Across The Years (CITRUS)

Seventeen - The Ride

Yuzu's POV

I found myself unable to sleep very well that night. I was too busy thinking about my ride tomorrow with Mei. I was excited, to say the least. Fortunately I had nowhere to be in the morning so I could sleep in.

After getting up, I washed up, made myself some breakfast with some eggs I bought from a local farmer and read some on my Kindle. At the time approached to meet Mei, I suddenly got a bit nervous. All I had for lunch was a meat and cheese sandwich.

Though it's a pain to have to buy everything fresh, either from the local farmer or the sometimes farmers market, some of the food is quite good. Not to mention no preservatives. But one must be careful to buy only what you can use that day. Most of that stuff won't keep long.

Not having any proper riding clothes as Mei did, I dressed in my traveling clothes; cavalry boots, pants, and a white shirt. The day itself was overcast, windy and a bit cold, so I did wear my coat. The last thing I did was, to comb my hair so it looked perfect.

At 2 PM sharp I came to the barn where I found Mei waiting, just inside.

"Hello Yuzu. I have your horse ready for you. You can ride Percy. I will ride my own horse, Emma."

"Thanks." As I walked in, I got a strange look from Robert. I was one of the servants like he, only I was going riding with Mei. What I was doing was most unorthodox, to say the least.

Ignoring Robert, I went to my horse and checked the saddle. Once I was satisfied that everything was secure and as it should be I mounted my horse. I found myself being very glad that I took the riding lessons before I came here. I used to hate horses, thinking they were stupid. Now, I don't mind them so much.

"So, where are we going?"

Mei smiled enigmatically, then quickly motioned for the horse to take off on a full gallop out of the barn and towards the park.

"Why you little..." I muttered as I set off in pursuit of Mei.

For almost 5 minutes, I chased after Mei. The Latina would occasionally look back and giggle, all the while her long black hair was flowing with the wind. It was a very beautiful sight.

By the time I had caught up with Mei, we were at the far end of the park, nearing the edge of the fields and meadows beyond. Mei then laughed and eased up a bit to let me ride alongside her. But my competitiveness got the best of me and I quickly zoomed ahead of the surprised Mei.

"Hey! I was slowing down for you." protested Mei.

I merely waved goodbye as I raced out onto a meadow, towards a group of trees at the far end. Soon Mei and her horse galloped past me. Obviously she had no intention of being beaten.

Quickly Mei raced ahead and reached the stand of trees a good 10 seconds before Yuzu did, where she stopped.

"Yuzu, I figured that you would have beaten me easy. Your horse is as fast if not faster than mine."Mei said, looking briefly puzzled.

I thought quickly how to respond and shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not used to this horse. Not sure what it can do."  In reality, Mei was a much more experienced rider having years of experience, I on the other hand had only a few months of lessons. In the back of my mind that did exist as a worry, that I would be seen as a fraud. But that worry sat along with all the other anxieties about how well the day would go.

Mei nodded, seeming to accept the excuse, and gently nudged her horse towards a nearby road. "Come on" I followed and for a short while, we rode a somewhat awkward silence.