&&&&&&&

"Yura, are you all right?"

For a while, the voice sounded like it was coming from far away. Yura slowly opened her eyes, and beheld Kagome's face, full of surprise and concern, just inches from her own. Yura blinked, and then finally realized where she was. A bit more quickly than she should have, she stood to brush herself off before rubbing the shoulder she had landed on when Kagome saved her. She was a bit disoriented from the blow she got from Kagome, and she tried her best to shake it off, not wanting the other girl to observe her in any state of weakness. Kagome, seeing that she was still out of sorts, reflexively grasped her by the forearm.

"I… I'm o.k. Umm…."

By now, Yura realized everything that had happened, and she hesitated as she was somewhat conflicted. A part of her desperately wanted to say "thank you", but those words would not come out no matter how hard she tried. After all, wasn't this her rival? Yura blinked as she stared at the other girl, remembering the caustic, bitter words she had left behind the last time they spoke. Now this very one had saved her life. She felt embarrassed, to say the least, a bit remorseful, and also somewhat angry that she now owed a debt of gratitude to this girl whom InuYasha…

InuYasha…

InuYasha..?

"InuYasha! Is he all right!"

She gasped as she spun in the direction his car had taken, following the trail of his skid marks, making herself a bit dizzy once more. Yura's own condition didn't matter, so long as nothing bad had happened to him. She gave a sigh of relief when she spotted the car, about twenty feet away, moving slowly toward them. There didn't seem to be any damage to it, and she could see him moving around inside. A few crew members were at the hood of InuYasha's car, pushing it back into the proper pit position. The other pit crew, whose space he had invaded, yelled out their upset with curses and threw in a few finger gestures for good measure. InuYasha's winning record may have been respected, but he was not exactly considered the 'person they'd most like to bring home for dinner' by the other drivers. He glared out of the "window" at the two girls as he was backed up, then, as the car passed them, he shouted at Yura.

"Way to get yourself killed, you stupid bitch! Why don'cha just run right out onto the track? Then I could make sure and do the job right! Plus I could squeeze in a pit stop off the caution flag!"

Yura tried not to show that his comments affected her, but Kagome saw her wince when his words cut through her, and despite the girls' earlier spat, she didn't believe Yura deserved that from anyone, least of all him. She turned and pointed directly at him.

"Listen! It's not her fault you were speeding in the pit lane, you stupid… ass! I wouldn't…"

"Kagome!"

Totosai had by now reached the two girls, and interrupted Kagome's retort.

"Is Yura all right?"

He scanned her up and down. Yura's shoulder still throbbed, but she wanted no one to think that she was that weak, so she straightened up, running a hand through her hair. She felt for and wiped an oil smudge from her cheek, then pulled her wrist from Kagome's grasp.

"I'm fine, sir."

Totosai let out a deep breath.

"Thank the gods… and you too, Kagome. That was quick thinking. Now, much as I'd like to stay and chat, let's all get back to work. We're already twenty-five seconds behind!"

As he pointed to his stopwatch for emphasis, Yura left them and ran over to the pit barrier, then jumped over it to head back to her station. The other crew were changing the tires and topping off the fuel for InuYasha's car. One of the crew passed him a container of soft drink, but he waved it away and pointed to Kagome. The crewman gave a quizzical look, and then shrugged. InuYasha stuck his head out the window and yelled once again.

"Hey, bitch, move your ass! Didn't you hear the boss? Ya wanna do your job or not?"

Kagome's face grew red at his words, but she picked up her pace anyway as the other crew had completed their tasks by now, and she knew she couldn't hold up the pit stop any longer. All eyes were now upon her. In her mind, the seconds ticked by much too quickly, and she was feeling the warmth of her embarrassment at being made the center of attention. Although he could have taken off without a drink, indeed, he could have accepted it when it was offered to him the first time, he had decided to act this way to goad her, in public, no less. Each second that passed could mean position points, and she knew she wouldn't hear the end of it from him later on, nor would Totosai. She chewed on her lower lip.

So he was going to be a son-of-a-bitch, eh?

She snatched the container from the crewman and thrust it through the "window", making sure she spilled some of the cola onto his lap. That would leave a stain that would show up in all the photographs if he was fortunate enough to wind up in the winner's circle today. As if he couldn't handle the stress and peed his pants like a wuss. Her eyes never left his and she displayed some of the pleasure she received by her action with a slight smirk. She spoke under the growl of the engine, so that only he could hear.

"I told you before; my name is not 'bitch'."

Her glare transmitted evil intent, as if she dared him to do something more, but for a fraction of a second, he thought he saw something else behind her trembling irises. He couldn't figure it out just then, but there was something. What he suspected but didn't know was that Kagome, for the very first time, realized just how beautiful his eyes were when she looked directly into them at that moment. They seemed to draw her in with their golden intensity.

'Why does he have to be...'

She had to will herself to not respond, to not blink or give him any other indication of the effect he had on her in that briefest of moments.

The straw in the container made empty air bubble noises as he finished his drink. He raised an eyebrow and started to say something but Totosai was screaming in his ear to get his ass back onto the track. He had no time for this. He squinted at her with one eye and made the motion to throw the empty bottle back at her, but she did not flinch. He dropped it to the ground at her feet, and, never losing eye contact with her, gave his own smirk as he gunned the engine, still in neutral.

"Think you're a match for me, hunh? Let me give you a little advice. Watch where you step, o.k?"

He flipped his visor down. She hardly had time to ponder the double meaning when she heard the "click" of the transmission as he put the car in gear. She leapt backward just in time as he throttled the car and took off with a trail of smoke, tracks left behind on the spot where her feet had been seconds before. The drink container had actually been crushed by the rear tire.

'Why, that piece of…'

"Kagome! Kouga's gonna pit in 45 seconds. Let's get busy!"

"Yes, sir!"

She bent down to pick up the crushed container, then, checking that the pit area was clear of any other debris, turned and hopped over the pit barrier.

&&&&&&&

Sesshomaru had by now taken the lead, and was twenty seconds ahead of InuYasha, who picked off weaker cars as he made up ground.

"Jeff who? Mark who? Dale who? Buncha amateurs..."

He mumbled to himself as he passed each one from the low lane. Going into turn three, he caught Miroku, who was in fourth position in the high lane. Miroku backed down the lane to make a space for InuYasha's car, then pulled out of the pocket when InuYasha was positioned in fourth to get in front of him to allow him to draft. InuYasha backed down the lane, and waited until Miroku positioned himself only inches in front of car number fifty seven. They were traveling at more than one-hundred seventy-five miles an hour. '57' could sustain bursts of speed of over one-hundred ninety miles per hour given its current level of tuning, but Sesshomaru was only three car lengths ahead of him now, so he would conserve his fuel until Miroku had to pit.

Then he would make his move.

&&&&&&&

Kouga's car rolled to a stop, and the gang went to work. Kagome cleaned the windshield, then turned to reach for the plastic extender arm to give him his drink. It was nowhere to be found. Thinking quickly, she took the drink container, and, stretching out to him, leaned over the barrier as far as she could. Kouga, completing his conversation with Totosai and now noticing her for the first time since he stopped, smiled at her as he took the drink in one hand, then transferred it to the other while he continued to hold onto her hand with his free one.

"Whoa..!"

Kagome's eyes went wide as she teetered over the barrier, balancing at the waist. After he downed his drink in about three gulps, he threw the empty container away and clasped her hand now with both of his. One more inch or so and she'd topple over onto the ground, but his grip was strong, and somehow she knew he would never let her fall. He stared into her eyes, his face full of emotion.

"The princess of the pit-stop gives nourishment to this lowly track rat. Thank you, dear Kagome."

Kagome's heart was already pounding from her precarious position, and she still felt a bit of adrenaline from her confrontation with InuYasha. She wasn't prepared for the sincere look of gratitude on Kouga's handsome face; his disarming smile and sparkling green eyes made her breath hitch, and she blushed slightly. He was so different from that... that...

She would remind herself later to ask him why they were even friends. The car jerked downward as the hydraulic jack was removed when the tire replacement had been completed. Kouga grasped Kagome's other hand and leaned out and up, helping her to move backward until she could settle herself on her feet behind the barrier. Totosai was going spastic in his headset, so Kouga blew her a kiss and waved as he shifted into first gear.

"Goodbye, my princess! I'll be back soon. Of that I am certain, so wait for meeeeeeeeee!"

His voice trailed away as he accelerated, hitting the main track at 100 miles per hour inside of four seconds.

Kagome turned around and held her head for a second or two until her blush died down. Now she needed something cold to drink. He was such a kidder, but still, he certainly knew a thing or two about what women liked to hear. She looked up at the rest of the pit crew, who all had stopped what they were doing to stare at her. She blinked.

"What?"

&&&&&&&

A/N:

Next: Road Rage.

Thank you, NightMiko, KELEY, cynical chaos, Spitfire-Hanyou15, and xdeathbynamex!