On a Pale Horse (Umamusume/Youjo Senki)

[guisniperman]

The Final Fantasy Tactics one had her make it, but ultimately outsourced to other people for the final production.

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Which one? There's two of them off the top of my head.

 

[Maiden_Soliloquy]

Which one? There's two of them off the top of my head.

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First one that pops into my mind is 'Would that I were born no Princess... (Youjo Senki/Final Fantasy Tactics:WoTL)'

 

[Artful Lounger]

The other one is 'To Commit Heresy.'

Last updated about four years ago, so probably dead and gone.

 

[WrandmWaffles]

Huh, found out that Hishi Amazon was irl friends with Hokuto Vega, so if horse Shirogane Orzel was born from Hokuto Venus, maybe I should have Hishi Amazon be a bit worried about her new junior. Technically it doesn't look like Hokuto Vega and Hokuto Venus are that closely related, but they have the same crown name, and since I'm going with crown names being more like an actual family in umamusume world, then Shirogane would be related to the late Hokuto Vega somehow.

 

[TheSmallSauce]

Fuji Kiseki and Hishi Amazon fighting over who gets to fuss over Shirogane, while she sits between the two of them reading an economics book. Her only thought:

"I don't live in either dorm though?"

Spoiler: Custody Battle

 

[bucketbot129]

Could even be like a romance drama. Fuji finally gets around to welcoming Shirogane properly by visiting her apartment with a housewarming gift, only for Shiro to open the door showing her and Hishi in aprons making food.

 

[Artful Lounger]

Could even be like a romance drama. Fuji finally gets around to welcoming Shirogane properly by visiting her apartment with a housewarming gift, only for Shiro to open the door showing her and Hishi in aprons making food.

Click to shrink...

Nah. Hishi and Fuji run into each other outside of Shiro's apartment, with the gifts, start fighting, only to find out Air Groove beat them both to it.

 

[macdjord]

The closest one I can think of off the top of my head is the Hobbit crossover, though he, in his third life as Bilbo Baggins, got a dwarf craftsman to do the actual creation.

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Link?

 

[wtdtd]

Link?

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https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/a-young-hobbits-unexpected-journey.1121978/

Here you go!

 

[WrandmWaffles]

[/SPOILER]

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Lmao, Shiro kinda has some Stay Gold vibes in this artwork.

 

[Zweibach]

Just an old timer enjoying her retirement while these whippersnappers are causing a commotion right by her door.

 

[WillowFriend]

Huh, found out that Hishi Amazon was irl friends with Hokuto Vega, so if horse Shirogane Orzel was born from Hokuto Venus, maybe I should have Hishi Amazon be a bit worried about her new junior. Technically it doesn't look like Hokuto Vega and Hokuto Venus are that closely related, but they have the same crown name, and since I'm going with crown names being more like an actual family in umamusume world, then Shirogane would be related to the late Hokuto Vega somehow.

Click to shrink...

Fuji Kiseki and Hishi Amazon fighting over who gets to fuss over Shirogane, while she sits between the two of them reading an economics book. Her only thought:

"I don't live in either dorm though?"

Click to shrink...

Hishi Amazon: "Yo! Orzel! Where are you going? The dorms are over there."

Shirogane Orzel: "Ah, actually-..."

Hishi Amazon: "Going out of the academy at this time is going to be bad, you know. Come on, let's go-..."

Fuji Kiseki: "Hey now, Ama, the little pony doesn't seem to live in your dorms."

Shirogane Orzel: "Yes, that's what I was going to say-..."

Fuji Kiseki: "She's from my dorm, even if she's quite an elusive little pony."

Shirogane Orzel: "What?"

Hishi Amazon: "Oi, what makes you think that she's from your dorm? Besides, Orzel needs to get inside before she breaks the curfew."

Fuji Kiseki: "You sure that she lives in Miho?"

Hishi Amazon: "Definitely, I mean, she has a lot of friends there."

Shirogane Orzel: "But I don't..."

Fuji Kiseki: "Hey now, the cute little pony seems to be confused as of now with you claiming her."

Hishi Amazon: "But she's cute and all that. I just want to fuss about her whenever I see her, even if she disappears afterschool."

Shirogane Orzel: "I'm pretty sure that I'm fine living alone-..."

Fuji Kiseki: "Well that's not good, little pony. Especially since you're about to break curfew. Come on, let's go inside before you get into a lot of trouble."

Hishi Amazon: "Hey, don't you sneak out Orzel away from me, Fuji! She's from Miho!"

Shirogane Orzel: "... But I don't live in any of the Campus Dorms..."

*Argument continued for a few more minutes until Tazuna arrived and told the two Dorm Leaders that Shirogane Orzel lives on her own studio apartment, much to the shock of the two Dorm Leaders who only heard about her circumstance for the first time. It wouldn't stop the two from inviting Shirogane Orzel to visit the dorms from time to time.*


Also, I wonder how Shirogane Orzel's horse counterpart got trained? If her not staying in any dorms mean anything in the IRL Negaverse of this story, it's probably that Shirogane Orzel was trained at a private facility instead of the usual facilities.

 

[TheSmallSauce]

Also, I wonder how Shirogane Orzel's horse counterpart got trained? If her not staying in any dorms mean anything in the IRL Negaverse of this story, it's probably that Shirogane Orzel was trained at a private facility instead of the usual facilities.

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I know it's completely unrealistic, but I'd also like to imagine in this IRL Negaverse...

As the story goes, Shirogane just wandered onto the track one day, fully geared in racing regalia. No one knows how she managed to put her gear on, or who she belonged to, which sort of explained why her jockey's racing silks were completely colorless and unblazoned. A white horse with a pale rider who took the place of a scratched entry. Hell, after she won the race, everyone started digging for information and they found... nothing. Nothing at all, because by all appearances it would seem that this horse just decided to trot off her pasture and sign herself up for an open race at the local racecourse. Officials checked the papers, then double and triple checked, because they couldn't believe that everything was actually in order. In the post-race interview with the jockey, he was also completely unsure about the origins of his mysterious steed (who was now doing a rather regimented trot through the winner's circle, again), she just turned up at his house with a set of racing silks between her teeth. According to him, there were no complications in carrying out their racing strategy... because he had no idea what that racing strategy would be; Shirogane ran entirely without any prompting, he may as well have been an accessory.

The media is in shambles looking for answers: where on earth has this remarkably well-trained filly come from? Who trained her? Where did she disappear to after the race!? How did everyone just miss a horse!!?

Of course, this is all Shirogane looking for the nearest, reasonably lucrative employment opportunity. Doing deliveries for the farm that she was born on is nice, but such a dull retirement ill suits her.

 

[WrandmWaffles]

I know it's completely unrealistic, but I'd also like to imagine in this IRL Negaverse...

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It'd probably be a joke from the irl horse owner in regards to how easy it was to train her and how smart she is. Maybe they didn't originally intend to train her, but when they had a trainer come by to test some of the other foals she went along without them initially noticing, and was so easy to train they figured, why no?

 

[TheSmallSauce]

It'd probably be a joke from the irl horse owner in regards to how easy it was to train her and how smart she is. Maybe they didn't originally intend to train her, but when they had a trainer come by to test some of the other foals she went along without them initially noticing, and was so easy to train they figured, why no?

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It almost parallels how Tanya volunteered herself for military service once her prodigious magical talent was discovered, only this time it's Shiro's prodigious intelligence being uncovered instead. Better yet, it demonstrates her famously silent hoofbeats, many trainers and stablehands over the years have suffered some rather nasty surprises when they enter the stable looking for her, only they never hear her trotting up behind them. There are always two questions to be had for anyone unfamiliar with the horse: how does she move so silently, and who taught this horse to unlatch the gate to her stable?

 

[zebrin]

It almost parallels how Tanya volunteered herself for military service once her prodigious magical talent was discovered, only this time it's Shiro's prodigious intelligence being uncovered instead. Better yet, it demonstrates her famously silent hoofbeats, many trainers and stablehands over the years have suffered some rather nasty surprises when they enter the stable looking for her, only they never hear her trotting up behind them. There are always two questions to be had for anyone unfamiliar with the horse: how does she move so silently, and who taught this horse to unlatch the gate to her stable?

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She doesn't even do anything when she gets out either. Like, most normal horses? They take off and get into the pastures or the food barns if someone didn't properly close them. Shiogane? Nope. One time, she got out, and the stable hands found her leading several other horses back into the stable.
Then there was that one time a predator got into the barn. One dead predator. one very calm, and very bloody horse.

 

[WrandmWaffles]

It's getting to about that time, as I did manage to get quite a bit of the chapter done, so here's a preview snippet:

Spoiler

It was at this time Nakashima-sensei arrived, and for all their eccentricities, her classmates largely did make an attempt to pay attention, though the fruits of this labor were mixed.

"And now that you are all in your Classic year, do you know what that means?" Nakashima-sensei asked, excitement in her voice as she looked over the various members of her class that were nearly vibrating in anticipation. "Special Week-san, do you know?"

"Yes!" the dark haired uma cried, shooting up to a standing position in her eagerness. "The Triple Crown classic!"

"That is indeed the big thing! But there's more to it. What else is important this year?"

"The Triple Tiara?"

"The Arima Kinen!"

"Trigonometry."

"Aaaah!"

A few of her classmates let out varying sounds of distress as Shirogane spoke, with Pasa even going as far to slam her head down onto her desk. "Nooo! Why did you have to bring that up, Shiro?!"

"It will be there whether we address it or not," Shirogane replied, shrugging her shoulders as she rather liked this kind of mathematics. "Unless you plan to fail repeatedly to never reach this class."

"Don't do that–"

"I'm not going to give up!" the masked uma declared, shooting back up in her seat. "Math will know my name when I defeat it!"

"That's not how that works, El." Grass Wonder laughed into her hand at her friend's antics, and Shirogane was once again amazed at how much patience their teachers seemed to have.

"Haha…while true, that wasn't really what I was talking about." Or maybe she just found their shenanigans amusing.

"Well, in our Classic Year," King Halo began, tilting her head thoughtfully, "there are many more races open to us compared to our Junior Year, especially graded races."

"Indeed!" Nakashima-sensei smiled, looking pleased to have gotten back on track. "And for many of these graded races, especially big G1 races like the Triple Crown Classic, there are races leading up to them, both serving as good practice, and in some cases securing one of the limited spots in the big race."

Wouldn't their trainers have already discussed this with them already? Though perhaps it was less complicated for trainees only shooting for one circuit.

"Can anyone tell me one of the trial races for the Satsuki Sho?"

 

[MeowATron9000]

It's getting to about that time, as I did manage to get quite a bit of the chapter done, so here's a preview snippet:

Spoiler

It was at this time Nakashima-sensei arrived, and for all their eccentricities, her classmates largely did make an attempt to pay attention, though the fruits of this labor were mixed.

"And now that you are all in your Classic year, do you know what that means?" Nakashima-sensei asked, excitement in her voice as she looked over the various members of her class that were nearly vibrating in anticipation. "Special Week-san, do you know?"

"Yes!" the dark haired uma cried, shooting up to a standing position in her eagerness. "The Triple Crown classic!"

"That is indeed the big thing! But there's more to it. What else is important this year?"

"The Triple Tiara?"

"The Arima Kinen!"

"Trigonometry."

"Aaaah!"

A few of her classmates let out varying sounds of distress as Shirogane spoke, with Pasa even going as far to slam her head down onto her desk. "Nooo! Why did you have to bring that up, Shiro?!"

"It will be there whether we address it or not," Shirogane replied, shrugging her shoulders as she rather liked this kind of mathematics. "Unless you plan to fail repeatedly to never reach this class."

"Don't do that–"

"I'm not going to give up!" the masked uma declared, shooting back up in her seat. "Math will know my name when I defeat it!"

"That's not how that works, El." Grass Wonder laughed into her hand at her friend's antics, and Shirogane was once again amazed at how much patience their teachers seemed to have.

"Haha…while true, that wasn't really what I was talking about." Or maybe she just found their shenanigans amusing.

"Well, in our Classic Year," King Halo began, tilting her head thoughtfully, "there are many more races open to us compared to our Junior Year, especially graded races."

"Indeed!" Nakashima-sensei smiled, looking pleased to have gotten back on track. "And for many of these graded races, especially big G1 races like the Triple Crown Classic, there are races leading up to them, both serving as good practice, and in some cases securing one of the limited spots in the big race."

Wouldn't their trainers have already discussed this with them already? Though perhaps it was less complicated for trainees only shooting for one circuit.

"Can anyone tell me one of the trial races for the Satsuki Sho?"

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So has Shirogane already been at Tracen for a year?

 

[ScarletFox]

So has Shirogane already been at Tracen for a year?

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Not quite a full year. I'm pretty sure Umamusume uses the same schedule as usual JP highschool. Meaning they start in the Spring. Shirogane started running races in early Summer, and the races they just finished were the ones at the end of November/Early December.

The "Classics" years technically start in January even if they'll be starting their second year in classes around March/April (also when the Triple Crown/Tiara races are)

 

[TheSmallSauce]

"Trigonometry."

Click to shrink...

Wow, this is evil. What the hell, Shiro?

I genuinely haven't thought about or had to use trigonometry since high school. I can remember Pythagoras' Theorem and SOHCAHTOA off the top of my head, but honestly it really is a case of use-it-or-lose-it. I don't think I can still recall half of what I'd committed to memory for A-Levels, some things just fall by the wayside and don't get used at all in daily life or at work and get forgotten in favor of more immediately useful knowledge.

Also, I've been reading Star Blossom again recently. I'm at chapter 56 and I'm now beginning to realize how benign the girls of the Golden Generation are in comparison to some of the absolute psychopaths who ran their classic year in '94. You get to see a ridiculously twisted mentality from an uma whose had her dreams crushed.

Final Third, who by all appearances seems to be a peppy, genki-girl type of character who doesn't hesitate to say things like:

"Wow, there's some really great runners out there!"

"At first, that was all that would come to mind. The ruler of the junior grade, who was in my generation... She crushed us in the Satsuki Sho without breaking a sweat."

"I'm sure she was blessed with talent and works harder than anyone else... but... I'm no slouch either. I just have to believe in myself and take one step at a time. All my efforts will eventually pay off. It doesn't matter who I'm up against. As long as I have faith in myself, as long as I have the will to keep going... I'll be able to surpass them. That's what I believe."

She has 3 wins in 5 races at the time she says all that. Then she gets her motivation slowly ground into dust by Brian after suffering multiple decisive losses, eventually she ends up singing a very different tune:

"But I was wrong."

"I couldn't compete with that Monster. She didn't even register me."

"Will I really be able... to surpass her?"

"How would I do that?"

"There's a monster in my generation. Discovering that was all it took... to make my hard work, my very existence and every part of my career... completely meaningless."

"Don't you think that's strange? The more effort I put in, the worse things got for me. It's almost as if I wasn't ever meant to be running!"

In the end, she turns into someone who wants to preemptively crush the hopes and dreams of others so they won't ever have to face the overwhelming dread of constantly coming up short to a generational talent.

It's such a sharp contrast to Shiro's mindset that I couldn't help but draw the comparison.

"Second place, again? Not bad, I think the purse for this race was..."

There isn't a moment in her mind where she's trying to surpass anyone.

"Huh? What about my hard work? Well... what about it? Of course I'll work hard, I'm getting paid for this."

"Winning...? Well, it'd be nice to take first place, but the purse for second place isn't bad either, or third, now that I think about it."

"About my classmates? Well, they're all very talented, though I am rather worried about El's grades. Perhaps I should pay her a visit over summer, I'm sure she hasn't kept up with the homework."

She's so unbothered, practically an auntie already. This grown-up filly has more important things to be worrying about than racing.

"Why don't I feel frustrated at not taking first place? Well, I mean, it's just a race, isn't it?"

 

[Zweibach]

Well, I mean, it's just a race, isn't it?

Click to shrink...

Just a race.
Just a race...
A race...
Race...
Race race race...
Echoed through the minds of the surrounding umas, inflicting incalculable mental damage to an entire generation.

 

[eager slacker]

We get the stories of the legends and the stars of the racing track for many reasons outside of fan favorites like Haru Urara but we also have to acknowledge if only in the back of our minds that those plucky goofy nice girls had trampled on the dreams of tens if not hundreds in their pursuit of victory. That scene of Rudolf standing on a mountain of fallen umas in Cinderella Grey shows the reality of those that fail to rise to the top.

 

[Tonyloco]

Wow, this is evil. What the hell, Shiro?

It's such a sharp contrast to Shiro's mindset that I couldn't help but draw the comparison.

"Second place, again? Not bad, I think the purse for this race was..."

There isn't a moment in her mind where she's trying to surpass anyone.

"Huh? What about my hard work? Well... what about it? Of course I'll work hard, I'm getting paid for this."

"Winning...? Well, it'd be nice to take first place, but the purse for second place isn't bad either, or third, now that I think about it."

"About my classmates? Well, they're all very talented, though I am rather worried about El's grades. Perhaps I should pay her a visit over summer, I'm sure she hasn't kept up with the homework."

She's so unbothered, practically an auntie already. This grown-up filly has more important things to be worrying about than racing.

"Why don't I feel frustrated at not taking first place? Well, I mean, it's just a race, isn't it?"

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You know I can easily imagine Shiro's easygoing attitude to usually getting second place in most races hurting some feelings for the losers and sooner or later someone confronts her about it, comparing themselves to her and the effort they put into it. (More of letting out steam by complaining to her, than really saying that she doesn't trains hard enough since by now she would be probably considered a monster on her own that races every week if possible).

And Shiro gives them a detailed explanation of her faults as a racer, the mistakes they usually make and even some recommendations for training to fix some of her faults, because the little pale machine is really good at finding weakness and holes in others racing styles and decisions during them, and even remembers most of them (to be prepared for her own races with them).

Actually making her really hard to hate, when she's actually willing to help you to race better, and also probably annoying you even more when she points out your faults and mistakes in a very honest and in your face manner, not to mention that some of them would be resentful of her race tactics of scaring them.

Just imagine her sitting in her cursed stump getting a loser Uma going to her in a depressed or angered mood to tell her off and leaving them, in a different mood and even willing to try something else for their races (from changing the type of races they run to change their racing style)

Shiro would have a lot of animosity and resentment from other racers, and probably wonder why since she's not one of those monsters who win every race they run, I do believe that it´s probably going to take a while to realize that she herself is considered on of those monsters by the mere fact that she races all the time.

More Races = more beaten Uma's and more rivals gunning after her, the worst part for some is the fact that while some of them can beat her in one race, and then lose badly the next one she keeps her own record very stable always seems to be fresh and relaxed after a race (if you're bested by an opponent who ends dead tired and almost passing out by giving her 110% would hurt less than someone who barely seems winded and looks more annoyed at having to sing and dance at the end of the race than losing the 1st place IMHO).

I'm thinking about making an Omake of Shiro's later years as a trainer herself, or having a restaurant with racer dressed girls and deliveries UMMAS and dealing with younger racers and probably old retired ones who like to hang around with her.

 

[bucketbot129]

Shiro's response to the teacher asking about knowing the trials races.

"Why yes, I'm planning on running all of them."

 

[WrandmWaffles]

Money Makes the Mare Go​

---

"Trainer-kun!"

Yamazaki Yasuo looked up from the paperwork on his desk to see his first trainee flounce her way into his office, pushing the door open with an actually reasonable amount of force, something that had taken some time for her to get adjusted to.

"Good morning, Steady, what is it this time?" After four years working together, he no longer bothered trying to disguise the mild exasperation in his voice. While she had quite markedly matured in the past few years, Steady Distance was still sometimes prone to flights of fancy.

The dark bay uma rolled the chair across from him around the desk until it was next to him, before plopping into it with a self satisfied swish of her tail. "What's got you so busy, Trainer-kun?" Her flirtatious nature hadn't changed, though it was a bit more restrained now.

"Scheduling," Yasuo replied, giving her a nonplussed look, "but you already knew that." It was the beginning of the calendar year (if not the school year), so this was usually when he went over the desired racing plans for his group of trainees. "What's got you in a chipper mood today?"

"Paying that close attention to me, Yama-kun?"

"It's literally my job," he deadpanned back, doing his best not to twitch at the annoying nickname.

"Ahhh! Woe is me!" Steady sighed dramatically, leaning back in her chair with a hand over her face– "Trainer-kun only sees me as a job!" –before sitting back up with a grin and playful flick of her ears. "But I had a good time back home with family and friends, especially my little kohai!"

"You're talking about the one who's at Tracen now, right?" When they had first met, Steady would try and keep the theatrics going for as long as possible, but she'd grown up quite slightly and now mostly knew when the bit had run its course.

"Yup!" Steady smiled, bouncing up in her seat, ears wiggling happily. "She's going into her classic year, so there's a few races we could race together in." An embarrassed expression flickered over her face, and her ears drooped slightly. "Though I might have told her I was gonna run in the February Stakes, which she's still too young for, so…"

"You want me to see what races you could get into where both of you can run? That isn't hard, but I assume what you are looking for is a race big enough to be a good story?"

"You got it, Yama-kun!" Steady smiled, clapping her hands together for emphasis. "It's be cool if we could both run the Kawasaki Kinen, since we're both kinda local, but it's a senior and grad-ready race, same with February Stakes, and Shiro's planning on running for the Classics, so she'll be pretty busy most of the year."

"Well, that does make things more complicated…" Yasuo began, pondering if he should just list out the most obvious answer, "you could stay on another year? Then she would be eligible for the Kawasaki Kinen and February Stakes."

Steady sighed, slumping a bit in her chair, her face turning unusually serious as she crossed her arms under her chest, ears angling towards him carefully. "We've been together for a pretty long time, haven't we?"

"Going on about four years now, yeah." That was longer than most runners' careers by a good margin.

"Mmm…and so you should know me pretty well, right?"

"I'd like to think so." They hadn't achieved something spectacular like he dreamed of as a kid, but her record was not something to be ashamed of, even if her win at the Kanto Oaks had been somewhat unfortunately timed, not being officially graded yet.

"So you know that it's about that time right?"

Yasuo didn't respond immediately, trying to find the right words. "There are those who have made a full career out of running…" Few of those really ever won anything of note.

"But I'm not really that kinda gal," Steady finished, smiling slightly. "And besides, I wanna give my crazy kohai a good showing at least. What do you think, Trainer-kun? Will I still be competitive with her after another year?"

"I'd have to see how strong she is…but I see your point." From what Yasuo had heard about his trainee's childhood friend, the other uma had the potential to grow into a real monster. Tracen didn't just pick people off the street, after all, and while he'd be happy to sing Steady's praises (about her running), she had largely plateaued, and he wasn't going to push her to the point of injury. That wasn't in either of their interests.

"You have such faith in me, Yama-kun." Steady huffed, turning up her nose in mock offense, but her tail still swished back and forth happily.

"If you really want to run against your junior in a big race this year…there's the Tokyo Daishoten." It was a dirt G1, open to classic year runners and up, and it took place after the classic triple crown circuit was over. "Would mean she can't run in the Arima Kinen, if she makes it that far."

"Yeah…dunno if she'll pass that up." Apparently Steady had no doubt her kohai would either win the popularity contest or prize money rankings, what a scary uma that must be.

"Either way, it will be no simple thing to win that race, not with Abukuma Poro still running."

Steady snorted, her eyes flashing with determination. "I gotta give that musclehead some real competition." The burly uma in question had been incredibly dominant on the local circuit races, though she had not had quite the same success on the national circuit. "Can't exactly retire if I don't get you your first G1 win first."

He didn't want to admit it, but that declaration made him feel pretty good. "Don't get yourself hurt trying for that," Yasuo sighed instead, shaking his head warningly.

"Don't worry, Yama-kun, I'm not gonna worry you…about that at least." Steady winked, before hopping up from her chair. "Anyways, I gotta get going, Wistcraft wanted some advice about her race outfit."

"Alright, don't put in her in something too crazy." While he had passed the trainer test at a younger age than most, Yasuo could not claim to be very good at fashion, something that Steady turned out to be a surprisingly good mentor for. "Especially since she's not really used to running in a specialty outfit yet."

"Youuu got it, Trainer-kun!" Steady drawled, prancing out of his office. "Oh yeah! I left your lunchbox in the fridge, don't forget!"

"I'm not that scatterbrained!" Yasuo shook his head, focusing back on the scheduling, scribbling down a note for the alterations Steady wanted for herself, before going back over the ones for his other trainees.

It was going to be strange not having her around.

---

Early January saw Seiun Sky debut, and she won in rather crushing fashion, enough so that the usually laid back uma was quite smug for a few days, lasting up until the first real assignment of the calendar year. In the same time, Special Week also ran a race, placing second, which was quite a respectable result, even if the bulky uma felt rather down about not winning.

Not all of their class had it going well though, as Tsuyoshi's trainer and doctor had again delayed her debut, to the point that they doubted she would be able to make it to the Satsuki Sho. Combined with the doctor's recommendation to scale back her training, the brunette uma's mood was quite poor, despite King Halo's attempts to cheer her up.

"I'm gonna be running again next week, it'll be fun!" And El Condor Pasa's excited commentary about the race she was scheduled to run did not help Tsurumaru either, though the masked uma didn't really notice, busy chattering away as they waited for homeroom to start. "No one is gonna beat El Condor Pasa on the dirt track!"

Ever since Steady had challenged her to race against her at some point, Shirogane had started practicing on dirt as well. She had thought that Toujou-san would not be that pleased with the idea, since she was even slower on dirt, but her trainer had insisted her times were actually quite strong.

"Didn't Taiki Shuttle beat you pretty bad in that practice race the other day?"

"Ack!"

Grass Wonder spared no barbs in bringing her friend back down to earth.

"Clearly, Pasa-san is asserting that Taiki Shuttle-san is not a person," Shirogane drawled, flicking her ear jokingly at the two Americans.

"For shame, El!" Grass Wonder piled out with feigned outrage. "And after she set up a barbecue party for us too!"

"Ehhh! N-No that's not what I meant at all!" Pasa backpedaled, waving her hands in denial while her tail shot up in indignation. "I was talking about you guys!"

"But we've always practiced on turf," King Halo pointed out. "How do you know you would beat us when it's never been put to the test?"

"King, don't give us more work to do!" Seiun Sky popped her head up from her desk to interject. "Training for one type of track is already a lot of work. And it's not like most of us are gonna go for dirt races anyways."

"Hah! See?! You guys will be no match for me on the dirt!" Pasa posed confidently, hands on her hips.

Grass frowned, but didn't say anything, and Shirogane likewise chose not to mention anything about her forays into the dirt tracks. She still had a turf race coming up anyways in the Keisei Hai, a 2000 meter race at Nakayama, which happened to be on the same day as the race Pasa-san would be participating in.

It was at this time Nakashima-sensei arrived, and for all their eccentricities, Shirogane's classmates largely did make an attempt to pay attention, though the fruits of this labor were mixed.

"And now that you are all in your Classic year, do you know what that means?" Nakashima-sensei asked, excitement in her voice as she looked over the various members of her class that were nearly vibrating in anticipation. "Special Week-san, do you know?"

"Yes!" the dark haired uma cried, shooting up to a standing position in her eagerness. "The Triple Crown classic!"

"That is indeed the big thing! But there's more to it. What else is important this year?"

"The Triple Tiara?"

"The Arima Kinen!"

"Trigonometry."

"Aaaah!"

A few of her classmates let out varying sounds of distress as Shirogane spoke, with Pasa even going as far to slam her head down onto her desk. "Nooo! Why did you have to bring that up, Shiro?!"
"It will be there whether we address it or not," Shirogane replied, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly. She rather liked this kind of mathematics. "Unless you plan to fail repeatedly to never reach this class."

"Don't do that–"

"I'm not going to give up!" the masked uma declared, shooting back up in her seat. "Math will know my name when I defeat it!"

"That's not how that works, El." Grass Wonder laughed into her hand at her friend's antics, and Shirogane was once again amazed at how much patience their teachers seemed to have.

"Hahaha…while true, that wasn't really what I was talking about." Or maybe she just found their shenanigans amusing…possibly a necessity when dealing with this kind of student.

"Well, in our Classic Year," King Halo began, tilting her head thoughtfully, "there are many more races open to us compared to our Junior Year, especially graded races."

"Indeed!" Nakashima-sensei smiled, looking pleased to have gotten back on track. "And for many of these graded races, especially big G1 races like the Triple Crown Classic, there are races leading up to them, both serving as good practice, and in some cases securing one of the limited spots in the big race."

Wouldn't their trainers have already discussed this with them already? Though perhaps it was less complicated for trainees only shooting for one circuit.

"Can anyone tell me one of the trial races for the Satsuki Sho?"

"The Yayoi Sho," Grass Wonder provided, ears twitching in what was probably anticipation at the thought. "That's the one trainer-san was looking to sign me up for."

"Very good!" Nakashima-sensei praised with a smile, adjusting her glasses before moving on. "Does anyone know the other trial races? How about you, Shirogane?"

"Yes, sensei." The list had been a rather significant headache after her peers had insisted she run the Yayoi Sho with them.

"Aside from the Yayoi Sho, which is a two thousand meter G2 race at Nakayama racecourse–" It would take place on March 8th, which complicated her schedule regarding the Triple Tiara trials. "–-the Spring Stakes and Wakaba Stakes are also trial races for the Satsuki Sho, the former also being a G2 race at Nakayama, but it is eighteen-hundred meters instead and takes place on March twenty-second, with the three top finishers getting a spot in the Satsuki Sho, while the Wakaba Stakes is an open two thousand meter race at Hanshin on March twenty-eighth, with the top two getting a slot."

"Oh wow…there's that many of them?"

"It's sort of like a tournament, El, you have to have lower brackets to filter up to the higher ones."

Not exactly, since losing didn't immediately eliminate you from contention but–

"Oooh, that makes sense!"

–it worked fine as a reference.

"The Satsuki Sho itself also functions as a trial for the Tokyo Yushun, with the top five finishers getting a spot in the Yushun, which also serves as a trial race of sorts for the Kikuka Sho."

"Oh! So if you win those races you can automatically get into the next race!" Special Week realized, her ears wiggling in understanding.

"Sounds like less work than running trial races for each one." That sounded like perhaps misplaced confidence from Sky, but she might be able to pull it off. Theoretically.

"The same is similar on the Tiara circuit," Shirogane continued, "with the Oka Sho having three notable trial races, starting with the Tulip Sho, a G3 sixteen-hundred meter race at Hanshin on March seventh, with the top three getting a spot–" this would likely be her best shot, given it was longest of the three, but she had caved to peer pressure– "followed on March fifteenth by the Hochi Hai Yonsai Himba Tokubetsu, a fourteen-hundred G2 race also at Hanshin and giving the top three a spot, with the final being the Anemone Stakes on March twenty-first, an open fourteen-hundred meter race yet again at Hanshin, though only the top two get a spot in that case."

It was going to be quite annoying, since all of the trial races were on the shorter side, particularly the Triple Tiara side, but it was a bit too late to back out now.

"Wow! How did you have all of those memorized?"

"I had to consider which ones were the most suitable for me while building my schedule, Special-san." Shirogane blinked. Wasn't that obvious? "If I fail to clinch a berth in one race, there is potentially time for a second attempt."

"Also, if you count up the berths from the trial races," Nakashima-sensei added in, "That is only eight, which means that the other ten participants are selected based on other criteria, such as their record and previous performances, so the trial races are not the only way to get into the Classics."

But for Shirogane herself, she would likely have to clinch a trial race berth in both circuits, otherwise there was no chance she'd be selected as a participant in either of the first legs. Her record so far was decent, but it was not particularly impressive, and with Grass Wonder's victory at the Asahi Hai, her chestnut haired classmate earned more winnings in total despite Shirogane having run more races up until that point.

"None of you will be able to defeat me at these trial races!"

"El, is your trainer even scheduling you to run in them?"

"O-Of course he is? Why wouldn't he?"

"Would be kinda funny if after all that big talk you just flop out because your trainer's kinda sloppy at paperwork."

"Ack! Noooo!"

"Now, now, don't talk bad about each others' trainers."

"Sorry Sensei, it was just a joke."

If Shirogane had not known how dangerous silly people could be from the Soldier's memories, losing to these clowns would have been rather tilting.

---

"It's a cloudy day here at Nakayama racecourse, but without too much rain, the track condition is still good!"

Symboli Rudolf felt her ears twitch towards the television as the call to post bugle sounded, a shot of adrenaline going through her in a moment of focus before she remembered where she was, sitting at the bar in a hole in-the-wall izakaya just far from Tracen Academy that it was out of the way of the typical comings and going of the students, and not on a race track.

She forced herself to relax slightly, taking a sip of her drink.

Those days were largely behind her now.

It felt strange to be essentially retired, after racing had been such a big part of her life. In many ways it still was, as she was head of Student Affairs now, or President of the Student Council, as they liked to say. As much as some of her kin would prefer her to retire fully and spend more time dealing with the family affairs, that wasn't something that really appealed to her, and staying at Tracen but as part of staff was an influential enough position her wider family could not complain too much about.

Still, it made her feel old seeing the youngsters running about, even if keeping active helped her look younger than her age.

"My, my, if it isn't my favorite remedial student!"

"Good evening, Ramonu," Rudolf chuckled as the dark haired settled elegantly into the seat next to her. "Here for the ramen?"

"Oh, pish! Goodness, no!" Mejiro Ramonu's aristocratic face twisted momentarily in disdain as she let out a theatrical sigh. "It is well past proper dinner time."

Rudolf huffed, one of her ears twitching as she remembered the times the two of them snuck off campus after curfew looking for food during the height of their careers. Adjusting to eating a diet suited for a less intense schedule had taken some getting used to.

"Is your doctor worried about your weight?"

"Oh hoh? Did you say something, Rudolf-kun?" Ramonu's eyes glinted dangerously as she smiled.

"Maybe, maybe not." Rudolf smiled back, remembering the Mejiro lady's voracious appetite when they were competing. The only other uma she'd seen who came close had been Oguri Cap. "Are you sure you don't want to order something?"

"Hmm…I wouldn't want to impose on someone with a student's finances."

"I never said I would pay for it." Though Rudolf certainly could afford to, even with Ramonu's appetite.

"How rude!" the Mejiro gasped, holding her hand to her chest theatrically. "To think this is what the great Symboli family has been reduced to!"

"It will only get worse from here." The words slipped out before she could temper them like she usually would, and Rudolf glanced at her drink, wondering if she had too much already.

"It will not get easier, that is sure," Ramonu sighed, her exaggerated mannerisms fading slightly as she returned the candor, ears tilting in agitation, looking at the television where a Tracen student was demolishing the competition.

"And El Condor Pasa crosses the finish seven lengths ahead! What a strong performance!"

"That's one of the Americans, no?" the Mejiro lady chuffed, shaking her head as she narrowed her eyes at the dark haired runner who was now cheering excitedly. "What do they feed them over there? And why does she have that ridiculous mask?"

"Yes, she's one of the exchange students," Rudolf confirmed, snorting in amusement as her excitable junior did exaggerated poses for her fans. "One of the strongest in her year, but it's a bit hard to say."

"Oh? Why is that?" As she asked, Ramonu finally lost her composure and waved down the waiter to order a late evening snack. "Is there another who is very close in power to her? Perhaps last year's junior runner of the year?"

"Grass Wonder is quite a strong contestant as well." Rudolf took another sip of her drink. "I've heard some compare her to old lady Maruzensky."

"Truly?" She could hear the skepticism on Ramonu's face without looking directly at her. "As good as Grass Wonder looks, she has not been nearly as dominant as Maruzensky was."

"Her time at the Asahi Hai beat Maruzensky's, setting a new record in fact."

"Really? Ah..yes, I remember some talk of that now," Ramonu chuffed, nodding at the waiter as he brought back a large plate of gyoza. "It did not look quite as impressive as the Old Lady's dominance though." She began eating with the grace of a proper lady…but at about triple the respectable speed.

Rudolf snorted, shaking her head. "We both know that makes it more impressive, as it means she had stronger competition. While the second place finish, Shirogane Orezeru, did not beat Lindo Grave's record, she actually managed to beat Maruzensky's time as well."

"Something in the way you speak tells me that is not all, Luna."

"We're a bit old for foal play, Shunhi," Rudolf snorted, her ears wiggling happily. "But what if I tell you that Shirogane is the slowest out of her class, at least in terms of top speed."

"Ohoh, that's the one with the murderer's visage, isn't it?" Ramonu leaned in, temporarily distracted from her snack. "Little Dober told me about her. It seems she has legs tough enough that any serious family would want them. And she can't be that slow if she can match the Old Lady's record."

"Her top speed is nothing spectacular," It was respectable, but nowhere near most of her competitors, "but she can usually keep up that speed almost the entire race. Cornering, uphill, passing…" Rudolf shook her head. "I have never seen a runner with that kind of steadiness."

"Hmm…" Ramonu hummed thoughtfully, before eating more gyoza, chewing it thoroughly this time as she considered something. "Even so, I do not see how she managed to place."

On the television, the announcements for the Keisei Hai began to play, and Rudolf gestured towards it. "She's going to be running shortly, so you can see for yourself."

While her Mejiro counterpart focused in on the television, watching Shirogane-san run with keen interest, Rudolf herself didn't pay quite so much attention. She'd seen her stoic teammate run many times by now, and with her consistency she didn't expect something too unusual to happen. That and she took the opportunity to poach one of Ramonu's gyoza.

"Hmph, she is holding herself back," Ramonu observed with a disappointed 'tsk'. "With how she runs, as if she wanted to kill someone, I'd expected more passion for her."

"It's a point we have addressed," Rudolf concurred, remembering Shirogane-san's nonplussed reaction to this point of criticism, "but she isn't one to be very easily swayed, and well…her desire is to at least place in as many profitable races as possible, so avoiding too much strain, even if it costs her a victory, makes sense in the long run."

"Truly?" Skepticism was very evident in Ramonu's voice as she turned her gaze back to Rudolf. "An uma who really only cares about the money has this kind of killer instinct? Look at this!" She pointed at the screen, and Rudolf looked up to see her pale-haired junior position herself in a way that notably disrupted the movement of the runners behind her, forcing them to slow down to avoid collisions. "I would not have needed to resort to that sort of method, of course, but that is not a simple thing to do by gut feeling."

"What makes you think she is doing this instinctively?" While the incident in the starting gate had shown Rudolf that Shirogane-san did actually possess some sharp instincts, she got the sense that the younger runner was much more deliberate about her maneuvering than Ramonu was giving her credit for.

"There is no chance your trainer taught her this," Ramonu sniffed, tilting her head back imperiously. "She has an excellent eye for talent and a gift for encouraging their development, but she isn't one to stress matters like this, not enough to train it into instinct."

"Wouldn't that be a hard thing for any human to have naturally?" Rudolf pointed out. Most trainers were human, largely because most of the population was human, but also because the academic rigor of the exams required for a license often proved an even greater hurdle for umas talented in that vein. "And I am fairly certain Shirogane-san learned this trick from her time running deliveries. It's like she's weaponizing the frustration caused by geriatric drivers."

A short snort of laughter escaped from the dark haired uma next to her. "Is that where she picked this up?" Ramonu tittered, "I suppose that explains why she appears so ready to spill blood. It seems to also scare off her competition too. That is always fun to watch."

Rudolf shook her head in exasperation at her friend's oddity, and the two of them watched as Shirogane finished second behind Meiner Love, another respectable performance, and another respectable paycheck. "Though it seems that the intimidation doesn't work that well against those she's run against before." Even so, Meiner Love looked to be in much worse shape after the finish than the almost unbothered Shirogane.

"Of course not!" Ramonu chuffed, "to break a foe's spirit you have to tailor your approach, and make an actual active effort instead of just looking angry–oh where did she go?"

Looking back at the television, Rudolf saw that Shirogane had already left the track, not spending much time catching her breath like how most runners would need to. "She's like that. Surprisingly quiet too. She'll be back for the Winning Live."

"Hmph." Crossing her arms, Ramonu narrowed her eyes. "That is some impressive stamina. Does her family share the same gifts?"

"That is difficult to say." Rudolf went to take another sip of her drink, realized it was almost empty, so drained the rest, before setting it back onto the bar with a dull clunk. "Both her parents are human, with the closest uma being from her mother's side, and she is a foreigner, so we do not have much information there."

"Nothing at all on her father's side?"

"Almost, he's distantly related to the Hokutos, but no umas at all in his close relatives."

"Well, how interesting…" By the look on her face, Ramonu had come up with a dangerous thought. Likely the same one Rufold had herself.

"I suppose it would be rude of me not to ask how your family is…" Rudolf trailed off expectantly, glancing sideways at her compatriot.

"Ah, yes…" Ramonu nodded, catching her meaning. "I have a few unmarried cousins that the family is pressuring to get married." She shrugged her shoulders. "I cannot say how much hope there is for them, but a few of them have some promise."

"Things are quite similar for us," Rudolf returned, considering if she should order another drink. "Some of the old geezers are getting more agitated about the lack of G1 wins. Some are saying we need some new blood, others don't agree. The usual, really."

"Hmm…we can claim a few more winners among our younger generation," her Mejiro counterpart supplied, tail swishing smugly, before her face turned more serious. "But there are a few voices that think it isn't enough. A couple sore losers think that Dober-chan would have won the Triple Tiara if the foreigners weren't allowed in."

Rudolf felt herself frown. That was a common argument, but they needed to have foreign competition to see how well they performed against runners from other countries.

"I think that is bunk," Ramonu continued, shaking her head, "If Ryokichi-sama had managed to hold on for another year, then Dober-chan might have managed to properly succeed me, but alas."

"Heaven makes fools of us all from time to time," Rudolf agreed, her ears twitching sympathetically. She hadn't been as close to her own grandfather as Ramonu's junior had been, but attending their funeral had not been a pleasant experience.

The two Triple Classic winners sat in companionable silence for a minute, before a mischievous glint appeared in the Mejiro's eyes.

"So…has your family been setting you up with a matchmaker?"

Rudolf groaned, dropping her head into her hands. "Worse, they have been sending me profiles for my cousins and asking me to play matchmaker."

Ramonu laughed at her misery, and eventually Rudolf joined her in too, even if the requests were rather inappropriate for her position.

She did end up ordering a few more drinks, and Ramonu ate another plate of gyoza.

---

Running on the dirt of a dirt racing track was an interesting experience, because it wasn't like running on natural dirt, and a bit more like running on sand, though that wasn't an exact fit either.

It made her even slower, and made her legs sore in different ways, but it was not too difficult to adjust, and soon she was able to achieve close to her usual times around the track, something that seemed to surprise Toujou-san, for whatever reason, and made her trainer more enthusiastic about her running in dirt races.

This might have been because Grass Wonder was not fond of dirt tracks, so having another team member who could compete (potentially) with El Condor Pasa, who ran just fine on dirt, would help with the overall team's performance, since Taiki Shuttle was planning on running oversease. The pseudo-rivalry between the trainers of Team Rigel and Team Spica was not something that Shirogane really understood herself, but the two humans kept their romantic bickering contained enough to not affect their jobs, so she didn't see any reason to pry further.

Right now she was circling the Tracen dirt track, which was thankfully less heavily used compared to the turf ones, given the strong bias towards turf races in Japan, a state of affairs that Steady Distance had ranted at her about on numerous occasions. This was, of course, hardly an unbiased viewpoint, as Steady was one of the runners who did much better on one surface than another, and her dirt specialization had been part of the reason she had failed to get into Tracen, at least according to her.

And on the topic of her friend, Steady had sheepishly called her shortly after her challenge declaration, having belatedly realising that the Kawasaki Kinen was not open to Shirogane until her third year at Tracen, so she would not be able to participate. Her old friend and training partner had instead suggested facing off at the Tokyo Daishoten, and Shirogane had not seen much reason to disagree. It would conflict with the Arima Kinen, but that race was based on a popularity contest, and with how unpredictable that could be it didn't seem wise to bet on making it in, no matter how some of her classmates acted–

One ear twitched at the sound of incoming footsteps.

"Raar–gakh!"

Something jumped at her from behind and Shirogane slammed her elbow backwards into something bony and fleshy–

Thump!

Shirogane looked down at the prone form of the messy haired uma that had just tried to bite her, taking a moment to restrain the instinct of stomping on her head to make sure she stayed down–

No, make sure they were not playing dead first.

She kicked some dirt into the weird uma's face and saw no reaction, though the downed uma was still breathing.

Well…now what was she supposed to do? They were in an open area, and the school had enough security cameras that Shirogane couldn't really drag the fellow student she knocked out to the nurse without it being observed, so…

"Shinko-san!"

"Yo, Bitey, where'd you go?"

One of Shirogane's ears flicked towards the incoming voices, filtering out Stay Gold because she wouldn't care, but the other voice belonged to Hishi Amazon, who was the dorm leader for Miho dorm. Now…how to explain this.

Turning towards the two searching umas, Shirogane waved to get their attention, before picking up the probably Shinko-san by her collar and hoisting her unconscious form up for them to see. "Is this who you are looking for?"

"Shinko-san!" Hishi Amazon reached the dirt track with impressive speed, her face twisting quickly into serious concern. "What happened to her?!"

"I was doing some running practice and then she jumped up behind me right into my elbow." Shirogane answered with a straight face, doing her best not to so much as twitch her tail errantly.

"Uh–what?"

"Pfff! Hahahaha!"

Of all the reactions possible, Shirogane had not expected the sheer bewilderment on Hishi Amazon's face or Stay Gold doubling over in laughter.

"Oh geez, Shiro-chan, you're always a riot," the shorter dark haired uma laughed when she recovered (faster than Hishi Amazon), ears wiggling in mirth. "I kept telling Windy that there's gonna be more umas out there like El-chan who'd fight back if she tried to bite them."

"...Has she been checked for rabies?" Shirogane straightened her arm to hold the possibly diseased uma as far away as her distressingly short arms would allow for.

"What?!"

"No-hahaha!"

As her two seniors acted like broken records and repeated themselves, Shirogane looked at the unconscious uma, before shaking her head.

"Never mind, if she had rabies she'd probably be dead already."

"Gaah…no, Shiro-san, Shinko does not have rabies," Hishi Amazon sighed, rubbing her forehead with one hand. "But she does like surprising people and pretending to bite them."

"Pretending?"

"Shut up, Stay Gold."

"I see…" Shirogane did not. "So what is to be done with her now that she jumped into my elbow and rendered herself unconscious?"

Stay Gold just started laughing again, making Hishi Amazon's eye twitch in frustration and her tail swish back and forth violently. "Alright, Stay Gold, if you find this so funny then take your teammate to the nurse."

"Eh? Why do I have to do–urgkh!" Stay Gold's protestation was promptly cut off as Hishi Amazon grabbed the unconscious biter from Shirogane and unceremoniously dumped her on the shorter uma.

"She's your teammate," the tanned dorm leader grunted, unsympathetic to Stay Gold's attempts to look aggrieved, "so be a good teammate and take her to the infirmary if the only other thing you can do is laugh."

"...Fiiine." The short, dark haired uma turned away with a pout, stumbling a few steps before giving up and settling for dragging her teammate behind her, walking vaguely in the direction of the infirmary. "Looks like this junior ain't really scared of the wolf, is she, Windy?"

"Why did she even come along to look for her if she's gonna act like that?" Hishi Amazon muttered under her breath, looking just about ready to go and chastise the diminutive uma even more.

"From what I know of Stay Gold-san, she found it amusing."

"Ugh…you're probably right." The tanned dorm leader shook her head in exasperation for a moment, before her attention snapped back to Shirogane. "Wait, you said she ran into your elbow, are you gonna need to go to the nurse for that too?"

Shirogane shook her head. "I don't see why? I do not feel any pain."

"Look…" the dorm leader frowned, her ears flicking worriedly, "you don't have to act tough just cause there's a lot of pressure on you." Her eyes darkened as her expression dropped, obviously remembering something less than pleasant. "I really don't like seeing umas getting really hurt cause they tried to walk off something serious."

"My arm is fine," Shirogane asserted, raising her arm for the other uma to inspect. "See?" She had specifically struck with the point, and her bones were evidently stronger than the wannabe biter's had been.

Apparently unimpressed, Hishi Amazon poked her elbow with her finger, and Shirogane did not react, as there was no pain.

"Huh…" the tan dorm leader's ears flicked curiously. "Guess I shoulda known you'd be pretty tough, if you can run so often." Her expression darkened and she let out a sigh. "Though you really shouldn't be tempting fate like that."

"Tempting fate?" How was she doing that? As far as she could tell, there hadn't been any signs of meddling from self aggrandizing entities in this life.

"You know…straining yourself to run so often?" By the expression on Hishi Amazon's face, Shirogane must have missed some context.

"I've done this amount of running for a few years now, even if it wasn't running races, and so far none of my regular checkups turned up anything unusual or worrying."

Hishi Amazon blinked, a far away look in her eyes, before she shook her head furiously. "Right, make sure you keep up with those doctor appointments. I know they can kinda suck, but you gotta make sure there isn't something going wrong, or else something's gonna go really wrong."

"I will take that under advisement," Shirogane hummed, "though I have been regularly going to my checkups. Toujou-san insisted on it before allowing me to run once a week."

"Oh…that's good then." Her senior looked somewhat abashed, tail flicking awkwardly.

"I take no offense to your advice," she added on with a shrug. "It is good advice, and appropriate for a dorm leader." Personally she did not understand what some of her fellows found so objectionable about the process. They were all professional athletes, so of course their physiques would be monitored closely. There weren't even that many needles involved once they made sure you had all your shots.

"Right…yeah…that's part of my job," Hishi Amazon sighed, shaking herself out of whatever melancholy had taken hold of her. "Though it's a bit hard to keep tabs on you since you live off campus…" she shrugged, looking Shirogane up and down like it was the first time actually seeing her during this conversation. "But I guess Fuji was right, aside from packing your schedule like a nutcase, you seem to have a good head on your shoulders."

"I would like to think so." Maybe in this life it wouldn't get her into mortal danger for no good reason. "And again, I appreciate the advice."

"'S my job," the dorm leader mumbled, her gaze drifting away awkwardly. "Just make sure that the pressure gets too much, you know, you can pull back a bit." Her gaze hardened as she focused back onto Shirogane. "Having to admit defeat sucks, I know, but it's better than crippling yourself."

"True enough," Shirogane nodded. And it wasn't as if her life was at stake in these races, even her future career was more dependent on her academic scores. "You need not worry about me in this regard."

"That's what everyone who makes me worry says." Hishi Amazon grumbled, but she did not press further, leaving Shirogane to continue her cooldown run for the day.

It was certainly good to see the school placing such responsible people in these management positions, even if they did end up getting in her way a bit.

---

AN. A bit of a slower chapter, and there will probably be at least one more, before we get to the trial races for the Triple Crown/Tiara Classic and things get even busier for Shiro. Part of it is me hoping that Cygames lets out more information about Phalaenopsis before she needs to show up in the story. Doubt they'll add Erimo Excel or some of the other 1998 fillies anytime soon, but that could be cool.

Shiro doesn't really realize it, but she keeps on surprising Hana with new skills, since she can run on dirt at nearly the same speed as she can on turf, which actually makes her very competitive at dirt races, since most of the times are quite a bit slower. At this point Hana might just try running Shirogane is every kind of race possible just in case she unexpectedly has a talent at something else (like Sprints).

 

[SiegfriedisPower]

I wish I was a good writer, I'd right an omake of Shirogane and Dream Journey meeting. But how would it go? Friction, friendly, two predators passing each other by, one professional tipping their hat to another?

 

[Dopplerdee]

It was going to be strange not having her around.

Click to shrink...

Well she'll be back as your assistant come hell or high water, so that's probably fine.

Her old friend and training partner had instead suggested facing off at the Tokyo Daishoten, and Shirogane had not seen much reason to disagree. It would conflict with the Arima Kinen, but that race was based on a popularity contest, and with how unpredictable that could be it didn't seem wise to bet on making it in

Click to shrink...

...Shiro is gonna pass on the Arima Kinen to race her friend, isn't she?

 

[Mythantor]

Pretty much all Uma are retired by 20 or so right?

What do they do for the next 50-60 years of their life? Get a regular job?
I mean if they are part of some big racing family they probably are expected to start popping out the next generation.

 

[Lyrista]

The Arima Kinen isn't so important in her classic year, skipping it in her classic year probably won't bother her

 

[Melmar]

The invincible Iron Grandma has killed again.