Chapter Text
The winter winds blew through the gates of Tracen Academy, its stately gates welcoming all who dared to fight for their dreams. Before these iron gates stood a lone Uma Musume, dressed in a tattered pink uniform. Her ashen grey hair flicked in the wind as she looked up and burned the image of the gates into her mind.
“Onee-chan…Tracen Academy. I finally made it.”
Quickly digging into her bag, she whipped out a grey and yellow notebook, tilted “Things to do in Tracen”. “Stand in front of the gates, check. Now then, to find President Rudolf.”
She put the notebook back into her bag and frowned. “But where do I find President Rudolf? Onee-chan said that the president stood on the top of a massive tower.”
She peered through the gates and looked around. There were a few tall buildings but none that really felt like they were…a massive foreboding tower, where the President would gaze down at the puny Umas beneath her and laugh. Perhaps the tower had been torn down in the years since her sister had retired. She should call and ask her again. Or maybe ask Tama-nee if she knew where the Student Council office was.
Actually, what if she just asked another student here? Surely they would know where the President was. She glanced around, looking for anyone who looked remotely helpful, maybe an Uma that she might recognize. But none of the racers around her looked like Super Creek, Inari One, Yaeno Muteki, Sirius Symboli, Miru Wakaba, Mejiro Ardan, or Mejiro Ryan. Not even a helpful Bel-nee to guide her.
She frowned, scrunching her brow tightly as she tried to find at least one face she recognized. “Where could they be?”
“No freaking way…” A low voice half growled. “O-Oguri you’re back?”
The ashen grey Uma spun around to find an older Uma staring at her in shock and disbelief. She had shoulder length dark brown hair with a lighter spot in the middle. The Uma gasped in recognition. “Sirius Symboli!”
Beside her, a short chestnut red haired Uma froze. “Wait, you mean Oguri Cap, as in—“
The Uma didn’t get to finish as Sirius frowned. “Wait a second, you aren’t Oguri…”
Realizing her mistake, the grey haired girl bowed. “Forgive the confusion. While I know a lot of people mistake me for my Onee-chan, I am also Oguri.”
She pressed a finger to her chin with pride. “I am Oguri Roman, Onee-chan’s little sister! Please take care of me.”
Student Council Office
“President, you’re telling me that you went and recruited…Oguri Cap’s…sister?”
The president gazed thoughtfully out the window. “That is correct, I did.”
“And she…she accepted?”
“That is correct.” Rudolf smiled softly, reminiscing on old memories. Of the Ashen Beast, who not only dared to challenge the rules and norms of her era, but went on to redefine and reshape an entire generation of racing. Of the compatriot that she once felt a sense of kinship and bond with. The Uma who would continue the work she had started.
A pity that she never agreed to join the student council prior to her retirement. Rudolf mused to herself. A student of her caliber and strength would be an excellent addition to the student council alongside Narita Brian and Air Groove.
“Are you sure…that that is such a good idea, especially with the current situation?” Her faithful vice president inquired. Air Groove, always the worrier, always the one to care about the academy’s image and decorum. “Considering the current line up of this year’s classics, throwing a wild card such as the younger sister of a legendary racer is a risky move.”
“Relax Air Groove.” The president chided, “While her record is not as spectacular as her sister’s, Oguri Roman most certainly had proven herself worthy of stepping foot into Tracen and I expect nothing but great things from her.”
“Then why…” Rudolf’s other vice president, Narita Brian, spoke gruffly. “Is this the first time we’re hearing about her? There is a great deal of paperwork and forms required to transfer a student in, even if she’s a regional transfer. The required paperwork to bring in Coastal Storm from the United States was tremendous, so how did we not know about this?”
Rudolf sighed, a moment of regret flashing through her eyes. “My apologies. I had meant to tell you sooner, but with the typhoon and academy shutdown, her enrollment had escaped my mind. However, I did submit all the paperwork. Would you believe that?”
“Knowing you, no I wouldn’t.” Curious, Air Groove opened her laptop, typing in a quick series of keystrokes to pull up the student database. “Huh, her paperwork is here…but besides processing her application, I don’t see any entrance interview, appointment for uniform fitting, registration for rooming, nor…academy tour.”
There was a pregnant pause as the two vice presidents turned their sharp gazes upon the president. Rudolf winced under their glares. “Well, in addition, I didn’t want to make a commotion over it and wanted her to join without a huge spectacle. You know, just like her sister…”
“Oguri Cap at least had all of her paperwork processed and had her dorm assignment, academy tour, and even Ginjiro Musaka lined up for her trainer.” Air Groove retaliated.
“And didn’t you say you told her to come today?” Brian mused, slowly getting up from her slouched position on the couch. “So wouldn’t that mean that she’s probably at the gates, waiting for someone to pick her up?”
The three shared horrified expressions. Rudolf spun her chair towards the large window overlooking the academy, her eyes desperately searching for any sign of grey hair blow. Air Groove pulled out her phone, dialing Tazuna’s number. Brian jumped out of the couch and made a break for the doors.
Only to be interrupted when the stately double doors slammed open, revealing a familiar brown haired Uma followed by a chestnut haired one. The brown haired Uma was carrying a disheveled girl with ashen grey hair over her shoulder.
“Yo Rudolf, you gotta see this! Oguri freakin’ Cap’s got a little sister and she’s joining Tracen today!! Is this for real!?!”
“Umm…are you okay there?” The younger Uma gave the Uma-napped victim a sympathetic look.
The girl gave a weak thumbs up. “Yep. Onee-chan hugs harder.”
From behind her desk, Rudolf smiled weakly. “Sirius, yes I can see that. I was the one who recruited her after all.”
She turned to the grey haired Uma or rather…the rear of her. “Welcome to Tracen Academy Oguri Roman. I trust that you were able to find us without issue?”
Roman’s ears twitched up. “Umm…Miss Coastal Storm, is that President Symboli Rudolf?”
The girl nodded, “Yep. And please, call me Stormy.”
“I see. Thank you Miss Stormy.” Roman’s tail swished excitedly. “President Rudolf, it’s an honor to meet you! If I was on my feet, I would ask to shake your hand.”
“Why can’t you? She’s right there.” Sirius shrugged awkwardly, eliciting a groan out of her passenger as shoulder struck stomach.
“Senpai, she’s on your shoulder.”
“…oh…”
A moment later, a tattered and slightly disheveled Oguri Roman was standing before the student council.
Air Groove winced at her appearance. “Apologies for asking, but that uniform, is that?”
Roman’s eyes sparkled brightly, “Yes, I’m glad you noticed!! This is Onee-chan’s old uniform!! She gave it to me after I was invited to Tracen Academy!!” Her worn and tattered shoes bounced up and down as she beamed with excitement. “Onee-chan said she was super happy that I am following in her footsteps!! I mean, I got scouted by President Rudolf just like she was!! And I’m going to make my Onee-chan proud!!” She paused, reaching into her bag. “Ooh, that reminds me!!”
Before anyone could interrupt, Roman pulled out a large manilla envelope. Then she inhaled sharply, an almost dark aura forming around her.
Air Groove, Brian, and Stormy didn’t seem perturbed by it, but Rudolf and Sirius froze on the spot, their eyes widening in recognition. The wispy grey and black smoke enveloped the young Uma until she opened her pink eyes and exhaled calmly. With heavy and powerful steps, Oguri Roman marched up to Rudolf’s desk. Before the president could inquire, she slammed the envelope on the desk, leaning in until she was mere inches from her face.
“I will not underestimate the Nationals!!”
Rudolf blanked out for a moment. “P-Pardon?”
The dark and menacing aura faded, leaving a cheery young girl in its wake. A cheery young girl who was giggling and jumping up and down. “I did! I really did it! Onee-chan, I did it just like you did!”
“Huh?” Rudolf paused to look down at the envelope. Written neatly in kanji were the words “Classics Registration Form”. “You, you are registering for the Classics?”
“Yes, yes, yes!!” Still leaping for joy, Roman nodded her head, bouncing up and down with glee. “Onee-chan told me that in order to compete in the Classics, you need to show how strong you are to President Rudolf! Just like she did! And I learned from my Onee-chan! I will not underestimate the nationals!”
There was a pause as the present company turned their gaze to said President. Then Brian snorted. All hell broke loose as Sirius fell back laughing, Air Groove groaned as her hand met her face in holy matrimony, and Brian struggled to maintain a straight face, the corners of her lips losing their battle to stay straight.
“That’s hilarious! I never knew you had that side to you!”
The target of the joke frowned. “I’ve always been quite serious about racing. Perhaps you could gain to be a bit more Sirius yourself.”
“Oh don’t try to pull that on me! This is too funny for me to care about your lame puns right now!”
Stormy looked between her cackling senpai and her confused Kohai. “Umm…I feel like I’m missing something here.”
Roman nodded, “I thought I was being quite serious about this.”
Only to be met by another wheeze. “And now she’s making puns too! See Rudolf, her jokes are funnier than yours!”
Even Brian was snickering, albeit less loudly. Air Groove groaned. “I’m very sorry about all of this. This is not how the Tracen Student Council should be treating its incoming students.”
Roman shook her head. “N-no, it’s fine. Honestly, they kinda remind me of Onee-chan and her friends back at Kasamatsu. Onee-chan was Onee-chan. Tama-nee was Tama-nee. March, Norn, Mini, and Rudy were like my assistant big sisters. They act just like this too.”
“I am glad that Oguri Cap and Tamamo Cross are doing quite well then.” Air Groove nodded and a small smile flashed across her face. “I did not know them very well since they retired when I started my own career here, but I do meet with retired racers on occasion during my work as vice president.”
She sighed, reaching for her laptop, trying to tone out the maddening cackles of Sirius and Brian and the protests from Rudolf. “Let’s just focus on helping you get settled. Unfortunately, due to some unforeseen circumstances, we were not able to set you up with your uniform fitting appointment nor an entrance interview. Seeing as you are already here, we will waive your entrance interview and instead focus on getting you settled in.”
“Oh, that’s fine. I have my Onee-chan’s uniform!” Roman declared proudly, “I can just wear that.”
Stormy gave the uniform a glance through. “Isn’t it kinda falling apart? I doubt it offers much warmth, especially after that typhoon.”
The ashen haired uma clung to her uniform. “But this is Onee-chan’s uniform. She gave it to me when I was little.”
Stormy nodded in understanding. “I kinda get that. I have a stuffed whale that I’ve had since I was a kid…wait, what do you mean you didn’t get a fitting?”
Air Groove rolled her eyes. “Apparently, in order to keep your transfer here away from the media, a certain President decided to not make any appointments for you, including your uniform fitting, your classroom assignment, and…your dorm assignment.”
“Ouch…” Stormy gave Roman a side hug. “That sucks a lot. Wish I could help you…”
Air Groove gave the offer some thought. “Actually, if you wouldn’t mind giving Miss Roman a tour of the academy as well as taking her to the cafeteria, I think that would be greatly appreciated.”
“Sure I can do that. I mean, if that is alright with you, Roman.”
The ashen gray girl gave her a smile. “I’d be honored if you did.”
“Right then, this way!” Together, the two left the student council chambers, the sounds of laughter and snickering still echoing through the hallways.
“And those are the dormitories over there. We’re split between the Miho and Ritto dorms.”
“I see. Onee-chan told me she stayed in the Ritto dorm when she lived here. Same with Tama-nee.” Roman snapped a photo of the two dorms on her phone. “Which dorm do you stay in Senpai?”
“Senpai…me?” Stormy paused. “Wait, really?”
The grey haired Uma nodded, “You transferred here before I did, so that makes you my senpai, right?”
The American considered the idea of having the peppy and cheery Uma bowing before her and calling her senpai. And then she realized that said senpai was a good 10cm taller than her, with much more…ample assets. “I’m not sure I’d really make a great senpai. I haven’t really done much persay, I guess.”
Roman frowned, “Didn’t you just tell me you did fairly well in the Hanshin Junior Fillies and won the Hopeful stakes? Those are G1 races. That’s very impressive, better than I’ve ever done. Thus you are my Senpai, Stomy-senpai!”
“Ehh? Now that you mention it. I guess that is pretty impressive.”
“Not to mention Onee-chan lost her first two G1 races as well. She didn’t get her first G1 victory until the Arima Kinen.”
“And we’re back to your Onee-chan.”
“Onee-chan is Onee-chan. Tama-nee is Tama-nee. What else can I say?” Roman shrugged. “So then Stormy Senpai, where do we go next?”
“Hmm…I guess I could take you to the track. I think some of our seniors are in the middle of practice, so we need to be careful not to disturb them.”
“I see.” Roman pulled out her notebook and opened it up. “Meeting with President Rudolf, check. See the dorms, check. Now to see the track!”
Stormy gave the younger Uma a chuckle, “You really have this all planned out, don’t you?”
“Of course I do. I want to follow in Onee-chan’s footsteps, but go even further! I want to race in the Classics and win three G1 victories!”
“Three G1s?!” Stormy’s jaw dropped. “That’s a lot of G1s. My mom only managed two!”
“Onee-chan managed four. Tama-nee had three. Therefore I want to be in between them.” She paused. “Can you win three and half G1s?”
“Ummm…I don’t think so. But even so, that’s really ambitious.”
“Oh…I guess so. I never really thought about it.” Roman paused, “Is it okay to have big ambitions? Onee-chan and Tama-nee told me that it’s okay to have big dreams.”
“Well…all I wanted to do was run in the Oka Sho. That’s why I transferred here instead of racing in Lexington.”
“Lexington?”
“The main USRA academy in the States.”
“States?” Roman frowned. “Oh that’s in America?”
“Yep. I’m from America.” Stormy admitted. “I guess I kinda forgot to mention that.”
“Ohh…I never really followed racing that much outside of Onee-chan and Tama-nee’s careers.”
“Actually…” The American paused, “Why do you call Tamamo Cross Tama-nee? She isn’t your sister, right?”
“She’s my step sister.” Roman explained nonchalantly as though she hadn’t just dropped a massive lore bomb.
“Step sister?”
“Some time back, just after I was born, my mom and Tama-nee’s mom kinda had a reunion and they did something Norn and Mini call an Umapyoi and now they’re married. I don’t really get it, but now I’ve got two mamas and two Onee-chans. But to make it easier, Tama-nee tells me to call her Tama-nee.”
“...”
Roman noticed that her senpai was no longer following her. She turned around. “Senpai, are you okay?”
“What’s an Umapyoi?” Stormy scratched her brow in confusion.
“I don’t know. I thought it was a song.” Roman shrugged.
“That’s what I thought too.”
“I tried asking Onee-chan and Tama-nee about it, but Onee-chan refuses to answer and Tama-nee says I’ll understand when I’m older. Mini says that Onee-chan and Folkqueen-san should also Umapyoi but March says that none of her business and Norn just starts crying.”
“Hmm…” The American shrugged, filing the question for later, “I guess I’ll have to ask senpai later.”
As they walked towards the track, the two passed a number of senior racers and retired Uma watching over the seniors. Unbeknownst to them, many of the retired Uma froze at the sight of the two younger racers walking towards the track.
“Isn’t that…?!?!”
“That’s…Oguri?”
“Oguri returned?”
“I’m not ready for this!!”
“She’s going to eat us alive!”
Blissfully ignorant of the proceedings around her, Roman’s eyes widened at the sight of the track. “W-wow!! That’s the biggest track I’ve ever seen! It’s like, twice as big as Kasamatsu. And it’s all turf?”
“You’ve got a point there.” Stormy agreed. “I grew up training on the beaches of Oregon, so I was kinda blown away by how much turf they have here.”
“You trained on sand too?” Roman raised her brow.
“Yeah…wait…too?”
“Kasamutsu and Nagoya both are dirt tracks made of river sand.” The Kasamatsu native explained, “Chukyo is turf, but that’s pretty rare in the regionals.”
“So we’re basically beach buddies then.”
“Beach buddies?” Roman frowned, “That’s English right?”
The freckled Uma paused, “Yeah. What I meant was that we’re cut from a similar cloth, trained the same way. That’s what I meant.”
“The States…oh you mean America!” The grey haired Uma perked up. “Onee-chan lost to an American Uma in the Japan Cup. She said it was because she didn’t know English.”
“How does not knowing English make you lose a race?” Stormy inquired.
Roman shrugged. “That’s what Onee-chan said! Anyways, she made sure I knew how to speak English!!”
She paused a second, choosing her words. “I’m Oguri Roman, it’s loads to meet yah, ay. My sister is Oguri Cap, who is quite the dag, but she loves meh very much, ay?”
Stormy paused, her own brain trying to comprehend the words spoken. “Loads to meet yah? The dag? Where did you learn to speak like that?”
“M-mah big sistah’s girlfriend taught me yah? She has very good English, ay.”
Stormy decided that her linguist side could use a break. “Gotcha. Well, good luck then?”
“Ohh!! Thank you very much Senpai!!”
The two headed down to the railing as other racers noticed their presence. Noticing a pair of trainers below, Roman’s eyes widened. “Ahh, Kitahara-Oji! Bel-nee! Hey!! Bel-nee!!”
Stormy raised her brow in confusion. “Wait, you know them?”
The two looked up at the rapidly approaching ashen gray Uma. “R-Roman?!?”
Before Belno could react, a 75 kilo blob of Uma crashed into her, knocking her off her feet. “Bel-nee!! I finally made it! I made it to Tracen!”
Jo winced as he looked between the now fallen assistant trainer and a perplexed Stormy.
Stormy sighed, “I’m…going to call Pinch.”
Jo shrugged as he turned back to transfer student. “Roman, when did you get here?”
Roman took a moment to stop hugging the older Uma to death. “I just transferred here today! Onee-chan, Tama-nee, and all the Kasamatsu gang are super proud of me!! I get to be just like Onee-chan!”
“Ahh…I see…” the older trainer glanced at his clipboard. “But…I haven’t heard anything about this. Have you Belno?”
Collapsed on the ground, Belno shook her head. “Nope. Oguri didn’t say anything last time we chatted.”
“Oh, that’s because we just thought you knew already. After all, it was President Rudolf who invited me personally.”
“President Rudolf invited you personally from Kasamatsu?” Jo repeated in disbelief. “I thought you were doing pretty well with Shibaseki.”
“I was!! We won the Junior Grand Prix! And that’s when I got the letter of invitation to come to Tracen!”
“Funny…Oguri never brought that up…”
“So then, can you be my trainer then Kitahara-Oji?”
There was a pregnant pause as Jo gave Belno a worried look. He nervously scratched his cap as he looked downwards. “Actually…I can’t.”
The ashen haired Uma’s jaw dropped in disbelief. “Ehhhhh!?!?”