Author's Notes: Pls. R&R, this is my first story. It's told in Keisuke Takahashi's POV. (except for the last line in the end)
Detour
Chapter 1: Recollection
It's been a month, a month since Project D established complete domination over the streets of Japan. My brother's gone to medical school and his life as a street racer is over. He takes the FC out for a drive from time to time but not like back then, back then when he was known as the White Comet of Akagi. I've been spending my days driving on Mt. Akagi's roads to improve my technique, I've still got a score to settle with Takumi Fujiwara, the driver of the famous 86 of Akina.
I could still remember the night when I lost to him & since then the desire to beat him drove me on like coal in a furnace. We formed Project D with the goal of defeating all the other teams in Japan. We've been to Tochigi, Saitama, Ibaraki, and a lot more places in our expeditions. But Saitama is the one place that had a huge impact on me.
While we were preparing to race the team headed by a guy named Nobuhiko, I met this girl who was looking for her phone. I told her I found it and told the shop to hold on to it. I also noticed she drove an FD like mine, and that she seemed to be staring at me like she's spaced out or something, weird. I told her that she should get her phone and she left quickly. I made my way to the course to begin the battle.
I have to admit that I was slightly surprised to see that Kyoko was the one I would be racing against. It was interesting for me to fight another driver who was also riding an FD. We began the race after a minor setback and after some frustrating moments, I won. It wasn't a surprise when Fujiwara beat Nobuhiko's Altezza on the first run. Every time he races I keep thinking about him being one hell of a driver, but then I'm not about to be left behind by him so I can't relent on my training.
After the race she approached me and thanked me for fixing her car, I told her that she just had to pay me back in the race so we're even. She asked me if I was seeing someone, which struck me as odd. I told her no and she quickly left.
After that she seemed to pop up in every place we raced in. She was present in the place where we raced against Sakamoto and Wataru, she came when we raced against those assholes who wrecked my FD which I was actually thankful of her presence because I borrowed her car and beat the guy who caused my FD to take a really hard hit.
Before we left for Ibaraki we met up again, we went out for dinner, and a drive in Akagi using my brother's car. Before we headed downhill she asked me if she could still follow me while I headed towards other parts of Japan with Project D. I told her that she would get in the way and it will just end up hurting her more. She seemed to be sad about it but I really can't date anyone until we finish our mission. She asked me if she could watch me drive downhill while going all-out. I granted her request and drove on. After that we never saw each other again.