A/N: This chap is supposed to be finished yesterday but I was busy playing Canto 9 bro. I got stuck at the Asmongold boss fight, that guy was only 100hp left and then next turn he gained 1200 shield. He then proceeded to fist me to death. I aint paying those 40 lunacy on the continuing shiet.
3k word length on this chap is wild.
Anyways, daily check-ins.
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The joint training unfolded at an unremarkable pace.
Dante arrived early, as usual, and stopped near the fence bordering the track. From there, he had a clear view of the lanes, the infield, and the gradual trickle of trainers and Uma Musume filtering in.
He waited in silence, hands tucked in his pocket, eyes following the steady rhythm of warm-ups while his thoughts drifted elsewhere.
It still felt strange how quickly his life had shifted. A month ago, he had been nothing more than a freshly graduated trainer, struggling to picture a future beyond assistant work and borrowed opportunities.
Meeting Silver Tear had been sheer luck, the kind that rarely came twice. An Uma Musume with raw physical strength capable of matching G1 veterans at debut should have turned her early races into effortless stomps.
Instead, perhaps fate had decided to play a quiet joke on them. Their path crossed with Oguri Cap, a rising star from the local racecourse.
It was a genuine challenge, one that stripped away any illusion of an easy debut.
Silver Tear still pulled through in the end, crossing the line two lengths ahead.
With her, the idea of chasing the Triple Crown in the Twinkle Series no longer felt like a foolish fantasy.
It was still a distant dream, but for the first time since he had stepped into this profession, Dante allowed himself to stand there by the fence and quietly believe it might be within reach.
Though through that debut race, Silver Tear's victory only told a part of a bigger story.
That debut victory, however, told only a fraction of the story. Beneath the fleeting glory and the cheerful noise of the stands lay a world he found difficult to recognize as his own.
What stayed with him most was her expression afterward. The struggle she carefully restrained behind a forced smile, the way she refused to let anyone else see it, struck harder than any loss could have.
He had done what a trainer was expected to do–praised her performance, analyzed the race, discussed results and improvements with practiced composure of a professional in the field. Yet none of it managed to erase that painful look in her eyes.
It was a quiet wake-up call.
The track was no longer just a place of competition and love for running.
Maybe it had been, once.
Now it was tangled with betting slips, expectations, and interests that had little regard for the Uma Musume actually running on the field.
And Dante realized, perhaps too late, that guiding Silver Tear forward would mean confronting that reality head-on.
His gaze remained fixed on the track, waiting.
Silver Tear would appear soon enough for the joint training, likely still lazing around somewhere out of sight, dragging her feet through the campus while clinging to her familiar routines as stubbornly as she often clung to him.
She complained endlessly about training, found every excuse to delay it, yet she always showed up in the end.
The thought softened his expression, just slightly.
Dante reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, his thumb hovering before tapping on a contact he had not touched in a long time.
[Binah]
The name alone was enough to make him hesitate.
"…Hahh."
A quiet sigh slipped out as hesitation settled in, heavier than he expected. For a brief moment, the noise of the track faded into the background, replaced by memories he had no intention of revisiting.
He stared at the screen, weighing the cost of reopening a door he had deliberately kept closed, before letting the phone rest in his palm.
Just as Dante wavered over whether he should make the call, the sound of approaching footsteps broke through his thoughts. He slipped the phone back into his pocket and looked up.
Two figures were heading his way. One was a woman with light purple hair, a choker at her neck strikingly similar to Silver Tear's.
Beside her walked an Uma Musume with auburn hair gathered into a thick braid that fell well past her back, swaying heavily with each step.
Dante recognized them immediately.
Trainer Nase Fumino, composed as ever, and Super Creek at her side.
Nase slowed to a stop a short distance from the fence, offering Dante a brief nod. "You must be Dante. Silver Tear's trainer, right?"
"Yes. That's me." He replied, returning the gesture.
"Nice to finally meet you in person. I've heard quite a bit about Super Creek here." He motioned at Super Creek with his hand.
At the mention of her name, Super Creek straightened slightly. Her posture was polite, but there was a faint stiffness to it, as if she were carefully minding her appearance.
"I'm Super Creek." She said, voice gentle but reserved. "It's nice to meet you."
Dante gave a small smile. "Likewise. I didn't expect joint training to line us up this early."
Nase glanced toward the track, her expression thoughtful. "Neither did I, but I figured it would be useful. Super Creek could use the experience, and your Uma Musume has been… difficult to ignore lately."
Super Creek's fingers tightened briefly at her side, her eyes flicking away before returning to Dante. "Silver Tear is very strong."
"I watched her debut." She added after a moment.
"I guess she left a strong impression, huh?" Dante replied, a soft laugh slipping out.
"That's my girl." The pride in his smile was unguarded, almost reflexive.
An awkward beat followed.
"…So, where is she now?" Nase Fumino asked, her tone carefully neutral.
Dante hesitated. "Probably… she'll show up in about ten minutes?"
The answer sounded uncertain even to his own ears. Being her trainer did not necessarily mean he had any real idea what Silver Tear was doing at a given moment. She had a habit of wandering around and getting lost on her own, so he was praying that she could make it in time.
Nase pinched the bridge of her nose, exhaling quietly, then turned to Super Creek. "Go ahead and start your warm-up. We'll wait."
Super Creek nodded and moved toward the track, her braid swaying as she put some distance between them.
Left behind by the fence, Dante muttered under his breath. "Damn it, you'd better show up soon…"
Not long after than he said that, footsteps approached from behind, light and unhurried, completely at odds with the tension Dante had been feeling.
Before he could turn around, a cold sensation pressed against his cheek, followed by a familiar, drawn-out voice.
"Danteh~ Danteh~ look at this!"
He turned just in time to see Silver Tear strolling closer, posture loose, eyes half-closed as if she had only just woken up. In her hand was a chilled bottle with a brightly colored label, held up like a small trophy.
"U=ma²zing. Quite a strange name." She gave it a light shake. "Limited edition sports drink. Supposedly good for recovery after training."
Dante stared at the bottle, then at her, exasperation creeping into his voice. "You're not even trained yet."
Silver Tear hummed, entirely unconcerned, as if that detail were optional at best.
Dante's eyes narrowed as he took a closer look at the label. "…Wait a minute. This isn't a sports drink on the market."
"I don't know." Silver Tear replied lazily. "Agnes-chan handed it to me on the way here. She said it was a sports drink."
She tilted the bottle, inspecting it with mild curiosity, then added. "And she looked pretty confident about it."
That explanation did nothing to reassure him. Dante let out a slow breath, already picturing Agnes's mischievous (maniac) grin and whatever logic she had used to convince Silver Tear. "You didn't question it at all?"
Silver Tear glanced up at him, expression blank. "...Hmm, no wonder it tastes off."
And somehow, that was exactly the answer he expected.
"…Never mind." Dante said, waving it off.
"Go warm up and join Super Creek over there." He hooked a thumb toward the Uma Musume still stretching at the side of the track.
Silver Tear nodded without comment and headed off, her pace brisk despite her earlier laziness.
She slowed as she approached Super Creek and stopped at a polite distance. "You're Super Creek, right? I'm Silver Tear. Looks like I'll be your training partner today."
The words were simple, almost casual.
Super Creek, however, felt her spine stiffen the moment Silver Tear came into range. But she managed to calm herself and offered a smile back.
"Yes, I'm looking forward to our training session today, Silver Tear-san."
They began with light jogging along the outer lane.
Silver Tear settled into an easy pace, neither pushing ahead nor falling behind, her stride relaxed enough to look almost inefficient to an untrained eye. Super Creek matched her speed, keeping her form precise and deliberate. From a distance, the two of them looked like perfectly compatible partners easing into a routine warm-up.
Up close, the difference was harder to ignore.
Super Creek could feel an unsettling pressure at her back. It wasn't her first time doing joint training, nor was she unfamiliar with strong runners.
However, this time it was different. The presence of Silver Tear just behind her made her uneasy, like standing too close to the edge of a cliff, aware of the abyss below, yet unable to tell when she might slip and be swallowed by it.
It felt as though the moment she let her focus waver even for an instant, she would be consumed by whatever lurked in that unseen depth. That sticky, oppressive sensation clung to her nerves like a parasite that she couldn't shake off.
She adjusted her breathing, steadying herself, telling herself it was only nerves, only the unfamiliar rhythm of running beside someone new.
Silver Tear noticed none of it.
Her gaze drifted lazily ahead as she ran, occasionally stretching her arms mid-stride, her posture loose, as if she were conserving energy rather than warming up.
But on the Super Creek side, the pressure kept prickling on her nerves.
Super Creek's breathing grew uneven. The carefully maintained rhythm she prided herself on began to fray. As they entered the corner, her steps lost their crisp timing, one foot landing a fraction too late.
Then it happened.
Her foot struck the track at a bad angle, balance slipping just enough to break her stride. She stumbled forward, catching herself before she could fall. Her pace collapsed, momentum scattering as she came to an abrupt stop near the edge of the lane.
Silver Tear halted almost immediately.
She turned back, expression stripped of its usual languid detachment, eyes sharp with genuine concern. "You good?"
Super Creek straightened quickly, forcing herself upright, but her hands trembled faintly at her sides.
"I–yes." She said, a little too fast. "I just… lost focus for a bit."
Silver Tear studied her for a moment, head tilted, as if trying to understand something that didn't quite add up.
"You look stiff. Perhaps you're worrying about your debut race?" She remarked, as if observing a minor technical flaw.
Super Creek swallowed. From her perspective, running beside Silver Tear felt less like training and more like entering the official race itself.
Silver Tear tilted her head, still oblivious to the cause.
"Wanna race a bit? Just to loosen up." She suggested.
The suggestion landed unexpectedly, cutting through the tension.
Super Creek hesitated, then nodded. "…Alright."
'Nice. Perfect excuse to test the skill.' Silver Tear thought to herself, balling her fist as quiet satisfaction settled in. She had gotten what she wanted.
"Danteh~, can you time us?" She called out, already turning and waving toward the far end of the straight, where Dante stood beside Nase Fumino.
"Endpoint's over there!"
Dante glanced at the marker, then back at her. He raised a hand in acknowledgment, reached into his pocket, and pulled out his stopwatch.
As always, her torena-san (trainer) understood her best.
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"3, 2, 1. Start!"
At the signal, the run began.
Super Creek burst forward cleanly. Within a few strides, she claimed the lead, opening a gap of roughly two lengths between herself and Silver Tear.
The straight stretched out ahead of her, and she settled quickly into a strong, familiar rhythm.
Silver Tear stayed behind.
She made no attempt to close the distance, maintaining a steady pace behind Super Creek. Her breathing remained even, stride loose.
"Start the roll." She murmured under her breath.
[Navigator of the Stars activated]
[Rolling result:⚄⚄ (10)]
[Gaining 10 Guidance Stacks]
Midway through the straight, Silver Tear judged the timing sufficient.
[Consumed all Guidance Stacks. Gaining 100% increase in all stats]
The moment she made that decision, Silver Tear's presence changed drastically.
In less than 0.1 seconds, the world had lost its color, leaving everything in the stark contrast of black and white.
The sound of her own footsteps, the rhythm of her breathing, even the rush of wind against her ears all faded into the background.
Then, a wondrous sight unfolded in front of Silver Tear's eyes.
A single star flared into existence.
Then another.
And many after that.
Until they all connected into a single continuous line, cutting through the monochrome landscape and illuminating the 'route' only meant for her.
What she didn't know was that her own eyes were shining with the same light of the stars she was seeing.
She had slipped into a hyper-focused state without even realizing it. Even Super Creek who was in front of her was reduced into background as her eyes remained fixed on the 'route' before her.
"The constellations align…" These words escaped her mouth unconsciously.
The next instant, she exploded forward.
Her stride lengthened, force pouring cleanly through her frame as her body drew out strength it never used without restraint.
There was only one thought left in her mind.
To follow the path the Stars had built for her.
Normally, a peak racer in their top form could exert 80-90% of their body's potential. Those rare few who touched the Zone might reach 100%, a legendary state where both body and mind synchronized without a lag time.
Pushing further that limit risked tearing muscle, shattering bones, or worse. Thus, in everyone's consciousness existed a mechanism to prevent one from crossing that boundary and breaking their own body.
Yet, in this particular moment, Silver Tear was running at 120% of her body's potential, a state that should not have been possible even in theory.
Thus, the pressure she released flooded the track, smothering distance, pace, and presence alike, until everything around her felt small in comparison.
On the sidelines, Dante froze.
His hand tightened around the stopwatch without him realizing it, eyes locked onto the blur tearing down the track.
Beside him, Nase stood equally stunned, words failing to surface as they watched the gap collapse in a heartbeat.
Even from the sidelines, the sense of dread was unmistakable. It pressed down on the air itself, heavy enough to be felt by those who weren't even on the track.
For Super Creek, who was standing directly in its path, the dreadful feeling was multiplying several times over.
'I have to run faster.'
The thought flared in panic, driving her legs to respond. She pushed harder, forcing more out of her stride, but it changed nothing.
Silver Tear swept past her with effortless ease.
There was no strain on her expression, no flicker of triumph or urgency. Her eyes never shifted.
She didn't acknowledge Super Creek's presence at all, as if the Uma Musume beside her were no more than a fixed object on the track, something to be passed without consideration.
In that instant, Super Creek understood the disparity between her and Silver Tear.
The race ended with Silver Tear's victory.
The moment she crossed the endpoint and began to slow, the world rushed back in all at once. Her breathing turned ragged, each gasp sharp and unsteady as if her lungs were incapable of drawing in air.
Her legs trembled violently beneath her, strength draining so fast it felt as though the ground itself had softened. She staggered, barely managing to stay upright, muscles protesting with a dull, spreading ache that made even standing an effort.
"*Gasp* What… *Gasp* just happened?"
The words came out broken between breaths as Silver Tear snapped out of the hyper-focused state, chest heaving while her body struggled to catch up with what she had just forced it to do.
The distance was only about 1000 meters, yet it felt as though she had just finished a full 3600 meters, sprinting at top speed from start to finish.
She checked the system, and sure enough.
[Penalty Save Initiated]
[Rolling Result: T]
[For the rest of the race, Stamina consumption is increased by 100%]
[Are you alright, host?]
"*Gasp* Do I *Gasp* look like I'm fine. *Gasp*." Silver Tear cursed the system under her breath.
[Oh my, don't be such a dramatic queen, host. You are lucky that this was only a short distance. Had it been a longer race, that reckless behavior of yours would have resulted in serious injury.]
She clicked her tongue while still gasping for air, even though Super Creek, who was trailing behind, seemed to fare much better.
A quiet fire burned in her eyes, steady and unyielding. There was no trace of despair after witnessing Silver Tear's overwhelming performance, only a sharpened resolve that refused to bend.
"Next time, I won't lose to you." Super Creek said with a bitter smile.
"I'm looking forward to it."
Seeing that firmness in Super Creek, so different from the Uma Musumes she had faced in the mock race, even Silver Tear found herself acknowledging her.
This auburn-haired Uma Musume had earned it.
A Star just like Oguri Cap, huh?
She wondered if she'd meet her again in the next G1 race.
Perhaps, it seemed both of them had forgotten something simple.
This had only been a friendly match and not an official race…
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A/N: I think I need to work on those racing scene. It doesn't live up to the hype.