Alex drove around a left hand corner on Mt. Akina quickly. He really wanted to get home. He yawned as he downshifted and turned into a hairpin right. He accelerated out quickly and rubbed his arms. He was freezing.

Al reached over and turned on the heat before braking into the next hairpin. He wasn't noticing, but these corners had slowly become easy to him. He could handle them at low speeds without even thinking.

Al then saw taillights shining behind him. He smiled as he watched the white Hachiroku come into sight. The white 86 tandemed into the corner with him. The car slid hard.

Al looked over at him and he waved his hand. He noticed the other 86 driver look over at him. The other 86 slowed down as they entered the last of the hairpin turns.

The 86 flashed its blinkers in an indication to park on the left bank. Al slowed down behind the panda 86 and dropped into the bank. Al flipped on his blinkers before stepping out of his 86 and looking at the driver opposite of him.

Al smiled, "You're really good."

He smiled, "Thanks, you're pretty good yourself."

Al nodded, "Yeah, but a higher powered car like yours makes you a much better competitor."

He nodded, "Yeah, I used to drive it with no upgrades until I blew the engine, then my dad put a new, more powerful one in it."

Al nodded, "That's cool, my brother is thinking of letting me upgrade this car too."

He nodded, "Ok, maybe some time we can drive town the mountain together."

Al sighed, "You'd beat me easily..."

He shook his head, "You always have a chance."

Al smiled, "Thanks, I'll see you around. My name's Hogashinu Alex."

He nodded before stepping back in his trueno, "Mine's Fujiwara Takumi. Bye!"

Al watched as the taillights disappeared around the corner. Al walked back over to the Hachiroku and slid into the driver's seat. He drove forward once again. He yawned as he approached the 4 deadly hairpins.

Nik walked into the kitchen as Al sat eating cereal. Al smiled at him, "What's up?"

Nik shook his head, "Not much, you almost ready for school?"

Al nodded, "Yup. You going job hunting again?"

Nik nodded as he picked up the paper, "I'm gonna try..."

Al smiled encouragingly, "Good luck."

Nik smirked, "You're only saying that because you want your upgrades..."

Al smiled innocently. He went back to his cereal as Nik browsed through the classified ads. He sighed, 'Truck driver, nurse, nurse, secretary, nurse, nurse, waiter, waiter, cashier...'

"No job hunting today."

Nik looked up at Mei, "I have to."

Mei shook his head, "Rest and clear your head. We've got an important race tomorrow and you've been worrying a lot lately."

Nik sighed, "I'll be fine, and finding a job is more important then a race..."

Mei put his hand on Nik's head, "You feeling ok?"

Nik smirked, "Cut the shit."

"Sorry, I'm just not used to seeing you not stoked for a race."

"I just wanna make sure our lives are stable."

"Alright then." He looked at Al, "Let's go."

Al nodded and said goodbye to Nik before going out to his Hachiroku. He got into his car and began to drive down the mountain. He soon saw a set of flashing headlights shining behind him.

Al looked at the headlights as they followed him around a left hand corner. He blinked as the car came closer to him. Al's eyes widened, "Wow, its fast. It looks like a Silvia or a Skyline, but it sounds different..."

Another corner had the car closing quicker. Al accelerated. It felt dangerous to him, driving at high speeds during the day. It was lucky that it was a weekday, but he still had to be cautious.

Al accelerated into a right hand turn and accelerated hard. He kept to his own lane as the following car came up the inside. Al downshifted and entered on the inside of the next, left hairpin.

As his pursuer followed him into the left hairpin, Al noticed the car brand. It was a Levin, a Levin 86. Al was surprised at the power of the red Hachiroku. Al took an immediate right hairpin that followed the left.

Al hid on the outside of the turn as he entered on the left hand turn. The Levin drove on the inside with a lot of acceleration. He pulled past him quickly before returning to the left lane.

Al sighed as he let off the accelerator, dropping back to 3rd gear. He sighed as he turned left towards Myogi village. He sighed and accelerated towards the high school. He parked in his usual spot and walked over to where Miki was standing with her friends.

Al followed her into the building and over to his first class. He sat and listened to his instructor as he doodled in his notebook. He got up when the bell rang and saw Miki staring at his notebook.

Al looked up at her, "What's wrong?"

She pointed to his notebook, "What the hell were you writing?"

Al looked down at his notebook. He read it, Toyota Levin AE86, 4AGE engine, turbocharged and supercharged..." That was repeated down the paper. Al's eyes widened, "That's it!"

"What's it?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it. Where are we going now?"

"Gym, and we're gonna be late if you don't hurry up."

Al got up and followed Miki to the locker rooms before they split up. Al got changed while wondering he had realized his conclusion. He shook his head. It didn't matter.

He got through the rest of the day without any complications. He walked out to his 86 with Miki on his arm. He had to drive her home before he took her to work. He sighed as he parked in her driveway and waited for her.

She came out five minutes later. He put the car in reverse and drove towards the Gotsu restaurant. He never felt comfortable driving there after what happened between Nik and Maka, but he slowly got over it.

Al stopped in front of the restaurant and walked inside with Miki. He kissed her before she walked in the back. He sat down and ordered a coffee as he heard someone yelling in the back kitchen.

"Maka, please!"

"No, I refuse to give you any money! You should stop racing."

"I can't, besides you; it's all I have left."

"What about the restaurant? What about mom and dad's restaurant?"

"Maka, stop holding onto something that's not there. You know you hate it here."

Al heard a faint weeping sound, "I don't want to forget them..."

"Fine, I'm out of here. I'll get the money somehow else. Bye."

"Kei!"

He heard the door slam. Al got up and opened the door that led into the warm kitchen. He looked over at Maka, "Are you ok?"

Maka's eyes lead up to him. She wiped her eyes but the tears didn't stop, "No..."

Al walked over and held her in his arms, "It's gonna be ok, don't worry."

She shook her head, "No, it's not. He's going to end up like our parents..."

"He's your brother?"

She nodded as she backed away from him, "Yeah, my younger brother."

Al walked her outside and sat down on a set of steps with her. He tried to console her before he heard the sound of an engine. It was a large 4AGE. A turbo and a super...

Al looked down the wide alley as he saw a red AE86 Levin power down past the stairs and slid onto the street. Al's eyes widened. Al said to himself, "The 86 from this morning..."

She nodded, "Figures, I'd bet the real reason he showed up was just to race on the mountain."

"Why did he want money?"

She sighed, "He needed to make more upgrades or something."

Miki opened the door and looked down, "Hey Maka, we've got some customers."

Maka nodded, "Thanks Al."

Al nodded, "No problem."

Maka got up and walked back into the kitchen as Al walked down the stone steps and out of the alley. He got back into his Hachiroku and drove towards the house. He yawned.

Nik yawned. He had spent all day looking for a job and come up with nothing once again. He sighed as he took a left of off the highway. He then took an immediate right and began to climb up Mt. Myogi.

All day, he'd also been thinking about the question he asked the FC the night before. Was he uptight? Did he lose his old attitude of the drifter without a care? Al's words haunted him.

He sighed as he took the right hand turn into their garage. He got out of his FC and walked into the house. He sighed as he plopped down onto the couch. He sighed as he leaned back and closed his eyes.

He then heard the sound of the 86 pulling into his driveway. He looked over at the door as Al walked in. His distraught look was easy to notice. Nik sighed as he stood up and walked into the kitchen where Al was.

Nik looked up at him, "What's wrong bro?"

Al sighed, "The limited power of my 86 is really starting to get to me…"

Nik sighed, "I'm not sure about the upgrades yet…"

Al leaned back in his seat, "I ran into two ultra powerful 86's today."

Nik's eyes widened, "Did you challenger them?"

He shook his head, "No, but one challenged me to a 'fun run'."

Nik nodded, "Don't let them intimidate you."

"I'm not, but the difference in power is immense, especially compared to the Levin…"

"What Levin?"

"I ran into a red Levin 86, it had a turbo and a supercharger. It sounded like a beast."

"Wow, that's a beefed up Hachiroku."

Al nodded, "It slid a lot…"

Nik nodded, "It's to be expected."

Al nodded, "Yeah, a lot of power being fed to the rear tires causing a heavy over steer."

Nik smiled, "You're starting to sound like me."

He nodded, "I know, I'm scaring myself."

Nik sat back in his chair, "The upgrades will only give you 240 hp."

"Do you want more power then that?"

Nik looked over at Mei, "Huh?"

"I've got a friend who owns a garage in Akagi. He could balance the pistons, polish the port, and do all the minor stuff that could give him about 30 more hp. A 180 HP 86 is better then a 140."

Al nodded, "And that would mean the turbo and super would boost my power up near 300."

Nik sighed, "That's a lot of power Al..."

Al smiled, "I know, ain't it great? I'll have as much power as you!"

Nik sighed, "Yeah, great..."

Mei smiled, "I think Nik's jealous."

Nik sighed, "He'll be able to keep up with us, maybe even pass us now."

Al looked into Nik's eyes, "You're worried about me, aren't you?"

Nik looked over at him, "You're very talented Al, but you're also inexperienced. I'm worried it's too much power for you to learn on."

Al sighed, "The 240 had that much power..."

Nik looked over at him, "The 240 was designed for it. A Trueno GT-Apex wasn't."

Al sighed, "I could do it..."

Nik sighed, "Do it if you want, but you'll need to give up the car for a night."

Al shook his head, "I don't mind, it'll be awesome."

Mei walked towards his room, "Get to sleep, we've got a race tomorrow."

Nik nodded and looked at Al, "Go to sleep."

Al went to his room and fell asleep smiling. He was really happy he was getting at least a little more power. Every little bit helped, yet he did wonder about if he would be able to take the Levin or that panda Trueno.

The Next Night...

Nik sat at the bottom of the mountain with Mei. Mei and Nik were both looking at Nakazato's R32. Nakazato looked at his watch before stepping into his R32 and pulling up to the starting line.

Mei got into the driver's seat of his R32 and looked at Nik, "Wish me luck."

Nik smiled, "You don't need it."

Mei then heard the R32 revv up. Mei looked at Al and Al said, "Good luck."

A nervous Mei took his R32 to the starting line. He looked over at Takeshi and sighed as he tapped the accelerator. He watched as the Shingo counted down, "Five, Four, Three, Two, and One..."

Will have next soon, promise!