Summary: Haruka Nanase rides to the music, whether or not anyone can hear it. Rin Matsuoka rides for the thrill. Equestrian AU, loosely follows the original plot for a while before diverging.
Disclaimer: Wilder does not own Free!, or a horse, but does cosplay Rin.
To the Beat of Her Drum
Chapter 1: The Dance
Haruka Nanase has always ridden to music, whether it's playing for real or in his head. His lesson horse's steps are all the beat he needs. Sometimes he closes his eyes and gets yelled at, but he knows what he's doing. His cues are fluid enough to be invisible, his balance perfect, his horse responsive. He is fourteen years old, and all he wants is to ride.
Nagisa would like to be him. He's more excitable, and it transfers to the pony he rides. He wants to be a trick rider when he grows up, but they don't teach that here.
Makoto's leased Quarter Horse gelding dozes in the shade. He loves this horse – hopes that his parents will consider buying him for Makoto's endurance riding dreams. The gelding isn't perfect, and will never win a beauty contest, but he can go forever when he wants to.
Sasabe is showing off Haruka's skill for his parents, who don't seem to be paying as much attention as their son deserves.
The new kid in their lesson sits at the fence line on a pretty bay Arabian mare, watching Haru with wide eyes. The mare jigs in place, and he pats her neck and hushes her.
"Rin!" the instructor calls. "You're up. I want you to canter the vertical line and then the oxer on the diagonal."
Rin nods and nudges his mare forward. The jumps are only three feet, but the Arabian flows over them with a grace that makes it clear she could leap well over that height. Rin's hands are quiet, his eyes up and looking to the next fence. When he clears the oxer with ease, a girl who must be his sister stands up and claps. Rin smiles widely and waves to her, then swears loudly and has to grab mane as his mare throws a little buck.
Sasabe scolds Rin for language, but he's laughing, so no one takes him seriously. Rin's face is bright red, and the mare is inordinately pleased with herself.
Rin trots his horse over to stand beside Haruka's, and he grins.
"She's fun, but she doesn't let you get distracted," he says. "You're Nanase, right?"
Haruka nods, but he's not really paying attention. It's the end of the lesson. Sasabe humors Haruka sometimes by turning on the music at the end and letting them do what they want for a few minutes before cooling out.
Freestyle dressage is Haruka's calling. He and his horse move flawlessly to the music. Their dance is beautiful.
Rin stops watching Haruka for a few minutes to take his mare over an improvised jump course, loving the flight, reveling in the wind. This is his place. This is his heaven.
Nagisa is standing in his stirrups and flapping his arms like wings, until Sasabe yells for him to "cut that out before you die and your mom over there sues! The blond sits down, pouts a little bit, and follows Rin over a couple of jumps.
Makoto just smiles and watches them while cruising around at an easy canter.
"Hey, Nanase!" Rin says from the stall next to Haruka's while he towels off his mare. "There's a show at the end of the school year. We should team up." He grins through the bars at Haruka, who peeks over his horse's back to respond.
"I only ride freestyle," Haruka says.
"That's one of the events."
"I don't care about winning."
"It's not a big show, you don't have to."
Haruka stares at Rin.
Makoto chimes in from Rin's other side.
"You know, Haru-chan, it'd be a good chance to ride some new horses. I think Sasabe might let you try one of the warmbloods if you ask nicely."
Haruka tries to scowl at him, but his wide, excited eyes give him away.
"I told you to quit with the –chan, Makoto," he grumbles.
"Come on, Haru-chan, we should do the show!" Nagisa chirps from across the aisle. He can barely see over the half door.
Haruka sighs, shakes his head, and says, "All right."
"I bet you can't beat me and Izza!" Rin teases six months later, galloping bareback past Haruka's latest trial mount. They're on the cross-country course out back – on a trail ride, as far as Sasabe knows. They don't get to jump without supervision, technically, but Rin's bad at listening.
Izza soars over a three-six brush and circles around back to Haruka's side. The mare snorts, trying to nip at the big gelding's mane. As cheeky as her rider, this one.
Rin is the only one of the four who owns his horse. She's a rescue, dug out of an auction last year as a skinny, angry mess of an animal. She trusts Rin now, because he fed her, because he saved her. But it's only Rin. Haruka's been nipped more than once.
"Rin, I don't jump," Haruka says. "And I don't want to race you on Avalon, he's a boarder's horse."
"You're no fun," Rin says. "And you wouldn't even race me on Danny."
"That's because Danny's twenty and your horse is six."
"Sadie, then."
"We did that once, remember? And she's pregnant now."
Rin's jaw drops.
"No one tells me anything around here! Damn, I wonder what the foal will be like."
Haruka rolls his eyes. Rin has too much energy for him sometimes. Not a bad guy, and talented as hell, but so much energy.
Rin lies back and rests his head on Izza's rump, and for once, the mare tolerates his nonsense.
"Hey, Haru?"
Haruka halts Avalon and looks in Rin's direction.
"What do you want to do for high school?"
There's another month of school and a summer between them and high school. Haruka apparently thinks about it less than Rin does.
Haruka shrugs.
"I don't know. Study art, maybe."
"What about riding?"
Haruka realizes that he hasn't thought about this nearly enough. He doesn't know. He doesn't know if he'll be able to ride. High school is busy.
He shakes his head.
"I'll keep riding. Somehow. What about you?"
"I'm going to the Olympics," Rin says, grinning ear to ear but clearly not joking in the slightest. "And Rolex, and anywhere else I want to."
"In high school?" Haruka asks bemusedly, not fully processing what Rin had said.
Rin laughs.
"Not in high school, smartass. But I'm going to high school to get there. In Ireland."
"Ireland?" Haruka snaps to attention.
Rin is leaving.
End Chapter