Work Text:
Yet another box is delivered by Tazuna to Fumino Nase. A regular occurrence for Super Creek’s trainer, as well as many other trainers throughout Tracen Academy. Fan letters. Regardless of years active, races won, winning concerts performed in, or interviews given, the Umas at Tracen are known to grow large, dedicated fanbases throughout their careers and sometimes beyond. Every Monday morning, Tazuna dedicates time to ensure all trainers receive the fanmail meant for their trainees from the past week.
Creek enters her trainer’s office after her morning classes finish. Usually, she’ll stop by at least for a few minutes before lunch to quickly go over any deviations to the week’s schedule and of course, to ensure Nase is settling down to eat soon herself!
She enters her trainers office with a small knock, not even waiting for a response from the other side before letting herself in with a smile on her face.
“Hi Nase! How has your day been going so far? Not working too hard, I hope!”
She continues her trek until she reaches the all-familiar couch her trainer has pushed up against the right-side wall.
Nase rises from the filing cabinet below her desk, pulling out a granola bar from the snack stash Super Creek insists on keeping stocked before returning Creek’s greeting.
“Morning— or well— afternoon Creek. That box on the table is for you.”
Creek leans over and reaches to grab the box sitting on the small table in front of the couch. Her weekly fanmail! With her career beginning to wind down, the sheer amount has started to decrease slightly, but today it seems a bit more bulkier than recent weeks. Must have been the recent Tracen Grand Couples Relay she thinks to herself.
Creek grabs a handful of letters and begins her sorting routine. Putting aside letters from names where she recognizes the return address— her most dedicated fans, to letters with addresses leading to reporters, to appearance requests, to new names she doesn’t recognize and cannot categorize. One letter, with a return address showing to be from a Junior High school however, catches her eye.
It’s no secret that Super Creek has a soft spot for children of all ages. Previously helping with her family’s daycare and simply the way she’s carried herself throughout her racing fame, the stories of her care and consideration towards the younger generation are simply a part of the stayer’s charm.
She carefully tears open the letter, finding lined paper ripped straight from the writer’s notebook. She unfolds it and begins to silently read the handwritten note, a large grin beginning to form on her face as her eyes scan down the pages.
A crinkle of a wrapper interrupts Creek’s reading, swiveling her head towards the source of the sound, Nase throwing away the remains of her sad excuse of a quick lunch.
Nase continues to break the silence. “Well that’s a beaming smile I haven’t seen in a minute due to a letter. Something special there?”
She walks over from behind her desk and joins Creek on the couch, reading over the uma’s shoulder.
“Dear Miss Super Creek,
I’m a student at the Shiroi City Junior High School. The school’s writing club’s final activity this year is to write to someone that has greatly inspired us this year. I choose you!
I had a lot of fun watching your races! I watched your win at the “Tracen Grand Couples Relay” with my best friend. It was my first ever race I went to and didn’t just watch on TV. It was so fun. I was so happy that I was able to convince my mother and father to let me attend Tracen Academy’s Fan Fest this year!
When the couple’s relay was announced, I definitely wanted to see that. You probably know, but a lot of the really popular couples from Tracen are talked about a lot online. Rumors about who you are (or maybe not) dating became very popular on forms. When you walked out with Narita Taishin, some people online were not very nice. There were some men that made extremely gross comments about you dating another woman! One post even said you were a “waste of a good woman!”
It made me so angry! You're so cool and all they care about is your girlfriend?! I have a secret to tell you. Earlier this year, I realized that I also like girls. I’ve been a bit scared to talk about it. My parents are very kind, and they won’t love me any less, but I am worried about sharing with my friends or when I get older and start dating.
You and Narita Taishin being girlfriends makes me so happy! I’m a human girl, so I know I’ll never reach the speeds you do. But knowing that my idol likes girls just like me, I feel like I can relate to you more!
Even with the mean comments, many people also made posts talking about how happy they are that you have a girlfriend and how cute you two were at the race! There were a lot more of those than the mean comments. Knowing that so many people are treating you and Narita Taishin dating as a good, happy thing to celebrate has made me feel a lot better about myself too.
Thank you for being the absolute best racer ever! I hope I find a girlfriend one day that is just as amazing as you are. I also hope that you and Narita Taishin stay happy forever.
Sincerely,
Nanako Fujita”
Creek watches Nase with a soft smile as she watches her trainer read over the letter. Her tail thumps excitedly against the couch cushions as she thinks about this young girl. At this point in her career, Creek has gotten used to kids and adults alike looking up to her. However, this one rings differently for her. All of her accolades, trophies, and successes, begin to pale in comparison to knowing just being herself and being in love has brought such joy and comfort towards someone.
“Great job, Creek. You did good with that one. Now, about Thursday’s training schedule…” Nase, ever the hard worker, quickly changes the topic to the rest of the week.
Creek and her trainer quickly finish up their meeting. Before finishing organizing the rest of the fanmail, she sneaks that one specific letter into her school bag before giving her farewells. As Creek leaves her trainer’s office, she makes it her mission to find her girlfriend as soon as possible.
Knowing her girlfriend well enough at this point and being used to her schedule, Creek knows she is either on her way to, or already hanging out on the rooftop of the main campus building. Making her way across campus and heading towards the roof access stairwell, she ascends up the flight of steps. Upon reaching the top and opening the heavy door, the noise alerts the shorter uma sitting up against one of the air conditioning units.
Flicking her ears towards the source of the sound, Narita Taishin finds her girlfriend shutting the access door behind her and bounding over to her as if she was floating on air. It was quite normal for Creek to perk up when she saw her girlfriend, even on the bad days, but today she seemed to have an extra pep in her step. She couldn’t help but smile at the sight as she put her phone down.
“Hi dear! Did you have a good day today? I missed you!” Creek says with a smile as she sits down next to her girlfriend, setting her own bag down next to her.
“Pfft, it’s been what— 3 hours? So clingy…how did you survive without me?” Taishin sarcastically states with a humorous tone in her voice as she leans over to kiss her girlfriend on the cheek and lays her head against Creek’s shoulder.
Creek quickly folds her legs into a criss-cross position and pulls her smaller girlfriend into her lap, wrapping her arms around Taishin and quickly peppering her with kisses.
“I have something to show you!”
She loosens her grip on Taishin and leans over slightly, rummaging in her bag before pulling out an envelope she had sandwiched between some books and folders, carefully placed so as to not damage the contents inside.
Pulling out the paper from the envelope and placing it on Taishin’s lap, she begins gently unfolding the letter inside, Creek wraps her one arm around her girlfriend again before holding up the letter to Taishin.
“Look what I got in the mail today!” Creek practically beams as Taishin holds the other side of the paper to steady it in her partner’s excited hands, practically vibrating with her joyous energy.
Taishin scans over the letter, quickly noticing from the handwriting it came from a kid. Of course Creek was excited. It was not out of the ordinary for Creek to keep some of her favorite letters, especially from children, kept neatly in a folder on her desk in their shared dorm. However, this is the first time she has seen Creek this excited over fanmail.
As Taishin reads the content of the letter, a small smile forms on her face. She can’t help it. Mostly from seeing her lover be so happy over something so simple, but the words on the paper itself contribute to it as well.
“Isn’t this just the absolute sweetest thing ever!?” Creek gushes as she notices Taishin reach the end of the letter.
“Yeah, even I have to admit this is pretty cute. Putting it in your folder?” Taishin casually states as she folds the letter back up and takes the envelope from Creek’s lap, stuffing it back in its assumed temporary storage.
Creek gasps and stares at Taishin, an almost offended look in her eyes. Before Taishin can even say anything, Creek hurriedly speaks.
“This can’t just sit in my folder! Do you not realize how happy we made this sweet girl?! This deserves its own special place, not merely placed with the rest of my fanmail. I’m going to run off-campus later and get a frame for this!”
Taishin is, admittedly, slightly caught off-guard by her partner’s conviction. It’s not completely out of character for Creek to become protective, almost to an aggressive stance, when someone she cares about is caught up in something. Taishin also definitely has her favorite pieces of fan mail from her career…but a frame?
Creek seems to notice her girlfriend’s surprise, and takes a deep breath before continuing.
“This is just…so special, y'know? WE helped this girl, just by existing and being with each other. We’ve never even met her. She just happened to be a fan of mine who feels courage, confidence, and pride in herself because of us. You and I didn’t have to do anything extra but just be ourselves. Be in love with each other and unapologetically happy. This is a testament to us.”
Taishin can’t help but soften at her girlfriend’s words. She begins to play with the thin ring on her finger, signifying their promise to each other. Cheesy as it may sound at first, Creek is right, and she knows it.
“Well, when you put it that way, I can’t really argue with you. It’s definitely a confidence-boost for sure.”
Creek begins to beam with pure joy as Taishin finishes her short statement. Immediately, she unfolds her legs from under her girlfriend, throwing the smaller uma off balance before grabbing her hand and pulling her up onto her feet, dragging her towards the door with a giggle.
“C’mon, let’s go get that frame then! We can pick up a quick lunch on the way back too!”
“Wait— we’re going now?!”