Fat Brown Lump by Vicious Grin

Competition Blues

[color=#800080]This was my very first SessKag fanfic and to be honest, it isn't that great. Lol. Its interesting to see how far I've come as a writer (not very!). There will be minor edits to make it flow better and, ultimately, make me a happy camper. My eyes are undergoing a lengthy healing process due to a recent surgery, so please bear with me as far as updates go. Reviews are very appreciated, but not necessary for the story to continue. -VG-

DISCLAIMER: I do not claim any ownership over Inuyasha or Fruity Pebbles.[/color]

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"You promise?"

"Yeah, yeah. I promise. Quit askin' alright? I'll be there!"

"Humph. Fine... I'll see you around noon! Bye!"

Kagome Higurashi hung up the old eggshell-colored house phone resting on the desk beside the white windowsill of her room, sat back and closing her eyes, sighed in contentment. She had just finished talking with one of her closest childhood friends, Inuyasha Taisho, the stubborn inu-hanyou who lived halfway across the city-- in a much nicer part, of course. The two had known each other since they were very young, thanks to their parents already being close business associates with one another. Now they were both seniors in high school ready to go off to college in a matter of months.

Inuyasha had been pretty popular in school, despite his incredibly short temper with just about everything. He did exceptionally well in every sport he attempted, received decent grades, and was nearly inseparable from Kagome. Most of their school friends and acquaintances assumed the two were dating, despite their many attempts at denying it, but they found it much easier to just ignore the rumors and carry on like they always had.

Like Inuyasha, Kagome appeared to be very friendly, but she was also known for having a thunderous spirit every now and then. Though she usually received high marks on her report cards, as of late, her grades seemed to be slipping ever so slightly. To those that knew her best, she appeared to be constantly distracted and found it hard to stay focused, especially when she was around Inuyasha. At least she had archery. Nothing could ever distract her from that. It was her one true passion that was going to take her places and also her reason for calling him that morning.

Today was the second of three big competitions where several other schools would be competing against hers for the first place title of that year's archery games, and she needed Inuyasha there to help keep her team focused. There was just something about him that had all her team members respect the boy as much as they did her, if not more. All the competing schools were required to have one person, whether they were a teacher, parent, or friend, to act as coach alongside the team captain. Naturally, Kagome chose Inuyasha. She trusted him to be more responsible than anyone else at her school and always went to him first when she had any kind of interesting news. If it was good, he congratulated her with giant hugs that seemed to last forever. If not, he was her shoulder to lean on, complete with his signature hug. She loved it, though sometimes it left her out of breath.

Letting out a light chuckle and getting up out of her seat, Kagome stood facing her bedroom window and looked out at the sun rising over a waking Tokyo City, studying the soft colors the morning light shed on the rooftops below.

'Today seems like a nice day,' she thought to herself, 'I think its time I finally tell him.'

She took one last glance outside before retreating back into her room to prepare for the competition ahead.

'Nothing's going to stand in my way today.'

* * *

Inuyasha hung up his cell phone and walked downstairs to the kitchen. He was none to pleased to have been woken up before the sun, but it was Kagome. If he knew her as well as he thought he did, she was just excited and nervous at the same time... 'and probably only got a half hour of sleep.' he grumbled to himself.

His half brother, Sesshoumaru, who was ten years his senior, was already fully dressed and sitting on a stool at the white marble island reading the morning newspaper while munching on a bowl of Fruity Pebbles.

'Businessman eating a bowl of colorful kiddy cereal. Damn, I wish I had my camera...'

"Morning Sess." he said, walking past him grabbing the box of cereal.

"'Yasha." he muttered, not looking up.

"Did Kagome tell you about the competition today?" he asked, pouring the rest of the box's contents in a large bowl.

"Yes. She also asked me to tell you to behave yourself at this one. Apparently you tried to threaten a girl from another school with a licorice stick at the last competition." he smirked, glancing up.

Inuyasha dropped his spoon on the marble countertop, the clatter making the two cringe. "Hey! That girl started it!"

"They always do." he replied, getting up to leave. "Be ready by 11:00. I do not wish to get stuck in traffic."

* * *

Kagome put the finishing touches on her white and green archery uniform and twirled around, admiring herself in the hallway mirror.

"Kagome! Hurry!" her mother called from outside, "You'll be late!!"

"Coming!" She rushed back to her bedroom, grabbed her bow and arrows, an extra bow just in case, the ran outside and hopped into her mother's tiny, blue car.

"You're looking awfully nice for a competition." her mother commented.

Kagome blushed. "Well, you know... this is a big one. I heard there were going to be cameras."

Ok, so it wasn't a complete lie. The competition was going to be filmed, but it wasn't just to look good on the television. If she was going to confess her undying love for Inuyasha, she wanted to make sure she looked good doing it.

Her mother raised an eyebrow before backing out and heading to the stadium. She thought her daughter looked fine the way she was, but then again, who was she to question the logic of teenagers? Those years were but a distant memory for her. She was still waiting for her daughter to acknowledge the attentions of a certain family friend.

When they arrived, it looked as if hundreds of people were bustling about trying to get good seats while the competitors wandered around aimlessly, some looking lost, others just mingling with the crowd. School colors clashed with one another and reporters from various school newspapers went from competitor to competitor for interviews.

Kagome gulped.

"Don't worry you'll do fine."

She looked up to see her mother smiling softly down at her.

"Souta and I are going to find our seats. I'll meet you back here as soon as its over." she said, giving her a soft kiss on the forehead, then walked off.

"Good luck, nee-chan!" Souta waved.

Kagome smiled and waved back, albeit nervously.

'Where are you Inuyasha???'

She wandered around the stadium searching for the hanyou's signature white hair and triangular dog ears, but to no avail. There were a number of youkai and hanyou mixed in the crowd and none seemed to be any she knew. Just as she was ready to give up, she saw a shimmer of white pass by the corner of her eye. She turned around to see long white hair heading towards the stadium seats. 'That has to be him!'

"Taisho-kun!" she called, running over.

Sesshoumaru heard a female voice call out his name and turned around to see Kagome running towards him, her brown eyes shimmering from the sunlight. He absently wondered whether or not she realized the power those eyes had over him.

She stopped and gave the youkai a small bow.

"Oh, hi Sesshoumaru!" she breathed.

"Hello Kagome."

His voice sounded so mellifluous when he said her name. She paused and shook her head. 'Wait. What?'

"Have you seen Inuyasha? I have to be out on the field with the team in less than 20 minutes and I haven't seen him anywhere! He was supposed to be our stand-in coach!!" she paused, "Oh my goodness! We have no coach!!"

Sesshoumaru placed his hand on her back and felt her tense up. "Calm down, Kagome. Last I saw of him, he was off looking for snacks of some sort."

She closed her eyes and slapped her forehead. "'Yasha..." she growled.

Sesshoumaru chuckled. "Why don't I go back with you? I don't want you or your team getting into trouble."

Kagome gasped as she heard the faint ring of an electronic bell. "Oh no! The first round is starting!" She grabbed Sesshoumaru by the arm and dragged him off to find her team.

'Damnit, Inuyasha.'

* * *

The first round didn't go as well as Kagome had anticipated. She couldn't keep her mind off Inuyasha and how mad she was at him. Eventually, it got the best of her and as a result, her arrow struck the edge of the target, nearly missing the thing entirely.

A soft chuckle came from the side where one of the upper division schools were placed. She looked over to see a girl with long jet black hair, wearing the red and grey colors of the private school Shikon Prep. It was an incredibly hard school to be accepted into, so the girl had to be smart-- or wealthy.

"Silly girl can't even shoot properly."

Kagome felt her face get hot.

Sesshoumaru walked up behind her and placed a clawed hand on her shoulder. "Don't let her get to you Kagome. Come sit back down."

Kagome looked back at the girl, who was watching her intently from her team's bench, wondering what she did to provoke her statement. 'Probably just overly competitive...'

Sitting over among the red and grey she noticed was someone who looked oddly familiar. She squinted her eyes to get a better look. The person was wearing a red t-shirt, blue jeans, and baseball cap. Then she saw the silver hair.

"Inuyasha?!"

Immediately the boy looked up and an expression of surprise and horror spread across his face. "Kagome! I-uh...shit."

She didn't know how to feel just then. Her best friend was helping the one girl who obviously had a strong dislike for her while he was supposed to be sitting in Sesshoumaru's spot, organizing the charts and strategizing each team members strong and weak points like Sesshoumaru was doing.

Inuyasha ran over to her, barely noticing the rest of the team's glares and looks of disappointment. "Kagome! I can- "

She held up her hand. "No. Save it. We all have rounds to prepare for." Not once did she bother to look in his eyes.

Sesshoumaru glared at his brother. "Baka."

Though they were hidden underneath his hat, she knew Inuyasha's ears went flat against his head as walked back to the girl's team and sat next to her. Her red uniform skirt rode dangerously high up her long legs.

"She's not your girlfriend, is she?" she asked him.

"No! Of course not!" he hastily replied, "We're just friends."

Kagome bent over in her seat and held her head in her hands. She bit her bottom lip, trying her best to suppress the tears she felt coming. There was no way she was going to give anyone the satisfaction of seeing her cry, especially now. Inuyasha was an idiot, that much was certain, but she wasn't willing to admit that to herself just yet.

'How could he go back on a promise like that... and to help the other side?'

Sesshoumaru, unable to take her distress any longer, placed his hand on her back and gently rubbed circles.

"Kagome," he started, only to tense up when she looked up at him with watery eyes. Suddenly his mind was drawing blanks and he could no longer remember what he was going to say. As if on cue, the familiar ding of the electronic bell resonated throughout the field, saving him from embarrassment. "You still have two more rounds to finish."

With a determined face, she balled her hands into fists and stood up. "You're right! I can't let that bother me. We have a title to win!"

She grabbed her bow and went to her mark for the second round. Again, the girl stood next to her. 'Don't let her get to you. Don't let her get to you. Don't let her--'

"You know," she said, her red skirt blowing in the wind, "your little friend is pretty cute."

Kagome felt her body grow hot as a sudden rush of jealousy surged throughout her body. She bit down hard on the inside of her cheek and clenched her mouth shut. Inside, she was screaming. Before she knew it, she let her arrow loose, missing her target completely.

"No..."

* * *

"Come on, Kagome. This is the last round, and I know how great you are with moving targets. The rest of the team did their part to bring the score up. You just need three points to tie for a place in the final tournament." Sesshoumaru tried comforting her, which was definitely not one of his stronger suits.

"I can't do it! Not with that GIRL there!"

However, he couldn't stand to see her this miserable. Somehow that girl from Shikon Prep had managed to destroy what confidence the tiny girl before him held and it irked him to no end. He grabbed her by the shoulders and with the most stern face he could manage, looked straight into her eyes.

"Kagome, look at me." he commanded. A couple of her team members froze where they were, fear clearly written across their faces. Looking back at his golden orbs, she felt herself blush a little. "I know you can do this. The Kagome I got to know better these last three years has never let a single person stand in her way. Where did she go?"

"She ran away with her tail in between her legs."

He gave her a sly smirk. "Maybe I'll just have to reach under her skirt and pull it out. Hm?"

The panic in her eyes quickly dissipated and was replaced with her signature look of annoyance. "Alright! I'm going! But for that comment, you owe me lunch, buddy!"

"You hit your target and it's a date."

"Its not a date!" she called, already walking back out to the field with her bow in hand. "But you are buying!"

He merely chuckled, grateful her spirit wasn't completely gone.

She went over to her mark for the last time and got into position, finally pushing that girl's taunts out of her mind by imagining a table full of all sorts of different kinds of food and Sesshoumaru at the cash register paying for all of it. It was enough to bring a smile to her face. She watched the timer count down.

3...

2..

1.

Four bright red disks flew into the sky. Using two arrows at a time, she shot every single one down, a bull's-eye in each. The entire crowd burst out screaming and cheering. The judges were so impressed with her accuracy and speed, her team received three extra points, bumping her school up to third place and earning them a place in the final competition. Shikon Prep came in second.

'Well, at least they didn't get first.'