"Mister Igo Heita, please stop Mejiro Palmer from running."
"... Why don't you do it yourself and save yourself from bankruptcy?"
"I could not bring myself to tell her. I told everyone that they could run, wouldn't telling just her not to run would devastate her?
It would have been disastrous whether I told her or not. I simply could not get more involved than this."
"Then what about her trainer? Why would you want McQueen's trainer to break the news to Palmer?"
"... He… could not bring himself to destroy her dream. He is too much of a kind man for something like this."
"So you want me to be the black sheep who would receive Palmer's entire hatred and anger, is that it?" Without the young man realizing it, his hand balls up into a fist out of anger.
"Please state your price, Mr. Igo Heita.
I understand what I'm asking you to do, and no amount of money would be enough for this task."
"You are asking me to basically kill Palmer… How can a member of her own family order her assassination?"
"You are correct. I am such a failure of a Matriarch."
Mejiro Asama slowly stood up from her chair and walked to the side of Igo Heita. With extreme grace and politeness, Mejiro Asama lowered her body and did a dogeza to Igo Heita.
"Please… Please… I beg of you, Mister Igo Heita.
Sniffle…"
"!!!!!"
"Sniffle… I don't… I don't want to lose anyone due to suicide anymore!!!
If I can, I will do everything myself and carry the burden until my last breath!! But there's nothing I can do that would not end in death!!
Sniffle…
Please!! Please!! Save Mejiro Palmer!! I beg of you!!"
"..."
The young man was frozen in place. Mejiro Asama is the Matriarch of the Mejiro Family, a renowned racing family in Japan. There is absolutely no reason for her to ever lower her head to anyone. It would be considered a massive insult to Japanese Umamusume Racing as a whole if someone like her ever lowered her head to anyone.
But here she is.
Mejiro Asama's face is firmly planted on the floor, and tears are dropping from her eyes. Her body trembles, not from the coldness of the incoming winter, but from anger–an anger pointed at herself for her weakness.
"Why…? Palmer doesn't shine as brightly as McQueen and Ryan, but that doesn't mean she should stop.
Are you running your ship like the Hunger Games? If you lose, then fuck off?"
"I would never want her to stop running if I could. I understand how much she loves to run, but I'm afraid if she doesn't stop, she will start hating it.
I don't want to see someone who loves to run so much end up hating it with all her heart."
"..."
The young man felt the words of the hag. There was almost no lie in her words, which made it harder for Igo Heita.
"She loves running, not winning. Do you understand what I mean, Asama?"
"..."
"From your stories, you believe that your sister took her own life because she could not win any races, no?
Perhaps that is correct. However, do you believe losing is the source of her sadness? It worsens the situation, but that doesn't mean it's the source."
"..."
"The main problem is the perceived status of the Mejiro Family.
You have built yourself a throne in the racing world, and with that throne come expectations for those standing near it.
That is the true source of the problem. The iron ball chained to every Mejiro Family member.
As an outsider, I think you need to be a sexy umamusume to be a Mejiro, but what do you think would qualify someone as a Mejiro, Mejiro Asama?"
"Someone who tries her hardest in anything she does."
"See? Everyone, even the members of the Mejiro Family, has their own expectations to be qualified as a Mejiro.
So does Mejiro Palmer.
What you need is not to stop her from doing what she loves, but to let her grow into a sensible adult."
"I see… If that is what is needed to save Mejiro Palmer, then please do as you wish. You may pick up the cheque with you."
"Mejiro Palmer will need to stop running for her to mature, but that will only be temporary.
Once her ankle is freed from the ball of expectation, Mejiro Palmer will shine as bright as McQueen and Ryan.
I'm sure of it."
The young man grabs the empty cheque on the table and crumples it into a tiny ball.
"I don't think I can take this, considering your request was to stop her from running for good. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't take a reward, though."
"What do you have in mind?"
"I suppose you owe me one. Trust me, that could be much more expensive than whatever I might put in that check."
"Don't worry, I understand that all too well. I will do my best to fulfill your request."
"Good, and for my second gift…
Hmm… I need you to stand up."
"Eh?"
Mejiro Asama was genuinely confused out of her mind. She listened to his command regardless, though.
"Hmm…" The young man eyed Asama up and down. The Matriarch was wearing a thin nightgown as she was about to sleep as well, so she felt slightly alarmed when he licked his lips after looking at her body. "You're in menopause, right?"
"Huh?!?! Don't tell me–!!"
"As I said, I think a Mejiro needs to be a sexy umamusume, and you are a full-fledged Mejiro."
"Ah… Ah… Bu… But I'm old…"
"The wrinklier the raisin, the sweeter the fruit."
Mejiro Asama, the Matriarch of the Mejiro Family, had been seen with so many eyes. Awe, fear, respect, and even lustful looks, but as she gets older and gets married, fewer and fewer people see her with lust in their eyes. At one point, Asama has to realize that she no longer has what it takes to entice men and accept it, for that is a part of growing up.
In the past, she would have had a regular response to being seen with lustful eyes, but she had forgotten that response after not using them for years. All she does now is freeze in place.
Even when the young man placed his left hand on her right shoulder and slid the nightgown's strap down her arm. Even when the young man slipped his right hand from underneath the gown and grabbed her waist. Mejiro Asama could only freeze in place.
"What do you say, do you want to be my prize to save your granddaughter?"
"Gulp…"
The pressure exuded from the young man's stare could kill a bird. It digs straight into your mind and paralyzes your ability to think straight.
As said before, Mejiro Asama was preparing herself to sleep before meeting Igo Heita, so she had taken off the ring on her finger so as to not lose it. If only she had brought it with her, she might remember her late husband as her hands form a fist.
For Palmer… This is for Palmer… I only do this for Palmer, so please… understand my decision, everyone…
"Yes. I offer myself as your reward."