On a Pale Horse (Umamusume/Youjo Senki)

[Argious]

Seeing the Tamamo Cross banner got me thinking of how many shorties for Shirogane to race together.

Click to shrink...

Considering shes apparently in Golden Generation years, that list would be: Seiun Sky, and Stay Gold. Unless I'm forgetting someone.

 

[RogueInquisitor]

I wonder how Shirogan's debut race will go? I suspect she'll do very well, perhaps even first, but will the opposition be defeated by her raw endurance, her psycological offensive, or the track itself?

 

[FluffyVoid]

I wonder how Shirogan's debut race will go? I suspect she'll do very well, perhaps even first, but will the opposition be defeated by her raw endurance, her psycological offensive, or the track itself?

Click to shrink...

Maybe a mixture of all three factors will win her the race.

 

[Anon3900]

If we are taking the game and IRL into consideration a horse basically has to win their debut race to even have a chance of success in the future. Most horses who lose their debut never race again.

 

[WrandmWaffles]

A Special Occasion​

---

The day was clear, with few clouds in the sky. The view had been pleasant, at least according to Silence Suzuka, which likely meant she would do well in her debut race.

Despite her current intended career path, Shirogane hadn't actually attended any official races in person as a spectator, even if she has now watched plenty of them during her studies.

Previously she had not been too interested, and after her sudden career direction shift, she has been too busy catching up, so today would technically be a novel experience even if she didn't expect things to be all that game changing.

The crowd was sizable for a newcomer race, or at least that's what it felt to Shirogane. The Tokyo race course could clearly hold far more spectators than was present at the moment, but there were still a significant number of seats filled.

"Are newcomer races usually this heavily attended?" Shirogane asked, turning to look at Toujou-san. The two of them were here to watch a member of their team debut, Toujou-san obviously as her trainer, and Shirogane as someone preparing for her own.

"More or less," Toujou-san replied, "there's a mix of trainers, bookies and media persons who like to scope out newcomer races looking for a potential gem, and more of them show up when a Tracen student is running."

"The same people at the tryouts?"

"A wider variety, since Tracen restricts access for student privacy, while at the Tokyo race course this does not apply."

The two of them stood by the railing on one of the upper decks of the stands, largely alone, in part due to the limited attendance compared to the stadium capacity, and more casual watchers seemingly avoiding them for some reason, though Shirogane wasn't sure what was so intimidating about a woman and a young uma in suits watching a race.

"So bookies and gamblers then."

"Among others, yes." Toujou-san did not look pleased by their presence, but did not vocalize it.

As annoying as they might be, the people fixing the gambling odds were quite important to the financial viability of racing, given the amount of money enthusiastic watchers could potentially win if they managed to predict an unusual outcome.

Down on the track, the various runners loaded themselves into the starting gate, with Suzuka looking outwardly relaxed, which was probably a good sign.

"Do the other runners pose much of a threat?" Shirogane asked quietly, trying not to be rude.

"There is always a chance," her trainer replied, adjusting her glasses as she narrowed her eyes at the track. "But she should have a good shot at victory. Most Tracen students are a cut above the general competition to begin with."

"And they're off!"

The gates opened and the runners shot forward, most exiting at the appropriate time, and while a couple were momentarily delayed, there was nothing as severe as what happened during Shirogane's tryouts.

"Silence Suzuka has taken the lead! Will she be able to keep it up?!"

Suzuka accelerated to the front of the pack with confidence, outstripping her competition on the first stretch.

"A good start." At least that's what it looked like to Shirogane.

"Yes…but she might be pushing herself too much." Despite the early lead, Toujou-san did not look relieved.

As they watched, Suzuka, apparently not content with merely leading, continued accelerating, expanding the distance between her and the next closest runner even more.

Toujou-san pursed her lips, tensing up slightly as she watched.

"Silence Suzuka is rushing even further ahead! Can anyone catch her at this point?!"

Suzuka hardly slowed down as she made the first turn, and from here up in the stands she looked hardly phased by the rapid pace she had set, while the other runners looked some variant of distressed at being so left behind.

"She can keep this up for the remainder of this distance," Shirogane observed, smiling slightly. "So this should be a victory for her."

Toujou-san did not reply, watching the race with a tight expression on her face. Was she worried about the possibility of injury?

"I've seen Suzuka-san train like this often. I do not think it will be too much for her to handle, even if she has strained her legs before." With the additional training she should be better adjusted to it.

"Those things can happen quickly," Toujou-san murmured softly, still focused on the race.

Down on the track, Suzuka-san rushed down the backstretch at high speed, her opponents struggling to chase her shadow.

"Silence Suzuka is far away ahead! She's turning the third corner with no one else in sight!"

That was an exaggeration, as her opponents could see her just fine. At least those who didn't have their vision blocked by the other runners. Still, she was many lengths out into the lead.

"I do not have the speed to replicate this."

"But you do have the stamina, and, from what I can tell from your physical exams and medical history, you have the durability to feasibly maintain such a running style long term."

"I do not have much of a medical history." Aside from a few nutrition specialist visits, the extent of Shirogane's doctor visits (that didn't involve delivering food) consisted of general health checkups, since she had never had any real health concerns, even if her diet had not been perfectly tailored for umamusume early on (it probably still wasn't).

"You mean you have one devoid of injuries, despite being very physically active," Toujou-san clarified, her eyes never leaving the race. "Most umamusume end up in the hospital with a notable injury at some point, usually from running, being startled, or eating something they shouldn't have." She frowned, crossing her arms. "Even if you simply never went to the hospital for your injuries, your physical examination when applying for Tracen showed no sign of anything of the sort."

Shirogane hummed, trying to remember any notable incidents. This life had been kinder, so she had never faced anything close to being hit by a train or almost blown up. She technically did get hit by a car once, but it was going slowly–more of a bump, really–and the car had come out worse than she had, the wonders of collision protection design and umamusume's selective durability.

"True, as far as I remember, I've suffered no major injuries in this life."

"Silence Suzuka has turned the last corner! The home stretch here is long, but so is the gap between her and the rest of the pack!"

Her teammate's focus while running, for all that she was moderately spacey in regards to other things, was truly impressive, and even with her competition far behind, she continued to run like her life depended on it.

Figuratively, of course.

The Soldier remembered what that looked like more literally.

"Silence Suzuka has done it! She has left her opponents in the dust!"

Only after Suzuka-san had crossed the finish line and decelerated to a jog did Toujou-san let out a relieved breath, though her frown did not completely fade.

Shirogane clapped, feeling rather awkward doing so while distant enough that her teammate could not possibly hear her. "That was an impressive run." Likely not a feat she could replicate herself, probably ever.

"It worked this time," her trainer sighed, her posture relaxing, even if she still did not look all that pleased. "Which is good, but she really did not need to set such a fast pace."

"If you're worried about her increasing her likelihood of injuries from running like this, wouldn't increasing the amount of time between races mitigate the risks?"

That finally drew Toujou-san's attention away from their teammate down below, and the trainer sent Shirogane a nonplussed look. "Do you really think that would stop her from running?"

"Likely not," Shirogane was forced to admit. "Even so. She still won." Getting this far doing something you enjoyed was certainly a wonderful dream to manifest into reality.

"True enough," Toujou-san admitted, squaring her shoulders and turning to move away from the railing. "I should be more focused on the now. We should go and congratulate her. There should be enough time before she has her winning live."

Ah right, that.

Shirogane supposed that this likely helped with marketability, but she still found making athletes sing and dance after running a race to be an odd choice.

What the hell was she supposed to do if she won a race and had to pick a song? Her classes at Tracen had so far been rather useless regarding that.

---

An additional quirk of Tracen Academy being tied into the racing circuit is that despite having her debut race, Suzuka-san was expected to attend class the day after. Considering that according to the league rules, runners had to space out their races by at least five days the contrast seemed a bit funny to Shirogane even if it made some sense.

"How are you feeling after your debut victory?"

The two of them still went on their usual morning run, and as typical they didn't speak much until they were finishing up their circuit.

"Mmm…I feel ok." Suzuka-san's ear flicked listlessly. "The view from the lead was nice."

"I'll take your word for it," Shirogane grunted back, still finding that assertion nonsensical. "Is your leg giving you trouble?" She had been favoring it a bit this morning.

"It's a little sore…I might have slept funny, maybe."

"Then don't push yourself too much, we still have class later."

"Hmmm…" Suzuka looked less than pleased with that reminder. Some of Shirogane's classmates really made her wonder how they managed to pass the academic requirements of Tracen.

"When will you debuting, Shirogane-san?" Her running mate spoke up again, looking to change the subject.

"I've been going over some potential times with Toujou-san," Shirogane replied as she stretched, feeling her muscles loosen. "It should be soon, once the paperwork goes through."

It seemed her lack of previous track records was creating a bit of a hindrance, necessitating references to her physical examinations from school for some safety checks, even if she had done physicals at Tracen facilities as well.

She supposed she shouldn't be annoyed at the official being slightly incredulous due to her limited prior history in the running industry, and technically she should applaud their diligence, even if it was annoying. At the very least Toujou-san's track record seemed to help smooth some of the hurdles over.

"Hmm…" Suzuka-san hummed thoughtfully, her tail swishing back and forth as she did her own cooldown stretch. "Are you excited?"

"Somewhat." Her family had been far more excited at the news, whereas for her it was more the anticipation of an imminent and important task. "Perhaps mildly nervous." It galled her a bit to admit it, even though the stakes were really not that high, but it was unfamiliar territory.

"Hmm…I think you'll do ok."

"I appreciate the vote of confidence."

Fortunately Suzuka-san was not too talkative, assuming she even remembered this conversation.

Morning light crept over the city skyline, illuminating the street they were standing on, and Shirogane found herself sighing in resignation as her teammate suddenly broke into a run towards the rising sun. She checked her watch, before shrugging her shoulders and following after.

They were not late yet, and someone had to make sure Suzuka-san got to class on time.

---

"Good morning!"

As was her tendency, Haru Urara-san had decided to follow her roommate to class today, evidently having something she wanted to chat about.

"Hello!"

"Good Morning to you as well!"

A chorus of returning greetings sounded out, some more rambunctious, like from Pasa or Tsuyoshi, and others more measured, such as from Shirogane herself.

"Ne, ne! Shiro-chan!" the pink haired uma bounced over to Shirogane's desk, ears wiggling excitedly. "Urara did some training running up and down a hill with Trainer! And he thought it was a good idea too!"

"Many tracks have some degree of undulation," Shirogane returned, "so it is important to include in your preparations."

"Un…du…late–huh?" Urara-san rubbed her fists into her temple, clearly not having understood that word.

"Elevation changes."

"Oooh, really?!" Her eyes lit up, and she swayed side to side happily. "Urara didn't know race tracks had elevators!"

"That usually is only found inside the attached building for some larger race tracks, and for cargo elevators. What I meant is that many race courses aren't completely flat, and have ups and downs."

"Ohhh! Urara-san understands now!" The pink haired uma nodded excitedly. "Shiro-chan is so smart!"

"…As you say." Really, she was too easily impressed.

Dealing with Haru Urara was not unlike dealing with Taro, Matcha and Azuki when they were younger, which made Shirogane wonder just how good of a runner the pink uma had to be. She would have to be above average to make up for her more limited mental acuity.

Unless of course she was let in to be a gate filler who wouldn't grow to resent that role.

As excitable as ever, Urara-san bounced away to talk with the other members of the class, which was fine with Shirogane-san, as she still wasn't quite sure how to deal with the other girl. She seemed impressed by the most minor things, and if Shirogane was not quite sure the pink uma had zero capacity for deception, she might have concluded that Urara-san was actually some sort of undercover morale officer, which would explain why she was roommates with the high potential student with family problems despite seemingly to have lesser potential, a relationship which also made it normal for her to be around the other students designated high potential and theoretically would allow her to monitor their mood from a student level.

Something new caught Shirogane's attention as she heard two sets of footsteps pausing outside their classroom, making her pivot her ears in that direction. One of them sounded like the Director's assistant, while the other one was unfamiliar.

This was homeroom, so it wouldn't be an older student who failed too many classes unless they were held back completely, and while several of the members of the class above them seemed less scholastically inclined, none of them seemed incompetent enough to warrant that, so the most likely explanation for the newcomer was a transfer student.

While her classmates seemed not to notice, Shirogane side-eyed the door as it slid open, admitting a determined looking umamusume with dark brown hair split by a patch of white down the middle, a purple bow on her right ear. The newcomer took a breath, squaring her shoulders as she tried to resolve herself, or make herself look bigger.

Either way the image was rather ruined as she tripped over the doorway and faceplanted into the classroom.

"Waah! Are you ok?!" Urara-san quickly hopped over, offering the transfer student a hand up. "I'm Haru Urara!"

"Huh?! Oh…thanks." The newcomer took the hand, letting the smaller girl pull her back up to her feet, looking truly mortified. "I'm Special Week."

"Nice to meet you, Spe-chan!" Shirogane wasn't sure if Urara-san had come up with a nickname immediately, or if she couldn't pronounce the full name for whatever reason.

"Spe-chan?" the newcomer's ears twitched curiously, but she did not seem opposed to the nickname. "Ah! Nice to meet you too!"

"Hmm! This is Seiun Sky!" Urara-san waved at the sky-haired uma, who waved lackadaisically in response.

Not content at stopping there, Urara-san proceeded to introduce the rest of the class as they formed a group around Special Week, each of them giving a warm welcome in their own way.

Succumbing to group pressure, and seeing no reason not to greet the newcomer, Shirogane moved from her desk and belatedly joined the welcoming circle, just in time for Urara-san to announce her.

"This is Shirogane Orezeru, she's really smart!"

The pink uma was quite good as a marketer despite no apparent training.

"Shirogane Orzeł." Shirogane nodded, offering a hand, which Special Week took, shaking it a bit uncertainly, but that was not too unusual for someone meeting unfamiliar people. "And don't worry too much. You are not the first umamusume to trip over the door frame."

"Ehh?!" Special Week flinched, tail shooting up in embarrassment, before she seemed to register the words properly and tilted her head curiously. "Wait, really?"

"It happens to Matikanefukikutaru-san on occasion when her luck runs foul."

"Matikanefu-who?"

"She is one of our senpais," Grass Wonder chimed in helpfully, drawing Special Week's attention. "Shirogane-san is in many advanced classes so she got to know the class above us quite well!"

"Wooow…" Special Week turned back to Shirogane, her eyes shining brightly. "So you must be really smart!"

"Relatively, perhaps." Grass Wonder and Seiun Sky snickered into their hands in the background, while King Halo shot her a reproachful look, but Special Week and the rest of those present simply nodded enthusiastically, which made the first-rate uma sigh in exasperation.

"All that aside, welcome to the class, Special Week-san," King Halo cut in, trying to get things back on track. "You missed the first set of tryouts–"

"Eh?!"

"–but never fear, there will be more! Then you will get the chance to prove yourself a first rate umamusume!"

"Um…"

"I believe we should take our seats, we are blocking Sensei's path into the classroom."

"Ah!"

Overall, it seemed Special Week integrated into their class easily enough, though it also became clear that there had been some notable differences in her educational focus compared to what Tracen focused on, which left her scrambling to catch up.

Based on her build and her movements, she would probably not have as many issues with the physical portion of their assignments. She wasn't nearly as large as Umeki-san or her children, but Special Week had some more bulk to her than many of their classmates, so it was likely she had some considerable closing power.

Her appetite was also significant.

"Mmmh! The food here is so good!"

For once Shirogane had avoided getting dragged around by Taiki Shuttle or guilt tripped by Mejiro Dober, so she found herself sitting with her yearmates as they continued acclimating to their new member.

"Yeah! And they've got some pretty good tacos sometimes!" Pasa cheered enthusiastically, waving around her bottle of hot sauce, not noticing Grass Wonder casually deflected the nozzle as it squirted out some of the red liquid onto the loud one's plate. "I thought they'd only have Japanese food or something, not that I don't like Japanese food, but it's cool they have other stuff too!"

"There's so much too!" Special Week cheered, her tail wagging excitedly, almost hitting Pasa's chair, which was next to her, but the masked uma wasn't bothered. "I went for seconds and there was still a lot!!"

"Tracen's capacity for providing this much food is quite impressive," Shirogane agreed, setting her chopsticks down, having long finished her meal. "The expense involved in hiring a large number of professional cooks and the sheer quantity of throughput must be significant."

"H-Huuh?! I didn't even think of that!" Special Week gasped, looking down at her empty plate in horror. "Do we have to pay for the food?!"

"Technically yes, since it's part of the tuition costs," Shirogane replied, cutting off some of the others who looked like they were about to deny it. "Though we are not charged directly for each meal, and as far as I was able to find out, there is a flat cost for access to the cafeteria in the tuition, and they do not charge you differently based on the level of consumption."

Her yearmates looked at her curiously, before glancing amongst themselves. "How did you figure that out, Shiro-chan?" Pasa asked, tilting her head curiously. "I was just told we could eat here since we're students."

Shirogane blinked. "It is listed as part of the tuition cost breakdown, and I asked some of the administrators about whether I could opt out of this to make things cheaper, but that was denied." Most likely this was so they could spread out the cost of operations over a larger paying base, and to incentivize students to make use of the facilities which would allow the academy some degree of control over their diet.

She didn't understand why they felt the need to freak out at her about bringing up this question though.

"Ehhh? Why would you want to skip out on this?!"

"It would make tuition cheaper."

"But you have to eat!"

"Of course. I am able to cook for myself, and buying groceries and the like would theoretically be cheaper than paying the cost of cafeteria access, though I would likely not be able to afford as much variety as can be consumed in the cafeteria." And given her diet needing to change given her new professional goals, she had to admit that it was probably better this way.

"You can cook?!" Pasa gasped, shooting up out of her seat excitedly. "But we don't have any kitchens in the dorms, so how could you cook?"

They didn't have kitchens? How strange…or perhaps it was a safety concern, given some of the individuals who attended the school.

"Our dorms do have kitchens, El," Grass Wonder sighed, shaking her head. "But you have to get permission from the Hishi Amazon, though I suppose Shirogane-san would have to get permission from Fuji Kiseki since she's in Ritto."

But she wasn't?

"Hmm? Shirogane-san isn't in Ritto," King Halo interjected, furrowing her eyes at Grass Wonder, "I thought she was in Miho?"

"Oh no! Is Shiro-chan homeless?!" Special Week gasped, apparently being another one of the rather dim members of their class.

"No…" Shirogane replied flatly. "I live in an apartment slightly off campus."

There was a beat as it finally clicked with her yearmates, then…

"Ooooh! That makes sense!"

"Why aren't you in the dorms though?" Tsuyoshi-san asked, "It's a bit noisy sometimes, but it's fun too!"

"I got a scholarship that made the rent for the apartment cheaper than staying in the dorms," Shirogane explained, getting a little uncomfortable at the amount of concerned looks coming her way. "I have my own kitchenette so I can prepare meals for myself, and it is a fair bit quieter than the dorms, I'd imagine."

"Huh, that kinda sounds cool."

"You'd be coming over to ask me about schoolwork anyway, El."

"Hey! I'm not that bad!"

"Doesn't it get lonely, though?" Tsuyoshi-san wondered, ears twitching worriedly. "You're all by yourself, right?"
"It does not bother me." If she were fully honest, Shirogane would have to concede that she missed her family's presence to some degree, even if they kept in regular contact. Though admitting that to her yearmates would cause a lot more complications than necessary.

"Yeah…I'd figure you'd like it quiet." Seiun Sky stifled a yawn, leaning back in her chair, hands behind her head, before letting out a huff of laughter. "Did we really all just assume she was in the other dorm?"

"It seems that way," King Halo sighed, pinching her forehead in disappointment. "I apologize, Shirogane-san, we didn't mean to forget about you."

Shirogane didn't really see the problem. "Well, now you know."

"Hey! Can we come visit your place?" El Condor Pasa chirped, waving her arm excitedly. "I kinda want to see what it's like!"

"It's not a particularly big apartment, so you really can't all fit." That and Shirogane rather liked not having to deal with the noisy ones too much. "I don't really see what that would accomplish."

"Well…if it's not in the dorms…" the masked uma's ears twitched excitedly. "Then we could have some fun that they don't let us have in the dorms!"

"I still have to abide by the rules of my rental agreement," Shirogane pointed out flatly, feeling some amusement as Pasa deflated like a ruptured balloon. "And I'd rather not get the blame for when something inevitably goes wrong." And she'd prefer no one beside her family find the beer that her grandfather had insisted on adding for some reason.

"Awww…that's no fun…"

"Come on, El, you shouldn't bother people too much when they prefer to be left alone," Grass Wonder chided, wagging her finger at her more energetic friend. "And if you're curious about seeing something you should ask instead of demanding."

"Fiiine…"

"It really isn't anything particularly interesting. I'd imagine it would not be dissimilar to one of your dorm rooms, but with no roommate, and quieter neighbors."

"Ya know, if you put it that way…" Sky drawled, looking out the window into the distance. "That kinda sounds nice."

"Eh? I thought you liked your roommate?!" Tsuyoshi-san cried, looking at Sky worriedly.

"Well yeah, but quieter neighbors would be nice."

"Quite a few seem to be college students preparing for exams, they give off a rather depressing air."

"Ok that doesn't sound that good, actually."

"I quite like it."

"Haha! You can be pretty funny sometimes, Shiro-chan," Special Week laughed, her ears wiggling happily. The rest of the table looked at her weirdly, and Shirogane wasn't exactly sure what was funny about what she just said.

"I have that capacity."

"Eeeh?! Did Shiro just make a joke?!"

"She does that pretty often, El, you just never noticed."

"Hey!"

As much as she was reluctant to admit it, her new peers were starting to grow on her.

Like weeds.

---

Life had been both cruel and kind to Kasper Krawczyk.

He had been born during the brief span where his homeland had been free for the first time in centuries, just to see it crushed under Russian and German boots yet again. He had been young enough not to have been expected to fight when the War happened, his parents taking him and his younger siblings with him when they fled the country, but he had been old enough to remember the older brother and sister they had left behind.

He never saw them again, but after so much time searching, it was almost certain they had died fighting.

He had been lucky to live through the War mostly unscathed, and he was lucky to have met and wed Lena, even if living under the Soviet heel was unpleasant much of the time.

God had blessed him with children, even if they were a handful, and He had let Kasper live long enough to see Poland free once again, this time, hopefully for good.

Having a daughter who ended up marrying a Japanese man was not something he had expected, but Shigeru was a fine enough young man. Seeing little baby Shirogane had been a joyous day, to see another dziewczyny-konie born into their family, even if she wasn't in Poland.

There were so few of them left, compared to before.

She had the same coloring as Kasper's late sister, and from what he'd heard over the phone, his granddaughter was as stubborn as he remembered Weronica being, but with a much more controlled temperament. It seemed his son-in-law's genes had meant Shirogane was much more well behaved than her mother had been when she was younger.

And now young Shirogane was going to be a racer. It had been a bit of a surprise, both in that in his old age, Kasper had forgotten how fast koniary grew up, and that he didn't remember his sister or any of their family being very interested in formal racing (though obviously they had loved showing off). Most of them had wanted to be soldiers or police.

He couldn't help but think of his granddaughter's career goals as a good thing though. It was certainly necessary to have a military strong enough that others wouldn't walk all over them, but it was a sign of more peaceful times to see a koniara from his family setting their sights on a less violent profession.

He and Lena had visited Japan before, to pay respects to the man who had risked his position to help him and his parents escape, so the process was a bit smoother this time, further helped along with how 'visiting a child and grandchild' was much easier to explain.

The flight had been long...

"Tato! Mamo!"

But it had been worth it, seeing not-so-little Kasia again in person, still quite rowdy, even with a child of her own.

She hugged them both fiercely, which they returned, an open display of affection that Kasper knew was probably not considered appropriate in Japan, but he didn't really care at the moment.

Shigeru watched them in understanding exasperation, before bowing to them politely, and he and Lena did their best to greet him in the Japanese fashion, but by Kasia's amused look, it hadn't sounded quite right.

Then he saw little Shirogane and his breath caught in his throat.

She was full-grown now, and the spitting image of his sister Weronica, if a little bit taller.

"Hello Dzaidku, Babciu." Even her voice was similar, though Weronica had rarely been as serious faced, and the accent was a little off.

"Hello Wnusiu," Kasper whispered, reaching down to hug his granddaughter. "Dziadek is sorry that he couldn't visit more."

"I understand. Traveling this far is expensive."

It was, but as his granddaughter hugged him back, in an almost hesitant way, as if she was unsure how much strength she could apply without hurting him, it felt well worth it.

"It isn't that bad, Dziadek is just old, and sitting on a plane for so long makes his back hurt."

"Then we should get going. I imagine the time change will be bad for your sleep schedule."

Kasper laughed, even as he felt tears well in his eyes. That sounded a lot like what his sister would say to him when they were younger. Much younger. And much more rude. "What a considerate granddaughter I have." He patted her head gently, which she endured with an exasperated huff.

He hadn't been able to stay with his sister, but he would be damned if he didn't come and cheer his granddaughter on.

---

AN. Sort of a filler chapter, but here's Special Week. Coming up with should have Shirogane's debut race, though from the looks of it, work is going to be busy for the next month or so, which means I probably won't be able to update very often. Either way, hopefully you guys are enjoying this. Don't know if the Polish usage is fully correct, so feel free to suggest tweaks if you know the language.

 

[Ofofoltsa]

Pls give us MOREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

 

[Lyrista]

Always happy to see an update, focus on your life if you need to, we can wait

 

[Dissimilate]

Thanks for the chapter!!!!! I love that the grandparents are here for now at least!!

 

[Miriallia]

Huzzah! The great Orzel returns! I really look forward to her debut race and I Sincerely hope she crushes it. Do take your time tho! If it's snowy where you are be careful cause holy shit is it easy to break something if you slip and fall. Especially in melty season.

 

[Sky3Fall]

There's a very high chance that at some point there will be a race where Shiro glances towards the stands then gets a power of family buff.

 

[Apache911]

Would be pretty funny if the grandfather dropped that she's a warhorse on everybody.

 

[PostwarGryphon]

Will making her grandfather proud give her the reason to race?

He's giving off death flags...

 

[Greymatter02]

Ah, what perfect timing, I needed something more relaxed.
Thank you for the chapter, and I hope things get better with work!

 

[Miriallia]

Would be pretty funny if the grandfather dropped that she's a warhorse on everybody.

Click to shrink...

At the very least that's her general family lineage... and to be fair, both police and military life in Japan... She's be an efficent instructor if nothing else if she wants to do more than run the resturant... it's also rather clear that she did have a 3rd life as some sort of warhorse, given her inexplicable urge to run someone down during her first race as a kid, that and the foggy memories.

 

[CantFocusOneThing]

For once Shirogane had avoided getting dragged around by Taiki Shuttle or guilt tripped by Mejiro Dober, so she found herself sitting with her yearmates as they continued acclimating to their new member.

Click to shrink...

Knowing that Taiki is more mastermind-like than sunny airhead really makes me look at this better since she only pretends with her little sisters and i like that she looks at Shirogane in that way. On the other hand somehow Mejiro Dober got a more "dark" look despite being more pure lmao.

 

[Abhorsen]

The intro 9f the grandparents is so good. Maybe they could drop hints to others about soldiering in a past life, and from that we could somehow get to a motivation

 

[mauveine]

Ah!
The racist racer appears!
And wild granparents, too
The class is clearly planning to hijack her apartment as a party pad, Shiro-chan must be vigilant against such nefarious schemes

 

[Wild Transient]

+5 to Shiroganes socialization.

And a surprise Polish grandfather showing up!

 

[GarfRed]

Urara-san was actually some sort of undercover morale officer

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She is, however she ain't getting paid. Hurry Shirogane, get the student council to put in Haru as a morale officer quickly, she needs her money.

 

[drbilljoe]

Holy shit it's John Umamusume Derby

 

[HoxShorelight]

I have some serious whiplash reading this chapter
Silence Suzuka 's debut race i'm feel like forgetting some thing then Spe show up , so that what i forgot , i guess Suzuka join Spica by now
Part of me expecting Oguri Cap to show up asking for Spe's name like in Cinderella Gray but in the anime Oguri still at Tracen at the time while in the manga she already graduate and in an sponsor deal with Light Sporting Goods , Belno Light is a assistant trainer in Tracen under Kitahara
In the local fandom we like to call Oguri Cap the Eating President while Special Week is Vice President
So Shirogane is the splitting image of her Grand Aunt on het mother side, a multi generation of War Umamusume want to join the army or the police that explain a lot really

 

[FluffyVoid]

The class is clearly planning to hijack her apartment as a party pad, Shiro-chan must be vigilant against such nefarious schemes

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With Shiro-chan's high level in stealth there is a good chance that the class will constantly miss her apartment unless she physically drags them to it.

 

[RandomNew]

And she'd prefer no one beside her family find the beer that her grandfather had insisted on adding for some reason.

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lol
I know her grandpa is mischievous, but smuggling alcohol to her apartment?
I don't know your game grandpa.

He hadn't been able to stay with his sister, but he would be damned if he didn't come and cheer his granddaughter on.

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Awww, bring tears to my eyes.
Shirogane is loved in this life. This is really a good life for her.

Thank you for the new chapter. I enjoy Shirogane interaction with her classmate, her watching a race in person and her grandpa from mother side.

 

[One-who-reads]

That final scene was pure heartwarming WAFF.

 

[uioor1]

Life had been both cruel and kind to Kasper Krawczyk.

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Just want to say that I really liked this section of the story, really heartfelt and moving, conveying the feelings of someone who would have lived through that sort of stuff. It brings to mind this old woman I ran into on a train in Hungary about a decade ago, who clearly had a hard life, missing an arm among other things. She didn't understand a word of English, and neither me nor my mom understood more than the absolute basic words in Hungarian, but by the way she did her best to engage the two of us in conversation regardless it was pretty clear she was rather lonely. I'll never forget her seemingly thinking that me and my mother were a married couple and trying to convey to her that I was my mother's child. Anyways, my point is that I found this particular passage really evocative and brought back some strong memories of someone who likely lived in similar situations to Shirogane's grandpa, if not a bit harder based on how she turned out, and I wanted to give you props for that.

 

[IbnAurum]

awww, my heart aches in a good way, more family stuff pls
Gramps is glad Shiro isn't pushed into military stuff, well for better or worse she has the capacity for it should need arise

 

[Cadmus von Eizenbern]

Thanks for the chapter!
It looks well-polished, and both entertaining and easy to read.

This bit reads a bit weird:

"Hello Wnusiu,"

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... but that's just because of two languages being used in the same sentence and thus unavoidable unless you decided to use those fancy BB codes QQ has.

Witaj Wnusiu
[#abbr="on hover text"]text[#/abbr]

 

[MacrossRides]

That was super sweet and good buildup for future growth.

 

[FanonDummyD]

Idk why but after reading this I imagined Orzel!Tanya when running and in the zone would leave sizable marks on the tracks.

 

[kuopiofi]

BTW, did Kanto Oaks get classified as a grade three race and did Steady Distance run it second time?

Cause she hasn't done so yet, Shiro showing interest about that would give other Tracers more details about her life before coming to Tracen.