Home. For her, home is just a place where one returns to rest.
The Symboli household is one of the three noblest families in Japan, alongside the Gold and Mejiro households. Thus, they focused on their reputation and upholding their honour during racing.
That is what it meant to carry the Symboli name.
Her parents weren't absent from her life, but they rarely participated in her life. So, for her. Home is just a cold house to return to rest.
However, hearing "Welcome home," from Echo's mother made her heart warm up.
The house of Echo Eclipse was not grand or massive. It was small, with only 2 bedrooms, 1 kitchen, a living room and 1 bathroom. Only having a massive backyard due to being on the outskirts of the city.
Rudolf removed her shoes at the entrance and slipped on house slippers. Echo had already run ahead, presumably wanting to eat carrot cake.
Her eyes observed the house, and finding marks and dents throughout. She could imagine little Echo Eclipse running around without restraint, often banging against the wall or measuring her height with a ruler.
Her eyes moved away from the marks and dents, landing on photographs and drawings that were pinned along the way. She could see it perfectly; her parents absolutely adore Echo Eclipse.
'Even if it meant they wouldn't be able to see Echo Eclipse for almost a year, they let her go to Tokyo so Echo could run.' Her lips curled with affection, if it weren't for her parents. Symboli Rudolf would've never met Echo Eclipse.
Maybe she could've heard of Echo Eclipse as an up-coming star of the Hokkaido Tracen Academy, but she would never fall in love with her. Likely thinking of Echo as somebody below her.
She is glad she gets to meet Echo Eclipse; she can't imagine her life with Echo Eclipse.
She walked deeper into the house, finding Echo clinging to her mom from behind, whining when the carrot cake was going to be finished baking.
Rudolf watched as Echo's mom shook her head with a smile, teasing by saying it would be done in 100 years. This scene was so beautiful to Rudolf's eyes.
Echo's ear twitched before turning her head toward Rudolf; her expression brightened up at the sight of Rudolf. That smile of Echo was precious.
"Reindeer! Help me persuade my mom to speed up the baking process! Her carrot cake is the best in the entire world!" She pulled away from her mom and walked up with a bounce in each step, waving her arms around excitedly. She didn't need an argument or a plan to get Rudolf to help her; she knew Rudolf would help no matter what.
However...
"Nope, you're on your own." Rudolf grinned before turning around and leaving the kitchen, wanting to explore the house.
Echo just stood there with her mouth open; she was shocked. Not because Rudolf refused to help her. No, no. It was because she had never seen Rudolf being sassy before! (Her opinion, in reality, Rudolf wasn't really being sassy.)
"W-Wha?! Rudolf! How could you betray me?!" Echo shouted as she ran out of the kitchen, chasing Rudolf as he laughed.
Echo's mom turned her head away from the oven with a wide, gentle smile.
"Looks like we will have a daughter-in-law soon, Fufu."
-+-
"Honey~ I'm home!" A gruff, male voice echoed from the entrance, waking Rudolf from her concentration. She placed her winning poker card down with a confident smirk.
"4 of a kind." Her winning cards showed 4 different aces.
Echo froze before slumping onto the table, whining, "Come on! How are you getting better cards than I have! This is already the fourth time this happened." Her tail swayed defeatedly.
Rudolf chuckled before standing up, brushing and smoothing her pants.
"Was that voice from the door your father?" She asked Echo, and Echo nodded while grumbling about her losses.
Rudolf lifted Echo Eclipse like a cat being grabbed on the back of its neck. "Come on. You can't stay grumbling forever; say hi to your father."
"Fine..." Echo's ears flattened, and she ran to the front door, almost as if her prior state was an illusion.
Rudolf could only shake her head and walk to the front door at a brisk pace.
Approaching the entrance, Rudolf could hear loud male laughter. There he is, Echo's father.
Rudolf's pace slowed down at the sight of him; he was tall. Extremely tall. Around 184cm tall, he had a trimmed beard and was wearing glasses. Echo was laughing as her father lifted her like a feather, almost like Echo were still a 6-year-old child in front of her father.
Echo's father placed Echo down and rolled his shoulder. "You got bigger, Echo." He could only sigh wistfully; it seemed only yesterday that Echo was just a wee baby.
He turned his head toward Symboli Rudolf, smiling gently. "And you must be Symboli Rudolf; thank you for taking care of this running loving Uma." He smirked as he ruffled Echo's hair, making her whine in protest.
"No, thank you for bringing Echo Eclipse into this world," Rudolf responded while bowing her upper half. Echo's father froze at the sudden respect before glancing at Echo, then at Rudolf, then back at Echo repeatedly.
"Oh?" His glasses glinted. "That's some real hay-mazing compliment for us."
Rudolf stared dumbfounded, strangely feeling an itch in one of her ears. She twitched her ear before turning her head away.
That pun was horrible, but strangely enough, she liked it? It almost feels like she is meeting a comrade for some reason?
'Puns... Would Echo like it if I use puns in my daily life?'
"Daddddd, cut the puns! Come on! It's almost time for dinner!" Echo whined while pulling both Rudolf and Echo's dad to the living room, which also acted as a dining room.
Her dad smirked, "Come on, that joke was a real neigh-sayer."
"Pfft," Rudolf choked on her saliva before avoiding Echo Eclipse's deadpanned stare. Seeing Rudolf act like this made Echo smile either way.
Echo's dad didn't miss Echo's reaction, smiling inwardly and proudly before arriving at the living room.
Everyone settled in, feeling the warmth from the fireplace in the living room. Rudolf stared at the wide spread of feast on the table.
Echo and Rudolf chatted while Echo's mom and dad shared a conversation between their eyes before nodding. They won't interfere with Echo's love life, but they won't forget to tease them once they finally get together.
They started eating dinner together, sharing stories about Tracen, their races, their lives, and more. In turn, the parents shared about when they first met, how Echo's father pursued Echo's mom for countless years without giving up, how Echo was born, and more.
After dinner, Echo was happily showing Rudolf her baby album, not feeling embarrassed about such a thing. I mean, she already permitted Rudolf to have an album of paper clippings of her before.
Echo's parents could only sigh in defeat and shame. They wanted to embarrass Echo by showing baby pictures to Rudolf, but they knew Echo isn't like a normal Uma Musume. She basically only has running on her mind.
That didn't stop them from telling Rudolf every single embarrassing moment of Echo Eclipse, though; Echo was whining and screaming in embarrassment from having her crush learn every single embarrassing story about her.
Soon it was time to sleep. Echo easily fell asleep like a log on her bed, while Rudolf slept on the futon beside Echo's bed.
She stared at the ceiling for some time before closing her eyes; she was grateful for this year.
-+-+-
Hello, this is Author Extinct.
Quick question: Should I sponsor my Ko-fi account here?
I was thinking of this cuz I want to make money to buy a new laptop before starting uni, all because my current laptop isn't suited for uni work.
(Since my uni is heavily based on video editing, game production, illustration, animation, and VFX. Also, my current laptop is prone to crashing randomly.)
So, I was thinking of including my Ko-fi username here if you want to donate, but I'm not sure how I feel about it.
Asking my readers to donate doesn't feel right. Since this donation is going toward me, and not to charity.
Hence, the dilemma. I want to get y'all's input about this, since you guys are important too.