Disclaimers:  We all know this already!  They aren't mine, but the non-FY people are figments of my overactive imagination... ^_^

Author's Notes:  Yes, I know, the long awaited chapter 2!  I sowee... I had some problems ending this, but I think I got it to a happy with point with me... anyway... ya'll get to meet Byrne, finally!!!  He's my favorite character!!!  **cough** yeah, anyway... read on...

Red Savage Ranch

Chapter 2

~~~

Ryuuen woke early the next morning.  Taking advantage of the extra time, and remembering he didn't get one the previous night, he threw himself in the shower.  When he was done, he dressed quickly, and bounded downstairs.

The kitchen was nearly empty.  Trudy stood at the stove, frying bacon and other breakfast foods.

"Aren't they up yet?" he asked.

The older woman chuckled.  "Red and Buck are over at the house now.  And, uh... Buck hasn't had his coffee yet this morning."

Ryuuen cringed.  Nothing good could come from that.  He poured himself a cup of coffee, sat down at the table.  Red came into the house moments later, a satisfied grin on his dark face.

"Mornin', Chief," Ryuuen greeted.

"Beware," Red said, eyes twinkling.  "We're about to have 4 annoyed kids and one very pissed off wrangler at breakfast."

The purple-haired boy couldn't resist grinning.  He heard them coming... or rather, he heard Genrou complaining the whole way to the kitchen.

"Do you what fuckin' time of the mornin' it is?  And what the fuck is up with these clothes?"

"Shut the hell up and get moving!" came Buck's gruff voice.

The five stomped through the door, sat around the table.  Ryuuen smiled at them, but none of them seemed too thrilled to smile back.

Trudy called to Ryuuen.  "Come help me, honey."

She dished out the food onto plates, and Ryuuen placed one in front of each person at the table.  He sat back down, picked up his fork.  The rest of them stared at the food.

"What the hell are you waiting for, an invitation?" asked Buck.

They ate in uncomfortable silence.  Ryuuen took this time to study each of the kids.

Ayuru didn't look angry, but the expressionless look on his face worried Ryuuen a little.  He had torn the sleeves off the blue shirt he was given, and Ryuuen saw a tribal tattoo wrapped around his right arm.  His blond hair was pulled back in a low ponytail, and the buckskin cowboy hate Buck bought for him was pulled low on his head.

Genrou was bent over his plate, shoveling eggs into his mouth as if he hadn't eaten in ages.  He was wearing a short-sleeved, dark green shirt, unbuttoned with a white tank underneath.  His yellow, wolfish eyes glanced up, saw Ryuuen looking at him.  He glared, growled quietly, and went back to eating his eggs.

Okay then... non-sociable, thought Ryuuen.  He moved on to study Kishuku.  He sat with a grumpy look on his face, picking at the scrambled eggs on his plate.  He was wearing a dark blue shirt, buttoned most of the way up.  The upper three buttons were undone, revealing a gold necklace with a cross hanging on his chest.

Saihitei looked extremely uncomfortable.  He sat upright in his chair, eating very little.  He wore a simple white, buttoned shirt, and his long chestnut colored hair hung loose down his back.  He kept attempting to adjust the black cowboy hat he wore, but finally gave and took if off, setting it on the table beside him, and smoothing his hair.  He looked up, caught Ryuuen's eyes in his amber ones, and held the gaze.

Ryuuen stared at him, at those eyes that looked like honey, those eyes that looked so sad.  A tentative smile tugged at his lips, and he allowed it to reach his eyes.  Saihitei looked surprised at first, but finally managed a small smile back.

When Ryuuen had finished eating, Red called to him.

"Go out and saddle up Honey, Tay, Colt, Pepper, Mama, and Nikki."

"Colt?"

Red's eyes sparkled with amusement.  "That's right."

Ryuuen nodded.  "You got it Chief."  He ran out to the barn, got out the horses.  To save time, he ran a quick brush over them, threw on the saddles and bridals.  He stroked Colt's nose, smiling.  "You ready to give some amusement today?"

The horse nuzzled Ryuuen's chest, something he did often.  Ryuuen heard commotion near the house, knew the guys were on their way to the paddock.  Grabbing the reins of the horses, he led them outside, and toward the waiting city boys, knowing that today would be a long day.

-------

"There are things you need to know when it comes to horses," Red said.  "For instance, always mount from the left side, and never sneak up on a horse.  All it will do is give you a hoof print on your forehead."

Ryuuen giggled, seeing the guys looked at the horses warily for the tenth time.  He sat on the fence, watching Red instruct them on the mechanics of horse riding.  As Red delved into how to stay on a galloping horse, Ryuuen heard the rapid approach of a horse behind him.  He turned, saw a sleek white horse coming up the hill, heading straight for the paddock.  A grin broke out on his face.  Byrne was home.

He leaped off the fence, running toward the white horse.  "Byrne!  You're home!"

The rider of the horse threw his leg over and jumped off while still at full gallop, losing his white cowboy hat in doing so.  "Ryuuen!"  He ran forward, embracing the purple-haired boy, grinning from ear to ear.

"Gah, it's been a long month, my friend," Ryuuen said.  "How'd Ghost hold up?"

Byrne released Ryuuen, looked at the white horse that stood at the watering trough, sucking down the water.  "He did great.  That horse saved my life a few times.  Ah, I see the city punks are here."  He reached down and grabbed his hat, walked with Ryuuen over to the fence.

Ryuuen grinned up at him, elated that his best friend was home.  Byrne had golden blonde hair, reaching to just above his shoulders.  His skin was deeply tanned, a product of working in the hot sun all the time.  He was slender, but rippling muscles ran all over his body.  Ryuuen noticed he had days-old stubble on his face.

"So," Byrne said.  "Who do we have here?"

Ryuuen climbed back on the fence to sit on the top slat.  "Well, that's Kishuku.  He got caught delivering drugs or something."

Byrne nodded.  "Stupid kid.  Who's the spazzy red-head?"

"Oh," Ryuuen laughed.  Genrou was trying to mount Pepper, and doing a terrible job  of it.  "That's Shun'u.  But he likes to be called Genrou.  He has an attitude as wide as the barn."

The blonde man chuckled.  "And who are the quiet ones?"

"The blonde is Ayuru.  He's the one that scares me.  Tried to test me last night at the guesthouse.  From what I heard, he's done a lot, and none of it's good.  The other one," Ryuuen trailed off for a moment, watching Saihitei walk up to Tay, stare the horse in the eye, then begin to stroke his tan face.  "That's Saihitei.  He doesn't belong here."

Byrne looked at Ryuuen, noted how he looked at the other boy.  "Doesn't belong here?  What do you mean?"

Ryuuen tore his eyes away from Saihitei.  "All he did was wreck his father's limo.  He's from a rich family, and they sent him to the juvenile authorities for crashing a car.  Something doesn't add up."

"Hmm," Byrne agreed.  "Seems pretty comfortable around horses."

Saihitei had mounted Tay with no trouble at all, was now walking the horse around the corral.  Ryuuen looked at Byrne, who winked and nodded his head at Colt.  Before he reached the horse, however, Red called to him.

"Ryuuen!  Bring Colt over here... and Byrne."

The purple-haired boy turned to Byrne.  "Time for your big entrance."

Byrne sighed melodramatically.  "The things I do for my fans."

The two walked over to Red, and Colt trotted up to Ryuuen without having to be called.

"Boys," said Red, "I want you to meet Byrne.  He's just returned from a month long cattle drive, and looks no worse for the wear."

Byrne beamed around at the guys, who all gave him a skeptical look.  "Yes, I know, I know.  I look like a California surfer-boy.  I assure you, I am not."

Genrou, lying sideways across Pepper, scoffed.  "All right then, Cowboy, tell me how the hell to get on this thing the right way!"

Byrne stepped over to Pepper, grabbed the red-haired boy by the waistband of his jeans and yanked him to the ground.  "First lesson," he said, addressing everyone, "is to put your foot in the stirrup first."  He turned back to Genrou.  "That, Genrou, will ensure that you don't end up sideways."

The other narrowed his eyes, then cried out when Byrne reached down and grabbed his left leg, shoving the foot in the stirrup.  "Then, you hold the saddle horn in your left hand, the back of the saddle in your right..." he said these, while he moved Genrou's hands to their to positions.  "And now, bounce."

Ayuru raised an eyebrow.  "Bounce?"

"Yeah," Ryuuen spoke up.  "For beginners, it's good to have a head start on jumping... so you bounce."

"Very good, Ryuuen!" Byrne said, sounding like a proud instructor.  "Yes, if you bounce, count to three, then jump, you can throw your right leg over the saddle and be seated atop the horse without difficulties.  Genrou, since you're already in good position... give it a try."

"Ahhh... all right," Genrou mumbled.  He bounced on the ball of his foot, flushing a crimson color.

"One...two... three!" Byrne counted for him.  On the three count, Genrou shoved off from the ground, moved his hand from the back of the saddle, and threw his leg over Pepper's back.  He missed the stirrup on the side, however, and nearly went crashing to the ground.  Byrne grabbed his leg, and righted him.  "Hey, Genrou, good job."

"Ha ha ha!"  Genrou grinned, exposing his fangs.  "Look at that, ya losers!  I'm on a horse!  Wahahaha!"

Ryuuen shook his head, but couldn't help laughing at the fiery boy's jubilation.

When everyone had mounted a horse, Red led them around the coral, explaining the mechanics of reigning and starting and stopping.  Ryuuen broke away from the group, came up beside Saihitei.  "It looks like you've ridden before."

Saihitei looked at him, then shrugged.  "Yeah, my family has a stable.  I've been riding since I was a kid."

"Do you want a tour of the grounds?"

There was a long stretch of silence as Ryuuen's invitation hung in the air.  Saihitei looked around, then cast a wary glance at Ryuuen, who just smiled.  Finally, Saihitei sighed.  "Sure, why not?"

"Come on, this way," Ryuuen kicked Colt into a trot and started off across the fields.  Saihitei looked after him for a moment, confused.  Most people smiled at him politely, knowing that he was to be treated with respect, but Ryuuen smiled out of kindness.  It was a welcome change.  "Are ya coming?" Ryuuen called, paused at the top of a hill.

"Hyah!"  Saihitei urged Tay forward, took off at a run across the field to catch up with the purple-haired boy.

They rode in silence for a while, but Saihitei's curiousity got the best of him.  "Why?" he asked.

Ryuuen's head snapped up.  "Why what?"

"Why are you being so nice?"

An easy smile spread on Ryuuen's face.  "Well, you don't look very happy, and since I'm always happy, I thought maybe some of my irresistible cheeriness might wear off on you."

Saihitei blinked.  Whatever response he was expecting, it wasn't that.  Ryuuen was grinning, a sparkle in his rose-colored eyes.  "So," he said, talking as though they were best of friends, "what do you think of the ranch?"

"It's quite beautiful.  You do know that I'm a criminal, right?"

Ryuuen reigned in Colt, turned to face Saihitei.  "Don't ever say that, Sai.  You are not a criminal.  And you're forgetting, I used to live in the city myself... I've seen it all."

The passion with which Ryuuen said these words made Saihitei simply gawk at the young man.  He was a criminal, wasn't he?  He broke the law, disappointed his parents, though he had already done that before he wrecked the limo, hadn't he?

"Why did you get sent here, Sai?"

"I wrecked the limo," he said, a little too quickly.

Ryuuen nodded.  "Wrecked the limo..." he repeated.

The other man glared at him from under his hat.  "It's none of your business, you know.  You don't even know me."

The purple-haired boy pulled his hat off, squinted in the bright sun.  "I never said it was my business.  I was just curious.  Okay, so we don't know each other, and so far, you hate this place.  But I'm offering you someone to talk to, someone who's been there, seen it all, done a whole lot of things that weren't legal."  He shoved his hat back down over his head, steered Colt back toward the barn.  "Anytime, Sai... you can talk to me anytime."

Saihitei watched Ryuuen ride back toward the barn.  "Okay," he whispered.  A moment later, he kicked Tay in the ribs and galloped to catch up to Ryuuen.

When they got back to the corral, Red was still leading them around, but now they were all running.  Ryuuen saw Kishuku was sporting a black eye  and looking miserable, while Genrou was grinning.  "Hey, Byrne, what happened to him?"

Byrne smiled.  "Oh, uh... he kinda teased Mama a little while ago."

Ryuuen grimaced.  "You didn't explain to him how sensitive Mama is to teasing?"

The other man shrugged.  "Forgot."

He rolled his eyes.  "Yeah, sure ya did."

Byrne held up his hands.  "I did!"

They abandoned their friendly banter to dismount their horses, stretch their muscles.  Ryuuen looked over, saw Saihitei riding the corral with the others.  He caught his eye, gave him a reassuring smile.  To Ryuuen's surprise, he returned the smile, and gave him a little nod.

"Uh oh... does someone have a little crush?"

Ryuuen elbowed Byrne in the ribs.  "Jealous?"

He laughed.  "Dude, we haven't been together for a year... I'm cool."

"That's good to know, Byrne."

Red halted the boys, told them to dismount.  About that time, Trudy stuck her head out the door of the house.  "Lunch!" she yelled.

Red waved to her, then turned back to everyone.  "Okay, guys.  Take your horses back to the stable, take everything off them and groom them.  Byrne and Ryuuen... you'll oversee this."

The two groaned.  "Well, shit," Byrne said.  "Let's go, deviants."

Ryuuen grabbed the reigns of both Ghost and Colt, lead them toward the barn.  Byrne and the others followed.  As he walked, he sighed heavily.  This is going to a long month.