A/N: Okay peeps, this is my very first published fanfiction, and I would like to invite everyone to be honest. If you don't like it, just tell me how I can make it better, and where exactly I went wrong. I don't expect this to be perfectly aligned with the existing Initial D story, but if there are any major flaws, please let me know. Positive feedback is also welcomed, but not needed. Overall I'm glad you got curious enough to click on the link to this story and I hope the subsequent chapters in the pipeline will live up to what I can see in my mind's eye right now. The prologue will be told from the vantage point of a newcomer of sorts, but the first chapter will move into Project D's continued ventures in Kanto.

Autumn

-Aric

I felt the soft tug of the new Brembo pads on my brake rotors as my 2009 Honda Civic came to a smooth stop at the light. The exhaust note, though still with a factory muffler, still never ceased to exhilarate me. I willed the engine to 6,000 plus RPMs and it responded with the eagerness of a child at the sight of an ice cream truck.

My love shown through in every little detail. I had taken the once civil compact LX Civic and turned it into a beast of my own design. The once champagne paint was now an iridescent blue with an array of decals running down its side in white. A factory Type R wing was fitted to the trunk, not so much for downforce reasons so much as to help balance the weight and achieve a high-performance look. I had installed the new Brembo brake pads inside of a set of RAYS Trinity rims painted a gleaming black wrapped in Yokohama rubber. I hadn't done much to boost the potency of the engine, other than an a new air cleaner, and ECU unit from Spoon bringing it up to a grand total of roughly 180 horses, still a far cry from the 220 HP of the Type R I had always dreamed of as a teenager. However, I would one day raise my beloved LX into something that even a seasoned togue runner would have nightmares about. A car of legend.

A flash of bright lights caught my eyes in the side-mirror, and I soon saw a REAL car of legend that I hadn't seen in a long time. I pinched myself to see if I was dreaming, but the chaste white FC3S RX-7 was all too real as it pulled up alongside me. I immediately rolled down my window in my starstruck-ness to try and get a word with Akagi's White Comet. I saw the left window of the FC roll down to reveal a young man with blond hair that was spiked in every direction but up. The casual shirt had a slight grease stain near the right shoulder, and I knew it was no one other than the infamous Keisuke Takahashi, who had once campaigned across the region as part of Project D. The driver of the RX-7 was in a casual shirt as well, strapped into a five-point-harness, with dark hair gelled down. Signature Ryosuke Takahashi.

Keisuke leaned out of the window a little. "That's a nice little ricer you got there… can it even get past 180kph?"

"You'd be pretty surprised, this little beast is a class competitor!" I said. It was indeed a track car on occasion, though it wasn't a thoroughbred of any kind. Just a weekend warrior's learning tool.

Ryosuke's voice held so much seniority that he seemed almost omnipotent when he began to speak. Goading on my idle threats, he said, "I'd love to see how it keeps up on the mountain."

"You're on!"

I had known from the top of the run that I was in over my head even attempting to run the pass and keep up with someone like him in my underpowered car. I had been down the pass a few times, though I was no veteran of the Akagi togue. We got there and he told me to lead the way, and he would try his best to pass me. I knew I would look like a fool in the eyes of a godly driver like him. The Civic went on and proceeded anyways to take off down the pass.

The new brake pads were really doing wonders for me, as I was able to carry a lot more speed into the corners than I remember, and even kick out the back end a little. Maybe I was just running on high with a demon on my heels. All I remember was hearing the natural essence of the turbo rotary dropping off a little on the straightaway to continue to pursue me into the corners without blowing by me. I ran with everything I had, pushing the rear-end out into the corners to pronounce the turn in and work past the under steer, though I know the rotary monster was begging its master to overtake me. I saw nothing but FC in my rear-view until heading into some of the higher speed esses nearest the middle of the pass. The white devil poured on its turbocharged heat and was around me off into the next hairpin in the blink of an eye. I lost track of the red brake lights less than thirty seconds later.

At the bottom of the pass, I found a yellow FD3S RX-7, and an AE86 Trueno, and I remember thinking how it may have been more fair if I raced against it than the FC that was now parked alongside the Trueno. Keisuke was talking to a really young, lanky, kid in a white shirt and well-groomed brown hair, as well as a shorter young man with fiery hair, both standing at the side of the car.

"Was he any good?" asked the shorter one eagerly.

"We handled him like nothing. He's definitely not on our level. I'd like to see how long it'd take one of us to pass him on his home course if we we're really going 100%. Either way it was a wasted effort trying to recruit him and his ricer-Civic."

"I don't know Keisuke," the taller kid cut in. "I was watching part of that run and he seemed decent. There's no way he could keep up with us, but he could probably beat the Speed Stars easily."

I had heard enough. Though dejected, I was invigorated a little because one of the racers had even called me decent. Maybe I needed to inquire within the rich togue scene around here, especially around Myogi where I lived. I revved the engine and rode off in the night with a renewed sense of desire.

"Let's not fall behind. We need to have everything packed for our first stop on this next tour. You and Fujiwara have your work cut out for you."

"Yes, Aneki. We'll destroy any posers like this guy tonight Ryosuke. "

"He may not have been as powerful, but I bet if he got some polish he could challenge some of the former RedSuns drivers. Plus that was nothing. Our opponents are the biggest challenge yet this time around."

"You always say that."

The two brothers got into their respective Mazdas and started them up, with Keisuke's FD offering a hearty growl of excitement from its twin-turbo rotary engine. They smoothly pulled out of the lot and onto the road. A black car soon started its own engine and emerged from the night, heading down the same road, until it reached the expressway.

So that's my first chapter. Thanks for making it all the way down here with your scrolling and whatnot, and if you made down here on accident, just take the scrolling bar thing on the right and keep heading up to the top, you can't miss it. I enjoyed writing it, but I love to hear from everyone about what's liked and not liked and what not. Have a good day everyone.