This is a surprising long chapter. Normally, I'd struggled to write a chapter like this, but not this time, I guess. It's a bit of a change of pace from the other chapters, but I definitely think it was a needed edition. Enjoy!
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The next day…
"Good morning, Kurofune-san," Tazuna stood at the front gate, greeting the incoming Umamusuko.
"Morning, Tazuna-san!" Kurofune greeted her as he jogged past her.
It was a normal morning…aside from the fact that he had actually got to the academy on time. He had decided to forgo one of his morning runs, not exactly being in the mood to go on one. Although, there was one other unusual thing pertaining to him this morning.
'Is it just me, or do I feel more eyes on me than usual?' Kurofune wondered.
As he made his way to class, he took note of the countless eyes directed at him, with some of the Umamusume staring at him holding some sort of newspaper. However, unlike when he first arrived at the academy, they were more like stares of admiration than just stares of curiosity or dislike. Though there were still those kinds of looks as well.
'Did I do something to draw this attention? It's not like I've done anything recently worth noting. The only thing I did was win my second race yesterday.'
He decided to just ignore the stares for now, making his way to class.
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Kurofune arrived at class a few minutes later. Even with him not going on his morning run, he was still the last of his classmates to arrive. While he was a bit shocked by this, he decided to just chalk it up to the fact that they all live on campus, while he lives a bit away from the academy.
What interested him was the fact that their attention was drawn to a newspaper that was found on Air Shakur's desk. The three of them were so engrossed in the newspaper that they hadn't even noticed Kurofune arriving. Wondering what they were looking at, Kurofune decided to approach them, taking a glance at the newspaper.
"Gah—!" Kurofune jolted back a bit in surprise.
It was him, on the front cover of a newspaper!?
"Yo, Kurofune! You're here pretty early," Tap Dance City greeted him first. "Air Shakur was just showing us this neat article here. It looks like you're becoming famous."
"Famous? What for?" Kurofune raised an eyebrow. "I haven't even done anything notable yet."
"Hasn't done anything notable he said…" Air Shakur rolled her eyes. "They were already bound to make articles on you since you're pretty much a pioneer for Umamusuko competing in the Twinkle Series. And with your recent two wins, both of them being in track record times, you've already proven yourself to be able to race on par with the Umamusume dominated racing scene."
"If I recall, out of the few Umamusuko who have tried to compete in the Twinkle Series, only one had managed to even debut, and that was over 50 years ago," Tap Dance City said. "And they never even managed to get a graded win."
"Mhm! So the fact that you've won two races in a row in such a dominating fashion is literally historical!" Agnes Digital chimed in. "Even with what you've done now, they're saying the stigma that Umamusuko can't compete is already starting to be broken down!"
The corners of Kurofune's mouth curled up for a moment.
"That's good to hear."
However, just as quickly as they curled up, they curled back down.
"However, I won't be satisfied until I completely wipe the stigma," Kurofune declared. "And to do that, I'll have to win a G1 Crown."
"But still, progress is good," Tap Dance City commented before she held up the article. "Look, they're even saying that you have a good chance to become one of the leading stars in your generation!"
"One of the leading stars, huh?" Kurofune looked thoughtful. "Who else is a part of that?"
"They're mentioned in the article as well, although there are two other Umamusume-chans aside from you that are the main focus, since you three are going to end up competing at the Hopeful Stakes," Agnes Digital explained. "Tachyon-chan is one of the two. Her dominating display during debut race left a substantial impact on the fans."
"The second one is Jungle Pocket," Air Shakur said. "Out of the three of you, she's the only one who has won a graded race, winning the G3 Sansai Stakes in the fall. Yet it seems like she's fallen under the radar, if this article is anything to go by."
Kurofune decided to scan through the article, his eyes widening in surprise by how much smaller both Agnes Tachyon and Jungle Pocket's sections in the article were compared to his.
'So it looks like I'm the one with all the eyes on me.' Kurofune thought. 'Not exactly sure if I like the idea of that.'
Sure, it was cool to see people actually have high hopes for him for once, but he couldn't help but suddenly feel the pressure of it all. When you're the underdog, nobody puts you on their radar. If you lose, it was the expected outcome. And if you win, it's an upset victory. Either way, the outside pressure on you to perform well is pretty much nonexistent.
Even though he was voted as the leading favorite for his debut win and the Erica Sho, he still felt like an underdog. He wanted to prove something to the doubters, and to himself as well, that he had what it takes to make it to the top and win.
But now the feeling of being an underdog washed away, and taking its place was an unrelenting pressure, which desired to swallow him.
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Meanwhile…
Symboli Rudolf sat in her office. A mountain of paperwork was piled up on her desk. As she was working her way through the paperwork, with Maruzensky on the sidelines encouraging her, the door to her office swung open. An Umamusume with long brown hair curled outwards on the side, wearing a white mini hat with a "CB" badge on her head, stepped into the room.
"CB? What brings you here?" Rudolf's eyes widened a bit with surprise.
"Hey, Rudolf!" Mr. CB greeted her. "I was just doing a patrol around the campus and found an article that you'd probably be interested in seeing."
She placed the newspaper in the only open area on the President's desk. Rudolf then picks up the paper, taking a glance at the article. Maruzensky, who was standing nearby, decided to take a peek as well.
"Oh my, it's the Umamusuko you've seemed to have taken interest in," Maruzensky covered her mouth. "It looks like he's been making a name for himself."
"Indeed," Rudolf concurred. "Two track records in a row is nothing to scoff at. At the rate he's going at, his dream of getting a G1 Crown looks possible. At least on paper."
"What do you mean by that?" Mr. CB asked.
"I'm almost certain that this is the first time he's received this much positive attention," Rudolf stated. "With history within his grasp and all of these expectations placed on him, I'm sure the pressure will feel suffocating. How will he react to it all, especially if he fails to live up to the expectations? His answer to that will be the difference between him winning a G1 Crown, or fading into obscurity."
"So insightful like always, Rudolf-chan," Maruzensky chuckled. "If you were able to channel that insight into all of that paperwork, you wouldn't need me to watch over you all the time."
"You don't have to say it like that," Rudolf's face flushed red a little in embarrassment.
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Elsewhere…
"What the fuck is this bullshit!" A Umamusume with short light brown hair shouted as she crumpled the article in her hands. "I barely even got a paragraph to my name, while that bastard gets a whole page!"
"Pokke, calm down. It's a big deal that an Umamusuko is making waves on the racing scene. It makes sense why he would get a page dedicated to him." Her friend, an Umamusume with short rosy-brown hair that was tied into a ponytail, tried to reassure her. "It's not like they're saying that he's better than you."
These two Umamusume were called Jungle Pocket and Danstu Flame respectively.
The two of them were currently having a read at the article that everybody had been talking about recently by the suggestion of one of their friends, who had told them that Jungle Pocket was featured in another article. However, much to Jungle Pocket's horror, her section barely had anything, while the other two features had longer articles dedicated to them.
"They pretty much are saying he's better, look!" Jungle Pocket pointed at a paragraph. "They're already talking about him making history by being the first Umamusuko or whatever to win a G1 Race! They think he already has this in the bag!"
"I still don't see what the problem is," Dantsu Flame replied. "It's just people's opinion. Like the saying goes, 'Nothing in a race is set in stone.' All you have to do is prove it to them at the Hopeful Stakes by stealing the win from him."
"Oh yeah, you're right," Jungle Pocket calmed down a bit, though her fiery spirit still burned bright. "I'll leave both him and that Agnes Tachyon in my dust and claim the title of the strongest in our generation!"
"That's the spirit, Pokke!" Dantsu Flame encouraged her friend.
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Elsewhere…
A smaller Umamusume with short white hair and light pink eyes could be seen staring at her phone while laying in bed, scrolling on Umastagram. After scrolling on the app for around half an hour, she came across a post that interested her.
This was Curren Chan, an Umastagram creator with over 3 million followers.
It was a news account that she followed which always provided the most recent and relevant news when it comes to anything Umamusume. To her surprise, the account posted an image of the front page of a newspaper. While she normally wouldn't be interested in something like that, the person featured on it piqued her interest.
'OMG! It's him!' Curren Chan's eyes widened. 'It's that Umamusuko!'
Something that she had done well to keep a secret was the fact that she was actually a huge fan of Kurofune, though not in the usual way one would expect.
It all started a bit over a month ago. She had heard rumors of a Umamusuko who had recently begun attempting to debut. While most of the comments about the Umamusuko were negative, all of it did pique her interest a bit. However, upon learning that the Umamusuko had ashen hair just like her, she knew that she had to see him run.
Luckily for her, Kurofune was set to run his debut race a few days later, so she wouldn't have to wait long.
To say that the race moved her was an understatement. Even though he was the favorite to win, he seemed like the underdog of the race due to him getting targeted by the other Umamusume. And when it all seemed over for him, he began to shine brighter than any other racer that day, making an incredible comeback and seizing victory even against all odds.
It inspired her. She desired to shine just as brightly as he did when he ran, bringing smiles to those who watched her run.
'I should repost this!' Curren Chan thought, preparing to make a repost on her account. However, she hesitated. 'On second thought, maybe not. It would probably seem weird to my fans if I were to suddenly post someone like him.'
She decided to compromise by just liking and saving the post, before continuing her perpetual doomscroll.
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Meanwhile…
In an abandoned classroom turned into a hangout spot, Agnes Tachyon could be seen staring out the window with a newspaper in her hand. In the corner of the room, an Umamusume with long, jet black hair could be seen sitting on a couch while sipping on a cup of coffee.
"It's almost time. I wonder if they'll be able to push me towards a breakthrough?" Agnes Tachyon commented. " What do you think, Cafe-kun?"
"I don't know, why are you asking me?" Manhattan Cafe bluntly replied.
"So cold," Agnes Tachyon let out a wry smile. "You should lighten up more, else people will end up avoiding you."
"I don't care about the thoughts of other people," Manhattan Cafe stated before taking another sip of her cup of coffee. "Besides, you're the last person who should be saying that. You always end up scaring everyone aside from that one Honor Student away with your weird experiments."
Agnes Tachyon simply shrugged before returning her gaze back towards the window.
"Touche."
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Fun Fact: IRL, Curren Chan is actually the daughter of Kurofune, hence why I decided to make her end up admiring him.