Heavy labored breathing bursted out of her mouth, while beads of sweat slid down over Kagome's eyes. She quickly wiped them with the back of her fore arm. 'Must keep

running!' Her feet cried out with pain and a stinging sensation hit her stomach. A side ache developed, she drew an arm over to clutch herself. She still had a long way to run and the

black pavement went on ever longer. It appeared to go on for miles instead of continuing in a large oval. The air escaped her for a brief second, Kagome heaved in a quickly

crackly breath.

Slowly her legs became a jog and then even slower into a walk. She zoomed out of lane one and went into lane six. Kagome put her arms over her head, for some reason that

was supposed to help. She still had one lap after this. A runner passed by her with ease and began speeding up. She envied their energy. Her dark locks flew into her eyes and out

of agitation she brushed them away from her face. More people kept passing her but the ache from her side hadn't subsided.

Kagome never had a high endurance for running or for pain. The very ground she walked upon, felt like melting rubber sucking her feet downward and only with much effort

was she able to pull them out of their confinement. Behind her the sun was setting across the soccer field. The sky created a lovely tapestry of many shades of pink, purple, orange,

and a light tint of red that was slightly darker than the pink. Sighing she willed her legs to move in a slight jog before they failed her once again. Trying again she sprinted tearing at

the earth's gravity to shreds, her heart beat pulsated on her forehead, into her feet and there was even some minor traces of it in her ears. It pained her all the more as they began to

feel like they were exploding at the same time.

Tears swelled in the crevices of her eyes, droplets stung as they fell. Teetering on the brink of total collapse and gravity making itself more aware of her presence she pushed

herself forward. The other inhabitants were on their last lap right behind her, or they had already finished. When she crossed the starting line Kagome was in disbelief of how far

behind she was compared to everybody else. Oddly enough she scoped her surroundings to see that all other cross-country members had finished.

Granted that walking wasn't the best idea that popped into Kagome's mind but boy did she want to walk. The others had apparently decided not to wait for her because they all

headed back to the school to get changed without her. Not that any of them would take the time to wait for her. She held no such promises or ties with any of these people. It

wasn't that couldn't talk and befriend people, but it was that she never was compelled to do so.

Cross-country was mostly not very sociable event. Not like it was when she was in middle school. She had plenty of friends, and when she fell behind as she always had,

someone would wait for her. It wasn't important in her opinion if she crossed the finish line she was happy even though she was always last. Not in an appeased way but semi

satisfied way that she could finish. Giving her the question, to which was the glass half empty of half full? Whichever way she looked at it the glass still was missing a portion of it,

and empty space if you will.

'Almost there!' She lied to herself trying to put all her aches and pains into an imaginary triangle, turning the pain into a green light slowly filling up the triangle. A form of

meditation she had learned in her tai chi lessons, letting the green light enter her body and travel down her body. Granted that it would work more likely if she were sitting down,

and not moving.

Kagome's eyes closed, she felt her body being pulled closer and closer into the grassy football field that the track encircled. Taking in another sharp breath she opened her eyes

almost feeling faint. She had about only one hundred more feet to go, but each step her heart bled into her feet. The sun had just about disappeared behind the line of trees at the

bottom of the hill. She was alone outside now. Kagome passed the football goal post and was rounding the bleachers. If she kept her pace she would reach the locker room fairly

soon. She slowly ran to the finish line. That's when she halted to catch her breath, but it was like trying to catch a fish with an ice cube. Not gonna happen.

Kagome raced through the boxed in fence, and the hill that delayed her. The hill was egging her on, 'Fall backwards! Give up! No way your gonna make it!' Nevertheless she

made it up the hill to the gym doors. Kagome found someone took pity on her and left a stick in the door so it wouldn't lock her out. 'Gee how kind.' She thought sarcastically. Her

shaky hand gripped the handle and yanked the door open, without bothering with the stick that had fallen to the ground.

She wiped her hands and sweaty forehead and took a drink of water. It was cool and refreshing, but the sensation didn't last longer than when she left the bubbler. Kagome took

her time in getting to the locker room itself. It was as plain as day that just about everyone had already left to go home. One girl named Miyuki cleaned herself with a half wet and

half dry towel. She then adjusted her bra, put on some deodorant and a yellow t-shirt before leaving. Now Kagome was alone again. Turning her locker combo with a quick zip of

her fingers, she removed her sweaty shirt.

Which had labeled in its upper left corner 'Kagome Higurashi' just above the school name and in big letter the printed 'Cross Country Team'. Her shoes and socks were

temporarily discarded on the floor. Sighing she shoved the shirt and her shorts into her black bag and slipped on her light colored jeans. That she always had to have her green belt

that held them for they were far too big in the waist. She too put on some deodorant on her underarms, and then put the anti-persperant in the bag. Her orange skirt with a giant

purple heart in the center was slinked over her head in no time. The spare socks that she had with felt fresh and her sore feet slid gently into her tennis shoes. Quickly she had her

face wet and dried off with a towel. And had her hair, which was piled into a ponytail that became messed up during her run, was ripped out. Her greasy hair hung like a halo

around her head, because of the ponytail it felt stiff and foreign against her head. She made an attempt to brush it.

After Kagome was satisfied enough to go home the brush was place into the bag, she zipped it and swung it over her shoulder but then the force. A pull….