A/N: I once lied about having a depression just to get sympathy from people online. It's honestly CRINGY still thinking about it today.
Also, is it considered Emo?
____________________
Two weeks had passed since I'd begged my dad for money.
And today, finally, finally! The long awaited equipment has arrived!!!
I stood in front of my mom's house, staring at the mountain of boxes stacked in our driveway. Thank the Goddess that Jeff Bezos invented Umazon because I can't imagine going to the dock and picking this all up myself.
As I was silently looking at the boxes, Mom suddenly approached.
"Minami, what is all this?" Mom stood behind me, arms crossed, looking between me and the boxes with increasing concern.
"Training equipment, vitamins and such..."
"This much? It's practically taller than me." She grumble.
'Well, almost everything is taller than you mom...' I said in my heart, though I'll never be brave enough to say this to my mom's face or else I want to cease existing.
"...Yes."
She sighed. "Your father's money, I assume?"
"... Yeah..."
"Uh-huh." She walked back inside, muttering something about "that bastard is lying again huh."
I ignored her and started cataloging.
Heart rate monitors specifically designed for Umamusume physiology, check.
Hylofit GPS tracking systems, check.
High-speed cameras for gait analysis, check.
Biometric sensors, muscle activation monitors, check, check.
And then the stuff I'd added after much deliberation.
A soft-shell Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy chamber capable of producing 1.5 ATA (A/N: ATA means Atmospheres Absolute.) Why? Because it could speed up recovery by 25-40%, reduce muscle soreness, decrease inflammation, and accelerate tissue repair. Absolute must have. NBA and NFL players use them, and only a small amount of Umamusume trainers use them.
Supplements: Andarine S4 for muscle growth, L-citrulline for increased blood flow and performance, Beta-Alanine for endurance.
I nodded at myself and pulled out a dosage sticker I bought in Umazon and sticked them up the vitamins I bought for Luna. Because y'know what they say. Too much is really bad.
Afterwards, i pulled out my phone and called Luna.
"Minami?"
"Hey. Can you come to my mom's house? I need you to pick up some stuff."
"Stuff?"
"Vitamins and Supplements... Surprise..!" I said with lack of tone and full of awkwardness.
A pause rang out in our call.
"...I'll be there in twenty minutes."
"Great. See you soon."
I hung up and started organizing.
[HAHAHAHA! THAT WAS SO CRINGY! I CANT BELIEVE YOU ACTUALLY SAID THAT!]
'Shut up, I do these to let my inner child heal!'
Twenty minutes later, Luna arrived.
I opened the door and immediately had to suppress a laugh. Isn't this her generic outfit in the game?
She was wearing a green shirt, white pants, and red-rimmed glasses.
She looked like a dad.
"What?" she asked, noticing my expression.
"Nothing. You just... look very casual today. I'm used to seeing you in uniform or in gym clothes." I practically suppressed my laughter.
"Is that a problem?"
"No, no. It's good. Come in."
I led her to the living room, where I'd organized everything into neat piles.
"Alright, listen carefully!"
She nodded, pulling out a small notebook.
Of course she brought a notebook.
"These..." I gestured to the first pile "are your daily vitamins. Vitamin D, B-complex, magnesium, zinc. I've put stickers on each bottle with the dosage. Follow them exactly."
"Understood."
"These..." I pointed to the second pile "are your performance supplements. Andarine S4, L-citrulline, Beta-Alanine. Again, dosages are on the stickers. Don't take more than recommended. Too much is bad."
"Got it."
"And this..." I handed her a printed sheet "is your new diet plan."
She scanned it, her expression neutral.
Then she practically pouted. Though it lacked pouting, and she is more like sulking...
(A/N: I said pouting because what would I write here? "She Sulked at Minami." That's sound disgusting. I'd rather just play with the words.)
"No more greasy food?" Her eyes sparkled.
"You can have it occasionally. In moderation of course. But for the next three years, your diet needs to be clean for you to be more effective at competing at the highest level." I instructed.
Now I can't imagine Oguri being in such a strict diet plan, or else she'll really turn into a Godzilla and destroy Tokyo.
"Three years..." She looked almost mournful.
I laughed. "You'll survive. Besides, you're not a picky eater, right?"
"I'm not. I just... really like fried chicken, and miso soup..."
"Then save it for special occasions. Don't worry, I'll tell mom about it and I'm sure she'll be happy to cook for you." I smiled.
Her face brightened slightly. "I can do that."
"Good."
We loaded everything into the cart that my mom have. Bottles upon bottles of vitamins, supplements, protein powders. It looked like we were preparing for the apocalypse if I'm being honest.
Mom watched from the kitchen doorway as we wheeled the cart out. She heard everything we talked about.
"What a dictator! Your letting little Luna here consume a ton of chemicals?!" she screamed.
"Of course not. I studied this with dad! Plus some of the stuff here is already tested with Slew." I glared at her fearmongering.
Mom waved. "Alright Alright... Jeez, can't take a joke alright. But still, take care of her extra extra extra okay? Or else I'm gonna beat you up." She said while rolling up her sleeves.
"I will I will!!" Jeez, even women who aren't an Umamusume are scary...
____________________
We arrived at Luna's dorm and unloaded everything.
Her roommate still hadn't moved in, so we had the entire space to organize. I lined up all the bottles on her desk, labels facing out, dosages clearly visible.
"Remember, morning doses with breakfast, afternoon doses with lunch, evening doses with dinner. Set alarms if you have to."
"I will."
I checked my watch. 10:00 AM.
We were already late.
"Go tell your teachers you're training today. We need to get started."
She nodded and left.
I waited in the hallway, leaning against the wall.
A few Umamusume passed by, glancing at me curiously but saying nothing.
That was the benefit of the wheelchair routine, I guess. They'd seen me pushing Luna to her dorm after every training session for the past two weeks. They'd developed a weird kind of blind trust.
Plus, Luna's unapproachable aura probably helped. If I had bad intentions, they probably figured she'd have killed me by now.
Fair assumption, honestly. Umamusume is like a hundred times stronger than human males. And I'd rather not have my bones be turned to dust by Umamusumes...
...
Luna returned five minutes later.
"Ready?"
"Ready."
We headed to the Tracen Academy gym.
The gym was massive, easily on par with the American facilities I'd trained Karen at... The story goes is that the whole architecture team took inspiration of the US Tracen academy gym. Though they did not copy it outright, if you have spent a long enough time in the Tracen Academy Gym at the US, to clearly see the similarities.
Though there are difference here and there like a more High ceilings, more top-of-the-line equipment, climate control, etc etc... It's newly renovated so it's expected.
We claimed a corner spot, away from the crowds.
I pulled out the heart rate monitor and strapped it around Luna's arm.
"This will track your heart rate in real-time. I'll be monitoring it on my phone. If it spikes too high, we stop immediately."
"Understood."
"Alright. Warm-up first. Thirty minutes. Light cardio, dynamic stretching, and mobility work..."
She nodded and began
...
After the warm-up, we moved into strength training.
Inverted rows. Landmine rotational presses. Lunges. Planks. Pallof presses.
Then yoga and Pilates for flexibility.
Luna handled it all without complaint.
Actually, she never complained about training. The only thing she ever complained about was when I stopped her from training more.
Stubborn girl.
...
As we are training. I noticed other Umamusume and their trainers stealing glances at us.
Probably because of the equipment.
Or because Luna's training routine looked nothing like theirs.
Rudimentary stuff like curl ups, and such. I guess this is what my dad said when I asked specifically why American trainers look down on Japanese ones. They are too conservative and rather stick to the established culture.
I merely took a glanced at them before focusing on Luna.
Luna was doing dynamic leg swings, hip openers, thoracic spine rotations, and band pull-aparts.
At one point, an Umamusume without a trainer approached me.
"Um... excuse me?"
I looked up. "Yeah?"
"Could you... show me how to do that?" She pointed at the landmine press Luna was doing.
"Sure. Give me a sec."
I walked over and demonstrated the movement, correcting her form as she tried it.
When I returned to Luna, she was glaring at me.
"What?"
"Nothing..."
She huffed and turned away.
I just tilted my head before immersing myself on helping the uma..
Afterwards, I put all my attention on Luna. I guess that made her forget about my earlier mishap.
...
By 3:00 PM, we'd finished strength training.
Now came the hard part.
High-intensity track running.
We made our way to Circuit 20...
"Same drill as always," I told Luna. "200 meters, 15 seconds only, you are already spent so id rather have your time higher. Keep your time under that threshold. And remember, if you are tired, just tell me. Even if you don't I have your heart monitor here!
"Understood."
She took her position.
"Ready... Go!"
Click.
She sprinted.
I watched the timer.
13.2 seconds.
Good.
"Again!"
Click.
12.8 seconds.
"Again!"
Click.
13.5 seconds.
We fell into the familiar rhythm. Rinse. Repeat. Rinse. Repeat.
At 4:00 PM, I heard footsteps approaching.
"I heard there's an Umamusume doing weird workouts with weird devices. I guess it's you, Trainer-san, huh?"
I turned my head and saw the green devil, Tazuna Hayakawa.
Hayakawa Tazuna stood at the edge of the track, tilting her head with that characteristic curious expression.
"Yeah," I said, not looking away from Luna. "Those 'weird exercises' are from studies I did in the States and techniques my father taught me. We already applied them to Seattle Slew. So it's proven."
I checked Luna's time, then shouted: "Go!"
Click.
"And as a trainer, I'll do everything to improve an Umamusume. Even if that improvement is only 0.00001 seconds."
Another glance at the timer.
"I'll shoot the gun. If there's no ammo, I'll throw the gun and the magazine and use my hands."
Tazuna smiled. "That's certainly a weird analogy, Trainer-kun."
"It gets the message through, right?" I smiled at her. "Also, I told you to call me Minami. Why such a formal title?"
"Well, I'm already used to calling you Trainer-san. Plus, aren't you happy having a special nickname? I heard men become happy when a woman uses a nickname especially for them." She teased me.
I sighed at her antics. This green devil... If I saw your tail, I would've spread it all on Umastagram! "Alright. Suit yourself." I muttered.
We talked about small miscallenous things afterwards like if any Umamusume is bothering me after always going in Miho dorms, the training I did with Luna and the paper I read that got those claims.
At 4:45PM, Tazuna sighed.
"It has been a really fun conversation Trainer-san~~."
"I'll excuse myself! The bell will ring in a couple of minutes." She waved. "Good luck!"
I waved back, watching her leave.
[SHE'S WEIRD, HOST.]
'Yeah... I'm really curious if she's an Uma or not...'
Training ended at 5:00 PM.
As usual, I brought Luna to the locker room and put her through the recovery protocol.
First: HBOT. I helped her into the soft-shell hyperbaric chamber and sealed it. Ninety minutes at 1.5 ATA.
While she was in there, I organized the rest of the equipment.
When the session finished, I moved her to cryotherapy. Though it's just a fancy word for putting icepacks in your ankles but please bare with my vanity here...
Anyways, this is a standard procedure I have made. By the time we were done, it was 6:30 PM.
Luna sat in the wheelchair, looking relaxed and drowsy.
"How do you feel?" I asked as I pushed her toward Miho dorm.
"Good, but very tired..." She rubbed her eyes.
"Well, you better not sleep. You still need to eat y'know that."
We reached her dorm, and I went through the checklist one more time.
"Morning vitamins with breakfast. Afternoon supplements with lunch. Evening doses with dinner. Set alarms."
I nodded at myself, but before going I glanced at Luna. She is currently immersed in her notebook, seemingly studying.
I find it inspiring how Luna still finds time after every training to study. Being an Umamusume in central will already set you in life if you take modeling or idol works after... Still, here she is working her bones out studying calculus.
I did not disturb her peace and quiet, and directly exit the dorm.
Afterwards, I headed to the cafeteria.
Why? To hand over my diet plan. Yayoi Akikawa actively promotes this, and as such, the chef in Tracen academy are all top tier in cooking and also have degree as nutritionist. This is free. Id rather not hire a chef. I'm already clenching my wallet tightly...
I arrived at the cafeteria.
The kitchen staff was prepping for dinner service.
I approached the head chef and handed him two sheets of paper.
"This is a diet plan for one of my charges. Can you make sure she gets these meals?"
He scanned the papers, nodded. "Symboli Rudolf, right? I've heard about her. No problem."
"Thanks."
He handed the papers to an apprentice chef, who tucked them into a folder.
I left the cafeteria and headed home.
I'm already sleepy~~
____________________
The Next Morning - 6:30 AM
I arrived at Tracen early.
Why?
Because at 1:00 .A.M. one in the goddamn morning—Mr. CB had sent a message to both me and Luna:
"Come to StuCo room early tomorrow! Important! (≧▽≦)ノ"
Couldn't she have picked a better time? Like, I don't know, during normal waking hours?
I waited at the entrance of Miho dorm, checking my phone.
Fifteen minutes later, Luna appeared.
Her uniform was crisp, perfectly pressed. Hair tied back neatly. Posture straight.
"Morning," I said.
"Good morning, Minami."
"Any idea what this is about?"
"None."
We walked to the Student Council room making small talks, though Luna herself is bad at doing small talks so I usually take the iniative.
When we arrived, the door was already open.
Inside: Maruzensky, Mr. CB, Tosho Boy, Ten Point, and Green Grass.
"Rudolf-chan, Minami-kun, sit!" CB gestured enthusiastically.
We sat.
CB leaned forward, her expression suddenly serious.
Then she clasped her hands together and made a pleading gesture.
"Rudolf-chan! Please become the Student Council President!"
...
Luna blinked. "...What?"
"You heard me! President! You! Now!"
Tosho Boy directly interrupted. "Wellz this is not something we chose blindly, we also combed through a lot... Because as you know, our current StuCo President is..." She glanced briefly at CB who is blinking her eyes innocently before continuing. "... Anyways, the reason why we chose Luna is because not only does she have no dirt in her name, and having also not have any Disciplinary report on her."
"There is also reason like her grades being almost perfect. Like seriously, have you seen her exams? Only Green Grass can possibly dream of surpassing her scores." Tosho Boy sighed at herself.
I raised my hand in objection. "Hold on a minute. Isn't it too risky to let a student who hasn't even debuted yet become StuCo President? Why not let Maruzensky take over? She has experience."
The moment I said it, the room went somber.
Everyone except me, Luna, and—surprisingly—Maruzensky.
"Ara~~" Maruzensky smiled, though it didn't reach her eyes. "Sorry to burst the bubble, Minami-san, but the JURA doesn't want a foreigner like me to be StuCo President. Tough luck, huh~~?"
I stared at her.
Then mentally bashed my head against the table.
Right. How could I forget.
I looked at Luna, ready to object on different grounds, training interference, time commitment...
"I accept." Luna said.
I froze.
"Wait, what?"
"I accept the position," Luna repeated calmly.
"Nice! Congratulations, Rudolf-chan!" CB jumped up, practically vibrating with excitement.
Green Grass sighed. "We specifically prepared a whole speech for this. I was ready to do a Dogeza and everything."
"What about Rudolf's tr—" I started.
"Don't worry, Minami-san~~" Maruzensky interrupted. "Even though I can't run as president, the clause doesn't mention I can't help with paperwork, right?"
"Yes, yes!" CB nodded enthusiastically. "Me and my three senpai will help with the paperwork!"
"Indeed," Ten Point added. "We'll only be here until next year, but in the time we have, we'll do everything in our power to assist."
I looked around the room.
Everyone was smiling at me expectantly.
"...Alright."
And just like that, Symboli Rudolf became the President of Tracen Academy.
As we left the room, I couldn't help but think:
Wait. Isn't this like a dictatorship? Where's the democratic election?!
[WELCOME TO STUDENT COUNCIL IN JAPAN, BAKANAMI WHERE APPERANTLY, A STUDENT COUNCIL PRESIDENT IS STRONGER THAN THE PRESIDENT OF AN ENTIRE NATION.]
'This is insane.' Yet I know she's speaking facts.
[YOU'RE ONLY REALIZING THAT NOW?]
Fair point...
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A/N: Don't worry, I'm completely immune to hentai virus.
Btw I also heard that if you get infected by this virus, you'll get reincarnated into a hentai world? Y'all need to verify this.
P.S. Y'all be safe out there!
Ciao~~