Bullrider/rancher Shinazugawa Sanemi (modern cowboy) x Vet student reader AU
CW: no warning except for Sanemi flirting and not taking the hint. He is a manwhore in this AU.
WC: 4553 (yeah I know I said ficlet and went overborad)
Taglist: @soleil-et-letoile, @aphroditeslaps, @loandbehold-a-whatever
The arena was still roaring behind him when Sanemi stepped out, his boots hitting packed dirt that hadn't fully settled from the last ride. Dust and dirt clung all over himâhis jeans, his forearms, the sweat-damp shirt pulling taut against his back. There was even dried blood along his knuckles and a fresh scrape along his forearm, and the pulsing pain in his thigh where an old injury always seemed to wake up after a rough ride. The air outside was cooler than the arena but it didn't do much for the heat still thrumming under his skin, he rolled his sore shoulders a few times before he headed for the bar.
The doors swung open and the heads turned as the attention followed him in with the claps on his back. Some called his name from the counter and booths cheering him, a couple of girls near the jukebox laughed too loudlyâalready eying him boldly as part of their nightâs entertainment given he walked in without company. The bartender caught sight of him and started pouring a bourbon glass without being asked.Â
âHeard the crowd all the way from here,â the bartender said with a knowing grin as he slid it across the wood by the time Sanemi got close enough to catch it. âFigured you didn't lose.â
"Losin's a habit," Sanemi said, catching the glass and huffing a small laugh. "Never picked it up."
âOn the house.â the bartender added and Sanemi lifted the glass slightly in acknowledgment.
He found a stool, dropped onto it and drank. He let the whiskey sit on his tongue for a second, tasting the rich smokey warmth before it went down and set the glass back on the bar. He let the noise of the bar fill in his head like always. There was a comforting familiarity in it. The lights were low, the music genre he liked, the crowd filling the space with sound and heat.
He'd made it through most of his second glass as he half-listened to something the man beside him was saying about the last ride,when his gaze drifted down the length of the bar.
You were sitting at the far end, elbow resting against the wood and fingers loose around your drink. No excitement or recognition. No curious glance thrown his way like half the room had done by now. Just you, somewhere else entirely in your own head and unbothered by him being the center of attention.
Sanemi watched you for a moment before he set his glass down.Â
He pushed off his seat with no rush to make his way over. By the time he stopped beside youâclose enough for his shoulder to almost brush yours and for his presence to be noticed. You still refused to look up.
âYâgonna keep pretendinâ you donât see me,â his low voice was rough from yelling back in the arena, âor you just shy, doll?â
Great. Exactly what you neededâa man with an ego big enough to fill the bar and enough confidence to think your silence was an invitation. Apparently, being ignored was enough to make the idiot curious.Â
You didnât answer him immediately, you took a slow sip instead as if he hadnât spoken at all. Then, finally, your eyes dragged over him unimpressedâthe bloodied knuckles, the open collar, the torn and dirt-stained denim and his blatant arrogance. Then you looked back at your drink.
"Neither," you said flatly, "I just didn't care."Â
Something flickered across his faceâa spark of interest. The look of a man who'd just realized this conversation was about to be far more entertaining than he'd expected. His grin widened.
"Didn't care," he repeated. He leaned an elbow against the bar to angle himself toward you. "See, most peopleâeven when they're trying to act unbotheredâcanât help but sneak a look." His gaze never left yours. âCuriosity usually wins.â
"Well arenât you trying awfully hard to be the center of attention?"Â
âMaybe I am,â he admitted easily. âStill worked, didnât it?â
You gave him a blank look while he only seemed more amused.
âFunny,â he said, leaning closer that you did notice his particular scent. âAll folks are a little warmer when I talk to them.â
You glanced at him briefly. âThen I suppose youâre talking to the wrong person.â
An amused huff slipped from him. âYeah,â he murmured while studying you. âIâm startinâ to see that.â
He let the silence stretch for a moment, maybe he was giving you one last chance to make things easier for him. When you didnât, he extended his hand as his voice lowered into a husky one beneath the noise of the bar. âLemme fix that, then. Nameâs Sanemi.â
You didnât offer yours and neither did you shake his hand. Instead, you exhaled softly, already sounding tired of him. âYou gonna let me drink in peace, or do I need to spell it out for you?â
His brow ticked up, almost impressed. âYou always this sweet, doll?â
âOnly when Iâm left alone,â you replied a little sternly. âSo if you donât mindâride off, cowboy. I said Iâm not interested.âÂ
 âYou even know who youâre talkinâ to?â
âA guy who smells like a stable, and a bad decision.â
A faint snort came from somewhere behind him. Sanemiâs shoulders shifted with a quiet chuckle. "Yeah," he said. "And I still walked in here and got half the room's attention. Imagine what I could do with a shower."
You pressed your lips together and looked at your drink.
âYâknow,â he went on but with a bit more bite now, âmost people start with a âcongratsâ before they start insultinâ me.â
âDidnât realize I was expected to,â you said dryly, ââcongratulations, I guess.â
You looked at him then and found him already watching you with that stupid smile, not the least bit rattled by where this was going. That was the most irritating thing about him aside from his arrogance, the fact that he seemed genuinely comfortableâlike the outcome didn't concern him much either way.
"I don't do rodeo boys," you finally said.
"Hm." He considered it while tilting his head slightly. "What about cowboys? There's a difference. Rodeo's a sport. Cowboy's more of a wholeâ" he gestured loosely ââlifestyle.â
"Same thing in a different buckle, ainât it?"
He laughed again. "Okay," he said, glancing briefly down at the bar. "Okay. That's fair."
âLemme guess, youâre the type that needs a little convincinâ.â He didn't move, he just remained where he wasâsettled, warm and clearly not ready to leave. âAlrighâ then, tell meâwhat's a rodeo boy ever do to you?â
âThe reputation.â you were starting to get fed up.
His brow arched. âOh, I got one of those?â he asked, feigning curiosity. âWhat kinda reputation you hearinâ?âÂ
You huffed lightly, your fingers tightening slightly around your glass. âThe kind where you go through women faster than you go through bulls.â you replied with an edge of irritation. âDidnât think that part was subtle.â
Sanemi stared at you then barked a short laugh. âHell,â he said under his breath while shaking his head a little. âYou ainât wrong.â
And the worst part was, he actually liked it. There was a bite to youâno hesitation or forced politeness, no pretending to be impressed just to stroke his ego like everyone else in town did. You didnât care, and somehow that was exactly what caught his attention.
You, however, had already decided what you thought of him. Youâd heard about him long before tonight. Everyone had.
In a town this size, names like Sanemi Shinazugawa came up in half the conversations around here. Rodeo champion with another buckle. The Shinazugawa ranch. Bar fights that ended with someone being taken away in an ambulance. And yes, the hookupsâa new woman on his arm often enough that it became just another piece of gossip traded over drinks by the following week. The kind of man who chased troubleâor maybe trouble just had a habit of finding him. Well, judging by the smug grin he had beside you now, you suspected he never bothered outrunning it.
In the span of a few minutes, he'd done little to prove the rumours wrong.
You didn't like it. Didn't trust it. And you definitely weren't about to entertain it.
You didn't hold it against him like a sentence. You'd simply seen enough to know what you were looking at and had already decided it wasn't going to become your evening's problem.
Your eyes flicked briefly past him, scanning the room for your friendâan out, an interruption, anything to end this without making it longer than it needed to be.
You drained the rest of your drink and reached for your purse, already standing. That was his cue. Before you could pull out any money, his scarred hand moved faster. A crumpled bill landed on the bar with a soft slap and slid across the wood to settle your tab. You paused with your gaze dropping to it before lifting back to him. His posture had changed, he still looked relaxed but his playful performance had worn thin. He stepped just enough into your space to block your path, one hand resting lightly against the bar before you without making it obvious.Â
âHold your horses,â he said with intent. âAinât polite to run off in the middle of a conversation.â
âWe werenât having one,â you shot back. His eyes flashed with amusement and irritation.
âCould be,â he countered smoothly. âIf youâd stop tryinâ to bolt.â
Your eyes narrowed. âOr you could take the hint.â
His tongue pressed against the inside of his cheek. "Maybe you're just bad at givin' one."
"What is it gonna take for you to leave me alone?" Your patience has reached its limit. Another minute of this, and you might've slapped him just to make your point before storming out. The only thing stopping you was the fact that half the bar was already watching.Â
"One drink," he said earnestly with the charm still there. "Just one. You sit with me, we talkâand if you wanna rid of me after that, I'll go without a word about it." He paused. "I just think you're interesting. And I don't say that to most people."
There was no smirk or smug grin behind it this time. You held his gaze for a long moment then you reached down, picked up his crumpled bill, and pressed it back into his hand.
âWell. arenât you generous,â you said, setting your own money down instead. âBut I donât like men who think being persistent makes them charming,â. Your gaze didn't waver. âIt doesnât.â
It was final. A door swinging shut in his face.
Something crossed his expression so quickly that it was almost imperceptible. It wasnât anger exactly, or wounded pride turning bitter. Just a brief glimpse of a man unguardedâa man who had genuinely meant what he said and watched it fall flat anywayÂ
Before he could find his footing againâ"Hey!"
Mitsuri appeared at your side, slightly out of breath from dancing. âThere you are. Iâve been lookingâoh.â her eyes landing on Sanemi and brightening immediately. âWaitâarenât youâ?â
Sanemi gave a lazy nod. âThatâd be me.â
Her grin widened. âYou were amazing out there tonight! That ride was insane.âÂ
âThanksâŠâ he said, though his eyes never quite left you.
She glanced between the two of you, curious. "Do you guys know each other?"
"Not really," You smiled politely. "Just congratulating him."Â
Sanemiâs gaze snapped to you at that. Petty.
You turned back to him, that same polite smile still in place. âCongratulations again,â you added lightly. âEnjoy your celebration, cowboy.â
Then you looked at Mitsuri. âReady?â
She nodded quickly. âYeah, letâs go.â
And then you were gone. Out the door with your friend, not looking back once.
The bar noise rushed back in around him. Sanemi just stood there with something tight coiling low in his chest. His tongue pressed hard against the inside of his cheekja and his jaw flexing as he stared at the empty space you left behind.
He let out a quiet breath, somewhere between a scoff and a laugh.Â
His pride did sting after all.
"Well," came a voice at his elbowâone of the girls from the jukebox, barely concealing her delight. "That looked cold."
The second one leaned in from his other side. "You okay, champ?"
He looked at them and the smirk settled back into place automatically. "Yeah," he said, ordering another drink with a hand gesture. "I'll survive."Â
They laughed. Asked for pictures. Surrounded him with easy smiles and familiar admiration, filling the space with the kind of attention that had never once asked anything difficult of him. He smiled. Played the part. Gave them what they came for.
He'd always been good at this.
Later, the room was quiet and dim, yet it still carried the heat of the recent activityâsheets half-tangled, the air thick with the fading scent of sweat and smoke.Â
His boxers were somewhere on the floor, kicked aside in the dark along with the rest of their clothes in a careless trail. The naked woman beside him lay sprawled across the mattress, bare shoulder pressed into his side, her breathing slow and heavy with sleep since sheâd dropped off the second it was over. Sanemi didnât glance at her or reach for her, it was nothing more than a fling to blow off some steam.Â
He just lay there, cigarette between his fingers and one arm tucked behind his head. His eyes stayed fixed on the ceiling. He stared at nothing in particular.Â
He exhaled slowly, watching the smoke curl and disappear.
He'd been turned down before. It wasn't the rejection itselfâhe was honest enough with himself to know that. He'd had doors close on him before and shrugged and moved on before the night was over, because that was just how it went sometimes and it never meant much either way. But this was different and he'd been lying in the dark long enough now to admit he wasn't sure he could explain exactly how.
You hadn't hesitated. Hadn't given him one of those no's that was really just a test of how persistent he was willing to beâthe kind that came with a little heat in it, like I'm paying attention even if Iâm playing hard to get and won't say so. There was none of that. You'd looked at him, seen whatever it was you saw and calmly decided that it wasn't worth your time and filed him away before he'd had the chance to prove you wrong and show you a good time.
And the thing was, he'd dropped the act at the end. That last partââI just think you're interestingââ he hadn't been running a play when he said it. He just looked at you in the eye and meant it straight through without the charm wrapped around it. And you'd pushed the bill back into his hand anyway, then walked away as if the whole thing had already been behind you before you'd even turned around.Â
Maybe it was the simplicity of it all that got under his skin. The way you hadn't needed to think about it. He was used to being wanted, used to being the center of attentionâthe person people gravitated toward whether they meant to or not. He didn't think about it much; it was just the water he swam in. And then there was you, sitting at the end of the bar like the room's gravity didn't apply, and something about that had snagged on him in a way he hadn't quite shaken loose yet.Â
Sanemi brought the cigarette back to his lips, took one last drag before crushing it out against the nightstand. The woman beside him shifted in her sleep and he still didn't look over.
He thought about the way your mouth had done that thingâalmost smiled but your lips quickly pressed into a flat lineâwhen he'd made the crack about the shower. Thought about your few comebacks you gave without missing a beat.Â
You haven't even given him your name and he didn't get your number.
A slow breath left him, and in the dark, almost despite himself, the corner of his mouth tugged upward into a ghost of a grin.Â
Heâll see that doll around, eventually.
He didn't know when or where, but a town this small had a way of closing the distance whether you asked it to or not. And when it did, he wasn't going to walk in with a rehearsed line and a smirk.
Next time, he'd give you something you hadn't seen coming.
He closed his eyes. His body ached heavily from the day's rides, and at last, his mind stopped replaying you.
A week later, the memory of that bar should have faded and dissolved before the next morning. But the smug curve of Shinazugawa's grin had lodged itself inconveniently in the back of your mind, and the more you tried to ignore it, the more it lingered. Maybe it was the way he'd looked at you when you leftâas though you hadn't walked away from him at all. As if your leaving was only a comma.
The early morning sun burned gold across the windshield as your father's truck drove down the long dirt road on the other side of town. One hand rested loosly on the steering wheel while he explained your internship for like the tenth time since breakfast.
"Big operation," he said. "Cattle, horses, breeding stockâyou'll get exposure to more cases here than you would at most supervised clinics. Lameness, infections, foaling complications if you're lucky."
You were nodding, half-listening, watching the fencing stretch out across acres of land beyond your windowâpastures rolling into the distance under the pale sky, horses grazing lazily near the far end of a field, the distant lowing of cattle.
Then your father eased off the gas, slowing the truck as it approached a large wooden sign hanging above the entrance gate.
You looked up. The weathered wood was faded with age but the lettering remained legible.
 ââŠYou have got to be kidding me.â you muttered before you could stop yourself.
Your father glanced over briefly. âHm?â
You stared at the sign for a second longer with disbelief slowly settling over your face before you sank back against the seat.
Of fucking course it had to be this ranch.
You nearly groaned out loud.
Your father grined whe he caught your face and mistook it for awe. âThat's the look I was hopin' for,â he said, nodding at the gate. âKnew you'd get excited once you saw the place.â
You forced a smile. âYeah... it's definitely somethin'.â
The truck rolled farther into the property, the tires crunching over gravel before finally stopping near the main barn. The ranch itself was actually massive.
Workers moved between outbuildings, tractors rumbled in the fields. The air had the scent of hay, dirt and engine oil carried in the warm air.Â
Youâd barely climbed out of the truck beside your father when a burly man stepped out from the shade of the porch.
A cigarette rested between rough fingers as smoke curled lazily past his jaw. He crossed the gravel toward you with slow deliberate steps, his boots crunching against the ground. His stern face and intimidating presence made you instinctively straighten your spine.Â
And worseâhe looked enough like Sanemi that the resemblance hit you instantly. The two of them are basically carbon copies and his father even has a scar slashing across his cheekbone beneath one eye.Â
Unease settled low in your stomach as he looked you over briefly. You pushed the thought aside before it could show on your face and stepped forward.
"Good morning, sir," you said steadily..
Kyogo looked down at you and exhaled smoke to the side. "Mornin'."Â
Your father stepped in beside you, shaking Kyogo's hand easily with old familiarity. "Kyogo. Appreciate you taking her on." He then gestured toward you. "My daughter. Third year veterinary medicine. Been telling you about her."
Kyogo's gaze shifted back to you to assess you. "Mm," he grunted. "Heard."
Your father continued, slipping naturally into his professional tone "Like we discussed over the phoneâshe'll be here the next few weeks. Hands-on work. I want her involved in everything, no standing on the sidelines."
You nodded, listening carefully despite the lingering unease still crawling beneath your skin.
"She'll assist with routine examinations, vaccinations, wound cleaning, parasite checks, feed monitoring," he went on while turning slightly toward you as he spoke. "You'll also help monitor birthing conditions if any emergencies come up while you're here."
"And you'll keep records," he added in a serious tone. "Monitor feeding patterns, note any behavioral changes. If something looks off, you don't wait and you don't second guessâyou act or you call me. Understood?"
"I won't be around directly," he reminded you gently. "You know Iâll be out across neighboring towns most of these next few weeks and possibly out of the city entirely for stretches. So I wonât be here supervising you directly. If something concerns youâreal troubleâyou call me, yeah?"
Kyogo took another drag from his cigarette before exhaling. "She knows how tâwork around animals?" he asked your father bluntly, it was clear he didn't care much if you heard it.
You answered before your father could open his mouth. "I do."
One of Kyogoâs brows lifted slightly at your firm tone. Your father chuckled under his breath. âSheâs stubborn,â he admitted with fondness. âGets that from her mother.â
"Hnh." Kyogo exhaled again. You could get a proper read on him. He gave a short nod. "Well, like we said. Cattle mostly. Some horses. I got goats in the north enclosure too."
The distant growl of an engine suddenly cut through the conversation. A tractor rounded the side of the barn and pulled into the yard with its tires crunching loudly over the gravel before parking beside one of the open storage bays. The engine shut off with a sputtering rumble.
The door swung open and a familiar figure jumped down from the cab.
Sanemi slammed the tractor door shut behind him before dragging a forearm across his face, clearly sweaty from work already. His white shirt hung half-open with several buttons popped loose down the front to expose damp skin beneath streaked faintly with dirt and grease. Mud stained his jeans near the knees while hay clung to his clothes, and engine grease smeared across one hand when he tugged his gloves off.
Kyogo motioned two fingers toward him sharply. âOi. Get over here.â
Sanemi looked up lazilyâthen stopped the second he saw you. For just a beat, surprise crossed his face openly. Then came the recognition, settling in slow withâGod help youâthat grin of his.
It spread gradually across his face deep enough to cut twin dimples into both cheeks, and his pale eyes glinted with amusement and satisfaction.
Well, well. Ainât that somethinâ.
Irritation flared in your chest before he'd taken a single step.
He crossed the yard at an easy pace, shoving his gloves into his back pocket as his gaze dragged over you completely unbothered by the fact that your father was standing right there. The bastard wasn't even trying to be subtle.Â
"Doc," he greeted your father with a short nod. "Didn't know you were comin' by."
"Figured I'd drop her off myself," your father replied.
"Yeah?" he said, conversational. "Didn't know you had a daughter."
"No reason you would, she's been buried in school." He gestured between you both. "This is Sanemi. Works the ranch here, heâs been helping run things for years."
Hmph. As if that somehow made him sound less like the stubborn idiot who'd spent ten minutes at a bar refusing to take a polite No.
"She'll be doing her internship here the next several weeks," your dad continued. "Thought it'd be good experience."
Sanemi stared at you for one long second before smiling widely. "Ain't that a small world," he drawled.
You already hated the sound of where this was going. Your father, completely oblivious, smiled lightly. âYou two havenât met before, have you?â
âNo, sir,â he answered smoothly before you could. "Don't believe we have."Â
You forced a polite smile so tight it almost hurt. âLooks like it.â
He extended his hand toward you then. "Sanemi."
The slick grease coating his palm was impossible to miss. You looked at it, then at him. Any man with an ounce of manners who worked with his hands would've apologized before offering a handshake. But his smirk twitchedâŠThe son of a bitch was doing it on purpose.
Both your fathers were watching and you didnât want to cause a scene, so with every instinct protesting, you slipped your hand into his anyway. His grip closed firm and warm around yours, his rough calluses grazing your skin as the grease transferred instantly across your palm.
Sanemi couldn't quite hold back the grin this time. It broke slowly across his face with dimples carving deep into both cheeks. His thumb dragged once deliberately across the back of your hand before he let go with infuriating leisure.
Your eye twitched. The second you were free, you looked down at your palm in visible disgust and he looked entirely too pleased with himselfâlike it counted as a settled score.
Kyogo's voice cut across the yard. "Sanemi." He jerked his chin toward the far end of the property. "Show her the stables, livestock barns too. Don't need her standin' here."
He was already turning and motioning your father toward the ranch house now the introductions concluded. "Me and the doc got business."
Your father went with him already pulling out his phone, their voices fading as the distance between you grew. Silence settled over the yard. Just youâ and Sanemi, who had not moved, and who was looking at you clearly finding those current circumstances delightful. He rocked back slightly on his heels and pocketed his hands.
"Well now," he said. "Looks like you're stuck with me after all."
"Lucky me," you said flatly. "I wanted hands-on experience with stubborn, difficult animal cases." Your eyes dragged over him once. "Didn't realize it started at the front gate."Â
"'Stubborn and difficult,'" he repeated, rolling the words around to give them consideration. "Doll, if that's your type, you should've just said so at the bar."
"Don't flatter yourself." you replied, falling into step behind him with your grease-smeared hand held slightly away from your side.
