An Imperial Challenge
After her embarrassing slip up, Toujou-san had Shirogane make several mock starts in the training gate, which she had no issue with now that she could categorize the starting sound as a non-threat.
Shirogane did not really understand why they used these gates instead of sprinter blocks like for human runners, and the lack of lanes meant that outside post runners had to run an effectively longer distance, but it was how things were and so she would have to adapt.
"Runners ready?" Symboli Rudolf called, holding the starting gun signaller, which was unnecessarily shaped like a gun.
"Aye!" Shirogane barked in the affirmative, bending her knees into a crouch to increase potential energy, pulling her ears back as she focused, and letting out a slow, deliberate breath.
Bang!
The gates crashed open and she sprang forwards out onto the turf track–
Shirogane bit back a curse as she stumbled a step on the springy surface, before catching her balance on the next and accelerating as quickly as she could, but her misstep had cost her ground, and Air Groove had pulled ahead, her senior shifting towards the inner track fence so as to shorten her total run distance.
That was fine, her top speed was not high enough that she could comfortably lead the pack, but there were ways to mitigate this disadvantage.
She watched as Air Groove settled into a pace comfortable for the taller runner, and once her senior had stabilized her pace, Shirogane accelerated to catch up, closing in on her opponent, who, despite having spotted her approaching, continued to maintain the same pace, which allowed Shirogane to run in her slipstream, letting her larger and more powerful senior expend most of the energy required to break the air resistance.
The pace Air Groove set was fast, probably around fifty kilometers per hour, which was not too far from the fastest rate Shirogane had ever managed on the road, and would have been harder to maintain without using her opponent as a wind break, but as is, it was a pace she could likely keep up for most of the distance.
Air Groove glanced back, looking a bit surprised that Shirogane was keeping up with her, but made no effort to extend her lead, accurately reading Shirogane's intentions.
The wind whistled past her ears as her feet impacted the turf, and Shirogane kept her breathing steady. Two kilometers was not terribly far, but with the amount of focus she needed to keep her footing at this speed, it was going to be more tiring than usual, even if she couldn't run as fast as she could on pavement.
They reached the first corner, and Air Groove rounded the curve, sliding outwards slightly to maintain her speed. Shirogane, being smaller, did not have the same amount of inertia, so she cut the corner closer, sliding back into her opponent's wake once they got to the next straight section.
Air Groove's longer strides were starting to make a more noticeable difference, but not as much as Shirogane expected, as while the turf was springy compared to the asphalt or concrete she was more accustomed to, the softer surface meant each footfall sent less of an impact up her legs. Even so, on the long straight, the older, more powerful runner was eating up the distance faster than Shirogane could, forcing her to take faster steps to maintain her position.
This was feasible, for now, but Air Groove still seemed fresh, so would not be tiring anytime soon…it really should be expected that her competition would be more challenging, here at Tracen Academy.
Even with her opponent's longer strides, Shirogane managed to keep pace with her through the straight by burning more energy, her feet digging into her turf with such intensity that she could almost feel the glued section parting again.
This pace was still manageable due to keeping in the larger runner's wake, but while she could maintain position, the status quo would not help her win.
She would have to make a move.
There was the second turn, then partway down the straight section before they reached the finish line.
Air Groove had not begun to spurt towards the finish as she entered the last corner, instead cutting closer to the rail and slowing down slightly in the turn, angling to prevent Shirogane from closing the gap easily with a tighter turn.
Shirogane was already running close to her top speed, and even with the heavier shoes on her opponent, she highly doubted she could match the 'Empress' at a final burst of speed, which left her with one real option.
She pulled in a larger breath, digging one foot deeper into the dirt, then pushed forwards harder, accelerating slightly to what she felt was her top speed and cutting even closer to the rail than Air Groove was. There would be enough room to squeeze by if they maintained the current lane, a benefit of being small in stature.
Her opponent shot her a surprised look as she closed, before smiling with what seemed to be approval and shifting herself likewise closer to the rail, cutting off her overtake vector, though with the tradeoff of bleeding off some more speed.
Shirogane had not expected it to be so easy, nor was she so simple to deter, so she sidestepped sharply and closed with her opponent on her outside, the drop in speed allowing her to almost pull level, though with the disadvantage of being on the outside, and thus having a longer distance to run.
For a moment, the two of them locked eyes, Air Groove's gray eyes gleaming in challenge. Shirogane looked back, watching for a sign of her opponent's next move.
As they moved out of the turn, Air Groove kicked the ground hard and accelerated on the straight, pulling ahead, while Shirogane converted all of her momentum from the turn into the forwards direction, chasing close behind out of the turn, her limbs straining to match her opponent as she ran as fast as she knew she could.
But her senior's greater speed provided too much of an edge, creating a gap as Shirogane fell behind.
Then further.
And further behind.
She cursed in her head, as despite her best efforts, her opponent easily widened the distance between them on the final stretch, accelerating to a speed Shirogane could not hope to match.
For all that she had managed to keep up throughout the greater part of the distance run, at the end there was really no contest in regards to which of them was the superior runner.
They passed the endline without much fanfare, this practice race only having a couple of spectators, which was probably for the best, as there really hadn't been much to see in regards to her sound drubbing.
"That was an interesting run, Shirogane-san," Air Groove offered in a conciliatory tone as Shirogane pulled up next to her. The older racer was breathing heavily, but in a controlled, practiced manner. "Apologies, I didn't mean to glare at you so harshly. It's been a while since I have raced." She shifted her weight from foot to foot, circling her ankles to keep them from getting stiff.
"It seems some part of the Empress still wishes to get her licks in," Rudolf chortled as she and Toujou-san strode in from the sideline.
"It was nothing of the sort!" Air Groove shot back quickly, though it seemed like she was protesting too much to Shirogane.
"I don't remember you glaring at me?" Shirogane interjected, feeling a bit out of the loop. "It would have been difficult since I was behind you for most of the run."
"Hoh? You weren't intimidated at all, running against the Empress?" Rudolf hummed, walking up to Shirogane and gazing down at her curiously.
"Not exactly? While I did not expect to win, it's not as if an expected loss would change much." It did sting a bit, like finding another metric where one was deficient, but it was just a race, nothing to get all that worked up over.
"Hmph, you certainly have an eye for talent, Trainer," Rudolf mused, glancing over conspiratorily at Toujou-san. "Many young umamusume would be just a bit nervous just meeting me or Air Groove, and yet Shirogane here is cool as a cucumber."
"Is there a reason I should be scared of you?" Shirogane wondered. "Unless I do something deserving of expulsion I don't know what I have to fear from the two of you, and even then it would come from the school administration, not necessarily through you."
"Ha! You hear that! No fear of celebrities at all in this one!"
"I fail to see how public acclaim means I should be afraid of you, unless you intend to weaponize your public influence against me for some reason." Neither of them seemed the type–
"What?! Of course not!" Air Groove sputtered.
–but you could never really be sure.
"Heh. Rest assured, Shirogane-chan," Rudolf declared, patting her on the shoulder. "I will do no such thing. That would be against my duties as the Student Council President and my own personal standards."
"I appreciate that."
"Why would you think we would do that?!"
"Ehem…" Toujou-san coughed into her hand. "I believe we are getting a bit distracted. But yes, one of the reasons I think you have a good chance at performing well, Shirogane-san, is how unflappable you are. Many other runners who are faster than you would hesitate to challenge a clearly stronger and more experienced opponent, but you had no such compunctions today."
"There weren't really any stakes involved…" Shirogane pointed out. "Is that really all that impressive?"
"Actually, yes," Toujou-san replied, "a significant part of racing is psychological, and while there are many runners who would jump at the chance to run against a well-known racer, there are even more who might bow out of the competition in fear of being humiliated."
"I think you may be reading too much into my behavior today…"
"Perhaps…but I don't believe so, and before you find another rebuttal, how about we discuss the facts we've observed today?" Toujou-san put her foot down metaphorically, nodding to Air Groove. "Air Groove, what are your thoughts, being the one to run against Shirogane?"
"You definitely have potential, Shirogane-chan," Air Groove began, her ears flicking in a friendly manner. "I thought you might have been rushing yourself but you look hardly out of breath after maintaining that pace. If you have that much stamina you would be quite a challenging opponent as a stayer."
"It was a slower pace than yours. Considering the outcome, I don't see how that would accomplish much if they can beat me on the last section."
"Most junior students at Tracen would struggle to keep a steady pace for most of the race, and even for an experienced racer, it would burn quite a bit of stamina, especially at their top speeds," Toujou-san explained. "While yes, there will be others who can sprint faster than you, most won't be as good at preserving their stamina as Air Groove is, especially if you tire them out."
"Tire my opponents out? I was under the impression we are not allowed to interfere with our opponents?"
"Such an aggressive mindset!" Rudolf chuckled, looking amused at Shirogane's assumption. "But you are correct, for the most part. Directly interfering with another runner can result in disqualification if blatant enough, however, there are ways to tilt things in your favor, such as starting your last spurt much earlier than normal. If that causes enough of your opponents to rush forwards and exhaust themselves, your lacking speed ceiling will still win you the day."
"Noted. Thank you for the advice." Symboli Rudolf was noted for being a canny runner.
"I think we are getting away from the original point," Air Groove coughed pointedly into her fist, before turning to look at her junior. "Shirogane-chan, you have an unusual, but quite effective starting point, and if you train hard and train wisely, I believe you would be competitive at higher levels."
"I appreciate the word of confidence, Air Groove-senpai." It meant quite a bit more from someone with a notable track record. "Though it seems clear that I have far to go."
"For one, you will need to get more accustomed to running on turf," Toujou-san jumped in. "While you managed fairly well, it was still clear to me you haven't had much experience running on a turf track."
Shirogane nodded. That was very much true. "It was not widely available for me before, but that should no longer be a problem." While there were turf areas at her former school's facilities, she doubted they would appreciate it if the football area was torn up constantly by umamusume running on it.
"More racing experience would help you as well," Rudolf added. "While your strategy was not a bad one, your timing on execution could be improved."
"Your attempt at overtaking wasn't at a bad time," Air Groove cut in quickly, offering some encouragement.
"But if you had started the attempt earlier, it would have forced your opponent to prance between two different decisions. While blocking you while rounding the curve is not the most difficult thing to do, having to make the snap decision one way or another would increase the likelihood of a runner making an error."
In other words, with her speed deficiencies, she was going to have to find other advantages to leverage if she wished to be competitive.
"I see…this, I imagine, will be something that requires a fair bit of doing to learn."
"Watching tapes of races does help for some," Toujou-san answered, "and I imagine it will for you, given your disposition."
Huh…with many of her potential opponents having public showings of their skills…that
would make building threat profiles on them significantly easier.
"Is there a way to access this footage?"
Her two seniors gave her a bemused look. "You can find film of most graded races at the library."
"Truly?" Shirogane blinked, eying Rudolf curiously. "And that is free for all students to access at their leisure?"
"Of course."
"Good to know." She supposed that, having been televised, it wasn't as if securing the footage locally would amount to much aside from favoring the wealthy families more.
"It's a bit of the reverse from what many students start with," Toujou-san hummed. "You will need training to increase your top speed, as much as that can be done, and will need more practice running on racetracks, but you are good at pacing yourself, and shouldn't have any issues on the academic side."
"That is, unfortunately, somewhere many students end up in trouble," the Student Council President sighed. "Especially the ones who are the most competitive in racing. I do hope you will not be too overwhelmed in your second year classes."
"As opposed to my first year classes?"
Rudolf's ears twitched slightly as she sent Shirogane a curious look. "Oh? Did you not realize that most of your assigned coursework was from second year? Given your scholastic performance on the entrance exam you were placed mostly beyond the first years."
"Truly? The curriculum did not look so advanced to me."
"Then I believe you will have nothing to worry about."
"You will still be taking some classes with your agemates," Air Groove clarified with a slight frown. "And those will be the people you are likely going to race against the most."
"So I will be in this year's class, officially, but taking advanced classes?" Shirogane hummed. "That sounds interesting." Her parents had been very hesitant to allow her to skip a grade, feeling that she was pushing herself too hard…and now Tracen had effectively done something similar seemingly out of hand.
Perhaps coming to this school would not be too bad, after all.
"What an odd runner you'll make," Rudolf chortled, "looking more excited at the idea of more difficult schoolwork than for competing against the best of your year."
"Is that so strange? Racing at this academy is the primary focus," Shirogane pointed out, "so the academics are the leisure activity."
Air Groove sent Toujou-san a glance, and their trainer could only nod her head in amusement.
"That is…a certain way to look at it," Rudolf mused, before stepping closer to Shirogane and locking eyes with her.
The Student Council President vanished, her previously warm eyes hardening into an authoritative gaze, boring into Shirogane and searching for any sign of weakness. "Do you know what I find most lacking in you at the moment, Shirogane?"
Shirogane returned the 'Emperor's' gaze steadily. "I cannot read your mind; I take it you will enlighten me?" As feted as she was, a racehorse was still a racehorse.
"You do not
want to win."
Before she could ask for clarification, Rudolf went on. "Oh, do not mistake my words, you gave a good effort, and sought to achieve victory, but you do not truly desire the crown. And that lack of desire will hinder you from fulfilling your highest potential."
There was probably some truth in that assertion, but after a lifetime at war…Shirogane wasn't so eager to reach for that frenzied power at the cusp of insanity.
"Perhaps so," she replied flatly. "But there is much to be done otherwise."
"Hmmph." Rudolf did not seem to know whether she should be affronted or impressed. "You have guts, I must give you that."
"Having guts is rather necessary for living, after all." Losing them was fatal and unfortunately all too common in war.
"Ha!" Shirogane blinked as the president's stern demeanor vanished into the aether, the older uma's ears twitching excitedly. "Hehehe…" Then, for some reason, Rudolf broke in a fit of giggles.
Shirogane glanced at Air Groove, who had her head in her hands, looking very done with the situation. Toujou-san appeared unruffled, but in a way that suggested she was relatively used to this. Perhaps that made sense, as the trainer had known Rudolf the longest.
"You have an amusing sense of humor there, Shirogane-chan."
"Thank you…I will make a note of it."
"Is that really the important thing to focus on, President?" Air Groove asked chidingly, looking quite stressed.
"It will also be important for Shirogane to develop the face she will put up when facing the public, or at least to learn what part to stress and what part to downplay."
"Shirogane-chan seems too serious to play into making jokes."
"Ah, but that makes it better!"
"Is media interaction frequent?" Shirogane interrupted, a new concern being placed into her head. "I can't imagine they would have the invested readership to interview every new student. Wouldn't I have to garner some attention before this becomes a notable concern?"
"Most students at Tracen will have one or two interviews throughout their career, at the very least," Toujou-san answered. "And while it will likely be at least until try-outs before anyone approaches you, it is better to have an idea of how to approach things before than to come up with one on the spot. Though that has worked rather well in the past for those with a certain kind of personality."
"Hmm…even more things to account for."
"Don't worry too much, Shirogane-chan," Air Groove offered some encouragement with a smile and a flick of her ears. "The rest of Team Rigil as well as the school staff will be willing to help you with anything you might need."
"I will keep that under advisement."
"Well, you three seemed to have hit it off rather well," Toujou-san observed, marking something into her notebook. "And I believe I will have a suggested training regimen for you before school begins properly, Shirogane. In the meantime, I suggest you become acquainted with the school premises and facilities, especially the lunchroom."
At the mention of food, Air Groove's stomach let out a growling sound, to her great embarrassment, prompting the lunchroom to indeed be their next destination.
There was a
lot of food, and Shirogane ate some of it.
"So…" Hana Toujou started, sitting down on one of the couches in the Student Council room, glancing at the door through which Shirogane had just left. "Thoughts on your new teammate?"
Air Groove and Symboli Rudolf both took a sip of their tea, drinking slowly to give themselves more time to ponder the question.
"She seems very dedicated, but also not very driven somehow," Air Groove began, her ears drooping in confusion. "That doesn't sound like it should be possible, but that's what it seems like."
"There are some umamusume for whom the desire to work is stronger than their desire to run," Rudolf observed, setting her cup down smoothly. "It is uncommon, but not unheard of, and usually they are of the large and strong kind. Shirogane-san seems to be more of that sort, but smaller."
"And now her work is to run in a race?"
"Just so."
"Even if that is all to her motivation, her dedication is still quite impressive," Hana pointed out. "She managed to consistently run deliveries all over Fujisawa, which is no small feat for a girl in middle school. Lunch boxes are not that heavy, but being able to navigate and run through traffic like she can is something I have rarely seen from umamusume."
"Her form
is very good," hummed Rudolf. "Very smooth."
"It feels a bit like she's working backwards from where most racers start out from." Air Groove gave voice to something Hana had thought previously. "She has discipline, a good amount of racing wit even without too much experience, and a steady temperament." She looked quite relieved that her new teammate was not as rambunctious as some of the team's other members. "And yet I believe the President has a point about how she lacks a desire to win, to push herself beyond what she thought possible."
"A crucial component in forging the most tempered racer."
"That will have to be something she finds herself." Hana stood, moving over to the window and looking out onto the campus. There were some more early students arriving today, each with stars in their eyes and some substantial expectations for themselves. "It isn't something that can really be trained." She was gambling on Shirogane, to some degree, but it wasn't a sucker's bet. With the pale uma's work ethic Hana was quite confident Suzuki-san would be able to place or show in many races, at the very least, and probably even win some of the longer races.
No, what she was gambling on was just how high her unusual trainee's ceiling was, and something told her the choice of 'eagle' for her racing name would prove to be somewhat prophetic.
"She seems responsible enough to be able to handle living on her own," Air Groove murmured, "but I worry that might mean she will be distant from her compatriots, especially with her being in advanced classes."
"I would not put too much concern into that."
"And why not?"
"With her demeanor, and her response to surprises, if she was roommates with one of the more…eccentric students, we might be seeing them get into fights." Rudolf raised a fair point of her own. "Not to mention she already will have Team Rigil, as well as the many aggressively friendly Tracers."
"Please do not call academy students 'Tracers', president."
"Why not? I do believe it could work well as an affectionate shorthand."
"There are no good implications from that moniker."
"I'm inclined to agree with Rudolf."
"What?!"
"Given Shirogane's reaction to the starting sound was to immediately attack the source, it's probably better to give her her own space. Many Tracen students are probably too rambunctious or nosy for her."
"Oh, you were speaking of that…I do hope she will eat enough…she ate lunch like a starving woman."
Shirogane
had finished her meal remarkably quickly.
"We will of course monitor her progress," Hana assured Air Groove. "It would be derelict in my duties as a trainer not to." Shirogane was on the small side, but didn't appear to be malnourished. She would likely have to change up her diet somewhat given her different goals now, but the cafeteria should make that alteration relatively trivial. Tracen was more selective about its cooks than many other positions, which should surprise no one if they thought about it, given the both the amount umamusume could eat and how important it was to their morale.
As successful as she was, Hana's bank account still smarted a bit from providing support to some of her more gregarious trainees (not that she would name Taiki Shuttle out for it in public).
"I suspect she will be able to adjust her diet plan herself," Rudolf predicted. "But there is no harm in checking in on her. It would be best if her 'leisure activities' don't cause her too much trouble."
"What a strange way to describe schoolwork…" Air Groove grumbled, before shaking her head slightly. "At least she is fairly normal otherwise."
That may have turned out to be a slightly premature judgement.
AN. Perhaps a bit anticlimactic of a race, but Shirogane is still fairly new to the track, while Air Groove is experienced enough that she wasn't rattled by Shirogane's pressure. And at this stage Shirogane is very much outclassed on the end stretch, even if she can keep up with Air Groove in the earlier stages.
