To say I was mortified to find out that my session with Oguri had been overhead would be a severe understatement. At that moment, I wanted nothing more than to dig a hole and shovel myself in. Or rush back to Tracen before promptly throwing myself into that hollow tree stump.
And that feeling was made even worse by the fact that a part of me kinda…liked it. Having my parents know that I'd been claimed by Oguri made me feel shamefully warm, and the urge to bash my head onto the wall was growing bigger by the second. The only thing holding me back was the fact that we'd need to pay to get that repaired if that urge ever got the better of me.
So, I changed topics and asked if we wanted to go out and get some dinner now that I was awake. I wasn't that hungry myself—a holdover from the humungous feast that happened yesterday—but I wouldn't mind eating if my parents were hungry.
My mother instead suggested that we cook something, partly because Oguri was still upstairs, and partly because it'd been literally years since all three of us worked on a meal together.
Which was why I was now in the kitchen, working together with my father and mother to make some dinner. Each of us did our own part—my father worked on the rice and omelet, I used my Speed to chop the vegetables, and my mother poured her focus into making her signature curry.
And as we worked, we talked.
"Wait, so it was your doing?" I asked, eyes wide with surprise as I continued chopping through the next set of vegetables.
My father smirked as he cracked a few eggs into a bowl. "Well, not just me." He quickly jabbed a thumb towards my mother. "Mommy over there also helped. And Kenta. And Ryu-san. And Shibasaki-san."
"Don't forget the principal of Kasamatsu Tracen." Her mother added as she gently stirred the pot of curry.
I whistled in awe. "Damn." I smiled wryly. "So everyone wanted them together, huh?"
Of course, the people we were talking about were Kitahara and White Narubi. I knew that Kitahara had been trying to keep it a secret, but it wasn't terribly hard to find out that he'd been secretly calling White Narubi whenever he had the time. His face would always light up whenever he talked with her, and judging from the little snippets I managed to catch, it seemed White Narubi was just as happy.
The only thing I didn't know was how exactly this all began.
And as it turned out, basically everyone I was acquainted with had pooled their strengths together to try and get the two together. Everyone from Kasamatsu Tracen agreed to help a brother out, while Belno's parents had been subtly coaxing the lonely woman to see if they could perhaps reignite a new flame.
The whole thing began when Shibasaki 'accidentally' left his phone that 'just happened' to be in the middle of calling Kitahara's phone in Belno's sports shop. White Narubi, who'd been working there as a clerk, naturally found the phone, and seeing that the caller was someone she was familiar with, the two began to talk. And the rest after that was history.
"Narubi's been alone for long enough." My mother sighed softly. "We couldn't bear to watch her stay in that apartment on her own."
My father nodded in agreement. "Poor lass. Her husband left this world too early." He shook his head. "Only good thing's that Oguri-chan's too young to remember him. At least the girl's safe from that."
I nodded. "Yeah. At least that's one silver lining." I quietly moved the vegetables I just chopped into a plate and pushed it over to my mother's side. "By the way, speaking about Belno, where is she?" I then asked as I grabbed more vegetables to chop. "Haven't seen her in a few days."
My father hummed as he began whisking. "She's doin' some filming, last I heard."
I blinked. "Oh, for her parents' store?" He nodded, and I smiled faintly. "About time."
Really, it was a shame it'd taken this long for Belno to finally do some advertising for her family business. I mean, her family business was already doing quite well just from association and word-of-mouth alone, but having the Divine General of Kasamatsu personally endorse it would probably push their popularity to the clouds.
"How about you, dear?" Her mother then asked as she took the chopped vegetables and began boiling them in another pot. "You've probably gotten a lot of offers too, right?"
I nodded, smiling wryly as I remembered that one time I got curious and checked my work email. I hadn't checked it since. "Yeah, I got a bit." I said, not wanting to disclose just how many offers I'd gotten just in the past six months alone.
My father raised an eyebrow. "Not your style."
I pursed my lips. "I mean, I don't mind doing some, I guess." I scratched my cheek as I sighed. "But it's not like I need the money or anything. I'm already getting enough from racing and all the merchandise; doing ads is just overkill."
My father whistled, a smirk on his face. "Wow, you've fully become a city gal, huh~?"
I rolled my eyes. "Sure. Whatever you say."
My mother giggled.
After that, our conversation flowed with ease, moving from one topic to the next without much issue. We talked about all sorts of things, while our hands remained busy preparing enough curry to feed the slumbering beast in my room.
And it was nice. The bustle of Central had no hold here, and everything about my racing career remained as just a background fact as we talked about our daily lives. Here, I was neither the White Comet or Secretariat's apprentice—I was just an umamusume working together with her parents to make some dinner.
…
It still made me angry just how close I came to destroying this perfect world. Sure, I'd been constantly reminded that my depression wasn't my fault—that me being born wrong wasn't something I could've changed. But knowing just how close I came to shattering this family I could bravely call my own–
It didn't matter anymore. That timeline wasn't something I needed to think about. Oguri had saved me before I could ever take the plunge into the abyss, and that was a miracle I could never repay. That was all that mattered.
"Star?" My mother asked, frowning slightly in concern.
I blinked, and then smiled. "It's nothing." I said, my smile genuine as I began chopping. "Just thinking, that's all."
"Good things?" My father asked.
I paused for a moment, before I decided to be truthful. "Bad things." I said, my smile solemn. "My head was getting a little funky again. Needed a few seconds to pull myself back."
My father hummed, though he couldn't hide the sadness in his eyes. "How're you doing, Star?"
I smiled softly. Perhaps in the past I would've deflected, or maybe I would've lied and said that I was fine.
I wasn't fine, and I never would be. The dark thoughts were still there, just quieter now. A little easier to handle and escape from.
But this time,
"Getting better." I said, smiling brightly. "Took me a bit, but I think I'm finally getting the hang of it."
"Oh? Getting what?" My mother chimed in, smiling softly.
"I've spent so long trying to find a hobby that'd distract me long enough." I said, scoffing slightly at that naive thought. "But it's been so obvious." I chuckled as I moved aside the vegetables I just chopped up. "Running with Oguri, doing all these races, travelling the world, teaching others–" I grinned. "I'm having fun."
"That's good." My father finally said, subtly turning away to wipe his eyes. "Real good." He grinned as he patted my shoulder. "Keep at it, buster. And don't let anyone else try and spoil the fun, yeah?"
My mother giggled. "As if anyone would try that." She winked. "Our baby's become a Hero, after all."
I smiled shyly. "Aiya, so dramatic~"
That little episode soon passed, and we returned to preparing all the curry we'd need to survive the night.