This fic is rated M for a reason. I'm writing this as I go, I've got nothing specific in mind so it can go down in a flash and yes there could be some content that might be disturbing to some people later on so if you can't handle that, then don't read. You've been warned.

Chapter 1

Kougami

A ranch specialized in the rehabilitation of injured and neglected horses that the SPCA has seized from fucking assholes who can't be a decent human being and whatever else that place is good for…

Great, just fucking great; my parole officer must be a complete idiot for sending me there…

I'm from the city, not the damn country. All the things that I know are not things I can actually use on a god damn ranch and the thing is that I don't even know a single thing about farm life and about the work I'll be expected to do so how is this a fucking good idea to this fucking lunatic is way beyond me or maybe it's his way of trying to make me lose my mind.

How could my parole officer come with the conclusion that this would be a good idea? I'm not against working all summer, that's not the problem that I have but it's the fact that he expects me to do all of that surrounded by a bunch of people that I don't even know and who are probably completely nuts for even wanting to live on a fucking ranch taking care of fucking horses for a living-.

Yeah I get it, it's part of my probation and I have no say in it what so ever and all I have to do is put in my hours into doing community service and apparently working on a ranch qualifies as community service but still, it's not logical in any way.

Anyway… What's the use? I gave up trying to talk some sense into this guy a while ago but even though with all of my misfortunes I have to be grateful of two things. One, well by working at the Heartland ranch all summer I don't have to go to juvenile jail and two, I don't have to stay at home for at least three months and who knows if it's not that bad maybe I can convince the owner if they need someone full time to help out on the ranch just so I can earn some cash to get the hell out of this joint.

To be honest I'm not looking forward into cleaning horse shit all day, every day… But it still beats life at home. In a way, even if I have to get up extra early in the morning and work my ass off to do my time of my probation, it will still feel like a fucking vacation to me.

"We're here. You better make this work for you Shinya. You won't get a third chance so you better think long and hard before doing something to screw things up." My parole officer tells me as he takes a turn on a gravel road and looking in his rear mirror a few times as if trying to study my expression or something.

He said that we were here but all I see is the same over grown grass and trees that I've been seeing for over an hour but that changes when a huge arch comes into view and as we get closer I can read out the word engraved onto the center in a dark red color, the letters in bold and obviously really old but kept in well shape over the years it would seem.

Heartland is what was engraved in large and bold letters on an oak wood plank nailed onto the top of the arch so I guess my parole officer was right but this still feels like the middle of nowhere to me.

We drove for another fifteen minute before doing another turn towards a dirt road and the ranch comes into view and to be honest I wasn't expecting the ranch to be this large. The house is huge and for some reason I was expecting something smaller but I was wrong. The barn is pretty much the same size as the house, maybe even bigger but everything that I see is in perfect shape.

The barn has been painted red with white trimming; I'd say by the look of it, it was painted recently too and the house looks rather plain in the wood's natural color and yet I can't imagine it another colour. To be honest though the house looks like one of those log cabins but this one is way more sophisticated and I have to say it looks awesome in a way.

There are three large rectangular enclosures around the property. One right next to the house that doesn't seem to have anything in it, there's no grass and yet no mud in sight other than some kind of dirt and if I didn't know any better I'd say that that enclosure has been through a drought.

The second one is right next to the barn that is currently occupied by a greyish horse that is eating grass rather casually without a care in the world. At least that enclosure makes a bit more sense to me than the one right next to the house and the last one by my guesses must be some sort of training arena or something used for jumping and from here, I can see that the terrain for it seems to be well taken care of and the grass is well maintained too so I'll quickly assume that all three of those enclosures around here are used for something specific.

In between the enclosure next to the barn and the jumping arena there's a rounded enclosure that is currently occupied by someone who just seems to be standing in the center and a saddled up horse is running around for whatever reason that I have no idea why but it must be a good reason I guess…

The car comes to a halt and I waste no time getting out as I swing my bag over my shoulder and I look around. Everything around here is top notch, the quality of the wood used for all three enclosures are all well maintained and I'm sure they must have cost a fortune to build but it looks nice. Better than those barb wires that I saw earlier on the drive over here and I have to wonder if enclosures built out of wood are safer than the barb wires for the horses or the owners just felt like being fancier. I don't know but if I was a big shot, I would certainly take this ranch seriously, they just seem to know what they are doing but knowing that they are probably loaded is making me nervous. I'm not high class; I wouldn't even call myself a low class…

I can hear geese quacking but I can't see any and yet they sound so near. I can hear plenty of horses coming from the barn and I can't help but wonder exactly just how many there are and just thinking about it is making me nauseous. Whatever the number of horses there is, that will be how many I'll have to clean after every day and I am not looking forward to that at all.

"You better make this work for you Shinya. You don't have anywhere else to go." My parole officer says as he gets out of his car.

"I know. If you haven't told me a thousand times already, you haven't told me at all." I snap back, quickly regretting it afterwards but my parole officer doesn't say anything and instead walks up towards the house and disappears inside leaving me alone.

I pace around before dropping my bag on the patio of the house and I walk down towards the rounded pen where the same horse is still running around in circles and I just can't understand why someone would make an animal do that over and over again but there must be some reason to it but I just don't get it.

I quietly get closer to the pen and climb up on the first beam as I watch the guy hold onto a thick blue strap that is attached onto the halter of the horse. He's fully focused on what he's doing and I have to say that he's not hard on the eyes either much to my pleasure. At least something to look forward to each morning, to see that rather pretty face and I just can't help but smirk at the idea and I have to add, he's got a nice ass as well.

He's dressed rather casual, nothing special really which makes sense for working on a ranch and yet he looks great. A simple green high collar double breasted jacket, dark blue pants and a beige cowboy hat over his raven hair. His skin seems rather pale but that's probably because of the dark colours that he's wearing and his black hair only further helps to make his complexion fairer but he's got a little reddish tint on his cheeks from the cool morning air.

"He's full of energy huh?" I blurt out catching his attention in the progress but startling him would be a better word to use, I don't think he saw me standing here watching until I spoke and I just can't help but continue smirking at the guy. I just loved that expression he just gave me, it's cute.

"She." He replies back as he gets the horse to stop running around the pen.

"What?" I ask a bit puzzled as I climb over the second beam to sit.

"It's a she not a he." He adds as he gently strokes in between the horse's eyes in a circular motion with two fingers and his thumb.

The horse seems to be rather enjoying that and I have to say that I'm almost jealous.

"My apologies." I apologize and add a bit teasingly, "So… Is she sensitive about being wrongfully gendered?"

"Totally." He answers back with a soft smile and somehow he just became three times more beautiful if that was even fucking possible to begin with.

This guy, he just glows. His smile is gentle and soft but genuine and the horse seems to adore him too and to be honest I have this vibe coming from this guy that I might get along just fine with him too. It's an odd feeling to have since I don't get along with anyone mostly and I know for a fact that he must be somewhat aware about who I am if he works here and yet he doesn't seem to be judgemental about what I am and that feels rather nice.

"Shinya Kougami, I'm going to be here all summer so I might as well get to know the place." I introduce myself as I extend a hand for him to shake.

"Nobuchika Ginoza." He says as he shakes my hand and turns towards the horse, "And this is Cherry; my grandpa says that I should teach you how to ride today."

"Grandpa? Mariam signed my probation form for me to work here so I think it be best if I do what she says before your grandpa. No offense" I say and I see the joy get sucked out of Ginoza's face in seconds and I just want to punch myself in the face, seriously what the fuck Kou!? "But I'll do whatever I'm told to do so all is good right?" I quickly add, hoping that I'll be able to save myself from my first screw up but Ginoza doesn't smile again as he continues stroking Cherry gently.

"My mom died a month ago…" He mutters and I feel my stomach drop down to my gut.

Mariam had been the one to approach my parole officer if there were any delinquents in need of work and there was… I was the only one left who had nothing and she couldn't take the fact that no one wanted to give me a second chance so she offered to take me in for the summer and it was approved immediately.

I know that this place is my only chance for a new life, my last chance… I don't have anywhere else to go so what am I supposed to do now? My parole officer didn't say anything and I wonder if he even knows that Mariam is dead and now I just feel awful for having reminded Ginoza about his mom. No wonder his smile vanished like that.

I'm a fucking idiot…

"My grandpa wants you to learn how to ride so we should do that." He adds, quickly changing the subject and obviously hiding how he feels.

Ginoza's smile was beautiful but now I know why. They say those who have the most beautiful smiles are usually the saddest people but I know, I just do that his real smile when he's not sad or anything is just as beautiful. I'll see that this summer, I'll make sure of it.

"So… How is this going to work?" I ask as I watch him remove the thick blue belt that was attached on the halter and hangs it around one of the post of the round pen.

"How to ride? I'll have you start with Cherry, she's a good horse and I don't think you'll have too much problems with her either and then once you've got the hang of it, grandpa will probably assign you your own horse for the summer or he'll give that job to me." Ginoza tells me as he opens the gate of the rounded pen and leads Cherry out and then leads her towards the large rectangular pen that is occupied by that greyish horse.

"So I'll have a specific horse? Why is that?" I ask.

"You can't just ride any horse. There's a bond between rider and horse, you just don't switch like that otherwise the horse will either not get to know you or it will feel jealous and left out." Ginoza explains as he opens the rectangular pen and leads Cherry in and closes the gate.

"Like wondering what it did wrong?" I ask.

"Exactly." He quickly acknowledges which makes sense but I had no idea that horses were that sensitive but it makes sense. They are rather smart animals so I'm sure that I'll be surprised quite often by their behaviors.

"So that greyish one over there, is that going to be my horse eventually? Is that why he's there?" I ask and I can't help but find that one so captivating. It looks so unique and I can really see myself riding it, I'd look damn good too. I know it.

Cherry isn't bad though, she's a single colour of a deep reddish brown and the end of her hooves are a bit darker but I've seen so many horses that looks like Daisy before. They're just so common and kind of boring a little and the greyish one well it's a rarity, it's a real beauty without a doubt, it's just gorgeous Just like Ginoza.

"No. That's Tempest, he's too old ride and he doesn't like being in his stall in the barn all day so we just leave him out in the pasture for a little while." Ginoza explains as he walks away towards the barn and I leap down the rounded pen and follow.

Okay so I think I was right, each large enclosure on this property must be for something. So one of them is called the pasture, okay I have to remember that and my guesses if Ginoza wants to teach me how to ride and he left Cherry back there it must mean we'll be doing that in the pasture so why the hell are we going to the barn?

Am I missing something here? Probably so but hey, how hard can it be riding a horse?

"If he's too old to ride then what good is he? I mean don't get me wrong here, it's just it kind of seem cruel to not allow it that much." I say and I almost regret saying that when Ginoza shoots me a look on the corner of his eye but instead of a scold he gives me a soft smile instead and that gives me some relief that I didn't fuck up again.

Being this close to Ginoza right now I just can't help but admire his features. Even though he's a guy he has delicate facial features and now that I'm this close to him I can better see his eyes and I have to say that they are almost intoxicating. I've never seen anyone with eyes so vibrant, they're just like emeralds and it's kind of hard to look away and his eyelashes are dark and thick that just somehow makes his eyes pop even more.

It had to be illegal to look this good. God damn it!

"Tempest may be old and we can't ride him anymore but he's good for other things. For an example, he's a great therapy horse; he helps a lot when we get stressful horses and such." Ginoza explains and again that makes sense. I guess this place is pretty much reuse and recycle.

"Heartland… Exactly what do you guys do around here anyway?" I ask.

"We take care of horses that have been neglected and we foster them until they find a new home. We also train horses and deal with sudden behavioral problems that a horse may develop due to anxiety and stress or due to a traumatic accident." Ginoza explains as we enter the barn and walk down to the very end of the stalls towards a pitch black horse.

"Sounds like a lot of work. Not something I think I could do." I say as I watch Ginoza open the stall and allows the black horse out and then he gently puts on a halter on the horse's head and then a saddle on its back before grabbing a helmet.

"We also have a side business, my grandpa likes to call it a dude ranch but it's mainly a tourist attraction in the summer. It was my mom's idea to make the ranch flourish and allow us to continue helping troubled horses without giving us a financial burden." Ginoza further explains and gives me the helmet before leading the black horse out of the barn and I follow.

"Your late mom." I blurt out without thinking and I just want to punch myself in the face again. Out of all the things I could have said I just had to fucking say something that insensitive didn't I… Why the fuck did I need to say that? Like seriously Kou what the fucking fuck!?

"Yeah… My late mom…" Ginoza repeats a bit numb and I can see that his mom is a huge sensitive spot for him. I can understand the feeling, I mean none of my parents are dead but my dad left when I was a kid so it's pretty much the same thing. It's not a good feeling…

We walk back towards the pasture and Ginoza opens the gate and without saying anything Cherry slowly joins us as Ginoza closes the gate behind us and he mounts on the black horse before looking down on me.

"Put on your helmet and mount on Cherry." He tells me and adds, "And we'll begin, it's really easy."

"I'm sure it is." I say back as I secure the helmet on my head and climb on top of Cherry only to fall over on the other side making Ginoza laugh at my predicament.

I didn't sign up for this kind of humiliation but what choice do I have? I can't ditch this place to go work somewhere else; they won't take me because of my probation. It sucks. I don't want to work on a ranch but this is all I have for now but so far I'm not enjoying this at all.

Falling on my ass right in front of Ginoza even before the horse even moved is more than embarrassing, I can say it's not what I was aiming for but at least I got Ginoza to laugh and he's got a really nice laugh.

I get back up and mount back onto Cherry only to almost fall back over but I grabbed hold of the saddle just in time to prevent the fall but damn, I was so sure this was going to be a lot easier but it's not.

I'm afraid it's going to be a very long day…