On a Pale Horse (Umamusume/Youjo Senki)

[Stranger1950]

I can't see Shirogane being anything but suspicious of the mad scientist type

Click to shrink...

It would be funny if Shirogane ended up being friends with Daiwa Scarlet and kept getting annoyed whenever she is all friendly with Tachyon. Doesn't help that Tachyon for whatever weird reason (in her mind) is always extra polite whenever she is with Daiwa, unlike her usual attitude (trying to push weird concoctions to her face.

Anyway, just curious here, will JP only horse appear in this fic. While the cast is already pretty big, JP also got a lot of interesting Umas. Even discounting the popular ones like Still in Love and Stay Gold + the kids, we also got Umas like Cesario (her work and relax mode is pretty jarring and might even make Shirogane shocked for a bit), Tanino Gimlet (Vodka chuuni ass senpai/dad), and Ashton Macchan (would take a while before Shirogane realize something wrong with her).

 

[D'znn-Xy'lll MetaChthonia]

I can't see Shirogane being anything but suspicious of the mad scientist type

Click to shrink...

Yeah shoulda put down "for some reason" before that given she probs would be getting flashbacks to whatshisface that Being X used to try and force Tanya to either willingly be assassinated by it or start quoting the Bible to not-explode. Just her looks alone would set her off, calling whoever ends up as her Trainer "guinea pig" would ring as a five alarm fire in her head.

Spoiler: Imgae

Although another OoC funny thought of her confusing people by panicking if she's around her for too long *snort* "Am I really that scary?" and she tries to make a friendly smile only to make a "you will not be seeing tomorrow and every second will make you pray that comes true" smile.

...now also Imagining every interaction being like that Ultra Dripstinct Goku Meme complete with the terror sting. Even funnier if Tachyon always seemingly shows up wherever she leasts expect by sheer coincidence. Pile of boxes on a cart goes by? Tachyon Jumpscare! Door opens while she's talking to someone? Tachyon is now a bounce pad. Jump out a window to escape Tachyon? She is somehow outside ready to catch her (wasn't a long fall to begin with) because someone for some reason set up a Tachyon standee. Someone she talks to has somewhere to be? Tachyon was obscured by them and is now in front of her. Tachyon is never there for her, it's just the world conspiring to scare her with the local probably-autistic mad scientist (who is genuinely trying to do legitimate Science).

 

[Stranger1950]

Just her looks alone would set her off, calling whoever ends up as her Trainer "guinea pig" would ring as a five alarm fire in her head.

Click to shrink...

To be fair, her trainer basically told her he is willing to be her guinea pig as long as she keeps runnin at Tracen. And unlike the original mad scientist, Tachyon is more than willing to test her experiments on herself. At the end of the day, Tachyon biggest issue is that while she can be quite nice, she has a rather skewed sense of right and wrong.

Also, if you want an Uma who does the whole appearing out of nowhere schtick, thats basically Aston Macchan. Girl will appear in all the unexpected places and I can see Shirogane starting to feel paranoid when she realize this.

 

[D'znn-Xy'lll MetaChthonia]

To be fair, her trainer basically told her he is willing to be her guinea pig as long as she keeps runnin at Tracen. And unlike the original mad scientist, Tachyon is more than willing to test her experiments on herself.

Click to shrink...

Seem to recall seeing a Screenshot of her saying something implying the opposite. Animal trials come before human uma trials.

Spoiler: Image

Also, if you want an Uma who does the whole appearing out of nowhere schtick, thats basically Aston Macchan. Girl will appear in all the unexpected places and I can see Shirogane starting to feel paranoid when she realize this.

Click to shrink...

The Idea was that the universe conspires to torment her with the person who reminds her of someone from her previous life in a way that very much would scare her as if she was a reincarnation of the other guy that followed her (at least it's not Mary Sue Sioux) like Being X is trying to be subtle not that an Uma keeps popping out of every nook and cranny at the seemingly most unexpected time. Accidentally being stalked, not because she is but because her mind is highlighting Tachyon and Tachyon is just going about her day.

Although there's always Neo Universe. Just being the Protagonist let alone a serial reincarnator is asking for a confrontation from her.

 

[Blasterbot]

thinking about how their original thought was she retained more of her original life's memories than the usual Uma they might think they are dealing with a horse reincarnation that had potential but wasn't taken care of. think about it "uncute girls get discarded" she constantly worries about eating too much or being too troublesome. always is putting in max effort to do what she is told and do it well. sad thing is minus being a horse they would be pretty spot on there. I could just imagine her story line having a couple really bad events like either injuring herself by pushing to hard on training or having some big mood down events if she gets too in her head about the war.

 

[WrandmWaffles]

will JP only horse appear in this fic.

Click to shrink...

Fairly likely, thought not necessarily on screen, so to speak. If Shirogane goes to Tracen she theoretically could interact with many Umamusume since they are all there despite their difference in historical activity.

Maybe Tracen is like racehorse Valhalla or something, I dunno.

I could just imagine her story line having a couple really bad events like either injuring herself by pushing to hard on training or having some big mood down events if she gets too in her head about the war.

Click to shrink...

Shirogane would that one character with a highly unethical strategy guide because her training and race performance actually gets better when she's at low mood.

She also doesn't look sad at low mood, and instead looks very angry.

 

[Stranger1950]

Shirogane would that one character with a highly unethical strategy guide because her training and race performance actually gets better when she's at low mood.

She also doesn't look sad at low mood, and instead looks very angry.

Click to shrink...

Sounds like her racing style would be a combo of Seiun Sky (bait master and trickster) and Stay Gold (the irl version quite often plays dirty). With her public persona being more in line with Symboli Kris S (incredibly stoic Uma that the public dislike because her rival is the more likeable Tanino Gimlet).

 

[Manoy]

Welp. Didnt expect to like this.

Being only tangentially aware of umamusume and all.

Watched my dude.

 

[randomnbdy]

Guess !horsetanya would be a front runner then? Hope she pulls kitasan on the support card gacha

 

[Aswerty12]

I have to ask is this a horse names are stage names type of Uma musume setting where Shirogane picks up an actual horse name when she starts racing or is her having a human name just going to be a thing that sticks when she starts attending Tracen?

 

[WrandmWaffles]

And the Bright Hair Flowing?​

---

"Shiro-chan!" Taro-san waved, already at the park where Shirogane usually performed her parentally mandated PT, the draft umamusume's far greater height allowing her to spot her from a greater distance.

"Shiro-chan!" Came a following cry as her two as of yet little sisters called out to her, hopping up and down excitedly, ears pointed vertically at attention. Even though they were younger than Shirogane, Azuki-san and Matcha-san were already taller than her.

Now that she was in middle school, it was beginning to be clear that she would be very short in this life, which would have some difficulties but nothing insurmountable with the early life experience of the Soldier, even if it was likely she'd never reach the more average height she had in that life. Fortunately, it had not been due to any health issues, as her parents had feared (the doctor had said she was actually in remarkably good health), and she was just genetically predisposed to being this short.

Apparently most of the umamusume in her mother's family had been similar height, topping out in the range of 140 to 150 centimeters, so that is likely how tall Shirogane would end up.

Taro-san and her sisters, if Umeki-san was anything to go by, would likely be well over 200 centimeters.

The height variance was certainly quite fascinating, possibly due to selective breeding, which seems to exist to some degree, though noticeably less incestuously as she vaguely remembered of horses.

Despite the size difference, Taro-san and her sisters seemed to defer to her. Probably because she could answer many of their questions about the world. Shirogane wouldn't call them mentally handicapped, exactly, but they had a rather simple outlook on the world.

"Did you bring some?!"

The fact she often brought samples of her cooking for public feedback tests likely played a significant part too.

"Yes." Shirogane unslung the pack she had been carrying, filled with lunchboxes she had packed with her cooking attempts.

"Yaay!"

"Don't get too excited, not all of it is for you."

"Awww…"

"Did'ya get some for me?" Called a cheerful voice, and Shirogane tilted her ear towards the incoming Steady Distance.

"Yes," Shirogane replied, turning to face the older filly. "Wasn't that the entire point of this meeting?"

"Aww, don't spoil the fun, Shiro-chan!" Steady Distance pouted, but unslung her own pack, pulling out a packet of energy gel regardless, her tail swishing excitedly. "Trade ya?"

"As you say." They had planned this handoff in advance, so Shirogane didn't understand why Steady Distance was going through this song and dance.

"Cool!"

Shirogane handed over a lunchbox filled with some of her experimental cooking, while Steady Distance passed back a box filled with energy gel and electrolyte powder.

"Waah…I didn't think I'd miss you guys' pierogis so much," the older girl sighed as she popped open the box, ears wiggling happily. "Guess it reminds me of home, or something."

"Do you not like Kawasaki Academy?" Steady Distance had managed to get into the prefecture's racing academy, which was a good distance away, meaning she only came back to Fujisawa on the weekends when she had more free time. "And it hasn't been too long since you last came back."

"Are they being mean to you?!" Azuki-san gasped, looking affronted.

"We should go beat them up!" Matcha-san declared, shaking her oversized child fist, ears straightening in anticipation.

"No! Wait! Yeah no, it's not like that!" the older umamusume sputtered, caught between eating and correcting the confusion, her tail flailing erratically. "I like it a lot, but it's still taking some used to being away from home."

"So we need to go beat them up so they let you come home more often!"

"No, you don't need to do that! I just have a lot of homework and training, ya know!"

"Shiro-chan," Taro-san leaned over to whisper to her. "I think they need a distraction."

Shirogane stared back up at her tall acquaintance with a nonplussed expression. "Are you sure it isn't you that is hungry?"

"Ehehe, Shiro-chan isn't wrong there." she admitted sheepishly, before snapping around to grab Matcha-san as the younger girl tried swinging at air and overbalancing. "Hey! Calm down! Shiro-chan brought food."

"Oh yeah!"

"Thank you for the food, Shiro-chan!"

With the younger pair distracted, Shirogane, Taro and Steady Distance took a seat at a table to eat their own food.

Shirogane finished first, and followed up by looking over the supplements Steady Distance had brought back from Kawasaki Academy. The gels and electrolytes weren't terribly expensive, but in the quantities required for umamusume, it could add to something rather significant, so it had been more economical to have the running academy student purchase some extra with her student discount in exchange for some food Shirogane prepared using leftover ingredients.

She wasn't exactly sure why Steady was willing to make this rather lopsided trade, but from what Shirogane could gather, the older girl's family was relatively wealthy, even if they weren't one of the prestigious racing families, so this kind of purchase was a rather trivial matter for her.

"Ne, ne, Shiro-chan, are you planning on being a racer?" Taro-san wondered, looking at the gels and electrolyte boxes. "I think you'd be pretty good!"

"Just because I am faster than you doesn't mean I'd make a good racer," Shirogane pointed out. "I was mostly interested in these things because I wanted to see how much of a difference it could make." Working at a restaurant could often mean standing around in a hot environment for long periods of time, not to mention irregular mealtimes, so the energy gel packs and electrolytes could help with avoiding dehydration when working in the kitchen. It would also help with PT.

And if she figured out how to make some herself…

"Aww, don't sell yourself short Shiro-chan–"

"I am short."

"–I think you'd do pretty good," Steady Distance declared around a mouthful of pierogi, ears twitching enthusiastically. "Maybe you'd even win the Kawasaki Kinen, or something!"

"While I appreciate the vote of confidence, I will most likely be taking over Suzukiya when my parents get older. We can't really afford for me to attend a racing academy."

The racing academies were some of the best schools for umamusume, both academically and in regards to training programs, but gaining entry was a competitive endeavor, and most of the roster would inevitably be filled up by children from notable pedigrees due to being selectively bred for improved performance. There was some degree of nepotism, but most of the time they did win out in fair competitions.

Shirogane had not heard of any umamusume with a pair of human parents doing particularly well on the racing circuit, so it seemed likely she would be far outclassed.

"It's not that exp–well it's not Tracen…" Steady caught herself, again reminded that her younger friends were not as well off, with the Suzukis having most of their assets tied down to their restaurant while the Satos' mother, Umeki ,worked at a shipping warehouse and their father worked at an ice cream store. In contrast, her own father was a fairly high up salaryman while her mother was a locally successful retired racer.

"Even so, I can't exactly leave my parents to do all the work," Shirogane added. "My grandparents are not dead yet, but they are getting old enough they can't help as much." At least they didn't need to spend so much time looking after her now that she had demonstrated her ability to look after herself. Still, it would probably be better for their health if they moved towards retirement. It wasn't helped by the fact that her parents couldn't really afford another child since she consumed enough resources for at least two.

"Ya know, if you make it into the big leagues, you'd land a lot of money," Steady pointed out. "Then you won't have to worry about it as much."

"It isn't as simple as that," Shirogane deflected. "First of all, that depends largely on at least showing in a big race. However, the majority of the purse goes to first place, and from those winnings, a chunk is taken by the academy, and more fractions are cut off by taxes, so the take home amount is far less than what may appear."

"Ya don't need to tell me that," Steady sighed, grimacing at the memory of her own admittedly limited experience with race winnings.

"And aside from all that, most racing careers are short, so the theoretical winning would have to last the rest of my life, or I'd just need to find another job afterwards."

"...You aren't wrong, Shiro-chan, but it's ok to dream a little bit."

Dream? "...I have a family that cares for me at their own expense and expects too little in return; I live in a pleasant place where aside from natural disasters, I do not have to fear for my life, and barring severe economic downturn, I will have something to inherit to pass down to any children I might have."

Shirogane smiled. This life felt like a dream, like the retirement she imagined in her past lives.

"What else could I wish for?"

---

"Go, go, go!"

"Onee-chan! Faster!"

"I'd be able to go faster if you ate less, Ma-chan–Ow!"

"Onee-chan is being mean!"

Shirogane almost let out a snort of amusement, but had to keep her breathing steady if she wanted to keep Azuki-san steady on her back as they made their way around the track.

Even while young, the young umamusume was already notably heavier than most human adults, so was a decent training weight, and one that came with built in motivational speaking.

"Go, Shiro-chan, go!"

Unfortunately for the cheerful young girl, motivation could only do so much, and physical difference meant that despite Shirogane having a notably higher top speed than Taro-san, she very much could not reach that speed while carrying a horseload, whereas the much larger umamusume wasn't too much slowed by her sibling (which meant that their average velocity was actually comparable).

"Onee-chan, you need to go faster!"

"We're already winning, you little fatty!"
"Hey! Onee-chan, if you don't go faster they'll catch up!"

"We're almost there, shut up and–oh damn it!"

As Taro-san slowed from shouting back, Shirogane and Azuki slipped past her to cross the hashmark first.

"Shiro and Azuki-chan win by a neck!" Steady Distance declared cheerfully, throwing her hands up.

"Yay! Good job Shiro-chan!"

"I told you she was catching up!"

"Thank you, Azuki-chan, you did a good job as well."

"No, you did not!"

"Did too!"

Shirogane stood up straight as Azuki-san hopped off her back, rolling her neck and stretching her arms to loosen them up after that exertion. The young draft uma was getting bigger at a fast rate, and it would likely not be too long until this would no longer be unfeasible. "If you keep growing like this, Azuki-chan, you'll be too big for me to carry soon."

"Aw…then how about Azuki-chan carry you?"

"If that will help you with your training, I suppose I could submit myself to that."

"Yay! Shirogane-chan is the best!"

"That'll look a bit more normal," Steady Distance muttered as she tossed Shirogane an energy gel pack. "It looks a bit funny for the little pipsqueak to carry an oversized child."

Shirogane consumed the gel pack, giving the older umamusume an unimpressed look.

"Heey! I'm not fat!"

"You said it, Azuki-chan, not me!"

"Who are you calling fat you melon-chested weirdo?!" The irate young filly pointed her finger accusingly at the sniggering young woman, not quite realizing that it wasn't quite the insult she thought it was.

"Melon-chested?" Steady Distance laughed, slapping her chest playfully. "That's a good one, though these ain't quite as big as melons."

"Unripe melons."

"You quit that right now, Shiro-chan!"

Taro-san and Matcha-san were still arguing quite loudly, which was a common enough occurrence that the rest of the group ignored them, and now Azuki-san and Steady Distance were bickering as well. At least it was decent aerobic exercise.

Idly, Shirogane again wondered at the unusual development rate of umamusume. Both of the younger Sato children were still elementary students, but looked to be on the cusp of puberty, while Taro and Steady, being a couple years older than Shirogane, already looked like adults, albeit young ones. And yes, it would be impossible to mistake them for anything other than children with how they acted.

Deciding it best not to involve herself in their bickering, Shirogane began to jog around the track as a cool down.

"Ah! It's time!"

And shortly afterwards the other umas trailed after her like lost ducklings.

Somehow, she had been nominated the leader of this little group without her consent.

"Time for a cool down?" Steady Distance asked as she caught up to Shirogane.

"Yes, a few kilometers should do."

"And here I was gonna run back to my dorms."

"That would be around thirty odd kilometers, no?"

"Okay, fine. I was gonna run to the train station, then run to my dorms."

"Wait for usss, Onee-chan!"

"Hey, I'm right here!"

Taro-san really had a strange relationship with her siblings.

"Say, Shirogane, you think you can beat me?" Steady Distance challenged with a grin, one ear flicking teasingly.

"I doubt it, but I'm game to try."

"Then come one! Show me what you got, pipsqueak!"

The older girl took off, and Shirogane followed in her wake.

There wasn't much of a contest. Steady Distance was close to physically mature, while Shirogane was still growing, and that alone would have given the older girl an advantage even without accounting for her years of specifically training for racing. Still, Steady was not running full tilt, as she still had to return to her dorms before the weekend was over, and running in her wake meant that Shirogane could keep up more than she would be able to in a direct comparison.

Another case where her smaller stature proved beneficial rather than a hindrance.

She still lost, but that had never been an expectation. It was a good workout nonetheless.

---

"Ne, ne, Shiro-chan! Do you have the ice cream ones today?!" Swift Yujo asked in lieu of greeting as she flounced over to Shirogane's desk.

"Unfortunately no, Yujo-san," Shirogane answered, arranging her school materials neatly on her desk. "While they were undeniably tasty, they are a bit too expensive to be a year round item."

"Aww! But people like ice cream all the time!"

"Statistically that does not bear out. Or rather, people do not eat as much ice cream in the winter."

"...Yeeahh…I guess you're right." The brown haired filly flopped down onto the desk next to Shirogane's, her ears flicking curiously. "But you've got to have some stock, right?"

"Yes, but you will have to wait."

"But Shiro-chan! Aren't I your friend?!" Swift Yujo put on a pitiful air, with ears drooping and tail sagging. Shirogane paid her theatrics no heed.

To some extent they had been friends for years, having been placed in the same desensitization class, and then in the same class through elementary school. Even now at middle school, they had happened to be placed in the same class.

"That's why I told you I do not have your favorite item."

After several years of being around only other umamusume students, having classes mixed with normal human students was quite an interesting shift.

"That's it?!"

It was also a rather significant shock to the human students because the gender ratio suddenly changed significantly. For the umamusume, it was the first time they had males in the same class, and for the humans, there was a sudden influx of females, for while umamusume were less common than normal humans, there was enough of them to shift the gender ratio from skewing more male to skewing more female.

"Given that we are not supposed to bring food into the classroom, and class is about to start, that will have to be it. Not to mention that Watanabe-san has been waiting for you to vacate his desk for a few minutes." Shirogane gave the quiet boy an apologetic nod.

"Waah! I'm sorry, Akira-kun!" Yujo-san hopped up off his desk, bowing out a quick apology, before quickly dashing back to her own desk without waiting for a response.

"It's fine," Watanabe-san murmured belatedly, before sitting down on his desk and taking his school supplies out of his backpack, nodding thankfully to Shirogane, but not making eye contact. This wasn't out of any ill intent, as he was simply shy.

For whatever reason, the teachers had decided to always assign Shirogane a desk near a number of anxious humans or more twitchy umamusume, much to Yujo-san's dismay. They generally also avoided having umamusume seated next to each other, particularly the more rambunctious ones, likely in an attempt to prevent them from collaborating in chaos as easily. This was of limited effectiveness because there was little stopping them from roping in the humans into their antics too.

Shirogane obviously saw no point in this kind of childish mischief, even if she was still bored rather often in class, despite having requested additional study materials from her teachers. At a certain point they became worried that she'd overwork herself in pursuit of getting into a good school despite that not being in her plans, and became more hesitant to give her more work.

In another life, she remembered long study hours and a grinding regimen of exams to just qualify for a good school, only to do even more of the same there, and then again at university. After that, it had been more long hours at work, and much of what the Salaryman had studied in school had been of little or no use. The main transferrable things had been navigation of organizational hierarchy and the management of people through incentives and punishments, though his failure to account for the sheer slothful laziness of some people had gotten him killed.

He had never gotten a chance to retire. Never got married, had no children. Left nothing behind.

For all that effort to be a productive member of society, it couldn't be really said that he made much of a difference at all.

The Soldier had made a significant impact, but it had gotten her nowhere in the end either.

Shirogane expected much the same out of this life, but compared to the other two, it felt like retirement.

Still…retirement was not free, because nothing was truly without cost.

Her carefree and peaceful life came at the expense of her family's labor, something she was working on repaying as much as she could.

"Shiro-chan! Do you have carrot pilogis?"

"Please get in line." Their pronunciation also needed some work.

"Oh, sorry!"

She had not expected many of classmates to be willing to pay for her cooking. It had mostly been a joke, but it had turned into an opportunity.

It couldn't be said that she made much money off of this, even selling the pierogis at an upcharged 100 yen a piece, but it had become enough of a fixture that a lot of her schoolmates regularly supplemented their meals with some of her creations.

"Here you go."

"Thanks for the food, Shiro-chan!"

"You are welcome."

The main purpose of this endeavor though, was as a sort of advertisement, and over the years she had observed, with some satisfaction, a good number of her schoolmates becoming new customers for Suzukiya, with a few becoming regulars.

Shirogane had not managed an exact estimate of how much that helped with revenue, but it should help offset the cost of raising her to some degree, even if today wasn't looking like a particularly good day for her own efforts.

"Thank you, Shiro nee-san!"

"Thank you for your patronage." Why was she being called older sister? She was in a younger class.

"U-Um…Shirogane-san…"

"Hello again, Watanabe-san." Shirogane paused, looking down at the box in his hands. "You are not here to buy something, are you?"

"N-No," he stammered, seeming to fight an urge to flee, before forcing himself to look her in the eyes. "T-This is for you."

Shirogane blinked. "What for? And what is it?"

Watanabe-san blinked back owlishly at her. "It's chocolate." In his surprise, he lost his stammer. "It's White Day."

Oh…that explained the lower number of customers.

"I see…thank you for the chocolate." She looked at him bemusedly. "But I do not remember giving you chocolate on Valentine's Day."

"I-I'm sorry–"

"No need to apologize. I will not turn down chocolate offered in good faith, but it was my understanding that this day was a day of reciprocal gifts, is it not?"

"...You gave me your lunch on Valentine's Day, so I thought I should thank you."

"I did?" Did she? "Ah, I remember. That was because someone ruined your lunch."

"Y-Yes."

"A thoroughly unpleasant person. I trust they have not given you any trouble since?"

"N-No."

"Splendid. I would hate to learn that my teaching methods require adjustment."

"I think they're great, Shirogane-san."

"I appreciate the confidence, Watanabe-san. Was there anything else you needed from me?"

"No…thanks again, Shirogane-san." He slumped, but caught himself and stood straighter.

"Think nothing of it."

He turned to leave, finally finding a little steel in his spine–

Why was everyone staring at her like that?

"These chocolates are not for sale."

She received chocolate from several more male classmates that day, none of whom she had given chocolate on Valentine's Day (she had not given any out). It was rather strange, though she wasn't quite opposed to it.

Her parents had reacted quite strongly for some reason, but she had assured them she was too young to be pursuing any relationship commitments.

That had seemed to bother them more.

Was there anything she could do to make them less worried?!

---

With the onset of spring came rain, sometimes in torrential downpours, which made pedestrian traffic much harder.

Shigeru was quite accustomed to this, but that was not to say that he enjoyed it, at least not when he had deliveries to do. While he was just as good a cook as his parents or his wife, of the four of them he was the only one who could really manage to haul deliveries on his bike. It had been his main job when he was younger, before his father had deemed him acceptable in the kitchen, and now it was still something he did on occasion, especially when their part timers were busier with the start of the school year.

It was not normally too bad of a job, but his luck had not been that great today. The sudden rainfall had made the ground slick, and the bike tires he really should have replaced had been too smooth, so it was really no big surprise that he ended up crashing.

The crash hadn't really been his fault, as someone had darted out of an alley, not looking and hurrying in the rain, which made him swerve, which made his worn out bike tires slip, and sent him down into the sidewalk.

Things could have been a lot worse than it turned out, since his rain jacket softened a lot of the impact and he didn't get anything twisted weirdly. He was also on the way back to the restaurant so he didn't lose any food or make a huge mess.

The bike, on the other hand, already being quite old, would definitely need repairs before he could use it again.

And so it was with a dim mood and slight limp that he stumbled his way back into Suzukiya, wondering what they were going to do about the other delivery orders he knew still had to be sent out.

"Cholera jasna!" Katarzyna cursed, eyes widening when she spotted him. "What happened to you?!"

"Crashed the bike," Shigeru sighed, shaking his head. "Don't think I can manage any more deliveries today."

"Kurde! Forget about that!" his wife hissed, rushing over to him. "Are you hurt?"

"Not too bad." He felt a bit sore.

"Don't be an idiot!" Kat grumbled, pulling him over to a seat and firmly pushing him to sit so she could start checking on him. Fortunately there weren't any customers in the store at the moment, largely due to the rain.

"Well I'll be damned, you really are just a bit bruised."

"Would I lie to you?"

"Do you really want me to answer that question, dear?"

"Hahaha, I suppose not." Shigeru grimaced as his laughter agitated the bruising. "What are we going to do about the deliveries?"

"We'll just have to cancel them. Blame the rain. They should understand."

Shigeru frowned. He didn't like it, but that might be what they would have to do.

At that moment, Shirogane squelched her way into the building, shaking off droplets of rain in the doorway. Her eyes fixed onto his injuries immediately, and Shigeru couldn't help but feel a bit worried about the flashes of fear in his daughter's eyes.

"Don't worry about your old Pops, okay Shiro-chan?" he called. "It'll take a bit more than a bike crash to take me down."

"Are you injured?" She asked, getting closer to check on him as well.

"The lucky idiot is fine," Kat sighed fondly, shaking her head.

"The bicycle will need repairs, then," Shirogane concluded, looking troubled. She must have seen the damaged bike outside before she came inside.

"Definitely," Shigeru agreed with a light grimace. "I really should have gotten it fixed up earlier, but trouble moves together, I suppose."

One of his daughter's ears twitched in a rare sign of agitation. "There are still deliveries to be made."

"We'll just have to cancel them or apologize," his wife repeated to their daughter. "Unless they want to come pick it up. I'm not sending your father back into the rain while he's hurt."

"I can go," their daughter declared, face set in determination.

Shigeru shared a worried look with Katarzyna.

"Shiro-chan…" his wife started. "You don't have to do that. What if you get sick?"

"I'll wear a jacket."

"That's not the point!"

Shirogane was not dissuaded, despite whatever method her mother tried. Shigeru watched the set of his daughter's jaw, the flexing of her fingers, and the uncharacteristic swish of her tail. These were small signs, barely noticeable to most people, but Shigeru had watched over his serious little daughter for all her life, and he could see she would not back down, because it was not herself she was worried about, so punishment to her could not move her.

What a wonderful daughter he had.

"Do you know the way to Ito-oba-san's place?" He asked finally, cutting off his wife's concerned scolding.

"You can't be serious, Shigeru, not in this weather!"

"I know the way."

"And Nakamura-san?"

"Yes."

"Shigeru!"

"I know how to get to all of them."

"Be back in two hours, ok? I don't want you out in the rain for too long, you understand?"

"Yes father." Shirogane moved to take the boxes Katarzyna had prepared, but Shigeru raised a hand to stop her.

"If you catch a cold…" he added warningly. "I'll tell your teachers not to give you any extra study material for a month."

One of her ears flicked petulantly, but Shirogane held his gaze without wavering. "I understand father."

Shigeru nodded. "Then keep yourself warm. And don't let any rain get into the food!"

Shirogane packed the boxes into the carrying case with practiced efficiency, put on an oversized rain coat, and then secured the delivery pack on her back, the large carrying case looking almost comical on her small, childish frame, and yet she carried it with ease.

Probably not wanting to risk him changing his mind, she marched out into the rain and took off, her stride sending water splashing up and down the road in her wake.

"...Was that a good idea, dear?" Katarzyna murmured worriedly, nervously cleaning an unused plate.

"It should be safe," Shigeru replied, half to convince himself. "She's got a good head on her shoulders."

"A little too good, it feels sometimes."

"Yeah…I don't know where we messed up, but she gets far too worried if she doesn't feel useful."

His wife grimaced. "Did we ever give her that impression?"

"I don't think so," Shigeru returned reassuringly, before his face set into a serious expression. "But still…"

"What is it?"

"At this point, I think trying to change her mind about that will hurt her more."

"...Trying to talk her out of it will just make her try harder, won't it?"

"That's how it's gone so far, hasn't it?"

"So…what should we do?"

"I think we should stop hoping she'll have a normal childhood, because she really isn't your typical kid." Shigeru frowned, trying to gather the thoughts that had been percolating in his head for a long time, rattled together by his recent pratfall. "We should give her some more responsibility, see if she can handle it. If she can, then we should be happy that we have such a gifted child. If not, then we'll pick her up off the ground as we should as her parents."

"...I suppose it's worth a try."

Shigeru reached over and squeezed his wife's hand affectionately.

One day, their little Orzeł would fly the nest, probably flying higher than either of them could ever go, and it would not be fair to her if they stunted her growth, no matter how much they'd like for her to enjoy her childhood.

---

AN. Despite this story being quite happy and relatively carefree compared to my other stories, for some reason it makes me more emotional. Maybe it's actually because there isn't that much conflict. That sounds kind of nice these days.
Also, this chapter can be summarizes as:
Shirogane's family and teachers: "Shiro-chan, don't push yourself too hard! You're already very far ahead, you should enjoy your childhood!"
Meanwhile Shirogane, having the best childhood she can remember: "This is great! If only I had a little bit more stuff to do."

 

[randomnbdy]

There it is, even without being x Tanya's failing upwards misunderstanding field kicks in

 

[MadCat]

"Aww, don't sell yourself Shiro-chan–"

"I am short."

Click to shrink...

Missing a 'short'

This is the start of the urban legend of the "Ghost of Fujisawa." I can already hear it. Gas Gas Gas~

 

[WrandmWaffles]

Sounds like her racing style would be a combo of Seiun Sky (bait master and trickster) and Stay Gold (the irl version quite often plays dirty). With her public persona being more in line with Symboli Kris S (incredibly stoic Uma that the public dislike because her rival is the more likeable Tanino Gimlet).

Click to shrink...

Symboli Kris S and Shirogane do have very similar temperaments. That short where Symboli Kris S is just standing there and other umas freak out while she's not upset at all is basically how most other umas are around Shirogane before they get to know her.

As for racing style, something like Stay Gold would make sense since Shirogane is about the same height. She won't deliberately cause chaos though, even if she might unnerve other racers quite a bit.

I have to ask is this a horse names are stage names type of Uma musume setting where Shirogane picks up an actual horse name when she starts racing or is her having a human name just going to be a thing that sticks when she starts attending Tracen?

Click to shrink...

A bit of both. My thought is that umamusume born from umamusume mothers or into more prestigious families tend to have racehorse names due to family tradition or their mother sticking words together, while umamusume like Shirogane tend to have more typical human names since they have two human parents. That said, she'll pick out a stage name when she gets put into the starting gates.

Missing a 'short'

Click to shrink...

Whoops, should be fixed now. Thanks for the catch.

This is the start of the urban legend of the "Ghost of Fujisawa." I can already hear it. Gas Gas Gas~

Click to shrink...

"Why are you calling me a ghost? I haven't died yet."
"What do you mean yet?"
"...Do you think I'm going to live forever?"

 

[CantFocusOneThing]

+lv1. hint "rainy days", +lv1. hint "wet conditions", +lv1. hint "nimble navigator" she still doenst have the skills for it by i imagine that if she where to train she could get specifics abilites more easier than others specially wet conditions because i cant imagine she ever fought on a clean and firm battlefield and nimble navigator because of the fly and Mayano Top Gun also has that ability with her even having a pilot racewear.

 

[Darik29]

Considering the writers for the game state that Uma age like Elves, and once they hit maturity they apparently stop growing older for a While seem's pretty fun to look into to me.

If nothing else, once her youth racing career ends i imagine Tanya is going to love hearing about the Uma Racing Circuits post the initial career time.

 

[D'znn-Xy'lll MetaChthonia]

Spoiler: Space Saver

200 centimeters

Click to shrink...

I will never Understand why the Metric System obsesses over height measurements to be the smallest common unit. Even Imperial figures you use the next largest unit available once you pass it as a baseline. Might as well remove everything above a centimetre.

6 feet, 2 metres. That's how tall. Average in the US, giganto in Japan. Tanya would be 4 feet or 1 metre and leftover centimetres. The later is significantly easier to visualize because humans actually aren't good at visualizing large numbers. Which is why the Metric System is a Scientific System and using its smallest unit for common measures is the stupidest decision ever made.

Tanya is a literal miniature pony.

Shirogane wouldn't call them mentally handicapped, exactly, but they had a rather simple outlook on the world.

Click to shrink...

Well height does not equate to maturity. Neither does age if Government is to go on.

while Steady Distance passed back a box filled with energy gel and electrolyte powder.

Click to shrink...

Uma drugs.

"No, you don't need to do that! I just have a lot of homework and training, ya know!"

Click to shrink...

Clearly they need to go beat them up so they give less homework and training. Violence isn't the answer, it's the question and the answer is always: "YES!"

before snapping around to grab Matcha-san as the younger girl tried swinging at air and overbalancing.

Click to shrink...

Just Imagining Uma boxing looks like a fusion of Baki and Megalo Box.

The gels and electrolytes weren't terribly expensive, but in the quantities required for umamusume, it could add to something rather significant,

Click to shrink...

Pretty sure that applies to most things. Literally the diet of horses in a humanoid package.

"Name, ne, Shiro-chan, are you planning on being a racer?"

Click to shrink...

Well she already is a racist.

Shirogane had not heard of any umamusume with a pair of human parents doing particularly well on the racing circuit, so it seemed likely she would be far outclassed.

Click to shrink...

Well these are schools so logically they also do regular curriculum for non-racists.

Shirogane smiled. This life felt like a dream, like the retirement she imagined in her past lives.

"What else could I wish for?"

Click to shrink...

In the far distant edge of this universe a voice ripples out while being cheered on by two more and the grunt and struggle of a fourth in pain:
"FREE ARMBARS FOR EVERYONE! PUNY! GOD!"
"ME NEXT! I WANT TO FEED HIM HIS OWN TESTICLES!"
"COUNT HIS VERTEBRAE!"

though his failure to account for the sheer slothful laziness of some people had gotten him killed.

Click to shrink...

Lazy to the point of blaming the messenger at that. You didn't make the decision to fire him and it takes a lot to be fired in Japan.

She had not expected many of classmates to be willing to pay for her cooking. It had mostly been a joke, but it had turned into an opportunity.

Click to shrink...

The class drug carrot dealer.

Why was everyone staring at her like that?

"These chocolates are not for sale."

Click to shrink...

...rest of the Umas have a crush on him?

She received chocolate from several more male classmates that day, none of whom she had given chocolate on Valentine's Day (she had not given any out). It was rather strange, though she wasn't quite opposed to it.

Click to shrink...

Oh. She's the school's princess isn't she. Everyone has a crush on her.

Her parents had reacted quite strongly for some reason, but she had assured them she was too young to be pursuing any relationship commitments.

That had seemed to bother them more.

Click to shrink...

She's very much not talking like a child her age.

Ya'know ya would think there would be therapists for Umas that carried traumas from their past lives over to this one. Their memories may not be as clear as hers but they still have them.

The bike, on the other hand, already being quite old, would definitely need repairs before he could use it again.

Click to shrink...

Clearly this is Being X's fault. That fuck can't directly make Shiro's life worse so he has to do it indirectly. Being X is like Reverse Flash. In a few years he'll be responsible for Shiro cumming at just a []'s touch.

Shigeru watched the set of his daughter's jaw, the flexing of her fingers, and the uncharacteristic swish of her tail.

Click to shrink...

Honestly her regular stillness probably helps with normalizing the kiddy Umas to Society. She would come off as an Uncanny Valley predator for their Instincts with how perfectly still she usually keeps her ears and tail alongside acting more human-like then horse-like. Acting more like the pseudo-predatory omnivore rather then the herbivorous prey species.

probably flying higher than either of them could ever go

Click to shrink...

Well she is an Uma and you're just hummies.

Considering the writers for the game state that Uma age like Elves, and once they hit maturity they apparently stop growing older for a While seem's pretty fun to look into to me.

If nothing else, once her youth racing career ends i imagine Tanya is going to love hearing about the Uma Racing Circuits post the initial career time.

Click to shrink...

Oh, hey, there was a Reddit Thread on how they never said that Yesterday! They only said that they're better then humans in every single way. I don't recommend Reading the comments on it, it's mostly Thousand-Year-Loli discourse.

 

[Stranger1950]

Nice chapter. Good to see Shirogane/Tanya having a pretty comfy childhood after what she experienced in past lives.

Also, regarding money, this is what I got from certain lines. Tamamo Cross mentioned in Oguri Cap career that the big bucks is gotten from the Dream Trophy Series (implied to be team trials). I can see the dream trophy series is where stuff like sponsorship, betting, and other profit related stuff are more openly allowed since it seemed this series is possibly geared more on giving veteran racers a relatively more stable career.

And while what Shirogane/Tanya said about twinkle series earning made sense (since I do get the impression the twinkle series is more about the prestige than profit), she essentially missed out the main source of potential profit. Advertisement and Merchandise. I can see the academy acts like a middle man that facilitates the ads and merchandising, for a cut. While the trainers are essentially the Uma's manager who is not only responsible for training the Uma, but also managing their interviews, ads, and merch. So while Shirogane wouldn't earn much from the racing itself in the twinkle series, she missed out the idol related part of being an Uma racer and how much money could be earned from it.

Edit: Also, if Shirogane/Tanya is around the same height as Stay Gold, than she is actually below average height. The average height for Japanese racing uma usually goes around 150-160. Stay Gold is even shorter than Narita Taishin, who constantly got looked down and even bullied for her small stature. So yeah, when Shirogane/Tanya finally starts racing, I can see people having no expectations for her at the start due to her small size.