A young girl walked alone through snow-dusted streets.
Because she'd hurriedly escaped… no, hurriedly left her family home…
Symboli Rudolf hadn't dressed warmly at all—she'd left with just her inner clothing, without even bringing any money.
Under these conditions, the young Rudolf could only seek shelter beneath a children's park slide.
There was a modest space beneath the slide, just enough room for two adults to squeeze inside.
With the heavy snowfall, no one else was playing in the park.
It wasn't long before Rudolf had to consider whether or not to return home.
She hadn't yet reached her full awakening, and her small body could barely endure the freezing snow.
And now, her stomach…
Feeling hunger creeping along her spine, Symboli Rudolf crawled out from beneath the slide. But as soon as she stood up, she felt her head collide with something hard.
"Ow!"
Regaining her balance, Rudolf saw another young Uma Musume, who, just like herself, hadn't yet reached full awakening.
The girl seemed stunned by the collision, covering her head with both hands and squeezing her eyes shut.
"Um… are you alright?"
Seeing her clutching her head, Rudolf's upbringing compelled her to apologize first.
Though ironically, it was exactly that strict upbringing she'd fled from.
But perhaps precisely because of her politeness, the other girl opened her eyes and softly replied, "Um, I'm okay."
Her voice was gentle, noticeably calmer compared to Rudolf's own.
Meeting the other girl's gaze, Rudolf felt confused.
In such heavy snow, no adult would allow their child to play outside alone.
So…
"Who are you?"
Clearly, the young Symboli Rudolf didn't have great deductive abilities. She chose to ask the simplest question first—the girl's name.
But unlike Rudolf, the Uma Musume she'd bumped into possessed reasoning skills beyond what was typical for someone who hadn't fully awakened.
Thus, her immediate answer was:
"I'm not telling you!"
Rudolf was about to get angry at this response when her growling stomach abruptly interrupted.
Along with the growl came a wave of weakness from hunger.
Tokai Natural stared at the Uma Musume in front of her. She didn't recognize her, but after hearing the other girl's stomach rumbling, Natural glanced around thoughtfully.
As a transmigrator, she was unlike the Uma girl standing before her.
Natural could easily tell this girl had also run away—but unlike herself, who had carefully planned it, this girl was probably just throwing a tantrum and had run out impulsively.
Considering briefly, Tokai Natural finally spoke up. "You seem hungry?"
"No, I'm not!"
The other girl proudly denied it, only for her stomach to rumble loudly again in betrayal.
Watching the girl stubbornly insist otherwise, Tokai Natural thought about the 20,000 yen she'd secretly saved up.
That money was painstakingly collected bit by bit. Especially since—as a transmigrator—she knew she was fated to marry Symboli Rudolf. But she absolutely refused to marry Rudolf! At the very least, it had to be someone like Mejiro Ardan.
Even the thought of eventually having a lovely daughter like Tokai Teio wasn't enough to change her mind.
Today was just a test to see if she could survive independently. If she truly left the Tokai Family someday, she'd need to handle everything herself, so this was a necessary test of her skills.
Besides, she'd planned from the start to return after spending all her savings.
So, Tokai Natural felt generous:
"Do you want something to eat? I can buy it for you."
"R-really?"
Although the girl didn't seem very pleasant, Tokai Natural knew how easy it was to handle kids, so one simple sentence was all it took.
"Yes, but only if you lead me to Tracen Academy. Deal?"
Tokai Natural had no idea where Tracen Academy was. Without a phone or a tourist area nearby, she couldn't even buy a map.
Unlike herself—someone unfamiliar with this world—she could immediately see that this Uma girl clearly knew Tokyo inside out, hence her condition.
"Tracen Academy…?"
The Uma Musume before her hesitated briefly but was quickly interrupted by her stomach again. "Fine! But you have to buy me food first!"
"Alright, it's a promise."
With that, Tokai Natural looked at the smaller Uma Musume and said, "Come on, we'll go to Tracen Academy first, then get you food."
"Okay."
The hungry little Uma agreed without further hesitation.
...
About an hour later, they reached Tracen Academy.
True to her word, Tokai Natural had bought the girl some small snacks along the way.
She hadn't bought her a full meal yet. Since the girl was an Uma Musume, Natural decided against convenience store bentos. Instead, she planned to buy a proper meal near Tracen Academy's shopping street—exactly as she'd seen in the anime.
The food there would be better suited to an Uma's tastes.
But just as they reached the shopping street outside Tracen Academy, and the two were about to part ways…
"Um… can I stay with you?"
Gathering all her courage, Symboli Rudolf asked this favor.
She didn't want to go home yet. Symboli Speed would surely scold her again.
That was exactly why she didn't want to return.
And exactly why she'd asked this girl the question.
"Huh? No way. Little Uma Musume should go home."
"But…you're also a little Uma Musume…"
The other girl immediately fell silent.
She clearly hadn't thought of a proper comeback—instinctively ignoring that particular detail—leaving Rudolf's words unanswered.
However, after nearly a minute, when Rudolf was just finishing up her chicken nuggets, the girl finally spoke again:
"Alright, fine. But I have conditions!"
"One, when I say it's time to go home, you have to go home immediately—no objections."
"Two, you'll eat whatever I make, no complaints!"
"Three, you have to do exactly what I say!"
After stating these three demands, Tokai Natural stared at the girl before her.
She knew that if this Uma agreed to all three conditions, she could easily persuade her to go home earlier.
For kids, being forced to obey someone else's orders without question was incredibly boring.
Tokai Natural didn't think she'd last long.
And as she expected, the girl agreed immediately.
Seeing the younger Uma accept her terms, Tokai Natural simply turned around and said, "Then follow me."
They walked another hour. It was fortunate they were Uma Musume—ordinary kids couldn't have walked so far.
After two hours of walking in total, Tokai Natural finally found the perfect location for two runaway girls.
The old building of Tracen Academy. Though it was sealed off, their small size made slipping inside easy.
And since it was abandoned, no one lived there. It was practically the perfect hideout.
At least, far better than hiding under a park slide!
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T/N: ...rudolf...