you can come to the little house outside the teaching building by the wall to sign up!!"

"Shut out!"

The little Uma Musume's childish voice and Nishizaki Ryu's helpless voice echoed in the empty building. Watching Nishizaki Ryu leave, carrying the little Uma Musume and apologizing non-stop, Kagura stood there for a long time before she came back to her senses.

--So, was that your school's team recruiting? That kid hasn't even gone through the formalization yet, right? Is that how teams recruit these days...uh...is that a new trend? Or am I just not keeping up with the times?

'I think it shouldn't be Miss Eclipse's problem...'

It seems that the bizarre situation just now made Eclipse lose her confidence. Not to mention Eclipse, who is an ancient person from who knows how long ago, even Kagura, a modern person, has never seen such a scene before. She feels that it is a bit too advanced for humans.

"Maybe I shouldn't go to the playground to exercise today..."

After glancing in the direction of the playground, Kagura, feeling that going there might not be a good idea, decided not to join in the fun today. She'll just wait for Rudolph Symbol and the others to finish training and then deliver their meals directly.

32. Extracurricular Tutoring (Serious)

In the evening, after dragging Rudolph Symbol out of the office and back to the dormitory, Kagura returned to her own dormitory, took a shower, and prepared to rest.

[Kagura, Rudolph and I discussed it tonight, and Rudolph's next race has been decided. It will be the Icho Special in three months. You need to keep an eye on her during this time and don't let her stay up late]

While drying her hair, Kagura saw a message from Toujou Hana, informing her of Rudolph Symbol's upcoming race schedule. They decided to officially start preparing for the next race from tomorrow, and officially assigned Kagura her task. As a Logistics Uma Musume, she needs to ensure Rudolph Symbol's dietary nutrition balance and physical condition adjustment.

—Not bad, it seems they trust you quite a bit, entrusting such important and crucial work to you.

Eclipse left a line of text on the mirror, which quickly dissipated.

"That's why I feel pressured..."

Cooking for athletes isn't like doing whatever comes to mind. Kagura needs to start creating a menu. Thankfully, she had some basic knowledge in nutrition before, but it was only theoretical knowledge. This is her first time truly applying this knowledge to reality.

—It's okay, young people always have a first time. Try it, and if you don't know something, learn it and catch up.

"Miss Eclipse, you really sound like an old mom... My mom said the same thing to me when I went to the hospital for my first internship."

—I am indeed a senior! What's wrong with encouraging a young person?

Eclipse was as confident as ever. Kagura could almost see her puffing out her chest and putting her hands on her hips.

—By the way, take off your clothes, right now, and go put on that Shrine Maiden Outfit.

"Miss Eclipse... it's bedtime, and it's the middle of summer..."

—I want you to sleep in the Shrine Maiden Outfit. You should be using it often in the future, and you need to learn to get used to the feeling of it.