Stateside
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters are the property of Wataru Watanabe and Shonen Champion. I don't own them; I just examine all their possibilities.
Author's Note: This chapter is going to get violent and very intense. Not saying why, just be prepared.
Chapter 7: Milliseconds
Reactions were a mix of curiosity and trepidation when Toudou said he would be cooking the meal that night. He had most of the components prepared; he just needed to heat all of it together. Later on Toudou came out of his small kitchen with plates of grilled chicken and Mediterranean-style vegetables served over couscous.
"This is the best kind of thing to have the night before a race," Toudou announced as he laid the plates in front of Makishima and Tadokoro. "Plenty of protein and carbs, cleans out the system for the next day."
Tadokoro snuck out a chuckle at the reference to "cleans out the system," getting sideways look from Makishima. Toudou got out his own plate and sat with the rest. Makishima dug right in though Tadokoro pushed around the vegetables, then finally took a few bites.
Surprisingly it was somewhat tasty, bland for Tadokoro's palate but reasonable.
"Next time try some lemon with a bit more pepper, it will liven it a lot more," he said.
"Thank you, chef, for your wise advice," Toudou replied politely, though Makishima heard a little bite in his words.
"This is really good, Toudou," he said, mixing up some vegetables.
Soon all three of them finished their plates.
"So what's for dessert?" Tadokoro asked jokingly.
"Sorry, I don't tend to keep sweets around," Toudou replied.
That's right, this guy was a total health nut. Tadokoro got a sudden thought.
"Give me twenty minutes and I can do something about that," Tadokoro said with a grin.
Toudou motioned to the kitchen.
"Have at it, though you'll probably find my cupboards are lacking in the ingredients you'll need," Toudou answered.
"I don't know he can get pretty creative with anything," Makishima added.
Tadokoro got up from his seat, throwing his cloth napkin on the plate, and went into the kitchen. He opened the cupboards to find Toudou certainly wasn't lying, though it was even more of a challenge. He found a container of organic honey along and immediately got ideas; this bland kitchen would work after all.
He set to work with a few ideas in mind, hearing Makishima and Toudou conversing at the table; or more like Toudou talking with Makishima adding a few words in. It did feel good to get away for a moment and just set out to work on something familiar. Sometimes Tadokoro would peek his head out if he heard something he could join in on.
Makishima had pulled out his tablet and was showing a few photos to Toudou.
"Oh wow his hair is so much longer," Toudou said on one photo in particular.
Tadokoro knew exactly whom Toudou was referring to.
"I'm sure you're to blame for that, he did look up to you so much," Toudou continued.
"Teshima too, he was a huge mentor to Sakamichi," Makishima said.
Tadokoro leaned out of the doorway to see the photo of Onoda in his university jersey; hair down to his shoulders and sporting oval-framed glasses. Makishima slid the page over to a shot of Onoda beside Naruko and Manami, all in the same jersey. Naruko's hair was also a little longer though those red spikes remained in looser form. Manami's hair was much shorter though in a choppy cut.
"I cannot believe how mature they all look," Toudou said shaking his head. "I feel so bad, I follow Onoda and Manami a few places but I just never check my feeds."
Makishima paged over to another site, pulling up a photo of Onoda next to a shorter young woman, both of them cosplaying in colorful medieval-style outfits with capes, posing with prop weapons. Toudou chuckled and shook his head, then did a double take.
"Wait, is that the girlfriend I've been hearing about?" Toudou asked.
"That certainly is," Makishima replied. "Her name's Sachiko, I hear he met her at Anime Club. He just gushes about her, she seems like a nice girl."
"Show him that video he posted the other day," Tadokoro called from the kitchen.
Makishima cackled and pulled up a different page.
"Video, what kind of video?" Toudou asked, wiggling his eyebrows.
Tadokoro gave a loud laugh. Makishima pulled up the video and pressed play. It showed Onoda and Sachiko sitting next to each other at a table in a restaurant. Both of them were going back and forth about something, but then they just looked at each other playing with each other's fingers and smiling at each other.
"Once you hear it you'll shit your pants," Tadokoro called.
Toudou raised his brows at that interesting promise. Onoda looked at the camera and then flinched with bright red cheeks. The camera drew closer to his face.
"Awww look at that face," a male voice came in from the background.
Toudou's jaw dropped and his eyes widened, Makishima laughed.
"Oh no, please don't tell me..." Toudou groaned.
"You're face looks so gross right now, Sakamichi," that taunting voice chimed in again.
Toudou flailed his arms and dramatically cringed; Makishima doubled over in laughter and Tadokoro's laughs sounded from the kitchen.
"You're all red and sweaty and ewww," the voice came in again.
Onoda hid his face with his hand but was laughing hard. Sachiko patted his cheeks and kissed him on the forehead. The camera turned around and showed the gaunt face and bug eyes of Akira Midousuji. His long tongue came out and he made gagging noises in response to the sweetness he had just recorded.
"That face lives in my nightmares," Toudou groaned.
"Your nightmares? You didn't have that guy breathing in your face," Makishima replied, his hand motioning close to his face to demonstrate the exact distance. "When you're this close to hitting the wall that's the last person you want nose-to-nose with you."
Toudou turned back to the video. The camera was now on a young woman with light hair pulled up in a ponytail.
"Love is gross and adorable, Akira-chan," she said.
"That's Yuki, she's Midousuji's cousin I think," Makishima said.
Toudou rested his forehead on the back of his hand.
"I can't believe Onoda, sweet, sweet little glasses-kun, is hanging around with that," Toudou said.
"It's a little complicated," Makishima said. "The story I heard is Midousuji-kun crashed and burned after high school; he stopped cycling, got in with some really bad people, got into drugs."
Toutou's brows raised and he mouthed "oh wow."
"Sakamichi said Yuki found his email address and asked for his help and of course the little hero answered the call," Makishima continued, "From what I hear he actually snapped some sense into him and he started turning his life around. He's got a job and is taking some courses. I've heard he's less abrasive now, but I don't know how much I believe that. Tadokorocchi didn't he get a job with someone you knew from culinary school?"
"Well from a friend of a friend," Tadokoro added, peeking out of the kitchen with a whisk in hand. "Sakamichi told me what was going on and asked if I knew of anyone who needed a dishwasher or a busboy. I talked to a couple guys who are in Kyoto now, asked if anyone knew of someone or knew of any kind of program that hires young people needing such second chances or just someone being okay with someone potentially challenging. As luck would have it Sakamichi told me he heard from someone in Kyoto who is involved with that kind of thing."
"That's awful nice, I still don't trust that guy," Toudou said.
"I don't either," Makishima added.
"Me three," Tadokoro called.
"I've told Sakamichi many times to watch himself, but he's a lot more wily than a lot of people give him credit for," Makishima continued. "He's gotten better since college."
"Well maybe some people can do well with second chances," Toudou said. "I know a guy who came to the team a Yankee punk and now he's designing hardware."
"So we've heard from his flatmate," Makishima chuckled.
Toudou pointed at him and nodded.
"It still blows my mind how they can live in the same apartment and not kill each other," Toudou said.
"Kinjou's used to dealing with hard cases," Tadokoro snickered.
Makishima chuckled back and Toudou shook his head.
A few minutes later Makishima put away his tablet and Tadokoro brought out three small plates.
"Tonight we have a rice custard with honey, cinnamon, and cardamom with a honey sauce," Tadokoro announced, placing the plates with a circular white custard drizzled in golden sauce in front of each seat.
Makishima and Toudou looked at the plates with wide eyes and smiles. Toudou then got up and went into the kitchen.
"This calls for an additional detail," Toudou said, opening a cupboard and pulling out a bottle of red wine. "Pinot noir right from Napa Valley."
He uncorked the bottle and put it on the table, then he put out three glasses and poured a small amount into each glass.
"Go easy on this, gentlemen, we don't want any hangovers tomorrow morning," Toudou said, putting the bottle on the table and taking his seat.
"That's right skinny dudes," Tadokoro chuckled.
Toudou raised his glass and the others did as well.
"I would like to propose a toast; to old friends, to good times, and to the three of us getting back on the road together," Toudou said. "Salud."
"Here here," Tadokoro said.
"Cheers," Makishima said.
They clinked their glasses and looked at each other with smiles, then they took sips.
Soon they took bites of their dessert, Tadokoro was looking at all of them in anticipation.
"Wow," Toudou said, his eyes wide, "This is amazing."
Tadokoro grinned.
"Absolutely excellent, Tadokorocchi," Makishima beamed.
"And all from my meager cupboard, I am impressed," Toudou added.
Tadokoro grinned and took another bite of his own creation.
They finished their desserts with some light talk, for once Makishima allowed himself to relax a little in this company. Tadokoro was going to clean up the pans he used, but Toudou advised against it.
"No you did something really nice for us, you rest now," Toudou said.
He did encourage all of them to congregate in the living area.
"Since we've been talking about what everyone's doing now, I figured it was time for some more sharing," Toudou said.
Makishima and Tadokoro sat on the red couch as Toudou turned on the TV and played with the remote.
"One of your races?" Tadokoro asked.
"Nope, this is something completely different," Toudou said, pushing a few more buttons and accessing the menu on the DVR.
Toudou pressed play then hopped on the easy chair, trying not to spill his wine in the process. Makishima and Tadokoro did expect to see a race or Toudou. Instead an animated logo that read "The Fashion Review" came on the screen. Makishima buried his face in his hand and groaned, Tadokoro guffawed.
The camera then showed three people sitting in plush white chairs against a blue backdrop.
"Welcome back to 'The Fashion Review' and our special edition from the MTV Video Music Awards," a woman in a red blouse and black leather pants announced. "Now for that dress everyone's talking about…"
The picture switched to a woman on the red carpet, Tadokoro's eyes went wide and he let out a "whoa" upon seeing what she was wearing. Toudou excitedly pointed to the screen, Tadokoro patted Makishima on the back. Makishima was now bright red, though he raised his head up to see that familiar dress.
"R&B princess Tia Doria turned heads in this avant guard creation by London designer Yusuke Makishima," the host continued. "Bold, brave, or just tacky; let's hear your thoughts. David, let's start with you."
"In my humble opinion this dress was the fashion highlight of the night," said a man in a dark blue blazer over a yellow shirt. "This was just a wacky, fun dress but at the same time it was so darn elegant. All those patterns, all those angled shapes, somehow everything fit."
"That dress should not have worked at all, it could have been a complete disaster, but it was the exact opposite," said a woman in a purple dress with a thick British accent. "Tia has this gorgeous curvy figure and it complimented everything."
The screen showed Tia walking onstage and presenting an award.
"Holly and David I really have to agree with you," the host said. "That outfit was pure eye candy. Very few designers these days are willing to take a risk like that, and it did pay off. I will say she could only have pulled this off at a place like the VMA's."
"Exactly, Elizabeth, but to me that shows that the designer knew the audience, he's savvy to the environment, and just ran with it," David said.
"Now let's talk a little about the designer," Elizabeth continued. "This is a name we've been hearing a little more over the past year, though nothing to this level."
Tadokoro and Toudou glanced at Makishima, his face was still beet red but he was grinning from ear to ear.
"Yusuke Makishima is a native of Japan, he's now based in London, and he's only twenty-three-years-old. He and his twenty-seven-year-old brother Ren have been making a big splash with their new brand RY Makishima."
"Ren has a has bit of a following in the UK, mostly among musicians," Holly said. "His designs are more classic yet have this pop appeal. Then Yusuke joins the party with these bright colors, crazy patterns. There's echoes of Japanese street fashion melded with a little 60's pop in his designs, whereas Ren had a little more Victorian gothic meets ultramodern."
The screen showed an image of the Makishima brothers walking down the catwalk side-by-side between the posing models at the end of a show.
"And they make everything work together," David added. "Ren had been well established with his own line, he then brought his kid brother to from Japan to London right out of high school and Yusuke learned the business from the ground up. Now he's having his grand debutant ball; he did the VMA's then he showed his dresses at the Fashion Fights Homelessness gala. We are going to be hearing so much more from this designer."
The screen showed a video of Yusuke in a black suit with a yellow vest and green ascot standing for photos against a purple backdrop with some fellow designers.
"He'll certainly be hard to miss with that hair," Elizabeth quipped.
"I know, you take one look at him and you know that's not a guy who'll be making your grandma's dresses," David chuckled. "Well unless your grandma is really awesome."
The camera panned back over to Elizabeth then Toudou stopped the video. Tadokoro clapped and Toudou raised his glass. Makishima ran a hand through his hair, his smile still in place.
"So that's what you were up to in LA," Tadokoro chuckled, shaking Makishima's shoulders.
"Look at our big star," Toudou beamed.
"That's just press," Makishima replied deadpan, sipping the last bit of wine from his glass.
"Right, uh huh," Tadokoro responded.
"Oh you're too modest, Maki-chan, this is huge!" Toudou declared.
"Yes, Tadokorocchi, my weird fashion is getting me places, so nyeh," Makishima teased.
Tadokoro gestured at him with a smile.
"Who knew," Tadokoro replied.
"Well I've always thought you were fashionable," Toudou added.
"Thank you, Jinpachi."
A few minutes later Makishima returned to the kitchen and refilled his glass, of course this came with "Remember what I said about no hangovers, Maki-chan" from Toudou. Makishima rolled his eyes and took a sip; he was about to give a witty response to that when his phone went off.
Makishima reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone: "Incoming call: Ren" appearing on the screen. He had been kind of expecting this call he just didn't know it would be so late. He answered up the call moving toward the back of the apartment. He motioned to Toudou asking if it was okay to use the patio, Toudou nodded and motioned for him to go ahead.
"Just give me one sec, big bro," he said to Ren as he opened the doors with three fingers, the other two holding the stem of the wine glass.
He went outside and was greeted with a gentle breeze, then closed the door.
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Ren said.
"Nah, we're just hanging out at Jinpachi's flat," Yusuke replied.
Yusuke looked out over the balcony to see rows of houses on the sloping streets below. In the distance a series of tiny red lights flashed on and off; he looked closer to see one of the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge.
"I am now standing on a terrace sipping Napa Valley wine and looking out at the Golden Gate Bridge, which we biked over earlier today I'll add," Yusuke said with a smile.
"Uh huh, let me tell you about the congealed pizza I'm having for breakfast on as I look out at nothing but wet fog," Ren responded.
"I guess I got a good weekend to get away."
"No kidding, it's going to get a lot worse too. The weather guy keeps saying something nasty's coming in. That's London for you I guess."
"Yeah pretty much. You at home now or are you at the studio?"
"I just got to the studio, I'm at my desk catching up on messages."
"It's 5 a.m. over there, you're running early."
"I've got a nice full schedule today, I needed an early start. I was woken up by a very lovely phone call from Tia."
"She still in LA or is she back in London?"
"She landed at Heathrow just a few hours ago and called me to rave about LA, oh and sing your praises too. It sounds like it was a productive week, only I know it was because of how many inquiries we're getting."
Yusuke leaned on the iron railing and sipped his wine, feeling his cheeks growing hot again.
"What about the production people, have you heard from them yet?" Yusuke asked.
"Not yet but I'm hearing through the grapevine they liked the portfolios and they've been coming up with ideas already," Ren replied.
"I just hope I didn't get paraded in front of a bunch of suits by myself for nothing."
"It won't be for nothing, and even if it wasn't it was a good experience for you. This whole week was all about you getting this experience."
"Yeah I know, I know; I shouldn't just hole myself in the studio."
"And you proved that you can handle this by yourself. From everything I've heard, you were a rock star out there; Tia's happy, the charity auction was a huge success, have you been seeing the press we've been getting?"
"Toudou showed me the 'Fashion Review' segment, he actually recorded it."
"It was the VMA's; that's huge. That was your work out in front of millions of people. I'm proud of you, little bro, I am just so damn proud of you."
Yusuke smiled, speechless for a moment.
"That means a lot to me, it really does," he replied.
"I want you to have a nice, relaxing weekend in San Fran with your buddies," Ren said. "You deserve every minute of it."
"Thanks, I'm really going to need this weekend."
"You do, a thousand percent you do. It's high time you enjoyed yourself for once. Well I won't keep you from your hunky boyfriends for too long."
Yusuke let out a squeak and started laughing.
"Just remember to wrap it up," Ren continued. "Brotherly advice and all that."
"Jackass," Yusuke groaned.
"Yes, yes I am. Anyway talk at you later, take care little bro."
"See ya, try to stay dry."
"Yeah yeah."
Ren hung up and Yusuke put his phone back in his pocket. He took another look off the patio, seeing the glowing lights of the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance. Mist was rising off the bay and reflecting all the lights around it in an orange glow. He took a long breath of night air then pried his gaze away from the sight, walking back to the patio doors and returning to the apartment.
It was pretty normal to see someone with a camera or a phone doing videos of the crowd before a race. Makishima wasn't expecting whoever was doing the filming to hone the camera right on him and walk up to the three of them. He put his hand on his face hoping the guy with shaggy blond hair and an unkempt beard would just go away, but he didn't.
"That is some awesome hair," the guy said, walking right up to Makishima. "Just how did you get it like that?"
Makishima glanced at Tadokoro and Toudou, seeing the amused smiled they flashed in his direction.
"Lots of practice," Makishiam replied.
"What you color it yourself? Holy shit that's radical!" The guy said.
The guy put out his hand and gave Makishima a high five.
"Hey I'm Alex I run a racing vlog, you guys mind being on camera for a second?"
Tadokoro grinned and said "Sure," Toudou fixed his hair, Makishima just knew he had no say in the matter.
Alex nodded and brought up his camcorder up.
"What can I call you guys?" Alex asked.
"I'm Jin Tadokoro, this is Yusuke Makishima and Jinpachi Toudou," Tadokoro introduced, pointing at each of them.
"You guys ever done this race before?"
"I have, it's a great race," Toudou piped in, putting a hand on Makishima's shoulder. "The people who run it are awesome, such great vibes here. I had to drag these crazies along with me."
"You guys race together a lot?"
"Since high school," Tadokoro added.
"So you guys all went to high school together?"
"He and I did," Tadokoro said motioning to Makishima. "That guy went to another school." He said the last few words in a tone of mock derision, pointing at Toudou.
"I went to the best school," Toudou said, leaning into the camera and pointing. "Hakone Gaku! The kings!"
"Bahhh, Sohoku forever!" Tadokoro leaned into the camera with a thumb's up. "The real kings."
"See what I have to deal with?" Makishima quipped.
"Bring on the grudge match," the cameraman said in a voice like a sports announcer. "Where you guys all from?"
"We're originally from Japan," Makishima said. "These two live in the states now."
"He lives in England," Tadokoro said, lightly pushing Makishima on the shoulder.
"Oh wow; you three guys were on the same racing teams in Japan, well you two at least," Alex said.
"Best rivals!" Toudou said, pointing at Makishima.
"Best rivals," Makishiam replied giving Toudou a fistbump.
"And here you all are racing together today, that's freaking beautiful man," Alex said, then shaking their hands.
"It's been a really long time since we raced," Tadokoro said.
"Too long," Toudou added.
Alex then turned the camera on himself.
"That's what cycling does, it brings us all together. It transcends borders, languages," he said to the camera.
"It's a beautiful thing," Tadokoro added.
Alex turned the camera off and pointed it to the ground.
"Thanks guys, here's my card I'll probably post this later tonight," he said, then reached in his pocket, took out some business cards, and handed one to each of them.
The cards read "Race Day with Alex Smith" and had the URL.
"Have a great race," Alex said, then walked away.
The three of them waved, Tadokoro added, "You too, man." As soon as he was out of sight Makishima let his hair fall over his face and he groaned.
"Maki-chan, you really need to get used to cameras," Toudou said. "You're a big star now!"
"Not that big," Makishima muttered back.
"At least he was a nice guy," Tadokoro said.
"That's the great thing about this particular race," Toudou added. "This is one of the most chill group of racers I have ever met. Don't get me wrong, you're going to be in for some tough competition, but this race is more a fun thing that a serious thing."
They wandered further toward the starting line and the main grandstand, walking their respective bikes. The racers were lining up by their categories. It turned out all three of them were in the same category and could start together. Tadokoro had done a bit more racing than Makishima anticipated; apparently Toudou had done a bit less. The categories were different in England, but Makishima chose one closest to where he usually hovered at in points: right beside these guys. Point accumulation and prizes really didn't matter here, though of course they had to keep it competitive somehow.
"So what did we agree on, last place buys dinner for the rest of us?" Toudou said.
"Sounds fair," Tadokoro replied. "Which one of you will it be?"
"Get ready to open your wallet, Tadokoro-san," Toudou answered.
"Where are we going after this?" Makishima asked, really not wanting to hear these two go back and forth.
"It's called Green Sprout, I swear this is the greatest sushi place," Toudou raved. "It's better than anyplace in Japan, that's treasonous to say but it's true. They do things with sushi that would give old sushi masters a heart attack. It's amazing!"
The racers were congregating more at the front. Toudou ran into a few people he knew and introduced his friends. Tadokoro was also making small talk with a few other people. Makishima was content to listen to their conversations but not really join in. His mind was focused right on getting out on the road.
Finally the announcer came over the loudspeaker:
"Ladies and gentleman welcome to the eighth annual Valley Classic Road Race. We will be starting in the next few minutes. We will be sending out each group out every five minutes, we ask that all Senior Category 1 participants come to the starting line."
Soon each group was lined up, the gun went off, and the packs charged ahead one by one at their respective times. Makishima, Tadokoro, and Toudou really weren't chatting right now, they were more anxious to get this thing started.
At last it was their time to line up. They mounted their bikes, got their helmets on, and took hold of their handlebars. They flashed each other a few smiles, then put their focus on the referee standing off to the side.
The ref soon raised the pistol in the air.
"On your mark," the referee called over a megaphone. "Get set."
The gun fired and the pack rushed forward.
The three of them stayed in their formation until more racers surged forward, thinning out the pack. Tadokoro charged ahead, taking advantage of the flats to get as far ahead as he could. There was another fifty or so kilometers of this race; conserving energy was important but he preferred getting a steady starting momentum. The roads here were a little bit narrow; there was only so much room to maneuver so every action had to be well planned.
After a few kilometers Tadokoro could see Makishima's white jersey and Toudou's blue jersey in his peripheral vision.
"Getting an early start, are we?" Toudou said.
"Building steam," Tadokoro replied.
The terrain changed to a light slope, Makishima and Toudou pulled right ahead.
"Nice chatting with you," Toudou said as he broke off.
Makishima took an initial lead, though still remained in the saddle. Toudou kept up easily, though Makishima took advantage of the sudden downhill and pulled away. He managed to get a kilometer away until he saw Toudou's jersey pass right by him; there was a reason he was called "Sleeping Beauty" after all.
The hill gradually shifted to flat terrain, though Makishima managed to keep up his speed up. This was the result of all the training he had done recently; normally he would decelerate on the flats, this time he was actually building speed. Soon he caught up to Toudou, Toudou looked over at him, then sped up again. His acceleration did not last long and soon Makishima was right ahead of him again, hands gripping his lower handlebars and his head down low.
"Makishima take on flats? What's this world coming to?" that gruff voice laughed behind him.
Of course Tadokoro wasn't going to stay behind for too long.
"Maybe I was practicing just for you?" Makishima replied.
"Is that a challenge?"
Tadokoro was now side by side with him, Makishima managed to keep up with him for a few meters before Tadokoro naturally blasted past.
"Nice try!" Tadokoro called back before disappearing around a curve.
Makishima continued his pace through the curve, these flats were lasting a good few kilometers. He looked ahead hoping to see one of these hills Toudou was talking about.
"Our stage will be coming up soon," Toudou called from behind him.
They turned another corner; there ahead like an oasis in a desert was a nice, steep hill. Makishima grinned, then looked briefly over his shoulder to see Toudou smiling back at him. He looked ahead, then rose off the saddle. Just as the terrain sloped upward he went into his Spider Climb, flying past rider after rider. The calls of "What was that!" "Holy shit!" and "Did you see that?" made him smile wider.
He saw Toudou gaining on him in his peripheral vision; he accelerated slightly and got ahead of him though Toudou was persistent. Toudou managed to get ahead a little, just as the two of them saw that big bear trying to get up the hill. They rushed by Tadokoro in a second, hearing a groan before getting far ahead of him.
The top of the hill was coming close now; Makishima shifted at the right time and passed Toudou, making it to the top ahead of him.
"King of the mountain, Jinpachi," Makishima snickered before getting back on his saddle and bolting downhill.
"This isn't over, Maki-chan!" Toudou called out, gripping his lower handlebars and going down slope.
They stayed neck and neck going downward, though the slope straightened right out to another section of flats. Their momentum kept them at a high speed for a moment, though inevitably they were cranking the pedals. Makishima broke away and got ahead, that training paid off a bit more. Toudou showed up over his shoulder again, though he managed to keep him off for a little while.
There was a small slope ahead of them, which built up some speed, though soon they were back on a few kilometers of flats.
"Do these damn flats never end?" Makishima whined.
"Ain't it great," Tadokoro suddenly called from behind.
Tadokoro rode beside Makishima and Toudou, savoring the little glares he got from both.
"Hey where did you come from?" Toudou cried.
"Back there, and now I'm going over here," Tadokoro replied. "See ya!"
Tadokoro looked at Toudou to see him pouting, then at Makishima to see an eye roll, but then a little smirk. He accelerated and shot past them, disappearing from view.
"The next hill's not far from here," Toudou said, voice caught on a few heavy breaths. "We're almost at the halfway mark anyway."
They charged ahead, finally getting a light slope for a few meters before it went back into flats. Thankfully there was a longer slope coming up, not a huge hill but enough for the two of them to build a little speed. Makishima did his Spider Climb up the shallow incline and got significantly ahead of Toudou. The short slope did end with a long decline. He swore he saw Tadokoro's form at the bottom of the hill though he was pulling far ahead and then out of view.
A few other riders were going down the hill as well, he passed a few of them then got close to a couple more. In all is climbing practice he had gotten really good on down slopes too, judging by the blue jersey in his side vision the same was true of Toudou.
Toudou caught up with him a few times, though Makishima remained ahead. He heard another cyclist passing by Toudou, meaning there was now a little distance between them. Makishima was now surging ahead and was now just a few meters away from another guy in a blue and green jersey with the tag number 315.
They gradually leaned into a long, sharp curve. Going this fast was a little risky on this corner, especially given how narrow these roads were. Makishima knew to just tune his senses and keep his reflexes at the ready. He leaned into the curve, feeling gravity trying to work against him; this was the game they played with physics.
Makishima just smiled a little and kept pedaling, what a rush this was. He briefly made eye contact with the rider next to him, seeing a little nod and smile in greeting before the racer accelerated. Makishima pedaled a little harder, feeling the rushing wind and the force pushing on his body.
They were close to completing the curve; one more rider in an orange jersey was way ahead of them with the tag 109. He was riding in the center of the road, though not looking like he was going fast. For a moment Makishima thought he saw the rider wobble, though it was probably how he was going around the curve. Rider 315 was moving to the outside of the curve to pass 109, Makishima was veering to the left side.
Makishima's attention was on the curve with a few brief looks at the boulders sticking up from the grass lining the road. Toudou, however, noticed how 109 was swaying back and forth a bit more. Toudou was about to call out to Makishima to watch the guy ahead of them.
Before he could open his mouth rider 109 spilled right off his bike. He fell end over end, flipping right along with his bike before they both scattered across the road. A millisecond later rider 315's tires met the wreck and bike and rider flew towards the pavement.
Makishima didn't see what was happening until he was right on top of it. His front tire hit the skidding bike, then his body was caught in the force of the curve. He tried to keep a grip on the handlebars but the force practically ripped his falling bike from his hands. He flew through the air for a moment into the curve, falling beyond the grassy strip and going right for the rocky outcroppings a meter from the road.
Toudou went numb, he tried to scream but nothing came out. He watched Makishima fall downward, he landed hard on the rocks, then his body bounced upward again and rolled in midair. His right arm struck the rocks hard but he landed softer on his back.
Toudou barely noticed that the rider in front of him was caught up in the wreck and tumbled downward. He felt himself falling for a second though his eyes were glued to Makishima until he saw his own bike tires and felt the pounding ache of the pavement against his body.
Everything stopped, time just stood still; all Toudou could see now was a tangle of bikes just in front of his face and the asphalt right underneath him. He suddenly heard his own heavy breaths and tried to pull himself back to reality. He tried to move but every muscle violently trembled. He pushed himself even more, mentally screaming at himself to get up. His neck wasn't hurting, neither was his back or his head. Just how badly was he hurt? That didn't matter right now.
Toudou suddenly sprang to a sit, a searing pain going through his right arm. He looked over and saw his shoulder at an odd angle. Blood was flowing out of his forearm, Toudou looked a little more carefully to see a long flap of skin dangling from his arm. For a moment he thought to look for a bone sticking out; thankfully it was just skin, he could still move his arm though it hurt like hell.
His eyes scanned the road in front of him. The rider immediately ahead of him, number 153, was on his side but propped himself up and was looking around. Two other riders were just heaps lying in the road.
Then his eyes went to the side of the road, seeing that white jersey and green hair. Makishima lay prone; he was hugging his arm to his body, his eyes were wide open, but he wasn't moving.
Maki-chan get up, get up dammit! He wanted to scream this but the words weren't coming to his mouth.
Toudou looked a little more. The front of Makishima's jersey was shredded, blood was seeping through the fabric; then he got a glimpse of torn skin underneath. He wasn't watching this; he couldn't be watching this.
He could see Makishima trembling. His head rose up somewhat and his body jerked like he was trying to cough. Droplets of red sprayed from his mouth and across his jersey. Toudou's throat closed up, hot tears welled in his eyes. Maki-chan bit himself, that's what this has to be. Makishima's head then went back down on the ground; his gaze remained on the sky. Tears streamed down Toudou's cheeks.
"MAKI-CHAN!" Toudou screamed.
He didn't move. Oh please look over here, please just look over.
"MAKI-CHAN!"
This isn't funny, please move!
"MAKI-CHAN!"
People were now rushing around them, so many voices were talking, yelling, or even crying. He didn't bother hearing the words, it was just noise. A few people rushed over to him, but he just looked down.
"Hey are you okay, can you talk to me?" one woman in a yellow jersey said beside him.
"Just stay calm, they've got medics on the way," another woman in a pink jersey said.
Toudou looked up, soon a bunch of people were standing around Makishima. Toudou jerked forward to run toward hum, but a sharp pain ran through his arm and his legs weren't strong enough to pick him up.
"MAKI-CHAN!" he screamed again.
Please just look over, please call back, let me know you're really okay.
Soon someone in a blue uniform rushed over to him, a plastic case in his hand. The medic asked him a bunch of questions but he just shook his head or nodded in response. No he didn't hit his head, no his neck or his back wasn't hurting. He moved his head to realize someone took his helmet off.
He looked through the crowd to see two medics kneeling on the ground, blocking Makishima from his sight. They would separate long enough for Toudou to see he was now in a neck brace, an oxygen mask was over his nose and mouth, and his bloody jersey had been tossed to the side.
Maki-chan was just a meter away from him and he couldn't go over to him. He was frozen to the ground; the pain was too great, his legs were trembling too much, there were too many people between them.
The medic wrapped his arm in gauze and put pressure on the wound. Toudou hung his head and sobbed.
"Maki-chan, Maki-chan," he said weakly, his body trembling.
"It's okay, Jinpachi, he's in good hands," the medic said. "I just need you to stay still for me."
He did as he was told and let the medic evaluate him. He heard him talking on the radio, "dislocated shoulder," "large laceration on the right forearm" were some of the words he heard, but his gaze stayed to the ground. He sobbed hard, tears landed on his shorts and he could feel the snot dripping from his nose.
Toudou managed to look up right as the doors closed to an ambulance and it sped away with sirens blaring. All that remained in that patch of rocky ground now was a wadded up jersey and a few people standing around looking at the departing ambulance with stunned expressions.
He had been blessed with flats for the past few kilometers, though of course here comes the massive hill. Tadokoro groaned at the sight. He had just gone through the curve from hell then had these lovely flats; maybe this course was meant to torture him.
Tadokoro pushed his thigh muscles hard, though he knew he wasn't going to win this hill by a longshot. Already some of the people he blasted past earlier were passing him again. He did notice he was doing a little better on this kind of hill than he usually would. Before he would get crampy and winded a lot easier, this time he was making some more progress.
Anytime now those two climber idiots would be rushing past him gloating a little more. He did get ahead of them by almost a minute, though he doubted he could stay ahead of them for too long. Tadokoro kept on looking back, waiting to see Makishima's whipping hair or Toudou's stiff posture. He saw neither. Soon he made it right to the top of the hill, then went down a steep slope and onto another set of glorious flats.
By now Makishima and Toudou would have gained enough momentum to get past him. He still did not hear the zipping of Makishima's tires or see Toudou passing by him. For a second he got an odd feeling, though he brushed it off.
Maybe he had been that good and completely flew past them. Tadokoro grinned; he would have plenty of gloating to do when he met them across the finish line.
Author's Note: Yes, we finally got to that part.
A couple notes; I did some online research on cycle racing categories and licenses. I probably botched a lot of details though I'm giving myself an E for effort. If anyone is more knowledgeable on the topic and wants to politely correct me on anything go for it (and please oh please be my consultant).
My little headcanon detail about Onoda and Midousuji might end up being its own story at some point.
