"Mm..."

"Hon..."

"Mmn..?"

"Hone.."

"Ngh.. Who..?"

John, in a dreamlike state, "opens" his eyes and sees a girl, an uma musume, whose face is close to his. 

Her red eyes staring right at John as she caresses his cheeks.

"Honey~"

"Ah!"

John jolts awake.

He looks around. It's the plane interior.

Ryza, Jane. and Takahiro were still asleep on their seats.

"F*ck.. What was that..?"

*ding dong~*

"Wakey wakey~ We'll be landing in Tokyo in a few minutes!" Wild Sky announces using the speaker.

"""Mngh..""" everyone else begins to wake up from their nap.

"Tokyo..."  John looks out the window, admiring the clean, modern city.

'Definitely looks better than Manila City.'

John continues to look around until he spots several open grass areas.

They were turf tracks. Several large turf tracks close to each other.

"Tracen Academy..!"

*thud thud*

Takahiro leans next to John.

"Amazing, isn't it? Japan's best academy for uma musume."

"Maybe I should have looked out when we were flying over Karcen Academy, the Philippine's equivalent to Tracen, so I have a proper basis." John ends with a chuckle.

"Ngh!" 

*pop*

"Ah~" Jane lets out a satisfied noise as she stretches.

"We'll be resting the whole day. And tomorrow we'll visit the Mejiros and have dinner together." Jane says.

John turns on his phone and looks at the time.

"2:18. Is that right?" he asks his tech savvy mother.

"Yep. Your phone's clock automatically changed to the Japan timezone soon after we entered." Jane instantly replies.

'Hm... I'll have about 2 hours of outside free time once we arrive at our place. Only 2 hours since I'd rather not stay out at night the first day I land in a foreign country. '

'Maybe I should scout some places. Food, recreation, and possible training locations for myself and my future trainees.'

A sudden thought then pops up in John's mind.

He opens his phone and goes to his Gallery's Favorites folder.

'3 of them..'

Par swipes through 3 pictures of uma musume racing costumes on mannequins.

'Papa said the three uma musume who will wear these costumes will have a close relationship with me. Either a close friend or maybe... a spouse. But I can't tell which will be which. For all I know, all of them could be either.'

 'When will I meet and form bonds with them is another question. Will it be once I enter Tracen or maybe 100 years or more from now?'

*ding dong~*

"Landing in 1 minute. Please be seated and buckled up." Sky announces again.

John puts away his phone and checks if his seatbelt is still working it.

'I can only wait for for our paths to cross.'

 

=======

 

After landing at the airstrip, the four bid farewell to Wild Sky.

Thanks to Jane's meticulous planning, the remaining paperwork and such were quickly handled. 

After exiting, they were greeted by two capable-looking uma musume in black suits and shades standing in front of a black jeep.

One was fairly tall at about 5'7 with blonde hair tied into a ponytail. The other is on the shorter side at about 5'5 and had gray hair reaching down her neck.

"Welcome back to Japan, Takahiro-sama, Jane-sama" the blonde uma musume greeted in English, with a 30-degree bow.

'Her shades hide her eyes, but I can tell she's looking intently at me.' 

John looks right back at the woman, as if the shades weren't there.

'Could he see-' the blonde uma musume thought.

"Thank you for coming to get us, Top Vintage, Trim Road. I'm glad to see you two are doing well." Takahiro says with a genuine smile.

The gray hair one, Trim Road, bowed 30 degrees also.

"Yes. It has been a while, Takahiro-sama."

 "Back then, you two were only new hires. It's nice to see you two have improved so much." Jane comments.

"We appreciate the praise, Jane-sama." Trim Road replies.

She turns her head to John.

"Is he perhaps your son John-sama?"

"Nice to meet you, Trim Road-san" John reaches out his hand for a handshake.

Trim Road hesitates for a second, but takes it anyway while bowing.

'Strong.' Trim Road thinks to yourself.

After letting go, she begins to ponder.

'If it comes down to it, I'll need to be serious to restrain John-sama if need be. For a human, let alone a man, to make me think like this. John-sama is truly remarkable.'

John did the same with Top Vintage and she thought similarly.

"And this is Ryza. Ryza Cruz. She's a close friend and aide who helped us raise Parallel and John. She was also my midwife." Jane explains.

Both umamusume bowed 30 degrees to Ryza.

"Thank you for helping Jane-sama all this time!"

For a moment, Ryza was taken aback by their actions.

"Don't mention it. Friends help each other. It's only natural." Ryza replies, waving them off.

After the greetings were done, Top and Trim helped with loading the luggage into the back of the jeep and also returned the cart.

Afterwards, they all got into the jeep and drove off.

"""""........""""""

'This silence is a bit awkward.'

"Takahiro-sama, you will all be visiting the Mejiro family estate tomorrow, correct?" Top spoke out. Breaking the silence.

"Yes, we will. We'll be resting the whole day since we just got back."

'One of my identities will have to sit out visiting tomorrow. Since the Mejiro family values uma musumes more than boys, I'll probably go with Parallel Flash. Of course I'll be wearing THAT.'

"Takahiro-sama, did you perhaps educate John-sama as a trainer and also train Parallel-sama?" Trim asks.

"Yep. Pa was a great teacher. Taught me until I got my national-level trainer license."

"Is it also true then that John-sama will enter Tracen Academy as a Trainer? Even though your trainer license is from another country?"

"Yeppers~" John playfully replies.

'I feel like being cheeky right now. Heheh...'

""...."" the two uma musume fell silent. Focusing straight at the road in front of them.

Their inside thoughts however...

'What the f*ck!? That response was just so- Hmph!' both thought. 

Their faces were as calm as a sage's, but their minds were turbulent having inappropriate thoughts about this handsome, cheeky young master behind them.

"Oh, right. When will you and Parallel enter Tracen?" Ryza asks John.

John opens his phone and goes through some of his emails.

"Tracen management sent me a file on things I should know. And it says new trainers enter Tracen a week earlier than new students. That week actually started 2 days ago. If we add today's rest day and tomorrow spending time with the Mejiros, then I have 3 days left before the semester begins." John explains.

'Tomorrow I'll just use the excuse of preparing for the semester as an alibi for this alias.' 

"You did inform Tracen that you would be a few days late, right?" Jane asks.

"Yeah. I told them my flight would be today and that tomorrow I'll be visiting family I haven't seen in over a decade. A lady named Tazuna-san said that it's completely fine."

Shortly after, Top Vintage and Trim road regained their composure and wore slightly somber expressions.

"... Is it true about what happened to Parallel-sama?" Top asks.

".. Yes. She got caught in a fire when she was 13 and suffered permanent scarring all over..." Jane replies. Her expression and vibe heavy.

The car's atmosphere immediately plummeted.

'Great acting, ma!'

This is the story and premise they came up with. Parallel got into a fire-related accident and received severe burn scars all over her body to which she covers up and feels immensely insecure about that. Her voice also became hoarse, leading her to talk rarely. She wears hoodies, cloaks, and even full masks to cover up. That's how John goes about using his uma musume identity. And he will do the same while in Tracen and during races.

If asked why they don't just fix the scars through treatment, all four (or five) would say that they did, but the scars couldn't be removed entirely and Parallel stills feels incredibly insecure about them.

The car remained silent for the rest of the drive.

 

=======

 

The jeep later stopped in front of a gate of a sizable mansion.

'Bloody hell. I forgot how wealthy and successful my mama is.'

John then turns to Ryza, with a playful grin.

"Tita, should I lend a hand cleaning the house once a week?"

Ryza looks back with a smug smile of her own.

"No~ Go focus on your trainees, Torēnā*-san~" Ryza replies.

'Being called torena-san does sound pretty nice..'

"Your mama employed maids who will maintain the house, so your tita Ryza won't have to break her back cleaning the whole mansion by herself." Takahiro explained as the jeep parked in front of the mansion's doors.

"Your tita will instead just focus on cooking meals and helping mama with her work." Jane explained.

Top and Trim both exited the vehicle first and did a quick survey of the surroundings before opening the car doors for the four.

'Definitely security personnel. And those shades.. were they glowing green?'

"Top-san, are those special shades? I swear I noticed green glowing shapes on them just now."

Top Vintage then turned to John.

"Yes, John-sama. These are hi-tech smart glasses Jane-sama's company provided to the Mejiros. It can detect heat signatures, make calls, and even mark incoming projectiles." Top explained, excitement partly visible despite her professional demeanor.

'Oh, right. Mostly women are the ones fascinated by gadgets, since this is a reverse world.'

A brief thought came to John.

'Wait. Did mama prepare something similar for me? That'd be so cool if she did..!'

Shortly after, the six entered the mansion with Top and Trim opening the doors for them.

Once inside, they were greeted by the sight of a row of maids and butlers. Most of them were women with a few uma musume.

'Only three butlers, I think.'

John briefly looks back on all the times he's been 'baited' by women who looked, dressed, and acted like gentlemen.

'Femboys still exist, but they're rare even online and not nearly as popular..'

"""Welcome back! Jane-sama, Takahiro-sama! And welcome! John-sama, Ryza-sama!""" the row of servants collectively greeted.

"It's nice to see everyone again." Jane replied, with a genuine smile on her face.

"Thank you for hard work, everyone." Takahiro said with a smile followed by a slight 15 degree bow.

'I should probably say something next, no?'

"Um, nice to meet you everyone. I'm John Alvarez. Thank you for your hard work all this time. I'll be in your care." followed by a slight bow like Takahiro did.

Immediately after, there were noticeable reactions from the servants. Coughs, nudges, and fanning themselves.

"..." Jane smiled, but there was slight irritation on her face.

"Let's set some quick ground rules." Jane's voice was full of authority.

"Firstly, Parallel and John will take the connecting rooms on the left side second floor. Second, unless Par or John give their permission, nobody is allowed to enter their rooms. No. Matter. What." Jane says in a clear, loud voice. Making sure everyone heard her every word.

"""Yes, Jane-sama!""" all the servants replied. No sign of their unprofessional reactions just a moment ago.

*tap tap*

John lightly taps Jane's shoulder to catch her attention before whispering into her ear.

"Ma, how good is the soundproofing in my room?" Par asks in a whisper. Only audible to Jane.

After a short pause, Jane realizes what John meant with that question.

*ahem!*

Jane whispers back to John.

"Once the door is locked, no sound will escape. Even if someone puts their ear on the door, they won't hear anything. So don't worry and go wild when you want, son." 

"Thanks, ma..."

This interaction is a result of younger John having ordered "adult products" online and was caught by his tita who opened the package.

Fortunately, all three adults were understanding. Surprisingly, however, Takahiro was the most supportive of John's... personal private needs.

Apparently, uma musume normally have a higher libido to go along with their impressive strength and stamina.

John, at the time, was both glad and very embarrassed.

"Alright. Let's go eat. The servants have collectively prepared lunch for us." Jane says.

'Thank goodness. I'm bloody starving..' John thinks to himself.

"Ah, ma. How about Par? Will she come tonight?" John asks. Aiming to mutually create an alibi for his other alias.

"Your sister will meet us outside on our way to the Mejiros. She'll come home with us after." Jane explains.

'I see. That's the plan, huh?'

After dropping off his luggage at his new room, John had a pleasant lunch.

 

==================

Notes:
>"Torēnā" is the Japanese pronunciation of "Trainer"