Initial D (side stage)
Act 2: Initiation
"Was last night a dream or did I really lose to an S12" Aki whispered to himself as he looked at information on the S12 series.
"Aki my friends here to pick me up!" shouted his younger brother Daijiro
"Alright I'll see you later, wait I've heard that noise before" replied Aki as he ran outside to find the S12 sitting there in the driveway.
"Is there something wrong Aki?"
"I have to talk to the person driving that car"
"Okay but don't embarrass me too much"
"Hi my name is Aki and I was the guy you passed at Haruna last night"
"Sorry I get a bit carried away when I see another car run the pass" replied the boy sitting in the driver's seat.
"I want to have a rematch" Aki answered quickly
"Sure I'll meet you there tonight at ten pm"
The S12 drove off with Daijiro in the passenger seat. The blow-off valve hissing as it changed gears.
"So you passed my brother last night?" Daijiro asked
"Yeah he's not bad but he brakes too late and that's how I passed him"
"You know what you should join a team"
"I still don't know anyone around here so that could be difficult"
"True but maybe Aki can help you get in contact with Iketani"
"That'd be great I haven't been with a team since I left Tokyo"
The S12 pulled into a car park at lake Haruna where the two sat for hours and discussed racing and cars. The sun fell and the moon rose into the sky, its pale light illuminating parts of road and the trees casting shadows over the rest. The sound of engines blaring echoed through the trees as Aki and the Speedstars arrived to meet the S12. Daijiro stepped out of the S12 and walked towards his brothers Cosmo. Aki wound down his window and began speaking to Daijiro.
"Is he ready to go?" asked Aki
"Yeah but he wants you to introduce him to Iketani"
"I'll do that if he beats me but first what's his name?"
"His name is Hideaki"
The two cars lined up next to each other preparing for the countdown to begin. The Cosmo let out a loud distinctive rumble as Aki revved it the 7000RPM trying to intimidate Hideaki. Hideaki didn't seem to be phased by this display of brute power. Iketani began the countdown.
"5, 4, 3, 2, 1, go!" shouted Iketani.
Both the Cosmo and the S12 set off in a cloud of tyre smoke. The Cosmo picked up speed quickly and passed the S12 within the first few seconds of the race beginning. The S12's turbo spooled up and the sudden burst of speed pushed it within centimetres of the Cosmo's rear bumper. The cars both flicked into second gear the Cosmo clearly having more horsepower pulled away from the S12. Hideaki didn't seem to be worried that he was falling behind. The first corner was rapidly approaching and this time Aki entered it with a reckless amount of speed and very little braking.
"I'm not going to lose out on the corners this time!" shouted Aki as he wrestled with steering wheel.
The S12 entered the corner several seconds behind after the Cosmo exited it. The S12 twelve drifted quickly through the corner closing the gap by a few milliseconds. The Cosmo pulled further ahead on the short straight that followed the corner its taillights becoming a mere orange spot in the distance. The Cosmo braked heavily for the sharp corner that was now in front of it. Aki's feet moved as swift as lightning to initiate and control the drift making sure not to swing the tail out too far. The S12 imitated the manoeuvre exactly though quicker once again closing the gap by a few milliseconds. Aki leapt into the next corner leaving no room for error his Cosmo's engine revving loudly as he did so. Hideaki followed soon after with S12 almost scraping the guard rail upon exiting.
"I'll pull further ahead on this short straight" thought Aki
Much to Aki's amazement the S12 drew closer with every passing second they continued on the straight. Upon entering the next corner The S12 was bearing down on the Cosmo. The two drifted side by side through the corner with mere centimetres separating them from each other. The Cosmo pulled slightly ahead in the very short straight before the next corner but Aki noticed that the S12 wasn't revving very high.
"He's holding back!" shouted Aki in amazement.
They both entered the corner at roughly the same speed and exited the corner tail to nose with the Cosmo leading. A long straight followed the corner and the S12 quickly pulled even but then eased off the gas to stay even with the Cosmo. There was long sweeping left hand corner approaching in the headlights. The S12 broke only a fraction after the Cosmo and got the inside line which propelled the car through the corner with ridiculous speed. Aki pushed himself to keep up with the S12 through a series of small corners and he was succeeding, the S12 could put any more distance between them coming into a sharp hairpin. Hideaki's S12 flew elegantly through the right hand hair pin as did Aki's Cosmo. Sweat dripped from Aki's face as he struggled to keep up heading into another hairpin.
"I can't keep this up I have to pass him now" spluttered Aki
Aki didn't brake until he was past the S12 heading into the corner this proved to be a fatal mistake. Aki initiated the drift to late and the tail of his Cosmo collected the guardrail. The sudden shock jolted Aki who quickly spun the car to prevent further damage. The S12 passed on the inside then quickly pulled to a halt. Hideaki ran to Aki's car asked him "are you okay? And does this mean I'm on the team?"
