All the better; all the worse . . .

[Nayt]

Maya, Em, and Akizetsumei were all outside of the ranch, back where Eld left them. They'd been talking for awhile. It looked a tad bit awkward, though. Em looked unimpressed by something, Maya almost looked like she wanted to run away, and Akizetsumei was shuffling about nervously.

By the time Eld got back, Em was in the midst of another question.

"Okay, so if your brother's soooo sweet," Em started sarcastically, "Then why isn't he here right now?"

Akizets looked a bit flustered at this question. With her eyes half-shut and lips formed to a hesitant and rueful frown, she looked over both shoulders. When she saw neither of her brothers, Akizetsumei felt a bit of a weight on her spirits. She sulked her head and shoulders, not enough that it was blatant, but it was very clearly noticeable.

"Yeeeep," Em sighed.

"H-he's, um, h-he's probably b-busy," Akizetsumei replied--an excuse. "I-I wouldn't want him to c-come all this way for me if he's b-busy--s-so . . . so it's . . . it's fine." With this she seemed to cheer up, if only a little bit. It was obvious that she was disappointed still, but she was able to bring up her mood on her own pretty well, it seemed.

[Zach Kaiser]

Jeez, it's always something, Eld lamented to himself as he entered earshot. If he wasn't trying to keep Sarah's pride and aggression in check (though she was getting better about checking it herself these days), he was trying to keep Em from antagonizing people or playing tricks on them. At least Maya was mercifully well-behaved.

"Knock it off, Em," he reprimanded. He was fairly certain she was actually younger than Akizetsumei, but that didn't make it alright for her to pick on her. Turning to the lighter-haired girl, he softened his voice and said, "I'm sure Toushikyo's probably just sleeping still, if no one woke him up."

"Anyway, you better head to the stable--I think Sarah's looking for you to help you get set up."

[Nayt]

Em brushed Eld's comment off rather easily. She shut her eyes and shrugged her shoulders as if it didn't matter to her. She did, however, follow his order and stopped harassing Akizets about her brother--for now, at least. Truth be told, Em wasn't much of a fan of Toushikyo. She had the toughest time getting along with him, and was grated whenever someone spoke particularly well of him. Thing was, though, he never got upset by her berating him for being a total jerk. He always shrugged it off like he did everything else.

Akizets was noticeably relieved by Eld's coming to save the day. She smiled at him thankfully, but switched gears entirely when he mentioned Sarah at the stables.

"O-oh, um, r-right!" Akizets exclaimed, surprised. She looked from Em to Eld and then, without much hesitation, turned from them and started quickly around the house. A second passed before she darted around the corner again, back into their view, and only to wave nervously whilst proclaiming, "I'll, um, I'll see you!"

The platinum blond turned the corner again and started off toward the stables rather hastily--though, not before taking ten deep breaths once she was out of sight.

"Jeez . . ." Emily hung her head, "That girl's such a mess."

[Zach Kaiser]

"See you." Eld waved back at her when she returned into their view. She was certainly energetic, though he hoped she was more in this for the fun and didn't have her hopes set on winning. Even if she turned out to be some kind of prodigy, it was unlikely she'd be able to beat someone as experienced as Sarah.

"She's probably just anxious about her first time on a horse," he concluded obliviously. "Let's find some place to sit."

[Nayt]

"Yeah," Emily nodded--though, she somewhat doubted Eld's conclusion that Akizetsumei was simply anxious about riding a horse for the first time. She had no proof to suggest otherwise, however.

Emily led Maya and Eld (the former of which followed a pace behind the latter) around the ranch house and to the back. She already had a few lawn chairs set out back behind the ranch house, and just several feet away from the track. The track itself circled the entirety of their property, which was actually rather vast. It doubled as both a riding path and a racing track, for whenever Sarah was challenged or challenged someone else to a race. It was one of the best kept tracks in all of Hillcrest, fortunately for everyone that ever rode on it.

There were five chairs set out, three for them and two for Akizetsumei's siblings, neither of which had showed up just yet. Emily glanced around for them, but only found Sarah and Akizetsumei at the barn. Sarah was telling her something, and Akizetsumei seemed to be anxiously acknowledging it all. Sarah soon helped the younger girl mount her horse, Stewart, and issued her something of a "good luck."

Emily sat between Eld and Maya. She folded her arms over her chest, leaned back in the chair, and regarded this whole mess with disinterest. She'd actually just been dragged here by Sarah, and had the feeling that Maya and Eld were, too. Maya was still quiet, but this was no big change; she was usually quiet, the type of person that spoke only when spoken to and had a horrible time expressing her feelings on any such matter. She, too, was dragged here by Sarah, but she gave vastly less resistance, and was already awake to show up with minimal concerns of sleepiness or readiness. She'd already planned to visit Sarah, anyways.

"Told you," Em muttered, "This's gonna be embarrassing."

[Zach Kaiser]

"Truly a grand crowd for such a prestigious event," Eld commented wryly upon seeing the chairs set out. Well, at least his fears of Sarah attempting to invite everyone around to watch in order to boost her ego were unfounded. The two extra chairs were presumably for Akizetsumei's siblings, though whether they'd show up was anyone's guess. He didn't know much about Oboreru, but Toushikyo wasn't the most punctual person ever. For the most part he existed on the "when I feel like it" schedule, though he'd be on time for something if it was truly important.

He supposed that he could judge whether or not he considered this important by whether he showed up or not.

"It's not going to be much of a race," he agreed, "but hopefully Akizetsumei will consider more of a riding lesson and just have fun."

[Nayt]

"Yeah, well . . ." Em trailed off begrudgingly, "It's not like I wanted to be here for it. I mean, there are a ton better things I could be doing right now . . ."

"Like what?"

The voice practically startled her out of her seat. It was so unexpected; it was monotonous and deep and carried the sort of general disinterest that could unnerve so many. Being surprised by such a voice almost always called for a chill up one's spine--a sudden, if only brief, moment of terror.

The source had a name. It was Toushikyo. He did this often.

Toushikyo's appearance had almost become cliche. He wore thick, black framed glasses, always covered somewhat by his black bangs. He wore nicer clothes--the expensive, high class sorts of clothes, the types that people much older than he wore on a regular (if not simply business related) basis. These clothes were always heavy, too. He had a particular winter overcoat he wore during every season, regardless of the season. It was like Hell trying to get the teen out of it in order to go for a swim or whatnot. Under the coat, he wore a button down shirt and slacks; it was something of a uniform for him, one that only changed in colder months with the addition of a scarf.

Emily settled from her near heart attack whilst Toushikyo took a seat next to Tsukimono.

[Zach Kaiser]

While Eld wholeheartedly agreed that it was pretty silly of Sarah to insist they all come to this, he was beginning to think it might be nice if they cheered Akizetsumei on a little, given that it was her first time riding and she could probably use the encouragement.

Toushikyo's sudden arrival didn't seem to phase him at all. It used to startle the hell out of him, but he'd been around him so much that he hardly batted an eye.

"You can always make clocks later, Em." He turned to the new arrival as he sat down. "Not often I'm up before you. Late night?" Of course, he purposely left out that he was only up himself because Sarah delivered a swift kick to his ribs.

[Nayt]

Toushikyo nodded. "Late night," he replied, "Good book."

He could sometimes be a man of few words, a reputation that was in itself purely justified. Much of what he said had enough of an impact simply by the amount of words he used to say it. An explanation that should have taken several sentences was often reduced to a four word sentence or so, providing him the look of someone who either didn't care or someone that knew and understood the full weight of the Common language--perhaps even both. In the latter, it could actually endear others to him, or at least garner their interest.

For example: Maya was already interested. She felt a sudden want to know what Toushikyo was reading that was good enough to merit staying up so late.

"Um . . . T-Toushikyo-san?" Maya whispered from the other side of Emily--who now appeared to be ignoring Toushikyo's existence in a show of hearty disapproval of his arrival.

Toushikyo leaned forward enough to look Maya's way. He didn't appear that interested in what she had to say, but she had his attention, and sometimes that was the best one could ask for.

"What, um . . ." she trailed off ever so quietly. "What were you reading . . .?"

Toushikyo leaned back. "Drunalan Assault," was all he said.

[Zach Kaiser]

"That another adventure one?" Eld asked in response. Granted, Toushikyo was likely to give a one word answer and not elaborate, but small conversation was better than none.

He read the occasional adventure novel, but he'd always been a fan of mysteries, himself. Looking for clues, fingering the perp...in a way, it was also a world far removed from the one he was in.

Of course, these days he mostly studied medical texts, but he still tried to read fiction when he had free time.

[Nayt]

Toushikyo nodded. That, however, wasn't quite enough for Maya, which wasn't anything against Toushikyo at all. It was simply that one of Maya's favorite pastimes was reading and having scholarly discussions about literature, be it religious or not (though her expertise obviously lie in the former).

"What's it about?" she spoke up.

Toushikyo thought on this for a moment. Sometimes it was difficult to classify these sorts of novels in any sort of genre, let alone give them a good enough synopsis.

"Historical fiction," he replied, "Deals with an old war."

Maya tilted her head to the side. "Which one?"

"Empirical takeover in the west," Toushikyo motioned westward.

"Oh. Um--so it's just a war story, then?" Maya wasn't much interested in a book all about violence and murder. Those could be real downers sometimes.

"And romance."

This grabbed Maya's attention immediately. She leaned forward in her chair, set her elbows upon her knees, leaned forward against her knees, and looked past Emily and Eld. She did not take into account that she was wearing a somewhat loose sun dress, and anyone giving her a side-ways stare would have seen a mildly disappointing and ultimately unrealized accident.

"Ugh, you two," Emily groaned, "Why don't you get a room or something?"

Maya, without shifting position, frowned at this. Toushikyo seemed ultimately unfazed.

[Zach Kaiser]

Eld laughed. "You'll read anything so long as...it..." He trailed off as he turned to Maya, as though distracted by something, and remained silent for a few moments. Then he caught himself and quickly whipped his head back to look at Toushikyo, hoping that no one would notice that it was now beet red.

"S-So, read any other good books lately Toushikyo?" he said quickly, shifting uncomfortably in his seat before ultimately crossing his legs.

[Nayt]

Roughly the same time as Eld looked over to Maya, Toushikyo did the same. At first he was inquisitive. Then he furrowed his brow in a show of slight confusion. Then, at about the same time as Eld realized he was staring, Toushikyo did the same, and averted his eyes with the same quickness as the teen by his side.

When Eld looked to Toushikyo, Toushikyo was giving none of them even a bit of attention. In fact, he wasn't answering Eld's question at all. He was only looking straight ahead with some sort of new found determination, if only, perhaps, the determination to continue staring ahead into, well, nothing in particular. If Eld paid close enough attention, though, he might see that Toushikyo's face was about as red as his . . .

Disappointed that it seemed the conversation had died off, Maya sighed mentally and leaned back--or, well, enough to sit with her back straight, rather than improperly and unladylike leaning forward. This fixed a problem that neither she or Emily was all that aware of.

Ahead, it seemed Sarah had mounted her horse, as well, and she'd just finished showing Akizetsumei how to coerce Stewart into moving for her. If Eld gave this any attention, he might even feel nostalgic. Stewart was the horse he learned to ride on, and he was about the most docile and accepting horse on the ranch. He loved just about everyone that gave him a carrot. Provide him two and he'd take whatever orders the rider gave. Sarah had long since trained him to recognize certain commands, both vocal and physical. By the time she and Akizetsumei had their respective steeds trotted up to the starting line just before Eld and the others' seats, Sarah had already told the girl all the commands she'd need to begin.

[Zach Kaiser]

Eld either didn't notice or didn't care that his friend didn't respond to his question, and quickly copied his decision to stare straight ahead without speaking. Fortunately, the usually observant Em was too busy stewing over being surprised by Toushikyo to notice that anything had occurred, and Maya seemed oblivious to her error.

Fortunately, the sudden death of the conversation went unnoticed now that there was something else to focus on. "O-Oh, hey, looks like they're almost ready."

It made him a little wistful as he remembered his own riding lessons. While he went into Galaens somewhat regularly on errands for his parents, it had been awhile since he'd simply rode for the fun of it.

[Nayt]

Toushikyo nodded some to Eld. He seemed to agree, at least, that this frivolous and pointless "race" had suddenly become something of a great spectacle. Ten minutes ago, it was perhaps the most mundane contest he'd ever imagined. Now, it was the best distraction available. Emily couldn't help but scoff somewhat once Sarah and Akizetsumei were a few feet away from them, and Maya passive accepted it. She'd have much rather continued the discussion they were sort of leading into earlier, but that seemed to die off for whatever reason . . .

Akizets managed to actually coerce Stewart to stop roughly the same time Sarah stopped her horse. It almost seemed like it was natural to her--almost. She couldn't stifle her giggle when it worked. It was only then that she turned her attention to Eld and the others. Namely, Toushikyo. She smiled to him brightly, something Toushikyo seemed mostly dismissive of, but he still paid her the attention that he probably wouldn't have otherwise. She was still smiling when she looked at Eld, but then it became something of a nervous smile, and she looked away from him rather quickly.

"Okay," Sarah began as she leaned over to get closer to Akizets, "You remember how to get him to move?"

The girl nodded. "Uh-huh."

"An' you remember how to get him to go faster?"

"Uh-huh."

"An' you remember what I said 'bout not goin' faster than what you're comfortable with?"

"Yep!"

"Well then," Sarah leaned back; she shrugged her shoulders. "'ey, Eld. Why don't you come over here? Take your shirt off or somethin'; wave it around an' give us a countdown."

Although Sarah was clearly joking, the whole thought of it seemed to make Akizetsumei's spine straighten up as if she'd just jumped out of surprise, and rather quickly she had her eyes and mind fixated upon the track ahead of her. Her cheeks were undoubtedly as red as Eld and Toushikyo's.