Competition, Chapter 2.

A/N: Okay. So this is the second chapter of my Competition fic. Theres no major development in this chapter, but I do set up some groundwork for the fic. Please have patience, and soon all this will start to make some sort of sense. Enjoy!

Sango finished washing her plate off, and she put it into the cupboard. She was thinking about calling up Ayame and inviting her over, but she wasn't sure how InuYasha and Kagome would like that. Not that there was any ill will between them and Ayame; there couldn't be. They had never met before.

Sango hummed softly to herself as she pulled out her phone, and walked into the living room. She started texting with her left hand, as she slapped her computer awake with her right. The computer came to life instantly, the screen coming on to reveal a beautiful black '09 CBR 600 RR as her desktop background. She smiled at it fondly; her newest savings project.

She quickly opened up iTunes, and turned her speakers up, clicking on Deadmau5. Cat on a Leash was up first, and she turned the speakers up even louder, so the music could be heard throughout the house.

Finishing her text, she snapped her phone shut and glanced at the clock. It was nearing 6:30, and she had absolutely nothing to do. She sighed, and flopped onto the couch, staring thoughtfully at her desktop background.

-_-_-

InuYasha stood up, and Kagome followed suit. She smiled at him thankfully, and he merely stared back at her before looking away. "Let's go." he said, his tone meant to be harsh, but somehow coming out too soft for his liking.

"Thanks InuYasha." Kagome said, looking at him sideways as he put his hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her forward. They had come to a nice, quiet restaurant a little ways out of town, and Kagome was surprised that InuYasha had agreed to come here. The place was filled with dates looking for a quiet meal, and Kagome was sure that InuYasha wasn't comfortable with the appearance he was presenting everyone else by taking her here.

InuYasha shook his head at her gratitude. "Maybe we'll do this again sometime." He said, surprising her.

Kagome stared at him in open surprise as he held the door open for her. "R-really?" She asked. InuYasha's eyes narrowed as he followed her through the door.

"Yeah, you gotta eat at least one good meal a month." He said. "God, I can't believe you actually eat your own cooking. I figure you should have something civilized every once in a while."

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Whatever, my cookings fine." She mumbled.

As she got closer to InuYasha's car, the pop-up headlights flipped up and flashed twice, as did both the turning signals, and the sound of the doors being unlocked was faintly heard.

As they both got into the car, she was surprised that it was so dark out.

"What time is it?" She asked. InuYasha started the car, and the dash clock flashed on. "Quarter to eight." he said.

Kagome hummed. "Wow, didn't know we were out that long." She said to herself. Before InuYasha could come up with a smart-ass reply, she cut him off. "Where to now?"

InuYasha shoulder-checked for traffic, then whipped out into the lane. He quickly accelerated, bringing the car up to within 600 RPM of redline before throwing the clutch in and harshly shifting to second. He rally shifted, giving the engine two quick shots of gas to keep the engine RPM close to redline before dropping the clutch, and the tires chirped slightly before regaining traction.

"We coul-" InuYasha was cut off as Kagome put a finger to his lips. "Shush." Was all she said. InuYasha stopped, and wondered what she was doing, as he pressed the pedal to the floor. The engine RPM climbed steadily, and this time he waited as long as he dared before shifting to third. On this rally shift, the tach touched the redline, before dropping fifteen hundred RPM as he dropped the clutch and engaged third.

Now well over the speed limit, InuYasha took his foot off the gas, and let the RPM as well as his speed slowly settle. A small smile came over Kagome's face, as she removed her fingers from InuYasha's lips.

"Damn, I love the sound of your car." She said softly. InuYasha laughed. "You'd better. That's a three hundred dollar Apexi exhaust back there."

Kagome smiled. "Anyway, what were you saying?" She asked.

InuYasha gently pressed the gas to hold the engine RPM at two grand, and looked at her. "I was gonna say that we could always go to Sango's. If you want. She has been texting us all night asking if we could come over."

Kagome nodded slowly. "We could..."

InuYasha glanced at her quickly, then looked back at the road. "She also wants to know if its okay if she invites over a friend we've never met before."

Kagome nodded. "I don't care, fine with me." She said. "Wanna go over there?"

InuYasha shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

Kagome nodded. "Alright, lets go!"

In response, InuYasha pressed the clutch to the floor, and downshifted into second. He raised the RPM to about forty-five hundred, so that the engine speed closer matched the output shaft speed, and dropped clutch. There was little clutch-slippage as the engine RPM shot up to meet the speed of the transmission; he had done this too many times before. This time, he was off by only a few hundred RPM.

The car swiftly accelerated forward, and InuYasha listened to the engine build RPM. Without taking his eyes off the road, he knew he was within 500 RPM of redline, and he rally shifted, flicking on his left blinker and pulling out into oncoming traffic. He held the pedal to the floor, and flew by the slower car that was obeying the speed limit. He stayed in the oncoming lane longer than he really should have, and when he could see Kagome figeting nervously in the passenger seat about the bright headlights in front of them that were only getting brighter, he flicked on his right blinker and flew back into the right lane.

He shifted into fourth, and the engine pitch dropped to a high growl, RPM hovering in the four thousand range. He had driven this road many times, and knew it very well, but since it was night and he was outside of town, he wasn't risking another full-speed upshift and going any faster than 110.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kagome glance at him.

"How long have you had your licence InuYasha?" She asked.

InuYasha shrugged. "Four years."

Kagome's eyebrow raised. "You got your licence when you were fourteen?" She asked.

"Learners." InuYasha corrected.

"Oh."

InuYasha nodded, and shifted into fifth, to ease his gas consumption and lessen the strain on his engine. The exhaust note abruptly dropped into a soft hum.

InuYasha pulled out his phone, and flipped it open. He started texting, when he heard Kagome's gasp. He swiftly looked up at the road, and, seeing nothing alarming, looked at her. His feet had flown to the clutch and brake, ready to slam both down at a seconds notice, but now he removed them and returned his foot to the gas.

"What?" He asked puzzled.

"Your texting while driving?" She asked.

InuYasha nodded. "Yeah, so?"

"Isn't that dangerous?"

InuYasha shrugged. "I do it all the time, who cares?"

Kagome glared at him. "I CARE!" She said.

InuYasha snorted. "Fine," he said, tossing his phone to her. "Text Sango and tell her we're five minutes away."

Kagome glared at him a second longer, then picked up his phone and did as he asked. When she finished, she put his phone in the glove box, making him roll his eyes.

"You'll get it back when we stop in Sango's driveway." She said firmly.

InuYasha nodded. "Yes Ma'am."

A few minutes later, and InuYasha slowed slightly, throwing his car into neutral and coasting the next few hundred feet. The turn off to Sango's was a little hard to find in the dark, but he knew where it was. Once the turn-off was upon him, he braked hard and threw his car around the right-hand corner. His front wheels slipped for a second on the gravel, his car plowing forward a few feet, before they caught and the vehicle turned sharply. InuYasha threw a quick glance at the speedometer, and saw that it read 45. He threw the gear-shift into second and dropped clutch. His front wheels gained traction immediately, and his car accelerated down the access road. Sango didn't live too far down the road, and he didn't bother flicking on his left blinker before cutting the wheel to the right and turning onto her dirt and gravel driveway. He downshifted into first and idled down her drive, before stopping behind her car. Her driveway was on a slight incline, and he wondered for a second if his worn E-brake could hold his car. He ripped the E-brake, and held the clutch in, releasing the brake. Slowly, his car began to roll backward, and he sighed. He would have to get that fixed. He shut off his engine, put the E-brake down, and released the clutch. As he let go of the brake, the transmission still in first, the car rolled slightly before the gears bit and the car rocked to a stop. He grinned, and got out.

"Let's go Kagome. Grab my phone, would ya?"

"Sure." She reached into the glove box, and grabbed his phone, before getting out and shutting his door. They walked up to Sango's front door, and knocked on it loudly. A few seconds later, and they heard a series of small, rapid thumps, followed by one loud thump and a cry of pain. A few seconds later, and the door opened, a wincing Sango greeting them.

InuYasha bit back a laugh, as Kagome looked at her worriedly.

"Sango are you alright? What happened?"

Sango limped back out of the way, and let them in. "Well," She said, as she closed the door. "I heard the knocking on the door and I was upstairs, so I ran down the stairs to get it, slipped on the third last step and fell down the stairs." She said.

At this, InuYasha burst out laughing, unable to contain himself any longer. Sango grimaced as she slapped his shoulder, while Kagome merely shook her head and gave her a hug.

"So how are you?" Kagome asked. Sango shrugged. "Sorta bored all day." She said. "How about you?"

kagome returned the shrug. "Enjoying my two days off before I start work again. Monday to Friday."

Sango hummed. "Well, it IS a Friday night, what do you guys want to do?"

InuYasha looked at Sango with a smirk on his face. "Got any liquor?" He asked.

Sango's eyes narrowed. "If we drink, you guys all gotta stay the night. No leaving." She said. They both nodded, and Sango relaxed. "Okay. What do you guys want?"

InuYasha hummed. "Got vodka?" He asked. Sango rolled her eyes. "When do I NOT have vodka?" She asked. "Crystal Skull or Smirnoff?"

InuYasha humed. "Ooh, tough one. I love Smirnoff, but....Crystal Skull it is." He said. Sango turned to Kagome. "You?"

Kagome looked at her friend hopefully. "Got any Malibu Coconut?" She asked. Sango made a face. "No, yuck. I swear your the only person who likes drinking that stuff, especially straight."
Kagome hummed. "Okay, then do you have Smirnoff coolers?"

InuYasha laughed at her choice of drink, and she shot him a look. Sango nodded. "Yeah, any particular flavor?"

Kagome shook her head. "Surprise me."

Sango pointed to the couch, and nodded. "Make yourselves at home, my friend will be here in a few minutes."

Sango turned and headed toward the basement, pulling out her phone as she went. She had to text Ayame and tell her to bring her own booze. She knew what Ayame liked to drink, and she didn't have it.

Sango chuckled as she got the requested drinks out of the freezer and fridge. Ayame was shy, withdrawn, easily embarrassed....until she started drinking. Boy, were those two upstairs ever in for a surprise.

As she carried the drinks up the stairs, she felt her phone vibrate. She ignored it until she set the drinks down in front of InuYasha and Kagome, then pulled out her phone. It was Ayame.

Hey, sure thing. Are we drinking alone tonight or do you have company?

Sango quickly told her about her other two friends, and promised her that they would be nice.

InuYasha and Kagome had drank at Sango's house enough times that they knew where everything was, and InuYasha got up to go to the kitchen.

"I'm grabbing four shot glasses," He warned. "And nobody is backing out tonight."

Sango laughed, and sat down next to Kagome.

"So, are you still single?" Sango asked jokingly. Kagome rolled her eyes. "You mean, did I get a boyfriend in the time since you asked me that last night? The answer would be no." She said.

Sango laughed. "Jeez Kagome, are you gonna be single for the rest of your life?"

Kagome shook her head. "No....I'm just waiting for the right person to come along." She said.

Sango was about to reply, but InuYasha had returned with four small shot glasses. He set them on the table, and lined them up next to each other, rims touching.

"Okay, we'll wait for your friend to get here, make the appropriate introductions, and start the night off with a straight vodka shot. Agreed?" He looked around the table, and they all nodded.

Kagome wasn't sure why, but she was unusually eager to drink tonight. Judging by the expression on Sango's face, she was too.

InuYasha always had that effect on people though. When you were near him, you felt the urge to just relax and have fun, like he did. Not to mention InuYasha was a hilarious drunk.

No sooner had Sango whipped open her phone to see where Ayame was, then they heard a knock at the door. Sango didn't bother to get it; a second later, the door opened and a girl walked in.

InuYasha turned to see who was walking in, and his eyes widened. He didn't know who was coming over, but he sure wasn't expecting this...very pretty girl. He gave her the once-over, nodding to himself in approval. Her long dark red hair was up in two ponytails, one on either side of her head. Her large green eyes were exceptionally beautiful, and her clean, pure skin was very attractive. She was wearing a pure white T-shirt, tight fitting and hugging her body, and her black bra was almost visible beneath it. Her faded light blue jeans were ripped and torn in several places, each one of them revealing an attractive and tantalizing piece of skin. She wore no socks, and kicked off her black Circa's with ease, slowly making her way over to the group already at the table. She carried a plastic bag in her hand, which she put down on the glass table. InuYasha noticed that she had determinedly kept her eyes only on Sango, a light blush already forming on her cheeks.

"Hey Ayame, come join the group." Sango said. Ayame nodded, and Kagome slid over so that Ayame could sit beside Sango, the only person she knew.

Ayame nodded her thanks, and sat beside Sango, staring at the table.

Sango smiled at her friends shy behavior, and knew that it was going to change drastically, very soon.

"Ayame, this is InuYasha. InuYasha, Ayame." Ayame looked up to catch InuYasha's gaze, and he nodded to her. She nodded in return, and returned her gaze to the table.

"Ayame, this is my friend Kagome. Kagome, meet Ayame." Ayame looked up again to catch Kagome's gaze, and this time Ayame managed a soft, "Hello." Her voice was beautiful.

InuYasha took it upon himself to get this party started; he knew if he didn't, no one else would. He pointed to the shot glasses lined up beside each other.

"Hey, Ayame, I don't know what you like to drink, but if it's okay with you, we're gonna start off with a straight vodka shot, okay?"

Ayame, her arms folded across her stomach, looked up at him and nodded.

InuYasha, glad that she had agreed, picked up the Crystal Skull and removed the top. He began pouring it into the shot glasses, moving the stream across the shot glasses. He had done this many times before, and he didn't spill a drop. He filled the shot glasses almost to the brim, and Kagome groaned.

"InuYasha, are you trying to kill us?"

InuYasha grinned. "Don't even worry, Kid. This is just the beginning."

Sango rolled her eyes, and got up. Everyone else followed her lead, even InuYasha. He got up from where he was kneeling on the carpet, and took one of the glasses in his hand.

"Ready?" He asked. They all picked up glasses carefully, and nodded.

InuYasha looked around at the three people standing around him, and grinned. "GO!"

Before he was even finished saying it, Ayame had raised the shot to her lips and swallowed it in one gulp. Sango and Kagome matched InuYasha, finishing a second after Ayame.

InuYasha set his glass down on the table, and straightened up, a smirk on his face. "Okay, first off, let's get some music going on here. Any favorite genres, so I know what to work with?"

Sango laughed. "Anything pretty much. Death metal, electronica, trance, techno, rap, rock, you name it. Pretty much, if its on my iTunes, I like it."

Ayame shrugged. "I can live with that." She said.

InuYasha turned to Kagome. "Kagome?" He asked. Kagome bit her lip, wishing it wasn't up to her.

"Uhh...wanna start off with God Module?" She asked. A grin spread over InuYasha's face, and he nodded. "Nice choice. Seems your taste in music is getting better!"

Kagome smiled, and reached out for one of her coolers. InuYasha saw it, and glared at her. "Don't you dare, we aren't done yet!" With his warning issued, he walked over to the computer. Sango had a bit of a technologic side, and her computer was a mammoth. It had a 500 GB hard drive, 1 TB external hard drive, 4 GB of RAM, the best audio and video cards, wireless and ethernet connection, and it was linked directly to the other two computers in the house, one being a desktop and the other being a laptop, via wireless.

InuYasha quickly brought up God Module, and let it play over the speakers. He turned it up just a bit, then sauntered back over, grinning at the girls.

"Now," He said. "The next part of this is really simple. Whatever drink you are drinking for the rest of the night, or whatever-" He turned to Kagome, "Kagome, for example, has her coolers, Ayame has whatever she brought, Sango has her drink, and I have mine. We are going to take one FULL drink and chug it. No exceptions. After this, then we can slow down for a bit, before we pick up the pace again." He said.

Everyone around him nodded, and Kagome picked up her cooler again.

InuYasha jumped up, ran into the kitchen, and returned with two glasses and a 2 litre of Pepsi. He set them down on the table, then grabbed his vodka. He poured some into his glass, filling it halfway up. Kagome's eyes widened at that, while Sango merely laughed. InuYasha then filled the rest of the glass with Pepsi. He brought the glass to his nose and sniffed appreciatively.

"Ahh...fifty-fifty mix. Is there anything better in the world?"

Kagome wrinkled her nose, and this earned another laugh from Sango.

InuYasha then set his cup down, and turned to Ayame. "What did you bring?" He asked. Grinning for the first time, she reached into her plastic bag, and withdrew seven cans of Rockstar-Vodka. It was a Rockstar energy drink, but with 6.9% vodka in it. InuYasha eyed the tall cans appreciatively, then nodded.

"Sango?"

Sango grabbed the other glass and set it in front of her. She then grabbed the dark green bottle of Jagermeister from the table, and poured half a glass for herself, matching InuYasha. She then reached for the Pepsi, to mix her drink with.

InuYasha smirked as he got an idea, and Sango was pretty sure that everyone would be doing Jager-bombs later on tonight.

"Kagome?" He turned to her. Kagome raised her cooler.

InuYasha nodded. "Okay, this is a straight chug, no stopping until your completely finished." He said. "Ready?"

They nodded, and InuYasha brought his glass closer.

"Aaand...GO!"

InuYasha raised the glass to his lips and started chugging, feeling the vodka burning his throat as it went down.

InuYasha was surprised when Ayame slammed down her empty can first; he was usually the fastest chugger. He set down his empty cup, followed a few seconds later by Sango.

Then they both turned to look at Kagome, who easily had more than half of her cooler left, and was trying valiantly to catch up.

InuYasha laughed, but cheered her on, telling her she couldn't stop until she was finished. Finally, she set her bottle down, a light blush on her cheeks from being so slow.

InuYasha cleared his throat, then rocked back onto his bum, kicking his legs out in front of him.

"Whoa, I'm feeling it now." He said, blinking a few times.

Ayame nodded. "Yeah, I'm feeling a little bit of it."

Kagome nodded, then squeezed her eyes closed. "Bad idea..." She mumbled.

InuYasha laughed. "Oh, we are far from done." He said.

"Everybody get another drink, only this one is just for sipping on. For now."

Kagome and Ayame each opened another drink, while Sango and InuYasha mixed another one, same strength.

InuYasha was the first to open up the conversation.

"So, Ayame," He said, taking a gulp from his cup. "Tell us about yourself."

Ayame leaned back on the couch and stared at the silver-haired hanyou on the floor. Kagome was to her left on the couch, and Sango on her right.

"Well, my name is Ayame, obviously, I'm seventeen, but not for much longer. I live down the road from Sango, on an acerage just like hers, in a big house much like hers. I like to go off-roading, I own two ATV's and a dirtbike. I actually drove my dirtbike here." She said. "But uh...yeah. I don't have my own car yet, but I'm trying to fix that situation." She said.

InuYasha nodded, and raised his glass to her. "We will have to go off-roading sometime."

Ayame nodded, and InuYasha tilted his glass up, draining the whole thing in a single gulp.

InuYasha set his cup down on the glass table, and set about making another drink, this time making it only slightly weaker. As he was screwing the cap back on the Pepsi, Ayame set down another empty can, and opened her third.

InuYasha looked at her, and grinned. "Wow, someone's in it to win it." He said teasingly. Ayame laughed. "Not as much as you are, apparently."

InuYasha grinned, then grabbed the Crystal Skull and took a swig of straight vodka.

"Damn right." He said. Kagome opened her second cooler and took a sip, knowing that she would have to keep the slow pace or the next time she stood up, she would go for a trip.

InuYasha smirked as he saw Kagome opening her second cooler. "Well, as it stands, me and Ayame are a drink ahead of everybody else. Hurry." He said to Kagome and Sango. "Chug it. Catch up."

Sango sighed, but she was game. Upending her glass, she swiftly chugged what was left of it, before setting her glass down on the table.

"Your turn Kagome."

Kagome hesitated for a second, and looked at InuYasha. He shrugged. "Fuck it, just get smashed out of your face tonight."

Kagome thought about it, then decided it wasn't that bad of an idea. She too began chugging her drink, and at the end of it, she could feel herself starting to get pretty tipsy. And she wasn't even standing yet. Dear Lord.

Kagome and Sango got another drink, and now they were all even again. Suddenly, InuYasha stood up, swaying slightly for a second before he regained his balance.

"Grab your drinks, we're going for a walk." He said. The three girls looked up at him questioningly, then saw that he was completely serious. They stood slowly, getting a feel for their drunkeness levels, as InuYasha made another drink. Once they were ready, they wandered over to the door, where they all slipped on their shoes. It was now nearing ten at night, and it was a bit nippy out, but none of them noticed.

"Where are we going, InuYasha?" Ayame asked, jumping off the front steps, then staggering into InuYasha. She clung onto his arm for a second, before she regained her balance. Once she did though, she didn't move away from him.

"Don't matter." He said. "We just gonna walk around and see whats what. Plus, its fun to walk around in the dark. Drunken walks are the best!" He exclaimed. "Although, their a little bit funner in the city. More shit to fuck around with."

Ayame giggled, as Sango and Kagome exited the house. Kagome had put her sweater back on, and Sango had grabbed a black sweater from her closet. Seeing them put clothes on confused InuYasha, and Ayame watched as he looked at them, then down at himself, then them again.

He then looked at Ayame with a confused look on his face.

"Wait, why the fuck am I wearing a shirt?" He asked, reaching down and grabbing the hem of his tight black shirt. He lifted it up over his head, and dropped it on the steps. "Fucking shirt. Knew I was doing something wrong." He said. "I'm not supposed to be wearing you!"

Ayame giggled, then shivered. "Well hey, if you don't want it, don't mind if I do!" She said loudly, bending over and picking his shirt up off the steps. As she straightened up, she staggered back a few steps, bumping into InuYasha.

"Oops, sorry!" She said. InuYasha laughed. "It's okay, you didn't spill my drank, so its all good." He said. Ayame turned around and slipped his shirt over her head, before looking at him confused.

"Drank?" She asked.

InuYasha nodded. "This has ceased to become a 'drink.' Now that I am thoroughly intoxicated, this is now my 'drank.'"

Ayame nodded slowly. "Yeaaa-No, I don't get it." She said. "But oh well, lets go for a walk!" Ayame quickly drank what was left in her can, before tossing it onto the deck. Sango was too drunk to care at the moment, and she put her arm around Kagome's shoulder. "Let's go!" She said. "Wonder what my backyard is like at night, anyway?"

The four walked around Sango's house, finding the trail that led into the thick woods of her backyard. As they walked down the trail, laughing and giggling, Ayame slipped closer and closer to InuYasha. She wasn't making physical contact with him yet; she was merely walking by his side, staying close to him as they walked through the pitch-black woods. Sango and Kagome could barely see, and kept stumbling, laughing hysterically as they did.

The exploration lasted for an two and a half hours. They had gotten lost multiple times, couldn't remember what path they had taken, or where Sango's house was, and InuYasha eventually had to find their way back home for all of them. As they stumbled through the doorway, InuYasha quickly pushed toward the table that held all the alcohol.

"Another drink for everyone!" He called out, earning cheers from the three girls. "And this time, chug, followed by a shot of vodka!!"

A/N: Ahh God....gotta love consuming alcoholic beverages. It's always epic as fuck. Annnyway, another character has been introduced, and I've set up part of the plot. For those unsure of whats really going on right now, don't worry, it will sort itself out as updates come. Right now I've just set up a little conflict of interest, and the dramaz are about to ensue. Please read and review!