Me: Hiya guys! *mood changes and breaks down into sobs* I AM SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SORRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It took so long for me to update again! I had a huge case of writer's block, but a few days ago I got huge inspiration and I finally got to work on this chapter. But before I get to the good stuff, here are the responses to my wonderful, spectacular, fantastic, uplifting, encouraging, -
Hiei: I think they get the point, baka.
Me: - reviewers.
LuckySpirit: Yah, I ride horses at Fox Hill Farms. I don't have my own horse, but I love to ride a psychopath of a Thoroughbred named Mikey. The breeds for Kurama, Hiei, Yusuke, and Kazuma? Well, I think that Yusuke is a Quarter Horse. Kurama is a big mix, but he definitely has Arab blood because Shiori is a full Arabian. He also is part Thoroughbred, but you'll find out more about that later. Hiei is no particular breed. I went through a book my friend has on horse breeds, and I can't really see him as any of them. Kazuma is part Suffolk Punch, part Quarter Horse. I know a horse that is like that and he is exactly like Kuwabara, just a little more cowardly.
Hioki: My best reviewer! I have other plans for Yukina, but good suggestion. Thank you for telling me who Hinageshi was. By the way, this is for all you guys. I HAVEN'T SEEN ANY EPISODES PAST THE ONE BEFORE KARASU VS. KURAMA. But you'll find that I'll put in characters from beyond that point in the series, like Mukuro and Raizen. That's because I've gone to different sites on YYH when I was bored and found out about what happens after the Dark Tournament. As a result, this fic will be very screwed. If I get those characters wrong, please tell me. Oh yah, I dropped out of the school play, so I MIGHT be able to update more than I have in the past. But sessha's not making any promises, though.
Dreammaster2411: WHEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank yous for all the lovely compliments! I've redone the last two chapters, to now Toguro is 15.9 hh. Is that ok? I know how you feel about the whole updating thing. I don't care if you're insane, because so am I! I'm obsessed with Battousai and Full Youkai Inuyasha! And I love to talk to myself, it helps me figure out answers to tough questions like, "Why is Karasu like that?" Hey, I might write a fic about that…
Hiei: Kuso, not another unfinished story she writes in Social Studies.
Me: Yup, stay tuned for it! And to finish up what I was going to say to Dreammaster2411-san, when people ask why you talk to yourself, just tell them, "Because myself is a nice person to talk to." Marshmallows are in league with the Anti-Evil Midgets!
Hyper katana: Whoa, you reviewed me A LOT!!! Thank you for the ideas, but this fic is going to stay as normal and close to regular life as possible.
Kaeru Soyokaze: Domo arigatou gozaimasu for reviewing my fic!
Yaoi-Rules: Thank yous for reviewing my humble story. Sessha appreciates it, de gozaru.
Hiei: There she goes again with Kenshin's catchphrases. Baka ookami.
Me: Yup, I'm a dumb wolf, and proud of it!
Hiei: Just shut up and get on with the damn fic!
*
Hiei (A/n: Well what do you know, speak of the devil…) flicked an ear back as he was asked to canter. The black pony kept trotting, but after a few sharp nudges from Yukina's outside leg{1}, he leapt into the gait.
"Make him go faster. This is Hiei, not Kazuma," Genkai called.
He exploded forward.
"Collect him, Yukina, collect him!"
Swishing his tail moodily, Hiei sank down into a canter, barely going faster than he had at the trot.
"Too slow."
So it went. A few minutes later, Yukina managed to get Hiei into a suitable gait.
Genkai studied the girl critically. At their lesson a few days ago, Hiei had been as angelic as Yukina herself. True, a horse or pony could have good or bad days, but it didn't seem to be entirely Hiei who was acting up.
"Bring him back down to the walk," the elderly instructor said.
As her student complied, Genkai noticed that Yukina was stiff and tense from the waist up. The girl's façade was slightly grim, with her jaw set like a solid rock. Yet there was a trace of something else in her features. Sorrow, maybe pain?
*
Yukina hung up Hiei's black leather halter on its hook and walked back to her car. (A/n: Yes, she can drive. So can the rest of them.) Genkai was about to wheel herself up to the scarlet-eyed girl, but another figure approached her student.
"Hey, Yukina!" the tall teenage boy called. He was leading a flea-bitten gray{2} who looked a little clueless.
Koenma, Genkai thought. I doubt there'd be enough time for me to talk to her after he starts rambling. Probably going to ask her a favor, the way he's acting so pleasant. She wheeled away to her next lesson in one of the outdoor rings.
"Hello, Koenma," Yukina replied politely to the son of Reikai Ranch's owner.
"Say, I was just wondering if you'd mind help mucking out a bit today. We have two new horses coming, and half the stable hands have their day off."
She brightened up considerably. "Sure, I'd love to!"
"Great," Koenma grinned. "There are going to be three others with you. Botan, Keiko, and Shizuru I think. Just go into the school barn." He led his horse up to another outside ring.
Yukina put her helmet in the front seat of her car, closing the door and going to the small school barn.
Reikai Ranch had three barns. The school barn for the horses used in most lessons like Yusuke and Kazuma, the privately owned or leased barn, and a smaller version of that, where Koenma and his father's horses were housed. There were also three riding rings. The bigger outdoor one was used most for jumping and the smaller ring were usually where beginners rode. Their huge indoor ring was a safe haven for the dedicated riders who continued throughout all kinds of weather. A smaller indoor ring was going to be constructed in the near future.
The other girls in her lesson were already in the small lease barn, armed with pitchforks and a wheelbarrow. Botan looked up and grinned when she saw the small girl come in.
"Hiya, Yukina-chan! Are you going to help us?" she chirped.
The newcomer nodded.
"Sugoi! Just grab a pitchfork and get to work!" Botan pointed to a rack with the tools
hung up on it.
*
"Man, this place is a pigsty!" Shizuru commented, dumping manure into the wheelbarrow.
Keiko paused in her work to wipe the seat off her face. "True, but think how it would look if it wasn't cleaned out after a whole week."
"Good point," Botan said, wrinkling up her nose.
"At least we're almost done," Yukina commented.
Shizuru took a moment to fully survey their work. The small school barn was almost perfectly clean, except for a few piles of soiled hay here and there. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
"I wonder what the new horses will look like," Keiko wondered aloud.
As is on cue, they heard the sound of a large vehicle being pulled into the driveway. The four girls abandoned their unfinished work and ran out to see a huge truck with a trailer parking itself in front of the office.
Two odd looking men stepped out of the truck. One with spiky blond hair was making angry gestures, while the other, his hair dyed blue and in a Mohawk with two pigtails at the nape of his neck, seemed to be trying to reason with his companion while struggling to stay on two feet. Shizuru, Botan, Keiko, and Yukina managed to catch what they were saying.
"C'mon, Suzuki," the drunk-looking man said. "At least we didn't get pulled over three times like that day when - "
"How many damn tickets have you gotten in your life, you alcoholic bastard!" Suzuki snarled.
"Well, lessee here… there was that first day I started driving… then after I was going back from that bar… and that week when they got me five times…" he counted on his fingers, swaying a little.
"THAT WAS A RHETORICAL QUESTION!"
"Oh," the blue-haired man stopped. "What does rhetorical mean?" he asked.
Suzuki slapped his forehead. "Goddammit, Chuu. Didn't you even finish school?"
"Well, it wasn't like they taught me kuso, so I probably skipped more than half of high school."
More ungentlemanly words were heard from the blond.
Koenma, done with his daily ride on Jorge, came out and spoke with the man with the Mohawk, now known as Chuu.
"Are they both here?" he asked. A curious nicker emanated from the trailer, followed by the sound of a pony's stamping hoof.
"Both safe and sound," Chuu assured him.
"We hope," Suzuki added.
Koenma raised an eyebrow. "Let's see them, then."
The other two quickly obliged, and soon enough two stunning equines were brought out. Botan gasped and her rose-colored eyes widened to an almost impossible size. The expressions of her friends were much the same, but to a lesser degree.
One horse was a dreamlike dark bay Arabian, the slight breeze toying with her black mane. Her soft mahogany eyes peered out at them from under thick lashes, as if recently awoken from sleep. With a light shake of her fine head, the mare seemed to become fully aware of her new surroundings.
The other one was all but the opposite. She was a bright chestnut spark of energy and alertness. Ears going every which way, bright eyes trying to take in anything and everything at once. She raised her tiny head, whinnying to no one but anyone who would answer.
Three raucous calls replied, Kuronue, Kurama, and Yusuke.
Chuu grinned. "The dark one's Ayame, and the little filly's Hinageshi. They seem to be settling in all right, ne?"
"Let's hope they're not hurt or mentally scarred from your driving," Suzuki said.
Koenma surveyed Reikai Ranch's new residents. "Actually, you have a good point. I'll have Genkai check how they're doing." He noticed the four girls for the first time. "Why don't one of you go get her?"
Keiko nodded and set off towards the nearest ring, but the familiar creak of a wheelchair came from not far off.
Genkai came to a halt in front of them. "Ok, ok, let's see the new ones," she said.
*
Yayz!!!!!!!!!! I'm done with the third chapter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BTW, yes, there is going to be romance in this fic.