"...It's morning, huh."
I woke up well before my phone alarm. Some habits are hard to break.
"Ehehehe... I can't eat another bite..." Fine mumbled in her sleep.
"May peace prevail on earth... People say the performance is too specialized, but there's no way a prototype loses to a mass-production model! Let's goooooo!" Lynx added from the other side.
"What the hell are you two dreaming about?" I muttered. "And that's a weird crossover."
Fine sneaking into my bed was a daily occurrence, but this time Lynx had come as a set. I had no idea when she'd crawled in. I carefully untangled myself from the four limbs clinging to me and escaped to the living room to start on breakfast and bento prep.
"Now then, what's on the menu... Hm?"
As I was mentally cycling through recipes, a delicious aroma wafted from the kitchen. It wasn't the leftover soup from last night; it was the smell of something sizzling. I wondered if Piccolo Player was up, but when I peeked inside—
"Hum-hum-hummm~♪"
There stood Rice, humming a little tune with a radiant smile on her face. She was wearing one of my aprons; it was far too big for her, but she'd hitched it up as best she could. The sight of her standing there, domestic and happy, left me speechless.
"Oh! Good morning, Onee-sama. I hope you don't mind me borrowing the kitchen."
Rice turned and beamed at me while stir-frying vegetables. It was still early, and the morning sun streaming through the window bathed her in a glow so ethereal she looked like an angel—no, a goddess. She looked more divine than the Three Goddesses themselves.
Before I knew it, I was on one knee, taking her hand in mine.
"Rice... will you make me miso soup every morning for the rest of our lives?"
"Huh? Miso soup? Onee-sama, do you prefer a Japanese-style breakfast?"
"Ah... no. Sorry. I'm just... still half-asleep."
I just accidentally proposed to her.
Fortunately, the traditional nuance of the "miso soup proposal" seemed to go over her head. She just tilted her head, her ears twitching curiously. But I had a sudden, strange conviction: if she had understood and accepted, I would have made her my wife right then and there.
"You're up early, Rice. I thought I was an early bird, but you beat me to it."
"Ehehe! I went for a quick early-morning run. Since you let me stay the night, I thought making breakfast might make everyone happy."
"Ugh, you're too good for this world... You're going to make someone a wonderful wife someday."
"Ehehe! Hey, Onee-sama, I'm making omelets. How many eggs should I use?"
"Let's see... we've got some older eggs to use up, and since Lynx is here, we might as well go all out and use the whole carton."
The two of us stood side-by-side in the kitchen, chatting happily as we prepped breakfast and our lunches. Later that day, Rampage even found herself sharing her bento with Rice, the two of them playfully feeding each other.
The result of all that restorative "Rice-energy" manifested later that afternoon.
"RAAAAAAH!"
"I won't lose!"
"NUOOOOOOOH!"
It was a mock race between four: Rampage, Lynx, Ikuno, and Flora. It was meant to be a status check—Minamisaka wanted to see Rampage's mental state against top-tier rivals to determine her future training menu.
What he got was Rampage unleashing a monstrous "Great Escape."
"T-This pace... it's the same as the Legend Race!" Flora gasped.
"Incredible... this pace is suicidal!" Ikuno shouted, her voice tight with disbelief.
Even Flora and Ikuno were stunned. Rampage was pushing a pace that seemed indifferent to her own physical limits, a scorched-earth strategy that threatened to tear the race apart. She was moving with a speed that said she would rather break than be caught.
The only one who could stay in her shadow was Armdrinx.
"Ahahaha! What a crazy pace! I love it!" Lynx laughed, her eyes wild with excitement.
"Hah! I knew you'd say that!" Rampage barked back.
Under normal circumstances, running like this in a mock race would be madness. The strain on the body would be immense. Usually, the smart play would be to let Rampage burn herself out and catch her when her legs went heavy in the final stretch. Even a "Tyrant" should fade after a sprint like this.
But Lynx didn't play it smart. She accelerated to the same level.
"Armdrinx! What are you doing?!" Trainer Tojo's voice cracked across the field. "If you match that pace, you'll wreck your legs! You might miss the Champions Cup!"
As a trainer, Tojo couldn't stay silent. Her duty was to protect her athlete from the folly of a self-destructive run. Her concern reached Lynx's ears, but—
"Yeah, you're right. This kind of running is dangerous," Lynx said, her stride never wavering. "So what? Is that supposed to be a problem?"
She didn't slow down. She refused to back away from the challenge Rampage had thrown down. She knew perfectly well this was "just practice," but that didn't matter. If Rampage was giving her everything, Lynx would answer with nothing less than her absolute soul.
"Ahaha! This is great! Isn't this fun, Rampage?!"
"You bet it is! Now, let's kick it up another notch!"
"Bring it on!"
As the spectators watched in shock at a spectacle that shouldn't be happening outside of a Grade 1 final, Minamisaka stood alone, wearing a dark smile.
Yes. This is it.
Rampage's "voltage" was redlining perfectly. The smoldering embers of her spirit had finally caught, erupting into a world-consuming inferno.
"She's coming into perfect form," Minamisaka whispered. "At this rate, she'll enter the Legend Race in better shape than her prime... Now then, shall we begin our own work, Tannhauser-san?"
"Y-Yes! I'm in your hands!" Tannhauser squeaked, bracing herself for the training from hell.
-------------------------
If you enjoy this story, you can read 70+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
Webnovel will keep getting 1 new chapter every day but Patreon readers can stay far ahead.
Maybe it's not a big deal now… maybe it will be later.
[email protected]/Greyhounds
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"