Horace Tabor folded the newspapers down only after the black tea was poured into the cups and his new black female servant retreated to the waiting room in front of his office on the fifth floor of the Brown Palace Hotel. Finally, the cocky chief-editor of ´The Denver Post´ gave in to his specific demands and Horace was very satisfied with the published article and the announcement concerning that annoying gang, unlike with the man sitting opposite to him.
Lieutenant Governor leant his elbows on the table and connected his fingers, observing his guest, who stared at the offered hot liquid rather disgustedly, as far as he could tell from the man´s expression visible under the layer of bruises and bandages.
"I have to say I expected your services to be more… effective, Mr. Harvey," Tabor stated calmly, though if one looked more closely, the glimpse of unsatisfied anger could have been found in his eyes.
"I almost got them," the bounty hunter grunted and the tips of his fingers peeking out from the hard gypsum, which protected his broken arm, twitched, revealing his annoyance.
"And unfortunately, ´almost´ is the most important word in your statement, right?" Governor remarked coldly.
"Name me just one person, who managed to get so close to them, Tabor, or to find out as much as me. I know the faces of six Riders already," Harvey challenged him stiffly. "They were just lucky. Next time…"
"I don´t care about the way you do things," Tabor interrupted him. "But I expect proper results. And the only result which I´ve got from paying you so far is the fact that the Riders and their filthy leader are travelling freely through the states, surely paying the tickets with my money."
"If you weren´t so stingy on the costs and hired better men, they wouldn´t have had that much for spending," the hunter replied caustically.
"Well, if I were really such a miser, I wouldn´t have hired you, Mr. Harvey, would I?"
The bandaged man made a face, but didn´t react this time.
"Anyway, if you keep going on like this, you might as well share all that precious information of yours with the Marshals to get the job done. But of course, your pay check would be significantly lowered with that."
The eyes of the hunter gained dangerously cold shine hearing that underestimation of his efforts.
"They will come back," he stated with certainty. "And that will be their end."
"How can you be sure about that?" Governor asked haughtily.
"There were only a few of them on that train; I´m pretty sure they just set off for a short trip, whatever the reason, and they´ll be back soon."
"And you intend to watch over the Union Station every hour of every day not to miss them?" Tabor raised a mocking question.
"No," Harvey gritted through his teeth, already quite fed up from being mocked by that overly rich bastard. "I´ll wait for them in Leadville."
"Because…?" Tabor required an additional explanation.
"Your former servant was sending those telegrams to the local post office. It´s not difficult to figure out that Akanishi had set their base there. I will use anything at hand to get to him, you can rely on that."
"I see," Tabor leant back into his comfortable armchair. "In that case, I want you to contact a certain man in the city. He had already proven himself to be very useful in the past."
"I´ve told you I don´t want…"
Horace didn´t let Harvey to finish his complaint: "He´s already on my payroll list as well, that means no deduction for you."
"Fine!" the hunter grunted. "Who is it?"
"Mart Duggan, he owns the livery stable under the Stray Horse ridge. I doubt it will be a problem for you to find him."
"Duggan? That Irishman, who was known for having a huge liking in arrests?"
"Exactly that one," Tabor nodded. "I see you did your homework. Unfortunately, he refused an offer to continue as the city´s Marshal, otherwise he would be practicing his hobby even in these days… I´ll send him a telegram, so he will be already aware of your arrival and provide you with any necessary support."
"As you wish. Your pay, your decision," Harvey stood up a little stiffly, but kept his back and head straight, when he spoke for the last time. "You´ll get what you want, Tabor. Just a little patience and I´ll bring you Akanishi´s head," he assured Lieutenant Governor once again.
"I prefer his whole body walking toward the gallows," Tabor reminded the hunter. "Just one last trifle, Mr. Harvey… We take this month´s salary as settled, right? I paid for your medical expenses, after all…"
***
Kame´s sleep was disturbed by the heavy thuds. Before he could even open his eyes, somebody´s hands raised him gently up from a very comfortable position and then let him lie down onto the soft seats again.
The sound of unlocking made the persistent fist stop thumping at the door.
"Finally! Just for what damn reason you guys locked yourself up?" Kame recognized Koki´s voice coming out from the corridor.
"To keep the annoying people out," Jin responded quite gleefully, as he immediately used a chance to kid the Rider.
"Bah, annoying? Next time I can keep everything for myself," the blonde one snorted.
Kame sat up slowly, trying to shake the blanket of blurry sleepiness off; he definitely lost quite a lot of energy and couldn´t recharge it so quickly. He glanced at Jin standing in the door, protecting him from the Rider´s look subconsciously like that and felt his face heating up, remembering the hot release. He didn´t consider himself to be especially horny or something, but Jin´s persistent demands just made his brain fly off somewhere, while his body was controlled by the irresistible attraction to the older one.
They had sex in the train full of people. Kame was never that reckless; he would never thought that he could do such a thing. He felt embarrassed realizing the perverted nature of what they did, but at the same time… His eyes again wandered over the tall figure of his lover and he gulped down heavily, trying to suppress the raising wave of heat. He was almost ashamed to admit that he would have absolutely no objections against the second round, which Jin had mentioned before.
"We were just resting," Jin said, sounding a little annoyed now. "What´s up?"
"The conductor said they have some beer in the dining wagon. And I was so nice to think about you being thirsty," Koki replied, still hurt by the harsh welcome. "Will you go with me to grab some?"
Jin´s head turned toward Kame, who just barely managed to snap himself off the enchantment.
"I´ll keep an eye on our stuff," he assured him, before Jin could say anything. "It´s fine, just go."
The older one nodded: "I´ll bring you some as well," he promised, and left the coupe following Koki.
Kame breathed out leaning over the backrest. It was already completely dark behind the windows, but he couldn´t have been sleeping for long, two or three hours at the most. His eyes glanced away from the window at the towel, which they had used to clean themselves. The cloth was just tossed in the corner of the opposite seat carelessly. Kame stared at it for a while, realizing the numb pain in his inner back part.
No wonder, we pretty much rushed it. Not that I would mind that… Ah, get yourself together a little, Kamenashi!
Kame stood up and grabbed the towel to hide it inside his backpack. Then he searched for the big bottle of water, which everybody from the group carried all the time. He was still drinking one gulp after another slowly; as his throat was dry as desert, when Jin returned.
The older one pushed the door aside with one hand, holding a tankard in the other.
"Hey, Jin!" a voice in the corridor called, stopping the gunslinger in front of the coupe. "You can both join us here already, Koki doesn´t seem to be so sleepy now!"
Jin shook his head shortly: "It´s all right! I don´t want to bother with moving our stuff again," he replied to Ryo and slipped inside their coupe before the black-haired Rider could try to persuade him.
"It´s not bad," Jin announced his evaluation of the beer, giving the tankard to Kame, who handed him the water bottle over instead.
"You should take some non-alcoholic liquids as well," Kame commented the older one´s grimace and drank a little from the almost full glass of beer. The alcohol was warm, but acceptably tasty.
Jin sighed, but didn´t argue with him. He obediently took two big gulps of water and placed the bottle back up on the shelf. Then he settled down in the same corner as before, when Kame was sleeping with head in his lap, and observed the younger one sipping on beer.
"What?" Kame asked noticing a very suspicious smile at Jin´s lips.
"You look as if somebody ambushed you," the older one gave him an amused explanation, as he probably commented Kame´s ruffled hair and wrinkled shirt.
"And whose fault is that?" he asked defiantly.
"You didn´t resist much," Jin replied, with an incredibly satisfied expression.
"Not that you would give me much space for that."
Jin´s eyes narrowed playfully: "There´s more than enough space between you and me right now," he indicated to the empty seat.
Kame stared at him for a while, before he couldn´t help but smile: "It´s good to see you in better mood."
"Likewise," Jin reacted in a deep voice. "Come here," he patted the place next to him.
"I wonder if I should not rather stay here…" Kame teased him a little.
"Are you afraid of me, Kazuya?" Jin overacted his surprise.
Kame put the rest of the beer aside on the small frame of the window.
"Only of your perverted side," he said, but still shifted across the seat closer to Jin. Then he raised his legs up at the seat again, and leant back into the other´s arms, which circled around him firmly.
"I think it´s equally matched to yours," Jin whispered darkly.
Kazuya chuckled a little: "Now we´re going to argue about which of us is more perverted?"
"No…" the older one breathed out, one of his hands soothing Kame´s arm slowly. "I don´t think I´m able of any argument right now."
"That´s good to hear," Kame sighed and closed his eyes, relaxing in that position, which felt so incredibly warm and safe.
Jin enjoyed every second of the time when the weight of the younger´s body was giving itself to him. After that forced self-denial, it felt incredibly good just to have Kazuya in his arms. With that ruffled hair and still a little dark cheeks, the younger one was adorable.
The hot session, with which they could finally release those suppressed desires, was still mixing up Jin´s senses a little. He was the one literally forcing Kame to it, but the younger one was the greedier of the two of them in the end. Only remembering Kazuya taking his eager pride inside of his body willingly made his pulse faster again. Their intimate connection felt so amazing… He really missed the younger´s closeness too much not to be sensitive to it now.
Jin breathed in the scent from the other´s hair, feeling as relaxed as hadn´t felt in a long time. At that moment, he would not mind at all if their journey lasted even longer.
***
Zack Emerson finished the last strong blow from the bellows, which made the coals in the hearth glow with dark orange and straightened up, wiping the sweat off his forehead. Skillfully, he placed the next piece of metal in the middle of the heat, when the excited yells from outside made him turn.
The blacksmith walked out from the smithy room frowning, to find out what was the fuss about. He found all his four kids gathered around the group of young gunslingers, who just reached the entrance of his house. Two boys and two girls flooded the incomers with curious questions about their trip, obviously overly excited about the fact they were so far away from their hometown and still returned in just a few days. The Riders were a little surprised by all that attention, but still replied the questions willingly, laughing over the kids´ excitement.
The blacksmith didn´t mind his offspring to be so interested in the outside world, but he really didn´t like the noise they made, dragging curious looks of the people walking on the street toward the forge building.
"Keep it down, otherwise you´ll be without any lunch today!" he scolded the children, as soon as he approached the cheerful group by the heavy steps.
"Daddy, we just want to know…!"
"Silence!" Emerson cut his son off so roughly that even the smiles of the gunslingers disappeared. "Come inside, guys, will you?" the man turned to his guests.
Noticing the serious expression on the blacksmith´s face, the Riders´ leader just nodded: "Sure, Emerson. Let´s go," he urged the others to go first, the kids following them with sulking faces.
Quite relieved from getting rid of the burden, the Riders left their backpacks in the corridor, disappearing in the house one after another. Leo with Emerson walked inside as the last, the blacksmith checking the street with the observing look, before he closed the door.
"Anything happened?" Leo asked once Emerson stepped over the threshold and entered the spacious kitchen, where the other youngsters settled around the table. Mrs. Emerson had already welcomed the boys as well, more warmly than her husband and prepared water and tea at the table.
The blacksmith glanced at his wife first: "Dear… the kids."
The lady of the house didn´t ask for a reason and just gathered all the protesting children, leading them out again. The men remained alone in the suddenly quiet room. All Riders kept looking at the gloomy blacksmith, waiting for his explanation.
"I´m sorry for the harsh welcome, boys," Emerson said finally. "I´m glad you all made it back. Did Oswald set off safely?"
"Yes, he and his sister should be onboard the ship to Europe already," Leo confirmed.
"Good… That´s good," the blacksmith nodded, obviously not very eager to continue talking.
"Any bad news from Leadville?" Ryo asked impatiently.
"No, nothing I know about, but…" Emerson sighed, and then he simply took newspapers from the window frame, giving it over to Leo. "Just read it yourself. It´s right on the first page, at the bottom."
Leo glanced at the said article and his face darkened. The others waited, already a little anxious, until he raised his eyes again. Jin was quite sure they would not like what was written in the newspapers; his brother´s face was more than clear about that fact. He squeezed the backrest of the chair in which Kame was sitting, prepared to hear out the bad news.
"Tabor offers a great cash reward to anyone for any information, which would lead to our capture," Leo summarized the pompous article, which emphasized their crimes and danger that they represented to the good citizens.
"And what about it?" Koki snorted. "We´re used to that."
"This is different from the official reward announced by the Marshals," Kame, sitting next to him, noted frowning.
"How comes?" the blonde one wondered.
"How about you tried to think for once?" Ryo asked with a sigh, before he explained: "To gain the money for Leo´s head from the Marshals includes quite a high possibility of getting killed. Just the bounty hunters come after that, usually. But if Tabor offers money just for the information, it´s quite an easy and safe income for anybody."
"Exactly," Emerson nodded. "And you can never know who´s looking… That´s why I chased you inside right away."
"He basically made all people reading this our possible enemy," Ryo continued. "Do you still think it´s something what we´re used to?"
"Not exactly," Koki murmured quite gloomily.
"Leo…" the blacksmith took a deep breath. "I don´t want to sound ungrateful or anything, I´m on your side, you know that, but…"
"Don´t worry, Emerson," the Riders´ leader interrupted the worried man. "I understand your concern. We don´t want to drag you into our problems. We will leave today."
"What?!" Koki exclaimed. "Oh, come on… I´m half-dead, we need some rest…" but the blonde one shut his mouth the second the dark glare of his boss focused at him. "Ok, ok, I get it."
"You can stay for lunch and I´ll prepare your horses meanwhile. They´re all good and well," the sheepish blacksmith assured them.
"Thanks, we appreciate it," Leo nodded.
*
"Oh, yes, dear, I missed you too…" Kame kept soothing the white mare lovingly, talking to her. Ukushi was pressing her head against his touches eagerly, her warm eyes half closed. They both ignored the strange noise from the aisle at that moment, enjoying their reunion. Only when the pitch-black stallion danced around the stable with his head high, both Kame and Ukushi approached the wooden partition to check on the unusual noise.
"You think you can win this, huh?" the provocative challenge resonated in the stalls.
The older Akanishi was standing in the middle of a long aisle with the bridle and reins in his hands, his black hat for some reason forgotten on the straw-covered ground. The black horse turned in the end of stables gracefully and shook his head, stomping the front horseshoe on the ground.
Except other horses, they were alone in the huge stables. Leo, Ryo and Koki remained hidden in the blacksmith´s house, once again flooded with questions from the curious kids, while the two of them offered to prepare all horses for their departure, taking over the task from worried Emerson.
"Come on! Bring it on!" Jin called over again, swinging with the leather bridle.
Kuro set off swiftly and trotted toward his tamer. In the last second, the horse changed the direction and the thrown bridle missed the target. The stallion finished his race to the other end of the aisle and all noble turned again, toward upset Jin.
Kame watched the scene amused, while feeding Ukushi with the apples he brought. He wondered just how Kuro managed to escape from his stall, in which he saw Jin going before.
"Fine, show me what you´ve got, you stubborn animal!"
Another trot, another attempt for the dodge, but this time Jin was ready and managed to throw the reins over the horse´s neck.
"Got you!" he announced victoriously.
Kuro stood still as frozen, only his ears flinching a little.
"You should remember I´m the one in charge here," Jin approached to the animal strictly. "I was gone for just a few days and you already forgot your ma-"
The young gunslinger didn´t manage to finish the sentence, as Kuro suddenly twitched his big head, dragging the other end of the bridle off his hands. The pressure of the movement made Jin stagger and tripping over he collapsed on his ass, while Kuro once again demonstrated the animal dance around Ukushi´s stall, raising all his legs high up. The mare neighed shortly, and Kame would swear it sounded amused.
Jin remained sitting on the ground and watched his horse, sulking in silence.
"Are you all right?" Kazuya asked, walking out of the stable.
Jin just huffed out something unrecognizable and Kuro on the other side of the aisle snorted mockingly. Kame, unsuccessfully hiding the amused smile, approached proud Kuro and without any worries, he took and raised the end of bridle tottering between his front legs up.
To Jin´s amazement, Kuro let Kame threw the reins over his head and tighten the bridle up properly. When the younger one headed toward the empty stable again, the black stallion followed him as if he was walking on some boardwalk.
"You traitor," Jin jumped up on his feet, hissing at the animal, insulted.
Kuro literally grinned, showing all his strong teeth to his official master and snorted again, walking around Jin right into the stable, as Kame kept it open for him.
"This is incredible!" Jin breathed out in pure disbelief, leaning over the partition as soon as Kame closed it. "He´s mocking me! Where did he learn it? From Ukushi?"
"No way," Kame objected immediately. "My mare is a very decent animal. I´d say he caught up something from his master," he assumed teasingly.
"Nonsense! They replaced him while we were gone," Jin pouted upset, staring at the black stallion, who repaid his glare rather calmly. "You´re not Kuro," he accused the animal.
"Jin…" Kame raised his hand and placing it at Jin´s face he gently made him look at him. "This is definitely your horse," he assured him, leant toward the older one and placed a short kiss on those pouting lips.
Jin´s expression changed within a second, his frown melting.
"I think I´ll rather not ask how you can be so sure," he murmured, grabbing the younger´s coat and dragging him closer. "I could be offended again."
"Don´t ask then," Kame agreed and savored on that tense moment before Jin connected with his lips again.
They were not exactly in a safe place, so he didn´t think that Jin would keep their connection for long, but feeling his tongue probing out, searching for his companion, he came to meet him eagerly. Their kiss deepened and became more passionate, when Jin pressed Kame against the wooden partition, while Kame´s hands circled around the older one´s body.
Kame loved the shivers, which awoke inside of his body every time Jin kissed him like that. When the older one drew back, he kept his eyes closed, keeping on that feeling for as long as was possible. Then he noticed that even though Jin still held him in his embrace, he was somewhat stiff. He didn´t notice that anyone would come in through the creaking stalls´ entrance, so he opened his eyes confused to find Jin looking at something behind him motionlessly.
"Jin?" Kame soothed his chest slowly. "What is it?"
"He is staring at us," the older one announced stiffly.
"Who?" he asked surprised and turned his head quickly.
There was Kuro standing and his dark orbs repaid his master´s reproachful look. Kame blinked a few times, before he realized that Jin really meant the horse and turned back to him, not even trying to suppress an amused chuckle.
"You really mind him?"
"It´s not funny… Just check out his expression," Jin insisted on his complaint.
Kame smiled rather sweetly and drew himself near the older one again, whispering: "Then let´s see if I can make you forget about the expressions of your horse."
He could; Jin didn´t even notice when Kuro ostentatiously turned away from them and rather started paying attention to a fresh portion of oat.
*
Leo was staring out of the window thoughtfully, barely listening to Koki´s and Ryo´s flattering of Mrs. Emerson´s cooking. Instead of cooling things down, as he thought would happen before their departure, everything got more complicated. He knew Tabor would not be an easy opponent to deal with and he wasn´t used to scramming in the face of first obstacle, but he really disliked dragging others into this mess.
Some smart ass could be found at every corner, which would be able to spill something about the suspicious gathering at the blacksmith´s place. Emerson was a good man and already paid his debt back to them, so Leo didn´t want to bother him longer than necessary. Despite the fact that he was tired as well and wasn´t surprised by Koki´s complaints about his decision to move on back to Leadville immediately.
The young leader had a full view over the front yard, partially at the forge and at the exit from the stalls. Like that, he could see two volunteers for the horses-related chores coming back.
Kame appeared outside the door first. He carried a black hat in his hand, brushing the straws and some dirt off it. Jin walked out right behind him, closing the door and saying something what Leo could not hear. Kame turned and placed the hat at Leo´s brother´s head, intentionally pulling it very low, smiling over Jin´s surprised expression. Amused Kame set off first, while Jin altered the hat, and then he caught up with him swiftly.
Leo watched them walking back to the house, both keeping their hands in pockets and talking about something. He already realized those two were really close; closer than he would expect to be possible, as he didn´t think Jin would have opened to anyone else except Yamashita so much. For some reason, seeing them in that good mood made Leo think about Jane. He missed her reasonable attitude, her determined eyes and her devoted kisses… One more reason to rush back to Leadville…
He saw how Jin moved suddenly and pushed his hat at Kame´s head instead, before he rushed forward gleefully, leaving Kame behind blinded.
Leo frowned a little – they were somewhat overly cheerful considering the circumstances, really.
***
It was quite difficult to hold Kuro back, as the black stallion was eager to have some proper exercise after being closed in the stables for so long. Jin had to keep him on a very short leash, while they were leaving the busy streets of Denver. Leo emphasized to everyone that they should present a calm departure, not to draw any attention, so they kept on the peaceful trot until the very last house. Only then, Jin released the strong lead, which he knew Kuro disliked very much, and let him flee forward in his own rhythm, overtaking Ryo and his brother.
Feeling the horse´s excitement dragged Jin´s mood high up too, so he let the animal enjoy the free ride and he dared to stop him only at the nearest crossroad, turning Kuro back to the rest of their group, which proceeded to that place much faster as well.
"Impatient as always, Bro," Leo commented, seeming to be more relaxed as well, when he approached the stomping Kuro first.
"Not me this time," Jin objected. "Discuss that with my horse."
"Hey, Akanishi!" approaching Koki called already from the distance. "What do you say on a little contest?!"
"A race? Why not?" Jin grinned confidently.
"Guys… Do you intend to tire the animals out right from the start?" Ryo asked in a didactic tone.
"Are you too afraid to participate as well?" Koki slashed back at him immediately.
The shine of fighting spirit appeared in the Rider´s eyes: "You think so? Fine. You´ll regret this insult, blonde one."
"Count me in, too," Kame, who just reached them, announced. Jin appreciated his decision with a bright smile.
"You´re sure, handsome?" Koki observed the peaceful white mare skeptically. "Don´t you want to be a referee?"
Kame´s eyes narrowed: "You obviously don´t know my dear mare," he patted Ukushi across her neck. "I won´t miss this for anything."
"I´ll be your referee, kids," Leo stated surprisingly calm, as if he expected nothing else than the just settled childish contest, already leading his horse further to the west. "I will pick some wide spot… Just give me ten minutes."
Their waiting for the start of spontaneous race did not go without Koki´s remarks implying that Ryo was just acting to cover the fact that he was a coward, neither without Jin placing a bet on that the blonde Rider would end up as the last one. Ryo didn´t stay behind, marking them both as two cakewalkers, who should be careful not to break their bones. Kame just listened to their arguments exceedingly calmly, soothing Ukushi by very slow movements of his right hand.
To line up so that everyone was satisfied took them quite long, so when they finally set off, cheering their animals loudly, it was fifteen minutes after Leo left them.
After that long travelling in the trains, it felt damn refreshing to be able to move so fast in the open air, to become one with the animal under them, focusing fully on keeping the proper balance with the wind swirling around them. It felt awesomely free. Jin almost forgot there was a race to participate in, but he was quickly reminded of that by the sturdy horse hurtling in front of him on the road, being cheered up by his rider – Koki.
Jin leant forward a little more, smirking – the blonde Rider urged his animal to give its best too soon and he was sure that would mean his loss. Then he noticed Ryo riding almost side by side with him, as they both chased after the blonde one. Kame was nowhere in Jin´s sight, so he had to fall behind.
Jin was patient and didn´t let Ryo overtake him, while he kept looking for the best place to do the same to the rider in the lead… He didn´t have to wait for long, the road was approaching another crossroad, getting wider. Jin firmly clenched his thighs alongside Kuro´s body patting him twice across the left side of his neck. The stallion shook his head, just for a moment he slowed his pace down and then he raced forward so fast that Ryo could just stare at that sudden speed wide-eyed.
Kame let Ukushi keep tailing Ryo´s horse, waiting for Jin´s move, for which he was sure the older one was preparing for. When the black stallion hurtled around staring Koki gracefully, he let himself almost lie down flat, adjusting his body to the mare´s. Relying mostly on the strength of his thighs, he whispered into her ear. The mare snorted softly and immediately following the instruction, she set off to chase right after the black stallion.
When their race dived into sparse forest, they had to ride one after another – Jin first, Koki with some distance as the second, the white mare the third and obviously amazed Ryo as the fourth.
The landscape changed suddenly a little and the path led between the trees making a wide arch above a small ditch. The black stallion barely slowed down and rushed across the curve in a few seconds. Koki followed the way more slowly, and also Ryo made his animal reduce its speed a little.
Only Kame did something unexpected. His mare stopped and then turned. The youngest contestant led her right down from the slope. Koki and Ryo´s jaws dropped noticing that move, and Jin turned his head to the side surprised as well, when the white mare bounced from the bottom of the ditch and jumped up. Her hooves buried deep into the path just a moment after Kuro passed the same place.
Kame straightened up in the saddle and with a cheerful whoop, he let Ukushi pick up her speed again, following Jin, who couldn´t help but glance over his back to make sure it was not only a hallucination and Kame really did that risky move.
They rode off the forest closely behind, while both Koki and Ryo were trying hard to shorten the widening space between. There was a huge oak under the gentle slope, from which they were riding down now and both Jin and Kame noticed Leo leaning over its stem at the same moment.
Jin looked back again, to check on how far Kame was, but to his surprise, he didn´t find the younger one behind. Hearing a cheerful neigh, his head twitched back forward to find the white mare overtaking them from the other side. Kame´s eyes were shining, giving Jin a defiant look. The mare managed to get in front of the black stallion for the length of half of its body, then for the whole.
Jin´s blood was rushing with adrenaline, his hands clenching the bridle too hard and strange joy filling him up from head to toes. Laughing out aloud, he incited Kuro once again, feeling the animal´s wish to give out its best as well. Copying Kame´s lowered position in the saddle a little he held onto his dear horse firmly and focused on the full coordination with Kuro´s movements.
Both Kuro and Ukushi were racing on so fast they left Ryo´s and Koki´s horses far behind. They were getting closer to the oak with each second. Jin dared to glance to the side, and he noticed that Kuro caught up on the same level with the mare. Kame looked at him as well, smiling brightly, his face darkened and the hair flying all around his excited face. They both looked away at the same moment again and incited their galloping animal friends to overcome the last few meters.
Leo forgot about being bored from the long waiting as soon as the galloping riders popped up from the forest. He quickly recognized his brother and to his surprise Kame as the second one. They were both approaching faster than he would have expected and he watched their final race with the pure admiration of both animals´ efforts.
The racing riders passed his referee spot so promptly that his own stallion jumped up alarmed. Quite amazed, Leo watched just gradually slowing Jin and Kame, hearing them both laughing. He almost neglected to pay attention to the last two arrivals – Ryo and Koki behind him.
Jin couldn´t control that laughing. He just felt the need to let those cheerful emotions out, so he laughed, feeling incredibly relaxed. Kame probably felt a similar way, as his eyes were shining so brightly that it made Jin´s pulse even faster than it already was and the cheerful chuckles were coming out of his mouth as well.
They finally stopped, feeling the hard breathing of their animals and trying to catch their own as well. Jin let his eyes sink into Kame´s, feeling so light… He couldn´t even remember when was the last time they had some fun like that.
"That was… awesome," Jin said, still gasping a little.
Kame released the strong hold of Ukushi´s reins and soothing her gratefully, he nodded: "Damn right it was. Congratulations, Jin. It was a great race."
"Let´s do it again then!" Jin laughed, already turning Kuro back.
"I´m all in for the second round, just we can save that for later, what do you think?" Kame asked innocently, as they slowly approached the big oak again.
Jin repaid his look with a significant smile, the playful fires deep in his eyes: "Sure…"
"That was impressive, guys," Ryo welcomed them under the tree.
"Quite a show," Leo appreciated their performance too, while Koki seemed to be stunned.
"Thank you, thank you, Kuro thank you too," Jin was almost beaming with satisfaction. "And you owe me ten dollars, Koki," he reminded the blonde Rider gleefully.
"No worry, I pay my debts," Koki snorted. "And… I must say it too – quite impressive," he approached closer to Ukushi. "I apologize for underestimating you," he bowed a little, while the others watched him amused.
The mare stared at the young man in front of her for a while, before she moved her noble head up and down.
"Apology accepted," Kame assured the Rider smiling.
"So, if you enjoyed yourselves enough, may we continue on our way?" Leo asked mockingly.
"Oh, sure, we can!" Ryo reacted.
"We´re in quite a rush, right?" Koki joined in, too.
"Little Bro, we all know why all that rush. You don´t have to put on that serious face," Jin was immediately ganged up against Leo as well.
"You just can´t wait to see your lovely girlfriend," Ryo continued.
Their leader frowned and tried to say something, but Koki didn´t let him.
"Don´t worry, we´re nice, and we won´t let you be frustrated from the lack of certainly very nice moments with Jane for long."
"Then I´m so lucky to have you, right?" Leo snorted.
Laughing heartily, they all led their horses away from the oak, heading toward the mountains in a much calmer pace.