Pilot-tenkawa, jpn6438 and Yaohan: thank you for your reviews, I'm glad you're liking this one too. Yaohan, I'll have you to know that I did consider making this some sort of Extra Stage of Programmed Lives but I decided that since it really had nothing to do with that story line, I'd just make it a standalone fanfic...

The One True Love

Act 2.

Tohru kept looking over to his bedside table as he lay on his bed unable to shut his eyes for more than five minutes. On top of that small table he had the perfect solution to all the problems that had been tormenting him ever since he'd capsized his Mazda.

If only he could shake up the uneasiness he felt about the whole affair, he would have called Uesugi the morning after the guy had given him his card.

Now, three days later, Tohru still didn't know how to get the money he needed to repair his car and, even though he was working almost double shifts every day, he doubted he'd make the money soon enough.

As he'd done every evening since crashing the car, he walked to Nao's job to pick her up when, instead of his girlfriend, he found that Kobayashi guy he'd seen her with.

'Hello,' Kobayashi said with a friendly smile, 'you're Nao-chan's boyfriend, aren't you?'

'Yeah,' Tohru replied using a monotone voice.

'She told me about your accident,' Kobayashi said, 'poor thing, she was so worried about you. I think you're lucky to have such a thoughtful girlfriend…'

'Yes, I know,' Tohru said feeling more and more edgy by the guy's presence.

'You know, you should be careful…'

'Why?' Tohru snapped.

'Well, she's very cute and she's always so nice to everybody, if you're not careful, someone may want to steal her away from you…'

Tohru was about to reply to that, probably by throwing a good punch at the guy so he'd learn to mind his own business, when Nao walked out of the building looking as though as she was in a rush.

'Tohru! I'm sorry, I had to finish a report for my boss,' she said.

'Don't worry, he hasn't been waiting for long,' Kobayashi replied instead of Tohru.

'Thank goodness,' Nao said looking very relieved.

'I'll see you tomorrow,' Kobayashi said and then, just as he started walking away, he added, 'we can try that new Italian place for lunch…'

Tohru was so shocked at seeing Nao nodding to that, that he didn't even manage to react on time, which was lucky for, if he had, he would have beaten the crap out of that asshole and that would have probably cost Nao her job.

'Let's go,' Nao said tugging him by his arm.

'So,' he started, refusing to take a single step, 'do you do lunch with him often?'

'What…er…'

'What's after the Italian restaurant? A fancy French dinner for two?' Tohru said without even realising that he was raising his tone of voice as he spoke.

'Tohru…'

'WHAT?' he said now definitely shouting. He noticed his hands were shaking with fury.

'It's not like that,' Nao half-whispered, 'it's just that…'

'Can't you see he's got the hots for you?'

'What? No, no way…'

'You know what I think?' he asked and, before she even had time to reply, he said, 'I think you like having a yuppie buying you meals...'

'No, Tohru, that's not true,' Nao said with a panicked voice.

'Yes it is!' he shouted, 'you women are all the sam…'

He couldn't continue for Nao, raising her hand, slapped him hard on his left cheek. Then, looking terrified of what she'd just done, she turned round and started running away from him.

'Nao!' he shouted trying to make her stop then, he saw something that made his blood freeze in his veins:

A car was arriving at a very high speed just as Nao was running across the road.

'NAO!' he shouted even louder but it was already too late. He stood there, feeling completely impotent as the car hit his girlfriend sending her flying over the windscreen.

His vocal cords lost the ability to produce any sounds as his legs, driven more by instinct than anything else, started running towards her immobile body.

Tohru threw himself onto his knees as he went to get Nao off the ground.

'Don't touch her,' a middle aged lady said, 'I'm calling an ambulance, I don't think it's a good idea to move her,' she explained as she put her mobile phone to her ear.

Meanwhile, a group of people started gathering around them, including the car's driver.

'I'm so sorry, she was just…'

Tohru looked at him and was about to get up to go and strangle him when he heard Nao moaning.

'Shush,' Tohru said as he started brushing her hair out of her face, 'an ambulance will be here soon…'

'I'm sorry…' she managed to whisper then she fell unconscious again.

Tohru barely remembered getting onboard the ambulance as the paramedics loaded the stretcher which was carrying Nao, he didn't even remember stepping into the hospital's E.R. or as a nurse blocked his way so that the doctors could take Nao into one of the treatment rooms of the Utsunomiya's city hospital.

He was then left on his own, dealing with all his pain and guilt, as he waited for whatever news the doctors would bring to him.

'Excuse me,' a nurse said walking towards him, not even five minutes after they had arrived, 'are you a relative?'

'I'm her boyfriend,' Tohru replied.

'Ah, I see, well, do you know any of her relatives? We're going to need them to sign some forms,' she said.

'Can't I sign them?' Tohru asked.

'No, I'm sorry, only a relative,' the nurse explained looking rather sorry for him.

'I'll call her parents,' Tohru said trying not to analyse too much what he'd just felt realising that he'd just been brushed aside for not being a relative.

He'd been in love with Nao for over six years. He loved her as much as he loved racing, maybe even more than that, and now, for all he knew, she could have been dying and the freaking medical staff would still want to speak to a relative…

He was so upset about it that he didn't even acknowledge it when the nurse thanked him.

Then, remembering he'd promised the nurse he'd call her parents, he walked towards a payphone and had the unpleasant duty to inform Mr and Mrs Nakazawa about their daughter's accident.

He saw them entering the E.R. reception area not even fifteen minutes later.

'Tohru!' Mr Nakazawa said seeing him there. The man seemed to be understandably upset.

'I'm sorry, I…'

'What happened?' Mrs Nakazawa asked after a nurse had promised her to send them a doctor as soon as possible.

Tohru didn't even know how to explain to Nao's parents about his and Nao's argument then, deciding that sooner or later they would find out anyway, he decided to tell them the truth.

Mr Nakazawa seemed ready to kill Tohru when a doctor walked up to them.

'Are you the relatives?'

Again that word, Tohru thought angrily.

'Yes, we're her parents,' Mr Nakazawa said.

'Alright, follow me, please,' the doctor said and, as Tohru was about to take a step forward, Mr Nakazawa looked at him and, with a very dry tone, he said:

'You stay here, you've already done enough damage.'

Tohru observed, feeling impotent for the second time that evening, as Mr and Mrs Nakazawa followed the doctor then, not really knowing what else to do, he just sat back down.

'Tohru,' he heard Nao's mum say a few minutes later, 'Nao's going to be fine, she's only suffered a mild concussion and has broken her arm. The doctor said it's a clean fracture so it should heal alright without having to operate…'

'I'm really sorry,'' he said feeling disgusted with himself since it seemed to him like Mrs Nakazawa was actually trying to make him feel better about the whole thing.

'I know,' the woman said, 'my husband is very upset right now, don't take notice of what he said but, just in case, I think it's better if you go home now. I'll let Nao know you were here…'

'But…'

'Please Tohru, just go home,' Mrs Nakazawa said with a kind smile. It was very obvious who Nao had got her gentle personality from.

'Okay,' he said.

Then, as he walked out of the hospital, he started feeling even worse, if that was at all possible, than the night he'd crashed his car.

How had he been so stupid?

Trying to think about the whole affair rationally, Tohru realised that Nao would never be able to cheat on him. No matter how elegant, how rich or how attractive a man was, Nao would always remain faithful to Tohru. He was sure of it.

Yet, for some reason, Tohru had fallen into Kobayashi's trap and had let his insecurity get the worst out of him and, because of all of this, Nao was now in the hospital and another thing Tohru was absolutely certain of was that, this time, there was no way on earth Nao would forgive him.

'Tohru-san?' he heard someone ask and that took him out of his reverie.

'Shinichi? What are…' he said seeing his team mate's green Nissan NX stopped just a couple of metres away from him.

'You're okay?' the young man asked.

'Yeah, well, no…er…'

'I'm going up to Momiji, you wanna come?' Shinichi asked with a hopeful expression.

Tohru thought about it for a few moments then, nodding, he said:

'Yeah but, do you mind if I drive?'

'No, of course not,' Shinichi said literally jumping out of his car holding the door open for Tohru.

As he drove Shinichi's NX all the way to the bottom of the Momiji Lane and there, Tohru started flooring the accelerator hoping to vent up some of his frustration by drifting through the corners as fast as possible.

'Tohru-san, is something the matter?' Shinichi asked with a slightly shaky voice.

'Nao's had an accident,' Tohru said with a flat tone.

'What?' Shinichi whispered.

'Shinichi, no offence, but I really don't want to talk about this now,' Tohru said and to prove his point, he made the car pick up speed as they reached the section of the course which had the lidless sewers.

It was there where Fujiwara had pulled the stunt that had made him win the race. It was also there where Tohru's problems started.

How had he managed to get his life to suck this much was completely beyond him. Theoretically speaking, he had what made most men happy: he had a steady job, a cute girlfriend a fast car and his passion for racing.

In practice, he hated his job for it never seemed to pay him enough to keep up with is expenses, he no longer had his roadster so he couldn't even race anymore and as for Nao, he'd probably lost her anyway.

If it weren't because the car he was driving wasn't his and because Shinichi was still inside the NX looking positively terrified, Tohru would have seriously considered driving himself down the cliff.

'Wow, you sure were inspired today…' Shinichi said as, looking very white and visibly trembling, he tried to get out of his own car.

'Sorry about that,' Tohru said realising that, because of his dark mood, he'd probably been diving like a madman.

'It's okay, I wish I could drive like that,' Shinichi said.

'No you don't,' Tohru countered, 'you'd kill yourself if you did…'

'Yeah, probably,' Shinichi said smiling sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head.

'Hello there,' that Uesugi guy said as he walked towards them.

'Uesugi, are you always here or what?' Tohru asked.

'Of course not, tonight I'm here because my friends wanted to get some practice,' he said pointing at a small group of people standing next to four very expensive looking cars.

'Tohru-san…' Shinichi started.

'Hey, why don't you go for a quick drive?' Tohru said interrupting his team mate.

'S-sure,' the young man stammered and then, looking slightly disappointed, he climbed into his NX and drove away from Tohru and Uesugi.

'So,' Uesugi started as soon as Shinichi had left, 'have you thought of my offer?'

Tohru swallowed and, after an instant, he said:

'Yeah.'

'Alright, do you have your answer?' Uesugi asked.

'Yes, I do. I'll do it…'

'Great, you won't regret it,' Uesugi said and, something in his attitude made Tohru think that he was probably making a huge mistake.

He didn't care though, as long as he could get back behind the wheel of his roadster, he'd be alright.

To be continued…