"You have your answer?" Chris asked coldly. She hadn't expected Avalon to recover so quickly but turned to face her anyway.
"Yes."
"Well? I'm listening." Chris put out the cigarette she was smoking, "Tell me this answer you've found."
"Race me."
"..." Chris' ears twitched, "what?"
"Race me."
—
"Are you sure you want this? You're guaranteed to lose y'know." Chris asked, stretching on the turf.
To her right, Avalon stood, staring at the track with unwavering determination. The amount was palpable. How did she manage to make a face like this after losing it all?
She took a shaky deep breath in, "I'm sure." As far as Avalon was concerned, she herself didn't fully know what compelled her to say what she did. But she was done thinking about it.
"Alright then…" Chris pulled out a coin from her pocket, "When this coin hits the ground, we go, okay?"
At this point, words were unnecessary. Avalon simply nodded in confirmation. Chris then put the coin at the edge of her thumb and…
Flipped it.
FWOOSH-!
'Hey, sister?'
'Hm? What is it, Belle?'
THUD-! The coin hit the ground.
VOOSH-! And the two were off.
"Why do you run?"
Memories flashed through Chris' head, unwarranted.
"Why do I run? For you, obviously."
Meanwhile undeterred by the turmoil in her head, Chris pulled ahead of Avalon easily. She intended to end this as quickly as possible.
"But if you always run for me…"
She rounded the first corner easily, her form impeccable, just as amazing as Avalon had seen it the first time.
"...Then what about you?"
"What about me…?"
The memory in her head distorted, changed. "If I'm dead, Why do you continue to run?"
Chris' expression changed to one of grimace, waving away the illusion in her mind and activating her full domain.
[Tyrant's Aura]
The oppressive wave spread across the field, Chris began to speed up, accelerating to a high speed as she turned the second corner.
"You're a liar, Chris."
The illusion didn't even try to act as her sister anymore, directly calling her name.
"Shut up."
"You're a hypocrite."
Chris approached the second straight, not slowing down in the slightest. Avalon was long gone from her field of view.
"Shut up…!"
"You're a failure."
Chris had already cleared most of the second straight already, coming up on the third corner.
"Stop…"
"You're a terrible sister."
She ran faster, but her legs began to feel heavy. Not from her injuries, but from the assault on her mind.
She had turned the third corner in almost no time at all.
"Please…"
"And most of all…"
Chris had cleanly ran through the fourth corner and had finally approached the third and final straight.
"You are…"
"Dont say it…!"
"A murderer."
"Guh…!"
[Tyrants descent]
Chris' speed began to drastically increase, to an almost impossible degree. She wanted to end this stupid race before she mentally broke down.
"You should have died that day."
"..."
Chris stopped listening. Her mind was already a mess, responding wouldn't do any good. She sped up even more.
500m
400m
300m
The illusion kept barreling insults at Chris but still she continued to run. Why? Not even she knew at this point.
She ran.
200m
Faster.
100m
FASTER!
0m
Chris finished her lap and dropped down to her knees in a coughing mess, then she turned.
In the distance, a black haired uma sped toward the finish line at full speed. Chris looked at the uma and sighed.
'What is this meant to accomplish…' Chris questioned, 'She already lost by over 10 lengths. So why isn't she slowing down?'
Thump-!
Thump-!
Thump-!
Avalon's shoes made a rhythmic thumping sound as she continued to run, approaching the finish line.
Once she got into earshot range, Chris spoke up from the ground, "Is this your answer?"
Avalon was about to cross the finish line when,
"If this is your answer, I-"
FWOOSH-!
She didn't stop running.
"?!" Chris turned again just to see Avalon's back radiating a calm Chris wouldn't have expected.
'Does she…' Chris propped herself up into her wheelchair with her only arm, '...not know she finished already?'
And then Chris watched in slight shock as Avalon continued to run laps around the race course, making her completely forget about her own worries.
—
Why did she run?
The question plagued her mind since Chris had asked her. And in all honesty? She still had no answer.
At first it was just for the sake of, 'because I'm an umamusume.' but after all she went through, that reason blurred into an answer she couldn't quite grasp.
For her found family back at the orphanage? No.
For her own satisfaction? Not likely.
For the world? Not even close.
So why?
'I don't give a shit anymore. I'm tired of thinking about it.' Avalon's face hardened as she ran, sprinting at full speed, without even noticing that she's already ran 10 laps.
The answer would come to her eventually, but for now she had a trainer to secure. She passed the finish line finally and noticed she was way more out of breath than she thought.
An unprecedented amount of sweat dripped off of her body, her body heat was so high you could see steam coming from her body.
Then she looked around to see that Chris was sitting in her wheelchair, watching her with a stern expression.
Chris hadn't expected to see this level of concentration from a shattered umamusume. The only times she had was when…
'Hm…'
"Kid." Chris called out to Avalon who was looking right back at her, "I get that you can run but what does this have to do with your answer?"
The way Avalon ran wasn't any different than the first time Chris saw it, if anything the focus she showed was the only change.
"Isnt it obvious…?" Avalon spoke through heavy breaths, "My answer…"
"Your answer?"
"...Is that there is none."
"???"
Chris stared at the very serious looking umamusume very confusedly, "what?"
"I have no answer. And that is my answer."
"What kind of answer is that?" Chris asked with a baffled expression.
"Why do I run? I have no clue. Sure that may sound presumptuous of me but would you expect a complete rookie to be able to answer such a question?"
Avalon shook her head and laughed exhaustedly,
"In short, it's a stupid question."
Chris shook her head, "Then I suppose I'm not your trainer."
At this Avalon walked up to Chris, pointed directly at her face and smirked, "Nope, that's not what you said."
"What?"
"You said, if I answer your question you would be my trainer. You never said the answer had to be correct."
"But you never gave me an answer…" Chris retorted.
"Are you deaf too? I told you my answer, 'I don't know.'" Avalon tilted her head.
Chris sat stunned at the girl's audacity and logic. She remained silent for a long while until sighing and finally answering with a small,
"...Fine."
"Eh?" Avalon froze, she didn't actually expect her to say yes, "wait… for real?"
"Training starts at 6am tomorrow. If you're late, I'll cut off your arm." Chris' expression turned icy.
Avalon's face turned from general confusion to a vibrant smile, "Yes ma'am!"
"Hmm…"
'She reminds me of you, dear little sister.'
—
After wheeling her new trainer to the registration booth at the academy and sorting all of that out, Avalon dragged her tired little body to the dorms.
"Oh, you're back Ava. Did you manage to convince someone to be your trainer?"
"Ssss~"
Welcoming Avalon was Violet and boneless, seemingly playing some sort of card game? Along with these two was a very overwhelming presence.
"Avalon, I hath heard of what transpired. This senior of thine came forth to lend aid… though it would seem Violet arrived before I could."
Of course, that presence was Don. Who somehow had the most cards on hand compared to the actual snake and violet.
'Did I walk into an improv show? Whatever, I'm too tired…' Avalon let out a weak groan of recognition and went into the bathroom to wash away all the sweat.
Don tilted her head, "What manner of behavior is this from her?"
Violet sighed and said, "probably exhausted…"
Then boneless, the actual snake, input on the convo, "ssss~"
""Ohhhhh"" the two nodded in agreement.
—
The next day, around 6am.
Avalon had just made it to the school's practice course, where Chris had agreed to meet her and was waiting patiently.
"Chris, I'm here…" Avalon spoke tiredly, she wasn't used to getting up so early.
"First of all, you're late." Chris spoke and Avalon felt a chill down her spine, "and secondly, don't call me Chris im your trainer now address me as such."
"R-right… sorry trainer."
"Sigh~ warm up and start running."
"Yes trainer!" Avalon made a mock salute with one of her hands and began to stretch.
After she limbered up her body, she walked onto the course and started running.
One lap.
"Phew~ trainer, im do-" Avalon wiped her sweat and looked over to her trainer just to see one very intimidating eye staring back.
"Did I tell you to stop?"
"Ah! Y-yes ma'am, understood!" And she began to run again.
Two laps.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Ten.
Twenty.
'ISN'T THIS JUST A WARM UP?!"
—
END OF CHAPTER
Discord: discord.gg/rmPpXSkznr