It was a perfect warm summer day at the Jinpachi Inn and everything was going smoothly as usual. People coming and going about their business, students riding their bicycles to prepare for the inter high competition, and kids hanging out at the park. However, this day started out like any other as Jinpachi Toudou was getting ready to take a mini vacation to visit his old rival and close friend in London. Furthermore, his family expects him to bring back some photos and souvenirs upon his return since they always want a lot of good stuff to add to their collection. Toudou was really excited because he hasn't seen makishima yuusuke for a long time since high school. These days, Makishima has been busy at his brother's studio and having him staying at his house seems to be too much for snake spider to handle because ren can't clean up after himself. But for now, Ren had some important business to take care of in Liverpool which leaves him enough time to hang out with Toudou since this was his chance to use up his vacation days after getting out of school
As soon as Jinpachi finished packing, he wanted to stop by at his former high school to check out the students to see how they are doing in the practice sessions. But just as he got there, he could see a bunch of first years barely knowing how to pedal and some not able to control their speed when riding their bikes. Furthermore, Ashikiba Takuto, the former rival of Junta Teshima is currently struggling to keep the newbies under control, but none of them are listening to him. Just then, he sees Toudou by the door and waved at him as he stepped inside.
"How are you doing, jinpachi-sempai? It's been a long time! What brings you to Hakone High?" asked Ashikiba.
"Well, I just wanted to stop by for a little bit and observe these rookies riding their bicycles. however, I see a bunch of slackers not putting their best effort into cycling," He then turned his attention towards the rookies. "What the hell is wrong with all of you? How can you call yourselves cyclists when you can't even learn the basics of riding a bike? How are you going to win the Inter-High without practice? I am going to be heading to London soon to visit an old friend and what do I see in here? A bunch of newbies who can't even perform sprints or speed control. You guys better watch carefully because you might be able to learn from what I have done as captain of the Hakone Cycling club." In no time the seemingly dark violet haired teen stepped onto the challenge, pushing his team jersey into his body, and grabbing onto the bike. He was ready to demonstrate just what he was capable of , to improve the newbies, even if some of them didn't seem all that interested in it. As Ashikiba watched, he was most impressed at his performance.
"Looks like you could become a coach for Hakone High school since I am really at my limit on teaching them. Therefore, please take a few minutes to help these kids out before you leave for London." said Ashikiba.
"Sure, I got time to spare. my flight doesn't leave until 4pm." said jinpachi as he turned his attention towards the students. " Guys, please get on the exercise bikes, I want to see you perform your basic maneuvers on them for at least 30 minutes without stopping."
Soon, all of them went on the bikes and practiced their pedaling. But one of the students seems to be slacking off the most since he has one foot on the pedal while he is busy making phone calls, So, Junpachi immediately walked over to the kid and said, "Please put the phone down and concentrate on your bike. You need to stay in shape if you want to beat Onoda Sakamichi. Come on, let's see some muscles getting pumped out there!" He then blows his whistle as everyone started pedaling since they need to use their skills to beat Sohoku in the 44th Inter-High tournament because they are not planning to lose this time.
Once Jinpachi sat himself down on a chair next to his friend, he takes a water bottle from the fridge and said, "looks like these kids are doing well working under your supervision. You really whipped them into shape these days."
Akishiba looked at his friend for a moment and said, "But I am not that good at coaching them since none of them would listen to anything I say. Some of the second years are also picking a fight with some of the first year students and breaking them up from the fight is slightly challenging. Some of them even made a mess in the room by throwing their foods all over the floor. I don't know how disgusting those guys are, but they need to eat food outside of the bicycle club."
"I agree, but I can help you clean up afterwards." smiled Jinpachi as he slowly patted the third year redhead on his shoulder. A few hours later, about 50 percent of the students passed their trial run while the other half were away watching a movie or just reading a book. The boys realizes that these kids are not going to get very far in the tournament coming later on. Furthernore, jinpachi immediately checked his watch and it was 3pm. He immediately rushed over to his friend and said, "Sorry about this, but I have to go now. I will be back in a few days to see how you have improved so far. Take good care of them, Akishiba-sempai!" And with that, he grabbed his bags and called up Manami to take him to the airport.
"Manami, how soon will you be here? I am at the Hakone High School, but I am just about to leave for London soon." said Toudou on the phone.
"I will be there in a few minutes" said Manami as he took his mother's car and drove slowly towards the back entrance of the high school and rushed towards the front side. Once he arrived, Manami immediately took the suitcases one by one and placed them in the limo. "It's so good to see you after a long time waiting, How are you?"
"I missed you too, manami-sempai. I am impressed that you finally started to help those newcomers with their bikes since they are having some trouble controlling their bike speed. So, I had to show them the power of pedaling, but none of them were listening to anything that I was saying," said Toudou.
"Well, it seems that their former coach has found a new job elsewhere. so me and Akishiba are acting as temporary coaches in light of his absence." added Manami as he placed all the weight equipments back on the racks.
"I see, well it would be best if we knew where he is studying now. But anyway I need to catch my flight. I will see you guys soon, okay?" said Jinpachi as he boards the car and headed over towards Narita International Airport. Once there, he went to get his ticket and checked in his bags before going through the security checkpoints. afterwards, Toudou paused to take a break on the waiting area before boarding his flight. He then took a few magazines to read before his ticket was called. As Toudou handed the ticket to the officer, he immediately took a seat at the windows area where he was able to get more leg room by resting.
"Hang in there, Maki-chan, I am coming to see you since it has been forever! So just wait! we got some important business to take care of." smiled Toudou as the plane takes off after finishing inspections. At that point, toudou immediately rested his head on the seat while waiting several hours to allow for a smooth landing. Several hours later, Jinpachi arrived at the main terminal after ignoring all the crying onboard the plane and he was shocked at how big the airport was. Soon, he could see Makishima waving at him near the customs area. Once he cleared everything from immigration and customs, he immediately rushed over towards Makishima and hugged him.
"Toudou Jinpachi? This is quite a surprise, what are you doing here?" asked Makishima with a mischievous grin.
"It's been too long, Maki-chan, I came all the way here to see you so that you can give me a guided tour of London. I missed you so much!"
"is that right? Well, you picked a perfect time for this vacation. I missed you as well, and it is so good to see you. Anyway, you got all your bags? Let's go!" said makishima as he takes Toudou's hand and exits the airport towards the car. Once there, he immediately hugged his best friend for making it all the way here.
As the two of them placed the teens' bags in the car, Makishima introduced his friend to his brother Ren and the two shook hands since they are going to be good friends. Once everything was settled, the three of them drove out of the airport and headed straight towards Central London and to Makishima's home since this is going to be a vacation of a lifetime for these two lovers and rivals since they have not seen each other for a long time. Furthermore, this will be Toudou's first time experiencing a trip oversea and he is looking forward to getting a tour of this beautiful city in Europe.
"So, are you planning to take a tour of this place? After all, I really want to let you check out my flat as well." said Makishima.
"Really? you are the best, Maki-chan!" said the violet-haired teen as he hugged his rival.
Looks like the journey to London has already begun for these soon-to-be lovers. Although this will be Toudou's first time experiencing a trip overseas, he is looking forward to getting a tour of this beautiful city in Europe and hopefully to bring back souvenirs for his friends and former teammates that graduated from Hakone. Furthermore, Makishima is also planning to return to Japan so that he can reunite with his former teammates as well since he has been away for far too long because Onoda and the others are also waiting for their former captain's long-awaited reunion.