"Under the moon shall our love bloom. Mystifying our hearts, none amidst our love. All shall fall for what is truly the world's truth."
*creak*
"Welcome, sisters."
In a coffee shop deep inside a Tokyo maze-like alleyway, a group of Umas enters a secret door that was just hidden behind a painting. After chanting in a low voice, the 5-meter-tall painting opens up like double doors, and a robed individual greets them on the other side. Her robe covered from neck to feet. It'll be impossible to tell what gender she is if it weren't for her voice. She was wearing a beast mask. It was a unicorn mask without the horn.
"Enlisted Alphine, Enlisted Hima, and Enlisted Ramonu."
"Greetings, Cornet Mogami."
The doors close behind them, and everything turns dark. It was only for a moment as torches lit up on either side of the room, revealing that it wasn't a room, but a hallway leading to somewhere far away.
"Before you proceed, you understand what you must do."
Three more figures come out of the dark, carrying robes and masks. The three non-robe Uma wear the robes and masks that were given to them, blending in perfectly with each other.
"Let's proceed."
The Cornet turns around and digs her feet into the cobblestone floor. The next moment, she started to run down the hallway. The rest of the Umas follow behind her, not wanting to be left behind as the torches would go out after the Cornet passed them.
This is a nice jog.
For Ramonu, following the Cornet wasn't even a challenge. She barely breaks a sweat under the robe and mask. She would appreciate it if the Cornet could go faster, but she was an Enlisted, the lowest rank in the secret society, and it would sound impolite.
After running for what seemed like 5 minutes, the group finally arrived in a large open room. The room is filled with more robed individuals, all wearing the same masks but with different patterns.
*Ring* *Ring* *Ring*
"Gather, sisters. For we are about to begin Tokyo Wahre Welt Way's ninety-seventh gatherings."
All the people moved in and created a circle around the center of the room where someone who wore the fanciest robe was standing. Gold chains, silver medallions, and bronze embroidery. The individual clearly stood out amongst the rest.
"Sisters. What do we hate the most?"
""Female Humans!!""
"Whose fault was it that we're thrown out of heaven?"
""Female Humans!!""
"Whose existence denies the law of evolution?"
""FEMALE HUMANS!!!"
"..."
Ramonu wasn't exactly in on the whole hating 'female humans' thing. She was only here to create connections. That's why she wasn't screaming as loudly as her peers.
The Wahre Welt Way is a secret society consisting of only Uma Musume. It has a very extremist ideology of hating female humans. The WWW is an international secret society that first started in Europe during the Middle Ages and then spread throughout the world. It was said that the society was created by Umas, who had their men stolen by a female human. They bond via their hatred and create a secret society.
At first, it was simply to vent their frustration, but as their numbers grew, it became a powerful echo chamber, and they soon began to act upon their hate. First harmless pranks, then gossip, harassment, and ultimately, they began working on a plan to eradicate all female humans.
The secret society quickly grew into a worldwide secret society as more and more Umas experienced their pains. Having bonded with a man, only to have him be taken by a female human.
"What do we strive against?!"
""The vitriol lies of the Femmist!!""
"Those filthy, disgraceful Femmist!! Planting their propaganda in the Bible!! Saying they're paired to men by the goddesses!!"
""Booo!!""
"What a load of bullshit!! WE WERE CREATED BY THE GODDESSES TO STAND BESIDE MEN!! THEY WERE CREATED BY THE DEVIL TO LEAD MEN ASTRAY!! LOOK AT WHERE WE ARE NOW BECAUSE OF THEM!!"
"DIE!!" "KILL ALL FEMMIST!!" "BURN THEM ALL!!"
"THOSE FILTHY WENCHES!! IF IT WEREN'T FOR THEM, WE WOULD STILL BE IN HEAVEN WITH OUR MEN!! IF IT WEREN'T FOR THEM, THERE WOULD BE NO EVIL IN THIS WORLD!!"
"MAKE THEM GO EXTINCT!!!" "NO SURVIVORS!!" "THEY HAVE TO PAY!!!"
"WE SHALL CLEANSE THIS WORLD OF THESE FILTHS!! FOR AS LONG AS UMA KINDS ARE IN THIS WORLD, WE SHALL NOT REST UNTIL EVERY ONE OF THOSE WENCHES IS DEAD!!! FOR WE ARE THE TRUE PARTNER TO ADAM KIND!!!"
""YEAH!!""
The earth shakes as hundreds of Umas stomp their feet, showing their superiority compared to female humans. Their frustration and anger are transmitted deep into the Earth's crust. Their powerful unison chant causes the air to heat up from the intensity of their emotions.
Good grief… Love is nothing more than a deadly poison…
Ramonu slips back from the crowd to get a breath of fresh air. All the screaming caused her head to ache.
"Are you okay, Enlisted Ramonu?"
"Yes. It was just hard to breathe, Cornet Mogami. My apologies."
"Don't worry. It's always like this for newcomers. Soon you'll get used to it. Come, let us enjoy some drinks."
Ramonu silently follows her senior, sneaking behind the congregation. They sneak until they reach a bar that looks like it was carved into the wall. The tables, racks, and floor were made out of the same rocks that made up the walls. Of course, the rocks it was carved into weren't ordinary rocks, they were dark granite. A tiny bit reflective and smooth, making the floor look more like an ice rink for skating.
"Don't worry. This one is on the house."
Mogami grabs one of the wine bottles from the rack and pops it open. She turned two flipped wine glasses on the counter and poured wine into them before sliding one of them to Ramonu.
"You have my thanks, Cornet Mogami."
Ramonu gracefully pinched the thin stem and brought the edge toward her mouth. She whirled the glass a tiny bit, letting some air be mixed with the precious red liquid. She sniffs the now aired wine, smelling the richness and sweetness of the aged grapes. Ramonu tilted the glass slowly and tasted the wine on the edge of her tongue.
"I do hope it is to your liking."
"It is. A perfect amount of sweet and sour. The smell is also not bad."
"That's good then."
Ramonu can't say that she doesn't know who Mogami is. Under the robe and mask, Mogami is a researcher in one of Japan's leading universities. She specialized in Bioengineering and had written some scientific papers. That was true for most of the WWW's members. They all have some kind of high-paying, highly respected, or highly influential jobs. That's the main reason why Ramonu joined the secret society.
"Cornet Mogami, this might be rude to ask, but what's the reason you joined the WWW?"
"Hmm? Aren't we all here hate the Femmist?"
"Yes, but how does your hatred start? I feel like mine wasn't as powerful as most. It was just that female humans bullied me."
Ramonu was a Mejiro. The chance of her getting bullied is almost zero, and even if she did, the bullies would never know peace in their lives after that. As previously stated, she has no hatred for female humans. She is only here for the connection, and right now, she is doing just that. Crafting a common story to relate to Mogami to get to know her better.
"Don't worry, plenty of us were bullied by them when we were little. Those wenches are the spawn of satan. They group up and mock Umas for random reasons just so they can be friends. A group of friends that needed an enemy to be friends doesn't deserve to exist."
"So it's not only me, huh…"
"Trust me. Those practice continues. I still heard Umas being bullied by those devil spawns. And the worst part, they rope in innocent boys. Men are simple. Unlike Femmist, they can thrive on a limited number of friends. They don't need a large group that sacrifices an innocent Uma to be friends. Their friendship is based on them doing stupid stuff once, and now they know they can keep doing stupid stuff together. It's extremely cute."
"I've seen several instances of those."
"It's always fun seeing men being men. Which is why those Femmists are the worst. Innocent boys who are meant to develop into young men are roped into their wicked activities, or they'll bully the boys as well. It's a harassment campaign."
"Is that why you hate them?"
"Not only that. I have someone important to me taken by them. A childhood of mine, taken by a wench. He had only just met her in university, but acted as if they had already known each other since birth. That was me!"
Mogami's anger seeps through, and she starts pinching the wine glass harder than before. Her concentrated hatred causes a tiny crack to run up the wine glass.
"That wench bewitch him!! I'll never forgive that bitch! He is now nothing more than a corporate slave because of her! He could've had a bright future if he had chosen me. That bitch defends herself by saying that a wife's task is to stay home and raise the kids. Bullshit!! People like her are why our progress as a species is slowing down! You can still work and help him! Your children spend most of their days in school anyway!!"
I see… Their vitriol isn't something to scoff at.
Ramonu had heard this kind of story plenty of times. Being in Tracen Academy, Ramonu would consistently interact with Umas who are in love with their trainers. Some of those end in a positive light, and some end would make you hang a knot from the ceiling. The trainer marrying an adult woman, the trainer marrying their childhood sweetheart, and so on. Many of the bad ends always involve their trainer being married to someone who isn't that Uma. If those women were human, it wasn't rare for the Uma to grow hatred for female humans and eventually join the WWW.
Hating an entire kind just because of a single man is stupid.
The face of Igo Heita flashes in Ramonu's mind for a few seconds. She stopped all of her movement, wondering why his face came up.
Am I concerned that he'll get taken away from me by a female human? No. That's impossible. We've vowed to be together. To be better. To be stronger. He wouldn't leave me for an inferior species. I'm faster. I'm stronger. I'm richer. I'm simply better. I don't need to worry about him leaving me for some worthless wench.
The edge of Ramonu's lips moves upward in absolute confidence. Igo Heita isn't stupid. He knows who to choose if he wants to have a better future.
But if he is stupid enough to choose an inferior species…
*Crack*