DISCLAIMER:
All trademarked items in this fanfiction is owned by their respected copyright holders (Narcissu by Tomo Kataoka, Wangan Midnight by Michiharu Kusunoki, Initial D by Shuichi Shigeno). The ones which are owned by me are merely the plot and the author's thoughts. This fanfiction is made solely for entertainment purposes and not intended for any material gain.
Thoughts and flashbacks are in italic. Flashbacks will be noted as such.
Narcissu II: Das Rote Gespenst
Chapter 7: Wake Me Up…
The wait in the conference room holding the pre-race meeting for the RoadSpec Race on Tsukuba has dragged on for quite a long time, but Red Star Racing Team's representatives have just arrived. The buzz in the room was quite incessant. Eyeballing the room, Akio predicted around forty to fifty teams' worth of people are present in the technical meeting.
"Wow, there are a lot of people here, Hoshino-kaichou," Akio commented as he entered the room a step behind Kozo.
"It's an amateur event… an event that requires rather low amounts of tuning, even," the older man replied. "Naturally, anyone with a decently-maintained Roadster, some capital to spare, and a fresh set of racing tires will enter."
"Hey! If it isn't Kozo Hoshino!" a man greeted Kozo, and they shake hands. "Finally sending a representative to the racing scene? Or are you staging a comeback?"
"Ah no, I'm way too old for these kind of things," Kozo heartily replied. "I'm here as a favor for this here young man."
"Really? Hmm, I see you made a nice pick on the youngster, Hoshino. He had that racer's spark inside his eyes," the man said, his eyes scaling Akio. "How do you do, son? I'm Tatsuhisa Todo, owner, manager, and head mechanic of Todo School of Racing."
"Akio Asakura, nice to meet you sir," Akio groggily said as he shook the old man's hand.
"So I heard you opened a racing school… team of sorts, Todo?" Kozo took back the conversation.
"Yeah. I aim to get championships all over Japan, across classes," Todo said as he throws his gaze around. "If things go according to plan, we'll send two of our best racers to JTCC next season under our own banner. What are you planning?"
"Oh, nothing much," Kozo said with a smile. "I'm just doing the usual things… dealing, touge[b] once in a while… usual old men pleasures."
"Still one of the reigning kings of Tsukuba mountain pass, if my fresh recruits Ninomiya and Sakai were to be believed," Todo let out a detail Akio only learned recently.
"Who did you bring here, Todo?" Kozo again brought the conversation back on track.
"He went to the toilet just now…" Todo replied, scanning the entrance. "Oh, that's him. Tomoyuki Tachi. I have a good faith on his skills, honed in Happogahara pass. Judging from the other contenders in the Stock class, this will be a walk in the park."
"Bloody difficult turns there, I hate that cramped road. Thrive there, you can thrive anywhere else," Kozo spat out. "I guess our racer would have a difficult time with him."
"Oh, I'm sure young Asakura-kun here will put up a decent fight. Aren't you, son?" Todo said, patting Akio's shoulder.
"I'm… just a support mechanic, sir," Akio corrected the older man.
"You are? This poor old man must get his eyes checked, then," Todo remarked. "I could have sworn that I see a seasoned racer in you, son!"
"Yeah. The public will be stunned by our ace in the hole, but we decided to keep her for now. Sudden stomach flu got the better of her, but Jou-chan got it all under control," Kozo added, smirking. Akio sheepishly smiled, knowing that Todo's initial assessment of him was actually a bullseye.
"Really? Good thing God Hand is a doctor, then…" Todo exclaimed, taken by surprise. "Not much lady drivers this time around, you know. Only that Homura girl from Team Mitaki returned to race again… coming in strong, too. A cut under Tachi-kun's pace, but down on the track… we'll never knew."
"Hey chief," the young man referred to as Tomoyuki Tachi joined the conversation. "Sorry I got so long. A friend of mine is also entering the race, we chatted a bit."
"More competition, I say! Is he any good?" Todo replied.
"He's a new blood from Tokyo. Probably worth some competition… we'll never knew," Tomoyuki said. "Ah, I'm sorry for barging in. I'm Tomoyuki Tachi."
"Kozo Hoshino," Kozo said as he shook Tomoyuki's proffered hand. "This is Akio Asakura, one of my mechanics."
"Really? You look so young, just off high school I presume?" Tomoyuki said as he shook Akio's hand.
"Naah, haven't graduated yet. I have to repeat a year, worked too much at the garage for extra cash," Akio replied, a bit sheepish.
"Lucky you, you get to experience an extra year of high school…" Tomoyuki quipped.
… (~flashback start~) …
A few days later, as the middle of August approached, she was still in her room. I was with her as usual, taking her temperature. I waited for a few minutes before hearing the unmistakable thermometer beep.
"Okay, let me see it."
"Waii-ight..."
I extracted it from her mouth and read off the number.
"What's it say?"
"36.2 - I suppose that's okay."
"Then... can we have ice creams outside again?"
"No, I've got something different planned for today."
"...what?"
First things first.I opened the paper bag I'd brought. One of today's objectives was right here inside it.
"What's that?"
"I brought you some new clothes!"
"Eh...? I've got enough pajamas..."
"Aha, but this isn't pajamas!"
I drew it out slowly, to add a bit of suspense.It had cost a hefty chunk of the rest of my monthly pay, and taken more than two hours of deliberation to choose. Not to mention I still have to work on my newly-acquired NA Roadster… this kid's enthusiasm for cars is rubbing off on me, I swear.
"Ta-dah!"
"Ooh, it's a dress!"
"Well? Like it?"
"Yep!"
She nodded away happily.It was a summer-y little thing, with a sunflower motif over a sea-blue base color. The fabric is light, and the cut is quite airy. The brand was Muumuu or something like that. I just kind of grabbed the most cost-friendly amongst the vast selection, and it's a little miracle that it was just like what I envisioned. Really, Yuka is better at these kinds of thing…
"Right, get this on, then we'd better get going."
"Going... are we going outside?"
"We're going to my garage."
I started undoing her pyjama buttons. She'd said several times that she'd like to go.To be honest, nobody would mind you showing up in pajamas... it's just a little family garage, after all. But it seems a waste not to dress nicely.Thanks ever so to this summer sunshine!
We set out under the baking sun, through the clamour of cicadas.It was the first time I'd taken her out of the hospital, and I was taking her as far as I could.As far as anyone could, however much she may have wanted to go further.The garage was just about the only place that was close enough for her to visit... the church is an alternative, though I must time the arrival not to coincide with Father Kotomine shopping for garden supplies.
We arrived in no time, and I led her through those doors I knew so well.
"There's nobody here..."
"There never is, usually. There were no more people interested in cars in the family, after all.'"
She was looking slightly ecstatic. It was quite possibly the first time she'd been in such a setting again, even at her age. I did a little background check on her, and it turns out that her mother and father was in a team of semi-pro racers before a not-so-stellar season forced them out into settling down and opening a garage. They still tuned race-worthy cars from what i had heard though.
"...Is that a NA Roadster…?"
"Yeah. My NA Roadster. Cool, isn't it? I kind of just bought it though, Pops said this is a raw deal…"
"It's… rusty."
"Ooh, I see… is it bad, Miss Mechanic?"
"Ehehe, I don't know really. Daddy used to cuss at rusty cars, though…"
"Then maybe it is indeed bad… as expected, Miss Mechanic! Your mom and dad taught you well!"
Together we spent a part of the day in the garage, milling about over our little treasure. For a kid of barely nine summers, she was a trove of knowledge. She even pointed out that I had installed a series of new brake tubing wrong.
Spending time like this, one would seriously consider why The Old Man Upstairs dispensed a curse of such magnitude upon her. She must've been the jewel of her kin, a talented successor of the family business. Why would He take it away? Is He unjust? Or is this some kind of justice we mortals cannot even begin to fathom?
But questioning His logic would be fruitless. The best thing I can do is offer a prayer… that she might be happy. I prayed… nay, begged… Him, that even if her fate was sealed, she might accept it without regrets.
And for myself, I asked for forgiveness.For all the truths I was hiding from her...
"Phew..."
"Are you done evaluating my work, Miss Mechanic?"
"Yep."
"We'd better be getting back. I can bring you again any time you like. I can even take you to the church for a blessing next time, if Father Kotomine is present."
"Thanks!"
Then, as I turned to lead her out-
"Um, wait..."
"What is it?"
"May the Lord pour His blessings and grace on you."
Needless to say, I was dumbstruck.
"Teehee, I did the magic on you!"
She was all smiles, with not a trace of worry in her innocent face.I didn't for a moment believe she understood what that blessing meant.But that just made me appreciate the sentiment all the more.
And made it all the harder for me. I, who could do no more for her than buy her ice creams.I, who had used half of my prayer to beg for my own forgiveness...
… (~flashback end~) …
At that precise moment, the JFA officials entered the conference room, and the meeting kicks off. Akio committed every bit of his attention to the officials' explanation, and even jotted some down into his small pocket book. He wants to be able to explain the technicalities and rules to Himeko as best and as clearly as he can. He is also a bit surprised that the specification for the race is still above their current tune for Himeko's Roadster. This kind of specs can cut a second or two from our time… Akio thought.
"I see your racer isn't here," Tomoyuki said as Kozo got up to draw a lot for race numbers. "What happened?"
"Well, we got a dispensation for her… a bit of a last-minute stomach flu, but she should be fine on qualification day," Akio lied. Joushima has arranged with the race organizers so that Himeko would be dispensed from non-raceday technical meetings and her condition kept secret.
"Hoo, a racer girl you say? Nice. I haven't seen much of women racers, there should be more of them!" Tomoyuki joked.
"I think Todo-san mentioned a Homura girl racing again…" Akio said unsurely.
"Oh, that's Akemi Homura from the Mitaki team," the older racer said. "She raced Stock since… hm, the Nishi-Nihon race if I'm not mistaken. Very talented, but still a bit rough around the edges… she'll be a terrifying one if she had the right training."
"Is that her?" Akio asked, noting that a long-haired girl in her twenties drew the number 313 for her race number.
"Yeah. She's quite the looker, too. Plus that cool and calm demeanor… the racers and younger mechanics here had been making a betting pool on which she'll end up dating," the older racer said. "Hey, my friend got the triple-one! Gaah, I was aiming for that!"
"Hmmm… his name is Yuji Kishida, was it?" Akio asked, looking at the racer just retreating back from the stage. "Is he any good?"
"He should be, his half-brother Kazuhiko Yamamoto is a renowned tuner and sometime racer himself. He said he's been practicing in Wangan too," the older man said. "That's a really terrifying place to practice, so much traffic that the instant you lose concentration you may lose your life. I never dared to go past a hundred there… Oh, my turn's up. Wish me luck!"
Akio watched silently as he watched Tomoyuki drew his lot. He also took a mental note to dig around about this Yuji Kishida. Reina, Ko-chan, or Tatsuya were bound to know a few tidbits if the guy raced in Wangan before.
"123, that's not a bad number. I feel that I landed a podium already!" Tomoyuki remarked as she sat down beside Akio again, smiling.
"Just under our number, 124," Akio added. "I heard you do touge too, Tachi-san?"
"Sssh, not so loud there lad. We're in front of JFA officials, I don't want my license to be suspended this soon," the older guy shushed. "But yeah. I raced Happogahara mostly, but went around to Nagao and Irohazaka too sometimes. Too bad Kogashiwa junior didn't want to do circuit racing, I was hoping that he'll be a fine rival."
"Ken Kogashiwa's son, you say?" Kozo remarked, joining in the chat. "I thought he is going to rally in a few years?
"Yeah. Kai has been scouted by Subaru, but he said he wants to race with Toyota," Tomoyuki said. "Can't blame him, I guess. The new Celica looks so sweet."
The lot drawing comes to a close, and with that the technical meeting concludes. A few of the team representatives scooted out immediately, but some linger to talk. Akio and Kozo chose to go early, bidding farewell to Todo and Tomoyuki as they go.
"So that's how true racing feels like," Akio marveled as the two men drove back to their team's headquarters in Kozo's car.
"Interested in trying, boy?" Kozo offered. "It would be a little… quaint if Red Spirit Racing Team ends with this one race only."
"I don't know, Hoshino-san…" Akio replied. "Three-quarters of them seems like they tuned their Roadsters on their backyard or something, no problems… but the other quarter… I'm not even sure if I can match them with intuition alone."
"You don't race with 'intuition alone', my boy…" the old man said as he opened the driver's window. "How long have you been racing now, Akio?"
"Close to half a year I guess…?" Akio answered the question.
"That's more than enough, kid," Kozo stated. "You have got to pick up some techniques along the way… at least unconsciously. You'll be fine after a few polishing-up from the both of us."
"Yeah…" the youngster added. "I'll think about it, I guess…"
"Oh yeah, stay in the workshop today, Akio. I'll need your assistance first thing in the morning," the older man changed the subject. "We need to get cracking on that final tune, and I hope we can slot in one last practice run before submitting the car to the pre-race impound."
"Okay," Akio said. "I guess Joushima-san can drive Himeko-san to the practice."
… (~flashback start~) …
The sun was directly overhead, the cicadas deafening. The weather hadn't changed; it had been consistently hot all summer.
What had changed slightly was the girl. She'd been getting closer to me all this time... Then, overnight, there was distance again.
"Morning!"
"Morning..."
As I settled into my usual chair, I noticed her breakfast tray.
"Dear me, you've left an awful lot..."
"...sorry..."
Overnight, her appetite had disappeared.
"Now, now, you've got to eat properly."
"But I don't want it..."
"I sighed."
"Well, would you prefer something from the cafe?"
A moment of silence wafts by. She didn't reply - though previously she'd have jumped at the offer, whether ice cream was involved or not.
Up here on the seventh, to stop eating was fatal.In other wards, intravenous nutrition was an option, but that was basically not used up here, where the drips were primarily for hydration, with a little sugar in them at most.
"Look here, if you don't eat properly, you'll get weaker."
"...weaker?"
"Right. You've got to give your body enough food.'
"...and then what?"
"Huh...?"
"If I get weaker, then what?"
"Y-you'll..."
I stopped. The word die suddenly stuck in my throat.
Generally the task of explaining life and death fell to the church. The helper's role was limited to support... and patients up here had normally lived full lives, so they could just be told that the approach of death meant peace. But that hardly applied to a girl like this, who had barely lived at all. Who on earth could explain death to someone like her...?
Maybe that was a time when the right thing to do would be to read to her from the words of someone wise. Someone like Saint Augustine, or Jesus Christ himself...but all I could do for her was offer up half a prayer, and buy ice cream...
… (~flashback end~) …
"Good morning, dear," Joushima greeted as his wife opened the door to Himeko's temporary apartment. "How was last night?"
"Fine. There's nothing to note all night. Her cousin hasn't gone home yet, though… I can't help but to feel worried," the wife replied. "She's in the bath right now."
"Are you sure she'll gonna be alright?" Toshiya said, concerned.
"I was waiting by the closet until you knocked," the wife replied. "She was doing okay. The steroids are doing a good job in strengthening her muscles… she could be mistaken for a healthy racer in her getup."
"That's good to know. The boy's in the workshop with Kozo, said they had a few things to do. They called me yesterday afternoon, and Himeko has already been texted," the old man said. "Why don't you get some rest now… I'll take over."
"Thanks, dear," the wife said, sneaking a peck to her husband's cheek. "What are the plans for today?"
"Nothing serious I guess, aside from a bit of testing in the afternoon…" Joushima remarked. "From what Kozo told me, they're still tweaking around and won't be finished until at least two o'clock… plenty of time for you to get some rest. I'll wake you when we're going there."
"Oh, hello doctor!" Himeko chirped as she emerged from the bathroom.
"Fresher than ever, I see," Toshiya commented lightly. "Kozo had some spec change planned for your car; said you can potentially get a second or two off. We'll be testing the car this afternoon, before submitting it to impound tomorrow."
"Okay then," Himeko said. "Oku-san[27] needs to rest, really."
"Now don't you take that kind of tone against me, young lady," the older female quipped as she climbed to the already-laid out futon and dozes off.
"Joushima-san," the 23-year old girl said as the middle-aged doctor sat by the low table. "Can I… ask you something?"
"Go ahead," the old physician replied, almost absent-mindedly.
"Do you have children?" Himeko asked.
"Yes. Both are exceptionally gifted," Joushima answered, a small smile playing on his lips. "My son, twenty years of age, is studying Engineering in Tokyo. My daughter, seventeen, attends a boarding school in Sendai."
"Is that so…" Himeko sighed as she poured herself a glass of water.
"Why the sudden question?" Joushima asked.
"I'm just wondering, really…" Himeko replied.
… (~flashback start~) …
Late at night, some days later. She still wasn't eating. I was keeping her company, sleeping in the spare bed. Then that night she coughed violently.
"Are you all right?"
"Yeah..."
All I could do for her was to pat her softly on the back.Days of untouched food had left her strength visibly fading, and these days she was openly trying to push me away.She scarcely replied when I spoke to her, and she never spoke of her own accord… until now.
"You can... have this back."
"...the rosary?"
She took it from her pajama pocket and held it out. It was unmistakably the one I'd given her.
"And... I don't want you to come here any more..."
"W-why not? What's come over you all of a sudden?"
"I..."
That was all she said.Her behaviour had been visibly strange for some days. In fact, I realized, it was ever since...A while ago...
"...didn't you say a lady stranger had talked to you?"
"...yeah..."
"And, what she said...was it something to do with 'rules'?"
"..."
This time she didn't reply at all, but that silence didn't feel like a 'no'. It felt like she wasn't denying it.I'd always thought the rules thing was just a rumor. Apparently it wasn't; apparently she'd been told them.
"What did she say? Can you tell me?"
"I, I..."
"Don't worry. I'll keep it really secret."
"S-she said I mustn't tell anyone at all..."
She burst into tears. It was the first time I'd seen her cry.
Rules... rumor had it that they were passed down only among hospice patients. That they only concerned the dying.In which case, perhaps I had no right to know them.
However close we might have been, I was Alois, not Patrasche - I could only watch her depart, not go with her...
Her sobs filled the room.
"Sorry... I won't ask again..."
All I could do was pat her on the back, and pray that she might stop crying just a little sooner, that she might start smiling just a little...but she cried on.Thinking about it, I could easily guess what some of these `rules' might be.One would be don't eat, since that was a relatively easy way out.We helpers had long wondered about this.
It was strangely rare for people up here to die from a worsening of their condition.What we saw far more frequently was for people to enter a sudden decline, as though they'd willed their appetite away.I could well imagine people believing that it would lighten the burden those they left behind - economically, spiritually, in all sorts of ways.
Her pushing me away would have been driven by the same sort of concern - to reduce the impact on friends and loved ones, even just a little... and along with those `rules', presumably she'd also been told the awful truth.
"Um, by the way..."
"...where are Mummy and Daddy?"
"..."
"Am I gonna die?"
"I, um..."
Once more, I couldn't continue.
"How am I supposed to know if you won't answer me...?"
I wanted to answer her.I knew that this, of all times, was when I had to say something...I thought I knew how to be kind. And why was I a Catholic, if not to explain life, death, eternity? I just couldn't find the words.
Outside the window, the sky was growing paler with the approaching dawn.The cramped room echoed with her sobs.So much for my being a `doctor'.
I wondered about real doctors - Doctors of the Church, like Augustine and Jerome.What would they have been able to say...?
"Then... just tell me one thing..."
"...where is God?"
"Huh...?"
"He can't even hear us praying... not even when we did it in the church..."
I forced my gaping mouth to close.
"...sorry... I don't know..."
"Oh... even you can't tell me..."
She got out of her bed and went to the window.
"...isn't he up in the sky?"
She looked up there, up into the dawn sky, through that unopenable window.
"Hey..."
"I want to go up on the roof..."
"...the roof?"
"Yeah... cos, maybe if we pray somewhere just a little higher up..."
"...maybe that'll be near enough for him to hear us then..."
"..."
"...can't we?"
"No, of course we can!"
I helped her along towards the stairs.It wasn't a place patients could really go. It wasn't allowed.But right now, as an Alois who couldn't do anything but buy ice cream, as a `doctor' who couldn't answer the simplest question… I didn't have any choice.
… (~flashback end~) …
"And that's a wrap!" Kozo announced as the Roadster rolled into the garage. Unlike their usual practice days, the circuit is now packed with RoadSpec teams from all over Japan. In fact, Red Star Racing wouldn't have gotten a paddock garage had Kozo not arranged for it earlier.
"How's my time, chief?" Himeko said as she took off the white helmet.
"One minute eight point two five two seconds," Akio said, coming up from the back of the garage holding a clip-board. "A little over two seconds improvement over your best time, Himeko-nee."
"Aww yeah! Now I can really feel that trophy!" Himeko exclaimed.
"Let's not get ahead on ourselves, shall we?" Joushima said as he came in from the side of the garage. "Word around the paddocks said that both Team Mitaki and Todo Juku got one minute seven, while Snake Eyes almost broke into one minute six."
"Snake Eyes?" Akio asked.
"Yeah, they say they got the number 111 as race number," Joushima said. "I don't think they have a formal name as such."
"Yuji Kishida, huh…" Akio muttered. "As expected as a Wangan racer…"
"You seem to know something about the guy, Akio," Kozo said.
"Not exactly, chief… Wangan is quite a long stretch of road, and racers rarely meet each other unless we arranged for a race, like me, Akikawa-san, and a few of our friends," Akio explained. "But we hear rumors of each other, and it's the primary means of knowing who's who up there. I've never heard of this Yuji Kishida though, so it's quite possible that either he just started in Wangan, or has been laying low for a while."
"Interesting," the team chief remarked. "It's a lot like Touge, actually. Each region has its own legendaries."
"I'll dig around for info later, chief," Akio volunteered. "Never hurts to know who that guy is, especially when he supposedly came from my neighborhood."
"You do that," Kozo said. "As for our qualifiers… what are our chances?"
"We're actually in the high percentiles," Akio remarked. "I think we're well within the top 30 or so racers according to the guys at the timing boards. We can qualify quite handily, although we might not get pole[28] if other teams can manage times like Joushima-san said…"
"Well, qualifying is good enough for us at this point," Joushima said. "Due to your condition, I think it's better for us to take it easy for a bit."
"Will taking it easy net me the win?" Himeko asked, her tone cool but piercing.
"It can," the doctor replied. "The longer you push your body to the limit, the more dangerous it is. It will be better if we can push it at the last moments when everyone else is starting to tire. Much like long-distance running…"
"Okay, okay, we got it doc. Take it easy for now," Kozo cut the doctor's explanation short. "Well, let's prep the car for impound, then."
Glossary:
[b]: Touge is the Japanese terminology for a specific form of street racing done in mountain-pass roads. Initial D revolves around these kind of races.
[27]: Oku-san is a rather old and polite way to refer to a housewife in Japanese. It means something like "Mistress of The House".
[28]: For those who aren't inclined to racing, a 'pole' position is the first position in the starting grid of a race.
A/N:
And the seventh chapter is on! Well, a bit rushed actually. I found out that without incorporating the third block of flashbacks, the story can't really go on without further confusing readers (UP TO ELEVEN)… so yeah. More flashbacks, and I was forced to split the chapter-precursor to two to avoid overly-long/overly-abundant flashbacks (AS IF IT'S NOT TOO LONG ALREADY MAN). Guh, I'm starting to self-deprecate here. Also creative liberties for the race itself. Gaaaa.
Anyway, we're in the championship arc, so pray to God that I develop better "non-battle action scene-writing" by now, or some of the readers might die of boredom. Next update might lag again, although it is my oath that I complete this. Thanks for reading!
