-October, 1994-A Wealthy Part of Takasaki-
Ryosuke sighed, "Ugh...Yuki..."
"C'mon dude, it'll be fun!" The brown haired youth said.
"I don't know man." His black haired friend responded.
"Look, " Yuki said, "You just passed one of the hardest medical exams in the whole country, if not the whole world. Give yourself a break man."
Ryosuke looked at the party, "I barely go to these things, what do I do?"
"You'll figure it out, you're the smartest guy in Takasaki remember?" Yuki asked.
Ryosuke's friend smirked, "Hey, maybe you'll meet some girl, and stop lugging around that V-card everywhere." He said slapping Ryosuke's arm a little before leaving the FC.
Ryosuke watched as his friend walked off, looking at his FC's steering wheel before exasperating, "I'm gonna regret the hell out of this."
He walked into the house party smiling a little. The house was enormous and beautiful, teeming with people dancing and talking loudly.
Ryosuke looked at the furniture littered with young men and women on top of them chatting and drinking while the music blared loudly.
He picked up a photo next to a teen, seeing the family in it.
Something clicked in his brain, remembering an old family friend.
He began to walk around the house, many young women admiring him as he passed.
Ryosuke ignored them, the lack of light in the party accenting his pale skin as he walked up the mahogany wooden stairs.
He saw a slim and attractive raven haired girl moderately buxom standing next to a windowsill.
Ryosuke walked up to her as she sipped her drink, her eyes widening a little. He was wearing a blue button up shirt with a nice collar, with a black tie, also black slacks and his signature designer white shoes.
This dude's super hot...
"Ayumi-chan, this is a wonderful party." He said respectfully, nodding a tiny bit, his calm voice somewhat loud from the music.
"How do you know my name?" The young woman asked looking at him a bit surprised.
"We used to be close friends, I'm Takahashi Ryosuke, our families used to live next to each other."
"Oh right!" She said smiling brightly.
"Get some RY!" Yuki said before chugging his beer with his buddies.
Ryosuke smirked, "500 Yen says he'll pass out before Midnight."
Ayumi nodded, "You're on. So, how'd find out about my party?"
"Yuki told me to drive him here." The young man said looking at him hit on some girls, "Little did I know he'd convince me into joining him."
"Why'd you come them?" Ayumi asked sitting on the window sill.
"Thought I deserved it." He said shrugging, sitting next to her, "Busted my ass off studying for the past four months."
"Hey Ry! Catch!" Yuki hollered throwing him a beer.
Ryosuke's razor sharp reflexes showed off, catching the chilly can from midair, his hand extended.
The can opened with a PSSH, Ryosuke feeling the tinge a little when he drunk the golden liquid.
"Damn, " Ayumi said looking at him, "If you hadn't reacted so quickly, you could've taken a cold one to the face."
"All right so tell me, what've you been doing these past few years?"
Ayumi fixed the hem of her dress, "Well, I started my second term for law school. Not fun at all but, the subject comes naturally to me."
"Ah, parent's insisted huh?" Ryosuke asked.
"Yup."
"I feel ya." He said as they both nodded.
"Did you ever wonder what you'd do if your parent's didn't force you to take their jobs?" Ryosuke asked curious.
"I never thought about that, I've been groomed since childhood for it." Ayumi said thinking about it a little.
"Same thing here. I never thought about it." Ryosuke said, "I guess I'd just race."
He looked at her dress, it was dark blue, which matched her earrings.
Ryosuke fixed his collar, "Nice dress, I like the color."
"Thank you. Shit, I can't believe how much you've grown." She said seeing how tall he'd become.
He put his beer down, "Well, we haven't seen each other since we were kids. Same here, last I remember you wore pigtails and suspenders."
Ryosuke felt his eyes linger longer than they should have on Ayumi.
Crap! Why do they have to make these dresses so tight? And short?...
Ayumi laughed, "People don't believe me when I tell them what I knew of you. You were afraid of heights, and spiders. You barely ever spoke to people, except for your brother and I."
"Yeah, I was a weird kid."
Ayumi put her drink down with him, "Well, I'm gonna go enjoy my party, wanna come with me?"
"Uh..." He felt her hand wrap around his and she dragged him downstairs to the makeshift dance-floor near the large and clean pool.
"Oh my god Ryosuke, unwind a little!" Ayumi teased seeing how wooden he was moving.
He began to feel a sort of rhythm, feeling the beat of the music. It all began to make sense.
Just a short number of people over, across the pool, Keisuke snaked his hands across a brown haired girls body, smirking as they danced, pressing their sweaty bodies together.
He felt a thirst in his throat, and he whispered in the girls ear, "I'm gonna go get a drink."
She nodded, seeing his yellow blonde hair distinguish him from the crowd dancing as he walked back inside.
Keisuke sipped his beer, seeing the crowd of people dance from below the window sill.
Wait a minute... Is that...
Aniki?
Shiiiiiit, I hope he doesn't catch me here. That'll be awkward.
And why's he even here? I thought he hated parties.
He smiled.
He's dancing like a constipated turtle. And with the pretty host of the party? Nice...
Keisuke downed his beer in seconds, crushing it against his temple.
I'm gonna see if that chick is down to screw.
He thought feeling the heavy buzz of the beer, walking groggily to the dance floor. The music slamming into his ears.
"Akari..." He said slurring, dancing close to her again, "I want to..."
She looked at him, his happily handsome but somewhat drunken face. His blue eyes staring brazenly into her hazel one's.
The brown haired girl nodded slightly before kissing him sloppily, running her hand through his blonde hair.
Keisuke pressed her against the white pavement rising above the pool, returning the kiss drunkenly.
Ryosuke panted, smiling the tiniest bit before Ayumi looked at him.
"See, dancing's fun inni't?" The black haired girl asked.
He nodded, "A little."
She grabbed his hand and said, "C'mon, there's something I want to show you."
Ryosuke was led to the tree house, in a more darkened and deserted area of the party.
She opened the floor door to the tree house, leading Ryosuke inside.
"Whoa, I remember this place." Ryosuke said looking around it. There were crayon drawings and markers laying about.
"I don't think I've been up here in years." Ayumi said seeing the state of the tree house.
"We used to play up here." He said, "Y'know, as kids."
She smiled, "I remember too."
"Is this, is this us?" Ryosuke asked seeing a rough crayon drawing of a girl and boy holding hands.
"Yeah, a lot has happened since then." She said frowning a tiny bit.
They sat in the moonlight that poured in from the window, looking at each other.
I can't believe how much we've grown up.
Ryosuke looked at Ayumi, she had grown significantly taller and more slender since last they spoke. She also gained many other attributes.
She looked back, his black hair had stayed the same, but he changed entirely. He had become a man, and she a woman.
"We used to play games in the community garden." Ayumi said, "You always hid behind the same flowers."
Ryosuke chucked, "Maybe I wanted you to find me."
"We played kissing games up here too." She added absentmindedly.
He started to grab the front of his shirt and vented himself, sweating a tiny bit.
She smiled, "I always thought, back when we were kids. That you looked at me as a sort of little sister."
"We were like 8, I'm sorry. I guess now, I think that might have been my actions speaking, and I'm sorry."
Ayumi looked at Ryosuke, "Are you seeing anyone Ryosuke?"
He shook his head, "Are you?"
"No, but its surprising you don't have a girlfriend."
"It's also surprising to see you're not seeing anyone either."
There was a small silence, as Ayumi and Ryosuke sat next to each other in the faint moonlight, their backs leaning against the old wood.
"Hm..., uh... Ayumi-chan, I -ahem-." He said coughing.
"What?" She asked.
"I just wanted to say I'm sorry."
"For what?" She asked.
"I'm sorry that I never got to say goodbye properly before I left." Ryosuke said looking at her.
Ayumi smirked, "Oh."
She leaned in quickly and kissed him lightly on the lips. It was just for a second, Ryosuke didn't even react properly. Before backing away with a hand over her mouth.
"Oh! I'm sorry!" The black haired girl said, "Was that out of line?"
Ryosuke acted impulsively, "Not at all."
She grabbed the back of his head and kissed him lightly.
Ryosuke passed his hand through the long straight carbon colored hair of his childhood friend, inhaling quickly.
He didn't know why. Maybe it was the need to cut himself some slack, or maybe the frustrating months that built up to that damned test, but he started to pass his finger above her shoulder playfully, messing with the blue strap of her dress.
Or maybe he still liked Ayumi, after 13 years.
Ryosuke heard her breath break up a little as he kissed her neck, his lips barely touching her skin.
As he nibbled on her earlobe, Ayumi looked at him, "Have you ever done this before Ryosuke?"
Ryosuke felt his face redden like the circles in the taillights of his FC, "Er... Maybe, why?"
She shrugged, "I've heard stories that the Akagi's Lone Comet is pretty straitlaced when it comes to this sort of thing."
He cleared his throat.
God, this is so embarrassing. Why am I blushing so damned much?
Ayumi loosened his tie, helping him take it off.
Then Ryosuke kissed her neck deeply, feeling the girl purr happily under his lips.
She started to unbutton the little buttons on his shirt, her hands moving quickly.
He threw off his shirt, Ayumi gasping.
"What is it?" Ryosuke asked.
"You're so pale..." She said, putting her hand on his chest.
He felt his face redden further, "Yeah, I'm afraid I don't get out very often."
She smiled, "I'm sorry, we can take this a bit slower if you'd like."
Ryosuke's eyes widened as Ayumi put her tongue in his mouth.
He closed them and felt his heart race faster than ever before.
Ryosuke felt his hands move without his control, pushing the straps of her dress off her shoulders.
He felt her dance her tongue around in his mouth, feeling awkward as he barely ever did this.
He acted gentlemanly, keeping his hands restricted to her back.
Blood rushed through his body as he saw Ayumi undress slowly, taking off her heels.
She helped him undo his pants, pushing the black material down his legs.
Ayumi giggled seeing his thighs were as pale as his chest.
He smiled and shook his head, "Shut up."
Ryosuke kicked off his white shoes and kissed Ayumi deeply, but suddenly, there was shouting from below.
An altercation had started, making an incredible amount of noise.
She rolled her eyes, looking out the window and saying, "Just ignore them."
Ryosuke kissed her but his eyes stayed outside the window seeing the crowd gather and cheer.
There was a lot of yelling below, but one phrase screamed by a familiar voice stuck out to him.
"BEAT HIS ASS BLONDIE!"
Ryosuke shot up, pausing from the reconvening with his childhood playmate.
"What's wrong?" She asked slowly seeing him back away quickly.
"I'm sorry Ayumi." Ryosuke said drawing his pants up from the floor of the tree house.
He walked around the old tree house picking up his various pieces of clothes.
"WHAT?" She asked putting her dress straps back on her shoulders.
"This is family business." He said darkly putting his shirt back on.
"Ryosuke what're you talking about?"
"I've been keeping track of his crap for years just watch." Ryosuke said his feet slipping back into his white shoes as he threw his tie around his neck.
He opened the door to the tree house, stepping down the wooden rungs of the tree as Ayumi screamed, pointing down to the floor of the tree house, "Takahashi Ryosuke, get back here now!"
Ryosuke ignored her and marched to the crowd like it was his duty.
Moments before...
Keisuke grabbed the butt of the girl he was dancing with, pawing at her aggressively, smiling under her kiss.
He picked her up and was about to go somewhere else but a voice rang out.
"You bastard! Are you feeling up my sister?" The young brown haired man said, pointing at the blonde.
"Souske!" The girl said, "Please don't! Calm down!"
Souske didn't hesitate, sending his fist flying into Keisuke's cheekbone, causing a decent bruise.
Keisuke drew back, staggering a little.
He felt blood draw from the wound, the blow powerful enough to cause a tiny chunk of his cheek to fly off the bone.
Keisuke looked at it and smirked, laughing loudly. His temper mixed with the booze created a boiling concoction of rage throughout his body.
This is gonna be fun.
"It's been a while since I've had a good fight." Keisuke said cracking his knuckles after standing up straight, "Give me your best."
Souske nodded and threw his hands towards himself, "Gladly."
The girl tried to stand between them but the two larger young men blew past her.
Keisuke threw a good punch but Souske dodged it, throwing a kick to the blonde teen's ribs.
He took it square to the right, leaving a decent black bruise, but he ignored it from the adrenaline.
Keisuke waited for Souske to throw a jab, which he caught and tossed an upper cut to the brown haired young man's jaw.
Souske's head flew upwards as Yuki drunkenly cheered, "YEAH! Guys check it out, there's a fight by the pool!"
Souske spat out a bit of blood, and said, "That all you got?"
Keisuke shook his head and threw a punch square to Souske's nose.
The older man felt his nose crack, getting angry.
The party surrounded them, cheering them on loudly.
Souske kicked his shin quickly, breaking his balance.
Keisuke flailed a little, as Souske threw a punch to his eye.
He took it straight to the face, feeling the blow blacken his right eye.
Keisuke just got angrier, he stood up and threw a right to his opponent to the jaw as hard as he could, feeling the bone crack under his fist.
Souske fell back from the blow, seeing stars.
He held his hands in front of his face as Keisuke stood over him, releasing all his anger into his body.
Keisuke kicked his ribs as hard as he could, before beating his face, his right knuckle and feet smothered in blood.
Souske stood up but Keisuke pushed him back to the ground, punching his in the nose as hard as he could.
Keisuke stood over him again, as Yuki yelled, "BEAT HIS ASS BLONDIE!"
Souske felt pain as the blonde unloaded on his, beating the crud out of him.
Ryosuke marched over, as Ayumi, with messy, instead of straight hair, walking behind him.
She put her hand on his arm, "Ryosuke stop."
He pretended she wasn't there and let the crowd part for him as he approached the fist fight.
Keisuke held his fist in the air as Ryosuke caught him.
"KEISUKE!" Ryosuke yelled loudly, the entire parties eyes shifted from the fight to Ryosuke.
Keisuke's fist hung in the air, his eyes wide and his body frozen like a deer caught in headlights.
His eyes moved slowly from his older brother to the girl with the half worn dress and messed up hair.
Oh shit, I'm gonna get it now...
"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Ryosuke grabbed Keisuke by the ear, dragging him out of the party.
"Jeez Aniki, what's your problem?" The blonde asked as Ryosuke grabbed him by the arm and threw him into the left side seat of the FC.
Ryosuke turned on the 13B engine like he had for years, and gunned it out of the driveway, sprinting away.
They sat in silence as Ryosuke drove silently down the street, the air tense with silence.
Ryosuke sighed, "You have to stop doing this Keisuke. What if he had a knife? Or a gun?"
"But he didn't." The blonde said grumpily.
"If he did? And I wasn't there? You'd be bleeding out in dad's hospital, or worse dead."
Keisuke shook his head, "What were you doing at a party anyway? Were you trying to score Ito Ayumi?"
Ryosuke said nothing for a moment, before dismissing the subject entirely, "You've been doing this since high school Kei, it's time for this behavior to end. You're 19 now, you don't even have a job for Pete's sake."
"What's the problem?" Keisuke asked, "Don't like bandaging me up? I thought you wanted to be a doctor?"
Ryosuke kept his eyes on the road, "Yes. I don't like doing it. I'm tired of the same old story, you mess up, and I fix it. For your sake."
"For my sake?"
The black haired young man nodded, "You know why I was the one who encourage you to finish high school? To try and better yourself? Why I was the one who always there for you?"
"Because you believed in me?" Keisuke asked mockingly.
"No, it's because I love you man." He said, "I can't see you let your life waste away bro."
Ryosuke gripped the steering wheel, "Look, I'm gonna finish final exams in a couple of weeks, that gives me more than enough time to myself. This racing thing I have is really enjoyable, it's an incredible experience. I want to really pursue it further, to the farthest of my ability. And I want you to experience it as well."
"Me?" Keisuke asked, "Why me?"
"You always made me sad Keisuke, I'm not going to lie. You have incredible potential. In school, your test scores showed amazing ability, the problem was you just didn't care. It pains me to see you waste that potential by doing things like hang around those Bosozoku thugs, or when you come home drunk or beaten."
Keisuke looked off into the window, having heard this spiel before.
"We're both adults now. One more year and that's it Kei, I can't take care of you anymore." Ryosuke said, "I want to show you something after I patch you up when we get home."
"Oh boy." Keisuke said sarcastically, "I can't wait to see it." He said as Ryosuke parked in the driveway before a locked garage door.
"Damn, that guy got you good." Ryosuke said seeing the bruises over his younger brother's body, sitting next to him on his own bed in his own neat and tidy room.
"Yup, " Keisuke admitted, "But he took a beating as well."
Ryosuke drew out his aid kit, bandaging his brother's face for the millionth time.
"Ow!" Keisuke complained, feeling the ointment Ryosuke applied to the bleeding socket above his cheekbone, his brother pressing the cotton to his beaten skin.
"That should be the last of it." Ryosuke said putting the medicine away.
"Thanks man, the fight was stupid, it was with some girl's brother." Keisuke said standing up, before walking down stairs with his Aniki being lead by him, "So what did you want to show me?"
Ryosuke began to walk to the garage, his younger brother following him.
He opened the door to the garage, Keisuke entering it.
The blonde haired teen looked up from his feet, shocked.
Its...
Its beautiful...
Ryosuke put his hand on her roof, "She's beautiful isn't she?"
"I can't believe it. You got me a yellow angel?" Keisuke asked excitedly seeing the car.
A glowing yellow FD3S shined in the garage, her aura warming Keisuke's face.
"She's mine by the way." Ryosuke said, "But I want to give her to you. Take her up to Akagi tomorrow night, it's 2 in the morning right now."
"How'd you fine a piece this hot?" Keisuke asked in awe of the car's sheer glory.
"Dad lent me some cash, I paid out of my own pocket a little too." His brother said, "Tomorrow, give her a test drive, and think about this question that I'll ask you when you return."
"What's the question?" Keisuke wondered, curious.
"I've been speaking to Fumi and a lot of my other friends, most agree it's high time we experienced other mountains. Akagi is getting really old to me." Ryosuke said.
With a gleam of wonder in his eyes, his hand wrapped around the keys to his FC in his pocket, he looked his brother deeply into his eyes, the blue orbs reflecting off each other.
"I dreamed I stood on top of a mountain little brother, all of Kanto was below me. I could see the horizon stretch for miles, like it stretched infinitely."
"And right next to me, was you Keisuke."
Keisuke nodded, "So what're you going to do Aniki? Make a racing team and start challenging people?"
Ryosuke smiled, "It'll be months before we're all ready to take on other teams, but first I'll need a roster. At the top of that roster, I want you and I to be there. Please Kei, join me."
The blonde teen looked at the FD, "I'll have to think about it."
Ryosuke kicked the tires of the yellow machine, "I made her just how you like cars. Torqued up and full of power."
"What's her output then?" Keisuke said curiously.
"Head out tomorrow to Akagi, and you'll find out." Ryosuke said putting a hand on his brother's shoulder, "Take your time to think about it."
He yawned, "I'm gonna go crash on my bed. 'Night."
"Night." Keisuke said, kneeling and putting his hand on the FD's hood.
He whistled, "I'm gonna love taking you out for a spin tomorrow night."
Keisuke keyed the ignition, kicking the rotary engine to life, feeling her purr under his palms.
Aniki wasn't kidding, she's very powerful.
He pressed the gas, beginning to climb Akagi's hill slowly.
The engine whirred in his hood, his tires squealing as his first ever corner approached.
I've seen Ryosuke do this before. I know how to drift!
He tugged the E-brake, the FD cornering uphill quickly.
Awesome, that was very fast!
Keisuke smiled, thinking he was blazing uphill, when he only cornered at 70 km/h.
He rolled down the window, extending his hand outward from the driver's seat.
Keisuke felt the wind flow through his jelled blonde hair, whistling through the air, howling loudly.
He began to feel happiness flow through his body, like a golden syrup mixing in his chest.
I love this car, it's so fast, I love the way she responds to my every move. The tires have so much grip, the engine accelerates so quickly...
I feel like I can drive it anywhere...
Ryosuke closed the door to the FC, walking over to the FD, where Keisuke was leaning on its hood.
"So how'd you like the car?" Ryosuke asked seeing Keisuke stare out contemplatively over the early morning horizon.
"Well, I definitely want to drive her more, that's for sure. If you'd just give it to me." Keisuke said.
Ryosuke nodded, "It's yours. Now and always."
Keisuke jumped up from the hood of his FD, hugging his brother tightly, "Thanks you so much man! I'll never forget this."
He smiled, patting the back of the blonde's head, "You're welcome. Now, have you thought about joining my team?"
Keisuke shrugged, "I don't know."
"Think about it. All of Gunma is waiting for us." Ryosuke said, "All we have to do is reach out and grab victory. It's right there!"
The blonde looked into his brother's eyes, "All right, I'll do it."
"YES!" Ryosuke said hugging his brother back, tightly.
They both looked pulled away, staring out from Akagi's peak.
Ryosuke pulled an envelop from his pocket, and said, "Ayumi sent me a letter from yesterday. It had 500 yen in it with a picture of us as kids."
"500 yen?" Keisuke asked, "She payed for a time with you, and you only took that little?"
He pushed his shoulder, "Shut up man."
Keisuke laughed and looked over the horizon, waiting for the sun to come up.
Ryosuke looked at the rough crayon drawing of him and Ayumi, at the bottom, their names were signed.
He smiled and put the drawing back into his pocket, walking up to Keisuke, who put his knee up on the guardrail, eager to see the sunrise.
Ryosuke leaned on the blonde teen's shoulder, the sun peeking just over the horizon.
"So." Keisuke said, feeling the early rays of the morning on his face, "What're you gonna name the team?"
Ryosuke smiled, "I've never actually thought of that."
"Hmm..."
He looked back down the mountain, seeing his beloved home course trail downhill.
Ryosuke looked back over at the rising sun, smiling.
He laughed, his deep laughter filling all of Akagi's peak.
..
-THE END-
..
Note: Thanks for reading, bye!-Den1212