December 28th, 1974
If anyone were to ask Secretariat, the American Champion, Superstar, and All-Time-Great of American Umamusume, what's the most tiring thing she had ever done? It was looking after her adorable little troublemaker of a daughter. Now, don't get it twisted, there was no one she held higher in her giant heart. However, nothing had prepared her for the sheer exhaustion she would feel looking after her baby on a daily basis.
"Nature! Please!" Sera all but begged as she found her daughter, who wasn't even three months old yet, having crawled out of her crib again, and was wandering near the kitchen. She quickly scooped the little baby up, leading to her crying once again. She wasn't sure what normal human mothers dealt with, but Umamusume daughters were far more than she had prepared for. She had studied up everything she could for raising her little girl, and didn't expect that she'd have to worry about her moving around this soon. She wasn't sure whether to be proud of her genes shining strongly in Nice Nature, or apologize to her own family mentally that she probably drove them up the wall.
"Just like that… one, two. One, two." Secretariat patted her daughter's back as she nursed her from one of her breasts, humming along as she did so. She strode through her kitchen back into her living room, taking a seat cross-legged at her kotatsu. She smiled warmly at her now calm daughter as she grabbed a remote with her other hand. A quick button press later, and she now had the TV talking about recent Umamusume news. Oh? Was there a race today? A quick flick changed the channel to the official URA broadcast of a race called the Arima Kinen. She wasn't the most knowledgeable about the Japanese racing scene, but as she understood it, this race was America's equivalent of the Breeders' Cup Classic? She could be wrong.
A blaring of trumpet horns echoed through the TV as her daughter's eyes opened wide and looked curiously at the screen. "Huhu. Curious?" Sera looked at her daughter, taking in the shine in her eyes while looking at the screen. "You were born to run, too, my little Nature." She rubbed her daughter's head with her other hand as she looked at the screen. She was interested to see what Japan's best could do at this race.
Her head tilted as they listed introductions for the different Uma running in this race, a couple of names she vaguely remembered as she looked at them. Ichifuji Isami, Tanino Chikara, and Take Mosu stood out among some of their competitors, her eyes taking in their polished movements and preparation. Ah. There was one. A final competitor was listed, her eyes taking in their features. The Umamusume wore a white and purple dress, not too dissimilar to what a waitress would wear. She had short brown hair and a blinding smile that matched her shining multicolored eyes. Haiseiko. She'd have her eyes on her.
A glance downwards showed that Nature was slowly dozing and had finished feeding, her eyelids blinking slowly. After covering herself back up, she glanced upwards again, watching as the race started. Haiseiko seemed to be lurking around the back, hanging near the 13th and 14th position as they ran. Her eyes sharpened, seeing the telltale signs of an aura around her as the race progressed. A domain, huh. Aside from herself and Sham, she hadn't seen anyone else with one yet. Her other two marks were hanging around mid pack, both conserving their stamina as the race crossed the halfway mark. Hmm, oh, they were marking Haiseiko. She must've been a high-profile racer if they were trying so hard to block her in. There it goes.
"Around the outside as they pass the fourth corner, it's Haiseiko! Haiseko surges ahead!" Her ears twitched at the commentary, her gaze on the Uma who surged around the outside pack and had taken the lead. An impressive late surge reminds Sera a bit of herself during her debut year when she used that running style.
"Haiseiko! Haiseiko is trying to take the lead, ah, Haiseiko was bumped!" The announcer rattled off as her eyes saw Take Mosu hip-check Haiseiko.
"To do that so blatantly…" Sera thought idly, surprised at the audacity of Take. In America, they're known for their rougher running style and slightly more accepted views on bumping, even that would've been called for a penalty there.
"Tanino Chikara! It's Tanino Chikara! Tanino Chikara surges past Haiseiko to win the Arima Kinen! Goal in!" What a shame. Haiseiko looked poised to win it all, but that bump clearly robbed her momentum. Had Take been the one to win, Haiseiko likely would've been given the win with Take's disqualification. Her eyes caught a conversation happening on the side as they zoomed in on Tanino Chikara. Haiseiko was talking to Take Mosu, who bumped her. She could see the slumped shoulders of Haiseiko as Take stormed off. Such drama ruined a perfectly good race.
Sera looked down, noticing her daughter had long since fallen asleep. A soft smile appeared on her face. Ah, well, the race had done its job of distracting her and her daughter. It was time for bed for the little girl, and she soon after.
[Disclaimer: I don't know how the actual race progressed. My initial look showed Haiseiko winning, but a double-check showed she lost this race to Tanino Chikara while being favored to win it.]
Elsewhere at the same time
Mejiro Asama was someone who did not like wasting time, especially since she was recently announced as the new head of the Mejiro Family. She had become busier than ever after being "tricked" into taking the role from the previous family head, and had wasted days upon days in her daily duties as head. So imagine her surprise when she was contacted about a priority message to the Mejiro Family, which was also addressed to the Symboli Family. Her expression fell flat as she realized she'd likely meet her rival there as well, as they were recently announced to head the Symboli Family from now onward.
After shaking her head and pulling a small pocket mirror out to check her appearance, Asama trudged on towards the designated meeting place. A high-end restaurant was picked out for their meeting; the location in question is currently empty except for the staff. Perks of being a rich and prominent Umamusume family, you could get away with leisurely renting out a restaurant. As her eyes picked out the name Sezanne on the top of the restaurant, she glanced at the several bodyguards with green/gold marks on their uniforms. Satono family, hmm. A bunch of upstarts in her eyes.
As she was quickly directed in, she glanced over and narrowed her eyes at a familiar mop of black hair sitting with their back towards her, the person facing Hajime Satono, the current leader of the Satono Family, and owner of SEGA. While they were a prominent leader in one of the global markets, they were intent on making their name in the world of Umamusume. However, her eyes were mainly on what was undoubtedly her rival, Speed Symboli.
"I wonder how you managed to arrive before me, while based on the other side of the city… Speed Symboli." Asama barely held back from sneering as she looked down at her rival, whose green spiral eyes narrowed at her. Lightning seemed to spark between the two as Speed was about to reply before sharp clapping cut them both off, their murderous glares centered on Hajime, who slapped with a sheepish smile on his face. The older man endured their glares with grace as he tried to get them back on track.
"Welcome, you two. Thank you for coming on such short notice." His smile wilted a bit as the duo realized they'd be seated together, due to him taking up the other side of the booth. "Just a little bit of discomfort, I promise. I bring very important news for all of us." His grin grew slightly at the questionable looks they gave in between the glares.
"What is it, Satono? I had planned to visit Rudolf and Sirius before you interrupted me." Speed crossed her arms with a huff, looking at the old man.
"Yes. I, too, wanted to see how little Ramonu was doing. What is so important that you marked your message as urgent?" Asama leaned back, purposefully not looking at Speed as she pulled out her fan with a huff, using it to mask her face.
"Yes, yes. I apologize for interrupting your time with your children." He grinned at the annoyed looks he received, their animosity lessening just a tad. "Before we continue, have either of you heard about the state of things in the USA?" He placed his chin on his hands as they gave him bewildered looks.
"The USA?" Asama questioned incredulously, sharing a glance with Speed, before looking forward. "Aside from them being frantic about something earlier this year, no. Why?" Speed gave an accompanying nod as she looked forward, her eyes burning in question.
"Ah ha! So you both don't know yet." His theatrics were once again not appreciated, but he'd make them sit through his storytelling. "Earlier this year, a prominent Umamusume of America seemingly vanished. They were quite frantic with her disappearance, and still haven't found her."
Speed leaned forward, tapping the table as she did so. "Vanished? A runaway? Or is she dead?" Speed questioned curiously, slightly invested now. "Who was it anyway? Someone we know?" Asama also looked forward, an eyebrow raised. A sense of anxiety grew between the two as Satono's grin widened almost impossibly at that.
"You could say so. Not dead, and likely to be a runaway if I'm correct." He steepled his fingers together as he saw Asama take a drink, and he continued. "You might know her name. It's Secretariat." And boom.
"WHAT!?" Speed Symboli yelled, as Mejiro Asama spit out her drink, both of them staring incredulously at the man. "Secretariat went missing!?" Her eyes were impossibly wide, while Asama's widened as she realized something.
"Wait. You mentioned she's likely to be a runaway. How do you know that?" Her eyes narrowed at the smug man who shrugged her way.
"Well, you could say that a man with connections like myself might've been told that a very tall and very distinct Umamusume arrived in our country at the start of the year, and has been living here since." Hook, line, and sinker.
"You haven't told anyone in the USA that she's here, have you?" Asama picked up on what went unsaid. A prominent Umamusume, America's Golden Child, running away to Japan would be a BIG point of contention between the two countries. Had they known exactly where she ended up, they'd be doing everything in their power to get her back. She was that important.
"What are you planning?" Her eyes burrowed into the Satono head, her mind flickering through different possibilities with this information. Her peripheral vision caught Speed doing the same, likely thinking of what they could do with this information.
"Me? Nothing really, after all, I'm not very prominent in the Umamusume scene yet." A mild look of irritation appeared on his face for a fraction of a second before he continued. "Although I wonder what the two prominent families in Japan would do or pay for this information?"
Speed Symboli narrowed her eyes further at the man. "Alright. I'm listening." She glanced once towards Asama before looking at Hajime. "Let's hear it, what do you want out of us?"
Hajime closed his eyes with a mental fist-pump and apologized to Secretariat. He doesn't know her reasons for coming here, but he'll make sure he benefits from the information he has. He has to, for the sake of the Satono Family's future.
Back with Sera
Her gaze traveled along the beautiful skyline as day turned into night, a quick glance given her baby monitor showing her daughter was sleeping just fine. It had been almost a year since she arrived, but she loved Japan so far. She could only hope that her days remained this easy and free.
CHAPTER END