On a Pale Horse (Umamusume/Youjo Senki)

[uioor1]

Another factor is other countries often being rougher, which the Japanese umas aren't prepared for most of the time. Shirogane would adapt to this a bit too well.

Click to shrink...

Shirogane when she goes overseas:

Spoiler

 

[TheSmallSauce]

The Silver Standard​

---

The roar of the crowd reached her a half-second late, as though sound itself had needed time to catch up. Merry Soon barely heard it.

Her own breathing drowned out nearly everything else, sharp and hot in her ears as she drove herself through the final meters of the straight. Hoofbeats thundered behind and around her, close enough to threaten, not close enough to matter. Her stride had begun to fray at the edges, form threatening to loosen, shoulders to rise, knees to shorten. She forced everything back into place through sheer willpower, jaw clenched so tightly it ached.

The post rushed toward her.

Then past.

She took a few more steps at full speed before instinct finally surrendered to reality. Her body protested the sudden easing all at once; lungs aflame, legs trembling, every pulse in her veins striking like a hammer. She slowed unevenly, chest heaving, hands braced against her thighs.

For several seconds, the world narrowed to the track beneath her shoes. Then it came flooding back.

Announcer's voice, bright with practiced excitement. The stamp of feet in the stands. Applause washing over the course in rolling waves. Numbers flashing onto the board overhead.

First.

Her gaze locked there.

First.

It was almost embarrassingly plain when displayed like that. A single number, yes, yet it seemed to swallow every doubt she had carried into the starting gates.

She straightened slowly as she cast her gaze over her shoulder. The other runners were pulling up further behind, some disappointed, some merely tired. One caught her eye and offered a sportsmanlike nod. Merry returned it automatically, hardly aware she had done so. A race official gestured her toward the winner's path and she followed, her legs feeling oddly light, as if the strain of the run belonged to someone else.

At the edge of the track, her trainer was waiting.

He was trying to hold it together for the cameras, but his composure cracked the moment she reached him.

"You did it," he said, voice breaking despite himself. "You actually did it."

Merry blinked, then laughed once in disbelief. "Of course I did."

The answer came out lighter than she felt. Beneath it, something tighter had only just begun to unwind.

He handed her a towel, still shaking his head. "Strong break from the gate, held your pace until the final corner. You ran exactly as we planned."

"It got pretty close though." She said as she dabbed absently at the sweat on her brow, eyes straying once more to the results board, as though it might vanish if left unattended.

Around them, staff moved briskly, spectators chattered, cameras turned toward the enclosure. Somewhere nearby, someone said her name with the bright surprise reserved for newcomers who had done something noteworthy.

Despite the close call, Merry felt the corners of her mouth lift.

Victory. This was what it was meant to feel like.

All the mornings, all the drills, all the praise that had followed her since childhood hadn't been misplaced. She belonged here, at the highest level, and she had proved it in the only way that mattered.

Winning.

For a few precious seconds, she felt complete.

Her trainer was speaking beside her, already talking about recovery, next steps, what races to run next.

His words slid over her.

She was still watching the results board, still letting the word first settle properly inside her, when movement on a television mounted high in the concourse caught the edge of her eye. It was displaying another race from earlier in the day.

Silver hair streamed behind an umamusume alone on the final bend, stride clean and mercilessly efficient. The conclusion was so obvious that the commentator's voice rose before she had even entered the homestretch.

"—and Shirogane Orzeru will claim her second graded victory!"

Merry's smile held, though something in it had changed.

On the screen, Shirogane crossed the line alone.

---

The screen in her trainer's office was still playing the replay.

Merry had stopped pretending she was only glancing at it after the second loop. Her notebook lay forgotten on the desk in front of her.

The race footage showed the course from an angle slightly too far above to feel real, the track laid out almost like the diagrams on the whiteboard. Runners bunched early, then stretched thin as the pace split them apart. Only one figure resisted the pattern: a pale blur that continued to lengthen an already absurd gap.

Merry leaned forward without meaning to.

Shirogane didn't look like she was running fast.

There was no visible strain or dramatic shift in form, no final push even as she turned the last corner. Her stride remained even, almost casual, as though an entire race at that pace was the most natural thing in the world.

Merry blinked once.

"…She is a frontrunner, right?" she asked quietly.

Her trainer, standing beside her with a clipboard tucked under one arm, nodded. "Like you, yes. Just that she starts accelerating extremely early for a frontrunner."

Accelerate.

Merry replayed the word in her head as the footage reached the final straight. It just didn't fit with what she was seeing.

Shirogane didn't accelerate, to Merry it seemed like she didn't need to. The gap was already far too wide to close.

The runners behind her posed no threat at all, each attempt to close the distance collapsing as they panicked and rushed, all thrown off by her blistering pace and exhausted in their failed attempts to keep up. Shirogane herself remained unfazed, seeming to grow more energetic as she neared the finishing post. It didn't make any sense, at least not in any way that could be put into words.

The replay looped again before a tap on the shoulder broke her focus.

"You've gone quiet again," her trainer observed carefully.

"I'm thinking."

"Okay." He took the remote from her, skipping back to the final stretch again. "I'm guessing it's about her final spurt."

Shirogane's face appeared in a close-up cut: calm, eyes forward, breathing controlled enough that it almost looked optional.

"Or lack of one, I suppose."

"Yeah," she nodded. "Does she always run like that?"

"Mostly," her trainer said. "It's her style. Runaway frontrunning."

Runaway.

Merry repeated it internally, turning the word over in her mind until it no longer felt unfamiliar next to her own style of choice.

"I could do that," she decided at last.

Her trainer paused for just a second before answering, giving her a discerning eye. "You could..."

"...But?"

"You run differently."

"That's not an answer." She pouted.

"It is," he said gently. "You're a natural frontrunner, Merry. You like to take an early lead and build on it down the stretch. Shirogane‐san pushes the front from the beginning, there's a difference."

Merry's eyes stayed on the screen. On Shirogane, still unmoving in victory footage that felt too calm to be real.

"I can push the front," she insisted.

"I know you can."

There was a pause before she spoke again, quieter this time.

"If she can do it at that speed… then I should be able to do it better. I'm faster than her."

Her trainer exhaled through his nose, not quite a sigh, but close. "Be careful with comparisons like that. You're only looking at one side of her style. She's built her entire approach around—"

But Merry wasn't really listening anymore, something had already shifted its weight inside her mind. She watched Shirogane cross the line one more time, silver hair settling as she stood a little ways past the post, the nearest runner barely crossing the two hundred meter mark nearly a distance behind her.

Her fingers tightened around the edge of the desk.

Her trainer noticed.

"You're doing it again," he said.

"Doing what?"

"Watching someone else and trying to run their race."

He picked up the remote and froze the screen mid-stride.

Shirogane's form remained maddeningly unchanged even stationary.

"I'll be frank with you, Merry, I don't entirely like what I'm seeing."

She blinked. "You don't?"

"I respect it," he corrected. "I'm even a little scared of it, but that's beside the point."

He gestured at the screen.

"No late-race fatigue. Hardly any wasted motion. No panic response when challenged. She runs at a runaway pace and somehow finishes composed. That is not normal."

Merry glanced back at the image.

"It looks effective."

"It looks expensive," he said dryly, ticking off points on his fingers. "In training, in conditioning, in strain. And we have no idea what kind of workload supports it."

He set the remote down on the desk between them and sat down opposite her.

"For all we know, she's built years of stamina around that style. Maybe she's gambling soundness for results. Or perhaps she's simply exceptional."

He met her eyes directly.

"But copying results without understanding the process behind them is how runners break themselves."

Merry said nothing.

Her gaze drifted back to the paused image of Shirogane.

"…So you're saying I shouldn't try."

"I'm saying you shouldn't imitate something you don't understand."

He let that sit for a moment.

"Besides, you already have strengths she doesn't. Better top speed and acceleration, for one. Do you think you could accelerate like you did in your most recent race if you ran the whole thing like her?"

She shook her head.

"Exactly," His tone softened slightly. "So don't lose what already works for you. Just run your race."

A long silence followed before Merry exhaled through her nose and nodded once.

"...Alright. I'll run my race."

Some of the tension left his shoulders.

"Good," he said, reaching for the registration papers beside him and sliding one free. "There's one more thing."

He set the paper down between them.

"She's entered the same race we were planning for."

"What?"

---

The gates sprang open and Merry broke cleanly.

Relief flashed through her in the same instant as motion, she hadn't stumbled or hesitated, and she settled into her opening routine almost immediately, driving forward for a few strong steps before easing into the position she had been trained to hold. The pack gathered around her in a familiar storm of hoofbeats and breath, everything was unfolding exactly as it should.

The rail slid past in smooth white segments. Turf flicked lightly against her calves from runners behind. She stayed with the lead group without forcing anything, shoulders low, cadence even, conserving what she could while keeping herself where she needed to be.

For the first hundred metres, the race made sense.

Pressure at her flank. Another runner half a length outside. Someone tucked behind her shoulder, waiting for an opening. The familiar dance of positioning and patience she'd experienced countless times in practice.

Then she saw it. Shirogane had moved ahead, clear of the lead group.

Not abruptly, like with a breakaway born of effort or risk, but gradually; she hadn't stopped accelerating even as the other runners had settled into their natural positions.

Merry had studied this. She knew the explanation. She had accepted it as a viable strategy.

And yet seeing it now, without meaning to, she found herself thinking: something about this is wrong!

No frontrunner should be doing that unless she was prepared to pay for it later, or believed she wouldn't. That was common sense.

Shirogane looked as though she hadn't spent a thing.

Her stride remained even, as if the idea of fatigue had not yet occurred to her. She continued to hold the same rhythm as the gap behind her widened again, then again, until what had begun as an aggressive move simply became the new structure of the race.

Merry forced her attention back to her own running.

Do not chase. Run your race.

Her trainer's voice was clear in her mind now, sharper than the crowd, sharper than instinct.

Run your race.

So she did. She kept position within the lead group, resisting the urge to respond as others around her began to lose their composure under the pressure of Shirogane's pace. One by one they stretched, then slipped backward, the field thinning as the front resolved itself into something far simpler:

Distance.

By the time they reached the far turn, Shirogane was still extending away.

Merry could feel the strain building now, not from panic but from awareness. The race was continuing forward without her permission, and yet she remained exactly where she had been instructed to stay. Every instinct that urged her to respond was met with something steadier, more deliberate.

Discipline.

Not yet. Final leg. Follow the plan.

The straight approached, and Merry shifted. She gathered everything she had been preserving, every reserve carefully held back for this moment. Her breathing tightened, her stride lengthened, and the world narrowed into a single line of pursuit.

She detonated.

The turf practically broke beneath her, each step carrying more power than the last and sending clods of turf flying in her wake. The gap to Shirogane began to shrink, slowly at first, then all at once as Merry committed fully to the run she had prepared for.

Five lengths.

Three.

A length and a half.

For a brief moment, it felt as though the calculation had been correct, as though the plan was finally resolving itself into reality.

Then something changed.

Not in Shirogane, but in Merry.

It felt like a switch had flipped and all of a sudden, her legs burned and breathing felt impossible. Each breath came shallower than the last, each stride costing more than it should have, not because anything ahead had changed, but because she had reached the boundary of what she could sustain.

The gap stopped closing.

Then it held.

Then it began to widen.

Merry pushed harder, searching for something beyond the limit she was already standing inside, but there was nothing left to take. The race did not slow. The distance did not yield. It simply slipped out of her control.

One length.

One and a half.

Two.

The final straight blurred around her as willpower melted into desperation and raw animal instinct. She kept running because there was nothing else to do, because stopping was not part of her nature, because the line still existed even if the outcome had already been decided.

Shirogane crossed first.

Seven lengths later, Merry Soon crossed second.

---

Seven.

Merry kept thinking of it even after she had left the track. Her trainer spoke, doors opened and closed, people moved around her, but the number stayed where it was.

Seven lengths.

It sounded harmless, almost innocent when spoken aloud, like a measurement from someone else's life. But on the television screen in the office, it looked like a guilty verdict.

The race footage froze at the finish line.

First.

Seven lengths.

Second.

Merry stood in front of the television, towel still draped over her shoulders, hair damp against her neck. She watched herself cross the line again. Not first, not even close enough for comfort. Behind her, the field resolved into shapes that no longer mattered. Ahead, only one figure remained clear.

"—and Shirogane Oruzeru extends her lead decisively in the final stretch! A commanding finish!"

The announcer's voice cut through the replay loop, unchanged from the moment it had been recorded.

Merry frowned slightly at that. Commanding felt too small a word for what it had been.

Her trainer stood a few steps behind her, arms crossed. "You ran well," he said.

Merry didn't answer immediately. On screen, she saw herself again: straining now, shoulders rising, stride shortening in the final meters. Not collapsing, but no longer gaining.

Just… staying.

"I didn't win," she said at last, deflated. "I couldn't."

"No," he agreed carefully, turning the television off. "You didn't, but you ran it right."

Merry replayed the finish in her head without the screen now. The moment she had tried to close the gap and found that the gap did not respond.

Silence followed before Merry finally turned her head slightly.

"She didn't even—" She stopped, searching for the right word. "She wasn't even tired."

Her trainer folded his arms. "No… She wasn't."

That sentence made something ugly tighten in her chest.

"I waited," Merry said slowly, almost to herself. "I ran my race. I trained hard. I did what we planned."

"You did."

Her brow furrowed. "Then why did it feel like it was over before the final straight?"

He didn't answer immediately, but Merry could see the gears turning in his head. It didn't matter what he had to say, the plan had been right. It had to have been right, she'd gotten too close for it to be wrong.

If it hadn't worked then something in her hadn't been enough, and she wouldn't let him soften the blow.

Her gaze dropped briefly to her hands. "I can do better than that," she said. "I know I can."

His expression shifted into something softer. "You ran your personal best out there."

"I know."

"That matters."

She looked back up at the empty screen.

Seven lengths.

"It doesn't feel like it," Merry said quietly. "She ran like I wasn't even there."

Her trainer exhaled through his nose. "That's one way of looking at it."

Merry turned the monitor on again, watching the final straight for the third time. Her own figure entered the frame later than she remembered, smaller than she remembered, working harder than she remembered.

"I was closing."

He nodded.

"But it wasn't enough."

Silence settled again. Her trainer didn't speak, and Merry didn't ask him to.

Seven lengths wasn't close. Not at all.

Merry turned away from the screen. For a moment, she didn't speak, the replay clicking softly behind her as it reset once more.

"I'll catch her."

Her trainer's eyes sharpened. "Merry—"

"I will," she said, pulling the towel from her shoulders, twisting it once in her hands as though something in her might come loose with the water. "Next time I'll catch her."

---

AN: I haven't written anything in a while, so forgive the herky-jerky pacing. While I was inspired enough by all the discussion on the possible different rival dynamics to write something, I was too lazy to write any connecting scenes or to add in a training montage. Also, if you haven't guessed already, the name Merry Soon is supposed to be as close to Mary Sue as possible while still sounding somewhat like a racehorse name, but she's eh... missing her usual religious zeal cause I couldn't figure out how to work it in, so I just made it an obsession with facing Shirogane in every race, which kinda mirrors how Mary Sue acted in Youjo Senki if you squint and do some mental acrobatics.

 

[TheSmallSauce]

Based off of the reference image and Tanya's anime design, I did a quick sketch of how I imagine Shirogane looks. When I was coloring it, I almost defaulted to making her blonde before I remembered her name literally means silver. The other thing was the eyes being red, I feel like Tanya's glowing blue eyes when she's hopped on magic is a really iconic part of her character, so it almost feels weird to have them be red.

Spoiler: Image

 

[TheSmallSauce]

Added a rough sketch of a kurtka with another jacket draped over her shoulder as an alternative G1 outfit, since the Tracen uniform felt out of place with her expression being so severe. Also made the wing smaller and let the Three Goddesses decide how it stays attached. I think I'll probably stop here, with this version.

I also had some fun with some typography for a poster/cover. If anyone feels like adding color, please feel free.

Spoiler: Concept Cover

Spoiler: Lineart Version

 

[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 uma 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.

 

[TheSmallSauce]

A couple pages back, I was struck by an evil plot bunny dredged from the hitherto unplumbed depths of the mind of one @ScarredPunLover.

… I'm imagining a Racer who once had a fierce rival—but said rival starts to fall apart and/or give all their focus to Shiro, and thus leaving the racer behind. You can play into it as a shipping thing or jokes about relationships in general, though I think there's more fun to be had in the racer watching their rival fall apart, self-destructing slowly but surely, "because" of Orzel.

Click to shrink...

This plot bunny has been mercilessly gnawing at my attention for the last two weeks, so now that I've happened upon some free time, rest assured I will raise that plot bunny into... (What do you call a fully realized plot bunny?) a fully-fledged plot jackalope. Putting that aside, I felt like the plot jackalope would be be missing it's horns, so to speak, without at least some appearance (with dialogue!) by the main character. Unfortunately, I am what you might generously call utter garbage at consistent character writing, especially with characters that I had no part in creating. So while Shirogane has as a person diverged somewhat from Tanya, which gives me some leeway in depicting her character, I still felt it prudent to do some research on what makes Shirogane feel like, sound like and act like Tanya. After all this is still a Youjo Senki fic, some part of Tanya needs to be recognizable in her reincarnation.

The research began, as it always does, by returning to the literature. To preface, my experience with Youjo Senki started with Selphius' German rendition of Los! Los! Los!, which lead to the singular season of the anime, which of course lead to the manga in search of evermore wonderful historical fiction. The light novel was, as all good light novels seem to be, under lock and key by Yen Press and their tyrannically slow translation team, so I never got around to reading it. And as infatuated as I was with the story, I chose not to trudge through the hell that was the machine translation of the web novel, that way lay madness and pronouns for one character changing five times in a single sentence, but I digress. All this is to say that my primary interaction with Youjo Senki came from the manga, which is the source from which I draw most of my ideas about who Tanya is.

In the manga, perhaps the chapter that most examines Tanya's character is chapter 19, in which the Salaryman lays out his mindset and worldview in plain terms. Nowhere else is the basis for Tanya's understanding of the world so explicitly stated.

Spoiler: Chapter 19, Page 4 & 6

Tanya

"When I was a little boy, I had come to understand that and adult's personal nature differs from his outward apperance."
"If I don't be a 'good boy', I'll be excluded!'
"I needed to live for people's expectations."

Spoiler: Chapter 19, Page 9 & 10

Spoiler: Chapter 19, Page 13

Salaryman

"If you abide by the rules, you can follow a path laid out for you."
"That's how I managed to find a path to a generally satisfying life. By acting as a good cogwheel to society."

Tanya's worldview is shaped by her experiences in her previous life as the Salaryman, where she came to understand that people rarely act entirely in accordance with their true desires. Instead, individuals adapt themselves to societal expectations, rules, and norms in exchange for stability, acceptance, and the benefits that society provides. Influenced by rationalist and meritocratic ideas associated with the Chicago School of Economics, she concluded that the most effective way to live comfortably was not to rebel against these systems, but to understand and optimize herself within them. To Tanya, society functions through incentives, institutional structures, and predictable rules, and the individual who best adapts to these structures is rewarded with security, status, and personal freedom. Her goal therefore becomes finding freedom within the boundaries imposed by society, primarily through relentless self-improvement and competence, with the ultimate aim of achieving a stable and comfortable life.

Spoiler: Chapter 19, Page 11

Salaryman

"People who don't follow the rules give me a great deal of anxiety. Everything I accomplished by following the rules can be threatened by their disorderly conduct."

This worldview also explains Tanya's hostility toward irrationality, incompetence, and ideologically driven behavior. Because she perceives herself as having faithfully followed the implicit social contract throughout her life, she struggles to understand people who knowingly act against their own interests or against the stability of the systems around them. In her eyes, emotional idealism, reckless nationalism, blind faith, or revolutionary thinking are dangerous because they disrupt the predictable order upon which rational planning depends.

Spoiler: Chapter 76, Page 24

Tanya

"No matter how hard you work, your wage will never increase, but good job! Now keep working! Profiting is bad! The state will manage it instead! If you slack off, you're going to be reeducated! Forced labor!! Keep working!! Everyone's poor!! Someone's complaining? Too bad, you're going to be purged!!"

Which leads to her hatred of collectivist ideologies such as communism, something that stems less from simple political opposition and more from her belief that systems disconnected from merit and competence inevitably undermine efficiency and punish exceptional individuals. To Tanya, a society that redistributes rewards regardless of effort removes the incentive structures necessary for productivity and stability, while authoritarian governance introduces arbitrary power that makes rational self-preservation impossible. More than anything, Tanya fears helplessness and unpredictability, which is why she places such importance on rules-based institutions and personal excellence.

That covers my understanding of Tanya Degurechaff, the soldier. Her personality and worldview are similar to those of her previous life, but they aren't identical. Chapter 58 of the manga actually goes out of its way to state it in no uncertain terms.

Spoiler: Chapter 58, Page 31 & 32

Tanya

"I figured you'd say that, you greenhorn who only lived through the Showa and Heisei era."

Salaryman

"You've changed. Did you find comrades you can trust?"

Tanya

"Of course. I'm none other than Tanya von Degurechaff."
"I'm different from you."

So as Tanya, she's changed a lot compared to the Salaryman through her experiences. It lends credence to the idea that even though Shirogane is a continuation of Tanya as a character, she isn't the same person anymore.

"Shiro, dear," her mother began, pursing her lips seriously. "Why don't you say anything if you are still hungry?"

Shirogane stared back at her in bemusement. "I eat about as much as you do. If I eat more then it will use up too much food."

The adults shared a look, before their expressions softened and father laughed.

"Shiro-chan, if you need to eat more we will buy more food."

"But that will cost money."

"Well, yes…but that's not so important," her father waved off. "We buy a lot of food to begin with, a little more won't make that much of a difference."

Click to shrink...

Fortunately, it didn't appear that Suzuki Shirogane would have to worry about any of the dangers that the Soldier did. Not only was she born after the World Wars (this world somehow following a similar history despite the lack of horses) at a similar time to the Salaryman, she was not an orphan, and actually had parents.

Or more specifically, parents that actually took child rearing seriously.

Click to shrink...

Dream? "...I have a family that cares for me at their own expense and expects too little in return; I live in a pleasant place where aside from natural disasters, I do not have to fear for my life, and barring severe economic downturn, I will have something to inherit to pass down to any children I might have."

Shirogane smiled. This life felt like a dream, like the retirement she imagined in her past lives.

"What else could I wish for?"

Click to shrink...

This, I feel, is an important part of what separates Shirogane from Tanya for me. Here I think she finally understands that these are people who will always support her, no matter what. Shirogane still values stability and her family represent the greatest kind of stability: unconditional love and support. And while she still speaks in transactional terms, she's clearly softened up. I would probably go a bit further than that and say that Shirogane isn't as confused by or scared of irrational actors as a result of having this support system.

"Even so, I can't exactly leave my parents to do all the work," Shirogane added. "My grandparents are not dead yet, but they are getting old enough they can't help as much." At least they didn't need to spend so much time looking after her now that she had demonstrated her ability to look after herself. Still, it would probably be better for their health if they moved towards retirement. It wasn't helped by the fact that her parents couldn't really afford another child since she consumed enough resources for at least two.

Click to shrink...

It's why she feels so indebted to them and a why a big part of her character is centered around making sure that her parents and grandparents can retire and live comfortably. These people not only said that they cared for her unconditionally, they also showed it by delaying their retirements and working hard to support her without ever asking directly or otherwise for her to pay them back. It probably doesn't hurt that running the restaurant once her parents retire means that her path to a comfortable life has not only changed, but gotten significantly simpler.

There had also been a distinct lack of self aggrandizing entities this time.

Perhaps the Salaryman had been correct that the Thing had been no real god, or perhaps, as the Soldier suspected, they had simply been discarded after they were found to have no further use.

Click to shrink...

Another important detail, I think, is that she no longer has to constantly look over her shoulder for the possibility of being screwed by a malicious supernatural entity. Shirogane has a much less stressful life, no need to worry about god pissing in your dinner and no need to worry about being shot out of the sky or taken as a prisoner of war, which means she's a lot more easygoing than Tanya. No performing an emergency craniectomy on unruly ponies here. Though it seems that there are some habits she can't quite let go of yet.

Shirogane blinked, finding herself turned around and her fist smashed through the speaker that had played the starting…gun noise.

Click to shrink...

In chapter eight, we get to see that she has a violent reaction to gunshots and loud noises, a carryover from her second life.

"Just because I am faster than you doesn't mean I'd make a good racer," Shirogane pointed out. "I was mostly interested in these things because I wanted to see how much of a difference it could make." Working at a restaurant could often mean standing around in a hot environment for long periods of time, not to mention irregular mealtimes, so the energy gel packs and electrolytes could help with avoiding dehydration when working in the kitchen. It would also help with PT.

Click to shrink...

Here she is using an abbreviation with a military origin, I reckon a normal person would probably just say fitness. Then there's the harsh and realistic critique she has of her own running. She'd probably already considered the prospect of racing and come to the conclusion that she lacked the ability to compete at the top level, and also that it was probably an unreliable career path.

The racing academies were some of the best schools for umamusume, both academically and in regards to training programs, but gaining entry was a competitive endeavor, and most of the roster would inevitably be filled up by children from notable pedigrees due to being selectively bred for improved performance. There was some degree of nepotism, but most of the time they did win out in fair competitions.

Shirogane had not heard of any umamusume with a pair of human parents doing particularly well on the racing circuit, so it seemed likely she would be far outclassed.

Click to shrink...

"It isn't as simple as that," Shirogane deflected. "First of all, that depends largely on at least showing in a big race. However, the majority of the purse goes to first place, and from those winnings, a chunk is taken by the academy, and more fractions are cut off by taxes, so the take home amount is far less than what may appear."

Click to shrink...

Case in point. She's not one to dream, even in this life.

But whatever the case may be, this body and brain, being not entirely human, seemed less inclined towards the zealous obsession the Soldier had developed, being much more attached to the tangible than the theoretical. Perhaps it was to be expected of a hybrid of horse and human, but as the animal in question did not seem to exist in this world, it did not seem a good idea for her to wonder out loud about. It could also have been due to the Soldier's common usage of computation orbs and the adaptation of her brain to using magic from a young age making her mind in her last life more agile than her current one.

Click to shrink...

Then we also have the change in brain chemistry to consider. No matter how much one might try, biology is pretty hard to defy. In the manga, this is actually played for a gag.

Spoiler: Chapter 11, Page 37 & 38

Could you imagine this scene but she's straight up just a horse?

Shirogane

"—Hm? Stay Gold is in the same ship? It's something all horses go through? A horse like me? I AM!!! A HUMAN!!!"

Where was I going with this again...?

Right, examining what makes Shirogane feel like Tanya, and what sets her apart.

tl;dr

Shirogane feels like Tanya because she keeps the same rational, analytical, control-oriented mindset, but she differs from her in what she values and the way she interacts with others because the safe, supportive world of Umamusume removes the fear and hostility that originally hardened those traits into something colder and more defensive aggressive violent.

Thanks for coming to my tedTalk, I lost the plot halfway through though.

Plus I'm still writing that evil ass plot bunny. Curse you, @ScarredPunLover, you did this to me! Though now I feel like I can write Shirogane's part better...

Spoiler: Thing

 

[TheSmallSauce]

Spoiler: Rival bit

"Merry." Legadonia's gaze lifted as her rival came into view.(Is this name too much? But it sounds like a racehorse name, kinda like Regaleira.) "It has been some time since you last came to practice. Have you been unwell?"

Merry looked preoccupied, her attention fixed on something Legadonia could not see. She noted it as something to bring up to her trainer at a later date, as distractions were dangerous on the track, though for now there were more pressing matters at hand. They had a score to settle.

"Shall we race?"

Merry walked straight past her, muttering under her breath the entire time. That was unusual. Merry was not the type to refuse a challenge, especially not from her. Legadonia hesitated only briefly before, against etiquette, she turned and followed her rival. They walked for a while before she finally spoke up, unable to hold her curiosity any longer.

"My rival, if I may be so presumptuous, but who or what are you looking for?"

That was enough to make her stop.

Merry had brought them to the river a short distance south of the campus. From where Legadonia stood, she could see a pale-haired uma on the opposite embankment performing what she could only assume was an extreme variation on the sprint drills her own trainer had introduced recently. Something about endurance for poor weather, she mused.

"Shirogane-san, then?"

"I need to observe her training."

"Truly?" Legadonia did not think there was much to be gained there, her rival's style was too different. Still, it was possible she was overlooking something. "I confess I do not see what could be gained that could not be gained by racing me instead."

"I've beaten you before," Merry replied immediately, almost absentmindedly.

That drew a faint huff from Legadonia. A statement of that sort was imprecise, and therefore improper. Their record was even, hardly a matter of being beaten, but she would let it pass.

Merry continued after a while, still looking away. "But I can't catch her."

Across the water, Shirogane maintained her pace without the slightest hint of fatigue.

"That's all there is to it."

Click to shrink...

Continuing on from this bit...

---

Second To Silver​

---

"Merry." Legadonia's gaze lifted as her teammate and rival came into view. "It has been some time since you last came to practice. Have you been unwell?"

Merry looked preoccupied, her attention fixed on something Legadonia could not see. She noted it as something to bring up to their trainer at a later date, as distractions were dangerous on the track, though for now there were more pressing matters at hand. They had a score to settle.

"Shall we race?"

Merry walked straight past her, muttering under her breath the entire time. That was unusual. Merry was not the type to refuse a challenge, especially not from her. Legadonia hesitated only briefly before, against etiquette, she turned and followed her rival. They walked for a while before she finally spoke up, unable to hold her curiosity any longer.

"My rival, if I may be so presumptuous, but who or what are you looking for?"

That was enough to make her stop.

Merry had brought them to the waterway a short distance south of the campus. From where Legadonia stood, she could see a pale-haired uma on the opposite embankment performing what she could only assume was an extreme variation on the sprint drills her own trainer had introduced recently. Something about endurance for poor weather conditions.

"Shirogane-san, then?"

"I need to observe her training."

"Truly?" Legadonia did not think there was much to be gained there, her rival's style was too different. Still, it was possible she was overlooking something. "I confess I do not see what could be gained that could not be gained by racing me instead."

"I've beaten you before," Merry replied immediately, almost absentmindedly.

That drew a faint huff from Legadonia. A statement of that sort was imprecise, and therefore improper. Their record was even, hardly a matter of being beaten, but she would let it pass.

Merry continued after a while, still looking away. "But I can't catch her."

Across the water, Shirogane maintained her pace without the slightest hint of fatigue.

"That's all there is to it."

Legadonia did not answer immediately.

Her gaze followed Merry's, though not to where she was looking, but to what she was not seeing.

Shirogane was, by any reasonable measure, an outlier. The sort of athlete whose baseline distorted comparison if taken without care. It was a point often demonstrated, less in words than in imitation, by those who attempted to replicate her training without understanding it.

"…I see."

It was a high bar her rival had set for herself. That, in itself, was not without value.

Merry had never lacked motivation. The problem had never been its absence, but its direction. Legadonia would have to be mindful of that now that it had found a new focus.

The thought was accompanied by a sliver of discomfort, the feeling lingering only a moment before she quelled it. Her rival's renewed resolve was difficult to object to on its merits.

"So," she said at last, "how will you proceed? You have shown me your target, and I trust you have a plan."

Merry did not speak at once.

Her eyes remained across the water still. One foot shifted unconsciously against the dirt beside her, testing an angle that was not her own.

Then she nodded, stiffly.

"My rival," Legadonia said after a measured pause, "I must remind you that a race is not decided by speed alone. And few, if any, can sustain her pace for as long as she can. You would do well not to be rash."

Merry offered no reply.

The next time she spoke, it would be to their trainer.

---

By the time Legadonia arrived outside the office, Merry was nowhere to be found.

"She left?" she asked.

He nodded. "About three minutes ago."

Legadonia glanced toward the practice grounds visible beyond the hallway windows.

"Without waiting for…"

"Mm."

That earned the faintest crease between her brows.

"Merry ordinarily considers routine important."

"She does."

"It has become less so of late. "

A wry smile crossed his face before his expression settled once more.

"She wants to push harder."

Legadonia was quiet for a moment, tail swishing.

"I suspected as much."

"I approved it," he admitted. "Within reason."

She regarded him a moment longer than necessary. Merry had a tendency to interpret things in her own way; it was rarely malicious, but it was rarely precise either.

"I trust her to know her limits." He continued. "She knows her body better than I ever will."

"And you trust her judgment of it above your own."

"I do."

"Trainer—" The start of a correction began to take shape before she caught herself.

He met her gaze.

"But I also trust you."

That made her pause briefly, as she registered the role being placed upon her. He continued before she could gather her response.

"Run alongside her for a while. Keep an eye on things."

Legadonia watched him carefully. "You believe she will overdo it."

"I believe," he said carefully, "that Merry is at her worst when she convinces herself she is alone."

That, more than the request itself, seemed to resolve something in Legadonia.

"Understood."

---

Merry had already started by the time Legadonia reached the track.

How unusual.

Their warmups had long since settled into habit, less by agreement than repetition. Merry ordinarily waited, if only so they could spend the opening laps attempting to unsettle one another before training properly began. Today, however, she was already midway through the bend.

Legadonia slowed near the rail. Something about the run looked… off.

Merry's stride usually carried a certain sharpness to it, an explosive quality held barely under control even at training pace. Now the movement looked smoother, flatter somehow. Less forceful on entry, more measured through release.

Legadonia watched another lap in silence.

Merry exited the far turn hugging the inner rail closer than usual.

Strange.

Her usual burst was nowhere to be seen.

"My rival," she called evenly as Merry approached the post, stepping onto the track alongside her, "it has been nearly a week since last we raced. I am beginning to suspect you have abandoned our usual arrangement."

Merry glanced sideways. For a fraction of a second, genuine surprise crossed her face.

"…Legadonia."

"So you do remember me." Legadonia teased as she matched pace beside Merry with practiced ease. "And yet you began without me."

"I wanted to warm up first."

"You are five laps in."

"Then I have warmed up thoroughly."

Legadonia exhaled softly through her nose, closer to an amused chuff than genuine reproach.

There she is.

Merry's attention might have wandered somewhere beyond the track these past weeks, but at least some part of her rival remained intact enough to answer teasing with teasing.

The reassurance lasted precisely until the next turn.

"You are altering your stride," Legadonia observed after another turn.

Merry's ears flicked once.

"Slightly."

"And suppressing your acceleration." She added.

"I am testing a new pace."

Legadonia's gaze narrowed almost imperceptibly. So, this was not a matter of merely training harder, but training differently.

Merry leaned forward slightly entering the straight, carefully regulating the rhythm of her breathing. She was conserving motion, suppressing the explosive release Legadonia had long since come to expect from her. The effect was strangely familiar; less the stride of a sprinter than that of a stayer preparing to endure distance.

…Imitating Shirogane.

The realization settled unpleasantly in her chest with an unfamiliar weight. One more thing to account for.

She kept her voice even. "And your conclusion thus far?"

"That this pace is sustainable."

"For her, perhaps." Legadonia corrected.

Merry did not answer.

They rounded another bend in silence.

Legadonia watched her rival carefully now. The adjustments were subtle enough that another runner might not notice them yet, but to someone who had spent years racing beside Merry, the differences stood out immediately. She was smoothing herself out, shaving away instinct for efficiency in a manner that felt studied rather than natural. It did not suit her nearly as well as she seemed to think.

"Merry."

"Hm?"

"You are aware that copying another athlete is not the same as understanding them."

"Yeah."

The answer came too quickly, but Legadonia let the matter rest despite the unease it stirred in her. Not because she believed Merry, but because pressing further now would accomplish little beyond making her defensive. Instead she matched pace as Merry gradually increased speed through the next straight, the two of them settling into the familiar rhythm of shared practice even as something about it felt subtly off-balance.

Several laps passed that way before Merry finally eased near the starting line, breathing harder now, though the dissatisfied set of her expression suggested she considered the session lacking in some regard.

"One more," she said quietly.

Legadonia studied her for a moment. Merry was not exhausted enough to justify the vacant look in her eyes, and that alone was troubling.

"…Very well," She replied at last. Better that she not leave Merry to run alone.

They resumed together.

But as they entered the next turn, Legadonia realized Merry was no longer running against the person beside her.

She was running against someone who was not there at all.

---

I'm sure I'll reread this in the morning and find a billion things I'll want to edit or add onto. But for now, this should appease the plot bunny.

edit:

I did find something I wanted to edit. I don't know if this happens to anyone else, but now matter how many time I proofread my writing, something always slips through. This time I noticed two sentences starting the same way next to each other, just didn't sound right.

 

[TheSmallSauce]

Will we see, at some point, any of the more established racing families attempting to encourage Shiro to pursue relationships with their male descendants, with intent to add her outrageous stamina and physical health to the bloodline? Perhaps they approach her family with a "betrothal" offer?

Dunno if it's likely, but I'd be curious to see how that sort of scenario develops.

How do "breeding arrangements" translate to the world of Uma?

Click to shrink...

Probably the same way it works IRL, usually families recommend some people from "good" families, sometimes just in small meetings or parties, other times in matchmaking sessions. And like IRL, there may be even programs that forces people to reproduce to create a better athlete, a la Yao Ming.

Click to shrink...

I got reminded of this while I was ruminating on Shirogane's possible roommates should she ever decide to move into the dorms. I feel like it would be the perfect set up for something like...

---

Rules of Engagement

​

---

To Miss Shirogane Suzuki,

The Mejiro family has heard a great deal regarding your recent accomplishments, both academic and athletic, and would be delighted by the opportunity to make your acquaintance more personally.

Should your schedule permit, we would be honored to receive you at the estate at a time convenient to you. We believe there would be considerable mutual benefit in becoming more familiar with one another.

We understand that your commitments are substantial, and thus leave the matter entirely to your availability and personal inclination.

Regardless, the family holds you in very high regard and would be pleased to deepen this connection should the opportunity arise.

Mejiro Dober had been holding the envelope for nearly twenty minutes.

Not because delivering a letter was particularly difficult.

Ordinarily, it would have been simple. She would locate the intended recipient, hand over the correspondence, exchange a few polite words, and leave before the interaction had the opportunity to become awkward.

Unfortunately, this particular letter had been entrusted to her by her grandmother, and anything involving her grandmother stopped being simple almost immediately.

Dober adjusted her grip on the cream-colored envelope as she walked along the narrow residential street just outside the Tracen campus grounds. The evening air carried the lingering warmth of late spring, softened by the smell of restaurants beginning dinner service nearby.

Objectively speaking, there was nothing strange about the letter.

Shirogane's absurd race schedule had made the rounds in the newspapers for months as she continued to race week after week. It was inevitable that something outrageous like that would have caught her family's attention, and inviting rising stars to the estate was not particularly uncommon either. The family liked observing promising prospects directly.

Dober had initially thought little of it.

Then one of her aunts had smiled, and suddenly the entire request had become deeply suspicious.

Her family had an unfortunate tendency to imply things instead of saying them outright, and worse still, Dober was no longer entirely certain she herself understood the implications. Not fully, at least. She understood enough to know that inviting another girl to the family estate under these circumstances could very easily sound like something other than a simple social invitation.

And now she was the one delivering the letter.

Which meant Shirogane might misunderstand.

The thought made Dober's ears flatten in horror.

Not because Shirogane was unpleasant. Quite the opposite, actually, which was part of the problem.

Shirogane was intelligent, composed, hardworking, and surprisingly considerate once one learned how to interpret her bluntness. She possessed a kind of calm practicality that Dober found oddly reassuring, even if it occasionally bordered on unsettling. More than once, Dober had caught herself feeling vaguely envious of the younger girl's composure.

A quality that made her, unfortunately, extremely difficult to read.

Dober still remembered the first time she and Air Groove-senpai had visited Shirogane's apartment. Air Groove had spent most of the visit interrogating the ventilation, emergency preparedness, and structural integrity of the building while Shirogane calmly brewed tea and played host...

The pierogies had been delicious.

Ahem…

More troublingly, she had also realized, to her considerable surprise, that she genuinely enjoyed talking to her.

Which made this situation significantly worse.

Because if Shirogane interpreted this letter as some kind of romantic advance, Dober was reasonably certain she would die on the spot.

That thought did not help her calm down.

At last, she stopped in front of a modest apartment building.

Dober climbed the stairs slowly, rehearsing explanations she immediately discarded before they could fully form.

It's just a delivery.

It's just a letter.

It's just—

By the time she reached the door, she still had nothing usable.

Number 203.

She stared at it for a moment longer than strictly necessary, as though the numerals themselves might offer a socially acceptable phrasing.

They did not.

…

On second thought, perhaps Ryan would have a better idea about this whole—

The door opened.

Shirogane stood there in casual clothes and reading glasses, a pen still clipped loosely to the collar of her shirt.

"…Dober-san?"

Dober suddenly became acutely aware of several things at once.

First, that she was standing outside a girl's apartment in the evening, alone.

Second, that she was holding an expensive, perfumed letter embossed with her family crest like it was some kind of formal declaration.

Third, that she had absolutely no natural way to explain either of those facts without making them worse.

"Yes," she said far too quickly. "I mean—good evening."

Shirogane blinked once, then stepped aside.

"Please come in."

"I-I don't want to intrude."

"You are already here."

Dober's brain stalled, racking through about a thousand different polite refusals and landing on precisely none.

"...Right." She managed at last. "Pardon me…"

The apartment was as immaculate as she remembered.

Textbooks sat arranged neatly along low shelves. Training schedules were pinned to the refrigerator. A kettle rested on the stove beside several carefully labeled containers of tea leaves and coffee beans.

Dober's attention drifted for just a moment before Shirogane closed the door behind her.

"You came a considerable distance from the dorms," the younger girl observed.

Dober stiffened. The envelope in her hand suddenly felt unbearably conspicuous.

"I had business in the area," she deflected, it was technically the truth.

Shirogane paused for a moment, as if noting the time and distance.

"It's quite late," she said. "And you must be hungry after coming all this way."

She was already turning toward the kitchen before she finished the sentence.

"Would you like to stay for dinner?"

Dober's response came automatically, drilled into her from years of etiquette training.

"If it wouldn't be an imposition."

It was only after the words had left her mouth that she realized she had just accepted tea in the apartment of a girl she was worried might misunderstand her intentions.

This was spiraling.

Shirogane, thankfully oblivious, moved into the kitchen area and began preparing the kettle.

"There's no need to be so formal, Dober-san. I'd like to think we already know each other quite well."

"Ah... Of course."

That did not help. If anything, it made things worse.

Dober sat carefully at the low table while Shirogane prepared tea with calm, practiced motions.

The silence stretched.

Dober stared at the envelope.

This should not have been so difficult; all she had to do was hand it over and explain that the Mejiro family wished to invite her for a social visit.

Simple.

Perfectly normal.

Entirely innocent.

So why did it feel like she was about to confess to something?

Shirogane returned from the kitchen with two cups and set one down in front of her. The tea carried a faint unfamiliar aroma, fruity and slightly sharp, something she couldn't quite place.

"It's something my grandmother brought from Poland. I hope you like it."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Shirogane sat opposite her, calm, composed, and entirely unsuspecting.

Dober suddenly found this intolerably unfair.

"…Shirogane-san."

"Yes?"

"There's… something I wanted to ask you."

Shirogane folded her hands politely.

"I will answer to the best of my ability."

Why did that sound so serious?

Dober's heartbeat quickened.

"No, it's not—it's not a big deal."

"Very well."

Another pause.

Dober stared at her tea.

Then at the envelope.

Then at Shirogane, who was now watching her with patient attentiveness.

That somehow made everything even worse.

"…Hypothetically," Dober began carefully, "if someone invited you somewhere because their family was interested in getting to know you better… how would you interpret that?"

Shirogane considered the question with complete seriousness.

Dober immediately regretted asking it.

"Well," Shirogane said after a moment of contemplation, "it would depend on context."

"…Context?"

"If the family involved held significant social or institutional standing," she continued evenly, "then it would likely indicate that they were evaluating the possibility of a longer-term relationship."

Dober's hand tightened imperceptibly around her cup.

"…A longer-term… relationship?"

"Yes." Shirogane nodded once. "Something ongoing, rather than a single interaction."

Dober took a careful sip of tea she suddenly could not taste.

That was not what she had meant.

That was absolutely not what she had meant!

Shirogane continued, unaware of the internal collapse happening across from her.

"In such cases, it is common for families to assess compatibility through repeated meetings, informal visits, and observation of conduct in neutral environments."

Compatibility.

Repeated meetings.

Informal visits...

Dober set her cup down with excessive care.

"…I see," she managed.

Shirogane tilted her head slightly.

"Is that not the case in this situation?"

"No," Dober said too quickly. "I mean—this is not—there is no such implication."

Shirogane blinked once.

"I understand."

She did not elaborate.

Dober's thoughts immediately filled the silence Shirogane had left behind.

I understand.

Understand what.

What exactly did she think she understood!?

Shirogane continued calmly, as if discussing the weather.

"Then it is simply an invitation for familiarity."

"…Familiarity," Dober repeated, faintly.

"Yes. To determine whether continued association would be mutually beneficial."

Mutually beneficial.

Dober felt her ears grow hot.

That phrase was absolutely doing something it was not supposed to be doing!

Shirogane reached for her cup again.

"In that case, it is a fairly standard request."

She paused briefly, as if considering.

"Though I suppose the degree of formality would depend on how seriously the family values the outcome."

Dober nearly choked on air.

"The outcome?"

Shirogane looked at her.

"Yes."

A pause.

Then, completely calmly:

"Some families are more deliberate than others when selecting individuals they intend to maintain long-term ties with."

Dober stared at her.

Her soul quietly exited her body and settled somewhere on the floor.

Shirogane, meanwhile, took another sip of coffee as if she had not just set off three separate emotional catastrophes in under a minute.

"Would that letter have anything to do with the question you asked?"

---

Why Dober, you ask? Well, the answer is simple, she's my favorite!

Spoiler

Yes, I mostly did it because I wanted to flex bond level 10...

 

[WrandmWaffles]

Name	Suzuki Shirogane (Orzel)
Birthday	April 4th
Class	Junior Division
Dorm	Off Campus Apartment
Roommate	None
Height	145cm
Three Sizes	B78 W54 H80
Shoe Size	23cm
Weight	You're not supposed to actually list it!
Image Colors	[FFFFFF] [DC143C]
Emoji	Does not use any
Calls Self	Watashi
Calls Trainer	Toujou-san

Likes	Peace and Quiet
Dislikes	Unexpected loud noises
Ears	Tracks sounds without a single errant twitch
Tail	Only moves to adjust balance or swat pests
Family	Always pesters her about eating enough food
Personal Rule	Earn more revenue than expenses
Phone Background	Default
Before a Race…	Eats a light breakfast and warms up
Good Subject	Mathematics
Secret Pride	She can find the most efficient path to the destination without a map
Frequent Purchases	Groceries
Secrets	She wants to fly
	She has a devastating right hook

 

[WrandmWaffles]

Stars Align​

---

After the remainder of their class found trainers, things settled down somewhat for Shirogane's yearmates, but the opposite was true for the second year students, as they faced their classic triple crown and tiara circuits.

Seeking the Pearl and Mejiro Dober had both taken one of the tiaras, but on the classic circuit, their classmates had performed fairly poorly, with neither Matikanefukukitaru or Silence Suzaka even placing. To compound things, the Satsuki Sho and Tokyo Yushun had been won by a dark horse runner named Sunny Brian, which sent the campus into a tizzy as the unexpected winner now had the possibility of winning the Triple Crown when expectations had been that her win on the first leg had been a fluke.

Personally, Shirogane was not too surprised that her two relevant classmates had not done that well, as while Suzuka-san was very fast, she tended to perform worse if around too many other runners, and with her relatively recent injury Toujou-san had recommended she curtail the usual desire to run way out in front. It was perhaps more sensible from a health perspective, but clearly it affected Suzuka's morale significantly.

Matikanefukukitaru, on the other hand, was extremely mercurial and probably was in a bad mood that day.

While this atmosphere didn't affect Shirogane all that much, it did seem to put a damper on Suzuka-san's enthusiasm, as while the chestnut haired uma was not the most vocal, she was still very competitive, and having to hold back her preferred instincts to avoid injury was clearly bothering her, to the point where their occasional morning runs didn't seem to do much to lift the older uma's mood despite having good weather.

"Did you argue with Toujou-san again?" After a few days of this, Shirogane thought it was worth bringing up.

"Eh? Oh, not really." Suzuka-san's ears drooped down sadly. "I had another doctor appointment, and they said my leg is much better, but Trainer-san is still worried about it." She sighed forlornly. "And after I didn't do very well in my last race, she's even more worried about it."

"...You really didn't quite look like yourself."

"You saw it too?" Suzuka sighed. "It just didn't feel right."

"Was your leg still giving you trouble?" Shirogane inquired, feeling incredulous. With how concerned their trainer had been about injuries, it seemed odd for her to allow Suzuka to participate if there was a known problem.

"No, not really…" she denied, shaking her head. "It's just that the view was bad."

"Does having others in front of you bother you that much?" It didn't make that much sense to Shirogane, but she grew up in a city so she might be more accustomed to traffic than others.

"I don't like it."

"Hmm…I suppose it is more difficult to run as fast as you prefer to when there are dynamic obstacles you need to avoid."

"But it doesn't bother you," Suzuka-san observed, one ear twitching as she glanced over at her junior.

"Not so much, I'm used to maneuvering around obstacles," Shirogane shrugged. "Came with running deliveries."

"Umm…then why doesn't Trainer-san have you run more towards the back?" Her senpai's tail flicked uncertainly. "You're very good at passing people."

"Aside from lacking the speed to do that reliably."

"Ah…" Sometimes Suzuka seemed to miss the most obvious things.

"We all must adjust to our strengths and limitations if we want to perform well." It was helpful that the standards of success were so simple. Cross the finish line first, without interfering with the other runners beyond acceptable maneuvering. Much more straightforward than managing a group of lunatics to achieve more nebulous targets like the Salaryman and Soldier had to contend with.

Though in her own case she wasn't in a leadership position, and probably would never have to be, so it wasn't necessarily the best comparison.

"So…is what you're saying that I shouldn't run out in front?" This hardly warranted such a distraught expression.

"We both know the alternative hasn't been working too well," Shirogane stressed, shaking her head. "If you need to front run to perform well, and your previous injury makes doing that more risky, then you will have to find ways to mitigate the risk of injury."

"You mean more slow strength training?" Her ears drooped down miserably. "Trainer-san said I needed to work out my legs but not by running."

"Maybe, I can't say I'm that knowledgeable about this, since I have the opposite problem." In her case she needed to practice sprinting, which was an interesting change of pace.

"Oh…"

"Perhaps you should try pacing in figure eights instead of left handed circles." It would even out some of the stress on her injured leg.

"Eh?"

"Swimming might be useful too."

"Really?"

"The buoyancy of the water means your legs aren't carrying all of your weight."

"Hmm…so that's why Trainer-san mentioned that…"

"You do not look very enthused."

"Well…it isn't running."

There was something to be said about loving what you do but Silence Suzuka might be taking it a bit far.

---

Special Week had not really thought about what it would be like to be on a team very much when she came to Tracen, but despite her not being the best at school stuff, she had listened to what Grass-chan and El-chan had said.

It still had not prepared her at all for what being on Team Spica was like.

"Nom!"

"Uwaah!"

Teeth clamped on her arm and Special Week almost jumped out of her own skin, falling over onto her face into Team Spica's locker room.

"Wa-hahaha! Got you again, Spe!"

Special Week rolled over onto her back, looking up at the toothy grin of the teammate looming over her.

"You should really stop that, Windy-san," sighed the elegant voice of another one of Spe's seniors. "One of you is going to get hurt at some point."

"Eh? It's just a fun prank, Dober!" Shinko Windy objected, frowning at the voice of reason on their team. "It won't hurt her, right Spe?"

"I'm ok!" Special Week declared, springing up to her feet, before realizing she may have got up too quickly, flailing her arms as she lost her balance again and–

"Woah there, junior."

–finding herself falling into a chair that had not been there a second earlier.

"Huh?"

"Maah, nice kick Bubbles."

"Heh." Pop! "Can't let our junior get herself hurt too much, can we?"

"True, true. Still with us, Spe?"

Special Week blinked, taking a breath to steady herself, finally having the time to get a good look at her teammates who were already in the room.

Mejiro Dober sat against the wall, keeping a serious face even as she looked very done with this whole thing, while the lackadaisical Stay Gold lounged on a bench, looking like she had just woken up from a nap.

The uma that had bit her, Shinko Windy, with short and spiky brown hair, hopped up onto the table and crouched down, her toothy grin not fading one bit. "She looks fine, see?!"

And lastly, leaning back in her chair at the table, was an uma with long reddish-brown hair wearing an orange and white band wrapped around her right ear, casually blowing a bubble of bubble gum. She must have been the one to kick the chair over to save her from falling.

"Thanks, Bubble Gum-senpai!"

"Don't sweat it, Spe," Her senior waved off, tucking her arm over the back of her chair. "But you gotta stop jumping for the walls every time Windy pulls a prank."

"Especially if you wanna pass the gate check," Stay Gold added, looking over at her with one eye open.

"I-I did pass though!" Special Week waved her hands furiously in objection. "It took a few tries, but I got it!"

"There isn't any shame in having to try a few times," Dober offered reassuringly. "Especially since you didn't use them before. They take some time to get accustomed to."

"See! I'm just helping my junior too!" Shinko interjected, hopping in place on the table, still crouched down.

"I heard even Shiro-chan had some trouble with it," Stay Gold went on, ignoring their bitey teammate.

"Ehhh?! Really?" Special Week had never seen Shirogane-san so much as flinch, could she really have had trouble with the gate too?

"Oh yeah…Groove did mention that her kouhai smashed a speaker in the starting gate," Bubble Gum Fellow added, before blowing another bubble. "Gotta say that's a new one."

"Oh yeah…Shiro-chan doesn't really like loud noises."

"Does anyone?"

"Sorry I'm late!" A burst of noise flooded the room as the door snapped open, letting the dark haired blur of El Condor Pasa inside.

"Rawr!"

"Wah!"

Shinko Windy jumped at the newcomer, and while El-chan let out a surprised sound, her reaction was not to get scared, but to grab onto the incoming uma and throw her out the doorway.

"El Condor Pasa is here!"

"Woo, a ring out." Stay Gold clapped, eyes glittering with amusement. "Didn't even let the door hit her on the way out."

"That was so cool, El-chan!" Special Week hopped back up to her feet, this time actually avoiding the dizziness.

"Of course! I am El Condor Pasa! And no one attacks me with impunity!" The dark haired uma thrust her fist in the air emphatically. "Wah!" Only to be knocked forwards as Shinko Windy jumped on her back and bit down on her head.

"Ohoh, round two, eh?" Stay Gold hummed, sitting up to observe more closely. "Who shall win this one?"
"I'd say Windy's got this one." Pop!

As she watched in morbid fascination, Special Week got the sense that Bubble-senpai was right, as El-chan wasn't very successful at getting their bitey teammate off her back, even as the two of them rolled around on the ground.

"Oh for heaven's sake!" Dober-san sighed, her ears pulled back in irritation as she stood up and stalked over to the roughhousing pair, smacking Windy-san on the back of her head and hauling her off of El-chan. "Trainer-san told us there was an important meeting, so at least try and take things a bit seriously!"

"And in comes Dober-chan with a strict scolding."

"It isn't as effective as the dragging around part."

Stay Gold and Bubble-senpai didn't move from their seats, just watching the shenanigans as if they were commentators for a wrestling match. Not that Special Week could really say much against them since she was still kind of just standing there herself.

Was she even supposed to do anything? Her teammates were so confusing sometimes.

"Alrighty…" the door swung open again, revealing their scruffy looking trainer, who paused at the sight of two of his trainees on the ground, with one trying to separate them. "Did I come at a bad time? I can come back later."

"Yo, Trainer, what's up?" Stay Gold called, waving casually as she laid back down. "I think you picked a great time, actually."

"You're the one who told us to be here," Dober-san pointed out, ear flicking irritably as she disentangled herself from the two wrestling umas. "I hope you aren't wasting our time here with this."

"Ehh…maybe a little?" Trainer-san scratched the side of his head sheepishly. "It's more of a thing for the newbies, but I figured it would help if you could help out a bit as their seniors."

"Ah…" Crossing her arms, Dober let out a slight huff, looking away from Trainer-san. "Then I suppose I wouldn't mind."

"Ohoh, now this could be interesting…"

"Is this what I think it is, Trainer-san?"

Both Stay Gold and Bubble-senpai suddenly had very interested looks. What was Special Week missing here? What was Trainer-san about to say?!

"Special Week!" Trainer barked. "El Condor Pasa!"

"Yes?!"

"Que?"

The two first years squeaked, Special Week almost jumping in place, the two of them sharing a worried glance over their Trainer's suddenly serious demeanor. Mostly, he was rather laid back when not obsessed over someone's legs, but now…

"The time has come!"

Bang!

Special Week flinched again as he slapped a stack of papers onto the table.

"For you to make your debuts!"

"EHHHH?!"

---

The air felt different in Nakayama, or at least it felt that way to Grass Wonder as she readied herself for her debut, trying her best to keep still, something she mostly succeeded in, except for the occasional twitch of her ears and tail.

Now that she was in the starting gate for a proper race herself, Grass couldn't help but feel a grudging admiration for her classmate. Shirogane-san had made staying calm look so easy.

It had been galling to feel so far behind someone she knew she could beat in a race, but after Trainer-san's explanations, and now feeling the real pressure of a race with actual stakes (even if it was just a newcomers'), she had to grit her teeth and admit that for all that Shirogane-san lacked in bursts of speed, her off track skills contributed a lot more to her on track performance than Grass had thought would be the case.

She inhaled, then exhaled slowly, trying to drown out the sounds in the gates around her, filled with other runners, most of whom were much less adept at suppressing their nervous tics.

Be calm as still water, she reminded herself, but with the ability to flow rapidly underneath.

One of her ears twitched.

It was harder to match Shirogane-san's stillness than she had first expected.

But that was a small thing, compared to her spatial awareness. As much as her taciturn classmate hadn't had much experience in racing, she always seemed to know what was going on around her, even about the runners behind her. Grass had enough experience to know how important it was to check behind you, and enough skill to do so without losing forward focus, but that was still a far cry from Shirogane-san's almost uncanny ability.

The gates opening almost caught her off guard, being so lost in her own thoughts, but reflex kicked in and she burst out onto the track, only slightly delayed.

Mentally, she kicked herself, but it wouldn't take her out of the running. She preferred to surge in the later portions of the race anyways.

She grit her teeth, focusing on keeping her breathing even, tamping down on the urge to sprint ahead and show her rivals and the world just how good she was.

As much as it had stung to debut so much later than her classmate, she had to admit that the delay had given her time to learn a lot. Especially patience.

So she kept her position towards the back of the pack, angling slightly towards the outside so she would have a path forwards later. Being towards the rear also allowed her to observe her opponents, and so far, compared to her training partners in Tracen, most of them felt…a bit lacking.

She had trained for years to run these races, months practicing a facsimile of this racecourse, so she was prepared for the inclines and the drops, while much of her competition seemed much less ready for.

As the lead runners started to flag, Grass started to move up the pack. This was a short race, but the undulation of the Nakayama track meant it was more fatiguing than it might first appear.

But Grass had trained for this.

Trainer-san had shown her some of the exercises Shirogane-san had undertaken when practicing for her victorious debut. And now, as they reached the upwards slope of the final stretch, Grass shot forwards even as the leaders slowed.

Her breath came harder as she charged up the incline, but with her preparations, the strain was bearable, and in a short flash, she had passed the final post and won her newcomer race.

She smiled and bowed to the cheering crowd, even as a part of her still felt that this was merely one step to closing the gap rather than an achievement of its own.

---

It had been about eight months, but with how much she had thrown herself into her Classic Year so far, it felt as if no time had passed at all.

Mejiro Dober bowed her head, shutting her eyes to stop the tears from falling.

"I almost did it, Ojii-chan…" she couldn't speak too loudly without losing control of her voice, but her grandfather was dead, so it didn't really matter. And it would be considered rude to speak too loudly at his gravestone anyways.

"Couldn't win all three Tiaras…since Pearl-san won the Oka Sho, but I won the Yushun Himba and Shuka Sho." She swallowed. "Oka-san left a seat for you…did you see it?"

He had seen her win her first G1 race at Hanshin, before collapsing and passing away suddenly before her run at the Tiaras.

Those days were a bit of a haze in her mind, and sometimes she wondered if she could have won the Oka-sho had she been more focused, before feeling the guilt again.

"Ramonu-san was disappointed. She says I could have won all three Tiaras if I had channeled my grief into running…" She let out a long breath. "Maybe she was right…but it wasn't that simple."

Grandfather had been the first person to teach her how to run. He was already old then, but he had been determined to do his best to train her. If only she had seen how hard he was pushing himself then…maybe he would still be alive.

"You told me you saw much potential in me…" And she had won seven races so far, four of them graded, but she didn't know how much more she had in her, now that she had time to let the pain settle.

As much as her living family members had been pleased by her achievements so far, she was still considered too young to discuss the business side of things, and yet, she could see that many of her family members were worried about things.

With the number of strong foreign runners coming over to compete, the competition was looking stiffer than ever, and Dober could see this too, with several of her yearmates as well as a number of those in the year below her being foreign runners. A few of the others also had at least one foreign parent, like Shirogane-san.

Speaking of her, Dober was getting the sense that her serious kouhai was right about how much her family's fortunes were tied to racing. Even with her strong performance so far, it was starting to become clear that depending on the prestige of producing consistent winners was going to become more tenuous in the future.

"Did I make you proud, Ojii-san?" And would it be enough to live up to the Mejiro name?

Had it been worth it?

---

While the hype for the Classic Year circuit had died down as Sunny Brian's retirement due to injury had smothered the possibility of a Triple Crown winner in the crib, the last leg of the circuit, the Kikuka Sho, had reignited some of the furor as one of their own, Matikanefukukitaru, had claimed the final crown, with the added point of interest that Mejiro Bright had taken third place, when she had not been considered particularly promising earlier in her career. Stay Gold had not placed, but the lackadaisical uma didn't seem to be bothered by it.

Within her yearmates, Grass Wonder became the second to debut, winning her newcomer race and a short distance open race quite convincingly, before becoming the first of their year to win a graded race, claiming first place at Keio Hai Nisai Stakes, a G2 race. This was something that Grass Wonder was rather smug about, which was fair enough.

She actually hadn't been the first to participate in a graded race, as Toujou-san had pushed Shirogane to enter into the Daily Hai Sansai Stakes to get a feel for the Tiara distances, but she had placed second, which was not as impressive, even if the payout was considerable.

One after another, her yearmates debuted. First King Halo, the El Condor Pasa, then Special Week, all three of them winning their debut races, which seemed to put some more confidence into their steps.

"Ugh…everyone else is already running, but I just had to get sick this year!"

Tsuyoshi-san had unfortunately run into another bout of illness, and her trainer had firmly rejected her requests to start running even without being fully recovered. This was probably a wise decision considering some of her illness was exacerbated by overtraining.

"Now, now, Tsuyoshi-san," Grass Wonder chided, patting her despondent classmate on the shoulder. "If your trainer sees a reason to delay your debut they probably have a good reason for it."

"Plus you won't be able to give it your all if you're sick!" El Condor Pasa piled on, pumping her fist for emphasis.

"I guess so…" the white streaked uma conceded the point as her head dipped down, still looking disappointed. From what Shirogane understood, she was from a rather prestigious family, so was under significant pressure to perform well, and she was pushing herself quite hard to live up to those expectations. Perhaps too hard, given her spate of injuries.

"Mmhmm! I'm sure you'll be able to run soon, Tsuru-chan!" Special Week offered another round of encouragement.

"Maah…don't let me feel so left out!" Seiun Sky grumbled good naturedly. "My trainer still won't let me run either."

"More accurately, you continue to procrastinate over your gate qualification," Shirogane pointed out drily, flicking her ear in her lazy classmate's direction. She did not understand Sky's aversion to the gates. Even if she was claustrophobic it wasn't as if the gates trapped you. It would be trivial to duck under them.

"H-Hey, don't rat me out like that Shirogane-chan!"

"You were openly complaining about this the other day."

"Shirogane-san is right, you know." King Halo propped one hand on her hip as she shook her head. "You will have to become used to entering the starting gate."

"But I don't wanna!"

"Then you will not race," Shirogane snorted, rolling her eyes. "I will not be present to load you into the gate manually every time."

"Hey!"

Sky's indignant squawk was drowned out by amused sounds from the rest of the class, making the lackadaisical uma thump her head back down onto her desk in defeat.

"You're never going to let me live that down, are you?"

"Not until you learn how to get in the gate by yourself." The amount of dithering outside the starting gates some runners did never ceased to annoy Shirogane. They would only be in the gate for a few minutes at most, and yet they wasted more time than it took to run the course of the race.

"You'll get it someday, Sky-chan!" Special Week offered encouragingly, pumping her fists in front of her and wiggling her ears in a friendly gesture.

"Not you too, Spe…"

"Eh? What did I do wrong?" The good natured uma had clearly been sincere in her attempts to cheer up their classmate, but Sky-san was really looking more for sympathy than encouragement to resolve some of her existing issues, something which her trainer likewise seemed content to let her take at her own pace.

"You did fine, Spe-chan," Grass Wonder tittered, hiding her smile behind her hand. "Sky-chan just wants to take a nap before class."

Speaking of which…

"Err…shouldn't Sensei be here already?" Tsuyoshi-san had apparently noticed the same thing, as their homeroom teacher was usually more than punctual.

"Is there something wrong?" Special Week wondered, her ears flattening nervously. "Is there going to be a pop quiz?!"

"We just had our midterms, Spe-chan."

"That doesn't mean she won't spring a pop quiz on us, Grass!"

"No, no! What if it's something fun! Like a field trip."

"We won't have summer camp training until our classic year," King Halo countered, cupping her chin thoughtfully. "But it could be something about coming up on the end of our junior season."

Aside from the two who had yet to debut, their class has been fairly successful so far. While she had a much lower win rate, suffice to say Shirogane was going to have to pay a significant amount in taxes this year.

"You mean the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes?" Grass Wonder posited. "Are any of you participating? Asides from Shirogane-san and I." She looked rather smug about qualifying for the end of year G1 race, which was rather understandable. Shirogane wasn't quite sure why her other yearmates didn't have schedules planning for participating, but she presumed their trainers had reasons for it. While her own record didn't have as many wins as her teammate, she had enough prize points to qualify.

"Uwah! Don't rub it in Grass!" El Condor Pasa waved her arms in amusing despair. "You don't even know if you'll win!"

"Yeah…a G1 race is gonna have a lot stronger opposition," Seiun Sky drawled, propping her head on her arms as her ears twitched teasingly. "Who knows? Maybe Shirogane could steal first place from you."

"The results are yet to be determined," Shirogane sighed, giving her classmate an annoyed look. It wouldn't be stealing unless there was a disqualification or some other incident to throw suspicion on the results. "Before the results are shown, no place is guaranteed. Otherwise there would be no point in people betting on the races, unless they intentionally want to lose." As far as she knew, there was no real evidence that fortune was some kind of limited resource you should manage, but many people acted as if this was true.

"Ohoh! These are fighting words!"

"Mmm! Just because you two debuted earlier doesn't mean we're going to let you leave us behind!"

Somehow her simple observation of reality had riled up King Halo and Special Week, the two brown haired umas looking at her with determined expressions, ears upright and at attention.

"That's true enough," Grass wonder hummed, closing her eyes as she smiled, tail swishing in anticipation. "I suppose we shall find out on the track."

"Waah…scary…"

In what way was that scary, Special Week-san?

"Yeah…Grass gets like this sometimes."

Shirogane really did not understand her yearmates much of the time. Perhaps she was just too old.

"Good morning class!" Nakashima-sensei finally arrived, uncharacteristically late. "Sorry for the wait, but we are going to be going over something important today!."
"Oooh, what is it, sensei?!"

"Since some of you are going to be participating in your first G1 race soon," she adjusted her glasses dramatically. "We'll be going over your costumes!"

"Woohoo!"

"I've been waiting to try it on for real since I got it, it is so coool!"

"Eh…Sensei, some of us haven't even debuted yet, so why are we doing this now?"

"Well, Sky-chan, running in a costume is quite different, so you need to get used to it before you run a race in it."

That was true enough.

"You will also have to practice putting them on," Sensei added, shaking her head a bit. "And some of you really decided on something complicated." Her gaze flicked over to Shirogane, who just shrugged in reply.

"Woo! We get to dress up for school!"

"We do that every day, El-chan."

---

It was a bit strange to think about, but even in the case of track and field, dressing for the occasion seemed to play a not insignificant part in preparing yourself.

The Salaryman put on a suit and business clothes, the process settling him in his role and position, the Soldier cared meticulously for her uniform when at peace to keep her focus sharp for combat, and now, Shirogane found herself getting into another sort of uniform for her temporary profession in this life.

She had been expecting either the school or her trainer to nix her mother's desire for her to wear her grand aunt's uniform, but after seeing how impractical some of her fellows made their outfits, she wasn't surprised when the examiners had heartily approved of hers.

As it turns out, a uniform designed for an uma to march, fight and die in was more practical than one designed to show off, even if it came from a much more ostentatious era than the Soldier lived in.

The pants were a bit short, but fit very well otherwise, and while they were thicker than they appeared, there was enough slack in the fit that they would not chafe against her legs. The slot for her tail was surprisingly comfortable too. Visually, they weren't much to look at, compared to some others, but that wasn't the point.

The uniform jacket was more elaborate, double breasted, decorated with red epaulettes on the shoulders, and with two sets of buttons down the front to secure the section containing a set of metal plates, which made it mildly tight around the chest but still gave her enough range of motion to strike. It felt a little off without a pack on her back, but there really was no reason to add more weight there, not for a charge, or something vaguely akin to one.

The boots were next, fitting more comfortably than the rest of the uniform did, and the part of her that was the Soldier felt a mix of nostalgia at having a pair of good boots along with a mild amount of confusion at the steel toes, shin and higher heel, though the last was more natural for an umamusume's foot than a human's.

After securing the boots, she stood up, slipping the decorative sash over her head and onto her shoulder. Amusingly enough, its original purpose for unit designation served a similar purpose for distinguishing between runners, same with the almost comically oversized hat, though it was fortunately quite a bit smaller than some of the line infantry hats she had seen in historical depictions.

Setting the hat onto her head, her ears flicked experimentally, adjusting to the restricted range of motion, even with the dedicated slots for them, but it was clearly designed for an umamusume, unlike some of the hats she'd had seen some of her schoolmates wore by cutting holes in them.

She glanced up into the mirror, again scrutinizing the eagle on the front of her hat. Given that it was the symbol of another country, she had expected some pushback, but apparently Seeking the Pearl's advice about playing into her mixed heritage was something her Trainer considered a good idea as well.

It filled her with an odd sense of pride, even if she had never been to Poland. Despite its disadvantageous geography, her mother's home country had managed to free itself from the scourge of communism, and had never really succumbed to that poison, even while under Soviet rule.

The Soldier had fought communists, or rather, the cannon fodder the useless parasites pushed in front of them to bury their failures, and it had been over the region roughly analogous to Poland in this world, so perhaps her deceased grand aunt would not think poorly of her for coopting this uniform, even if it had been mostly her mother's idea.

Next she slid her hands into the partly armored gloves, flexing her hands to get the fit right inside the articulating metal plates. It seemed that when the cavalryman was also the horse, some aspects of equipment did not get completely phased out even as warfare moved away from heavy armor.

Finally, she strapped on the saber harness, again finding it oddly familiar, even if she had hardly ever picked up a sword in this life. Yet another thing she was surprised she was allowed to wear, though with Taiki Shuttle having an unloaded gun, perhaps she shouldn't have been.

Her uniform donned, Shirogane examined herself more closely in the mirror, part of her grimacing at the Soldier staring back at her.

For a moment, she swore she saw a blonde aerial mage in the reflection, but then that delusion was gone. For one, this uniform was from a different nation and different time, and she was not a human woman anymore.

She adjusted the sash so it did not cover the epaulet. Then modulated the tightness of the sword belt. There was still the racing bib, but that didn't feel right to put on yet.

Her grandfather had shown her some pictures of the grand aunt she apparently so resembled, and Shirogane had to admit there was some family resemblance, even when judging from grainy black and white photographs. She was lucky to have been born during peacetime.

Still, if she was going to wear this uniform, she needed to perform well enough not to shame it.

"Are you ready in there, Shirogane-san?"

"Just about."

Her ears flicked backwards and she watched through the mirror as Grass Wonder and Toujou-san entered the dressing room (having individual ones seemed to be a luxury reserved for graded race participants), the latter in her usual business attire, while the former was dressed in something akin to a sailor school uniform, but with a longer skirt. Shirogane did not understand why her American classmate decided to dress up like she was cosplaying a Japanese schoolgirl, but it didn't seem worth questioning.

"Hmm…" Grass hummed, covering her mouth as she smiled. "You look ready for war."

"Hardly." Her sword was blunt, and she had no pistols. "Parade perhaps."

"Then you'd better win the race," Grass' eyes crinkled in a challenging look, "not that I will let you."

Shirogane adjusted her gauntlet again, tightening the strap, before turning around to look at her teammate and exasperated trainer directly, smiling a challenge of her own.

"Were it so easy."

---

AN. Well, it has been quite a long time. It's also been a pretty busy month for me work wise. This being a sort of timeskip/montage chapter also meant that I spent a lot of time looking up race histories.

I figure that switching up Team Spica members might be a bit controversial, but with how much I've tried to get things to line up to irl, it makes it difficult to square Gold Ship, Vodka and Daiwa Scarlet's arcs since the timeline is quite different. Conveniently, Shinko Windy, Stay Gold, Mejiro Dober and Bubble Gum Fellow can create a similar team dynamic, with Dober being the straight woman while Shinko, El Condor Pasa and Stay Gold create much of the chaos. Bubble Gum Fellow is mostly pretty chill though.

Also does anyone else feel like Stay Gold and Spica Trainer have some similar vibes?

Anyways, I hope you guys have fun reading.

 

[TheManW/oAPlan]

Spoiler

You know, I am from the YJ side of things as well, so I don't know half of these characters besides Tanya/Shirogane. The plot is explained well enough to follow though, so good job. We need more best girl here.

Omake: What Makes Tanya Shirogane Sprint

"I have never seen Shirogane run that fast in her life. Not even on the track. Do you know what's causing her sudden increase in top speed? Is it a new boyfriend?" Toujou asked.

"Beats me. Honestly, I think she is in danger of retiring and joining that place as a waitress. I know her parents have their own restaurant, but they are far enough apart that they would not compete, and she has never been race crazy like every other person at Tracen, You think her spring has come?" Special Week replied.

"I don't know, but a rumor has it that her parents are bribing someone there to get her to eat more or something. And she is going along with it, willingly. While your explanation does make sense, she does not seem to notice that sort of thing. There was an entire comedy of errors where she thought some family wanted brand deal or something but the other person thought they were talking about a breeding contract. Honestly, I have no clue how we communicate so well since I haven't noticed any misunderstandings between the two of us," Toujou commented, not entirely sure what caused the change in Shirogane.

"Well, I guess it will not kill us to walk in and find out. I am sure there is some completely normal explanation for this. Let's just head in this place and ask," Special Week declared and began walking towards Serebryakov e-Spresso. Walking in, they saw a quaint little e-cafe that smelled greatly of roasted coffee beans. Various pots, syrups, and drips lined the back counter. They were about to say hi to Shirogane when they saw a blue eyed, brown haired girl talking to Shirogane. What she said surprised them.

"You know you want it. But you have to be a good girl," the blue-eyed girl commanded.

"I know, but it's so good. I can't wait for it. Can I have a little right now?" Shirogane begged.

"Be a good girl and," the blue-eyed girl continued. Special Week and Toujou could not walk out fast enough. They promptly exited the coffee shop.

"I never figured she would be into that..." Toujou commented.

"I mean, it kind of does make sense though. How she's always happy with second. Never on top," Special Week thought aloud.

Meanwhile..back inside.

"Did you hear something Victoria?" Shirogane asked.

"I don't know. Look, I'll good ahead and brew you some coffee, but that plate better be at least half-way done by the time I get back," Victoria threatened.

"Fine," Shirogane, reluctantly agreed and began eating somewhat reluctantly. She did have to save room for coffee though.

 

[TheSmallSauce]

Quick appreciation sketch!

So quick that I didn't even draw her ear ornament.

Spoiler: Edit

So quick that I didn't even draw her tail, sacrilege! I'll fix that tomorrow though... Happy Dragonboat Festival to those who celebrate.

Spoiler: Edit x2

Aaaand fixed!

Spoiler: Original Image

 

[TheSmallSauce]

She's Rocking that Hank Hill Ass.

Click to shrink...

I hate that I know what you're talking about and that I immediately visualized it. Have another doodle for your evil.

 

[WrandmWaffles]

Foal Play​

---

Compared to the lower ranked races, there was significantly more pomp and ceremony involved in G1 races, beyond the additional costumes they were expected to run in. One such aspect was a pre-race lineup where they were announced one by one as they made their way onto a stage, presenting themselves to the crowd like they were celebrities, which Shirogane supposed they were, to some extent, as semi-professional athletes, with each of them trotting out in reverse order of their expected placement.

While her prize point total was enough to qualify her for the race, she had mostly placed second aside from winning her newcomer race, which had weaker competition, so she was listed as the eighth favorite. Grass Wonder, on the other hand, had yet to lose an official race since she debuted, and was consequently listed as the favorite to win, which meant she would be the final participant to be announced.

Shirogane wasn't sure if that would be more nerve-wracking, compared to the last favorite, a nervous looking brown haired uma in a red outfit decorated with white stars and stripes, apparently named Yuwa Kentucky, who had to go on stage first.

Being underestimated as the underdog had some merits, but if there was truly a large gap in capacity then it was possibly an indicator the participant had been pushed beyond their ability, or they were there just for some kind of filler. That didn't seem that likely to be the case in a G1 race, but Shirogane couldn't say she knew everything about how the rosters were constructed.

"Ohoh! So you have managed to stand on this high stage as well!" A bombastic voice called Shirogane's attention to a dark haired uma wearing a rather garish pink, white and red outfit that looked like it was trying to be both a samurai outfit and some kind of Heian nobility. "Are you here to nip at my heels again?" The other uma grinned, ears flicking in a way to show that their interjection was meant to be friendly.

It took a moment for Shirogane to place the face and ears, since the G1 outfits actually made a lot of runners look quite different. "No, biting is a foul." This was Bold Emperor, the runner who had beaten her at the Daily Hai Nisai Stakes, and the seventh favorite for this race.

"Hahaha! You haven't changed much, have you?"

"It's only been a month or so."

"And the result today should be no different than then!" Bold Emperor exclaimed confidently, crossing her arms with a definitive huff.

"The odds are not in favor of that," Shirogane pointed out, gaze flicking over to the bemused looking Grass Wonder, who was the favorite to win.

"Bah! The odds do not control fate!" the dark haired uma declared, clenching her fist in front of her chest.

"Perhaps not, but to some degree they are an expression of reality." Shirogane turned one of her ears towards the stage, it was almost her turn. "At the very least, it is a metric showing how much people believe in you…or how little."

One of the handlers signaled that her turn was coming up, so Shirogane nodded at her overly friendly competitor, before turning on her heel and striding out towards the stage.

Time to put some of her PR training to work.

---

"And the eighth favorite, from Tracen Academy, the runner up at the Daily Hai Nisai Stakes, number fourteen, Shirogane Orzel!"

"Woo!" Taro and her sisters cheered as Shirogane practically marched onto the stage, their now overly large frames allowing them to tower over the other spectators. "Go Shiro!"

"Yeah, you got this!" Steady Distance threw in, waving at her pale haired friend, who raised a fist in the direction of the crowd, a menacing aura blooming off her uniformed frame as her red eyes scanned the Nakayama stands. Steady wasn't sure if she was actually looking for anyone, but she could see some other people in the stands commenting about how scary looking this runner was.

"Shiro-chan looks so cool!" Azuki-chan breathed, eyes wide with excitement and tail swishing quickly back and forth. "There's no way she can lose!"

"Eh…she's not favored to," Steady countered, "and she's on the outside gate starting out, so she'll have to go further compared to the others. Might be hard to pull off." And the Asahi Hai Sansai Stakes was only sixteen hundred meters in total, which didn't give as much distance for Shirogane's stamina advantage to shine, even if Nakayama was a notoriously hilly course.

"Well I think the odd making people are wrong!" Matcha declared with her nose tilted up, trying to look authoritative. It was rather undermined by her babyface, even if she was now taller than Steady (at least Shiro-chan was always going to be short). "Shiro-chan is going to beat the odds for sure!"

"I don't know if she's gonna win, but eighth is not something she'd settle for." Taro was a bit less enthusiastic about their friend's chances, but Steady found herself nodding along to that conclusion.

"Yeah, I think she's going to place higher than that, especially against fairly green runners as well." Most of them probably had at least a little bit of experience running in middle school, and to qualify to this race they would have to have won a few open races, but the pressure for graded races was a whole different beast.

Heck, Steady herself hadn't ever ran in a G1 race, so she couldn't really say she had firsthand experience, though even G2 and G3 races meant a lot more eyes on you and a much bigger prize pool awaiting the winner.

"Well, I think she can beat half of them, definitely," Kat-san chimed in, staring proudly down at her daughter who joined the rest of the line up waiting for the remaining runners to be announced. "Just look, a bunch of them look about ready to run away. Don't think she'll have any trouble with those."

"Of course they're nervous," Suzuki-san sighed, nudging his wife in the side, "it's probably the first really big race any of them are participating in, and they're all fourteen or fifteen, which makes it worse."

Both of them had a point, but… "Yeah…but the one next to Shiro-chan looks like she's about to pass out."
"Shiro-chan can be scary sometimes!"

"It's probably just the less favored runners being less confident," Suzuki-san countered, obviously not recognizing how terrifying his cute little daughter could be. "Look, the higher ranked ones are not as nervous." Because they didn't have to stand next to the uma who gave off the feeling that she actually was capable of killing them with that sword of hers.

"Ooh, that's the one who beat Shiro-chan last month!" Matcha pointed at the dark bay uma in an unfashionably pink samurai getup. "Bold Emperor, or something." Really, some of these raceheads had no sense of fashion.

"They just announced her name," Taro tsked, flicking her little sister's ear. "Pay attention!"

Though to be fair, it wasn't like Shiro did either.

"Uwah! I was though!"

Lucky for her, she had her parents and Steady to help her out! Otherwise she'd probably think an office lady get up would be a good idea, or something like that.

"The first favored is her classmate right? Grass Wonder?" Taro asked, pointing at the list naming the participants in the race.

"Yeah, Shiro-chan mentioned her a few times," Kat-san confirmed. "She said Grass was her teammate and one of the strongest in her year."

"Huh, so the bookies putting her at number one seems right then." Suzuki-san nodded thoughtfully, before tilting his head slightly. "Can Shiro-chan beat her?"

"According to Shiro-chan, if Grass is tired."

"Damn, Tracen runners must be something else," Steady muttered under her breath. "Don't know that many girls at Kawasaki who'd be able to keep up with Shiro." She narrowed her eyes as the chestnut haired Grass Wonder stepped out onto stage to a wave of excited noise, looking poised and calm, wearing a sailor outfit, of all things.

Wasn't she American?

More importantly, could Steady beat someone like this?

Maybe…

"Kawasaki is a dirt course though," Suzuki-san pointed out. "I don't think Shiro-chan's used to running on dirt."

Steady couldn't stop the manic laugh that bubbled out of her, only realizing she had let it slip when everyone looked at her funny. "I'm just gonna say," she shrugged sheepishly, "You don't want Shiro-chan chasing you across any kind of terrain." Except maybe water, but she could swim pretty damn fast too. If she ever learned to fly somehow there'd be no escaping her.

"Oh yeah! Shiro-chan did train with Steady-chan on dirt a couple of times." Azuki's ears perked up as she remembered.

"Ehhh?!" Her twin's ears twitched curiously. "Will Steady-chan and Shiro-chan race each other?"

"Maybe?" Steady shrugged again. "Really depends on what Shiro's big name trainer decides to do." Trainer Toujou probably had enough pull to slot Shirogane into any race she wanted as long as the qualifications were met, perks of having trained so many famous racers.

Not that Steady had many complaints about her own trainer, other than him being dense.

"Looks like they're sending them to the gates," Taro observed, having mostly tuned out the conversation around her. "Shiro-chan's on the outer gate…not the best."

That's what Steady had just said! "She'll probably have to muscle past a few runners to get to the front." It would slow her down, but Shiro was really good at passing, even being slower as she was.

"Well, I'm sure Shiro-chan will figure something out."

---

Being assigned gate number eight was not the most ideal, as it put her towards the outside, but it was not entirely a detriment, since it meant there would be more viable paths forward, even if she would have to expend more energy angling for the forward position.

She was in the outermost set of gates, though not the furthest out gate, which belonged to Main Vocal, a brown haired uma in a purple and white dress that had green and red sleeves (did uma eyes process colors differently than humans?). The runner on the other side of Shirogane was a dark haired uma dressed in pink and blue, who looked to be a foreigner, possibly an American, if her mannerisms were anything to go by, though she was named Mt. Arata, which wasn't really indicative of anything aside from her parents not wanting to call their child 'Mount'.

Understable, really.

Being on the more petite side among track running umamusume, Shirogane had plenty of room in her stall, so she entered as soon as it was opened, letting it close behind her without fuss.

On her inward side, Mt. Arata entered the gate without too much dithering, rolling her shoulders to try and prevent herself from stiffening up. Out of the corner of her eye, Shirogane saw the dark haired uma glance at her, almost making to speak, before deciding not to.

Perhaps she didn't speak Japanese.

On the other side, Main Vocal was looking quite a bit more nervous, hesitating outside the gate for a few moments before stepping inside. She was not favored particularly highly, so perhaps she was under greater pressure to perform. Or was convinced that she would do poorly.

After that delay, there were yet more delays as some runners had last minute costume adjustments, and Shirogane felt an unexpected sense of impatience well up inside her, something that she had not experienced in any of her previous races.

She exhaled slowly, shutting her eyes as she regulated her breathing. Even though her inherited experiences meant she didn't get nearly as nervous as many of her fellows when in the starting gate, she would admit to some degree of excitement in the competition.

Was it the much larger prize pool that was making her more eager? Even if she took second place, she'd win about as much money as she'd won from placing in lower ranked races so far.

Or was it the uniform that felt much more tailored to her?

With some time to kill, Shirogane grasped her saber sheath in her left gauntlet before drawing it free with her striking hand, raising it up to eye level to inspect the diligently shined but disappointingly dull blade. Red eyes stared impassively back at her in the reflection of well-polished steel, and her ears peeled back flat against her hat as anticipation continued to build.

Running a gauntleted finger over the edge, she felt a huff of derision escaping her, even though it was eminently unreasonable for what was supposed to be a prop to be honed to killing sharpness.

Had she still the Soldier's magic it would not be a grave issues, but alas, no such mechanism existed in this new world, and Shirogane found herself idly running the back of the blade against the studded knuckles of her gauntlet, a shiver of delight coursing through her at the sound of steel running over steel.

But she was not here for that kind of task, so she returned her saber to its resting place by her side as the gates were finally loaded, settling into a ready stance as the starter called out.

Next to her, Main Vocal was trembling, clearly not prepared for this level of pressure, and it seemed that Mt. Arata wasn't immune either, given her elevated breathing.

The starting gate opened to a disappointing buzzer and Shirogane put away the idle observations of her gatemates as she sprung forwards into action, her boots digging comfortably into the spongy turf as she accelerated.

---

"And they're off!"

"Looks to be a promising start."

Hana Toujou nodded as she watched the runners spring out of the starting gates, her gaze not shifting even as Rudolf began to speak next to her, though she did find herself nodding agreement.

While Shirogane's starting position wasn't ideal, her pale haired trainee had burst out of the starting gate with unusual fervor, quickly making up for lost ground as she aimed for the front. She wasn't alone, the two runners in the gates next to her shot forwards with similar urgency, though Main Vocal was struggling already.

"Number two Agnes World pulls ahead of the pack to take the lead to start, but coming up behind her are numbers eleven Symboli Sword and thirteen Mount Arata! And numbers fifteen Main Vocal and fourteen Shirogane Orezeru are not far behind!"

At the same time, Grass had not fallen into the trap of chasing after Shirogane like she had sometimes been prone to do in training, gamely staying towards the rear of the pack and angling outside in preparation for a late surge.

"For your teammates, or for your relative?" Hana asked lightly, glancing briefly at the dark haired uma wearing the typical green jacket favored by the Symboli family, this one with an added ceremonial sword at her hip.

"Number thirteen Mt. Arata pulls far ahead leading into the first corner, and number fourteen Shirogane Orezeru is following after her! Behind her is number eleven Symboli Sword, but number ten Meiner Love and number four Figaro are right on her tail! In the rear number eleven Grass Wonder, is hanging ahead of the rear pack while number six Bold Emperor is trailing at the end! "

"She did well out of the gate," Rudolf hummed, one ear flicking in concentration as she watched the race develop. "But it seems that her positioning still needs work." Hana wasn't sure about the specifics of how the two were related, but as far as she could tell, they weren't particularly close kin.

"Mount Arata is still far ahead through the first corner, but Shirogane Orezeru is closing the distance behind her!"

Hana's attention turned back to the front of the pack, feeling a frown tug at her face. While Shirogane had gotten incrementally faster through her training regimen, she was still not able to run away and set the pace as well as she'd probably need to in order to win. That was partly because of her starting position, but against these stronger opponents some of her weaknesses were showing more sharply.

---

When she had decided to run abroad in Japan, Mt. Arata had been told that the rules about roughhousing were stricter, which seemed like a good deal, since she didn't usually do much of that, and it meant she was less likely to be injured–so how did she end up having to run for her life?!

"Number four Figaro is pulling even with number eleven Symboli Sword! Number fourteen Shirogane Orezeru doesn't slow down a bit on the second corner and is gaining on Mt. Arata!"

Her breath came in painful gasps as she chanced a glance over her shoulder, almost stumbling a step at the sight of gleaming red eyes and the serial killer pony getting larger and larger in her view, before she was forced to look away, trying to pump her legs faster to get away from the crazy psycho with a sword.

In the back of her head, there was a voice screaming at her that this was a race, and that there was no way they were actually going to let some crazed crackhead chop her into sashimi on the track, but that was drowned out by the instinctual panic at being marked so hard by someone who didn't seem to need to so much as blink.

She could feel her lungs burning and the strain from trying to turn at full speed too long made her legs feel like creaky timber, but she knew that if her pursuer overtook her there was no getting the lead back.

The edges of her vision blurred, and Mt. Arata felt creeping dread as the realization set in.

"In the rear number eleven Grass Wonder is starting to speed up on the outside, passing number nine Machikane Sanshiro! And number six Bold Emperor is following!"

She blinked, and the pale haired pony had passed her, cutting close to the rail and somehow keeping her speed through the turn.

She had burned out too fast.

"Shirogane Orezeru takes the lead!"

A ragged gasp escaped her as the pressure of being hunted suddenly vanished, making her legs wobble in relief, but that did her no good as she almost tripped dragging her feet through the turf.

"Number thirteen Mount Arata misses a step and falls behind! Shirogane Orezeru is now in the lead!"

Blurry shapes sped by her as her vision unfocused and Mt. Arata felt despair.

---

"Go Shiro-chan, you can do it!"

Special Week cheered on her friend as her quiet classmate pulled into the lead. They were too far away to be able to hear her, but the energy should reach them.

"Wooo! That's how you do it!"

Next to her El-chan waved her arms excitedly, before pointing towards Grass-san in the middle of the pack, speeding up quickly and overtaking the others.

"Go, Grass, Go!"

"So who do you think is gonna win between those two?" Sky asked, stretching her arms up as if she wasn't paying much attention to things, though she did not take her gaze away from the track.

"Waah, I dunno!" El-chan cried, throwing her arms up into the air. "Shiro's ahead now but Grass is a late surger."

"Hmmm…" Suzuka-san, Spe's roommate, hummed thoughtfully as she watched the pace chaser start to close in on Shiro-chan. "I don't know if Shiro-chan is fast enough."

"Yeah, I think Grass probably has this since it's pretty short," Sky added, folding her hands behind her head. "If it was a long race, then it's more of a toss up. A really long race we could run relay and probably still lose to the little pale terminator."

"Eh? Terminator?" Suzuka-san blinked owlishly. "What does that mean?"

"You know!" El-chan cried, "the robot from the future who went back in time to protect some important human in the future."

"Umm…I don't understand…" Special Week had no idea what they were talking about either.

"Ah, forget it, forgot you were from the sticks, Spe-chan."

"I'm not from the sticks and I don't know what you're saying either."

"Just don't worry about it, Suzuka-san, it's not important."

"Ok…Go Shiro-chan! Go Grass-san!" Special Week quickly forgot about this exchange as her attention was recaptured by her classmates down on the track.

---

It seemed that G1 competitors were indeed stronger than those in lower grades, Shirogane mused, and these were still limited to junior year runners who largely hadn't fully hit their stride yet.

While Mt. Arata was not as fast as Suzuka-san, she had still been fast enough that Shirogane had not been able to overtake her until she ran herself out of breath, probably due to inexperience, and now that Shirogane had passed her, the relatively short race meant that the rest of the runners were starting to speed up.

With her ears pulled back, she could hear two runners closing in on her.

"Number ten Meiner Love is pushing ahead, with number four Figaro not far behind!"

One angled towards the outside, while the other cut closer to the rail, blocking off the runners behind and pulling closer over the shorter distance.

"Number eleven Grass Wonder is starting to move up along the outside!"

Shirogane continued to hug the rail as she came up to the last corner, ensuring that the one closing directly behind her would have to pass her on the outside.

"Number fourteen Shirogane Orezeru is still in the lead, but number ten Meiner Love is right on her tail! And now she's looking to make her move!"

As her pursuer accelerated and committed to passing, Shirogane let her momentum pull her away from the rails as they went into the turn, forcing the runner behind further outside–

"Oh! Meiner Love steps right into Figaro's path and they almost collide! What a disaster!"

---

Now!

"Number eleven Grass Wonder surges forwards around the traffic!"

As Shirogane's positioning forced the two pace chasers into blocking each other, Grass burst forwards, whizzing past the stumbling runners and rounding the final corner in a wide turn that would normally not be very efficient, but here it allowed her to avoid the disruption her teammate had engineered.

"We're on the homestretch! And Grass Wonder is shooting towards the finish, but she still has to pass Shirogane Orezeru!"

On the downside, it meant she had more ground to cover, compared to Shirogane, who was much closer to the rail.

They hit the incline, and Grass clenched her jaw as she ascended, her legs straining almost painfully as she charged up the final Nakayama hill.

"Number eight Meiner Messer and Number twelve Symboli Sword break from the pack, while number six Bold Emperor moves forwards on the outside, can they catch up?!"

Grass had beaten others on this hill before, but it hardly slowed down Shirogane at all, her pale haired teammate not even glancing backwards as she ran steadily up towards the finish, while the rest of the pack were slowed on the slope, the energy required to circumvent the blockers sapping away momentum in a critical moment.

Still, she was faster, they both knew it, so even as Grass felt her veins bulging and her vision narrowed towards the impending goal, she stayed as alert as she could as Shirogane drifted further away from the rail, shrinking the passing lane.

You can't stop me!

"Grass Wonder has pulled ahead!"

But Grass had trained against her teammate many times, and with the sum of all her practice, that lane was enough.

"Number eleven Grass Wonder crosses the finish line and has claimed victory! And would you look at that? It's a new record too!"

She crossed the finish a moment before Shirogane did, and the rush of triumph and fatigue buoyed by the raucous cheers of the crowd would have her riding high for a good while longer.

"In second place we have number fourteen Shirogane Orezeru, and in third place number eight Meiner Messer!"

"Congratulations, Grass," Shirogane grunted, looking barely winded as they pulled to a stop. "I suppose it was that easy afterall." She gave a curt nod, as if they had just come across each other on a stroll through the part.

"Thank you….Shirogane-san," Grass replied, doing her best to catch her breath while waving politely to the crowd. "I…would not…say you made it easy."

"Not difficult enough, it seems," her pale teammate quipped, a slight smirk pulling at her lips. She didn't seem pleased with coming up short, exactly, but as usual, Shirogane was far less bothered by this set back than Grass knew she would have been had their positions been reversed.

"It was still a good run," Grass offered. "You've gotten faster."

Shirogane shrugged, removing her eagle hat and tucking it in the crook of her arm. "It remains a work in progress. There are still more races to go."

Grass sighed, shaking her head, some of the giddiness from winning her first G1 race slipping away from that reminder. But she knew her rival was right.

This was just one finished race and she was nowhere near done!

---

"Wooo! You did it, Grass!"

"Congratulations, Grass!"

Tsurumaru Tsuyoshi cheered for the winner alongside the rest of her classmates who hadn't managed to qualify for this race, happy for Grass Wonder and her victory, but she couldn't completely suppress the discomfort in her chest at feeling so left behind. Almost all of them had debuted, except for Sky-san, and now one of them had even won a G1 race.

"Let's go get an autograph!" El-chan whooped, looking like she was seriously considering jumping down from the stands to run to her friend in the winner's circle. "I wanna see how she reacts!"

"Eh? Wait, El-chan! Don't run through the crowd–oh there they go…" King Halo's attempt at reining in her enthusiastic teammate came too late, and the excitable masked uma had already run off, with Special Week in tow.

"Maah…How troublesome," Sky-san sighed, leaning back and looking up at the clouds.

"You'll debut soon enough, Sky-san," King Halo offered in a consoling tone, before glancing over at Tsurumaru. "You too Tsuyoshi-san."

"...I hope so." She wasn't sick anymore, so she should be able to run, but even then…with how far ahead her classmates were, could she even keep up by that point?

---

"Damn it!" Steady Distance cursed, banging her fist lightly on her leg. "So close!" It really hadn't been, at the finish, but Shiro's scheme had almost worked. "Guess her classmate must have gotten used to her tricks, huh?"

"Couldn't she have won if she ran straighter at the end?" Azuki-chan wondered, looking a bit confused at what Shirogane had tried.

"Nah, Grass Wonder was just that much faster in the final spurt," Steady explained. "Shiro obviously knew this, since they've trained together, so she needed to slow her down somehow, but Grass knew that too, so made sure she had enough space where Shiro couldn't do very much about it."

"Huh…I didn't know racing needed this much thinking!" Matcha-chan chirped, ears perked up in realization as he brought her hands to her temple.

"Hey! I don't just think with my legs, ya know!"

"Also with your boobs."

"Shut up Taro!" Steady elbowed the oversized dumbass in the gut, but that hardly moved the much larger uma, who just gave her a light shove in return.

"Second place is very good." Next to them, Suzuki-san looked slightly disappointed, but also very proud.

"Shiro looked very cute in that uniform!" his wife gushed, still smiling even after their daughter had walked off out of view. "And placing still gets a big payout in these big races too!"

"Oh right…are we going to have to hide the checkbook again?"

"You know that Shiro already knows the account number, right? That won't stop her from putting more of it into the family account."

"...True…sometimes she's really too responsible for her own good."

Shiro really was the funniest possible child for a couple as laid back as the Suzukis to have.

---

Hana let out a sigh as the cheers from the crowd started to die down. Down on the track, Grass Wonder made her way through the winner's circle, exchanging well-wishes with fans. For the most part, Hana didn't have to worry about either of her trainees this year in that regard, with both of them being on the more mature side. They were also able to be forceful if needed, despite how polite and mild mannered they seemed normally.

"A good showing for Tracen Academy," Rudolf observed, crossing her arms. The look on her face was rather at odds compared to the words she said. "That class certainly is performing well so far."

Hana followed her most famous trainee's gaze, landing on the morose looking Symboli Sword, who had placed eigth, despite being the fourth favorite. "Do you need to talk with her?" They both knew how stressful the expectations that came with being from a big racing family could be. It had been the cause of some conflict between them initially, only alleviating as they got to know each other and found ways to work together and win.

Serving as student council president had helped Rudolf mellow out quite a bit, but as much influence as she had at Tracen, she was still not the head of the Symboli family.

"I don't believe that will serve her well." Rudolf slumped slightly, ears drooping in resignation. "As I said, we are not that well acquainted with each other, so I imagine any encouragement I might offer could well come across as threatening." She shook her head. "The best I could do would be to make a call and head off some of the criticism by highlighting how strong the competition was."

Unfortunately, it seemed unlikely to Hana that emphasizing the strength of the competition would go over well. While the increase in foreign talent (and one she found on the street) was a great boon to her and to many trainers, it also meant that there was even more pressure on the members of already established racing families.

"I'll give your regards to your teammates for you, then." Hana nodded, looking back at where Grass was wrapping up her circuit. Shirogane was nowhere to be seen, as usual, since she didn't seem all that interested in the spotlight, especially if she did not win.

"I appreciate that, Trainer-san."

---

AN. Had a more relaxed week at work, so rejoice! The race is on! And the amount of research I ended up doing on this race was slightly comical. Since it's a bigger race, I actually found and watched the footage of the actual race, and yes, what happens in this chapter is based on what actually happened, though Shirogane throws some of it off.

Don't know how fast I can get the next chapter out, since work is going to get more busy this time of year, and with the Classic Year of 1998 around the corner...that just means I have a lot more races to keep track of. And we haven't even introduced Shirogane's Triple Tiara rivals yet!

The ending part of this chapter also turned out more melancholy than I was expecting, but I feel it would be a disservice not to show how these competitions can be very crushing to people incredibly invested in it, not to mention how some of it would translate with the runners being considered people who can be responsible for their actions, especially in an era where the traditional big name families are loosing their edge in the market.

 

[TheSmallSauce]

Someone better make a bunch of omakes in lunaticmonster's style story. Or multiple such stories in one omake, such as Shirogane Orzel being a local celebrity because she's helping a restaurant delivering orders before being considered for racing by a professional horse trainer.

Click to shrink...

■ Job Experience

Supposedly Shirogane Orezeru had a job before her long career in staked racing...

She was a delivery horse!

That's right, before she was scouted, she was a delivery horse in Fujisawa.

It's said that she never missed a delivery in 3 years

​

Spoiler: WIP

■ Fearsome Beast Pt.1

During her active years, Shirogane had a reputation for intimidating other horses

In her junior year, there were no less than 9 starting gate incidents.

According to a stablehand that took care of her,

There was very good reason for this intimidating aura

​

■ Fearsome Beast Pt. 2

"One night we heard the horses freaking out,

so we went to check on them...

...and we found a bear inside the enclosure.

It was dead on the ground with its skull caved in, and Shirogane was just standing next to it like nothing happened."

​

An illustrated comic in lunaticmonster's style is a lot of work to pull off... Maybe in a couple weeks we'll see.

 

[TheSmallSauce]

Ended up finishing the quick appreciation sketch I did earlier. As always, cleaning up line art was a pain. The shoes were surprisingly tricky to get right, I hope they look big without looking weird.