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4:30 A.M.
That’s the time I usually wake up. Why so early, you may ask? Well, I had a ton of things I needed to do before the day truly began. I have to maintain my apartment and feed myself breakfast, review my lectures and notes... I needed a bit more time ever since I had become a student-trainer at Tracen.
You’re probably wondering, “But Raritras, what do mean by student-trainer? And, don’t Tracen only accept umamusumes to become racers?” And those are valid questions.
To answer that, Tracen recently started accepting people that wanted to become trainers, they plan on teaching them so they could be more than capable to train the young aspiring umamusumes in their academy to be the best.
And the selection process to be enrolled was anything but kind, I had to go through a series of difficult entrance exams, and interviews. Out of 10,000 applicants, around 100 passed it all, how scary!
But to be fair, Tracen usually produced the best of the best of umamusume runners, so I couldn’t blame them if they picked out people with the best potential to be trainers.
I’m just lucky to be one of the hundred that passed, and did I mention that I’m part of the very first batch of student-trainers of Tracen? . Oh well, I’ll fill you in on what happened later today, talk to you later!
As Raritras closed his diary, a light chuckle came out of him as he put a hand to his head. “God, I sound so cringy by how I write… I could never sound that weird in real life.”
He placed his notebook inside his bag before reaching for cap and jacket. Once he was fully prepared, the door of his apartment swung open as he exited his home.
Outside, he witnessed his landlord collect rent from his fellow tenant. The moment the landlord spotted him, they gave him a big wave goodbye, “See ya Raritras, good luck at Tracen!” his lips formed a gentle smile on his face, heart touched by the thoughtful act, he waved back before finally leaving.
Walking down the steps of the building, he began to reflect upon his current home, ‘That landlord is really nice. When I was looking for a home, they let me stay here for a low rent until I could earn my own money. They even made sure all utilities are working… Such a nice person.”
Raritras looked left and right, waiting for a taxi. After spotting one, he quickly rushed to the sidewalk and signaled for it to stop.
As the car slowed to a stop, Raritras paused, his gaze landed on the road the car had just traveled, murmuring, “maybe, just maybe…”
*HONK!!*
“Hey!! Are you gonna keep standing there or what?!” The taxi driver yelled at him impatiently with an annoyed expression.
“EEK!! R-right, sorry sir.” he apologized as he promptly got in the vehicle, “T-to Tracen Academy please…”
During the travel, some umamusumes happened to run alongside them in the lane dedicated to these horsegirls, right beside the car. As the girls sped past them, Raritras can’t help but feel a sense of jealousy.
“You’re a student-trainer right?” The taxi driver asked while he drove.
Raritras was caught by surprise by the sudden question, but he nodded. “Yes sir, I am…”
He then asked him with curiosity, “Could you tell me what the student-trainers are like?”
“Well…” Raritras thought about his classmates, “They’re very ambitious, each wanting to support and see the next generation of runners make their mark in history. All of them are working hard to be the pillar that would support their future trainees.
The taxi driver was quiet for a while…
The silence made Raritras a little uneasy.
“Kid…” The taxi driver suddenly spoke, “Why do you keep saying ‘they’ and ‘them’? You’re also one of them, you silly!”
His statement made Raritras blush in embarrassment, he was indeed a student-trainer, yet he doesn’t seem to see himself among them. Among the people that were striving to be the best trainers, he often felt inferior to them.
All of the sudden, the taxi driver let out a loud laugh, “Ahahahahahahah… My daughter had been dreaming of studying in that academy to become a fantastic runner.” He glanced at a mini picture frame containing a photo of him lifting his daughter high in his arms with a bright smile.
His tone slowly shifted to something more sincere, “If people like you who want to become amazing trainers to help umamusumes, exist… then I can be rest assured that my little uma will have a bright future ahead of her.” He grinned as he glanced at Raritras through the rearview mirror. He became somewhat flustered by the praise, shifting in his seat ever so slightly.
After the taxi arrived in front of Tracen, Raritras slowly exited the car with a hint of usual nervousness. The driver gave him a firm but light pat on the back, “Don’t worry kiddo, you’ll do great.”
Raritras’s smile became more confident and he waved goodbye before he left, leaving quite a tip for the taxi driver.
As he entered through the gate, several umamusume passed by him as they entered the school. “Suzuka-san, good morning!” One of them greeted the other. “Good morning to you too, Special Week, The other reciprocated the greeting and the two walked together to class.
“Mcqueeeeen!!” Another uma shouted as she launched herself at someone.
Raritras paid no mind to them, he kept his head low and continued walking.
‘Crap, It’s almost been a month since I started attending Tracen, yet I barely knew anyone here…’ He thought to himself.
“Hello!!”
A bright cheerful voice suddenly rang out, Raritras ignored the greeting and kept walking with his head low, thinking that it was meant for someone else. If he answered, then it would be really awkward, and who would approach and talk to him? It’s not like they know him anyway.
“Huh? Did I keep my invisibility on? I’m gonna turn it off then!” The voice spoke in a childish tone. “Hello! Can you notice me now?”
Curiosity got the best of him and he looked up to see who was talking, it turns out that the source of the innocent sounding voice was a cute pink haired umamusume, her smiling face was enough to lift anyone from a bad mood.
“Umm, I noticed your uniform and I was wondering. Are you studying to be a trainer here?” The uma asked him.
After realizing that she was asking him, he nodded affirmatively.
The uma cheered at his response, “That must be sooo amazing!! What are the things you study there?” She asked with bright curiosity.
Raritras thought for a moment as he recounted his past lessons then shrugged, “Mostly it's about remembering G1 races, sometimes it's about you girls. Believe it or not, the careful consideration that goes into your training regimen is tremendous to ensure you reach the peak of your potential and blah blah blah blah blah blah…”
As he continued to ramble about his curriculum, the poor uma gets more and more lost and confused, “tremendous… potential… races… preference… uhhh….”
Raritras quickly noticed her confused state and stopped, “Oh! Sorry, sorry… I got carried away there. Basically, we’re studying to be trainers that can ensure you can reach your dreams.”
The uma’s ears perked up in interest. Raritras placed a hand in front of his chest as his voice became more confident, “That's why when I become a trainer someday, you can depend on me to become the most prestigious racer ever!”
“Pre- pre… Pres…” The uma’s brain visibly shortcircuited. Raritras watched her struggle in her attempt to say ‘prestigious’, and something about it made him chuckle. The uma noticed his laughter and began to laugh along with him.
A small smile spread across Raritras’s face, “Anyways… What's your name?”
“I am Haru Urara, what’s yours?” She answered with a cheerful smile.
“I’m Raritras Masque. Happy to meet you, Haru Urara!” He offered to shake hands.
“Nice to meet you too, Rara-san!” She smiled innocently and shook his hand.
Raritras was surprised by the nickname, “R-Rara-san?” he repeated with a flustered look.
Haru Urara nodded in confirmation. Suddenly, someone called Urara and told her that classes were starting. “Oh, sorry Rara-san. Let’s chat next time, goodbye!” She said as she ran off.
He was still processing the earlier conversation when he realized something, “Oh shoot, classes are about to begin!”
With probably only a few minutes left and his classroom building a bit further away, he looked around to see if there’s anyone around. There was no one, they were in their classes. He had no other options, he gripped on his bag and cap tightly, took a starting stance, then sprinted to his class.
He ran with all of his might, adrenaline rushing through his veins, time was ticking down, and he had only one thing in mind.
‘faster, Faster, FASTER, FASTER!!’
His speed climbed higher and higher as the blind thought of just going faster, then something in him unexpectedly clicked. The world slowly turned to a blur, his thoughts vanishing and replaced with a sense of calm.
‘It’s… all quiet, it’s like I’m alone, in this blurred world…’
The sensation granted Raritras a moment of peace just before he returned to reality.
When he suddenly came back to his senses, he found himself right in front of the building of his class. And with only a minute left, he had no time to think about what he had just accomplished, and rushed up the stairs.
When the clock struck right the dot, Raritras successfully entered the class just as the bell rang, earning him a round of applause from his classmates.
A while later, the class’s professor arrived and the usual classes began.
“Today class, we’re going to review on how to estimate a trainee’s maximum speed.” The professor declared with their usual professional tone, “Could anyone remind the class the most common way to gauge a runner’s speed?”
One student raised their hand, “By using a trainee’s stamina test results, time to cover a constant distance, and running style, a trainer could know their trainee’s speed.”
Normally, he’d also agree with this idea. But today, something in his mind told him that the concept is flawed, a force urging him to point it out, a change in perspective that allowed to see it in another view. With that, he slowly raised his hand, and caught the attention of his professor and classmate.
When he stood up to present his thoughts, he felt a heavy pressure weighing him as the gaze of the whole room settled on him. He felt uneasy, yet the urge made him persevere.
“W-well… the method c-could be flawed in some ways…” He timidly declared, making the professor intrigued.
“Well Mr. Masque, could you explain further on this?” he asked as he put an intrigued hand under their chin.
Raritras hesitated for a bit before gathering the confidence to say keep talking.
“Well, there’s some variables that could affect the result of a trainer’s assessment.” Reimagining the feeling he had when he ran, he continued to explain further, “An umamusume’s will to continue rushing forward could significantly increase their capabilities for a brief period of time. Though this sudden boost is not always constant, when it happens during an assessment, it could result in a misjudgement of capacity.”
The whole class was silent, the professor thought about what Raritras had said. “Hmmmm… That’s…” the professor’s tone was low, “quite an excellent observation! Well done Mr. Masque.” The whole class praised Raritras’s observation, some immediately noting it down.
The class continued as usual, except every time the professor mentioned a value of speed, a thought gnawed at him that whispered, ‘I probably could- no… I can go faster than that.’
On multiple occasions, he sometimes felt an urge, the itchiness in his legs to run, the unwarranted increase in heart rate, how he’s becoming more restless and just wanted to get up and run some laps, he kept it all in, keeping it hidden. It always worked in the past.
Time soon sped by like an uma at Sprinter Stakes, and the class lasted for what felt like a moment. To an umamusume trainee, the moment classes were done, it was time to train for future races, for a student-trainer, it’s their time to observe these trainees and see if their knowledge is correct.
Usually they go around the school grounds to see how professional trainers train their trainees to improve. At one moment, they’re at the gym, then the next, they’re watching the covered court, they sometimes even go as far as asking trainers themselves on the ‘How’s and ‘Why’s!
Reritras was no exception to this, he was at the racetrack, observing how each trainee pushed themselves to go beyond their limit. He slowly began to stare off into the distance as he recalled the feeling that was stuck in his head, as if it was burned into his mind.
He knew it’s unlikely he could do it again, he doesn’t even know how he was able to do it in the first place. But he wanted it. He wanted to do it once more, his body seemed to agree with his sentiment. But he knows he can’t, or rather… he couldn’t.
As he was starting to feel down, someone suddenly passed by him, a white blur followed by the sound of rushing wind. She was as fast as lightning, the speed snapped Raritras out of his gloomy thoughts.
She suddenly stopped at her tracks the moment she noticed the bemused Raritras, “Oy, what are you staring at?”
Raritras stammered and was unable to respond. The uma ended up approaching him and took a closer look at his uniform. After a while, she displayed an amused smile, “So you’re one of those new student-trainers that I’d been hearing about,” she looked at the notebook he'd been carrying around then raised thumbs up, “I see, keep up the good work!”
Normally he would be all flustered by the praise, but the way she said it somehow annoyed him, not sure why, there’s just something about it that ticked him off, maybe it was the way she phrased it, or maybe her tone, he’s not sure.
As the uma turned around and was about to continue running, Raritras muttered under his breath in a mischievous way with a hint of annoyance, “This shortie is acting like my superior heh…”
The uma’s ears immediately twitched and snapped around. “Hah? Did ya say something ‘bout me?” She asked with an irritated tone. She began to walk up to him with clenched fists, eyes glaring at him.
Raritras immediately dashed away. Surprising her. “Hah?! What are ya doing? You know you can’t outrun me!!” she shouted as she began to chase after him.
“I could try!!” Raritras proclaimed as he ran, sweat running down his whole body.
As he rounded a corner, the uma followed after him, only to find out that she had lost him. “Where did that guy run off to? She asked in frustration. “Can’t believe that guy managed to escape me.”
Another umamusume soon came up to her, “What’s going on Tama? Why are you so worked up?” she asked with concern.
The other sighed heavily, “Well there’s this jerk that called me a shortie, did you see where they went, Oguri?”
Oguri Cap just shrugged, “Well, what do they look like?”
“Well, the guy was wearing a dark blue hat, ya can’t miss that. He also was wearing a dark gray jacket.” Tamamo Cross recounted. Oguri tried to remember anyone with the description, but recalled no one.
A few steps away from the two umas, a nervous Raritras was quietly listening to the two. He took off his cap and removed his jacket to avoid getting seen and hid behind a wall. ‘Phew, good thing I didn’t tell her my name, I’m gonna be in big trouble if they ever find me.’ he thought to himself and sighed.
His gaze suddenly shifted to the glass window nearby, his reflection displayed on its surface with clarity, he stared at himself with a sudden spike in tension, the absolute terror in his eyes that caused him to quickly put on his hat and leave the scene.
As he jogged away, he couldn't forget what he saw in that reflection. The mix of horror, fear, and disgust as if he saw an eldritch abomination in that mirror that left a stain of an expression on his face. He returned to his classroom in an awful mood and slump on his desk, waiting there in silence till the end of the day.
Raritras came home to his apartment exhausted, he slowly opened his door, dropped his bag by the entrance, then hung his cap on a wall hook.
“I’m home…” He whispered with a tired tone, the only reply he received was the silence of his apartment.
The whole place felt colder than usual, more colder, more… isolated.
As Raritras looked around his empty apartment, he saw the worn out posters of umamusume races plastered on his walls, his shelf filled with books about the physiology of umamusume, the science about how umamusume run, multiple self-study books about physical conditioning. All are a constant reminder of a dream he had given up chasing.
After he headed further in and shut the door, he came across a full-body mirror showing his reflection, his real self, the final nail to the coffin.
As he continued to stare at himself, he started to hear the sounds of mocking laughter and disgusted remarks. He started to breathe heavily as grim memories of his childhood filled up his mind…
As young Raritras was running in circles in the front yard, a passerby suddenly recoiled in a mix of shock and disgust, “By the three goddesses… what even are you?”
Across the street, he saw the neighbors gossiping around him, “Hey, did you see that kid? What kind of umamusume is he?”
The other was shocked, “He?! You mean… aren’t umamusumes supposed to be…”
“I know… what a freak of nature, an abomination.”
All of the sudden, rocks began hurling towards Raritras hitting him all over the place, “AHAHAHAHAHAHA, get lost freak. We don’t want you around here!” The other kids shouted at him, scaring little Raritras.
As he entered the house covered in bruises, he saw his relatives all arguing about something next to a picture of his deceased mother. One of them saw him and their face and immediately contorted to a look of anger and disgust. “You… The reason why she died was because of you!” They screamed at young Raritras, causing him to fall down.
The rest turned to him in unison, their angry faces all directed at Raritras.
“A shame, a curse, you’re a bane to all of us!”
“He might be a harbinger of misfortune… we must get him away from the town!”
People laughing at him and mocking him, calling him a freak, a creature that shouldn’t exist. The harsh words of his relatives, blaming him for the death of his mother. The screams, the yelling, the cackling, all muddling into one loud incoherent noise…
And it was getting louder, and louder, until it became unbearable.
He suddenly pointed a finger at the mirror and yelled, “YOU! YOU’RE THE SOURCE OF MY SUFFERING…”
His gaze shifted to what’s above his head, his ears… with several scars from cuts.
“I wish I wasn’t born with this, I NEVER ASKED to be born like this!!” He screamed and punched the mirror, breaking it into several shards.
He then spoke in a low murmur, “A freak of nature you say? Well then…”
“I, Raritras Maque, the male uma abomination!!” He loudly proclaimed followed by a theatrical bow, tears started streaming down his face across his fabricated smile.
The uma… dropped to his knees, and inched to the nearest wall, sitting in a tucked fetal position as he wept.
Later that night, Raritras sneaked out of his apartment in a tracksuit. He was struggling to stay focused as that same noise kept playing in his head like a broken vinyl record, drowning out his own thoughts, making him unable to think. Yet despite it all, he could only one place clearly, and that’s where he’s headed.
As he jogged on the sidewalk, he noticed how there’s barely anyone on the road, a few passing cars every so often, but other than that, there’s no one else, it was 11:30 PM after all. The silence of the street accompanied by the light gentle rustling by the leaves, the sound of his shoes hitting the sidewalk, the humbuzz of the lightpost, it somehow eases him. The loud, unbearable noise in his head slowly became quieter.
His destination? The school grounds. So as he reached the locked gates, he slowly walked over to a section of the wall and felt around it until…
“Found it.” He muttered in quiet celebration, his hands grabbed a slightly pushed out brick from the wall and grabbed on it firmly, then his foot found another brick to step on, then the other foot followed suit. Slowly, Raritras scaled the wall and managed to get past, entering Tracen Academy in the middle of the night.
“I really should tell the higher-ups about that, but uh…” Raritras reflected on the security risk but ultimately decided to keep it to himself for now, “oh well”
Raritras walked around the campus for a while, the constant voices and noises was starting to give him a headache. “Almost there…” he said in a low whisper to himself.
After a couple of moments he finally reached it, the racetrack of the academy. The scenery before him was breathtaking, the turf of the track illuminated by the full moon under the clear starry sky… this was half the reason why he often returned to this particular place at night.
“Hello? Is someone there?”
A voice suddenly spoke out from afar, causing Raritras to panic. He quickly ran to a nearby bush and hid behind it.
‘Shit, why would someone be here? It’s basically midnight right now.’ He wondered as he kept himself low.
The voice soon revealed itself as an umamusume in a tracksuit carrying a flashlight. Raritras took a small peek from behind the plant and saw her despite how dark the place is, she had dark brown hair, her green eyes seemed to sparkle from the dark yet carry a gaze the showed experience.
The Umamusume looked around for a moment before pausing. “You know I could see you right?”
Raritras was surprised, he slowly stood up from his hiding spot with both hands raised in surrender, the umamusume turned to him with the flashlight pointing at him.
“Hi…” Raritras greeted sheepishly, “ I’m not here to steal or do anything, ok?”
She looked at him for a good while before she turned off the flashlight. “...H-How did you know I was here?” Raritras asked timidly.
She looked at him with a smirk before answering, “I didn’t, I was lying. You just fell for my bluff, hehe. You also dropped your cap there.” She said as she shined her flashlight on his fallen headwear. A cold sweat ran down Raritras’s forehead as he realized the implication of this.
“So, what’s a young umamusume doing here in the middle of the night? Shouldn’t you be at your dormitory, hmm?” She asked like a parent who caught their kid sneaking out to meet some friends.
“W-well… I couldn’t sleep so I went out for a midnight run.” Raritras said as he looked down like a guilty child caught eating a midnight snack.
She smiled warmly at the response, “Then would you care to join me for a run then? A little friendly race if you’d like.” She invited him with a smile.
Raritras gladly took up the offer, he picked up his cap and placed it on a bench before following her on the racetrack.
As the two did their stretches, the uma proceeded to explain their race, “Ok, first on to reach that large tree on the other side of the track wins, understood?” Raritras nodded in acknowledgement.
As the two took their starting position, both of them simultaneously counted down.
“5… 4… 3… 2… 1…”
*Woosh*
The two umas ran as fast as they could, competing with each other to win. Halfway through the race, as the mysterious uma was ahead of Raristras by five lengths, he suddenly started to feel something.
“The voices…” Raritras spoke as he realized something, “they’re fading…”
As his speed climbed higher and higher, the voices, the dark past, it all seemed to fade into silence. The uma looked back as she felt something different coming from behind, her rival wasn’t focused on winning anymore, no… he had something else different in mind.
As he sped up his pace, Raritras could slowly feel that familiar feeling once more, that feeling of his worries disappearing, his body feeling light, the whole world going silent. Once again, everything around Raritras slowly became one big blur, he couldn’t even see his rival clearly anymore. His focus was on that track, no noises, no grim memories, nothing, just him and him alone, in his own blurry world.
Raritras began to close the distance between him and her. 4 lengths, 3 lengths, 2… 1…
He was now right next to his rival. Raritras was about to pass her but then…
“Oh my, getting serious now aren’t you?”
She planted her foot on the turf, then spurted away in a flash. The astonishing speed abruptly sent Raritras back to reality, his eyes widening as he witnessed his rival leave him behind in the dust. He tried to catch up to her yet the distance only seemed to widen. 1 length, 2 lengths, 3 lengths, 4… 5…
He just couldn’t make it, he watched helplessly as she reached the tree with a whopping 8 lengths between them. Reaching the finish, Raritras was already out of breath.
“That was a good race, You actually surpassed my expectations for someone in their junior year.” She said as she wiped away her sweat with casual ease.
“And you… *pant* … you’re not even tired?” Raritras asked in bewilderment as he sat on the ground exhausted, making the uma chuckle.
“Come on, I’ll get you something to drink.” She said as she offered her hand to him to get him up. Raritras grabbed her hand and got up before following her.
After the two got some drinks, both Raritras and his mysterious unnamed rival sat on a bench and took a break. ‘Her speed…’ He imagined the earlier race, reaching out forward as he remembered how far behind he was, “I want to reach her…’ putting his outstretched hand on his chest as a spark within him reignited.
“So… How many races had you participated in? Raritras asked, making his companion surprised by the sudden question. Noticing her reaction, Raritras stuttered as he explained further, “W-well, seeing how you just left me in the dust back there, I’m guessing you have plenty of experience.”
She displayed a proud smile at his observation, “You got a good eye, girl.” The last word left him a bit uneasy. She didn’t notice his discomfort and continued, “Hmmm, including my debut race, that would be… ten races.”
Raritras asked further, “And how many did you win?”
She teasingly smiled as she paused for a while, letting Raritras guess in his head before she revealed the truth.
The atmosphere was filled with playful tension for a while…
‘Did she win half of them? Perhaps seven races? That’s already a 70% winrate!’ He pondered as he looked at her innocent looking smile
“I won ten races!” she said with a casual tone.
Raritra’s head stalled as he processed the info, “T-ten?!” She nodded in confirmation, “O-out of ten?!?” She nodded again.
“Three of those are G1s you know?” She added in a playful tone.
Raritras became silent for a moment. “M…may I know your name?” he suddenly murmured, loud enough for her to hear.
“Oh uh…” She hesitated for a while, “...Call me Tokino.”
Raritras immediately stood up and knelt before her, “Oh Tokino-senpai, p-please teach me to be as fast as you!”
Tokino immediately got flustered by the request, “W-wah? Hang on, I’m not even a trainer! How will I train you?”
This didn’t deter Raritras, he bowed even deeper and went as far as pressing his forehead on the turf, “Pleeeeaaasseeee” He begged on the ground
“Ok, ok!!” She tried to get him up as her face became very red in embarrassment. “I’ll try to teach you… but I’m warning you, I’m not a very good teacher when it comes to these things.”
Raritras was happy, it’s ok if Tokino isn’t a trainer, he has a solution to that already.
“You know, we should go home now, you still have classes tomorrow right?” Tokino said with concern.
Raritras just shrugged and put two thumbs up, “Don’t worry, I usually run on 3 hours of sleep!” He smiled with innocent pride.
Tokino was shocked by his statement, she got upset and smacked him on the head. “Ow!!” Raritras cried while his ears twitched in pain.
“First lesson to be a fast umamusume: You need a full rest!! Got it?” She scolded him. As Raritras rubbed the spot that Tokino smacked, her gaze slowly shifted to his ears full of scars. “Oh my… what happened to your ears?” she asked as her earlier exasperation was immediately replaced by worriness.
Raritras immediately stopped complaining about the pain and quickly covered his ears with his cap, “I-it’s nothing, it’s from an accident a long time ago.”
Tokino looked at him with pity, “Well, do they still hurt?” Raretras shook his head lightly. This eased up Tokino slightly. “Well for now, go home and sleep, ok?” Raritras nodded in agreement, and the two finally departed.
The next day, Rartras was sitting in class deep in thought. ‘Tokino… What type of training did you experience to be that fast?’
“Ok class! Today is a very special day!” The professor suddenly declared, snapping Raritras out of his thoughts. “For a while, you all had been studying theories and been working on imaginary scenarios. So starting today…”
The whole class was eager at the build up their professor is doing, some of them were at the edge of their seats waiting.
“You are all going to be temporary trainers!” He declared with enthusiasm. The whole class erupted in cheers, some were already discussing who they wanted as their trainee like a couple of girls in a sleepover, others were excitedly drafting their training regimens, while most were still in disbelief at what their professor said.
“Settle down everyone, the purpose of this is to let you all gain experience and apply what you’ve learned.” He proclaimed as he gestured for the class to hush, “Normally you need to scout a trainee and fill in some paperwork, but for now the school will assign you your trainees so you won’t have to do all of that for now.”
Raritras was eager to find out who will be assigned to him, ‘As long as it’s not shortie, I think I’ll be fine. If I were to be assigned to her, I would become dead meat!’
Raritras soon received a form containing the information of his assigned temporary trainee. As the paper was handed to him, he quickly scanned the paper.
Birthday: March 5
Height: 145 cm
Usual Race Strategy: Pace Chaser
Track Aptitude: Turf
Class: Senior Division
Dorm: Miho
Current Stats (Taken from most recent assessment):
Speed: 310
Stamina: 256
Power: 234Guts:220
Wit: 260
Name: . . .
“Name… ” Raritras paused as he read the name outloud, “Rice Shower…” He smiled as he read further down her form.
“So she’s in the twinkle series, had already run and won 2 races.” His smile faltered as he thought about it. “...I really hope I can be of any help in her career.”
After a while the professor called the whole class's attention once more, “Ok student-trainers, You can use the rest of the school hours to get to know your trainees. And with that *clap* class is dismissed.”
The students hurried out of the room as they left to meet their trainees. Raritras left but without any hurry, he had quite a cocktail of emotions in his heart right now. He’s excited and happy to meet Rice Shower, but he’s also worried and anxious to ruin her potential and cause the downfall of her career.
As he walked onward, his body unconsciously led him to the racetrack. Seeing the umamusumes running across the track, he remembered the taxi driver yesterday,
“If people like you who want to become amazing trainers to help umamusumes, exist… then I can be rest assured that my little uma will have a bright future ahead of her.”
Raritras clenched his fists at the memory, ‘Yeah, I hope I could create that bright future…’
“Rara-san!” A familiar voice called out to him, snapping him out of his sad thoughts. When he turned, he saw a familiar face running up to him with the brightest smile anyone could find.
“Urara-san!!” Raritras’s face lit up with happiness upon seeing her, “How had you been?”
Haru Urara’s ears twitched in happiness as she went on and talked about her day, “I managed to get a gold star from today’s quiz! I also managed to beat my previous race time in today’s assessment! I also…”
As Raritras listened to her, a pair of ears grabbed his attention. Hiding behind Haru Urara was another uma with quite big black ears. “Urara-san?” He politely interrupted her to ask, “Who’s that behind you?”
“Oh!” She slowly stepped aside, “Rara-san, this is my dear friend Rice-chan!” A timid black haired umamusume with purple eyes, one covered by her bangs.
“Ah! Umm… Uh… H-hello…” she greeted shyly. “I-I’m… Rice Shower…”
Raritras’s eyes widened with surprise, his smile was replaced by a wave of nervousness, it crept upon his spine upon discovering that she’s his temporary trainee, “R-Rice Shower?! I… I’m Raritras Masque, nice to meet you, Rice Shower.” He bowed as she introduced.
Rice Shower was surprised as well “R-Raritras! So… you’re going to be my trainer for a while, right?”
Raritras nodded, the air around the both of them was filled with awkwardness. Haru Urara suddenly spoke up in surprised delight, “Wow! I didn’t know you’re going to be Rice-chan’s trainer, Rara-san.”
Raritras felt hesitation just as the words tried to come out of his mouth, “...Y-yes. It’s only for a while though…”
“That’s still amazing!” Urara’s eyes filled up with sparkles.
“Rice Shower!” A voice came from afar and caught the attention of the three of them.
Rice Shower immediately turned to the person calling for her as her ears raised in happiness, “Onii-sama!” She called back to him as she waved her arm.
“Onii huh?” Raritras tilted his head in confusion, “Is he Rice Shower’s brother?”
Urara answered his question, “Well, kinda. Rice-chan usually calls her trainer, big brother.”
“Ah I see.” He nodded in understanding, he suddenly realized something. “Oh right, I almost forgot!”
He quickly approached Rice Shower’s trainer with Haru Urara and Rice Shower behind him. He felt hesitation hold him back as he was about to speak, he mustered up the courage to go ahead and introduce himself. “G-good day sir! I-I am Raritras Masque.”
“Ah, so you’re Raritras! I was told that you’ll be the one to take care of Rice Shower for a while. I hope you can learn a lot!” Rice’s trainer encouraged him.
Raritra’s face became slightly red from embarrassment, he quickly bowed to show respect, “P-please take good care of me, senpai!”
A reassuring hand was placed on Raritras’s shoulder by Rice’s trainer, “Ease up kid, no need to be nervous, so calm down. Here, how about we all grab a snack at the cafeteria and have a chat?”
The two umas nodded happily, after all who doesn’t want snacks? Raritras also accepted the offer and so the group headed off.
In the cafeteria, the four of them were sitting together at a table. Urara and Rice were enjoying some mochi while the two boys ate some rice cakes.
Raritras started the conversation, his voice was filled with nervousness, “So… I read the file given to me about Rice Shower, and based on the information, I drafted a training regimen that I think could-”
“Woah there Raritras, hold yourself for a moment. This isn’t a formal meeting between two trainers!” Rice’s trainer raised a hand to stop Raritras as he was about to pull out a notebook. “For now, treat this as just a simple chat with friends, a get-to-know-each-other.” he smiled calmly.
“Right, uh… A friendly meet up…” Raritras murmured, nervousness still etched across his face.
Rice’s trainer slowly leaned forward, “So, I’m curious to know why you wanted to become a trainer. You do know that it's not easy being one.”
Raritras was panicking internally, it wasn’t an interview, he knew that. Yet he’s still stiff as a rock as if he’s holding his breath.
Looking around, he saw the happy faces of Rice and Urara as the two talked about what type of mochi they wanted the most, he also saw Rice’s trainer’s friendly expression.
‘Maybe I could be friends with them… I have to try.’ he took a deep breath to try and calm down.
“I… I always admire seeing runners go at such tremendous speed, so I wanted to help an uma reach her potential.” He explained timidly.
His words hung like a declaration, Haru Urara and Rice Shower were in awe.
“Rara-san, if you become a trainer, could you help me go very fast?” Urara asked with sparkles in her eyes.
Rice immediately noticed something on her friend’s face, “Urara-san, you got some mochi on your face.”
Urara noticed it started laughing, making the atmosphere cheerful. Raritras felt his lips curl to a smile as he began to laugh as well.
While the three were giggling, Rice’s trainer smile grew bigger, “That’s such an admirable goal. Your mother is probably a fast Umamusume hehe.” he chuckled.
Raritras suddenly froze, his smile vanishing, “Yeah… she probably was.”
Rice’s Trainer noticed his frown and got worried, “D-did I said something wrong?” Rice and Urara also got worried as well.
“No no, it’s alright!” he immediately reassured, “I just… *sigh* I never met my mom. She died when I was born.” A deep sadness was embedded in his explanation.
The girls gasped in shock, Rice’s trainer expressed his sympathy for him, “Then your dad must’ve worked hard to raise such a good person like you.”
Raritras shook his head, “Dad left us before I was born, or at least that’s what my relatives told me.”
The three were shocked at the truth and expressed pity for him. “It must've been tough for you, Raritras-san.” Rice Shower consoled him.
Urara tried to cheer Raritras up, “If Rara-san lived through that, then that means Rara-san is a really strong person!” Both Rice and her trainer nodded in agreement, cheering Raritras up.
“Ok, different question this time.” Rice’s trainer clasped his hands in a friendly manner, “When is your birthday?”
Raritras answered casually, “February 19” This made the group intrigued.
“Could you tell us how old you are?” Rice Shower asked as she held her half eaten mochi.
Rartiras gestured to her to lean closer and whispered his age to her. Her ears suddenly shot up in shock, causing Haru Urara and her trainer to become curious. She whispered what Raritras said to them and both were equally shocked.
“Damn, I didn't know you were only older than Rice Shower by almost a month.” Rice’s trainer called out in surprise, causing Rice to become embarrassed.
“D-don’t tell him that, Onii-sama!” She cried out, causing the others to laugh at her cute outburst.
Rice’s trainer then changed the topic, “Rice Shower, let’s do some incline training today.” Rice’s trainer suggested to her before extending an invitation to Raritras, “Raritras, how about accompanying us for training? I’ll show you how I train Rice Shower for her races.” Raritras eagerly agreed to join them.
“Rice-chan, could I join in your training?” Urara asked Rice, totally excited to train with her friend.
“Mhm, come on. Let’s go outside!” Rice happily dragged Urara away, her trainer and Raritras trailing closely behind them.
Outside, the two of them happily trained together as they ran up the hill. Rice’s trainer tracked her progress as he pointed out to Raritras his methods in helping Rice Shower grow.
“You see my kohai,” he showed his clipboard displaying Rice Shower’s history of Guts training to Raritras, “I noticed whenever Rice is training together with her friends, she tends to get a little competitive and pushes herself harder and thus improving herself even more!”
Reritras nodded in understanding, looking at Rice Shower as she constantly glanced at how far Haru Urara was from her and then speeding up the moment Urara got too close.
Raritras chuckled at the competition, “I guess that’s the perks of having a rival hahaha, constantly pushing each other to improve.” He then remembered Tokino and the race last night.
“You could say that again!” Rice’s trainer nodded enthusiastically.
The rest of the day went by with Raritras accompanying Rice Shower and her trainer around the school grounds. The sun began to set, painting the sky in beautiful shades of orange and yellow.
Raritras was alone, busy writing something down in his training notebook when Rice’s trainer came up to him, “Hey Raritras, I’m gonna go grab something in my office, you good on your own?”
Raritras gave him a reassuring thumbs up and a smile. After he left, he saw Rice Shower approach him in her tracksuit.
Raritras quickly saw her and waved hello. The past hours had been really helpful for the two to familiarize themselves with each other, Raritras and Rice Shower got along nicely and the awkwardness/nervousness between them had lessened significantly.
“Raritras-san, good evening! Have you seen Onii-san?” Rice Shower asked, looking around for her trainer.
Raritras didn’t answer, instead he asked her back, “Rice, why are you still here? Aren’t you supposed to go back to your dorm?”
Rice Shower looked down in embarrassment, “A-actually… Rice wanted to train a little more…” She looked at Raritras with a begging look, “Rice had seen how hard Onii-sama had been working, and Rice wanted to work hard too!”
Rice's cute begging face stunned Raritras for a moment, he couldn’t just say no to her after seeing how much she wanted to reciprocate the feeling to her trainer.
After thinking for a while, an idea popped in Raritras’s head as his cap raised up a little, “How about we surprise your trainer?” he asked her with excitement with a hint of mischief.
“What surprise?” Rice tilted her head in confusion.
Raritras smirked as he explained, “I’ll train you in secret, and then I’ll give your trainer an outdated assessment. When he assesses you tomorrow, he’ll be surprised at how easily you surpass his expectations!”
Rice Shower thought about the plan for a while, “hmmmm… Let’s do it! I’ll surprise Onii-sama with my effort.” She declared with a determined look.
Raritras looked around to see if anyone was watching them, he then signaled for her to follow him.
He led her to the racetrack, the place was empty when the two reached it, the sunset casting on the turf, transforming it to a vibrant orange field. Raritras was in a daze, he could stare at the scenery all evening.
“Raritras-san? What’s wrong?” Rice Shower asked worriedly as she lightly tugged at his arm.
Raritras was startled but he still remembered their objectives. “Oh, right…”
Rice Shower slowly prepared in her starting stance on the track as Raritras held the stopwatch. “You ready, Rice?” Rice nodded in confirmation.
And with that, he started to countdown and signaled Rice Shower to run on the count of “Zero”. Rice started to dash running up the incline, Raritras timed her run as she did, observing her technique to adapt to the incline.
The moment Rice Shower reached the top of the small hill of the track, he stopped the timer and wrote it down in his notebook.
As he wrote, words began pouring out of his mouth, mumbling something unconsciously, “Ok, so the time was 14.6 seconds, and the distance of the incline is 200 meters… Then her speed was around 13.6 meters per second, transmutating that with the Speed point table, that’s 4 points. Then for Power, the incline has 2 meter elevation, so considering the speed, it should be 3 points. Multiplying those together, that’s 12 points of increase in her Guts plus 3 more points.
Rice Shower was wiping down her sweat when she noticed Raritras occupied with something. Curious, she approached him to ask, “Raritras-san, what’s that?”
“Ah, I’m computing the points for stats for your data.” Raritras answered as he proceeded to show her the contents of the page, “To make it easier for us trainers to see how much their trainees had improved during training, we have a series of formulas and equations to get an estimate of your capabilities.”
Rice Shower saw the points Raritras had circled down on the page, causing her expression to slowly shift to disappointment, “Why did I gain a low amount of points…?”
Raritras reassured her, “Don’t feel down, this is meant to show your steady increase in skill over time. You’ll gradually get faster and stronger, no one gets super strong in just one training right?”
Rice nodded in agreement, “I see… Well then Rice shall work hard everyday!” She declared as she clenched her fists in a show of determination.
“That’s the spirit!” Raritras cheered.
“So this is where you two had been hiding! What spirit are you talking about?”
The two were momentarily stunned by the sudden voice. As they turned around, the two of them saw…
“Eeek! O-onii-sama!” Rice stammered in surprise.
Raritras immediately tried to think of a reason, “I- ummm… uh….”
Rice’s trainer saw the notebook in Raritras’s hands and smiled, “So you two are conducting some secret training while I was away huh? Raritras, this is your first day of being a trainer, and you’re already snatching away my trainee!? How could you!” He teased the two.
“W-What?! No no no no. Senpai, I’m not doing anything!” Raritras waved his hands in innocence.
Rice Shower clung on to her trainer with a flustered look, “Onii-sama, Don’t say that!!”
“Ahahahaha, don’t worry. I’m just messing with you two.” Rice’s trainer laughed, patting Rice Shower on the head to reassure her.
Raritras and Rice Shower looked at each other with a hint of embarrassment at their failed surprise.
“Well then, we three should go home now.” Rice’s trainer told the two, “Rice, you still have an exam tomorrow right?” He reminded his trainee, urging her to rest up at home.
With that, Rice Shower and her trainer headed for the exit, waving goodbye to Raritras.
After making sure the two had left, his lips curled to a mischievous grin, he had other things to do before going home.
Entering one of the classrooms, Raritras chose a quiet spot and hid, pulling out his diary from his backpack and writing in it to pass the time.
Dear Diary,
Today was amazing, I finally got to become a trainer! Well… at least for a while. My trainee is an amazing girl named Rice Shower, I personally think she’ll do good in the Twinkle Series. I just hope that I can help her…
Anyways, you’re curious about her right? Well this little cute umamusume is quite an interesting one.
Her trainer spilled some things about her, like how she prefers bread over rice for breakfast, which I found funny. Cuz you know, her name is RICE Shower, I guess she uses rice for her bath instead.
Senpai also told me how Rice tends to be gloomy every now and then, and gave me tips on how to cheer her up. Turns out she likes picture books, which I found cute about her.
A happy trainee equals good training after all.
Also, I noticed that she and Haru Urara, another friend (I hope… idk if she sees me as one, actually idk if anyone considers me as their friend), makes an adorable duo. Man, their friendship is literally yinyang.
Right now, I’m camping out in a classroom here till everyone goes home. Another training night hehehehe!!
Hopefully Tokino-senpai won't appear, or else it's an early sleep for me T^T
…
As Raritras kept writing, a pang of drowsiness slowly washed over him. His eyelids inched closer and closer until Raritras fell into an imminent sleep.
Hours upon hours went by as he peacefully snoozed, students all returned home to their dorms, teachers and trainers alike wrapped things up and called it a day, school staff did routine checks and somehow missed the sleeping Raritras in a classroom. When Raritras finally woke up, he looked around to find himself in a dim classroom, the only light was from the moonlight entering through the classroom’s windows..
“*yawn* Perfect timing, time to train.” He enthusiastically said to himself as he stretched from his nap.
He exited the classroom and found himself in a dark hallway. With casual ease, he pulled out a flashlight from his bag and began navigating the building.
He came across empty classrooms and halls, a regular person would’ve felt nervous if not scared by these things. But not Raritras, he loved the dark, he loved the silence surrounding him.
He made his way outside, entering the open area of the courtyard. He paused and sat on the grass, next to a hollow tree stump as he gazed up into the stars.
He took a deep breath of the cool fresh air and laid on the grass, counting stars and forming constellations. A past habit that made him happy when he was young.
After a while, he slowly got up and began jogging toward the racetrack. He was careful about his movements, peeking around corners and moving fast while still being silent. He’s not letting Tokino give him another scolding about sleep.
The place was as beautiful as it was last night. Raritras didn’t waste another moment upon reaching the place, he put his cap and bag on a nearby bench and began doing his stretches. After he was done, he took a stopwatch from his pocket and got ready to time himself.
He got in a starting stance and took a deep breath, clearing his thoughts and focusing on just one thing, to run. The moment his thumb pressed down on the button,
*Swoosh*
Raritras darted off at high speeds, determined to surpass a version of himself that raced with Tokino. He knew he couldn’t compete with someone like Tokino, but he could slowly climb to her level of skill by constantly defeating his past attempts.
As he reached halfway of the track, he slowed his pace and composed himself. Looking at the track, adjusting his pace, etc., he’s conserving stamina…
At only a quarter of the way left, he slowly built back up his speed, hastening his pace. Approaching the last stretch, Raritras gritted his teeth and dug his foot firm at the ground and gave one big push. He gave it all at his spurt, his surroundings were starting to blur as the wind whistled on his ears that he used to hate. But just as everything was about to fully blur, it disappeared. He already reached the finish line before he could fully re-enter that zone. As he slowly paced to a stop, he paused the stopwatch in his hand and looked at the time.
“47.28 seconds… *huff* Not… *pant* fast enough.”
His grip tightened on the stopwatch and turned to walk to the starting line. “Again.” He declared.
*Woosh*
*Zoom*
*Swoosh*
Raritras ran again and again, unsatisfied by the speed he’s displaying, because he finally had ambition, a drive, a reignited goal to chase after.
‘I need to go faster… faster… Why?” He asked himself as beads of sweat dripped down his face. Slamming his foot down as he began his last spurt, he answered himself with resolve burning in his eyes,
“Because I, Raritras Masque, will be the fastest uma to ever run!!”
For the first time in his entire life, he finally embraced the side of him that he rejected and loathed so much.
45.20 seconds
44.75 seconds
41.94 seconds
Each time he ran, the time he took to lap around the track became less and less. Sweat began to drip on the digital display of the stopwatch as Raritras stared at it with a determined look.
“A little more for tonight…” he murmured out of breath, “A second less… The target is 40 seconds…”
As he took his place on the starting line of turf, he paused to look at the shallow marks caused by his starts. He smiled at himself as he remembered how much deeper other umamusumes’ footmarks were when they started, ‘Come on Masque, you can do better than that.’
The cold midnight air filled his lungs as he took one final deep breath, determined to shatter his personal record.
He launched off faster than he expected, without noticing it, he kept running on. He flew through the track like a cobalt blue blur in the night. As he reached the halfway point, he felt a part of him instructed himself.
‘Not now, save it…’
He heeded the tip and conserved his energy, but for when? When he was at the final corner, he suddenly heard the same voice yell.
‘NOW!!’
Raritras trusted his instincts and began his last spurt later than he used to. As he propelled forward, the whole world around him shifted to a blur, but not in a slow gradual way that he experienced last time. No, this time it was different. His entire surrounding instantly blurred past him like it was racing in the opposite direction. His body felt light and his whole mind became clear, the constant blind thoughts of getting faster were no longer present. Instead it was replaced by an increased sensitivity of his senses, and the will to surpass his current state.
Blurred World
He ran with all of his might, guided by his ambitions and sharpened by recent experience, he passed the finish with tremendous speed. His finger unconsciously pressed the stop in the device as he slowed down to a halt.
Heavily panting yet full of adrenaline, he glanced at his stopwatch and expected something like 40.35 seconds for his time, but what he saw shocked him.
“36.83…”
His hands trembled as he repeated the number once more, he had improved, he had grown. He raised his fist in the air and shouted in delighted celebration, “YESSSSS!!! I finally did it at last!”
“R-Raritras-san?”
A soft voice suddenly called out to him from behind. The voice shocked him as a cold sweat dripped down Raritras’s face. When he turned around, he saw…
“R-Rice Shower…” He called out in disbelief. “W-what are you doing here? It’s the middle of the night.”
Realization dawned on him, she saw him. The real Raritras… What will she think of him now?? “I… I need to go. S-sorry RIce Shower” he quickly turned around to leave. But as he was about to take a step, his legs abruptly gave out, all that running pushed him past his limit, and now he’s paying the price. Fatigue overcame him as he suddenly fell to the ground, the grass crunching as his body fell with a soft thud.
“Raritras-san!” Rice Shower called out to him with worry as she ran to him. Just before he finally passed out, the last thing he saw was Rice Shower in a panicked state, wondering what to do. Eyelids felt heavy, couldn’t move anymore, it all felt too heavy… Finally, Raritras succumbed to exhaustion.
It was all empty, looking around… there was only darkness. Silence.
Reflecting on the past two days, he realized that it had impacted him a lot. He thought about Tokino, Haru Urara, Rice Shower and her trainer and their influence on him.
You know looking back, he couldn’t believe how much his view had changed. He slowly started to accept who he really was.
A dim glowing light slowly manifested and floated and fluttered around, as if guiding him to look. When he turned, he saw himself, the younger him that was constantly ridiculed and loathed for his existence as a male uma.
Those painful memories came back to him, each reminding him of a bitter past. About how he wished for someone to love and not despise him, to be accepted for who he was and not rejected like he was a monster. He long looked for that warm feeling… only to be met with the cold, harsh, abandonment.
This time however, those recollections weren’t as painful as they were. It’s like watching behind a screen, as if it’s telling him that it’s all in the past now, it can’t hurt you anymore.
The light then guided him to turn and look at another version of him, the past Raritras that constantly lived in fear, who constantly rejected a part of him. All those times he purposely wounded his ears with a razorblade, the stinging pain as blood dripped from the top of his head, all those days where he folded up his tail and pretended that it never existed. Despite the pain, he put on a fake mask and lived as if he was a human.
He’s so afraid to be hated once more by others for his identity, that he turned against himself and did what he could to get rid of it, just to be accepted.
He saw himself sitting in a fetal position with his head tucked, crying and cursing himself. Approaching himself, he called out his own name as he reached a hand out to the depressed uma.
“Raritras Masque, hold your head up high.”
The sad uma asked in a sad tone without even looking up, “Why do you care, why bother to talk with an abomination like me…?”
“Because I don’t see one, I see a male uma that will become the fastest anyone could imagine.”
His words took him aback, he looked up and saw a bright light, making him unable to determine the one talking to him. “B-but what if it happens all over again, the pain, the isolation…” he asked, worriedness etched all across his face.
“To be honest, I’m quite scared too, but maybe one day… you’ll probably meet people who’d accept you with no judgement, to see you for what you really are.”
Hope began to stir inside him. Bit by bit, it mended the wounds in his heart. He slowly reached for the hand extended to him, the feeling was warm and gentle.
“Who are you?” He asked sincerely.
“... I am the very first person to accept who you really are. I am Raritras Masque, the male uma.”
His vision began to fade to a bright, white light as he started to hear a faint voice calling out to him.
“Oh, he’s waking up! Raritras-san, Raritras-san!”
The voice got louder, more clearer…
“Raritras-san, are you ok?” a female voice asked him with genuine concern.
A male voice followed the inquiry, “Hey kid, you feeling better? Should I get some more pillows?”
As he slowly opened his eyes, he found himself lying on a medical bed, surrounded by Rice Shower and her trainer. Both were equally concerned for his current condition.
“R-Rice? Senpai? W-what are you…” He started asking them as he tried to get up. “Ack!!” All of the sudden, a sharp pain forced him to return back to laying down, making Rice and her trainer even more worried.
“Don’t force yourself Raritras, you took quite a fall. Good thing Rice Shower called me even though it’s the dead of the night.” Rice’s trainer explained in a calm yet worried tone, “We carried you here to the infirmary to treat your injuries. You were out for quite a long while, so we grew anxious about whether you’d ever wake up.”
Raritras looked down in guilt for causing them to worry about him, he then noticed his cap was missing from his head, meaning his ears were exposed. He rushed to cover it with his hands in fear.
Rice Shower gently held his arm, trying to comfort him, “Raritras-san… Are you an umamusume?” she asked with no disgust, no hatred, only sincerement.
Raritras hesitated for a while before he slowly let down his hands and gave a small nod.
Rice Shower didn’t recoil in fear, nor she laughed at him, instead… her eyes were filled with amazement and wonder. “A-amazing!! I always believed that umamusumes were only girls, but now…”
Raritras felt something twitched behind him, when he tried to roll over and see, he found his own tail wrapped in bandages, it’s out and no longer folded up and hidden.
“It was in pretty bad shape, might take a while before it fully heals. You’ve really put up quite a dedicated disguise to appear human, huh?” Rice’s trainer pointed out.
Rice Shower gripped on his hand firmly while still being gentle as she placed it close to her chest, “You don’t have to keep pretending anymore, you can trust us. Promise me, ok Raritras-san?”
“Awwwwwww, you didn’t tell me you two became that close, Rice Shower.” Her trainer teased, causing Rice to become flustered and shy. “Hey Raritras, if you ever thought about becoming a runner here at Tracen, I could become your trainer hahaha!” He laughed as he jokingly offered a wholehearted offer.
Raritras contemplated what's currently happening, instead of the heavy, dark, moment filled with rejection and hate, the atmosphere was warm, filled with laughter. Is he finally being accepted? Is this what it felt like?
His gaze landed on the door, spotting a familiar dark-brown haired umamusume, his eyes widened in surprise as she checked up on him from afar. Right before she could call out her name, she did a hushing gesture with a smile before leaving. Perhaps she also had some of her own reasons, and Raritras respected that no matter what it was.
A couple hours went by with the two checking up on Raritras’s recovery, he was soon able to stand up and walk around.
“Are you sure you could walk back home on your own, Raritras-san? Rice Shower asked with concern as she watched him check his movements.
Rice’s trainer helped Raritras pack up his belongings and offer something to him, “We could accompany you to your home if it’s ok with you. It’s still really dark out there and it’s not safe to go out there alone.”
Shock appeared on Raritras’s face as he heard what his senior had said, “Y-you will? W-well… as long as it’s not troublesome for you, then I guess it’s ok.”
“No worries Raritras, after all I don’t want anything bad to happen to my kohai. And I’m pretty sure Rice Shower will be sad if you get hurt while walking home.” Her trainer gave him a big smile and a thumbs up.
Meanwhile Rice was fully flustered as her face blushed red, “Onii-sama, stop teasing me!” She cried out, making the boys laugh and Rice Shower blush even harder.
The three soon exited the school through the gate. “Wait, why are the school gates unlocked?” Raritras asked in confusion.
“We asked a staff of the school to let us in, we’re lucky Miss Tazuna was inside.” Rice’s trainer explained with Rice Shower nodding in agreement.
Raritras tilted his head in confusion, “Miss Tazuna?”
“She’s the director’s secretary, she has been a very important person here at Tracen. Honestly I couldn’t imagine the academy without her.” Rice’s trainer explained enthusiastically.
‘Hmmm, Miss Tazuna… How come I’ve never seen her during my night runs?’ He pondered before smiling proudly, ‘Perhaps it’s because I just stay here later at night, heheheh’
On the way to his apartment, Rice Shower moved closer to him and began to ask for a favor, “Raritras-san, could you come to school tomorrow without hiding your uma features?”
Raritras was taken aback, he hesitated for a long while and became quiet. “Y-you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to!” Rice clarified.
“Sure.”
Rice and her trainer stopped walking in surprise by his response.
“I’ll come to Tracen as my true self.” Raritras promised with a smile.
The very next day, everyone was staring at Raritras with either amusement or interest.
“Who are they? I don’t think I have seen that umamusume before…” A certain pink haired uma with a big red bow on her head. Even a few of Raritras’s classmates failed to recognise him.
“Rara-san!” Urara called out to him enthusiastically with Rice alongside her.
Raritras happily greeted the two of them, “Urara-san, Rice-san, good morning to you two!”
“Good morning, Raritras-san!” Rice greeted him.
The moment Rice Shower called him by name, his classmates erupted in surprise.
“Wait, Raritras? That’s him?!” One of them asked the other.
“Did you hear what she called him?” Another asked in disbelief.
One of Raritras’s classmates slowly approached him and asked. “Raritras, is that you? You're a…”
“A male uma? Yeah.” Raritras finished his statement with a bit of nervousness. “Wait… you’re… you’re that guy who reminded the class about the speed formula last time!” Raritras stated as he struggled to remember his classmate’s name.
“E-eh? You remember as that?!” He asked in supprise.
Raritras just shrugged, “Well, I barely remember my classmates' names anyway.”
His classmate just sighed in defeat, “Yup, that’s definitely Raritras…”
The fact about Raritras being a male uma quickly spread around Tracen, even the director of the academy learned about it and called Raritras to her office. He was given the opportunity to become an official student of Tracen and became a runner in the Twinkle Series.
He denied the offer though, even though his dreams of becoming the fastest was now reachable if he became a trainee, he still had that other dream of helping other umamusume grow too.
With that, a new proposition was proposed, Raritras was still regarded as a student-trainer, but he also had been given the opportunity to run in races. The best of both worlds.
A few months passed by, Raritras was walking around the school hallways with his head held high and his ears and tail proudly exposed.
Some students took interest in him given his existence as a male uma, “Raritras, would you care to join me in an experiment?” An eccentric uma in a lab coat eagerly asked him, making him feel awkward.
He quickly politely declined the offer before heading his way. As he passed through a bulletin board, he quickly noticed something that caught his attention.
||Junior Make Debut||
Sign up to participate, deadline in 5 months
Raritras stared at the poster for a while and smiled, “Hmmm, seems interesting!”
He grabbed a pen and signed up his own name.