InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Laying Down the Law ❯ Getting Air and Grabbing Guns Part I ( Chapter 25 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Thanks for everyone's reviews and responses to the lemon question. Basically, we're all a bunch of perverts, teehee. Here were the results of the poll.

12 vote yes
1 vote no
4 vote depending on the couple
2 vote doesn't need one, but it couldn't hurt

So there you have it, proof that everyone has and inner smut goblin, haha. So I think we'll put some in because of popular demand; i only brought lemons up because i had three requests. I'll probably commision a lemon since I'm really not a lemon writer, so if anyone is interested, let me know in your review or an email! Alright, on to this chapter, which is going to be one of the most exciting yet, I so hope. I can't know how many chapters will be coming out in the near future, possibly quite a few, because I'll be bed ridden for a while; I have some kind of hormonal anemia imbalance something or other, back problems, just a bunch of shit. Less school, right? Haha!
Oh, and just to clear something up, Ranbou and Shitora did NOT have sex. Ranbou was being serious when he said sleep. I reread it and it was a mite confusing, my bad everyone. Clearing that up. THERE WAS NO SEX BETWEEN RANBOU AND SHITORA. But there will be...:)

"Kouga! C'mon, cub, get out here!"

Groaning slightly, Kouga rolled over on his side and buried his face into the smooth, lilac scented skin of Ayame's back. It couldn't be too late in the morning, in Kouga's estimation and, Race Wars or no, he was sleeping in this morning. After his wild night, Kouga wasn't sure he could get up anyway. But despite Kouga's own personal desires, Ranbou wasn't about to let his baby brother be.

"I'm serious Kouga, get up. It's almost eleven thirty and I need your consult on the Ducati before the bike show. "

Eleven thirty? Kouga sighed and tossed and arm casually over Ayame's side, allowing his claws to run cooly across her belly. His heart rate lulled against her even breathing, allowing Kouga a small moment of peace and quiet. Finally, the silence was broken as a woosh of air collided with Kouga bare feet and the door swung open to the RV bedroom, revealing a stone faced Ranbou sillhouetted by the sunlight through the windows.

Blinking, Ranbou took in the sight before him, one which he wouldn't forget for the rest of his days. Kouga and Ayame were spooning, both completely naked though thankfully covered by a twisted black sheet. Ayame was still sleeping soundly, apparently exhausted from her previous night's activities, pretty face slightly flushed from the heat of close contact. Kouga looked thoroughly enraged and sat up rather quickly, carelessly allowing the sheet to shift and reveal Ayame's naked buttocks.

"Ranbou, what the- eep!"

Ice blue eyes widening to a considerable size, Kouga hurriedly covered Ayame's backside and looked around desperately for his jeans, which he'd discarded in a rush the night before.

Ranbou raised an eyebrow in general amusement, propping his bare torso against the door frame with practiced ease. His tan face cracked in a handsome smile as he observed his brother's frantic search for pants. "Wow, Ko. Buttering the corn while I was busy with the bikes? Scandalous."

Kouga rolled his eyes as he jerked on his jeans, grabbing his jacket on the way out of the room. "Not like you went hungry last night, Bo," he murmured under his breath, glancing around the general chaos of the guy's RV in search of a shirt.

"Actually, I slept last night, as in actual real sleep. The kind where she didn't scream my name and I didn't waste a valuable condom on tired sex." Kouga paid his brother no mind and continued searching for a shirt, digging through piles of dirty boxers and suspiciously gray socks. Ranbou watched him for a moment before saying, "Don't bother, man, its a scorcher."

Throwing up his hands uselessly, Kouga slipped on his bike boots, not bothering with the buckles, and threw his jacket over his shoulder, following Ranbou outside. "You're not gonna wake up Aya?"

Kouga shrugged, closing the door behind himself before replying, "I'm gonna let her sleep. I wore her out last night."

The brothers shared wolfish smiles before a voice called, "Kouga, where have you been? We need your consult on the Ducati."

Sesshomaru's amber eyes reflected his general irritation at Kouga's lateness as he stormed towards his friends, silver hair undulating like an ominous cloud behind him. Like Ranbou, the Fang leader was shirtless and glistening with sweat; indeed, it was an unbearably hot morning at the air base.

"Sorry, Shomo, I was-"

"Doing the horizontal tango," Ranbou finished slyly, winking at Kouga before hurrying off to check on Hiten's bike before the trick riding event.

Sesshomaru rolled his eyes at Ranbou's comment, saddling up beside Kouga as they walked leisurely towards the Fang tent. "How many expressions can he come up with for sex?" the dog demon muttered blithely, glancing heavenward at the peaking sun.

"Franking the fungus, french wrestling match, giving the chop, hiding the salami; I'd say Ran's got more expressions for 'doing it' than I do for saying hello," Kouga mentioned, sliding a hand into his pocket as he searched for cigarettes. "How's the pool today?"

"High," Sesshomaru replied, wiping a hand across his brow. "That's why we've been trying to find you since nine this morning. Never did it cross my mind that you were still in the RV, you've always been such an early riser."

"Yeah, not today. I'm surprised you didn't hear us last night," Kouga said, shrugging his shoulders.

At this, Sesshomaru raised his eyebrows and began looking around for his own cigarette box. "I didn't sleep in the RV last night. Nor did anyone else I can think of, for that matter."

"Where were you?"

"I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you."

Kouga grinned and swung blindly towards Sesshomaru's shoulder, finding himself quickly pulled into a ruthless headlock as they walked. The wolf laughed and tried to break the grinning leader's hold, but to no avail. Once they arrived at the tent, Sesshomaru released Kouga from his prison and the wolf demon breathed in a gulp of air, laughing all the while.

"You bastard."

"Finally, someone agrees with me," Inuyasha deadpanned as he hurried into the tent, making a beeline for the corner where he began to dig through piles of toolboxes in search of the hammer container. Kouga's gaze softened slightly as he observed the numerous scars marring Inuyasha's back, lingering from his near brush with death the previous day. Despite Inuyasha's demon heritage, Kouga was aware that most of the marks would never fade, as the only first aid available at Race Wars was cleaning and bandaging. Akago and Gan did what they could, but it would never be anything like Kei and Nanashi's treatment.

"Is everything ready for the show, Inuyasha?" Sesshomaru asked, glancing at Kouga out of the corner of his eye.

"Yeah, for the most part. We just need Kouga's go on the Ducati and we're ready to go," Inuyasha replied over his shoulder.

Kouga rolled his eyes, finally snapping out of his trance. "God, if I hear about that Ducati one more time..."

"Oh, there you are Ko. Have you ok'ed the Ducati yet?" Rin asked as she hurried in to the tent, shedding her Wildcat jacket and tossing it over a nearby chair.

Sesshomaru grinned as Kouga let out a moan, massaging his temples wearily; obviously, this was the Gods' way of alerting him to a potentially long day. Sighing, Kouga smiled a passive smile and replied, "Nope, but I'm on my way, I promise."

At this point, Shitora came strolling through the tent with a peach in her hand, amber eyes bored with all this dribble. She was wearing a pair of leather pants and a crimson red bikini top which accentuated her rather large breasts, but she didn't look as though she were trying to attract attention. Instead, she said rather languidly, "Where's Ran? He said we'd watch the trick rides together."

"He went off towards the bike tent," Sesshomaru informed her, continuing, "I suppose Kagome is ready for the show?"

As if in answer to his question, Kagome came jogging into the tent, dressed in a sequined red club top and tight leather pants, standing tall on stilletto heels. "Okay, so you just want me to gesture to the bike and look like a slut?"

Inuyasha scowled, glancing over his shoulder and murmuring, "I could do without you looking like a slut, actually."

It was then, for the first time, that Inuyasha actually caught sight of Kagome's outfit, which clung to her curves in a way that made the strongest knees buckle. The way her hips followed a smooth contour up her side, arriving perfectly at the swell of her breast, made Inuyasha want to howl and cat call like an animal in heat. Her face was always beautiful and so was her body, of course, but those full red lips, alluring black lashes and devestating ass were simply too much for a man. He must have stared for quite some time because Kagome let out a satisfied giggle, cheeks pinking ripely.

"Your face is worth a thousand words, Inuyasha," she laughed, pleased by his speechlessness.
But before she could revel in his appraisal, Inuyasha's eyebrows fell dangerously low over his eyes, which burned an intense molten gold. "No. Abso-fucking-lutely not. You ain't goin' up there in that, not so all those other bastards can stare at you like some oversexed barbie!"

Kagome seemed rather stunned for a moment before she adopted an irritated pose, crossing her arms in an attempt to look angry when, in all reality, she merely succeeded in pushing up her breasts. "Inuyasha, who are you to say where I can stand and what I wear?"

"Your boyfriend, that's who I am!" Inuyasha replied hotly. The gap between the two was closing slowly but surely, an entertaining scene for the many spectators, which were growing with each passing word.

"Oh, so that gives you power over me?" Kagome countered; her eyes had gone from passive hazel to startling coffee in mere seconds.

"Ye- no, I mean I don't want other guys looking at you that way!"

"Everybody looks at me Inuyasha, I solid, I have arms and legs and breasts just like the next girl, I'm not invisible, they can SEE ME!" Kagome all but screamed.

"That doesn't mean they can look at you the same way I do!"

"I'm just gonna show a couple bikes as a favor to Sesshomaru, okay? It's not like I'm gonna stand up there and offer a fuck to the guy with the biggest balls!" came Kagome irate reply. Several eyebrows raised for, while Kagome cussed occasionally and was known to smoke a cigarette or two, she never got quite that vulgar in normal conversation.

Inuyasha was struck by her comment and look thoroughly taken aback. He recovered quickly, however, responding curtly, "Like anyone would take a fuck that cheap!"

Several sounds of disapproval issued from the crowd at Inuyasha's underhanded remark at Kagome's expense. Kagome, however, looked anything but hurt and actually seemed rather enraged. Fists clenched tightly, she roared, "You're just jealous cause you got the smallest balls here!"

Cheers erupted from the surrounding girls, who called Kagome's name in approval, though she didn't seem to notice. "Fuck off Inuyasha!" And with that, applause raining on her back, Kagome stormed away with her ass rocking perfectly from side to side in her leather pants. She couldn't even hear the crowd, couldn't smell the motor oil, could see the sun as it rose above the world. Her only focus remained on her last picture of Inuyasha, standing there with his amber eyes radiating betrayal and his lips drawn in a tight line. Even though she'd won the fight, Kagome couldn't help but feel as though she'd lost her entire army.

"That doesn't bode well," Akago remarked dryly to Gan, who stood stiffly at his side. Gan's boyish face was contorted with concern as he watched Inuyasha and Kagome going their separate ways, his brow furrowed tiredly.

"No, it doesn't," came Gan's numb reply.

Sighing, Sesshomaru turned to Rin, who was shaking her head solemnly at the recent exchange. "Oof, that was harsh," she muttered.

"Indeed," Sesshomaru agreed. "I only hope Inuyasha comes to his senses in time. He had a good woman."

Rin smiled brightly at Sesshomaru's abnormally high praise directed at her dear cousin. "Yeah, he did. Good enough that she'll forgive him like the saint she is if he comes crawling back."

Kagome stormed away from the scene of the fight, tears pricking at her eyes with a growing sting. She was determined to remain strong and stiff despite Inuyasha's harsh words, but what was strength anyway? Was it standing there and taking abuse with a straight face? Or was it firing back and walking away with a greater weakness than before? Inuyasha hadn't even kissed her on the lips yet, so what did that make them? Going out was one thing, but it wasn't truly consumated until the first kiss, right? Kagome wasn't sure of anything at the current time and, brushing away her tears, she hurried towards the RV and locked the door behind her.

Inuyasha watched Kagome's retreating form with an ache growing in his gut; what was this intense feeling of loss, pulling at his waistline, dragging him towards the floor? He could barely stand as he watched her, hair undulating back and forth in her retreating journey. Did she not understand the pain it caused him to watch other men staring at her? As though she could disappear on the wind, away on the breeze towards another, better man? He wasn't good enough for her, he was certain of that, but where did she get off making light of his affection? Did she not know he loved her? He hadn't ever said it, but she should know it, right?

Right?

"Twenty yen on Tobi!"

"Yeah fuckin' right, thirty on Bankotsu!"

"You're all loony, I bet Jun'll pull it out!"

On the east side of the air base, cries of triumph joined each other as they rose on the morning, saluting the soon to be performing trick riders. The trick exhibition was greatly anticipated every year and Race Wars and this year was no different, allowing for the absence of some of the recently departed gang members. Shitora and Ranbou weaved their way through the densely packed crowd, hands securely locked. Ranbou was pulling his girlfriend through the weighted group, despite her heavy tongued protests for, despite Shitora's insistence, Ranbou was fairly sure that making her own way through the crowd would be fairly difficult.

The pair finally arrived at the front of the crowd, flanked on all sides by fellow gang members, all of whom shared a general hum of excitement. Grinning, Shitora tightened her grip on Ranbou's hand. "God, I fuckin love the trick shows!"

"I know, baby girl."

Before the crowd stood four men, all of them distinct and well outfitted for the exhibition. Jun, Ayame's younger brother, and Bankotsu stood to one side, looking confident and strong, wearing identically cocky smirks. To the left stood two more men, of similiar heights and weights. The one closest to the crowd hosted a mane of vibrant yellow hair, the startling shade of a highlighter, with sky blue eyes peeking out beneath the fringe. His grin was contagious, full fanged and rather crazed, though he looked almost friendly; his clothing consisted of a white wifebeater and black camoflauge pants, several chains and braids decorating his buttons and pockets. Beside him stood a commanding person in all his splendor, tan arms crossed commandingly over his chest and cigarette letting off a winding trail of smoke. His hair, unlike his companions, was a nuclear cherry red, cut in a spiky buzz sprouting from his scalp like an out of control plant. His eyes were the shade of wet leaves and he wore similar clothes to his friend, with a black wifebeater and identical pants. These men were Tobi Skull and Benkan Bones, famed leaders of the Kyoto Jackrabbits.

Tobi and Benkan, more often called Skull and Bones, had grown up together in a dilapidated part of Sydney, Australia and, thusly, had learned to despise conformity and the constraints of government. Their parents were Japanese immigrants working in the fish business and were always poor, struggling to keep their families afloat until they could no longer fight the system. It was for this reason that, when Tobi and Benkan's families moved back to Japan when they were thirteen, they formed the Jackrabbits, a gang bent on disturbing the peace of "the man" and regaining respect for the working class. The lower class workers in Kyoto reverred the Jackrabbits as demi-Gods, glad that someone was finally acknowledging them and standing up to take a stand against the high class management. Skull and Bones were heroes in Kyoto. And Kami, did they love motorcycles. More importantly, they loved trick riding. And they were damn good at it.

"So what's the pool, Bank?" Tobi asked recklessly, long blonde hair escaping the confines of his headband and falling once more into his line of vision.

"Yeah, Bank, how much are you willing to lose?" Benkan challenged, grin mirroring that of his best friend.

Bankotsu only regarded the two men with a shining crimson stare, grin widening at the sight of his two rivals at long last. Jun narrowed his gaze at the two men for, however much he dearly loved their company, this was a competition and, to him, a war. He had dignity to make up for after his "shattering" fall two months prior. 47 pieces of bone in his arm screamed for vindication and, by god, Jun was going to give it to them.

As though reading his mind, Tobi glanced at Jun and his expression changed rather softly. "Oh yeah, mate, I heard about your fall; you alright then?"

Both Tobi and Benkan talked rather quickly and it made it difficult for most to understand. Jun, however, was quite used to Jackrabbit speak and only replied curtly, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"We'll find that out for sure today," Bankotsu said with a stiff smile, obviously challenging his protege to test his limits and prove his worth. Jun took Bankotsu's coldness in stride and nodded, deferring to his leaders position to begin the festivities. "Alright gentlemen, anything you'd like to do before we get started?"

"Well I'll say," Tobi interrupted, crossing his arms belligerently. "Only two teams competing? That's mad! Where's the others?"

Benkan smiled gently at his friend and began quietly, "Skull, if they don't have any more racers, then we-"

"Nothing doing, Bones, I want real competition!" Tobi exclaimed, blowing a wayward strand of blonde away from his vision. "I want a challenge!"

Ranbou glanced down at Shitora, who was watching the scene silently; despite her quiet, he couldn't miss the battle light in her eyes, that unbidden desire of hers to join in the war and fight to the death. He'd seen Shitora trick riding recently and he was fairly sure she'd improved ten fold since their childhood when, even then, she'd been no slouch. That day when she'd distracted the police, she'd jumped three cop cars from a stand still; the girl had skills.

"Here's your challenge, Skull!" Ranbou called, raising the hand he was clasping with Shitora's. Shitora wrenched her gaze away from the scene and stared wide eyed at Ranbou, mouthing something along the lines of what the hell are you doing?

Tobi turned his gaze away from his opponents and stared at Ranbou, face breaking out into a grin as soon as he recognized the familiar face. "Ranbou Ookami, you bastard! And... by god, is that Shitora Taisho!" The Jackrabbit walked distractedly away from the trick riding council and made a beeline for the couple, crazy grin firmly in place. "Fuck me! You're back!"

Shitora turned away from Ranbou and grinned at Tobi, hiding whatever discomfort she may have felt for the current circumstances. "Hell yeah I am. No hoity toity boarding school was about to make a lady out of me."

"You look lady like enough for me, love," Tobi purred, grinning like a cheshire cat.

A growl erupted from Ranbou's throat but he choked it back quickly, almost surprised by his own possessiveness. His irritation hadn't gone unnoticed and Tobi blinked, surprised, before turning his gaze to the wolf demon. "Is she yours then?"

Ranbou found himself scrutinized by several pairs of eyes but he simply set his jaw, replying proudly, "Damn right. She's my girl if that's what you mean."

"Bout fuckin' time, mate," Tobi laughed, blonde hair flying around like silken straw as he shook his head with mirth. "I swear..."

"Uh, Skull?" Benkan interrupted, crossing his arms and cocking one cherry red eyebrow. "We're kind of in the middle of something here..."

As if remembering it for the first time, Tobi nodded and looked bewilderdly down at Shitora, grinning all the while. "Well, you wanna ride with us love? See what you got?"

Shitora's gaze moved back and forth between Ranbou and Tobi, mouth opening and closing several times in an unsure gesture. Several people in the crowd began cheering her on, wanting to see one of the Taisho siblings in action for themselves. Many had heard the stories, but few had actually confirmed the rumors; to all those from outside of Tokyo, the Taishos were like an urban myth.

Ranbou offered Shitora a strong smile, winking one ice blue eyes in a comforting signal. Immediately, Shitora felt herself overcome with warmth and she grinned as well, staring fearlessly back at Tobi. "Hell yeah, I'm in."

Kagome sighed and leaned back in her chair, fanning herself with an old car magazine; the sun was at its zenith and the entire air base was suffering for it. Sesshomaru stood from the table where he'd just finished a few business agreements papers and stretched his sore back; he loved the business gained at Race Wars but hated the hours spent wilting away at a desk. Glancing over at Kagome, who was still staring into the distance with a look of longing, the Fang leader rolled his eyes and retrieved his jacket from a nearby chair.

"You know he didn't mean a word spoken, except when he expressed his over protectiveness," the dog demon mused, raising a delicate eyebrow.

Kagome only nodded blankly, turning her gaze to observe her mindlessly fidgeting hands. As Sesshomaru was leaving the tent, Akago and Gan came walking up deep in conversation about something, speaking in rapid, quiet tones. Sesshomaru stopped rather shortly and said, "The Exterior Events start in half an hour."

"Indeed they do," came Akago's reply.

With that, Sesshomaru continued on his way, leaving Akago and Gan alone with a gloom faced Kagome. Gan sighed and shrugged off his jacket, letting it fall to the back of a chair before taking a seat himself. "What did we do to the Gods that made them turn up the heater?" he murmured, violet eyes tired in the wake of the sun.

Kagome barely even glanced up as the two entered, eyes unfocused as she gazed off into the distance. Akago spared her a pitying look before shedding his shirt, sitting down to revel in his mounds of ever growing paperwork. Gan, however, frowned as he took a seat beside Kagome, observing her pretty features, blank with indecision and confusion. As far as Gan could tell, Inuyasha's words were a result of jealousy and misunderstanding of Kagome's intentions, which he obviously decided were dishonorable. But for him to be so cruel...Gan simply couldn't condone it. Besides that, what little remained of her female instincts cried out for her to sympathize with the girl. Gan had to do something.

"You know, Kagome, I was about to head over to the Exterior Events if you want to join me," Gan mentioned casually, violent eyes hopeful and wide.

Blinking slightly, Kagome glanced over at Gan as though noticing him for the first time. His prettily boyish features were questioning and smooth, bringing a smile to her face, though it never reached her eyes. "I don't even know what they are, Gan, but thank you."

"Well, they're little competitions besides the racing," Gan explained, as though Kagome had never refused at all. "Wrestling, gambling, even some shooting-'
"Which Gan should enter," Akago mumbled, never glancing up from his work.

Gan rolled his eyes plantively, murmuring, "Ignore him, too much time in the sun, I do believe. We should go watch, get you out and about."

At the word "shooting" Kagome's eyes gave a visible sparkle, but soon died with the wind. "Oh, that's okay. If I'm not going to enter, I shouldn't go."

"Well, I'm sure you could enter something," Gan said with a shrug, going through the numerous events, each which was more dangerous and appalling than the next. "Or, on second thought, maybe not...well, I suppose you can stay here then," he said, throwing up his hands in defeat.

As Gan stood and began to walk defeatedly away, Kagome felt something surge up within her, a longing to get out and do something to lift her spirits. Sure, Inuysha had basically demeaned her in front of a large crowd, thrown her to the curb, made her feel like less of a woman, but she wasn't going to sit idly by and let herself waste away on his acount. It would be far too pleasing for him, as she saw it, and she was in absolutely no mood to please Inuyasha in any way, shape or form.

"You know what, Gan?" Kagome called after him, voice stronge and confident. "I challenge you to the shooting contest."

Gan paused, glancing confusedly over his shoulder. "You challenge me to the what?"

"You heard me," Kagome replied with a grin, standing resolutely to her feet. "The shooting contest. You and I are entering the shooting contest and I'm gonna kick your ass."

Akago, though working and slightly out of tune, could make out the words "shooting contest" and "kick your ass" quite clearly. Now Akago had hoped Gan would succeed in his desire to cheer Kagome's heart, but he never dreamed that she would challenge Gan to a contest so suited for his nature. His name was Gan the "gun" for crying out loud.

"Kagome, with all due respect, I'm not sure if that's the most prudent of ideas," Akago intervened, removing his reading spectacles to clean the lenses.

But Kagome merely grinned like a fox, raising one saucy eyebrow in the Shark leader's direction. "You haven't even seen me shoot yet," she replied quietly. "I'll bring the gun if you bring the game."

Gan regarded the girl mildly for a moment, as though weighing his options. He'd never seen Kagome shoot but, since she was making her challenge with such a confident air, knowing he could shoot pennies from fifty feet out, she had a trump card somewhere up her sleeve. Besides that, Kagome was finally up and cheery, ready to leave her worries and emotions behind. How could he say no to her now?
"Well, that sounds fair," Gan replied, smiling kindly. "Grab your gun and meet me at the tents near the south side of the airport in ten. Hiten!"

At the sound of his name, Hiten whirled around, wiping an arm across his damp forehead. "Yeah?"

"Why don't you escort Kagome to retrieve her gun?"

Though Bankotsu looked mildly confused and Kagome looked thoroughly peeved, they both nodded and Hiten gave Kagome a brief smile before asking her where they should head towards. Kagome sighed, realizing the whole "don't go off without a chaperone, ladies," rule was still in play. Thusly, deciding not to argue, she began leading him towards Rin's car where she planned to retrieve the pistol.

Akago watched her go, observing Gan as he did the same, arms crossed and eyes narrowed. His lean form seemed thin enough to blow away in the nonexistent breeze as he stood there, bent rather gracefully to the side.

"You're going to massacre her," Akago mentioned, as though starting an everyday conversation.

"I don't think so," Gan murmured. "She knows I'm a reknowned shooter, she doesn't like to be embarrassed, as we saw today, so why would she challenge me without a background?"

Akago chuckled, replying, "Sharp as always, my friend. Well, I'm sure you'll have a good time all things aside. Which of your collection pieces do you plan to use?"

"Probably a colt," Gan mused, still watching Kagome in the distance as she and Hiten neared the car. "I wonder what she'll use?"

"Hopefully something smaller than a shot gun," Akago joked, only earning an eyeroll from his second in command. "Well, I think I'll abandon my paper work this time. This could prove quite interesting."

"Yes," Gan replied quietly. "I do believe it could."

"I was feeling all confident and shit until you showed up," Jun muttered under his breath, glaring vehemently in Shitora's direction. Just the irritation in his emerald green eyes was enough to make Shitora laugh aloud, though she restrained herself for the time being.

Smiling mildly, she only replied, "If your confidence is that shitty and you still practice four hours a day, I'm scared for you."

Tobi's face flitted momentarily, almost a smile, but he soon resumed his position as stern leader. Grinning maniacally, he turned to the competitors and said quietly, "Ok, let's give the bitches what they want, eh?"

Bankotsu smiled disarmingly, saying easily, "I'm running short on sex and beer, but I can always pull a flip turn."

Benkan chuckled, patting Bankotsu on the back in a brotherly sort of way. "I know that's right, Bank."

"So what do you say we play a friendly game of PIG, but with more elaborate terms?" Tobi interjected, flashing a cheshire smile. The others exchanged glances, crossing their arms and preparing for the man's obviously interesting idea. Satisfied with the attention he was receiving, Tobi continued blithely, "Alright. Well, someone pulls a trick and everyone else has to copy it. If you can't copy it, you're out, no questions asked."

"That's not really PIG, mate, that's follow the leader," Benkan reminded his friend mildly, green eyes twinkling with mirth.

But Tobi was rather miffed at the correction and scowled, replying stiffly, "Whatever the hell you want to call it, smartass, be my guest."

Shrugging, Benkan exchanged grins with Bankotsu, who gave him a friendly shoulder nudge. It wasn't but maybe thrice a year the Kyoto and Tokyo gangs interracted, but when they did, it was certainly a sight to behold. Strange hair colors, mixed demon parantage, old scandal, new scandal, old and new relationships intermingling...no one was ever quite sure what was going on between all the closed doors, open doors and bizarre sexual exploits. Perhaps that's what made in interesting.

"I'm in," Bankotsu said, shrugging easily.

"Me too," Jun replied, mouth set in a determined line.

"And me," Benkan chuckled.

All eyes turned to Shitora, as though expecting her to back out, but she only replied huffily, "Of course I'm in, I didn't even have to say nothin' for you to know."

Tobi grinned full fanged, blonde fringe intercepting his eyes for the umpteenth time. "Course we did, love. Alright then, who's gonna start?"

Glances passed between the group, as though daring each other to take the audacious step forward. Finally, Bankotsu turned his crimson eyes to Shitora, murmuring silkily, "Ladies first."

Shitora's face didn't falter, though her confidence gave a painful jolt. Glancing menially over her shoulder, the hanyou just barely managed to meet eyes with Ranbou, who offered her a full fanged grin, winking one ice blue eye in reassurance. A smile crept over her lips and, returning her now steady amber eyes to meet those of her competitors, she purred, "Don't mind if I do. 'Scuse me boys, I'm gonna show you how it's done."

To be continued...

Hey guys; I've been having a few troubles, as you read above, and I'm trying valliantly to get this chapter out. Here's half of it. I'll work on the other half, but this suspenseful little bit can tide you over for a while. So sorry!

KOLU