The Trainer Heard Around the World

by N1neT4les

Summary:

Cherry is a successful trainer by all rights. Team Kamuy has some of the best racers of their generations and plenty of accolades to their name. It should be enough.
But it's not ever enough, is it?
What if she, too, could be born to run?
Thus, Cherry Dream arrived in the twinkle series.

Notes:

• Inspired by The Creation of an Umamusume by noiku

this work's concept was heavily inspired by The Creation of an Umamusume by noiku. please go and check it out!!

Chapter 1: The Dream

Summary:

The prologue. A missed training session. Confrontation. The expression of a wish.

Review days aren’t exactly the most entertaining endeavor for most teams. But they’re one of the most important parts of the process of improvement: After all, what weaknesses can you work on when you don’t know what weaknesses you have? 

For Team Kamuy, review days were usually a surprisingly fruitful and exciting endeavor. In fact, in their earlier days their trainer, Cherry, was practically dragged into them by Agnes Tachyon, the mad scientist who reveled in data. Honestly, Cherry believed she just liked seeing umas run as fast as they could, reaching closer and closer to their potential. Her foot always tapped as she sat on her swivel chair, eyes practically glued to the screen. 

On the other end of the spectrum, though, Jungle Pocket could be… Less motivated to sit through the whole screening. Sure, when the races interested her she was just as stuck to the TV as Tachyon was, if not more so. The two could even be known to fight over who gets the closer spot. But if Pocket decided that the screening wasn’t to her interest, or even if she was too excited to get back to the track, well… 

This was the situation in which Cherry’s team currently found themselves in. On one end of the room, Agnes Tachyon, her pouty demeanor supported on both flanks by Agnes Digital and Fine Motion. They, being mostly Tachyon, claimed that the others were too eager to get back to physical training and were pulling the trigger on ending the session too early. 

On the other side stood Jungle Pocket, herself flanked by Manhattan Cafe and Tanino Gimlet. All of them claimed that continuing to watch the same tapes for another hour would be a fruitless exercise: They had already gone over the critiques and praise and now needed an opportunity to put their efforts into practice. 

A tense silence draped over the room as their shouting match died down. Everybody’s gaze turned to the team assigned arbiters in the room. 

Cherry was elsewhere, mentally. The expectations of the moment placed upon her were invisible to her, and all gazes transferred unto the ever respectful yet eccentric Satono Diamond and general follower, Dantsu Flame. 

Cherry could not pay attention to this moment, for her mind was glued to the track. Watching the turf explode outwards from beneath the runners as they exploded forwards. Every instinct, trained movement, last minute adjustment she saw in their hour of training replayed in her mind as she looked out the window towards the track and all else turned into hushed noises in the back of her mind, barely heard. The noises ebbed and flowed, all a distant murmur in her hazy mind. 

The faces of the runners on the track became blurred as she gazed upon them and no small part of her filled with the constant yearning, similar to when Tachyon ran the Satsuki Sho, or her competition with Pokke at the Kikuka Sho. 

Some time passed around her before a quiet voice spoke from beside her. 

“. . . er. . .”

“Tr. . . er. . .”

“. . . erry-san?

She snaps out of her stupor and spins on her heel, looking down slightly at Manhattan Cafe in front of her. She parses the room behind her, and back towards the window. The sun was going down, and her office was now bathed in the rays of the sunset. Outside, she saw her trainees running laps around the track, now able to apply names to the faces. 

Inside, three faces looked upon her with concern. 

First, Manhattan Cafe is looking upon her with a fairly neutral expression, but Cherry had learned by this point that this particular slight frown meant a silent worry. Her grip on her coffee was tight, loosened only by the casual ruffling of her hair performed by her trainer. 

Secondly, Agnes Tachyon sat in the same chair as she had watched the training tapes in, although beads of sweat dripped down her brow indicating she had recently returned from the track. A maniacal laugh left her lips upon seeing her trainer snap back to reality, causing a thud to land against her arm and resulting in a whiny “Ow! Pokke-kuuuuun!” of protest. 

Finally, Jungle Pocket had been leaning against the door with her arms crossed and a firm gaze on Cherry. As soon as Cherry began moving, though, she relocated to stand next to Tachyon. Presumably, this was to respond to any of Tachyon’s antics, an assumption validated by the aforementioned light punch delivered to the scientist after her cackling. “What? I barely hit’cha, you’re fine.”

“Sorry everyone.” Cherry started, with her head down and a weak smile forced onto her face. “I… I don’t know what happened.” 

“Did you… See her?” Asked Cafe. 

“...No, I’m sorry. It’s something else.”

“Were you overwhelmed with some kind of emotion that inhibited your ability to remain cognizant of what’s around you?” Tachyon chirped from the back of the room, slowly wheeling her chair towards Cherry and Cafe. “If that’s the case, then you must tell me what you were experiencing! I’ve been studying how emotions can affect a racer’s performance, and while you may not be a racer yourself, you’re about as adjacent as you can get as a regular woman!” 

Cherry winced at that, ever so briefly. 

“Tachy, cool it.” Snapped Jungle Pocket, eliciting another cackle from the other. She clicks her tongue and sighs before asking Cherry a simple question.

“Are you okay?”

Cherry’s gaze flickers to the floor for an imperceptible second before she looks into Pocket’s eyes. 

“...Yes. I’ll be fine.”

“...Alright. If you say so, pal.” Pocket sighs. “Tachy, could you get the others to cool down for the day?”

“But Pokke, there’s so much more to do here! Clearly something is plaguing my dearest guinea pig! I must find out more! There are experiments to be run and data to be collected!”

“It’s not your job, Tachyon. Cafe, could you get Tachyon outta here and then get the others to cool down? They’ll go all day if we let them, and I want you to get the rest of the sundown to yourself.”

“Mm. Understood.” Cafe turns from Cherry and moves towards Tachyon, setting her coffee mug aside. 

“Wha– Hey, Cafe, leave me be! You must allow me to study her! This is hardly becoming of–” Her protesting becomes muffled as Cafe covers her mouth and practically drags her out of the office, leaving Jungle Pocket and Cherry alone for the moment. 

An uncomfortable silence drapes over the room, its monotony only broken by the humming of lights overhead. Cherry closes herself off, grabbing one arm with the other as she shifts into a more timid position. Pocket takes a step closer to her so they’re only an arms length apart and places her hands on her own sides.

“Listen, partner… I– Well, we… We all know that something’s up with you. Whether or not you tell me, it’s fine, but the team needs you to be present with us. You were spacing out for a few hours earlier.” 

“A-a few hours?!” Cherry reeled at the revelation. Hours of spacing was a new record for her. Sure, she could be forgetful at times, but she was usually able to be shaken out of it very easily. “Did none of you–?”

“No, no,” Pocket chuckled. “We absolutely tried to get your attention. You were just muttering somethin’ the whole time. None of us know enough English to understand what you were saying, hah… You were actin’ like a gargoyle.”

“But that’s not the point! You’ve been acting weirder and weirder for months now. Sure, I’m not the most familiar with you since I only joined after losing our bet, but Cafe and even Tachyon are insistent there’s something wrong with you.” She leaned in until there was only a fraction of a fraction’s worth of space between them. 

“Tach - y - on said something is wrong with you. If she notices, then there’s something really wrong. Observational skills be damned, she’s not great with emotions.”

Cherry skittered back slightly with a faint whimper before moving to her desk and falling back into a chair with a big sigh and putting her head down. Pokke takes a seat in the chair across from her, one arm resting on the table as she leans forward again. “If you need something or any kinda help… Let us help you. It’s the least we can do.” 

Another sigh from Cherry. “I–... Y-yeah, there's… Something wrong.” She moves her head to be face down on the desk, causing her next statement to come out muffled. “But it’s pretty stupid, and not worth the mental fatigue it's causing. You guys have more important stuff coming up.” 

Her face flushed slightly as she felt a hand ruffling her hair. She looked up at her trainee to see a wide, confident grin plastered on her face.

“Hey, important thing or not, you’re still our trainer! We’ve gotta look out for you, especially when Taki’s around!”

A hearty laugh from Pocket manages to alleviate some of the stress in the room and even causes a slight chuckle to come from Cherry. Yes, she had truly made a great team. She just needed to… Be great with them. 

“I… Pocket, I… I… What if I…-”

Silence lingers again in the room as Cherry begins to pout, words caught in her throat and refusing to budge. 

Her fists clench so tightly that Pocket swears if her nails were any longer she’d have drawn blood. Her entire body trembles for a moment, struggling with whatever demons ailed her.

She gasps for air and pushes the words out as if they were daggers scratching her throat, her eyes shutting and tears forming around them as she lifts her head to face Jungle Pocket instead of the desk.

“I just– I just wish I could join you all on the track! I want to feel the air against my face and the turf underneath my feet! I want nothing more than that, and I hate being stuck like… Like… THIS!” 

She motions to herself, exploding out of her seat and beginning to pace. The outburst causes Pocket to jump back a bit. She’s never seen the usually introverted and quiet Cherry like this, even in her weirdest moments. She starts to speak, but barely gets a squeak out as Cherry’s frantic voice refills the room.

“This body sucks! I’ve been fighting with it my whole life, and just when I thought I had won, this feeling shows up! Even now, when I have everything else that I could want, friends, trainees, honor, success… None of it can beat this damned feeling! This… This f-feeling… Of, just…” 

“AAAAAARGH!” Cherry screams, louder than any frustrated racer after losing that Pocket has ever heard, with more energy, more vitriol, more fire. “DAMN IT ALL! DAMN IT, DAMN IT, DAMN IT!” She lets her fist fly into her wall, causing Pocket to reach over and grab her on the shoulder.

She spins around to face Jungle Pocket with an intense, primal energy, knocking her away with one hand flying to her side and the other to clutch her chest. 

“IF I COULD BE REBORN, I’D TAKE IT IN A HEARTBEAT!”

Pocket looks at Cherry’s face dead-on in the tense aftermath of the outburst. Her trainer’s purple eyes are clouded by the tears streaking down her face, her fang protruding ever so slightly over her quivering lip. Her chest rises and falls with heavy breaths as she struggles to come back to earth in the aftermath of her outburst.

Only one thought fills Jungle Pocket’s mind in response.

If you could be an Uma… 

I’d be terrified for your rivals. 

Notes:

hello hello! i hope you enjoy this series. this is something that's been cooking in my head for a while and im excited to share it, even if its not my regular shipping fic ehe. still got some in the bg tho!! didn't wanna tag it cause it felt like false advertisement ^^; im uploading the prologue and 2 chapters to start, so i hope you all enjoy!

Chapter 2: The Elixir

Summary:

An irrational potion promising the world. An impossible promise. Unforseen consequences.

Notes:

i think i forgot to actually upload this when i uploaded the prologue. oops! hopefully all is fixed now

Agnes Tachyon is an eccentric. That much is known to everybody in Tracen Academy. Similarly, everybody knows that she makes potions and substances of all kinds, all in the name of “reaching the potential of umamusume!”

Only her closest circle knows that her goal had temporarily managed to move to the backburner. A truly magnificent feat for somebody so one-track minded about their ultimate goal. 

And yet… 

“Caaaaaafeeeeeeeeee!~ I’ve got the trial done! Come, come, I need you to try it!~” came the resounding trill of a scientist on the verge of a breakthrough alongside the screech of old chair wheels across the wooden floor. 

The classroom-turned-lab-turned-hangout-space was currently being occupied by three umamusume. In the cluttered, mad scientist section of the room where boxes stacked to the ceiling and test tubes could be found everywhere sat Agnes Tachyon. On the other side, in the much more quaint, organized, and intentionally decorated section of the room sat Manhattan Cafe and Jungle Pocket, both sporting looks of confusion.

“Why… Am I testing this..?” In response, a reasonable question comes from Manhattan Cafe’s ghastly figure.

“Yeah, Tachy, what’s this gonna do for us? It’s not like we’re the people who you wanna make this for.” Asks Jungle Pocket. She had to (begrudgingly) admit that the silence in the room had been comfortable despite her initial protests against sitting around and just waiting for Tachyon to finish her latest trial. She at least was hoping that Dantsu Flame could come by to add a little bit of livelihood, but she was busy with solo training today. Pocket was even about to fall asleep next to Cafe! But Tachyon’s laughter had murdered any possibility of drifting off, and now Pocket needed answers. 

Tachyon holds up a vial filled with an almost otherworldly pink glow and makes a circular motion with it, causing the liquid to flow around inside of it in spirals. She chuckles, looking at her two cohorts. “I believed I had told you two in our little mission briefing? But no matter! I require umamusume test subjects! While it’s true that my latest medicine has a different sort of audience, the results should still be similar between umamusume and humans! In fact, I have a specific result that I am hopeful for!”

Eyebrows raised from the other side of the room signaled her to go on, and Tachyon did gladly. “Should this particular rendition of the drug be successful for our intended audience with the most amount of likelihood, the uma test subject who takes it before her must have no discernable physical reaction!”

Pocket’s mouth drops a little bit as her brow furrows. “That… Doesn’t make sense, even for you.” A slight feigned gasp of surprise comes from Tachyon as Pokke continues thinking out loud. “Wouldn’t you… I dunno, want us to grow bigger tails, or ears, or something else of the sort? Not just… Have nothing happen?”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Dear Pokke, ooooh dearest Pokke~… No, I am not hoping for your appendages to grow, no matter how delightful of an experiment that would be… actually, would bigger ears and tails be helpful in a racing environment..?“ A slight pause. “Ah, sorry, sorry, sidetracked. I’m hopeful that absolutely none of your physical features change, not only because I… Quite enjoy… Well…”

A wave of the hands completely covered by her oversized sleeves to cast aside her embarrassment, a habit both Cafe and Pocket found themselves very familiar with at this point. “Anyways! Anyways, anyways, it’s because of our desired outcome! Tell me, Cafe-kun, what is our hope for this medicine?”

Cafe hums quietly while gazing deep into her coffee. “. . . To cheer up our trainer?”

“Correct on a technicality, but incorrect overall! Pokke-kun, your guess?”

Jungle Pocket rubs the nape of her neck with the arm not around Cafe’s shoulders. “Well, you said it was to turn her into one of us… Even if that’s completely ridiculous.” 

“Indeed! You see, in the process of theorizing how to genetically modify our trainer for the past month, I came to a realization. You see, nobody quite understands what makes umas so different from humans. Our bodies are incredibly similar, and yet not similar in the slightest! Our appetites are much higher on average than that of a human, and humans could never dream of attaining our speeds nor our explosive power! And yet I, no, we have caused my guinea pig to dream of evolution. And what does evolution entail? A change in the DNA of individuals in the population of a species over a period of time!”

“Considering the similarities, it’s completely possible that umamusume evolved from humans! Thus, it stands to reason that the altering of human genes could cause a shift from human into umamusume! So I have created a formula to do exactly that!”

Tachyon finishes with a flourish of her oversized sleeves and waits for… Something from the couch.

“. . . We’re already umamusume.” Cafe comments in response to the silence Tachyon leaves the room in after her spiel. “Our question still stands.”

“Tsk, Cafe! I at least expected you to catch on!” Tachyon responds, as an indignant “Hey!” comes from Pokke. “That’s exactly it! If nothing happens to us, then we can go ahead and give it to our trainer! That will give us the highest probability of having her turn into a healthy and proper umamusume without any defects!”

Tachyon throws her hands out at her sides in her signature triumphant pose. Her maniacal look in her eyes sends a slight chill down Jungle Pocket’s spine, but Cafe seems practically unbothered as she takes another sip of her coffee. She seemed to be thinking over Tachyon’s suggestion. 

That made Pocket worry. Normally, Manhattan Cafe always refused Tachyon’s medicines on principle unless the scientist was really desperate. But if she actually was gonna drink it… 

“Ahhhh, screw it. Gimmie some of that.” 

With a huff and a groan, Jungle Pocket jumped off of the couch and moved past Tachyon, who appeared ecstatic. She points out the correct medicine to Pocket, who briefly examines it. 

A brilliant red, clear liquid fills the vial. It almost looks like fruit punch. If she just assumed it was fruit punch, it would be a lot easier to stomach. 

“Tachy?” 

“Hmmmmm?~”

“If this kills me, I’m comin’ back from the grave to get my revenge.”

And with that, she drinks the whole vial in one motion, coughing slightly due to the very bitter taste as Tachyon can only giggle in response, not tearing her eyes off of Pocket despite covering her mouth with her lab coat’s sleeve.

A few seconds pass. Ten. Thirty. A minute. 

“Hm. Looks like you’re haunting-free, Tachy!” 

“. . . You’d always have a space available next to my friend…” Cafe commented, now standing next to Tachyon with her bright, yellow piercing eyes fixated on Pocket. 

“Hah! Thanks, Cafe. Hopefully not any time soon, though.” Pocket moves her gaze over to Tachyon, who is already scrawling down notes in a mad dash, giggling and muttering to herself under her breath. Pocket sighs in exasperation. 

“Cafeeeeeeee~! Your turn!” She says after a minute or two, thrusting another copy of the vial into Cafe’s arms. 

Cafe examines it for a moment, while Tachyon is practically hopping up and down. For once, the touch-averse Tachyon doesn’t even notice when Jungle Pocket puts her hand on her shoulder to try to keep her from bonking into the ceiling. “Tachy, I didn’t know you wer–” 

“Shhhhh! This is extraordinarily important and the final results of the test must be observed with 100% of my attention!” Tachyon barks, her mad smile never leaving her face. 

And with that, Cafe drank the strange substance whilst showing no reaction at all to the taste. Must be because of all the coffee… Pocket thinks to herself.

Again, a minute passes. And again, no reaction is observed. 

And this time, Tachyon is uncontrollable as she shows more joy and excitement than Pocket thinks she has ever shown in front of them. Her devilish grin almost reaches her ears as she shouts in victory. 

“EUREKA! MY SERUM’S INITIAL TESTING HAS BEEN SUCCESSFUL WITH NO ADVERSE EFFECT ON THREE SUBJECTS! NOT EVEN A GLOWING APPENDAGE IN SIGHT! THE FINAL EXPERIMENT CAN PROCEED AS PLANNED!” 

“GUINEA PIIIIIIIG~!” She yells in a trill as she flies out of the makeshift lab, out to the hallway and probably to the aforementioned trainer. 

Pocket and Cafe rush to the door after her, trying to catch her before she can actually escape them and do something stupid, like force-feed Cherry a serum that would alter her life irreversibly (if it actually worked, which at this point Pocket just didn’t want to test). Unfortunately, Pocket’s initial attempt at grabbing her arm only catches air and by the time they reach the door, Tachyon is already flying down the stairs, unbothered by any of the other students whom she almost knocks over like bowling pins. This number happens to include Dantsu Flame, who was knocked into a wall from the force of the wind behind Tachyon. 

She looks over at the two standing in the doorway and mouths “What??”, to which Pocket responds by shouting “We have to catch her! Run!” 

Perhaps not the best thing to shout when the Ritto dorm leader and Pocket’s greatest idol, Fuji Kiseki, is right behind them. A fact that Pocket only notices once she picks Dantsu up and looks behind her before running down the stairs. 

Shit.

“Sorry!” She shouts to Kiseki, who is already chasing after them, as she flies down the stairs next to Cafe and Flame. 

Team JAMD was apparently back to causing chaos. Pocket would have to think of a better excuse for it later than a doomed miracle drug. 

. . .

When the trio finally arrived, panting, at their trainer’s office, it was already too late. Tachyon had arrived at Cherry’s a couple of minutes before the rest of the group had, even when going at their (realistic) max speeds. Jungle Pocket practically exploded through the door with a loud thud! that echoed through the hallways. 

“TACHY, WAIT--”

The group’s faces all sink when they register the scene in front of them. The room was bright despite only being illuminated only by a ceiling fan in the middle of the room and the light from the hallway. The blinds had been closed, and across from the trainer’s desk stood Tachyon, empty vial in her hand and a wide grin plastered on her face. On the other side sat Cherry, with a small splotch of red under her lip. She seems surprised by the whole thing as she blinks twice before responding hesitantly with “U-uhm… Hey guys, what’s going on? We don’t have training today.”

Pocket storms into the room, leaving Cafe to guard the door as Dantsu flame follows her in. She grabs the back of Tachyon’s seat and shoves it to the side, almost knocking Tachyon out of it. She doesn’t even register how the other responded as she slammed both of her hands onto her trainer’s desk and stares daggers into her eyes. 

“Cherry-san. Did you drink that vial?”

Her trainer seemed to shrink a little bit. “Y-yes? Why?”

“Did Tachyon tell you what it was?”

“Ah… U-uhm, not… Not in great detail? I agreed, though, I d-don’t really mind– WOAH!” 

Cherry’s response was cut short by Pocket running around and grabbing her by the wrist, dragging her out of her seat and moving for the hallway. Tachyon stood from her seat, finally, with that ever so common gleeful expression on her face. “Pokke-kun, what are you in a rush for? We performed the preliminary experiments! The results should be within acceptable boundaries!”

“You don’t know what could actually happen! Nothing happening to us doesn’t mean you can just force her to drink the damned thing!” Pocket snaps back with a snarl. She was getting cold feet about the whole ordeal. Yeah, she’s the one who brought up their trainer’s wishes to Tachyon. But… What kind of repercussions would turning into an umamusume have? Would it be painful? Deadly? She didn’t want to find out. She moves to get Cafe to get out of the doorway, but is stopped by her worst nightmare. 

She sees her trainer wobbling in place and struggling to stand. Her eyelids flutter as her mouth hangs open a little bit, trying to push sound out but failing somewhere along the process. her body starting to be overtaken by gravity. Pocket immediately moves to catch her off of instinct, tucking her arms under Cherry’s shoulder as Tachyon notices the dire situation and moves in to hold her waist, but Cherry’s body goes completely limp as the two Umas are shifting around her, causing the two of them to be dragged down slightly to the ground. Thankfully, Dantsu Flame swoops in and assists the two by supporting Cherry’s back.

Pocket’s mind goes blank. She doesn’t even want to start thinking about the worst case scenario that could be happening right now as she sets Cherry down as gently as she can onto the floor of her office. She looks up at Tachyon. 

She doesn’t think she’s ever seen Tachyon panicked until now. 

Sounds begin to turn into a solid hum as Pocket starts falling back into her thoughts, anxiety suddenly flooding her brain.

This can’t be happening. 

Cafe comes rushing over right after Cherry falls unconscious. Tachyon is checking Cherry’s pulse. The two others are helping in any way she can. Pocket tries to shake her trainer awake a few times to no avail. 

Please, no, this can’t be happening..!

“Cherry..! Please..!”

Not even a stranger’s hand on her shoulder shakes her out of her mind’s prison, nor does the unknown person kneeling down next to her. They exchange words with Tachyon and the others, words in which Pocket doesn’t hear fully. Her gaze is only on her trainer. 

Cherry, Tachyon, what the hell were you thinking..?!

Her damned trainer and her eagerness. She would do anything for her trainees and they all knew it. Cafe knew it when she would leave training early to watch the sunset alone. Diamond knew it when she would request joint training days with Spica to spend time with Kitasan Black, and Fine knew it too with how often she convinced Cherry to splurge on ramen for her.

Tachyon knew that she would stomach almost any of her experiments without a moment's hesitation. 

When this was all said and done, Pocket would need to have a firm conversation with Tachyon about the informed part of informed consent. 

Chapter 3: The Miracle

Summary:

An extended slumber. Promises of evolution. Hope for recovery.

The medicine had been created and administered in mid-January, shortly after New Years celebrations had all been finished. 

Tachyon’s month-long suspension of access to her lab had been completed in mid-February, and Digital had won the February Stakes shortly after. Throughout this time, Team Kamuy had managed to convince the press that their trainer had contracted an unknown illness, and as such was not capable of arriving to publicly shown trainings and press conferences. 

The true reason for the disappearance of their trainer through all of this had been a mostly well kept secret between primarily their team, key members of the Tracen Academy faculty, and certain student leaders such as Kiseki and Rudolf. The press also, thankfully, neglected to report in depth on the matter outside of a few small articles of speculation by enthusiasts of Team Kamuy. After all, the trainers were never in the spotlight; That was a job for their trainees.

In reality, though, their trainer was not gone, or even in some senses of the word sick. That’s what Tachyon had apparently been telling herself. 

Instead, she repeatedly insisted that she was “evolving.” 

In the month and some odd amount of time that had passed since Cherry consumed the vial, she had developed two bumps on the top of her head and an extra growth on her lower back, all of which matched the color of her silver hair. Tachyon told the team and the superiors in the room at the time that “potentially the greatest development in the history of uma and humankind was being created in front of them.” 

She was trying her best to show a confident face, to show that this outcome wasn’t affecting her. It wasn’t working.

Dantsu Flame was the first to point out how much her hand shook every time she set it down onto their trainer’s head to “casually” check her temperature. Cafe mentioned how she would frequently find Tachyon with her laptop in their trainer’s room deep into the night. When Pokke asked Rudolf about her extended visiting hours, the student council president had simply sighed and said “As long as Tachyon-san is in there, you can visit. Which, from my experience, has been almost non-stop.”

The rest of the team had to force Tachyon to shower and take care of herself, lest Cherry wake up and wonder why somebody had died next to her from the stench alone. 

Dantsu Flame reminisced about all of this while watching the steady rise and fall of her trainer’s chest. She had followed Pocket’s path when she transferred teams to Kamuy and had found great joy in finding a group which they could get along so well with. Not to mention that the very same trainer that laid in front of her promised her that she would turn her into a winner. Turn her into a prodigy, the star of her own show. Cherry promised. 

Dantsu’s fist tightens. And then untightens as she releases the breath she was apparently holding.

She had a moment to herself with her trainer, a rare occasion these days. Her and Pocket had dropped by after watching a race and been slapped in the face with the putrid smell of rotten food and death. It turned out that Tachyon had been in the room for the past 5 days, the most recent 3 of which she did not step a single foot outside of the room. 

Dantsu giggles to herself when she recalled the mental image of Pokke dragging Tachy by the scruff of her coat as if she were an angry cat. 

“I wish you could have seen them…” Her voice is wistful and quiet, only barely taking up more space than the hushed hum of lamps overhead. 

Cherry had been relocated to the hospital nearest to Tracen Academy as soon as it was apparent that her slumber may last longer than originally believed. Everybody had hope within the initial days that delayed the transfer, due to her occasional shuffling and groaning, but it seemed to be a fluke. 

Now, Cherry laid in a barely sunlit off-white room with a green blanket covering her from neck to toe. Dantsu took note of what she could see of her trainer. 

She seemed paler than when she had been active and training them. Understandable, considering how long she had been asleep. Her… Ears had fully grown in. Dantsu felt a little put off by them, but they were a point of fascination for Tachyon and, surprisingly, Fine Motion. She seemed to be one of the members of Kamuy who had taken the news relatively well, almost showing the same amount of interest as Tachyon did, only with more nervousness about the whole affair. 

In addition, Dantsu notices the small clump of her new tail that stuck out from beneath her blanket. Normally the hospital beds would have a small hole in the bottom of them to fit an uma’s tail, but considering that Cherry… Wasn’t an uma, she hadn’t been given one of these beds. Just a bed fit for a human that didn’t fit her anymore. 

Dantsu’s gaze drifts to the opposite corner of the room from where she was sitting next to Cherry’s head and at the pile of gifts and flowers which had been left for her. The news of her coma had travelled to outside of the people who immediately knew, mostly to rival teams and members' roommates.  Dantsu briefly glanced through the names that she had recognized. From Spica, there was Kitasan Black’s wrapped gift next to Diamond’s. Silence Suzuka and Special Week had both gotten and signed an oversized carrot-shaped gift. The members of the student council had all gotten one large vase of flowers for Cherry, with a hand written note signed by them and the dorm leaders. El Condor Pasa had dropped off a small box alongside a flower that Grass Wonder claimed brought health and good fortunes. 

How lucky we are to be surrounded by such lovely friends. Dantsu hums to herself. I hope that you are able to wake up soon to see how much everyone cares about you, Cherry. 

A light knocking at the door catches her attention, causing Dantsu to turn slightly in her chair to look over her shoulder. Shortly thereafter, the president of the student council arrives flanked by Fuji Kiseki. Dantsu bows slightly in her seat while Rudolf and Kiseki raise a hand in greeting. 

“We’re not interrupting anything, are we, Dantsu Flame?” Queries Symboli Rudolf, giving the room a once over. 

“No, not at all. Please, pull up seats. We can chat for a little while! If, ah, you two have time for it.”

The two comply and pull over two swivel seats. Normally, these rooms wouldn’t have enough space for this many people to sit at once considering their cramped and generally utilitarian nature, but ever since Tachyon unofficially took over the room it had almost turned into a carbon copy of her lab back in Tracen. At least, to the extent that the nurses had allowed it and then some. Dantsu Flame occupies the space closest to the countertop, which still had Tachyon’s laptop open to some miscellaneous spreadsheet that Dantsu could never hope to understand. Immediately to her left sits Kiseki and slightly further down Rudolf in her seat. 

“It's quite the sight to not see Tachyon in here nowadays.” Fuji Kiseki comments. “What a trouble-making pony…”

“It’s clear that her accident has been having quite an effect on her.” Rudolf responds. “She’s truly an impressive young lady. But…” A sigh. “I never could have imagined something like this could happen when Cherry and I convinced her to stay in the Twinkle Series.”

Dantsu Flame giggles quietly, quickly covering her mouth with the side of her hand. “I don’t think any of us anticipated trainer-san’s eagerness to help in Tachy’s experiments to end up with her growing ears and a tail.” 

The two others nod in response but don’t respond verbally, allowing the room to become draped in a prolonged silence. Dantsu could tell they were watching the rise and fall of Cherry’s chest, silently praying for her health. After a couple of minutes, Fuji Kiseki piped up. “Have you seen anything that might indicate that she’ll wake up soon?”

Dantsu Flame pouts slightly. “No, none at all, Kiseki-san. She’s… Still quite asleep.”

“Mm.”

Again silence falls. 

Symboli Rudolf chuckles after a few minutes, immediately drawing the attention of the other two. 

“Is there something wrong, president?” Fuji Kiseki questions.

“Well… We’re sitting here in front of a young lady who is presumably turning into an umamusume before our very eyes. To grow a new pair of ears, that’s quite… Quite..!” She can’t help but snicker in the middle of her delivery and Kiseki already sighs in exasperation. “Unheard of? Eh? Ehhh? Like her ears?”

“A-ah… Ahahah…” Dantsu Flame tries to force a laugh out while Rudolf continues to chuckle at her own joke. That one seemed worse than usual… 

“Sorry, sorry, just an attempt to lighten the mood.” The president’s laughter soon subsides afterwards.

Once again, silence follows. 

“Well, I believe it’s time for us to go now.” Kiseki breaks the silence and the emperor nods along. “We were just checking up on her to see if she had woken up yet. Unfortunately, the two of us have other matters to attend to back at the academy.” 

She leans over to Dantsu Flame and gently puts her hand underneath Dantsu’s chin, slightly raising it and causing Dantsu’s cheeks to flush a brilliant red. “Do make sure to return for curfew, hm, dear pony? Tachyon has special permission now to stay, but you most certainly don’t.” 

“Y-yes! I won’t! I’ll let Pokke-chan know, too!” The pink blushy mess manages to stammer out, eliciting a smirk and nod of affirmation from her senior. 

The two make for the entrance after moving their seats back to where they had retrieved them. Dantsu Flame was about to be left in silence again until Jungle Pocket came back to retrieve her to come back to the dorms. She waves to her seniors goodbye as the door creaks behind them. 

Just before the door could click shut, however…

“Hhnnn… Mmm…” 

Dantsu Flame, Symboli Rudolf, and Fuji Kiseki all stood still where they were. A stranger would call them statues, except for how their eyes all went wide at the same time. 

Dantsu Flame was the first to turn back to Cherry. Expecting nothing, she instead got everything, noticing the quick rustling of blankets on the hospital bed and the louder, more constant groaning sound coming from beneath them. 

“T-trainer?!” Dantsu didn’t notice the door flying open behind her with a harsh thud of knob against the wall, or the sound of rickety wheels clanging along the tiled floors as Kiseki brings a chair back beside her and Rudolf stands next to Kiseki with her hand crossed and resting on her heart, grasping her shirt. Both of their mouths gaped slightly as the newly awoken patient sat up in front of them, causing her blankets to fall down and pool up at her waist. 

“Ow, owowow… Wh… Where am I..?” Cherry holds her head and winces as Rudolf reaches and grabs her free hand. “President R-Rudolf, is that you..? Wh… What?”

“Take it easy,” Rudolf puts her other hand firmly on Cherry’s shoulder and applies a light pressure downwards to keep her seated. Cherry had already started trying to swing herself over and off of the bed. “A lot happened, but you’re okay. Deep breaths.”

“Huh?” Cherry croaked, her voice uncharacteristically raspy and dry from the lack of use, causing her to grasp at her throat meekly with one hand. “W-what do you mean, a lot happened. Is Kamuy okay? T-Tachyon didn’t do anything, did she?!” 

She tries to stand again, now being forced down by Kiseki on her other shoulder. “Relax, pony, everything’s alright. We’ll explain in a moment. Just… Breathe.” 

Dantsu Flame couldn’t tear her teary eyes away from her trainer’s relapse into consciousness, but she noticed how much of a deer in headlights Cherry looked like right now. She looked scared. Her purple pupils were tiny and she was panting heavily as she looked frantically around the room, trying to figure out where in the world she was. “Am… Am I in the hospital..? W-why do I…” Her gaze turned to the IV currently in her, and Dantsu could tell even from her further back position that Cherry tensed up. 

“You…” Cherry’s eyes immediately flew to Dantsu as she began to speak, and she could tell Cherry was begging for an answer. “You passed out after taking Tachyon’s experimental drug. And, ah… I-it lasted for… A while…” 

“How… How long..?”

Dantsu Flame gulped and Kiseki averted her eyes, Rudolf responding with a sharp exhale. 

“Ah, uhm, t-two months?” 

Cherry looked as though she were going to pass out again. 

“O-on the plus side, you have a tail now!” 

Cherry’s eyes rolled back into her head as now she actually did pass out again.

Notes:

and there we have it for the initial batch! happy that Cherry is awake now ^^ im sure nothing bad will happen to her and she'll do great from now on!~