Author's Note: I am not an editor or a professional writer. I will write this and edit it to the best of my ability. I also do not own Uma Musume, which is owned by Cygames. Watch the animes and read the mangas, for they are pretty good. Finally, please enjoy.
3rd Person POV
After the outbursts caused by Hachi walking out of the room, order was finally restored. Vic was calming her team down, deciding to speak with Hachi later, while Mina was also calming her staff. Once everyone had settled, Mina returned to the podium to begin the next introduction. She soon began by saying, "Sorry, everyone, for the chaos and delay. Hachi will be getting a talking-to later. Now, next up is someone who will help calm you down, as he will keep you safe and sound from danger."
She smiled at that promise and continued, "Ladies and gentlemen, Kaito Iguro."
Soon, Mina's security guard stepped up to the podium after helping her down. He then replaced himself with another security guard to watch over the boss. Once Mina was safe, he turned to look at the audience and stated, "Hello, I was chosen to lead this security team by the boss herself. I am an ex-U.S. Marine and have worked under the Du Vaults for a decade now."
He coughed and continued, "My group was assigned to protect our boss Mina by her grandfather, as her family hires multiple security teams. She is now our main priority, and if she wants us to protect you, no one in this world will harm you. I also train every security personnel on my team, so everyone is very effective at what they do. Please make this job easier by not trying to escape your own security team, and inform us every time you are leaving the base. Now that will be all, and thank you for your time."
⸻
Kaito Iguro POV
After getting off the podium, I was glad I didn't cause an incident like most of the others. That's obviously not what I want. As a kid, I was shy and didn't want attention, and it seems that shyness is still there.
Still, if you told me back then that I would end up in the homeland of my parents protecting a genius rich girl, I would have laughed in your face.
I became a Marine because I thought they were really cool. Until the whole squadron was replaced by Uma Musume, who are physically better than any man.
Many Marines lost their jobs, so together we created a security agency. We did both security and bodyguard work, with every member being an ex-military personnel. We grew fast, having clients all over. We soon signed a contract to be one of the security firms working under the Du Vault family, as each member had one. We were assigned to the overlooked genius of their family.
Poor girl. Just because her twin sister was born an Uma, she was treated better even though she had achieved less. That's when Lady Mina decided to succeed without her family, proving her greatness to the world. She founded a new clothing company with her own cash and her own fashion tastes. She soon opened, and her line became very popular, quickly turning Dark Wear fashion into an international company. That's when her true plans were revealed: she planned to surpass her sister in the sports industry.
I was surprised at first, but I see she really wants to show everyone she's better than her sister. That she can raise her family name better than her sister. Suzu is in because she also hates her sister, and Takeshi is an opportunist, aiming to get more cash and closer to independence. Guess we're doing this now.
Thank the gods we're going to a country I was stationed in, and I'll learn their language.
Japan. My dread.
From what I hear, we're doing Free Style Racing and joining the league. This was the only place I was stationed at that didn't know what I was talking about when I mentioned the sport. This is going to be near impossible.
Setting up the team will take cash. Thank goodness our boss is rich even without her family's support.
Then there's staff—hiring workers is easy, but finding leaders you can trust to guide them is hard. Then there are the coaches and players we need to hire to make this dream possible. It's all a lot of hard work.
It's good that our boss is a savant of hard work. She looked and did everything she could to get those leaders, players, and staff she could trust on her side.
She even assigned the three of us—me, Suzu, and Takeshi—as her most trusted leaders, not only to help her run the entire organization. She got lucky, as she not only found people who needed her help, but also people from her past like Ana, and was joined by talents like Mana, Juna, and Hana. We soon formed a support and coaching team we were proud of.
Now the next problem came: finding players. It wasn't as easy as people thought.
We posted online, visited schools, and even looked internationally. They didn't want to join because we were a new team and considered weak and unproven internationally. The ones in this country thought we were suspicious or had no idea what sport we were talking about when we visited to recruit them. It was a constant flow of rejection from athletes and agencies.
Then a miracle happened—we met Ayana Hiraga, an agent we never knew would grant us a miracle in our long search.
She granted us 15 new racers who were also looking for a team. What a miracle.
Still, life is never that easy. They had demands such as good salaries and being allowed to perform well-funded shows in tournaments, which had always been an option. People just didn't do it because they wanted to maintain an image of strength and toughness that the sport demanded.
Still, we would have loved to agree, but we're not stupid enough to hire people without seeing what they can do. We requested a tryout and a performance video filmed to see their abilities.
They agreed, which was a relief to me and my lady. When they first arrived, they were predictably in awe of this gigantic place the size of an American military base. The fact that it was on the outskirts of Nara did not help with how huge the place was.
They soon got to the tryout field, and I felt them all switch into serious mode, which shocked me—making me realize they were not only athletes but also trained in combat.
I checked them out and realized they could have attacked at any time if they wanted to hurt us, but they didn't. Either they were waiting for us to let our guard down, or they meant no harm. I chose the latter, but kept an eye on them just in case they chose the former.
The tryouts began, and soon I was speechless at their physical abilities.
We tested their stats in Speed, Stamina, Power, Endurance/Guts, and Wit.
Then we tested their aptitude in track, distance, and pace. The results were interesting. They had weaknesses in some stats or aptitudes, but they were so physically strong they would blow average Uma Musume out of the water.
First was Victory Gate. She is a Late Surger and End Closer, who prefers turf but is slightly weaker on dirt, and is best in medium to long races.
Only if this were regular flats. We also tested them in relays, marathons, and mixed races. We also tested adaptability, flexibility, agility, tenacity, and creativity to cover every possibility in the league.
Victory Gate is on the high end, especially her adaptability, which is broken.
Next is Mama Blues, who is high in all stats, especially speed, except for average creativity and wit. She prefers both tracks, can run all paces, but prefers front running and pace chasing, and can run any distance.
After her is Tactical Gray, who is average in some stats, but her wit, creativity, and adaptability are insanely high. She is also a Late Surger/End Closer type who can do both track types and prefers mile to long distances.
After her is Tyrant Rose, who is broken in speed, flexibility, adaptability, wit, agility, and creativity. The rest of her stats are high like strength, stamina, and guts, but her tenacity, especially durability, is below average. She is a Front Runner and Pace Chaser, but says she can do Late Surging. We will not entertain that, because she is great on turf but below average on dirt. At least she is good at mile to long races.
After that is Great Wonder, a kind lady with high stats in everything, and who has the possibility of going higher if she weren't so kind. She is a pure End Closer who prefers turf, with dirt skills below average, and is great at medium to long marathon races. Still, her teamwork skills are broken, making her great in relays.
Next is Enduring Rain. Her Guts, Durability, Tenacity, and Stamina are insanely broken. Her strength and speed are high, but her flexibility, adaptability, agility, wit, and creativity are below average to terrible. She is hardworking, can run any terrain, and can do mile to long marathon races. She is also good at pace chasing, late surging, and end closing. I can tell she worked hard to get that good.
Next is Edged Lily, broken to high in every stat, especially speed and strength, and can do any track terrain. She can also run medium to marathon-long races and is a great pace chaser and late surger. Truly one of the strongest in the team, but she's too competitive and socially awkward, coming off as harsh sometimes.
Speaking of strong, there's Steel Valkyrie, the top of the team—broken in every stat, able to race anywhere on any track or distance. She prefers front running and pace chasing, daring anyone to face her. What a monster.
Then speaking of harsh, there's High Spice, broken in stamina, power, and guts, and high in tenacity and creativity. Her wit, adaptability, flexibility, and agility are only above average. She prefers turf, can do both fine, and only runs long to super-marathon distances. She is also only a pace chaser. I do not like High Spice as a person.
Another person that ticks me off—but I can't hate because she's telling the truth—is Imperial Punk, with all high stats but nothing too broken. She is great on both tracks, prefers turf, can run mile to long races, and is a pace chaser. Her observant and brutally honest nature still pisses me off.
Next is Black Diamond, a loud musical genius with insane creativity, speed, stamina, strength, and guts. She is great on both track types, prefers dirt, and her wit, adaptability, and flexibility are below average while agility is above average. She is also a Front Runner and Pace Chaser.
Afterward is Sweet Pollen, whose strength, guts, toughness, and tenacity are broken. Her speed and stamina are high, but her wit, adaptability, and creativity range from average to low. She is a running battering ram and can run both tracks from mile to long distances. She can also pace chase, late surge, or end close.
Next is Endless Journey, whose wit and creativity are unbelievably broken, and everything else is high. She can run both terrains, all distances, and every pace style. I feel like she hasn't shown everything yet.
Next is Norn Viking, with broken creativity, adaptability, flexibility, and wit. She is high to above average in everything else. She is a pace chaser and end closer who runs mile to long distances.
Finally, King Wild, whose creativity and adaptability might be broken, but everything else is inconsistent. She never takes anything seriously. She sprints every race full speed regardless of distance or terrain.
Other than High Spice, King Wild makes my life harder.
Next was the music video after they passed the tryouts with flying colors.
We all gathered in the theater, and I must admit I wasn't a big music fan. Music is usually cutesy these days, with anything else being buried by idol pop's fanbase. The media only promotes what they think people want, and music has grown stale to me.
The video began, and I was in awe. They later told us the genre was electronic rock mixed with R&B. They looked cool and strong instead of cute and adorable. They didn't even try to be cute—not because they couldn't, but because they didn't care to.
I also later learned Black Diamond hated pop music and followed rock like a zealot.
That's why I said he was loud but a musical genius. The last time someone publicly opposed pop music was in Boston. They tried to blow up stereos playing pop songs. The cult-like fanbase learned about it and attacked them, leading to a brutal assault and public executions broadcast live on radio. It was called the Boston Blood Bath, and it made sure pop music stayed on top for a while.
Now it seems something is coming to change things.
They're cool, slick, and modern. I've never seen a song like this, and I can tell it could be even greater with more funding and time.
Still, I smell money, revolution, and danger in this path, and it's my job to protect them.
I know the boss would never reject something this good, and with Hana's support, it's going to be big.
We soon negotiated with them, giving them high salaries, which Mina believes is fair. We also now share creative freedom and split staff control, with them controlling player hiring and firing, and us controlling staff hiring and firing. We also share funds and control event scheduling and discipline.
In my opinion, we left with a deal in our advantage. They only wanted fair salaries, protection, and the ability to perform. They have each other's backs, and I hope we can all protect each other in our own way.
After I got to know them more in the days leading up to the introduction meeting, I was assigned to each one on different days to do my job.
Now the speech is over, and I wait for the boss to do her thing.
⸻
Later
After everything else was done, I was summoned to the office. There I saw a tied-up Juna being scolded after the regular staff brought her in. Also, Hachi was explaining herself to everyone else, which seemed to be a gigantic misunderstanding.
When I entered, the boss had just finished with Juna and spoke directly to me.
"Kaito, good job out there. Now please give me your daily report."
I soon told her everything about my work today.
"Order received. The base and staff are safe and protected, with no incidents outside the meeting today. The players even talked to some staff today, while others spent time together. Coach Tsukasa is still working in his office and has been told to clock out and rest as instructed. All preparations for the upcoming training camp are finished, and preparations in Wellington are being handled by Taki Miyanaga, which is why he was not present for introductions even though he is the team's lawyer and legal head."
I caught my breath and continued.
"The training of security staff is going well, and they are entering the final stages. Background checks on upcoming interview staff have been completed. We discovered undercover agents from other clothing brands, secret service moles, and spies from members of your family. They have been removed from interviews and future hiring opportunities. Finally, all assets and operations are secure. That is all."
Mina nodded.
"Good. The reception earlier was good as well. Now all of you, line up!"
Everyone stood shoulder to shoulder in front of her desk.
She spoke again.
"Soon, the training camp and our first tournament in Wellington are about to begin."
She stood on top of her desk and continued.
"I want all of you to be ready. However, we are still missing several staff positions. We still need a Head of Research, Development, and Repair, a Head of Sales and Treasury, a Staff Overseer and Head of Inspection, and a Head of Human Resources and Discipline. That's not even mentioning assistant coaches and sponsors."
She paused.
"That's why I made a special deal moments ago."
Mina looked at the door and shouted, "You've heard everything, so please come in!"
Ayana Hiraga stepped in.
She greeted everyone.
Mina announced, "Ayana has brought us the 15 players we needed to make this dream a reality. Now I trust she can help fill the gaps in our staff and probably expand our sponsors."
Ayana smiled.
"Of course."