When I was young, I would almost always go to watch my mother race. She wasn't anyone famous, she was, as she would call herself, just another Uma with a dream. Despite the fact that she wasn't that great, she would always be running with a smile on her face.
That was probably the first thing that sparked my interest in racing.
I would watch my mother race against other Umas with a giant smile on her face, not caring if she lost.
I remember one time that she had almost gotten first in an event that if she had won, she might've been able to transfer to central. I saw her run with all her might but in the end she still lost.
Even with her defeat, the smile on her face stayed the same. The people in the stands that were watching and cheering for her didn't waver at her defeat as the smile on her face gave some sort of hope that my young mind couldn't understand.
Seeing the sight of people still cheering for her even after her loss was something that I found beautiful, I wanted to be something like that to others as well. I wanted to be like my mother.
It was after that race that I started to train.
My mother, of course, noticed this and started to help me with it. At first, I wasn't training that hard, after all the dream I had was rather simple and I didn't think that it was difficult especially because I saw as my mother smiled at me.
The time I started to train harder was after watching a race from central.
I watched as a Uma I didn't know almost reached 1st. The fans were cheering her on, the announcer was cheering for her, talking about how this would've been her first win after multiple races. The cheers for her were loud, even from the T.V, but another Uma would come from behind and steal the win by a hair.
I watched as an uma, even after she lost, had the brightest smile on her face, waving at her fans, thanking them for cheering her on.
The fans, in turn, cheered her on and didn't boo the Uma who took the win. They just cheered with large smiles on their faces.
I saw how the Uma inspired the fans with her smile.
I wanted to be similar to the Uma.
After that spectacle, I would start to train harder than before, and I was starting to worry my mother about the immense amount of training that I was doing. I would, on multiple occasions, get scratches and cuts.
It was after watching an Uma on T.V that was about to win, got injured from over training and broke or fractured a bone, I started to pace myself.
I learned that overtraining would just make myself and the people watching upset with the results.
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"Hello ladies and Gentleman!" The announcer shouted through the mic.
"Today we are here for the Tokai Derby!" The announcer shouted with even more fever.
I watched as the people on the stands were looking with excitement on their faces. I let out a small breath, feeling like my chest was about to fall out from my chest. My ears were twitching and my tail was swishing around without my control.
I stretched my body and looked at the other racers that were here. I saw as multiple Umas were breathing rather heavily, the excitement on their faces prevalent.
I looked around to see that there wasn't anyone I was familiar with. It has been a year since I started to train again. My body has been going through a lot of training since the words of Mister Kitahara.
This was the second race I was participating in this year, the other one I had gotten 5th out of 7 racers.
I stretched my body, loosening myself.
Out of the entire 8 races I have participated in, I have only won my debut and the race after it.
I didn't want to continue losing though, I also wanted to win. I have trained my body as much as I could in the time I was given, I was currently at my strongest or so I believe.
The announcer was talking about the Uma's that had the highest chance of winning, I, of course, wasn't one of them.
Getting into the starting gate, I let out a soft sigh. I calmed my mind, moved my body into position.
The sounds of the crowd were becoming faint, only the sound of my heart beat and breath being the things that were entering my ears.
"The Tokai Derby, BEGINS!" The announcer shouted.
Hearing the inner mechanical sounds of the gates opening, I placed my foot down and shot myself forward.
The sounds of the other racers were entering my ears, I saw as some of them shot to the front of the pack.
"Front runners," I muttered to myself. "2 of them."
I focused on my ears to the sounds of those behind me. "3 behind me, 1 rather far, probably a late starter or end closer."
From the mental map in my head there were a total of 2 front runners, 4 pace chasers, and a late starter.
'I am a pace chaser.' I thought to myself as we entered the first corner.
I used this moment to slow myself slightly, this was a race course of about 1900 meters. I needed to conserve my stamina for the 4th corner.
I watched as a racer tried to block me but I pushed past them and used it to box them instead. I now had 3 people in front of me as we left the first turn. I listened to the noises behind me and noticed the sound of someone moving up, I left a mental note of this for later,
I continued holding my spot, looking at the front runners and seeing how one of them is starting to be running out of steam. I used this moment to run forward, passing the person in front of me, to apply pressure to the one running out of steam. I made my footsteps louder to make sure they knew I was here.
This seemed to have an effect on them as they seemed to become rushed as they started to run a little faster.
'I am still good.'
I slowed down my pace just enough to move in front of the person I ran past, slightly boxing them and forcing them to slow down their pace as well.
We eventually reached the last corner. Entering it, I slowed down once more suddenly, surprising and startling the racer behind me. This caused a slight delay in them as I started to pick my pace up, I quickly catched up to the front runners.
I deliberately made my footsteps louder, making it sound like I was directly behind them. This caused the already tired Umas to pick up their pace, this in turn caused the others to pick up their pace as well. I stayed at the same place falling slightly behind, into 5th.
"Will this be another failure for Hayate North!" The announcer yelled, my ears picking it up.
'No'
"I won't let it be!" I yelled, startling the other racers as we left the corner. The Final Straight, the performance of one during this usually is the determining factor in the race.
'That would be the case if everyone wasn't tired or startled.' I thought as I rushed forward, using the strength I was saving for my spurt.
I quickly passed the 4 racers in front of me, they quickly tried to pick up their pace to catch up but they couldn't. The despair in their eyes when I passed them was rather prevalent.
"Hayate North quickly passes all the other racers!"
"1, no, 2, no, 5 whole lengths in front of every other Uma!"
The sounds of the people shouting were entering my ears but I ignored them, I just moved my legs as fast as I could. I heard the sounds of the footsteps behind me leave as I continued picking up my speed.
"HE ENDS THE TOKAI DERBY WITH A 7 LENGTH LEAD!!"
I slowed myself, ignoring the sound of everything around me just to soak up the feeling I was having.
I finally won.
"The winner of this year's Tokai Derby is Hayate North!" The announcer yelled.
"What is he doing?!"
"HAYATE NORTH HAS TAKEN A BOW!!"
I heard the announcer yell as I lowered the top half of my body, crossing my legs, and moved my hands across my body.
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I was playing Uma Racing when this entered my mind.
Anyways, hoped you enjoyed and give criticism
I could have done better. This was rushed