Common disclaimers on the characters Rin and Sesshomaru, who are intellectual property of the esteemed Takahashi Rumiko-san's InuYasha series. Oh and that I don't own. I'm only a poor college student after all.

Competition,

By Winterwing3000

"Finally! It's finished!" Rin clapped in delight. She wiped her hands on the apron and pushed the goggles to her forehead. Her face was streaked with grey dust.

Sesshomaru stared at the final product skeptically. "You said that this will win your team the competition, correct?"

The girl nodded as she came over to his side and stood with hands at her hips. "Uhn! It's a beauty! Best one of the past five years the team has competed! Everything is carefully measured and weighed. All of our calculations were redone multiple times by different people with the same results!"

The older boy allowed his gaze to wander to the high shelf where several trophies for the same competition, but none of them were for first place. They then shifted to the pictures taken at those contests, each displaying a different design of their contest entry.

"Remind me again why I am here?" he asked her blandly. "Last night, you told me that you had something beyond my expectations to show me. And you even had to flood my instant messenger, insisting that I would not be disappointed."

Rin untied her apron and hung it next to the others. She smiled brightly. "I thought you'd be interested to see what I've been working on the past two months."

Sesshomaru grunted. He knew that it was more than that—she was trying to assuage him of his suspicions. Ever since the semester started, she turned him down every single time he was free, even when he knew that she had the time too. Though the idea was foolish to him from the start, it began to grow as she kept dodging around spending time with him with mysterious excuses.

It was not his fault that those suspicions arose when she was equally at fault for contributing to them by not providing a more believable excuse.

But now that he found out the real reason, he couldn't help but feel slightly relieved and became seriously disinterested at the topic.

"Here," she took hold of one of his hands and tugged him forward. "We can test it out. It's supposed to fit at least four people."

He followed her silently, watching bemusedly as she clambered onto the workshop table and made herself comfortable within the thin vehicle. The table stood sturdily with her weight but he doubt that it would remain standing once he got in there with her.

"Come on, it's fine. People sit in it all the time and it still hasn't broken yet!" she urged. Sesshomaru almost rolled his eyes but acquiesced. He sat on the hard seat with his front facing hers.

"See! It works!" Rin exclaimed. She then grinned mischievously. "Maybe we should take it out and give it a try."

"I rather not die in such an unsightly manner," Sesshomaru deadpanned.

The table shook slightly as Rin leaned forward suddenly, so he quickly grabbed onto the sides of frame.

Rin pouted. "But I wanted to go on a date with you! We have all the time in the world now! It'll be really romantic! Floating along, surrounded by fireflies, and all that fun stuff!"

"Perhaps another time," he conceded as he eyed the interiors of the vehicle. "We will ride an actual boat, and not something made by college students."

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that," she said with an overly sweet smile. Rin gently pecked him on the lips. She looked at him with wide and innocent eyes. "But I was serious the date!"

Sesshomaru sat for a moment but then lowered his lips against hers. Just when Rin melted into the kiss, he pulled back and got out of the boat.

"So is that a yes?" Rin asked excitedly as she followed him out.

Sesshomaru paused as he picked up his backpack. He looked at her over his shoulder and smirked. "Only if you win the concrete canoe competition."

Rin gaped at him, speechless.

Sesshomaru shrugged on his bag and grabbed hers before slinging it over one of his shoulders. He gave her a question glance from the doorway. "Are you coming?"

She returned his smirk with a feral grin filled with determination. "You bet!"

NOTES: This is Alternate Universe.

They are both college students, so over 18 years of age.

AN: I hope you all like this one! To be honest, there are concrete canoe competitions! One of the engineering student organizations at my school entered previously and they continue to do so every year!

Also, a big thanks for all the support from my readers and reviewers!

This is for the LJ Community, 30 kisses, without the underscore. This is from List Alpha, theme #1 (conspiracy/intrigue) and #26 (chat room).