The sun was a good bit up in the sky by the time I reached the area for the race. Looking around, I only saw about 7 other Umas here, probably haven't gotten a trainer yet.
Thinking about it, I was in my second year as an uma. If not for the recent update in policies then I wouldn't have an extra 2 years to run.
The shadows of the trees were moving with the wind, the silent rustle of wind was a simple melody to hear. I laid onto the floor waiting for the race to begin. I felt the warm radiance of the sun softly falling onto my face, the soft touch was rather nice to feel as I could feel my mind becoming calm.
"Hello, what's your name?" I heard a cheerful voice from above me.
Opening my eyes, I looked up to see a pink eared girl. She had short hair and glowing pink eyes with a red ribbon on her ear, the smile on her face screamed extrovert. She was wearing the school's training clothes. The shorts, being short, allowed me to see quite a bit of bandages on her legs, scuffs on her knees were still visible.
"Hi" I said, trying to give a smile to this uma I didn't know.
"Hi! My name is Haru Urara." she said with a small pose.
"Hello, the name is Hayate North." Getting off the floor, I looked around to see that 2 more people had come, not counting Haru.
In the distance, I could see some people on the top of the hill. They were probably trainers. The sound of the wind carried their voices, my ears picked up their faint voices.
"After this, if I am not able to get a trainee, I might just quit."
"Tell me about it."
I decided to ignore them.
It took a while but eventually, the race was about to start. I looked over to Haru to see that she was talking with one of the other racers. I sighed before getting into position.
"And Start!"
The gates opened, I pushed forward with the base of my feet.
------
'Another race, another trainee I don't get.' I was watching the Umas get into the starting gates. There was no one that was screaming at me recently, only a few were something that I found interesting. The most interesting was definitely the pink haired uma, the next one would probably be the male uma.
I looked over to see the male uma getting into their gate, I couldn't see what they were doing but from the movement of his head, he was probably looking at the others to see the biggest threat.
'He's interesting to say the least.' That was my thought process when it came to him.
Hayate North, he was an uma from kasamatsu that my sister wanted me to train. It took a lot of convincing but I was able to get someone to look at him. I'm surprised by the fact that he was here in all honesty.
The gates opened and I saw them quickly rush out of the gate. Haru was as usual dead last but at least she wasn't that far behind unlike last time. The poor girl probably trained her heart out.
Hayate was in the 5th place of the pack, his running form was good and he was in a good position for being a pace chaser. He was running into the first corner when I noticed he was suddenly slowing down for some reason. The person who was behind him noticed this and used it to move forward but that was when Hayate suddenly shifted to block them, surprising the uma. He wasn't even facing that direction nor his body looked as if to move that way.
The surprise of the uma was enough to slightly break their rhythm, slowing them down slightly. Another uma was able to pass them while Hayate moved back into fifth position, making sure to block the uma that came up.
Leaving the first corner, Hayate suddenly picked up his speed for some reason, he quickly catched up to the second position person. I could see turf and dirt being picked up from his footsteps, it looked to be like he was putting more power into his steps.
"He probably is rushed." I heard the blond haired coworker beside me say. He was someone from a slightly known family, not as known as miss kiryuin, but still known. He didn't have an uma due to his words being rather...stuck up his ass.
"From the looks of it, yeah." The voice was from a different coworker, they had an uma but was with us as his uma was taking a break from training for a bit.
"....i wouldn't say that just yet.." I muttered to myself.
They soon reached the first corner, their ability to turn was overall good. Haru was trying her best, as usual, and Hayate could be seen following pace with the others.
Hayate was trying to sow panic but the trainees were already prepared from when he first did it. He seemed to notice this as he soon changed how he ran. Instead of his weird running style, he would lean his body slightly and lengthen his strides but slowed his running speed by a bit.
He kept his place in 5th but slightly fell back, the uma behind him tried to overtake but Hayate slightly sped up and kept his place.
"Less stamina usage."
"Yeah, most likely for his spurt."
Just as they were about to reach the end of the turn, Hayate increased his speed again but this time he overtook the person in front of him before slowing his pace down. The person he passed picked up their pace and passed Hayate, taking their place back.
Leaving the turn, a couple of umas used the straight to increase their velocity or catch their breath. Hayate used the straight to increase his velocity, placing himself almost directly behind the 4th place uma.
The sound of his footsteps seemed to be putting pressure on the brown haired uma as she seemed to be slightly increasing her speed. She wasn't rushed but she was uncomfortable.
Reaching the last turn, a change in positions happened. The first place uma slowed down just enough for 2nd and 3rd to pass her, and 2 umas were starting to speed up.
"Those 2 are spurting too early." the blond haired trainer said, the rest of us nodded with agreement.
Leaving the last corner, I saw the boy start his spurt. He quickly caught up to the front runners and passed them but I saw another uma that was able to catch up to him. It was the brown haired uma that he was blocking earlier.
The uma was able to quickly catch up to him, they were now side by side and were quickly approaching the cut out of Hishi Amazon. The front runner that had passed them also caught up from being passed, their breath sharp but determined.
Hayate quickly put more strength into his spurt but wasn't able to get past them as they soon passed him.
"Alright, let's try and get a trainee."
"Yeah."
Stretching, I went down to the umas. I felt my shoulders pop with satisfaction from the release of stress. I knew who I wanted.
"Hey, Hayate North." I spoke out, my coworkers went over to the first place winner, obviously, which had left me with the chance to talk with the boy.
Hayate looked up, in his eyes was a burning determination that didn't seem to end. His teeth were clenching hard as I heard the sound of teeth grinding against each other. He was breathing slightly hard.
'Good stamina.'
"What do you want" his voice was traced with anger, a venom that could get someone hurt.
"I'm going to train you." I returned with a statement to his question. He looked at me with confusion but quickly laughed it off.
The kid was direct, he didn't want someone that shied away from his words or what he wanted, it's the very reason that my sister felt like she was not the right person to train him.
"Sure." He said, his voice filled with silent amusement as he gave me a smirk. He put out his hand, I looked into his eyes one more time before sealing the deal with my own hand.
------
The person in front of me was looking at me like a silent treasure. Their eyes were filled with a determination that I couldn't understand and for a split second, I almost thought that their sclera went black.
My gut was telling me that if I didn't take this chance, I would regret something for the rest of my life.
"So tell me what's my trainer's name?"
"Call me Ego for now." HIs face was filled with a large, creepy smile.
"Alright."
——-
Sorry for the long wait, my time was filled with reading and anxiety . I hope the name for the trainer wasn't bad, if there is another name you rather have than say something
Hoped you enjoyed, the next chapter shouldn't take as long to release.