The heat in the park was the kind of oppressive, the three goddesses are really ruthless this day huh...
I was currently 9. Or twenty-six, depending on if you count the seventeen years I spent in my previous life before I was foolish enough to click on a pop-up ad that promised me a "truck-kun experience" for the low price of my dignity. Seriously, who clicks that? Me, apparently. And let me tell you, the bumper of a Scania is much harder than it looks in the anime.
Now, here I was: Takahashi Machiko. By the Three Goddesses what kind of name is that...
Anyways.
"Boring," I muttered, patting down a turret. "Is this the peak of my second life? Architecture for ants?"
I looked up, wiping sweat from my brow, and that's when I saw the anomaly. Standing near the swings was a kid wearing a bright pink bonnet. It was neon. And it was, quite frankly, a crime against fashion, whoever is the parents of this kid, I'll personally lecture him/her about how to damn dress a person properly and for the Three Goddesses's sake... Given it was ninety-five degrees out, why the hell are they letting their kid wear bonette? The kid looked like a pint-sized rebel who had lost a fight with a department store's discount bin.
What a weirdo, I thought. Who wears a wool-blend bonnet in this weather? His brain must be simmering.
The "weirdo" felt my gaze. They stomped over, arms crossed over a chest that was mostly just a t-shirt with a cartoon carrot on it.
"What's your problem, huh?" the kid barked. His voice was surprisingly deep for a squirt, carrying a boyish rasp. Looking closely at his face, he'll surely be a hottie when he grows up... Tsk, lucky bastard.
I didn't blink. Like damn I'm gonna let a six-year-old with a pink hat wasn't going to rattle me. "Nothing. I was just wondering if your head had melted yet. It's hot, and you're dressed like you're expecting a blizzard."
The kid's face turned a shade of red that matched the pink hat. "Mind your own business! And for your information, your sandcastle is lame. It looks like a lumpy potato."
My eye twitched. A lumpy potato? My pride as a former seventeen-year-old who once conquered the world... In Hearts of Iron 4 is wounded. "A potato? This is Gothic-inspired architecture, you brat! The Munich Cathedral, I bet you haven't even heard of that, I cant expect uncultured brats like you to hear of such magnificent place." I declared at her
"What?!" She shouted out of shock, and not out of fury. "Are you challenging me? Do you know what they call me in the block? I'm called 'The Ferocious Prince of Nagano!'" She declared proudly. I can only cringe at the sight of such meaningless grandeur.
I sighed and pointed the shovel at her.
"Yes you uncultured brat..." I destroyed my sand creation. "I challenge you..."
"Challenge accepted!" the kid shouted, dropping to their knees and digging into the sand with the ferocity. Now I can see why they call him 'Ferocious'.
I watched him dig sand. I particularly hate it, since its rough and gets everywhere but seeing her vigor... Fine, kid. You want a war? You got one.
Ten minutes later, I stood over my masterpiece. It was a refined, three-tiered fortress. Beside it, the kid had created... something. What in the name of three goddesses is that? Is that the twin towers after the plane hit them?
"Hah! Victory is mine," I declared, crossing my arms.
The kid looked at my castle, then at theirs, and let out a long, dramatic sigh that belonged in a Shakespearean tragedy. "Fine! Just because you have a little bit of skill doesn't mean you are better than me at everything!" He huffed. "The name is Fuji Kiseki by the way. Remember that, as it will etch its name throughout history!" He said with a flair of Chuunibyou... Damn, now I'm remembering my tragic pas-...
Wait a damn minute...
Fuji Kiseki. The name hit a bell in the back of my head, a distant echo of a gacha game I used to whale on, but the heat was making my memory fuzzy. I certainly know I'm in the world of Umamusume, but me being a casual player, I don't really remember a lot of things, and I certainly don't remember any trainer who is as handsome as Fuji over here...
"Takahashi Machiko," I said, my eyes narrowing.
Fuji Kiseki snorted, a grin spreading across his face. "Machiko? That's a girl's name! Are you a girl hiding in a boy's body, Machi-chan?" He said in an uncannily cute feminine voice.
Blood rushed to my face. "It's a family name! And don't call me Machi-chan!"
I didn't think. I just grabbed a handful of moist sand and launched it. It hit his pink bonnet with a satisfying thwack.
Fuji froze. For a second, I felt a pang of guilt. Takahashi, you are technically an adult. You just threw dirt at a child.
Then a clump of sand hit me square in the mouth.
"You bastard!" Fuji yelled.
The "mature" monologue in my head died a swift death. We spent the next minute in a total state of anarchy, hurling handfuls of the park's finest sand and dirt at each other until we were both brown from head to toe. Eventually, we collapsed onto the grass, panting and laughing like idiots.
"You're not bad... for a girl-name," Fuji wheezed, wiping sand from his ear.
"And you're not bad for a bonnet-weirdo," I replied.
After that, we became friend. It's weird how men will stab each other and still be friends. And here, this is basically the same situation, this dude I just threw a sand at him and he is still trying to be friends with me.
What can I say. Men will be men I guess.
We basically became buddies after that meeting at the park, playing video games, and doing stuff... It's fun if It's not basically just me trying to keep my face since I can't let a pretty boy like him thrash over me on almost every physical activity.
Good times though.
Two years later, Fuji moved away. The prince has finally departed. What a fitting end. But I still accepted it.
I said to myself, as the wind blew past me.
People come and go, and I can't just say to him to remain here just because of some selfish idea. People have reasons... Still, I'll cherish this memory. Even though you always wear that annoying pink bonette, you'll always be my brother.
I smiled as I saw the he is in disappearing.
We kept in touch through messages for a while. But then, as high school hit, the replies got shorter.
Then they stopped. I figured he got busy with sports or, you know, getting laid. I can only imagine how many girls are chasing him. Damn, how lucky. If I had his face in my previous life, I would have already been laid. Anyways, don't care about highschool romance right now.
Since i, meanwhile, had a mission. I didn't get hit by a truck just to work a 9-to-5. I studied. I sweated. I memorized more horse-girl trivia than any sane human should possess I have a pride as a transmigrator, if I don't get high score, I'll be ridiculed by my forefathers! I took the Central Tracen Trainer Licensure Exam and because I'm apparently a genius when my life depends on it i finished first in my class.
"Heaven, here I come!" I shouted as I walked through the gates of the Academy for the first time. I envisioned Tokai Teio, and... Tokai Teio and... Agamasen... John Umamsume... Hachimi... Damn my memory is shit huh, well... It's already 21 years since my transmigration, it's only normal I guess to not remember... But still, I can't let this deter me! I'll be a excellent trainer!
Reality, however, is a cruel mistress who enjoys watching you suffer.
One week in. Zero trainees. Tokai Teio is retired. The whole Golden Generation aside from Stay Gold and Seiun Sky are retired. Fuck...
I was sulking near the Ritto Dorms, wondering if I could pivot my career into carrot farming, when I rounded a corner and—CRASH!!!
I collided with someone carrying a stack of boxes. Cardboard flew. I went down hard, and the other person let out a very melodic
"Oof!"
"I am so sorry!" I scrambled to my feet, life is already making me suffer, I'd rather not get charged with sexual assult "I wasn't looking, I'm an idiot, let me help—"
I started grabbing boxes, stacking them quickly. The Umamusume I'd hit was still on the ground. She had short, stylish black hair and an aura of effortless cool, very tomboyish also, and she just possesses that charm y'know.
I peeked my head around the stack of boxes to check if she was injured.
As our eyes met, now that I'm near her, she has a beautiful jewel like blue eyes. And her expression shifted from shock to a deep, radiating blush? She stared at me, her ears twitching in a way that felt expectant?
I certainly didn't expect that the knowledge I learnt in "Umamusume Psychology and Body Language for Dummies" book is utilized this way.
"Do you..." she started, her voice lower than the average girl's, velvety and rich. "Do you remember me?"
I blinked. I looked at her really looked at her. She was beautiful. Strikingly so. Like a top-tier idol who also happened to also be strong enough to break your pelvis. Please don't question how I knew that info.
"Uh... look, I'm sorry," I said, trying to be as polite as possible while my brain short-circuited. "But I definitely haven't encountered a beautiful Umamusume like you in my life. If I had, I'd have committed it to my permanent memory banks. I think you have me confused with a different guy named Machiko." I tried to flatter her to at least not get a lawsuit in me.
The girl's blush deepened, but then her eyes narrowed. The "cool" facade cracked, and she pouted—a look so devastatingly cute it should have been illegal.
"You don't remember me?!" she shouted, her voice echoing off the dorm walls. "The sandcastles? The pink bonnet? The dirt-clod war?! The Mario Bros?!"
My heart stopped. The gears in my head ground to a screeching halt as the image of a six-year-old "boy" in a bonnet overlaid itself onto the stunning woman standing in front of me.
"I'm Fuji Kiseki!" she yelled.
My jaw hit the pavement.
"Wait... YOU'RE A GIRL?!" I screamed in pure shock.
What kind of Anime logic is this?! Are we on an anime or something?
The Prince of the Academy just glared at me, her tail lashing behind her.
"OF COURSE I'M A GIRL, YOU MORON!"
__END__
A/N: Serious. No more delays. I'll continue the Rudolf Fanfic after I get my inspiration back. So before I get one, I am just trying to write some short stories that has been in my mind. Anyways Ciao~~!
Chapter 2 and 3 will be posted. I'll try and try to remove all wrong grammar by manually putting 100 words in quill bot and editing them. I have already finished this story by the way, so yeah... And I'll not post them all at once so that I can get clout also.an