InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Standing Down ❯ off to the races ( Chapter 4 )

During the street racing scene, just imagine something similar to The Fast and the Furious, but out in the middle of the desert and with motorcycles. Anyway, here goes.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inu Yasha & Co., Kawasaki, Yamaha, Indian, or Honda.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

After the group had finished lunch, they rode back to school the legal way and resumed classes. Kagome walked through the halls to her next class, American History. As if she cared about this ignorant, self-absorbed country's past. She could not have cared less about America, and as soon as it was legal, she would be flying back to Tokyo so that she could start her life the way she wanted to. Luckily, this was one of two classes she did not have with Inu Yasha. Although, she had to admit he was rather attractive... Her eyes shut tight with disgust. `No,' she reminded herself, `he is positively repulsive, particularly when he opens his mouth.'

`Oh, please. He looked hot on that Kawasaki and you know it.' Her conscience butted in. Kagome promptly shook her head to dispel any oncoming images.

She walked into room C105 and took a seat, wondering just how she should pass the time. Her teacher was a stout brunette with short hair, and Kagome could have sworn the woman was insane. Her name was Mrs. Walsh. Kagome found it very hard to concentrate on anything the teacher was saying - something about Boston. Eventually she came to the part about having a new student. Kagome raised her hand at the right moment and then began to daydreaming. When at last the bell rang, she escaped the stuffy room as quickly as she could. She made her way out to the soft ball field, work-out clothes in hand, and walked up to the coach. She was a squatty white-haired woman with a large nose and piercing blue eyes, one of which was covered by a patch.

"You the new kid?" She blew a bubble with her gum.

"Yes Ma'am."

"Goody. You're sharing a locker with Kikyou what's-her-face, you'll know her when you see her. Do you have your clothes?" Kagome nodded. "Wonderful. Dress-out and get your butt on the field."

Kagome found Kikyou in the locker room and was unnerved at the resemblance between them. She began to change without a word, ignoring the inevitable locker room chatter. She walked out with a pair of gray sweat shorts and a gray, green and navy plaid tank top on. The positions had yet to be decided, as it was only the second week of school, and so the only things to do were exercises and experimental games in which the players rotated positions to see which one they liked best. Kagome already knew she would be trying out for pitcher, the position she had played at her old school. She ran onto the field after completing several sets of push-ups as well as crunches and stretches.

A few guys on the baseball team whistled at the girls as the softball team took their temporary positions, much to the annoyance of both coaches. Practice was nothing unusual, just a few test innings while the players rotated positions. It was over before Kagome knew it.

"Great practice, girls, now get out of my sight!" Coach Hart yelled. Then, quieter, she added, "Higurashi, c'mere."

Kagome made her way to the old woman, who was presently seating herself on the bleachers. "Ma'am?"

The coach leaned in so only they two could hear. "You played pitcher at your old school, right?" Kagome nodded. "From what I was told, you're pretty talented. Ever practiced by yourself?"

Kagome shook her head, "I never really needed to. The rest of the team wasn't all that good, so I didn't have to try hard to keep up with them."

"I suspected as much. Kikyou played pitcher for us last year, and she's good, maybe better than you were." Kagome frowned at that. "If you want to take it from her, you're gonna have to practice at home. D'you have any catcher friends?" She nodded. "Great. What you need to do is get a catcher out in the backyard and pitch to `em for `bout an hour a day. Now I know it doesn't sound too hard, but you're gonna be better than you ever thought you could be by the end a' next Tuesday." Kagome shared a laugh with the old woman, glad to know that her coach could be her friend off the field.

"Thanks coach." She started toward the locker rooms.

"Call me Kaede when we're off the field, hm?"

Kagome nodded, smiling, and ran off to change.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"Inu Yasha, just come!" Kagome begged the phone. "Because I said you should? Oh, please...whatever, that has got to be the lamest excuse since `my dog ate it.' Fine, don't come...well it's not like I'll miss you, but a TON of chicks are going to be there, and most of them are hotter than me." Kagome glanced at the clock. "They'll be starting in less than an hour, so make up your mind. Look, Sango said you should come, so you're coming. I'll be at your house in fifteen minutes, you baby!" Kagome hung up the phone and stomped off to the bathroom, leaving a curious Kristine in the living room.

She wiped her face with a hot, damp rag and rinsed it with cool water. Kagome then went into her room and rifled through her closet to find some decent clothes. She finally found a pair of red leather pants, as well as her black leather racing jacket. She dug up an unbelievably low-cut pink tank-top, dressed as fast as she could and all but flew down the hall. Kagome grabbed her keys off the bar and found her favorite black lace-up boots sitting by the door. Once she had them on and tied up, she walked outside and shut the door behind her.

Kagome started her bike and pulled out of the driveway, trying to remember the way to Inu Yasha's house. She started out as if going to the school, but turned left at the light just before Centennial became residential. She turned left again at Azure Drive and slowly cruised down the street until she spotted a blood-red Ninja, revving and waiting with a white-haired teen straddling it.

A breeze blew past them, just strong enough to lift Inu Yasha's gorgeous white hair from his shoulders. It rose and fell with the gentle wind and then settled back on his square shoulders in the most surprisingly elegant way. He sat with one hand on the throttle and the other splayed innocently across his left leg, his head turned to the side and his eyes distant, as if in deep thought. He wore a black Led Zeppelin shirt, which was just tight enough to stretch over and cling to his well-developed chest in the most enticing way, with worn-in jeans and black riding boots.

Kagome slowed to a stop and let the engine purr, its strangely sensual `hum' lulling her into a dreamlike state of mind. She freed her thoughts to focus on the exceptionally tempting Inu Yasha and the way the moonlight seemed to concentrate around him, the way he sat on his bike as if the world were his. Her gaze drifted from his freely flowing hair to the silhouette of his face against the moon's glow, from his muscular chest to the way his hand spread across the inside of his thigh, and she wondered what it would be like to touch him just a little further up. Kagome's hand twitched with the thought of it, letting just a bit more gas into the engine. A little more gas, a bigger explosion, all four cylinders pumping a bit faster, a little harder; a louder `pop' every time the engine turned. Inu Yasha had heard it. She didn't know how - it was such a miniscule change that she would never have noticed - but he had.

His head whipped to the source of the noise, which just happened to be a bike idling a brief distance away, with a very flustered - and flushed - Kagome sitting atop. He wondered briefly at her nervous state before speaking. "You're late."

"I wasn't until -" `Until I decided to stare at you until you might as well have had no clothes on.' "- I was temporarily distracted."

"Traffic?"

"Something like that." Kagome ran her unoccupied hand through her hair, just to have something to do. `Traffic isn't nearly as fun to watch.' She blinked a few times in a feeble effort to clear her perverted mind. "Shall we?"

"Why not?" Inu Yasha brought his left hand to the clutch and revved his engine. "You lead the way."

Kagome nodded and turned around in the street, dispelling any remaining comments her conscience might have made. She took two rights and followed Centennial until they came to a light, and then turned left. She turned left again on Jones and took it for about twelve miles, until it faded into nothing but a gravel road. She slowed considerably and rode west until they came to two `dead end' traffic barrels, which were flashing orange and white lights at them. Past the blocks, a lengthy paved road could be seen. It stretched a fair distance into the untamed desert, and the roar of engines could be heard along with the visible glow of headlights in the distance.

Kagome led Inu Yasha forward through a gap between two barrels and the pavement was a welcome change after a quarter mile of gravel. They rode fast and light across the open expanse of road for several minutes, and finally Kagome saw Sango amidst a large group of student-aged bikers. Kagome backed into a space beside Sango's, and Inu Yasha parked by Kagome's Honda. Sango had a Kawasaki Ninja similar to Inu Yasha's, painted metallic blue with several Kawasaki decals. She was wearing black jeans, which had hot pink leather sewn onto the insides of the legs, and a black button-up shirt. She smirked at him and turned around to talk to Kagome.

"Ten minutes `til the first race."

Kagome turned toward Sango and leaned against her cooling bike. "Who's entering?"

"Kouga and some other ass," Sango pointed to a chalk-drawn start line, about twenty feet up the road, at which sat two idling Indian cruisers. (A/N: I don't know what the technical term is, but cruisers, to me, are the Harley Davidson types that are usually used for poker runs and distance riding, not racing, and usually belong to experienced riders with tattoos and bandanas, not high school students. But this is my story so you'll just have to deal with it.)

Kouga sat atop a Scout, with the other racer on a Spirit. They waited patiently for the starter's arm to fall. As soon as it fell, Kouga gunned the engine while the other racer accelerated slowly, giving up instant speed for a distance advantage and traction. In the end, Kouga lost by a little less than a second, and Sango was anxious to see who had beaten Kouga. Upon removing his helmet, a sweaty Hojo was found sitting astride the cooling Indian.

Kagome, for her part, was shocked. She leaned closer to Sango and whispered, "Hobo has a bike?"

Sango shrugged and leaned in front of Kagome to challenge Inu Yasha. He agreed, and the two of them walked to a body-builder that stood just behind the starting line. He nodded as the two racers walked back to retrieve their Kawasaki's. Inu Yasha was laughing arrogantly.

"You know you're going to lose, do you not?" Kagome leaned back to get a better view as he bent over to switch his fuel back on, but quickly straightened when he stood back up.

"There's no way she can. She's riding with the same engine and my frame's smaller."

Kagome smirked, "If you say so..."

He frowned... `That's definitely not a good look on her face' "What do mean by that?"

"Nothing, it's just...I'll tell you later."

Inu Yasha gave a departing `feh' and mounted his bike, as did Sango, and they were soon behind the starting line. Both started at the same time, and smoke filled the air as well as the ominous smell of burnt rubber. Inu Yasha got the better start - his frame was smaller and therefore more aerodynamic. However, Sango soon caught up to him and while she was riding next him she smiled and waved as sweetly as she could. Just then her engine fully kicked in, and she rocketed past him toward the finish. He was dumbfounded, and with good reason. Kagome was waiting for him with a huge smirk on her face.

"What's so funny, bitch?" He wiped the sweat off his forehead and put his kickstand down.

"Dramatic irony, my friend," Kagome leaned against her bike and smiled innocently at him.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that Sango has a Kawasaki Ninja, just like yours, but hers has 1200 cc's where yours only has 1000." Inu Yasha looked thunderstruck. Kagome sighed and simplified it for him. "She has a 12r, smart one. You have the 10r." He growled and sat absent-mindedly against his bike. "I can't believe you didn't notice, it's written right there on the side."

"Thanks for the comfort." He narrowed his eyes at the starting line. "What's he doing here...?"

Kagome turned and saw who he was looking at. "Who, Sesshou?"

Inu Yasha looked back at her with surprise. "You know my brother?"

"Yeah, he was a senior at my old high school when I was a freshman. He had a fan club, I believe. A lot of people think he's gay." Inu Yasha snorted at that. "What?" The girl asked.

"He's not gay, just arrogant."

"Really..." Kagome stared thoughtfully at the white-haired college guy, vaguely amused at the attention he was receiving from several catty women. "I never would have suspected." She grinned sarcastically at him and wondered, `but who would challenge him? No one's beaten him in years...'

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Well, that's it for now... I'll have the next chapter up right after this one, so I'll see you guys soon! And don't forget to review…I'm thinking of throwing some Yu Yu Hakusho characters in later. Whatcha' think, hm?