Chapter 6

I was the CEO, but I was also a CEO like that guy. I ran the business. It's not like I was entirely to blame. Even though it was a joint venture, my dad was just putting up investment capital. He wasn't raising money; it was that guy who scammed them.

Even though he was the CEO, my dad had nothing to do with the fraud. He also got scammed out of a ton of money, so what the hell did he do wrong? Was he that nice? That sounds pretty convincing.

"As CEO, I was in a position where I had to take responsibility, even if I didn't like it."

What a damn responsibility, responsibility, responsibility! Why does my dad have to pay those people's money? I can feel sorry, but I think carefully about what they did to us. Those violent, reckless acts, claiming their anger was justified. Deep down, those guys are just perpetrators, using their own victimhood as an excuse. I don't get it. Why do they turn the other cheek when they're hit?

I didn't understand anything; my mind spun like a tangled ball. I ran, following my feet, and arrived at the public park I usually frequent. A crescent moon, rising, hung alone among the dark clouds.

Tamamo stood at the starting line, breathing heavily. Not a single thought crossed her mind. Right now, she just wanted to run. To clear this mess.

Standing at the starting line, she started running without even preparing.

"Ha... ha..."

Adulthood is so complicated. He's paralyzed, neither an adult nor a child, and even thinking about the end of the problem that adults embrace makes him feel like his head is going to split. From his past life, which he can barely remember, to the present, if he were to consider the breadth of his mind, it should be enough, but his mind is still aching and suffering.

They say life is filled with more shit than sweetness. Is that why? Why is my life always like this? I died without love, trying to finally live a full, loved life, but one of them died young, and the other is now sinking in the swamp. And it's only because I'm an adult, so trivial.

Now that I think about it, what was I like then? I thought I'd erased practically all memories of my past life, but on nights like tonight, the broken shards come flooding back vividly. My alcoholic father and my waitress mother. They seemed like the perfect couple, but they never were.

The ramshackle house was always a mess, and my only child, fearful of her husband's untimely return, slept in the closet. Then my mother had an affair with another man and ran away, and my father crashed into a guardrail while driving drunk and was crushed.

The truth is, I didn't even want to call them "father" or "mother." They were like that child from then, that child from then, that child from then. That distance felt perfect.

My body had changed, the world had become strange, and at first, it was completely confusing, but compared to my previous life, I received an overwhelming amount of love. So, just this once, just this once, I tried to live happily.

The ups and downs of life have their limits, right? It can't just be a steep uphill climb. When will the downhill start? When I go outside and look at people's faces, they all have happy expressions, but why am I the only one...?

"Ha... ha... wooooo..."

If I were to look at myself from an outside perspective, there probably wouldn't be anything more pathetic than this. But right now, I couldn't care less about other people's opinions. I couldn't care less right now. I just want to empty my mind like a jellyfish, floating away. I want to tear out everything inside my head.

And the more this happened, the more painful images surfaced, tormenting her, her screaming self. Her mouth snatched with breath. She wanted to scream, but she had no strength left.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps.

"That kind of ignorant overwork only causes harm. You should drink and smoke. At least it will make you feel better."

".."

A deep voice, like the echo of a cave, made Tamamo raise her head. Sharp eyes, disheveled beard and hair. The man who had tried to explore her earlier was right before her eyes.

"....Why are you here?"

"What? I thought you told me what you wanted last time."

"Explore?" Are you still thinking about that? You know my notes.

"The dialect suddenly disappeared." At Tamamo's sudden change in speech, Takahashi's gaze sharpened. His clear eyes fell on Tamamo, who collapsed exhausted on the dirt floor.

He didn't seem like the meticulous type, but was that turbulent appearance last time just an act? He looked as if he were a misaligned piece. But Takahashi decided to ignore it for now. Because that wasn't what he needed to worry about.

"One win and six losses in seven contingent bouts. Naturally, he wouldn't dare compete in the middle-class bouts, and he only has difficulty in contingent bouts. A runner like him is clearly unsuitable for someone like him."

"And yet, the only reason I run is because my father and mother want me to. I don't have the talent or the will of others. If you're a trainer, you should know that this is my limit, right? Or are you deliberately trying to deceive me even though you know?"

"Let's be clear. Recruiting me for your team won't benefit you in any way. So shut up and get out of here," the girl snarled. Her small body trembled as if it might break at any moment, perhaps from the aftereffects of a full-speed run, and her arms, which she used to support herself, were incredibly thin. She looked like a broken sponge cake doll.

However, despite the cracks here and there, and the red rust worn away to the point of being visible, those blue eyes still retained their strength. Takahashi held his gaze. Looking into them like that, the color made him feel as if he were being sucked into the abyss. No matter how miserable they looked, those eyes weren't broken at all.

"I decide if your existence will be beneficial to me. Not you."

"For the past few weeks, ever since I became a coach, I've been desperately searching for an Uma Musume who would win races—one who would make me money, that is. But no matter how much I watched races like crazy, I couldn't find anyone worthwhile, so I gave up. One day, I saw an Uma Musume named you. You looked infinitely weak, yet infinitely strong. You seemed capable of breaking at any moment, yet you never did. That's why I wanted to have you in my hands, no matter what. I felt that way when I first saw those incredibly strong legs that left monstrous imprints in the earth, but now I wanted her even more. A will of steel is a greater talent than an imposing physique."

Although he's only an old man who quit his job, Takahashi has been in the sports world for a long time. He had a feeling, since he had competed as a professional athlete himself. Tamamo Cross, this short girl has something that could become an elite runner.

"No one else's assessment is quite right. It’s me, me, who says you’re good. Your opinion has nothing to do with that judgment."

"From my exceptional insight, your talent is top-notch. I guarantee it. You have the talent to win the G1. And not just once, but many times."

"That’s right.."

"And you must have more reasons to race than just because your parents want you to?"

A moment of silence. Tamamo stared at Takahashi. The night breeze that blew right at that moment made her long gray hair dance.

"..You’re right. I'm too old to run just because I like to run, just to see my parents happy, for those reasons alone."

"You sound like an old woman, brat."

A hollow laugh escaped her lips, tears still streaming down her face. They say if you laugh after crying, you'll grow horns on your butt. Tamamo pursed the corners of her lips, wiping the unpleasant liquid off her face with the back of her arm. Perhaps the epithet "young old man" suited her perfectly. A strange being, existing halfway between youth and old age. Even her current personality was half-planned, and even she couldn't tell where her original self had gone. Like a broken tree, she simply went with the wind.

Still, if there was a reason to continue that miserable life...

"And you must have other reasons to run away besides your parents wanting it?"

A reason to run away, perhaps? Tamamo pondered for a moment and abruptly stood up. Her lungs, which had expanded to the limit, had stabilized, breathing normally. She didn't know why the man had noticed her situation. Perhaps he had been investigating to facilitate his exploration. She didn't care too much. Staying still would only bring her destruction closer. So, just let it be.

With that mindset, Tamamo held onto the rope that might have festered. Whether the Uma Musume Glo is the fastest racer, what I need right now is not a vague dream. So I won't ask you to turn me into a Gl racer.

"Mmm. I want to earn money. I don't care about a dazzling reputation or a career, I just want to earn money. Can you turn me into that kind of racer? Money, money, money—that's the problem. The most common trigger for a child to become an adult."

Those eyes, filled with steely determination, having completely overcome any remaining weakness, stared fixedly at Takahashi.

One corner of Takahashi's thin lips curled up.

"Don't you worry. I, I, I'll turn you into a model first-class taxpayer."

"..How long will it take?"

"A year. It won't take that long."