Nega: I'm back and with a Yu Yu Hakusho fic this time! This doesn't mean
I've dropped my YGO story, it just means that I'm having a hard time with
the YGO fic and this idea came to me.
Malik: As a warning to the new people in the fic WATCH OUT!!!
Hiei: Hn... I can take care of myself.
Nega: Disclaimer please!
Kurama: Nega does not own Yu Yu Hakusho.
Nega: Thank you Kurama! On with the story! Oh, just to let you know, it won't be very interesting until the riding lesson actually starts. But it's really good from there!
Summary: Botan leaves a message one-day with Kurama and Hiei to go to a mysterious address in weird clothes. There they meat two girls who put them through horse-back-riding lessons. It turns out into an interesting tale.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It was a boring day for two certain demons. Yusuke and Kuwabara were in town doing who-knows-what and had left Kurama and Hiei with a whole day without them. Hiei had looked forward to it, as Kuwabara would be no where around him, but was now considerably bored. Kurama had checked his garden nine times that day and was getting up to check it for the tenth when Botan floated into view. The ferry girl had her normal cheerful smile one. Kurama waved hello and Hiei looked at her like he wanted to kill her, whish he most likely did.
"Hello guys! I have a message from Koenma!" she chirped.
"Hn," was all Hiei said as he secretly thought 'Obviously! Why else would you be here? Baka girl!'
"What does Koenma want us to do?" Kurama asked kindly.
"He didn't say! All he said was to give you these clothes, this address, and leave!" She replied a little too happily for Hiei, who growled at her.
Kurama took the clothes and address and thanked her. Botan left immediately afterward, as Hiei was looking mischiviously at his katana. The note read: You are to be at this address at 3 p.m. on the dot. No exceptions ~The Mighty Koenma.
Hiei was knocking at Kurama's door a few minutes later. It was close enough to the given time that the two had decided to change and go see what they supposed mission was. Kurama opened the door and blinked. Both boys were a slight shade of pink. And with good reason I tell you.
"These clothes are very tight fitting..." Hiei muttered darkly. He had on a black pair of riding breaches, a black muscle shirt was tucked into the pants, black leather gloves on his hands, and black knee boots. Now, ladies, if you've never seen riding breaches, let me tell you that they are * very * tight. As in so tight that it shows all the muscles and curves in one's leg.
"I would have to agree," Kurama said looking at himself in the mirror. He had tan riding pant, a loose fit white tank top tucked into the pants, black leather gloves on his hands, and black knee boots. To say the least, the pair looked * extremely * good. (Authoress: * drools * Hiei...)
After a minute of persuasion Kurama managed to get Hiei into a car and drove off. (A/N: Kurama is able to drive in this story ok?) Hiei poked at the two small bags that had come with the clothes. One was red and the other was black. They had a half cylinder shape and zipper on top. After about thirty minutes Kurama pulled into a driveway. Across from the driveway was a stable. Hiei raised and eyebrow at the animals wondering around the place. Kurama's eyes widened. What did horses have anything to do with Spirit World? What was Koenma planning? The two boys got out and wondered around the barn for a few minutes. Two girls stepped out from what looked like a large closet.
"Oh! You must be the students we were told we were getting today!" the younger looking one replied. She had piercing blue eyes, long brown hair that was tied back with spiky bangs, and two lighter strands framed her face. She had black riding pants and a loose white shirt on, a headband went around her forehead and she also had knee boots.
"Great! We'll get you two started right away!" the older one smiled at the two boys. She also had piercing blue eyes, but her hair was a flaming orange and was much shorter than the other girl's it only came to about her shoulder, she had green riding pants and a loose fitting white shirt, plus the gloves and knee boots.
"Wait! Who are you people?!" Hiei demanded.
"Oh! I forgot! My name's Nega, this is my friend Kitsune," the younger one smiled and jabbed a thumb at her friend.
"We got a call this morning about two boys who were wanting lessons and were going to be here at 3. This is our barn," Kitsune added.
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you," Kurama replied and bowed slightly. The girls returned the gesture. Hiei glared at the wall.
"Well, aren't we Mister Personality!" Nega chimed and latched herself onto his arm, "I'll show you the horse you're riding! This way!"
Kurama watched Hiei get dragged down the isle and noticed that Kitsune had motioned for him to follow her. 'What a fascinating names. One is something I've never heard before and I've never heard of anyone called Fox...' he thought. He was snapped out of his thoughts when Nega stopped at a stall.
"This is my horse, Storm Fury. He can be touchy, so don't try anything on him," she said as the horse inside snorted. It was a pitch black with red tips in the mane and tail, a white lighting bolt on the front of his face gave way to the name. Both mane and tail were long and looked slightly wavy.
"That one over there is Black Fire. He'll be your horse Hiei," Nega pointed to a black horse whose mane stood up in spikes and was tipped with a red color the tail was tipped red, but didn't spike. His tail came to about halfway down his leg.
"Hn. Wait! How did you know my name?!" Hiei demanded.
"The guy on the phone gave us your names and description," Kitsune answered quickly, "Anyway, that's my horse, Cloud," she said pointing to a white a black colored Paint mare. The mane and tail were long and silky the whinnied happily at the group of two-footers outside the stall door.
"That's Fire Flower, Kurama's horse," she pointed to the last horse. He was a bright chestnut with a brighter mane and tail. The mane stood up like Black Fire's and the tail was full and bushy.
Kurama smiled, he had smelt the older girl give off a quick scent of fear. But it was only a second. Perhaps it was nervousness? He was once again snapped from his thoughts as he was dragged into the stall of Fire Flower as Hiei disappeared into Black Fire's. He chuckled as he heard Hiei mumble something about baka ningen animals and four hundred-year-old toddlers. Kitsune began explaining a few basic things about horses.
"They don't like people hovering around their blind spots, so let them know you're there," she demonstrated by patting Fire Flower's rump as she walked behind him. "Don't stick your hand in their face, and don't run or yell around them, they might spook."
Kurama nodded and watched closely as Kitsune demonstrated the proper grooming technique.
Nega was having a slightly different conversation in the other stall. Hiei was irritating his horse by rubbing the currycomb too hard in one place for to long. She sighed.
"No, Hiei, like this," she gently ran the rubber (not to mention spiky) comb softly over Black Fire's fur once or twice then ran her soft brush over the spot and moved onto the next spot. Hiei was utterly confused. After five more tries he finally got it.
"Hn!" he inwardly grinned at himself for doing so well, this wasn't so hard.
"Great! Now for the hooves. Horses have sensitive areas in the hooves. Like this spot," She pointed to a triangle type crevice in the hoof, bending over and holding the leg up. Hiei bent down to see. He was confused again. "Don't hit that crevice when you clean their hooves. It really hurts them and they may kick or bite you. That area is called the frog. Don't ask me why, I don't know," Nega told him.
Hiei knit his brows together in confusion. Why was there a frog in a horse's hoof? Had the horse stepped on a frog and it got stuck there? Nega sighed at his obvious confusion and handed him a hoof pick, hoping she could explain better by just making sure he didn't anger the horse.
Kitsune was explaining the tack parts to Kurama. He was a fast learner. He had done a great job for a beginner so far.
"This is the saddle pad, this goes on first. If you don't put it on the horse may get saddle burn. It's a very painful thing. It goes up by the withers," she handed a cotton blanket like thing to Kurama who put it near where the mane ended.
"Good! This is the saddle, obviously it goes on the saddle pad," she nodded in approval as Kurama put the saddle on. "Here's the girth. It's like a leather belt to keep the saddle on the horse. Lift up the flap on the side of the saddle. Underneath are the buckle holes. Attach them to the buckle part of the girth. Go to the first one. Good. Now go to the other side. Reach under his belly and pull the girth toward you. Good. Now pull the girth as tight as it'll go. Ok, now for the bridle," she pulled leather headgear.
"Put your arm over his head like this while holding the top of the bridle. The other hand holds the bit in front of his mouth. Try it." Kurama did as he was told. "Ok, now stick your thumb in his mouth and tickle his tongue. When he opens his mouth stick the bit in there. Put the opening in your other hand over his ears."
Kurama made a face as he thought about sticking his hand in the horse's mouth. Luckily he was wearing gloves, but still... After doing as he was told and strapping the bridle together he looked at his handy work. Kitsune nodded in approval. Then a shout was heard from the next stall followed by a wonderful string of curses.
"You're supposed to *remove* you're hand from his mouth after getting the bit in!" Nega cried in alarm as Hiei squeezed his thumb and glared daggers at her. She returned the gesture and finished the bridle for him.
The girls led the two boys, one more cheerful than the other, to an arena. They entered and stopped at the middle. The girls had walked alongside the boys, making sure they were leading the horses properly.
"Now what?" Hiei demanded irritably.
"See those metal things on the saddle? Tug them down," Nega demonstrated then let the boys try. That was easy enough. "Now put one arm on the saddle and have the other bring the metal to your armpit. If it's about that long then it should be the right length for you."
Kurama found one too short while Hiei found one too long. After properly adjusting them the two were ready to mount. Kitsune demonstrated on Fire Flower then hopped off and allowed the boys to try. Kurama had long legs and had no trouble swinging himself into the saddle. Hiei, however, was bouncing on one foot while trying to get the other foot into the metal. Nega giggled slightly and Hiei glared.
"What's so funny girl?" he spat.
"Nothing, it's just that I do the same thing. I'm your size in case you haven't noticed. Let me give you a hand. Pull the metal so it's long enough to fit your foot into. I'll show you how to adjust the metal once you're in the stirrup," she smiled at him, which annoyed him seeing his glare not work.
After that the girls had to run to the car and retrieve the small bags. Helmets were in there. Hiei stubbornly refused his (for sake of his hair) while Kurama smiled and declined the girls nodded but made it clear that any injury was the boys' own fault. Nega leant Kurama a scrunchie to tie his hair back in. Hiei enjoyed the view from the horse's back. He could see above the girls' heads! It was great! Then he did something he always wanted to do.
"How's the weather down there?" he asked Nega.
The girls' rolled their eyes and began the lesson. They put the boys on lung lines and walked them in large circles while explaining how to ride properly. They went over how to keep your eyes aware of your surrounding instead of focusing on one thing. 'Hiei shouldn't have a problem with that' Kurama chuckled to himself. They focused on breathing next. Both boys' eyes widened slightly when the girls mentioned that the breathing would help with martial arts (it really does!). Then they worked on grounding (how to keep your legs and feet under you.)
"Kurama, if Fire Flower was to disappear from underneath you, would land on you butt, feet, or hands?" Kitsune asked.
"Hmm, my rear I suppose," he responded.
"Good! Why is that?" Nega asked sending Hiei a small glare for snickering at his friend.
"I honestly don't know," Kurama turned a light shade of pink.
"It's because your legs are slightly in front of your hips. Keep them under you and you'll be able to have better control. Hiei, your feet are a little too far behind your butt. More them forward a little," Kitsune explained.
Hiei frowned and snorted but did as he was told. Kurama snickered at him in return for earlier.
"Make the sure the metals are on the balance spot of your foot. Right here, Hiei" Nega sighed again as she adjusted his foot.
The two demons were told to walk the horses around to warm up. After a few steps Hiei was riding on the side of the horse instead of the back. Nega snickered and asked if remembered to tighten the girth before getting on. Naturally Hiei had a fit before taking her help. After a minute more the girls laced the metals over the horses' shoulder. Both boys paled slightly. The girls snickered.
"You were placing too much trust in the metals," Kitsune smirked.
"Let your legs drop. Move with the horse," Nega instructed getting a weird look from Hiei, "Oh, grow up!" she blushed a light shade of red.
Both boys let their legs drop and loosened their muscles. Their backs immediately stiffened. Kitsune told them it was natural for anyone to do that. It was a reflex.
"Now, as the horse moves forward on the left, see if you can feel your left hip come up and forward with it. I'll count to one and see if you can feel it," Kitsune told them counting one every few seconds.
Both boys were a light shade of pink now. Then Nega had them feel the right hip come up and forward as the horse stepped forward.
"What is this? How to tell if your hips are moving is ridiculous! And I'm not totally comfortable with some *females* watching to see if my hips are moving correctly. One's hips tend to a little *low* if you know what I mean!" Hiei burst out yelling.
The other three turned a bright shade of red. Finally Nega snapped.
"Listen hear, you hentai! We're not doing anything like *that*! We're trying to teach you how to ride horses! Learning to go with the horse's movement is part of that baka!" she snapped back at him.
Hiei shut up. He never realized how scary a ningen girl could be. Not to mention she had control of his horse right now. They finished with the hips then worked on feeling how their knees moved up and down with each step. When told to exaggerate the movement Hiei made a face and Kurama sweat dropped, hoping he wouldn't say anything. After a long while of knee moving Kurama noticed his muscles were slightly numb. He thought he had been in good shape. He shrugged it off. After that they spent a short minute on shoulder movement before getting the metals back.
Hiei had slight trouble getting his feet back in but managed by himself; Kurama needed a little help. The girls smirked evilly at each other.
"We're going to work on rising. Also known as the two-point. It's been known to keep people sore in the legs for days," Nega grinned at Hiei and Kurama laughed nervously.
Kitsune had gone off to get something. Leaving the boys alone with the apparently insane younger girl. 'That look can't be good,' Hiei told himself. Just then Kitsune returned with a saddled Storm Fury. Nega hopped up and Kitsune ran to get Cloud ready.
"Ok, first of all, feet under butt. Not in front or behind. Bend your ankles so that your toes point up. Tighten the grip with your leg muscles slightly. Then rise up out of the saddle and lean forward slightly. Watch me," she lifted herself out of the saddle.
After a few moments she sat down and told them to copy her. They couldn't sit until she said so. She adjusted Hiei's legs and back, and adjusted Kurama's feet. Kurama was very good at this. After two minutes of the rise Kitsune rode Cloud into the arena. She grinned at the boys' faces; they were looking slightly pained. Three more minutes passed before the boys were allowed to sit down. They hit the saddles rather hard. The girls then walked the horses and made the boys practice the "post". Hiei was not happy. He had to come up out of the saddle as the horses right shoulder lifted and sat when it went down.
"This is very good exercise," Kurama huffed as they stopped the horses.
"Hn..." Hiei went back to his one word answer.
"Now we're going to trot. It's faster than the walk. Post as your horse moves," Kitsune smiled sweetly and Kurama forced a smile back. Hiei glared daggers at her.
"Ack! This thing is bumpy!" Hiei yelled as his butt hit the saddle hard over and over. Kurama was managing a decent post. Nega rode up to Hiei (A/N: no horse in its right mind would let another get that close moving at a trot. I've tried, but we'll pretend for right now). She grabbed Hiei's arm and steadied him until he got the rhythm down and could post on his own. She smiled and watched Kitsune helping Kurama to steady his fast pace. After ten more minutes of exercises the girls let the boys rest.
"If you decide you continue lessons you'll be doing these things perfectly. Plus a few more tricks," Kitsune nodded to Nega and she started Storm Fury into a trot.
Then she kicked gently and he picked up a fast pace (canter). Both boys (thought Hiei would never admit) were impressed that she could stay on. Kitsune followed both heading for stacks of logs. The horses took to the air and landed perfectly. The girls cantered back over and halted in front of the boys.
"That was impressive, I think I'll continue," Kurama replied to the short show.
"Hn," Hiei stared at the two.
"I think he agrees. We'll be back next week?" Kurama asked.
"Ok! Great! Since you're continuing the lessons, sign here!" Nega held out a paper which both signed.
The girls helped the boys un-tack the horses and watered them down, dried them, and turned them out into the field. Nega called a Great Dane over and left him to watch the horses. After that the boys chugged down the bottles of water offered by the girls. When Kurama turned to wave he noticed that both were carrying sports bags and following him.
"Do you need something?" he asked.
"Yep! We're coming with you, cause we need to make sure that you get plenty of practice and exercise to keep up with the lessons," Nega chirped clinging to Hiei.
"Hn?!" Hiei gaped at Kurama.
"You signed the contract," Kitsune reminded them.
Kurama blinked. "I can't take you two home! That's.... it's crazy! And you need to take care of the horses!" he panicked.
"We left Nightmare with the horses, and they have food and water. We'll visit them too. Everyday while you're at school," Nega had an evil gleam in her eye.
~Later~
"Why'd Koenma give us that stupid mission?" Hiei asked Kurama.
"I honestly don't know, Hiei," the fox replied.
"For fun!" a childish voice behind them laughed.
"Fun?" Hiei growled at the toddler.
"I got it all on video tape too!" Koenma laughed.
Hiei jumped up to strangle the toddler but collapsed as pain shot through his legs. Who knew that there were some muscles you only use mostly in riding and nothing else? Koenma "eeped!" and disappeared. It was going to be a very long day tomorrow.
~*~*~*~*~*~~
Nega: How'd you like it? Yes, I did change my eye color. The brown was starting to get boring. I'm thinking of continuing this and turning it into a story. But I was riding the other day when I came up with this idea. I'm headed somewhere with this. You may have noticed that I left a few things unmentioned so I'm going to continue it, whether 2 chapters or 20 I'm not sure. Oh, and I want to know what you'd like to see in it. And also if you want to see pictures of Hiei and Kurama in riding clothes. I haven't finished them yet, but e-mail me if you want to see the completed works.
Hiei: I can't believe you did that to me!!
Kurama: * wobbles around trying to walk * That kind of hurt...
Kitsune: Aw!! * huggles Kurama *
Nega: Sorry if the characters were a little OOC. I'm hoping this'll get better. Till next time Ja ne!
Malik: As a warning to the new people in the fic WATCH OUT!!!
Hiei: Hn... I can take care of myself.
Nega: Disclaimer please!
Kurama: Nega does not own Yu Yu Hakusho.
Nega: Thank you Kurama! On with the story! Oh, just to let you know, it won't be very interesting until the riding lesson actually starts. But it's really good from there!
Summary: Botan leaves a message one-day with Kurama and Hiei to go to a mysterious address in weird clothes. There they meat two girls who put them through horse-back-riding lessons. It turns out into an interesting tale.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It was a boring day for two certain demons. Yusuke and Kuwabara were in town doing who-knows-what and had left Kurama and Hiei with a whole day without them. Hiei had looked forward to it, as Kuwabara would be no where around him, but was now considerably bored. Kurama had checked his garden nine times that day and was getting up to check it for the tenth when Botan floated into view. The ferry girl had her normal cheerful smile one. Kurama waved hello and Hiei looked at her like he wanted to kill her, whish he most likely did.
"Hello guys! I have a message from Koenma!" she chirped.
"Hn," was all Hiei said as he secretly thought 'Obviously! Why else would you be here? Baka girl!'
"What does Koenma want us to do?" Kurama asked kindly.
"He didn't say! All he said was to give you these clothes, this address, and leave!" She replied a little too happily for Hiei, who growled at her.
Kurama took the clothes and address and thanked her. Botan left immediately afterward, as Hiei was looking mischiviously at his katana. The note read: You are to be at this address at 3 p.m. on the dot. No exceptions ~The Mighty Koenma.
Hiei was knocking at Kurama's door a few minutes later. It was close enough to the given time that the two had decided to change and go see what they supposed mission was. Kurama opened the door and blinked. Both boys were a slight shade of pink. And with good reason I tell you.
"These clothes are very tight fitting..." Hiei muttered darkly. He had on a black pair of riding breaches, a black muscle shirt was tucked into the pants, black leather gloves on his hands, and black knee boots. Now, ladies, if you've never seen riding breaches, let me tell you that they are * very * tight. As in so tight that it shows all the muscles and curves in one's leg.
"I would have to agree," Kurama said looking at himself in the mirror. He had tan riding pant, a loose fit white tank top tucked into the pants, black leather gloves on his hands, and black knee boots. To say the least, the pair looked * extremely * good. (Authoress: * drools * Hiei...)
After a minute of persuasion Kurama managed to get Hiei into a car and drove off. (A/N: Kurama is able to drive in this story ok?) Hiei poked at the two small bags that had come with the clothes. One was red and the other was black. They had a half cylinder shape and zipper on top. After about thirty minutes Kurama pulled into a driveway. Across from the driveway was a stable. Hiei raised and eyebrow at the animals wondering around the place. Kurama's eyes widened. What did horses have anything to do with Spirit World? What was Koenma planning? The two boys got out and wondered around the barn for a few minutes. Two girls stepped out from what looked like a large closet.
"Oh! You must be the students we were told we were getting today!" the younger looking one replied. She had piercing blue eyes, long brown hair that was tied back with spiky bangs, and two lighter strands framed her face. She had black riding pants and a loose white shirt on, a headband went around her forehead and she also had knee boots.
"Great! We'll get you two started right away!" the older one smiled at the two boys. She also had piercing blue eyes, but her hair was a flaming orange and was much shorter than the other girl's it only came to about her shoulder, she had green riding pants and a loose fitting white shirt, plus the gloves and knee boots.
"Wait! Who are you people?!" Hiei demanded.
"Oh! I forgot! My name's Nega, this is my friend Kitsune," the younger one smiled and jabbed a thumb at her friend.
"We got a call this morning about two boys who were wanting lessons and were going to be here at 3. This is our barn," Kitsune added.
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you," Kurama replied and bowed slightly. The girls returned the gesture. Hiei glared at the wall.
"Well, aren't we Mister Personality!" Nega chimed and latched herself onto his arm, "I'll show you the horse you're riding! This way!"
Kurama watched Hiei get dragged down the isle and noticed that Kitsune had motioned for him to follow her. 'What a fascinating names. One is something I've never heard before and I've never heard of anyone called Fox...' he thought. He was snapped out of his thoughts when Nega stopped at a stall.
"This is my horse, Storm Fury. He can be touchy, so don't try anything on him," she said as the horse inside snorted. It was a pitch black with red tips in the mane and tail, a white lighting bolt on the front of his face gave way to the name. Both mane and tail were long and looked slightly wavy.
"That one over there is Black Fire. He'll be your horse Hiei," Nega pointed to a black horse whose mane stood up in spikes and was tipped with a red color the tail was tipped red, but didn't spike. His tail came to about halfway down his leg.
"Hn. Wait! How did you know my name?!" Hiei demanded.
"The guy on the phone gave us your names and description," Kitsune answered quickly, "Anyway, that's my horse, Cloud," she said pointing to a white a black colored Paint mare. The mane and tail were long and silky the whinnied happily at the group of two-footers outside the stall door.
"That's Fire Flower, Kurama's horse," she pointed to the last horse. He was a bright chestnut with a brighter mane and tail. The mane stood up like Black Fire's and the tail was full and bushy.
Kurama smiled, he had smelt the older girl give off a quick scent of fear. But it was only a second. Perhaps it was nervousness? He was once again snapped from his thoughts as he was dragged into the stall of Fire Flower as Hiei disappeared into Black Fire's. He chuckled as he heard Hiei mumble something about baka ningen animals and four hundred-year-old toddlers. Kitsune began explaining a few basic things about horses.
"They don't like people hovering around their blind spots, so let them know you're there," she demonstrated by patting Fire Flower's rump as she walked behind him. "Don't stick your hand in their face, and don't run or yell around them, they might spook."
Kurama nodded and watched closely as Kitsune demonstrated the proper grooming technique.
Nega was having a slightly different conversation in the other stall. Hiei was irritating his horse by rubbing the currycomb too hard in one place for to long. She sighed.
"No, Hiei, like this," she gently ran the rubber (not to mention spiky) comb softly over Black Fire's fur once or twice then ran her soft brush over the spot and moved onto the next spot. Hiei was utterly confused. After five more tries he finally got it.
"Hn!" he inwardly grinned at himself for doing so well, this wasn't so hard.
"Great! Now for the hooves. Horses have sensitive areas in the hooves. Like this spot," She pointed to a triangle type crevice in the hoof, bending over and holding the leg up. Hiei bent down to see. He was confused again. "Don't hit that crevice when you clean their hooves. It really hurts them and they may kick or bite you. That area is called the frog. Don't ask me why, I don't know," Nega told him.
Hiei knit his brows together in confusion. Why was there a frog in a horse's hoof? Had the horse stepped on a frog and it got stuck there? Nega sighed at his obvious confusion and handed him a hoof pick, hoping she could explain better by just making sure he didn't anger the horse.
Kitsune was explaining the tack parts to Kurama. He was a fast learner. He had done a great job for a beginner so far.
"This is the saddle pad, this goes on first. If you don't put it on the horse may get saddle burn. It's a very painful thing. It goes up by the withers," she handed a cotton blanket like thing to Kurama who put it near where the mane ended.
"Good! This is the saddle, obviously it goes on the saddle pad," she nodded in approval as Kurama put the saddle on. "Here's the girth. It's like a leather belt to keep the saddle on the horse. Lift up the flap on the side of the saddle. Underneath are the buckle holes. Attach them to the buckle part of the girth. Go to the first one. Good. Now go to the other side. Reach under his belly and pull the girth toward you. Good. Now pull the girth as tight as it'll go. Ok, now for the bridle," she pulled leather headgear.
"Put your arm over his head like this while holding the top of the bridle. The other hand holds the bit in front of his mouth. Try it." Kurama did as he was told. "Ok, now stick your thumb in his mouth and tickle his tongue. When he opens his mouth stick the bit in there. Put the opening in your other hand over his ears."
Kurama made a face as he thought about sticking his hand in the horse's mouth. Luckily he was wearing gloves, but still... After doing as he was told and strapping the bridle together he looked at his handy work. Kitsune nodded in approval. Then a shout was heard from the next stall followed by a wonderful string of curses.
"You're supposed to *remove* you're hand from his mouth after getting the bit in!" Nega cried in alarm as Hiei squeezed his thumb and glared daggers at her. She returned the gesture and finished the bridle for him.
The girls led the two boys, one more cheerful than the other, to an arena. They entered and stopped at the middle. The girls had walked alongside the boys, making sure they were leading the horses properly.
"Now what?" Hiei demanded irritably.
"See those metal things on the saddle? Tug them down," Nega demonstrated then let the boys try. That was easy enough. "Now put one arm on the saddle and have the other bring the metal to your armpit. If it's about that long then it should be the right length for you."
Kurama found one too short while Hiei found one too long. After properly adjusting them the two were ready to mount. Kitsune demonstrated on Fire Flower then hopped off and allowed the boys to try. Kurama had long legs and had no trouble swinging himself into the saddle. Hiei, however, was bouncing on one foot while trying to get the other foot into the metal. Nega giggled slightly and Hiei glared.
"What's so funny girl?" he spat.
"Nothing, it's just that I do the same thing. I'm your size in case you haven't noticed. Let me give you a hand. Pull the metal so it's long enough to fit your foot into. I'll show you how to adjust the metal once you're in the stirrup," she smiled at him, which annoyed him seeing his glare not work.
After that the girls had to run to the car and retrieve the small bags. Helmets were in there. Hiei stubbornly refused his (for sake of his hair) while Kurama smiled and declined the girls nodded but made it clear that any injury was the boys' own fault. Nega leant Kurama a scrunchie to tie his hair back in. Hiei enjoyed the view from the horse's back. He could see above the girls' heads! It was great! Then he did something he always wanted to do.
"How's the weather down there?" he asked Nega.
The girls' rolled their eyes and began the lesson. They put the boys on lung lines and walked them in large circles while explaining how to ride properly. They went over how to keep your eyes aware of your surrounding instead of focusing on one thing. 'Hiei shouldn't have a problem with that' Kurama chuckled to himself. They focused on breathing next. Both boys' eyes widened slightly when the girls mentioned that the breathing would help with martial arts (it really does!). Then they worked on grounding (how to keep your legs and feet under you.)
"Kurama, if Fire Flower was to disappear from underneath you, would land on you butt, feet, or hands?" Kitsune asked.
"Hmm, my rear I suppose," he responded.
"Good! Why is that?" Nega asked sending Hiei a small glare for snickering at his friend.
"I honestly don't know," Kurama turned a light shade of pink.
"It's because your legs are slightly in front of your hips. Keep them under you and you'll be able to have better control. Hiei, your feet are a little too far behind your butt. More them forward a little," Kitsune explained.
Hiei frowned and snorted but did as he was told. Kurama snickered at him in return for earlier.
"Make the sure the metals are on the balance spot of your foot. Right here, Hiei" Nega sighed again as she adjusted his foot.
The two demons were told to walk the horses around to warm up. After a few steps Hiei was riding on the side of the horse instead of the back. Nega snickered and asked if remembered to tighten the girth before getting on. Naturally Hiei had a fit before taking her help. After a minute more the girls laced the metals over the horses' shoulder. Both boys paled slightly. The girls snickered.
"You were placing too much trust in the metals," Kitsune smirked.
"Let your legs drop. Move with the horse," Nega instructed getting a weird look from Hiei, "Oh, grow up!" she blushed a light shade of red.
Both boys let their legs drop and loosened their muscles. Their backs immediately stiffened. Kitsune told them it was natural for anyone to do that. It was a reflex.
"Now, as the horse moves forward on the left, see if you can feel your left hip come up and forward with it. I'll count to one and see if you can feel it," Kitsune told them counting one every few seconds.
Both boys were a light shade of pink now. Then Nega had them feel the right hip come up and forward as the horse stepped forward.
"What is this? How to tell if your hips are moving is ridiculous! And I'm not totally comfortable with some *females* watching to see if my hips are moving correctly. One's hips tend to a little *low* if you know what I mean!" Hiei burst out yelling.
The other three turned a bright shade of red. Finally Nega snapped.
"Listen hear, you hentai! We're not doing anything like *that*! We're trying to teach you how to ride horses! Learning to go with the horse's movement is part of that baka!" she snapped back at him.
Hiei shut up. He never realized how scary a ningen girl could be. Not to mention she had control of his horse right now. They finished with the hips then worked on feeling how their knees moved up and down with each step. When told to exaggerate the movement Hiei made a face and Kurama sweat dropped, hoping he wouldn't say anything. After a long while of knee moving Kurama noticed his muscles were slightly numb. He thought he had been in good shape. He shrugged it off. After that they spent a short minute on shoulder movement before getting the metals back.
Hiei had slight trouble getting his feet back in but managed by himself; Kurama needed a little help. The girls smirked evilly at each other.
"We're going to work on rising. Also known as the two-point. It's been known to keep people sore in the legs for days," Nega grinned at Hiei and Kurama laughed nervously.
Kitsune had gone off to get something. Leaving the boys alone with the apparently insane younger girl. 'That look can't be good,' Hiei told himself. Just then Kitsune returned with a saddled Storm Fury. Nega hopped up and Kitsune ran to get Cloud ready.
"Ok, first of all, feet under butt. Not in front or behind. Bend your ankles so that your toes point up. Tighten the grip with your leg muscles slightly. Then rise up out of the saddle and lean forward slightly. Watch me," she lifted herself out of the saddle.
After a few moments she sat down and told them to copy her. They couldn't sit until she said so. She adjusted Hiei's legs and back, and adjusted Kurama's feet. Kurama was very good at this. After two minutes of the rise Kitsune rode Cloud into the arena. She grinned at the boys' faces; they were looking slightly pained. Three more minutes passed before the boys were allowed to sit down. They hit the saddles rather hard. The girls then walked the horses and made the boys practice the "post". Hiei was not happy. He had to come up out of the saddle as the horses right shoulder lifted and sat when it went down.
"This is very good exercise," Kurama huffed as they stopped the horses.
"Hn..." Hiei went back to his one word answer.
"Now we're going to trot. It's faster than the walk. Post as your horse moves," Kitsune smiled sweetly and Kurama forced a smile back. Hiei glared daggers at her.
"Ack! This thing is bumpy!" Hiei yelled as his butt hit the saddle hard over and over. Kurama was managing a decent post. Nega rode up to Hiei (A/N: no horse in its right mind would let another get that close moving at a trot. I've tried, but we'll pretend for right now). She grabbed Hiei's arm and steadied him until he got the rhythm down and could post on his own. She smiled and watched Kitsune helping Kurama to steady his fast pace. After ten more minutes of exercises the girls let the boys rest.
"If you decide you continue lessons you'll be doing these things perfectly. Plus a few more tricks," Kitsune nodded to Nega and she started Storm Fury into a trot.
Then she kicked gently and he picked up a fast pace (canter). Both boys (thought Hiei would never admit) were impressed that she could stay on. Kitsune followed both heading for stacks of logs. The horses took to the air and landed perfectly. The girls cantered back over and halted in front of the boys.
"That was impressive, I think I'll continue," Kurama replied to the short show.
"Hn," Hiei stared at the two.
"I think he agrees. We'll be back next week?" Kurama asked.
"Ok! Great! Since you're continuing the lessons, sign here!" Nega held out a paper which both signed.
The girls helped the boys un-tack the horses and watered them down, dried them, and turned them out into the field. Nega called a Great Dane over and left him to watch the horses. After that the boys chugged down the bottles of water offered by the girls. When Kurama turned to wave he noticed that both were carrying sports bags and following him.
"Do you need something?" he asked.
"Yep! We're coming with you, cause we need to make sure that you get plenty of practice and exercise to keep up with the lessons," Nega chirped clinging to Hiei.
"Hn?!" Hiei gaped at Kurama.
"You signed the contract," Kitsune reminded them.
Kurama blinked. "I can't take you two home! That's.... it's crazy! And you need to take care of the horses!" he panicked.
"We left Nightmare with the horses, and they have food and water. We'll visit them too. Everyday while you're at school," Nega had an evil gleam in her eye.
~Later~
"Why'd Koenma give us that stupid mission?" Hiei asked Kurama.
"I honestly don't know, Hiei," the fox replied.
"For fun!" a childish voice behind them laughed.
"Fun?" Hiei growled at the toddler.
"I got it all on video tape too!" Koenma laughed.
Hiei jumped up to strangle the toddler but collapsed as pain shot through his legs. Who knew that there were some muscles you only use mostly in riding and nothing else? Koenma "eeped!" and disappeared. It was going to be a very long day tomorrow.
~*~*~*~*~*~~
Nega: How'd you like it? Yes, I did change my eye color. The brown was starting to get boring. I'm thinking of continuing this and turning it into a story. But I was riding the other day when I came up with this idea. I'm headed somewhere with this. You may have noticed that I left a few things unmentioned so I'm going to continue it, whether 2 chapters or 20 I'm not sure. Oh, and I want to know what you'd like to see in it. And also if you want to see pictures of Hiei and Kurama in riding clothes. I haven't finished them yet, but e-mail me if you want to see the completed works.
Hiei: I can't believe you did that to me!!
Kurama: * wobbles around trying to walk * That kind of hurt...
Kitsune: Aw!! * huggles Kurama *
Nega: Sorry if the characters were a little OOC. I'm hoping this'll get better. Till next time Ja ne!