JANUARY 9th, 1999

Keisuke was driving his FD before the race drifting along corners. While driving, Keisuke said "Where are you, R34 of Haruna?"

At the top of the mountain, someone told some other Red Suns to check the booster and pressure gauges on Keisuke's FD.

Max, Akito, and Kenji were watching some them work on Keisuke's FD.

Max said "What are they doing?"

Akito said "They're changing the tires on the FD. They seem to have several spares in that van."

Max then said "They're changing the tires to suit the conditions of Haruna. They act like professionals. Crap…"

A mechanic from the Red Suns told Keisuke "It's ready to go any time, Keisuke."

Keisuke said "What? Ah, thank you. Isn't it past 10:00 PM yet?"

The mechanic looked at his watch and said "Well, it's about 9:40."

Then an S13 took off.

Keisuke said "DAMN IT! She hasn't come yet. Brother, that R34 really irritates me! I was convinced it could represent Haruna. Was I ever wrong! I've lost all my enthusiasm! Now I'm going for the best time and I will run away from them and humiliate them. If I don't, I won't be able to stand it!"

Max was waiting for May to come to Mount Haruna and said to himself "If my sister doesn't come, this will make Haruna look bad. We need you badly, sis!"

Then Max looked at Kenji and said "Kenji, get ready… at least mentally."

Kenji said "Okay."

Meanwhile, Hiroshi wanted to know about traffic. He said "This is the starting line. Are you ready?"

One guy at the bottom said "This is the finish line. Everyone is in their designated positions. You can start any time."

Hiroshi told the guy "Roger!" Then he looked at Max. Hiroshi then said "Should we start now?"

Max said "She didn't come after all. I'm counting on you, Kenji." Kenji got in his car.

Kenji and Keisuke pulled up to the start line.

When they lined up, Keisuke said "Are you kidding me? This is my opponent?"

Kenji took a deep breath.

Then Max said "Kenji, you look pale. You're sweating. We're even feeling kind of sick just watching you."

Kenji said "That's easy for you to say."

Akito said "Toughen up! Get mean!"

Hiroshi said he was going to do the countdown. People cleared the road so neither racer could run over them. As Hiroshi was about to begin the countdown, someone at the finish line said to him "Wait a minute! This is the finish line. A car just passed us and went up there. You don't want to pass it during the race, do you? Should we wait until it reaches the top?"

Keisuke said "This is a public road. There's always to go be regular cars! Forget about it! Start us!" & Hiroshi said "All right."

Then Max ran over and said "Wait a minute! Can you ask him what make that car was?"

Hiroshi said to the guy at the finish line "Could you tell what kind of car it was?"

The guy at the finish line said "I think it was a car with circular tail lights. I think it might have been an R34."

Keisuke wanted Hiroshi to give him the radio. Keisuke then said to the guy "What color was the R34?"

The guy at the finish line said "Why are you guys so curious about that thing? It was red with a carbon fibre hood and carbon fibre spoiler."

Max said "She's here!"

Keisuke chuckled in a low voice and then said "She showed up! My prey."

Hiroshi asked Keisuke "What are you going to do? Is it okay to begin the countdown?"

Keisuke said "Not yet! Wait until the R34 arrives. My real opponent shouldn't be the 180SX next to me, right?"

Max said "Yeah, that's right. " Then he said to Kenji "You can go back now."

Kenji said "Yeah. That's quite a relief."

Max then said "Your eyes are watering."

Kenji then said "Yours, too!"

Max said "She came through for us so that she could protect the Haruna street racers' pride. That's enough for me! Now I can start feeling like I don't care about who wins or loses. Meanwhile, May drove up Mount Haruna. While driving to the top, May looked at some of the spectators. She said in her head "What is this? It seems strange. There are people at each turn. What are they doing here? I think I came to a weird place. Oh, well, I guess it's all right. If I win, I get a full tank of gas. I can go shopping with my dad without any pressure."

She then passed a guy named Takeshi Nakazato who was also going to watch the race. He was standing next to his black R32. Then May passed him which he took notice of.

His younger brother, Drew said "What's up, big brother?"

Takeshi said "Nice technique! The way the back end moved when it pulled out of the corner was a nice touch. Didn't you see it?"

Drew then said "If you say so, but…"

Then a Night Kids member said "To us it just looked like a young woman driving that R34."

Takeshi then said "A car driven by a street racer who is at a level where he or she can maneuver it as easily as their own hands and feet has an aura about it. Ryousuke Takahashi's driving has a strong aura. His younger brother Keisuke's aura is still weak. But that girl in that R34 was emitting a strong aura. If she represents Haruna the winner is up in the air. I've heard some awesome things about the R34 GT-R. It's supposed to be much better than the crappy R33 and have the same greatness that the R32 had."

At the top, people were waiting for the red R34 to come.

Max said in his head "She's almost here. She really came. I know you will win, May! We'll show the Takahashi Brothers Haruna's real strength!"

Keisuke said in his head "Come on, R34! I'm looking forward to seeing who gets out of the car. It's been a long time since I've been so excited."

Ryousuke said in his head "She kept us waiting for so long, but such an obvious strategy won't work on me. I will be watching you very closely."

Then a guy told everyone at the top that the R34 was coming. He also said to clear a path and show the R34 to the start line.

May then drove by some spectators on the side road.

One guy named Takehito said "That R34 looks awesome."

Another guy named Joe said "Looks like the owner put some serious cash into it."

May then turned around and had the R34 facing the same direction Keisuke's FD was facing. When May parked the car, she got out of it. People couldn't believe what she looked like.

Max said "ALL RIGHT! MAY HAS ARRIVED!"

May then turned her head to see other people.

Keisuke said in his head "So this is the girl…"

May then shut her driver door. Max ran over to her and yelled her name.

Max said "I am so glad you could make it. Go for it, tonight."

May said "Thanks, bro. Ash told me to race here tonight."

Max then said "Ash told you to race, huh? He must have a ton of confidence in you if you're racing tonight."

Kenji said "Max, will your sister win this race?"

May said in her head "Maybe I should have stayed home and have Ash race.

Max then said "May! Did Ash say anything else?"

May said "He simply told me to beat the FD on Haruna's downhill."

Max then said "Can you beat Keisuke Takahashi?"

May then said "Well, I can't be sure until we really race. I have beaten him before."

Max said "You won once before?!"

May said "A full tank of gas is riding on this race so if you let me, I will win no matter what."

Max then said "How did you prepare for this race?"

May said "I watched some videos that Ash bought of people racing on Haruna. He said I could learn a lot from watching the tapes. I've also started practicing in the early parts of the morning here on the pass."

Max then said "Now I understand. May! All right. I will put you in charge of the downhill race. One more thing, thanks for coming, sis. I know you can win this race. Make Haruna proud. Tell the Akagi Red Suns we are not a bunch of friends who love street racing. Tell them we are serious about protecting our home turf. I'm counting on you!" Then Max told Keisuke "I am sorry that we kept you waiting."

Keisuke said "Really! I'm tired of waiting!" Then he looked at May and said "You're pretty young. What's your name?"

May said "May Chan."

Keisuke then said "I will remember your name. I'm Keisuke Takahashi. I won't make the same mistake twice."

May and Keisuke then got in their cars. Kenji said "Is it really all right? It's totally foolish to race an R34 against an FD."

Akito then said "The FD has a huge advantage in the corners. It's the best domestic cornering machine but the R34 like any GT-R is made for street racing. This could be a good race to watch."

Max said "We just need to have faith in her."

May and Keisuke were ready to get going. Hiroshi then began the countdown. He said "We are starting in 10 seconds! 9! 8! 7! 6! 5! 4! 3! 2! 1! GO!" May and Keisuke took off and headed fast to the first corner.

Keisuke took the early lead and had a little bit of a gap on May. May and Keisuke were shifting gears as they picked up speed.

Meanwhile at the start line, one Red Suns member said "WOW! Keisuke's FD is fast!"

Another Red Suns member said "350 horsepower is no joke. His shifting is perfect."

A Red Suns member named Takuya said "At full acceleration, the R34 looked like it was standing still."

Ryousuke said in his head "Without any modification to the engine, an R34 has 310 HP at the most. However, it looks like this girl's R34 has at least 350 HP. Maybe 400 horsepower. It won't be easy for Keisuke. The reason why that R34 can shift so fast is that it has transmission gears for circuit racing. It must be perfect for the hairpins on Haruna. This is going to be a close race. The driver of that R34 must be really talented."

Meanwhile, May was trailing Keisuke. Keisuke looked in his rearview mirror and saw he had quite a gap on May's R34. He said in his head "I won't give her a break. I don't like using the straightaways to pull ahead, but this is a timed run. I will never even see that R34 in my rearview mirror."

Keisuke drifted at the first corner. Meanwhile, May was coming to the same corner. She too drifted. She now was trying to catch up with Keisuke.

A guy at the first corner aid "This is the first corner! It's great. The R34's line is incredible! It wasn't more than 5 cm from the guardrail! I've never seen anyone corner at that speed!"

Meanwhile Keisuke flew by the next couple of corners. He then looked at his rearview mirror and saw May closing in on him.

Keisuke said "She's closing the gap? She's getting closer? It must be my imagination! It's impossible!"

Keisuke stepped on the accelerator a little more however May was able to keep the gap close. Then Keisuke braked for the next corner. He flew by the next 2 corners. Meanwhile, May approached the corners at a high rate of speed. She drifted at the corners. Then at the next corner, May was able to catch up with Keisuke and pull alongside him. Keisuke pulled away a bit out of the corner but May didn't let the gap open up too much.

At the top, Akito said to Max "I sure hope May can pull this off."

Max said "I hope so."

Then Akito said "May might be a rookie but from what you told me, she has some racing experience."

Max then said "I guess you really can't tell much about a person by just looking at them. When we lived in Kanagawa Prefecture, she won championships in the 100cc, 125cc, and 150cc classes in go-karting. She also won a championship in a late model modified series 3 years ago. Anyway, we must believe in her."

Kenji said "Yeah. It's much better than if I had run."

Akito said "Even though May has won championships in go-karts and late models, it's nothing compared to real street racing."

Max said "It sounds like my sister beat Keisuke Takahashi once before."

Everyone said "WHAT?"

Akito then said "May defeated Keisuke Takahashi?! NO WAY!"

Akito noticed he was talking a little loud. Then he said in a quiet voice "I can't believe it! May defeated a guy with lots more experience than her?! She didn't even know what an R34 was!"

Meanwhile May and Keisuke were still racing hard on the downhill. Neither racer was giving or slowing down. Keisuke had about a 3 second lead over May but May however was closing the gap."

A guy at the corner May and Keisuke just passed said "WHAT? What's in that R34?! At incredible speed, it came in with the rear end free and it passed through at an unbelievable speed! It wouldn't be surprising if it went airborne at any moment! We've got shivers going up our spines!"

Meanwhile, May now had gotten to Keisuke's rear bumper. Keisuke could believe it. He said "She's caught up to me?! What's happening? I must be going crazy!"

Keisuke braked for the next corner and May drifted along at the corner. Keisuke tried to pull away from May but he was unable to. May was now putting the pressure on Keisuke.

May then said "Up to second gear, they're the same, but the stretch is different. If the straight is even a little long, he'll pull away."

May then drifted at the next corner coming to the skating rink to close the gap on Keisuke.

A guy named Tomoyuki said "This is the straightaway in front of the skating rink. The two of them just passed by! She's on Keisuke's bumper! Haruna's R34 is unbelievably fast! Is this for real? Keisuke's FD has never had anyone keep up with it this far!"

Akito started to laugh a bit.

Max said "Man, I've got goose bumps!"

Tomoyuki then said "On this long straightaway, Keisuke pulled away, but after this, there are many hairpins. It may be a problem!"

Then Ryousuke walked over to Hiroshi. Hiroshi said "Did you hear him, Ryousuke?"

Ryousuke said "We miscalculated. We didn't know Haruna had such a great racer, not to mention she's a girl."

Meanwhile, May kept up with Keisuke. Keisuke braked for the next corner. May decided to drift at the upcoming corner. She was able to pull alongside Keisuke again. May didn't let Keisuke get too far ahead of her.

One guy named Kohei said "Great attack! That R34's attack was aggressive. It was an incredible kamikaze technique! She has no sense of fear on the downhill."

Keisuke said in his head "In the straights, I'm faster, but she has caught up to me. That means I'm losing in the corners. To be caught by some female rookie is one of the ultimate humiliations for a street racer! I will die before admitting that!" Keisuke then floored his FD.

May said in her head "Ash said unless I pass that car, he won't admit that I won this race. There's no other way. I guess I have to do that. A full tank of gas is riding on this plus shopping for clothes with my dad. The setup point is in the next five consecutive hairpins!"

May then picked up the pace so she could make her move.