InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Racing Hearts ❯ Shihigura ( Chapter 6 )

Shihigura

Once they were in the library, she and Kouga drew up an outline of what they wanted to

include into the report. An hour passed by of the two quietly typing away on the computers,

looking up information. Throughout the whole time Kagome's arm thobbed from Inuyasha's

punch and she knew that there would be a large bruise. It had taken a lot to withstand his

punch and not fall to the floor. She gave a small wince at the throbbing ache of her arm.

*Gods, he has some strength, I haven't been this badly hit for ages*

"Kagome?"

She turned her head to Kouga.

"You might want to put some ice on that."

"I'm fine." she grumbled, embarassed that Kouga had seen her wince.

"Just some wise words from a wise person." he drawled.

She almost laughed but concealed it under a choking cough.

"I think we did a lot today, how about we turn in?"

"Say, want to go out with me and be my woman?"

Her jaw almost dropped in shock but she composed herself in time.

"Uh, excuse me? Your woman?" she said slowly and carefully.

"Yeah, my woman. I like how you act and you're a real tough girl." He didn't look at her but

tilted his head up towards the ceiling in the hope of appearing serious, yet cute.

"....Um...I really don't know how to break it to you but...."

"So, you find me devilishly handsome? It's ok to admit it here, not a lot of people are around."

he leaned back into his chair and put his legs on top of his table with a grin.

"No, I find you extremely self conceited and I have no interest in romance right now." Her

monotone voice was emitting seriousness but Kouga took no notice.

"Who said romance? I'm just talking about you being my woman."

This time her jaw did drop. She quickly closed it and started to gather her stuff.

"I have to go right now."

Kouga took his legs off the table and stood up.

"What for? I was just about to ask you to go with me to a party this friday night, wanna come?"

"No, I'll be busy then." Busily thinking of excuses she opened the door as Kouga followed her.

"Doing what?" he asked.

"Something." she said without meeting his eyes.

"Like what?" he asked again.

"Washing my hair!" she yelled.

She fled the computer room and started to run down the hallway and out the front doors.

"Persistent little thug." she muttered under her breath.

"Who's that?"

Kagome turned her head slightly to see who it was. Silver hair flashed in the sun as the man

behind her casted a tall purple shadow in the sun's fading light. She turned her head back,

facing the rose covered school gates.

"Sesshoumaru." the word felt like a song falling from her lips.

"So who were you refering to, if I may be so bold to ask."

"Nobody you care to know."

"Are you, perhaps, refering to my delightful little brother?" a hint of animosity creeping into

his deep voice.

"No, now if you will excuse me, I'll be on my way."

She gave a mocking bow without turning to look at him and took off on a brisk walk.

Something about him angered her. Maybe it was his bold strides, or his constantly amused

eyes, or maybe it was just how devoid he was of emotion. She wished she could pinpoint it

somewhere so her anger would at least have some meaning. But for no apparent reason she

felt annoyance and resentment towards him, and it was only the first day. It wasn't normal of

her to dislike someone so soon and with no reason at all. If there was one thing for certain,

she was not enamored of this so called leading boy of the school.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sweat dripped from her brow but she didn't wipe it off. It would waste a second to do that and

a second was all her sensei needed to bring her down. They circled each other like predators

eager to take a swipe. He attacked and Kagome blocked neatly with her arm while trying to

kick him in the side. He nimbly moved back a step to avoid it then moved closer to throw in a

fast combination of kicks and punches. In a lightning speed move she dropped low and kicked

towards his calves to make him fall. He jumped back and kicked her in the chest, causing her

to stumble but she didn't lose her balance. Her chest burned but she pushed away the pain

and regained her concentration. Her face betrayed no emotion other than caution and

determination. He attacked at her again but she saw an opening. She dodged to the side and

executed a perfect roundhouse kick at his head. Without even looking he caught her foot

before it came into contact with his head and swept her other foot with his. She fell to the

ground and it was over. He gave her a hand up and a smile crinkled the corners of his eyes.

"You're not concentrating well today."

She took his hand and pulled herself up.

"I feel sloppy." she chagrined.

"I want you to work on your punches, they aren't fast enough. I could have caught them

anytime."

That was the dismissal and she bowed to him with her palms on her thighs.

"I better see some improvement on our next practice." he added.

"Hai."

She swung her bag onto her shoulders and grabbed the towel hanging on a chair. She stepped

into the open courtyard as she wiped the sweat from her forehead. She took a deep breath of

nature's air and smiled. It wasn't her best practice but at least she felt better. She had spent

the better part of her energy preventing her sensei from landing a blow on her bruise, which

had swelled into a mass of purple, black, and blue. When she arrived home her answering

machine blinked with several messages.

*Beep*

"Hey Kagome, it's Sango. I didn't see you after school today so I just wanted to call you up and

ask how it was. I hope it wasn't too bad, the school itself is really good and has had high

ratings. Oh, there is this huge back to school party at Inuyasha's house and everybody is

invited so I wanted to know if you could go with me. Oh, and it seems like Kouga has taken

some interest to you, he's been pestering me like crazy during 6th period. I wouldn't be

surprised if he didn't ask you out al-"

*Beep*

"Hey Kagome, it's Kouga. Why did you you take off so fast? It's ok to be nervous in front of me,

I don't mind shy girls. Anyway, are you still going with me to the party this fri-"

She quickly deleted the message and gave an annoyed scowl to the air, imagining it to be

Kouga's face. How could a high school boy be so arrogant at a such a young age? And just how

did he get her phone number when it was unlisted? The phone rang and Kagome looked at it

fearfully, was it Kouga? She slowly reached out and picked the phone up.

"Hello?" she said gravely.

"Miss Higurashi?" said a familiar voice. Kagome let out the breath she had been holding.

"Yoshihiro-san, how are you this evening?" Kagome smiled at her deceased father's most

trusted advisor. Yoshihiro had been with her father for the past ten years and was like a

second father to her, always there to smile and cheer her on. "Is there a reason in calling me

so late?"

"Forgive me, Miss Higurashi, but a last minute invitation just came up. It requests your

presence and mine to a ball between the Higurashi Company and the TaiYoukai Company."

Yoshihiro murmured in his usual soft tone.

"TaiYoukai? Aren't they our rivals in international trade?" she asked, moving around her

kitchen to get dinner ready.

"Correct, they are giving this ball in honor of your father and to welcome your presidency in

the company. So will you go?" the advisor asked.

"They are our rivals, doesn't seem odd that they want to throw a ball for their rivals? Either

way, it would be impolite to decline, neh, Yoshihiro-san?" she tore open cup ramen and

began to heat up water for the soup as Yoshihiro chuckled over the phone.

"Correct again. It will be on Wednesday and I will pick you up in the limo at 5 pm sharp. Till

then, oyasuminasai Miss Higurashi." Yoshihiro clicked off before hearing Kagome's reply. She

put the phone back and leaned against the marble kitchen counter. Should she go racing

tonight? Or should she just work on homework? Tough decision...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The pier was packed with racers. The sound of rumbling engines filled the air and echoed

around the empty water. Laughter and talking rose even higher than the sound of the

machines as Kagome leisurely wheeled her bike. Tonight, she decided to play it safe and had

had slipped on her trusty leather jeans along with a loose blue sweatshirt that hid her curves.

Shippo was taking the wagers as usual and had numbers coming out of his mouth faster than

the other person could understand. When he saw her he gave a jump and immediately

scampered to her, leaving the person he had been taking money from.

"Hiya Masked One!" he chirped with energy.

"Why don't we drop the name? It's kind of cheesy." she said while slipping off her gloves.

"If you don't like it, we can always shorten it down to M.O. Or if you don't like that one either,

we can call you The Helmet-" he rambled on, putting forth some of the most corniest and

most ridiculous names Kagome had ever heard. She finally managed to put in a word while he

took a breath.

"If you really want a name, use Shihigura."

"Shihigura? What kind of name is that? It doesn't even sound cool or tough." Shippo

complained.

"Who am I up against tonight?" Kagome cut through again, changing the subject. Shippo

looked down at his small pile of papers and Kagome gave a sigh of relief. The Helmet? Masked

One? This kawaii mathematician was one of a kind. Shippo looked up from the list of names.

"Someone challenged you to a race. That one over there." He pointed to a group of girls.

"A girl?" she said curiously, scanning her eyes for the person. So she wasn't the only female

racer?

"No no, the guy sneaking closer to the girls." Shippo pointed to the overly familiar man from

last night. He had a focused look on that deceptively handsome face as he stepped closer and

closer to the group.

"Is that guy always perverted?" Kagome asked, putting on her gloves as shrieks and slaps rang

out.

"You know, I asked him once. And he said it's a normal male thing. You're a guy, is it true?"

Shippo looked up at her with his big green eyes unblinking. Kagome almost laughed at that

innocent expression. He hadn't figured out yet that she was a girl.

"Normal males treat girls like they're precious." *Ok, maybe that's a bit of a lie. But the girl in

his future will thank me for it* Kagome accompanied this though with a affectionate pat on

Shippo's head and walked off to watch a race. She pushed through the crowd of sweaty men

and attentively watched the long stretch of stone that hugged the ocean's shore. Perfect

vision caught sight of two motorcycles that sped closer. It was a close race but she mentally

noticed that one of them had a loose grip on his bike and the other didn't control his bike's

direction well, sporadically swerving a little to the right and left. A finger tapped on her back

and she turned around to see Inuyasha standing behind her? He was wearing jeans and a red

sweatshirt, his bright helmet tucked under an arm. His long silver hair was tied back but it

didn't stop some hair from artfully falling around his face.

"You're the girl who's racing right?" he said. "You better watch out, most of these guys have

too much pride to be racing in the same place with a girl. Just a warning that some of them

might challenge you every night till you leave."

"Thanks, I'll remember what you said." she turned around to watch the race end but he tapped

her again.

"I'm serious, if you don't drop out and watch from the sidelines, they'll use force if necessary."

Cheers and boos thundered around as another race started. Inuyasha looked at Kagome

seriously.

"I can take care of myself. Thanks for your concern." she wiggled through the crowd to loose

him and went back to her bike. It was strange hearing words of caution coming from

Inuyasha's mouth, but who was he to tell her she couldn't race? Just because she was a girl

didn't mean she couldn't beat all the guys here, race or fight. She grabbed the handles of her

dark blue Ninja AZ-12R and began to push it towards the starting line. Her challenger was

already there, standing beside his blue striped Suzuki TL1000S. He sidled up to her as she

pulled up.

"Hi, I'm afraid I haven't properly introduced myself-"

"No, but I have met your introduction." Kagome interrupted and coldly turned her back to

check her bike's engine. A hand began to creep closer to the rear that was just in reach but

was kicked away by a foot.

"Oy, Miroku, get your kicks from somewhere else!" Inuyasha yelled. Kagome turned around

to see Miroku nursing a hand and Inuyasha looking irritated. She gave a sigh at her own

mistake and mentally reminded herself to never turn a back on Miroku. The girl from last

night came out in another corset with a matching skirt that laced up on the side. She held a

white cloth and both riders hopped onto their bikes. *He's pretty good, but his start is always

a bit slow. And he hesitates right before turning, I can use that against him* Kagome could

feel excitement bubbling in her blood and her hands were eager to start. The corset girl

dropped her arm and Kagome took off in a perfect start. Just as she had predicted, Miroku's

own start was a bit slow and she pulled ahead of him easily. He began to catch up as they

raced to the end, the power of his engine working fulltime to get closer. He slowed down a

little before the turn and Kagome moved her bike in a quick 360 with a piercing screech. She

sped past him and crossed the line with plenty of distance. A few clapped, a lot booed, and

the most just remained quiet. The predictability of race crowds was easy to figure and

Kagome made no notice of their attention. Inuyasha was waiting at the line with crossed

arms, helmet perched on his flame red Kawasaki ZX-9. She was tempted to say I told you so

to his face but made do with the smirk inside her head. She stopped her bike and got off,

looking expectantly at him. His arms were still crossed and he had a babyish look of a child

who had just lost a bet.

"I challenge you to a race." his face not moving an inch from the expression he wore.

"Fine. But if I beat you, get off my back about racing." Kagome put her hand out and he took it,

his fingers easily overlapping her own small ones. She was surprised at how firm his grip was.

And he didn't squeeze his hand hard to intimidate her like most guys would do.

"And if I win, you stop racing." he replied back.

"Deal."

*Okok, I finally got the chapter out and I made it longer than usual as my own way of saying sorry! I'll try my best to not take such a long time to update! I added what type of bikes the characters use because it's kind of boring just to say his bike or her bike. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! (p.s. I dunno if anybody caught it but Shihigura is Higurashi rearranged)