On a Pale Horse (Umamusume/Youjo Senki)

[ScarredPunLover]

Also, fun fact, the lead runner/pacesetter in a marathon is also sometimes called a rabbit, so in a way, all the other umas would be... chasing the rabbit.

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Ah, hence the name "Silver Standard" got on its threadmark.

... Now we just need Shiro to be looking at a watch (perhaps comparing current time to previous times on that track), and occasionally seeing that she's behind her previous best ("I'm late...")

 

[neta wey]

Ah, hence the name "Silver Standard" got on its threadmark.

... Now we just need Shiro to be looking at a watch (perhaps comparing current time to previous times on that track), and occasionally seeing that she's behind her previous best ("I'm late...")

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And because she's also from European descent, she's either having classical music or Jefferson Airplane "White Rabbit" as her theme

 

[TheSmallSauce]

Ah, hence the name "Silver Standard" got on its threadmark.

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I think the threadmark comes from the idiom instead, which is used to mean that someone is chasing an unattainable goal, it just so happens that both the literal meaning of the phrase and the idiomatic one fit Merry's struggle. Though thinking about it I've only ever heard the other version before: "Chase two rabbits and you will catch neither." Which carries the same meaning except now the hypothetical chaser is splitting their focus between two goals, making both unattainable when either one by itself might have been possible.

On an unrelated note, what do you think Shirogane's Unique Skill would be called? The Unique Skills in Umamusume have all sorts of rather weird names, so there's a wide range of possible themes to choose from. You could draw from her past life as Tanya, from her eagle motif, from her Polish heritage, from her reputation as a tireless runner or her uncanny stillness for an uma. Or a combination of all of the above. Probably more interesting is what would the skill animation look like? I think there were some ideas thrown about earlier where it was Shirogane running through the muddy and devastated fields of no-man's-land.

 

[ScarredPunLover]

what do you think Shirogane's Unique Skill would be called?

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If the "No Man's Land" idea is used, perhaps "Devil's Charge," or something like that?

I was thinking something using "gates of Hell" in that vein, though now my mind is full of Primo Victoria

What even is the skill? Her relentless charge? One that lasts the entire race?

… my mind thought "Demons run", and now I've got Doctor Who stuck in my head.

… "Demon's Flight," to tie back to her Eagle theming?

"Undying Flight", with the first part being two-fold reference- Shiro has reincarnated twice now, and also doesn't run out of stamina.

 

[Introverted]

What even is the skill? Her relentless charge? One that lasts the entire race?

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Honestly? Might be something like Mejiro Bright where she basically gets a velocity boost with a gimmick of having a duration depending on her Stamina.
Basically trying to cover for her weakness by basically "speeding up" earlier.

 

[JKD_666]

On an unrelated note, what do you think Shirogane's Unique Skill would be called?

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Trench Warfare? Bane of Demiurge? Pale Silver Rider? Memories of Hell/Torment?

 

[Yonlionz/Amber]

The Only Way Out Is Through for her skill name maybe? With the animation being her leading a squad of faceless umas in a charge?

 

[neta wey]

On an unrelated note, what do you think Shirogane's Unique Skill would be called? The Unique Skills in Umamusume have all sorts of rather weird names, so there's a wide range of possible themes to choose from. You could draw from her past life as Tanya, from her eagle motif, from her Polish heritage, from her reputation as a tireless runner or her uncanny stillness for an uma. Or a combination of all of the above. Probably more interesting is what would the skill animation look like? I think there were some ideas thrown about earlier where it was Shirogane running through the muddy and devastated fields of no-man's-land.

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I think it depends on when the skill activates: if it's at the very start, then it could be called Hell's Gate or Call of Death's Trumpet; if it's when chasing someone who passed her over, it may be called Bewegungskrieg, Blitzkrieg or Uma Charge (while having the visual of a cavalry charge); if it's on the last spurt, then they could use The Last Charge of the Light Brigade or Last Breath; if it's someone getting close or barely passing her, then it could have something like Death Stare or Imminent Death by forcing a Guts check; and if it's Stay Gold, she will get something like Counter-Terrorist/GS9/SWAT et al.


Edit:

Also, I don't think it would be anything related to trench warfare, mostly because we don't associate anything related to WWI as fast, rather we use words like slog, slow, grinding and others. At most biplanes, and even then she would at most be called "The Red/Green Baroness"

 

[Nour uchiha]

I wonder would Tanya be able to recognize herself in Shirogane?, Shirogane has a developed a higher empathy and a more relaxed attitude, even more off guard than the salaryman ever was, and he got killed by a former employee.


So, perhaps Shirogane is too different to be seen as anything other than a distinct person who believes some similar things to Tanya.

 

[FluffyVoid]

Do umas get the pool noodle treatment?

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/bjHL8c7FVmA?si=cBD7ePS1uOz3bZMA

 

[uioor1]

Do umas get the pool noodle treatment?

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/bjHL8c7FVmA?si=cBD7ePS1uOz3bZMA

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Yes, we actually saw this happening in Chapter 3

Shirogane had initially been perplexed by one of her teachers wearing a cape, which could have been dismissed as an oddity, but then another one tapped each present student with a pool noodle during roll call

Click to shrink...

 

[MikaShogo]

Waffles must have watched the original video then, cause I didn't realize that was something to do with training horses

 

[WrandmWaffles]

Setting the Pace​

---

The next week was relatively unremarkable in terms of what Shirogane herself was doing, but there had been a significant change in the atmosphere for her yearmates. Part of that had to do with another set of tryouts, but it also seemed that having someone from their year run their debut race inspired them to focus harder on training.

This wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but apparently a few of them had ended up in the infirmary for minor sprains, cramps, or dehydration, and Tsuyoshi-san missed some class because of a cold. It seemed that Toujou-san had been right in her assessment that many younger racers had trouble pacing themselves outside of the track.

The change was also not limited to just her classmates. While Shirogane interacted with some of their seniors since she was in a few of their classes, she largely did not interact with those beyond her teammates and classmates, especially since she lived off campus. And up until now, most of the others had seemed equally uninterested in her.

To say that this completely changed would be inaccurate, as she didn't become a celebrity overnight, but having her face show up on the board seemed to have spurred on a degree of curiosity over her, and in the typical nature of children, most did not approach her directly to sate their curiosity, and instead primarily spread rumors that didn't have much basis in reality.

No, she was not a ghost summoned from the stump many of her classmates were wary of, she just sometimes liked sitting against it while doing some reading on sunny days. It was a good place to get some sun while not being bothered by her excessively rambunctious classmates, which made it one of her favorite spots on campus.

Today, however, it could not serve her aims. Instead, she was in the library, one of the other places that tended to be less noisy, but less so than a typical library, since watching race or performance film was within expectations for students. For this purpose there were numerous rooms within the library equipped with some degree of soundproofing and individual audio-visual setups, as well as a decent amount of open space, possibly for practice, or just to minimize damage when some student got too excited.

She had used these rooms before to watch tape from various races, but today she was watching performances, as entry into the Triple Tiara races required a kind of unique performance, which filtered out quite a bit of the active and aspiring runners. Possibly because the criteria seemed a bit vague, which was what led Shirogane to collect some recordings for reference.

She had started with Air Groove-senpai's performance from the previous year's Yushun Himba, which had been quite distinctive, playing into her school image as an 'empress' of sorts. While her senior was no doubt a strong runner, Shirogane wasn't really sure that moniker was warranted on the racetrack, as she had not achieved the Triple Tiara as a mirror to the 'emperor' Symboli Rudolf having won the Triple Crown.

From what she had found, Mejiro Ramonu seemed to fit the moniker, being relatively close in age to Symboli Rudolf and being the first to win the Triple Tiara. Some of the information also suggested the two of them had a friendly rivalry of sorts, and yet Air Groove was the one who picked up the moniker of 'empress.'

Was it because Mejiro Ramonu's performances were more traditional? They were very well polished and choreographed, but she had still used the songs designated by the league at the time. It seemed that the requirements hadn't been quite solidified at that point, and the current final leg of the circuit, the Shuka Sho, had not been instituted yet either.

Mejiro Dober had followed in her relative's footsteps and performed a very well choreographed version of the song for this year's Yushun Himba, which didn't really help clarify how the criteria worked to Shirogane.

"Yoohoo! Is that Shirogane-chan I see?!"

The door to the room burst open as a brown haired uma wearing sunglasses indoors flounced through them.

"Close the door," Shirogane grunted at Seeking the Pearl, deciding not to react otherwise to her bombastic classmate, having long realized that there was no dissuading her. "Otherwise we will disturb the other people using the library more than they already have been."

"Oh come now, is that any way to talk to your dear senior?" the overly dramatic uma sighed, though she still closed the door.

"Is barging into a room uninvited appropriate behavior for a senior?" Or at least one without the authority to do so.
"Of course!" Seeking the Pearl flipped her long hair theatrically as she flopped down into the seat next to Shirogane. "When my little junior is so engrossed in studying I couldn't help but feel like I should offer my help!"

It hadn't been asked for, but Shirogane had to admit she was not getting particularly far herself. The older students and staff at Tracen were generally unusually helpful, and as much of a diva as Seeking the Pearl could be, Shirogane was quite certain that her dramatic senior was not interested in sabotaging her.

"Do you even know what I'm doing?"

"Of course!" her senior exclaimed, throwing in some English as was her tendency. "You're watching Yushun Himba Winning Lives! So naturally this means…" She gave her ears an exaggerated waggle in lieu of a drumroll. "My little junior wants to compete in the Triple Tiara circuit!"

"Hmm…" Shirogane wasn't exactly hiding it, but perhaps she had underestimated her loud senior's intelligence.

"I must say I'm surprised that you're the one interested out of your class," Seeking the Pearl went on, seemingly oblivious to Shirogane's consternation. "I thought for sure it'd be the one with the mask–the luchador!–what was her name again?"

"El Condor Pasa."

"Exactly!" her loud senior snapped her fingers in realization. "I should have remembered! One of the Kentucky Gals!"

"She seems more interested in going for the Triple Crown circuit." And while Pasa was one of the more expressive dancers in the class, she probably would have even more trouble with the rather opaque requirements for the Triple Tiara circuit.

"Of course," Seeking the Pearl sighed, throwing an arm against her forehead theatrically. "The allure of golden glory is stronger than the bright lights of the stage for many." She shrugged. "But I guess it's for the best, she's not all that ladylike, is she?"

"No." That would be closer to the last term associated with El Condor Pasa than the first. "King Halo would probably be the most… 'ladylike' amongst my year mates." Given that she was from a wealthy family, it might even be literally true, not that the spirited young uma liked to talk about it.

"But alas! She wants to challenge the Triple Crown Circuit to live up to her name! Will no one spare a thought for the brilliant Triple Tiara?!"

"I'm sure there will be plenty of participants." The potential payout was too large to go uncontested, and it was still a prestigious award. "Just not many from our classes." Mejiro Dober was on the circuit–

"Naturally I and Dobby-chan are gunning for the Tiaras!" Shirogane only just remembered that Seeking the Pearl had won the Oka Sho in what apparently was a bit of a surprise. "As expected of such a dazzling pair as the two of us!"

Her senpai in age leapt to her feet, twirling around excitedly as if she were onstage, heedless of Shirogane's nonplussed lack of expression.

"Too dazzling, it would seem, as neither of you can win all three now."

"Haa ha ha ha! But what is a show without some good competition?!" Despite her recent defeat, Seeking the Pearl seemed undeterred, spreading her arms upwards like she was about to dive off a platform. "Besides," she leaned to one side and winked. "I have some plans on going for an even bigger stage, but keep that to yourself, ok, Shiro-chan?"

"If you say so."

"Oh, don't be too worried about the rules," Seeking the Pearl huffed, flouncing back into a chair. "It's all about presentation! And for you, you already have a big advantage!"

Shirogane blinked. "Is that so?"

"It is so!" She snapped her fingers as she pointed across the room. "You're Polish, tak?"

"Half."

"A hafu! Even better–!"

What.

"–That means you can play up both sides of your uniqueness!"

Seeking the Pearl hopped up to her feet again, doing another spin for no adequately expressed reason, pulling her sunglasses down to cover her eyes. "See, I've been to a bunch of different places, so you could say I'm Miss Worldwide, capiche?" She pointed at Shirogane with both index fingers, hands curled to resemble guns, which made Shirogane twitch before she tamped down the urge to bash someone's face in.

"I don't know what that means."

"Look, you already stand out a bit, and if you wanna catch enough attention to get into the Triple Tiara circuit, you've got to stand out magnificently." The diva of an uma laced her fingers together and stretched, pulling her arms up above her head. "So work with what you got. And I'd bet money none of the judges are gonna be able to speak Polish, which means you don't have to worry about messing up as much, if you catch my drift?"

"Is that why you like to throw in phrases from various languages into your speech?"

"Of course not!" The older uma huffed in mock offense. "My Japanese is perfect! It's just part of my brand as a worldwide traveller!"

Shirogane found herself rolling her eyes at the display, but internally she considered the point. There was some merit to it, for as campy and over the top Seeking the Pearl could be, she certainly stood out compared to some of her more demure rivals. Her foreign looks also helped her stand out, but that was less of a distinction given the number of foreign exchange students.

Still, Shirogane did know Polish to some degree, enough to converse simply with her grandparents, and Mother also had some Polish music records that they played in as background ambience for the restaurant sometimes, highlighting the distinction of being one of the few places in town that made authentic Polish food.

Hmm…this might be a useful way to draw some more attention to the restaurant…assuming she ever won a race where they accommodated the special performances.

"You have a point. As a public figure we do have to create a brand of sorts."

"Oh that is way too uncute of a way to put it!" Her senior seemed to recoil as if physically struck, before tilting her head contemplatively. "But I guess cute won't work too well for you."

"Probably." Shirogane rather appreciated not being treated like a child, even if she was not a legal adult yet, so she didn't really want to appear cute even if it suited her. "Thank you for the advice, Seeking the Pearl-san. It has given me quite a bit to think about."

---

"You cannot be serious…"

Hana Toujou pulled her glasses off, setting them gently on her desk, before pinching her nose with her palms.

"I would not have brought this up as a joke."

Across from her sat the trainee she thought would give her the least headaches and anxiety, looking cool as a longstanding stone and with an expression about as gravely serious. Taking a deep breath to center herself, Hana set her glasses back onto her face, then looked over the tentative race schedule and application forms in front of her.

"And here I thought you would be least enthralled with the bright lights of the Triple Crown and Triple Tiara."

"Didn't they ban flash cameras recently? Besides, I doubt I would win any of these races, let alone a triple crown," Shirogane scoffed, as casual about her own relative ability as she always was. "But with these large prize pools, placing would be enough to make an attempt worthwhile."

Hana sighed. "I suppose I should have expected that to draw your interest." At least Shirogane-san was not truly shooting for a Sextuple Crown. If someone managed to pull that off…it would be a sight to see. "But even just running in all six of these races would make the league question my sanity as a trainer."

The first two legs of each circuit were within one week of the corresponding leg in the other circuit, with the Shuka Sho and Kikuka Sho being two weeks apart, which was still quite close together. To qualify for each leg, her unimpressionable yet somehow still overly ambitious trainee would have to place or show in one of their qualifier races, and if she did not manage to do so in the circuit races, she would have to do so in another qualifier. The first two legs were not far enough apart for that to be feasible.

"Qualifying for each of the legs is already not trivial. Given your showing on the Nakayama racecourse, you likely have good odds of qualifying for the Satsuki Sho, but beyond that…and the Triple Tiara races outside of the Yushun Himba are your most challenging distance."

Shirogane nodded, clearly already having considered these things. "Indeed, I have no illusions that I will win any of these races outright, but do I truly lose anything by trying?"

Health came to mind reflexively, but Hana could not even use that as a strong argument, as her pale trainee was perhaps the least injury prone uma she had ever heard of, and this was in spite of her high intensity training.

"There is always the possibility that you exhaust yourself, or simply fail miserably, particularly in the shorter races like the Oka Sho and Shuka Sho." At least with Shirogane, she did not have to worry about upsetting her by being blunt.

"Failure is certainly possible, but that is rather expected, isn't it?"

That did not mean her trainee would listen to her completely.

"If I do not succeed on the shorter races, it can be said that I was testing my limits," Shirogane suggested, posture still and as certain as ever. "If I do succeed, then I have more range than we thought, and failure would simply be finding the extent of my limits."

"And you do not think exhaustion would be a problem?"

"There is at least a week between each of these races, and none of them are particularly long, so that should be enough time to recover," Shirogane declared, still completely oblivious to how long it took her fellows to recover from the strain. "Kyoto and Hanshin are quite far away, but it's not as if they're overseas."

"How did you feel a week after your debut race? Any different from your expectations?" Racing was generally quite a bit more tiring than practice, both because the runners tended to push themselves harder in actual race conditions, as well as the nerves and adrenaline often wearing them out more than they realized at the time.

Shirogane blinked, apparently not having considered this. "About as expected. I think I could have run again on Tuesday, but only because my family insisted on having a party over the weekend as celebration and that meant my sleep schedule was disrupted slightly Sunday night."

Hana resisted the urge to palm her face. The degree to which Shirogane treated a sport her peers threw themselves into wholeheartedly like a common day job continued to throw her off balance, especially when it turned out that her strange trainee truly had the physique to do just that.

She had prayed for a trainee who wasn't too eager to get herself injured, or too blinded by the glory to be mindful of her own limits. Now it felt like the Kami had a sense of humor about her life.

"If you have doubts I can keep up that pace, I could run a few lower stakes races weekly," Shirogane continued, taking her silence for doubt rather than exasperation. "It will not simulate the intensity completely, but it would at least demonstrate that I can keep up with the mandatory rest period rules."

"We shouldn't start off too intensely, otherwise I will have some unfriendly questions thrown my way by the league," Hana sighed, again feeling herself dragged along by her trainees' eccentricities. "Only one set of consecutive races, like you would see if you actually manage to get into both circuits."

"Why would the league have an issue with this?" Shirogane tilted her head curiously. "They have set a rule that there must be at least one week between races, so shouldn't it be fine for someone to run once a week?"

"In theory, that would be the case, but you should understand that this is a bare minimum," Hana clarified, "and that as trainers we are expected to keep the health of our trainees as a priority, so in most cases such a schedule would be out of consideration."

"You say most cases…"

Hana sighed again, crossing her arms as she closed her eyes. "From what I've seen, you should be able to handle it physically, but if you do get injured it will not reflect well on me as a trainer."

"I know my limits," her trainee asserted, and at this point Hana mostly believed her. "And if I must drop out of a race that is not a major problem either."

At least she was being a little bit reasonable despite the scope of her ambition, even if those were words Hana had never thought she'd hear from a racer. "It will be difficult, and I am not referring to just the races themselves." The Triple Tiara races required a certain level of stage presence that her reserved trainee had never shown much inclination towards. "While you have practiced the expected choreography well enough, the officials will be looking for something more than that."

Shirogane nodded, looking less irritated than expected. "I have recently made some progress in convincing Ito-sensei of my performing abilities."

Hana blinked, then checked the notes she had received from the performance instructor. "He says that you have found a way to come to life and not sing like a robot…this is much more positive than his usual assessment."

"Apparently, I am more expressive in Polish," her trainee snorted, one side of her mouth curling up slightly. "I think this largely is a result of Ito-sensei having no knowledge of the language or even how it should sound."

"You chose a Polish song then?" Hana wasn't certain how well that would go over with the public. It would certainly be novel, but it would be very unfamiliar, and might give off the impression that Shirogane was a foreign student.

"Yes, it's a favorite of my grandfather's." Shirogane did not move, but for a moment, her eyes seemed to flash crimson and Hana found herself suppressing a shiver. "He told me it reminds him of his sister."

Hana pursed her lips, then nodded. She didn't have much of an opinion to give here, since she wasn't fluent in Polish herself, but it seemed clear that it was important to her trainee.

"It should help you stand out, even if most of the audience won't understand it."

"It will have to do, if Ito-sensei remains unsatisfied with any of my Japanese performances."

"I must admit I am somewhat curious what exactly convinced him. Despite his eccentricities, he is skilled within his field."

"I am not sure either. Perhaps if I demonstrate it you would have something to input?"

Once she saw what her trainee had put together at what seemed to be a whim, Hana ran out of avenues to dissuade her trainee from challenging the Tiara races as well.

---

The day of the second set of tryouts came, and with it came stress for much of the first year student population. It meant very little to Shirogane, since she was already on a team, but oddly enough she found some of her classmates on edge as well, despite having trainers or teams themselves.

Special Week and Tsurumaru Tsuyoshi, she could understand, as this was their chance to 'catch up', as they would say, to the rest of them. She did not understand the agitation in Grass Wonder or King Halo.

For one reason or another, the entirety of their class was present at the racetrack, either participating in tryouts or watching. El Condor Pasa had wanted to cheer on Special Week and Tsurumaru Tsuyoshi, leading her to drag her roommate along. King Halo seemed rather invested in her own roommate's attempt, which made some sense, given Haru Urara's tendency to get distracted.

Despite her lackadaisical nature, Seiun Sky appeared to be using the opportunity to scope out the opposition. Shirogane was doing something similar, since her trainer was attending, along with much of Team Rigil, though they were up higher in the stands, while Shirogane had opted to join her yearmates closer to the track.

The run they were there for started without anything unusual, with no one crashing right out of the gate, though Special Week started slightly late, which wasn't terribly surprising since she was not as familiar with the mechanical starting gates, even after practicing for a few weeks.

Regardless, their classmate had enough speed and endurance to make up for the delay, quickly settling into her preferred position towards the rear of the pack, not too far from Haru Urara, who looked like she was having fun, despite running in an inefficient way.

Meanwhile, Tsuyoshi was towards the front of the pack following the pace setters, who were from other classes, and weren't setting a particularly fast pace.

"GO SPE!"

"Urara! Remember your training!"

Pasa and King Halo were quite absorbed in the race, yelling advice excitedly, though from Shirogane's own experience, it was likely in vain, given the noise generated by the numerous runners, though with the lesser crowd this time, there was perhaps some chance that their fellows could hear them.

"From the looks of it, Special Week or Tsurumaru Tsuyoshi-san can outrun the others on the final stretch," Shirogane murmured thoughtfully, noting the difference in endurance between her classmates and the others. "Provided they keep their wits about them, of course."

"What makes you say that, Shirogane-san?" Grass Wonder asked, again interested in her musings much more than before.

"The others are already struggling with their breathing–except for Urara-san, who just has bad running form–so they will not be able to keep their speed up for the last segment, if our classmates time it right."

"What would you do?" Grass Wonder's ear flicked in thought, eyes not leaving the race.

"What I usually do, match the leader's pace initially then accelerate to my top speed till the end."

"I meant what would you do if you were Special Week or Tsuyoshi-san."

Shirogane hummed in thought, considering the scenario. "If I possessed their physical attributes…" Presumably Grass would not be satisfied with the observation that being exactly the same as another person meant you would behave in the exact same way. "I would likely do something similar to what they are planning, though in Special Week's situation, I'd angle more towards the outside past the midway point."

"So you'd have a clearer path to overtake?"

"Yes. Special Week has impressive acceleration, but she isn't agile enough that I'd be willing to attempt weaving through traffic." Especially not as an uma who seemed so unused to traffic.

"What about Tsuyoshi-san?"

"I'd probably do the same as what she is doing now." As she was following the front runners but ahead of the rest of the pack, she had plenty of space to maneuver heading into the final stretch. "Though depending on how well her aerobics hold up I might not be pushing up the pack the same way." With how easily winded Tsuyoshi could get, managing stamina would be trickier than Shirogane was used to.

"Hmm…" her chestnut haired classmate hummed contemplatively as her ears tilted forwards in focus. "So who do you think will win at this stage?"

Shirogane narrowed her eyes, focusing on the runners, noting that Tsuyoshi did not look too winded yet, while Special Week's positioning would make her rush for the finish more difficult. "As is, I think Tsuyoshi-san has the best position."

True to her estimate, their lighter white-streaked classmate managed to claim first place, while Special Week came in third after having to circumvent some other runners on the final stretch, the maneuvering blunting her impressive burst of speed.

"That should land Tsuyoshi a trainer," Shirogane mused, glancing over to the stands populated by observers. "Special Week will likely be recruited as well."

"What makes you say that?" Grass Wonder asked, looking oddly peeved with her ears shifting in agitation.

"While she did not win, her performance did demonstrate her physical talent, which is something trainers cannot change, whereas experience and training will improve her racing strategy." Shirogane couldn't think of anything she could have done to be the cause of her classmate's unease, so she chose not to address it.

"You didn't seem to need much of that," Grass pointed out archly, "did you race a lot before coming to Tracen? I know Special Week-san didn't."

"I did not, which is why I have remedial training in that regard," Shirogane admitted, choosing not to comment on the moment of blank shock on her classmate's face. "But I grew up in a city so I am familiar with navigating traffic, and I have an older friend who also became a professional racer, so some theoretical knowledge did percolate over to me."

"I see…" By the look on her face, Grass Wonder still had questions. "What do you mean remedial training?"

Shirogane shrugged. "While I have some idea of racing strategy, I lack much experience running in official races, so that is what Trainer-san saw fit to assign to me." From what she gathered from most of her classmates, they were relatively experienced, at least at a more local level, even if some were from overseas.

Grass stared at her for a moment, a frown pulling at her face, before she turned to look back at the track, where Tsuyoshi was still celebrating her victory. "Well if you're right, we should go congratulate them on their run."

Shirogane nodded, though she found that she usually didn't have to do much of that, nor did she usually get much space to, given the exuberance of many of her schoolmates.

---

Suzukiya was one of Akira Watanabe's favorite restaurants, something that, in hindsight, largely stemmed from Suzuki-chan giving out samples at lunchtime from her family's shop. He was sure he would have liked the food if he had found it independently, but he might not have tried it if he discovered the restaurant on his own compared to from his classmate.

Now, looking at the number of familiar faces from middle school cycling through the shop, he clearly wasn't alone in that…and he was starting to suspect that his former classmate had been deliberately trying for this result the whole time…

What a scary girl Shirogane was…

"Akira-kun!"

He was shaken out of his thoughts as a whirl of flaxen chestnut smacked into him, almost knocking him off his feet.

"There you are, Swift," he grunted out, steadying himself as his girlfriend hugged him with more enthusiasm than was probably necessary, squeezing the breath from his lungs. "Almost late, you know?"

"Muuu…I'm right on time!" she huffed, pulling back to look up at him, tail swishing happily as she grabbed his arm instead. "The race is going to be starting soon!"

Akira ushered his girlfriend to the table Suzuki-san had reserved for them, and not long after Taro-san appeared with their usual orders, the massive uma managing to maneuver around the fairly small space with practiced ease.

"You two here to watch?" Taro-san observed as they thanked her for the food, all three of them glancing periodically at the new television hung up on the wall, currently showing footage from the Kyoto race track. "Thought you'd want to go to the track in person, Swift."

"I did!" Swift pouted, ears flopping down adorably. "But it's way too far! And we have school tomorrow. Tracen has to be crazy rich to allow its students to go all over the country like that!"

"They are," Akira confirmed sagely, before taking a bite out of his pierogi and chewing thoughtfully, glancing up at the new air conditioning unit and sound system. Though with how much money they made from their cut of their students' winnings, it made sense.

"But did Shiro-chan have to go all the way to Kyoto?" his girlfriend griped, tail swishing sadly. "Chiba isn't super far away but she didn't tell us about it!" Swift had been quite perturbed that her childhood friend had debuted without any notice, but Akira had been able to assure her that was just the way Shirogane was.

The crazy gray uma was quite a private person despite how popular she had been back in middle school, and having sat near her for several years, Akira wasn't quite sure if she had ever realized how beloved she had become by being so effortlessly good at what seemed like everything while not lording it over everyone else.

And also bringing food.

"I guess she wants to try out other race courses?" Taro-san suggested, tapping her chin with her pen, one ear tilted towards the kitchen so she could listen out for one of the elder Suzukis. "There's a couple big races at the Kyoto course right?"

"There's the Spring Tenno Sho, Kikuka Sho and Shuka Sho," Akira listed off, pretty sure that Taro was right about what Suzuki-san was going for. "And two of those are long races, which Suzuki-san has pretty good chances at, I think."

"She can run for days!"

"That might be an exaggeration, Swift-chan." At least he was fairly sure it was.

"Ehhh? But remember she ran so much they had to stop her because time had run out?" His girlfriend leaned forwards, eyes innocently wide and he felt himself flagging.

"She can sure run for a long time, but you should eat your food before it gets too cold," Taro-san laughed, successfully redirecting Swift's attention and saving Akira some embarrassment.

That said he was quite hungry so he and Swift started eating quickly. It was delicious as usual, and Akira again felt his wallet quail momentarily at how much his girlfriend could consume, but he had known what he was getting into, and from what he had seen of his friends who dated human girls, he'd still take his overly enthusiastic and big eater of a girlfriend over a lot of the backhanded nonsense they went through.

"This is sooo good!"

"You say that every time, Swift-chan."

"Uhuh! And they make it tasty every time!" his girlfriend declared with cheerful solemnity, eyes shining and ears perked up excitedly, "so I will say it's good every time."

Yeah, this was worth the extra hours at his part time job.

A familiar trumpet call sounded through the restaurant and a bunch of eyes swiveled over to the television, including Suzuki-san, who poked his head out of the kitchen to watch his daughter race.

"Hehehe…she looks so small in the gate!" Swift giggled, pointing at the screen depicting Shirogane-san standing ready in the gate looking as unimpressed by everything as ever, hardly blinking even as the umas in the surrounding gates were a sea of twitching ears and tails.

"She's quite short for a racer," Akira chuffed, shaking his head slightly. "But you kinda don't realize it in person because of how intense she is." That and having been in school with her for so long, there was a decent chunk of their lives where they were about the same height before they really started to grow and Shirogane turned into a mini-adult.

In truth, despite having an uma for a girlfriend, Akira didn't care all that much about the races, as he already had an uma occupying most of his attention, but Swift liked Shirogane and racing, so he followed up on it to some degree, enough to be impressed with how perfectly their former classmate timed her exit out of the gate.

"Whoa! She got a lot faster!" Swift gasped, watching wide-eyed as Shirogane accelerated rapidly towards the front of the pack, making it look almost effortless.

"She always did get significant results when she put her mind to something." It was a little intimidating sometimes.

The other runners seemed to be affected by her intensity as well, a few of them actually overtaking her as they tried to keep their position, but they quickly fell behind again after they burned themselves out, to the cheers of various people in the restaurant.

"Go, Shiro-chan, go!" his girlfriend cheered, pumping her arms up and down in encouragement, not that their mutual friend could see them, but there was no reason to mention that.

On the screen, Shirogane gamely kept her pace, gradually leaving most of the other front running and trailing racers behind as they flagged.

"Yes! You can do it Shiro-chan!"

She did a good job of throwing the front of the pack into chaos, but that didn't seem to affect the couple of runners that waited towards the back, and as the runners turned the corner towards the final stretch, a couple of runners picked up speed and started to close.

The first one (a chestnut colored uma) rushed forwards, easily passing by the tiring runners, but found her path suddenly blocked by Shirogane, who had slipped out from in front a larger runner, her abrupt appearance almost making the chestnut runner stumble, completely killing her momentum, which allowed Shirogane to create a lead.

"No! Go, Shiro, go!"

But the other runner, this one bay colored, was not so easily startled, and quickly overtook the others, closing in on Shirogane and the finish line.

Akira held his breath as the two runners rushed forwards, the bay horse steadily gaining on Shirogane—

"Nooo!"

–and overtook her shortly before the finish, to a round of disappointed cries throughout the restaurant.

'Claiming victory with her final spurt is number five, Emocion! Just half a length before number seven, Shirogane Orzel!'

"Awww…she was doing so well too…I hope Shiro-chan doesn't get too upset…" Swift's ears drooped down sadly, looking more upset about the results than Shirogane herself, who walked past the thrilled but clearly exhausted winner without as much as a second glance, leaving the track with the same degree of nonchalance as leaving school.

"I think she'll be just fine," Akira reassured her, noting that while Suzuki-san looked disappointed, she was not terribly distraught either. "Shirogane-san is pretty hard to upset." Though you really did not want to manage that.

"Oh yeah…she still gets money for second place, right? So she's probably okay then."

Akira glanced back to the new television, then to the new air conditioning unit. "Yeah, she's probably going to be happy as long as she wins some money."

---

As she had expected, while much of the competition was less impressive than her classmates at Tracen, there were still plenty of strong runners from other schools, and there usually was one that could beat her, at least on the shorter distances that younger runners were typically slotted for.

One thing she hadn't accounted for in regards to race days was that since she only did warmups and cooldowns, by the time evening came she found that she tended to have too much excess energy to sleep easily.

And so here she was on a late evening jog.

This being Tokyo, the streets were still fairly populated, but it was significantly quieter, and Shirogane did not usually have to worry about running into pedestrians, but while the streets were well lit, she was short enough that her head was below eye level on many adults, and at this hour a not insubstantial number of them were drunk or sleep deprived.

A quick circuit of the academy later, she was starting to feel more settled. It didn't burn away all the excess energy, but it tamped down the urge to move about, so she should be able to fall asleep more easily after a quick shower.

As she turned the corner down the street her apartment was on, she spotted a familiar face exiting a convenience store with a grocery bag in hand.

"Shirogane-san," Hana's cousin nodded in greeting, looking rather curious about why she was out running at this time.

"Tensei-san." She paused in her jog and stepped off the uma path onto the sidewalk. "Good evening to you." They had decided not to use each other's surnames to avoid confusion, as he shared a surname with her trainer, and there were many other Suzukis that he was acquainted with.

"Are you still training at this hour?"

"Not exactly," Shirogane replied with a shake of her head. "I just needed to wear off some more energy before I go to bed."

Tensei's eyes blinked behind his glasses. "You had a race today, and you still have excess energy?"

"Yes, as I don't do as much training on race days," Shirogane explained, before registering the way he phrased the question. "You knew that I ran a race today?"

"I watched it on TV earlier today. I saw your name on one of the lists posted around this area." He shrugged, and Shirogane nodded for him to continue. "You ran quite smoothly, but unfortunately, Bold Emperor was faster."

"Indeed, though for as grandiose of a name she has–" Why was she called 'emperor' when she was female? "–her stamina and temperament likely means she will have less luck at longer races." Winning open races wasn't necessarily anything to boast too much about; even she had won one.

"She doesn't stack up well in comparison to your classmates at Tracen?"

"No."

"Then next year's Classic Triple Crown looks to be interesting." Tensei adjusted his glasses slightly, as they had slid down his nose from looking down at her.

"I will endeavor to make it so…but I won't be providing any insider information if you plan on betting on it." She flicked her ear in jest at her trainer's cousin. "That would be bad form."

"Of course," he nodded. "I am not one for betting on things in general."

"Probably wise."

"It feels…unearned even if I win."

"That depends largely on how you decided what to bet on." If you blindly picked a winner then it was purely luck, but if you had spotted something few others had and bet on that, it was to your credit.

"I suppose you have a point there."

"Though on another note…" Shirogane looked him up and down, taking in his slightly disheveled appearance. "Why are you out getting groceries this late? Studying for exams get away from you?"

"More or less," Tensei admitted, shrugging his shoulders in an embarrassed gesture. "I was planning on taking a short nap but I was clearly more tired than I thought. I was just getting some instant ramen for dinner. Don't really have time to cook."

"That is rather unhealthy."

"Probably, better than not eating though."

"If you would like, I have some pierogis I made yesterday and put in the refrigerator. They'll have to be warmed up but it will be better than instant ramen, at least." Shirogane had made them in anticipation of one of her schoolmates poking their head into her apartment, but this worked too.

"Are you sure? I wouldn't want to impose," Tensei demurred, evidently not expecting the offer. And to be fair, it wasn't like Shirogane had much obligation to make it.

"A few of my schoolmates like to drop by my apartment unannounced, so I like to keep some food prepared beforehand so they don't look at me pitifully until I cook for them."

"They like your cooking that much? Or are they just taking advantage of you?"

Shirogane shrugged. "I learned to cook from my parents and grandparents, who run a restaurant, and pierogies are mostly new to them, so there's the novelty aspect as well."

"Makes sense. I haven't tried any before either."

"No time like the present, then."

Tensei-san ended up liking the pierogies about as much as her schoolmates did, and didn't mind her inquiries about how his own studies were going.

There was something nostalgic about the schoolwork he described, and given he was older than her body and clearly fairly intelligent, some of what they talked about helped with her own studies.

Now that she thought about it, she should probably talk with normal people more often, lest the athletic obsession warp her outlook too much.

---

AN. Well that took quite a bit longer than I expected, but the last month has been quite busy workwise. I also got busy with some other things. Anyways, Shirogane continues to run races like she's being paid to train and continues making money despite not being that dominant in the shorter distance races. Also Seeking the Pearl is just so over the top it's hilarious.

 

[lot]

Tensei-san ended up liking the pierogies

Click to shrink...

Inviting boys over to your apartment already, Shirogane, what will your parents think? Other than being wildly excited for you.

 

[Miriallia]

Huzzah! So yeah there's deffo a misfortune or rather disruption aura to her, and it's honestly nice to read a story where every race isn't treated like a make it or break it event.

 

[PinkShadowReader]

I must say I love this. Shirogane is so fantastic to read about. Its amazing how different people see her. Everything from a mastermind, Death herself to a lovely frilly.

 

[McLoggernaut]

Thanks for the chapter!!!

Nice conversations with Trainer-san and Grass, Shiro being oblivious to what she sounds like to them is hilarious

 

[Lyrista]

Can't win em all, but if she can manage to consistently win Top 3, then she should still be able to qualify for races pretty well.

We'll see how her attempts to invent a PR brand for herself goes.

 

[zecorezecron]

Just half a length before number seven, Shirogane Orzel!'

Click to shrink...

So, how would they measure that in this universe? A horse is a pretty long animal, but humanoids are not noted for being that long while standing up, barring porn stars.

 

[RandomNew]

She had prayed for a trainee who wasn't too eager to get herself injured, or too blinded by the glory to be mindful of her own limits. Now it felt like the Kami had a sense of humor about her life.

Click to shrink...

You got your wish, but the Kami also gave you monkey paw treatment.

not too far from Haru Urara, who looked like she was having fun, despite running in an inefficient way.

Click to shrink...

Nice to see Urara having fun!
Go go Urara!
And Maybe Shirogane help her with her running form when they meet? Just giving a bit advice would help.

Now I'm curious what kind of performance Shiro do.

It's good to see the changes made by Shiro in her family. Looks like they spend some of it so they can watch her racing while serving the costumer and promoting Shirogane.

Hopefully this isn't indication of Shirogane and Tensei shipping. I do like their friendship, but in relationship? Maybe it's just me, but I find it weird.

Thank you for the new chapter, I've been waiting for this chapter.

 

[Jetsmillion]

...so, how fast are rumors of Shirogane bringing a boy to her apartment spreading?

Also I noticed that Haru is apparently breathing properly after learning the hill game from Shiro-chan. I wonder if her new friend has any games that will help with her running form. A happy Haru having fun and winning a race due to the games she is learning would be heart warming.

 

[Worldsoul]

I do find it slightly funny that Shirogane is consistently coming in second place now that she's facing actual competition. This isn't going to do anything to stop her from thinking she's unimpressive.

 

[Eldestgruff]

A traditional Polish song ... or just a Polish language song? I'm sure I'm not the only one hoping for highly animated Tanya singing something that inevitability terrifies her opponents when it gets translated...

- YouTube

Profitez des vidéos et de la musique que vous aimez, mettez en ligne des contenus originaux, et partagez-les avec vos amis, vos proches et le monde entier.

youtu.be

 

[PinkShadowReader]

Inviting boys over to your apartment already, Shirogane, what will your parents think? Other than being wildly excited for you.

Click to shrink...

If Shirogane tells her parents about this then they will both feel that she's her father's daughter. Lure a boy in with food, chat about common interests and before he knows it he wants to continue to eat her food.

 

[AmeliaNyoom]

Inviting boys over to your apartment already, Shirogane, what will your parents think? Other than being wildly excited for you.

Click to shrink...

Shiro: hmm, he is quite intelligent and fairly good looking, I also do quite enjoy talking with him, though I have little interest in men.
Cue everyone thinking she means she's into women when she's just not interested in romance right now(who knows she might be into women idk)

 

[SectionZ]

"Yes, it's a favorite of my grandfather's." Shirogane did not move, but for a moment, her eyes seemed to flash crimson and Hana found herself suppressing a shiver. "He told me it reminds him of his sister."

Click to shrink...

"Shiro is not a ghost. Her backup dancers, on the other hand..."
"Isn't dead world war 2 ghosts how you get Godzilla that one time?"
"The extra brand recognition would make it worth it if that happens."

 

[CantFocusOneThing]

"I am not sure either. Perhaps if I demonstrate it you would have something to input?"

Once she saw what her trainee had put together at what seemed to be a whim, Hana ran out of avenues to dissuade her trainee from challenging the Tiara races as well.

Click to shrink...

I wonder did it sound like a Demon having an angelic voice or an Angel doing heavy metal.

"The others are already struggling with their breathing–except for Urara-san, who just has bad running form–so they will not be able to keep their speed up for the last segment, if our classmates time it right."

Click to shrink...

You could even say she has an iron will

"Probably." Shirogane rather appreciated not being treated like a child, even if she was not a legal adult yet, so she didn't really want to appear cute even if it suited her. "Thank you for the advice, Seeking the Pearl-san. It has given me quite a bit to think about."

Click to shrink...

It seems that Shirogane has gained something! Gain charming condition.

 

[Sky3Fall]

"Omg she's so far ahead of me it's not even funny" - Grass Wonder, probably.


Also, I'm imagining the conversation between Shiro and Hana like this lol:

"Torena-San, I want to run more races."

"Yes Shiro."

"I want to run every race."

"No Shiro."


Also, I'm loving that people that Shiro had spent a long time with actually understand her. It bodes well for the future of her relationships with her classmates.

Lastly, I'm looking forward to the eventual Haru win. At some point she's going to have absorbed enough race knowledge and running skill through osmosis that it'll all add up to a win.

 

[Greymatter02]

Another excellent chapter!
I wonder what Shirogane came up with for her performance to get in to the Triple Tiara.

 

[FarJackal]

I do find it slightly funny that Shirogane is consistently coming in second place now that she's facing actual competition. This isn't going to do anything to stop her from thinking she's unimpressive.

Click to shrink...

Once again always getting second place like her first life. It really messed up her perception of how good she is at doing things.