Chapter 9. Illegal Street Racerz
The next morning, InuYasha was feeling a lot better, and decided to open up the throttle a bit on his bike. Just a bit. He motioned for Ayame to follow him past Sango as she slept peacefully on the bed. He got outside, and got onto his Y2K superbike, and Ayame hopped on back. He started it up, and took off for the highway. When he reached it, he twisted the handlegrip, grinning as the turbine engine 'revved' up, a high pitched whining sound that split the air. But the sound of the engine was a relatively small price to pay for the speed that took InuYashas breath away. He felt Ayame's arms tighten around his waist as he topped out 200 KPH, with plenty of speed to go. He leaned forward and twisted the throttle, managing to take enough weight off the back of the bike to do a rolling burnout. He passed a car with his back wheel spinning, and finally cut the throttle, and settling back. The wheel regripped, and InuYasha cranked the throttle again, speeding up. Ayame purred in pleasure as the speedometre rose past 220 KPH, and she lowered her hands around InuYashas waist, tightening her hold on him. They suddenly tore by another biker, who was riding a Hayabusa, and a few seconds later the bike caught up, pulling level with them. Ayame looked over to see that the rider also carried a passenger, and noted offhandedly that she didnt recognise her. InuYasha waved his hand back and forth between the two bikes, and pointed forward a couple times. The other biker nodded, and Ayame felt a tap on her leg. A second later, InuYasha gunned the throttle, and the speedometre rose sharply, tilting upward, until it reached the top, and and continued its path down the other side. The bike leapt forward as InuYasha upshifted, and Ayame felt her stomach tighten as InuYasha began to weave through traffic. Suddenly the other rider nodded, and shot forward, a tiny blue flame visible from his exhaust pipe. InuYasha pushed the bike to its limits, chasing the Hayabusa through traffic, changing lanes several times to try to gain the lead. He pulled up right behind the Hayabusa, until the blue flame went out, and thats when InuYasha made his move. He swung out to the left, and accelerated quickly, lifting the bike into a wheelie. As they passed the other biker Ayame leaned back, and raised her gloved hands over her head, letting them touch the ground that was speeding by beneath her. InuYasha dropped the front wheel and Ayame sat up, putting her arms around InuYasha again. Suddenly InuYasha saw up ahead a rack of lights peeking up over the shoulder of the road. As he passed them, he caught a glimpse of metal, and a single thought flashed through his mind as he raced side by side with the Hayabusa. Cops! It was a speed trap! InuYasha looked back to see a cop car accelerate up over the shoulder of the highway, and give chase. The car quickly lost ground, until it dissapeared into the distance, too slow to have a chance. InuYasha knew that every cop now had a description of his car, and would be looking for it, and sooner or later he would be ticketed for excessive speeding. He smiled. That was fine with him. He looked to his side, and nodded at the biker, before deaccelerating rapidly and hitting the offramp to head home. The other biker continued to race around the highway at high speed, looking for other racers.
InuYasha downshifted as he squeezed the front brake lever, and managed to put the bike into a rolling stoppie as he stopped at the end of the turn-off. The bike stayed airborne for a second, before slamming back down to the pavement. As soon as there was a break in traffic, he upshifted from neutral and gunned the engine. He shot out onto the street, and headed for the coffee shop. He parked his bike and helped Ayame off, before leading her into the shop. He got some coffee for them and sat down with her at a table. He took a sip and stared at her. She stared at her cup. She knew what was coming.
"You know you can't stay with us forever you know," InuYasha said, "So I'm gonna give you some money, and I want you to go out and get set up you know, get a house and stuff."
Ayame nodded, and when she raised her head her head her eyes were full of emotion. InuYasha was taken aback, and he reached across the table to put his hand on hers, mistaking it for sadness.
"C'mon, we can still hang out, and stuff, just cause we arent living together, doesn't mean we can't do stuff together anymore."
"InuYasha..." She said softly, "I'm not sad, I'm extremely happy, and thankful."
She leaned forward and kissed him on the mouth, a long, slow kiss. When she leaned back, there was a smile on her face.
"Thanks, InuYasha."
He grinned and stood up, pulling her with him. He walked out of the store with her, holding her hand. He jumped on the bike and waited until Ayame was on it before starting it up. He backed it out of the parking stall, and shifted into first gear. He revved the engine, pulling away slowly. He cut across the parking lot, and shot out into traffic, heading for the bank.
He entered his password, and withdrew $500,000.00, and gave it to Ayame. She took the wad of money and placed it into her pocket, and hugged InuYasha.
Back at home, Ayame got onto her bike, and took off, waving back at InuYasha as she dissapeared into traffic. Sango came out, looking fresh in a pair of faded hip-hugger jeans and a black short sleeved top that accented her hair and eyes. The top ended a few inches above her jeans, exposing part of her stomach. She stood beside InuYasha and put her arm around his waist.
"So, you gave her some money, and told her to get started on a new life, eh, InuYasha?"
InuYasha nodded. "I gave her the means to get a place to stay, get a new bike, get all the things she needs, now it's up to her to pull it off."
InuYasha knew what was coming. He had helped people like this before. Once they got the money, they were either stupid and blew it all, and too ashamed to face him, or they were too busy rebuilding their lives, and didn't have any time to come by and pay a visit to him. He hoped Ayame would be smart, and manage her money in a way as to make it grow, and not diminish. Either way, he knew that he wouldn't see Ayame for a very long time. He turned his back to the streets, and walked into his house, with Sango at his side.
Ayame sped down the road, feeling the bulge in her pocket that was the money. There it was. The one thing she had dedicated her life to making, and now she had more of it than she had ever seen. InuYasha's voice echoed in her head, and she knew she owed it to him to make something of herself. She then felt the overpowering need to make him proud of her. She leaned over the handlebars and increased her speed, heading for the nearest hotel. Tomorrow she would work on making InuYasha proud of her.
Ayame flopped on the bed in her hotel room, and let her eyes slowly close. Immediately she replayed the day. The day her parents were killed. And the thing that made it more unbearable than it already was, was the fact that they were shooting at her. She was supposed to be dead, not her parents. She recalled that day three and a half years ago, when she had entered the annual bikers trick tournement, held in the same parking lot where she had met InuYasha. She had placed a bet of $350,000.00, in money she did not have, and then gone and done her thing. She knew that if she lost, she would be ruined. A $350,000.00 debt doesn't go unnoticed in anybody's cheque book. So she pushed herself and her bike beyond its limits, doing the longest burnout, the fastest stoppie, the longest wheelie, adding a few unusual tricks to make sure she won. She still remembered the winning trick. She had put her bike into a 157 MPH wheelie and let the back of the bike grind against the pavement while she climbed up onto the front of the bike, standing on her headlights. She had spread her arms out and tore by the line of spectators at 150 MPH, earning her the top mark. It turned out the person she had placed the bet against didn't have the cash either, and was just as devastated by the loss as she would have been. So he got violent. Ayame went home empty handed, assured by the loser that she would have her money. She not only didn't get her money, She lost something precious to her. Her parents life. The loser had figured that if the person he had to pay was dead, then he didn't have to pay. So at four in the morning they rolled up and parked two dark grey Sedans in front of her house, and opened fire with Mac 10's and AK's. Ayames mother had been awoken by the harsh sound of gun fire, and shattering glass, and had run downstairs to call the police, followed closely by Ayames father. Ayames mom had just put her hand on the phone on the wall when the big patio window erupted as almost 200 bullets struck it from 4 AK's and 2 Mac 10's. Ayames mother was hit immediately, and she dropped where she stood. Thirteen bullets had struck her, two in her right leg, one shattering her left leg, and severing a major artery, eight in her stomach and chest, and two in her head. She was the first one to die. Ayames father had hit the floor, and had crawled over to his wife, crying and cluthing her bloody body, while gunfire raged above his head. He realized his wife was dead, and another thought hit him like a brick. Ayame! He tried to crawl toward the stairs but was hit in the arm by a ricocheting bullet. He cried out loudly, and rolled over, clutching his arm, exposing his body to the hail of bullets that was pouring in from his shattered glass window. He was hit twice more, but the first bullet killed him as it tore through his chest and stopped his heart immediately. Upstairs, Ayame was huddling under her bed, whimpering as the loud gunfire hurt her ears. She was about to crawl out when the gunfire got louder as they turned their fire upon Ayame's room. Ayame pressed herself to the floor as bullets bounced around her room. She yelped as her lamp exploded, and a bullet buried itself in the floor near her face. Wood fragments flew into her eyes and face, making her cry out in pain. When the gunfire stopped, and the cars left, squealing their tires, Ayame crawled out from under her bed, and ran to her parents room. Finding them gone, the fifteen year old ran down the stairs, and stopped short at the sight that greeted her. Both of her parents were dead, lying in huge amounts of blood, and there were bullets lying everywhere. In shock, she bent over and picked one up, staring at it, her shocked mind uncomprehending. It was still warm. She threw it away, yelling in anger and fear, crying as she did so. In the distance, she could hear sirens getting louder and louder. She kicked down the door riddled with bullet holes and sat down on the steps, waiting for the police. When they finally arrived, she stood up, and immediately had two hand guns pointed at her.
"You motherfuckers, why the hell couldn't you get here faster?" She yelled angrily, stomping up to them. The cop, unsure of what to do, pointed his gun at her uncertainly.
"D-don't move, put your hands up, and lay down on the ground!"
Ayame ignored him, and kept advancing. The cop waited until she was close, then pistol whipped her as she raised a fist to punch him. She dropped to the ground unconscious. The cop bent down to cuff her, when in the darkness, he saw the outline of a womans body. He flicked on his flashlight and ran it over her body.
"Jesus, it's just a girl! damn! Imagine the lawsuit thats gonna come out of this... child of slain parents sues cops for being pistol whipped...fuck!"
Ayame sat up, and wiped a few tears off her face, as she remembered the double murder. Three years later, and she could still remember the killers face, it was just a question of finding him. She was sure it was the guy she beat at the tournement. I beat you then, and I'll beat you now, you bastard... just you wait!