&&&&&&&
"Ladies and Gentlemen, it looks like it's setting up for a thrilling finish!" The announcer enthused, his voice ricocheting across the track.
Twelve laps remaining. With the top seven drivers' points standings so close to each other, the winner today would take a very nice lead into the next race, one step closer to the championship, with but three races remaining.
As the wave of cars tore past the finish line, Sesshomaru's fans roared their love and admiration over his command of the race thus far, with little help from his team, no less. Many female fans waved their "fluffy" bobble-head dolls in excitement as he roared past the grandstand like a solitary crusader, taking on and dispatching his enemies with poise and cool detachment. His white steed ran flawlessly, despite the dings it had taken from today's battle. The Taurus, like its namesake, the bull, was strong enough that he had been able to skip away from most attempts at bump-drafting from any driver who tried to take the spot directly behind him.
But that kind of power had its price, and so he became concerned as Jaken relayed that his car would be very close to an empty tank, within seven to ten gallons of fuel by the time he reached the finish line, if he reached it at all. A pit stop now was likely to cost him the win, as there weren't enough laps remaining to give him a chance to retake the lead, or at least compete for it.
On the other hand, if he kept up his current strategy, he was sure to be challenged before the finish line, and fighting off those challengers was certain to consume even more fuel. The second greatest embarrassment to a driver was to run out of fuel just before the finish, and he, Sesshomaru, would never be made a laughing stock to either the fans, or his fellow drivers.
"Hnn"
He grunted to himself, and began to reduce his speed slowly. In the best case scenario, one of the other drivers, chomping at the bit, would challenge him soon, and give him an opportunity to save some fuel by taking the lead and letting him draft for a few laps. But he would have to be careful that he not fall behind a one-shot wonder, who captured the lead only briefly, only to eventually fall back into the pack. His chances for success would dissipate rapidly should that happen. He would need to sustain a position where he could re-engage for the lead, and that all depended on who he would be drafting behind.
If it was someone from Team Hidaka, his chances wouldn't necessarily improve, because those guys would never defer to him when it was time for him to make his move. With Team Hidaka, it was different. If he made a move to bump himself free of one, one of the others would try to protect his teammate's position, and he would engage Sesshomaru, the two of them grinding each other into magnet shavings until the finish line. He knew that at least InuYasha's car was strong enough to give him a run for the money, indeed, he had beaten Naraku to a pulp earlier, and that one hadn't recovered, now stuck somewhere in the middle of the pack.
Also, Kouga seemed to be running strongly today as well. As teammates, they would soon put themselves into the fray, working together to ensure that at least one, if not both of them, remained in contention until the end. After that, Sesshomaru considered, the concept of "team" would go flying down the road as they then went after each other, and it would be every man for himself as the checkered flag neared. And then there was Miroku, the unknown factor. Jaken mentioned that he had moved up to fifth place, and was still coming on strong. Sesshomaru resolved that he did not want to be a spectator to the Hidaka duel as it unfolded in front of him. Unless he got lucky, and someone else cracked up to bring out the yellow flag, he simply couldn't pit now.
'Tuck and draft, then…'
Better to be proactive. He smiled to himself as he eased off the accelerator and waited.
He didn't have to wait long.
&&&&&&&
Sango filled the last hand-held container from the main fuel tank and sealed it, then nodded to her crew-mate; he then pulled the motorized dolly containing the six full cells over to holding area. Sango then locked down the large fuel tank, and hurried over to where Kagome was working.
One of her tasks was to make sure the power generator and backup generators were in working order at all times, or the power jacks and lug wrenches wouldn't work. Both jobs would then have to be completed by hand, making it impossible for a driver to get out of the pits in less than half a minute. That was clearly unacceptable. Kagome, concentrating on her task, felt Sango's hand on her shoulder. Sango tapped on the side of her helmet, indicating that she didn't want to communicate via radio frequency, or Totosai might hear their conversation and then tar and feather them.
"One minute. I'm almost done here."
With that, she fired up the backup generator and tested all four of the power wrenches. Satisfied that everything was working properly, she shut it down, then removed her helmet as she stood to face her new friend. Sango did the same, shaking her pony-tail out to its full length.
"How's it going, Kagome?"
Sango almost yelled over the din of the passing cars.
"Well, it's been a hell of a day so far." Kagome replied.
"So, what's up with Kouga?"
Sango, like everyone else, had witnessed what had transpired during his last pit stop. She didn't want to push their new friendship too far, but Sango looked up to Kagome, proud of her friend's success in the truck series. She promised herself that she would lend whatever support she could so that Kagome could get a legitimate chance to prove herself in competition. And also, Sango had admitted to herself that she had been smitten by that aloof guy who drove the purple car, and perhaps, just maybe, Kagome could give her a few pointers to help her overcome her shyness. Sango was quite attractive, but also somewhat innocent about these kinds of things. Perhaps Kagome could…
Kagome blanched at the question, almost coughing out a response.
"Oh, that guy Kouga is such a total doofus, kidding around like that…"
Sango noticed that Kagome wasn't able to look her in the eye, and that her cheeks were turning pink when she said that. She quickly tried to change the subject, deciding to try a less direct approach later.
"I… umm, hope it doesn't get much hotter. My hair can't take much more of this humidity…"
Sango then grasped her pony-tail in one hand, and ran the fingers of her other hand through it, tugging through the split ends.
"I know what you mean. It's horrible. I'm thinking of getting it cut."
Kagome replied. She turned toward the trailer area, and noticed Yura heading toward them, her face a mixture of emotions. For a second, Yura locked eyes with Kagome, and then turned away, as if she was trying to decide between a few different courses of action. Her hesitation was brief, however, and she now strode purposefully over to the two other girls. Kagome didn't know what to expect, and Sango merely watched as the interaction began.
"Hello, Kagome. Hello, Sango. My, but your hair is quite beautiful."
Sango stopped combing her fingers through her hair at that comment, and replied with a slightly perplexed look on her face.
"Umm… thank you…"
"Kagome, could I speak to you for a moment?"
Yura almost reached out to tug on Kagome's arm, but thought the better of it and kept her hands at her sides. Kagome cocked her head to the side as she studied the girl, wondering what this could be about.
"Sure. Sango, I'm sorry…"
"No problem. If you ladies would excuse me…"
Sango turned to head back to the pit area, the sun reflecting off her green jumpsuit, causing Yura to mutter, as she held out her arms, examining her own suit.
"Who came up with this color scheme?"
"I know. Isn't it awful?"
"Hideous. We look like somebody puked us up after one too many.
"Well it could be worse. It could have been lime green. Then, from a distance, the spectators couldn't tell us from flies."
Both girls laughed at their jokes, Yura happy to have an opening to let her say what she really wanted to. She took a deep breath, then spit it out.
"Kagome, listen. I… I wanted to apologize to you for… for what happened earlier. And I also wanted to thank you for what you did."
Yura looked away for a moment, then, with great effort, back at Kagome, staring right into that one's eyes.
"It's just that… when it comes to him… I get kind of crazy and…"
Kagome realized just then what courage it took for Yura to say these things to her.
"Yura, you don't have to say anything more. I understand."
Even as she said that, the memory of what she felt when she stared into his eyes came back to her. She began to feel warmer all of a sudden, from that feeling itself, but even more from the realization of what that feeling could mean.
"Yura! Kagome!"
Totosai's voice crackling through their headsets got the girls' attention, and they ran back to their work stations, securing their helmets as they did. They would finish this conversation later.
&&&&&&&
A well-tuned braking system can take a NASCAR vehicle from 175 mph down to zero in about nine seconds, but it still needs more than 250 feet for that to occur. These guys were lucky if they were more than 250 centimeters from each other, going at top speed. Everybody wanted to win, or at least finish as high as possible, to add the most points to their standings. The drivers of the weaker cars knew they could not compete with the likes of InuYasha, Sesshomaru and Kouga; they had not the car, the skill, or the balls to sustain an extended run at that level.
The game was still potentially quite lucrative for them, and the second and third-tier drivers competed with each other within their own mini "packs", because consistent finishes, even in the top 15, meant you could move up the pecking order within your own team, or be wooed to another, better team, with the prospect of a better-engineered vehicle, better pit support, and a better payday.
So logical.
Then why do they do such stupid things, sometimes?
With eleven laps to go, Kouga, intent on catching his teammate, as well as Sesshomaru, made a three-wide, inside move on turn two to capture tenth position, having moved easily through the pack up until that point. Passing one Jeff, and then the other, he waved, then chuckled at a joke he made.
'Jeff and Jeff… Mutt and Jeff… which one's the mutt? That's a hoot! Hahahahahaha…'
When his laughter died down, he spoke into his mike.
"Miroku, where are you?"
"I'm up on the wall, just into turn one. Can you see me?"
Kouga was just able to hear above the roar of his engine. He squinted, and then was able to make out the purple car up ahead.
"Yeah, I got you dead in my sights. I'll be passing through in just a minute, sweet-heart."
"I'll have some tea and crumpets ready for your visit."
Both Kouga and Miroku burst out laughing.
"If you two knew what you sounded like…"
InuYasha grunted through their headsets. Kouga would have wiped a tear from his eye, but he had his helmet and gloves on. He sighed.
"Dude, how ya doin'?"
"Sittin' pretty in third behind Stewart, just waitin' to pick my spot. In about three laps, I'll take him, and then that other arrogant bastard out in front. Where's your sorry ass?"
"I'm about 10 seconds behind you, trying to get around some rookies. I can see Miroku coming out of turn one now. Give me about another two laps, and I'll be right there to give you a good ass-kicking. Make sure your panties are on nice and tight…"
'What the…'
The car nearest the wall, its driver unable to handle the pressure of pushing his car at its upper limit against now two competitors, lost his nerve and tried to back down. He lost his grip on the steering wheel for a fraction of a second, but that was enough. His nose tapped the nose of the car in the middle, and like a domino, that one tapped Kouga's nose, but with much more momentum.
Kouga never saw it coming.
When he felt the impact, and the new direction his car was taking, he tried his best to turn into the direction of the skid, to hopefully get his car back under control, but by now he was already on the infield grass, and going sideways at 100 miles per hour. At that speed, and on the slick grass, he had absolutely no control of the car. He gritted his teeth as he beheld the concrete stanchion that supported the infield tower. It was approaching very fast. He took the second and a half he had before impact to say a short prayer, the prayer all drivers make instinctively, as they prepare for the great checkered flag in the sky. Bravely, he opened his eyes and, grimacing, looked into the face of his death as it came at him.
'This is gonna hurt…'
"Unnh!"
His body jerked backward as the car that had been in the middle of the duel now caught up to him, smacking the rear end and sending Kouga's car into the air, now somersaulting, now catching the earth with its nose, pirouetting away from the stanchion. The crowd, first oohing and aahing at the beautiful, deadly solo dance, next held its collective breath as the car, like a giant spinning top, moved about a hundred and fifty feet, then stopped before collapsing on its roof.
Kouga could be seen inside, hanging upside down. He was not moving.
Everyone watched as the caution flag went up. Kagome's heart was in her throat.
'Kouga…'
&&&&&&&
A/N: It's been a while, but we'll see if we can pick up where we left off and keep going with this…
Next: Kagome's chance in competition… finally! You go, girl!
Thank you, MoonNightMiko, shortPoet, speed killz, Cynical Chaos, and Savitri Marie !!!
Ciao!
W.