The road bends gently upward, rows of trees along the avenue beginning to thin. A staunch metallic gate comes into view, wrought-iron letters arching overhead gleam faintly in the late-afternoon sun, spires of manila colored buildings rising in the distance.
Normcore’s breath hitches.
The courtyard spreads out before her like a memory revived; neat stone paths tracing gentle arcs across trimmed lawns, dormitory windows glinting with soft reflections of the sky, the faint scent of cut grass carried on the breeze. The school bustles with a fervor as usual, loose gatherings of students scattered around the tracks.
“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” Danon Fantasy catches her astounded glance and slowly comes to a stop. An audible gulp echoes through the air as Normcore stares at the gates a second too long.
“...Yeah.” The response is a whisper, a breathless gasp that squeezes through her lips.
For a moment, she simply stands there with her duffel strap resting against her shoulder, the world narrowing to the sound of wind brushing through her hair. The last time she had walked through those gates- though she hadn’t- she had been a different person.
In the end, it doesn’t feel quite right.
“Is this your first time here?” Danon giggles.
She lets the sensation of stone beneath her settle, an expression on her face that’s more… nostalgic than astounded. She doesn’t respond yet; letting the sensation soak into her body until every muscle becomes one with the world. Finally, she draws in a deep, fresh breath and nods.
“Aha.” Danon covers a laugh with her hand. “Come on. I’ll show you around then.”
The breeze shifts gently as she passes through the gate, brushing across her cheeks, lifting a loose strand of silver hair. The courtyard opens wider, bringing into view a statue of three heads amidst a fountain. She hears commotion in the distance- the sound of sneakers thumping upon grass, of laughter, banter, the shrill whistle of trainers calling out times.
It sends a sensation of overflowing warmth through her heart.
Her ears twitch slightly as she throws glances around. Things haven’t changed much save for the faces lingering around, and even then she spots some familiars. A group of students huddle themselves beneath the row of large trees by the walkway, bags and books scattered carelessly about in the shade.
“That’s the Three Goddesses Statue.” Danon gestures toward the fountain, her voice softening with a reverence that feels almost instinctive. “I’m sure you’ve heard of them before.”
“Mm.” Norm nods. Her feet land softly on the stone, almost inching forward with soft deliberate steps, as if she’s testing the world to make sure it’ll hold her. Her duffel bag bounces lightly against her hip, a hand gingerly reaching out towards the statue. The spray of the fountain drifts in a fine mist, catching the sunlight in pale flecks. She feels a tingling sensation travel towards her fingertips- or was that her imagination?
“Amazing…” A muttered gasp floats through the air.
“They guide us when we’re on the tracks. A lot of students come to them when they’re lost.” Danon comes to a stop beside her, tilting her head with a warm smile. Her tail swishes, the fountain casting snaking lines across her skirt. “It’s said that they can make even miracles come true.”
“Is that so?” Norm turns back to her. “I thought that was a myth.”
“Well, we can all do with a little bit of believing in our lives.” Danon replies, turning on her heel as her bay-colored hair lifts in the breeze. She gestures for Norm to follow, making a beeline for the end of the walkway.
A large hall of classrooms come into sight at the end of the path, one singular large entrance at the center. The classes are mainly empty at this time of the day, blinds half drawn and desks slightly askew. Still yet, it isn’t devoid of life- Norm spots a few stragglers through the windows.
“The classrooms are here.” Danon gestures to her right. “It’s free time right now, so most of the students are roaming around.”
Normcore nods as she follows, though her gaze keeps drifting- through the windows, the fluttering blinds, packs and cliques of girls lounging and laughing about. She spots a group of girls building a tower out of playing cards.
They look… carefree. She wonders how it’d feel.
To laugh. To live. To spend an entire afternoon building something pointless, beautiful, fleeting- simply because you could.
“...And the dorms are over there.”
Danon speaks, but she isn’t listening much. Her steps slow with her realizing, her eyes fixated upon the tower that was now dangerously swaying with each breath. A girl reaches forward to place two more cards on top, slowly wobbling upon an old wooden chair that was placed beside the table. Norm’s ears twitch- once, twice, her breath hitching…
And the whole thing comes crashing down. The cards scatter like startled birds, fluttering across the table and floor in a rain of soft paper wings.
“Ah!”
A squeak escapes her before she can stifle it, turning heads as a dozen curious eyes blink back at her through the window. Heat rushes to her face so fast she swears she can hear it; her ears snap upright, then flatten; her gaze snaps away as if she’s intruded on something sacred - something private - like she was a trespasser in someone else’s moment of joy.
She scurries- nay, bolts- down the path behind Danon as laughter erupts from the window, following her through the breeze and rustling through her hair. Danon turns with a quiet, puzzled look.
“Norm?” She begins, only to be cut off with an instinctive snap.
“I-It’s nothing!” Norm blurts, her words tripping over each other in flustered, jerky bursts. “I- you said something about the dorms, right? I really need to check in with the dorm lead and- and put my stuff down and- let’s just, do that first, okay?”
Steam might as well be pouring out of her head. Her cheeks burn a bright shade of scarlet, bolting ahead with the urgency of someone fleeing a crime scene of second-hand embarrassment. She cringes so hard her tail practically curls itself between her legs, her mind already replaying the moment over and over.
“W-Wait up! You’ll trip!” Danon calls after her, quickening her pace, the soft crunch of gravel echoing behind them. Norm doesn’t slow- She presses forward, as if trying to tear open a rift in space so it could swallow her whole.
She is, ultimately, unsuccessful.
The path curves gently between stretches of clipped hedges and softly rustling trees, the gravel crunching beneath their steps in a steady rhythm. The bustle of the main courtyard slowly fades behind them, replaced by the quieter, steadier sounds of two standing dormitories. Norm comes to a stop, her breathing collapsing into short, shallow breaths. She rests her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath as Danon’s footsteps echo near her.
“What was that? What’s gotten into you?” She comes to a stop beside Norm, still upright with hands on her hips. Danon’s breaths are long, deep; her chest rising and falling rhythmically, much unlike Norm’s.
“It’s… it’s complicated.” Norm wipes her brow and stands up. She digs into her duffel, fingers pushing past spare clothes, folded socks, the faint rubber scent of training cleats. Paper crinkles underneath her hand. “Just, uh… help me find my room, okay?”
“Mm. I see.” Danon tilts her head, a soft, knowing smile tugging at the corner of her lips. “Ritto or Miho?”
“Miho… I think.” Norm flattens the letter against her palm, gingerly unfolding it before letting out an exhale. “Yeah. That’s right. You?”
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“A shame.” Danon lets out a small sigh, her tone light. “I’m Ritto. So I wouldn’t know.”
“What a bum... Looks like I’ll have to find the dorm lead.” Norm’s shoulders slump.
For a second, silence befalls the two. There’s only the soft rustling branch in the air as Norm’s body slowly recovers from its cortisol spike. The adrenaline fades, leaving her hands softly trembling upon her knees.
“...Any ideas where she might be?” She eventually asks.
“No, I wouldn’t. But we can look for her together if you’d like.”
“Yeah, sure.”
The two fall in step once more, a quiet march back out the path and into the schoolyard. The gravel eventually gives way into greenery as the two come back across the classrooms. Normcore gives a brisk scurry across, but the students aren’t there anymore.
“If I remember correctly, Hishiama-senpai’s usually up to something with Fuji-senpai or Brian-senpai.” Danon points a finger up. “As long as we follow the commotion, we should be able to find her no problem.”
“The tracks, then, perhaps?” Normcore asks.
The two make their way across to the large training ground that spans the racetracks. A singular large green ellipse comes into view, four rings of various distances coming together- 1200 meters, 1600 meters, 2000 meters, and 2400 meters. The sounds of laughter and footsteps echo through the air, though she doesn’t spot the person she’s looking for.
“Doesn’t seem to be here.”
“Let’s try the library then.” Danon points towards a building behind them.
The door swings open. Inside, the air is cool and faintly dusty. Tall shelves stand in orderly rows, broken now and then by patches of soft seating and round tables. A few students lounge in chairs or crouch over textbooks, whispering amongst themselves. One is passed out on a table.
“We’ve got lots of books here. Most of them are on racing history, but some are about race theory. Feel free to take a look.”
“ ‘Winners of the Arima Kinen.’ ” Norm pulls one off the shelves and flips through its pages. She then tosses a glance around, then cranes her neck past the study cubicles. “Hm. She doesn’t seem to be here either.”
“I figured we’d drop by since we’re so close.” Danon smiles.
A hushed, agitated whisper catches Norm’s ears. They twitch for a split second, then zone in towards the table at the far end.
“What do you mean it’s- no, you idiot! The answer is 1998!” A strained hiss comes floating through the air. The first thing she spots is the twintails- they were auburn, a chestnut shade of red, but the most prominent thing was the tiara mounted atop her head.
Daiwa Scarlet was throwing a death glance across the table, which meant that the girl sitting next to her was…
“Huh? Are you sure?” Vodka scratches her head, staring incredulously at the textbooks laid out in front of them. Her dark brown hair doesn’t quite reach the table, but they were sagging down in frustration like her ears. “I’m pretty sure it’s-”
“It’s not, I’ve told you a dozen times already! Ugh, you’re so dense!”
“That’s Vodka-senpai and Scarlet-senpai.” Danon stifles a laugh beside Norm, watching the argument boil over like a kettle. “They’re always at each other’s throats. It’s Tuesday for those two.”
“...I see.” Norm turns. Only now does she realize she’d been staring too long. “But not who we’re looking for.”
“Next stop then.” Danon nods, only for a book to fly across the air and smack into a shelf. The two spook in unison as they peel for the door. “...Q-Quickly.”
They leave the brewing storm behind, stepping back into the open air.
The sound hits first, before anything else- the whirring of treadmills, the clinking of dumbbells, the soft grunts of determined workouts. They cut across the side path, the sound of the track fading into the distance. Large, broad windows line the second floor building as the two push the sliding doors open.
“The gym.” Danon gestures.
Rows upon rows of racks, plates, machinery and equipment come into view. A large mirror is in the center, a few yoga balls scattered around the area. Norm peeks her head in, gingerly looking around as-
“Thirty-three! Thirty-four! Thirty… five!”
“Keep going, Ryan! You got this!”
Her ears shoot straight up. There, in the far corner, a large dumbbell going up the bench press over and over. Short, spiky brown hair that barely reaches her chin, with a large white streak going down the middle…
“J-Just how many pounds is she pressing?” Normcore silently counts the plates. She sees at least three on each side. “That’s-”
“That’s Mejiro Ryan-senpai.” Danon comes up to her side. “She’s a bit of a workout fanatic.” A man, probably her trainer, gingerly holds his hands out beneath the bar as it rises. Norm was getting sore just watching her move, and yet Ryan doesn’t stop for a good minute. Her movements grow faster, more fanatic, sweat glistening on her forehead as she continues one rep after the other.
“Yeah!” A victorious cry echoes through the air. “I can feel the pump already!”
“Is… she a robot?” Normcore blinks, half frozen in awe.
“Best not question it.” Danon replies. “Come on. We have a dorm leader to find.”
“R-Right.” Norm follows her back out, throwing a glance back at Ryan. She still isn’t stopping. They step back out again, cutting across a shaded corridor lined with climbing ivy.
“The dance studio’s just up ahead,” Danon says. “Though I doubt she’d be in there.”
The studio windows are tall and bright, catching the afternoon sky in pale blue sheets of reflection. Norm’s chest tightens. It reminds her, just for a moment, of the rehearsal hall from the racecourse she was at for the Unicorn Stakes. The smell of resin. The echo of footsteps.
“Anyone?” The door opens and she peeks her head in. Umapyoi Densetsu erupts like a cannon blast, the speakers rattling the frame of the door. The beat strikes straight through her sternum, pinning her ears flat as instinct drags her shoulders up to her jaw.
On the far end of the polished floor, a girl with light-brown twintails spins mid-routine, hair snapping around her like a pair of bright, chaotic ribbons. “Kimi no aiba ga! Zukyun! Dokyun! Hashiridashii~”
She’s singing at the top of her lungs, her legs kicking up behind her utterly oblivious to the two poor souls she had just rendered half-deaf in the doorway. Normcore does a quick glance around the area- her dorm leader was definitely not here.
She retreats and eases the door shut, wincing as if she had just seen the Ark of the Covenant. “Who was that?” She exhales like she’d been underwater, rubbing her temples as the song continues bleeding faintly through the walls.
“Falcon-senpai.” Danon answers softly, dabbing at her brow as if she had been dancing. “...And Flash-senpai.”
“She was there too?” Norm blinks, recalling a vague curtain of long black hair. “I… I don’t remember her being there.”
“It was quite loud, so I don’t blame you.” Danon sighs gently. “One more place before we loop back?”
They turn toward the courtyard again, the main stage rising into view. Even from a distance, Norm can see the commotion gathered around the bleachers.
“What’s that all about?” Her ears shoot upright as she makes her way over.
A unified chant echoes through the air. “Chug! Chug! Chug!” Followed by a sharp, distinct, gremlin-like voice that triggered the PTSD of every trainer in a five mile radius.
“...And our contestants are neck and neck! Who will win this round? It’s Miho, it’s Miho, it looks like Miho’s gonna go all the way…!”
She could practically see the long silvery hair. The long, round hat resting on her head. The earmuffs- or were they blinders? Either way, she was the kind of person you would never forget even if you’d met her once.
“Oh my. It looks like Gold Ship-senpai… is up to no good again.” Danon’s voice isn’t even one of disappointment. It slips out matter of factly, as if she was commenting on the weather. The two make their way over, squeezing through the crowd-
“-And there it is! Hishi Amazon takes home the win for this evening’s Dormitory gaaaaaames!” A deafening cheer goes through the air, and there she was, microphone in hand, overlooking two figures on the center of the bleachers with a suspiciously placed bottle of hot sauce and two shot glasses between them. The glasses were held, unfortunately, by her… victims, for a lack of better word.
And Norm had finally found who she was looking for.
“Ack! Agh! Uuugh!” Hishi Amazon gasps and coughs on the left, her sun-kissed skin overtaken by a shade of red. “I am never, ever doing this again! Uck!”
Her long, black hair poofs out like a feral cat, hand over mouth as she tries not to implode from the heat. Norm’s hair stands on end just looking at the bottle- that was the really spicy ones they had in the cafeteria. How in the world did Gold Ship sneak one out?
A few coughs come from the other end of the seat. Norm spots the blue and white curled string upon the left ear first, though the long hair and short curly bangs are almost a dead giveaway. It was harder to tell who was redder, but neither was having a good time.
“Khhh- *cough, cough* well… well played.” Narita Brian stretches a hand out towards Hishi Amazon, her nose scrunched up against the shadow roll she was wearing. “You beat me fair and square…”
“Told ya I could… ack- do it. Huff, huff…” The two shake hands, neither able to see through the stinging tears that were now flowing freely.
“Yes! And that settles it! Looks like Ritto dormitory will be cleaning the pool!” Gold Ship bellows through the megaphone, drawing a loud groan from the Ritto crowd.
“Oh dear.” Danon lets out a soft, resigned sigh. “They do have the most… creative way of resolving these matters, I suppose.”
“Right. I’ll just have to…” Normcore slowly squeezes through the thinning crowd that cleared its way, coming up to the bleachers with a raised hand.
“Scuse me… Hishiama-senpai?”
It takes a second for the name to cut through the ringing cheers and hoarse coughing. Hishi Amazon wipes the corner of her eyes, blinks toward the voice, and then, through sheer force of will, pulls herself upright.
“Y-yeah? Give me… give me a sec…” She clears her throat, fails, then tries again with a forced smile. “What’s up?”
Norm steps forward, unsure of what to say.
“I’m uh… I’m Normcore. I’m supposed to be checking in with you this evening..”
For a brief moment, Hishi Amazon’s expression softens beneath the heat-induced suffering. “Oh! You’re the transfer…” She brightens - then winces as the hot sauce kicks back. “R-right. Sorry. Dorm stuff. Yeah. I can- Agh- Brian, give me a minute… I’ll live…”
“Under… Understood.” Narita Brian gives a single nod, stoic even through watery eyes. Hishi Amazon laughs breathlessly and hops down from the bleacher with surprising grace for someone mid-capsaicin meltdown. She rustles through her pockets.
“Right. Here- Here's your keys… I think.” She squints at them through pure hopes and prayers. “Should be the… You know what? Screw it. I’ll just… here. Follow me, new kid.”
“Ah. O…Okay.”
Norm gives a soft shrug, waves Danon goodbye, and follows her down the path towards the dorms.
