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Alia stands in the waiting room with Fuji before her race, making sure everything was in perfect condition. She was currently checking her cleats. The last thing they needed was for a cleat to break mid race and for Fuji to get injured. She hears the curtain behind her swish open and Fuji’s footsteps cross the room.
“How goes the inspection?” Fuji asks, leaning over and resting her chin on Alia’s shoulder.
This is a new thing for Alia to get used to. She and Fuji have been dating for a few months now, ever since the hot springs. They keep it quiet in public. It’s not technically allowed for a trainee and trainer to be in a romantic relationship, but the amount of times it ends up happening people think of it as inevitable. It’s just courtesy at this point to not point it out or flaunt it.
“Everything is looking good, your cleats should be nice and sturdy.” Alia turns to hand them to Fuji, just to be met with her in her signature race wear.
From the beginning, Alia wondered why exactly Fuji chose to make her race wear like…that. She explained why it was a suit, but not why she decided to have a certain part of the suit open to the world. Unfortunately, since they’re dating, Alia has found herself seeing it in a whole new light and has to stop herself from staring.
The worst part is that Fuji knows.
She gets a cocky smile on her face when she sees where Alia has been staring, and Alia feels her face burning.
She shoves Fuji’s shoes in her face, “Just put on your stupid shoes.”
Fuji laughs as she grabs the shoes. “Whatever you say, my love.”
As Fuji puts her shoes on and makes sure they’re secure, Alia is glaring at the corner willing her heart rate to return to normal speed.
“There, everything is ready.” She stands and lifts her legs a bit, the cleats making a hard clank when they hit the floor.
Alia swaps back to trainer mode, circling Fuji and verifying that everything is where it should be. When she’s satisfied she relaxes, circling back to stand in front of her girlfriend.
“Nervous?” She asks.
Fuji chuckles, “Every time. But I’ll make it a show to remember.”
“That’s the spirit.” Alia leans in and gives Fuji a chaste kiss.
When she pulls away, Fuji makes to follow and Alia has to put her hands on her shoulders to stop her.
“Whoa there, save it for after you win.” She teases.
Fuji pouts at her. “I’m afraid I’ve lost all motivation to run, how will I ever win like this?” She sighs dramatically and slumps forward, leaning her entire weight onto Alia.
Alia gives a mix between a laugh and a scream, not expecting to have an armful of Umamusume. The more she pushes, the more dead weight Fuji leans into her and the harder Alia laughs.
“Alright, alright you big baby!” Alia gives in.
Immediately Fuji is standing up on her own again.
Alia rolls her eyes, “What a fast recovery.”
“My motivation is slowly returning to me.”
Alia smiles fondly at the woman in front of her. She never would have thought that three and a half years ago this is where they’d be now. She’s suddenly thankful for losing her training badge all that time ago.
There has been something she’s been wanting to do for a while though, even before they started dating. She just held back for obvious reasons. Taking a step closer to Fuji, she reaches up and adjusts her tie like she’s done so many times before.
Fuji in turn is looking at Alia with a sparkle in her eye. If Alia doesn’t act fast then Fuji is going to lean in and do this herself.
Alia quickly grabs Fuji’s tie in her hand, and yanks her forward into a heated kiss.
Fuji makes a noise of surprise in the back of her throat and Alia swallows it fully with her own mouth. Fuji’s hands are immediately on her hips, pulling her closer till there’s hardly any room left between them. Alia’s hand leaves Fuji’s tie, both of them slipping into Fuji’s hair instead.
It’s rougher than usual kisses they have, but Alia isn’t complaining. Fuji bears down on her and Alia grunts, annoyed for a second. She wants to be the one in control here. She pushes against Fuji, making the girl stumble backwards until her back finally meets the wall.
She gasps, breaking the kiss, and Alia takes that opportunity to start kissing down Fuji’s neck. She kisses where her jaw meets her neck, traveling down until she can feel Fuji’s rapidly beating pulse point against her lips. Her collar is unfortunately in the way. Alia has put on Fuji’s tie so many times that she can take it off with one hand, which comes in handy in this moment. When the tie is loosened, the collar is moved next, and her lips finally find what she’s looking for. She feels Fuji shudder under her and she lets out a nearly breathless noise.
With one final nip to Fuji’s pulse, Alia moves and before she can even attempt to do anything, Fuji’s lips are crashing against hers again. Hot breath and teeth, nipping Alia’s lips. Alia’s hands are back in her hair and she has one more thought, another thing she’s never tried before. She moves her hands and slowly scratches the base of Fuji’s ears.
The reaction is immediate. Fuji’s hands on her waist grip her hard and a noise she’s never heard before leaves Fuji’s mouth, the feeling going straight into Alia’s gut. Alia continues to massage her ears and the kissing gets rougher, more heated. She can hear Fuji’s tail whipping rapidly back and forth, smacking against the wall.
During all this, Fuji somehow managed to untuck Alia’s shirt without her noticing and Alia jolts at the feeling of warm hands tracing her hips. It jolts her just enough to remember there’s a race soon. As quickly as she started this, she pulls back. Fuji isn’t done and goes to chase and, once again, Alia’s hands are on her shoulders pushing her back.
Fuji looks like a beautiful mess. Her hair tousled and her collar and tie undone, breathing heavily as she stares with half lidded eyes at Alia. Alia commits the look to memory. She can only imagine she doesn’t look much better.
“Win the race,” Alia murmurs, “and there’ll be more where that came from.”
Fuji’s ears go ramrod straight.
Alia laughs, quickly doing her best to button Fuji’s collar and tie her tie to make her look somewhat presentable before the race. The entire time Fuji is just staring at her, a foreign expression on her face that Alia tries not to read too deep into. Alia tries to fix Fuji’s hair but they can hear the faint fanfare in the distance, signaling the racers that it’s time to start making their way to the track.
Alia swears and musses Fuji’s hair slightly, at least making it look purposefully messy.
Fuji seems unbothered by her new hairstyle, languidly stepping around Alia to make her way to the track. Before leaving fully she leans in and gives Alia an impossibly sweet kiss to the temple.
“I’ll be back soon,” she promises.
Alia has to say she’s looking forward to it.
When Alia finally makes her way to the stands, she’s met with her best friend and fellow trainer, Blake. The taller woman is standing there leaning forward on the railing, watching all the racers begin to line up. Alia nearly forgot that she would be here with Gold City racing as well.
Blake turns to look at her with a smile, opening her mouth to say something. Her smile falls and she quirks a single eyebrow up. She scans Alia up and down, looks back at the track, then back at Alia again. Alia suddenly feels very self conscious.
Blake snickers as she stands in front of Alia now with her arms crossed, “Really, man? Before a race?”
Alia sputters, “I- what are you- I have no idea what you’re-“
Blake’s snicker turns into a full on laugh, straight from her chest. Alia flails rapidly, smacking Blake’s arms and looking around hoping no one will get curious and listen in. It had the opposite effect for Blake though who’s now bent over and wheezing.
Once her friend finally calms down, she starts casually straightening Alia’s suit. Alia makes a noise of confusion, looking down at what she’s doing. She thought she tucked her shirt back in well enough to not be noticed. Blake however, is fixing her buttons. Apparently, Fuji had undone most of the bottom buttons of her vest, the top button holding on for dear life. Alia felt heat creep up her neck thinking back to 5 minutes ago wondering if she passed by anyone important on her way here.
“You were also flushed as hell walking up here,” Blake says, finishing up her last button. “Most people probably thought you ran honestly, buuuuut…” she trails off and looks toward the track, where the last racer is walking into the gate. “I noticed Fuji’s hair seemed a bit more…ruffled when she walked out.”
Blake has a shit eating grin on her face. She’s the only one Alia has told about her and Fuji being together, mostly because they’ve been best friends for years. But also because she’s stupidly observant with other people. If Alia hadn’t said anything she would’ve figured it out in a week, tops.
“I…” Alia licks her lips, eyes locked on the gates instead of her friend. “Just gave her a little motivation is all.”
Blake snorts, trying to hide it with a cough, “Motivation she says. Is that what we’re calling it now?” She claps Alia’s shoulder, making her wince and stumble forward to the railing. The race is about to begin after all.
The gates open and the racers are off.
Everyone is lined up where they usually are. Fuji is behind the front runners, holding a 4th place spot pretty steady right now. At least when she’s running Fuji’s hair looks fine, Alia thinks. Alia lets her eyes slide towards the back of the pack, where she sees the flash of blonde from Gold City. City has an intense look of concentration on her face and Alia can’t help but be a little impressed, she’s come far from where she used to be. Blake is leaning casually against the railing again, eyes locked on the race, the picture of calm. A single hand goes up to run through her hair, just once, and Alia smirks. Blake was always good at schooling her emotions, but even she has tells when she’s nervous.
The crowd starts erupting and Alia turns her face back to the race, they’re not at the final corner yet but who does she see sprinting ahead to overtake the front runners? The Black Meteor herself, Fuji Kiseki, made her move and she made it early. Alia gasps and next to her Blake makes a noise that sounds like a pained groan. The rest of the racers follow Fuji’s lead, attempting to close the distance. To Alia’s pleasant surprise, she sees Gold City moving up on the outer corner, quickly passing sixth, fifth, fourth…
“Oh hell yes.” She hears Blake mutter beside her, “Go! Go, City, go!” She shouts
City is closing in on Fuji, who hasn’t managed to overtake the first place runner yet and Alia clenches her hands onto the rail tightly. The pleasant surprise suddenly isn’t so pleasant anymore. They turn the final corner and start to enter the home stretch, City is nearly shoulder to shoulder with Fuji. Then the front runner starts to lose steam and Fuji takes the opening.
She blasts by the girl in front of her at a speed Alia hasn’t ever seen before.
“Fuji Kiseki!! Fuji Kiseki is in first!” The announcer is shouting into the mic. “Gold City is on her heels, but can she catch up?”
Alia doesn’t think anyone can, the distance keeps growing.
“Fuji Kiseki is ahead by three lengths! Four! Five! Six!! No one can catch up!” The announcer is losing her mind, the crowd matching her energy.
“She does it! She does it! Fuji Kiseki wins in an overwhelming display of speed!” The announcer gasps, “with a new record time for the course!”
Alia’s jaw drops.
Fuji is standing there past the finish line, breathing heavily. She turns to look at the crowd and dips in a low and dramatic bow. When she stands back up, it’s hard to tell but Alia is pretty sure she’s making eye contact with her. Fuji gives a wink, and with a snap of her fingers she’s gone in a puff of smoke. If Alia thought the crowd couldn’t get louder she was dead wrong.
“Well I’ll be,” she hears Blake say next to her.
Alia looks at her friend, she’s standing there with an amused expression on her face, looking at the scoreboard. Gold City had come in second by a distance.
Blake turns to look at Alia and shrugs a bit helplessly, “A new record, huh?”
She bites her lip and for a split second Alia thinks it’s because she’s mad. “Guess your little bit of motivation worked,” except she’s not mad and is definitely trying to not laugh when she says it.
Alia covers her face. She can feel her ears burning. Blake isn’t helping matters by laughing directly at her. It’s unfair that she has this advantage over her.
”What, are you going try it next time?” she attempts to taunt Blake, but she doesn’t think it comes off strong when her face is covered still and her voice is muffled.
“I would get kicked about 9 ways till Sunday if I even thought about it.” she answers immediately, her tone warm with amusement, “I think I’ll leave that method to you.”
Alia would beg to differ, but she keeps her mouth shut.
She doesn’t see Blake move, but she feels a kind squeeze on her shoulder. “Congrats on the win, be sure to tell Fuji that too.” She pauses, “Well, if you’ll have time to anyway.”
Alia peeks at her through her hands, “What do you mean if I have ti-“
“I gotta get going, gonna have to run through a few things with City, see you later Alia.” Blake waves at her in farewell, striding to the tunnel to get to the waiting rooms for the runners.
Alia decides it’s a better use of her time to head to Fuji’s waiting room than standing there embarrassed, and follows not far behind Blake.
When she makes it to the room, she opens the door ready to tell Fuji congrats on the win. Except she doesn’t get the chance. As soon as she has a single foot in the door Fuji is there, pulling her in and shutting the door behind her. The door clicks and Fuji’s mouth is on hers, and this time it’s Alia against the wall.
Fuji breaks away for just a second to speak, “I did promise an unforgettable show,” before she’s bearing down on Alia once again.
And well…she did win.
Alia hums into the kiss, and when she leans back to breathe says, “I guess I should keep my side of the bargain, then.”
Fuji’s tail gives a single, sharp flick, and the expression on her face earlier was back. She leans in and, unlike before, kisses Alia slowly and softly in such a way it makes her toes curl in her shoes.
They’re interrupted by a knock on the door.
“Fuji Kiseki, the concert preparation will begin in 5!” A voice calls through.
They break apart. Footsteps begin fade in the distance and Fuji’s ears are pinned back in clear irritation. Alia can’t help but laugh, cupping Fuji’s cheek and running a thumb under her eye.
“Duty calls.” She gives Fuji one last kiss, the irritation slowly fading from her posture, “Hm, afterwards do you want to…” Alia hesitates, and she can’t believe she’s about to ask this question. Fuji is looking at her, confused. “Do you want to stay at my place tonight?”
Fuji’s eyes widen, before she grins and tucks her face into Alia’s neck. “I’d love nothing more.”
Alia wraps her arms around her, her hands making soothing circles on Fuji’s back. “It’s a date.”
“It’s a date.” Fuji confirms.