Date: January 2, 1999
Setting: Haruna, Gunma Prefecture, Japan
At around 5:00 AM, a red Toyota Supra was driving along the pass of Mount Haruna in the Gunma Prefecture.
It was amazing to see what it was doing because the speed would take anyone's breath away.
Then he drifted along the corner with the greatest of ease while going fast. The guy was listening to some J-Pop music and was racing to the beat of the music. A guy in his late 40's named Yuichi Tachibana was driving in his Toyota Chaser. When the car passed him, he said "That boy hasn't changed at all."
That morning, a girl named May Chan was getting settled in her new home with her good friend, Ash Morikawa. She was with her parents, Norman and Caroline.
Norman said "I hope you and Ash get along well. I know you will."
May said "Yes, dad."
Ash then came downstairs. He said "How are you doing, Norman?"
Norman said "I am doing fine. May and I are almost done. She has some stuff in my S13 and then I am out of here."
May then took some stuff to her bedroom from her dad's car. She said "This is a little heavier than I thought."
Norman then said "How are you adjusting to life without your parents?"
May said "It's a little nerve-racking at first but I will get over it."
A few minutes later Norman left because he was done with helping May move in.
Ash then said to May "I think you will enjoy life here in Haruna. It's a nice little town and very peaceful also."
May said "Thank you, Ash. Since my parents live just down the street, I can talk to them anytime when I feel like it."
Ash said "That's a good thing indeed. Well, I got to get going for work."
A couple minutes later, Ash left for work and May went to a gas station where her older brother, Max would be working at."
When she got there, she met up with a guy named Koichiro Iketani. He said "Hello there. You're May, right?"
May said "Yes I am."
Koichiro said "I have heard a lot about you from your brother, Max. Sounds like you're a really cool girl."
May said "Thanks. Listen, do you know anything about the Nissan Skyline GT-R Spec-V?"
Koichiro then said "Yeah. This is the new BNR34 model or R34 for short. This particular model is FR instead of 4WD like a normal GT-R.
May then said "That sounds nice."
Then Max walked out to see May "Hello, May. So, you're interested in the new Nissan Skyline GT-R? You got good taste, sis."
Then Koichiro said "See? See? Even your brother thinks so, right?"
Max said "The GT-R is a great car."
Koichiro then said "I told you so."
May then said "That's nice, but to be honest, I don't even know that much about the GT-R. I mean who makes it anyway?"
Max then took a fuel dispenser and May put her finger in the hole. Max then said "ARE YOU SERIOUS, SIS? DO YOU WANT TO DRINK SOME HIGH OCTANE?"
Koichiro then put May in a chokehold and said "Coming to a gas station and you don't know the GT-R? What an embarrassment!"
Koichiro and Max then stopped torturing May. Max then said "Oh, well. It's no surprise, sis. When the R33 came out, me and you were just kids."
Then May said "There's a car I won in a contest but I can't drive it until Monday."
Koichiro then said "Even if it's a 300ZX, you can't compare it to a GT-R. This is a car built for speed!"
May then said "I heard you guys like to hang out at the mountain pass on weekend nights. I want to come see it but I don't have a car."
Max then said "Don't worry, sis. I will drive you."
May then said "SERIOUSLY? IN YOUR NSX? Well I guess it won't hurt to try."
That evening, May was leaving and said to Max "I am heading home, bro."
Max said "All right. I will pick you up at the bus stop at 8:00 PM."
Then Yuichi came out and said "You're really into it. Which mountain are you going to?"
Max said "Boss, Mount Haruna is the only mountain around here worth racing on. We're the fastest team on Mount Haruna."
Yuichi then said "Many claim that they're the fastest on Mount Haruna. I know this new guy who moved here a couple months ago. He drives a lot there. He is about 18."
Max said "I know a lot of the team is older than 18 but not anyone that young."
Yuichi said "It's because he drives during a different time. He works for one of my old racing friends, Hideki Mitsuyama. About 4 o'clock in the morning, he likes to go for a little drive on the mountain. It's amazing to watch his downhill speed. He knows everything about the mountain. If you were to race him, he would make you look like a pushover."
Max said "No way."
At May and Ash's house, Ash was outside reading a car magazine. Then May came out. Ash said "Are you going, out, May?"
May said "Yeah. I have plans with my brother."
Ash then said "I don't care if you're out at night, but don't be out too late or you will be cranky in the morning."
May then said "You don't need to worry about me. I'm heading off." May then went to the bus stop to be picked up by Max.
While on Mount Haruna, Max was driving fast and May was screaming like crazy. She started to scream "YOU'RE GOING WAY TOO FAST BROTHER! PLEASE SLOW DOWN!"
Max said "Hey it's all right. Everyone gets scared when they're with a street racer for the first time. Get ready because I'm about to attack this hairpin in second gear!"
Max then attacked the hairpin. May then screamed "SLOW DOWN, BRO! I'M WAY TOO YOUNG TO DIE!"
Some Haruna Speed Stars members were having a little chat at the top.
When Max was done taking, they got out of Max's NSX. May was panting hard.
Max said "Are you all right, May? I didn't think you'd get this scared. I was in the mood and pushed the car quite a bit."
May then said "You don't need to apologize, bro. I guess I have never done something like this. Not even when I was driving that 4WD Celica when we lived in America."
Max then said "You know what, you're right. You were pretty easy going in the Celica."
Meanwhile, Yuichi was closing up his gas station for the night. Then he saw a big group of cars led a couple Mazda RX-7s.
Yuichi then said in his head "I have never seen them before. They're headed for Mount Haruna at this time of night? Something may happen on the mountain tonight."
The cars then made their way to Mount Haruna. They came all at once to the top.
Max said "Looks like we've got visitors."
When they parked, Max looked at the decal. He then said "The Red Suns? Oh man, not those two guys!"
Then the drivers of the Red Suns team got out of their cars.
A guy with blond hair named Keisuke Takahashi then said "We're the members of the Akagi Red Suns. I don't want to be rude, but who's the fastest team, or driver, on this mountain pass? Please tell us."
Max then said "We're the Haruna Speed Stars. We consider ourselves the fastest here."
Then Keisuke said "Then we've found what we were looking for! Would you like to hold a practice session with our team, the Akagi Red Suns, here at Mount Haruna?"
Some members of the Speed Stars said "Are they serious?"
May said in a quiet "It looks like something big is about to happen."
Then a member of the Red Suns named Hiroshi Fumihiro said "What do you think? Since we usually only run with people we know, it's becoming old. Running against other teams gives a new challenge. We can make new friends and exchange knowledge. It will also improve our skills, too. At first, we can run together then each team will be represented by one driver to compete in both uphill and downhill. We're not concerned about winning or losing. We only seek to develop friendship between the teams. What do you think?"
Max said "If you put it that way, how can we refuse?"
A member named Kenji then said "Okay. Sounds good to me."
Then Hiroshi said "How about next Saturday at 10:00 PM?"
Max said "Okay, fine."
Keisuke then said "Today, we'll just take it easy."
May said in her head "Where have I heard about the Red Suns before?"
Then Keisuke started up his yellow FD and drove off to start practicing. Other members of the Red Suns followed.
Kenji then said "We can't be intimidated here! We're going, too!" The rest of the Speed Stars members said "YEAH!" They revved up their cars to catch up with the Red Suns.
Max then said "MAX!"
Max said "Let me watch the Takahashi brothers. People call them the fastest in Akagi!"
May then said "You mean the Takahashi brothers, the famous street racers who've been featured in the magazines?"
Max then said "Yes. They're also known at The Rotary Brothers."
Max then revved up his car.
May said "What about me, bro?"
Max said "Sorry. When I make a serious run, I don't take passengers. Wait here. I will pick you up later." Max then took off.
May then said "THIS SUCKS! I wish I could drive but I have to wait until Monday."
Meanwhile, Ash was home laying on the couch. His phone then rang. He said "Hello, Ash Morikawa speaking." It was Yuichi. Ash then said "Oh, it's only you. What a surprise."
Yuichi said "Just me? I've known you for a while and this is the greeting I get? This morning, you passed me on your way home. I signaled, but you ignored me."
Ash then said "Nope, it wasn't me."
Yuichi then aid "It had to be you. It was your Supra."
Ash said "Well, it was my car, but I wasn't driving it. My friend, May was driving it this morning. She got her license in America then when she moved back to Japan, she got her Japanese driver's license."
Yuichi then said "When did she get her license?"
Ash then said "She got it back in 1997 when she and her family were living in Idaho. You can be 14 to get your driving permit and when you turn 15, you can get your driver's license."
Yuichi said "That's interested. And it sounds like she never had an accident or she would have to wait."
Ash said "That's right. If you got your license in America, you can be 16 to drive as long as you had no accidents."
Meanwhile at Mount Haruna, the Speed Stars and Red Suns were driving on the mountain. Kenji was trying to hold off a green FD. Kenji made a mistake and the green FD passed him. Kenji then said "DAMN IT! I can't keep up with them at all!"
Meanwhile Max was also driving on the mountain. He said "They're fast! I'm at my limit but I can't keep up with any of the Red Suns."
Meanwhile, Keisuke was talking with his older brother Ryousuke on a side road on the pass. Keisuke said to him "What do you think, brother?"
Ryousuke said "They're all trash, but that NSX looks pretty good. Even our second string racers can easily beat them. We don't need to bring the top drivers next week. I will pass."
Keisuke then said "If you're not coming, I guess I will pass, too."
Ryousuke said "No, you should run. You should set a record for this course which the locals can never break. Otherwise, the name of the Akagi Red Suns will never become legendary. First, we will set new records for every course in Gunma Prefecture. Then we'll take Saitama, Kanagawa, Chiba, and Tokyo. We'll have every record in the entire Kanto region, then we'll become legends, then we will retire. That's the Akagi Red Suns' "Fastest in Kanto Project." We will be untouchable."
Then Ryousuke and Keisuke took off.
At the top, members of the Speed Stars were talking about how fast the Red Suns were.
Kenji said "I am totally shocked that we got so beaten on our home ground."
Then a member named Akito Nomura said "They have put serious money into their suspensions, and they've got power, too. There's no way we can compete with the Red Suns."
Another Speed Stars member said "But how can we avoid a challenge on our own turf?"
Koichiro racer said "That's right! We can't back out now!"
Max then said "It's getting late. Let's get together tomorrow and talk about it."
Then Max took May home.
Max said to May "Street racers don't like losing. They get too serious about racing. There's nothing worse than losing to outsiders on your own home ground. It's like a law for street racers."
A couple hours later, a couple members of the Red Suns were still on Mount Haruna.
One member named Noriyuki said "Where's Ryousuke?"
Keisuke said "He went home a while ago. We're the only ones still here."
Another Red Suns racer named Keiji said "It's almost dawn."
Keisuke said "I guess we should head back, too."
A few minutes later, Keisuke took his FD for a drive to go home. He looked in his rearview mirror and said "If I get serious, they can't keep up with me. They're still at that level."
Keisuke then eased off the gas pedal a bit. Then a car came flying.
Keisuke then said "They finally caught up, huh?"
Keisuke looked in his rearview mirror and noticed something. He said "That's not one of our cars. Is that a 180SX or MR2."
The red car followed Keisuke and kept with him.
Keisuke then said "Nice driving but after two corners, I won't even see you in my mirror."
Keisuke picked up on the accelerator and tried to pull away. When he drifted at the next corner, he looked at the car and said "That's an R34 and a girl is driving it. You have got to be kidding me!"
Keisuke tried to pull away from the red R34 but to no avail. Then the R34 popped up in his mirror again.
Keisuke then said "My FD can't outrun some female rookie in an overweight GT-R?! Is this some sort of nightmare? CRAP! I'm the #2 racer of the Akagi Red Suns!"
Coming into the next corner Keisuke slowed down and May who was driving the red R34 passed him easily.
Keisuke said in his head "Doesn't she know this road? After this slow right, there's a sharp left. If she doesn't slow down, she'll end up in the ravine!"
Then May got the rear of the car sideways.
Keisuke then said loudly "I knew it! She's going too fast! There's no more room to slow down! She's going to end up in the guardrail!"
Then May took the car and drifted into the next corner.
Keisuke couldn't believe what he saw and said "WHAT THE HELL? INERTIA DRIFT?"
