Chapter 1

THE MOUNTED GAMES TEAM

AKKO

Akko could sense the other team bearing down on her with each passing moment.

She tightened her grip on the long pole in her hand, leaning dangerously to one side as her mount hurtled forward at full speed, showing little regard for the rapidly approaching fence. The final carton lie just ahead, half buried in sand from where her teammates had unintentionally jostled it. Luckily, the opening was still facing her, so she didn't have to do any deft acrobatics.

Without even needing to think about her movements, she brought her left foot up, still in the stirrup, and hooked it on the cantle of the saddle. Her body dropped low as she hung expertly from the side of the small chestnut mare, who continued at a gallop in an obediently straight line.

With clenched teeth and an unwavering stare, she lowered the pole until it was near parallel with the ground, her knuckles mere inches from scraping the sand. She punched forward and tilted upwards, spearing the open end of the carton and flipping her arm up in one swift movement. Once sure the item was secure at the tip of the pole, she rocked her body to swing effortlessly back into the saddle.

In the lane beside her, she was more than aware of Amanda doing the same. The other girl made no mistake—it was a race.

Akko leaned back hard in the saddle and whipped her torso around. The chestnut mare beneath her, reading the sudden change of posture, whirled with ease, nearly prancing on her two hind legs as she turned in a prompt 180.

"Go, Chariot, go!" Akko yelled, shoving her hand toward the mare's ears and pumping the one elbow that still clutched the reins. Her mare launched forward. She could feel Amanda and Star hot on their heels, breathing down their necks from a mere stride behind.

Star was faster, but Chariot's unrivaled athleticism and deft turn had earned the pair enough of a head start that she and Akko flew across the finish line first, barely a hoof in front of Amanda and Star.

"Yeah, Akko!" Lotte yelled, standing in her stirrups and pumping her fists in the air victoriously. "You did it!"

The short palomino below the small strawberry blonde girl snorted, ears twitching at the raised voice on his back, though his expression spelled sheer boredom as he ignored the encroaching chestnut.

Sucy merely nodded with feigned disinterest from atop her prancing roan gelding, which she managed to hold in a tight circle with a single hand on her black cotton reins. "Not bad," she muttered, stifling a yawn with the back of her free hand.

Akko was beaming. She tossed the pole and carton unceremoniously to the ground between the horses and threw her arms around Chariot's neck, dropping the reins completely.

"Good girl, Chariot!" she cooed, scratching at the mare's withers. "You did great!"

"I almost had you," Amanda said, smirking as she struggled to reel in the now very hyped up Star. She was panting from the effort. "One more stride! If Constanze hadn't missed the hand-off..." she trailed off, throwing a raised eyebrow at their teammate. Star jigged beneath her, tossing his head up and down and chomping at the bit as he continuously tried to bolt from beneath his unperturbed rider.

Constanze shrugged from where she sat on her dappled gray gelding. Jasminka, who was open-mouthed chewing gum and smiling from her chubby paint mare, merely nodded in agreement with their anchor*.

"Very good, girls," came the approving voice of Miss Nelson. "Jasminka, I would like to see you vaulting* some time in the near future, as you are spending far too much time trying to find the stirrup to get back on. Team up with Amanda, she's our most proficient vaulter-" Amanda put on her most arrogant grin, "-or Akko." The grin twitched. "Sucy, if you could somehow compel yourself to feel some sense of urgency, that would be nice. And Amanda, for the love of God, please stop sending that pony so much damn energy!"

Amanda dismissed Nelson with a wave of her hand, sitting back in the saddle as Star half-reared and turned on his hindquarters. "Aw, he's fine," she said. "He just wants to do his job."

"Well, he won't be able to do his job if he can't focus," Nelson scolded, shaking her head as she watched the feisty bay gelding giving Amanda a hard time. "Miss Kagari," she placed a hand on Chariot's neck and gave her a pat, "Make sure everyone gets cooled out. And just so all of you know, we're hacking tomorrow. I don't need your ponies," she leveled her stare at Amanda and pawing Star, "losing their minds."

Akko nodded. As Captain of the brand new Luna Nova Mounted Games* team, she had very few responsibilities aside from sorting out team line-ups and keeping track of attendance, but Nelson liked to defer leadership to her at any given chance.

As Nelson walked off to start picking up the scattered equipment, Akko turned in the saddle to grin at her team. "Want to walk down the lane today?" She loved the lane, which was the center cobblestone walkway that wound through the massive grounds that made up the stables around the University. It was lined with trees, different arenas for the variety of sports, the old brick buildings that held their classes, and pastures spotted with horses. In a sense, gorgeous.

The chorus of groans from every other girl but Lotte told her that her idea had not been well received.

"Then we have to go by those snobby hunters," Amanda moaned. "I can't stand them."

Akko scrunched her eyebrows together, looking between the disapproving faces of her teammates. "They can't be that bad, can they?"

"You haven't been here long enough to find out," Amanda mumbled, swiping at a bead of sweat that had trickled down her cheek. Her wild red hair was jutting out from beneath her helmet at crazy angles. "You'll find out how miserable hey are soon."

It was true, Akko hadn't been at Luna Nova University for long, but it had been a lifelong dream of hers to get accepted into the prestigious private university. So, when the school decided to offer scholarships for a brand new Mounted Games program, which happened to be a very under-rated and new discipline that Akko was very good at, she had decided to try out. She practiced night and day for the selection, and, when the day came, Akko and her little chestnut mare, Shiny Chariot, had decimated the competition. So, not only had she gotten a formal invitation to the college of her dreams, she had also been coined Captain. Which added quite a bit of tension, as the assignment was very much to the dismay of Amanda O'Neill and her prized pony, Shooting Star. In the end, though, everything had worked out, because she had been able to finish most of her general education classes at a local university for her freshman year. Going to Luna Nova for her entire education would have been ideal, but her parents certainly couldn't afford it without the scholarship—besides, in Akko's mind, better late than never!

Plus, right off the bat, she'd made lifelong friends in her two roommates, Lotte and Sucy. Even if Sucy wasn't on the same page yet. And, of course, she also got along well with Constanze and Jasminka. Amanda was a different story, though. Akko still considered them on friend terms, even if the hard-headed girl often disagreed with line-ups—which usually ended up in a screaming match.

As Akko led the team from the arena and down the cobblestone path, she thought about how amazing it was to have the opportunity to ride for Luna Nova. The school was vast and beautiful, with rolling green fields, massive pastures, miles of beautiful trails and lines of towering trees that loomed in a vast canvas of red, orange, and yellow with the onset of autumn. It was a far cry from Akko's native country of Japan, and Akko had to admit that she was a little bit homesick, but it was certainly a gorgeous country.

Possibly the best part of Luna Nova was the stables. They were state-of-the-art, constructed from imported Irish limestone and rich, polished mahogany. The stalls were massive and cozy, and Akko had been excited to find that Chariot would even be treated with an automatic water trough (that was heated in the winter, too!) and her own private paddock.

The shoes of the six ponies played a comforting melody as the team meandered down the long stone lane. In a smaller arena to their left, a dressage rider was practicing a piaffe. In another, a girl was lunging a massive gray horse who seemed more than happy to trot in an obedient circle. Ahead, three riders were gathered in the center of a modest jump course.

Akko watched, vaguely listening to Lotte and Jasminka's conversation about their upcoming friendly with Appleton. Her eyes trained on a rather elegant rider who had urged a tall, muscular bay horse into a rocking canter. She found herself staring at the gentle hands of the rider, the muscles of her legs bulging beneath skin-tight tan breeches, the still seat firmly pushing into the glistening leather of what looked like a very expensive saddle. Long, wavy blonde hair spilled from beneath the helmet and a pale, emotionless expression showed the unwavering focus of the rider. She hadn't seen her before, though she had hardly focused on the other disciplines during their very first week, which had involved a lot of confusion from settling into a new home and new routine.

Akko hadn't even noticed she'd pulled Chariot to a stop next to the four-rail arena fence. She watched the pair sail effortlessly over jumps in a picturesque image of the finest equitation.

"Who is that?" Akko asked in a single, heavy exhale.

Amanda pulled Star up next to Chariot. He had calmed considerably and stood quietly. "You're kidding, right?"

"You know she's been living under a rock since she got here," Sucy muttered, bringing Mushroom up alongside the two. "Of course she doesn't know."

"I have not been living under a rock," Akko countered, shooting a glare at her roommate. "I've just been busy adjusting! I've only really met you guys so far."

"That's Diana Cavendish," Lotte said from behind them. Spirit was idly swishing his blonde tail at non-existent flies. "She's the best rider at Luna Nova. Her family runs the top veterinary clinic in Europe."

Akko looked on as the pair soared over an oxer as though it was nothing more than a beginner level cross-rail, front legs tucked in close to a broad chest. The rider lifted a passive pair of eyes as she landed and Akko swore she was looking at her, but Diana Cavendish quickly turned her attention back to the regal bay mare beneath her as she pulled her up.

"What are you nerds looking at?" came a voice from one of the riders in the middle of the arena. Two girls, one with a long red braid and one with very straight black hair, strode over on equally expensive looking mounts.

"Oh, hey to you too, Hannah," Amanda snapped back. "How's daddy's money doing?" Star began to paw impatiently at the stone as the temperament of his rider changed with the shift of her seat.

The redhead, the one Amanda was calling Hannah, sneered back. "Oh, it's just fine," she said, tugging on the reins of her powerful looking chestnut. "How's your budget pony?"

"It's so cute that they ride ponies," the black-haired girl added, her lip quirking into a grimace. "Never graduated to riding a real horse, I guess. Or they could only afford the discount size." She added, shooting a glance to her friend for an approving smile before chuckling.

Akko could feel Amanda tense at her side. She shot a look over to see the bright red of the other girl's cheeks and quickly made the decision to intervene before her notably fiery temper had the opportunity to shoot off.

"Actually, we're the new Games Team," Akko said cheerfully, thinking maybe they just didn't understand—after all, it was a very new and small sport in the equestrian world—and needed an explanation. "We ride ponies intentionally for agility purposes. By the way, I'm Atsuko Kagari, but you can call me Akko." She offered a broad, friendly smile and sat a little straighter in the saddle. "And this is Chariot!" she added, patting her mare on the neck.

The two girls just started laughing as though Akko had said something very funny.

"The Games team, huh?" Hannah said, clapping her hand over her mouth and snorting.

"I heard we were getting one of those, but I thought it was a joke," her friend added. "Must be the failed polo players."

"That's so childish."

"I can't believe Luna Nova even supported this."

"They really are letting anyone in these days."

Akko could feel blazing heat rising to the tips of her ears as she watched the exchange between the two.

"Girls," came the scolding voice of Diana Cavendish as she walked up behind them. The bay mare's neck was arched prettily and Akko could see the veins bulging beneath sleek skin. Diana, too, had been pretty going around the ring, but up close she was just plain gorgeous. Akko felt herself staring and honestly hoped that she wasn't drooling.

"What did I tell you about entertaining Miss O'Neill's jabs? If you two are very much finished, I believe it's time to go untack. I have quite a bit of studying to do tonight," Diana said, leveling Hannah and the other girl through icy blue eyes.

"Yes, Diana," both girls replied in unison.

Akko felt Diana's eyes turn to her. The blonde studied her for a moment before lowering her chin in a curt nod. "Cute pony," she said in a flat, quiet voice before following the other two to the arena gate.

Had that been sarcasm? Akko felt her cheeks burning as she glared after the three girls.

"Wow," Amanda snapped after they'd gone. "They are such snobs. Barbara's awful, but Hannah..." Amanda growled loudly. "She's the worst! And what did Diana mean when she said to stop entertaining my jabs? They started it! That girl is such a bitch."

"Who were they?" Akko asked, feeling her face beginning to cool as she turned to look back at her team.

"The Hunt Team," four of the girls said together. Constanze merely grunted and nodded.

"We told you they were awful," Sucy mumbled. "But you don't listen."

Well, Akko couldn't debate that. They had warned her, but she always tried to give people the benefit of the doubt and not judge based on someone else's opinions. Though, she kind of had to admit... her team had been right. As the six turned to walk back up the cobblestone path to the stables, Akko stayed quiet.

Instead of joining the conversation, she let herself think about the dynamic horse and rider that leapt effortlessly and elegantly over jumps nearly as tall as Chariot. At the passive blue eyes that had met hers for a fleeting moment. She hadn't seemed mean, and she was really easy on the eyes—

Akko sighed and dismounted when they got back to the barn, slipping the bridle from Chariot's head and letting her rub her itchy face on her side as she stood in a wide stance and braced herself. Doing such a thing had always earned a scold from her trainer back home, but Akko couldn't understand why. Chariot itch. Akko scratch.

As she stood and let Chariot rub against her, she watched the three girls of the Hunt Team dismount at another barn, the fancier one that cost monthly probably more than a semester's tuition (which Akko didn't understand why they even had, because the regular stalls were already really nice, who needed more?). Diana was pulling the reins over the tall bay's head and, as Akko watched, ran her fingers in a gentle scratch on the horse's forehead and underneath the throat latch. And then, for one brief moment, Akko swore she saw the other girl look in her direction, but she really wasn't sure, because it was at that precise moment that Chariot decided to throw her head in a particularly aggressive rub and toss her into a bush.

When she climbed out, covered in tiny leaves and brambles to Amanda's howling laughter, she looked back—but the Hunt Team had already disappeared into their own barn.

Akko was falling asleep.

She felt her eyelids drooping, zoned on the whiteboard ahead. A drop of drool threatened to spill out of the corner of her mouth and she swiped it away with the back of her hand.

Professor Finnelan was droning on... and on... and on.

"Miss Kagari!"

The sharp voice of the professor yelling her name was enough to make her jump in her seat. "Nani?" she heard herself say, blinking in confusion.

Professor Finnelan was staring at the seat that Akko had decided was her own on the first day—it was next to the windows and she could see the football team practicing sometimes, they had really nice legs—and where she was currently falling asleep. Akko swallowed.

"Miss Kagari, is there an issue?"

"Er..." Akko blinked at the teacher with drowsy eyes. "No?"

She could feel everyone in the lecture hall staring at her. Someone coughed delicately behind her and she turned to see Diana Cavendish with a closed fist in front of her mouth. She hadn't known Diana was in her class, though she supposed it made sense if she came from a family of Veterinarians.

"Is there something about Hippotherapy that bores you?" Professor Finnelan asked. Akko turned back to the front of the lecture hall.

"Uh-" Akko thought for a moment, looking down at her notes that held nothing more than a squiggled line from where she'd fallen asleep with her pen to the paper. "Is that a rhetorical question?"

Someone sniggered on the other side of her and muttered a, "Damn." Amanda choked back a laugh from where she was sitting in the front of the class. Another cough from behind.

Professor Finnelan looked like steam might start coming from her ears at any moment. "Miss Kagari, you will see me after class today," she said before returning to her very monotone lecture on the psychological benefits of horses for the disabled. Technically, Akko should have been paying attention, because it was very much what she wanted to do in the future, but damn if it wasn't so dreadfully boring.

"What an idiot," somebody mumbled from nearby.

Amanda had turned in her chair to throw her a thumbs up and a, "Nice one, Kagari!"

Akko let her forehead fall to her empty page of notes with a heavy groan. She knew she was bound to get herself in trouble—especially with the words that seemed to leave her mouth before she could think—but she had really been hoping it would've been later rather than sooner.

Mucking duty.

Finnelan had given her mucking duty.

Akko could feel the sweat dripping down the side of her temple as she dumped yet another full and very heavy wheelbarrow of manure in the massive pile of disposal behind the stable. Not only had Finnelan given her the responsibility of cleaning all the stalls, she had to do it in the morning. Not just the morning. Five in the morning. On a weekend. Akko couldn't think of a more severe form of torture than that.

Plus, she was only halfway through one of the barns.

She huffed her disapproval as she wheeled the barrow back into the stable, wincing at the pain of blisters developing on the palms of her hands. Her stomach was growling already and she couldn't wait to finish up so she could get to the cafeteria and at least get some decent food before it was all gone.

She was pulling the pitchfork up to enter the next stall when the name on the plate brought her to a pause.

BEATRIX

by BALOU DU ROUET

DIANA CAVENDISH

Akko peered through the bars of the stall at the tall mare. A few shavings were clinging to the dappled bay skin, tangled in the long, boxed black tail. She could see the brand on her hindquarters, a curved "H" with what looked like two horse heads on the top. Admittedly, Akko wasn't very well versed in the different brands of the fancy European warmbloods, but she happened to know this one, because it was the same brand that graced the mount of her idol, Chariot du Nord.

"Hm. Hanoverian," she muttered, glancing again to the shiny golden plaque on the stall door.

"That's correct."

The soft voice behind Akko made her drop the pitchfork, which clattered to the stone floor and made Beatrix jump to the side in her stall, snorting her disapproval in the direction of her stall door. Akko whirled to find herself face-to-face with Diana Cavendish—she hadn't even heard someone else enter the barn, was she a ninja?-and a hot blush rose to her cheeks. She was dressed like she was going to ride, in tight navy breeches with brown grips, brown paddock boots, a long white shirt, a gray vest. Wavy blonde hair was tied back into a low ponytail. In her hand was a silver tumbler. She looked pristine, like she'd walked out of a Dover catalog.

"Uh, hey," Akko said, suddenly feeling extremely dirty in her shorts, muck boots, and an old t-shirt that had holes and bleach stains. "Sorry, I haven't done hers yet."

Diana's neutral expression glanced Akko over—was she judging her? Probably—before turning her attention back to the mare who had thrown her head over the stall door. The blonde girl approached, laying a gloved hand on a clipped muzzle. "No need," she said.

Akko blinked, taking a step back to pick up the pitchfork that was still lying on the floor. "Huh?"

Diana glanced back at Akko, one blonde eyebrow raised. "I'll take care of her stall," she said, fiddling with the door latch before opening it and sidling inside with the mare. "It's Atsuko, right?"

"Uh—yeah," Akko said, feeling a blush starting to dust her cheeks. "You can call me Akko. And it's Diana, right?"

Diana hummed, running her fingers down the white stripe that ran, somewhat crooked, down the mare's face. "Might I make a suggestion?"

Akko blinked, watching the other girl through the bars, eyebrows knitting together in confusion. "Sure."

"I would highly suggest being a little more respectful in Professor Finnelan's class."

Diana didn't bother to look back at her, which Akko was grateful for because her whole face was burning a bright red. She stared for a minute, watching as the blonde bent down to pick up one of Beatrix's legs as if she was doing an inspection.

"Oh, uh, okay," Akko said, lingering an embarrassingly long amount of time before it suddenly hit that Diana wasn't going to say anything else. "Right. Thanks," she added uselessly before hastily grabbing the wheelbarrow and moving to the next stall.

As she cleaned, she could hear a voice in the stall next to her and, at first, she thought Diana was talking to her, but she quickly realized that wasn't the fact at all. No, Diana was talking to her horse. That wasn't weird, Akko had full conversations with Chariot sometimes. Of course, they were very one-sided, but that didn't matter.

Though, as Akko listened to the gentle, soothing voice from next door, her movements slowed to a crawl. Maybe she was hoping that Diana would strike up a conversation with her, but no such luck, because a few moments later she heard Beatrix's stall door creak open and the echo of horseshoes disappearing down the aisle. It had been a stupid thought, anyway, because why would Diana want to talk to her?

Well, so much for that, Akko thought, and, with a heavy sigh, got back to work.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Hi! I'm very much excited to write about a world that I'm so familiar with. I plan for this to be rather long and definitely a slow burn and each chapter is going to focus on the perspective of one character in particular instead of jumping between each in one.

And I understand this is probably a niche subject with the horses and all, so I figured I'd mark some things with an asterisk to explain. Also, I'll describe one character/horse here each chapter so that you guys can get a feel for the horses, etc without me having to feed you everything in the fic. Obviously you know the characters, who are the same just aged up, but... whatever.

With that said, uh, welcome to the wonderful world of, uh... horses! And LWA. And obviously Diakko.

Mounted Games: An equestrian sport that consists of a team of four riders & horses. Competitions are run in a relay-like style, where horses and riders partake in a number of races to complete a specific task or obstacle. Mounts are usually pony sized for agility purposes (and for easier vaulting). If you want to see what this looks like, here's a good video: watch?v=LoGQa5qlgOw

anchor: The 4th and last member of the team, usually the fastest and designated by a white band around the helmet.

vaulting: There are two types of vaulting in the equestrian world, but the one here is the act of jumping from the ground onto a galloping horse by grabbing the neck and swinging on. This is used for speed purposes, as the regular method of mounting is done from a standstill.

CHARACTER & HORSE PROFILE

Atsuko Kagari | 19 | 5'3" | Japanese

Captain, Mounted Games Team

Shiny Chariot | 9 | 12.3hh | Grade Pony | Mare

Chestnut with white snip & four white stockings