InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Race of The Heart ❯ Cold Beauty ( Chapter 2 )

Cold Beauty

Kagome lay exhausted on the track, her arms crossed over her eyes to block out the piercing brightness of the sun. The breeze cooled her heated skin; it had been a hot day and a very hard work out.

Sesshoumaru is going to be the death of me. She silently thought. It was true. He pushed her hard, harder than any of her previous coaches. But she was getting faster, she was becoming stronger and she knew it was all because of him.

She remembered the first day she had met him. She had shown up for the Track and Field auditions, not try-outs because everyone who came out made the team. They were auditions where the coaches tested each runner in various events to see where they would best fit. The head coach of the girl team, Coach Suzuki, had determined that she too far advanced to practice with the rest of the Varsity girls' team and that she would become the sole trainee of the boys Varsity assistant coach. At first she had been slightly worried that her new coach was merely a student, only a year older than herself she had been told. But Coach Suzuki had assured her that he was more than qualified.

So she had been more than ecstatic that she had made the Varsity team and had found a place where she belonged in the new high school, a place where she could excel, a place where she was judged not by her popularity but by her talent and her skill. She had been ecstatic until she had met him.

She had visibly paled when Coach Suzuki introduced her to the beautiful creature who was to become her coach. A long, hard, and lean body, a runner's body, magnetic golden eyes and silver hair that was hauntingly familiar.

Sesshoumaru, the Coach had said. Her new coach just had to be the other most popular guy in the school; he just had to be the brother, or was it half-brother? of the one person responsible for her misery. But there was something different about him, she recalled. Something about the calmness of his face, a stoic mask that refused to show emotion. There was something about the way he stood, silent and unmoving, power and strength radiating from his being. There was something about the coldness of his eyes that suggested a deep pain, a deep sorrow. This boy, this man, seemed to carry an air of maturity and understanding that belied his relatively young age. He was nothing like the immature and obnoxious Inu Yasha who plagued her daily. No, Sesshoumaru was different, she was sure of it, she was sure of it even before he opened his mouth to speak.

She had seen the way he looked at her as they were introduced; she had seen the look of disbelief flash in his eyes. He didn't believe that she was as skilled as Coach Suzuki said. She had seen that look many times, people often made the mistake of underestimating her, of misjudging her. She remembered the secret thrill that swept through her body when he looked up from the stop watch, clearly surprised by the time she had given.

And then he had opened his mouth, the deep and softly masculine tone that sent shivers up her spine. He had criticized her, had critiqued her form and then calmly sent her off to do a hellish workout on her first day of practice. It had only taken those few sentences for the beautiful image she had conjured of him to shatter. Indeed, he may have been almost the complete opposite of his younger half brother, but they both shared one common trait. Arrogance.

But she had done what she was told, and for a month he continued to criticize her, her knees weren't high enough, her head not straight enough, she wasn't pushing hard enough. There was always something wrong, he wanted perfection, demanded it and she was valiantly trying to deliver it, but she always fell short.

As much as she hated the inhuman demands he placed on her, she couldn't help but thank him, silently of course. She had shaved a good four-tenths of a second off of her time in practice, and she had done it in an extraordinarily short amount of time. She was ready for the meet in two days, the teams first official one of the season, she was ready and she was determined to show Sesshoumaru just what she was capable of, but right now she was exhausted.

"Stop being lazy Kagome and finish your cool down." She heard him say as a large shadow fell over her. He just had to interrupt her few moments of relaxation.

Kagome sat up and cast a furious glance up at the man who stood above her. "You try running 3 400's, 3 300's, and 3 200's in this heat." She yelled in exasperation. "Then you can tell me that I am being lazy Sess-hou-maru." She ended, emphasizing each syllable of his name. She smirked, he hated it when she did that.

He raised one elegant eyebrow at her statement and merely stared at her.

"I know, I know" She mumbled under her breath as she stood up and took off in a slow jog around the track. Her challenge had been completely pointless, she knew that. Sesshoumaru worked harder than any runner she knew. He was constantly training, constantly improving his technique, always studying and watching the best sprinters in the world, learning whatever he could from them. Sesshoumaru was a man truly dedicated to the sport. She was truly grateful that he even had the time to train her, but that didn't mean that she had enjoy his company or put up with his attitude.

Finishing the lap around the track, Kagome stopped beside her bag, and began the long process of stretching. She bent over and grabbed her foot, ignoring the pain in her calves and the whistles and jeers that came from the boys stretching behind her.

Really she thought some people just need to grow up.

She was momentarily distracted by the sight of Sesshoumaru standing in front of a set of starting blocks. Turning slightly so that she could see him better, Kagome continued with the pretext of stretching, but she was really watching him.

He was in the blocks now, head down, body still and poised on his finger tips, silently anticipating the crack of the gun. With a bang he leapt into action; the grace and power of his movements propelling him out of the blocks and down the track. His arms pumped furiously, in a steady rhythm, his eyes and his concentration fixated on only one thing, winning. The desire to win was evident in every move he made, every step he took, though he raced alone he still raced as if there was someone in the lane next to him. She has thought he was beautiful before, but watching him run, it always left her breathless. She wasn't the only one. Whenever Sesshoumaru took the track, everything stopped. It was if everyone knew that talent like his was rare and all stopped to watch him in awe and envy.

The moment he crossed the finish line she turned away, she refused to be caught staring like the other members of the track team, so she went back to stretching, pretending as if she didn't care.

Finally finishing her routine, Kagome put on a pair of sweats, picked up her bag, and walked over to Sesshoumaru, who was now also cooling down.

"I'm leaving Sesshoumaru."

"Tomorrow is a pre-meet day, no work out." He told her without looking up as he pulled his knee up to his chest.

Kagome's initial joy at the thought of n o work out was immediately destroyed by the words that came out his mouth next.

"But I want to work on your block work, you still aren't getting it right and the meet is only two days away. It would be extremely embarrassing for me if you fell on your face." He said, still not looking at her.

Kagome's hands balled into fists at her sides as a hot wave of fury swept through her. Everything was always about him. How she would embarrass him if she didn't perform well. Couldn't he ever say anything that was halfway nice pr encouraging? He couldn't even give her the day off to relax and prepare for her first meet, one that she was very nervous about. Didn't he know how much she prayed that she would do well? How much she hoped she would not screw up? Didn't he know how much she feared failing at the one thing she loved the most? No, instead he only cared about himself and what it would like for him if she failed.

"Embarrassing for you Sesshoumaru? You aren't the one running I am, so why don't you just focus on your own damn race and hope that you don't fall on your face!" She yelled, her angry outburst finally making him raise his head to look at her.

As she stood there, her chest rapidly rising and falling with fury, he calmly stood up and picked up his own bag and started walking off the track, completely ignoring the indignation of the girl behind him.

"I'll see you here tomorrow, Kagome" he shouted over his shoulder before disappearing completely.

Tempted to chase after him and pound that beautiful face until that cold mask of his cracked, Kagome whirled around and stalked off in the opposite direction. She was too furious to notice the solitary figure that watched her fuming and heated departure. She was too busy mumbling insults to see the slight curve of the lips of the man who had not smiled in a long time.