Realism

Ok, I just finished the one-shot. And I hope to keep it that way. Bitin. Tweaked it a bit, but nothing major.


The woman stared at the black beast silently, plotting down several simulations in her mind. This was a much tougher challenge than her normal ones, from racing or being a psychology student. Being emotionally attached to something made that certain thing a whole lot more complicated. Love definitely sucked.

The beast stopped and parked parallel to her precious RX8, her eyes stalking every moment of the way. As the driver stepped out of his car, she raised her hand as a cursory greeting, seeing him nod and smile, made her drop it.

Sudo Kyouichi didn’t know why he was here, exactly anyway. But such was his relationship with this girl, on some matters, no questions were asked. He closed the door with much care, holding the handle up to secure its locking. He let his fingers glide over his prized possession for a moment before approaching.

He tugged his jacket closer to him; glad, he had even brought one. The mountains were much cooler than the plains and valleys of Japan, especially during autumn, and of course winter. The well-built man watched her turn her head and silently suggest that they move the way she was directing, in this case it was the area where the plateau met the ravine, the cliff.

She leaned against the guardrails as she reached them. It left her with a few more seconds to think. Did she really want this?

She had been making several very rash decisions lately, most of which she was left still unsure whether to regret or not. Her decisions to help and support, her decision to be closer, but professional, her decision to be intimate, but not intimate, not in that way at least.

Kyouichi’s family was terribly worried for him when word had gotten to them that he had been in an accident, a racing accident. But apparently, he had been saved by his teammate, who had been kicked out then re-initiated quite recently. The guy named Iwaki Seiji, she’d have to keep an eye out for him; she wanted to psychoanalyze him on his reason why he saved his then enemy. Anyway, Kyouichi ended up having to stay in the hospital Ryousuke was currently taking residency at.

His family visited him, but they were worried about the confused mental state he was in. He was wondering the same thing as everybody, including her. She decided to take the job without pay since she was worried about her old friend herself, and it wouldn’t do to charge a family of family friends of something she was personally interested in herself.

There I go again, Yuzuki thought. I knew I swore off being too friendly with people for a reason.

When she got to his room, she was deeply touched and amused at his state. The man was wearing a neck brace, combined with his white bandana, which he never seemed to take off anymore, along with his platinum blond hair; he looked like a half-used cotton bud. In addition, he had that curious pensive look when he was in deep thought.

It was then when her damn feelings began to get the better of her again, and with the same man no less.

Kyouichi stopped when he was a few feet in front of his ex-girlfriend. “Yuzuki…” Her eyes seemed to awaken from her reverie of rocks and boulders at the bottom of the cliff. She seemed to study him, making him feel terribly conscious of the fact that he had been wearing the same sweatshirt for almost four days now.

“I'm sure you're wondering why I asked you to come…” He nodded slowly, as if comprehension were his weak point. She scratched the top of her head before running her hand through it, a nervous habit of hers, he knew. He wanted to draw closer to her, slip his arms around her slim waist and pull her into a deep hug, of which true meaning had become undefined for both of them.

“I don’t want to waste your time, so I’ll get to the point.” She seemed to choke on her words before continuing, “It was more or less an unspoken agreement between us that after we… grew apart, we broke up.” He blushed reflexively, so it was that topic, he expected as much.

It was common knowledge in their world, the racing world, that Sudo Kyouichi of the dominant Emperor team in Tochigi and Takahashi Ryousuke of the RedSuns and Project.D, which had reached their impossible, nearly impossible, goal with only one huge pothole, were once close friends. It wasn’t common knowledge though that the Sudos, Takahashis, and Kamajis were childhood friends. After all, the gossipers could only dig so deep.

Their family lived in Tokyo at the time; their childhood was spent being the good little children they were, in school, at each other’s houses, and inevitably the track. Little Sudo Kyouichi and Kamaji Yuzuki were best friends, who soon after the Takahashis moved to Gunma, became attached. Their middle school and high school years were spent holding hands and finding ways to excel at their particular forte while helping the other with their weakness.

Many memorable memories were made. Many firsts, but the most significant first was made after the Sudo family had moved to Tochigi. The two managed to keep their relationship throughout high school, and then cars.

All of them, both Takahashi brothers, all three of the Sudo siblings, and the Kamaji twins were into cars. Why was a mystery yet to be tackled and answered by them or their parents. So when the first batch, Ryousuke, Kyouichi, Kaisuke, and Yuzuki turned eighteen, they immediately got into the obvious field of street racing.

Racing was very difficult to master. It took hours of practice (and deep wallets) so that was exactly what they sacrificed. Soon, the two men who live in the Northern Kanto region began their rivalry like never before. And as their competition intensified, like the blazing racing spirit they harnessed in their hearts, even they had to admit that they were neglecting some things, some things.

The two slightly younger ones couldn’t blame them for not keeping in contact though, for when they got their licenses, the exact same thing happened to them. The twins spent their free time burning rubber on the mountain passes nearer to their area, all the while being guided around the new world by their elder cousin, who incidentally was a very good racer.

Yuzuki bit on the inside of her cheek before she continued once more, “Neither of us were too concerned with dating or being attached, I suppose we were too busy…” She blushed; this certainly wasn’t a comfortable subject.

Kyouichi watched her expression, before sighing and moving to the stop left of her. He took her hand in his and just clutched at it. “Yuzuki.” He said letting his eyes close. “I probably know you better than anyone else, so I know what you’re trying to say.” When he opened his eyes and turned to her, she was staring at him with her inquisitive eyes.

He didn’t want to back away. Not this time. Kyouichi brought her hand to his lips as an extended kiss. He closed his eyes again and leaned his head slightly forward. He then let an understanding smile spread across his lips. “I… I still love you.”

Time stopped for both of them at that instance. The words cutting through the thick autumn air of the pass had a certain effect for the slightly younger woman. She had little problem understanding things said, certainly ones in such simple terms.

Seconds passed, and her heart began racing wildly in her heart, like the cliché of romances. If they weren't leant against the guardrail, holding them, preventing them from falling into the dark ravine, she would have jumped-hugged him in that instance. Instead, she would show him her feelings, and what she had decided to do with them.

She stood up, making the guardrail relinquish its control over her body. Yuzuki held onto his hand and tugged at it, silently urging him to stand up as well. And he did. He opened his eyes and stared down at his best friend for the most part of his life. He released her hand in favor for wrapping his arms around her in a warm and longing hug.

Her arms were pressed between their bodies; she released their grasp of each other in favor of holding them against his muscular torso. She closed her eyes and leaned against him.

“You never answered me, Yuzuki.” He said after maintaining that pose for a few minutes. One of his hands was now running its fingers through her dark black tresses. Her silence was enough of a question for him. You, know…” He said hiding his blush against the top of her hair.

“I see…” The slightly younger woman said. She was facing him, or his chest to be precise. “Well, I hope this will be enough of an answer.” She continued, letting her hands glide to his face to cup his cheeks. Yuzuki tilted her head up while he did the same in reverse. And they did what any man and woman in love would do in their position. They kissed.

Being Compelled to Write

I don't understand why, but when we had our English narrative project, I was hardly in the mood to write, but just a while ago, I scratched up four pages of yellow pad writing. Either way, before I get there, we just had our two first exams earlier. Trigonometry and Chinese.

Chinese was... surprisingly easy. I think I did pretty well, for my standard anyway. That means my class standing will defintely go up this quarter. Considering my average for the previous quarter really sucked, I think it was 76, or something equally shameful. And to think in grade four I used to be an honor student in Chinese as well.

Speaking of honors, I haven't been on the list since, what, early second year? My grades have been steadily declining. Sob. I remember my standard was about 88+ for my average, but so far (as a junior) I haven't got anything better than a lousy 86.something. Damnit. Although I wonder if my average will improve this quarter... It probably will, but I'm worried about my Filipino, and Trigonometry. The thing is my grades in Algebra and Filipino fluctuate alot. Whenever my Algebra grades are up, my Filipino goes and drops, but when my Filipino grades are up, my Algebra is up.

Anyway, I was able to take an hour and a half nap. So, that was a piece of peace making my visit worthwhile considering I've been lacking such for the past few days.

My ficlet, not too impressive, but, hey, I like it. It dwells on the extremely common theme, romance. Bleh!

So, here I present my lastest (unfinished) work, Realism.

The woman stared at the black beast silently, plotting down several simulations in her mind. This was a much tougher challenge than her normal ones, from racing or being a psychiatrist. Racing emotionally attached to something made that certain thing a whole lot more complicated. Love definitely sucked.

The beast stopped and parked parallel to her precious RX8, her eyes stalking every moment of the way. As the driver stepped out of his car, she raised her hand as a cursory greeting, seeing him smile and nod, made her drop it.

Sudo Kyouichi didn’t know why he was here, exactly anyway. But such was his relationship with this girl, on some matters, no questions were asked. He closed the door with much care, holding the handle up to secure its locking. He let his fingers glide over his prized possession for a moment before approaching.

He tugged his jacket closer to him; glad, he had even brought one. The mountains were much cooler than the plains and valleys of Japan, especially during autumn, and of course winter. The well-built man watched her turn her head and silently suggest that they move the way she was directing, in this case it was the area where the plateau met the ravine, the cliff.

She leaned against the guardrails as she reached them. It left her with a few more seconds to think. Did she really want this?

She had been making several very rash decisions lately, most of which she was left still unsure whether to regret or not. Her decisions to help and support, her decision to be closer, but professional, her decision to be intimate, but not intimate, not in that way at least.

Kyouichi’s family was terribly worried for him when word had gotten to them that he had been in an accident, a racing accident. But apparently, he had been saved by his teammate, who had been kicked out then re-initiated quite recently. The guy named Iwaki Seiji, she’d have to keep an eye out for him; she wanted to psychoanalyze him on his reason why he saved his then enemy. Anyway, Kyouichi ended up having to stay in the hospital Ryousuke was currently taking residency at.

His family visited him, but they were worried about the confused mental state he was in. He was wondering the same thing as everybody, including her. She decided to take the job without pay since she was worried about her old friend herself, and it wouldn’t do to charge a family of family friends of something she was personally interested in herself.

There I go again, Yuzuki thought. I know I swore off being too friendly with people for a reason.

When she got to his room, she was deeply touched and amused at his state. The man was wearing a neck brace, combined with his white bandana, which he never seemed to take off anymore, along with his platinum blond hair; he looked like a half-used cotton bud. In addition, he had that curious pensive look when he was in deep thought.

It was then when her damn feelings began to get the better of her again, and with the same man no less.

Kyouichi stopped when he was a few feet in front of his ex-girlfriend. “Yuzuki…” Her eyes seemed to awaken from her reverie of rocks and boulders at the bottom of the cliff. She seemed to study him, making him feel terribly conscious of the fact that he had been wearing the same sweatshirt for almost four days now.

“I'm sure you're wondering why I asked you to come…” He nodded slowly, as if comprehension were his weak point. She scratched the top of her head before running her hand through it, a nervous habit of hers, he knew. He wanted to draw closer to her, slip his arms around her slim waist and pull her into a deep hug, of which true meaning had become undefined for both of them.

“I don’t want to waste your time, so I’ll get to the point.” She seemed to choke on her words before continuing, “It was more or less an unspoken agreement between us that after we… grew apart, we broke up.” He blushed reflexively, so it was that topic, he expected as much.

It was common knowledge in their world, the racing world, that Sudo Kyouichi of the dominant Emperor team in Tochigi and Takahashi Ryousuke of the RedSuns and Project.D, which had reached their impossible, nearly impossible, goal with only one huge pothole, were once close friends. It wasn’t common knowledge though that the Sudos, Takahashis, and Kamajis were childhood friends. After all, the gossipers could only dig so deep.

Their family lived in Tokyo at the time; their childhood was spent being the good little children they were, in school, at each other’s houses, and inevitably the track. Little Sudo Kyouichi and Kamaji Yuzuki were best friends, who soon after the Takahashis moved to Gunma, became attached. Their middle school and high school years were spent holding hands and finding ways to excel at their particular forte while helping the other with their weakness.

Many memorable memories were made. Many firsts, but the most significant first was made after the Sudo family had moved to Tochigi. The two managed to keep their relationship throughout high school, and then cars.

All of them, both Takahashi brothers, all three of the Sudo siblings, and the Kamaji twins were into cars. Why was a mystery yet to be tackled and answered by them or their parents. So when the first batch, Ryousuke, Kyouichi, Kaisuke, and Yuzuki turned eighteen, they immediately god into the obvious field of street racing.

Racing was very difficult to master. It took hours of practice (and deep wallets) so that was exactly what they sacrificed. Soon, the two men who live in the Northern Kanto region began their rivalry like never before. And as their competition intensified, like the blazing racing spirit they harnessed in their hearts, even they had to admit that they were neglecting some things, some things.

The two younger ones couldn’t blame them for not keeping in contact though, as when they got their licenses, the exact same thing happened to them.


Ah, well, I'm stuck from there on.

A Decline in Faith: Chapter 4 - Hopeful-Redemption

Chapter 4 – Hopeful-Redemption

-_-_-_

What did it really mean to be immature? Does wanting what is before you to be an illusion just because it isn't, as you want it to be mean that you are immature? Who would blame you after all? If things don’t go your way, you'd want it to change for your own purposes.

Would facing up to reality be a justifiable for maturity? Was it that simple? She hardly

But getting a reality check, essentially, solved nothing. It wouldn’t do anything to save her dear mother, and it certainly wouldn’t do anything to reduce the feelings she had for her Darling. It just showed that you weren't foolish enough to not see the truth and knew how to discern fact from fiction.

Kyoko sat up in her bed, pillow still on her lap. If she really wanted to do something to alleviate the problem on hand, she had to get up and do something. Sitting still would only make matters worse for her family, her daddy in particular. She had to have the determination and initiative to help save her mother. Just like what she had with her Prince – which she still, regardless of what had been happening, didn’t want to give up on – only now it was to save and keep something rather than earning ang gaining one. She mustn’t lost hope; after all, did the doctor say that her mom was going to die tomorrow?

She had to – jump! As the phone, which she obviously did not bother to switch off or silence last night, startled her out of her reverie. Taking a relieved breath, as she pressed one hand against her chest, murmuring something about the ceiling and lightning, she peered at the caller display. It was Nobuhiko. That increased the intrigue on her part, her team leader hardly ever, ever called her in the morning.

The young woman pressed the small green button of her phone warily, “Nobuhiko?”

“Kyoko, sorry to call you at school,” He sounded strangely out of breath for the office geek he was, although she didn’t have any intention of telling him that anytime soon, “I hope I didn’t catch you in one of your classes.”

“No, I stayed home today… What’s wrong?” She then pointed out her observation.

His voice seemed more animated than usual, “Our team was just challenged.” There was a somewhat dramatic pause, which would have had its full effect if it were not for his enthusiasm for continuing his speech, “The challenge came from some guys from Tochigi. The leader just came up to me after I got out from the meeting in the office and challenged us. I wouldn’t be surprised if they found out about us from the Project.D site then decided on challenging us as well.”

She was now in full racer mode and all hyped-up, “What was the name of the team anyway? When is the race?”

“The guys didn’t tell me which team he came from, but I was passing-by the parking lot and he just pointed to his car. I saw his tag, but that’s all I know. He just said that he’d bring some of his teammates to that family restaurant near Shomaru later, so we can discuss the details of the race.”

Kyoko cocked her head to one side, curious, “Then how do you know that this guy is a serious competitor?”

“Well, how do I say this, I can't be certain on this by facts, but this guy had some kind of aura. When he was standing by his car, I could sense that he was an amazing racer; it was as if he had some sort of invisible sphere that made me sense a strong upholding of pride.”

“Right…” After another short pause, she felt somewhat compelled to fill the strange silence, “So… What time is the meeting?”

“Six o’clock…”

If he were there, she would have raised her quizzical eyebrow at him, but as he was not, the wall became his unwilling and unwitting proxy. Kyoko wanted to ask him what was up, with him that is. How did he suddenly lose his cool? But it didn’t seem to be the time or place for that, and… He snapped her out of the realms of her mind again.

“Will you race for us?” He asked solemnly. It was really strange habit of his. It was pretty much a silent agreement in their team right now that she was their uphill representative during races, but he still asked every time. This time though, it was the perfect question, in timing and context.

She was silent for a moment before she apologized to him, just as seriously, “I’m sorry, Nobuhiko, but the chances that I can are really very slim.” The young racer said this as she turned to the floorboards of her bedroom. That motion seemed to be her initial reaction to feelings of guilt, embarrassment, and simply not knowing what to say next.

It seemed to be a day of surprises for he elder racer, as he sensed a deeper meaning to this. “Oh… Can you tell me why?” When she kept quiet if only for a few “ah”s and “uh”s, he spoke once more, “You know, it’s fine if you can't tell me.”

She replied with a hushed thanks and all right.

There was yet another not-so-lengthy quiet where Nobuhiko took the chance to ask the question that was most vital as a team leader of a racing team, “I don’t mean to be insensitive, Kyoko, but do you think you'd be able to race? The race would probably be within this month…”

She shook her head to his proxy, “I don’t know, but I don’t think so…”

With that, the man had no choice to hang up, no matter how worried for his friend he was. There were just somethings you just won't get if you try to force it out. That he had to learn the hard way. As for Kyoko, although she realized that she had an added distraction in her life, she knew exactly what she had to focus on.

~~~

Iwase Miwako sat there, trying to be patient with her cross-stitch. It really, simply wasn’t her thing. She could stare at pages of T-accounts, trial balances, balance sheets, income statements, and whatnot, but when it came to doing what she called menial work, she’d much rather suggest financial decisions to multi-national corporation, even with the risk of losing millions, or perhaps, even billions.

Her doctor had suggested that she get into something, some sort of hobby that made use of her hands, increased their dexterity, he said. But she had to point out that typing up documents made use of her fingers; typing improved the dexterity of her fingers as, didn’t they? And they were something she was already used to and was quite – very – willing to do.

In her opinion, you can only do something well if you were really willing to do it. You could perform in it, in her case cross-stitching, but you could only go so far. She hated it. But doctor suggested it, (She couldn’t think of anything else that could be considered a substitute for it. When she suggested typing, Doctor Asashi gave her a look.) and she trusted this doctor. Although if he was fooling with her on this, she swore she’d smack the silly.

Either way, Miwako was frustrated from struggling with it for twenty minutes now and was now ready to put (shove) it aside when her daughter entered the room. The young woman’s eyes brightened suddenly when she noticed what her mother was doing.

“Mom…” Her eyes were on her mother initially, but on approach they dropped to what she had in her hands. She leaned over and stared at the mis-done handiwork. “When did you start getting into this?”

Miwako smiled. It appeared that her daughter didn’t want to bring up the topic. She hardly minded though, as she loathed having it brought up. Instead, she laughed. “This?! I've never been into it, and probably never will be! I mean, look at what I've done so far, it’s a mess!” Kyoko couldn’t help but giggle at the remarks. Miwako shook her head and smiled, pleased at her daughter’s reaction.

She knew her condition, understood it – to a certain extent – and was hopeful. Honestly, if she died, she hoped to leave a valuable legacy, something her daughter could learn from.

“Mom, do you want something?” Kyoko asked when she turned to the tiled area they called a kitchen.

Already she was seeing some changes. She didn’t mean it to, but she had to admit that they had spoiled their child. How glad that she wasn’t a brat couldn’t be described, but Kyoko was used to a life where, apart from her racing and that shockingly spiky guy she seemed to be chasing after, she didn’t have to reach too far for something she wanted. She was a sweet and kind, but that was her nature. Her nurture was, on the other hand, not as considerate. She even went through some sort of phase during teenager years.

That time was a difficult one for the family. Somehow, she blamed herself for part of it. They, she and Konousuke, were working very hard through that time, that Asian crisis period. They were too late into it when they realized that they were practically ignoring their only daughter. Regrettably, they were only able to take their heads out of the green paper bag when she was seventeen and messing around in school.

Now, the personality change was practically a turn-around. Some of her habits and interests she acquired there still were still retained to this day, such as the habit of visiting the clouds at intervals of time, and that horrid interest of street racing. Her father was completely against it. He even threatened to hide the keys away once just to get his precious daughter away from all those speeding cars, and those ancient winding roads up in the mountains. That was one of the reasons why her husband was intent on taking the project of remaking the mountain roads himself.

That reminded Miwako of something, “Kyoko.” Her voice traveled to where her daughter was cutting up some fruit for them to snack on. With the reply, she made hers as well, “Your father told me to inform you that they finally got the project he has been aiming for.”

She, apparently, just nodded as she washed the knife she used and brought the small platter to the living area. “Really? Which project?” For a driver, and a racer, Kyoko showed remarkably little interest in the road developments her father worked on.

Miwako had long set the stringy work aside, and pressed her free finger against one side of her cheek, “I don’t remember the name of it, but he said that it was a mountain road. I think it’s the one you usually drive on. Sada-something…”

“Sadamine Pass?” She completed the word, hoping that she was wrong.

“Yes, yes that it! He said that they’d put up the announcement next Friday.”

“Oh… That’s…” She wanted to say great, but it wasn’t, not for her or the other racers on Sadamine. They had to practice to keep their skill-levels high, and they couldn’t exactly wait the couple of months, of which her father’s project was sure to last. If so, the racers would have to practice on some other course out there, and who knew whether the other teams would be as agreeable to them. The crestfallen look on Kyoko’s face wasn’t unnoticed by her mother.

~~~

She had tried to get in contact with her leader, but to no avail. Looking up at the clock, it read one thirty-nine. As she pressed her forehead against her desk, she sighed. What could she do but call him later? For now, she had to acquire her notes and study. It was a good thing that she had all her stuff at home. Raising her head she dialed a different number.

The ringing seemed to go on for her indefinitely and just before she imagined her phone would switch to redial mode, Sakaki Saiko halted the incessant noise with a quick greeting, “Hello? Iwase-san?”

Leaning against her left fist, Kyoko answered, “Uh, yes, Sakaki-san. Sorry to bother you like this.”

“It’s fine. I was just going to start reviewing, so you caught me at just the right time.” She heard the soft clatter of something on the other side of the phone. Kyoko guessed that her seatmate had dropped the pen she had such a habit of twirling. “Why didn’t you come to class today anyway?”

She should've expected this question, “I… I'd rather not talk about it…”

“Oh… Ok then.” Saiko turned to tapping her chin with one end of her pen as she thought, “Well, then, I'll just send the stuff over to your email. Also, Shibuya-sensei announced a test on Wednesday, so I'll send the topics included as well. Just wait a minute, or two.”

When Kyoko logged into her account she saw what her friend had just sent her. She accessed the files, browsed them for a moment, before sending Saiko a quick thanks.

At three o’clock, she was practically done with her studies when she just remembered that she had to make an excuse for herself at work, deciding on finishing what was spread out before her first. And when they were completed, she clicked away through her phone’s memory until she reached the entry for Norisu. There, she got directed to the nice receptionist, who agreed to pass the message on to her superiors.

“Well, that turned out pretty well…” She said to herself while stretching her arms over her head and bending back over the rest of her chair, feeling as satiated as her napping kitty on the rug not a room away.

There was a knock on her door, “Kyoko. May I come in?”

Mom? “Yeah, sure…”

When the matron entered, it was as if the lines on her aging face had gotten much deeper than they were this morning. “Asashi-sensei just contacted me and requested that I go to the hospital, immediately. I’ve already notified your father, so he’s on the way.”

Worry filled her heart once again. When her mom turned around, she asked, “Mom, can I come, too?”

A Decline in Faith: Chapter 3 - High Tension Battle From Within

Disclaimer: fita doesn’t own Initial D.

Chapter 3 – High Tension Battle From Within

-_-_-_

Kyoko pulled her knees ever closer to her chest, sandwiching her pillow between, tears leaking from the sides of her eyes as she stifled the sobs that were wracking her body. This had been going on for more than an hour no. She imagined that her supply of tears had run out, but surprisingly, they were still flowing. It was ten, her stomach was complaining, but her mind couldn’t stand the thought of taking anything in.

The state the young racer was in was caused by the sudden revelation her parents had revealed to her.

~~~

“Kyoko, dear,” Her mother began in her uncharacteristic gentle voice, “We’ve got something to… tell you…”

Slightly stunned, the star of the Saitama team stared at the matriarch of her family. She attempted to speak, but only a silent, “What is wrong mom?” came out.

Her old man, kneeled beside his wife and looked up at her sadly, “Miwako… Darling, don’t force yourself…” He stroked her hand gently before kissing it tenderly.

The look on the elderly woman’s face was of determined pain, “Your father and I, we just came from the hospital,” The beginning of her announcement made Kyoko’s heart only thump harder in her chest, “Actually, we’ve been going there for the past few weeks, but today we got the confirmation of our… inquiries…”

Konousuke, her father, seemed to take a deep breath before speaking, “What we’re trying to tell you, Kyoko, is that…”

Kyoko’s mother, tightened her grip on her husband’s hands as she shushed him, “Konou… I think it would be better if I were the one to tell her…” She shook her head when he attempted to persuade her otherwise. Intimidation and anxiety filled Kyoko’s heart as she watched her parents. Her mother almost never interrupted her husband, not because of some overbearing fear, but rather of love and respect for him. Her parents looked into each other’s eyes for a few meaningful seconds before the woman continued, “I've got an… [1]advanced case of breast cancer.”

The statement seemed to reverberate in her mind; also, it seemed to slip into one ear then crawl out from the other. As was the case, the girl gaped and asked in quite a shocked tone, “What?!” It seemed though that the words were in her head long enough for her to understand it, unbelieving at the same time.

“I’ve got cancer dear…” Her mother’s demeanor totally changed. It was as if she had resigned herself to the thought and simply leaned back.

Kyoko’s eyes got dangerously shiny, as her fist seemed to have frozen into the form they were currently, clamped shut. She tried to form words of comfort; perhaps she could even draw out some words of wisdom, but to no avail. Her mind seemed to have decided to shut down and blank itself, for its own sake.

Konousuke seemed to have tensed up upon hearing those words leave his wife’s own mouth. Right now though, he was most concerned for his dear daughter. She certainly wasn’t taking the news any better than they had, when they first heard it. He rushed over to Kyoko, holding his twenty-ish daughter close to him. He hoped he could ease up his daughter as he used to his wife.

He held her even tighter when he felt her wrap her arms around him and press her face against his shoulder, soon the area of which she had pressed it began to moisten up.

~~~

How could she react like this? She was twenty-one years old! How could she react so immaturely?! Her mother was sick, terminally sick, and what was she doing for her? Making her situation worse, that stupid little scene she had pulled in the living room. She should be supporting her mother right now, not cooping up in her inner sanctum. How selfish of her… These were the thoughts roaming free in the enclosure that was her mind.

Regardless of what went through her head, she couldn’t bring herself to pull herself together and plod over to her parents room to talk about this.

Hours later, Kyoko was sprawled out on her bed. She had fallen asleep from crying. It was horrible for her in multiple ways for her, emotionally, mentally, and physically.

When she finally looked up, the first things she saw was the plain wall calendar pasted against her door. Yesterday was a Sunday; today was a Monday, deducing from the bright light coming from her accursed windows, it wasn’t too early in the day anymore. She bit her lower lip before she dared to glance at her clock. Yep, the time supported her guess; it was eleven o’clock.

She loathed to get up, to face the reality that was just beyond her bedcovers and mattress.

For whatever reason her mind came up with, she decided that if she was already two hours late for her class, she may as well miss it and ask Sakaki-san, her seatmate in her classes for the day, for the notes he had taken down, just so she could linger on her bed just a bit longer. And if that were to happen, she may as take a day off, for personal reasons… That basis seemed suitable enough.

Sighing, she pulled one of her smaller pillows against her and wishes for this to all be nothing but an illusion, a dream.


My apologies to those who don’t like Kyoko’s parent’s names. Also, I know the first part was overly dramatic, and kinda corny, and extremely predictable, but I’m already rushing this story… So, yeah, another apology for it being pathetically short. :P

A Decline in Faith: Chapter 2 – The Widening of Eyes

Disclaimer: Initial D does not belong to fita, nor does HMV, the cars, and all the other things I really wish did belong to me…

Chapter 2 – The Widening of Eyes
-_-_-_


The sunny Sunday morning sun found Kyoko lying on her bed half-asleep and staring at the photo of her darling on her bedside table. Her eyes fluttered as she reached up to rub the morning dust off her eyes. Reaching for her small black cat alarm, which she had violently slammed on when it dared to meow, she realized she had, once again, slept in. Stretching her arms over her head, she yawned and headed for the bathroom.

Minutes later, a different cat watched its master leave her room to find a meal her dear mother had prepared for her earlier in the morning. Accompanying the fried egg, fish, soup, and rice was a small note written in her mom’s ever-patient hand. “Kyoko,” She read, “your father and I will be out for the rest of the day. Don’t bother waiting up for us later, we may go out and watch a movie.”

The receiver of the note and meal smiled to herself. Typical of her parents to leave a note, why her parents seemed to treat “unnecessary” items of technology with disdain, simply escaped her. She could imagine her parents riding a carriage to work, if it were available, very vividly. Either way, she only found that trait made her old-fashioned parents dearer to her.

Another thing that she really found endearing about her parents, her mother particularly, was that she insisted on her daughter eating a full meal, at the very least on Sundays. Although, quite honestly, I don’t see why you are dieting in the first place, fine, worry about your figure. That seems to be what all the kids your age are doing, but you have to feel filled at least once in a while, or you won't even be happy, regardless of your weight. When I was your age, your father courted me, regardless of what I looked like. Now look where we are today… Her mother, the accountant, seemed to love talking about how fiery her relationship with her husband was when they were Kyoko’s age.

Her father was just as close to her heart as her mom was, but only in a different way. If her mother only, seriously, shut up, it was because of her work. Her father, on the other hand, only seemed to speak up when he was at work. He worked in an engineering firm; more appropriately, owned and headed it. At home, he usually just sat down and read the remaining parts of the newspaper he hadn't finished earlier in the day. Her dad was the type of person who would only attempt something if no one else could succeed in it. So, he usually was the one who ended up cheering up his daughter when his wife couldn’t do so. This trait also explained why his firm was so successful.

So, she still lived with her parents, all the while envying their successes in life. She envied the fact that they married whom they loved. She envied the fact that they both knew what they wanted in life, and had acquired it. She envied the fact that they were happy.

Setting down her now empty teacup, Kyoko started cleaning up the table. After piling what she had eaten from in the sink, she picked up the small black following her and pressed her nose against the back of Miko’s fluffy head. After listening to the pleased purring from her cat of more than four years, she set the said cat back down then started on the dishes, but not before glancing at the kitchen wall clock behind her. It was almost eleven o’clock; she had about an hour before she met with her friend to accompany her with her shopping. She paused a minute when she remembered why her friend was so insistent on the help.

“Darling…”

~~~

Kyoko pressed on the brakes gently; trying to copy the delicate handling her Darling showed her only a couple of days ago. Her eyes were focused ahead on the intersection, as she concentrated on how she would control her accelerator and brakes, just waiting (as if daring it) for the light to turn green. She could practice on the touge, she knew that, but she believed that it was better if she tried practicing on normal streets at normal (in the normal sense of normal drivers) speeds.

She sighed when she felt the distinct forces pushing against her as she shifted gears. Her foot was being to heavy against the pedals, even though she started at a pathetically slow pace for her FD. Maybe she was going too fast…? But it was not based on speed, was it? Keisuke was speeding up Mount Akagi, but whole thing felt so smooth, as if they were drifting on silk and at the same time it was as if they were on a roller coaster, where every move was planned out and secure. It was as if street racing was nothing but a calculated risk to him.

“I don’t get it…” She murmured as she went back to her normal pace for public streets. Kyoko decided that it was unlikely that she’d just “stumble” upon how she could achieve that sort of level; that was probably something achieved through constant practice and thinking. While thinking this through, she continued to cruise along the streets, and before she knew it, she was already lining up at the entrance of the parking lot right next to the Gunma mall they agreed to meet at, for whatever strange reason. Taking the ticket, finding a parking space, and doing the actual parking took about more or less five minutes. And in the next minute she was heading towards the bright commercial palace with surprises aplenty.

Taking her time to walk over to the entrance, she let her arms brush against her pants’ pocket then she realized that she had once again forgotten her precious silver cell phone, turning back to retrieve the silver gadget, a certain being just happened to glance her way. The result: a widening of eyes.

~~~

Takahashi Ryousuke, the brilliant doctor-to-be and team leader of the powerhouse team, Project.D, was not one to forget things easily, especially things that had at least some significance to him or his dear little brother, “What is she doing here in (1)Ota?”

“Aniki!” Takahashi Keisuke shouted, albeit softly when compared to his standard, “Where’s the shop again?”

Ryousuke’s eyes remained pensive as he turned to reply to his Otouto, “Let’s go, Keisuke.”

The look was enough to trigger the thinking clogs of Keisuke’s mind as they walked to the nearest escalator and down into the basement.

~~~

Looking up, Kyoko felt some sort of light tingle go up her spine, just as it did whenever something – something – unexpected happened. Holding the phone in her hand, the FD racer headed back over to the entrance where her best friend was heading to – from the inside of – those automatic sliding doors. Mayumi smiled in combination with a raised hand, this served as her cursory greeting as they approached each other.

“So,” Kyoko began, watching the older girl’s expression, “Have you eaten yet?” Her friend raised an eyebrow at her curiously, “It’s just like you looked a bit…”

Mayumi interrupted her quickly, “Never mind that.” She said as she hurriedly waved her hand in front of her face. “We should hurry to the stores during lunch hours, it’s usually less crowded then.” She said nonchalantly, taking her friend’s wrist and practically dragging her to the elevator before the racer could suggest anything else.

“Hey, hey.” Kyoko said, freeing her wrist from her friend’s grip, “What are you shopping for anyway?”

Mayumi stopped and let her back face her friend. It was one of those rare moments when the normally loud one became oddly silent. “Well, you see…” When she turned around, it could be seen that she had turned bright red.

Kyoko’s friend told her story as they strode to the section of the mall they were heading to. The swimsuit department. “You see, Kyoko, we kinda agreed on going out on a special date this summer, I know you know that much. The thing is…” She took a moment to twiddle her thumbs trying to figure out how to break the news to her best friend. “I really want to ‘impress’ him then, but you kinda are aware that my figure is hardly something to be proud of, so apart from having to cut back a bit, I want your help on that by the way.” She said flashing a somehow cheeky grin at her friend, “I also want a bit of advice on something.”

“Advice?”

“Uh, yeah…”

“On what…?”

They stared at each other apprehensively before Mayumi turned away and directed her gaze at the floor instead.

~~~

Minutes later, the two ladies were browsing through the racks swimsuits, while going through their usual discussions. The boutique’s dim spotlights shining down on the mannequins posing on small podiums in the middle of the store, along the wood-paneled walls, appropriately placed mirrors hung. They had a couple of weeks to plan for Mayumi’s date; wasting a weekend was not an option for the louder one of the duo.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to help you there much…” Kyoko said as she flicked through the selection, “Hey, I think this looks kinda nice…”

Mayumi turned her attention away from the piece she had in her hands to peer at her friend’s suggestion. Blinking a few times, the girl gazed at it, scrutinizing it carefully. “It is very cute, but really, a bikini? I may seem confident when I talk and stuff, but I'm not totally confident about my figure, as I’ve told you over and over…” She said pouting a bit and ignoring the look she was getting from the saleslady a few meters away. The racer sighed at put it back on the rack, “Anyway, why not?”

Kyoko looked at her then realized what she was talking about, “Ah… Well, when you asked me to give you some tips to relate to guys more closely, I don’t think I can give you anything there… I’m only close to guys because I, well, ‘associate’ with them a lot. So, it kinda grows from that.” Her friend’s expression fell, just a bit, “But either way, I think just talking to him frankly will help.”

“Right… Talking with him frankly…” Mayumi sighed and resigned to browsing the available choices.

Shaking her head slightly, “Hey, you're the one who asked…”

“I know, I know, you don’t have to remind me.” Then taking a one-piece and holding it in front of her, while facing a mirror and admiring how it might look on her, she continued, “I’m not like you. You have a common interest with guys that’s why talking ‘frankly’ with them works with you, but you know very well that like when you doze off when I talk about lovey-dovey stuff, I doze off when you talk about your cars and stuff.” She crossed her right arm over her stretched left after she put the suit back.

Kyoko looked up and said, “You’ve kinda got a point there… But do you really need another way to ‘bring you two closer’?” Mayumi looked away and to the mannequin posing lifelessly, this went on for a few seconds before Kyoko started waving her hand in front of her friend’s face, “Mayumi? Earth to Mayumi?” Snapping out of her reverie, the racer’s friend brought her attention back to her friend. Kyoko laughed affably, “And you said that I was the one who’s always day dreaming.”

Sticking her tongue out, Mayumi replied whiney-ly, “Well, friends supposedly ‘share’ some of their traits because they spend so much time together.”

Kyoko laughed, “Touché.”

This made her friend laugh as well. “Anyway… As I was supposed to be saying, I want us to be able to talk more freely. I mean, it’s not like we’ve got a whole lot in common, so occasionally, we run out of things to talk to…

“Uh-huh…” If Kyoko could, she would've raised her eyebrow, but it just happened that she was one of those people who didn’t have full control of her eyebrows. “Well, what’s wrong with that?”

“Well, yeah, that’d be a great question to answer, but I can’t quite answer it. It just feels that… It’d be better if there were a continuous flow of things to talk about. I can understand that it’s natural for us to run out of things to talk about, and sometimes it’s kinda romantic. Sometimes it’s just plain awkward…”

“Right…” Watching her friend thoughtfully, Kyoko scratched her cheek before she decided on speaking again. “Well, then I suppose that’d be nice to share some more interests with him… What are the things he’s into anyway?”

Giggling slightly, the slightly older girl answered, “(2)The normal guy stuff! Cars and gadgets that kind of stuff.”

“Wow… Cars and gadgets…” Pausing a moment to think it over, Kyoko continued, “Well, then, what brought you two together in the first place?”

Mayumi beamed brightly, “Well, let’s say that I just bumped into him. Anyway…” The sunny expression on her face set as she continued, “I’ve already told you this story…”

Kyoko’s face took a surprised expression as she pointed to herself, “Eh?” She tried to make the wheels in her head spin as much as her FD’s do while racing, “You bumped into each other while in (3)HMV!” Pausing once again, “Right?”

The slightly older gild stared at her friend silently, taking up a few more moments than necessary, as if to scare her, “Well, you got that right.” Once again she let her smile shine, “At least you were listening at that point.”

The racer looked pleased for a while before her mind process something, “Hey… If I remember this right, weren't you saying that you two end up talking for, like… Three hours? On a regular basis.”

“Yeah… I know I said that. And it’s true! We do end up talking that long, but sometimes that doesn’t happen. I feel that it is partly my responsibility to keep our relationship…” She snapped her fingers as if searching for that invisible word.

Staring at her friend, Kyoko realized that Mayumi was trying her very best to make her romantic venture successful. “All right!” When Mayumi looked at Kyoko curiously, the relatively young racer finished her statement, “I think we should be getting back to business!”

~~~

Almost an hour later, the two girls sat down by the fountain in the center of the surprisingly scarcely populated mall, sipping their take-out iced tea, with the drink to quench their parched-from-talking throats, they could sit there for hours, or for as long as they could without getting into trouble, talking.

Unnoticed by the ladies, two eyes were watching them closely. Quietly, the shadowed figure inched in their direction from across the area. Suddenly, the figure dashed forward, and when the girls noticed his proximity to them, he had already snatched Mayumi’s purse and Kyoko’s phone, which was placed between them, away. The younger girl’s reflexes made her grab on to his sleeve and call out for help, but before anyone could go fort and help them, he had already broken free of her grasp and sprinted away.

As the adrenaline rushed through them, Panic took hold of them till a powerful grip held on to the thief’s wrist and sent the crook forward then back, (4)in accordance with Newton’s Law for Inertia. And lo and behold who took the stolen items back from the thief’s hold and sent the still-unknown man to the ground, it was the (5)Rotary Prince.

He glared at the man who had just been pushed down, “Get out of here already! Scram!” He growled. And when the man got up, in much hurry, Takahashi Keisuke watched him go then faced the victims of the theft. His pulse skipped a few beats when he saw just whom he was about to face. Keisuke glanced at his brother quickly before moving towards the girls. No help from his currently expressionless brother.

The yellow FD driver stretched out his arm to reach out the little white purse to its owner. A word of thanks came from the mouth of the older female, before she turned to her stilled friend. The atmosphere was solemnly silent as she moved away only to stare again at her friend then nudge her a little in the direction of the waiting blond.

Blushing terribly, Kyoko moved forward coyly to take the phone Keisuke was offering wordlessly. Turning her head away, she thought, there has to be some meaning to Darling returning my phone to me two times in a row. The two observers watched as the female rotary racer reached out to her taller counterpart, all as in if in slow motion. As soon as the silver gadget was back in her hands, Kyoko turned it over in her fingers as her habit dictated when she was nervous. “Thank you, Da-,” She blushed once more as she stopped herself, “Keisuke-san…”

He ran his hand through his spiky hair and nodded, “Maybe you should start taking care of that cell phone of yours…” He then looked down, smiled, and turned around to face his Aniki, who just nodded; and so the Takahashi kyoudai walked off to wherever they were heading.

Once that wonderfully momentous, Kyoko’s hands were shaking as she stared after her Darling longingly.

“Kyoko… Was that him…?” A nod to the floor was all that came from the young female racer till she arrived home.

~~~

When that particular racer arrived home, she slipped her sandals off hastily then pushed it in the direction of where they were meant to be, easily noting that her parents were yet to arrive home. She then rushed to her room, clamping tightly to her phone, which suddenly had much more meaning to her emotional heart. Getting to her room, Kyoko dropped off her wallet on her desk and paused when her eye caught the picture by her bed. She moved much slower when she placed her phone delicately by the photo, fingers lingering where she imagined her Darling held it.

“Darling…” Closing her eyes she spoke, envisioning Keisuke standing before her, “Do you think there’s a chance…? After Project.D, that is…” Holding her hands close to her chest, feeling her heartbeat hastening within her.

Her thoughts were rudely interrupted by the entrance of quiet noise from beyond her room. As she moved towards her door and pressed her ear against it, she heard the hushed voices of parents discussing something of severe importance, this she could discern from the tone their voices were in and from simple female intuition. A few moments after the hushed voices were hushed, her hand gripped the door knob and turned it slowly, begging the slightly creaky object to, for once, be silent, to no prevail.

Stepping out, Kyoko felt apprehension heaving against her, as if pushing her back to the privacy of her room to never come out, unless Keisuke himself knocked on her door. Her steady forward motion, commonly labeled as walking, soon brought her to her parents. Mrs. Iwase was sitting on the light colored easy chair by the window, with her husband by her side supportively holding her hands in his.

“Kyoko, dear,” Her mother began in her characteristic gentle voice, “We’ve got something to… tell you…”


Anyway, I don’t think that Kyoko’s really from a rich family, but it’s part of the plot I’m trying to form, so a bit of a modification there. And, I’d have to say, I’m having second thoughts about pairing Kyoko up again, with another guy nonetheless, but either way, the story must go on. We’ll just see where this takes us. :D

Footnotes:
1. Ota is a city in the western part of Gunma, not too far from Takasaki, where the Takahashi live, actually…
2. I’m kinda generalizing this from what I can see anyway. I’m not too close to the guys either so I can only second-guess this kind of stuff.
3. HMV is a music store I found in Hong Kong. It’s awesome, much better than the music stores here in the Philippines anyway. The selection there was amazing, C-Pop, C-Rock, J-Pop, J-Rock, and of course “normal” American music as well. There was loads of anime OSTs there as well, not to mention anime DVDs.
4. I have to apologize for this bit… We just studied Newton’s Laws of Motion when I wrote this…
5. Apparently, this is one of Shigeno’s titles for Keisuke…

A Decline in Faith: Chapter 1 - Devotion

Well, I've already blogged about how we have to make a five-chapter narrative (that's the minimum, the max is supposedly ten chapters) for our quarterly English project, and after that I've already decided on putting it up on fanfiction.net for reviews from fans, now I want my only regular viewer (who is currently banned from the Internet, but I'm hoping that she'll be able to see this soon) to see it. I've already adjusted the typo pointed out by an author on the Initial D fanfiction section, so here it is. The AN version:

This is going to be all about Kyoko. I’ve seen several other Kyoko/Keisuke fics around, but they seem to focus mainly on the mister side of it. He denies her, and quite honestly going how Initial D goes, I doubt they’ll ever really get together, as in canon. But Kyoko seems like such a sweet girl, and in my opinion, she deserves a better ending as well, with a new guy. After a bit of contemplation, there’s only one guy around that would seem like an ok pairing that looks and seems right. Then again, I’m making this whole thing up.

By the way, since this is on Kyoko-focus, her friend (from the café) needs a name, as it would be extremely discomforting to constantly call her “the friend from the café”, so it shall be Mayumi (間弓), for whatever reason that may exist.

Having that said, there is nothing more to warned of.

But the thing is, I’m really making this fic for our English project; it’s supposed to be a “five-chapter narrative” but it can go over five chapters. It’s due in March, and I’d like to improve it as much as possible. So, I really hope that some of you could review and actually suggest stuff I could improve on. And since I doubt that my teacher is actually aware of Initial D, it really doesn’t matter much to me if the characters are out of character or are not in line with the actual canon. My basic concern is that the story is basically good, on an overall basis, and that the characters are acting appropriately human. Oh, and if you spot any, please report any grammatical errors.

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

Chapter 1 - Devotion
-_-_-_

(1)The moment I set my eyes on you, my beautiful darling, my heart fluttered and my senses practically overloaded. I felt a thrill that I can't experience anywhere else, not even racing could make me feel this fulfilled. I love you. And I gave you my heart, but now… I feel so empty inside. My darling, the man I dreamed of for so long, you don’t seem to have any plans of receiving my heart the way I wish. Still, I don’t want to give up. While I breathe, I hope.

~~~

“Kyoko.” Mayumi called out to her friend, gesticulating with her white bendy-straw, “Oi, Kyoko!”

Kyoko jumped slightly in her wooden chair, tipping her glass of iced tea over. “Eh?” She said as she deftly took to wiping the spilled drink with the provided napkin.

As the racer patted the remaining tea, her friend begun once more, “You're all spaced-out again… What’s wrong? I mean, you said you went out with him a few days ago.” Mayumi grinned widely. “Speaking of which, how did it go?”

“Well…” The FD driver stammered as she wiped the moist table.

Mayumi tilted her head slightly, “I expected that you’d be really excited today… Don’t tell me something… unfortunate happened the other day…” As uncertain her voice was, Kyoko’s face expressed an image of undefined anxiousness, her face comparable to the pink jacket she was wearing.

She stammered with her words a bit before she managed to murmur a sentence worth noting, “How can I say this, but he… dumped me.”

Mayumi stared at her for a few moments letting the quiet noise of the café reign between them. “He dumped you?” Kyoko nodded shyly, “What the heck? You just went out on your first date the other day and he dumps you?!” After receiving another nod from her shyer counterpart, Mayumi continued her rant, all the while thinking up of a plan to hook up her reluctant friend up.

After disturbing the other patrons of the café they frequented, Kyoko sighed. Her friend’s complaints only mirrored her own, which she found difficult to express on her own. “Please, don’t say those things. I still want to wait for him, I still think that regardless of what he may say, there is always hope.”

Staring at her friend, disbelief shimmering in her eyes, Mayumi flattened her hands against the wooden top and said, “Then it’s decided!” Drawing her friend’s eyes to her with the finality in her voice, she continued, “I’ll be making sure that you cheer up tonight! Whatever you want, whether racing or going to a club, or whatever. Except!” She said, cutting Kyoko off, “Staying at home for something quiet. You’ve been doing that too much; you need to get out more, Kyoko. All you do is study or work in the morning till the afternoon, and then in the evening, you go out to the touge and either race, or practice your racing.”

It was really difficult to resist such a forceful companion, especially one with a gaze that made sure that you could only nod and follow quietly. And so Kyoko did just that, contemplating a bit she remembered something she really didn’t want to miss.

“So anything up for your side? Because if you don’t have anything in mind, there is this pretty cool club… I mean, the world would be much poorer if it weren't for ladies like ourselves going out on a Saturday night.” Mayumi said resting her elbow on the table and leaning against her upturned hand cheerfully.

Kyoko pursed her lips slightly, “Well, our team leader, said that there is going to be an interesting race tonight. He said that one of the best downhillers in Saitama is going to be racing on Shomaru pass later.”

“Fine! Let’s just hope that there's a cute guy there!” Kyoko smiled, her friend’s cheerfulness was truly contagious.

~~~

Nobuhiko’s ears perked up as he heard the distinct sound of a rotary engine, only expecting one rotary driver tonight, he turned around to watch the black FD exit the final corner and park itself in the space next to his precious Altezza. He was somewhat surprised to see another girl step out of the car, but expected it to happen one day. It only took so long before a racer introduced another person into the world of so much importance to them.

“Nobuhiko,” Kyoko said plainly, “this is my friend, Orikasa Mayumi. Mayumi this is my team leader, Akiyama Nobuhiko.”

Mayumi bowed then said, “Nice to meet you.” Looking up at him, she commented to herself, I hope this isn’t the only kind of guy Kyoko hangs around during these races. Although he looks smart…

Nobuhiko did the same, “Nice to meet you too.” Giving her a quick one-over as well, he nodded before continuing, “So, Mayumi-san, how are you interested in street racing?”

Slightly stunned by the question, she paused before answering, “I wouldn’t say that I'm too interested in it. I certainly don’t intend to become a racer, no offence meant. I’d have to say that I’m just here to make sure Kyoko cheers up.”

Pushing up his glasses, in the classic geek manner, Nobuhiko glanced at Kyoko’s expression. If she has her friend here, he thought, perhaps there was some sort of incident with Takahashi Keisuke. I don’t think I’ll interfere. “Is that so? I hope Kyoko here, has filled you in on the details of the race.”

Kyoko suddenly looked up, exposing the fact that she had once again spaced-out on their conversation. Mayumi smiled good-humoredly, “Kyoko, I swear, one day you have to stop daydreaming and start acting out whatever may be going through your mind.” The racer made a slightly confused face before letting the expression fade back to her normal one.

Nobuhiko smiled at the light-hearted and somewhat one-sided exchange, “So, Kyoko, have you told your friend about the race yet?”

“Er… Not really. I’m not really familiar with those who are racing.”

“The race will be starting in a few minutes, (2)Saitou is at the starting point, he’ll call me when the race has begun. (3)Yokota, on the other hand, is waiting at the goal. My cousin, Wataru, Kyoko, I don’t think you’ve met him yet – for some strange reason - is going to race against some guy named Kudo Gouzou. Wataru drives an AE86 Levin, while Kudo drives an S14.” Nobuhiko said somewhat quickly, “I saw Kudo driving around here once and he was pretty good, somewhat on the impatient type. So, the longer Wataru can make this last, the more the odds will be in his favor.”

Once he stopped speaking, he noticed Mayumi’s confused expression. “Ok, ok, what is a Levin and an S14?”

Nobuhiko chuckled slightly, as Kyoko smiled in the sideline. “A Levin is basically a Toyota Corolla. And the S14 is the Nissan Silvia Q.” Kyoko said, with much less air than Nobuhiko.

“Right… But what’s with the AE86 thing?”

Smiling, a bit on the patronizing side, Nobuhiko said, “AE86 is the chassis code of the particular Corolla. The chassis is basically the frame of the car, so a car can have the same frame, but have different parts on it.” Seeing the confused look on Kyoko’s friend’s face, Nobuhiko decided to stop, if she wasn’t too interested then there wouldn’t be any harm if she didn’t fully understand these concepts.

The ringing of the man’s phone distracted the group’s awkward moment; Nobuhiko picked it up and nodded once after a moment. After a brief thanks, Nobuhiko disconnected the connection and said, “The race has started, we’ll see them pass by us in a few minutes.”

Kyoko nodded then asked, “Who do you think will win?”

“I’m 95% sure that Wataru will win this race. He’s much more skilled than Kudo, and this is his home course. So unless Kudo pulls something off, which is already highly unlikely, the result is very much expected.”

“Right…”

Kyoko sighed inwardly at her friend’s enthusiasm, or obvious lack of. That was to be expected anyway. She and her girl friend moved away a bit, to preserve some semblance of privacy in the company of a relative stranger – at least in Mayumi’s case.

“Ne, Kyoko, Nobuhiko-san here said that you haven't met his cousin yet, but have you heard of him?” She said this in a somewhat gossipy tone, with the accompanying action.

Kyoko nodded and faced her friend once more, “He’s one of the best racers around. You could ask Nobuhiko about him if you’re interested. They are cousins after all.”

Mayumi stared at her friend oddly, then laughed quietly so only Kyoko would see and hear it. “Of course not, silly! I already have a boyfriend. I thought maybe, you guys might be, well… compatible.” She grinned with a mischievous intonation.

The FD driver present gaped at her friend. She was about to act on this shock when the sounds of tires squealing nearby absorbed them. A black and white then gray flash soon appeared in the corner nearest to their gallery. Kyoko shut her mouth (before any dust, exhaust or - god forbid- insects got in) and carefully watched as the older cars raced by. She wasn’t nearly as analytical as her team leader, but she could tell, partly by experience, partly by instinct, that the Levin had the upper hand in more than one way.

When the cars disappeared past the next corner, only then did Mayumi recover from the shock that had her more than momentarily stunned. Nobuhiko amusedly watched her expression of awe then said; “This is probably your first experience watching a street race.”

She turned and nodded then she looked at her best friend, “I wasn’t aware that racing was so…” She trailed of, unknowing how to describe the shock and awe in her. Kyoko smiled slightly, her demeanor returning to its previous cheery state for a moment, before the reason of her “mourning” appeared in her mind once more. At least it’s a start, Mayumi thought. She watched her friend stare into the foliage in front of her.

Moments of silence ponderings in the confines of each of the persons’ mind were broken by the ringing of Nobuhiko’s phone. “Moshi?” He paused and listened, “All right. As expected. We’ll be there in a few minutes.” The cut the connection of and turned to the girls, “Wataru won. Do you want to meet him then?”

Mayumi took the chance to answer for her friend, “Yes, why not? I mean, it’s not like there’s another race… Is there?”

Chucking, he replied, “No. This was a simple battle between two racers, not teams.” He glanced at Kyoko and her air headed demeanor then continued, “You two can go ahead, I’ll pick up Saitou then head over there as well...” He waited for Kyoko to respond in one way or another, which manifested itself in a nod, before heading to his precious silver car and starting off in the direction of his teammate.

As the two girls got into the black FD, Mayumi’s smiled curled in a mischievous manner, thankfully it wasn’t noticed by her friend. Mayumi decided one thing at that moment; she would hook Kyoko up with someone who could make her happy. Whether it was this Wataru guy, or some other guy, she was going to make sure that her best friend would be happy.

“Kyoko,” when her friend replied with a quiet, “Hmm?” Mayumi continued, “these races are really fun. Exciting.” Seeing her friend smile at that remark, she knew that she had to do better than that, “You should bring me to these things more often. Although the point to this was to cheer you up. But, hey, if you bring me more often, I could point out some nice guys when they come along.”


“Mayumi…” Kyoko said, half sighing, half admonishing her friend for being so persistent, “You never tire of doing this, do you?”

Looking at her friend tiredly, “That’s because you’re not outgoing enough to do it for yourself. You may be the ace uphiller of your team or whatever, but you're usually so shy. You're cuter than I am,” Returning the look of Kyoko, she continued, “Yes you are, so more boys should be interested in you than me. But look at our picture, I have a boyfriend, whom I am very happy with, by the way, while for some reason, you don’t.” Cutting her friend off before any words could come out of her already open mouth, “You should go out more, and I mean to be on the lookout for guys, and not just for your team practices or races. And hold on to the guy you think is really worth holding on to.

When she stopped, Kyoko looked at her, “May I speak now?”

“The floor’s all yours.” Mayumi snickered for a moment, obviously catching some sort of humor in what she said.

“The thing is, Mayumi, I have found a guy that I want to hold on to. I don’t want to let go of him by going out and dating other guys. Even though Keisuke-san said no, I seriously want to wait for him.” If you would look into Kyoko’s eyes, you would see that firm determination she set aside for those things she wanted more than anything. “Plus, I don’t have the same kind of style as you do. I don’t feel comfortable going out and meeting guys, just for that purpose, much less speed dating. When you took me to one of those, I felt so out of place that I just wanted to melt into the seat.”

Kyoko’s friend stared at her quietly, ponderingly. “So you intend to wait for him, till God knows when, and put your heart on the line for your dream man?” She stated it so firmly and seriously that it came out more as a right out statement. When Kyoko nodded, Mayumi sighed, “Fine then. I can’t force you out of it, although I don’t support this kind of one-sidedness. I suppose that’s what's wrong the having an idea for your ideal man, you give your heart away way too easily.”

When Mayumi looked forward and out of the FD’s front screen, waiting for her to start her car and get to their destination, Kyoko turned her key in the ignition, causing the 13B engine to growl threateningly. Maybe it was true that the sound of a car reflected the mood of its driver, especially when the driver and the car had such a strong bond.

This wasn’t supposed to happen; Mayumi was her best friend. She was giving her advice, but the problem was Kyoko didn’t like the advice she was hearing. She stared ahead, hearing the Altezza’s engine in the distance. She decided to let it past first; after all, she could keep up with her team leader, no problem. Gripping her steering wheel tightly, she recalled a story she had read a while ago from some magazine during one of the slow hours of the auto shop she worked for.

It was about a young man who met his demise, simply because he had failed to heed the advice given to him by his father. The young man in the story felt that the advice was like bitter medicine on his tongue, but that was the thing, it was certainly a very bitter medicine to his sickness.

She engaged the clutch as she saw the Altezza exit the corner, the same corner where they first saw the 86 Levin and the S14. As he drove past them, she stepped on the accelerator and released the clutch, making a quick dash to the position right behind him.

Was the advice Mayumi giving her the bitter medicine for her own situation?

She stuck close to Nobuhiko’s bumper and piled pressure on him, letting her frustrations manifest in her driving. She cornered aggressively; that alone made Mayumi force her eyes close and grab the sides of her bucket seat, which actually surprised her. Add the g-forces forcing to them to the opposite side of the corner, via centrifugal force. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to pass her team leader on this course no matter how hard she pushed herself in the corners or in the straightaways. Shomaru pass was hardly wide enough to allow any passing, especially with a car like the Altezza ahead of her. She could hardly imagine passing him his car here even if it were parked at the side, both cars being almost too wide to fit the width of the road. So she continued with her uselessly aggressive driving.

When his brake lights came on, her quick reflexes, honed by all the racing she had participated in, reacted. Before she realized it, they were already at the end of the course. Forced to do so, she slowed down and prepared to come a complete halt. Once she did so, Mayumi seemed to finally relax her grip on the bucket seat and murmur, “I’m alive…” softly.

Internally laughing at the expense of her friend, Kyoko engaged the handbrake then turned to speak to her, “Look, Mayumi…”

Shaking her head, Kyoko’s friend cut her off, “I’m the one who should be sorry. I shouldn’t force my opinions on you. Although I think it’s perfectly alright to give advice, I think I was too forceful by forcing you into situations where you’d have to meet guys you don’t want to be involved in.” She paused a moment, “Especially now. That Takahashi thing was very recently ago.”

“Thanks…” She smiled then sighed and continued, “Well, let’s get this over with.”

They got out of the black rotary car and saw Nobuhiko watching them with a curious expression on his face. Shrugging it off, they simply walked over and let the elder man introduce the remaining participant of the race earlier.

“Kyoko, Mayumi-san, this here is my cousin.”

The young man in his early twenties with long black side bangs and lean figure smiled appropriately at the two girls. “Nice to meet you. Name’s Wataru, Akiyama Wataru.”

Footnotes:
1 – This was actually different before, but some sort of computer error came up and the text turned into gibberish, so I just change it. I may try and re-create what I wrote, but I can’t remember it anymore.
2 & 3 – These are supposedly the names of some of the members of Nobuhiko’s team. Taken from Wikipedia.