Chapter Text
The year was 2007. The new year rolled around a few weeks ago and I was laying out on my bed as I was recovering from jet lag as I had returned from an overseas trip this morning.
Knock knock knock
A sharply pointed knock echoed through my apartment. The source of which was definitely from the front door.
“Coming over!” I feebly shouted as I dragged myself out of my bed. It was still a pain to move around, but regardless I put on the first pair of pants I could find to make myself look acceptable and dragged myself to my front door.
As I opened the door, I had to hide my face with my arm as my vision adjusted to the sudden increase of light. When my eyesight finally settled…I saw an androgynous girl in front me that was not that much taller than my own tiny stature. A brown haired umamusume stood in front of me. Her long, brown hair tied in a ponytail that I presume went out of the opening in the back of the black cap she was wearing. Her right ear was fashioned with a blue bow that had a skull at its center. A pair of square glasses with a black rim were attached to her face. She wore a black jacket alongside a pair of navy blue jeans and black and blue sneakers.
She may have been in a disguise, but I could recognize who this uma was. The undefeated triple crown racer and Reaper of the Racetrack, Sharp Strike—or what she likes to refer to herself as when dressed like this, Su—as well as my own sister.
What I couldn’t recognize was…
“Sis…” I pointed to what Su was carrying with one arm. “Whatcha got there?"
“Groceries.”
“Wha—that’s not what…” okay on second notice, I did find that Su was carrying a plastic bag in her right hand that was fitted inside of a white glove—as was her other hand.
“Okay well you are, but that’s not what I’m asking,” I said as I pointed to what Su was carrying in her left arm. “What is that?!”
Carried by Su’s left arm was an uma child with brown hair—a much lighter shade than Su’s—with a white colored spot in the middle in the shape of a diamond that couldn’t be any older than 10 years was clinging herself to Su’s jacket, her head buried in the space between her side and her arm, dressed in a small hospital gown and wearing a pair of white sneakers.
“This?” Su took a glance at the kid. Her voice filled with gravel spoke matter of factly. “I found her in an alleyway. She thinks I’m her mother, so now she’s clinged onto me.”
“I—what???” I was flabbergasted. “Have you contacted the police yet???”
“That was the first thing I did,” Su explained. “However the girl would start crying whenever I’m not around, so I’ve been tasked with the responsibility of taking care of her.”
“Jeez, that’s rough.” I said as I looked at the girl who was shaking in Su’s arm, her tiny hands held onto Su’s jacket like a vice. “But why did you bring groceries with you?”
“They are ingredients to meal prep for us three.”
“Oh I se—wait…us three?” I interrupted myself when I noticed that Su said something out of place.
“Yes,” Su nodded solemnly before continuing. “I require your assistance in raising this kid. I am afraid that I cannot handle such a task on my own.”
“Ha—HAAAAAAH???” My jaw dropped. “Me??? You want me to raise a kid???
“Who else?”
“Oh I don’t know…maybe Trainer and her wife Super Creek who works with children for a living,” I spoke pointedly. “I’m sure they would be delighted to help you.”
“I would be cast aside as a third wheel, and that is not what this kid wants,” Su argued.
“So your second option was me?!? Do you know how long I spend out of my house?!”
“I recall you telling me that you were quite the casanova in a previous life. I figured that you would know a lot about raising children.”
“That was when I was a horse! Not an uma!” I hissed, my ears pressing themselves flat against my head. “I know how to raise horse children! not uma children!”
“Is there a difference?”
“YES! THERE’S A MASSIVE FUCKING DIFFERENCE!” I shouted, I was feeling painfully steamed. “Horses are quadrupeds! We are bipeds! Horses can’t even communicate with humans like we can! It’s way closer to raising a human child!”
“Then this will be a learning opportunity for you,” Su said, completely unfazed by my rage.
“I didn’t want kids at all!!!” I had half a mind to slap this door in her face and not look back. “Also, don't you have our family to go back to?! You just left Tracen, did you not?!”
“Our parents trust me to be independent, especially with my earnings,” Su explained. “If you’re worried about rent, then I can share half of it with you as I find a job of my own.”
“That was not what I was worried about—“
“Sniffle sniffle…mama…” I was interrupted by the sound of crying. I looked to the source and found that the kid was holding onto Su even harder than before with her ears flattened to her head. I could see tears running down her face as she was very loudly sobbing.
“Great, now you made the kid cry!” Su berated me as she shouted.
“And that’s my fault?!?” I shouted back. “You’re the one who wants to rope me into raising a child!”
“Just let us inside,” Su huffed. “We’re causing enough of a scene already between the shouting and the kid crying. Also it’s cold.”
“I…horugh,” I sighed as I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose.
“Fine. I have too much of a headache to argue anymore.” I said as I reluctantly let the two of them into my apartment. “You’re lucky that you caught me as I came back from a trip.”
“Thank you. It is one silver lining in all of this,” Su said as she put down the groceries and soothed the kid to calm down, rocking her in her arms.
“Please work…” I heard her mutter as she was rocking back and forth while petting her on the head, which—admittedly—the gap moe here was pretty funny. This was magnified by the fact that due to Su’s tiny size for her age, the kid looked more like a younger sister that was being babied as opposed to being coddled by a mother.
“Sis, I’m going to take a nap in my bedroom. The jet lag from this morning is still killing me,” I told her as I went towards my room.
“Just a moment,” Su whipped her head around to me as she put the kid down on my couch. “I’ll need you to look after her while I go clothes shopping for her.”
“Oooooooh no you don’t,” I rushed with sudden vitality to grab Su’s wrist before she got the chance to leave. “You are staying right the fuck here.”
“I thought you were suffering from jet lag?” Su stared indignantly at me with her azure eyes as she raised an eyebrow. “Do you intend to keep our child in a hospital gown?”
“First of all, she’s your child,” I aggressively corrected Su. “Secondly, I can tank the headache for a little bit if I can avoid the kid’s whining.”
I also made sure to motion over to the kid who was gripping onto Su’s back, the way the kid’s amber eyes looked reminded me of a needy puppy.
“Very well,” Su chuckled. “I’ll get ourselves settled while you do so. Do you know where you’re going?”
“I’ll figure it out as I go,” I said as I let go and moved to my room to change into something presentable in public and a coat. All I needed to do was change into a pair of sweatpants, socks, shoes, and a jacket, zip up, and then grab my fanny pack and phone. An advantage of being flatter chested and the cold weather is that I don’t need to change into a bra or change my shirt if I put on a jacket.
“I pray for you a swift return,” is all I heard from Su before I made my way out the door.
-!-
As I whipped out my phone for directions for the nearest clothing store for uma kids, I saw that I had a Nile notification from Super Creek
Super Creek: How has your day been? I hope that you had a good return flight!
There were a number of choice words that I could use to describe my day, however, having to explain the bombshell that came to my door today would only magnify the headache. It’s going to be future me’s problem to handle that. For now, I just sent her a simple message,
Yeah, my return flight was fine. I got back to my place this morning. Still kind of feel like shit from the jet lag. I’ll have to take a nap later.
Super Creek: Good to hear! ♡
Super Creek: I hope you can sleep soon.
Unfortunately I still have an errand to do first
Won’t take long at least
Super Creek: No rest for the weary, huh?
Super Creek then sent a sticker of a boy with navy blue hair in a red uniform with the text, “haha.”
Super Creek: I wish you luck with that.
Thanks Creek
I then swiped out of Nile to search for stores with options for uma kids. I found a place (why is a clothing store called Soup?) that was nearby, so I jogged my way over there. As soon as I went inside, I made my way to the counter.
“Excuse me, ma’am,” I called over to the cashier. “Do you know where your section for umamusume kids is?”
“Oh hello Miss. Yes, I can show you where but,” the lady bent her head down to talk to me before looking around. “Are your parents nearby? Are you by yourself?”
“Ma’am I am 27 years old,” I sighed in exasperation as I grabbed my ID out of my fanny pack.
The cashier looked a bit stunned, only letting out a “oh” when she looked at my ID. I would be more annoyed if this wasn’t a common occurrence. If it wasn’t for the fact that umas age extremely slowly after reaching high school age, I definitely would still be getting ID checked by people for years after becoming an adult.
“My apologies,” she said as she handed my ID back.
“It’s no problem. I get this a lot,” I chuckled as I returned my ID to my fanny pack.
“Let me lead the way for you,” the cashier gestured as she left her counter side. “What size are you looking for?”
Ah crap, I kind of forgot to check for that.
“Oh sorry, I don’t know the exact size but,” I placed my hand parallel to the middle of my face. “I believe she’s about this tall…?”
“I see,” the cashier nodded. “And what do you need in particular?”
“Umm…I suppose a full wardrobe change?” I sheepishly smiled as I scratched the back of my head.
“I…see,” the cashier appeared stunned before clearing her throat. “Very well, I can show you the way.”
The cashier took me further into the store where a collection of uma isles were laid out.
“I believe sizes 128 and 134 would be best,” the cashier explained. “It’s fine even if it’s a few centimeters too big, they’ll grow into it.”
“I see, yeah that makes sense. Thank you.” I nodded as I took a look through their collection, grabbing a bunch of things that matched the cashier’s description.
“If you don’t mind me asking, who are you buying this for?” The cashier asked.
“Oh it’s uh…it’s for my niece,” I said. I suppose that would be the case if Su really was adopting her.
“I see, I see,” the cashier nodded. “And what grade is she in?”
Oh. That is a great question.
I have no idea how old she is.
“Not sure really,” I said frankly as I grabbed a few skirts. “She looks to be in elementary school.”
“Hmm, I see,” was all the cashier said. Thankfully she didn’t push any further, but I did run into another problem as I went over to the socks section.
I do not know the kid’s shoe size.
“Is something the matter?” The cashier noticed that I had stopped in place.
“It’s fine, I think I can handle myself now,” I told her.
“Okay, let me know if you need anything else,” the cashier said as she returned to her counter.
I’m going to have to call sis about this, I thought to myself as I flipped out my phone and went to Su’s number. The phone dialed for a few seconds as I placed my phone so that its top was near my ear.
“What’s the issue?” I heard Su say on the phone.
“Sis, do those shoes on the kid mention her shoe size?” I asked.
“Hmm, let me see.”
There was silence for a few moments.
“It says here a size 20,” Su eventually said.
“Got it! Thank you,” I said before hanging up.
I wonder who gave her those shoes, I thought to myself. They didn’t match the hospital gown she was wearing.
-!-
When I walked up the stairs, I made my way up the steps with a number of bags.
Sis better pay me back for all this.
I somehow managed to open the door with my key without having to put any of the bags down and made my way into the apartment.
“I…have arrived again!” The first thing I heard as I entered was the sound of a man on the tv shouting while I saw Su and the kid huddled together on the couch in front of the TV. The kid in particular was watching in awe.
“I’m home,” I said as I placed the bags on the counter. “I got the kid a bunch of clothes to try on. We can return whatever is too small, but I am making you pay me back for this, Sis.”
“Welcome back,” Su said without turning around. “And worry not, I’ll pay you back later.”
“Let me warn you…I always start at climax!”
“Whatcha watching?” I glanced over at the TV. It looks like they’re watching a drama.
“I was looking up kid shows, and apparently this Carrot Man show started airing,” Su explained before chuckling. “The kid seems to be having fun at least.”
“Good for her…I’m going to take a nap now,” I said as I dragged myself to my room, my headache was not feeling any better.
“That reminds me,” this time Su turned her head to me. “Be sure to clean your room.”
“Why?”
“Well you only have the one room, no? I don’t want our kid to be sleeping in a dirty room.” Su explained.
“Haaah?! Why is she sleeping with me?!”
“Do you want our kid to be sleeping on the couch?”
“That’s…….a good point,” I reluctantly acquiesced. As much as I didn’t want this child in my life, there was no way I was letting a kid sleep on a couch.
“Honestly there’s probably enough room for all of us to sleep in my bed,” I admitted as I sighed. A rare benefit to both my sister and I being so small for the average adult is that beds are far bigger for us.
“That is good to hear,” Su turned back to the TV. “I myself was planning to sleep on the couch.”
“I think if that happened then the kid would also sleep on the couch,” I chuckled.
“Most likely,” Su chuckled back.
“Now let me get my last sleep alone for a while,” I dryly joked before opening the door.
“Before you do sleep, do you want me to wake you up for lunch? I will be the one cooking.” Su asked.
“I…” I was honestly stunned by the sudden generosity considering everything she’s forced onto me throughout this morning.
“……yeah, yeah that would be good,” I said quietly as I retreated into my room.