"WHAAAAT?" The entire class was in an uproar.

"Tatsumiya-san can drive? She's not even old enough!" said both of the Narutaki twins in unison.

"Good lord…they're at it again." sighed Chisame Hasegawa. She did not particularly care for the class when they were abuzz over rumors.

"Where is she anyway?" asked Natsumi Murakami quizzically.

"She said she was going out to clean up at the shrine," said Chao Lingshen. "But for all we know…"

The entire class, aside from Makie, who simply sat in her seat dumbfounded, could easily finish Chao's sentence.

Mana uncoiled the garden hose and began to rinse the soap suds off the car. The sound of a car engine approached as she was cleaning off the fender mirrors. It was Ryosuke's FC3S.

The door opened. Ryosuke came out and walked towards her. Mana continued to clean off the car, moving from the side panels to the rear spoiler.

Ryosuke took a minute to check out the car's appearance. It was a silver Nissan Skyline KPGC10, with mild over fenders and slightly lowered. The wheels were the same as the ones on Takumi's 86, but they were colored gold. The rear end had a small "duck tail" spoiler and a custom exhaust system.

"Nice car." commented the elder Takahashi brother. "Yours?"

Mana began to dry off the hood with a towel. "It used to belong to my Master. Before he left me, he told me I was to take ownership of the car."

"Do you know much about this vehicle?"

She turned toward Ryosuke, glaring at him. "Do I? I can tell you this is not just a standard Skyline." Mana reached under the hood and released it.

Underneath was an engine block coated in red, with "RB26" printed on it.

"With this engine, the car now has 450 horsepower, much more than its stock engine. The air intake Master installed brings it to 453. I drove it up and down the mountain several times after my master passed away, eventually getting used to the twists and turns of the road…but no one was here to challenge me. So it ended up going back in the garage until I could find an opponent."

"And now…it will run again. My Master's Skyline…" Mana gazed wistfully at the sky. A single tear fell down her face.

"Quite a story." nodded Ryosuke.

"Tonight. I want you and your team to come to the mountain. I will race one of your so-called 'double aces'. Deal?"

Ryosuke turned away and glanced at Mana. "You've got one." He climbed in his car and drove off.

Mana turned to look back at the Skyline. She put her hands on the hood. "Master…I will not let you down!"