Competition Chapter 4
"I-InuYasha!" Ayame exclaimed, blushing furiously as she looked up at him, realizing the extent of their nudity. InuYasha stared into her eyes, unsure of what to do.
"S-sorry..." He said. He started to pull away from her, before she reacted. She reached out and put a hand on his chest. "Stop."
InuYasha stopped, and Ayame, still blushing, slowly moved back into InuYasha's embrace. She closed her eyes, and buried her face in his chest.
"If you don't mind I don't mind." She whispered, knowing InuYasha would hear her. InuYasha said nothing, but he moved back toward her, and pulled her close to him again.
"I could use a few more hours of sleep..." He said casually, and he closed his eyes as Ayame's fingers slowly slid across his skin.
-_-_-
Kagome woke up slowly, stretching out along the bed as she yawned. Eyes still closed, she shivered slightly as warm air feathered across her stomach. A few seconds later, and she felt it again. Confused, she opened her eyes, and looked at her stomach. Her eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat as she saw Sango sleeping peacefully with her head resting on her stomach. Kagome hesitated, unsure of what to do, before gently shaking Sango's shoulder.
"Sango..." Kagome whispered Sango's name, trying to get her to awaken.
More shaking. More name-whispering. Sango raised her head, and looked at Kagome sleepily, before sitting up and rubbing her eyes.
"Yeah?" Sango asked quietly, looking over her shoulder to see InuYasha and Ayame cuddling together tightly.
"Sorry for waking you but....you were sorta on top of me and I needed to get out of bed." Kagome blushed. Sango nodded, and yawned, leaning back until her head hit the pillows. She closed her eyes, then said, "If you want anything, help yourself to it. I'll be up in a few minutes."
Kagome hummed, as she got up out of bed. She bent down, searching the floor for her clothes, and Sango cracked an eye open. She stared at Kagome's backside for a moment, before closing her eyes again. She crossed her legs, and yawned again, stretching out along the length of the bed.
Kagome put her clothes on slowly, trying to move slowly as to not aggravate her headache. It would go away once she drank some water, she knew, but until then, she wasn't exactly fond of the pain, and wanted as little of it as possible.
Kagome walked out of the room, running her hands through her hair and wincing at the strong sunlight that shone through the windows. A quick glance at the microwave in the kitchen told her it was eleven A.M., and it was Saturday. Sunday, tomorrow, was her last day off, then it was back to work for the next five days.
Kagome's stomach growled, and she opened the refrigerator. She grabbed a bottle of water, twisted the top off it, and downed the whole thing, realizing that she was a lot thirstier than she had thought.
She threw the empty water bottle under the cupboard, and grabbed another one, before walking to the pantry. She opened the sliding door, and gazed in, her tired mind wanting something that wouldn't be too hard on her stomach. She decided to settle for pop-tarts, and grabbed the box. She never bothered cooking hers, and she ate them straight out of the package, sitting down at the kitchen table and wondering what she was going to do for the rest of the day.
A few minutes later, and Sango came out. She looked at Kagome and smiled, before walking to the fridge.
"How'd you sleep, Kagome?" She asked. Kagome hummed, and then shrugged. "Alright, I guess." She said. "How are you feeling?"
Sango twisted the top off her water bottle, and took a drink. "Pretty good actually." She said. "No headache, just feel a bit dry." She said. "How about you?"
"Headache, but it will go away. Stomach is sorta borderline between fine and upset." She said.
Sango smirked. "Yeah that happens every once in a while."
Kagome smiled at her tiredly. "Soo...how are the other two?" She asked slyly.
Sango sat down at the table. "Good, actually. They look so cute together." She said, smiling. "Its weird though, but I guess it had to happen sometime." She said.
Kagome looked at her questioningly. "What had to?"
Sango reached over and snagged a piece of Kagome's chocolate pop-tart. Popping it into her mouth, she chewed for a minute, before answering.
"I don't know, but Ayame's always like this." She said. "She's so shy, but whenever she starts drinking, she loosens up, and it's good for her." Sango said. "She usually ends up dancing with someone, or drinking or spending time with someone at any parties we go to, but thats the extent of it." She said. "She's not....she isn't promiscuous, so she doesn't sleep with anyone, but she knows how to have fun, ya know?"
Kagome nodded to show that she understood.
Sango continued. "This is the first time she's showed any real interest in any particular guy. I wonder if this is someone she's actually interested in, as opposed to just having fun."
Kagome shrugged. "Your guess is better than mine, I suppose. I don't know her like you do."
Sango copied Kagome's shrug. "I'll talk to her later I guess."
Kagome smirked, and pulled out her phone. She swiftly texted InuYasha, then shoved her phone back in her pocket.
"What's the plan for the rest of today?" Kagome asked, before draining the rest of her bottle.
Sango hummed. "Probably clean up the living-room, then do whatever. We'll ask InuYasha and Ayame once they get up."
Kagome smiled. "They should be getting up soon, anyway."
Sango looked at her curiously. "Yeah? Why's that?"
Kagome pulled out her phone and waved it at Sango. "I texted InuYasha and told him to get up sometime today, and leave Ayame alone."
Sango laughed, and got up from her chair. "Might as well start cleaning now then." She said. Kagome stood up too. "I'll help."
InuYasha groaned as his phone vibrated, and he reached into his pants pocket to pull it out. He flipped it open, and a text from Kagome was awaiting him. He raised his head, confused, before realizing that Kagome and Sango were no longer in the bed with them. He sighed, and dropped his head back to the pillow.
Hey InuYasha, get out of bed sometime today will ya? And leave Ayame alone, she's gotta be sick of ya by now! lmao jk. Hurry up though, me and Sango are bored.
InuYasha closed his eyes, and contemplated going back to sleep, but he wasn't tired anymore.
InuYasha slowly disentangled himself from Ayame, hesitating a second as he caught sight of her beautiful face. He stopped, watching her sleep for a few seconds, before tearing himself away. He walked around the foot of the bed, and stopped near the door, picking up his shirt. He shook it out, and slipped it on, shaking his head to smooth out his ruffled hair.
"Morning." He mumbled to Kagome and Sango, who were in the kitchen talking softly. They broke off as they heard him, then greeted him. He walked over to the cupboard, waiting for them to resume their conversation, but apparently it was girl-talk, for they did not resume talking.
"Mind if I eat some of your food Sango?"
Sango rolled her eyes. "You ask that every time, and what do I always say? Go ahead InuYasha, no one's stopping you."
InuYasha grabbed some pocky from the cupboard. "It's still nice to ask, you know." He grumbled, before walking to the fridge. He grabbed some chocolate milk, and poured himself a glass.
"So what are we doing today?" He asked.
Sango shook her head. "No idea." She said.
InuYasha hummed. "Well....why don't I drive Ayame home, she can shower, change, and while she's doing that I'll come back here. Pick up Kagome, take her home, she can do the same. We'll come back here, then decide where to go for breakfast." He said.
Sango stuck her tongue out. "That's a lot of driving for you though." She said. "If you take Kagome home, since she lives further and Ayame isn't up yet, I'll follow Ayame home. She brought her dirtbike, so....yeah. It's not street legal, so she needs a real ride. Once she's done at her house, I'll drive her back here, and you guys should be back by then." She said.
InuYasha nodded. "Sweet. Ready to go, Kagome?" He asked, heading to the door. Kagome nodded. "Yup. Let's go. See you soon Sango." She said.
Sango nodded, and waved. "Bye."
InuYasha headed toward the living room, wishing his car wasn't in gear so he could use his car starter. He always tried to warm his car up for a few minutes before he took off, because knowing the way he drived, it was too much of a strain on his engine to do those things to it while it was cold.
He slipped into his shoes, and left the house, blinking against the bright sun. He got in the car, and pressed the clutch to the floor, before turning the key. The car roared to life as it started to roll backward, and he popped the E-brake. He cut the wheel to the right, and as the car rolled backward, it eventually turned enough so that it was not pointed downhill. Now sideways on the downgrade, it stopped rolling, and sat idling in neutral. InuYasha shut his door, then pressed the auto-down switch. His power window rolled all the way down, and he stuck his arm out the window, resting it on the door. He leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes for a few minutes while he waited for Kagome.
A minute later, and the passenger door opened. Kagome got in, and the door was shut.
"Ready?" He asked. Kagome nodded as she held the button down for the window. "Whew! It's really warm in here, isn't it? Especially for early September. Today should be a really nice day!"
InuYasha laughed. "Black cars will do that." He said, before pressing the clutch to the floor. He threw his car in first, then slowly released the clutch. His car began rolling forward, and he cut the wheel to the left, aiming for the end of Sango's driveway.
"How you feeling?" He asked her, coming to a stop at the end of Sango's driveway.
Kaagome shrugged. "Pretty good, but I'm looking forward to that shower." She said. "You? How do you feel?"
InuYasha knew he wasn't imagining the sly tone in her voice, and in response he revved the engine. He pumped the pedal quickly, and the RPM shot up to three grand. Quickly, before they could fall back down to idle, he pumped the pedal twice more. As the needle touched the five on his tachometer, he dumped the clutch.
Sango was talking to a newly awakened Ayame, when she heard InuYasha's car revving. They cut off, falling silent as they listened to his car. Ayame smirked as squealing tires suddenly cut through the air. They listened as the squealing slowly got further away, then stopped, replaced by the sound of a fading engine.
"And that's where InuYasha is." Sango said, in response to Ayame's cut-off question.
"But don't worry, he'll be back in an hour or so."
Ayame bared her fangs in a grin. "What makes you think I'm worried?" She asked. Sango's eyebrow raised. "Oh, so you don't like him then?" She asked, feigning confusion.
Ayame was silent, wondering how to answer.
Sango smirked.
Ayame then smiled. "Just because I was wondering where he was, doesn't mean I'm worried." She said.
Sango laughed. "Suuuuure. I gotcha." She said, winking at Ayame.
Ayame was about to respond, when Sango cut her off.
"Anyway, the plan is that InuYasha is taking Kagome home to shower and stuff. When she's done, he's taking her back here. Then we're all going out for breakfast. Before they get back, I'm supposed to take you to your house so you can shower." She said.
Ayame raised an eyebrow. "Why don't I just drive myself home, so you can shower here, then I come back and meet you here?"
Sango shrugged. "It's what InuYasha seemed to want. I think he wanted you to leave your bike at home so he could drive you home later on tonight." She said, stifling a laugh.
Ayame thought about it, biting on her lower lip. Sango continued eating her cereal, and about two minutes later, Ayame finally turned to Sango. "Seems like a good plan." She said, grinning widely.
Sango chuckled, and drained her bowl of milk. "Alright, let's get out of here." She said. "They way InuYasha drives, we only have as long as it takes for Kagome to shower and dress before he's back again."
Ayame nodded, and got up. She headed into the living-room and did a quick search around the house to make sure she wasn't missing anything before slipping into her shoes. "Shall we?" She asked.
Sango nodded. "Let's."
InuYasha geared down as he neared Kagome's apartment complex, eyes roaming the side of the road for a place to park.
"Jeez, I hate parking on the sides of roads." He groaned. "My baby doesn't like it either."
Kagome rolled her eyes, and pointed to the tenent parking lot. "Just park in my parking spot then." She said. "Every tenent is given one parking stall, and since I don't have a car, you can park in my spot."
InuYasha looked the parking lot over, and apparently judged it safe enough to park his car in. "Fine..." He pulled in, and was about to shut off his car, when a thought occured to him. "How long does it take for you to shower?"
Kagome thought about it. "About half an hour, forty-five minutes. Why?"
InuYasha nodded. "I'm going to go to my house, shower and change, then come back and pick you up, okay?" Kagome nodded. "See you soon then."
Kagome got out, and InuYasha leaned out his window. "Text me a few minutes before your ready for me to pick you up." He said. "Traffic might be a little thick so that way you aren't waiting around with nothing to do until I get here." He said. Kagome nodded, and disappeared into the apartment building. InuYasha stared after her for a second, before switching his gaze to his mirrors.
He threw his car into reverse, and backed out of the parking stall, before accelerating hard. When he got to the end of the parking lot, he quickly looked to the left. There was a car coming, but far enough away that InuYasha could make it. He threw his car to the right, pulling out of the parking lot and accelerating hard down the road. He would have to go fast if he wanted to get home, shower, change, and make it back to Kagome's fast enough. He idly wondered if she had found his gift yet.
Kagome kicked her shoes off, and sighed. She could almost feel the hot water on her shoulders. She couldn't wait to get into the shower.
As she walked toward the bathroom, she passed by the kitchen table. Something caught her eye, and she stopped, turning to look at her table. Laying on the table was a piece of paper. She leaned forward and picked it up; it had more weight than she thought, and she saw that it was wrapped around something. There was writing on it, so she brought the paper to her face to read it.
Take this and go buy yourself some goddamn food. Just because your stingy doesn't mean you gotta starve yourself, woman!
Puzzled, Kagome unwrapped the paper. She froze as she spotted a few bills of money inside the paper, and she rapidly counted them. there was one hundred dollars in twenties, no doubt from InuYasha. She flipped the paper over, and recognized his writing.
She smiled. InuYasha had a soft side, she knew, but he never showed it. At least, not until now.
Regardless, she couldn't spend his money, she knew. Even if he was trying to show he cared for her, she couldn't. She also knew that InuYasha would never accept the money back, even going so far as to deny that it was his to begin with. She wouldn't embarrass him for doing something kind. No, that was why he was so often brash and uncaring. Perhaps, if she went about this with the utmost care, she could give the money back to him without him even knowing it, and still manage to be grateful. She smiled as a plan formed in her mind.
She knew that they were going out to breakfast later, but that wouldn't take all day. She would casually suggest that they go shopping, and then buy InuYasha some things. She would play it off as being grateful for him driving her around this weekend, but really, she would be using his money to buy him it, so it was like he never gave it to her.
Satisfied with her plan, she put the money in her wallet, then threw it on the table. Walking to her room, she grabbed a change of clothes before heading to the washroom.
InuYasha stepped out of the shower, feeling much better. His head was clearer, he wasn't tired anymore, and he was actually beginning to feel hungry. He dried himself off, before reaching for the clothes on the counter. He quickly slipped on a pair of dark red silk boxers, followed by a pair of dark blue jeans. They were slightly baggy, and hung off his hips a bit, but he didn't care. He zippered and buttoned them up, before pulling on a tight white shirt. The logo on the front was of a single skull, with the words "Live Free" across the top. He gathered up his clothes, and walked out of the bathroom, throwing them in the laundry basket at the end of the hall. He entered his room, and it was like walking into his own personal haven.
Almost every square inch of the walls were covered in car posters, and scantily clad women. His ceiling was a work-in-progress, and the only spot on his walls that was uncovered by posters was right beside his bed. There was a spot there, about head height, that was clear of posters. Instead, there hung on his wall three bandanas, one white, one red, and one black. Beside them were a multitude of hats, all with flat bills. He couldn't stand a hat with a curved beak, so he always bought flat ones. Today, he carefully sized them up, looking amongst the pure white ones, to the flat purple ones, the black ones, and the ones with designs. He hummed, and reached forward. He picked up an almost black one, and put it on backwards, laying his ears flat against his skull. There was text on the back of the hat that now showed on his forehead, reading, "Skin Industries". He walked to the mirror hanging on the back of his wall, and adjusted the hat, pulling the edge of the hat down low, so that it almost covered his eyebrows. He then turned his head slightly to the left, and saw that the bill was perfectly flat, sticking out from the back of his head. He grinned, and reached over to his dresser, grabbing a brush. He quickly brushed out his hair, still damp, as he looked himself over in the mirror. He nodded in approval, then disappeared into the bathroom to brush his teeth.
-_-_-
Sango pulled into Ayame's driveway, and honked her horn once. A few seconds later, Ayame ran out. Sango quickly analysed Ayame's outfit, and knew she was trying harder today, for some reason. Ayame was wearing her hair up in her usual twin ponytails, and wore a blood red V-neck T-shirt. It clung tightly to her body, and showed off Ayame's rather beautiful curves. She wore a pair of tight faded blue jeans that only Ayame managed to look that tempting in. The knees were ripped, and the fabric clung tightly to her thighs and backside. These particular jeans had no zipper; instead, they buttoned up with three small buttons where the zipper would be, and a regular button above the other three. The bottom two of these buttons were done up, while the big button and the top button were left undone. Sango greeted her as Ayame jumped into the car.
"Hey, sexy!" Sango said, smiling at her.
Ayame returned the smile as she put her seatbelt on. "Hello love."
"Where to?" Ayame asked as she adjusted the seat. Sango threw her transmission into reverse, and backed away from Ayame's house, before sliding into first and turning around.
"Back to my house." She answered. Ayame laughed. "Isn't it rediculous how far away, yet how close you are?" She asked. "I mean, driving versus walking anyway."
Sango laughed. "I never thought of it like that. It takes about four minutes to get from your house to mine, but thats going down this access road at over a hundred kilometers an hour." She said. "One time I did this road at a buck-forty, and I was at your house in about three minutes." She said. "Now, if you tried to walk that, I think you would find that it would take you slightly longer."
Ayame laughed. "Slightly."
Sango smiled, and turned onto the main road, accelerating hard.
"Soo....what exactly do you think of InuYasha?" Sango asked, shifting into second. Ayame shook her head. "Definitely good-looking." She said. "But I'm not forming opinions yet. I wanna get to know him before anything else." She said.
Sango nodded to herself, shifting to third. "Good, that's good." She said. Ayame smirked, and rolled down the passenger window. She stuck her arm out, and let the wind play with her hair as she stared out the windshield.
Sango glanced over, and saw the spaced-out look on her friends face again. It was starting to get to her. Ayame had been spacing out all morning, and she was starting to wonder if she was sick or something.
"You okay?" Sango asked, skipping fourth and putting her transmission in fifth.
Ayame blinked and looked over at her. "Yeah, why?"
"You've been spacing out ever since you woke up this morning. Tell me what is going on in that head of yours that's keeping you so damn occupied."
Ayame shook her head. "Nothing." She said. "Just thinking about him."
"Who?" Sango asked, already knowing the answer. She just wanted Ayame to say it.
Ayame cast her an annoyed glance. "InuYasha, who else?"
Sango smirked. "You'll see him soon enough." She said, pulling her car out of gear. Coasting in neutral, Sango lightly braked as she came upon the entrance to her driveway. As she got closer, she braked harder, until she was doing a safe enough speed to pull into her driveway. Her worn tires pulled her '02 blue Acura RSX into her driveway, and she pulled far over to the right, before whipping her car around to the left and parked it facing the driveway, instead of the house. They wouldn't be here long.
As they got out, Sango pressed a button on her keyless remote fob, and her car honked twice. Ayame looked at her questioningly.
"When you shut both of the doors now, it will lock itself." Sango explained. Ayame nodded, and shut her door. Sango closed hers, and a second later, they could hear the locks click shut.
They began walking toward the front door, and Ayame stopped. "Let's sit outside and wait for them." She suggested. Sango agreed, and they sat down on her front steps.
"Hey Ayame, don't you have your licence?" She asked. Ayame nodded, flicking some stray hair over her shoulder. "Yeah, but I don't have a car, so I never drive." She said.
Sango nodded. "Can you drive stick?"
Ayame nodded. "Yup. About as well as I can ride clutch."
"Who taught you?"
"Myself." Ayame replied.
Sango winced. "Ouch. What was the unlucky vehicle?"
Ayame laughed, despite being the one made fun of, and slapped Sango's shoulder. "I wasn't that bad." Ayame said. "And I had been riding dirt bikes for a few years at this point, when I learned a year or two ago, so the mechanics were understood. I knew what to do and what not to do, in theory, so all I had to do was put it in practice."
Sango couldn't help the grin that played at her lips, threatening to turn into laughter.
Ayame continued, oblivious as she anxiously listened for any sign of InuYasha. "I stalled twice before getting the hang of it in my dads old four-speed truck." She said. "I've driven something different at least once a week ever since to keep fresh." She said. "Sometimes my dads truck when he lets me take it to the store, other times my brothers Neon R/T."
"Has your dad ever let you drive his restored GTO Judge?"
Ayame laughed. "I'm still alive, aren't I? That's proof enough that I haven't asked that particularly stupid question."
Sango nodded seriously. "I see your point..." Then she changed subjects. "Have you ever driven anything like InuYasha's car or my car?" She asked. Ayame shook her head. "No, not really." She said. "Just four door family cars and trucks."
Sango nodded again. "Well, sports cars are funner to drive stick in." She said.
Ayame turned to look at her, this time the one trying not to laugh. "They're funner are they? You sure?"
Sango nodded. "Yeah, they're so much funner tha..." Sango realized her mistake, and laughed. "You idiot. But yes, they are more fun than family cars. Handling is so much more responsive, and they get up and go so much faster."
Ayame hummed. "Well, maybe you could let me try driving yours some time." She suggested.
"Yeah, sure!" Sango agreed. "Well, we are going out to lunch today, do you wanna drive my car there?"
Ayame hesitated, and Sango noticed it. "Or did you have other plans?"
Ayame shrugged. "W-well, I was sort of hoping InuYasha would ask me to ride with him. Failing that, I was going to ask if I could ride with him, providing Kagome didn't beat me to it." She said.
Sango nodded slowly. "Ahh....I see." She said. "Well, anytime you want to drive, just ask me, I'll be glad to let you try it."
Ayame smiled. "Thanks Sango."
Sango was about to reply, when a familiar exhaust note cut through the air. A second later, and InuYasha's black Celica pulled into Sango's drive. Sango assumed he was going to park somewhere around on her huge front drive, but InuYasha didn't seem to have any intention of stopping, as he idled toward the front steps where they were sitting. Sango watched as the front of his car came closer and closer, and wondered what InuYasha was doing.
Sango watched as his car slowed, almost imperceptibly, but continued to creep forward. Sango saw Ayame get up from the corner of her eye, and saw her retreat a step, going further up the steps that lead to her front porch.
Sango held her ground though, and sure enough InuYasha stopped his car about four inches from where Sango sat. She leaned back as the front of his car radiated heat, making her feel way too warm. She stood up, and joined Ayame as she sat in one of the chairs on the patio, as a laughing InuYasha got out of his car. Kagome got out a second later, and stepped around the front of his car to walk up the steps.
"InuYasha's an idiot." She said by way of greeting, earning a laugh from InuYasha. Sango pointed to InuYasha's car parked less than a foot from the bottom step of her porch. "I know, and his parking skills suck."
Kagome shook her head. "No, not even that. We were on our way back from my house where he picked me up, and as we get outside the city limits, he pulls right up on the ass of a big rig who apparently wasn't going fast enough. As if that wasn't stupid enough, when he moves his car over to the left to try to pass the rig, he almost gets hit by oncoming traffic. I don't know how he pulled that wheel over fast enough to get us back into our lane! And as if that wasn't good enough for him, he makes some stupid comment on how theres a big line of oncoming traffic, and passing in the oncoming traffic won't be possible for a while. So what does he do? He drops a gear and cuts the wheel to the right, pulling onto the paved shoulder of the highway, and starts to pass the big rig on the shoulder!"
Sango laughed. "That's InuYasha for you." She said.
Kagome glared at InuYasha. "You could have killed us!" She said. InuYasha shrugged. "But I didn't." He said.
Sango tried to calm Kagome. "Kagome, those shoulders are pretty wide. I pass on the shoulder all the time because some people think they need to start slowing down half a kilometer away from their left-hand turn, and there isn't turning lanes available because its only a dual-lane highway, one lane of traffic in each direction." She said. "It's really not so bad."
Kagome sighed. "Yeah, but it isn't safe. Combined with InuYasha's already reckless driving, it's downright dangerous." She said.
InuYasha grinned at her. "Thanks for the compliment." He said, reaching over and ruffling her hair.
Kagome ducked away from his hand, and he chuckled, before glancing at Ayame.
"Hey Ayame, how are you?" He asked.
Ayame looked him in the eyes, and was silent for a moment, considering her answer. "I'm fine, I feel a lot better now that I've showered." She said. InuYasha nodded. "Me too, feels so good to shower and change."
Sango perked up then, and looked at InuYasha. "Any idea where we're going for breakfast?" She asked. "I'm starving!"
InuYasha laughed. "Any ideas?"
"Let's decide on the way there." Sango said. "Let's get out of here."
They all got up and left Sango's porch, stepping around the front end of InuYasha's car. Ayame suddenly got nervous as Kagome approached InuYasha's car, and wondered if he had already asked Kagome to ride with him. In that case, it would be rude to ask Kagome to switch....
"Hey Ayame, do you want to ride with me instead of Kagome?"
Ayame's head shot up as she head InuYasha's voice, and she saw Kagome hesitating halfway into his car.
"S-sure, if it isn't too much trouble." She said, seeing Kagome get back out of InuYasha's car.
"Good, I was getting sick of Kagome's passenger-seat driving." He grinned at Kagome to show he was kidding, and she rewarded him by sticking her tongue out at him.
"Hit him for me, will you Ayame?" She asked. "I don't like him very much."
Ayame smiled at her, before getting into InuYasha's car. As InuYasha got in beside her, she looked out the window to see Kagome getting in with Sango.
"She won't be mad that you wanted me to ride with you, will she?" Ayame asked.
InuYasha shook his head. "Nope. She doesn't really care who she rides with." He said, starting his car. He threw his transmission into reverse, and backed away from Sango's porch. Once he was far enough away, he turned his car around, and rolled it down to the end of Sango's driveway, pulling up behind her as she rolled to a stop.
"Seatbelt on?" He asked. The sound of Ayame scrambling for her belt next to him told him she didn't have it on, and he smirked.
"Let's see if Sango will play with us or not." Ayame looked at him, a puzzled expression on her face. "Play?" She asked. InuYasha looked at her and grinned, revving his engine.
"You'll see." He said.
Ayame nodded.
InuYasha rolled down both his windows, and revved his engine again. This time he was rewarded by Sango revving hers, and he grinned. "Hmm....she might play."
After a few more seconds, Sango ever so slowly eased her car around the corner, and InuYasha followed suit. Sango accelerated gently, and InuYasha followed, the bumper of his car edging closer to hers.
"Come on Sango," He complained to no one in particular. "I thought we were gonna play!"
InuYasha let off the gas, and saw that they were doing about fifty down this road. They usually tripled this speed on the access road leading to the highway. It was newly paved, and it was smooth as glass.
"Fuck this." InuYasha cranked the wheel to the left, and slammed on the gas. Immediately, his car responded. The tires chirped, before finding traction, and they rocketed ahead. He pulled level with the RSX, and he let the RPMs build, intent on passing her if she wasn't going to go any faster. As his car sped by her, his phone rang. He picked it up, and answered, driving with one hand.
"Hello?" He said, letting go of the wheel to shift from second to third. He quickly grabbed the wheel as his car pulled slightly to the left, due to the slope of the road.
"Sorry, InuYasha," Sango's voice said into his ear. "But this is a no fly-by zone."
InuYasha was about to reply, but he heard her hang up. Looking in his mirror, he barely spotted Sango's car before it was gone from his mirrors. He looked straight ahead, and a second later, Sango's car flew by, inches from his passenger door. He started laughing, and Ayame looked at him.
InuYasha looked over to her, still smiling. "That car will do a quarter mile in about 15.9 seconds, which, isn't special, but it's decent enough to slap this car around." He said. "I don't know about it's zero to sixty, but I know I can get her off the line, just because I'm quicker with the clutch." He said. "Her cars certainly capable of tooling me up, but she doesn't drive aggressively enough, and her shifts are kind of slow." He said. "More often than not, I can simply scare her into slowing down or giving me the position I want." He laughed. "But she's getting better at driving."
Ayame smiled. "Do you two race often?"
InuYasha shrugged. "Not really race, but whenever we go somewhere together, I usually end up speeding, she usually ends up trying to catch up, and it just goes from there." He said.
Ayame smiled again, and InuYasha looked at her. She quickly looked away, but InuYasha thought her smile looked kind of sad.
"What's wrong?" He asked. Ayame shrugged. "I wish I had a vehicle." She said. "Then I could have as much fun as you two seem to have."
InuYasha grinned. "Yeah, it is fun, but I've also got myself into more than my fair share of scary situations because of it." He said. He shook his head. "Luckily though, the rate at which I learned about my car and what it is capable of, and my own skills and what I'm capable of outgrew the rate at which I could come up with stupid things to attempt, or else I'd be dead." He chuckled. He threw his car into neutral, and let his speed drop as he followed behind the RSX. They were coming up to where the access road met the highway, and as much as he would never admit it to anyone, he worried over Sango and Kagome in that car. It came stock with a pretty sporty clutch, and if she ever stalled, this would be one of the worst places to do it. Sango had to cross two lanes of traffic coming at her from the left, cross a median, and merge with two lanes of traffic flowing from the right.
He pulled up right behind her, and looked both ways. He let out a silent sigh of relief as he saw that the only traffic in both directions was far away, and pretty light.
"Okay, now that we're at the highway, the fun begins." He said.
Ayame looked at him. "How so?" She asked.
InuYasha glanced at her, as Sango gunned it across the highway, flying across the median and diving into the far lane.
"We get to play in traffic."
"Oh."
InuYasha revved up his engine, letting the needle hit 6 grand before dropping the clutch. InuYasha felt the tires break traction instantly, and he grinned as he held the wheelspin all through first gear. Cutting across the median, he looked quickly to the right, and seeing nothing but a few vehicles approaching from a few hundred feet away, he rally shifted into second. The tires chirped for a second, before gaining traction, and Ayame felt herself being pushed into her seat as the car accelerated hard. InuYasha fought torque steer for about a thousand RPM, before his car calmed down. InuYasha hit third gear and held the pedal to the floor, slowly catching up to Sango and Kagome.
Ayame stared at InuYasha as he concentrated on driving, and felt her breath hitch in her throat. His beautiful flowing silver hair, slightly tanned skin, gleaming golden eyes...Ayame tore her gaze away from him, and looked first at the speedometer, then out the windshield. They were doing a hundred and sixty and heading straight for the rear end of Sango's car. Ayame swallowed, and pulled on her seatbelt.
At the last second, InuYasha swerved into the left lane, and pressed the pedal down a bit further. His car's acceleration fell slightly, because he wasn't drafting off of Sango, but he was still doing alright.
Over the blasting wind, he heard Sango's engine RPM drop off as she pressed the clutch in, then they shot up even louder than before, and her whole car rocked before slowly pulling level with InuYasha's car. She had dropped a gear, and she was slowly gaining on him.
He glanced at his tach, and saw his RPM slowly climbing from six grand. A gear drop at those engine speeds would be pure suicide, so he would have to wait until he built more RPM before his engine would really shine.
He pressed the pedal to the floor, and Sango stopped gaining ground. They held even for seconds that seemed to stretch on forever, before InuYasha slowly started gaining inches on her. He could see Sango pound her steering wheel in frustration, and he knew it was more at herself than her car. If she really pushed it she could eat this car, but she was still nervous about going faster than one-forty or one-fifty.
InuYasha nailed his final upshift into fifth, and he laughed as Sango started to slowly but surely fall behind.
When he was far enough ahead of her, he pulled into her lane, grinning happily.
"Ahh, I love this car." He said. Ayame laughed. "That was pretty cool." InuYasha smirked. "Oh, Ayame, I haven't even started yet. You should ride with me on one of my crazy days."
Ayame shuddered. "I'm not sure if I'm brave enough." She said.
InuYasha started laughing, but was cut off as he flew past a sign saying that the max speed was 100. He was almost sixty over. He let off the gas, and gently pressed the brake, bringing his speed down to about one-twenty. He kept his transmission in sixth, keeping the RPM low.
"Pretty soon, we're gonna come up to a highway intersection. We have to make a left turn across oncoming traffic, in a double turning lane, but it leads into the city." He said. "Every time, I take the outside lane, and Sango takes the inside lane. She always tries to beat me off the line, and around the corner, but she never has the guts to try to squeeze her car between the cement lane divider and my car. We're proba-yup, look, there she goes."
InuYasha looked in his mirror, as Sango did a lane change, pulling up beside him.
InuYasha threw his car into neutral, and coasted up to the red light. Sango and his car were first up to the line, so they had no traffic in front of them to slow them down.
Rolling to a stop at the line, InuYasha touched the pedal and let his RPM almost redline, before dropping back down to idle. Sango answered with a rev of her own, and InuYasha nodded. "Oh yeah, she's gonna try."
InuYasha leaned forward and looked out his windshield, to see what the opposite lights had to say. They were yellow. He watched them. When they turned red, he threw his car into first and built the RPM to three grand. A second later he dropped the clutch, tires chirping before they hooked up with the pavement. A second later, the lights directly in front of him turned green, signalling that he could begin his turn.
InuYasha accelerated around the turn, and as he expected, Sango dropped back, unwilling to shove her car between a cement divider and InuYasha's own vehicle. He laughed, and when his RPM were about to redline, half-clutched and rally shifted. InuYasha grinned as a small rally pop came out of his exhaust, similar to a backfire. Half-clutching and rally shifting had sent unburned fuel through his exhaust, and when he romped on the throttle, the unburned fuel exploded out of his exhaust.
"Oh, she's talking dirty to me." InuYasha said, patting his steering wheel. Ayame's head came up, and she looked at him. "What did you say?"
InuYasha turned and looked at her innocently. "I said she's talking dirty to me." He said. "Didn't you hear her rally pop?"
Ayame nodded. "Yeah, just...weird choice of words." InuYasha grinned. "Oh, trust me, it can get a lot worse."
InuYasha let off the gas, and without throwing in the clutch, his exhaust slowly whined down, until it hit about fifteen hundred RPM. As it slowly fell lower, nothing but low growls and small rally pops could be heard coming from his exhaust.
"Mmm that run on the highway heated her up to the perfect temperature. She's making all the right sounds now." A quick look at his dash as he downshifted told him he needed gas.
"You wanna text Sango and tell her to follow me to the gas station?" He asked. "My baby's thirsty, and from there we can decide where to go to eat."
Ayame nodded, and pulled out her phone as InuYasha executed a lane change.
A few minutes later, and InuYasha pulled up to the pump, Sango right behind him.
He popped his gas tank cover, and got out, Ayame following suit. She stretched lazily, as InuYasha walked around and untwisted his gas cap. Unhooking the gas nozzle from the pump, he inserted it into his gas tank, and squeezed the handle.
"Drink up, gorgeous." He said, looking at the numbers on the dial. Ayame giggled, and InuYasha looked at her.
"What?"
Ayame shook her head. "Nothing. You're cute, that's all."
InuYasha smiled, and he looked into her eyes. "So are you."
Ayame wasn't expecting that, and she looked away, blushing lightly. She could hear Sango's doors opening, and a second later, they were joined by Kagome and Sango.
Kagome was the first to speak. "InuYasha, you are a horrible influence on Sango's driving, do you know that?"
InuYasha shrugged. "Its okay, she needs horrible influence to match her horrible driving."
Sango slapped his shoulder, and InuYasha laughed.
"Whatever, where are we eating?" She asked. InuYasha shrugged once more as he removed the pump.
"I don't know, but I'll eat anything so its mainly up to you guys. Be right back, gotta go pay."
Sango watched InuYasha walk into the gas station, and as soon as the glass door swung shut, she turned to Ayame.
"So what do you think of him now?"
Ayame hummed. "Still deciding." She said.
Kagome broke in just then. "What do you mean, what are you guys talking about?" She asked.
Sango smiled. "Wellll....It's not for sure yet, but it seems as if Ayame might have an interest in our dear InuYasha." She said. "She's waiting to get to know him better before she makes a move on him though."
Kagome stared at Ayame. "Y-you want InuYasha?"
Ayame nodded, blushing profusely. "H-he seems nice enough, anyway." She stammered. "And, I l-like him."
Kagome said nothing, but slowly she nodded. "Makes sense...." She said slowly.
Sango watched her friends reaction carefully, judging her facial expressions.
Does Kagome have a problem with this? Sango wondered. And if she does, what will she do about it?
A/N: Well, theres the next chapter. It's starting to get set up a bit more now. Ayame likes InuYasha, Sango will begin to like Kagome, Kagome it seems, is now slightly jealous of Ayame wanting InuYasha. What will she do? And will it be enough to pull InuYasha away from Ayame and toward herself?
Sorry for the amount of carplay near the end, I can't resist writing things like that whenever I get the chance. I enjoy it way too much. Hmm....not too much conversational development between InuYasha and Ayame during the car ride, but once InuYasha is out of earshot, a LOT of things come up in a short amount of time.
Please, review and let me know what you think! I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks!