Disclaimer; Awe come on! Everyone knows who made Inu-yasha by now. Fine, Inu-yasha is not mine.
A Ride Called Kagome
Chapter 8
Did he know what he was getting into? Yes
Did he know who and what he would be facing? Yes
Did he know if he was completely sane at that moment? Most likely not since Inu-yasha could still feel the tingle of Kagome's lips on his.
He had to shake it out of his head and concentrate on what was a head of him. It had been months since he was on a drag race course and the image of his brother skidding on the ground as sparks flew around him would not leave his mind. It mentally put him through a reality check that not only was he putting his job and client's ride at stake, but his life as well for prize money to get the tank Kagome and he needed for the custom made one back in the shop. Heck if he got 1st place and placed a few bets, he just might have enough for the back and front fenders as well.
As he drove to the entrance, he watched as the biker chicks walked by with their biker boyfriends, and the painted metal rides that crossed his path as he slowed to a halt.
He surveyed his surroundings until he found Kouga and his gang smoking a butt and looking at the competition, every single one of the Howlers gang looked the same way they did the last and first time he saw them on the race track. Cocky grins and evil smiles that told every rider there that this was the wrong biker gang to mess with. The bad boys of the race track and the kings that won each race were not to be messed with.
Now Inu-yasha was there, the Wind Dog that took their beating the first day they had arrived on the tracks and took the honor out of being respectable riders on the tracks. They took the feeling of the ride right out of every race. There was no rush, only envy, greed, and reputation. An empire that seemed like it was immortal…but Inu-yasha knew history had a horrible lesson for Kouga and Howlers to learn, and that was that no empire lives forever, and that your past always comes back to bite you.
Though, his thoughts on beating Kouga that night were interrupted when he saw a large fat man with two girls clinging to each of his arms as he waddled over to him.
"Youse must be new on this track. I ain't neva seen youse before."
Inu-yasha held his breath, remembering that Stinky Pete held to his title. He fixed his helmet to try and dilute the smell from sinking through, but it was of little success.
"Trying out new tracks in the area," he said through his helmet. "I hear Kouga of the Howlers is running tonight, and I want the chance to smear his face on the track," It was true, he did want to put Kouga to shame, but at the same time he wanted to keep it clean. He was a racer of class and style, not a bully. Yet, to sound like that in front of Stinky Pete would have sent him packing, and it might have also given his cover away. He had to sound like a rookie.
Track owners loved rookies mostly because it gave them a chance to get fresh blood on the track and send the wimps home crying. It was to show the boys who the real men were, and Stinky Pete was a man to teach every boy his first lesson in manhood.
"Heh! A rookie, huh? Wells I hates to disappoint chya, but Kouga ain't racing tonight."
The news took Inu-yasha by surprise and the shock went right through him, along with the disappointment.
Pete continued and pointed the group out. "The Howler's have their rookie on the track tonight. He's won 3 of my races in the past month."
Inu-yasha looked to the side to see Kouga patting a guy dressed in leather with brown hair. The familiar face hit his memory hard, and the jealousy raged in his chest.
"The kid's name is Hojo, and he's the one running in tonight's race. If he wins this one, he becomes a member of the Howlers, and the bets on him winning are high."
Inu-yasha sat back in the bike as he thought over his chances. He versus a new kid that had already won three races on Stinky Pete's track had their advantages and disadvantages. One thing was that Hojo had been on the track with a rookie's good fortune; he was also up to date having been on the track with no little time between each race, while Inu-yasha had not been on the tracks for months.
The biggest part of this dilemma being that his was Kagome's boyfriend, and he wasn't sure how everything would turn out if she saw him beat her boyfriend; would she be mad, or would she see him differently?
He shook the thoughts from his head and reminded himself of why he was there. He just had to win this race and get his bike done without anyone knowing he was there. His brother would never know, Kouga wouldn't, Hojo wouldn't, and no one else. He was safe undercover and by tomorrow no one would even care, right? He would only be news for tonight and then it would all be over.
"I'd like to make a bet of 100 bucks on myself, if I get in second place."
Pete looked at the bill held out before him as he wrapped his greedy hand around the bill. "That goes up double if you come in first then. The prize is 1,000 to the first place winner and any bets that come along with it. Right now the stakes for Hojo being first are in his favor, but if you can bet him rookie, youse got close to 2,000 bucks in your pocket and a girl to help you keep your bed warm."
Inu-yasha smirked under his helmet. "Minus the girl and give me the money you pay her to sleep with me and you have yourself a deal."
Pete grinned, "And your name, rookie?"
Inu-yasha pulled out another fifty and handed it to him, "You get to keep this if you forget the name."
Pete licked his lips and took the bill from his hand. "Pleasure doing business with you, Bullet!"
Inu-yasha shook his hand and then whipped it on his shirt. Bullet? Gads, that was a cheesy name…course a fifty wasn't going to get him any better, he knew that.
Kagome on the other hand ran to the nearest roof top to watch the race from afar and sat alone on the top on the edge of the building with her feet dangling on the side. She watched as Inu-yasha drove around to his place in the line up, waiting until it was time to go.
She then looked around for her brother and found him lounging, not looking like he was ready for anything. This baffled her until she saw him get up and face the man putting his riding gloves on. She saw Kouga hand him is helmet and she gasped when she caught sigh of his face. Her boyfriend Hojo was riding tonight?
Her anger fumed at the thought that her brother actually did this to her, he actually tried to recruit her own boyfriend into his stupid group? How could he? "You fucking Bastard!"
Her gaze then turned and looked at Inu-yasha as he strode his bike to his starting line up and Hojo drove slowly up beside Stinky Pete.
At that moment, she prayed Inu-yasha would win so that her boyfriend would loose. She knew Kouga had his gang win four races in a row before inducting them into the Howlers. She didn't want him to be put into the life her brother ran. She couldn't live her life with the two men who mattered most to her risking their lives.
'Please, Inu-yasha…please don't let him win.'
Inu-yasha turned on his engine letting it warm up again after it cooled for the five minutes before the race. He straightened out his helmet and tugged at his gloves as he looked over the bike which was the only thing he had that could get him through this race.
It was then that he jumped when he felt a shower of mud splatter all over him. Angrily he swore and whipped the mud from his visor before turning to his right to see who had splattered him and the bike that was not his, praying he hadn't scratched the paint.
The racers around him laughed as he turned to look Hojo in the eye. "So, a rookie thinks he can beat me, huh? You should know that I won't let anything get in the way of me making the Howlers, tonight. I've worked to hard to get on Kouga's good side, even going as far as dating his looser little sister. I'll let you know right now, rookie. You beat me tonight, and you'll wish you had never been here tonight."
The riders around them howled and whistled as Hojo put his helmet on that depicted a red dragon on it engulfed in flames.
Inu-yasha grounded his anger and felt his heart clench at the sound of Kagome's name. This guy really didn't care about her? Now how the hell was he supposed to face Kagome if he beat him?
One thing was true…no one insulted the girl he longed to be with, even if it was one of the men standing in his way from doing so.
He'd pay…dearly!
'He's not the one she kissed for good luck tonight. No way are you gonna let him have it, Inu-yasha. You've got Kagome's kiss on your lips, not this looser. You know who she wants to win this race. Remember that rush…it's that rush that's gonna get you through this. You're gonna do this for her. You're gonna do this to prove once and for all, that you know you love that girl, and you're not gonna let this looser have a piece of that. You've got her good luck kiss…and you'll be the one who gets her victory kiss to by the end of this.'
Inu-yasha looked at the winding swerving muddy dirt road ahead of him. He knew he'd be cleaning this bike until it shined all night until the morning.
He revved the engine until he could just hear it over the sound of the howling engine beside him. Inu-yasha wiped away the dirt from his visor with his arm until he could see clearly.
He watched the road as Stinky Pete's girls walked in front of him and riders whistled and howled. Inu-yasha focused on the felling of the engine vibrating underneath his groin. He was ready for what was most likely going to be the longest ride of his life.
The scarves when up into the air and the wind picked up around them making them flap in the wind. It made the mud on his dirty arm cool and began to dry.
The biker chicks looked like cats as they hissed and brought their scarves down. Inu-yasha let the clutch go with flick of his wrist and the dust flew up from behind them, and he embraced the wind that engulfed him as he rode.
Hojo and two other riders took the lead in front of him as the rest cough on the dirt and mud that they left them in.
But the race had just begun, and the wind was on his side…Kagome's kiss was on his side.
Well well well
I feel just like I'm fallin' in love
There's a new cool
Some kind of verbooty
That fits me like a velvet glove
And it's cool
Shu bop a doo ba
She's talkin' to me Juba to Jive
Yeah, the girl's in love
No doubt about it
The moment of truth has arrived
And in a wink
The funk was all around me
And I think
I'm dead in love again
Nine Lives - Feelin' lucky
Nine Lives - Live again
Nine Lives - It ain't over
Nine Lives - Live for ten
Inu-yasha swerved past the third driver coming up in front of him. Though there was jealousy as the driver he passed rubbed against his back fender. Inu-yasha glanced behind him and saw his white teeth through the dirt that covered his face.
Inu-yasha turned around, and pulled at his gas and then swerved hard to his right as he took a sharp turn, the rider behind him didn't see it and drove up and over the mound of dirt only to land in the large puddle behind it.
Inu-yasha turned up his gas and tailed the person in second place.
I got good luck
In certain situations
I'm feelin' like I hung the moon
And then at times
I'm so weak from lovin'
I couldn't even carry a tune
But now I'm back
Oh yes I am
I maybe fall apart at the seams
I had a nightmare
Believe me when I tell you
Nobody ever dies in their dreams
I think I need a stay of execution
In a wink, I'm dead in love again
Nine Lives - Puss booty
Nine Lives - Live again
Nine Lives - It ain't over
Nine Lives - Live for ten
Inu-yasha drove up along side the second place rider, and made eye contact with him. The rider seemed to be in disbelief as well that the 'rookie' was right beside him.
He growled as both of them looked at the small mounds of dirt that came up ahead of them, knowing this required control. Inu-yasha watched as Hojo a head of them took each jump with an easy cocky stride almost. Inu-yasha made eye contact with the rider beside him, each one edging the other on, as if daring the other one to try their luck.
Inu-yasha felt the wind flare up around him, as he took the jumps in stride, the rider beside him in complete unison. The biker laughed as he went to kick Inu-yasha's bike and throw him off balance. Inu-yasha recovered and glared at the rider beside him until he took his hand off the gas handle to give him the finger, and lost power throwing him off balance enough to throw the bike over and crash into the side guards.
Inu-yasha shook his head, and kept his focus as he gained speed on Hojo.
Well well well
Engine room to bombardier
Is this a dream?
I died and went to Heaven
She's enough to make you
Cry in your beer
How can a good thing
7 come 11
Slip into a fare thee well
And how can one man's
Little bit o' Heaven
Turn into another man's Hell
I think I need a stay of execution
Yeah I know, I'm dead in love again
Hojo laughed as we went through the snaking curves as lights flashed over him as he passed, he looked behind him to see if anyone was following him and snickered as he reduced his speed a little. He laughed only for a moment, until he saw Inu-yasha pull up beside him. Give a little wave and then hit the gas, giving Hojo mere seconds to catch up with him until they drove side by side in the final winding stretch to the finish.
Nine Lives - Hello lucky
Nine Lives - Live again
Nine Lives - It ain't over
Nine Lives - Try for ten
Hojo revved his bike and hit the side of Inu-yasha's bike, trying to throw him off balance or at least break his concentration. Inu-yasha watched him and he bared his teeth to him and growled.
Inu-yasha tried to focus and shifted his gear. Hojo, hit his bike again, effectively denting the back fender and scratching it. It did nothing to effect Inu-yasha's speed, but it interrupted his train of thought for a moment.
Hojo laughed as he pulled ahead just enough to put an inch between his bike and Inu-yasha's.
Inu-yasha clenched his jaw together and the wind picked up around him again.
Nine Lives - Taken over
Nine Lives - Live again
He was going to win this, he thought to himself as his front wheel drove up beside Hojo's back wheel and the finish line came into view.
Nine Lives - It ain't over
Nine Lives - Live for ten
Kagome covered her eyes and peeked through her fingers. Inu-yasha was half way beside Hojo.
Nine Lives - Hello lucky
Nine Lives - Live again
Their bikes were side by side, and Inu-yasha cracked at the gas as far as he could without loosing control. It was going to be close. The final few feet came and the wind silenced the howling with a loud pop.
Nine Lives - It ain't over
Nine Lives - …
Hojo's engine popped and stalled and Inu-yasha found an extra foot in the last second as he crossed the finish line, beating the three time champ.
Live for ten
The crowd screamed and Kagome almost fell off the building edge she was sitting on.
"The Bullet, won! Grand Prize goes to the rookie!"
Stinky Pete handed the share of money to Inu-yasha and before anyone could pull off his helmet, he drove to the hill where he knew he would find Kagome, and escape being the mysterious shadow that had beat Hojo at his own game.
"WE WON!" Kagome screamed for the five billionth time that night as Inu-yasha fixed the dent and paint job on his client's bike. He sighed and rubbed his eyes as he looked at the clock with its red light number glaring a cursing 3:30AM.
He looked over the bike, to make sure it looked completely untouched and then mentally gave himself a pat on the back for working his best and fastest all in one night. Kagome continued to squeal and separate the 20s, 50s, and the few 100s they had.
"Two thousand three hundred fifty bucks ahead, whoever knew first place would be so sweet, and Hojo didn't get pulled into Kouga's gang either. This is great, and we'll even be able to pay for a killer paint job with this money too, Inu-yasha isn't that great?"
Inu-yasha glared at her, hardly believing his ears that she was actually happy her boyfriend lost. Yet, it angered him because she was so blind to the fact he was just using her to get into Kouga's gang in the first place.
He didn't answer her question as he took up the money and turned off the light over his work bench. Kagome looked at him strangely before watching him walk up to the apartment door. She followed him and then marched after him before he could close the door to the upper loft.
"Hey, what's wrong? Why do you hate me all of the sudden?"
Inu-yasha stopped dead in his tracks, feeling guilt hit him hard in the pit of his stomach. It wasn't her fault Hojo was using her, so why the fuck was he taking this out on her?
He turned and looked at her.
"I'm sorry, Kagome…I just remembered something Hojo told me after he splashed the half ton of mud and dirt all over me."
Kagome looked at him and giggled a little. He quirked a brow, "What?"
Kagome walked up to him and let her finger trail from his neck up to his chin wiping a few clumps from the small area her finger touched. Inu-yasha closed his eyes for a moment as she laughed at the large clump of dirt on her finger. "He got you good, didn't he? Your shirt took the worst of it though."
She pinched his shirt and stuck her tongue out teasingly as the filth. Inu-yasha let a small, soft laugh escape him as he picked up the hem of his shirt. "Ah, it's nothing a little bleach can't handle."
Without thinking at all, Inu-yasha took one small step to the side and opened a closet with a washer and dryer. Kagome watched him, until she saw him cross his arms and pull the shirt up, and the moment it covered his face and she got an eye full of his body, she turned away and felt the blood rush to her face.
She glanced over her shoulder and looked at the hard muscles of his back as they moved while Inu-yasha opened the washer to toss the dirty shirt in, and then turn around and itch his slightly toned stomach.
Kagome turned away and looked to the kitchen on the other side of the loft. "Umm, you want some coffee or something?" she said trying to erase the images of his body doing things she knew she should be picturing in her perverted head.
Inu-yasha looked at her and shook his head as he glanced at the kitchen. "Naw, I'm all set, but if you want something help yourself, there's hot chocolate in the right hand cubbyhole. I'm gonna shower up."
Kagome nodded with a smile, "okay!"
Inu-yasha turned around and she did too when she heard the sound of his belt coming unbuckled through the door.
The water began to run and Kagome turned her attention to the row of cubbyholes on the wall and under the counter. "On the right…chocolate, hot chocolate…" she chanted as she decided to open and close each door on the right starting with the farthest and not finding it. She kneeled down, "Oh come on, where are you?"
She opened the last cubbyhole on the far left and glanced quickly before closing it with a loud groan, and then she stopped herself and opened it again slowly. She pulled out boxes of cleaner and bottles of title floor soap, until she got to the object that had caught her eye. It was wrapped in a large white towel, and she slowly took hold of it and pulled it out. She slowly began to uncover the object. "A helmet?" she whispered to herself as she removed the towel. Slowly she removed it to the point she could see one side with the words written in silver, "Wind Dog". Kagome gasped as she slowly uncovered the rest, looking a the large gashes that scared it's top and side, marring the paint job done on one of the pained white dog ears and the whips of white paint over the black helmet.
"Oh my God!" she whispered, as images and memories came back to her of the last time she had seen this helmet. It was like she had seen a ghost.
She touched the gashes and felt her knees give out as she fell to the floor and couldn't help but cry. Kagome felt the scar on her back tingle and she felt the scar that disfigured the helmet she held in her hands and lap.
"I'm so sorry…I didn't know…I'm so sorry…" she said as tears fell on the slashed helmet.
Inu-yasha let the water run over him as his thoughts ran through his head of what Hojo had said to him before the race had begun. How could a guy like him think he could treat Kagome like that? This girl that seemed like she was happy all the time, unless you mentioned her brother and how he ruined her life with the guilt she bore taking the two men she admired most out of the thing they loved.
He wanted to tell her everything. Inu-yasha wanted nothing more than to run out of that shower, gather her up spill the beans and hold her as she cried in denial before accepting it, and then melt into his arms and let him kiss her until all of the pain was replaced by a sweet heat and pleasure he longed to share with her.
It was a nice fantasy, but he didn't want to take her that way. He wanted to be the hero, but not the bearer of bad news. It was up to Hojo to tell her. He would break up with her sooner or later now that he knew he wasn't going to get into the Howlers since Inu-yasha beat him in tonight's race.
With a heavy sigh he washed the soap and shampoo from his hair and turned the water off.
Kagome's attention broke when she heard the water stop running and she quickly grabbed the towel that she had let fall carelessly to her side. Hastily she wrapped the helmet and tucked it back into its hiding place and put the soaps and cleaners back.
Inu-yasha walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and grabbed a pair of sweat pants. He pulled them on under the towel and removed it from around his waist before walking into the kitchen while toweling his hair.
"I can't find the hot chocolate mix," he heard a slightly disappointed and shaky voice say from the kitchen.
He narrowed his brow as he walked into the kitchen shirtless still tying the drawstring that held his pants around his waist. "Here," he said as he opened the cubby on the left side pulling out the box of mix.
"That's on the left, you told me it was on the right."
"It is," he protested before mentally slapping himself. "I meant from the sink looking back. Sorry, that's how my brother and I have always done it."
Kagome opened the box as Inu-yasha pulled out a mug from the other side.
"I don't think I've met your brother yet, have I?"
Inu-yasha thought for a moment. "No, I don't think you have."
Kagome smiled as she pushed a piece of hair behind her ear, and grabbed the pot to boil some water on the stove. Inu-yasha watched her for a moment, and found that the way she walked and turned the knob to put the back burner on high seemed almost sexual. It was slow and her touch soft yet strong.
It was then that he knew he was tired, and left her in the kitchen to go and set up the sofa bed.
Kagome watched him, not asking what he was doing, and found she was thinking about what Sango had told her about the night she had spent with Miroku. Wondering to herself if she had enough guts to do the same that night. Yet, she didn't want to do that. She knew the kind of person she was, and on what terms she and Inu-yasha were on. They were partners working on a project, a bike built for speed.
But…what would become of them once the project was done?
"Hey, Inu-yasha?" she asked hesitantly, as he turned to look at her; his amethyst eyes glowing back at her to the point they almost looked like a dark lilac.
"Umm, do you have any sweatpants I could barrow for the night?"
Inu-yasha wasn't really sure what to say. Technically he had not invited her to stay the night, and yet at the same time he didn't know if he should let her go home at such a late hour.
Inu-yasha scratched his head t think a moment as he went to the shelves above the washer and drier where he kept his clothing. He pulled down a pair of baggy red and green plaid pajama bottoms and tossed them to her. Kagome smiled at him and ran to their bathroom.
The whole small washroom was still filled with thick moisture in the air. Yet, she could smell the musk scent of his soap and shampoo. For a bathroom owned by two men, it was awfully clean.
'They must have someone do it for them,' she thought.
Kagome pulled the leather pants and jacket off her sighing in relief when her legs could finally breathe again. She stripped to her white sports bra and panties again and pulled Inu-yasha's pajama pants on and tied the draw string at the top to keep them around her waist. The bottoms were a bit too long and covered her tiny feet, but she laughed and let them flop around her heels so that she could still see her toes which she wiggled as she looked them over.
It was funny wearing his clothing for the first time, and she liked the sense of security she felt wearing them. They were warm and comforting, and she felt a little sexy about wearing them. It was strange…not the norm, but it felt right.
She looked around the room a moment and plucked an elastic from a plastic bag filled with them. Kagome twisted her hair into a messy bun and secured it with the black band before walking out.
"There, how's that?"
Inu-yasha finished setting up the bed and turned to look at her when she came out of the bathroom. He wasn't quite sure what to say. It wasn't like he hadn't seen Kagome in a sports bra before; she usually stripped down to one when they worked on the bike. Yet the sight of her in his clothing seemed to make him want to be possessive of her, it was like the pants made her his because they belonged to him. He liked it…even though he was wishing he had given her a shirt instead so he could see her legs instead since it had been sometime since the last time he saw them.
"You look fine to me. Are they comfortable for you?"
"Uh-huh" she nodded with a smile.
The pot began to whistle and she went to take it off the burner and then stir the cocoa mix with a spoon. She licked it clean and put it in the sink before walking into the living room where Inu-yasha began to climb into bed pulling the covers and blanket over his body.
"If it hadn't been Hojo running in that race, do you think you still would have tried to win it?"
Inu-yasha looked at her strangely and turned over on his back to look up at the ceiling. "I don't know… I guess I probably would if I wanted to give myself the chance."
Kagome took a sip of the cocoa and ran her finger around the rim of the mug. "Would you have tried to beat my brother if he ran?"
He looked at her, and took a moment to give her answer. "Your brother isn't my main concern. He's not the reason I wanted to win tonight, nor was the money."
Kagome put her mug down on the table beside the sofa bed. "What would make you race then?"
Inu-yasha smirked with a slight laugh and Kagome stretched out beside him on the other side of the bed. "The rush…the feel of the wind wrapping itself around my body…it's the next best thing to sex, I guess."
Kagome laughed, "Oh, and what would you know about sex, Mr. Rush?"
Inu-yasha didn't answer for a moment. "I don't…I've never been that way with anyone. I want to be in love first before I do something like that."
Kagome found his answer admirable and it gave him this completely different view of who he was. Inu-yasha was no longer a mechanic in her eyes, nor the drag racer she had discovered him to be.
"I don't want you to face my brother in a drag race, and I don't want you to join the Howlers either," Kagome said to him bluntly.
He looked at her ready to ask her why.
"I don't have a lot of friends, Inu-yasha, mostly because they use me to get to Kouga. I don't want to be hurt that way. You're the first person I've every known who hasn't been in this for only the money."
She curled up some ways away from him and tucked her hands under her head as her toes touched his leg to help her keep her knees bent.
"I want us to stay friends even after this project is over, okay? I don't want to give this up just yet. Promise me, you'll still be my friend when this is over?"
Inu-yasha watched her as she closed her eyes and he turned and looked up at the ceiling and his hand gripped her tiny foot softly where her body touched his. "I promise…I'll be your friend. I'll protect you from being hurt again."
"Thank you!"
There was a long moment of silence as Inu-yasha stared at the ceiling loosing himself in his thoughts. "Kagome?" he said turning to her, only to discover she was fast asleep.
He smiled and leaned in to gently kiss her forehead. "Sleep well."
Wow! That was a long chapter! Okay so I only got 9 reviews before I posted again, but I couldn't hold it in any longer…
See, even I broke under the tension of the cliff hanger. It happens to be all the time.
Tell me what you think, was this good or bad?
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Edit 2/24/05 > I realized I had forgotten the scene where Kagome changes into sleepwear and asks Inu-yasha for the sleeping pants. My bad, I hope you guys think it's cute though. Chapter 15 is up in "A Lifeitme Loving You" on for all you readers out there.
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