Chapter Text
Dear Mother.
I know I’m a burden. A misfit. A second rate.
For years I’ve strived to be the best I can, but each time I’m never able to catch up to anyone. Ever since King could start training, you devoted everything to her. Every day I come home from school to see your attitude change the moment you notice me, as if I’m a pest in your life. If your attitude lightened, it only means that you saw me in that moment as nothing more than a tool to further yourself. At least King treated me like family.
So that changes tonight. I’ve packed up what I think I need to live on my own for a bit and have left the house. If you know your child, you might have an idea where to look for me.
Goodbye, Goodbye Halo.
Queen Halo.
Queen Halo looked at the note she had typed out and printed earlier, as her gaze drifted back up to her neat and tidy room, which barely had room for much more than her bed and desk, with her closet only giving her a little bit more space. A pair of clutches lay on the wall, a memory of a past leg injury, and a reminder of what may still come.
Her eyes glazed into her closet’s mirror for a moment. Her white tuff of a blaze curled off to her left, almost covering her left eye. The rest of her hair was a rich bay, barely reaching shoulder length. She sighed as she glazed directly into the sapphire gems of eyes that stared back at her, such a contrast to her sister’s rubies.
“King…”
Queen Halo clenched her right hand, while reaching up to fix the little blue bow her sister had given her right before her departure for Tracen. She adored her older sister a lot but… as the years had gone on, they’d drifted further and further apart. As far as Queen saw it, Mother had a hand in that, long before King leaving for the big leagues. Mother had always pushed King to become a ‘first rate Uma’ much like herself, to reach the pinnacle of perfection. For years those words had started to sting between each medical check up, as Queen truly learned what she meant to her Mother… that she was simply:
‘A daughter born of a different blood than her sister’s’. Or better off as…
“Second rate.”
It took a moment for Queen to take a couple of deep breaths as she muttered that horrid saying. One that’d been following her around since King had started looking to race. She slowly looked back at her mirror and tried to smile a little. She unclenched her hand and brought it to rest on her suitcase. Mother was gone for the week, some big fancy fashion gala over in the States, leaving her alone… Which gave her all the time in the world to finish packing up and making plans. From quick searches of timetables, to looking into when Tracen Academy opened, she was sure she was ready to make her stand.
Ever since she was a toddler, she’d seen photos and videos of her Mother racing and winning in Southern California, winning famous races such as the La Canada Stakes, and she can’t remember how many times her mother had brought out the video of her biggest victory to force her and King to watch.
The Kentucky Oaks.
A more refined style race compared to its much larger sister, the Kentucky Derby, but just as popular with fans. For years it had been her dream to run in a race on the same level as the Oaks.
She took another look around her childhood bedroom, the place of long gone memories as she noticed her Tokai Teio plush’s arm pushing out from under her pillow. How could she have forgotten to grab her good luck charm? She’d won the stuffed figure not long after injuring her leg in a dance recital that Goodbye had forced her into. That very same weekend the news had spread that Teio had injured her own leg at the Derby and seeing the plush in the claw machine on the way out of hospital… it called to her.
Yet even with her injury, Queen had watched on the news Teio triumphantly return for the Sankei Osaka Hai in April of the next year and once again kept her undefeated streak going until the Spring Tenno Sho where she fought rivals such as the strongest racing family, Mejiros McQueen and Palmer. Mother had forbidden her from going to see the race in person so she had to settle watching it on her TV downstairs.
She reached for the plush, slowly putting her backpack down with her other hand to take it along for the ride. The clutches in the corner seared her eyes as she shook her head. She was fine. She could walk… she can run. Just like Teio, who after the Arima Kinen, had gotten injured again, only for the fans to vote for her to return one final time, and she blew everyone out of the water on the homestretch, a true miracle had happened.
Queen had recalled the doctors mentioning how her legs bent and moved during her recovery… There was something different about her. The doctors were sure it had to do with her blood, and how her veins shifted around her joints vs the normal human or umamusume, even. She was simply more flexible, and recovered quicker than most would at her age. Queen took it as a sign, to keep believing in her dreams, and started to run. She’d been practicing for a couple of years on her own at this point, almost always when Mother was away or at work. She looked at the note again and a tear gently rose from her eye before brushing it aside. Mother wouldn’t care.
All Mother cared about was King, and even then, King hadn’t lived up to her racing expectations. Mother had taken her to watch each of King’s fifteen Grade One races, and only once did she see Mother’s lips curl into what she assumed might have been once a smile.
She gazed longingly at the Tracen Academy map she had on her wall… a gift of sorts from the time they went to watch King race in the Satsuki Sho, as there were maps being handed out to promote the yearly Fan Festival at Tracen. Japan’s premier racing school called for her. The idea of running through the same halls as her older sister, racing on the same tracks.
Queen smiled and made sure she had everything for one last check of the room. Memories of time flying by her as she grew up alone without King. It was simply time to take flight. Grabbing her Teio plush and putting it in her backpack, she paused to place her right hand on her suitcase. Within moments she started walking, as she pushed foot by foot out into the hallway. She turned around, her eyes gazing on the room that she once considered hers, turning the light off and slowly closing the door.
Since Mother lived downstairs, the upstairs hallway was rather empty, if not for some of King’s and her own trophies from when they were younger. Queen had made a gesture of goodwill by buying framed photos of King’s wins, regardless of if they were G1s or not, not like Mother would see them up here… if she had, she didn’t say anything. King, on the other hand, had not returned home once she moved out to Tracen, so there had been a growing thought in the back of Queen’s mind that maybe her sister may never see them. But in the end, it was worth it at the time for Queen. Every time King had won, the fire in her heart burned brighter. Each victory had she framed nudged her to start training by herself, to first walk, then jog. Finally start running the umamusume marked trails set up in the mountains around their house.
She turned to start heading down the stairs, and once she was down them, she was instantly hit with her mother’s achievements in the downstairs hallway. Newspapers framed, winning banners from all sorts of American races strung up and paraded along the hallway and yet, to no one's surprise.
None of her sister’s achievements.
King may have only claimed one G1 win under her belt, but she was apart of what people now referred to the ‘Golden Generation.’ Each member of that year’s top talent were in a league of their own, and King? She was up there shoulder to shoulder with the likes of El Condor Pasa, Seiun Sky, and Special Week, normally claiming silver or bronze rather than the gold. How could a mother go about her life without even opening up and reminding herself of her daughter’s achievements. Whatever reason Goodbye had, it was not Queen’s concern at the moment. That bridge had burned long ago when Goodbye had started bringing home tv dinner meals or leftovers for Queen to eat by herself rather than make meals for them both. Her concern now, was to place the note down on the kitchen table and make her way out of the back door.
Queen turned into the living room and there it was: the trophy display behind the TV. Sitting in the center, surrounded by but above all of her other trophies was the one of her Mother’s victory at the Kentucky Oaks. The coffee table littered with magazines from the most recent fashion shows, the walls filled by bookshelves with rows and rows of designer books. Her mother’s mannequins stood frozen in time surrounding the antique hand sewing machine and sat next to a much newer one in the corner.
This was her Mother’s room and no one else's.
She stepped into the room and felt the soft cushion of the expensive carpet under her feet as she moved to take one last look at her mother’s wins. Where bookshelves did not cover them, the room’s walls were plastered with memorabilia of America and gifts from friends, fans, and rivals. The fireplace had something displayed on it that caught her eye though, something she’d not seen before.
A small plaque with a photo from a Japanese Winner’s Circle. “King Halo wins the Takamatsunomiya Kinen!” In a room full of history, full of records, this was the only one of King’s that Mother had considered worthy enough to make space for, and she’d put it somewhere where in some other’s household, it might be the center of attention.
But not here.
She paused, thinking about it for a moment, would Mother even notice it if she placed the note next to King’s photo? She took a deep breath and decided it was the best place for it. She slowly reached for her note, and placed it on the fireplace against the back wall, the letter standing as tall as the photo of King.
She turned around, she had a spare key, there’d be no reason not to go through the front door at this point rather than go all the way around the backyard. She started walking out of the living room and into the foyer, walking under a banner that she took one last look at.
‘Goodbye, Halo.’ a large banner with lots of signatures from her mother’s friends, rivals, fans. From her plenty of free time researching names, she recognized a couple of names on the banner. From her mother’s rival, Winning Colors, to future stars like Tranquil Night, to the Santa Anita legend, Wishing Well. And countless other names she didn’t recognize. To think that time was long gone in her eyes. Mother had thrown away so many friends in the name of perfection.
She opened the door to the outside world and took her first step. She took one last look inside of the two story house she’d called home forever. The grandfather clock at the end of the hall read around 4:30 am, perfect timing for the first trains into the city to start running by the time she reached the station.
“Goodbye…” Queen choked as tears swelled, she needed to do this, for herself. She closed the door, grabbing the key from her pocket and locking it.
The birds had already started chirping as she felt the gentle breeze from the mountains blow by her, guiding her towards the east. Towards Tokyo. Towards Tracen Academy. She started walking towards the train station, making sure to not make her suitcase sway too much along the roadside. It was only a five or so minute jog normally to the station on a bad day, so in this quiet moment of the morning, it was fine to take her time.
She couldn’t remember how many times she’s walked down this road, but unlike her sister, she doubted it was more than a hundred. At least she knew to take the left towards the station and she could soon see the little railway crossing poking from around the corner. She paused to take a moment to go into the convenience store at the corner, the man behind the counter only waving while on his phone.
Queen took a moment to walk down the aisles, before stopping in front of the main shelves for the ready to eat food, and grabbing herself a rice ball and some vegetable sticks with some miso mayonnaise. Picking up a water bottle from one of the shelves as well, Queen went to purchase at the counter, swiping her card. It might be one of her last purchases with it, but she did not care. She started waving to the convenience store clerk before making her way to the train station proper.
To say the town’s railway had its charm would be an understatement. They weren’t in what most people would consider the suburbs of Tokyo, but they were still on a railway line that had through service directly into the heart of the capital of Japan, but at this hour, none of those trains ran.
At least for her, that wasn’t a problem. As she’d seen plotting out her course ahead, the end of the line, Tachikawa, was also the starting point of a line that directly connected to Fuchūhommachi, the station that stood across from the URA Tokyo Racecourse itself! Tracen Academy was only a couple minutes jog from the station, so if she was lucky, it’d only be an hour and a half until she was at Tracen.
She smiled a little as she walked up to the ticket machine and purchased the tickets needed to start her journey. After picking up her tickets, she just made her way to a bench and sat. She had gotten this far already, as she pulled out her breakfast and started to eat as she waited for the next train. There was no going back now, onwards to Tracen Academy and a bright future!
Queen smiled softly as the train rolled into Fuchūhommachi station and came to a slow stop. The doors opened and she got up to get off, she’d ridden the train so many times to Fuchūhommachi with her mother to watch King race, but to be alone, it was a completely different feeling as she passed early morning commuters go about their day catching their trains or heading off to work. Here she was just aimlessly trying to get out of the building so she could start walking to Tracen.
Almost as soon as she’d made her way out of the main building did she see other Umamusume running on the blue lined path built into the roadway stretching towards Tracen and beyond. Maybe someday she’d be able to race them along the road, but today with her suitcase, she could not. Queen happily took the time to walk happily by herself on the sidewalk, as the main center of Fuchu disappeared behind her, and the suburbs began. The tree lined streets welcomed her with open arms as time slipped by her, only pushing herself forward.
If it wasn’t for the smell of something sweet catching her attention, she gazed over to her right to notice not far up the road was a food truck. She’d already eaten but something to drink wouldn’t hurt. As she got closer, she could make out the sign, Funny Honey. So maybe they were more about honey themed foods, still very sweet! Perhaps they had her favorite honey lemonade.
The cashier waved for a short moment, and looked to say something but stopped herself, as her ears pinned back slightly. A shiver went down Queen’s spine as she slowly came up to the counter. “Ummm. I’ll take a thick, extra-rich, heavy on the honey hachimi please.” She nervously asked, as she was about to pull out her debit card, another voice spoke up, nearly causing Queen to jump.
“Hi Ms. Hani, make that two Tokai Teio Hachimis! I’ll buy hers!” Queen turned around and blinked for a moment as the woman in front of her just smiled warmly with her bright blue eyes. It took her a second to catch each detail, the Tracen Academy attire, the pink bow in her bay hair, a large white blaze curling down into her bangs, her idol stood before her. “Hello! I couldn’t help myself from covering yours as I was getting it too!” The woman walked past Queen and paid using her own card, leaving the two in silence for a good minute before the woman spoke up with a grin plastered on her face. “I take it you’ve seen me before?” she teased a little.
“You’re Tokai Teio!” Queen sputtered out.
Teio just beamed. “Yep!” Before she could say anymore, the drinks arrived and Teio waved at the cashier. “I’ll be back tomorrow Ms. Hani!” As Queen went to grab hers, Teio spoke up again. “Say, wanna sit down for a moment? I’ve noticed you’ve had your hand firmly on that suitcase the whole time.”
Queen paused as she loosened her grip on her suitcase, not knowing how long she had been holding onto the handle for dear life. “S-Sure.” The duo soon found themselves sitting for a moment as Teio started drinking her hachimi.
“Ooo, that sure hits the spot this early in the morning.” Teio said after taking a sip as Queen just watched, unsure what to say to her favorite idol. “Ms. Hani’s been so happy to see me every morning, she opened her truck early just to serve me at this hour.” Teio chuckled a little. “Aren’t you the quiet type?”
“N-no.” Queen whispered, a hint of a blush forming on her face from embarrassment. “Well maybe.. It’s just…” Queen just grinned happily as she spoke again. “You’re Tokai Teio! The miracle winning Monarch!”
Teio just smiled warmly. “Yep!”
Queen took a moment to sip her drink, it was exactly how she liked it, and went for a second sip. “It’s… just.. Mmm.” She paused to get her words out straight. “I got injured at a dance the same weekend as the Derby. Your recovery and refusal to not give up racing really helped push me along, Ms. Tokai.”
Teio just beamed and nodded. “That’s great to hear I’ve helped another Umamusume through my own pains. Now…” She paused, her eyes glancing down at my suitcase. Queen had hoped she wasn’t going to ask about it. “I don’t suppose you’d let me know where you’re off to? It’s pretty early in the morning.”
And there it was. Queen gulped what little air she had in her throat before speaking nervously. “Well… I was planning to go to Tracen Academy to see about applying.” All she wanted to do was crawl into a ball, her favorite idol was sitting next to her, asking about what she was doing here, after all she hadn’t even applied yet, and here she was carrying her entire life in the suitcase next to her.
Tokai Teio just beamed. “Oh! You’re looking to apply for this year? What’s your name?”
“It’s Queen.” Queen answered with a soft smile at her idol.
Teio smiled back, though Queen could tell by Teio’s eyes that she was hoping for more than just ‘Queen’. “Oh that’s a pretty name, are you transferring in from the regionals, Queen?”
Queen shook her head. “N-no… it’s more complicated than that.” She could see Teio’s smile falter quickly as she glanced up and down once more.
“I see.. Well, let's go, Tracen’s gates should be open already!” Teio brushed herself off and grabbed her drink. “Ready, Queen?”
Queen could only get up and follow her idol, grabbing her drink as well. “Y-Yeah!” The duo started walking along the sidewalk, at a gentle pace to not rush Queen’s suitcase rolling behind her. Teio took the time to start texting away on her phone, causing Queen to look elsewhere. She refused to look into her idol’s life without permission, focusing on the trees ahead of them instead. She swore she could start seeing Tracen Academy poking out between the branches in the distance.
Soon enough she could see the gates before them on their right, the dorms just across the road. It was still early in the morning, but there were still other umamusume starting to walk to campus, no doubt Umas who were already racing, as no middle schooler would be up and about this early.
Her mind turned to the fact she was now standing in front of the gate of the very academy she’d dreamed longingly to attend for ages. Even if she didn’t… actually apply yet. She’d thought about taking the online exam but that would have alerted Mother. She paused to shake the bad thoughts of what could have happened away. No, Mother would have never approved of this after the dance recital. Instead she was here by herself, for herself.
The campus itself stood in front of her as she looked in, unsure if she should just walk through the open gates already. Her mind was so focused on her being here that she hadn’t even noticed for a couple of moments that Teio had walked over to a woman dressed in all green that stood at the end of the gate and talked to her for a moment before walking back over.
“Well Queen, are you ready?” Teio spoke out loud, beaming as she stretched out an arm and pointed towards the center building. “Tracen awaits!”
Inside, Queen still couldn’t believe that she was here, but she happily followed Teio past the gates and onto the campus, hopeful that she might, in a couple days, be a student of Tracen Academy herself.