FOREWORD: I, HashiriyaGDB, am submitting this Initial D facfic on behalf of Midnight Dorifuta, the author of this fanfic and a fellow user on the Initial D World Forums. The only things I've done to this is correct some (if not all) the typos.

All trademarks are owned by their respective owners.

Chapter 1: The Biggest Scare
It was another mid-summer morning at the residence of the Fujiwara Tofu shop... if you could call it morning just yet. The small alarm clock next to Takumi's bed, in its dim, orange illumination, had one hand almost on 4, and the other square in the 9. In other words, 3:45 AM... fifteen minutes from the tofu delivery time. The entire town of Haruna seemed almost silent at this hour in the morning. - Almost. Usually is, except, in the distance, there was the very faint roar of an engine in the distance - and light squealing. A car in the distance. But who, who at this hour in the morning, would be awake, let alone tearing up the mountain pass?

-

The upshifts were at a relatively low RPM; just 6,000 revolutions per minute were needed before the car was thrown into yet another seemingly violent upshift, the engine sneezing at the release of the accelerator; it was turbo, yes. No doubt about its presence as the whir became a furious howl, the boost pressure gauge jumping up to 25 PSI. The exhaust note seemed to be a deep, muscular big-bore engine... but a 4-cylinder, offering this kind of response? The man behind the wheel, though, was quite satisfied. Hell, he was laughing almost hysterically as with a viscous turn-in, he hugged the inner apex with his choice of machinery.

"The response has improved drastically... it almost eliminates the need for anti-lag!"

Was the helmeted driver right? Flipping a switch, he dove into the next corner, almost kamikaze-like, as the engine repeatedly "backfired", small flames erupting from the muffler, and the boost gauge maintaining nearly 7 PSI before he clicked the switch off upon upshifting off the corner, the car's rear tires chirping under the load, the machine shooting right off the corner, this time with zero hesitation... though, in comparison, to the amateur's eyes, it'd be hard to tell the time loss with the anti-lag turned off. The modification was that good. There was one more hairpin to take on... no, wait, just a moment - hairpin cleared. The driver let off the accelerator, a satisfied grin on his face, knowing the money he dumped into the car was indeed put to good use. Perhaps, its true potential only obtainable through the most skilled drivers, but money well spent, nevertheless.

-

Well, it was about that time again. The alarm clock in Takumi's bedroom was starting to buzz, waking the teenager up from an otherwise deep slumber. Taking a yawn, Takumi slowly stretched in bed, hitting the snooze button and crawling out of his bed, finally opening his eyes, knowing exactly what his job was. Takumi followed through with his daily ritual of washing his face off and freshening his teeth up with a good dose of mouthwash, before throwing on a white tee and pair of shorts... and sandals. It didn't exactly look five-star, but it was only for making the delivery, anyways. Takumi finally made his way down the stairs, in a bit of a lazy march, before the not-so-mellow rumble of an old friend of his caught his ear. He looked at his pops, giving Bunta a bit of a suprised look as he took the cup of water slowly from his hands.

"You... fixed it?", Takumi asked, his eyes darting to the door then back to his Dad.

"Yeah... no use in it sitting around.", Bunta said, crossing his arms, his favorite brand of cigarette already lit and emitting a thin trail of smoke rising up above the old driver's head. "It wasn't like it was a major issue, either. so I just fixed it yesterday." Takumi smiled a bit at his father, happy and suprised with the unexpected gesture.

"Thanks." Takumi turned his attention back out the door, soon making his way to his beloved AE86, looking at it... almost feeling surreal. It wasn't like Takumi totaled the car during the race with God Hand, but still... he felt very bad over the fact he pushed the car farther than it wanted to go. But there it sat, in a proper stance, its two headlights folded out and brightly lit. The car looked ready for the next tofu run, ready as ever. Hell - its paint even shined a bit more than usual, that being chalked up to Bunta giving it a quick wax while he was at it. Takumi, slightly enlightened that he'd have a break once again from driving the WRX, was more than happy to slip into its welcoming cockpit, buckle his seatbelt, release the parking brake, and drive right off... the drive, as normal, getting, in any normal person's books, exhilarating once he was completely on the side road - the mountain pass, rather.

As usual, he imagined an imaginary WRX leading him on almost, the ghost car that he seemed to forever be behind on the uphill run, corner by corner... knowing now that everything he did to gain on the Impreza on today's run would just further distance himself from the 86 the next morning. He was aware he was approaching the 86's limit as a car, knew it very well... but refused to give up. Because, he could see now, that it's as important - if not more important - for the driver to be capable to win, not just the car. And the 86... the 86 felt fine. Takumi easily dropped the car into the gutter without damaging the tofu around the 5 Hairpins... something that was easy to do in his books, almost impossible to just about anyone else. He followed that very course turn-by-turn as he continued his "careful" driving uphill. He always seemed to catch one detail or another at the slightly slower pace he drove uphill, and would use it to his advantage driving downhill.

Takumi accepted the small tip as he closed the hatchback of the Trueno soon after, climbing back into his car and throwing the shifter back into first gear, revving up and burning out of the parking lot, converting it into a bit of a showy powerslide, leaving a trail of black rubber and smoke in the car's wake, the 86 now headed back downhill at top speed. Takumi wasn't sure why he decided to get showy this morning... he just sort of felt like doing that. Breaking slightly from tradition... that kind of stuff. It did leave the guy who handled the tofu slightly confused, though - Fujiwara usually left a bit more quietly than that. Takumi kept the gas pinned to the floorboard through the first two 'bends', but the brakes were then applied on the first hard bend, a left-hander, now going into full downhill-assault mode. Corner by corner, he felt the car's repaired suspension out... all felt fine. But, something startling would happen as he broke into a semi-drift around a semi-hairpin midway down the pass.

In this small complex section where the tight corner was immediately followed by a double-chicane, stood a figure. Motionless in the dead center of the corner, Takumi's eyes widened. It was a person! But... here!? Now!? Takumi had to think quick, especially considering the person wasn't moving at all. If he didn't somehow change his course of travel, Takumi would surely add some grim red accents to his otherwise panda black-and-white nose of his beloved Trueno.

To be continued...

a Dorifuta fanfic

Author's notes
- Chapter 10, the character Karie Sandars is used with permission by her original creator, TheFadedSeraph.
-Chapter 13, Espirit-Chan is another character of The Faded Seraph's creation. Much thanks to her.