Carry Me (Ushijima x Reader AU)

Chapter 01

With a sigh, you filled the last haynet of the evening. It was not so much that you hated doing the job, it was more that you were once again on your own. The other girls had left because they urgently needed to get some studying done for the many tests the teachers liked to spring on you at the end of the school year. Which left you to clean the barn, stable the horses, and close up behind everyone.

As if you didn't need to study for your tests as well.

But as you did the entire year, you had accepted without complaining and wished the girls good luck on their studies. Sure, you would have liked to get some studying done and you wanted to go into your second year of high school without a hitch, but you wanted to spend your time at the equestrian club even more.

There was not a thing in the world you loved more than horses.

You did not come from an exceptionally wealthy family, so when you first found out your passion for the animals your parents tried to explain to you that it was an unattainable dream. But as the years went by it became clear that there was just no keeping you away from equines. You were naturally drawn to them and in the end, your parents decided to try and support you as well as they could.

At first, you had riding lessons about once a month. While that was barely enough to learn how to ride decently, it did give you an in at the local riding stables. As soon as you started junior high, you asked them if you could help take care of the horses and everything to do with them.

You cleaned stalls, sweeped floors, turned out horses and ponies and put them back in their stalls in the evening. You even helped the children with grooming and tacking up their ponies. In short, every free moment you had, you spent at the stable.

It didn't take long before the stable's owner offered you more riding lessons in exchange for your hard work. While the riding was of course fun, you will always remember the best times as those that you spent leisuring in the pastures, horses grazing all around you while you read a book or played on your phone.

When the time came that you had to start thinking about applying and taking entrance exams for high school your parents took a moment to speak with you.

They started off by asking you to quit going to the stables to focus on your studies and you were ready to throw a tantrum. They quickly explained to you however, that they were planning on sending you to Shiratorizawa academy because it was the only school in the prefecture that had an equestrian club.

You realized that it was a huge monetary sacrifice they were making for you and you happily accepted. You studied your socks off and hoped against hope that you would be accepted.

Able to defy the odds you started your first year of high school in Shiratorizawa. It didn't take you long to find out that you were not of the same ilk as the other members of the equestrian club. 

While most members had their own horse at the school, and those who didn't, had their horses at home, you were the only one who didn't own a horse. The other girls were also very interested in competing, while you just wanted to learn everything you could about the animals.

Not that you didn't enjoy riding, you loved to take rides around campus after club activities had ended. You liked the lessons as well, depending on the instructor.

Your habit of hanging around the stables as much as you could and the fact that you were a first year however, had caused you to become more of a stable hand than anything else. Which was the reason you found yourself in your current situation, the only one left behind when the others were studying.

After checking that you had not forgotten to put hay in any of the stalls, you grabbed a leadrope from the tackroom and made your way outside to go and fetch the first horse. You started with the closest horses first, which were the student-owned ones. Even though you were looked down on when it came to your riding skills, none of the students had a problem entrusting their horses' care to you. They recognized you had a good way with horses and that you knew how to handle them in most situations.