Over Drive

Hello, and welcome to my first Over Drive fanfic. I was unaware of this manga/anime until it premiered on my cable channel in the Philippines (sometime in the first week of this month, January 2011), and after watching about five episodes of it I find myself hooked, due to its good plot, the nice animation designs done by Xebec, and the characters. It reminded me of the similar sports-themed manga, Suzuka (though the anime version is not quite good and I chose to stick to the manga version instead).

After watching the scenes of Mikoto Shinozaki and Yuki Fukusawa, I studied them well and decided to try out a fic, and after reading the info on Wikipedia, I came up with a good plot that combines cycling, romance and drama. It took me a nearly half a month to conceive this and yet I'm wondering if this would meet the readers' expectations, so let me know what you think.

Okay, why an M-rated story? Well, aside from eventual lemon scenes, I decided to put heavy emphasis on drama, and since episode 9, where Yuki gets dumped by her ex-boyfriend through a text message, it gave me an idea on how to execute this in fanfic form, as well as bringing him in as the antagonist here.

So buckle up and enjoy the ride (pardon the pun)

Disclaimer:

Over Drive is owned by Yasuda Tsuyoshi and Xebec

At the Cherry Tree Hills High School, things are quite normal today and things went on as usual, with Yosuke Fukusawa giving Mikoto some new training lessons in cycling while Koichi gives Mikoto some encouragement so he can cope with a new level of training the new member is undergoing. Of course this new training involves cycling to a higher hill which Mikoto was having a hard time at first, as his stamina haven't been build up yet though he is showing signs that he is able to adapt well.

Meanwhile, Yosuke's younger sister, Yuki, happened to pass by to see how her elder brother's cycling club is doing and is glancing at Mikoto. Since she introduced Mikoto to her elder brother, Yosuke's cycling club is starting to gain structure and the trio began to practice which paid off as the new member shows signs of promise as he is able to show a lot of potential. Of course, Yuki did this for her brother's sake, though she unknowingly started to see something from Mikoto despite beating him up at times whenever his crazy antics began to bug her.

However, despite seeing him as a club member and classmate, Yuki unknowingly felt something about the boy, though she remained ignorant to her feelings towards him and just treated him as a classmate even though she did show signs of concern whenever he gets into a situation such as pushing himself to his limits, or when he tries to compliment her on something. However, in spite of the current happenings in her life, there is one secret that seemingly latches on to her which she tried hard to forget.

"I guess…there's no point in entertaining guys..they're disposable and they'll dump girls in a snap of a finger…just like what happened to me…I don't want that to happen again…and I won't get hooked to any boys ever again…who would want to hook up with me anyway…they'll just toy with my feelings…"

As her mind is elsewhere, Yosuke and the others decided to put up a stall within Cherry Tree Hills High and try to do something to entice freshmen and juniors to join the club, which Koichi looked optimistic while Mikoto is assembling the stall. Yosuke himself wondered if there is someone within the school who would take interest in cycling.

"Hey, Shinozaki…be careful…the stall that we're going to set up should be near the building area…and we should make a good impression so we can entice students to join our club…"

"Yes, sempai…"

"Wah…Yosuke, look at Shinozaki…he's so cute when he's working hard…"

"Knock it off, Koichi…you're giving me the impression that you're gay…"

"Hey! I'm not a homo!"

As the two upperclassmen are "bickering" among themselves, Mikoto is busy putting the tent and saw Yuki watching them and again he is drawn to her. He glances at her as and then it is shown that Yuki is unaware that she is staring directly at Mikoto, since she is busy looking back mentally on how she brought Mikoto to Yosuke's club. By then the upperclassmen saw Mikoto and Koichi deduced this and started to tease their "3rd member".

"Ah…Shinozaki…why are you looking at Yuki like that…?"

The 15-year old boy snapped back to reality upon hearing those words and he blushed while denying the "accusations", though Yosuke heard this and became somewhat "annoyed" since he makes it a habit to protect his younger sister, especially after learning of Yuki's sad past.

"N-no! I wasn't staring at her! Really…I'm just…"

"Then why are you blushing and flustered…? If Yosuke-sempai were to learn this he'll make you cycle until you get cramps…he-he-he-he…believe me…anyone who wants to court her should get past him first…and of all the guys who took interest in her…it's surprising that it'd be you…"

"Really…Yuki is just a friend…honest!"

By then Yosuke sneaked behind Mikoto and traps him in a full nelson lock while "berating" him for his supposed "ulterior motives" towards Yuki. Of course Yosuke is just playing with Mikoto, which the 15-year old thought his sempai is serious in his threats.

"What? Is that true? You joined my club just to drool over my little sister? If so, I'll punish you if you have any perverted thoughts towards her! No one makes fun of her…except me that is…if you intent to woo her…I'll block you off the path…"

"Wah! No, Fukusawa-sempai! Yuki was the one who introduced me to your club! I joined this club of my free will! I have no perverted intentions towards her! I really joined this club as I want to be a cycling champion in Japan, then to compete in the Tour de France! She's just a friend!"

"So then…you have a crush on her, no?"

"Yes…I do have a crush on her…Koichi-sempai! Stop teasing me and do something!"

"Aha! I knew it! So you do want to get close to my sister…and you're using my club as an excuse to do that!"

"Wah! No! It's not true! Honest! I joined this club based on my own decision! And it was Yuki who introduced me to you!"

As the pressure of the full nelson lock deepens, Mikoto was "crying" for mercy and Koichi felt that Yosuke's pranks are getting out of character, and out of hand, so he decided to persuade him to release their "only member", and the noise attracted Yuki's attention and she snapped back to reality, and heard the argument, much to her surprise. She blushed at this and turned away, too embarrassed to confront the "argument" and she really tried to deny this to herself.

"What…Shinozaki having a crush on me? Give me a break…he's just a weakling! Why would I show interest at a boring, clumsy boy? What do I really see in him anyway! He's driving me nuts since I introduced him to my brother's club…and his antics really get on my nerves! I'd better get out of here before he drives me crazy!"

As she leaves the area to head back to class, she passed by some couples who are holding hands, some cuddling and another one kissing, and those scenes slowly caused her to pop veins on her forehead, as she felt irritated and walked straight to her classroom. As she sat on her chair, her head started to pound, and slowly felt anger building up, and she tried desperately to repress it.

"Forget that thought… Forget that thought… Forget that thought… Forget that thought… Forget that thought…it's all behind me… it's all behind me… it's all behind me… it's all behind me… it's all behind me…he's a dead man in my book… he's a dead man in my book… he's a dead man in my book… he's a dead man in my book… he's a dead man in my book…"

By then Mikoto arrived, he was badly in shape after several minutes of being "manhandled" and sat on his seat while their next teacher came to commence the next subject. As the subject is ongoing, Mikoto just stared at his notes, while she tries to concentrate on her work, but unknowingly glances at Mikoto, her mind "splits in two", one saying that Mikoto is the right guy while the other tries to brush it off.

"Come one…Mikoto may look like a weakling…but he's the right guy for you…he's better than the last guy who dumped you on your cellphone…"

"Knock it off! He's so annoying…not to mention that he's so goofy…besides…cycling is all that matters to him…so shut it, okay? I'm not interested in him…"

"Then why are you crying inside your bedroom when he said he'll never betray you?"

"Shut up…"

"Instead of going out with your friends, you chose to attend Mikoto's first sponsored cycling race…"

"Shut up…"

"Admit it…you're starting to see him in a different light…"

"Shut up…"

"You're beginning to like him…"

"Shut up…"

"Yuki likes Mikoto…Yuki likes Mikoto…Yuki likes Mikoto…"

"SHUT UP!"

Yuki stood up shouting, only to realize that she is still inside the classroom with everyone staring at her in surprise, and she sat back to her seat, embarrassed by her outburst, and Mikoto asked her if there is anything wrong, which only worsened the situation.

"Er…Yuki…are you okay…? You seemed to be stressed out…"

"SHUT UP! WHO ASKED YOU?"

The 15-year old girl began beating up Mikoto and the rest of the class stared in surprised. Some annoyed, others bemused, and the rest are starting to suspect that there is something going on between the two. The teacher then sent the two out to stand in the hallway much to the two teens' dismay and had to stand outside the classroom.

-x-

After school hours ended, Mikoto heads for the Cycling Club where Yosuke and Koichi are there, and both are surprised to see Mikoto's bruised face which the boy told his two "sempai" what happened, and the elder Fukusawa makes a mental note to talk to his younger sister once he gets home. Koichi then gives the "3rd member" some antiseptic to clean the bruises on his face so that they can commence lecture and training on making their next step in competing at the 2nd qualifying tournament.

Meanwhile, Yuki is walking at a shopping district as she is still embarrassed at what happened and still in denial over having feelings for Mikoto. As she is walking around she saw someone standing before her and heart beats slowly but hard. A mixture of two emotions kicked in – one, shock and the other anger. The person is a guy and he happened to be her ex-boyfriend who dumped her via cellphone several weeks ago.

To Be Continued…

Hope you like my first chapter and though this is considered an alternate continuation of the anime, I might consider this a canon even though I managed to watch the first 10 episodes.

I decided to bring in Yuki's ex-boyfriend in fanfiction form since he was never seen on the anime and he'll be the antagonist here, so that the story will have some excitement, drama, and love.

Preview:

Yuki and her ex-boyfriend meets up, and while there is hostility in her, her ex-boyfriend seemed to be amicable towards her and tries to "patch" things up.

Meanwhile the Fukusawa Cycling Club goes into training and unintentionally runs into Yuki and her ex. expect some hostilities to boil while Mikoto gets apprehensive once he learns of this fact and how will this affect his chances to confessing his feelings towards her.