Chapter Text
Symboli Rudolf didn’t even call out her arrival as she came home from work. No “I’m home, Maruzen,” or even an “I’m back, lover.” She’d been getting more tired recently, Maruzensky knew. It was impossible not to notice the bags under her wife’s eyes or the tired sighs that echoed through their modest home with worrying regularity.
Maru slipped her arms around Rudolf’s slouched back as she set down her briefcase, hugging her from behind and planting soft kisses into Rudolf’s unruly chestnut mane. “Babe, your hair is a mess, please let me take care of it tonight ♪”
Rudolf laughed quietly, enjoying the attention, but she shook her head. “...Sorry, Maruzen, not tonight. It’s been… a long one. A long day, a long week… shaping up to be a long month.” Maruzensky pouted, but didn’t argue. Couldn’t argue. Rudolf was a real big-shot in the Umamusume world, moving and shaking with the movers and shakers, and she was just… well, a legendary runner, that was true. Completely undefeated up to her URA finale victory, blowing up every record set in front of her on turf or dirt.
But for now, a housewife. A happy housewife, to be sure, there’s nothing else she’d rather be doing, but compared to Symboli Rudolf… Well, she found most of her joy in being the pretty arm candy of such a stud, and making sure that when Rudolf came home, she could forget all her worries. Dinner on the table, a hot bath available, an endless stream of kisses and… other pleasures ♪
“Alright, cutie, no hair care for the night, but I went out and got a little something for us that I thought you might want to try out. Something to get the engine revving, pump the gas and fill your tank. I checked online and my girls all told me it helped them take their relationships to the max, if you catch my drift ♪”
Rudolf’s apologetic smile was heartbreaking. “...I’m sorry, babe. That sounds really good, but tonight is just…”
“No, you’re right. Hard to get the engine going when you’re tired, huh? That’s copacetic babe, promise! How about you take a load off, I’ll give your feet a good rub-down, and we’ll just park in front of the boob tube for the night. Yeah? Just relax?”
Symboli Rudolf nodded. “...Yeah. Dinner smells good, maybe we just do that for tonight. Tomorrow will be better, I promise.” She gave a yawn as the pair sat down on the couch and Maru pulled Rudolf’s legs into her lap.
“...God, that’s good, honey, you really are the best…” Rudolf had only taken two bites of her dinner before she was asleep on the couch.
Maruzensky kept up her massage, rubbing out the tension in Rudolf’s feet and calves, which was a lot of tension. She remembered back to the conversation a week ago, the one where finally Rudolf had opened up about what was so stressful at work.
“It’s just that there’s been a rash of street racing recently. And not the normal type, where the humans try and weave through traffic in the middle of the night. This time it’s not just cars. I can’t fathom why, but Umamusume are involved as well. Can you imagine? Umamusume, weaving in and out of traffic at top speed? Think about if there was an accident…” She shivered. “My supervisor says they’re linked to a new Uma gang that’s been making waves. They’re called the Mustangs. We’ve linked them to the trafficking of illegal goods like performance-enhancing drugs. It’s been a real pain because cars can’t catch them, and most of the Umas we have on service aren’t fast enough.”
Rudolf and the Bureau of Umamusume Justice had been completely swamped with this new threat, and it was making the rest of her work as the URA Director even harder as well. There was only so much she could delegate, and so many hours in the day.
“Oh, hon… What I wouldn’t give to put that dorky smile back on your face,” Maru whispered, sure not to disturb her wife’s peaceful sleep. “If only there was something I could do to help you…”
Looking idly around at their quaint home, her eyes drifted naturally out the window to where Tata was parked with a tarp over her in case it rained. She hadn’t gotten too much time to take her out recently. The grocery store was too close to justify spending on the gas, and Rudolf had been so busy that they hadn’t been able to go for too many joyrides. “Poor Tata, you’re stuck here just like me, huh?”
She thought back to the days when she’d blast through the streets of Tokyo, back when there was a thriving street-racing scene. She had even run from the police a few times herself as a youth. It was a fond memory, even if it was a mischievous one. Not once did she get caught. Back in those days, nobody could catch her either on foot or behind the wheel ♪
The Mustangs, huh? A bunch of young pups probably, like she was. It was hard not to wonder what that scene was like compared to back in her youth. The street lights and the neons whizzing by, the screech of tires as she weaved through oncoming traffic. The rush. Oh god, the rush… She could feel her heart beating just thinking about it, something stirring inside of her that was only made worse by Rudolf’s absence from her bedroom this week.
She chewed on her lip at the thought of weaving through traffic on foot like they did. It would be SO dangerous… But god, if she could take those little upstarts to school, wouldn’t that just be groovy? She could take a load off Rudolf’s workload, get her wife back, and then maybe Rudolf would… And then she could… Maru squeezed her legs together. But if Rudolf ever found out what she was doing…
“Oh, Tata, what would you do…?”
The red Lamborghini didn’t answer, but there was only one thing it could do. One thing it was built to do. It had to get stoked and go fast. Just like me ♪
She steeled herself, tried to stay reasonable, but the engine in her heart and the fire in her loins carried her to one answer and one answer only.
I’m going to run. I’m going to drive. I’m going to kick some ass and I’m going to save my marriage.
She gently set Rudolf’s legs down on the couch, giving her a soft kiss on the forehead. “Sleep tight, Foxy Mama. Your baby’s got you ♪” Quickly she scrawled a note:
‘Gone for a night drive. You know me, never comfy without my foot on the pedal. Go to bed without me, be home soon.
Kisses, Maruzen ♪’
Throwing on her old red racewear (it still fit and it was kept clean for ‘activities’ with Rudolf, who favoured the colour), she was out the door, flicked the tarp off of Tata, revved the engine once and she was out of sight in a blink, tearing down the rural road towards the freeway where she used to race. The engine hummed and vibed both inside and outside her body as the city lights approached at mach speed.
“Stay tuned, baby, because I’ve got a full tank and I’m revving to go ♪”