In the afternoon, Kagura, with nothing particular to do, lay comfortably under the shade of a tree by the field, enjoying a rare moment of leisure after all her recent busyness.
Maybe it was due to certain innate Uma Musume instincts, but Kagura—who had never before liked napping on grass—now found sleeping on a lawn surprisingly comfortable. Whenever she had free time nowadays, rather than playing mobile games, she'd much rather find a warm, sunny patch of grass to lie down on. It felt as soothing as a good massage.
Maybe it's similar to how little horses enjoy sleeping on the grass…
Kagura didn't find this strange at all. Horses naturally had this habit, so it wasn't weird for Uma Musume to enjoy it too. She accepted it naturally.
Bzzz—
Suddenly, Kagura felt her phone vibrating intensely. Having barely closed her eyes, she immediately snapped awake. At this hour, anyone calling her would either be Rudolf or Trainer Tojo, and calls from them usually meant something big had happened. Not daring to delay, Kagura quickly pulled out her phone and answered.
"Hello?? Kagura-chan, are you free right now!!"
"Huh? Maruzensky-senpai?"
Only upon hearing the voice on the other side did Kagura realize it was Maruzensky calling.
From her frantic tone, Maruzensky seemed to have encountered trouble—her voice was hurried, almost pleading for help. Kagura's heart immediately jumped, and she quickly sat up from the grass, urgently replying:
"Yes! I'm totally free right now! What's wrong, Maruzensky-senpai?! Do you need me to inform Ojou-sama and have her send help?"
"No no no!! Only you can handle this! Rudolf coming here would just make things worse!!"
"Huh? Something only I can do?"
Kagura tilted her head, puzzled, not quite understanding Maruzensky-senpai's meaning.
"Come to my place!! It's not easy to explain over the phone—I think it's better if you come see for yourself!"
"Oh… Okay…"
Kagura hadn't forgotten the way to Maruzensky's apartment, having visited once before. She was just curious about what exactly required her personal presence to solve. But since Maruzensky-senpai urgently needed help, and Kagura was currently idle anyway, she decided it was better to head over immediately.
"Just wait for me, Maruzensky-senpai—I'll be there within fifteen minutes!!"
...
"So… this is what you meant by trouble, Maruzensky-senpai?"
After sprinting like crazy all the way to Maruzensky's apartment, Kagura skipped waiting for the elevator and dashed straight up the stairs to reach her doorstep.
Before even entering, Kagura noticed piles of miscellaneous items stacked outside the entrance, with Maruzensky huffing and puffing, struggling to move things out from inside. Kagura was instantly dumbfounded at the scene.
Didn't I just clean this place a few months ago?
Kagura's eye twitched violently. She suddenly understood exactly what Maruzensky meant by trouble. If Rudolf were here, she really would just make things worse.
But Kagura still couldn't quite figure out: If Maruzensky usually tolerated letting her place deteriorate into this state, why did she suddenly decide today was the day to call Kagura for help?
"Maruzensky-senpai, aren't you normally pretty used to living like this? Why… suddenly call me to help you clean? Did you finally hit your limit?"
"How do I put it… Kagura, do you remember what I mentioned during breakfast—about recently getting in touch with my family?"
Seeing Kagura nod curiously, Maruzensky sighed heavily and continued:
"My mom said… she's coming to Japan to visit me in a few days. She plans to stay at my place… and… ah… Kagura-chan, you know this feeling, right? I don't really know how to describe it to you…"
I get it, I totally get it. It's exactly how my friend felt when her mom suddenly dropped in to inspect her apartment…
Several dark lines appeared over Kagura's head. From Maruzensky's tone, it was clear her mom was someone who deeply valued cleanliness—this indeed qualified as a serious emergency.
Kagura herself was tidy by nature, so she'd never personally experienced the panic of a sudden parental inspection. But her otaku friend certainly had—and every time her friend's mom decided to pay an unannounced visit, Kagura would get a frantic call for help. As payment, her friend would treat Kagura to things like KFC's Crazy Thursday.
——By the way, is that "Crazy Thursday" from that KFC place really that tasty? Why is it that every Thursday, your memories show someone in your chat groups begging for money to eat there, and each time they beg in increasingly creative ways?
Eclipse noticed an interesting thought surfacing in Kagura's mind and curiously interjected.
N-no… Not really. Honestly, it's not about the taste, it's just a meme…
Apparently, as a foreigner, Eclipse couldn't quite grasp the "Crazy Thursday" meme. While listening to Maruzensky's tragic account, Kagura took the opportunity to briefly explain the meme to Eclipse.
"…Please! Kagura-chan, help your onee-chan just this once!! Just help me survive this one inspection—I'll do anything!"
After vividly describing the disaster inside, Maruzensky clasped her hands together and bowed deeply in desperation.
Kagura sighed helplessly. Glancing past Maruzensky into the apartment, she felt slightly relieved—thankfully, Maruzensky's chaos still had its limits. The room wasn't quite ready for divine punishment; it was just a tiny bit cluttered.
"Maruzensky-senpai… please follow me inside. I'll teach you how to clean properly… I'll help you out one more time, but this better not happen again!"
"Yes! I'll definitely learn properly!"
Maruzensky nodded furiously like a chick pecking rice, immensely relieved that Kagura had finally agreed. She immediately followed Kagura inside her apartment.
"Ugh…!!"
Entering the living room, Kagura discovered the situation was far more serious than she'd glimpsed from outside. She felt her eyebrows twitching uncontrollably. Seeing Kagura's increasingly dark expression, Maruzensky felt as though she'd been hit by a wave of intense pressure emanating from this not-yet-honkaku'd little Uma Musume. She was already breaking into a cold sweat, and they hadn't even started cleaning yet.
"Maruzensky-senpai… please… don't move from here… I'll go buy a cleaning supply set from the convenience store downstairs…"
Gritting her teeth, Kagura squeezed out these words bitterly. If she'd known this was about a major cleanup, she would've brought her personal cleaning kit with her.
"Y-yes, ma'am!!"
Completely overwhelmed by Kagura's intimidating aura, Maruzensky nodded obediently, unable to shake the feeling that her mother hadn't arrived yet—but somehow it felt like she was already here…
---
T/N: heh im like maruzensky
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