Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

King Halo had come undone before.

She used to think it crass to admit. After all, a first-rate Umamusume would never admit to being defeated. Neither would any Umamusume that she knew at Tracen. It was in their nature. Their entire lives and careers revolved around the sweet taste of victory and the bitter nature of defeat, swirling and crashing against each other like waves in a whirlpool.

But everyone got up in different ways, if they got up at all.

It was true that for some, the sting of defeat would prove too powerful, the burden too heavy. Some would sink beneath the tide and never rise again. But not her. From her first defeat at the Radio Tampa Hai, she swore this to herself as she stalked down the tunnel, anger like blood in her mouth.

Still, it was easier said than done. But King Halo had come undone before.

Not in the same way as others, like how Special Week would sob and binge on food and cling to Silence Suzuka. Absolutely not in the manner Vodka or Daiwa Scarlett would (by screaming into that hollow tree stump outside of the main building until their tears ran dry and their voices had gone). And certainly not in the way her trainer would, like when she bashed a plastic waste bin with a baseball bat until the bat shattered after King suffered a scary strain during training.

When first-rate people fell apart, it was subtle. Quiet. In a manner in which few would notice.

The first step was always to tilt your chin and put on a brave face.

“I… I don’t understand,” Special Week said, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she reread the letter in her hands to herself. “Why is your mom–”

The air had instantly left the room as others stumbled upon themselves to explain.

“Well, King Halo’s mother–” started Mejiro McQueen.

“It’s kind of a–” began Tokai Teio.

“Get me out of here!” cried Seiun Sky.

King Halo laughed, and all eyes fell to her. “Well! It seems that my mother has chosen a favorite.”

“But… Shouldn’t you be her favorite?” Special Week asked.

King Halo’s eyelid twitched.

Silence Suzuka placed a hand on Special Week’s shoulder and sighed. “It’s complicated,” she said simply.

“Nevertheless. I imagine that her endorsement of you will cause quite a stir for your team!” She bowed, maintaining her smile. “Congratulations, Spe.” With that, she tossed her hair and left the room.

From there, it was easy enough to find privacy. Haru Urara was more than happy to bring them some diet sodas from her favorite energy drink, which conveniently was across the campus. With Daiwa Scarlet and Vodka fighting in the hall again, Fuji Kiseki and anyone else for that matter was unlikely to bother her.

In the peace and confines of her room, she stood with palms pressed heavily into the desk in front of her. Staring at the cell phone in front of her like it was a loaded gun. The name of her mother stared back at her. Her name. Not mom, not mother, not mama. Her full and legal name, as it appeared on her business card. The contact was open. All she had to do was press the ‘call’ button.

Then, and only then, would King Halo fall apart.

That was when there was a knock at the door. Her ear twitched as if someone had set off a firework in the room. With a slight gasp, she shook her head and cleared her throat. A practiced (and charming) smile leapt onto her face and her perfect first-rate laugh echoed in her brain, ready for deployment from her lips.

She strode to the door confidently. It felt as if the desk behind her was on fire.

“Yes? Is that you, Urara? Did you forget your key again?” She opened the door and found herself face to face with a pair of calming eyes and an innocent smile. “O-Oh! Grass Wonder?”

“Hello, King. May we come in?”

“We?”

“Hola!”

Grass Wonder made for a good conversationalist and a better tea partner. As one would expect, she was always placid and polite, yet filled with as much wisdom and knowledge as Mejiro McQueen. Yet while her presence at the door was unexpected, the taller girl behind her enthusiastically waving was even more so.

El Condor Pasa. Grass Wonder’s roommate, best friend, and a frequent racecourse rival for the both of them. A girl who always seemed to be grinning, yelling, or doing both at the same time. While they often exchanged pleasantries before and after races, the two admittedly hadn’t crossed paths much outside of the race track. After all, they seemed to have fairly little in common beyond the similarities that drew all Umamusume to Tracen in the first place.

“Er… Yes! Of course, a king’s palace is always welcome to guests!” King Halo swept her arm back in a grand gesture and allowed them to enter. Grass Wonder drifted in seamlessly, swooping by her desk to sit at the edge of her bed.

“Thank you. And I do apologize for disturbing you when you’ve retired for the night,” Grass began, folding her hands in her lap. “But we overheard that your mother sent Special Week a letter of encouragement.”

“Yeah! That was really something of her, huh?” El Condor Pasa chimed in, opting to stand arms folded in front of the door.

King Halo scoffed. “Please, my mother is always up to such antics.”

“She does it to discourage you, doesn’t she?”

King Halo flinched. Grass Wonder simply smiled.

“King… It’s okay to be upset over this.”

“Yeah! Especially after you seized victoria at the Yayoi Sho and she didn’t even mention your performance!”

“How did you–”

“Why don’t you go out tonight?” Grass Wonder continued to smile. “It is the weekend. Our curfew is much later than usual. Training is finished for today. Perhaps you could enjoy yourself? Get your mind off things for the time being?”

King Halo froze. There was something in Grass Wonder’s eyes that made her feel this wasn’t a suggestion. “W-Well, I… A first-rate King wouldn’t be seen out by themselves!”

“Of course not!” Grass Wonder giggled. “El will go with you.”

“What?”

“Yeah!” cried El Condor Pasa, pumping her fists. “It’ll be fun! Besides, you’re one of the only competidoras I haven’t hung out with yet! I even hung out with Seiun Sky and she just slept through the wrestling match! Something about needing to save energy for when Grass came over–”

Grass Wonder stood abruptly, still smiling. “King, please. I think this will be good for you.” She leaned in close to whisper in her ear. “And don’t worry, I’ve carefully instructed El to not do anything you wouldn’t enjoy.” With a wink and a giggle, she breezed towards the door. “Have fun you two!”

“I… I don’t recall agreeing!” King Halo called too late.

“Alright!” El clapped her hands and gave her a thumbs-up. “So! Whaddya wanna do? And I know you like high-class stuff so it can be anything! Anything at all! Because tonight… is on Gold Ship! Well, her trainer to be precise. I dunno how she got his credit card, but hey!”

King Halo cleared her throat and smoothed out her dress, mind still reeling. “I… V-Very well then, seeing as I don’t seem to have a say in this matter. But, er… Where is my…”

Her eyes drifted to where Grass Wonder had been sitting.

On her bed. Next to her desk.

“... cell phone.”

Well. This will surely have consequences in the future… But perhaps it’s best not to think about these things now.

King Halo didn’t know what to make of her companion for the night. El Condor Pasa would sway and wander, picking up her pace then spinning around and waiting for King to catch up, or sometimes retracing her steps to draw closer to her. She spoke loudly and excitedly, with all the energy and brightness of a game show host.

“If it were up to me, we could go check out one of those new action movies! Or watch an Uma wrestling or mixed martial arts match! Or get some of the spiciest tacos you’ve ever seen! Oh, hey, don’t worry!” El laughed, giving her a little nudge. “It’s not up to me tonight! Grass made that… Very clear.”

The city had reached out to swallow them, as it so often did with its towers and buildings and buses and cars. King had spent most of her life within cities, surrounded by flashing lights and shouting voices. That didn’t mean it felt any more homely.

“I see. Very well! Consider yourself honored, for I will allow you to be treated by the one, the only… King Halo!” She laughed and flipped her hair back, letting it flow in the air conditioning of the mall.

El laughed at that. “Bueno. So what’s this place then?”

“Ah. This is a first-rate clothing store,” King declared with a sweeping arm. “First-rate quality, first-rate prices. Everything a king could ask for!”

El scoffed. “I knew you were gonna go stress shopping..”

“Ohoho! Then you are mistaken.”

“Eh?!”

“Watch and learn as the one and only King Halo gives you… The ultimate makeover!” With another hair toss, King marched into the store, with a stunned El quickly following.

“Hey! What’s wrong with how I usually dress?”

King scoffed, skipping right past the discount rack. “Oh, please! We may not know each other that well yet, but I’ve seen your ‘casual outfit.’”

“And it’s great!”

“No! You look like a fast food worker!” chortled King. She turned again to look over El. “Hm… Do you own many dresses?”

“Nah. Hard to fight in a dress.” El paused, tapping her chin. “Hold on. Whadda you mean, yet?”

King raised an eyebrow, halfway through a rack of jackets. “Pardon?”

“We may not know each other that well, yet,” El echoed. “What do you mean, yet?”

“Well–” The gears slowly began to turn in King’s head. What had she meant by that? “Well! It is a first-rate person’s duty to know and understand those that they rule over. I know each and every girl in my following, and if you intend to join, then I’ll do the same to you!’

“Hah!” El struck a pose, chin triumphantly lifted to the sky as her hands shot to her hips. “I am una luchadora! The strongest racer in the world! I am ruled by nobody, and nobody rules over me!”

King hummed, pulling out a short yellow skirt and considering it. “Nobody except for Grass Wonder, I suppose.”

“H-Hey!” El snapped. With a growl she turned to stick her face in the nearest rack.

“Speaking of my following, Urara needs some more socks, doesn’t she,” King sighed. “How she goes through so many I will never understand…”

“I guess you really do look out for others,” El said.

“Hm? Why, of course I do. Why wouldn’t I?”

“Well Gold Ship was telling us she thought that you had a stick up your– Oops!’

King Halo didn’t flinch as the rack of clothing that El was poking at tipped over, crashing to the ground. El however certainly did, leaping backwards with the demeanor of a startled cat but landing more like a sack of carrots. “Oh dear. Are you alright?”

“Yes… Sorry!” El replied meekly.

King couldn’t help but smile at that. Being Urara’s roommate had made reacting to crashes and falls practically a second nature to her. “No matter! We shall rectify this at once,” she declared, offering a hand to El.

The Luchadora smiled back and accepted it. “Thanks King! Maybe I’ll even find something in this mess!”

With a dignified grin, King and El got to work.

King Halo was one hell of a fashionista. The night ended in a success: El had found a red leather jacket that she thought fit the ‘luchadora style,’ and King had managed to find enough clothes for several outfits to compliment it after that.

The rest of their time was spent locating the necessary accessories to compliment it, along with a quick lesson on applying makeup correctly. I should have suspected, she wears that mask all the time. Of course she wouldn’t usually use eyeshadow.

“Why do you care so much for others?”

El’s question pulled her from her thoughts. “Hm?”

El paused, wrinkling her nose and swatting at a moth. “Earlier in the clothing store, you said it like it was obvious. Why do you care about others so much?”

King sighed quietly. It was a worthy question. Still, something about the empty streets, moonlight above, and the calm nighttime breeze made it seem all the more… weighty. She took her time in considering it, letting the echoing of their heels against the sidewalk fill the silence for a moment.

“Because it’s the right thing to do,” she finally said. “And that is the foundation of a first-rate person. There were many moments in my life when I needed someone to care. Only for there to be emptiness instead.” Her steps slowed slightly as she stared up at the stars.

“Mm. Comprendo.” El stepped in front of her, chin tilted to the sky with a confident smirk, shopping bags swaying against the motion. “To be what you felt you never had! Now that is some true fighting spirit!”

King laughed and her gaze caught El’s. For a moment, an almost silent message flashed beneath her brilliant blue eyes, so fast that King wasn’t sure if it was really there. We don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to. “It’s truly a beautiful night, don’t you agree?”

“Si! It reminds me of the last night before I left home. Mi papi pointed at the stars and said, you can see the same ones wherever you are. And you can always follow them home.”

“Home…”

King’s tail swished. She lowered her gaze again to her companion, who gazed back at her from behind her mask. El had made for surprisingly good company. She was loud and somewhat clumsy, certainly, but King had certainly seen far worse within Tracen. But… There was something else about her. Something in the way she spoke, the way she navigated their conversation… Something that King couldn’t quite place her finger on.

“...You okay?”

No. But a first-rate king would never say so.

“Of course. Perhaps we should head back?”

El nodded, and the two set off again, leaving a complicated feeling lingering within King’s stomach and the ghost of a smile upon her lips.

Chapter Text

El Condor Pasa had been scared before.

Her father would tell her not to be scared, because if anything ever happened, he would be there to protect her. And he was the strongest one in the world.

Then came the night he got hurt. She was watching his fight, like how she watched all of his fights, and all she could remember was the hush that swept over the crowd. If she closed her eyes she could replay it perfectly. The referee frantically waving to the sidelines. The commentators stumbling and stammering over their words. The medical team ducking beneath the ropes as the audience looked on sullenly.

That night, El Condor Pasa felt a fear unlike anything she had ever felt before.

Even now…

“El? Are you okay?”

El shook her head, snapping back to reality. “Wuh?!”

Grass Wonder stared back at her. “You used the whole bottle again.”

El looked down to find that her entire plate was now deeply submerged in hot sauce. “Oops. I guess I’m having spicy rice soup again,” she sighed, tossing aside the empty bottle. “Sorry, I… I was watching Umatube last night and there was a video in the suggestions about… Wrestling injuries. And of course it was in there.”

“Ah. I’m sorry, El.”

“It’s okay! I’m glad he’s still here, y’know, it just… Reminds me of that night.” El poked at her rice with her spoon, clenching her jaw. “I’ll be okay, I just don’t really wanna talk about it right now.”

“That’s okay! Well, how did things go with King Halo last night?”

El perked up, thankful for the conversation change. “Oh! I think it went well! She actually ended up buying me some new clothes. And some makeup, and perfumes, and… a lot of other stuff. Lots of stuff, really.”

Grass Wonder hummed, sipping from her teacup. “Do you think she felt better?”

El shrugged. “Well, she didn’t bring up her mom and I didn’t ask. What did you guys do with her phone?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

El raised an eyebrow. “You scare me, Grass-Chan. But… I suppose I’d like to spend some time in the ring with her!” She threw a few air punches, knocking over her glass in the process. “What kind of parent treats her daughter like that!’

“It’s a difficult situation, I’m sure,” Grass replied, wiping up the mess with some paper towels. “Oh, but we should probably get going soon.”

“Right! The racecourse waits for nobody!”

“Put your dishes away first, El! We’ve been over this! I’ll meet you at the track,” Grass chided.

El grumbled, collecting her tray and trudging to the return station.

“Ohoho! Cleaning up after yourself? Looks like you have some first-rate characteristics after all!”

“Gah! Hola, King! You always sneak up on people like that?”

King Halo laughed, hand daintily resting beneath her chin. “Shouldn’t a luchadora like you be prepared for danger from any direction?”

“You’re hardly the definition of danger!” El replied, folding her arms across her chest and smirking.

An arc of students surrounding King gasped in shock.

“Not to worry! King Halo is here to instruct you all… on first-rate banter!”

The gasps quickly turned to cheers and applause. “...Is this your famous entourage?”

“But of course! Not that I’d expect you to understand,” King said with an overdramatic sigh.

El smirked. “The Phantom Bird draws crowds wherever she goes! I sell out stadiums! Hundreds tune in to watch when I take the field!” She swept her arm outwards, as if spreading out an imaginary cape, and in doing so knocking over another glass.

The observing crowd giggled at that.

King took a step forwards, smirking wider. “Ah, but there’s a difference between being an entertainer and being a first-rate leader. But such things you can only learn from a first-rate instructor like myself!”

“Oh? Does this mean I’m part of your posse now? I don’t recall agreeing to that!”

“Would you like to be?”

El Condor Pasa had felt fear before. Grass Wonder scared her more than anyone these days, because beneath her placid demeanor, El knew that a fire was burning within her. A strange and dark force that was both captivating and beautiful. And it scared her to not know when it would come out.

But King Halo didn’t scare her.

What was scaring her was the fact that when posed with that question, she didn’t know what she was feeling. It was something in the way that she said it. Something in the way she laughed, something in those eyes that seemed to ooze with charm and pure confidence.

It was strength.

But before El could attempt to string these thoughts into words, a sharp yell came from the cafeteria door. “Hey! Don’t you all have training to do?” snapped Air Groove.

“Another time, then,” King mused as everyone behind her scurried away, shouting out apologies to the vice president. “Heading to the track?”

El nodded.

“Then I’ll see you there, El Condor Pasa.”

With a final wink, King took her leave. El exhaled, clicking her tongue. “Yes. Yes you will.”

“You better clean that up before you leave, El!”

El loved having fun. She firmly believed that if she wasn’t surrounded by people who believed the same, then she’d simply pack her things and walk out of the Academy.

“And then she said, ‘that shirt?! In public? On our anniversary?!’”

The air was crisp and clear, with the practice course decently occupied. Other students milled about, their chatter falling like leaves upon El’s ears as she continued her warm-up stretches.

“Then she slapped him! Right across the face!”

“Hah! Wow, Trainer, you really do have the best stories!” El said, crossing one arm over the other.

Her trainer shrugged. “You get to be my age, you hear things, mi amigo.”

El had definitely gotten her share of strange looks during her audition races. She hadn’t expected to be critiqued from every angle and to be bombarded with so many unwanted thoughts and suggestions. Strongest in the world? Why not the fastest? Have you considered changing your runner style to conserve energy? How much do you value video review? What’s with the mask?

The first night after, El felt a stinging sense of dejection as she sulked in her room. She should have been honored to have attracted so much attention, to have so many trainers vying to scout her. But none of them understood her and her dream. They just wanted to change her.

But Grass encouraged her to keep looking, and after a few more weeks, she finally found him. A trainer who was so committed and dedicated that he was even trying to learn Spanish. A trainer who never once questioned her claim of being the strongest in Japan, and one who had managed to tie her mask to her identity in a way she never thought possible.

“Anyways, you ready to go?”

El gave him two thumbs up. “Si! Estoy listo!”

“Bueno! Let’s have you start with some light jogs.”

El fired off a quick salute, and began moving down the track. She didn’t get far before her ears picked up another set of footsteps crunching on the track behind her. “A first-rate King never breaks a promise.”

“Impatient, aren’t you?” smirked El.

King laughed, pulling up beside her. The temptation to quicken the pace, to invite her rival to a challenge right then and there was overwhelming. But her trainer would have her head if she tried something like that, especially so close to a race. “You have a race coming up, no?” King asked.

“Si. I’m shooting for five in a row!”

“Very impressive,” King tutted.

“Aren’t you on a record yourself?”

“Indeed. The competition has been stiff, but a first-rate king will always prevail.”

“Okay King!” called someone from the sidelines. “Doing good so far, want to pick it up?”

King scoffed like the answer was obvious. “It helps having a first-rate trainer, loathe I may be to admit it.” She gave El a wink. “If we train together, you may yet learn a few things from me.”

“And if we spar, I’ll show you what true strength looks like,” El fired back before King quickened her pace, drawing ahead of El with a swish of her tail.

El wanted to follow her, to race right past her and leave that pompous king tasting her dust. But she begrudgingly kept her pace, knowing that she’d regret that move with the intense regiment the rest of the day held for her.

Still. Something about her…

She still couldn’t quite define the mysterious allure that was drawing her towards King. Those strange thoughts nipped at her until she heard her trainer call her over. “Eh? What’s up?”

Her trainer sighed, brow furrowed as he tapped away at his cell phone. “Sorry El… You know I hate to do this to you, but I got a call from Tazuna. I need to go to the Tokyo racecourse tomorrow, looks like there’s some kind of clerical issue we need to sort out.”

El nodded. “Bueno, we need to make sure everything goes smoothly! It’d be una tragedia if I couldn’t race because you forgot my paperwork,” she added with a jab at her trainer’s ribs.

“Hah! You know I’d never let that happen to you. Still, we can’t afford to waste tomorrow and I don’t need you to come with me for this, so do you think you can link up with Grass and her trainer? I’ll make you an agenda as usual.”

“Give it to me, I can run it myself!”

“Absolutely not! I still remember what happened last time I let you solo train, El!”

El folded her ears and rolled her eyes. “Ugh! Fine…” She glanced back towards the track where King was conversing with a woman holding a clipboard. “Um… But actually, would it be okay if I spent the day training with someone else?”

Her trainer looked up from his phone. “Woah, making friends, are we? Heh, of course that’s fine. Who did you have in mind?”

El grinned.

Maybe I’m the one who’s impatient.

Chapter Text

King Halo didn’t live with regrets.

It was one of several personal mottos for her. A first-rate person didn’t have time to live with regrets and dwell on their past failures. It was this belief that carried her through her first losses, and one that would surely help her through many more to come.

“Here they come now around the final bend. It looks tightly packed there in the lead, with Happy Meek in the lead, El Condor Pasa right on her heels, and Daiwa Scarlet right behind…”

“Phew. You were right, she is fast.” Her trainer stared down at the track through her binoculars, tuning out the noise of the Tokyo Racecourse around them. “I mean, we knew that already, but this is even more impressive than the training session we did…”

A first-rate person always returns the favor. That’s why King had sought out El the next day, to find some way to give thanks for her company that night. But she hadn’t expected El to pay her kindness back so immediately. She had done joint and team sessions with others before, but she had never quite experienced working with El.

Everything about her brimmed with absolute confidence. She worked through the exercises her trainer had given, and then through the other suggested ones from King’s trainer without any issue. And yet…

“Hey, check this out! I’ve been practicing coin flips!”

Everything seemed to be like a game. Heads, they’d race a sprint. Tails, a medium.

Truly, El was both a fierce competitor and an entertainer. And something about that was captivating.

“There’s not long left now– And El Condor Pasa makes her move! She’s breaking through the inside!”

The crowd roared in shock and awe.

“The power! The speed! A flawless breakaway!”

King folded her arms, squinting down at the track. The two ran similar distances, but the differences in their form and strategies was remarkable. In every exercise they did together, King found herself pushing harder and harder to keep with her, while El would just look back and smile or wink. It was equal parts captivating and infuriating.

“She’s done it! Another victory for the Phantom Bird, El Condor Pasa!”

The stadium erupted in cheers. King tugged at her trainer’s sleeve to speak into her ear. “I’d like to go down and speak with her.”

Her trainer shrugged. “Sure. You’re the one that wanted to watch this race anyways.”

The two weaved their way through the crowd until they were at the front row. El stood out easily in her signature racewear, shaking hands with her fellow competitors. She froze when she saw King in the stands.

King laughed as she watched El hop the wooden barrier and run up to the front row. “I didn’t know you were coming!”

“I was in the area,” King said, “so I figured I’d catch a race. I had no idea you were even running today.”

El rolled her eyes. “Riiiiight. Well, were you impressed?” she tossed her hair and struck another pose.

King yawned. “I fell asleep halfway through.”

“You’re no fun! And here I thought you were here to shower me in praise,” El replied, pouting.

“I would think you have the stadium for that,” King answered with a shrug.

El laughed and waved to the crowd. “I suppose! You wait, next time I bet you’ll be cheering the loudest for me.” She cupped her hand around her ear, and the cheers grew even louder. With a wink, she turned on her heel and headed back towards the tunnel.

“I didn’t think you two would get on so well.”

“Oh! Hello, Grass.”

Grass Wonder smiled, having appeared at King’s right. “I was surprised when she decided to practice with you the other day.”

“Oho! Did I make you jealous?”

Grass giggled. “Just surprised. El usually only trains with people she wants to beat, you know. You two haven’t raced against each other yet? I guess she’s impressed by you.”

“Ah, most people often are.”

“True, but El isn’t like most people.” A strange look fell over her face. “I’m glad you two get along,” she said sincerely. “Please watch out for her.”

“Hm?”

Grass gave her a bow, and slipped away into the crowd before King could ask for a clarification.

The ride back to Tracen was quiet as usual. King selected one of her favorite classical playlists and opted to scroll through her social media feeds as her trainer drove her back. “One of these days, you’re taking the train,” she remarked as they waited at a light.

“A first rate king is particular about her methods of transportation,” King replied. Her finger paused above her phone’s screen as a video of a press conference began to play.

“Congratulations on your win tonight, El Condor Pasa! It seems that you’ve taken a commanding place in the history books as one of Japan’s greatest. What are your goals for the future?”

On the screen, El grinned widely. A fire burned behind her eyes. “For the future, I aim to challenge the world! El Condor Pasa will soar high above the globe, from America to Europe and even further beyond!” She raised an arm, pointing with determination right into the camera.

“Does this mean you’re going to be taking the international stage?”

“Si!”

“We’re working on the details still,” a man King recognized as El’s trainer cut in. “Rest assured we’ll make an announcement with specifics soon.”

King’s trainer hummed. “I figured this was coming. Good for her, I think she’s got a real great shot at– Are you alright, King?”

King wasn’t sure when she had started gripping her phone so tightly. She looked up and stared out the windshield, at the empty street and the setting sun above. “El usually only trains with people she wants to beat, you know,” Grass Wonder had said. “You two haven’t raced against each other yet?

“Trainer?”

“Hm?”

“I’d like to race against her.”

There was a long pause.

“Against El Condor Pasa?”

King nodded, her eyes hardening. “If she’s going to race internationally… I want to race her while I have the chance.”

Her trainer’s face did not change, but her grip on the wheel tightened. King held her breath.

It was difficult at first to find a trainer who didn’t bring up her mother’s accomplishments. So many told her that they could train her like her mother once trained, and King immediately turned them away without a second thought. Then one night, after another hectic day of being shouted and called at, King realized that one had somehow slipped a business card into her bag.

Intrigued, she granted the trainer a one on one meeting, in which she was very impressed with the way the woman understood her goals, wishes, and desires. She signed the contract on the spot and never looked back.

Her trainer was an incredibly thoughtful woman, who always made it clear to King what she wanted to do and why she wanted to do it. Truly, first-rate qualities, even if it meant that she would oftentime slip into lapses of silence as her brain whirled quietly like a computer.

“Hm.” Her trainer’s eyes remained locked through the windshield as the light changed, and the car rolled forwards again. “I see. May I think out loud for a moment?”

King nodded again.

“Off the top of my head, our schedule isn’t lining up with her’s. I know right now you both run mediums, but we discussed branching out and trying sprints and other races. I don’t know immediately what her next race is, but I believe it’s soon, and you’re still pretty fresh off your last one… My gut reaction is that it’d be a bad idea to try and force another one just so you can race her.”

King fidgeted in her seat, biting her tongue as her trainer spoke.

“It isn’t impossible, of course. But either way she’d be very hard to beat, especially if we were doing a mile or a medium. And I don’t really see her doing a race outside of her specialty before she leaves the country.” Her trainer paused, eyes flicking to King for a moment. “...But you want to do this.”

“I do.”

“So you’re serious.” Her trainer hummed, slowly licking her lips. “Okay… Then that would leave a mock race. Obviously it isn’t the same thing as running a real, official race with her, but it logistically makes the most sense. It wouldn’t be seamless and we’d have to make adjustments to your regimen, but I think that path is a lot less disruptive than rescheduling you.”

A mock race. A one-on-one. Her and El.

“I– I think I’d like that.”

“You’re sure you wanna do this?”

“I am.”

Her trainer exhaled, then smiled. “Then if you’re sure, you’re sure. Okay. I’ll draft up a challenge letter tonight and get in touch with her trainer.”

King leaned back in her seat. “Thank you, trainer.”

“Sure, but… What brought this on?”

King laughed quietly. “I’d regret it if I didn’t try.”

I’ll see you soon, El.

The office was silent, save for the occasional crinkle of paper.

King held her breath like she was under water, not daring to move a muscle.

“I… see,” El’s trainer said.

“I know,” King’s trainer replied. “It never changes, huh? That sense of pride when you get one. Knowing that someone out there wants to take you on. That’s why I always hand deliver them. Can’t believe some trainers now send them over email.”

El’s trainer laughed good-naturedly. “Was this your idea or hers?”

“Hers.”

King stifled a growl. It’d do no good to accuse her trainer of betraying her when she was meant to be hiding in the hallway.

“I gotta say, I’m a bit surprised. Usually I’m talking to Grass Wonder’s trainer, or sometimes Seiun Sky’s or Special Week’s. I just… What brought this on?”

“Honestly? I was hoping you’d know. I guess they’re friends now.” An office chair creaked as someone sat down. “I wasn’t totally convinced about a race but… new friends are good for Halo. So are new rivals.”

“You sap,” King muttered.

“Right. Rivals. Friends.” The two trainers laughed, although King had no idea what was so funny.

“I didn’t want to say anything!” King’s trainer said. “But yes. If I asked her, I’m sure that’s what she’d say.”

“Well, we’ve both been in this game long enough to know how that goes.” The floorboards creaked as someone began walking. “For me, I have no problems with accepting this, it should slot pretty well into El’s schedule. I’d like to run it by her first. I can’t imagine she’d say no, but I know how she can be when I sign her up for things without telling her.”

King lightly chewed on her lip, heart in her.

“What are you doing?!”

“Hng!” Her light chewing turned into a heavy bite as she whirled around. El Condor Pasa was standing behind her, head slightly tilted and blue eyes wide and curious. “E-El!” snapped King. “Don’t sneak up on someone like that!”

“You didn’t hear me coming? That’s a first! I guess my ‘casual walking’ is getting better, Grass will be glad to hear that.”

“Quiet down!”

El furrowed her brow. “Por qué?”

The door to the trainer’s meeting room slid open. “El! Good timing, you’ve been… challenged.”

“King? What are you doing out here?”

El’s ears perked up as King tried to hide her blush. “Eh? A challenger, to the great El?” She dropped down into a fighting pose. “Bring it on! Who dares to challenge the mighty El Condor Pasa? I hope it’s Narita Brian! Ooo, or Symboli Rudolph! Or–”

“She’s standing right next to you,” El’s trainer said with a wry grin.

“Y-Yes! King drew herself up to full height. “I, King Halo, am extending you the highest of honors: to face me, the first-rate racer, in a mock race! Will you join me on a track to defend your honor? Or will you slink away in fear and take solace internationally, in the faint hope that I will not find you!”

“Hah! Is that so? Then I accept this challenge!” El responded with a massive grin. “I’m gonna make you eat those words, King!”

“Oho! Then it is settled then!”

“I guess it is,” muttered King’s trainer.

“...They weren’t kidding, Tracen is full of characters,” El’s trainer whispered back.

El extended a hand, and King shook it. “See you on the course. And try not to cry when you lose,” El declared.

“It would be my honor to hand you your first loss, even if it’s unofficially,” King declared with a grin.

“Bring it on, King. Bring it on!”

Chapter Text

El was never one to shy away from attention.

“Woah! A challenge, from King Halo?”

“That’s awesome! Are you scared?”

“Peculiar. It’s most unlike King to issue a challenge like that.”

The cafeteria was full of chatter as people crowded around El. News of the challenge had spread quickly across the campus, fresh off the heels of El’s most recent victory. She made sure to keep her winning smile plastered across her face, reassuring everyone who asked that she was more than up to the challenge.

“I’m glad you two are getting on so well,” Grass Wonder said, placing a forkful of food in her mouth.

“Eh? What do you mean?”

Grass Wonder sighed. “You’ll understand eventually. I’m just happy for you.”

“Weirdo,” muttered El. “I dunno what the big deal is, there’s a lot of people I haven’t raced against yet.”

“McQueen and Teio were saying that it’s just not really King’s style,” Special Week said through a mouthful of rice. “She doesn’t usually seek out someone like that, but she’s still a great runner. She almost beat me in a few races we ran together.”

“I suppose I’m just that inspirational,” El declared with a smile.

Grass and Special Week laughed.

El’s phone chimed, and she dug it from her bag to see a new message. Training extra hard today, but I’m guessing you’re just wasting time as usual.

Overachiever much? El replied.

You wouldn’t know anything about achievement. I intend to bring my best! Don’t insult me by not bringing yours.

El grinned. “I think I feel like goin’ for a run.”

Her friends wished her well as she left the cafeteria, heading straight for the track. Once she was out of sight, she took a deep breath and allowed her smile to waver.

You’ve been… challenged.

When her trainer had first said that, her heart had skipped a beat. It wasn’t fear, it couldn’t have been, because El Condor Pasa was too strong to be scared. But even she couldn’t deny that something in that statement had startled her.

Her father would say that challenges were good things. It meant that you were doing something right. After all, strong fighters were always being challenged to defend their honor. So why did that thought make her so uneasy?

She closed her eyes and pictured King standing in the hall, gloating at her. Challenging her. Not an ounce of doubt or uncertainty behind her eyes. El balled her hand into a fist, holding it to her chest. “I’ll beat her,” she said out loud. “I’ll win.”

But…

“Why is my hand shaking?” she muttered.

El accepted that she wasn’t a person who could ever really sit still. Her leg would bounce up and down during exams. Her hands would shake and her breathing would quicken as she entered the starting gate before a race. Usually she would chalk it up to adrenaline. But why now?

With a huff, she quickened her pace towards the door, where Vodka and Daiwa Scarlet had just entered. “When was the last challenge race that got everyone this excited?”

“Don’t you remember? It was when Spe and Taiki Shuttle faced off,” Vodka answered without looking up from her phone. “God! Those bikes are cool…”

“I wonder if this race will be as good as that one,” Daiwa Scarlet muttered.

El felt her chest tighten a bit at that. It will be. I’ll make sure of that.

She quickened her pace to a jog towards the locker room.

El had never been one to fall asleep easily.

Heard you almost ate it on the field today! Guess you’re not first-rate at tying your shoes, huh?

Please! Those were merely rumors. A first-rate lady never loses her balance.

El chuckled at reading that message. She glanced over at Grass Wonder’s bed to make sure she hadn’t awoken her. Satisfied that Grass was still asleep, El opened up Umatube to find a video to fall asleep to. She raised an eyebrow at the first video on her feed: a recording of one of King’s winning concerts.

“It’s like they’re always listening,” she muttered, pulling it open and making sure the volume was low enough to let Grass sleep.

The music kicked in as the spotlight shone over King, who regarded the crowd with a wink and a wave.

As she began her routine, El wondered how exactly she found herself here. Her first days at Tracen were hectic and somewhat anxious, but El remained steady and confident throughout. Some had giggled and laughed when she proclaimed her goal to be the strongest, but she knew that she had won some over.

She sighed quietly as King danced across her screen. She never really thought much about King Halo in her early days. She vaguely heard stories of her being boastful and arrogant, commanding the attention of others whenever she walked into a room. But the past few weeks had proven that there was clearly more to her than those rumors.

She overheard Urara bragging the other day about how King had stitched up her racing pants after she fell in a creek, going on and on about how King was the best roommate ever.

“You have to be strong to be there for someone,” El whispered. “I wish I could be that strong.”

She closed her app and switched it back to her messages. Your winning concert sucks.

A speech bubble popped up immediately, followed by a message.

EXCUSE ME????

El often had a hard time getting things out of her mind. She didn’t hyperfixate on things the same way Super Creek would over something cute and helpless, but sometimes it was hard for her to get certain things out of her head. Or certain people, in this case.

“You looking at racewear? Changing up your look already?”

El looked up from her phone as her trainer approached from behind. “No, no. I was just curious.”

Her trainer squinted at her screen. “Ah, those are from King Halo’s mother, huh? Her work is very popular among racers nowadays.”

“Si, I know. I can see why, too,” El replied, noting the slew of positive reviews and praise littering the website.

“See anything you like?”

El laughed, closing her browsing app. “Nothing that really fits my style, trainer. I guess I was just doing some research.”

Her trainer hummed, flipping over some pages in his clipboard. “Scouting her mom? I guess that’s one way to do it.”

“Hey, do you know much about her?”

Her trainer thought for a second. “Hm… I know she had a decent career, and there was a lot of buzz when her daughter started running. A lot of trainers weren’t quite sure what to expect from her though. The one rumor I did hear from trainers who were around in that era was that she had a ridiculously high standard, and she wasn’t afraid to hold everyone to it. As for their relationship, I’m sure you’ve heard it isn’t good. I know as much as you would on that front.”

El mused on that for a moment.

“Anyways. I thought we could work on your power today. I don’t think we have to improve anything specifically for your mock race, but if you want to go international we’ll need to get you to their level. Things are very different out there, so we can’t afford to be disadvantaged.”

“Bueno,” El replied with a firm nod.

“Been meaning to ask. How do you feel about the mock race?”

“Eh? Fine. I mean, it’s different, but it’s still a race, no?”

Her trainer gazed at her over his clipboard. “El, I’ve noticed you’ve seemed a bit tight lately. Are you hurt?”

“No, no!” El folded her ears and began rubbing her shoulder. “Ah, it’s… It’s nothing. I guess I just don’t really know how I feel?”

“Say more.”

“Well… I was thinking about the race, and I started to feel… a little anxious. Like the way I feel before I start a race. But it doesn’t make any sense, because it’s just for show. It’s not a real race.”

Her trainer tapped his chin. “That’s a good thing in my eyes. It means you’re taking this challenge seriously, just like you take every challenge.”

“Yeah, maybe, but… I’ve been challenged before. Not in a mock race, of course, but I just can’t figure out why this feels different,” El grumbled.

“Is it your opponent?”

El tilted her head in confusion.

“I mean, you’ve never faced King Halo before. From what you’ve told me you weren’t even that close until recently.” Her trainer looked like he wanted to say more, but merely shrugged.

El never shied away from attention, but when it came to King Halo, something about it felt different. Was it her eyes? Her confidence? Her voice? El wasn’t sure, but she couldn’t deny that her trainer must have been partially right.

“Maybe. I think I’m ready to start warming up now.”

Her trainer clicked his pen. “Works for me. But let me know if you want to talk more about how you’re feeling, the mental game is just as important as your physical game. Go ahead and start an upper body workout, I think we’ll start with some pull-ups and push-ups then move on to weights.”

“Bueno.” El stood from the bench and began stretching out her arms, trying to get her mind off of King Halo.

She wondered if King felt the same way.

Chapter Text

King Halo was always sure of what she wanted.

That was something her trainer had decided. “When you’re sure, you’re sure,” she would often say after asking how King felt about something. It was a system that worked surprisingly well for herself, as King realized that sometimes she gave in to her impulsive desires. But having her trainer ask if she was sure about something always made her take a step back to consider the matter at hand.

When asked about the mock race, King Halo needed no time to decide that yes, she was absolutely sure. She had to race El before it was too late, no matter what.

The rest of the Academy didn’t seem to understand why, but they poured out onto the track to watch nonetheless.

“I was worried I’d forget the water, so I brought an extra bottle,” Urara said, waving some water bottles in the air. “But then I saw a vending machine on the way here and I couldn’t remember if I had bought a backup water bottle! So I bought another one. Now I have three water bottles.”

The students around her giggled at that, and King herself couldn’t help but smile. “I appreciate the thought, Urara. I’m sure I’ll need it after today’s race.”

“Do your best, King!”

“We know you’ll win!”

“You’re the greatest!”

She thanked her fans and waved them off as her trainer approached. “How are you feeling, your majesty?”

King laughed. “Just fine, thank you. Do you have any more suggestions?”

“Nope! Just remember, it’s going to feel different. There’s less runners involved, so less to observe, but don’t hyper-fixate on your opponent otherwise you’ll miss your chance. Stay light on your feet and be ready to make your move whenever you see fit.”

King nodded, eyes steeling with determination. “I won’t let you down.”

Her trainer nodded and bowed, returning to the sideline.

King continued her pre-race warmups as the stadium chattered with an excited energy. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted El speaking with her trainer. She gave him a nod and a double high-five, and the man turned to join the gaggle of spectators at the sideline. It wasn’t long before she noticed King and strutted over. “So! The day is finally here! Are you ready to face the phoenix? Or will you fall to el fuego!”

“So dramatic,” King laughed. “I need no such flowery language to smother you, bird.”

El let out an amused hum. “Overconfidence has burned my foes before.” She extended a hand and King shook it. “Let’s race well today!”

“I always do,” King replied. With that, the two turned and headed for the starting line.

Air Groove nodded at them both and raised a bright red flag. “On my count, you will begin.”

King exhaled as she dropped into her starting position. As she always did before a race, she slowed her breathing and forced any excess thoughts out of her head. Her mind was set. Her body was ready. But…

Against her better judgement, she glanced over at her competitor.

King Halo had learned that on race days, even the brightest racers could transform. Grass Wonder held a gaze that could turn an ocean into an iceberg. Tokai Teio would grin and smile like a hungry monster. But El…

El looked the same.

The same bright determination shining in her eyes, resting behind her mask. The same cocksure smile. The same spring in her heels, like she was ready to dive headfirst into a fight.

King Halo scoffed. “If she wins this, I’ll buy her dinner.”

Air Groove dropped her flag.

“Go!”

And they went.

King Halo didn’t always remember her races.

In the moment, she knew that her mind was registering every single second of it. The wind in her face, the rhythm of her feet against the track, the blurs of her opponents moving around her. The energy and rush she got when running was unmatchable by anything else in the world.

But it was difficult to recollect. Oftentimes there were only moments, small and tiny fragments that faded in and out, like a jigsaw puzzle missing most of its pieces.

She remembered Air Groove’s shout, and she remembered propelling herself down the track. Her start was perfect, practiced down to the most minute details, so with no gate or obstacle to worry about King knew that she had spared a glance at her opponent.

El was already nearly a full stride in front of her.

King remembered vaguely the middle parts: slightly overtaking El before El would snatch the lead right back. She remembered how her body felt, how her legs and core muscles engaged and how her lungs began to catch fire.

She remembered seeing Hishi Amazon, waving a flag at the end to signify a finish. She was still two strides behind El. With a final roar, she remembered pouring the last ounce of speed she had left into her run.

And then…

“This ramen is caliente!” El beamed widely as she lifted her soup bowl, downing the last of the spiciest ramen that the restaurant could procure.

King watched her, amused. That final vision of El crossing the line ahead of her was sitting first and foremost in her mind. Her trainer informed her that the race was “quite close,” and that of course, she had done a great job.

Still, King knew how to acknowledge defeat with dignity, so she decided to keep her word and treat El to dinner.

“You were good out there, King!” El said cheerily as she wiped her lips with the back of her hand. “I could feel you right behind me nearly the entire time! Like a true luchadora, looking for an opening! If I dropped my guard for a second, I’m sure you would have had me.”

King laughed. “But you didn’t! As I should have expected from a trained fighter such as yourself. Your form… It really is incredible. I could tell from our joint practice session, and from watching you race. I have no doubt that you will conquer Europe with your speed.

El pumped her fists in the air. “Yes! And the entire world will know of the great El Condor Pasa!” Her ears wilted slightly. “Aw, my spoon slid into my soup.”

King rolled her eyes, passing El an extra spoon.

“Ah, muchas gracias. Thank you for this! You’re really too kind.”

“But of course. You do, ah, have a bit of noodle on your lip.”

El swiped at it with the back of her hand again. “Did I get it?”

King could only laugh again.

“Hey, you changed your laugh!”

“Hm?”

El grinned. “Your laugh! When we first hung out, you had a different laugh. I knew you had a fake laugh!” She giggled, ears bouncing up and down.

“I-I see. A first rate lady must always be receptive to those around them! Even if they are… not always the funniest,” King muttered, fanning herself.

“If ya say so. I personally think it’s best to be the real me all the time!”

The real me.

King Halo clung to that statement for a moment. Everything that El Condor Pasa did, from the way she spoke to the way she walked and ran, even to the tiny things in her brash and clumsy nature were genuine. There was not a doubt in her mind.

But how could someone live like that?

For a long time, nearly every single aspect of King Halo’s life felt rehearsed. She knew what to say and what to do. How to act and when to act. The things that her mother wanted, and the things that would make her upset.

It wasn’t until she began helping others that she really, truly began to feel something. That was when she swore that she would never, ever be the monster that her mother was to her.

But to live completely free, to be completely themselves…

King laughed again, in her full and “actual” laugh. “I can tell, El. There truly is nobody quite like you.” She cast her eyes down at the table. “It is a shame that you will be leaving soon. I would love another chance to beat you.”

El fell quiet for a second. “A rematch, eh? I wouldn’t be opposed.” She perked up again and winked. “But you’ll have to keep waiting! Once I’m back, we’ll go head to head again, and I’ll claim my second crown off of your head!”

“Next time I believe that it will be you treating me to a meal instead.”

“We could just do that whenever! I know this great taco stand outside of the academy…”

King cringed internally, wishing she hadn’t said that particular sentence, but decided to keep quiet and let El prattle on about tacos and chorizos. It was strange, she hadn’t intended to come this far with El, but every encounter seemed to give way to the chance for another. Initially, King wasn’t sure if their journey would continue after their mock race, but as the night marched on she began to realize that she wanted it to.

She wanted El.

A blush crept onto her cheeks as she hid them in her hands. El. Confident, strong, and doubtless. Even as she was speaking, she grew more and more excited and animated, in a way not dissimilar to Urara. Perhaps…

Perhaps El could teach her what it really meant to be herself.

But first, she needed to stop her before she climbed up onto the table out of excitement.

King Halo never lost composure. She always did her best to maintain her calm, dignified aura, to never waver when things went wrong.

Usually, anyways. Today she was absolutely overwhelmed.

“Kiiiiiiiiing! I’m back!”

King Halo perked up as Urara’s voice echoed down the hall. “Ah! Welcome back Urara–”

She was cut off as Urara flew through the door and smashed into her.

“Oof! H-Hello, my dear, how was your trip!”

“I didn’t win,” Urara said, her voice muffled in King’s chest, “But everyone cheered really hard for me!”

King chuckled, patting her on the back. “Of course they did.”

Urara detached herself from King, staring around the room with wide-open eyes. “Woah! What’s with all the flowers?”

The room was well and truly completely covered in flowers. Bouquets of all different shapes and sizes littered the floor, King’s bed, and desk. “I’m just experimenting,” King said with a sigh, patting Urara on the head. “Nothing for you to worry about.”

It had been a few weeks since their mock race, but El had occupied her mind ever since. There was always something that El wanted to do. She’d constantly send King links to online videos, or pictures of event flyers and invitations to things that Grass Wonder didn’t want to go to.

Luckily, El wouldn’t push the matter when King declined to watch wrestling matches and the like with her. El just seemed happy to be around her regardless of what they did. Which made things significantly harder.

King had been courted enough times to know how things went. But she had never been the one on the other end before. Luckily, her fans were more than happy to share their advice and suggestions. Her dorm room had become a rotating door with students coming in and out to drop off recommended flowers, gifts, and share their advice.

All of it made her feel like a pressure cooker about to explode.

“Ooo… So pretty!” Urara seemed completely captivated by the bouquets, darting from arrangement to arrangement. “Are you asking someone out?”

“What?!” King nearly choked on her own words “I–”

“THAT’S SO EXCITING!” Urara shouted, whirling around the room in a frenzy. “Will I get to meet them? Do I know them already? Can we all race sometime?”

King hastily stood, trying to calm down her now frantic roommate. “Urara! It’s still a work in progress. I’ll tell you some more when I’m ready to, okay?”

“Aw! Okay!” Urara giggled. “I’m so happy for you!”

King shook her head with a smile. “Thank you, dear. I’m going to step outside for a bit while you unpack your things. Please be careful.”

“Okay! See you soon!”

King made her way down the stairs and outside into the courtyard, hoping that the wind would cool off the blush on her cheeks. Several students were milling about, heading to or from the dorm, and the sky above was dotted with sparse clouds.

“Ah. King Halo.” King turned to see Air Groove standing in the garden, watering can in hand. “I was hoping to speak with you.”

“Oh! Of course.”

Air Groove brushed off her hands, setting down the watering can. “Congratulations on your last race. I see that your trainer has been working you hard.”

“Of course. But I still have much to prove to the world.”

Air Groove nodded. “Perhaps.” She smiled, turning to gaze out over the flower garden. “What do you think of the garden?”

“Er… It’s quite nice?” King offered, not expecting the question.

“Your fans here at Tracen seem to think so. I’ve been noticing more and more of them here lately, making bouquets.”

King felt the blush creep back onto her face.

“If you could ask them to go a little lighter on the bushes? It wouldn’t do for them to be completely empty,” Air Groove said with a slight smile.

King bowed. “Of-Of course. I deeply apologize.”

“Thank you, King. I believe this may help matters.” Air Groove picked up a bouquet of bright red flowers that had been sitting on a nearby bench. “Poinsettias,” she said simply. “Nice Nature is particularly fond of these. Native to several countries, including Mexico.” Her smile grew a little wider. “I won’t draw any conclusions, but I suspect this may be what you’re looking for.”

“Thank you,” King eeked out, accepting the bouquet and quickly turning away.

“Good luck, King Halo,” Air Groove chuckled as King scurried away.

King Halo was terrified.

Her heart was beating heavily in her chest, and her hands trembled as she wrung at the hem of her skirt. The setting sun threw shades of orange through Tracen’s windows as the campus set mostly vacant. Students had gone back to their dorms, or towards the city, or to the track for some end of the day running.

That left King sitting alone in a classroom. Several balloons and party bunting still hung around the room, left over from Grass Wonder’s poetry club meeting. Once the rest of the students had filed out, King insisted that she would stay behind to clean up the room. Grass just gave her a strange smile before taking her leave.

Now, all that was left to do was wait.

She scanned the room once more. On the desk across from her, a neatly arranged pile of chocolates, snacks, and a bottle of champagne glistened in the evening light. Air Groove’s poinsettias sat wrapped in a neat and pretty bouquet in her lap.

It wasn’t too far off from how the school set up for Academy Balls. But it was the best that King could come up with. Something too formal wouldn’t do at all, it’d just make El too nervous. Too many people watching would have been a living nightmare.

So King opted for something quiet and elegant, hoping and hoping that it would be the right choice.

She was starting to wonder if she should have asked someone to wait with her…

“King? You in here?”

King froze as the door slid open, and El Condor Pasa poked her head into the room. She raised an eyebrow in suspicion as she stepped inside. “Uh… Why’d you ask me to meet you here?”

“Uh… I…” King swallowed, her mouth dry and hot. “I just wanted to tell you something.”

“O-Oh?”

King cast her eyes downwards and began to speak. “El Condor Pasa, you have intrigued me. Something about you captivated me when you accompanied me that one night months ago. It’s a feeling that I’ve struggled to describe, so allow me to do so now. You are filled with determination, the likes of which I have never seen before. Your bravado, your emotion, all of it is unmatched, in everything you do. From the way you race to the way you move. So I am willing to grant you the highest honor–” She coughed, trying to clear her throat. “Um. I would like–” She balled her hands into fists and squeezed her eyes shut. “Will you go out with me?!” she blurted.

El gasped. A silence that felt like an eternity passed. “I– King, ¿tú también? I mean– you feel that way? About me?”

King squeezed open an eye. El’s bright blue eyes were wide, red tinging her cheeks.

Then… She began to laugh. “Oh dios mios! Your face… You were so serious! It looked like you were about to declare war!”

“El! I am pouring my heart out to you!” King snapped, shooting to her feet and pointing an accusatory finger at her. The papers in her lap slid onto the floor. “The least you could do is take this seriously!”

“S-Sorry! What’s that?” El asked, trying to stifle her laughter as she noticed the papers. “Did you– Did you write a speech?!”

“It pays to be prepared!”

El only laughed harder.

“Stop!” even as she yelled, King could feel a smile of her own creep onto her face. “This is serious!”

“I know! But it’s also really really funny!” El was nearly doubled over now, tears forming in her eyes.

“No! It’s classy, I had Opera help me write it! She– She told me to use the phrase je nai se quois!”

“What does that even mean?!”

“I don’t know!”

The two were howling with laughter now. Both of them were doubled-over, clutching onto the desks near them for support. “I… I…” El wheezed, wiping away her tears. “That was just so… you, King. Heh. Very well. I accept! Count yourself lucky, for the great El Condor Pasa has decided that you are worthy of her companionship.”

“You’re the one who is lucky to hold such an honor and a privilege as to date a first class lady!” King spoke through strained breaths, the two of them clearly unable to take each other seriously anymore.

El glanced over the arranged gifts sitting in the corner of the room. “All of this, for me?”

“Some of the chocolate was for me in case you said no,” King admitted.

“Ponisettas?” El let out an impressed whistle, taking the flowers as King approached. “You really thought of everything.”

Even then, the way El’s eyes lit up sent something stirring within her. “Mm. I was worried that this was too fast, though. It’s only been a few months… But I wanted to ask you before you left for Europe.”

El grinned and yanked King into a hug. “Lucky for you, I love moving fast,” she said with a laugh.

King could only smile and hug her back.

Their embrace was interrupted by a sudden crash in the hallway.

“Help!” someone cried. “I think Agnes Digital just fainted!”

Chapter Text

El knew that things were always changing.

No day at Tracen was the same as the last, and some days it felt that she was sprinting just to keep up with everything going on around her. News would fall like rain around her, of her friends and rivals facing successes and defeats, all while a million things at once called for her attention.

The short months after she had started dating King felt slightly more hectic than normal. El lost her first race, still managing a third place finish, and got to enjoy the bitter taste of defeat for the first time in her racing career. It wasn’t as bad as she had imagined it would be. There was some screaming, some frustration, but not a lot of crying.

Her trainer had truly done well to mentally prepare her. King treating her for tacos after also helped. El greatly enjoyed how uncomfortable King was at the restaurant, and how upset she was when some sauce spilled onto her dress.

By the time Happy Meek’s birthday came, El was beginning to feel the exhaustion. Paris was calling, and even though the Grand Prix de Arc de Triomphe was looming, she was grateful for the excuse to relax for a moment.

Sadly she only made it about halfway through the party before her body began to ache. “Ugh… Maybe I shouldn’t have taken those extra laps earlier.”

King tsked from beside her, sipping daintily from her plastic cup. “I told you. You don’t know how to pace yourself.”

The two were sitting on a couch in the common room, near the back of the party as Tokai Teio led several others in a karaoke session. “I can’t become the strongest by sitting around all day!”

“Then find a middle ground. Goodness, do I have to teach you how to do everything?”

“That’d be nice,” El muttered, already half-asleep.

King raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

“No se… You just know so much.” El leaned over to lay her head against King’s shoulder. “And I know you love to teach.”

“My, my,” King said. “Usually I only let Urara do this, you know.”

El wrapped her arms around King’s. “Let me guess, I’m lucky that you’ve granted me the honor?”

King hummed at that, watching the ongoing party. “What are you trying to say, El?”

“I dunno. Sometimes I’m not so good with words. Grass says sometimes I say things better with my eyes.” She gave King a light punch. “Look at ‘em. What do you think I’m saying?”

King regarded her carefully. Her gaze felt light and warm, hidden beneath a feigned disinterest. Her eyes glistened with a fierce and unyielding energy. It was a look that made El feel guilty. Like she was lying. “Hm… I think you’re sleepy and being a little bit silly.” She turned her shoulder back to allow El to fully embrace her.

El didn’t like being touched very much. Contact in grappling and wrestling always triggered El’s fighting instincts, and it quickly grew into a sensation that El hated. But King’s touch felt different. It warmed her in the same way a strong hot sauce would.

She wrapped herself around King and sighed. “My trainer’s been working me hard. There’s a lot we have to get ready for over there.”

“Yes, yes. Over there. So far away,” King mused as El placed her head in her lap. “Are you nervous?”

“A little.”

King raised an eyebrow. “Now that is most unlike you.”

“I know! I just… I dunno. I wanna be the strongest in the world. But I’ve never faced any runners outside of Japan before.” El stared up at the common room’s ceiling as lively music continued to fill the room. “What if I don’t win? Wouldn’t that mean I’m not strong enough? ”

King tsked and tapped her on the nose. “Hush. None of that now. You’re going to win. You’ll spread your wings and soar above them all like the bird you are.”

El swiped at her hand with a scoff.

“Are you truly worried about that?”

“A little.”

“El, you are strong,” King said. “And I mean that.”

El sighed. “... Thank you.” She sat up a little to meet King’s eyes. “King?”

“Mm?”

“Can I kiss you?”

King giggled as red tinged her cheeks. The two brought their heads and lips together, blind to the rest of the world around them.

“Guys, I think Agnes Digital passed out again!”

El wasn’t sure what was wrong with her. Physically, she felt fine: a recent regular checkup had even confirmed that. But no matter what she did… It felt like something was tied around her ankle, holding her back.

“C’mon El! Last lap, make it count!”

El gritted her teeth, pressing forwards. Her feet thumped against the ground, the wind whipped through her hair as she tore down the track. She tore past her trainer with a final burst of speed. The click of his stopwatch echoed like a bell through the practice field.

“Good work!” he called. “Start cooling down, we’ll call it here for today!”

El nodded, dropping to her knees as she caught her breath. Someone nudged her, and she turned to see Grass Wonder offering her a bottle.

“Gracias!” El said, accepting it and gulping down the water.

“You’re working hard,” Grass noted with a trademark placid smile. “Do you feel ready for France?”

El nodded. “Si! My body feels better than it ever has before!”

Grass giggled. “How about your mind?”

“Que?” El furrowed her brow as Grass sat down beside her. “What do you mean?”

Grass folded her hands, placing them on her lap as she rested on her knees. “You’ve seemed a little quieter than normal lately. That’s all.”

“Eh? It’s nothing, I’m fine. Really.”

“I don’t like it when you lie.”

El’s ears drooped as a shudder ran down her spine. “Wha– I’m not lying, I promise!” Her tail swished against the grass.

“She’s not wrong, El,” her trainer said as he joined the group. “I know I’ve been working you hard, but I noticed your times have dropped a bit. Are you hurt?”

“No! I’m fine!”

Her trainer’s face hardened. “Not physical? So it’s mental again, like the mock race was?”

El sighed. Grass put a hand on her shoulder. “What’s wrong, El?”

“I dunno how to say it,” El finally muttered. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to lie about it, I promise! I guess travelling overseas is just hitting me a lot harder now that we’re so close.”

“Are you worried you won’t live up to the expectations you set for yourself?” Grass asked.

El fiddled with the water bottle in her hands. “I think that’s part of it? I dunno, there’s something else, I just– Argh! Stupid words.”

“Hey, it’s alright.” El’s trainer patted her on the back. “We set these goals together, remember? I never would have agreed to them if I didn’t think you could reach them.”

“Yes, this is what you’ve wanted all your life, El,” Grass added. “You’re so close to it!”

“But what if I get there and find out I’m not good enough?”

Grass gave her a pat on the back. “Well, it’s like losing a race, isn’t it? You find a new mountain to climb.”

El nodded. “Gracias. Sorry for worrying you two!”

El’s trainer laughed. “It’s my job to worry about you, El. You ever need another pep talk, you let me know.”

“And I’m here for you too if you can find a way to put your thoughts into words,” Grass added.

“You’ll be the first one I call,” El agreed. She thought hard about what Grass and her trainer had said, then about what King had told her at the party. Her confidence was rarely an issue, but was it really part of the problem now? “Did you want to get some tacos?”

“Finish your cooldowns first!”

“Oh! Right!”

El wasn’t sure how to talk about herself.

She could commentate on sporting events no problem. She could talk about race tactics and exercise regimen like they were second nature to her. And she could always talk about her goals and what being the strongest in the world meant to her.

But what did it mean to talk about herself? The real, actual El? The El behind the mask?

She didn’t know.

I’ve been feeling kind of weird lately.

The message was already typed out. But El couldn’t bring herself to press send. She sighed, closing her eyes and leaning back in her bed. “Doesn’t feel right,” she whispered as Grass Wonder shifted in her sleep.

She deleted the message and tried again. I was thinking about what you said to me at the party.

That didn’t feel quite right either. With a frown, she deleted the message again.

The El behind the mask.

Very few people had ever seen El without her mask. She only took it off for cleaning or when she was showering. She wasn’t even sure if Grass had seen her face without it.

She loved it more than anything in the world. A treasured gift from her father, and a symbol of a promise. One that she had made to him and to herself.

But…

Who do you think I am beneath my mask?

Her finger hovered over the ‘send’ button. It felt right. It seemed right. But she couldn’t send it. She wouldn’t.

Mambo ruffled his feathers in the room. The curtains swayed a little bit as wind carried through an open window. Grass Wonder muttered happily in her sleep.

Are you going to miss me when I’m gone?

She pressed send. Then, she turned her phone over and set it on her nightstand, laying on her back with her arms folded atop the blanket. “Why?” she asked. “Why is it so hard to just… Say it?”

Nothing in the room replied.

“Because I already know, don’t I? That beneath my mask… I’m scared. I’m really, really scared,” she continued softly. “I’m scared that I’m not the girl the world thinks I am. I’m not the girl I promised papi that I was. My mask is just a costume. One I hide behind.”

Grass Wonder muttered something about steamed buns.

“No,” El whispered. “Don’t tell yourself that. You’re going to go to Paris and win. Because you’re a champion.”

With a nod, she picked up her phone again, trying to distract herself before the doubts trickled back in. Her notifications showed that the contact labeled as a crown emoji had sent her a message.

Of course I will.

El smiled at that.

El wasn’t always the best at reading people.

She had a tendency to say whatever came to mind, like when she called Special Week a country bumpkin and Grass Wonder had given her an incredibly stern scolding. She couldn’t help it. Sometimes her mind just ran faster than her legs.

She often found that the better she knew someone, the better she got at reading them. Usually this only applied to Grass being angry or Special Week being hungry. But lately, she began to get a feeling when King was upset.

“Hey.”

“Hm?” King looked up from her phone, brow furrowed. “Good morning, El.”

“What’s eating you?”

King worked her jaw, glancing around the classroom. Students were milling about and stretching, still waiting for the first bell to ring and class to officially start for the day. She jerked her head to the door, and the two stepped out into the hallway. “Nothing serious. Just… Mother again.”

“Oh.”

King sighed, leaning against the wall and folding her arms across her chest. “I’ve avoided talking with her for a while. But she brought something up again today. A long time ago she made me a guarantee: that in about ten years or so, I’d come crawling back to her, shattered, broken, and defeated. And that if I were lucky, she’d welcome me back with open arms.” She growled at that. “Lucky.”

El scowled at that. “King–”

“I know, I know, I shouldn’t pay her any mind. But… Ah, never mind. It’s quite silly.”

El stepped in front of her, putting both hands on her shoulders to stare into her eyes. “No, dime. Tell me.”

King began rubbing one arm with the other, glancing down at the tiles. “El, it’s nothing,” she insisted.

“If it bothers you, it bothers me. Please, King.”

“I entered an art contest. I placed fourth.”

El raised an eyebrow. “Eh? An art contest?”

King coughed awkwardly. “Painting is a first-rate activity! I was quite proud of the piece. And I suppose it bothered me more than it should have that I didn’t win. El, ten years is a long time. Fifty some weeks, nearly four thousand days… It seems so far away. And yet I sit here, whittling away each and every hour. Wasting a day in a contest that I can’t even place in.” She sighed. “I worry that my mother is right, and in ten years I’ll have little more than a decent racing record to speak of. What am I meant to do then but follow in her footsteps?”

El bit her lip. Her first reaction was that yes, it was quite silly to be upset over placing fourth in an art contest. Everyone got upset over silly things. Tokai Teio would get sad if she spent a day without seeing Symboli Rudolph. Her trainer would get upset when he couldn’t open drink bottles.

But King’s face told her that to her, this was serious.

She shifted her hands from her shoulders to her hips. King let out a soft gasp, but didn’t resist the movement. “Hey,” El said as softly as she could. “You have so much more than that. Look at how you care for your fans here. You’ve joined a bunch of clubs, even started some. Racing aside, you’re one of the most successful students at Tracen! People here care about you. That’s more than your mama could say! And so what if you placed fourth? You tried! From what I hear, your mama is terrified of doing something where she might not win. That doesn’t make her first-rate! It makes her a coward!”

King sniffed, surprised by El’s sudden passion. “E-El–”

“Besides!” El lifted her arms and spun away, lifting her chin and placing her hands on her hips. “You have me! The greeeeeeat! El! Condor! Pasa! The bravest and strongest luchadora in Japan at your side!” She winked and pointed at King. “There’s no way your mama could do better than that!”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” King’s smile betrayed her tone. “Settle down! You’re going to cause a scene.”

“Lo siento!” She gave King a quick hug before pulling the classroom door open. “After you.”

“You’re too kind.” King paused for a moment. “You know who won the contest, by the way? Biwa Hayahide. She printed out a picture of a banana and taped it to a wall.”

“Oh.” El considered that. “Yeah. That would upset me too.”

Airports made El anxious. Every part of them, from the parking lots to the ticketing stations to the terminals and seats and bathrooms and food courts sent a swirling sense of dread crashing through her body. There were too many people, too many loud noises and unpleasant smells, and nowhere to stretch.

She tugged at King’s sleeve. “Do I look stupid?”

King tried not to smile. “You look… Like a travelling luchadora who does not want to catch a cold before her flight.”

“So I look stupid.”

“I didn’t say that.”

El grumbled, crossing her arms and letting her ears droop in annoyance. It wasn’t her fault that she read a headline the night before about sickness levels rising, especially across airports, and it certainly wasn’t her fault that the best her trainer could do to reassure her was to suggest getting vitamin-C and wearing a facemask. The straps were tight against the back of her head, resulting in a very uncomfortable sensation.

“El, you look fine,” her exasperated trainer confirmed.

“But that guy was giving me a weird look!” El whined.

“Which guy?” Grass Wonder asked, darkness clouding her face for a moment.

“Let’s just get to our gate,” El’s trainer muttered. The group came to a stop in the hall to exchange their goodbyes.

“You know where Mambo’s pet food is, right?”

Grass laughed. “You’ve only shown me a thousand times.”

“Please, El, you have Paris to look forward to! A beautiful city with captivating sights! Something that even a rambunctious heathen like you could enjoy! Look no further than the Eiffel Tower for a symbol of strength! Sitting beneath it even once can change your life. Now!” King stepped forwards and clasped her hands around El’s right. She lifted it and kissed the top of it with a wry grin. “A proper sendoff. Consider yourself lucky, as always.”

El laughed at that. “Gracias. I expect the highest of honors when I return victorious.”

“You girls,” El’s trainer tsked. “We’ve got a long flight ahead of us. Let’s get going.”

With one last hug to each of her friends, El turned away. This is it. No turning back. She gave one last glance backwards to meet King Halo’s eyes, a goodbye planted on her lips.

Her voice faltered, her mask nearly suffocating her speech. Her eyes would have to do the talking for her.

King smiled and nodded.

El exhaled in relief. And without voicing a proper goodbye, she turned, ready to embrace her next challenge.

Chapter Text

King Halo wasn’t well known for her arts and crafts skills. It was one of her abilities that shone a little less brightly than the others, but when the time came she was more than ready to show them off.

It started with a chance conversation.

“Do you think El is going to win in Paris?” Rice Shower asked.

“Plausible,” Mihono Bourbon answered. “She has been training hard for this. Her skill is comparable to those that will compete. However, there are still many factors that need to be considered that remain outside of her control.”

Rice wrung her hands nervously. “I wish I had a mask like that,” she said. “Then nobody would have to see my face while I was racing.”

That alone was enough. King raced back to her room and searched online for nearby fabric stores. Then, all she had to do was put out the message. With a bit of first-rate flourish, the home-ec room was full of her supporters seated in front of sewing machines, piles of red and yellow fabric surrounding them. It was glorious.

By the time El’s first national race came around, she had produced enough mock-El masks to outfit the entire dorm. It was surely a sight to see almost the common room packed with students from both dorms, all wearing El’s mask and laughing. She took a picture, sure that El would greatly enjoy that image.

Before tackling the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, El was tackling a few other races to get a feel for her upcoming competitors and the European track conditions. Silence Suzuka had confirmed that racing overseas was a completely different experience: everything from the food, the track, the people, and even the air was unfamiliar and alien. It was almost like having to learn how to run all over again.

But if there was anybody who could adapt, King was sure that it would be El.

“Here they come now, rounding the final corner. Veterans like to say that the race starts here. Everyone is still tightly bunched together, waiting for someone to make a move!”

Ritto dorm’s common room was packed, but completely silent. Every red-masked eye was locked on the television set.

“Who will break through and win the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud? It’s too early to tell!”

“Come on El!”

“You can do it! Show them what Japan has to offer!”

“Do you think she can do it?” King asked.

Grass Wonder nodded. “Of course. She’s El. One of the strongest among us.”

“Oh! Look at this!” The entire room gasped as a red and yellow blur cut through the pack. “It’s El Condor Pasa! She sees her chance, she’s cutting in through the outside!”

“YEAH! GO EL!”

Cheers filled the room from the students and from the TV speakers. “She’s breaking away from the pack! She’s pulling away, half a length… One length now! There’s not much time left! Does she have it? Does she have it?!”

King held her breath as the blur on the TV tore through the finish line.

“SHE DOES! IT’S EL CONDOR PASA!”

A final, loud cheer tore through the room as students began jumping in joy, hugging one another and screaming.

“Good work, El,” King mused with a smile.

“She’s truly stronger than even she knows.” Grass gave a happy sigh. “Thank you, King.”

“Thank me? For what?”

Grass tapped the side of her mask. “For everything you’ve done for her.” She sighed, staring at the TV. “I regret that I won’t be able to watch her next race with you all.”

“What?! Why not?”

Grass absently scratched at her leg. “My injury. After my last race, the doctors told me I need to rest for longer. I almost reaggravated it.”

King gasped.

“I’m okay! But my trainer is making me take a sabbatical. We’ll be heading out to the mountains tomorrow, and I’m unsure when we’ll return.” She smiled, but her ears drooped slightly. “I’m glad you will be here to support her!’

“Please, you’ve done far more for her than I ever could.”

“King! It’s not like you to be humble,” Grass said, giving her a pat on the back. “But there are some things El hasn’t told anyone yet, including me. I’m sure that you’ll be there for her when the time comes, if I cannot.” She turned away with a fleeting smile. “Now, I have to ask Seiun Sky if she can care for Mambo in my absence. Goodbye, King Halo. Cheer her on for me.”

King sighed but nodded. “I always will.” She glanced back towards the television set through the sea of celebrating students. El was standing triumphant, fist raised to the sky as cheers washed over her. With a sad chuckle, King turned away and stepped out into the hallway.

She leaned against the wall and slid her mask off her face. It was a crude imitation of El’s actual mask, but it conveyed the point well enough. The mask felt soft against her palms. Was El’s real mask softer?

Her body certainly was.

It surprised King the first time they hugged how soft El was. She had always come off as a bit squeamish, certainly, but an embrace with her was better than any mattress she could ever buy. With a frown, she reached into her pocket for her phone.

It was almost second nature now for her to open her messages with El (whose contact was saved as an emoji of a bird). I miss you, she wrote.

Her arm dropped to her side as she rested her head fully against the wall. For possibly the first time in her life, she began to feel the weight of distance. Up until that point, her life had mostly been defined as an attempt to escape the looming shadow of her mother. The world immediately around her was the only world that there was.

But now, a part of her world was thousands of miles away. And it hurt.

She sniffed, trying to maintain her composure as she raised her phone again. She deleted the unsent message and instead sent the picture she had taken earlier of their dorm decked out in identical El Condor Pasa masks. Knowing that El wouldn’t be checking her phone for a few more hours, she returned her own to her pocket and folded her arms across her chest.

“So,” she said aloud. “This is what longing is.”

“Kiiiiiing!” Her ears perked up as Haru Urara stumbled through the doorway. “I had a little accident!”

King gasped as she took in the dark stain across the front of Urara’s uniform and her completely soaked hair. “Goodness! What happened?! Actually, it doesn't matter. Come, come.” She placed both hands on Urara’s shoulders and steered the very wet girl back towards their room.

King Halo was a good roommate.

She had at first been taken aback at Haru Urara’s seemingly endless optimism, then somewhat appalled at her disastrous nature. But the feeling faded quickly: after all, it was her duty to care for others, and Urara in that regard was no different.

It didn’t take long for her to clean off Urara’s uniform, scrub out the stains, and get her showered and changed, but Urara as always got sleepy after she showered. So instead of returning to the ongoing party, King changed into her own pajamas and allowed her upbeat roommate to use her as a body pillow.

It was a tradition the two shared often. One night King awoke to find that at some point Urara had migrated over to her bed and was clinging to her tightly. In the end she decided this was for the best, as Urara had a tendency to sleepwalk around their room unless she had her arms wrapped around something, and King didn’t mind it anyways.

Usually.

She ran a hand through Urara’s pink hair as her roommate let out a powerful snore. Urara never failed to bring a smile to everyone’s faces. She was excitable and always positive, after all. But on that particular night…

“I wish I were holding El instead.” She felt guilty saying so, even though nobody heard her. But the guilt didn’t distract from the truth.

There was something missing in the warmth of their bodies pressed against each other. Something that made her feel incomplete.

King carefully reached around her sleeping friend to pick up her phone. A new message lit up her phone screen. THAT’S INCREDIBLE!!!

She chuckled. Congratulations, El! You were amazing, we were all rooting for you.

Ah, muchas gracias. Was thinking of you as I crossed the finish line!”

King sniffed at that. “I wonder if she misses me as much as I miss her.” She leaned back against her pillow, guilt creeping in again. It was selfish to want her, to be able to hold El in her arms. El’s dream was to take on the world. Who was King to be holding her back? “I don’t know how to let someone go…”

There weren’t many people in King’s life that she had to let go of. People adored her, and most would do anything simply to be around her. Not many would leave. So what was she meant to do?

“King?” Urara muttered sleepily. “Are you okay?”

King’s ears drooped as she resumed stroking Urara’s hair. “I’m fine. Just thinking. Sorry for waking you.”

Urara hugged her tighter and buried her face in her chest.

King set aside her phone and stared up at the ceiling.

I miss you.

Why was that so hard to say?

King couldn’t imagine what El could be feeling right now.

They had spoken briefly last night, but she had a hard time gauging how El was really feeling. The time zones made communicating fairly messy, which was apparently also frustrating El despite King’s attempts to reassure her.

Still, she was sure that there was only one thing on E’s mind right now: The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. An infamous race in Japan: no Japanese runner had ever come close to winning it. The competition and pressure was said to be incomparable.

The air around Tracen was tense. Everyone seemed nervous, even if they weren’t running in the race themselves. Rumors swirled like leaves through the crisp October air, about both El and her competitors.

King did her best to pay them no mind. But even she was getting restless. Her mind kept wandering to El, and the race brewing in another world. She took solace in knowing that she wasn’t the only one. The common room was packed with even more students than last time, brandishing masks and handwritten signs.

“Gah! I can’t take this, I’m so nervous!” Special Week whined.

“Tell me about it,” replied an unusually wide-awake Seiun Sky.

Silence Suzuka didn’t respond, instead pacing in small circles, apparently lost in thought.

“They’re lining up now!” someone shouted, drawing everyone’s attention to the television.

All eyes fell onto the television set. King watched as a red-cloaked figure stood in front of the starting gate, eyes cast down at the grass. She clenched her fists and entered the gate. Something seemed off about her, King realized. El marched forwards like a prisoner heading for the gallows.

“They’re all in. Here we go.”

A moment of silence washed over both the stadium and the academy. Then, the gates clanked open and the racers were off.

“There they go! El Condor Pasa surges to the lead!”

“Is she front running?”

“Woah! Do you think she can handle it?”

“Of course she can,” King snapped, not daring to look away from the screen.

The runners tore down the track, and King held her breath. The commentators prattled on about unfamiliar names and statistics while the camera focused on the leading pack. El had several others tight on her heels, but her gaze remained locked forwards. She clenched her teeth and pushed onwards.

“Go, go, go!”

“I can’t watch!”

“You have to!”

Silence Suzuka continued to pace. Special Week covered her eyes with her hands. The room was a mix of excitement and movement as the race reached its halfway point.

King clenched her fist, biting her lip. The angle of the camera made it seem like no matter how fast El was moving, she was simply staying in one place. “Come on!” she shouted, louder than she intended. “El! El! El!”

“El! El! El!” echoed the students around her.

King Halo didn’t remember her own races. But this race was searing itself into her mind. Every single step, every single second seemed to be burning itself into her memory, red-white and hot. The noise grew so loud that she could no longer understand all of it. The TV flickered and glowed like a campfire, and her heartbeat grew louder and louder until it was all she could hear.

Even from the screen, El’s bright blue eyes stood out against the miasma of color. King wondered what she was thinking.

She clenched her fist harder.

Silence Suzuka had stopped pacing. She stared towards the television, frowning intently. “She’s making her move,” she said.

From behind El, a bright white streak broke free of the pack.

“No,” King muttered.

“And here she comes! Broye makes her move!”

El gritted her teeth and picked up her pace. But Broye was right behind her.

“No,” King said again.

A wave of uncertainty shimmered through the students watching. On screen, the audience roared louder.

El glanced behind her.

“Broye’s taken the lead! She surges forwards, can anyone catch up to her?”

“No.”

“No! She’s done it! The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe belongs to Broye!”

The room was silent in shock. King Halo tasted blood. Though the world around her was still, a faint ringing began in her ears. Broye acknowledged the crowd with a salute as El collapsed onto the ground behind her. The French racer turned and offered her a hand.

The students began to murmur in disbelief and disappointment. Special Week began to cry.

“No,” King Halo said again.

But nobody heard her.

King Halo was a rational thinker. She knew that El was likely exhausted, and that she had given so much of herself during that race that it was likely she just wanted some alone time. That’s why she hadn’t given a statement during the post-race conference. That’s why King’s last message, Are you okay?, had not yet been responded to yet.

El must have been tired.

King stared down at her phone, still and silent.

The moment replayed itself over and over like a horror movie. El straining and gasping. Broye swooping in from behind, cape fluttering in the wind. El letting out an anguished scream.

She had no idea what could possibly be on her mind.

Her phone lit up: Hey! Sorry, lots going on. I’m doing okay. Prez wants to call me, so I’ll talk to you soon!

The message was from El, but King couldn’t possibly read it in her voice. She pulled out a chair and collapsed into it. Crickets and cicadas chirped outside in the night. The floorboard creaked and groaned beneath her. Music drifted in from a room down the hall.

King Halo waited for something to happen.

She didn’t know how long had passed before she heard muffled voices in the hallway. Her ear twitched as she recognized Symboli Rudolph’s voice. “Would you like to speak with her?”

“El?” Special Week said with a gasp.

King’s eyes widened. She made her way to the door, pressing her ear against it. The conversation was hard to make out, but luckily Special Week had placed the call on speaker.

“Did you see me?” Even through a phone and through the door, El’s enthusiasm was unmistakable. “I was in the lead until the end!”

King exhaled slowly as Special Week offered some praises and congratulations. “Oh, El. Worrying me for no reason,” King whispered, resting her forehead against the door. She began to pull away.

But then…

“I was so close…” Her ear twitched and she paused. There was a strange sound, then an unmistakable one.

“E-El…” Special Week said.

El didn’t respond.

The only sound that came over the phone were heavy, choked sobs.

King Halo prided herself on being prepared.

She didn’t travel as much as she would have liked, but she made sure to create specific checklists of everything she would need, and prided herself on maximizing space in a suitcase. She figured it was always better to overprepare than risk missing something important.

Not this time.

In the corner by the door was one small suitcase, packed with three days worth of clothes, some toiletries, and a charger for her phone.

On her phone, a webpage listing available flights to Paris from Tokyo informed her that a flight was leaving later that night.

On her desk, a hand-written letter apologizing to Urara sat neatly folded, resting underneath a chocolate bar to ensure that she would see it.

All of this was done already. Yet despite her preparations… King Halo had no idea what she was going to do.

She had sat on her bed, then stood up. Gone over to her desk and sat at her chair. Looked out the window. Got up, sat down again. Paced in a small circle. Then gone back to her bed. Thoughts were swirling like disturbed leaves in her mind. Her tongue still ached from when she had bitten down on it too hard. Her body was exhausted from a lack of sleep.

But none of that mattered to her.

El had not called her back. Not since that night. King had sent a few texts and left some voice messages, but she hadn’t heard anything in response. The very thought sent palpitations through her heart, twisting her gut and making her dizzy.

It wasn’t like her to feel this way. But it wasn’t like El to be acting like this.

Her phone rang, and the noise sounded like a firecracker. She scrambled over to answer it. “H-Hello?!”

“King?”

Her ears drooped slightly, then perked again out of shock. “Oh! Grass?!”

“I’m sorry, the connection here isn’t great so I must get to the point. Have you heard from El at all?”

King absently ran a hand through her hair. “No. She hasn’t spoken to me. Have you?”

“I haven’t.” Grass’ voice was thick with static and concern. “King, I’m very worried about her. Winning this meant a lot to her. She wouldn’t tell me why, but I knew that it did.” She sniffed and King felt her heart plummet a thousand stories. “I shouldn’t have let her go to Paris.”

“No. Grass, that wasn’t our decision. It was hers. I’ve thought of that myself, and I realized it would have been selfish to hold her back from her dream,” King answered, clenching her fist again.

“...Yes. You’re right,” Grass sighed. “But I deeply regret that I cannot be there for her now. My trainer won’t let me out of their sight for even a minute.”

King began to feel sick again. “Grass… I’ve been thinking… Do you think it’s right? What if she wants to be alone?”

Grass was quiet for a moment. “King-chan, I think you need to do what you think is right.”

King squeezed her eyes shut.

“I’m sorry I can’t be more useful. I can’t tell you for sure what she wants right now. I don’t even know if she knows herself. But I do know she loves you very much.” Static began to trickle into the call again. “I’m sorry King, I have to go now.”

“Thank you, Grass.”

“Goodbye.”

Her phone slipped from her hand and onto her bed. King stared off at the wall, the sound of El’s sobs echoing through her brain. She tightened her fist again, heart stuck in her throat. King reached for her phone and wrote a message to her trainer: Going to Paris. I’m sorry. Will return.

She sent it, then switched her phone off. With a deep breath, King stood from her bed, took her bags, and walked out the door.

King Halo had never taken public transit before.

Being in a fugue state certainly didn’t help affairs. Her journey had been an absent mix of walking, running, trains, buses, a few near misses and a few actual misses. She counted herself lucky that at the very least she had gotten on all the right vehicles and gotten off them at the right time.

She didn’t know how long it took before she got off a bus at the airport’s main terminal. People bumped and jostled her, but King gritted her teeth and gripped the straps of her backpack tighter as she forced her way off the bus.

She stumbled onto the sidewalk, trying to reorient herself. “Okay,” she muttered. “Now I just need to get to–”

“There she is.”

King froze as a set of footsteps approached from behind her.

“King Halo. I won’t insult you by asking what you are doing here,” came the unmistakable voice of Symboli Rudolph.

King’s ears collapsed and her tail drooped completely as she slowly turned around. The president of the student counsel loomed over her, arms folded across her chest with an unreasonable look on her face. An amused Maruzensky stood to her right, car keys dangling from her fingers, and King’s trainer fumed from her left. “I’ve been trying to call you all day,” her trainer spat. “And when I couldn’t reach you, she was my next call.”

“I’m sorry.” She gripped her bag harder. “But I need to go. And I don’t think any of you can stop me.”

“Awww!” Maruzensky giggled. “She is adorable.”

Symboli Rudolph maintained her gaze. “You are well aware that leaving like this unannounced, without prior permission will break several of Tracen’s policies, while also placing extreme neglect on your academic work.

“Not to mention throw your entire training schedule off course,” her trainer added. “Plus worrying me to absolute pieces.”

King Halo bowed deeply. “I understand, and I’m sorry, trainer. But I need to go.” Tears began to well in her eyes. “For her. So please.”

There was a quiet sigh. “Rise, King.”

She did, and was stunned to see Rudolph’s gaze soften ever so slightly. “I understand where you are coming from. I too share your concerns, after all, El Condor Pasa is my responsibility. But so are you, King Halo. You know the risks you are placing upon yourself by doing this. But are you certain this is what you want to do?”

“I do,” King replied in a heartbeat. “I’ve been to Paris before, I don’t have any races immediately coming up, and above all El is my friend. So yes, I’m certain.”

Her trainer sighed, cupping her face in her hands. “When she’s sure, she’s sure.”

“Indeed.” The Emperor straightened herself up and nodded. “I’ve spoken briefly to El Condor Pasa’s trainer, and he agrees that seeing a friend may be beneficial for her. My requests to you are to see to her well-being, and escort her safely back to Tracen Academy when she is able to return. Additionally… Do not make this a habit. Academic work not completed in your absence must be done swiftly after your return.”

King Halo wiped her eyes with a handkerchief. “I understand. Thank you, president.”

Symboli Rudolph nodded. “Alright then,” her trainer said, stepping forwards. “Let’s go.”

“What?! But the president just said–!”

Her trainer glared at her. “Yeah, I was listening. Let’s go to Paris, King.”

King Halo gaped at her.

“Of course I’m coming with you! You think I would have just let you go completely on your own, unsupervised?! Did you even buy your tickets yet? How were you going to cover it?! God, King!”

Maruzensky giggled as she waved goodbye. Symboli Rudolph offered her one last nod before the two turned away and headed for the parking lot.

King’s trainer grabbed her by the arm and began yanking her towards the terminal. “Come on. You don’t want to know what I’m going to do to you if we miss our flight after all this.”

King Halo was beyond exhausted.

With the assistance of her trainer, the two had navigated the chaos of the airport and boarded their plane. King had offered no shortage of apologies the entire time, but they did very little to placate her trainer. “Look, I know you love her, and that is very, very sweet,” her trainer said as they made their way to their gate. “But I am your trainer. You tell me everything, and we can do this right. You don’t just scheme to run away to another fucking country! You know, you’re lucky I could get someone to watch my cat. And these tickets aren’t cheap, you know!”

The rant had gone on and on until they boarded the plane.

The flight hadn’t been too packed, so King was able to sit beside her trainer by the window. Her trainer pulled out her phone, fingers typing rapidly as the last few passengers meandered onto the plane. “I don’t even know where we’re going to stay. Maybe there’s vacancy at their hotel but–”

“Trainer?”

Her trainer paused.

King sniffed. “I’m scared.” Her voice was not royal nor regal. It wasn’t confident and it surely wasn’t first-class. It hadn’t hit her until she boarded the plane, but without her truly noticing, King Halo had become undone.

Her trainer put her phone away. She gently reached over to wipe the tears from King’s cheek. “Hey,” she whispered. “I’m sorry for yelling. You just scared me really badly.”

“I want her to be okay,” King whispered.

Her trainer gently pulled her head to the side, forcing it to rest on her shoulder. “I know. Me too.”

King clutched her trainer tightly as the tears continued to flow. Why didn’t I say I missed you? Why didn’t I ask if you were okay? How could I let you go?”

Her trainer patted her on the back. The plane began to move into position on the runway.

“T-Trainer,” King continued. “I-I feel like I was wrong in letting her go. I should have stopped her. Told her to stay in Japan. Is that wrong?”

“It’s what she wanted. I don’t think there’s anything you could have said or done to stop her,” her trainer answered. “It’s hard letting someone go, even if it’s only for a little bit. I don’t think it ever gets easier if you love them. But this isn’t her leaving forever. She’s coming back… Or, well, I guess you’re going to her, but the point is the same. Letting someone go regardless of the situation is one of the hardest things you can do.”

King continued to sob, no longer able to form words as her heart screamed for the comfort of El’s touch.

Her trainer ruffled her hair. “You’re a good kid, King. Try and get some sleep, okay? It’s going to be a long flight.”

The plane’s engines roared as it began to move, their noise like thunder in King’s ears.

King Halo did not sleep on the flight. Visions of a crying El invaded her mind whenever she closed her eyes. The hum of the engines felt deafening. The air was stale and dry.

It took an eternity for them to land. King moved stiffly through the airport, failing to process anything as they boarded a taxi and took off into the Paris night. When she exited the taxi, it was like a thousand weights came crashing down onto her all at once.

“Easy!” her trainer said, catching her elbow before King could fall. “Watch the curb. You okay?”

“Mm.” King rubbed her eyes. “Are we–”

“Hey!” The two looked up to see El’s trainer waving at them from the door to the hotel lobby. “You made it!” He smiled, but all King could see were the bags beneath his eyes. Her trainer shared a quick hug with the man, and he warmly shook King’s hand. “So you’re King Halo! I don’t think we’ve met yet.”

“A pleasure, though I do wish it were under better circumstances,” King sleepily replied.

El’s trainer chuckled. “Thank you for coming,” he said earnestly. “I think El will be really happy to see you.”

“Does she know we’re here?”

“I haven’t told her yet. Honestly… I’m not sure where she is right now.”

King perked up at that.

“These past few nights have been really rough on her. I’ve never seen her like this before.” Her trainer sighed and rubbed his face. “We’ve been talking but it’s like she’s a completely different person. I can’t get her to say what’s wrong, let alone talk about the race. The only thing I can do at this point is give her the space and time to get through this. I check in with her during the day and later in the night, but I don’t know where she goes in between.”

Her trainer put a hand onto his shoulder. “God. I hope she’s okay, poor thing. I didn’t know this was so important to her.”

“I don’t think it’s the loss itself that’s making her feel this way. I’ve reiterated how impressive second place is in and of itself, but it just isn’t resonating.” El’s trainer sighed deeply. “I don’t know what more I can do for her. But maybe you can get through to her.”

King steeled her gaze. “I’ll do my best. Trainer, I know we’ve just arrived, but may I go look for her?”

“Alone?” her trainer furrowed her brow in concern. “You don’t want to just wait until she comes back?”

“I’ve turned my phone on. You have my location.”

Her trainer studied her carefully. “Alright,” she finally relented. “This is what you came her to do anyways. Be careful, King, and call me when you’ve found her, okay?”

“Okay. And… Thank you.”

“Oh. One other thing.” El’s trainer reached into his jacket pocket. “She… Hasn’t been wearing this. Asked me to take care of it, but maybe she’d like it back now.”

King’s heart plummeted again as El’s trainer produced her mask.

But… She never takes it off.

She accepted the mask, cradling it gently like a kitten. “I’ll bring her back,” she promised.

Her trainer smiled. “We’ll be waiting here. Call me if anything happens.”

“I will.” With that, King Halo turned to embrace the city. “Okay El. Where are you?”

King Halo was used to feeling lonely in the big city.

It was how she had grown up, after all. Wandering from store to store, street to street while faces passed her by. Following her mother as she carried on from task to task, tsking and chiding her the entire time. The memories left her with very mixed feelings about cities such as Paris. They were inherently beautiful and upper-class, but it was hard to not feel lost and drifting within them.

King wasn’t sure how long she had been walking. She felt completely and utterly drained. The last day had taken an immense toll on her mind and body. But it had to be nothing compared to what El must have been feeling.

That thought alone kept her moving. Her eyelids drooped and her legs felt like lead, but she continued placing one foot in front of another while scanning the area for any sign of El Condor Pasa. A cool wind made her shiver and she held her jacket tighter against her. Maybe I should have just waited for her to come back to the hotel. Paris is huge. She could be anywhere.

She paused at a street corner, staring up at the nearby Eiffel Tower. It stood tall and grand, piercing straight up into the night sky. She reached into her pocket and pulled out El’s mask, an echo of a conversation floating through her mind. Look no further than the Eiffel Tower for a symbol of strength!

King looked around in front of her. A small seating area took up the space across the street, with a few tables and chairs littered about providing a place to sit and relax. King crossed the street and headed towards it, stifling a yawn.

“El… Where are you? Argh, focus, King! You can’t look for her mask, because she’s not wearing it. You have to look for… You have to look for…” Her footsteps slowed as her mind ground to a slow halt. You idiot. You don’t know what she looks like without the mask, do you?

A fresh set of tears welled in her eyes.

She could be right in front of you and you wouldn’t know it. How could you possibly call someone a girlfriend if you don’t even know what she looks like?!

She gritted her teeth and wiped her tears away. No. That thinking isn’t going to help here. You have to be strong. She continued walking, looking around the area as she did so.

It was a fairly busy night, and every table in sight was occupied. Most of them were human, but a few umamusumes were mixed into the crowd as well. King glanced to her right, realizing that that side of the courtyard seemed to be a little less occupied. She spotted a mother with a stroller, two men in suits, and– Wait!

She gasped. “The jacket. The jacket!”

With a newfound energy, King Halo raced forwards. Finally, wearing the very same jacket King had watched her buy months ago, was…

“El!”

El didn’t seem to hear her. She sat slumped over, staring down into a Styrofoam cup. She looked different: the missing mask was obvious, but her hair was messy and undone. Her face was long and void of her signature energy. There was no mistaking her bright blue eyes, but the boundless strength and passion behind them was gone.

King approached the table and stopped in front of it. “Bonjour,” she ventured.

El looked up and froze, shock filling her face. “K-King?!”

King giggled. “I hope this seat isn’t taken.”

“W-What are you doing here?”

King pulled out the chair opposite of El. “I came to see you, of course. What, did you think I came here to shop?”

El furrowed her brow. “But… Why?”

“Because… Because I was worried about you, El.”

El’s ears drooped. “I’m sorry I haven’t texted or called you. I just… I haven’t found the energy to do much lately.”

King nodded. “I understand. But still, you haven’t been yourself.”

“No, King. I have been myself.”

“What do you mean?”

El regarded her with a sad look. “This is who I am. The real El Condor Pasa. Everything else is just an act. A persona. It always has been.” The girl in front of King looked nothing like the El that she remembered. She looked hollow, sitting there completely still and speaking at a regular volume. “I didn’t know how to say it until I lost,” she continued. “I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have come.”

“Nonsense. I’m here for you El. Can you tell me what’s wrong?”

El bit her lip. “I wanted to be the strongest in the world. Everyone knows that. But no matter how many times I said it… There was a part of me that always doubted it. I kept pushing forwards, because that was the only way I could prove it to myself. But every race I won, the doubt just grew. I started to feel like I was just lying to everyone. That mask became a crutch. Something I could hide behind so the world didn’t need to see how scared and how weak I really was. So I kept it on and never told anyone. Not Grass, not my trainer, not even you.”

“El… Why?”

El looked at her sadly. “Because I wanted you to love me.”

King reached across the table and placed her hands over El’s wrists.

She stiffened, but didn’t pull away. “I know I should be happy I placed second,” she continued, voice hoarse. “But in my head it was the final piece of proof. That El Condor Pasa is nothing more than a stage name, and the real me was nothing at all. I’m not strong. I’m not brave. King… I’m not like you.”

“Like… Like me?”

“Si. King, from the second I met you I could tell you were different. You were everything I wasn’t. You had confidence. And you’ve never doubted yourself! Not for a second! Whenever someone needs you, you’re there. You’ve never needed a mask to hide behind. I– I wish I had that confidence. I wish I was that important. But in ten years nobody will remember me. I’m just… a failure.”

King stared at her, stunned. She gripped El’s wrists tighter. “El! Stop this, you are not a failure! There aren’t two versions of you, you are one. We’re the sum of all of our parts. Your strengths, your weaknesses, they all make you you.” King squeezed her eyes shut and huffed. “And if anything, I’m the one who’s a liar. You think I’m strong and that I’m brave, and I don’t wear a mask? That’s because I’ve trained myself not to show it. Because if I did… then it’d prove my mother right.

“Then I met you, El. One of the most genuine people I have ever met. You put your heart and soul into everything that you do. And it’s all so natural. Nothing like my practiced laughs or fake smiles. El, you made me realize that I needed to be myself.” She sighed. “I’m so sorry that I never made that clear. I guess I just always thought you knew. But El… I do love you.”

The two fell quiet as a cool autumn breeze flew between them. El sniffled, eyes beginning to water. “I don’t deserve that.”

“Just because you wear a mask doesn’t mean you have to be someone else. It doesn’t make you a liar either.” King pulled El’s mask from her pocket and held it out to her. “Please, El. You’re stronger than you know.”

El stared at the mask, shaking slightly. Slowly, she reached out and took it, letting it lay in the palm of her hand. King slid out of her seat and crossed the table to stand beside her. El glanced at her. “King, I don’t know if I can do this.”

“I think you can. And I’m here for you, every step of the way.” She reached out to gently brush El’s unkempt hair. “I promise.”

El sniffled again, but slid her mask over her eyes.

“There.” King leaned over to hug her, nestling her face beside El’s. “You’ll fly again, El.”

Simply putting the mask back on wouldn’t be enough. But King knew that it was a first step. Even if there were many more to go, King was certain of one thing: they’d take each and every step together.

Chapter Text

El Condor Pasa had never come undone before.

She hated everything about it. She hated feeling this weak and useless, she hated that she was worrying everyone, and above all, she hated that she couldn’t even be true to herself. Because the frustrations and tension building within her had been brewing ever since her debut, but instead of addressing them she poured more energy into the character wearing the mask.

She should have known better.

But it was too late now. She had fallen apart. Now it was time to try and put herself back together again.

El stared up at the ceiling of her hotel room, waiting for sleep to reclaim her. Paris was quiet in the early morning, and not even the sun had risen from the horizon yet. Beside her, King Halo slept soundly; her arms wrapped around El’s waist. She succumbed to jetlag and exhaustion almost immediately after laying down.

The sight made El feel guilty. King had sacrificed a lot to be with her now, and El wasn’t sure how she could repay her for that. She reached up and ran her fingers over the surface of her mask. King was right, wearing her mask was a good first step: her face had felt naked without it on.

I don’t think I deserve to wear it, though… El rolled onto her side carefully. King muttered in her sleep and gripped El tighter. But King believes in me. So does my trainer. Even when I stopped believing in myself.

El reached out and pulled herself into King’s body. She sighed quietly, shutting her eyes and trying to lose herself in King’s embrace. She imagined herself as a bird without wings, staring up at the empty open sky and longing to take flight again.

She buried herself into King’s chest. Her head was swirling with thoughts, voices whispering in her ear like raindrops falling against her skin.

El thought of her father. He had smiled at her widely when he gave her that mask, proclaiming that some day she would soar to even greater heights than he would. She thought of how he swore to watch every one of her races no matter the time zone difference. She thought of his injury, which nearly ended his entire career and left him with a permanent scar.

“What would he say if he saw me now?” she muttered.

“He’d tell you not to give up,” came a very sleepy response that made El gasp. “Though I wouldn’t want to speak for him.” El pulled her head away as King slowly opened her eyes. “Can’t sleep?”

“Sorry,” El muttered.

King gently brushed a strand of hair from her face. “Your father had a long career in wrestling, didn’t he?”

“Mmhm.”

“Was he undefeated?”

El blinked. “No. He lost, everyone does.”

King hummed, gazing at El with a placid smile. “So he didn’t give up after the first one, did he?”

“No…” El sighed, gripping onto King tighter. “Are you trying to make me cry again?”

“I’d never. But do you understand what I’m trying to say?”

“Si… You’re right. He’d tell me to keep fighting.”

“You haven’t let him down yet,” King said with a yawn. “So why do it now?” With that, she leaned in and planted a kiss on the top of El’s forehead.

El held that thought in her mind before she fell asleep, safe in King’s embrace.

El’s sense of time felt compromised. Some minutes took hours to pass, and some hours were gone in seconds. Her mind seem to wander in and out of her body, making her feel like she was only present for half the day.

The morning after King had met her, she spoke to her trainer and attempted to reiterate the things she had told King. Her trainer hugged her and promised that he would always be there for her, no matter what. Afterwards, they enjoyed a later lunch with King and her trainer at a nearby cafe as they discussed the plan for the near future. “I think it’s fair to say you’re not a hundred percent yet,” El’s trainer said. “And since our friends here are still a little jetlagged, we can take it easy today. Tomorrow we’ll get back on a track and see how we feel, bueno?”

“Bueno.”

From there, the four spent a day wandering the streets of Paris. El smiled, laughed, and made small talk with King as they went from store to store, taking a few pictures to send to Special Week. But she still felt timid and awkward in her mask, feeling others stare at her strangely as they passed. Yet every time she reached for it, King swatted her hand away. “You have nothing to be ashamed of,” she insisted.

Finally, they separated briefly from their trainers to enjoy a boat ride down the river. King absolutely glistened in the moonlight, and El wondered if that was what an angel would like. They held hands and exchanged another tender kiss in the cool French night. And El felt her heart tighten and begin to heal.

She slept soundly that night, feeling like the day had been both a second an eternity.

The next day they rose earlier and made their way to a nearby racing school’s track.

King did a few jumps, testing the turf beneath her cleats. “It is different!”

“Every country has their own style of turf,” her trainer confirmed. “Take a lap, see how it feels.”

King nodded, excited for the challenge, and began jogging down the track.

“So,” El’s trainer said to her. “How are you feeling?”

“Eh… Sluggish and heavy,” El replied honestly, rubbing the back of her head. “My body feels really tight.”

Her trainer patted her on the head. “You’ve been through a lot these last few days. It’ll take a bit to start feeling normal again. Do you think you can handle some light work? Stretches, light jogging? If you start feeling better after that we can amp it up a little.”

El nodded, and spent the rest of the day doing simple warm-up activities. She sweated, worked out with King, hydrated, and pestered King’s trainer for embarrassing secrets about her girlfriend. They had dinner and returned to their hotel in the early evening, before King invited her on a light jog around the block.

The jog turned into a bit of a race, with El constantly trying to overtake King before King would return the favor.

By the time they fell asleep, El could feel her limbs lightening up and her mind beginning to clear a little more.

On the third day, they once again met at their newly-discovered favorite breakfast diner, where El’s trainer asked how she felt about flying home. “We were originally scheduled to fly back tomorrow,” he reminded her.

“Fine by me,” El answered. “I think I need to get out of Paris before I run into Broye again. Don’t get me wrong, I’m feeling better, but I’d… rather not see her for a little.”

The rest of the day was spent at the track, with El tackling some slightly more difficult exercises. “How’d I do?” she panted after a sixth sprint across the track.

“Bueno!’

She lightly punched her trainer in the arm. “Be honest! I can take it, promise.”

Her trainer shook his head with a slight smile. “You know me too well… Well, you’re still coming in slower than your average times.”

El’s face wavered for a second before she shook it off. “Hm. We’ll have to work extra hard when we get back, then! Because nothing can stop the great El Condor Pasa!”

Her trainer laughed. “There’s the El I know and love.”

“You better,” King Halo called as she passed her, in the middle of a sprint of her own. “You owe me a rematch race, remember?”

She did. She often thought back to the mock race, hearing King’s thundering steps right behind her own, feeling her breathe down her neck. El grinned at the thought of challenging her again, and how much sweeter another victory would taste. “I’m going again,” she shouted to her trainer, tearing off down the track with a renewed sense of purpose.

As she ran, she imagined herself as a baby bird, hobbling to the edge of its nest and ready for its first flight. El reached out, spreading both wings, and pictured herself flying. It felt better than anything else in the world.

El was feeling better when they arrived back at Tracen.

King helped her out of the backseat of her trainer’s car (this was apparently the first time she hadn’t sat in the front passenger’s seat per her trainer) and the two stared up at the building looming over them. “Home sweet home,” King muttered. “I was honestly quite liking our hotel room.”

“I wonder why,” King’s trainer muttered under her breath.

“Alright you two, go get some rest,” El’s trainer said, rubbing sleep from his eyes and stretching. “El, call me whenever you’re ready to start talking about next steps.”

“And King… You better get your royal little butt ready,” King’s trainer said, “because I’m giving you one day to rest, but after that we are getting back on track with your training no matter what.”

King gulped nervously but nodded.

They waved goodbye to their trainers before turning to face each other. “Aren’t you heading back to Ritto?” El asked with a raised eyebrow.

“A lady will always see their guest in,” King replied with a wry grin.

El rolled her eyes but allowed King to open the door to the Minho Dorm building for her. “Can’t you just be a little normal–”

“WELCOME BACK EL!”

Before she even fully made it inside, El was tackled by a flying missile that resembled Special Week. “You did so good there and I’m sorry that you didn’t win but we’re all really really proud of you!” Special Week sobbed.

“Spe! I need air!” El gasped, trying to escape the bear hug as dozens of other students appeared in the main room.

“El! Welcome back!”

“Congratulations on your victory!”

“You were awesome out there!”

A blush formed on El’s cheeks as her classmates surrounded her, lauding her with appreciation and congratulations. “G-Gracias,” she stammered as Silence Suzuka gently pried Special Week off of her with a quiet apology. “Um…” She glanced to King for help, but King was currently dealing with a very upset Haru Urara, apparently demanding some kind of explanation. “Gracias everyone! Just you wait, next time, I’m gonna win!”

The dorm cheered at that.

“Welcome back El,” Grass Wonder said as she approached. “I’m glad you made it back safe and sound.”

They exchanged a hug. “Yeah. I’m glad to be back.”

Grass stepepd back to look her in the eye. “Are you okay?”

El’s ears folded. “I’m feeling better now,” she said. “Sorry for worrying you.”

Grass reached out and grabbed El’s wrist with a smile. “Good! I’m so glad. I was really, really worried about you, you know.” A shiver went down El’s spine as Grass suddenly tightened her grip. “Don’t you ever worry me like that again,” Grass growled.

El whimpered.

Grass giggled. “Let’s get you back to your room. Oh, do you want to say goodbye to King first?”

El turned around to see King carrying Urara on her back. “Uh… Are you going to be okay?”

“Yes, yes, don’t worry,” King replied with a smile. “I suppose this is farewell for now… And maybe forever. It seems my trainer may be working me to death in the near future.”

El couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Hey. Thank you for coming after me. I… Don’t know what I would have done if you weren’t there.”

King beamed at her. “Of course, El. I’ll always be there for you, just like you’ve always been there for me. Go get some rest.”

“You too.”

With that, the two parted ways, with El’s heart feeling lighter than it had been for a while.

El wasn’t one to judge how other people slept.

But she thought that King Halo would have been a little more… regal when she slept. Instead, her first-rate girlfriend was sprawled on the bed like a dead body, drooling into the pillow with the sheets tossed up haphazardly.

“She’s been really tired these past few days,” Urara explained with a giggle. “Her trainer has really been working her hard since you guys got back!”

“Guess she kept her promise,” El mused. El had spent much of her first day back in Japan without King due to a combination of them sleeping and King needing to make several apologies to Urara, Symboli Rudolph, and their teachers for her abrupt departure.

El was equally honored and horrified to learn just how unannounced King’s trip was, and Grass Wonder made sure to remind her throughout the day.

A few days afterwards, El barely heard from King at all as she threw herself into catching up with her schoolwork and training. “Sleeping beauty,” El laughed, snapping a picture of her with her phone.

“Yeah! I’m gonna go get her some dinner so she can eat when she wakes up!”

“Er– Why don’t I do that for you,” El quickly cut in, remembering what happened the last time Urara tried to bring food back into the dorm.

“Aw, that’s so nice of you! Thanks, El!”

El nodded, giving one last look at King before slipping out of the dorm. She made her way down the stairs and towards the cafeteria, taking the time to think about the last couple of weeks.

King had truly done so much for her. Dropping everything in her life, risking serious consequences to be there for her. It filled her with an immense guilt, along with a desire to repay her. But how?

She paused, staring up at the stars above Tracen. “I owe her a rematch, don’t I,” she mused to herself. She closed her eyes and sighed. “You doubted yourself, but you’re back now. Time to prove to the world that the mighty El Condor Pasa will take flight once more.”

With a nod, she reached into her pocket for her cell phone and called her trainer.

“Yo, El! What’s up?”

“Hola! Sorry for calling you so late, but… I think I’ve made up my mind.”

“Okay, I’m listening. What do you have in mind?”

El smiled, taking in the night scenery. “I’m ready to get back into it. I still want to take on more international races… Maybe take on Broye again at some point! But for now, I wanna stay in Japan. Get my footing back.

“Sounds good to me. Does this mean El Condor Pasa is back?”

El laughed. “Si! Thanks to you and King, she is! And this time, she’s stronger than ever before.”

“Then let’s take on the world together!”

“Vamanos! There is one thing I’d like to ask though…”

El Condor Pasa knew what it meant to find strength.

Those nights in Paris felt like they had happened forever ago now. El had made a promise then: to never relent and never back down. And she intended to make good on it.

Outside of the tunnel, the stadium cheered and roared with a fierce energy, like a monster hungry for its next meal. With a wry grin, El stepped out into the light, letting the cheers grow louder as her fans screamed her name.

She cupped a hand around her ear and laughed as the voices grew louder.

And to think she had almost given this all up.

For a second, she thought back again to Paris, and how every facet of her life seemed to have shattered. There was none of that today: no self-doubt, no weakness, no crippling uncertainty. El Condor Pasa was stronger than she ever had been before: and today, she would prove it to the world.

“A beautiful day for racing, don’t you think?”

A fresh wave of cheers erupted from the crowd, as a pair of cleats marched down the grass behind her.

“Si. It never gets old,” El mused, turning to face her competitor.

King Halo laughed, tossing back her hair. “Are you ready?” she asked, eyes glistening with mischief.

“For me to make it two to nothing? Of course, I’ve been waiting for this day,” El replied with a laugh.

“Oho! Our first race was a mock one, my dear. This is the real stage… And I don’t intend to disappoint.” King closed the distance between them, crossing her arms with a cocksure grin.

“Neither do I,” El replied, leaning in to laugh in King’s face. “Today, I’m ready for anything!”

“Anything? Even this?” King suddenly reached out and seized El’s face, pulling her in for a kiss.

“Hmmph!” El’s face immediately flushed red. The crowd screamed louder than El had ever heard a crowd scream before, and the thunder of applause echoed down around her. “K-King! In public?!”

King laughed, beaming with pride as she pulled away. “We’ve always been public, El. Or have you changed your mind about us?”

“N-No! Hey! No fair, that’s playing dirty!” El whined, crossing her arms and frowning.

“I’ll see you at the finish line,” King replied, winking as she sauntered off towards the gate.

El sighed, rubbing the back of her head. “Oi… I get the feeling I’ll be buying us dinner for tonight,” she muttered as she trudged towards the racing gate.

As the gate clanked shut behind her, El glanced to her right where King was doing some final stretches. She looked over and smiled. “Don’t hold back, El. I want this to be a good race.”

El scoffed and smiled. “I never do, King.”

With a sharp clack, the front gates opened, and the racers tore off down the track.