This is still a bit unpolished, but since the friends I tapped for feedback haven't gotten back to me in the arbitrary timespan of "before I get impatient", I'm posting it here anyway.
The room was quiet this evening. Just how I liked it best, really. I could relax on the couch with a cup of coffee in my hand and a book in front of me.Â
The curtains kept the afternoon sunlight from disturbing the comfortable gloom of my corner, while still providing enough light to read without needing my standing lamp.Â
With the laboratory half of the room thankfully devoid of its usually energetic proprietor, the only one keeping me company was my friend, whose shadowy form was currently silently perched on Tachyonâs office chair, gently rotating.
It was the kind of relaxed afternoon I had been hoping for when Trainer had told me I should take the week off training and focus on resting.Â
So, of course, I was mildly irritated when I heard my phone buzzing in my bag.Â
I ignored it, but it didn't take long before another short burst of noise signalled another message arriving.Â
A sigh escaped me as I rose, unwilling to wait for an inevitable third, fourth or fifth message or, goddesses forbid, a call.Â
The list of people who would write to me on my day off was rather small, after all, and most of them were not the type to let silence go unanswered.Â
Surprisingly, mercifully, the phone remained silent even until I had fished it out and unlocked it. The two messages, it turned out, were from one of the few people who could be relied on to restrain their texting to only the essentials.Â
The cheerful face of a human woman with brown-blonde curls and a wide grin greeted me, a selfie with Tracenâs main turf course in the background accompanying the first message: âI figured Iâd take the opportunity to check out the newest round of tryouts, this yearâs Fungs are a really talented bunch!âÂ
Nearly three years under her care had left me with plenty of practice reading the romaji that she insisted on using instead of learning how to use a japanese keyboard, and I only had to pause for a moment over the english slang sheâd injected, but the second message made me freeze for an uncomfortably long time.Â
âWould you be okay with getting a teammate?âÂ
A teammate. The thought was a strange one. Iâd had plenty of training with Agnes Tachyon, Dantsu Flame and Jungle Pocket. Even Fuji Kiseki had recently joined us a few times, under Nabe-sanâs watchful eye.Â
But training with friends was something else than having a Team, of that I was sure. It would mean changes. It would mean someone new in my life, someone who would be here not for me but to learn what I learned, be guided by the hands that guided me. It was scary, the thought that someone else I don't know might be suddenly so closeâŠÂ
But it might also be interesting?Â
The sudden presence of my Friend by my side made me look up. Her form was indistinct in the half-light, and despite looming like she had been reading over my shoulder, she was now turning away from me, denying me a look at her face, as always.Â
âWhat do you think? A kouhai for meâŠâÂ
She shrugged, as if saying âWhat are you asking me forâ. But then she faced in the direction of the training field âŠ.Â
she ran ahead, disappearing through the wall with an excited laugh.Â
A tiny smile twitched across my lips, and I returned my eyes to the phone screen as I settled back down on the couch and tapped the reply field.
On the other side of the campus, a young foreign woman with blonde-brown hair and a trainerâs badge laid her phone down on the grass next to her as she watched her fellow trainers begin flooding the field. She smirked quietly at some of her colleagues tripping over themselves or each other in their haste to introduce themselves to this seasonâs young hopefuls, most of whom were eagerly waving at the crowd or posing to draw as many eyes as they could, especially from those of her colleagues who were avoiding the rapidly forming crowd around today's brightest star.Â
Tokai Teio had drawn so much attention with her incredible run and her adorable antics before and after that, despite an unusually large turnout of trainers, the other prospective trainees would only have slim pickings, at least until Teio made her decision.Â
A âpingâ sound drew her attention back down to her phone, and her smirk became an astonished smile as she read the unusually wordy reply from her first (but hopefully soon not only) trainee: âI look forward to it. Good Luck.âÂ
With that, Trainer Jeanne jumped up, patted some grass off her pants and made her way down to the one student who had caught her eye today. She went past what was now starting to form into an almost orderly queue and past a few colleagues that had already abandoned the effort and were heading towards some of the other, less embattled Umamusume. Her own target, however, was just past where Teio was holding court, still standing alone by virtue of being in the metaphorical shadow to the young Monarchâs brightness.Â
And isn't that a nostalgic thoughtâŠÂ
Jeanneâs smile grew wider as the young Umamusume became aware of the trainer heading her way with clear intent to scout.Â
The girl brushed a few strands of strikingly rust-coloured hair from her brow and put on one of the best customer service smiles the Trainer had ever seen.Â
âOh, hello Trainer⊠you must be a little lost, Teioâs line starts over there.âÂ
