Author Note: A little heads up on the timeline, since the whole Uma Musume timeline is a bit awkward sometimes, I'm taking some liberties here and there, so if anything is off, that's why.
On a bench, located below the statue of the three Uma goddesses, a red-haired man was hunched over, a duffel bag beside him, listening to someone on the phone.
[So you've made it to Tokyo Tracen then? No uma pulled you off the street into a basement at all?] A motherly teasing voice came through the phone.
The man's lip twitched, "Do you want your son to vanish?" He asked sarcastically.
[...] His mother went silent.
"Mom?" He was beginning to get a little concerned with his mother's behaviour.
[*Cough*...I want grandchildren. Besides, you're my son, you easily have the stamina to outlast one or two uma at least] She finally responded.
He had to look at his phone and make sure this was his mother he was talking to, because to him, this was very out of character for her.
After confirming it really was her number, he spoke back to her, "Is this why you made me come here as a trainer, because the trainer, trainee marriage rate for male trainers is 95%?"
[Maybe~]
With a sigh, he thought, 'Would people really believe that she is the famous Secretariat, because I don't!'
"Anyway, mother, who was it that you wanted me to come here for?"
[Ah! Right, I did have a second reason for you to be there, didn't I? …What was it…Uhh…Got it! I want you to fulfil a request from a dear friend of mine, it seems that Rudolf, that famous "Emperor", has been neglecting quite a few of her duties due to the recent Tokai Teio she has taken a liking to.] He picked up on the amusement in his mother's tone when she said Emperor.
'She is very prideful about her title and all that.'
She then continued, [Your job is to take on the role of trainer for this Teio girl AND to correct Rudolf's behaviour. And before you say anything, C.B has given the Okay for you to use any method]
His face blanked, 'Why me then?? I've never trained anyone in my life, I barely train myself since reaching my body's peak fitness!'
And just when he was about to "Scold" his mother, as if sensing it, she quickly made up an excuse to end the call. Leaving him looking at his phone screen blankly, his gaze dead.
For the next while, he was staring at his phone, pondering whether he should just book a same-day flight out of Japan, 'But knowing her, she'd call in a bomb threat just to keep me here…'
With no other options left, he turned to the bag next to him, opened it and pulled out a few sheets of paper.
These were his trainer papers; if he gave these to the Director of this Tracen Academy, he would officially become a trainer.
It was then that an intrusive thought entered his mind, 'What if I burn them, maybe burn the whole bag just to be safe. Surely I can use that as an excuse to leave, right?'
He quickly shook these thoughts away; his mother would think of some random bullshit that would tie him here somehow.
Giving up, he zipped up the bag, slung it over his shoulder and reluctantly made his way towards where he knew the Director's office would be.
…
"Absolutely! Welcome on board, Trainer Ko!" The famous, but tiny, fan-wielding Director of Tokyo Tracen, Yayoi Akikawa, hid her smile behind her fan after signing the documents officially instating Ko as a trainer at Tracen.
For Ko, however, this felt like he just signed a slave contract.
Closing her fan, Yayoi pointed to the quiet Tazuna standing by the door, "Tazuna! Please escort Trainer Ko to the student council, where student Teio is!"
Ko turned to the figure clad in green, who just nodded to Yayoi and signalled for him to follow her.
…
As they walked towards the student council, Tazuna gave him a small overview of some of the basic rules around here.
"There is one thing that all male trainers specifically are heavily suggested not to do." Tazuna stopped and looked over her shoulder at Ko behind her. "Never get intimate with your trainee if you value your dignity…and sunlight."
'That's not ominous at all.' Ko grumbled, it was well known that this stuff with the trainer trainee marriage and kidnapping of the former was very common in Japan, specifically. Of course, it happened elsewhere, but Japan kind of just lets it happen; some establishments have even embraced it, offering basement rental services for such things.
Tazuna continued, "Of course, this doesn't always happen, but if it happens occasionally, but its always better to be careful. And yes, this happens a lot more with male trainers than female trainers."
After that, they continued their path to the student council, with Tazuna pointing out some Academy Landmarks through the hallway windows occasionally.
…
"And here we are," Tazuna said, stopping in front of the Student Council doors.
"I would usually assist you with this step, but I have other duties regarding some missing person reports to solve. Good luck, and welcome to Tokyo Tracen, Trainer Ko." Tazuna gave a smile and a wave before walking away, calmly.
With Tazuna disappearing around a corner, Ko could only sigh and stare at the ceiling, 'I'm fucked.'
With a deep breath, he knocks on the door to the student council.
Seconds later, he hears, "Wait! Teio! Stop running around! Brian, help me!"
And suddenly the door swings open, thankfully it opens inwardly, otherwise he would have been hit straight in the face by that.
Ko had to lower his gaze to see a small, brown-haired uma with blue eyes, a white streak through her bangs. Tokai Teio, his now-assigned uma trainee. She was also wearing what he knew was the Tokyo Tracen Academy uniform.
"Hey, mister, if you're here to see Prez, she's busy!" Teio said quickly and tried to close the door, but a hand appeared from behind the door like something from a horror movie and held it open.
Teio tried to push it shut but was too weak to do so, and suddenly a pair of arms wrapped around her waist and yanked her back, "Guuk–!"
"Thank you, Brian." Ko heard before the door opened, revealing another figure, a taller figure. She, too, was dressed in the academy uniform, and unlike Teio, who seemed almost childish to him, this girl held some kind of noble aura around her.
The girl looked at him and immediately froze stiff like a popsicle. In fact, that was what happened, ice covered her body, turning it blue, and her gaze was fearful looking at Ko.
"Whoa! Prez turned blue!" Teio's amazed voice rang out from inside the room, still held in the arms of Brian, although the girl herself was a bit shocked seeing her president become a popsicle upon seeing this man.
Ko could only smile wryly, unsure how to feel that the person he felt a noble aura from just a moment ago, froze stiff in fear just seeing him. 'Definitely mother's doing.'
Sighing, he reached out and tapped the student council president's shoulder, instantly causing the girl to jolt awake and jump back in fright, her eyes spinning as she babbled all kinds of words under her breath at speeds no one could follow.
"What happened to Prez?" Teio tilted her head, confused at how this random man she had never seen before affected her usually stern and noble Prez in such a major way.
For Ko himself, he prepared himself mentally for whatever fallout could come of the next few minutes.
…
"Haaah…Finally, a bed, a nice comfy bed." He muttered, falling onto the dorm bed.
The sun had already gone down, and Ko now had some downtime. Just the fiasco of revealing that he is now Teio's trainer, and the way Symboli Rudolf, the Student Council President, looked so reluctant to agree when Teio asked if it was true.
Weirdly, however, Teio wasn't upset, like at all. The instant Rudolf confirmed that he was now her trainer, Teio lit up like the sun, turned to him and launched herself at him, a bright smile on her face, with her arms and legs wide as she aimed to wrap herself around his face.
Ko, knowing of the Teio facehugger rumours from Tazuna, was prepared and managed to dodge the facehugger's assault.
Afterwards, when Teio ran out of the council room, saying that she was going to brag to her friend McQueen that she had a trainer now, it left Rudolf and Ko alone in the room (Brian slipped out of the room along with Teio, not wanting to be a part of what was next).
In the instant the door closed behind the two, Rudolf lowered her head, clasping her hands together in a prayer, basically begging him not to say anything to C.B.
An irony to him, considering it was apparent C.B's idea for him to do this in the first place. It was like Rudolf thought C.B didn't keep tabs on the academy just because she was freely exploring the world.
Either way, in the end, it came down to Rudolf trying to bribe him into turning a blind eye to it all, which he denied, and she immediately tried to play it off as a joke. Something that somehow made his mood worsen, even though it wasn't that bad.
"Hah…I'll deal with this stuff tomorrow."
…
Author Note: So yeah, I thought after reading a bunch of Uma fics to just write one so here's a chapter one.