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I will always be there, no matter how fast you run.
Even after King Halo graduated from Tracen Academy, retired with important G1 victories, got married to her Trainer, had a daugher and started her own high-end fashion company, she couldnt escape the ever present, looming shadow of her own mother. Even after doing everything in her power to prove that she was her own person, that she was more than some famous runners child — some still viewed her as the carrier of Goodbye Halo's legacy.
22 gruelling years of enduring her mothers constant berating, demovating words and phone calls. 22 years of making King feel so pointless in this world, like she only lived for the sake of someone else's ego and pride; some trophy, an extension of her mothers achievements. It took alot for King to finaly cut that...hag out of her life, but she managed to do it, thanks to the support of her trainer and friends.
...
Now in her late 20's, life was much more serene with her gone. No more stupid phone calls about how she should just come home and find something else that made her happy — no, her new family would never put her down like that. Each day she returned home to a clean house, one adorned with plants, pastel colours, and the smiling faces of her new family. A family that actualy loved and appreciated her, just the way she was.
And to make things better, she still managed to stay in touch with her old friends. Some still chased glory on the racetrack while some went in the direction their lives had unexpectedly taken them. Yet, in face of everything that was happening, the Golden Generation always found time to spend with each other.
However, the highlight of this new chapter in her new life was definetly her 5 year old daughter; a sweet girl by the name of Kawakami Princess.
Even if, visualy, genetics went their own way, she could tell it was her child. Both competetiveness and playfulness shined off her, the combined personalities from her parents clear as day. In her sparkling, lively eyes, King saw herself, her husband, and a bright future.
A future she wouldn't let her mother ruin by any means neccesary.
King made that promise just a few minutes after birth, when she held her child for the first time. Looking down at it's little sleeping face, botched from previous crying, King had a hard time believing this was real. To think that...she made the small creature currently curled up in her arms. One look at her daughters face was enough to bring King herself to tears; and in that that moment she swore, she swore that the innocence of this little child will never be stained by the cruelness of it's grandmother.
"Wait...your name isn't actualy mom??"
"Of course not sweetie."
On a early Sunday morning, King Halo and Kawakami Princess were downstairs in their two story home, sitting on a couch together as King did her best to do her daughters hair in the way that she wanted. She wasnt exactly...good, nor experienced, but the distraction of the silky, pink-ish strands between her fingers was enough to relieve the frustrations of not getting that damn braid right.
"Sooo...if not 'mom,' whats your name then?" Kawakami questioned, fidgeting with her fingers as she sat there with her back turned.
"My name is King Halo, nice to meet you young lady," she replied, voice soft as ever.
"Hehe...nice to meet you too, King Halo."
Happy with her moms answer, Kawakami fixed her posture, straightening her back. Her eyes, a shade of deep blue, wandered onto about every object in front of her, thinking abour her next question while King's fingers did their thing.
"Mom?" Kawakami finaly started.
"Yes?" King replied, prepared for the question.
Kawakami's tone softened, but not out of nervousness, "how did you and dad meet?"
King paused her hair-work as a warm smile crept up on her face when the questioned registered. Oh, she could never forget that story. A light chuckle escaped her lips as she thought about that rainy, miserable day she met her trainer.
"Oh! Haha, funny story," she started, voice growing fonder, "you see, the tip-top prestigious academy i attended back in the day held these things called tryouts. Do you know what that is?"
Her daugher thought about the question before replying a confident "no" and shaking her head.
"Basicaly, a bunch of us Umamusume have a little tryout race of medium length as trainers new and experienced watch us, examining our performance. After that, they can choose and attempt to convince the one theyre interested in to become their trainer or join their team."
She paused, trying to recall details.
"It was an alright race, i suppose, i placed 3rd due to the mud that days rain caused. And YES, it was because of the mud, your first-rate mom knows nothing about placing anything bellow first place."
The small attempt at humour made the small kid sitting in front of her giggle gleefully. Even after all this time, King's (sometimes) sarcastic ego never really went anywhere.
"After the race was finished came the phase where we would get scouted. I got approached quite often by trainers that looked like they were in the middle of a midlife crisis, both men and women that looked like they were in their late 20's and 30's, barelling towards me in their soaked suits and monologues of dreams they all failed to accomplish with their previous trainees i heard a million times over," she explained, her fingers returning to work her daughters hair.
"I was about to call it a day when," King's voice softened, "this particular young man caught my eye, standing in the distance, looking no older than 19. I caught a glimpse of him a couple times before but didnt think much of him, 'probably someone who just got their license,' i thought," she sighed fondly, "and when i turned around, scanning if theres anyone left who's interesting, next thing i know, hes in my face!"
"Oooh! What happened next?" Kawakami asked excitedly.
"Well, by then i got approached so many times, so was expecting the usual monologue. You know, i was wet, tired, and just about to leave, so i stared at him very unamused just wanting to get this over with. Ha! That probably scared the living hell out of your father and he just could not get a word out!" King giggled, "when he finaly did say something, it was much to the effect of what i heard, but little did i know he had a trick up his sleeve..."
King paused both her speaking and hand movements, thinking how to word it, then smiled.
"I dont know where he got it from, but he started telling me all the things 17 year old me wanted to hear. First-rate this, first-rate that, it was like he knew my vocabulary by heart. I would be lying if i said i wasn't charmed at least a bit."
"..so what did you say?" her daughter asked expectantly.
King ruffled her hair as she chuckled, "if i said no like to the others, i wouldn't be sitting here with you~"
The sound of their combined laughter would soon resonate throughout the living room. Nothing sweeter than a mom and her daughter sharing another happy moment together.
"Ahaha...and did you do my hair yet?" Kawakami asked in between giggles.
King's smile deflated like a balloon when she was reminded of the task at hand. Looking down at the pink hair in between her fingers, whatever amalgamation of strands that rested in her palms could not be considered a braid.
"Uuuh..." King gulped, "could you ask your father to do it once he comes back from grocery shopping. Im hopeless in this field..." she admitted, letting out a defeated sigh.
"Hehehe, its okay mom!" Kawakami giggled out, deciding she will now turn around and face King directly — bad braid be damned, she looked back up at her.
"I now have a different question!"
King put her smile on again, "yes sweetie?"
"How come we never talk to grandma?" she chirped out, like she was holding the question in for quite some time.
"Oh please, we practicaly visit them every other weekend! What more could you possibly wan-"
"No!!" Kawakami interrupted, "i meant YOUR grandma!"
"..."
"Why dont we get phone calls like from dad's hm? Or visits? Or gifts!"
Whatever joy King was feeling up until that point during their bonding time completely withered away. Her eyes shifted away to her daughters forehead, unable to meet her gaze. Phone calls, her mother — the last words she needed to be hearing, the last memories she wanted to be reminded of.
"Why dont you just come back home already?? This...running thing wont ever work out for you. We can find something that makes you hap-"
"Mom?"
King flinched, suddenly taken back to reality, "sorry! Y-yes?"
"Why dont i ever hear about your parents? Visits, calls, anything!"
King huffed, her eyes landing back on the carpet beneath the couch before untucking her legs from the cross sitting position she was in and let them down over the edge. Her stare almost burned a hole into the small plant on the coffee table as her daughter quickly copied her movements and sat down beside her, curious on whats suddenly going on.
How would she explain complicated family matters such as these to a child so young? To someone who only ever knew good parents? She knew this would be brought up some day but...so soon? Her head, heavy with thoughts, rested on her palms as she pondered.
Kawakami at this point could sense something was wrong. She scooted just a tad closer to her, and leaned against her side.
"Mom? Whats wrong? Did i say something...?" she questioned.
"No no, its fine sweetie i promise," King straightened up, "i just dont know how to explain this to you."
"Explain...what, to me?"
King sighed and began, "me and your grandmother have an extremely rocky relationship. Always have. Matter of a fact that could be said for the rest of my family."
"But...your mom isnt your entire family..." Kawakami stated meekly.
"Right, but...inheriting the talent and succes of my late grandmother, my mother became head of the family after she passed. Nothing was above her. We were all peasants in her kingdom and she was rarely ever pleased."
Kawakami sat quietly as her mom began to rant, King's voice picking up in frustration with each sentence.
"My father was the biggest yes-man you could imagine, so he was no better. A robot that listened to my mothers every word without question. Actualy, no, most of my family was like that. If no one wanted to go across the world for a vacation but she did, you better have had your bags packed by 3. They just said yes and agreed to everything like sheep. And...i-i was entirely powerless, much like everyone else! Haha, and get this! Once i got the letter i got accepted to Tracen, a presitigious academy by the way, do you know what she said???"
Kawakami, a little scared by her moms sudden outburst of anger, scooted away, an action that went unnoticed by King.
"She was entirely, and i mean ENTIRELY unbothered! 'That is to be expected if youre my kid' was all that i was told! Not a peep about all the studying i did to do the entrance exam! Oh but like, fine, whatever, i'll be left alone once i actualy go there and only come back over the summer. Actualy, if i win some races, she will finaly be proud of me! But guess what."
"M-mom i think i get it..." Kawakami whimpered out, but that too was overshadowed by King's verbalization of some deep rooted hatred.
"All she was complain about my perfomance! Just...complain complain and complain! In everything single thing she found something to rat me out on. I-i once won a G1 and she had the audacity to tell me that i 'did fine' while giving all the praise to the girl who finished second! Not only that but i was also bullied for being a 'nepo baby'...like i didnt earn my place in the academy in the first place!" King groaned obnoxiously loudly, dragging her face across her hands in irritation.
The black TV screen across the wall to them displayed an image of a daughter witnessing her mom get frighteningly angry for the first time from what she thought was an innocent question. King, her face still in her hands, took repeating deep breaths as she wondered if she should calm down or continue citing her anger. Images of her mothers face and her old phone from which those phone calls came from flashed through her mind as her anger, unfortunately, continued to drive itself up the wall.
"Everything i did, everything i strived for, everything i dreamed of doing, was just one big fucking joke to her," she spitted out. "I feel like as if i just never mattered. She had her stupid head too high up in her clouds ego to give a shit! Im just..." King exhaled, "so glad i got rid of her. She can rot in her nursing home for a century more for all i care. Goddamn bitch..."
Now that her outburst finaly ended, King felt...relieved to finaly have let this all out. The air around her did not loose it's tension however, like a volcano that just finished erupting.
"But i wouldn't ever let her touch you-" she tried grabbing for her daughters shoulder, but it just wasnt there. Confused, she turned her head to look for her.
Kawakami, by now, was sitting a good 2 meters away, almost at the other edge of the couch. Her expression read a wide-eyed combination of fear, shock, disbelief. After all, her mom just yelled like never before.
Once King was greeted by this sight, it felt like she was just coldly slapped in the face once she realised what she has done. She returned the wide eyes for a bit, the words of apology just coming to a grinding halt in her mouth. Luckily Kawakami was first to speak up.
"That...dont raise...your voice like that. I don't like it..." she murmured out, the words so quiet King almost couldn't hear them.
"I-im..." King stuttered, "so...so so sorry baby. Come here."
She returned to her cross sit and faced Kawakami, opening her arms in an invitation to hug it out. An invitation that her daughter was very quick to accept. Kawakami crawled over and hugged her with as much strength the little Uma could muster. King hugged her back, albeit much more gently.
"Shh, shh...im sorry sweetheart," she whispered to her, "i just...have really bad memories and experiences."
"It's okay mom...i understand now..."
King didn't respond, opting to her rather continue holding her there. They stayed like that for quite some time until they both finaly calmed down from that emotional rollercoaster. An incredibly peaceful scene, only witnessed by the two of them.
"So...thats why we dont talk to my family," King said.
"I don't think i wanna talk to them either..."
"Im glad we can agree," she kissed her daughters forehead, "change of topic, is everything going okay over at your new kindergarten?"
"Hehe, yeah. Much more fun than staying inside with dad all day."
"I know, your father isn't the most creative when it comes to activities, but someone had to take care of you while i was away working you know? You weren't old enough for kindergarten yet. And..." King paused, a small smile playing on her lips, "im grateful he stepped up and gave up work to be with you so i could run my brand full time. You've got an awesome dad, you just don't know it yet."
Kawakami giggled, "im grateful enough you know!"
"Oh sure you are!"
Just as King was ruffling her hair and laughing together, the sounds of jingling keys and a creeking door could be heard from across the first story. Looks like someone returned.
"Ah! Your dads back, go ask him if he got you your favourite donut."
"On it!" Kawakami answered confidently, rushing off the couch to go greet her father.
As she ran off, King's gaze eventualy wandered back onto the black TV screen in front of her. The sounds of her child and husband engaging in a conversation faded into the backround, into whitenoise, as she took the time to simply stare at herself.
Even after all this time, why was it so hard to let go of the past?