Her father sighed in awe. "So this Tracen Central…" He smiled slightly. "It's even bigger than what they show on the television."
Her mother nodded slowly. "It really is." She whispered, sounding truly surprised. There was a wonder in her voice that she had never heard from her mother before, and she couldn't help but turn towards the towering building in front of her.
Silence Suzuka gulped softly, feeling somewhat small as hundreds of people walked around her.
Her parents had come earlier than they were supposed to, but the crowd was still massive. Suzuka wouldn't help but clutch onto her mother's hand like a lifeline, worried that the endless tide of people would accidentally wash her away if she wasn't holding on like this.
"Suzuka-chan?" Her mother asked, finally noticing how quiet she was being.
"...i-it's loud…" She whispered shamefully, her ears flopping flat onto her head as she squeezed her eyes shut. She disliked how cramped it felt, but more than anything, she hated how loud everything was. All the sounds were bouncing inside her head like ringing bells, and it was making her head hurt.
Her father sighed. "That's true. There's so many people here." He frowned slightly. "I hope she gets here soon–"
But just as her father said that, the crowd suddenly fell silent. It was so abrupt—one moment the crowd around her was chattering away, and suddenly everything stopped. Suzuka cautiously opened her eyes, and she blinked in confusion as she saw the crowd parting away.
And she then gasped as she saw who it was.
"It seems I wasn't as punctual as I believed." Blossom Star said, dressed in a butler's uniform that clung to her form. It gave the usually heroic figure a prince-like charm, almost as if she was a character who'd leapt straight out of her fairy tales. "I apologize if my tardiness caused you any distress."
"No, no! We're fine!" Her father immediately said. "I-, don't worry about it, Blossom-san. We're the ones who arrived early."
Star hummed. "Perhaps. But enough of that." She smiled calmly as she bowed. "I am your guide, your butler, and your confidant. I shall give you a tour of this grand establishment I have spent most of my career at. Feel free to ask any questions if you happen to have one."
Her mother smiled wryly. "Completely in-character as well." She muttered.
Star chuckled. "Such is expected of me." she winked. "After all, I am one hell of a butler."
And through it all, Suzuka was completely entranced. Star had completely captured her from the first time she saw her, but seeing her like this was making her feel all bubbly inside. There was a deep presence Star carried, one that curried attention no matter where or what she did. In fact, the silent crowd around them had yet to stop staring at her, as if completely captured in her spell.
Then, Star turned to Suzuka, and she held out a gloved hand as she smiled. "Now, let us begin this tour, my dear princess."
Suzuka blushed. Her idol just called her a princess! If she could, she would've run around from sheer happiness. But she didn't do that, and she instead shyly took Star's hand.
Star smiled, and with Suzuka's hand in hers, she began touring her family around Tracen Central.
And it was so cool. She'd seen some parts of Tracen Central from all the interviews and documentaries she'd watched, but nothing could've prepared her for how massive the school was! The lecture halls were easily the size of her entire school, and the tracks were so big that Suzuka had a hard time seeing the edges of it. And Tracen Central had multiple tracks!
And then there was the indoor pool, then the gyms, then the basketball court, and then the massive cafeteria. She even managed to visit Team Kitahara's clubroom! The very room that Star most often spent her time in! The stronghold of the strongest team in all of Japan!
It was all so amazing that Suzuka began feeling faint as the tour began winding down. But more than anything, there was now a deep want within her. A deep desire to one day attend this academy as a student herself; to make this academy her own when it finally became the time for her to chase that distant horizon.
Eventually, the tour ended at the newly renovated track, where the Turf was strangely colored blue. Her feet tingled slightly as she stepped onto it, but there was also a strange bounciness in her, as if the track itself was asking for her to run.
"A blue track?" Her father asked, confused as to why the prestigious Tracen Central would have something so seemingly useless.
Star's smile turned rather wry. "It is a recent addition." She explained. "Do you recall the [Arima Kinen]?" She asked. Everyone nodded, obviously having watched it live from amongst the audience. "This very same Turf was employed there as well. Strange as the color is, it is a Turf designed to withstand the new…'abilities' that we have recently begun showing."
Her mother's eyes widened in realization. "Oh, right! The Turf there was blue too, right?"
Star nodded. "Indeed." She gave the Turf beneath her a subtle prod. "And it was at this very place that said Turf was first tested."
"This place…" Suzuka whispered, staring down at the Turf.
She still remembered the [Arima Kinen]. Even now, days later, she could still remember how it all felt as she stood there at the stands, shouting for Star to win during the final homestretch. She remembered the way color had flooded the skies, the way Tamamo Cross had attempted one final surge towards the lead, the way the cloudy skies were blown apart by bright blue skies.
It was a sight she would never forget, even a decade later into the future.
And for a moment, her mother's brows furrowed with worry. The expression disappeared just a moment later, but Star easily caught it. She seemed to think it over for a moment, before she decided to ask, "Is there something wrong?"
Her mother paused, frowning slightly in worry. "It's just…" She began, trying her best to find the words to best convey her worries. "Is that how all races would be in the future?"
Star blinked, and then her eyes widened slightly as she glanced at Suzuka. "Ah, I see." She huffed wryly as she shook her head. "In truth, I do not know. After all, I am as much in the dark as everyone else." She then smiled deeply. "But I believe that this would be a rather rare occurrence."
She glanced at the skies for a moment, lost in thought. "Perhaps one day there would come a time when another group of legendary umamusume would gather. Perhaps there would come a future Golden Generation who would light another flame across this nation." She said, speaking with confidence that Suzuka almost felt like Star was speaking from experience. "But it would be quite some time until then."
"Is that so…" Her mother whispered, looking somewhat mollified.
Star watched her for some time, before she smiled. "However, if such a time does arrive." She crouched down, and Suzuka meeped softly as Star suddenly patted her head. "I am sure that little Suzuka here would have blossomed into a wonderful Hero of her own."
Her father smiled, both torn and proud. "You really think so?"
Star nodded. "Call it intuition, call it naivety of delusion—but I sincerely believe that your daughter has what it takes to become a great umamusume." She smiled softly. "After all, you said that you would catch up to me, right?"
Suzuka nodded, softly clenching her fists.
From what she could first remember, she always wanted to run. She loved how it felt to be fast, and when she first experienced how it felt to be at the very front of the pack, she understood that she could never attempt anything else. It was a feeling she could not live without.
But a year ago, that changed.
When she first saw Star charge ahead and leave everyone behind, a new goal had been put in her mind.
There was another horizon to chase. Someone else she needed to catch up to. Someone who was waiting for her.
She wanted to be a Hero too.
"Mm." Suzuka looked up to her Hero with as much determination she could. "I won't stop. I'll catch up to you."
Others would've laughed at her for something so foolish. Others had laughed at her when she tried saying what she wanted. There was a reason she didn't really talk to others these days.
But her Hero only smiled softly as she patted her head, as if she had believed in her from the very start. "It will be difficult, but I'm sure you will."
And in the future, when Suzuka would don her own cloak, she would begin to understand how difficult it would be to truly be a Hero.
But that was a story for another time.