110th Spell: Trust Issues
"For today, you will ride Moeru," Basha said to Gyoku as he gestured to the Bakotsu with the white flames.
"But that's Dad's Bakotsu!" Gyoku realized. "I don't know if I'm ready to ride him."
In response, the white-flamed Bakotsu snorted contemptuously.
"Your concern is understandable, Lord Gyoku," Basha admitted. "But since Lord Haru has never ridden a Bakotsu before, Lady Meru decided it would be easier for him to ride your Bakotsu Takitsuke."
Upon hearing its name, the smaller Bakotsu with the sunset-orange flames neighed like a pony.
"Are you sure that thing can hold my weight?" Haru asked, looking at Takitsuke's small size and comparing it to himself.
"He's tougher than he looks, just like Gyoku," Rui said.
While Rui and the girls got onto the Dragon-hide saddles that were attached to their respective Bakotsu, Gyoku had to be held up by Basha since he was too short to get on Moeru's back himself. As for Haru, he cautiously approached Takitsuke who nervously snorted.
"It's okay," Haru said. "You don't need to be scared of me."
Takitsuke didn't look convinced as his mane flared up.
"Um, what do I do?" Haru said to Basha.
"Just hold your hand out and let him sniff it," Basha responded. "If he trusts you, he'll rub his skull head against your hand. Then when that happens, keep rubbing his neck bones until you get on his back."
This didn't sound like a good idea to Haru. "What if he burns my hand with the flames coming from his nostrils?"
"As long as you wear the Dragon-hide gloves, you'll be fine," assured Basha.
So Haru did as Basha instructed and held his hand out to Takitsuke. Cautiously, Takitsuke walked forward till his head was inches away from Haru's hand. A searing heat came from the nostrils of Takitsuke's skull head, which Haru could feel even with the gloves on.
"Just relax already!" Gaane complained. "The longer this takes, the less time we'll have to ride."
"You're not helping, Gaane!" Peri said sharply. "It's Haru's first time riding a Bakotsu, so we should give him as much time as he needs. And if we don't get much riding done today, there's always tomorrow."
Ignoring the bickering sisters, Haru took a deep breath and calmly reached out to Takitsuke. The small living horse skeleton took a long sniff of Haru's glove and then nudged his skull against it. Haru immediately took this as his queue to rub the glove against Takitsuke's neck bones as he walked around the creature till he was next to the saddle.
"Remember to put your left foot on the stirrup first, then swing your right foot onto the other side of the saddle," Basha added. "Otherwise you'll lose balance and fall off."
Nodding, Haru did as Basha instructed. But the moment he put his right foot in the stirrup opposite of his left foot, Takitsuke immediately trotted off. Haru fumbled with the reins, trying to get Takitsuke to stop while he heard laughter behind him that no doubt came from Gaane and Fuyou. Once he firmly gripped the reins, he pulled them back.
"Whoa!" Haru shouted, remembering the line from an old western movie his adopted dad was watching on the television back at the Dende house.
This seemed to work as Takitsuke stopped moving, though his front legs reared up a little. Yet Haru managed to hold on by clenching the sides of Takitsuke's exposed ribcage with his legs as the Dragon-hide saddle protected them from the flames bursting out. Looking back, Haru noticed he was several meters ahead of Rui and the others.
"I got Takitsuke to stop!" Haru called back. "How do I get him to turn back?"
"Use the reins to steer him while making a clicking noise with your tongue!" Rui answered. "And if he doesn't listen, just rub his neck bones some more to encourage him to do what you want him to do."
Haru tried to steer Takitsuke to the right while making a clicking noise with his tongue. But Takitsuke just shrugged his body from side-to-side, causing Haru to fall off the saddle onto the sand which was accompanied by more laughter from Fuyou and Gaane.
"Ryuji-kun."
Looking up from his sukiyaki plate of cooked beef, noodles, mushrooms, and tofu over rice, Haru saw Meru making eye-contact with him from the opposite side of the dining room table. The sun was already setting outside and the Wataka siblings had finished telling their mother about what had happened that day.
"Yes, Lady Meru?" Haru said, addressing Meru's title in a slightly irritated manner.
Noticing this, Meru frowned. "Is something wrong?"
"It's nothing," Haru lied.
Rui gave Haru a pitied look before speaking to her mother. "Haru fell during—
"Don't speak unless I'm speaking to you, Ruri," Meru interrupted. "I want to hear from Ryuji-kun himself if you don't mind."
"No, Momma," Rui said, lowering her head in shame.
"Well, Ryuji-kun?" Meru said, returning her attention back to Haru. "Care to tell me what's bothering you?"
"I told you, it's nothing," Haru repeated.
Meru wasn't convinced. "If it truly is nothing, why do you look so upset?"
"All that happened was I embarrassed myself during Bakotsu Riding."
"Embarrassed? How?"
"Just…falling off the smallest Bakotsu, while Gaane and Fuyou laughed at me."
"Oh, quit being so sensitive, Boy Who Vanished!" Gaane interjected.
"You have to admit it was pretty funny," Fuyou added.
"It wasn't funny to Haru!" Rui argued.
"Girls!" Meru snapped, causing Rui and her older twin sisters to stop. "No arguing in front of our guest."
"Sorry, Mom," Rui, Gaane, and Fuyou said in unison.
"Though I do understand your feelings of embarrassment, Ryuji-kun, you must remember that this was only your first day of Bakotsu Riding," Meru said to Haru. "You might get better the more you're used to it."
"But what if I don't?" Haru said. "Will you kick me out?"
To be continued…