This chapter is around the place.
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2 weeks later, January
It was a week past New Years, the festive time had already started to fade yet the joy of the holiday was still there. Umas, due to the joy being in the air, were training with smiles on their faces.
At the campus tracks, Umas could be seen wearing their training clothes. The trainers were encouraging their trainees, talking with them and teaching, telling them of their new training plans or other subjects. North was one of these Umas.
North was doing running practice, using the information he had learned from his classes and Ego. He launched himself forward, his body being leaned forward at a near perfect angle, and crossed the line that was marked by the body of Ego.
Ego was writing on the clipboard he had, the stopwatch placed on top. "You've gotten faster North." Ego said as he finished writing.
"How much?" North asked, grabbing his bottled water.
"25 seconds." Ego showed North the stopwatch he had. "2:05, good for a practice run, seeing that it is 35-ish seconds below the average."
"The case for it to go this smooth in a race is impossible." North answered, seemingly to continue on with what Ego was thinking. Ego agreed, the chance for things to be easy during a race is, basically, impossible for the level North was at.
Given that he had won with only a length in his last race, even with the fact that he was the strongest there, it showed that even with strength and speed. The chances of nothing happening would be impossible.
"When is my next race?" North asked, snapping Ego out of his thoughts.
"In 2 months, you have a race in Kyoto." Ego said, before asking a question he had in his mind. "On the topic of races, have you turned in the form?"
"Yes."
"Good, it would be embarrassing if you didn't." Ego remarked, his gaze turning to his clipboard but noticed the feeling of North staring at him.
"What is it even for?" A question mark seemed to appear over North's head.
Sighing, Ego looked up at North like he was an idiot. "It is for the new races that are being implanted due to the extensions of racing careers. It is the reason why it took so long for it to be implemented, it was due to the creation and other things that were related to those races."
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To explain, 6 years ago, 3 years before North started racing, the URA had decided to extend the period that Uma's could race. The reasoning for this is because there has been a steady incline of Uma's having longer periods of a peak and better healing methods. They didn't implant it in that year though, due to having to go through a long process.
They also needed to create new races for this, repeated races would become stale if done over and over again. This created the need to create a new series of races for the 3-5 years of racing careers.
It is more surprising that they were able to implement the new races and the extension in such a quick amount of time.
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After giving North a basic rundown of the form, and the fact that it was his way of being able to participate in the new races, Ego gave North more training to do.
North nodded, taking one more sip of his water, before leaving to do his training, leaving Ego to himself and his thoughts. 'There is also the fact that Oguri is going to participate in those races, an opportunity that North wouldn't want to miss.'
Ego knew that Oguri wanted to run in the Tokyo Derby but wasn't able to, she was also not able to participate in the other races due to not turning in the form. But now this is coming around, new races are going to appear, new challenges, and with what he has seen of her. Oguri would most definitely join this new series.
It would serve as a good way to encourage North, who was still being affected by what Ego had said before, even if he is not showing it. A soft breath left Ego's mouth, the tiredness of papers leaving his body as he thought of the future.
'A new stage for North, a new stage for everyone, including-'
"You have a rather creepy smile on your face, Ego."
'-Including the trickster beside me.'
Ego would turn his gaze to see Charles standing beside him, a sadistic smile on his face. His hair was moving despite there being no wind, the tail and ears of his being relaxed yet showed signs of preparedness that were hard to see.
"Didn't expect you to join the races." Ego kept his voice calm, turning his gaze back to North. Charles just gave him a knowing smile.
"Heh, what did you expect? It is a chance for me to actually race against Hayate." His joy was prevalent with every word that left his mouth. Yet despite the friendly tone that came with these words, the slant of his eyes showed that he had some sadistic joy in the thoughts.
Ego squinted his eyes, not letting every little change of tone and wording escape his ears. 'Charles de Loir, son of Val de Loir.'
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February 12th
In America, the news of the new races had reached 2 Uma's. They were hanging out in a dirty alleyway, the sounds of cars driving by polluted the air. They were talking with each other before one of them brought it up.
"What do you think of these new races?" A brown haired Uma said, wearing a white shirt with black pants. He was squatting, letting himself lean against the wall, while holding a piece of paper that was talking about the new series that is going to happen in Japan. His black eyes moved lazily as he looked at the paper.
"They're interesting, not something I would really care for." Beside them stood a black haired Uma, she was wearing a black and white jacket with blue jeans. She was leaning against the wall of the alleyway they were in, throwing a rubber ball against the brick wall in front of her. Her red eyes slanted as she glanced at the Uma beside her..
"They're accepting foreign Umas to join, as long as they pay the right amount of course." The words of the brown Uma made her stop, catching the ball before turning her gaze towards him.
"Now~ that sounds interesting~." A joyfully sadistic smile appeared on her face, turning the beautiful face into a monstrosity. "What do you~ think, should we join~?"
"Why not, it would be interesting." The brown haired Uma said before getting up, stretching his body after being in such a position for a while. "Oath, pay your half, I pay mine."
"Come on~, pay for me as well Light~." The black haired Uma, full name being Loving Oath, pressed herself against the brown haired Uma, fully named Star Light. She purposely slurred her words in the hopes of embarrassing him.
"Get the f#@k off me." Light pushed her away, making Oath stumble before twirling herself to a stop.
"Tch, you're no fun." she muttered to herself, as she leaned against the wall once more. She moved her hair to not get irritated by the bricks.
"And you're an idiot." Light sighed to himself before looking back at the piece of paper. "We have the qualifications, we just need to pay the money and boom, we're in."
"Alright, and when is it?" Oath said, grabbing a brush from her bag on the floor, and brushed her hair.
"The first race is in 7 months, at the Chyoko racecourse."
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Thanks for reading this short chapter, It was mostly to build on things, the next chapter will be the same.
The next race will be after that chapter, and it will be important as it will build on something.
Have a good day.