Monday, February 26, 2007

A Decline in Faith: Prologue

[added] Ok, so I just inserted this prologue here so that if the need arises, I can rush this fic if I feel threatened with the deadline. Actually, I already am. Either way, could I ask a favor of those who intend to read this part? If you could, try to read it as if you have no knowledge of Initial D. This serves as my introduction for my teacher to Initial D so she won’t be confused when she starts reading the story… I actually, want to confuse her, but then I may get a lower grade if I do it on purpose… and she notices. Ah, and just so you know, I’m just summarizing Kyoko’s appearances in the anime here… So when she stays silent during scenes, I try to figure out what she may be thinking. Similarly, some scenes are not shown, but definitely happened, so those scenes were made up as well.

Disclaimer: Initial D belongs to its respective owners. Shigeno Shuichi decides the real plot and we’re all just hoping he’ll change this drive-or-date philosophy of his.

A Decline in Faith
- by Dial In fita

Prologue:
-_-_-_

This story begins after the main character, a young racer by the name Iwase Kyoko – as the Japanese say it, the last name is Iwase goes first, while the first goes next – meets with her Prince Charming and gets turned away for the second time.

Her story begins much before this though, when she talks with her friend at a certain café, in the prefecture of Saitama, in the Kanto region of Japan, about her ideal man. This dream of a man who is handsome (and cool), drives a Rotary engine car, and is basically faster than her. Her friend, who in the anime and manga has no name, but will be given one in this story, Mayumi, incredulously questioned her about it all being based on a car. Kyoko dismissed it and continued that she will definitely meet her “Darling”.

The next day, she visited the base of the mountain, of which’s road, or course, is probably her “home course”, and is probably named Shomaru Pass, to look for her missing cell phone, which she apparently dropped around that area during her lunch break. She noticed a bright yellow RX-7, an FD, parked on one side of the road, quickly commenting on yellow being a nice color. Kyoko parked her own black FD on the other side of the street, and got out – still in her overalls from work, which is most likely some sort of position in an auto mechanic shop – to search the area for her silver cell phone.

A tall – and handsome – man with spike bleached blond hair approached her and asked if what she was looking for was a silver cell phone. She blushed and replied with an affirmative. He explained that he found the said gadget on the parking lot earlier and had the store across the road hold on to it. She then began stuttering about how clumsy she is and how she seemed to always lose her phone when she puts in by the side of her car and so on. Realizing that she was stuttering, she halted the nervous, meaningless chatter and stared at him adoringly. He suggested that she go and get it.

But for the moment, Kyoko was too stunned to move, the sound of violins playing fill her ears. She wondered if she had finally met her “Darling”. After that, her heart still pounding in her chest, the racer went over to the store to reclaim her phone, but when she turned around to see and thank him again, her Darling was already speeding away.

Fast-forwarding to tonight, the unnamed team Kyoko is a member of was discussing the arrival of the super-team, Project.D. Her team leader, Akiyama Nobuhiko, glad of this development, stated that he wanted to watch the team, who had the intention of conquering the entire Kanto region, carefully. He reassured his team members, because of the membership of their uphill ace. Their uphill ace, however, was not concentrating on the meeting; she was standing by, daydreaming of her recent encounter with her Darling.

When he called her to attention, he asked her to represent their team for the challenge, as, quite obviously, the uphill driver. She agreed. Then he asked her if she wanted to hear the information he gathered of the representative of Project.D and she declined elaborating that she could concentrate better without those details. She intended to drive the way she knew best.

Later, she was seen in her FD, practicing, but she couldn’t concentrate; her mind was on that spiky blond she just met. She gasped suddenly, after narrowly missing hitting the guardrail of a certain corner, she slowed and worried. She was hardly in the mood for a battle, much less a suitable state for it.

Back at the parking lot, where the home team was gathered at, Kyoko had open her hood and was checking her engine for some sort of unknown something causing the weird sensation in her car. She took one last look at it then dismissed it as her imagination. Her eyes and ears then took in what her team leader was saying; Project.D was on the way up now.

With that, she and the rest of the unnamed team turn to the point where you could see the cars coming up. Kyoko gasped –once again – at the sight of the car leading the motorcade; it was a yellow FD. Could it be? After all what were the chances that she would encounter her Darling here and now? As she continued to watch them, Project.D parked their vehicles and turned on the lights they had at the back of their three support vans. She gasped. She was in shock and shaking. It was he, her Darling, Takahashi Keisuke, her opponent for the match tomorrow.

The next day, Kyoko and her friend, Mayumi, were at the café they usually hang out in, discussing Kyoko’s predicament. Mayumi decided that their race is a very good thing for her, a chance per se. She explained that whatever result the race may yield, it was a great opportunity to get to know him. And also that, if Kyoko could perform well during thee race, her Darling would surely notice her.

Night fell, and the team was having a pre-race meeting discussing various things, such as the amazing level of their opponents, and the representative for the downhill match. Nobuhiko decided that since they didn’t have an outstanding racer for that style, he would be the one to race. He explained to them that they had no choice but to focus on Kyoko. Asking them not to worry, she promised to do her best.

She was once again seen practicing for her match later that night, when suddenly a strange wheezing sound came from her car’s engine and the power output suddenly dropped, significantly. She gasped for the umpteenth time as she slowed down and eventually stopped her car by the narrow road. Turning on her hazard lights, she got out to pop her hood and stare at the engine hopelessly unknowing of what to do.

Still staring at her engine, Kyoko ignored the sound of a Rotary engine in the distance; she still ignored it as it passed by. The yellow car parked itself in front of her car, and behind her. The driver got out and asked her what was wrong. She was jolted once more by the man and explained her predicament. He realized that she is his opponent later on and voiced his disappointment in her. He has had higher expectations in her, he rebuked her ands says that she should’ve had it checked in the day if she thought something was wrong. He felt that she had underestimated him, and that for him was a harsh insult. All while he was saying this, Kyoko’s eyes were already tearing dangerously. He walked away.

Minutes later, Kyoko had closed her hood and has her hands pressed against it, eyes releasing their salty liquid. She reprimanded herself for the same reasons Keisuke did veritably cursing at her foolishness for being so excited for the race that she neglected the essentials. Feeling so frustrated, she believed that he hated her now. Just as her mind said this, she heard the sound of some sort of vehicle coming up from behind her. She confirmed with the lights and wiped away the tears still at the edges of her eyes. Her eyes widen as she realized that it is one of the support vans of Project.D. It parked by her, the window opened and there her opponent was, telling her to bring her car to the parking lot so they could take a look at it.

After examining and diagnosing the problem, Keisuke and his mechanic worked on the car. Soon after, the car was fixed and ready to go. It all happened before Kyoko’s curious eyes. She tried to thank him, but he told her that he didn’t want to be thanked that way. He wanted her to thank him by racing her best with him later. Still blushing slightly, Kyoko found herself liking him even more.

Before the race, she decided to lead their race, although it was un-strategic for her to go ahead of him, she still wanted to do it, to show him her best possible driving. It was custom in their course to race with one car ahead of the other rather than starting side-by-side, as the road they drove on was very narrow; the leading car was called the leader, while the one following was the chaser. A race was won either if the leader leaves the chaser behind, or the chaser overtakes the leader, somehow.

A serious and determined look was in her eyes as she introduced herself shyly, while he did so in a snobbier manner. She believed in her heart that she would not, could not, win their battle, but, still, she wanted to make their match last as long as possible, to be on a stage where they would be the stars, where every ounce of his concentration would be on her.

Once they began, Kyoko realized that she was having the time of her life. Never before had she felt so “in her groove”. The idea of showing her Darling the true extent of her skills had her exhilarated. Later in the race, her lead was maintained and she prayed that their race would go on forever.

The goal was pretty close now making Kyoko want to bring it to the next run even more. She smiled for a moment. But that glee was short-lived, as her car seemed to go over a bump on the road, quick and sudden, the acceleration of her car reduces. She looked back and notices that even though she had maintained a few meters distance with her Darling earlier in the match, he was now much, much closer to her now. Her pleased expression now morphed to a much more worried and anxious one.

They were now on a relatively long straightaway, so when he moved to the opposite side of the road as her, she steered that way as well as an attempt to block him. When they entered the corner, she was ahead about three-fourths a car length. As she braked, his car nudged hers slightly, which caused her to corner more sideways than she wished. She was stunned by this motion that she momentarily released the accelerator. She soon realized that she should not have done this.

They exited the corner side-by-side. They continued on this way for the next short straightaway, but when they reached the next left-hand corner, Kyoko braked slightly later than he, so he ended up heading into the corner faster. This enabled him to pin her down and keep her from accelerating past him.

Kyoko was mentally pleading with him to let the race go on, but to no avail. He sped past her then past the finish line as well. He won.

Their race was over and there was nothing Kyoko could do about it. She drove past the goal and into the area where her disappointed teammates were waiting for her. She sat in her car, thinking deeply about what just happened. The first thing she did when she got out of the car was to apologize to her teammates. She understood very well that all their hopes on winning against their opponents were on her, and she just lost. Nobuhiko comforted her, in a brotherly sort of way, saying that there was nothing to apologize about and that it was all right since she did her best after all.

She listened to her team leader describe the impressive level and performance of Keisuke as she turned to watch him herself. Kyoko thought to herself that she never expected her Darling to be this amazing. When Nobuhiko spoke again, she redirected her attention back to him. It was his turn to race against the downhiller of Project.D; she noticed the stress of going against a much better opponent grading on his nerves. Then again, even though she probably shouldn’t, she didn’t care much about the succeeding match.

And as the next race began, she stood right where she was and stared at her Darling only meters in front of her. He, apparently, was talking with a teammate of his, a shorter man with a mop of dyed blond hair. She heard the man, named Kenta, tell Keisuke that he was hungry, and so he went over to the vans, not before asking his taller mentor if he wanted any (he didn’t), parked not a distance away from him to get some left-over rice balls.

When she saw that he was finally alone, Kyoko approached the slightly older Rotary driver cautiously. After staring at each other for a few silent seconds, she finally took the initiative to speak. She thanked him again for fixing her car, but still he insisted that she had nothing to thank him for. He even found that he has reason to thank her, admitting that he discovered a lot of important lessons from their race. And after that, he complimented her on her driving, and then finally apologized for the assumptions he made about her prior to the race.

She blushed, quite pleased. Continuing their conversation a bit, they ended up in silence once again. Flushing slightly, she asked him if he has a girlfriend. When he replied with a negative, she was overjoyed, so she thanked him quickly, and skipped away back to her car, failing to hear his explanation for it.

The next day, Kyoko and Mayumi were once again chatting over some tea. Mayumi congratulated her friend on her discovery, praising her as well for being brave enough to ask that much. She found that Kyoko was doubly lucky about his current status, and even teased her that her Darling was thinking of her as well. Mayumi decided that Keisuke had already figured out that Kyoko liked him. Confused, Kyoko didn’t know what to do, but decided that she wanted to look prettier, just for him.

Later that day, night to be accurate, Kyoko arrived at Mount Akagi, the home course of her Darling, totally made-over. Instead of her usual sports jacket and cargo pants, she was wearing a beige blouse with a denim miniskirt. She took note of the three guys on the other side of the vantage point of the peak and recognized them as members of Project.D so she bows in greeting.

There, she heard the sound of a Rotary engine, turning around she saw one, a yellow one, the yellow one she has been looking for. She watched it intently as it drove up the slope and parked near the van of his companions. He turned to her immediately as he got out of his car. He motioned to the area ahead, and they walked away from the three men to maintain some semblance of privacy between them.

They had a short conversation, but Keisuke cut it of by asking her the reason of her arrival. She wanted to watch him drive, she said, but he didn’t want her there. When she tries to explain her love, he explains that it wasn’t a matter of liking or disliking her, and rejects her. He explained further that she’d only be in his way, and that it’d be much better if she stayed away from him. Thus, he got back into his bright yellow sports car and made a quick excuse to his companions then drove back home, leaving the poor girl spilling tears onto her shirt.

The next day, Kyoko was leaning against her car, parked in front of the auto shop she worked for, reflecting on what just happened between them. She had to admit to herself that what he said was true; she really would get in his way if they would get together. Not believing that she would ever fall in love again, she did not know what to do. Being the determined girl she was, she decided one thing. She would not let something like this discourage her. She would not give up!

Another few days later, a small gathering of some of the Northern Saitama racers was assembled, and Kyoko was invited to join the meeting. Apparently, Nobuhiko had come up with a new plan for beating Project.D. A new team, between the networks of friends they had, was set-up for this very purpose. A member of this temporary team requested Kyoko to pitch in a bit of cash, but before Kyoko could hand over some money, one of her original teammates requested to speak to her first.

He told her that she didn’t need to participate in this effort if she could not decide on which side she was supporting, emotionally. He informed her about the Takahashi’s status in life, the two brothers, Keisuke (the younger one) and Ryousuke (the elder one) were sons of a director of some big hospital in Gunma, the prefecture the brothers resided in. He advised her not to pursue Keisuke, being the rich and handsome man he was, there would sure to be lots of competition. Regardless, she didn’t want to back down.

The challenge was sent, and Project.D was coming back to Saitama for the second round of the Saitama showdown. Away from the mountains and the speeding cars though, was Kyoko, who felt left out of the game, which she truly loved. Wanting to go, but feeling discouraged, she just leaned there, pondering.

The next day at about mid-day, the heavy clouds hovered above all, threateningly, but that certainly did not discourage the girl, she went to the course somewhat boldly, not being able to help herself. While driving around the course, she noticed the bright yellow FD parked by the open, un-guard railed area by the road. Surprised, she stopped her car and got out curiously then somewhat giddy-ly rushed to its side, wanting to touch the precious car.

Rushing over, she stroked the hood of the car then kneeled down to rest against it, still stroking it. Unbeknownst to her, the owner of the said car was inside the car and staring at her strangely. When the fact became known to her, she blushed then shrieked in surprise. When he got out, she expressed her shock at being there. After pointing out to her that it made perfect sense for a driver to be in his car (trying to rest for his race later in the night), she wished her Darling good luck on the race later on in the night. But for some surprising reason, Keisuke, being hungry, asked her out to eat at some family restaurant.

While they are eating, she asked him whether or not he went to restaurants such as the one they were at now often. He answered her incredulously that he did, after all he was a road racer, and it was a known fact that racers were patrons of such establishments. She shut her eyes cheerfully, glad that even though he was rich, her Darling was very down-to-earth.

Driving back to the course, Kyoko realized that Keisuke was asleep in her passenger seat. Not wanting to wake him, she slowed her pace and finally stops at the spot where she found him. Soon, she falls asleep as well, praying that this moment would freeze in time. But as time certainly does not stop, he woke up, hours later. After thanking her briefly, he rushed back to his own FD, to practice a bit more on the course as the rain soaks the pavement. She smiles as she watches him pull out of the space, shout another thanks, and drive to the starting point of the race, all the while thinking that spending time with him felt wonderful, when it lasted.

Later that night, after the race between the two downhill racers concluded, Kyoko approached her teammates at the starting point waiting eagerly for the results of the ongoing race, the one between her Darling and a cousin of her team leader, Wataru, who was currently driving a supercharged Toyota Corolla AE86 Levin. Nobuhiko commented on how she wasn’t the type to hideaway in the corner. He stares at her for a moment then declared what he had deduced, that she came to root for their opponents rather than them. When she admits this, he reassured her easily as they weren't exactly at war with each other, so in any case, she was free to cheer for whomever she wished.

When he turned away, she watched him gladly. Then her mind turned back to the dangerous race her Prince was in. She moved to face her black FD, clutching her cerulean umbrella with one hand over the other, cheering him on and declaring that she’d always be by his side.

After waiting for a few more minutes, she heard Nobuhiko – quite surprisingly – despite the rain say that Wataru had spun out and lost. If she weren't in a skirt, she probably would have jumped for joy and cheered unabashedly. Her heart seemed to have gotten in its own car to do loops. Waiting a bit more, she saw the two cars drive – a lot more slowly – towards the starting point, seeing her Darling get out of his bright car made her heart stop doing loops only to race around its own course.

She stared at him intently, hoping his gaze would be attracted by hers, somehow. And it happened. He looked around until she catches his attention. When he faced her, meeting her longing gaze, she pressed her hands – with the handle of the umbrella still sandwiched between – against her chest, trying to send him her message.

This time she wasn’t so successful, instead of him receiving her message gladly and springing towards her to wrap his arms around her, he turned around to get back into his car, not giving the poor Kyoko any more of his time. Her shock, once again, manifests itself in a gasp, as he starts up and drives away from her. She can do nothing but stare at the machine, taking her Darling away from her again.

Despite being hurt by the reaction of Keisuke to her visit, she is determined to keep pursuing him, no matter what.

Her chance to see him again lay in the next race of Project.D. The prevailing team had just challenged a shady team composed of only dreaded Lancer Evolutions.

Her hopes had been restored and now she was once again ready to face him and boldly cheer him on, if he would let her. Unsure if visiting them directly would be a good idea, she decided to take a bit of a joy ride on the course a fierce battle was sure to occur. But when she turned one corner, what was there to greet her but Darling sitting on his car. Hardly being able to help herself, she stopped her own vehicle by his and rolled down her window to announce her reasons for being there. Then quickly adding the inquiry of why he was parked there.

Looking back up at him, she noticed that he was staring at her, very intently at that. Making a face, she suddenly worries if he was upset at her being so persistent in following him. To her shock, he got up from his seat on the hood and placed a hand on the top of her car. His kneeling and leaning against her only augmented to that initial shock. And finally to top it all off, a cherry on top of a tall pile of ice cream and syrup, he suddenly, completely out of nowhere, asked her a favor.

He pleaded to her, asking to borrow her car for the race later. And of course, she couldn’t refuse such a request, or any request, in fact, from her Darling

After explaining to her how their sneaky opponents spilled oil across the road to sabotage their cars and how his car was the one that crashed, he lead her to where they were stationed at. As they arrive, she noticed the inquisitive stares of the other Project.D members on them, getting out she followed him to the group, but stayed at the back of which while he moved forward to face his brother.

She stared at the elder brother intently as Keisuke faced him, apparently still unsure how to say what he was. The elder brother certainly looked cool. He was handsome, much like his brother, only in a different, probably darker way. The deep blue, which is very natural in anime, of his hair and dark expression-less expression only added to his mysterious aura.

Once the man of her affections started speaking, she stopped looking at the elder one and decided to concentrate on the younger. He explained to his brother that he was determined to win, no matter what. It doesn’t matter to him whether or not Ryousuke approved of it – he hoped that he would if he didn’t – or even if wasn’t an official Project.D, all he wanted was to defeat the losers who were made to resort to such underhanded deeds to win, to show them that even with a huge handicap, Project.D was still the best. Much more, he couldn’t let Project.D’s pristine record be tarnished by the foolish mistake he made in that crash.

A deep silence follows that one-sided confrontation, one that had Kyoko holding her breath. A silence that was broken by the sighing of her Darling’s brother then when he slipped his phone out of his pants pocket and started to dial a number, it didn’t fail to arouse their surprise and curiosity. That was only enhanced by when he said the key words of “We don’t need that car anymore.”

Could it be? It would have been if it were not have been cancelled. Keisuke would have gotten his car and raced regardless of whether she came to lend him her car or not. But when his brother cancelled his own plans, it made Kyoko feel, well, wonderful. It felt great to have his brother’s approval of Darling racing with her car rather than whatever other car that he might’ve ordered. She could understand it clearly that he was not approving of her, per se, but the thought of Ryousuke believing in her car being advantageous for Darling made her like him, even if it were for a shallow reason.

She smiled as the group cheered with a newly charged enthusiasm ready to tackle any obstacle in their way. When he turned and beamed at her, she couldn’t help but blush shyly. After a few more minutes of heated up and excited discussion, she handed over her key to him.

Feeling compelled to stand back and watch the workings of Project.D Kyoko did so. Being the quick and efficient team they were, Keisuke was ready to race in a few minutes. Then the race began between the two powerful cars. Soon, two her teammates, Nobuhiko and Saitou (the one who asked her to wake up to reality) arrived to watch the race. They were both in shock when they heard that Kyoko had given her consent for another person to driver her precious car. She smiled and admitted that she never imagined that she would ever let another drive her car, she continued it mentally, but if her car could help her Darling win then she’d gladly lend it to him.

She faced the road and passively listened to her teammates talk; her mind was not there standing still, but with her car, with her Darling cheering him on and on. She hoped that he would win, minutes later it seemed that he does. Kyoko watched him get out of her car then face his opponent, who was making a lot of fuss she could not make out. Either way, he headed towards her with a satisfied expression on his face. He expressed his thankfulness once again verbally when he handed over her key back to her.

Kyoko stares at him, blushing, as she holds on to the key, still warm from his hands, close to her heart as she smiled at him. The smile widened and her heart quickened impossibly so, when asked for her number and gave Kyoko his. Sharing a brief smile with her, he said, somewhat hushed, that he wanted to meet with her again before smiling again and joining his teammates once again.

Quite honestly, she was hardly interested in the other racer of Project.D, so when other ace’s race began, she decided to take one last look at him, for that night, and get back into her car to head home.

The next couple of days, Kyoko was cheerfully breezing through her duties as a daughter, student, and part-time worker at Norisu’s Auto Shop. The only thing that prevented her from giving her… Everything, her everything was the fact that she was eagerly awaiting some sort of contact from him, a call or even a text message. But that was fine with her. After all she was just given a chance from the heavens to get much closer, or at least that was what her friend said. Either way, she agreed with it completely. It was just a Monday morning, he might’ve been tired, so, as Kyoko saw it, this would be the optimum day of the week he’d call her.

Then, at three o’clock in the afternoon, he called. Overjoyed at this, Kyoko quickly agreed to his suggestion of a date this Saturday. He’d pick her up at the Shibukawa train station and they’d decide what to do afterwards.

When Saturday came along, Kyoko took extra care in dressing her cutest. She stood at the station patiently waiting for her Prince to arrive in his precious FD. Only he didn’t. He came of course, but in a different car. He said that he borrowed his brother’s car, a white FC, the predecessor of their car, because his was still unavailable.

Cruising along, he asked her where she’d like to go, as he wanted to thank her letting him use her car for the race. Admitting that she wasn’t fond of lively places, they decided to hang around Gunma to enjoy. He brought her around for some sightseeing, where the topic of her following him during races came up. She didn’t mind whether he ignored her during his races, but she still wanted to go, to watch him drive. Also, there was still the possibility that she could end up helping him again, like she did last time. He chuckled at her persistence warmheartedly, calling her innocent, or maybe pure. Not wanting to continue this conversation now, he announced that he was hungry and took her to a restaurant.

In the restaurant, Kyoko encountered another one of those moments where she felt so warm and fuzzy inside that she’d love to stay there, forever. She imagined that, sitting there with her Darling, others would perceive them as a dating couple, rather than what they really were.

After picking up the bill, Keisuke brought Kyoko out to his home course, Mount Akagi for a drive, and some privacy. Going up the mountain, Kyoko couldn’t help but admire how he drove, the smoothness of his driving, the way he seemed to handle the pedals so gently on that winding road, way he seemed to make the forces when one shifts up disappear. And to think, he was speeding up that mountain pass. When they got to the peak, she didn’t fail to compliment him on such.

He told her that he wasn’t really trying, but that he was just being gentler on the car as they weren't in any sort of competition then. When he was racing though, he was a lot rougher on the car, putting a lot of stress on it. So he was driving normally, he had the tendency to baby his car.

Their conversation was interrupted by two guys who drove up and recognized Keisuke, noting that it was pretty rare for him to be in the company of a lady. They asked, quite cheekily, whether or not Kyoko was his girlfriend. The comment made Kyoko blush, while the male FD racer shooed them away, literally.

Slightly frustrated, he began talking about how he used to hang out with a bad sort of crowd when he was younger and hadn't gotten his license yet, he was rebellious and caused a lot of trouble. He felt that he had no goal in life, so he was bored and irritable, and just went around doing things he considered stupid now. In her heart, Kyoko could empathize with that feeling.

His parents had pretty much given up on him, but not his brother. One night, his brother took him to the mountain they were at now, and drove downhill so fast that Keisuke thought he was committing a double suicide. That was his life-changing experience, and hardly anything was the same then. He added that he felt that he hadn't surpassed that downhill ride, even three years after, although this seemed so unbelievable.

After Kyoko expressed her amazement at his story, he returned to the topic he had cut off earlier. He seemed to have a hard time saying it, but he said it, he apologized then said that he had no intention of dating anybody while being a racer of Project.D so he asked her not to chase after him anymore.

She couldn’t understand it. Explaining that she didn’t really expect him to return her feelings, Kyoko just wanted to go and see him. She told him the feelings she had in her heart, what she was thinking and feeling all day, her emotions of happiness and gratitude to him for being so kind to her all day, and the feeling of finally getting close to him. She understood how important Project.D was for him and how he had to do his best. But wasn’t it enough for her to just stand in the sidelines and watch? Apparently not.

For him, Kyoko couldn’t just settle for watching, not for long anyway. He could identify with her; he knew that if she had a taste of what she wanted, she would want everything. He knew that if she continued to chase after him, she’d only get hurt.

She had been trying to hold them in, but she couldn’t help it now. Kyoko held both her hands against her face and cried into them. She felt his hand rest on her shoulder, as if to reach out some sort of comfort to her. Everything, was this the end of everything they had been through so far? She didn’t want it to end so emptily. So she made a request of him. She asked him to let her ride by his side as he went full-throttle down Mount Akagi.

When he agreed to it, she dried her eyes as they walked back to the white beast waiting to be unleashed on the road before them. And when he started racing the mountain, she found her amazement being replenished. Switching her view from him to the road, to him again, she knew it; the driving that she was experiencing now was completely different from the one he showed to her earlier.

Amidst the amazing driving and her growing admiration for him, she found herself hurting once more. She didn’t want it to end. She wanted to stay with him, because to her, he was the one and only, he was special. Tears streamed from the sides of her eyes, as she decided that it was impossible for another man to be better than him, or even as good. How could she even fall in love with another?

She could do nothing else. She just sat there in the borrowed car with her hands pressed against her face, weeping.

A few days after that, Kyoko and her best friend, Mayumi, agreed to meet at the café they frequented, to talk.

0 pokes: