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Hehe...I see. Well here's for the best.

Have faith in the team xD

They may be a huge PITA bunch, but these guys have great experience in what they do best.

Well, I am actually glad this project can go this far... xD

Just have a bit more patience, bro.

This post has been edited by Rin on Jun 23 2014, 10:29 PM

A good project always plan long and steady before executing lol. We shall continue to fight on~

Just read code 0 and really enjoyed it, gonna read the rest when I can too.

By the end I was locked in and the attention to detail was great.

I'll put the rest in spoiler tags so I don't spoil it for anyone.

SPOILER

Really liked the airport bit, As soon a Sweden was mentioned all my brain could do was think about rally drivers, It was great because I was thinking about that while reading through the phone call.

Can't wait to read more!

Thanks for feedback, means a lot from another fellow storyteller like you.

Well, I will post more updates today, so...try and catch up. It's a slightly rocky start but the chapters will get shorter so it's easier to understand in future.

I shall keep supporting you too in your project. xD

Hmm...would there be EK9s featured in future?

Patience, friend.

Well then...happy reading, those that are following still.

Code 3: First Trigger - Part Two

Saburo was yawning at the LED TV screen, other than daily news report, he already watched them all. And it seems like the entertainment channels weren’t showing any programs that seemed to interest him one bit at all. He turned the television off and got off from his couch. As he stretches his arms slightly and took his phone off the charger after it’s gone to the max battery level, he puts it inside his pocket and walked upstairs to his own room.

“Nothing but shit on TV...as usual.” Saburo thought. He opened the door and closes it. The clock shows it was 10:32 A.M, but he still didn’t feel like staying awake as there isn’t much for him to do. It was Saturday and his schedule was empty. Much as it was a pain in the neck for him to check on minor stuff like his mailbox or the forums, he has to at least take a peek to it just so that he doesn’t feel like he’s being overly lazy.

“Guess I’ll just check my email and take a nap. Sakuya’s not here to bug me today and no one’s pissing me off. Perfect.” Saburo booted on his black-colored PC and as it completes the loading to the OS of the computer, the Wifi system immediately connects him to the internet with optimum connection speed.

Saburo just clicked on to the Google Chrome and checked on to the usual forum of the Japan-Series Racing - SV Community, while he opened up another tab to check on his own mail in his page. Thankfully, there wasn’t a single unread message on it as he surely isn’t in the mood to deal with unknown mails or mails from Sakuya.

However, back to the TRC forums, he noticed that there is a hot-topic going on at the Shoumaru Pass section. Saburo raised an eyebrow, curious about what is with the sudden commotion at that spot. He knew the Shoumaru Pass section was always quiet and up to now, there hasn’t been much activity there other than maybe a few posts on a few weeks or so, because that spot is not really the hot-spot for street racers to go. The course layout on that area is just hellish and isn’t exactly safe for everyday racing.

“...wouldn’t hurt to check I guess.” Saburo hovered the cursor on his PC and clicked on the said section and the amount of new unread posts since his last visit was just staggering.

Everyone was talking about the mysterious foreign rider that defeated the S15 last night across the Shoumaru Pass and Adachi’s team was sent into a shock when that happened. Nobody predicted that the lime-green hot-hatch would be capable of defeating the S15 at such a twisty road.

But much to Saburo’s knowledge on that team, he can only assume that the foreign car may have a more balanced power output to cope with the narrow and twisty course where raw power isn’t all that useful. That and the driver simply possess good reflexes and knowledge on the course. However...there is one question that came to his mind.

“...how the hell did this kid managed to memorize the layout of the course so easily?” even Saburo scratched his head for a while in disbelief, and thinking it may be a bit too good to be true, so he skimmed through post after post to check if he can dig out any more information regarding about the driver that defeated Megu. And from what the posts said, it seems that many of them mentioned that the driver was already quite an experienced one before she even moved in to Japan. He also found out the name of the driver through these posts.

Her name is Vanessa Anderrson.

And as Saburo continued on to skim through the pages of the unread posts, he noticed that even Sakuya has posted there and it writes:

“So a foreign kid with sick talent has landed on our home huh? Might as well give her a warm welcome! Can anyone tell when she’ll show up? Leave a message please! Thanks!”

“...so Sakuya already knew about this huh...” Saburo sighed. He then proceeds to see a few more posts and try to figure out more about Vanessa but unfortunately, he can’t dig anything else worth his attention. So, he simply closes the browser and turned off his computer, then leaned back on the chair he sat on while take a glimpse outside the window where the breeze is blowing gently. “Guess something unusual is happening after all...maybe this won’t be as boring as I thought...”

----------------------------------------

It is now 1:00 PM and things weren’t exactly going well for Sakuya in her garage. She was still working on the Ford Granada that she has spent days and nights on and with the front hood still open and the engine of the Boss 302 Mustang still being exposed, it’s obvious that she is still working on installing something to complete the inner tune on the Ford.

There was a supercharger installed in the machine now and inside the car it seems like the entire internal parts were already overhauled and looks refreshed, even though it’s only on half a progress. Sakuya is still working on the engine to make sure it has a consistent power output along with tracking some records to see if the supercharger is working properly.

“Ergh, crap on a cracker...still got so much to do on this thing... At this rate, I don’t think I’ll be able to mess with the Supra anytime soon...” The redhead turned her attention to the red JZA80 that is parked next to the Ford Granada about a few meters away inside her garage. The car’s front tires were missing, and it seems the brake calipers were taken out halfway. Its hood was popped open as well with its 3S-GTE engine exposed. “800...no, too unstable. Maybe 700? No...that’ll still kill the driver if he or she’s got a heavy foot...hmm....”

Much as it displeases her to work on the same car all the time without much progress, she had no choice as it is slowly coming together piece by piece as the car is just missing its front tires and it would seem that the car is now fitted with Endless brake calipers and pads, only the engine and the transmission is left to do before completion with a dyno run to make sure the numbers satisfy her. Before she continue to work, there are still some things that she needs to get done first.

Sakuya walked towards her working desk and reached for her red Nokia Lumia 900. Needless to say; she unlocked the phone to see if there’s any new messages there from her contacts.

And there is one unread mail from Saburo. That alone has sent her on a momentary cloud nine. Then again, what wouldn’t? Chances for her mega crush that is currently in an unrequited love relationship with her to give her any mail or even emails are minimal to unlikely to happen at all. And this is definitely saying something.

“Oh,Prince...!” Sakuya thought out loud. “I wonder what’s up?”

She opened the mail as it was written as ‘Urgent’. Of course, whenever Saburo writes a mail, it’s always about serious matters and he doesn’t like beating around the bush. Sakuya opened the content and it reads:

“Sakuya, bring whatever car you can at the moment and meet me at Happogahara tonight. There’s something I need your help on and no, we’re not racing anyone, so don’t get any cute ideas, got it?

I just need you to help me prep some spare tires for my 180, so be sure to bring a car with a decent trunk that can pack some. I know you’re definitely not one to take orders from me of all people, but I am going to do a practice run on the course to confirm something before I leave Tochigi Prefecture tomorrow. Don’t ask where I am going though, but if you want to follow along, knock yourself ou. That’s all.

Remember: We’re not going to race anyone tonight. Just bring a truck or something, I don’t care.”

“Well bummer...” Sakuya said. “Ah well...a good time to meet with him at least for a reason! And...who knows? Maybe I can get a chance to meet up with that young gun that beat the pants off that cocky S15 driver from Adachi’s cheesy team!”

Sakuya already knew of the rumors that were spreading like a wildfire at Saitama area where the foreign street racer got challenged by Adachi’s team in a one-on-one race at outbound route of the twisty and treacherous Shoumaru Pass. It was such a huge buzz that what happened in Happogahara doesn’t seem like a big deal at all and Saburo’s unintentional victory over Souichiro’s NA6CE seemed to be the least interest topic, all because the foreign young driver jumped in Saitama and stole the show literally.

Everyone already knew that Megu, the representative of Adachi’s team got choked when she overlooked the obvious fact that her S15’s tires were not in the condition for an all-out battle, but Megu was arrogant, obviously taking the driver too lightly and paid the price for it and faced the worst kind of humiliation a street racer can experience; losing in her own homecourse that she had claimed territory on.

Vanessa Anderrson - the driver of the mysterious green Renault R26.R became the most talked about racer at the Saitama area for her first victory against a team-member of a local higher-tier team that has taken her far too lightly simply because she is a Gaijin - an insult term used to address a foreigner as an ‘outsider’, something that foreigners don’t take lightly in general when they are living in Japan.

However, as much as Sakuya knows, Vanessa took the insult very well and instead of arguing back, she let her driving do the talking and the team as well as the locals that were having doubts on her abilities were sent to shock and she ended up making a massive impact.

There’s nothing more exciting than watching a potential foreigner in Japan to be versatile in what could possibly be the most popular form of racing sport next to professional driving. It is also a good chance to see just how much the locals’ skills have developed that can match against the other countries, rather against their own all the time. Even Sakuya knows that just by meeting her someday, it would be a good chance to show what she can really do as both a tuner and as a driver, and she may even score herself a new friend.

However, back to the reality; Sakuya is rather skeptical on whether to listen to Saburo’s advice or not. She wishes to test her Supra as soon as possible by tonight after she is done prepping the tires on it, however -- doing that would mean ignoring Saburo and it may instigate into race events impending; which would’ve annoyed him to no end. Then again, Sakuya knew that the person she has a crush on would be understanding enough, even though he is easy to irritate for whatever mess Sakuya may get herself into; so...what could possibly go wrong?

Sakuya replied on her mail as she touch away on the screen of her phone in response to her friend’s message.

“Sure, no problem! I will be there in a jiffy! Oh, and just so you know, I don’t mind being the fetcher once in a while!

Good luck on your practice tonight! And who knows; we might even run into Vanessa Anderrson! (I mean sure she’s currently at Saitama Prefecture, but hey! One can hope, right?)

So yeah...’kay bye!”

Sakuya pressed the send button and replied the mail. She then proceeds to create another new message and typed:

“P.S: Hey, can you fetch me too sometimes? I won’t mind staying elsewhere other than my home for a night, ya know...?”

Sakuya giggled to herself before deleting that wishful message. She would love to convey her feelings to him as bold as possible, but that message would be overdoing it, because obviously Saburo would just be appalled and disgusted by it, if anything else.

And with that being said, the redhead tuner walked back to the staffroom of her garage and took a short break before she continued with the red Supra that still sitting motionless on the spot next to the completed Ford Granada. She grabbed a can of Pepsi and popped it open from a refrigerator and took a look at the pictures of multiple engines that have the logo of Muscle-Brotherhood over them. It was the works of her previous times and all of them seemed to bring back memories of her progress as well as what she has done before.

“Now....what to do next on the Supra?” Sakuya thought as she turn her attention back to the red Toyota while taking a sip off the Pepsi...

----------------------------------------

Meanwhile, it was a fair afternoon on the shop of Mr. Onizuka when the owner is cleaning the doorway off some leaves with his broomstick. He was looking at the parking bay and much to his curiosity, there were a number of street-racing cars parked on the far left side of the lot. Most of them were Honda Civics and a few Mazda RX-7s. It looks like they were discussing something and Onizuka is trying to eavesdrop as much as he can, even from a far distance, he could at least hear them faintly because they were speaking out loud.

“Huh...those guys are at it again huh...?” Onizuka thought as he listened to the chatter.

“And so I said; Anderrson can never win cause she’s a Gaijin, and BAM! She just blown Megu-san out of the water directly on Shoumaru Pass!! Can you believe it?” One of the drivers said in an excited manner, he was almost jumping with enticement. “I literally eat my own words since then!”

“Well...I guess it’s natural that eventually some people like her will show up once in a while; someone special, ya know...?” Another driver added. “I really wanted to race her and experience it myself; what it’s like to race against someone out of our country and to measure up our skills with someone that took racing just as serious as we do.”

“Then again...what about that 180SX? You know; the black one with a dented front end?” A driver sitting on an RX-7 FD3S asked. “I heard the Speed Buster guys were quite pissed at them being punked in a non-legit race during that Happogahara run...that driver in the 180 must’ve got guts, challenging the Mazda Roadster so openly like that...using a dented car of all things...!”

“He probably isn’t a street racer...anyone would’ve fixed their cars if they really wished to race for serious.” Another driver leaning on a yellow FC3S said. “He’s just probably lucky...so...it must be coincidence.”

“There’s no such thing as that big a coincidence, dude...” The FD driver shot back, not believing a word of it. “Anyone with good driving skills that can burn Souichiro-san that casually must’ve practiced a lot. Hell, knowing that; I just realize that I need to practice a hell lot more on my routine or I’ll be next one in line someday!"

“Screw it, man...I am coming with you all!” The first Civic driver concurred.

“Me too!! Let’s just keep in mind who we’re supposed to look out for and race hard tonight while practice hard for the day!”

All the drivers got into their cars and started their engines as they drove away from the parking lot and head straight back to the mountain pass near Happogahara. As the cars disappear into the roads, Onizuka can hear another car’s engine sound echoing from a different direction. It was a familiar sound to him and now he smiles upon seeing the vehicle that has just arrived.

It was the black 180SX, and the familiar dented front end is immediately recognizable to Onizuka’s narrow eyes.

“Oh, good timing Misaka!” Onizuka exclaimed, pleased at the young driver’s arrival.

As Saburo got out from the car’s door, he shuts it off and locked the car away before sticking his keys into the pocket. He walks into the shop and meet up with the shop owner, knowing that the parking lot is now deserted.

“What’s up, Mr Onizuka...? You sure seemed like you’re in good mood today...” Saburo sighed, slightly curious at the man’s reaction on seeing him arrive.

“Oh, nothing.” Onizuka replied smiling. “Just overhead some rather interesting stuffs that’s been happening lately around the mountains....and frankly, some of them relate to you, kid.”

“Really? Hadn’t noticed.” Saburo replied sarcastically, scratching his head for a moment. He knew that news will eventually spread along with the more recent buzz that is happening around Saitama eventually, so he really shouldn’t be surprised about it at all, if anything else.

“Well, that’s what your mother would say everytime people talked about her...you both are very much alike; never gives a crap about things that doesn’t involve you at first place.” Onizuka chuckled, much to Saburo’s mild annoyance.

“Do you really have to bring my mom into this?” Saburo sighed, scratching his head.

“Sorry, can’t help it. I mean your mother is a special person once at the stage of racing before she dedicated herself to science once she left the house to you when you were still at a younger age.” Onizuka explained.

“Don’t remind me of that...” Saburo uttered, certainly not in the mood to talk about his family for now. “Anyway, what else did you hear about?”

“Oh...nothing in particular. But eh...I think...they also talked about some...girl that raced in Saitama last night.” Onizuka stuttered, still feeling uncertain if what he overheard from the drivers were correct. “You know, the one that is said to be beating an S15 Silvia or something...I am not sure of the exact details myself so....yeah...that’s pretty much it. The boys seemed hell-bent on challenging this kid. I heard she’s a foreigner too.”

“...” Saburo knew whom Onizuka was talking about exactly. “Anything else?”

“Nothing...haha...strange how these interesting buzzes happen nowadays. Even though it’s only two of them...” Onizuka chuckled. As they both continued on with their chatter, all of a sudden there seemed to be another car arriving at the parking lot. It was a green car with an unfamiliar logo and it’s a hot-hatch with red rims.
As the car parks it on a vacant spot right on the left side of the shop a few meters away, both Saburo and Onizuka watched as the driver shuts off the engine and opened the door.

“Oh...now that’s an unfamiliar car...strange that the driver chose such a fancy color though.” Onizuka commented. “What make is it...? I don’t think I see that emblem often. Must be an import.”

“...” Saburo examined the car as it is carrying a Saitama tag. Then once the driver steps out, she was a petite young girl that has ponytailed brown hair and clear blue eyes. She also wears a darkish green hoodie with blue short pants and striped leggings of green and black with her gray shoes with green highlight colors on the top. She walks towards the vacant space and took a deep breath on the scenery of the parking lot that doesn’t seem to have any cars on the area.

“Ah...boy it sure is a fresh experience to drive on different prefectures once in a while to kill some time...!” The girl thought out loud as she stretches her arms a little bit. “Sure...I used a bit of gas money there, but at least I took some shortcuts along the way with a few highway pass...ah well. No biggie...so this is the Tochigi Prefecture eh...”

“Well she’s quite a young one, isn’t she? Doesn’t look like she’s from around here though...” Onizuka added to his remark, only to be replied by Saburo’s deadpan snarky response.

“She isn’t.”

“Oh, people! Great!” The girl thought as she walks towards the shop where Onizuka and Saburo are standing on. “Hey misters! Hello!!”

“Hello, young lady. How can I help you?” Onizuka welcomed the girl, just like treating a customer in his shop as usual. Saburo on the other hand just sticks his hands in his pocket and ignored the girl for a moment, instead of her, he is rather curious at the lime-green car instead. Obviously the car is definitely not from locals and it’s unusual to see imports to pass by mountain passes nowadays. So who might this driver be or what might the car be? The diamond logo certainly rings some bells into Saburo’s head, but he still can’t quite place it yet.

“Say, did you know the mountain passes in this prefecture? I mean it is said that this place is famous for a lot of tough-to-run courses! I am not from around here, you see...so, I eh, I just want some directions, that’s all!” The girl said cheerfully. Then she turned her attention to a refrigerator that stores canned drinks. “Ooh! Sweet, you got Ice-cream soda?! I’ll take two, please!”

She reached and grabbed two cans of Ice-cream sodas and paid the said price on those beverages.

“Thank you, young lady.” Onizuka thanked the brunette for the purchase. “And if you’re here to look for mountain passes, not too far from here, you can get to the Happogahara pass. The course is very twisty with a lot of uneven tarmac though, so you should be careful when you’re navigating through there.”

“Ah, I see. Thanks, Mister....uh....”

“Onizuka, young lady.”

“Oh, right...! Thanks, Mr. Onizuka!” The girl hopped outside the steps as she noticed Saburo leaning on a sign next to the shop there, doesn’t seem to be paying attention to anything. That’s when she noticed that he has different colors on his eyes and particularly, the red left eye got her attention the most. She was freaked out for a short moment, but it didn’t take too long to notice that it wasn’t so scary after all. Saburo however; still isn’t paying attention to the girl just yet...hardly even locks his eyes on her if anything else. “Hey, bro!”

The girl tried to greet Saburo, but it didn’t did much to get his attention. Saburo only glared at her with cold eyes for a while before slowly turning his eyes off again.

“Come on, what’s with the silent act, dude?” The girl asked in a slightly squeaky tone with her eyebrows raised. It’s definitely not the kind of reaction she expect from usual Japanese teenagers. “You’re not mute, are you?”

“...what do you want?” Saburo asked.

“Oh, great. I thought the cat got your tongue.” The young girl said sarcastically. “You’re a local here, right? Why don’t you show me the way along?”

“You already got your directions there, right?” Saburo shot back coldly. “Just drive where Mr. Onizuka told you to and be done with it. You definitely have more time there to examine the course than I do...so why bother?”

“Aww, don’t be like that, Mr. Scowl-face. Lighten up!” The girl tried to encourage him still. “It would be a lot better to have a local guide me along, I mean that Happo-whatever must’ve been a very difficult road, right? Why risk the car crashing if you can have a local guide for safety measures?”

“You’re scared of crashing? Don’t drive there then. Simple.” Saburo shot back again. “I don’t have that kind of free time, sorry.”

“If you don’t have free time, then why are you hanging around here?” The girl asked with a smugly grin. “Are you busy here? Are you working or something?”

“...” Saburo knew that’s when he has to bail when the girl said something that has a point. Much as she is right about him not doing anything, he certainly isn’t going to stick around and let her talk her way in to convince him to do something tedious. Besides, Saburo isn’t exactly in the mood to do any cruising on mountains either other than paying a visit to Onizuka for a while. “Didn’t you have a GPS? Why not use that instead?”

“Not on my car, bro! If I do have it I wouldn’t even be stopping by here hoping to ask for some directions at least!” The girl snap back. “Anyway, what’s with your eyes? Why are they different in color? Are you by any means a mixed inheritance?”

“You know I am not gonna answer, right?”

“Certainly not. But won’t hurt to try, right?” The girl smiled. “Well anyway, it won’t take long, I promise, okay?!”

“No.”

“Aww...come on, bro...you’re the only guy here now...!” The girl begged in a very fake manner, and Saburo certainly don’t feel like dealing with her.

“No.”

“Ah....alright then. No point in begging then...I guess you’re just too scared to drive with a girl.” The girl shrugged as she turns back and walks to her lime-green hot-hatch. “I thought more from the locals, shame!”

“Hey...” Saburo stopped her.

“Hmm? What is it now, Grumpy Face?” The girl made up another nickname for Saburo, only to be ignored by him entirely.

“...You could navigate pass the first two checkpoints at a consistent speed of 50 km/h because of the constant downhill slope on the routes. Once you made it pass the four-snake-hairpins that are constantly downhill, you could step it up a bit on the speed due to the width of the road being extended until the tunnel pass at the third checkpoint onwards. Then finally on the fourth checkpoint, you should mind the speed for there will be the time when the road is very narrow...that’s all.” Saburo advised the girl on the layout of Happogahara. He would never go and guide her using his own car, that is for certain, but she certainly could use some heads up at least, seeing as she came all the way from Saitama to Tochigi just to see the mountain passes here.

And of course; hearing that from Saburo simply put a big smile on the brunette’s face.

“Why thank you, Mr. Not-so-bad-guy-after-all...! I think I can take your word for that.” The girl said with a smugly smile, but Saburo can only sense a bit of gratefulness in her blue eyes, despite her spunky attitude. “Say, I almost forgot...what’s your name?!”

“...Misaka.”

“I mean your full name, silly! Otherwise I woulda made a ton of nicknames for you!”

“Saburo Misaka, there. Happy now? You need to examine the mountain pass right? Get going.” Saburo finally gave his name away to her and be done with it. The girl smiled mischievously at the success of triggering one hair at least on the mellow guy that she thinks it’s completely icy cool to the core of the heart. Turns out that he was a bit nicer than she expected.

“Alright then, Sabby! Pleased to be your acquaintance!!” The brunette saluted sarcastically as she turns back to the hot-hatch and opened the door. But just as she was about to enter the driver’s seat, she remembers something else that she needs to do at least. “Oh, I almost forgot!” She turns around and stared at Saburo with a really bright and lively face, one that is no longer showing any signs of sarcasm or spunk at least. It was a sincere smile on her face this time.

“Name’s Vanessa Anderrson! Remember my name, okay?”

“...!!” Saburo was shocked at the name when the girl finally revealed who she is. The person in question, the driver that defeated Adachi’s team member in Shoumaru Pass, was right in front of him all the time and he didn’t even notice!

“Oh, and nice 180 by the way! You eh...don’t plan on fixing that front end of yours yet?” Vanessa asked cheerfully. She knew the 180SX is definitely Saburo’s. And the dents on the 180 is certainly obvious enough to tell her that the car is needing repairs badly, just that the owner hasn’t bothered to do it so. “You’re not a racer, are you?”

“...No.” Saburo denied. “And I’ll worry about my own car, thanks.”

“Hmm...sure thing then...whatever you say! Later, Sabby! Oh, I’ll be sticking around here tonight! So hope to see you soon!! Maybe you can give me some pointers along the way on lining and stuff? Kay, bye!!” Vanessa chuckled. She starts the hot-hatch and drove off from the parking lot. Onizuka looks on from there as he turns his eyes back to the heterochromatic man.

“What’s the matter, kid? You look slightly surprised there for a second.”

“...nothing. Anyway...I’ll be there by tonight for some personal practice run.” Saburo said, walking slowly to his 180SX. “I’ll not be here by tomorrow, so...if there’s anything else you need from me, you could get it from Sakuya, just in case she’s not stupid enough to follow me.”

“Ah, sure....thanks for the heads up kid...you go and have fun, alright?” Onizuka said as he waved goodbye to Saburo while he opened the 180SX’s door. But before he went in, the shop owner stops him. “And hey, kid...”

“...what?”

“Learn to smile more often. Your mother would’ve been happy to see that someday. You don’t want to see your face freeze like that; just like her, did ya?” Onizuka chuckled sarcastically.

“...” Saburo just remained silent there for a moment before he starts the engine in his car and drove off to a different direction that Vanessa just took. Onizuka watched on from there as the black Nissan disappeared into the road.
He let out a sigh with a slight smile.

“He sure has his mother’s looks down...”

While driving the Nissan, Saburo can only recall that one moment in particular when the brunette girl addressed her name to him. Certainly, he never would’ve expected to meet the girl so soon at that place.

“...So that’s the kid...it’ll probably be interesting to see how she measures up here...” Saburo thought as he shifted the gear up and accelerated away to the road that will eventually lead him back to the highway. “If Sakuya shows up tonight...it’s gonna be a long ass night...that’s for sure.”

----------------------------------------

Back at Saitama prefecture’s mountain pass... the Sadamine Touge is still pretty much alive with many street racers gathering about to discuss their plans on many ways of practicing and improving their driving. Many Japanese cars such as Nissans, Toyotas and Hondas were parked everywhere on the large parking areas near Sadamine. Everyone was gossiping and discussing about everything related to automotive racing all the way to meeting people with a reputation build. It was just barely 6:30 PM and the crowd there was immense and everyone was so alive with excitement of adrenaline rush...

“Hey...why don’t we practice another 3 rounds together downhill and back to hillclimb?” One of the younger drivers said sitting on his Nissan Silvia S13.

“Sure...man, I never have been anymore excited than practicing on local streets since that kid blew one of Adachi’s team members out of the water! This just means we gotta practice like hell and up the ante so that we won’t repeat the same humiliation again from that time on Shoumaru!” Another young man agreed. “I’ve prepped the tires on my FD3S just for this occasion! This machine’s designed for turns! No way in hell it’s gonna lose to some fancy import! I am gonna bet my pride on this thing!”

“I want a piece of that girl too! No way am I gonna stand for letting her trample on our local stage so openly like that!” A female driver said, standing next to her Toyota Celsior. “I am gonna show her that we local female drivers can be just as competitive as she is!”

“Hell yeah!” Another girl added, standing next to a red Toyota AE86 Levin. “That girl may be skilled, but against a car that is made for mountains? Hah! She’ll need a miracle to win against my Eight-Six!”

“Some confidence you got there, girl.” Another skeptical male driver added from another side. “I would be the one to get the revenge on Adachi! My Integra will be the one to do the vengeance!”

Everyone was so pumped up for their practice in hoping to retain the glory lost on that day when Vanessa defeated Megu in Shoumaru Pass. The talk was as intense as a small election gathering, everyone seemed so heated up about discussing about driving techniques, machine tuning and so on. Meanwhile...from afar, a familiar group of female drivers were seen gathered at the other corner of the parking area where there isn’t as many people around.
It was none other than Adachi’s team.

Adachi was leaning on her R32, fuming about. Certainly she overheard a few people that talked about how her team screwed up because of overestimating the abilities of the outsider that they deemed as ‘weak’ but in the end, paid the price by losing. Vanessa isn’t someone that shreds pride of racers, but the victory she snatched from Megu in her S15 certainly had left its mark to the entire team.
Megu and Mikan were still sour about the loss obviously, and the air of uneasiness surrounds them when people glared at them passing by...

“So Adachi...” Megu began. “When do we plan our revenge?”

“Yeah...it’s not like we’re racing tonight...but we sure as heck need to plan some strategy at least in tonight’s practice runs.” Riko added.

“We practice 5 rounds tonight.” Adachi suggested. “It won’t make up for the fact that we lost due to our carelessness, but make sure everyone’s in top condition tonight. I will make another declaration across the internet and issue a public re-match back to Anderrson and see if she will accept it. This time; I don’t want any slack offs! We go all out and regain our glory. We’ll show the Saitama that there is a reason why we managed to climb up this far. One loss on our members won’t mean much so long as I am standing here still. Understand? Also, make sure you’re all using high-grip tires. The biggest key point in overcoming Anderrson is the use of tires. I certainly hope none of you all will repeat that same mistake again...alright?”

“...Yes, Adachi.” Mikan, Riko and Megu agreed as they hopped on to their cars and started the engines. And as the Silvia, Supra and Altezza moved out of the parking lot and headed straight towards the path that will lead to the Sadamine mountain pass, Adachi sighed and glared at the crowd...

She bit her finger mildly in anxiety as she was obviously still worried about the person that has defeated her. Even up to now, she finds it hard to shake off the loss during that time. Adachi clenched her other hand in a tight fist as she narrowed her eyes angrily with fire.

“Just wait and see...Anderrson, next time we race, things won’t be so lucky for you anymore...!”

- つづく -

Amazing chapter, bro.

Very hard to believe that you can keep up with this much focus on all these characters.

While the wording seemed a bit all over the place, the storytelling certainly is top notch. Keep up the good work! :salute:

> wording seemed all over the place

Holy **** (can I swear? I'm not asking if I'm encouraged or not, I mean, can I without being tossed out the door?) JAMES WAT U DOIN GDI

*flips tables*

To be honest though...I am not sure if this will make people doubt your individuality skill. To have a team. xD

I mean usually storytellers do it one-man.

This post has been edited by Randy on Jun 28 2014, 05:47 AM

Bah, who cares what others think...

Well anyway, update time.

------------------------------------

Code 4: Gear Resonance

It is only 10 minutes away before 9:30 PM. The entire mountain pass on Happogahara is slowly crammed with an impressive amount of people that desired to witness tonight’s gathering on street racers performing. It is still a free-activity period for this moment as numerous cars were trying out on short distance of the entire course to test out their driving skills, most of them including proper lining and handling on their machines. Drivers were trying to find an ideal setting on their cars’ adjustments on the type of tires used to the height of their machines to adapt to the uneven, bumpy roads of this area.

It was not long before that, a familiar car is heading its way towards a parking lot near the outbound side of the course itself. The entire gallery near that area were surprised to see the car seems to be rather beaten up on the front end and yet the car still seemed to be moving just fine, even though it’s hardly pretty at all.

“Huh...what’s with that Nissan?” One of the female audience commented. “That car seemed so...beaten up.”

“Whoever is driving that thing sure needs to learn how to take care of his machine...ouch.” Another man added in agreement.

“My, what a shameful car...if that guy is racing, I feel sorry for him...”

“Yeah, no one’s stupid enough to sic a damaged car against a real car in a mountain stage of all places...that’s just stupid.”

Everyone gave the same cold impression to the Nissan 180SX, none of them were impressed by the car at all due to its poor condition. But inside the car, the driver could've care less on what they think because the sole reason why this driver arrives is not to race at all. The brown-haired young man blinked his eyes and looked towards the vacant spots on the nearest parking lot.

It was then there came another familiar car, a car that isn't common in the eyes of locals that is parked at a very open spot on a parking area . It was none other than the lime-green hot hatch car. The driver inside the Nissan recognized the car immediately. He knew that only one person would be driving that machine and the person is certainly not from the locals.

The Nissan 180SX then moved in to the parking lot where it is on the same spot with that foreign car with the diamond logo.

While parked next to it, the driver is leaning next to the car and she was almost anticipating the arrival of the driver inside the black Nissan. She was wearing a big smile on her face.

The driver shut off his car's engine and walked out of the machine and faced the rather cheery driver of the hot hatch car that is next to his.

“Hey, Sabby! So you DID show up after all huh?!” The brown-haired girl exclaimed cheerfully. She is now sticking her hands inside the pockets of her hoodie as usual.

“...you sure seemed to be in high spirits as usual, Vanessa.” Saburo replied with his usual mellow to say, he was still somewhat pleased to see her because he did have some questions for the petite girl after all.

“So I take it that you will be practicing for a period here?” Saburo asked, looking at the green car that she is standing besides on.

“Yup! My Renault is more than ready to tackle some tight corners here in Happogahara. Thanks for the tip during the outbound run this morning, by the way! They really helped a lot! Haha!” Vanessa chuckled. She stares at the tires for a short moment before turned her eyes back at the heterochromatic young man. “I've prepped the tires on this just in case I need second runs for some consistency in mastering the course. Heh...not too grippy and not too hard, so it oughta last me for a few runs at least.”

“Huh...good then. I am just gotta wait till the place clear out a bit first...there's too many people here at the time being for me to do anything...” Saburo turned his attention towards the few other crowds that seemed to have noticed his arrival. They were apparently giving suspicious eyes to him; wondering who he might be, but Saburo only played it cool and try not to pay any heed. Why should he? Their impressions are of no concern to him whatsoever. He is simply here to do what needs to be done before he leave Tochigi area to work on whatever he may have planned.

“Fine...then I guess you and I can chat here for a little longer if anything else.” Vanessa shrugged as she sat back on her Renault. “Say, why not sit next to me, Sabby? I don't mind the close-contact, ya know?”

“But I do. I'll be fine just leaning around here.” Saburo shot back coldly as usual, doesn't seemed amused by Vanessa's standing offer. Of course; much as Saburo admits deep down she is a rather sociable and quite alright young lady, but he hardly knows her; so just for the sake of keeping a consistent sociability, Saburo decides not to take his chances on getting too close to someone that he still don't quite know well enough. “So...when did you come here? A long time ago?”

“Nah, I am here just like...30 to 45 minutes before you came, I guess.” Vanessa replied. “Thing is; this place is easily crammed the moment when the sun goes down. Seriously, I can't even get a good parking spot and ended up parking my car here. So what are you doing here, Sabby? I see you haven't fixed that front end yet.. Hey, are you sure it's okay to keep driving a busted car like that all the time?”

“Just leave my case, Vanessa.” Saburo denied. “I'll worry about my things alone, thanks for the concern. And I am just here for some typical practice runs, and I am still waiting for someone here...she's late, as freaking usual...”

“She?” Vanessa prompted, curious. “Who is she exactly? Your friend? Wait...don't tell me...” Vanessa giggled with her hands clasped together like a cheery girl excited to listen to some juicy romance gossip, much to Saburo's annoyance.

“Screw that. She's just my friend...and she's a tuner. I figure by now she'll probably look for me around those parking lots...guess that's probably why I still haven't seen her yet.” Saburo sighed, scratching his head.

“Ah...so she's a tuner huh? I'll like to see her myself...heh.” Vanessa rubbed her hands. “I'll definitely like to see how she check on my Renault. I mean, I am fairly confident with my skills and car's tune and all, but I am curious as to how the locals here tune their cars.”

“I don't think it will go that well...she's not exactly someone that can easily be convinced unless she likes you and all...” Saburo said without much hope, he never did had any optimism when it comes to dealing with his spunky tomboy friend.

“That won't be a problem.” Vanessa smiled with a narrowed eyebrow on her face. “Anyway, thanks for those early navigation that time on the shop, by the way.

“Don't sweat it...” Saburo turned slightly away from her eyes as he looked on the crowd's inaudible chatter. “So how did you find driving in this course? I heard you got your first win quite well in Saitama prefecture that night...”

“Oh, I am in the news now? How did you know that?” Vanessa clasped her hands with her eyes glittering about with excitement, again – much to Saburo's annoyance. “I am becoming famous now?”

“...Not quite. But you did stir up some hype on a forum of local drivers here known as the Japan-Series Racing SV Community.” Saburo explained. “People in Saitama have been talking about you a lot...”

“Really? Like what?” Vanessa hopped from her car and lean next to Saburo on his black Nissan 180SX. “Do share what you know at least!” Saburo took a few steps away from his spot as he didn't want to stand too close to Vanessa just yet.

“...Like how you recognized the course in Shoumaru Pass in just two runs total.” Saburo said. “Seriously, under normal circumstances, that would be an unlikely outcome since not even locals managed to memorize the course so quickly. I actually saw a few clips of you driving...and you sure seemed to be doing this for quite a long time...did you happen to practice a lot before on closed tracks around here?”

“What? Like Tsukuba Circuit? Nah...not here. At least not yet!” Vanessa chuckled with her tongue stuck out while scratching her head. “But I did practiced a BUTTLOAD before on other countries before living here for a moment. And my dad's the one that pounded the basics of traditional racing into my head when I was still 17. So...yeah, you can say I've been on to this for a fair amount of time; IF you consider 2 years as...long. Haha!”

“Closed-track practices for 2 years...? Where?”

“Germany. That place is FAMOUS for forging fierce drivers, I tell you! Especially that famous track that I just loooove driving on!”

“You mean the Nordschleife? Now that's surprising...” Saburo uttered with an unamused face. He knew that track was the most famous one of all in the world of racing. “Where is your home originally? I mean...you're clearly not from here...”

“Stockholm, Sabby.” Vanessa claimed confidently. “And you knew the Ring' huh? Sweet! And yep, my dad used to bring me there driving around the tracks every time when he's free. I wanted to drive those track cars there, but the officials won't let me since I am clearly still not a pro-racer yet. So I ended up driving everyday using this Renault Megane. You know; the R26.R version.”

“...” Saburo listened as he stares on to the car's red rims and the lime-green paintjob. The Renault is clearly on top condition and seemed to be ready to do a few more runs. “Is it tuned?”

“Nah...everything is normal.” Vanessa shrugged. “My dad never liked the idea of me driving a souped up car even though he trusts my driving. He just thinks I am not quite ready for it yet. But I am aching to drive one though!”

“There is a risk of it of course, but I know where you come from...” Saburo agreed, crossing his arms. “So knowing that you practiced regularly at closed-tracks before for the past 2 years...I take it that's how you managed to memorize the roads well? At least your lining was somewhat impressive to me for a non-local.”

“Yep. It's basically...what you call it...a total recall or whatever. It's kind of a strong memory on a particular thingy, actually.” Vanessa said. “I just love driving so much that I always seem to map out the lines on a course easily due to them sharing similar rhythm in my orthodox driving style. I guess you can say that driving around the mountain passes seemed to be a bit reminiscent on how I do apex driving on tricky closed-tracks before and I just...imagine them as the same and drive accordingly. Of course; the risk of damaging my car is there due to bumpy roads, but still! If I had to memorize the roads while think of the best line that seemed to be the only possible solution for a record line forging, it'll be too late before I manage a secure winning position with a more consistent driving line instead. That's why I can memorize the course easily so long as that course is somewhat familiar in my usual rhythm when I am driving on closed-tracks in the past.”

“Huh...well at least you managed to find your benefits on track-driving-training routines. Not a lot of pro-racers understand that concept easily. You're nineteen years old, yes?” Saburo asked.

“Yup. And what about you?”

“...Twenty.”

“Ooh...guess you're my senior then.” Vanessa giggled. “But for pro-racers, seriously; I just don't get why many of them still don't quite seem to get their driving rhythm correctly even though some of them have been driving a heck of a lot longer than I have...they'll still make mistakes. I wonder if I could be an exception?”

“Umm...no.” Saburo disagreed. “Not even legends like Barrichello or Mario Andretti are safe from a perfect winning streak in their careers. Defects are bound to appear eventually when there comes a time when you hit a limit. You just got to keep refining your strong points and correct your mistakes if you make them...”

“Sounds like something a veteran would say. Heh.” Vanessa smiled. “So what about you? You ever raced anyone before? I think not...judging your car and all...”
“...No.” Saburo insisted.

Soon not long after, the crowd seemed to have taken notice of something or someone arriving. A loud engine sound can be heard from afar and seems to be heading its way towards where the two drivers were. The gallery all watched as a car made it way towards the entrance, of course; they made room and got out of the way when that large red Toyota made its way towards the parking lot. The car revved twice before it turns and move towards to the open parking spot where Saburo's 180 and Vanessa's Renault are parked.

“...oh no.” Saburo sighed with a palm applied to his forehead.

“Oooh...a Supra! That's a beautiful sounding one too!” Vanessa smiled with excitement. “Just gotta love the sound of that nuclear-reactor engine! Hehe!”

“Nuclear reactor...?”

“The 2JZ engine, silly! What else is there to be impressed about more than anything about the Supra?! Other than it being an RWD of course...but these things are BEASTLY! I love 'em!” Vanessa chuckled. “The engine is literally a nuclear-reactor! There's almost no end to how much power you can churn out of that thing!”

“...right.” Saburo figured how she got the reference. After all, anyone who is a car buff would know the wonders of a 2JZ engine. Most of them almost doesn't need much effort to exceed even 1000 horsepower, let alone over 800. They are literally monster machines if the tuner knows what he is doing on the car. Supras have always been a feared car model since a long time ago, just as how the drivers generally fear the Skyline GT-Rs or the modern GTR-35.

“So who's that Supra? Someone you know?” Vanessa asked curiously.

“Damn right it is...” Saburo said with an unamused face as the red Supra made its way towards the parking spot. The car shut off its engine as soon as it made its first succeed attempt in parking on the spot. The driver got out and it was a redhead tomboy. She was wearing long red pants and black track-jacket with a black hat that seemed to have a few badges on the right side of it. One look and Saburo immediately recognized the face of that spunky green-eyed tomboy.

“Sakuya, I told you to bring a truck, didn't I?” Saburo began, in a rather frustrated tone.

“Yeah, and I didn't listen! You know me!” Sakuya laughed, her hands stuck inside her jacket's pockets as she walks towards Saburo and lean on to his other side of the Nissan 180SX. Vanessa noticed her as she threw one of her arms around Saburo's shoulder like a really close friend or at least like a spunky girlfriend. “Sorry that you had to wait for me though, I mean there's just too many people tonight and I kinda have to crawl my way through the parking lots to look for you.”

“So eh...this is --” Saburo got interrupted before he finishes his sentence.

Image size reduced, original size: 1920 x 1080. Click here to view the image in its original dimension.

“Hello lady, what's your name?” Vanessa asked, this time sticking her hands into her pockets and with her eyebrows narrowed accompanied by her usual sarcastic smile. “Are you Sabby's friend?”

“Oh, who's this?” Sakuya asked Saburo in return, instead of answering Vanessa first. “And I am Sakuya Ishiyama, this cute boy's personal tuner AND his partner in crime on any race activities around here. And who might you be, kid?”

“Oh so you're Sabby's tuner?!” Vanessa was pleased that she gets to meet Saburo's partner finally, unfazed by the sarcastic remarks thrown by the redhead. “Well, I am his new friend, Vanessa Anderrson! And I came from Stockholm to transfer in living here for a short while due to personal circumstances. Pleased to be your acquaintance, Miss Ishiyama!” Vanessa bowed in an almost fake and comedic manner, yet she doesn't seem to have any problems in doing just for the heck of it.

“Oh! So you're the one that beat the crap outta that Adachi chick's team member on Shoumaru huh?” Sakuya exclaimed. “Pleased to meet you then. Heh...!”

“Yup...gee, news sure spread fast here doesn't it?” Vanessa said. “One race and BAM! I became a news headline in a forum! Guess Sabby is right after all!”

“Sabby?” Sakuya prompted with an eyebrow raised. “Has a nice ring to it...but I still prefer to call him...well, Saburo. heh.”

“Stop with the nicknames, you two.” Saburo sighed, mildly tapping his own forehead with a palm again with a melancholic face. “Say, have you brought it with you, Sakuya?”

“Of course! But seriously, you could've just stopped on to my garage instead and I'll have it prepare in no time rather than coming here and bring the tires to you.” Sakuya suggested. Saburo knew exactly how to answer that.

“You knew why I can't do that.”

“Of come on, I just wanna check on that front end of your car! I could easily fix that, ya know?” Sakuya insisted. “One of the lesser gripes I have about you is that you always keep things to yourself and you never share your problems with anyone.”

“...” Saburo just gave the silent treatment as he clearly has no comment about that matter. “Prep the tires later...I am gonna take a practice run for now.”

“What, you're planning to use that set up to now?” Sakuya asked, her eyes locked on the rather half-worn tires on the Nissan 180SX. Clearly there were already turning flat and seemed as if the grip on all four tires are already lost. “You do realize if you push anywhere near 80 on this course, the tires will get shot before you cross the first checkpoint, right?”

“I know. That's what I am planning to do.” Saburo said with a straight face.

“What?” Vanessa prompted, slightly confused. “But what's that supposed to mean?”

“I want to find out how much can a set of almost worn-out tires hold on before changing another set. There's just something I need to find out of it. Nothing special.” Saburo explained as he notices the road on Happogahara is slowly cleared of cars and doesn't seem so packed with people anymore for the moment.

“Eh, you mean you don't know yet?” Vanessa is certainly doubtful at this point. But it didn't stop Saburo from doing what needs to be done.

“Of course not...most of the time I always change my tires before it even wears out around 80 percent. I never get to find out how long can the remaining 20 do...and that's what I am trying to find out now.” Saburo turned his eyes back to Sakuya. “Now then, can I expect you to get the tire-change prepared when I get back?”

“Well, consider it done if that's what you want.” Sakuya fixed her hat for a moment as she sighed. Certainly Sakuya is not a kind of person that ask too much questions on something so long as it is pretty straightforward. “But eh...I kinda hope you'll use racing high-grip tires instead for a swap this time.”

“Give it a rest, I am not racing anyone tonight.” Saburo denied calmly. He knows what Sakuya is planning when she said that and he is not going to let that happen just yet. Saburo then got up from his car and enters the driver's seat, Sakuya and Vanessa moved out of the way, knowing that he will start the engine and move from the spot soon enough.

“Well, we'll be waiting for you up here then.” Sakuya said as she stand next to Vanessa, whom is currently sitting on the hood of her Renault Megane.

“Don't hold your breath for me.” Saburo shot back sarcastically with a stoic look.

“Have fun then, Sabby! I'll be the next in line soon enough as you get back!” Vanessa waved as the black 180 started its engine and slowly moved away from the parking spot as it heads towards the roads of the Happogahara pass and slowly disappeared from their sights.

“Well, there he goes...say, mind if you let me check your car for a while?” Sakuya asked, feeling slightly excited when she saw the Renault Megane that Vanessa is sitting on.

“Oh sure! I'll love to see what you think on the car!” Vanessa accepted the offer almost instantly. “Not that there's ANYTHING done on it before; but still! I'll like to see what can be done to soup up the car a bit! I always feel the potential doesn't stop from it being a nice FWD car.”

Vanessa moved out of the way and popped the hood on the car. The machine reveals itself towards Sakuya's eyes as she stares at the idle, turbocharged Inline 4 motor.

“Well well, I see the car isn't tuned in anyway yet. Still, nothing surprising here.” Sakuya remarked. “That means you get to choose either going twin-turbo or supercharge or even a twin-charge.”

“Twin-charge? Sounds interesting.” Vanessa let out a mischievous smirk. “To be honest, I've yet to see anyone attempting a twin-charged Renault Megane before.”

“...hmm, nah.” Sakuya waved her hands in denial of her own ideas. “Depending on how much power you're aiming, those ideas may not work out.”

“I am aiming for...let's say...350 to 400 at max?” Vanessa rubbed her chins. Hearing that alone immediately gave a resolution to Sakuya's thoughts and she replied easily.

“Then you don't need anything done on the engine pretty much.” Sakuya shrugged.
“Huh? Really?” Vanessa scratched her head, obviously doesn't seem to understand Sakuya's decision. “Then what do you propose, Ishiyama?”

“Just leave it to me to get you a custom-made exhaust manifold and a new exhaust system and you should be able to do with no problem.” Sakuya suggested as brief as possible. She could have given a much more specific option but she can spare the technical talks on another time probably. “There are TONS and BUTTLOAD of other upgrades I can do for your car so long as you have enough cash, but eh...I don't think you want to break the 300 barrier yet.”

“Really? How you know the power output o my car?” Vanessa gasped in shock, it seems almost surprising that Sakuya can tell the current power output of her Renault was in fact, below 300 horsepower. “I mean the Renault I am using now only had about...250 horses.”

“Well, in a super-twisty course like Happogahara or Shoumaru pass, going beyond 300 is already pushing your luck with your life, kid.” Sakuya insisted, pulling down her hat slightly as she leans back on her Supra that is on the other side of the Renault. “I love pushing muscle power on cars, but even I know when is the time you stop being an idiot and consider your own safety. I don't mean to say you don't have what it takes to wield that kind of number, but let's just be realistic here...you don't want to go anywhere beyond 300 on Happogahara, trust me.”

“I uh...see.” Vanessa chuckled nervously, obviously she gets what Sakuya meant by now. “Well...I guess maybe I oughta listen to you for now then, expert.”

“Hey, no problem, kiddo.” Sakuya shrugged. “I'll see if I can find something appropriate that will churn you a good 250 to 280 horses. That should be more than enough for you to secure a consistent advantage in machine specs wise. If anything else, you won't have problems dealing with standard 4WD stuff like Evos or Imprezas that were tuned lightly.”

“Can you do that for real?” Vanesa asked, trying to assure the hopes that it may be so. “I mean I don't know much about the technical stuffs like you do, but can it be done?”

“Of course, I am not known as an honorary member in Muscle Brotherhood community for nothing, Anderrson!” Sakuya chuckled, flicking on her hat playfully. “Anyway, are you in any team or community yet? Hmm....nah, kinda doubted that. You just debuted here not too long ago.”

“Well, if anyone is wiling to give me a door opened, I'll be glad to.” Vanessa shrugged with her eyebrow raised. Obviously it was not too big a thing for her to be concerned about, but she is nonetheless, still an unknown face in mostly the circles of many locals and it may be about time for her to earn her place in one of the local community rings. “Also, Muscle Brotherhood? Is that a big team of some sort?”

“USED to be. Now it's a huge community for all muscle-car lovers or those that desired raw power.” Sakuya explains. “The founder of that community is my uncle Norio Ishiyama. I am the honorary member due to my tuning abilities being the best there, only second to my uncle of course. Still got lots to learn though...are you interested in joining? Haha!”

“Like I said, if you get a door open with welcome means, I'll gladly enter!” Vanessa laughed with her arms open.

“Alright then, we can talk once the night is over! For now, let's just chat about something else while we wait for the guy to finish his job and make is way back...!”

Meanwhile, at the sections near the four-snake-hairpins, the gallery was packed there with many drivers discussing about their driving methods while some others are just trying to film some driving footage using their camcorders or phones. Everyone seemed to be pumped to do some personal practice on the course.

Except for one person in particular at a vacant spot near the second hairpin zone. It was a young female with brown hair and a ponytail on the side. She appears to be wearing a cream-colored long-sleeve shirt with a violet scarf. She is also wearing a brown skirt, accompanied by stockings and a pair of black leather boots. Her stature was that of an elegant-looking wealthy lady with fair skin complexion and she is wearing a proud expression on her face, her blue-eyes beaming on the roads as she watched the amateur drivers in an unamused manner.

She was crossing her arms too, her entire body language is telling that she isn't impressed by the drivers at all at their poor display of driving and attempts to drift using the E-brakes.

“Is this supposed to be someone's idea of a joke?” She thought, appalled by the performances from those drivers that spun out on the four-snake-hairpins. “These are supposed to be the locals representing this course? Maybe I did expect too much out of the Tochigi prefecture after all...what a bunch of thrash. And that sort of footwork...that kind of mistake only happens when a trainee can't be confident enough to push it hard on a curve during a driver's test!”

“I don't even know why am I putting such high hopes at first place when I am coming here to see the gathering... What a disappointment. Tch.” She sighed, as she flicks her hair aside. “Maybe I won't be finding what I need to find here after all...oh well, might as well stop looking and just go back home...I am not really interested in the Speed Buster's team either...they still seemed too average to my interest...”

“Hey! What's with that car?” Right beore she turned around and leave, she overheard someone shouting and turn her attention back to the road. She noticed a particular car coming from afar on the above of the first hairpin and the engine noise is getting louder and louder.

“...Hmm? That engine sound...?” The girl noticed there is something unusual when the engine continued howling inside the machine as it travels quickly on the first hairpin's entry point. She gave full attention on the car's motion as the audience watched in disbelief of what they are about to see.

“That Nissan's diving into a suicide curve!” One of the male audience said. “That dent is just gonna get worse if he hits anywhere on that spot with THAT speed! Oh god...this is gotta get ugly...!”

“Yeah man...oh damn...that guy's a total newbie!” Another main added.

“...that's too fast.” The girl thought, glaring at the headlights arriving at the hairpin as the brake-lights lit up. “...he won't recover from that...or would he? This guy is either too bold or just downright stupid...let's see how you crash, idiot.”

And then it happened. The sounds of the tires screeching echoed through the pass as the car made a strong and firm hug on the clipping point of the hairpin and plowed through the curve at a speed of 50 to 55 km/h. And once the car exits out of the hairpin, the car stabilizes itself as the machine vibrated slightly due to the dented front end seemed to be twitching a bit from the rough motion. It was a black Nissan 180SX.

“Holy...crap. He actually made it, huh?” One male audience on the second hairpin commented. “I can't believe this guy actually still drives a damaged car in such manner...he's got a screw loose, that's for sure...damn.”

“...The hell? He's...actually good...” The girl thought as she gave the black Nissan undivided attention as the car tackled on the second hairpin's entry point. The brake lights lit up almost exactly right on where the girl thought as the ideal braking point as the car shifts the load on the front tires all the way to the rear as it slides gently on the outer line on the entry of the hairpin, and hugged the inner line without steering too much. The girl can see that the driver is holding back his steering range in care of the tires' grip on the front set. “...very good. Huh...now that's surprising. Just looking at it sure as hell seem to make me rethink my mind about saying there are no real drivers in this place.”

As she observed on the black car that is coming straight to where she is standing on the third hairpin, her blue eyes are locked dead on to the driver inside the mirror to see if she can take a quick glimpse as to who may be the man behind the wheels.

Soon, as the car charged towards the entry of the third hairpin as to where she is standing, she finally get to see a glimpse on the driver's face on the front view mirror before the car entered in its braking state while prepping on the outside lane of the third hairpin's entry. She saw the man's face and he seemed to be anything but in an intense mood. The person was driving calmly on controlling his own dented car, not giving so much as a glimpse on the people that were staring at him in awe as he steers the car gently on the third hairpin. The black Nissan hugged the inside of the lane while leaving a bit more of a space without crossing the center line completely due to the tires on the front are starting to give in as smokes are slowly coming out of the spinning rubber on the front end. The load was a lot heavier due to it being constantly downhill from the beginning of the four-snake-hairpins.

“...” The girl watched on as the black Nissan exit out of the third hairpin and proceed to attacking the fourth hairpin by using a much slower entry due to the lining being slightly off from the positioning since the third hairpin. But the 180SX remained stable despite it becoming slower on the pace. It was obvious that the driver is trying hard to keep the tire wear lower due to the tires losing grip rapidly on the front.

“He's good...unlike most of the trash drivers that showed off here a moment ago...” The girl thought with a slight smile. “Guess there's at least something worth looking out for here after all...I'll just stay a bit longer and see if I can see this guy in action soon...his look definitely shows that he means business...heh.”

As the black Nissan headed on to the third checkpoint after crossing the bridge from the curve on the right side, soon there comes another hairpin and Saburo is aware that he couldn't risk his tires anymore at this point and slowed down in his pace. Realizing that the grip on the front tires are fading from his grasp on his steering wheel, he gently decelerates and braked on the entry of the uphill hairpin and hugged the sharp curve without attempting to cross the inner line while keeping a consistent angle of the grip-oriented corner at a speed of 65 km/h.

The audience watched as the car exits through the hairpin while proceed on to the second one that leads to a short tunnel. As Saburo preps his car's position to tackle the remaining hairpin that is still uphill on that point, he noticed something weird. Though he already expected it happen eventually as it's just a matter of time before it shows. The tires are completely shot and the car can no longer grip the road as he steers slowly and came to a slow motion while driving at a dead-slow 40 km/h at the entry of that hairpin as he slowly hit the brakes and stopped directly inside the tunnel on the outer lane, right after the exit of that second hairpin.

“Well...at least I know where the limit is from here on....” Saburo sighed before he turned his car around and slowly drove back on the inbound path and proceed to drive at a slow pace while crossing back on the double hairpins, surprising the crowd as to the sudden halt of the black 180SX.

“Did...did that guy just give up driving?” One of the audience asked, curious.

“I don't know man, his car seemed to have used up all 4 of its tires and he's probably calling it a day and just return to wherever he came from, probably...” And the other person was right, Saburo can no longer drive under the condition of that set of tires. As he continued driving pass the audience, he finally understood the limit of the tires on the car he is using and seemed to have found something else that he wouldn't even bother explaining inside his head.

Now all that he has to do is to return to the spot where Sakuya and Vanessa are waiting and swap out the tires before another run on the course and call it a night. Clearly, the thought of racing anyone is still anything but present in the void mind of Saburo. As he drives back to the parking lot, the car passed through a familiar figure and he seemed to be staring at the dented front end with quite a bit of a focus, as if he is noticing something particular about the Nissan.

There were other people with him along too and they were all glaring at the 180SX as it slowly made its way back to the four-snake-hairpins.

“Souichiro, is that the guy?” One of the turtle-neck-wearing drivers asked the man himself. Clearly he was the driver behind the Mazda Roadster. The one that lost to Saburo when he was on a rush in fetching tools for his friend. Evidently, the loss on that night still left a mark on his body as he is still sour over the feelings of being humiliated by that damaged Nissan, needless to say; as it is all written on his face's expressions.

“...Yeah.” Souichiro confirmed it. He couldn't be wrong about the front-end bumper of the car as well as the ominous number registered on the plate of “95-64”, which literally spells [kill] in both languages. “Clearly he is practicing tonight...even though as to why would he insist on using that damaged car, I will never figure out...”

“That guy sure is different, if he's using THAT to be able to measure up to your Mazda...still, using a damaged car to be able to drive like a maniac? Now that's a first.” The other man agreed in disbelief. He seemed calm about it though. “There really are lots of guys in this place, doesn't it? Someone different...”

“Only one way to find out...” Souichiro uttered as he walks back to his car that is parked not too far away from where he stands. And soon they all got into their machines as well and started the engines and drove away from their parking spots.

------------------------------------

“So that's what you were doing all the time when you weren't at school back then? That's pretty hardcore if you ask me!!” Vanessa was having a fun time chatting with the redhead mechanic. Clearly Sakuya is sharing some of her rather colorful past stories with Vanessa as they were waiting patiently for Saburo's return trip.

As they were chatting still, the black Nissan finally made it back to the parking lot and it's moving in a rather docile pace, no longer seemed to be showing any signs of aggression as the car came to a full stop once it made it to the spot where the Supra and Renault are parked.

“Well there he is...! Let's talk later.”

Sakuya and Vanessa immediately walked towards the 180SX and check on the driver.

“Hey, Saburo...you okay?” Sakuya asked, knocking on the mirror of the door that the driver is sitting on. Saburo responded with a rather dull look as he clearly don't feel like telling much about it. Sakuya of course; knew that he is okay after all. “Huh, guess you're in one piece after all but that was expected.”

“So have you got something figured out on that little run?” Vanessa added on the other side.

“You can say that again...” Saburo replied after he got out from the car as the engine shuts off. “Now Sakuya, just help me prep the tires and we can get this over with.”

“Sure you don't wanna change your mind and maybe find someone to race for tonight?” Sakuya asked again, obviously that only annoyed Saburo.

“No.”

Saburo then walked aside and let Sakuya do her work after she shrugged from his response.

Vanessa then walked back to her Renault as Saburo just stood besides her. Sakuya took out a tool box from her Supra after she pulled the switch that opens the rear-trunk of the Toyota that reveals four fresh new tires that seemed to be that of sport racing class. They were Pirelli branded. One look from Saburo and he knew Sakuya made a right choice at least for his machine.

“Gee, those are some pricey rubber she got there...so she really is making a profit out of the tuning business huh?” Vanessa remarked with a narrowed smile.

“She may have a few screws loose once a while, but she knows what she's doing most of the time.” Saburo concurred as both of them watched on the Nissan being worked on after it is being jacked from the ground by a good few inches before Sakuya undo the nuts on the tires before removing them. The nuts however were already loosen by her wrench before the car was jacked to prevent the tires spinning.

“Now that the spot is getting cleared of drivers, what do you say we take another spin together?” Vanessa proposed. “I mean I do need to get a bit more familiar with this course, seeing as how tricky it still is, despite it being less twisty than the dreaded Shoumaru pass and all...”

“Follow along then, but don't expect me to pay you any mind.” Saburo shrugged, not feeling up to dealing with denying Vanessa's request as clearly she won't budge from it easily. Besides, he has something he needs to get done too, so having an extra car behind or in front of her merely doing casual runs wouldn't have hurt, unless Vanessa is teetering around with her Renault...

“Done deal then!”Vanessa said, feeling as if she succeed in some persuasion but it didn't matter to Saburo. “It would be fun to look at you from behind. I am always curious as to how a good local show their stuffs on this course since it's still a flippin' pain in the neck to figure out a good record line out of this uneven pass.”

“Good local...? Me?” Saburo prompted.

“Of course! Sakuya said on about how awesome you are in driving around this area.” Vanessa chuckled. “And how you're also good on other courses like Momiji Line, Enna Skyline or that Nikko mountain pass which name I kinda forgot halfway...you're a natural, aren't you?”

“...” Saburo knew that Sakuya is exaggerating again with her remarks when talking about him all the time behind his back. Much as he has fair confidence in his own driving skills and knowledge on said courses, he never had thought for once that he possess any 'outstanding' skills or level that is worth that kind of mention. “Don't listen to her. She loves stretching things more than necessary sometimes. I am just a local who knows a bit more on these roads than others, nothing special.”

“Hey, you don't need to be that humble, ya know.” Vanessa said with a sarcastic smile. “Your mechanic friend really looked up to you and recognized your driving when she said it seriously. That alone kinda gave me confidence that I can trust in her impression about you. That's why I am curious and interested in driving behind you when you're doing another run. So what do you say, partner?”

“We're not --”

“Oh, of course we're not partners...yet.” Vanessa chuckled as she slipped the word out by accident, but it is unclear whether she is doing it on purpose or not, at least to Saburo's instincts. “But hey, we both get benefits out of this, so let's just work together and smiles all around, see?”

“...” Saburo sighed as he certainly don't feel like dealing with Vanessa. “Fine, do what you want then...”

“AWESOME!!” Vanessa jumped in excitement. “You know, you really are a nice guy, despite being a scowling face and all...”

“Get off my case.” Saburo sighed, scratching his head as he turned away from Vanessa's teasing smile. Sakuya was halfway done as she only needs to swap the remaining two tires before Saburo's 180SX is good to go with fresh set of wheels. But soon after, the crowd on the parking lot started to cheer as there are numerous engine sounds echoing from not too far away.

“Huh...? What's with the racket over there?” Vanessa wondered as she climbed on her own Renault and stand to get a better view on the top of her own machine. “Well looks like a team is coming to pay a visit to this parking lot. Lucky us.”

“...” Saburo knew that would only mean something hectic and annoying as he certainly has a bad feeling that he would get dragged into something that he wouldn't want to get involved into at first place. As the crowd cleared a path for the team to enter, multiple headlights made their way and found a vacant spot on the opposite direction of where Saburo's 180SX is parked currently as the leading car reveals itself as a Mazda Roadster NA6CE. The other two cars were a black Nissan Silvia S13 and a red Mazda RX-7 FD3S Type RS. They all has a matching logo that writes Speed-Buster on their left side of the rear bumper. Saburo immediately recognized the logo and he didn't like it one bit. But not because of what the team is capable of, but rather the possible mess that he might get dragged into.

As the driver got out from his car; which is a grey-colored Mazda Roadster, he was revealed to be a man with blonde hair and brown eyes, with a slight bit of scruffiness on his jaw. He was none other than Makoto Souichiro.

Soon after that, the other two drivers got out from their cars too and the FD driver was another man with long black hair and narrow eyes with a scar on his left cheek, while the black Nissan S13's driver was a man of younger age and he is brown-haired, and also wears a pair of black spectacles.

Everyone in the parking lot were cheering for the team as they chanted the name “Speed Buster” on. The air was rather heavy now as the once quiet spot where Saburo and the others were on; is now turning into a full-blown crowd-attraction thanks to the arrival of the team.

“Well, looks like we're in the middle of something big after all...” Sakuya thought as she quickly finish up loading on the last tire on the dented 180SX before anything starts from the team's side. She certainly don't want to miss out any important moments that may involve in something huge, now that the team that claimed territory on Happogahara has arrived.

“As I thought...this is gonna be a long-ass night...” Saburo slapped his own forehead again as he sighed heavily.

- つづく -

Another well done chapter!

I really like the development pace.

Also, is it me or does Sakuya looks similar to Asuka Shikinami from 3.0?

Eitherway, very nice artwork there too.

And Saburo be lucky, a lovely lady on each arm.

This post has been edited by Randy on Jun 29 2014, 07:34 PM

I'm all up to date can't wait for the next chapter!

Well, minor delay but nothing big...but here we go. =)

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Code 5: Blackening

The air on the night was tense and the atmosphere became heavy with silence. Saburo was clearly not in the mood to deal with what was placed in front of him. Sakuya pulled her cap down slightly to hide her eyes and conceal her expectations. She could only tell that what happens from now on could very well leave a mark on the stage tonight. Vanessa just smiled and stayed next to Saburo while the three of them faced off against the trio led by the man that he unintentionally defeated a few days ago...

“Remember the time when you managed to overtake me on that same mountain pass several days ago?” Souichiro asked, glaring at the brown-haired young adult. Saburo didn't seem to be impressed by his presence one bit; if anything, annoyed.

“...”

He recalled that time when he drove through the Happogahara pass when he went to fetch parts for Sakuya on Onizuka's shop.

“...So what if I do? What do you want?” Saburo clearly didn't want to rile up any drama with the same man that he accidentally defeated.

“Well it is what most drivers with pride would want; a rematch with you, the 180SX driver that I once lost to.” Souichiro replied. “I see you still haven't fixed your Nissan's front end. No way that there are other drivers that would be willing to drive a damaged car like you do...so stop feigning ignorance. And no, I'm not going to buy any stories claiming that you never raced me before...”

“Here's the problem – I did not race anyone, and I didn't have the urge to either.” Saburo reasoned back. “I was just in a hurry to fetch something for my friend on the shop of the end of Happogahara, nothing more, nothing less. Your Mazda happened to be in the way so I just passed through it and got over with what I needed to do so I could go home and rest. I have no intention to declare rivalry against anyone... so I'm not sure what your point is here, declaring a rematch on a match that never happened before.”

The crowd on the parking lot then started murmuring on each other.

“My man here's got a point, you know?” Sakuya added, standing beside Saburo with her hands stuck in her track jacket's pockets. “Clearly this is just a misunderstanding. Last time I recall, my friend here didn't even race anyone for months. So what's the point, really?”

“Quit being a smart-ass, kid! And stop lying to me!” Souichiro obviously didn't buy the story.

“You were obviously trying to stomp on my pride while I let my guard down, just because you were driving a busted car! You took advantage on me being careless and I lost because I took you too lightly...so you just used that and knocked me off easily and steal a cheap win! That's what this is about, right?”

“You can believe what you want, but I told you what I know... and clearly you're not making any sense.” Saburo scratched his head in annoyance. He knew that it wasn't going to be that easy when it comes to convincing him that he had no intention of racing anyone to begin with.

“This had nothing to do with whether it's making sense or not anymore, kid. What matters now is that my pride's been shredded thanks to you. And I had to recover it by all means. As a proud racer that has worked hard enough to gain recognition on this mountain, I will not stand by the fact that you beat me when I let my guard down like that. That's why you have to race me in a legit match and once again prove to everyone as to who is a better and faster driver, using our cars on the same mountain path. This is where the truth will unveil itself; whether you or I am the better man. You will race me with your pride on the line, as well as my pride as the member of Speed-Buster on the line too.”

Saburo was now irritated by that remark, since that was the point at which Souichiro was so mistaken he could no longer keep quiet about it.

“Oh yeah, sure...thanks for telling me that. Who are you now, my brother or my dad? I do what I want, and what I want isn't your business. Also, here’s another problem: I am not a racer, so I don't see why you are still so upset over one loss when I wasn't even racing you in the first place. Can’t you see it’s just one big misunderstanding here? I don’t have any ill feelings against you, so I just don’t see why are you so upset over a single, silly loss due to your carelessness.”

“That’s not the point!”

“Then WHAT is the point here? You tell me.”

“Calm down, Sabby!” Vanessa stepped in and grabbed Saburo’s hand. Shethen asked the MX-5 driver.

“Look... misunderstanding or not, you guys want a race, right? So how do you plan to do this again?”

“One race, outbound. The winner takes the glory and respect, and the loser goes home. Me against your friend here in his damaged 180SX.” Souichiro declared with a serious look. “This time we go all out, no holds barred.”

“What about us, Souichiro?” The FD driver asked.

“It’s alright, I’ll handle this punk myself.” Souichiro said with an arm raised to keep his member at bay. “You two don’t need to do anything for now...”

Saburo turned his attention back to the petite brown-haired girl, slightly confused at her intentions.

“...what are you doing, Vanessa?”

“Yeah...I am all for the direct approach and all that, but don’t you think this is a bit too straightforward?” Sakuya added, as even she believed that what Vanessa did wasn’t exactly a good idea.

“Trust me...it’s better this way.” Vanessa smiled. “I mean come on... these guys were hell-bent on you for whatever you did a few days ago, right? I didn’t get the full details and all about what’s with all the drama, but I can pretty much tell where this is heading. This seemed like the better option, because if you ignore these guys... you would probably never hear the end of it.”

“...”

Much as Saburo didn’t want to listen to Vanessa, she had a point; if he ignored Souichiro and his gang with so many people watching, the annoyance would only get worse when the Speed-Buster team starts calling him names for things that he never intended; and of all things, it had to be this big fiasco! Saburo could only take so much irritation as far as he was concerned. And so, this only meant that he had to make the right choice before any of this drags on any further.

“Fine... you just need one race and you’ll stop bothering me, right?” Saburo changed his mind and accepted the race, thinking this may really be the best solution. There was definitely no reasoning with hot-headed people like Souichiro; if he didn’t settle this quickly, it will be just like Vanessa said - he will never hear the end of it...

“Heh... I see you’re no coward after all...” Souichiro smiled, hearing his acceptance on the race. “You’ve no idea how much I waited for this... I’ve been practicing like hell since the last time I lost to you. I can assure you that it won’t happen again. I am going to give you the race of your life...”

“...whatever.” Saburo shrugged it away and crossed his arms. He clearly didn't give much attention for his opponent's claims. Before he turns back to his car, he quickly remembered to ask one more question. “So who are you again?”

“Makoto Souichiro. And in return, what's yours?”

“... Saburo Misaka.”

Saburo turned his back to the car with Vanessa and Sakuya following him to prepare for the race, while Souichiro felt a strange force just hit him in the gut. It was like a gentle breeze, but it was cold enough to make him shiver just for a split second before he composed himself.

Souichiro knew there was something unusual going on, even though nothing happened besides him and his opponent trading their names before the race. Even if it was just a brief moment, he felt it; his opponent was not going to be as easy as he thought. Something on his body was telling him that the race is not going to bode well unless he fully gave his concentration on the machine. This was no longer a drive-by experience...this is the real thing, and if he loses this, there’s a high chance that he will be a laughing stock to the ring of street racers across the Tochigi prefecture. Just the thought of that alone made Souichiro clench his fist so hard he could feel his fingernails attempting to impale the skin of his own palm...

“Yo... you okay there, Souichiro?” The turtle-neck wearing driver asked. He can see a hint of nervousness on his face, even though Souichiro remained somewhat calm and focused.

“Nah, I'm fine.” Souichiro insisted. Deep down, though, he knew he had to win this for real, because this was going to be a moment of truth for him. He walked towards the Mazda Roadster and checked on the tires of the car. He thought quietly as he caressed the rubber of his car. “Tires have been prepped on a fresh set...car is set on for a sharper torque pickup...brakes have been swapped for better stopping power. I am in top form tonight...no way am I going to lose... that guy may have some skill, I have the better car here. I won’t lose.”

Saburo didn’t rush his final checks on the car. The tires swapped by Sakuya were obviously the ones he needed to get the job done. Vanessa walked towards Saburo while he was examining the tires and brake pads.

“So...Sabby.”

“Speak.”

“How did you get into this... grudge thingy with that Souichiro guy?”

“It was pretty much a misunderstanding, and obviously the other guy is too much of a egotistical numbskull to listen to reason.” Sakuya answered the question for Saburo. “Boys really get riled up easily on losing a race sometimes, well... not like Saburo here, but eh... many of the boys care about their streaks a lot just to make a good impression for the crowd. So yeah... pretty much the same old issue of popularity and ego.”

“Well bummer.” Vanessa chuckled. “Must’ve sucked to be a popular racer here.”

“That’s why I never cared about being a racer in the first place... I don’t want to deal with this popularity shit and I don’t want people to get the wrong idea just because I drove a bit better than others." Saburo replied before getting into the 180SX and starting its engine. He opened a window since he knew Sakuya needs to tell him something.
“So how do the tires feel for you?” Sakuya asked confidently.

“Exactly what I wanted. I owe you for this...” Saburo said gratefully, though without a smile. “...thanks.”

“Well... you won’t expect anything less from me.” Sakuya chuckled, gladdened by Saburo's gratitude. “Be sure to win and smoke that poser’s ass...this time for real.”

“...will do.” Saburo nodded calmly as he closes the window on the car and drove to the starting line.

The Roadster was already gone by this point with the other two cars following it. Sakuya and Vanessa watched the cars disappear into the road. The spectators had their eyes on the dented 180SX following its opponent on the end of the outbound side.

“In hindsight, I could’ve wished him luck...” Vanessa sighed as she leans back on her Megane.

“Screw luck!” Sakuya snapped back, leaning on her red Supra RZ. “Who needs some stupid luck when he’s got skill?”

“Heh, you've got a point there.”

Vanessa knew luck can only push a driver so far. Besides, it really is the truth to every driver’s impression -- who needs luck when a person is skilled enough to secure a win?

“I’ve been thinking though... can’t you at least give him any advice on how to tackle against his rival? I mean... you must’ve known something about that Souichiro guy, being a local and all, right?”

“I don't have the full details yet, to be honest.” Sakuya rubbed her neck gently. “Speed-Buster is just a team that has made it to the Representative Line Division recently, so it’s still quite a new team. Fresh out of the block, even.”

“Representative Line Division...? What’s that?”

“It’s the codename used by local drivers here that made the cut as drivers that represent the strength of a certain mountain stage. Every mountain has them.” Sakuya took off her cap for a moment and brushed her hair sideways before putting it back on. “These are the drivers which matter, you could say, when it comes to testing your limit as a street racer here. Some are good, some are bad, and some are... well, ugly. I don’t want to get to the ugly part... point is, these are skilled drivers that deserve recognition.”

“So Speed-Buster's pretty much paranoid of losing the recognition after the news of Sabby beating them spread on the net? Well that explains a bit.” Vanessa stared at the crowd as they were pumped up to see what type of race is going to happen soon. “So what about Sabby? He in this... RLD thing too?”
“Nah... Saburo is never the type of person to care about being deep into racing and crap. He just happens to get caught up on street racers on their usual practice runs and creates a misunderstanding, that’s all. But you know how street racers in general are -- you beat them, legit or otherwise, they will come back and find you for seconds. Street racers are stubborn bastards after all, and some of them aren’t pretty ones, if you know what I mean.”

“I don’t think I WANT to know...” Vanessa chuckled nervously, scratching her head. “So you think Sabby will win? How good is he exactly?”

“Oh, he will... Speed-Buster doesn't have a guy that can take him on; I can put good money on that. Saburo is simply a driver that is unorthodox in every aspect. He's an all-function guy with no showy tactics whatsoever, and he never hesitates once he decides to do something. He’s gotten through a number of non-legit races before, so he can pretty much handle the small guys like Souichiro. They aren’t exactly a huge team yet, so it should be easy.”

“Huh... well, I wanted to be confident in him too... but I haven’t seen him drive, so I wouldn’t be able to tell.” Vanessa uttered, still feeling a bit unsure of her new friend’s abilities. "But... wouldn’t hurt to be optimistic, right?”

“Just wait and see...for now we’re just part of the audience.” Sakuya said, crossing her arms. “Then again, it’s not Souichiro that bugs me right now... those two may not keep quiet about this, whether they win or lose the match tonight.”

“What about them?”

“Those two blockheads never shut up about anything if there’s something big going on around Speed-Buster. I just don’t want those guys spreading bad rumors about Saburo or us.”

“Hmm, maybe you're right about that.” Vanessa shrugged.

On the starting line at the beginning of the outbound side of Happogahara, the two cars were being lined up. The FD driver was preparing for countdown at the middle of the road. The crowds were cheering on as if there was a concert happening at the parking lot and, with the exception of Saburo, the atmosphere was growing intense.

Saburo felt that the hype was too much and unnecessary. To him, things like a race out of a misunderstanding don’t deserve such attention. But it’s not like he has any choice. Now that he has decided to do it, he has to endure the discomfort and stress all the way to the end. All it takes is just one race and he will be able to call it a day.

On the other side, Souichiro seemed to be all pumped up. His eyes were literally locked on his prey; the car that is lined up next to him. Like a predator waiting to strike, Souichiro focused all his concentration on waiting for the right time to floor his accelerator pedal while revving his car hard.



“...why is he still not preparing for the race?” Souichiro thought anxiously. He thought for sure that Saburo would at least rev on his car for a hot start once the race begun, but strangely he was just sitting idle there, not moving an inch. “Is he not taking this battle seriously? Don’t screw with me... someone like him who has no regard for the importance of a racer’s pride don’t deserve to drive at this stage... I’ll send his broken car and the last bit of his racing spirit down the ravine of this mountain! Just wait and see, Misaka!!”

“...”

Saburo remained calm and his mind is currently blank. He only has one thing on his mind, and that is to finish the race as quickly as possible and split with his friends before more unnecessary drama ensues.
Meanwhile on Souichiro’s side, a Silvia driver walked towards him, wanting to talk about something.

“So Souichiro...how do you plan to win this race tonight?”

“I am going to go all out. No holds barred.” Souichiro boldly answers. “I will attack first. If I can't keep the lead, I’ll stick close and observe his driving from behind, pressure him until he screws up and finish him off, or I will leave him in dust once I have the lead and he somehow can't keep up with me at the starting point. Either way, I will not show any mercy to the same person that I lost to before. Tonight is the night where we remind the crowd on how we managed to get into the RLD.”

“Yeah... I got the same feeling too, Souichiro... it’s the reason why I've supported you up until now!” The driver said with a fist clenched with determination. “Don’t lose to that punk with that damaged car, DESTROY him!”

“You don’t even need to ask. Just watch me do the killing here and rejoice.” Souichiro smiled confidently as he closed the window. With the other Speed-Buster member preparing to start the countdown, everything was now ready to be set off with a bang.

“COUNTDOWN IN 10 SECONDS!” The FD driver shouted. Everyone is cheering loudly at the Speed Buster’s NA6CE Roadster. Souichiro revs it loudly to intimidate his opponent. Saburo slowly opens his eyes and grabs the steering wheel. He engages the clutch, moves the gear shifter to the first gear and holds on to the E-brake while waiting for the start.
“10... 9... 8...” as the FD driver counts, the crowd followed along, so loud that the noise can be heard clearly even inside the cars of both drivers.

“7... 6... 5... 4...” Souichiro turned sharp and serious, clutching on the steering wheel while waiting for the remaining seconds to go...

“3...2...1...” Saburo, on the other hand, remained cold as ice as he had no reason to waste any energy for the hype he finds useless.

“GO!!!”

Both cars blasted full throttle as the crowd watched the two machines shoot off from the starting line. The Roadster made a short burnout and left quite a dark trail. The 180SX however, left a faint trail on its end.

As they continued on to the first corner, they were both neck to neck. But once the first corner’s entry arrived, Saburo let go off his gas pedal slightly earlier and hit on the brakes without stomping it by force as he lets the car’s lateral G force pulls the machine gently through deceleration, allowing the Roadster to take the lead as Souichiro stomped on the brake pedal a few seconds later and steered hard, doing some sliding on the first curve. Once they got through the exit, the Roadster now had the lead while the 180SX stuck on to its tail by a good 15 meters.

“And so it begins...Souichiro’s retribution battle.” The Silvia driver thought, his arms crossed. “Soon this mountain will see that the win from that man named Saburo Misaka was just a fluke. He won't stand a chance against Souichiro in his top form, especially because tonight, he’s got his sights solely on his prey. And that man is driving a damaged 180SX of all things! So many factors are against him...how hard can it be?”

“So...Yamada...what do you think of this race?” The Silvia driver called the rotary machine owner’s name from afar as he walks towards him.

“Souichiro is attacking first. I am sure he will be able to shake off that dented 180SX. He’s been practicing on this pass for a long time. You should know that too, Sakisaka.” Yamada replied. “I don’t know how much skill that man named Saburo Misaka has, but when it comes to driving style, Souichiro has the advantage due to him being a brave driver.”

“Heh...you’re right.” Sakisaka agreed, looking at the road ahead of them. “In this course, courage is the key to maintaining your rhythm. If you’re not bold enough to tackle the course aggressively, you will stall your chances of winning and fall behind. This mountain pass is steep and has lots of uneven paths with winding layouts all over it. You’ll need confidence and courage to get the pace and rhythm to your favor. And that’s also why Souichiro won't lose.”

“Yeah...he may not be a pro, but his skills are at least up to that of a refined traditional racer.”

The 180SX remained glued to the rear of the Roadster. Once both cars entered the hairpin, they prepped on going the outer lane. The 180SX reserved some space on its position while the Roadster went all the way outside, plowing through the hairpin under second gear. Souichiro was steering so hard that he was having a bit of trouble keeping the wheel stable under his grip. Saburo on the other hand calmly maintained his distance behind. The Roadster made a wide powerslide all the way through the hairpin, while the 180SX hugged the corner at the middle of the tarmac as if it was in sync with the layout of the hairpin itself. Saburo's driving left the audience in awe.

“D-did you see that?” One of the male spectators asked his girlfriend.

“Yeah! That lining was unusual! You told me that out-in-out was the best line, right?” The female asked in doubt. “But look at how that black car is going! It feels so...stable! Sure it’s slower, but unlike the Roadster that seemed to twitch a little on the exit, the black Nissan is gunning it out smoothly! This race is going to be a close one, isn't it?”

“I certainly think so... whoever is driving that dented 180 has got some good footwork!”

As the 180SX sticks close to the Roadster by a good 20 meters, Souichiro can feel the pressure slowly building up. Despite the fact that his Roadster is accelerating a bit faster, the black Nissan remained on his rear.

“Calm down... this is still just the beginning of a race.”

Souichiro glanced for a second on the rear mirror.

“I admit you’re rather good with the wheels, but this doesn’t mean you have the advantage here. I’ll still win in the end...the one with more courage will prevail. Playing it safe all the time could easily cost you any race.”

“...”

Saburo observed the rhythm of the Roadster. He can tell that his rival was indeed a very aggressive driver. Another thing he noticed is that, compared to their previous encounter, the Roadster and its driver had become a lot faster. Of course, this was simply due to the fact that this was an actual race, rather than an interrupted practice run. Saburo knew that Souichiro won't make the same mistake twice, despite his dramatic attitude. He opted to maintain his current pace and watch his rival try to pull away.

As the two cars continued towards the next hairpin, Saburo noticed that the Roadster's rhythm looked somewhat strange. It was as if it was eager to move faster due to the driver's heavy footwork. He believed this may only be his own imagination as he could tell the driver was already going full throttle from the start.

“You’re good, Misaka, but I still has the advantage here. Like I said before...”

Souichiro steps on the accelerator further as he reaches on the second hairpin on the wider part of the road at the left side. “You need to be brave to be fast.”
The Roadster tackled the wide hairpin while skidding through. Saburo braked for a moment before steering mildly to keep his cornering angle consistent. He hit the hairpin at a slightly lower speed. It was a grip-oriented corner and his lining was once again centred on the middle of the road all throughout the corner, from entry to the exit. Once he moved to the outer lane from the momentum of the corner, he slowly gunned the accelerator and lessened the gap.

“Shit, that guy is still climbing on to me... Now what?”

Souichiro could almost feel the car breathing down his neck from the roar of the SR20 engine from behind...

Meanwhile...

A large crowd can be seen at the four snake hairpins, expecting the two drivers to charge towards their location. Many of them were already preparing their cameras, phones and video-recorders to record the race while anticipating how the battle with turn out. Sakuya and Vanessa were walking towards the direction of a spot at the four hairpins, walking downwards across the bushes.

“Hey, Sakuya...”

“What?”

“I’ve been driving on this area for a bit ever since I arrived at Tochigi prefecture. This area’s filled with a combination of uphill and downhill slopes and the road width varies wildly. It’s kinda hard to find an ideal line on a tricky course like this. Compared to Shoumaru Pass, which is a lot narrower, this course seems to demand power and lining more than a good rhythm. How did you and Sabby overcome this course?”

“Well... if you want me to explain everything, I’d rather keep it short. It’s really just a matter of utilizing the car’s power and suspension settings, not to mention ride height - they have to be just right. Lining wise, so long as you know the grip limit of the tires you use, the results won’t have much difference regardless of which line you take. Forging an ideal racing line though -- that’s another story.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought... I'm still racking my brain to look for one here.” Vanessa scratched her head. “All things considered, I never really used the full potential of my tires before so I wouldn’t know. So what kind of lining will Sabby use on this course? He’s been here for a long time, yes?”

“Heh, you know what they say about out-in-out method, right?”

“Isn't that the most orthodox method of getting a proper lining on corners?” Vanessa prompted, based on what she knew about the most used driving method. “So what about it?”
“Saburo has a rather... unusual way with how he deals with it.” Sakuya answered with a slight smug smile.

“Define [unusual] if you may?” Vanessa prompts again, this time with a sarcastic smile.

“Well... Saburo just pressures his opponent long enough for him to slip up. No matter how skilled a driver is... as long as they cannot overcome the fear of looking at the rear mirror while leading, he or she cannot fully concentrate. That will often lead to the driver screwing up and making mistakes.”

“Mhmm...but, that sounds a bit too normal if you ask me. Is there anything special about the method he uses?”

“Nothing special at all. In fact, what he did was common sense.”

“Eh?”

“Hot-headed drivers like Makoto Souichiro tend to never let their eyes off their opponent even if they lead, and Saburo simply uses that factor against them. If Souichiro wants his opponent to look at him and he wishes to assure it, all Saburo does is give him what he asks for. The twist? He gives a HELL-sized lot of it. You should’ve known that the chaser is always at an advantageous position so long as the runner is unable to escape quickly, yes?”

“Oh...! Now I get it.” Vanessa snapped her finger. “A skilled driver can easily copy the rhythm and speed range of the runner even if he may not be fully confident of his own skills. Mimicry plays a factor when you can’t compensate with pure skills alone. Then there comes the part where both will see who has a higher level of familiarity of the course layout to finish the race off.”

“Exactly. Saburo’s lining focuses mostly on the center of the road. That way, his opponent never knows for sure whether he is attacking or defending.”

“Middle of the line? As in right on the centerline spot? Gee, that’s a bit of an odd and risky move.” Vanessa raised an eyebrow. “Risky, but it may be effective if you wish to conceal your intentions. I oughta try that sometimes...”

“Easier said than done, kiddo.” Sakuya chuckled. “You’ve no idea how many tries it took for Saburo get it right.”

“Is it that hard?”

“Duh. Anyone would be hesitant on using racing lines to get perfect clipping points. Not Saburo, though. He just focuses on playing stealthy and smart until his opponents slips up, at which point he will just accelerate and disappear before the opponent knows what hit him.”

As they reached the fourth hairpin’s bush area, they stopped and watched the road. The crowd gets larger and larger as the minutes pass by.

“Let’s watch from here.” Sakuya requested. “They should be here by any second now...”

Meanwhile, another familiar figure was standing near the two of them - a brown-haired girl. She was also expecting the race tonight as much as everyone else now.

“...So what kind of driving are you going to show me this time, Mr. 180?” The brunette thought.

“Here they come!!”

A man shouted from afar, alerting all three of them together as they watched the roads above them. The headlights started to appear from afar and the echoes of their machines’ engine sounds grew louder.

Within a few seconds, both the leading NA6CE and the trailing 180SX had crossed towards the straight that leads to the iconic four snake hairpin sequence. The crowd was pumped to record the footage. The 180SX was firmly sticking behind the NA6CE.

Souichiro could almost feel the sweat on his palms as he tightened the grip on the steering wheel even more. Saburo was holding his position still, until they came close to the entry of the first hairpin...

“...!”

Saburo found a line to overtake his opponent on the inside. He steered to the right and started to accelerate forward, poking the 180SX’s damaged front end towards the rear bumper of the Mazda Roadster. The people were shocked when they saw this attempt to overtake on that spot as it was a deadly move.

“Overtaking on a sharp hairpin like this? What is he thinking?!” One of the spectators shouted; surprised at the sudden attack. The 180SX climbed towards the car’s rear bumper, almost crossing half of the entire Mazda’s position.

“Oh no you don’t!!”

Souichiro knew he would be passed unless he took desperate measures against his opponent. Sakuya and Vanessa could clearly see that Saburo’s 180SX headlights were already slowly overtaking, even though they still could not see the car directly.

“A bit too early there, Saburo...but that could be just an act of precaution.” Sakuya thought with a smile. She is confident that her friend will be able to make it, even though it was a critical point.

Saburo continued his attack. Souichiro tried to block him off the road by purposely allowing his car to be nudged if Saburo dared. Then all of a sudden, a loud thud could be heard. Souichiro felt like he was pushed sharply. The crowd went into another state of shock. The 180SX nudged the NA6CE that refused to give way for passing on the second hairpin as they slowly came out of the exit. The Mazda Roadster slowed down due to the driver suffering a short moment of shock while Saburo took the opening left by his assault and punched his way out of the spot, grabbing the lead.

“That Nissan driver’s out of his mind!! Is he not afraid to damage his car further?!”

“I've never seen anyone that had the guts to actually try a maneuver like that! Even pro-racers are hesitant to do that sometimes!”

The audience was again thunderstruck by Saburo's audacity. Vanessa, Sakuya and even the brunette could hear the bang from the second hairpin...

“That’s just like him, doing what he thinks is the best to do just to settle things.” Sakuya said.

“That’s Sabby banging up the Mazda? Ouch...even I don’t have the guts to do that.”

“Yep. But that’s not the reason why the 180 was so dented like that in the first place...”

“...did he just...?” The brown-haired girl thought as well. She could definitely tell that either one of the two drivers just knocked on each other to force a room for a pass. But she can safely assume that the 180SX was still chasing, as the driver left the impression that he was not one to easily choose to lead first without consideration. Thus, she made a decision on assuming that it was the 180SX attacking the Roadster.

On to the third hairpin, Sakuya and Vanessa saw that the 180SX had poked its nose out and was going to make a pass on the entry as the NA6CE tried to recover from the shock, but to no avail.

“Think it’s going to be that easy?” Vanessa asked.

“Just watch.”

Saburo hit the brakes on the exact point where he believed was the current best position. He steered on the inner lane of the road, blocking the Roadster in return. Souichiro started swerving slowly outside the outer lane due to tire wear. And on the exit, Saburo quickly steered back and let the rear bumper slide outside slowly from a drift. He went through the last hairpin, passing Vanessa, Sakuya and the brown-haired lady, securing the lead after overtaking the Roadster. It was a nicely-positioned attack and Saburo managed to nail it.

“Well, he sure made it look like a cakewalk.” The brown haired-girl uttered. One of the male audience overheard her and walked closer to her.

“Umm...why would you say that, miss? Is it that easy?”

“What are you, stupid?” The brunette shouted back. “Of course it is! That man is obviously the type of driver that you won’t be seeing anytime here because the lot of you are just too scared to trade paint to prevail in a battle. The first general truth of racing across the street is that it will never be a fair game, so you do what needs to be done to survive and win. It’s weird how the many of you guys are just loafing around waiting for challengers to take advantage of you. That’s pussy shit!” “...Gee, cold much?” Vanessa chuckled at the brown-haired girl’s remarks.

“Glad to see someone’s on a same page with me.” Sakuya added to her agreement as she slowly walks down to the bushes where the brown-haired lady is standing, followed by Vanessa from behind. “So I take it that you knew what happened too?”

“Well, it’s great tire management, alright. I’d give the black Nissan driver that.” The girl brushes her hair aside. “Compared to that Makoto Souichiro that looked like a complete tool on that Roadster, it’s embarrassing just seeing him slip up on the tires when he’s swerving outside on that machine. And here I thought the guy would at least put up a decent fight against the Nissan.”

“Well, it’s a shame he wouldn’t let me fix the front end though.” Sakuya insisted. “That guy’s been driving that poor thing for far too long without proper care.”

“You know him?” The lady asked, curious.

“Why yes, I am his mechanic, dammit!” Sakuya declares openly.

“A mechanic? Wait a minute...that emblem....” The girl recognizes the emblem on Sakuya’s track jacket and her hat as it was written [MUSCLE BROTHERHOOD]. “...you’re on that community too?”

“Hell yes of course! I was member number 2 for crying out loud!” Sakuya said again. “My uncle’s the one that reserved the spot for that position as the mechanic ambassador of the entire organization!”

“Uncle...? You don’t mean you’re...”

“I am an Ishiyama, duh!” Sakuya chuckled. “Sakuya Ishiyama of the Muscle Brotherhood! So who might you be, brunette?”

“Look, I got a name, so don’t get all smart-alec on me okay, Ishiyama?” The brown-haired girl piped up, facing Sakuya just as confidently. “Name’s Mayumi Itoh and I am what you’d call an unamused spectator in the stage of Tochigi Prefecture so far...at least until I met the 180SX guy that is...who’s the driver behind the wheel?”

“Well, Mayumi...if you wanna know, the driver is a really, REALLY cute guy that Sakuya has dibs on.” Vanessa jumped in to the conversation.

“...Vanessa! You don’t have to say it out loud!” Sakuya snapped back, her face flushed a pink with a narrowed scowl. “Anyway, the driver’s my close friend. Name’s Saburo Misaka, a 20 year old semi-anti-social guy that is not your everyday run-of-the-mill driver. And FYI, he’s not exactly thrilled on the race, I can assure you that.”

“Ah...I see...anyway, so YOU’RE Sakuya Ishiyama? Well, I only hear about you through a friend of mine constantly when I mentioned I want some parts for my Evo and all...but I didn’t realize that the person I longed to meet is actually closer than I think!” Mayumi chuckled, offering a handshake to Sakuya, which Sakuya took gladly as she grabbed the palms of the brunette and nearly squeezed it as hard as a stress ball... “...ouch, some grip you got there.”

“Don’t mention it. And your friend mentioned about me? What about it?” Sakuya asked.

“Well...it’s a long story...”

Back to the race, the audiences were recording intensely at the tunnel entrance at the third checkpoint area where two cars are already closing in. Saburo was leading while Souichiro chases franticly in desperation for a counterattack.

“Whoa! Here they come!!” One of the female audience exclaimed at the presence of the two machines that are now entering the hairpin that is leading to the tunnel. The 180SX was crossing the tunnel first, followed by the NA6CE desperately. In terms of rhythm, needless to say; Saburo had the edge as his line was smooth yet unusual as his car was entering all the way from entry to exit on the exact middle line, while the NA6CE was trying hard on the out-in-out method but seemed to struggle now due to moderate tire wear.

“Oh god! Look, Souichiro’s actually struggling against that dented 180!” A man said in disbelief.

“Tire management seemed to be the key-role here after all...don’t get too intense out there, Souichiro...” Another man thought in his mind. He was apparently a lot more calm than many of those shocked audiences, as if he can already tell that Souichiro was in fact; starting to lose his cool and the race altogether.

As the race goes on, Saburo is still calmly focusing on his footwork as he steered left and right in rhythm according to the layout of the twisty course. The road from here on is narrow and pretty much downhill, so if he needs to finish the race quickly, it has to be now.

“This is bad...my tires are giving in.” Souichiro thought as he can clearly tell the rear tires are overheating, not to mention there isn’t much grip left either on the front tires. “That guy’s Nissan is still fine. But why is it that his lining is so weird? Is that really a better way to go faster? I am already doing things the way a pro racer would do, but why is it not enough?”

While pondering as to where did Souichiro go wrong, Saburo is looking for an opportunity to make his move. Saburo knew his tires are not going to hold out any longer, despite him saving the grip on the rubber as much as he can. He is fully aware that if he don’t use the chance that he has yet to find, the battle will draw out longer than expected and he will be in sticky trouble.

As they continued the race, Saburo found a point where he can finally step on it once they reached a curve just before the last checkpoint line.

“...!!” Saburo stomped on the accelerator and finally shifted his driving attitude...

Once the 180SX hugged the inner line of that curve and crossed the checkpoint, the black Nissan finally disappeared as it plowed through the corner at such speed that it felt as if the car was entering a near suicide curve. Fortunately, the saved grip on the rubber managed to hold on to the momentum of the cornering force and Saburo stabilize the car back from that grip cornering on the exit as he accelerating on, leaving the NA6CE behind.

“Oh shoot! That guy’s already doing it!!” Souichiro noticed that Saburo has declared a full-on attack on that sudden critical moment and tried to follow on in his full-throttle position, but the moment he did the same thing, it was too late. Saburo’s 180SX is already far ahead, and it is still pulling away as the rhythm and pace of the Nissan became more and more aggressive.

Saburo just pressed on the attack as he continued to feather on the accelerator accordingly to the less-twisty layout of the course from this point, allowing him more time to hold on the high-speed pace and maintain his rhythm even under sharp acceleration. He knew if he had to finish this correctly, he will have to use up the remaining grip at this section and he must not leave any margin of errors and sloppy footwork.

The 180SX is now 90 meters ahead of the Roadster and it is still pulling away while the NA6CE can no longer keep up even though the car is travelling faster than before. Souichiro realizes that the tires are no longer gripping the road the way it should be and his reflexes are saying that he can no longer push the car harder than now or he will risk breaking the car first before getting any chance to overtake.

“Dammit...I am not gonna let you -- “ Before Souichiro can even finish his sentence out loud, the black Nissan faded from his sights entirely...and it is no longer coming back. His foot is no longer pressing the pedal hard as he was completely stunned by the fact that the 180SX is no longer in front of him...

“...disappear.” Souichiro realized that it was too late. His NA6CE can no longer keep up as the tires are almost burned out. While the black Nissan accelerated ahead sooner than he expected, and he was late in responding to it. Souichiro can only slow down his car and sigh in disappointment with a slight smile. “...Right, I see now...it’s my loss...”

Back at the four-snake-hairpins, Sakuya and others were chatting about many things while waiting for the race results from those that kept in touch via mobile phones.

“What the?! Souichiro has lost?!” One of the male exclaimed as he was talking on a phone, surprising Sakuya, Vanessa and Mayumi altogether. “How much?”

“Welp, conflict resolved.” Sakuya shrugged with a sigh of relief. “I expect no less from Saburo when he gets serious in finishing a job.”

“...5 second margin?! You’re kidding, right?” The male was shocked in disbelief at the results. “Oh...I see, so that’s why...Souichiro is okay, right? Did he crash? No...? Oh, thank goodness...alright then...” The man then shut off his phone and the crowd was in silence as they cannot believe that Souichiro just lost a race against the damaged 180SX.

“Well, that does it...Saburo Misaka sure is a driver worth taking notice...thanks for the talk by the way, Ishiyama...and you too, Anderrson.” Mayumi said, crossing her arms before she brushes her hair aside again. “Actually, I wanted to look forward to battling either one of you someday in future...it’s been too long since I have someone worth setting my sights on.”

“Hah...you just met the person you always look forward to tune your car, and already you’re declaring friendly battles with me? Some guts you have there, Mayumi.” Sakuya taunted, her hands on the pocket of her track jacket, as usual.

“It’s always good to be competitive, Ishiyama...” Mayumi said with a grin. “And if it’s okay, I’ll like a run with you next time, seeing how amazing your friend has proven himself to be.”

“Don’t forget that I’ll always be more than glad to take a tough local head on!” Vanessa piped up with a thumbs up.

“Anytime you’re ready then, Mayumi. I’ll be waiting...now I am just gonna wait for that guy to come back.” Sakuya turned her eyes back on to the road as the crowd is starting to talk about how Souichiro lost and how the black 180SX driver has skills that surprised them. And not long after that, her cellphone rang. Sakuya grabbed the device and saw the image that it was none other than Saburo. “Ah...speaking of the devil prince...” She opened the phone and answered the call.

“Hey Saburo! Good job on the run! So how’d the news tires feel?” Sakuya asked with a smile on her face, she was working hard on not getting too excited by the victor. “Think you will make it back here for another run?”

“I think not...the tires are already quite burned here...but it’s working just like I expected. So you have my thanks for that...you did great.” On the goal line, Saburo was already out of the car and is on his phone, talking to his redhead tuner. “Tell Vanessa that I won’t be joining her for another run if she plans to practice more for tonight. I’ve had enough action for one night.”

“Alright then, guess you’ll be resting on the parking area near the inbound side?” Sakuya asked.

“...nah, I’m driving back to the parking lot ...thought that maybe we could’ve go home together...assuming you don’t feel like staying any longer.” Saburo asked, scratching his head while leaning to the 180SX that is now sitting idle with its engine turned off.

“Hey, if you don’t feel like staying, you could’ve just gone home instead of waiting for us.” Sakuya said. “I mean...you’re here because you wanted to do a test-run originally before heading off somewhere, yes?”

“...yeah.”

“So, go and take some rest while you can leave me with Vanessa here work on something else. And just so you know...I am coming with you tomorrow, whether you like it or not.” Sakuya said with smile. “I don’t know where you’re heading, but you can tell me tomorrow if you come to visit me at the usual spot.”

“...” Saburo knew Sakuya would definitely come along since the time he told her that he will be leaving Tochigi. But nonetheless, he didn’t fully reject it as he knew something good may come out of this as well, even though he has yet to know what it is. “Fine, do what you want then...”

“So, great work again today! Have a good rest and thanks for using the tires I got for you.” Sakuya said happily as she turns her back to Mayumi and Vanessa, whom are still talking about things under inaudible tone. “And if the Speed-Buster guys ever come looking for you again, tell them that they’ll have to go through Sakuya Ishiyama first, even though I know they wouldn’t dare to come for seconds after their [boss] cocked up in racing you tonight.”

“Don’t worry about that...and one more thing, Sakuya...”

“Hmm?”

“...Fix the front end of the car tonight, if possible.” Saburo said the words that pretty much made Sakuya’s heart fluttery inside for a few seconds before she composes herself again. “But if you can’t, then do it tomorrow. I’ll be at your garage around 6 to 7 AM.”

“Screw that! I can do it tonight!” Sakuya shot back immediately. “Just tell me what else you want. ANYTHING!!”

“...I just want the front end fixed. Nothing else for now.” Saburo said in a calm tone, trying to calm Sakuya down. “Anyway...I am off to your garage now then...thanks.”

“No...thank YOU, Saburo!” Sakuya smiled happily, holding her phone firmly. “You’ve no idea how long I waited for you to ask me to do that...! But I am glad you did. Anyway, just leave your 180 at my garage and I’ll fetch you home if you don’t plan to stay with me for tonight, kay?”

“...Sure. I’ll think about it.”

Sakuya shuts off the phone and kept it inside her pocket as slowly as possible. She took a deep breath and sighed with her face flushed red slightly.

“Stupid Saburo...” Sakuya thought. “...making me wait so long.”

“So, who’s that on the phone?” Vanessa asked. “You sound very happy for some reason...and why’s your face red?”

“Wha? Oh...it’s nothing...!” Sakuya said, slightly nervous. “And well, Saburo and I will be gone for tomorrow since we may be going somewhere far away from Tochigi.”

“Expedition race traveling maybe?” Mayumi assumed.

“Sorta. But Saburo didn’t give me all the details...kinda wished he did though...”

“Well then...if you’re leaving, then I guess that leaves me and Anderrson here.” Mayumi says.

“I thought you were leaving?” Vanessa prompted.

“...I change my mind. I think I’ll go for a spin here...and I wouldn’t mind some company, if anything else.” Mayumi turned around and walk back to the P.A. that has her vehicle parked on a vacant spot.

“So...I guess we’ll be seeing each other again next time, Sakuya.” Vanessa shrugged with her usual sarcastic smile. “Tell Sabby I said ‘well done’.”

“No problem at all.” Sakuya walks away from the two of them as she slowly heads back to the very area that she parked her Supra on, followed by Vanessa. “It frustrates me that I don’t get any action tonight, but I might as well save it for another day with Saburo...”

Back to Saburo, as he yawned for a moment before he opened the car’s door and head to the driver’s seat again, he heard footsteps approaching from behind. Saburo glanced at the rear mirror and it shows that it was the very same person that he outran, Souichiro.

“Say...Misaka. Mind if I ask you a question?” Souichiro requested, his face seemed calm and somewhat disappointed; it seemed as if all the intensity on his expression has faded that time after the loss.

“...Just shoot it.”

“Why is it that I still couldn’t chase you even though I have a lighter machine?” Souichiro questioned the loss. “I mean...in terms of power, I shouldn’t be too far off your car’s mark and not to mention you’re driving a damaged car....of all things...is it because I am slower at the corners?”

“...” Saburo was rather less surprised by the fact that Souichiro isn’t aware what made the loss inevitable for his rival. “Tire management and cornering momentum. You can learn a lot from revising these two...that’s all I need to say. You’re not slow by all means, just that you’ve too much unnecessary movement on the start that cost you your tires...badly.”

“...My tire management and cornering momentum?” Souichiro prompted in doubt, while the 180SX started its engine and drove off right at the moment Saburo finishes talking. Souichiro tried to follow up on the car but to no avail as it has already disappeared into the roads.

“...” Souichiro then slowly realized his mistake as he sighed and watched the night skies...

---------------------------------------------------------------

On the next day...

The vast world of online community at the street-racing section was booming with rumours ever since the battle last night between Saburo, the 180SX driver and Makoto Souichiro, the Speed-Buster leader with his NA6CE. Everyone was discussing as how did Saburo managed to steal a win from the team leader while they were also finding ways to make sure that they don’t repeat the same mistake as Souichiro did as they examine numerous short video clips of the race progress.

There were even rumors stated that Vanessa Anderrson, the very person that defeated Adachi’s team member at Shoumaru Pass happened to be at Happogahara and they didn’t even notice that it was her until they saw a parked Renault Megane R26.R.

But little did it matter to Saburo as he continued to check on the forum posts made on the Japan-Series Racing SV Community at the Recent News section. He was kind of hoping that there may be some news regarding about driving around the mountain passes instead, while seeking new advice or pointers at least so that Saburo may have new insights as to how to refine his driving style for his own personal gain. Sadly, to no avail, all he hears about is just silly hyped rumors about how he managed to defeat Makoto Souichiro and how Speed-Buster [choked] on battling against a dented black 180SX.

“...That’s what these people are talking about all the time...? What has become of this community...?” Saburo thought. “Now there’s nothing but shit on this forum as well...humph.”

As he continued to surf the community’s news section, he then noticed that there is an unusual announcement made with a name that seemed to have rang a bell.

“...Driver’s Utopia?” Saburo quoted the name of the community as he clicked on the news headline that writes [Driver’s Utopia Time Attack Event now Open for Registration!!].

The content of the page writes...

Driver’s Utopia has officially opened their Time Attack Event across the mountain passes of Tochigi Area and Gunma Area! The long wait is now over and every aspiring street racer is welcome to join this event. Admission is free and we also have sponsor events that can earn you sponsorships, should you be accomplished enough for our qualification time-attack runs.

These are the list of stages that would be part of our Time Attack Event -

- Mount Haruna
- Mount Akagi
- Mount Myogi
- Irohazaka
- Happogahara

The Photography Section members would also be handling interviews with many well-known drivers across the mountains via live TV, so be sure to watch the LIVE stream of our broadcast by the event day, which is 6th of July 2013.

Be sure to check out on our main website for more information.

Time for registration ends at the day of event itself, so take your time and prepare whatever gear and mechanical adjustments you need to make for your machine before the event begins. Good luck, drivers!!

“Hmm...” Saburo pondered on the content of the news as he highlighted on the day of the event, which is actually two weeks from today. “So it begins again...I wonder if Sakuya would be joining it again...last time she joined the one at Kanagawa prefecture, she completely stole the show on Tsubaki Line...”

Then, not long after, he received an call from an unknown sender. It was a voice communicating request made by a username from the JSR-SV through the chat window.

“Huh? Who’s this...?” Saburo thought as he clicks on the username. It was called [Schrodinger].

“...Schrodinger...the Cheshire Cat?” Saburo recalled the references used on the name of this user as he simply clicks ‘accept’.

Saburo locks the door at his own room as he walks back to his desk and pressed the accept button on the window request.

And soon, not long after he heard some noise on the speakers and as it slowly clears out, a man’s voice can be heard.

“Umm...hello, hello? This thing on? Yoo hoo? You there, Little Saburo Misaka?” The voice of the man was rather upbeat and generally light-hearted, which annoys Saburo. He grabbed the microphone on his end and connects it to the computer’s socket.

“...Who are you? Identify yourself and how do you know me?” Saburo asked, cutting to the chase.

“Ah, you can hear me! Thank goodness, I was dying to get this thing working here, haha!” The eccentric man said out loud as there are some sounds of table being cleaned before he seems to be grabbing the microphone again. “Anyway, my name...is Schrodinger. Of course, you can refer me as the Cheshire Cat too unless the name’s too fancy for you. And...I am here to give you a heads up as to where you’re going to head next.”

“...?” Saburo was rather suspicious as to who the man behind the screen may be, and how did he know that Saburo was going to go somewhere by today? Questions are slowly popping one after another and it apparently made Saburo slightly disturbed about the whole thing. “How did you know I am leaving somewhere? Answer my questions, will you?”

“Don’t rush, buddy. Rushing’s no good for your health, see?” Schrodinger chuckled. “Now...I originally have been keeping track of your little Swedish new friend for a bit of time, and that’s how I managed to find you...and the moment I saw you I knew there’s something...different about you and I thought I might want to observe you for now along with Fraulein Anderrson.”

“What is it that you know about Vanessa?” Saburo questioned again, curious about the connection between the two. “What is it that you want to observe about me?”

“Progress, friendo.” Schrodinger answered cryptically. “I am interested in the progress of you. Your friends, that means Fraulein Anderrson...and of course, that lovely intense princess that has been known for her fiery temper that has been smitten by you...”

“...What?” Saburo was certain that he knew whom Schrodinger was referring to when he mentioned the princess. “You know about Sakuya...? Alright, who the hell are you exactly? How did you managed to know all of these? Did you also know of what we did before recently?”

“Duh! You three are the new hotness here!” Schrodinger chuckled. “I mean come on, one of you debuted from Stockholm not more than a month and already caused a buzz on the Saitama prefecture, while the other one is an aggressive redhead with a BREATHTAKING issue of intensity on battles that has a brain on mechanics and machines, and then there’s you, the recent enigma that choked that Speed-Buster team and shut them up for a while...what else is there to NOT worth mentioning about you three? That’s why I am SUPER interested in watching you from afar, because I am always into observing potential drivers that has the chance to become professional riders.”

“...” Saburo pondered for a moment there as to what Schrodinger just said and apparently, he isn’t too fond of it. “You sure know a hell lot about us, don’t you...?”

“Well, not everything of course, but hey, I take what I can get.” Schrodinger uttered. “Oh, and good luck in wherever you’re going next, just remember...Shoumaru’s off limits for now due to some...accidents happened.”

“...What?”

“Like I said, Shoumaru’s off limits for the time being.”

“How did you know?” Saburo as he scrolled down to the news section and found out that what the Cheshire Cat said...was in fact, real. “...What the hell?”

The news stated that there is a traffic accident involving a truck driver drunk-driving across the Shoumaru Pass and he seemed to have crashed into one of the tighter hairpins where the truck is shown flipped upside down and is already charred and burnt to a crisp as the driver was reported to be severely injured. Due to the incident causing increasing concerns of the safety of the old mountain pass as narrow as Shoumaru Pass, the authorities have decided to temporarily shut down the entry points of the course, not allowing any further access to the place for the time being while the residents nearby were often surveyed and guided to take another route leading them to Saitama prefecture areas outside Shoumaru.

“See? Told you.” Schrodinger said, even though there were no web cameras recording his face, Saburo can tell that he is grinning behind the screen just by hearing the tone.

“...So is Vanessa alright?” Saburo asked, just trying to make sure. There’s no telling just how much the person he is talking to now may know.

“Ah, don’t worry. Little Fraulein is safe as a damsel in relief.” Schrodinger said in a mocking tone, but Saburo was unfazed by it since he at least knew Vanessa isn’t involved on the crash. “Well I doubt she’ll be quiet about this though...but worry not, I will be keeping eye on her first since she is my first target after all. So you and that fearsome red princess are gonna be a LITTLE bit less of my priority. So...have fun with whatever you’re doing! Oh, and just a reminder, whatever you do...never try and sic that fixed 180 against a white HCR32 with a Metsu sign.”

“...I do what I want and I don’t think you’ve right to tell me what to do, Schrodinger.” Saburo snapped back calmly with an annoyed face.

“Well, just a warning to you, after all...we’re buddies!” Schrodinger laughed. “We can’t afford to leave our friends in trouble when they dive straight into the exciting part, can we? So...take care then!”

“...”

“Ah, and I got a little message for your precious lady in red too!” Schrodinger began again before Saburo tried to turn off the window and close the conversation call. “Her four-eyed BFF is going to pay a visit to her garage soon, so...be prepared for a heartwarming reunion!”

“Tell her yourself...I am not your messenger.” Saburo insisted before he shuts off the call for good, ending the conversation between the two. As he turns around and looks at the room around him, which is tidy at the moment, Saburo clears his mind off a few things that just flowed through his mind and he is apparently surprised at just how many events have happened today at this moment when he went online and read the news further...

“Dammit...why do I feel there’s an invisible burden on my shoulders now...?” Saburo pondered as he lay down on his own bed and watched the ceiling of his own room while the fan is rotating slowly...

“...why am I always dragged into things by people who has high expectations on me...? It’s sickening...what a pain in the ass...”

Meanwhile, at a parking area near the Tsuchisaka pass at Saitama prefecture, all spots were taken by many street-racer vehicles as the drivers were all gathering in a huge number to discuss about something, even though the chatter was inaudible. They were all having rather heavy faces about what they were talking as not long after, it is seen that Adachi was one of those drivers talking...

“So Shoumaru is going to be off-limits...that’s too bad for us all...” Adachi began.

“Yeah...I mean your team was known there recently...sucks that your home course has to be ruined and shut down by some drunkard in a silly truck.” The other male driver agreed. “So this leaves us with only Sadamine and Tsuchisaka at the moment...until Shoumaru is re-opened, we’ll have to work hard to defend the area here from outsiders.”

“Worry not...I already have some plans made just in case we’re assaulted again.” Adachi assured. “My team will be the first one in line to test our new strength against anyone desperate enough to try and conquer our home...”

“Alright then...we too have made our own preparations, but just in case; be careful...” The man said. “I mean...it’s clear that the people are still going on about the fiasco with your team against that Gaijin...”

“Don’t remind me...soon as she made her return again in Saitama’s mountains...our next rematch will wipe her name off the mountain ring, that’s for sure...”

“I sure hope that’s how it will be...”

------------------------------------------------------

Things were going smoothly still at the garage of Sakuya. She is working on the 180SX that Saburo has entrusted to her last night. After working on the machine for so long, the front end was finally fixed and is good as new while she is doing up the finishing touches on cleaning the surface of it.

She managed to pull an all-nighter on the black Nissan and apparently, it paid off as the car seemed to be more than ready to go. Sakuya wiped the sweat and dirt off her forehead as she went and grabbed the car keys on the table that was left by Saburo last night, obviously.

“Now...breathe life into her, Sakuya...” She thought patiently, opening the door of the car and slowly inserts the key into the machine and starts the engine.

The black Nissan came to life and the rev meter rose up for a moment before falling back to a stable idle of 600 rpm that many cars used to have while they’re not moving with the E-brake on. Sakuya revs the acceleration pedal to check on the machine and as the SR20 engine howls aggressively with the sound of the turbine spinning rapidly, Sakuya knew the machine is indeed ready now for return to its owner.

“Whew...now that settles that...all I gotta do now is let him know the good news...” Sakuya shuts off the engine soon after as she leaves the seat and reached for her phone that is placed on a desk. But before she grabs it, the phone rang and it was from a contact with a nickname stated on the screen. It writes “Stupid Four Eyes.” Sakuya grabbed the phone without looking at the screen and just answered the call.

“Hello?” Sakuya began on the phone, then after a moment of pause, she hears a voice that triggered her hair immediately...

“Oh, NOW you call me, you stupid four-eyes! What brings you here all of a sudden?! Out with it!”

つづく

This post has been edited by Rin on Jul 12 2014, 05:42 PM

Up to date, liked that chapter. Been reading this every night while on holiday at the Nurburgring.

SPOILER

Vanessa grabbed his had!

LOL

Thanks for the feedback, though I dunno what you mean by that spoiler bit.

Was shocked that it happened. Them two have great chemistry. Wish there was another chapter I could read on the 10 hour drive home.

This post has been edited by kkullar on Jul 3 2014, 11:19 PM

haha...Well, you might have to wait a bit longer since we have a bit of editing going on here. But worry not.

When we're ready we will shoot another chapter here. =)

Thanks for sticking with us.

Well, time for another update, guys.

Sorry for the wait.

Code 6: Crimson

“How are you doing, Sakuya? It's been a while, still short tempered as usual?”

“Four-eyes? The hell you want?”

“Hey, hey hey....we haven’t met for almost half a year and this is how you greet your old pal?” The voice over the phone teased, paying no heed to Sakuya's aggression.

“Shut up.” Sakuya shot back, unamused. “Every time you call, there's always some form of trouble to deal with. Let's hear it, what hell will you bring me this time?"

“It’s nothing, really.” The voice chuckled. “Uncle wants you at the meeting in Akagi, says its crucial. If number 2 isn't there to lead, who will?”

Number 2, huh? Second in command…to think I was proud enough of that to have it marked on me…

“Also, if you haven’t already heard, Driver’s Utopia is starting the time attack event and we’re going there to clean house, starting at home sweet home.”

"…So? What of it? I have other plans on my end already, not gonna go. End of this conversation, you spread the news."

“Ah, I know what this is about...It’s about him, isn’t it?"

Sakuya's eyes twitched at the reply.

"Speaking of that guy, how is he doing? He didn’t....give you a lot of trouble, did he?”

“That’s none of your business.” Sakuya snapped back. “You’re always finding chances to hit on him whenever I am not looking. I know your tricks."

“Oh come on, you snobby little red princess.” The voice teased again. “You’re not the only one here that cares for him, you know. Well, put that aside for now."
"What?"

"So you're definitely not going to the meeting?”

“Not going.”

“You sure? Because if you don’t come, bad things will happen to the Brotherhood. Ah well, I won't force you."

“So what is this shit about anyway...? For you to be so persistent, there's got to be a reason.”

“I'll tell you, but only if you go. Otherwise, it's a se~ce~ret. ” The girl whispered with a mischievous giggle.

"Not interested then."

"Oh come on. Stubborn as ever."

"Problem? Anything else to say? No? I'll hang up now." Sakuya snorted in response.

“Alright, alright…so harsh, even to a friend. I'll call again later. Until then, be sure to give my love to the prince, okay? I’ve been aching to see him again...”

“If you’ve something to tell him, do it yourself! I am not playing the messenger!”
Throwing the phone onto a nearby desk, Sakuya flopped down onto a couch and kicked the air in frustration.

“Well, you sure seem to be in a bad mood...”

From behind, a familiar voice interrupted her venting.

“Saburo...I know it's you and all, but at least knock before coming in.”

“I did, you probably didn't hear it, that's all." Saburo sighed, taking a seat on the smooth new bumper of the 180SX. "So, It’s done?"

"Yeah, it's just replacing a part, didn't take to long to do. So, you're set to go to…er…where was it again?”

“...Ibaraki, and I'll be needing the car in top form, so I'm glad you managed to fix it in time.” He replied and gave Sakuya's shoulders a pat as he moved towards the driver's side of the car. “Also...I need you to know something...”

“What is it?” Sakuya asked, waiting for him to finish.

“I’ll be going alone for this.”

“What? Hold on a second, Saburo! Didn’t you said that I am free to follow you? Did something happen?”

“You need to be in Akagi, right? It's great that you want to help, but formal stuff comes first.”

“Hold it...Saburo, even if that’s the case...I already told them I won't be going."

“That’s not really the point, Sakuya...” Saburo shook his head slowly. “You shouldn’t abandon your responsibilities.”

Image size reduced, original size: 1500 x 1080. Click here to view the image in its original dimension.

"I said it’s okay, dammit! What part of that don't you get! What happened to being a team?!”

“Even so, I don’t want you to get involved in this...it’s just a feeling alright?” Saburo turned his head away from Sakuya’s concerned face. “Just listen to me once, sit this out."

“You just don't get it! I already told you it’s fine, didn’t I? Why did you insist on rejecting me?!”

“…Don’t blow it up to that extent.” Saburo ruffled his hair with a sigh. “Listen, it’s not a matter of love or hate, it’s just that conditions changed. I’m not to bring anyone else along, that’s all.”

“Hmph.”

“Come on, don’t be like that.” Gently touching Sakuya’s tense face, he whispered. “I’m not rejecting you, nor is this me hating you. If anything, I can’t thank you enough for the support. But this time, I just have to go alone.”

“...if you really want to thank me, then don’t screw up whatever you’re doing. And bring the car back in one piece, dammit. Such a bother to repair it.”

“Consider it done.”

Saburo smiled an awkward, gentle smile and pulled Sakuya’s hat over her eyes. While she fumbled and played with her hair, the 180SX fired up, and began its trip to Ibaraki.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Vanessa was fuming in her Renault Megane R26.R as she lunges towards the wide roads of Sadamine pass at the Saitama prefecture. The green hot-hatch tackled the curves at a very well-oriented out-in-out tactic and the speed control is consistent. Vanessa is focusing hard on her footwork as well as her steering range, hoping that she can find an ideal point in making most of a cornering momentum after the exit, but much to her frustration, there were some unnecessary tire-sliding on a few exits of a curve and she is not pleased with the results, needless to say.

As she continues to drive toward the tarmac of Sadamine Pass, there are a fair number of crowds taking pictures of her car passing through, even though Vanessa didn’t have much time to pay attention to whoever the audiences are as she is so busy finding a proper rhythm in driving the course that she is yet to master. The Renault Megane was caught not just by photographers, but also by time-watchers as there were numerous people using stopwatches to track her course time.

And finally...one of the most distinguished audience from everyone else that were either impressed or were taking pictures of Vanessa’s driving was a youthful white-haired female. She was apparently, taking pictures too for the Renault, only that she is standing on a higher ground. She wears a simple long-sleeved black clothes accompanied with blue skirt. She also has thick black stockings and paired with brown boots and her hands are holding a camera. The soft breeze blew her short white hair over, unfazed by it as her blue eyes continued to focus on the camera view to capture her ‘target’ in frame.

“Kamiyama!” A man’s voice called behind her, not too far away. “Kamiyama, photography session will start later in 15 minutes, don’t rush your final checks for your own gears later, alright?”

“Understood, I’ll be right there.” The girl complied. She took one more shot at the roads of Sadamine pass accompanied by the cherry blossom petals in her camera’s frame and it was saved in the memory chip. “She’s impressive...Maybe someday I can start an interview with her...Sigh...D.U.’s time attack event will soon begin here along with Gunma prefecture and yet I am still a bit nervous...taking pictures alone won’t really calm my mood down...wish I could participate along too...I shouldn’t be complaining since I do enjoy the scenery here at Sadamine...it’s a good chance to add some collections for my albums...but I just can’t help that there’s something missing...”

“Hey, Aoi!!” A cheery voice called again, stopping Aoi from her brief daydream. It was a slender young man with short brown hair. He wears long-sleeved green clothes and khaki pants with black shoes. “Did you hear? Team Adachi is planning to target that rumored foreigner in the Renault Megane. Sounds like another great scoop to look forward to, don’t you think?”

“Oh, it’s you...Kagurazaka...” Aoi called the name of the young man, immediately stopping her photography activity and turned her back on him. “Team Adachi...? You mean the one led by that female R32 driver?”

“Yep.” Kagurazaka concurred. “I mean you already know that she lost once to that Renault, well...one of her team members did anyway. And now she’s looking for revenge here at Sadamine since Shoumaru is closed for the time being...”

“Oh...” Aoi thought. Clearly she doesn’t show much interest to them despite of what she knows on the said incident. “Frankly, I don’t think there’s much to talk about, seeing as she and her friends were angry at what the driver of Renault did...you don’t mean to tell me to go and request a short interview with them...do you?”

“Well, I don’t mean it THAT way, Kamiyama...haha!” Kagurazaka chuckled, scratching his head. “I mean..there are lots of drivers here that we can interview and help out with...I am just saying that the current driver you’re having interest on is a recent news hotline. That’s all.”

“...” Aoi turned back to the empty roads and watched on. Her mind is a blank at the moment, unsure of what to focus to after hearing Kagurazaka’s news. Aoi was thinking about something else though...following Vanessa’s debut and the recent news of the black Nissan 180SX defeating one of the Speed-Buster’s member at their own homecourse in Happogahara, Aoi’s mind immediately focus to the image of the driver behind the 180SX, Saburo Misaka.

His face was burned into her eyes as she refreshes her memory about what he did. From how he confronted the members fearlessly to how skillfully he defeats the MX-5 driver at the battle. And then she recalled the words from the driver of the Mazda, Makoto Souichiro himself on how he lost the battle that night.

“Racing against Saburo Misaka has cleared a lot of doubts on my mind, bu also reminded me of many things when I first learned how to drive. The reason why he defeated me and left me in dust was actually nothing more than a basic theory; a common sense in preserving tires as well as managing the car’s condition. Why would he choose to drive the damaged 180SX without repairing it before battling me...? Well, I don’t think I’ll ever know why...but one thing for sure; Misaka has an unusual air about him not being a racer, but as a simple driver.”

Aoi’s mind immediately recalled the moment when she watched the clips on the battle and even now, every frame and second remained fresh in her memory.

“Saburo Misaka...it would be nice to know how he is in person...”

Back to the Renault, Vanessa finally finished her practice run as she has reached to the bottom of the mountain pass where there is a familiar driver expecting her presence. It was none other than her new friend, Mayumi Itoh, sitting on top of her Lancer Evolution VI TME version. Vanessa stopped the car and parked on the closest open spot she can find. She then proceeds to walk slowly towards the brunette that is relaxing about.

“So how does it feel to run here on Sadamine at 80 percent of your own strength?” Mayumi began.

“Not so bad.” Vanessa broke a sarcastic smile. “I thought I was gonna pass out though at the beginning...”

“So how do you think you’re doing?” Mayumi asked, looking at Vanessa that is holding her own stopwatch. Apparently, Vanessa isn’t quite pleased with the results.

“Nope. No good at all...” Vanessa confirms it. “If I am to really be competitive to the locals here at Saitama, I gotta shave off at least 15 seconds more to have a sporting chance against the big guys here.”

“Well don’t worry too much about that, you’ll do fine, kiddo.” Mayumi encourages, placing one of her hands on Vanessa’s shoulders. “Even experts and vets take a long time to get it right on this tricky and wide course. I am no exception either...kind of a nice change actually, compared to my hellish practice experience all the time on that shitty road known as Shoumaru...”

“Haha, you hate that course for it’s rough layout, right?” Vanessa chuckled.

“Duh! That road’s a total PITA to navigate through.” Mayumi snapped. “Good thing it’s closed though...so I don’t have to sit through some useless declaration from the guys there again with their team defend-BS.”

“Hehe...sucks to be popular I guess...but even I need to build a rep or people won’t notice me...” Vanessa said on her end, knowing what it means to gain recognition. As they continued to talk, Vanessa noticed that there is a huge gathering on a stand where she is nearby. The inaudible chatter was loud enough even though she is standing about 30 meters away from the crowd. “Hey...what’s with the commotion there?”

“Hell if I know...let’s find out.” Mayumi and Vanessa walk towards the crowd and see what the racket is all about and once they made it through the people waiting there on a stage, Mayumi noticed the emblem that she finds recognizable.

Driver’s Utopia - the name of the organization is emblazoned on the flags that surrounds the big stage and the officials were all wearing matching T-shirts and jackets of blue and white. Mayumi was surprised at the presence of the personnel, needless to say.

“D.U? I thought the event was at the Gunma prefecture...? What the fudge are they doing here?” Mayumi thought out loud, her eyebrows raised with puzzlement. “It’s for that time attack event, it seems...”

“FUN!” Vanessa squealed, clasping her hands as she rushed towards the line that says ‘REGISTRATION COUNTER’.

“Hey! Hold it, Vanny!!” Mayumi reached to Vanessa quick enough and pulled her ear hard.

“Oww!!!”

“Idiot, don’t rush your butt into it! You’re still a newly debuted driver here!” Mayumi said, annoyed. “There may be restrictions as you’re not even a local here...besides, there oughta be many people targeting you by now since your victory at Shoumaru Pass. Who knows what kind of drama you may get caught in this time?”

“Aw, it’s okay! So long as I don’t pay attention to them, they’ll leave me alone. Come on! Let’s register!” Vanessa squealed, being stubborn. “This time attack event sounds like fun! I always wanted to see how fast I can go with the current car at its weakest state. This is always the basic way to see my limits before anything else, don’t you think?”

“Well yeah, that’s a good way to put it...but don’t let that overconfidence bite you back in the butt, know what I am saying?”

“Yeah...I know...so come on!” Hearing that from Vanessa immediately made Mayumi slapped her face mildly in annoyance, as the young brunette is obviously not listening to her warnings. Mayumi then followed as Vanessa rushed towards the registration counter again to sign up for the time-attack event.

Once their turn came after mildly long queue, Vanessa showed up and presented her necessary details for the registration form filling. She signed the form as soon as she is done filling it up and handed the paper towards the lady official. Mayumi did the same soon after and their names were logged in the computer as participants for the Entry Round with a large text stating it is 3 days away from the event day itself.

“Thank you for your participation, we will inform you for your preparation on the event day via SMS and e-mail.” The lady said as she bowed to the two of those drivers before proceeding to entertain her next participant in line.

“Welp, that settles our registration...” Mayumi crossed her arms calmly, staring at Vanessa that is whistling about with her arms behind her head. “Seriously, Vanessa...think twice before you act, would you?”

“Don’t worry, be happy, Mayumi!” Vanessa said with a cheery voice as always. “It’s not like we’re at war against any of the guys here, so just forget about everything else and have a good time together on this time attack event, eh? Besides, this event seemed to have some big recognition rewards awaiting, so this is actually a good chance to prove my worth on this stage and maybe people will stop calling me a Gaijin for being a brilliant foreigner.”

“Sometimes you’re over in your head, despite your talents...that will bite you back someday...just a heads up.” Mayumi shrugged. “But this is a good change of things, and I won’t be doing tedious run all the time without a good reason.” As they continued to talk, a familiar figure walked pass them and is currently taking pictures on the cars parked nearby. That’s when Vanessa noticed that she and Mayumi were standing in front of many colorful cars that seemed to be models that promotes the event along with D.U.

Vanessa and Mayumi saw a maroon Lancer Evolution VIII that is chromed to the core and seems to have a plethora of stickers of numerous sponsors and brands. There were even fake diamonds encased around the windshield! Vanessa thought she might be looking at some ridiculous crazed contraption that is originally an ordinary car. The getup on the Lan Evo was so ridiculous that it felt like an oversized toy of space rather than a sports car as even the rims were painted horrendously with unfitting purple paint! It was a total car-dress-up-disaster!

“Whoa...talk about a major nightmare...” Vanessa chuckled at the sight of the machine, while Mayumi’s face just froze in disbelief at the Evo VIII.

“...Welp, just another poser machine, nothing to do here...” Just as she said that, the photographer stopped taking pictures and turned around to look at who just gave that remark. The white hair shows that she is none other than Aoi herself. Mayumi immediately recognized her face as soon as she smiles. “Hey, Kamiyama! Taking pictures again, huh? You really need to brighten your taste more than spending camera films on these junks.”

“Ahaha...it’s part of my job, Itoh. You know why...” Aoi said softly, brushing her hair aside. “I think every machine has its own beauty, no matter how flamboyant it may be. I am simply giving it a chance to show its unique character to those that has interest to such things. So you’re going to join the Entry Time Attack Round I believe, just like last year?”

“I am not one to show any interests on time attacks to be honest, but hey...anything to improve and refine my driving!” Mayumi shrugged. “Oh and by the way, let me introduce this lady here...come on, kiddo! Say hi to my white-haired friend, Aoi Kamiyama! She’s the official photographer of Driver’s Utopia and a strict time-attacker. And Kamiyama, this is the newly debuted young gun from Stockholm, Vanessa Anderrson!”

“Oh, howdy there, Kamiyama!” Vanessa saluted and offered a handshake with a big smile, her cheerful and bright nature somewhat made Aoi a bit shy, but she nonetheless took it gently. “It’s nice to know someone that is Mayumi’s friend here other than myself!”

“Um...pleased to meet you, Anderrson...” Aoi smiled gently. “I have heard a lot of great things about you since your debut at Shoumaru Pass...it’s unfortunate that the pass is closed due to that accident...for a moment I thought you’ll prefer Tsuchisaka Pass since that course is much favorable to those that were fast on straights and you may like the challenge.”

“Actually, I am just about to get indulged into the rhythm of Sadamine Pass, so...no thanks!” Vanessa chuckled. “Tsuchisaka can wait later since I am kinda addicted in driving here now, and besides...I haven’t met anyone that took me seriously save for that Adachi team...it’s kind of a slumpy progress if you ask me...guess I’ll have to drive hard to really prove my worth here at a country that I am not yet recognized.”

“Work hard and I am sure you’ll get your well-earned recognition.” Aoi encourages. “Anyway...may I take a picture of you two together?” Hearing that almost sent Vanessa into a happy-frenzy. But she managed to compose herself still, fortunately.

“Sure!! Come on, Mayumi!!” Vanessa pulled Mayumi and posed together at the frame of Aoi’s camera. Mayumi was skeptical at first but eventually she gave in and both smiled, with Aoi capturing the moment with a click of the button on her digital camera.

“Thank you, both of you...” Aoi smiled. “Oh...and I hope if you two don’t mind me asking...but...”
“What is it, Kamiyama?” Mayumi asked.

“...have you heard of the driver named Saburo Misaka?”

---------------------------------------------------------------

It was already 1:30 PM at the mountains of Akagi, and the crowd gathered on the parking area of the mountain’s peak was heavy. Huge red flags of Muscle Brotherhood were literally placed everywhere around the PA and most of the vehicles that weren’t associated with the organization were moved to the other side due to not wanting to cause obstruction with the members that are trying to park their vehicles in one spot along. There were many cars of pure power parked together, along with a few muscle import cars such as Camaro SS, Pontiac GTOs and Plymouth Hemis.

The members that chattered around the large parking area were all men and women of different ages, young and old together, and they all seem to own cars like Nissan Skyline GT-Rs, Toyota Supras, Lancer Evolutions and even a few Subaru Imprezas or some good old rotary machines like RX-7 FDs and RX-8s. And eventually, there comes even a few more late arrivals of some Fairlady Zs such as the Z32, Z33 and the Z34 finally. They too carry the emblem of Muscle Brotherhood. Everyone that got of the vehicles eventually join up with the rest of the crew and they gave brotherhood handshakes.

Amongst the crowd, there was a purple colored Toyota Supra JZA70 parked at a separate spot. And on top of it sits a female that is relaxing about, texting messages on her cellphone. She has grayish brown hair, red eyes and a slight pale complexion. She wears a pair of orange glasses, a marine blue tank top, with a choker on her neck, accompanied with a blue long split skirt that shows her dark bloomers with red highlights. She also wears purple boots with orange highlights and has bandages on her left thigh. Finally, she wears a gray glove with orange highlights on her right hand, for whatever reason that may be. There is a simple tattoo on her left shoulder that writes 03 too.

“Ah...27 more seconds before arrival...” She thought, pressing away on her touch-screen phone still. And as the seconds went by, there’s a huge rev echoing from the roads not too far away on the parking area. That is when the red-eyed female recognized the car and driver that she is waiting for has finally arrived. She stop texting on the cellphone and kept it inside her pocket, waiting for the car to arrive. Every member on the Brotherhood locked their eyes on the road, as the crimson JZA80 Supra made its way to the PA.

As the Supra reached the area, it immediately find an open spot and park the car casually in one try without much problem. As the driver got out, her hair reveals that she was none other than the intense fiery redhead herself, Sakuya. And apparently, she is not in a pleasant mood, her expression shows that she is still somewhat frustrated, and her green eyes stared intensely at the sight of the glasses-wearing female. She immediately took off her black hat and every member in the Brotherhood were surprised at her presence.

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“You’re 9 seconds early, red princess!” The young girl called. Sakuya could care less as to what the four-eyed female call her and proceeds to walk towards the JZA70 driver.

“Zip it, four eyes. If this is for something absurd, I am gonna beat the daylights out of you on the spot.” Sakuya said coldly. She is clearly not in the mood for casual talk. Sakuya put back her black hat on and kept her hands firmly on the pockets of her red sweater jacket. The number 02 was emblazoned on it. “So what’s the deal with this meeting? Where is uncle?”

“Oh you mean Mr. Norio? Well he’s busy, as always!” The red-eyed girl replied playfully. Sakuya knew she is doing this on purpose.

“Then why the hell am I compulsory to attend while the big guy himself is a no show?!” Sakuya shouted, surprising everyone around the PA. “Hatori, if you don’t give a damn good reason, I am gonna shove that big-ass wrench in your throat! No thanks to you--”

“Alright, stop, your Redness.” Hatori shows a hand gesture towards Sakuya, her smile remained unchanged. “You know why your uncle can do that, don’t you? He’s not the kind to reason with authority sometimes. So...just drop it...and I am gonna be straight with you just so that you went through the trouble of coming all the way up here.”

“...I am listening.” Sakuya steps back and leaned on her JZA80 as usual. “So why is everyone here?”

“You didn’t read the mail, did you?”

“I was busy.”

“Right. That was a rather silly question I guess, knowing you.” Hatori then fixes her glasses and brushed her hair off for a moment as soon as the breeze came on the peak of Akagi mountain, Sakuya didn’t budge an inch from her spot and her expression remains unchanged. “Anyway, your uncle wants you to lead this meeting to find out who would be representing Brotherhood at this year’s time-attack event that is sponsored by D.U.”

“...What?”

“Well...that’s part of what this meeting is about.” Hatori said. “I mean, I received direct orders from Mr. Norio himself to persuade you to be in charge of this event. Organize any races or tryouts to find out has what it takes to enter the D.U’s sponsored time attack event and represent the organization. Number of candidates are up to 5 people. Akagi will soon have 5 local representatives themselves and we will have a series of friendly battles with them. To be honest, if you really fail to show up, I am gonna have to go through a buttload of trouble, since I am never the type to play the leader role. ”

“...Uncle left me in charge for THIS...? For fuck's sake...” Sakuya placed her hand flat on to her forehead in frustration. “Just praying that I don’t have to go through a crap ton of members’ cars and observe their settings before the tryouts, that’s the last thing I want today...”

“What’s the matter? Doesn’t it excite you? I mean this is what you do all the time, right? ...At least to the prince...”

“No thanks to you, Four-Eyes.” Sakuya snapped back. She then thought secretly of what may happen if Hatori never called her or that announcement happened at the official website never appeared before. “I could’ve easily go and went together with Saburo at Ibaraki if THIS crap didn’t happen at first place...that uncle sure loves giving me tedious jobs sometimes...”

“So, how is he?” Hatori asked, her eyes and expression became flirtatious. “It’s been quite a while since the last time we three hang out together. Did you two at least kissed?”

"I'd punch your eyes in your skull if I hadn't wished for it honestly!" Sakuya barked angrily, face reddened. "WHOSE FAULT WAS THAT?!"

“Hey...sorry for ruining your moment, princess, I mean it’s not like I liked any of this either...” Hatori scratched her head with her usual sarcastic smile. “But hey, duty calls. So no hard feelings, alright?”

“...Whatever.”

As they continued to chat, not too far away there comes an unfamiliar car on Akagi. It was a maroon Toyota MR2 SW20, with a custom-made carbon fiber hood and is equipped with mixed rims on each tire. The car was also decorated with many flaming vinyls and the Toyota has a Tochigi prefecture tag. Sakuya, Hatori and all other members of the Brotherhood saw the vehicle as it parks itself not too far away from the spots taken by the M.B. Organization.

“...ring any bells on that car?” Hatori asked Sakuya, her expression seemed curious enough.

“Beats me. I don’t remember seeing a flamboyant car like that before back at Tochigi.”

“Hey, think you saw that MR2 before?” One of the Brotherhood members on the other side asked. “I heard rumors about it before....is he here to practice or simply watch us do our stuffs?” As they continued to ponder on about the maroon car, the driver got out from the car and reveals himself to be a fairly handsome man with blonde, spiky styled hair. He also wears a yellow T-shirt with khaki pants and black shoes. He has two piercings on his left ear and one of them is shaped like a skull.

“Hey, are you guys Muscle Brotherhood’s members?” The blonde-haired man asked, waving about casually. The entire Brotherhood organization locked their sights on the man alone, as if they’re about to make a killing on a prey... “I am lookin’ for a strong driver here that can help me refine a bit of my skills and uh, as you can see, I am team-less so...would it be alright if I can ask one of you to represent your team and have a quick friendly downhill match with me?”

The whole crowd went into some chatter and many of the small group people there are discussing as to who should go and face this mysterious blonde driver, all except for Sakuya and Hatori of course. They’re both just staring at him blank-faced and not showing much of a reaction.

“Think you’re up against this yellow bag of hot air?” Hatori asked.
“...” Sakuya then blinks her eyes and walked towards the man behind his SW20. Her expression became intense and she glared into the man’s eyes. The Toyota driver then noticed that he may have very much found his first volunteer for his bold declaration.

“I’ll take your challenge, blonde-face.” Sakuya declares openly. Her eyes became serious. Even the air around her becomes heavy and the blonde-haired driver can sense the immense presence surrounding the redhead that accepts his request. Despite that, the man kept his cool and walked towards Sakuya to give a response back to the Supra owner.

“So...you’re the one who’s gonna represent your team today?” The man said. “Well, I am not really one to take women seriously, but I do believe that a good driver has nothing to do with gender...so, I’ll take you on as a man then...don’t expect me to pull any punches though...”

“Nobody’s asking you to...” Sakuya cracks her knuckles as she slowly unzips her track jacket, revealing her tank top. “So what should I call you?”

“Name’s Matsu Koreshi. I am a former drifter and an avid street-racer with more time to dedicate on driving than anything else. My ride is as you can see...an MR2.” Matsu introduced himself as he points his thumb back at his own chest, his eyebrows narrowed in a rather smug way, much to Sakuya’s annoyance. “So what should I call you, lady?”

“...Sakuya Ishiyama.”

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The winds are blowing strong at the roads that links slowly to the Tsukuba pass outbound as the mist continued to grow thicker, making it hard to navigate even on daylight. But little did it matter to Saburo as he continued to accelerate inside the black Nissan 180SX. He can still predict the road’s layout despite the heavy fog as he has memorized the course since long ago where he has driven the mountain pass for a long time. But seeing as he has no one to race with, Saburo kep a safety margin and is only using 60 percent of his strength to push the car at the area with such limited visibility.

As he continued to drive towards the path, it is not even sure what exactly Saburo is searching under these heavy fogs and there seemed to be no one witnessing the pass, so he has no worries about attracting attention from his unusual driving. Saburo is clearly looking or going somewhere to look for something, but only he himself knows what it may really be.

But as he continued on, he can hear a faint engine sound of a different car approaching from behind and it is coming straight at him. The heavy mists isn’t helping as Saburo couldn’t even see the color of the car that is chasing him from behind.

“...” Saburo knew that there’s no point in trying to find out who is chasing him, so in hoping that there may be some signs of increased strength within his machine at its current stage, Saburo hit the throttle and accelerated away, trying to escape the car that is chasing him, which is now around 150 meters behind.

But despite the acceleration across the path, the gap isn’t widening at all, in fact...the car behind Saburo is still pulling ahead gradually, and the engine’s noise is getting louder and louder. He can almost feel as if he is an animal escaping the misty woods from a swift hunter behind, waiting to ponce on his prey...

And now, only less than a hundred meters from behind, it slowly reveals that the car chasing him was also a Nissan. It’s a white-painted Nissan Skyline HCR32 and apparently, the car has a carbon fiber hood equipped and the turbine sound is almost deafening...

- つづく -

Took me long enough, but I'm caught up with this now... Sorry again for the wait Rin.

I'm certainly interested in what's going on here. Like I guessed, this is proving to be an enjoyable read overall. What we know of the characters so far is intriguing enough, the characters themselves show promising writing in how they think and act, the setting and premise don't feel too farfetched, the driving scenes are fairly believable, some of the technical details are fairly nice too, every chapter is smoothly moving the plot forward with developments that make sense, and with all the momentum said developments have been building for this story, it's certainly feeling like the story's just getting warmed up. In short: things are looking pretty good so far.

As for where it could be improved: there's not a lot I could suggest, but the main thing to look at for now would be the grammatical issues and occasionally awkward wording, which make the writing style feel a little... clunky... for lack of a better word. As there are quite a few chapters out already I can't get into it on a chapter-by-chapter basis in this one post (though I'd be up for proofreading present/future chapters via PM), but I can point out a few things to let you get a general idea of what to watch out for.
The most obvious grammatical issue here would be issues with mixing past and present tense. An example:

In this sentence you went from present-tense ("stares") to past-tense ("turned") in a way that ends up not working. The change in tense doesn't happen smoothly, and the overall tense of the sentence as a whole (meaning whether the sentence is talking about the past or the present) is also made unclear by it. If this sentence is talking in present terms, then this should be "She stares at the tires/before turning", whereas if this sentence is talking in past terms, then it should be "She stared at the tires/before she turned".

This is another such example. Here the overall tense of the sentence is clear - the sentence is written in present tense - but there is one word here ("took" - past tense) that doesn't properly mix into that tense. Here "took" should simply be "takes". With that one change, every single word in this sentence fits the overall tense perfectly, and the sentence ends up flowing a lot more naturally as a result.
This of course, does not mean that you should never have past and present tense words in the same sentence. As this sentence shows, there is a past tense word here ("gone") that works just fine with the present tense due to how it's paired with the word "after".

And here's one more - a different kind of example where all the words fit the overall tense, but two of them clash with each other. This sentence pairs "did" with "managed", and that doesn't look right because "did" isn't supposed to be paired with a past-tense verb. That should be "how the hell did this kid manage", which works because pairing "did" with a passive(?)-present-tense (is that what it's called?) verb results in a past-tense combination (whereas "did" and "managed" is an unnecessary combination as "managed" is already past-tense). Note that this does not also apply to "has". If "has" was used in this sentence instead, then "manage" would be incorrect and "managed" would be correct.

(I wish I could've explained all that in simpler terms. Hopefully it's not too confusing)

And that's it for the main grammatical issue, which leaves us with the other, less frequently occurring ones. Since I can't come up with a category for these I'll just randomly put up a few things I spotted.

The phrase is "in over your head", not "over in your head". The idea is that it's a different way of saying "getting ahead of yourself" (imagine someone getting somewhere before their head does).

As by "front view mirror" you're most likely referring to something that's closer to being a window (as that's what makes the most sense here), "on the front view mirror" should be "through the front windshield". Cars have front windshields, but they do not have front view mirrors.

Here's an example of an unneeded extra word. This should just be "both cars tackled that wide hairpin", as one can tackle something, but one does not typically tackle on something.

And this is something I might not be entirely right on, but in addition to the tensing issue, it feels like there might be a word missing here. Did you mean "turned her eyes back on him"? Or is she stopping her photographing and then immediately turning away from him? The latter is what "turned her back on him" sounds like, but something about the flow of events doesn't seem to fit that.

So tensing stuff, the occasional wrong word, the occasional unneeded word, and the occasional missing(?) word(?). I think that about does it for the grammatical issues.

Something miscellaneous I felt like pointing out.

Maybe I'm not reading the numbers right, but checking with a dictionary, "くごろし" doesn't seem to actually mean anything. The word you're looking for would be "ころす", and I'm not sure that's a word that can be spelled with numbers.
Also, what do you mean by "both languages"? If by that you mean hiragana and katakana: those aren't languages, but seperate writing systems/character sets within the same language. And if you actually mean "in both Japanese and Chinese" or something like that, then that's something you need to make clearer.

And now all that's left to point out in regards to the writing itself would be the occasional awkward wording. It's not the sort of thing that's legitimately a mistake, but taking care of it would make the words flow even better nonetheless.

This is entirely correct, but "oversized toy of space" could simply be written as "oversized toy spaceship" and that would visibly improve the flow of this sentence.

"apparently" is the sort of word that can be used in a "maybe/might be/perhaps" sense, so using that word here is accidentally adding a sense of unsureness to the description of the R32, which does not seem to fit it. It could simply be reworded as [It's a white-painted Nissan Skyline HCR32, visibly equipped with a carbon fiber hood, and the sound of its turbines is almost deafening...], and that would give the description a much surer tone, which is what this particular description calls for.

And finally, the few minor errors regarding technical details. As I mentioned, driving scenes and technical details aren't done bad for the most part, but there is the occasional technical issue. For example: this bit from the Prologue.

While that'd be one thing in a high-end sports car/supercar with tall gearing (like say your typical Ferrari or Lamborghini that goes past 70 km/h before even reaching 2nd gear), this doesn't sound quite as right for a considerably less powerful car like the Roadster. Typical gear ratios for Roadsters, Silvias, 180s, RX-7s, and other such more affordable cars are much shorter and have first gear start topping out not too long after 38 km/h, and so in those cars you'd never need to be lower than second gear for even the twistiest mountain roads in Japan. With the speed the Roadster would've had coming out of that hairpin (40-60 km/h sounds possible), downshifting from second to first like that would simply be a good way to overrev the engine, suddenly lose all acceleration, and possibly make some expensive sounding grinding noises come out from the gearbox. It'd make more sense here for him to downshift from third to second.

And this is another one. The car Vanessa is driving is FWD. FWD cars cannot powerslide - spinning the front wheels with power just means getting understeer. Sure, they can slide the rear tires all the way through a turn given the right setup and technique (though it wouldn't necessarily be the fastest way around), but powersliding specifically refers to power-induced oversteer, and that only happens when the car sends most/all of its power to the rear wheels. This line would be correct with that word just changed to "sliding".

And I'm not sure intentionally tapping the guardrail like that would be such a good idea when gripping. As the rear of that Renault isn't wider than the front, unless it suddenly lost a slight bit of rear traction right on exit (unlikely), any meetings with the guardrail when gripping would inevitably involve the front half of the car, and I don't know if the result would be very gentle in the case of a tap (though I guess you could safely get away with a shallow graze instead)

And that's all I can point out in any sort of detail at present. But anyway, while the flaws are there, they aren't too major. The quality of the story is still above average, and I once again state that I'm looking forward to what comes next.
So that's it for my thoughts. I'm guessing both of us were hoping this could've been a more complete look at things, but hopefully what little I managed to point out here manages to be of help to you.

(Sheesh I take too long to write these things...)

This post has been edited by Meteor on Jul 14 2014, 11:56 AM

Thanks for the detailed feedback, Meteor.

And a confession to make before I say anything: English clearly ain't my first language since you pretty much caught all my hiccups in red flags that seem to be able make an army out of.

But with that being said, I am glad you pointed out my errors. Unfortunately grammar fails aplenty during early chapters and that's why, realizing I can only do so much alone, I am leaving the actual writing to a more capable author to do the wording. Onboy (as mentioned during the beginning of the thread) will continue the writing from Chapter 10 onwards. So until then, bear with my chunky wordings. xD

For now I am solely doing the art scenes and 'voicing' out the characters in dialogs.

But yeah...I will also keep in mind of the cars' behaviors more often this time around. My knowledge on FWDs was still a bit trippy so to say during that time. ^^;

Aside from the grammar view, I am also interested in how you see the characters in general. As in who are you interested in most currently? And what more do you wish to see in future?

How I see the characters... Well, in regards to who I'm most interested in out of the characters who've had decent "screen time" so far; I guess I'd have to say it's Saburo at present due to all the mystery the story's been building up about him, with Mayumi and Aoi close behind because even though we don't know that much about them yet, the story's created this sense of them possibly being more important/getting more development later on. But questions of this sort are something I wouldn't call myself good at, so I can't confidently call this a proper/definite answer.

Anyway, that's "interesting" in the sense of "want to know more about" rather than "best/favorite character"; but speaking in a more general sense, most of the other characters have been interesting too, and even Makoto manages it a little due to how his character's been handled so far. The only characters who don't seem all that interesting to me at the moment would be Adachi and the other people on her team. I wouldn't call them bad characters, but from what we've seen of them so far, they're not seeming like much more than typical run-of-the-mill opponents with good skills for Vanessa to eventually defeat. Nothing about their personalities really seem to stand out at present. That could possibly change with future chapters though. And even if it doesn't, that probably won't be a problem either since it doesn't even seem like that much of a problem right now. All those other more interesting characters are certainly already making this story rather good on the character front.
And speaking of interesting characters, Schrodinger and this Matsu guy certainly have my attention too. I'm especially wondering what the story's got up its sleeve regarding Schrodinger; which I'm sure is the sort of reaction you were going for.

As for what more I'd like to see in the future: that's not something I really have an answer for right now. But with how these chapters have been going, I can expect this story to do just fine sticking to its own pace, so I don't think I'll need to make any suggestions in regards to that at present anyway. What I can say is that I'm looking forward to whatever you've got planned for the rest of this work, because with how the plot's moving and how stuff is being set up, I get the feeling we might soon be in for quite a ride here.

And now back to waiting for the next chapter. I'm sure I'm not the only one wondering what'll happen with Matsu and with that R32. No rush though. Take your time.

Thanks for the feedback and now its time for another update...

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Code 7: White Bird Part I

Saburo is fuming with slight frustration. He squinted his eyes on the road as he continued his focus on the misty path on Tsukuba pass at outbound path. Decided that he would no longer look behind the rear mirror to check on the mysterious opponent that is hunting him, he opted to use what remained of his concentration and drive as fast as he can without gambling his car too much. 70 meters away from the black 180SX, the white HCR32 Skyline continued to blast forward and climb its way in tailing the black Nissan.

“...”

Saburo didn’t make any mistakes yet, but he still felt as if he’s being cornered slowly by the car behind. The engine noise that is not from his car becomes louder by every second and it is making him increasingly uneasy with the approach. Feathering the accelerator pedal, Saburo navigates through the twisty curves of the route on the second checkpoint as he is still trying to focus from being pressured by the HCR32 from behind that is literally tracing his driving line from behind.

“...such half-hearted offensive driving...” The driver thought inside the white Skyline. He continued the assault as soon as they reach the long straight that connects to the third checkpoint. Because the course itself isn’t too long, Saburo knew he had to think fast to escape the HCR32, or else he would be overtaken before he can even think of a way to defend his lead.

At this point it was clear that Saburo is losing...he can easily tell that the car chasing him from behind has more power than his 180SX and even if he floors it, the HCR32 will still climb forward due to the difference in that horsepower alone. Although there are other factors, Saburo can easily see the main issues here are his car and difference in driving skills. As they blasted through the misty path at the straight, the HCR32 is now 30 meters behind him, and even on the thick mist, Saburo can tell the car is white through the rearview mirror’s reflection.

“This is bad...I cannot shake him at all...!” Saburo thought, but he suppressed his anxiety, knowing that he would never be able to make things better by panicking. But while focusing on the front, he couldn’t realize that the HCR32 driver is already on his car’s rear, slipstreaming slowly and is now merely 10 meters behind him. Saburo can almost feel as if there is an invisible knife being placed on his throat. The white Skyline continued to pressure him on without letting him have any room to breathe.

Saburo knew that his opponent is more than ready to cut him off at anytime, unless he did something reckless enough to hold his opponent off, he will lose the battle for sure. Saburo reached to the curve at the end of the long straight as he feathers on the gas pedal and steer accordingly to keep his line centered so that the large HCR32 couldn’t poke its nose at the front for an overtake. But it isn’t helping much either, as the driver behind the white car can see clearly what Saburo is trying to do.

As they reach to the consecutive S turns on the third checkpoint’s second half part, Saburo tries to jump over the exposed gutters to use them as shortcuts to lower his cornering time and buy himself some momentum on the exit of the curves, hoping that he can increase the gap as the heavier HCR32 may need more time to navigate through the twists. Contrary to his expectations, it did exactly what he did with the 180SX. The HCR32 also jumps through the gutters and stays glued to the 180’s rear.

“...This guy is good...” Saburo thought calmly, his forehead is sweating a bit as he continues to drift through the last hairpin that leads him to the final checkpoint not long after. The HCR32 followed closely while keeping the car itself from bumping the rear of the 180SX. The battle continued as they were about to hit the next hairpin. Saburo noticed that the HCR32 is already gone by the time he enters the hairpin from the slight outer lane!

“...?!” Saburo was shocked as the HCR32 was gone from his rear mirror. Then he realize that by the time he hears a loud engine noise that is not from his car on his left ear, the HCR32 was already neck to neck on his 180SX from the left side. The white Skyline is attempting an overtake on the outer lane. Saburo tried to defend his position while they tackled the hairpin together at a twin-drift motion, but to no avail as the HCR32 had already poked its front bumper ahead of the 180SX. Saburo examined the driver inside the car as it slowly passes him, but the windows were tinted dark on the sides and the thick mists weren’t helping. Saburo watches as he lost his lead to the white Skyline...

“...I lost it...” Saburo thought honestly as the HCR32 finally overtook him at the exit lane of that hairpin. He hasn’t given up though, as he continued to pressure back on the HCR32 with what remained of his concentration. The 180SX tries to tackle on the white Skyline at the next hairpin after the short straight, but before he can do that, the HCR32 started to drift at a very wide angle at the entry of the wide hairpin curve, instantly blocking on the inside lane and obstructing the centerline, preventing any overtaking chances for Saburo’s 180SX. Even if he can attack the curve with the same speed, the opponent has the edge of horsepower and traction, putting Saburo on a losing bet.

As Saburo hopelessly attacks the hairpin on an outer lane and putting himself at an inevitable position of disadvantage, Saburo watches as the HCR32 slowly disappears from his front view mirror and it eventually fades into the mists after a few more curves where he failed to copy the speed and rhythm of the white Skyline that is still going fast and strong. Saburo; realizing that there is no point in continuing the pursuit, finally gave in and lets go of the gas pedal.

“Well that’s something else...guess I am not good enough yet...” Saburo thought as he switches back to his regular driving mood before the car gives into the heat. Besides, Saburo knew that if he goes any faster in such a bad weather condition, he will only risk his life and car needlessly. Saburo accepts this defeat as he continued to travel across the path of Tsukuba touge, looking for a certain destination that only he knows. A place where as his 180SX fades into the mists along, and the road became silent again as the echoes of the black Nissan’s engine disappears.

Saburo suffers his first defeat and he accepted it without much regret...

-----------------------------------------------------------------

The atmosphere was tense at the Akagi mountain’s peak. Many members of the Muscle Brotherhood community are gathered, eagerly awaiting the battle between the JZA80 and SW20. Both were already lined neck to neck as the crowd watched on how the battle unfold while the cars were still idling with their engines shut off. The drivers squared off, visualizing the race and tactics in their heads.

Matsu was standing there with his arms crossed, as usual. His face shows an unshaken confidence and apparently, it seems that only he is the one smiling so freely while many of the people were having mixed thoughts about him, with Sakuya herself showing an almost completely opposite expression. Hatori was watching her from behind, leaning on her purple JZA70 as usual.

“So we’re doing this retro then?” Matsu began.

“Whatever you want, blonde-face.” Sakuya shot back, clearly not in the mood to state the obvious. Her mind was too preoccupied feeling frustrated with Saburo not letting her follow him on his journey to Tsukuba. She wanted to be part of his life, and always wanted to be there for him as a trusting partner. For he was the first person to acknowledge her efforts wholeheartedly long ago. Yet, while he was away, she was stuck here at Akagi because of her community’s tiresome activities. Just the thought alone made her all the more sour on the inside. Since she was above everything; ordered by her uncle to take over the activity entirely as the leading female. “I just want to finish this race ASAP. I don’t have all day like you do.”

“Now now, don’t need to rush, lady...” Matsu chuckled. “You see, I am not really all that patient either. Just hearing how you speak immediately made me recognize you as a woman of strong fighting spirit. And I like fiesty women, you see...so...it’s retro start then. All out race in one downhill battle.”

“Whatever...”

Sakuya walks slowly back to her red Supra while Matsu did the same. As they started their engines, the crowd then cheered on Sakuya, while some other local drivers that came and watch along cheered for Matsu. Hatori then walked towards the Supra and knocked on the windows, telling Sakuya to open it for a short conversation. Sakuya lowered the windows with a bitter expression. “What is it, four-eyes?”

“So how do you plan to tackle this today? You don’t plan to...do the you-know-what, right?” Hatori asked, her eyebrows raised. “If you go ahead and just do what you like, the car may not stay long enough to make it to Ibaraki once you’re done with the races here.”

“I am not going there, you idiot.”

“Hey, I am just saying. You know how carried away you are when you let your temper get the better of you, princess. You wouldn’t want to see him with that thing banged up just from throwing a tantrum, yes?”

“Fine. I am pissed as hell now because of this crap...but for that guy I will hold it down for now. I can still meet him after this is over, assuming he won’t be staying there on Ibaraki.” Sakuya revved the car, the 3S-GTE engine responded with a ferocious howl. Matsu continued to do the same, warming up the SW20.

“Alright, alright...just don’t mess up your car before the tryout is over, so you can go and see him later, kay?” Hatori gave a thumbs up to Sakuya with a wink as she walks towards the center of the road, the starting line, preparing for the countdown as the crowd continued to cheered louder; knowing that the race between Sakuya and Matsu is about to erupt. Matsu’s eyes were locking on Sakuya, even though the latter kept her eyes fixed on the front; as if she is still upset about something obviously.

“Countdown in 10 seconds!!!”

“10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1...”

Sakuya and Matsu pulled their handbrakes and wait for the signal.

“GO!!”

As they both released the e-brakes, the cars blasted off at full force with the Supra leading ahead a few meters while the MR-2 followed closely from behind on the first long downhill straight. The crowd cheered loudly for the both of them as they dashed towards the entry of the first hairpin... Both of them were literally entering a suicide curve beyond 140 km/h. The acceleration was so intense that even the crowd was having trouble seeing both cars properly.

Sakuya slammed on the brakes as soon as she sees the proper point to decelerate while Matsu in tow. Their cars’ brake lights lit up and the two machines tackled the entry at a very high speed, slowly decelerating as the drivers fought for grip, minutely adjusting the steering angle and feathering on the gas pedal. The Supra managed to hug the inside while the SW20 is slowly oversteering. But as soon as Sakuya noticed that the car’s body is slowly coming to her left mirror, she hears a loud thud. The MR-2 had nudged the left side mirror of the Supra with its own body. The impact breaks Sakuya’s focus, adding fuel to the smoldering fire in her heart.

“...! Why you...!!”

Sakuya was furious at this point. Attacking already at the beginning of the race before they even cleared the first hairpin is like a slap to her face, as if Matsu is telling her directly to just start the fight here and now without holding back.

“So this is how you want to freakin’ play this...fine then!”

As they exited out of the hairpin, Sakuya stomped on the accelerator and the Supra responded with a powerful blast of acceleration, followed by the SW20 stabilizing itself and continued to chase after the red machine with similar adrenaline. Both drivers were giving it their all, not leaving room for error. The audiences watching were shocked that the two cars traded paint right at the start, obviously afraid of the accidents that will happen with tempers visibly flared.

“Haha, now that’s more like it! Let’s see how much more spice you can cough up!” Matsu didn’t feel any remorse in his actions at all as he clearly wants to drive aggressively to instigate the fire within Sakuya. Adding the fact that the latter was frustrated for not being able to see the man she deeply cares for, this clearly has angered her enough to comply.

As they continued to chase each other on the downhill battle, both cars hugged the wide corner on the outer lane on the right side as they continued to head towards the next wide hairpin that is half less narrow compared to the former one.

Sakuya brakes hard and focuses her concentration towards her steering angle , carefully shifting the load on the front to the rear tire slowly by doing a medium angled powerslide. After this point there was a series of S turns before another hairpin. Sakuya can only remain patient and try not to push it too hard while risking the chances of Matsu attacking from behind at anytime, assuming his MR-2 may be powerful enough to catch up on the turns.

Judging from her first impression on how Matsu tackled through the fist hairpin and how he simply attacked her without hesitating, she can see that he is no pushover after all. The MR-2 continued its pursuit, closing the gap easily on the S turns and is now right behind the rear bumper of the red Supra. Matsu however; restrained his acceleration pedal and didn’t attack as he knows, the next checkpoint is arriving soon and he could always attack later.

Sakuya can only focus on the front as she continued to navigate through the twisty S curve in front before a tight hairpin appears in front of her eyes. She brakes hard and just grips through the curve from the centerline, not wanting to try any risky moves as she knows the rival behind her will most likely take any chances in tackling her machine again. And right when she was about to leave the exit of the hairpin...

“Gotcha!!”

Matsu accelerated all of a sudden, the MR-2 dashed towards while the Supra RZ is still stabilizing itself. The midship Toyota was originally on the inner lane, and since the sudden acceleration pushed the car to slide outside, it reached close enough towards the red Supra’s right rear bumper and nudged the brake-lights. A loud thud can be heard and the the Supra RZ’s balance was offset from that one strike. Sakuya felt the impact, which was so strong the Supra’s brake light shattered.

“...Dammit! At this rate I am turning into this blonde-face’s punching bag...” Sakuya cursed. And as she expected, the nudge opened a bit of space for the MR-2 to make its overtaking move as the blonde haired driver forced his way to an inner-lane overtake. The momentum Matsu gained on that corner gave him the edge on the exit and both cars are now neck-to-neck.

Sakuya wasn’t about to give up the lead, but she had no choice as the next hairpin is already in front of her. If she didn’t slam the brakes soon, her Supra will fly down to the ravine of mountain Akagi. Since coincidentally the next hairpin is on the left side, the MR-2’s position is right on the outer lane, giving it the out-in-out advantage naturally and Sakuya is forced on the inner lane.

Not wanting to take any more risks at this point, Sakuya gave the position to Matsu, letting him slip in front of the Supra. Sakuya cannot tell whether Matsu braked early or late at this point, but clearly he has the advantage due to his positioning on the previous lane. Once they’re out of the hairpin’s exit, the MR-2 took the lead while the Supra RZ follows closely from behind.

“Heh...at least you’re not stupid, lady.” Matsu thought with an arrogant smirk.

“...”

With Sakuya chasing now, her mood is slowly changing. She tightened the grip on her steering wheel and her teeth are clenched. Her expression has grown fierce. Slowly, she pressed hard on the accelerator pedal while the Supra is gaining a lot of speed, steadily closing the gap between the MR-2. Seeing the MR-2 move across to block her, her frustrations finally reached its peak, and her anger ignited.

Image size reduced, original size: 1400 x 1080. Click here to view the image in its original dimension.

"ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!"

Sakuya continued flooring on the throttle while the MR-2 is desperately running away. Matsu can feel that the red machine behind him is no longer going easy and the pressure is building steadily. It was a huge straight from this section on, so both cars can accelerate longer. Sakuya has the advantage here as her car has a better engine and more horsepower.

Sakuya dashed towards the MR-2’s rear and violently rammed it, returning the favor from the beginning of the race, as they crossed the curve on the left side before another hairpin arrives. The midship car is forced onto the outside lane, putting it in a very dangerous position. To Matsu, the shock was similar to being kicked hard in the back by something huge. The car’s sudden jerking made him feel like his neck was getting yanked off. Thankfully the roll-cage inside the machine minimized the impact, but he can still feel the pain.

As the MR-2 continued to slide towards the outside lane, Sakuya immediately took the chance to slip through and overtake. The Supra is now instantly 50 meters ahead as it tackles the next hairpin.

Matsu, now perilously close to the rails, braked as hard as he can but to no avail. The MR-2 managed to recover from the spin by slamming into the guardrail, immobilizing the car. But Matsu hasn’t gave up just yet.

“Haha...this is perfect...!!” He thought, his entire body was shaking with excitement. “I never had this much fun in ages!! It’s about damn time I met someone that can give me a good thrashing! But from here on...”

As the MR-2 did a short burnout, the car starts moving again at full force, completely unaffected by the crash. The car was damaged badly on the rear from that powerful shove, but it is still moving,a sight which shocks the crowd, from both Matsu’s resolve and the MR-2’s durability.

“...it’s for REAL!”

Matsu tackled the hairpin from that point as fast as he could, and once the exit is cleared, he couldn’t see the Supra, but this doesn’t stop him from flooring it as he knew she couldn’t be too far away, even though she managed to immobilize him for a short moment. Sakuya on the other hand is relentlessly charging towards the front. After she cleared the second curve that leads to a series of gentle S turns before another tight hairpin that connects to the third checkpoint. Clearly she had no time to think anymore. She already managed to shake off Matsu from that huge ram she gave to the MR-2. All she needs to do now is to drive as quick as possible to finish the race and be done with it.

“...I really want to leave Akagi straight after I arrive to the bottom but...” Sakuya thought anxiously, still obviously upset about what happened that time, but she knows she has to see things through the end before anything else, at least for his sake.

Sakuya braked hard, trying to stop thinking about Saburo as swiftly as she can to focus back on the race. The hairpin was right in front of her as she carefully steers her heavy Supra through that sharp curve. Feathering her gas pedal accordingly, the Supra slides out gently without too much unnecessary wheelspin and oversteer. She is now 120 meters ahead from this point. But the MR-2 is again; closing slowly from behind as the damaged car continued to slip through the consecutive S curves before braking hard on tackling the sharp hairpin.

The gap between them is now 80 to 70 meters. As Sakuya exited another hairpin on her side, Matsu is already navigating through the curve at the third checkpoint before entering the hairpin that the redhead mechanic just cleared. As teh audiences report what happened during their battle, the peak was shocked at the progress, exactly as Hatori had expected.

“So you really went all out after all...well, at least think about his feelings, princess. Don’t get too hot out there...” Hatori thought with an optimistic smile as she looked up on the clear skies...

Back to the race, Sakuya is now on her way to clear the final two hairpins before entering the last checkpoint. As she continued to focus on her footwork and steering, she knows there’s not much left to go at this point and there is no longer any need to save her tires. Knowing well that her car’s damaged,with her brakes slowly giving in, it’s only a matter of time before Matsu recovers all the gap from behind. She can clearly feel the front tires on her car losing its grip already at this point, while Matsu’s lighter machine may not have the overheating problem yet on its front wheels.

“I told you I am not gonna let you go so easily, lady...!” Matsu thought. He was even more fired up than before as he can tell the Supra RZ will appear soon enough. Matsu navigate through the same terrain as Sakuya did while disregarding the damage on his car; as if it was never an issue to him. He only have one thing in mind now; to catch and overtake the red Supra RZ that just smeared his machine on a guardrail. And the gap between them was evidently smaller, only 50 meters apart from each other again.

And once Sakuya crossed the final checkpoint, She glanced into the rear mirror again and noticed that the MR-2 is back...! Sakuya had been expecting this, but she didn’t expect Matsu to be this resilient. She had overestimated his stubbornness, and Matsu had also took her too lightly at first place. Neither one of them would expect each other to be this aggressive...

“Tch...stubborn little punk...!”

Sakuya pressed on the gas pedal as hard as she can, and she knows that if she goes easy on the car now, it will only slow her down due to the grip on the tires disappearing rapidly. As both cars continued to navigate through the gentle S curves again, Matsu’s MR-2 is now 20 meters behind the Supra RZ as they entered the first of the five wide hairpins there before the goal line. The tension in the gallery was high, everyone desperate to see how this intense battle will end as both machines dashed towards the first hairpin.

Sakuya braked hard on her end, the Supra already on the outside preparing for an out-in-out move on the first hairpin, followed by Matsu on his end. The MR-2 entered the same line as the leading RZ. Sakuya knew Matsu is going to go for another nudge at this point, so she quickly swerve and hugged the inner line as soon as he is done prepping the position on the hairpin.

Matsu tried to tackle the RZ’s rear bumper again, but this time he failed as the red Toyota is already on the inside lane at this point, forcing Matsu to brake harder to prevent going off road and risk hitting on the audiences there. As the attempt failed, Sakuya regained some distance between her and Matsu, but the battle is not over yet, as Sakuya herself is starting to feel the control of grip on her machine slipping away slowly. She is now experiencing understeer on her machine due to the tires overheating on the front.

Matsu’s machine is losing its grip too, he has to act fast or else the race is over. As the two hot-headed drivers continued to clash on the second hairpin, Matsu goes for another attempt to nudge Sakuya off the road, again it failed as Sakuya steer as hard as she can while keeping half of her gas pedal’s lifted to cope with the understeer. The MR-2 veered outside the lane while the Supra RZ managed to keep its line centered at least. Matsu continued on with his attempt as Sakuya continued to maintain her pace and no longer cared about what is behind her. The goal is just ahead.

Sakuya continued on to her final three hairpins as she repeated the same driving pattern along while keeping the understeer to a minimum. Even though it’s a risky gamble, she had to do it or else her lead could be lost at anytime. Matsu tried his best to catch up to the Supra RZ that is already gushing smokes on its front tires while he can sense that his MR-2 is slowly melting down on the rubber. On the last wide hairpin, Sakuya decided not to brake and just gave a full wheel lock on the right side to slide all the way from the inner lane while it slowly understeers on the outside, hoping that her speed range would at least keep her from grazing the guardrail.

Matsu realized what Sakuya had done and he copy the motion. But the MR-2’s more severe understeer sent it veering all the way to the guardrail, rubbing it and leaving a huge trail of scratches on it until the car eventually ground to a halt, having exhausted its momentum on the rails.

Sakuya crossed the finish line and drove her way to the nearest parking spot to find a space where she can catch her breath, somewhere far away at least so no one can bother her. As the red Supra came to a full stop, Sakuya took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before she pants heavily, with her body now exhausted.

“It’s over...at least for now...” She thought, her head moved slowly to the part where she can see the totaled MR-2 is still on the stop at the guardrail before it crosses the finish line. Matsu came out from the car already, but it seems that other than a bruised forehead and slightly injured left arm, he is still fine. Matsu can still see the red Supra from afar as he slowly gave a satisfied smile with a thumbs up with his right hand, as if he’s telling her that he had a good time. Sakuya can only muster up the energy to think, “...stubborn bastard...”

As she grabbed the cellphone inside her jacket that she just took off on the passenger seat, she turned it on and contacted a person.

“Hey...Four-eyes...”
“Yeah?”
“Tell the guys that I won...you take over the tryouts on the Brotherhood guys for a while...it’s just managing routines on practice runs for now, so it should be easy enough for you...”
“Well that’s good and all and I’ve no problems, what about you?”
“I am gonna take a nap...don’t bother coming down here to find me...I am not going anywhere...just do as I say, alright?”

On top of the mountain, as the people chatter about how the battle goes, Hatori is smiling on her end, sitting on a small boulder right beside her parked JZA70.

“As you wish, princess. Oh, and why not give him a call now? You’re free now.”

“...That’s none of your business.”

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Mayumi and Vanessa were taking a bit of a survey on the Driver’s Utopia area around Sadamine as they continued to walk slowly, examining on the cars where the photographers and journalists were taking pictures on. Many of them were either decent tuned machines, or just plain artistic in their own senses. The individuals were all somewhat eccentric figures that seem to have a bit of character that is unique to them, and some even brought along their medals and trophies that are related to automotive to show off their car’s honors. Little did it mattered for Mayumi as she has gotten used in seeing those people, while Vanessa is curious as to how they get so much honors. Following them behind was Aoi Kamiyama herself, as she slowly checks on the camera she is holding while looking around for any fresh cars that she hasn’t take pictures of.

“Say, Mayumi!” Vanessa began.

“What?

“How did those guys that trick their cars out in such a flamboyant way still get so many trophies?” Vanessa asked, her eyes sparkling with interest.

“Eh....those are just for artistic competitions anyway...” Mayumi sighed. “Their rides don’t have the bite though, so don’t get tricked. Those plebs can gloat all they want for all I care. Don’t pay em’ any mind, those guys aren’t worth it.”

“Ooooh...maybe if you mix bite and looks together and you’ll get a special medal of honor? Hahaha!!” Vanessa giggled.

“...that’s just disgusting...eugh. I’d rather not see that.”

Aoi smiled quietly as she watched Mayumi and Vanessa chat away, while she recalled what the two of them said about the driver she is curious about not too long ago.

“Saburo Misaka?! Haha! So the news about that guy got blown to your place as well huh...! Ah well, he’s what I’d call a man speaks through action, but only if you can convince him. He’s too much of a guy that can’t be damned to do anything from what I know. He’s a stubborn but reasonable man. He may look like any typical guys out there with a cold and level-headed personality, but once you get to know him, you’ll find him EXTREMELY easy to talk to. He’s a lot more capable than he looks, that much I can tell you!”

Those were Mayumi’s words...and apparently she seemed awfully excited about it when she talks about him, at least to Aoi’s serene eyes it seemed that way. And then she recalled Vanessa’s words on the same man...

“You mean Sabby? Well, I have my doubts on the guy at first since he’s such a silent dude. But all my doubts about him being a great driver and a decent guy got blown pretty much to tiny bits when he debuted that time against that Souichiro guy in the MX-5. Haha! I mean, you don’t get to see many drivers like him with great skills yet he doesn’t seem to care about it. I still hope he would though in future...since it’s such a big waste for his natural senses, know what I am sayin’?”

As she returned back to reality, she followed the two of them as they chattered about continuously, wondering what she should take pictures about next. She had already captured numerous pictures for the course layout, the beautiful sceneries of the mountain pass as well as cars and drivers that interest her. It should’ve been enough for her, yet she can’t help but feel something is amiss.

Meanwhile, not so far away from where they’re walking, in front of them parked a passionate pink Toyota Chaser Mark V. And on top of the front hood was a young female. Her face seemed to be lamenting about something while staring at her own cellphone. The soft wind blew her navy hair as she glanced at the pictures of the legendary driver - Allan Simonsen.

“...”

There were no tears in her eyes, but the ache in her heart can still be felt as if it happened minutes ago. She had always idolized the Le Mans driver for every amazing feats he has accomplished before. And the tragedy that happened recently this year just shattered her heart deep down because of that one mistake. It truly shows to her that there can be no room of errors for the professional world in speed competition, even if the battle was stretched as far as 24 hours.

As she continued her quiet mourning, Vanessa and the other two girls were slowly approaching, and Mayumi immediately recognized the blue-haired female’s face. She called out her name out loud, overjoyed from seeing her...

“AYASE!!!”

It immediately startles the girl and the delicate mood was shattered as she turned and saw the buxom young model running towards her in joy. And before she can react fast enough, Ayase’s face was already muffled by Mayumi’s chest, almost suffocating her.

“It’s been a while, you dumbass! Where have you been all these times?”

Unfortunately for Mayumi, she didn’t get the proper response. Instead, she just got her arms pushed aside by Ayase and immediately a powerful left hook connects to Mayumi’s stomach before she can even realize what had hit her. Mayumi then fell weak on her knees while writhing in pain.

“...oww, what’s that for...?”

“That’s what you get for trying to suffocate me with those meat of yours, you loud-mouthed fox!” Ayase panted in panic, trying to catch her breath from nearly losing too much air. Vanessa giggled from behind at the sight of those two as they continued their little slapstick moment. That’s also when Ayase stopped paying attention to Mayumi and turned her eyes on Vanessa and Aoi.

“Well that’s an unfamiliar face...who’s this petite brunette?” Ayase faced Vanessa, needless to say; she’s asking Mayumi.

“Ah, that’s my newfound friend, Ayase.” Mayumi slowly got up, after she is done recovering from her friend’s rather powerful hook. “That’s --”

“Vanessa Anderson, ma’am.” Vanessa offered her hand to the blue-haired girl openly with a big smile.

“Oh...pleased to meet you then...you’re a foreigner I see...” Ayase shook the hand and blushed slightly for being placed at a rather embarrassing position between her and Mayumi. “Name’s Ayase Tsurugi. And I hope my old friend here didn’t give you too much trouble, did she?”

“...Hey. That’s a bad way of putting it, you know.” Mayumi interrupted, her face turned slightly grumpy at Ayase’s remark. Aoi giggled quietly behind them as she can remember how both of them used to love arguing with each other, even though Aoi is not too familiar with Ayase.

“Oh no, not at all!” Vanessa smiled. “So, you’re a local racer here I presume?”

“Nah...not really. I am from Kanagawa, there’s even a city that has my name on it.”

“Ayase, Kanagawa? Never got a chance to go that far yet...” Vanessa rubbed her chins in a curious manner.

“Well, I am sure you will love it there...oh...!” That is when Ayase noticed Aoi’s face. “Sorry, Aoi...I didn’t notice you earlier.”

“It’s alright...” Aoi smiled calmly. “So how have you been lately...? I hope you’re not too sad about what happened on the Le Mans...”

“Well...it’s a wound alright...but they will heal eventually...Hehe..thanks for the concern. I take it that you will take part on your community’s time attack event too?”

“I am not sure...what about you?”

“Me? Well...if you insist, I can join. After all, there’s nothing much to do here at Saitama other than watching cars and drivers doing their typical routines.”

“Well in any case, we’re both registered already. You should join, Ayase.” Mayumi encouraged.

“I guess the more the merrier.” Ayase shrugged. Aoi then grabbed a piece of paper and a pen from her messenger bag. She hands it over to Ayase and it shows that it was the registration form for the D.U. Time attack event.

“Just fill the form here and I’ll hand it to the officials there. It’s a lot more convenient this way.”

“Well if you say so...” Ayase grabbed the pen and fills up the form with in no delay. As they continued the chatter, Aoi turned her attention back to the clear skies, wondering if there is something else that she hasn’t seen yet on this mountain that has so much going on at the moment...

While the rest of them were on their own little world at that spot, from far away there seem to be a group of people watching them, and one of them apparently, isn’t too happy to see Vanessa...

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Back at Ibaraki, the parking area of the Tsukuba pass was quiet as a grave, but truth is that it is simply because there were no people willing to travel and visit the mountain pass at such times due to the misty weather. However, the parking slots weren’t completely vacant, as there were but two cars there that were parked side by side.

One of them is a familiar HCR32 Skyline, while the other car is not local...in fact, it wasn’t even made in Japan. The car is a dark-green Lotus Elise with a small sticker of a gear on its left signal light. And not too far away, there were two figures standing side by side, as if they were discussing something. One of them is a grey-haired man that wears a long white coat, while another wears a simple black suit and is light brown haired.

“...You already know this will happen, don’t you?” The man in white said in a very low and calm voice, though his expression wasn’t shown clear enough due to the mist, he doesn’t sound pleased. “What exactly are you planning here...”

“Ah come on, amigo...you don’t really THINK I’d put you in a sticky situation with a bunch of kids, do ya?” The other person replied in a rather good-natured tone. He sounded like a young gentleman with a really upbeat persona.

“...Then why did you make me come here on purpose? Is it because you want me to test that little kid for your gain? That black 180 is who you are aiming for, right?”

“Nope. Not me, but you, my dear little Setsura...”

“...What?”

“You always wanted to school a good student with your experience; and I am doin’ you a favour by saving you time finding one. You should thank me, if anything else.”

“...”

“Aw, don’t leave a brother hanging here with that silent act, seriously. Lighten up, dude.” The black-suit gentleman threw his arm casually around the taller grey-haired man’s shoulders.

“...What else are you planning here?”

“Hmm? I wonder.......” After a long pause, the brown-haired man shrugged and simply replied --

“Nope. Nothing at all. Even if I was, it won’t do you any harm. So just kick back and relax...”

“What did you see in that kid anyway...why do I have to be the one to guide him?”

“Because you are who you are, silly. Now just do an old friend a favor and nurture that kid, eh? While I am gone running some errands back on Saitama, drinks are on me!” The brown-haired man said with a wide, feline smile and his expression finally shows that he seems to have his eyes closed tightly all the time.

- つづく -

This post has been edited by Rin on Jul 16 2014, 12:19 AM

Holy shit...Sakuya sure has some fierce temper back there...

Well anyway...another amazing chapter, and hmm...I wonder...just who is that Schrodinger guy really is...

And Setsura's the name huh...for a moment there I thought his name is Setsuna. xD Reminds me of Gundam 00. LMAO

Anyway, keep up the good work bro.

P.S: You're a hell of an artist, you know that? XD

Wow, this Matsu guy ended up playing pretty dirty. Sakuya definitely had good reason to be pissed. And she's definitely no pushover either.
That race turned out intense; even more so than I was expecting. How things were staged and written really built up the tension as it got closer to end, and while it certainly wasn't boring to begin with, it started to really get my attention at that point. Best race scene so far, and with how much space it took that alone would have done a good job of making this chapter a strong one.
And in addition to that, the other plot points are still clearly coming along too. Ibaraki's certainly got things set in store for Saburo, the newly introduced Ayase has a fun dynamic with Mayumi that isn't overdone, those time attacks are getting some extra setting up that's building a little anticipation for them, and we also get a glimpse into what's up with that R32 on Tsukuba (and speaking of which, Saburo's battle with that 32 wasn't bad either). Another good chapter that gets even more steam going. Nice work yet again.

Just one small thing to point out.

The 3S-GTE is actually an engine used in the SW20 (to be more specific - it's what the factory turbocharged SW20s have). What the Supra RZ uses is a 2JZ-GTE, and this is also something an earlier chapter got right. Not too bad a mistake though. Or did she intentionally swap in the less potent MR2 engine (assuming it'd actually be compatible)?

And yeah, some of those drawings are indeed pretty nice.

This post has been edited by Meteor on Jul 26 2014, 04:34 PM