Chapter Text
It was another sunny afternoon on the track at Tracey Academy. With the New Year having just begun, many racers were already planning their first race of the year, and were down on the track training. At least, on a normal day that would be the case. Instead, a crowd of Umas had gathered on the grassy turf at the tracks center, engrossed in a different activity all together.
Bang! Bang!
Two shots rang out across the field, and two tin cans went flying from their perches on old plastic chairs. Cheers erupted from the crowd as a smug, chestnut haired Uma put away her pistol. “Sorry El, but that’s another win for this cowgirl!” A very dejected El Condor Pasa stood next to the Uma, slowly putting her pistol away. “Ay dios mio…that was even worse than the last time we faced off! I swear, next time I’m gonna beat you, Taiki!”
Taiki winked at her fellow Uma. “Pretty sure ya said that the last…6 times I’ve beaten ya? I’m startin to lose track here El…”
El stuck her tongue out, saying, “Well that just means I’ll beat you next time! Sevens my lucky number after all!”
Before Taiki could respond, both umas heard a yell from across the track. El’s ear flattened. “Oh no, that’s my trainer! Sorry Taiki, but I gotta go! You better save me a game for later, ya hear?”
Taiki waved at the Uma as she sped off down the track to meet her trainer. Turning back to the crowd, she began to scan it for a new challenger when she heard the sound of the belt jangling next to her. Turning around, she was surprised to see a certain lab coat wearing Uma attempting to buckle the belt to her waist…in said lab coat.
“Tachyon? What are you doing here partner?”
“Oh Taiki, apologies for not announcing myself! I was supposed to be meeting with Pokke-Kun and Cafe for lunch, but when I heard you were having a QuickDraw competition right here on the track, my curiosity was piqued! Besides, it fits in quite nicely with my recent research…”
As Tachyon rambled on about her new research (something about the correlation between Umamusume speed and reflexes?), Taiki felt an unusual rock beginning to form in her stomach. The way Tachyon handled the gun while talking seemed too…relaxed. Like she was far more comfortable with it than she expected her to be. She’d heard the stories of course; how she once spent three days in the lab, barely eating or drinking, because she thought she was on the verge of a scientific breakthrough. In the end, Cafe and Pocket had to literally drag her to the cafeteria to eat something. Needless to say, she knew Tachyon was a bit of an oddball, but this was one of her first times personally interacting with her outside of classes.
Just how much was there that she didn’t know about the Uma standing before her?
Taiki’s roommate, Meijiro Dober, had just finished setting the cans back up. She now stood off to the side, an air horn in hand. She yelled down the field, “Are you two ready?” Taiki cleared the doubt from her mind, focusing on the can ahead. She looked at Tachyon, who simply smiled at her and nodded. Taiki yelled back, “We’re ready when you are, Roomie!” As Dober raised the air horn and both Umas took their stance, Taiki was once again surprised by the seeming ease with which Tachyon adapted. She took one glance over and had copied her style almost perfectly. Almost.
That’ll make all the difference.
Dober raised the air horn high, and as the schools bells rang out to signal the arrival of midday, a loud blast went off across the field.
Bbaanngg!
The two cans flew from their perch almost simultaneously. A gasp erupted from the gathered crowd, and the rock, which had been shrinking in size, suddenly felt as if it would bring Taiki to her knees. The cans had been launched so close in time together, it was impossible to tell whose bullet had struck first. Next to her, Tachyon laughed. “My, it never gets old feeling a shot ring out from your own hands, does it Taiki?”
Still frazzled, Taiki looked at the Uma dumbfounded. “You’ve fired guns before..?”
Tachyon once again began rambling. “Oh yes, it all started when I was a child. My parents bought me many toys to try and sate my curiosity! Most of the time I would simply pick them apart to figure out how they worked, until the day my father brought me home a small toy gun! It brought me much joy, firing dart after dart at the wall! And when I noticed the variance in the darts trajectory and range, of course I had to figure out the averages and the ideal ranges. Then I wondered: how is it different for other guns? By years end I had my own personal toy armory, but of course as I got older these lost their appeal and I moved on to BB-guns much like this one! This is a Colt Python, correct?”
“Yeah it is, the .177 air pistol… I didn’t know ya knew so much bout guns Tachyon. I always join the competitions at the market. Why didja never show up to those?”
“Oh Taiki, why waste time going all the way to the market when I can compete right here on our own campus? Although for this to count as significant data, we’ll need to go at least two more rounds…”
While Tachyon mumbled something about “p-values”, Taiki realized they still had no idea who the winner was. “W-wait a second, Tachyon! We still haven’t figured out who won the last round yet!” Turning to the crowd, Taiki yelled, “Hey! Did anyone happen to get a video of that last round? Anything?”
“Don’t worry Taiki, I ALWAYS record your competitions, eheheh…”
Taiki spun around, and standing with a phone in her hand was Agnes Digital. “It makes such good material for my… writing.”
Choosing to ignore the last comment, Taiki smiled tightly, still a bit wracked with nerves. “Youre a real savior, Digital! Could we maybe see the video ya took? Please?”
Taiki saw the stars forming in Digital’s eyes in real time and realized she probably should’ve chosen her words a bit more carefully. “Me? A savior? For an Uma like you?? Me, a savior, for THE mightiest miler on campus? Oh man, I don’t know if my heart can take this….”
“Digital. Please show Taiki the video, okay?”
It was now Tachyons turn to speak, hoping to bring Digital down from whatever otaku-high she was clearly building herself towards. “Oh, right! Gotta see who won, right? Let me just… there!”
Digital turned her phone towards the two Umas, who watched their shootout unfold in slowed time. Taiki breath caught in her throat as the air horn went off. She watched the two bullets fly, and for a moment she reckoned with if her time as QuickDraw champion was over. But the next second, she watched as her bullet cleanly connected with the can - according to the video, only a tenth of a second ahead of Tachyon’s bullet - and felt the tension leave her body.
In truth, only two people had ever beaten her in a QuickDraw competition: her papa, who had taught her how to shoot when she was only a child on their ranch back home, and on one very fateful occasion, her trainer had managed to beat her as well. Of course, this was after nearly twenty rounds, but she still knew she would never hear the end of it to this day. The thought of having to add Tachyon to that list, after only squaring off with her once? Gosh, she didn’t think she’d ever be able to look her papa in the eyes again.
“Well, it seems you’ve won the first round, Taiki Shuttle! Now, shall we go again?”
Tachyon smiled at Taiki. Her nerves finally calmed, Taiki smiled right back at her. “Bring it, Tachyon! You ain’t beating this cowgirl today!”
In the end, the two ended up squaring off for five rounds total. No one from the crowd dared to interrupt them, with each round being just as close as the first. Taiki never managed to win by more than two-tenths of a second. The next closest person? El, who had on ONE occasion managed to finish about half a second behind Taiki.
As Taiki readied to load another round into her pistol, she heard the sound of the belt clanging onto the table next to her. “This was quite fun Taiki, but I’m afraid if I stay any longer that Pokke-Kum might appear and drag me to the cafeteria again…an experience I’d rather not repeat. Besides, I have more than enough data for now! You’ve been a wonderful Guinea pig! Oh, and Digital, can you send me those videos for my records please? It is greatly appreciated.”
As Tachyon walked off the field, and as Digital had a mild meltdown behind her. Taiki stared after the Uma for a while longer. To think, the reclusive lab rat was an absolute rattlesnake on the trigger! As she turned back to the crowd to find a new challenger, her mind kept drifting back to Tachyon. So much so, she didn’t notice the crowd begin to shrink away, or the sound of VERY angry footsteps approaching behind her. “So Taiki, I’m sure you got authorization from the student council for this little competition of yours, right?”
Taiki was pulled from her thoughts as Hishi Amazon appeared behind her, grabbing her by the ear and dragging her back towards the Miho Dorms. “O-O-Ow! Heya Amazon, that hurts! Aren’t ya gonna at least let me TRY to explain myself???”
While Amazon gave her quite a scolding later on, Taiki’s mind kept floating back to that lab coat, swaying in the breeze as Tachyon left the field. Even when Dober also scolded her later for almost getting them both in trouble, she really only had one thought on her mind:
She REALLY wanted to face off with Tachyon again.