Chapter 10
The next day David drove to Narita Airport in the bright orange S15, he parked in short stay and walked into the baggage claim. He quickly spotted a 23 year old 5'5" blonde girl carrying a bright red bag in each hand and a purse on her shoulder running towards him.
"David, I missed you," the girl said in English as she dropped the bags and wrapped her arms around the taller man's chest.
"I missed you too Emily, let's get out of here Akari is waiting at the restaurant for us," David responded after returning the hug and grabbing the two bags, "Geez what did you bring with you, these things weigh a ton."
As they walked to the S15 David warned Emily of a few things, including that Akari spoke English quiet well.
"Oh, I always have loved your taste in colors David," Emily said excitedly as she stared at the bright orange car in front of her.
"Well, once I finish the Chevelle she's all yours so you're driving," David said throwing her the keys and walking to the left side of the car.
Emily looked at him confused before remembering Japanese cars were built with right hand drive. She climbed into the car and immediately noticed the left handed shifter, the third pedal, and the racing buckets and harnesses David had installed.
"So I take you've raced this car once or twice?" the blonde haired girl asked as she fastened the racing harness.
"Just once, to keep my brain in check," David said as the engine revved to life and settled back on idle.
The couple drove to the restaurant at what David thought was a snail's pace as he gave the instructions to get there. Once they arrived, Akari, wearing her hair down with a blue turtleneck and a black skirt with a pair of low open toe heels, met them in the parking lot and introduced herself in perfect English to the older woman before going in.
"Emily, David and I have a race in Akagi coming up as soon as the last of the snow clears from up there, should be a week or two from now might be a month seeing as it's been cold this year but, I'll teach you a few things after it's over," Akari said after they left the restaurant. The brown haired girl climbed into her FD and took off before Emily or David could respond.
Two weeks went by very fast for David as he finished up the repairs on the Chevelle's body, and retuning the motor when he had time after showing Emily the way to her school from the house.
"Hey the snow cleared out and the Red Suns are calling me every ten seconds, the race is on for Saturday at ten o'clock," Akari shouted as they ran through the open garage door at David's house.
"Alright, the Chevelle is ready for a new fight, and Emily actually can't wait to see what you'll teach her, we'll go out Wednesday and get reacquainted with Akagi, I haven't been out there since the crash," David replied from under the S15.
Akari saw Emily coming out through the house and walked out to meet her. The pair had become friends very quickly despite their age difference and the fact that Akari was a racer. The brown haired girl loved going shopping just for the heck of it and David and Emily both agreed the dresses she wore were much better than the T-shirt and jeans she wore to the races.
"Hey Emily why don't you and I go shopping Thursday from what I hear some of the stores near here are going to be having huge sales," Akari said with a grin as Emily nodded her agreement.
"Well I wouldn't dare get between you and shopping but you have class on Thursday Emily, and if I'm not terribly mistaken, so do you Akari," David said climbing out from under the S15.
"Spoil sport," Akari muttered as the twenty year old pouted like a five year old.
"David you are going to make a great dad one day, you're already acting like one," Emily said with a laugh.
David just nodded, and silently turned around and went back to cleaning up the garage. Emily followed him until she got to the driver's door of the bright orange car, as she climbed in she noticed David climbing into the Chevelle and all three went their separate ways. David went to work while Akari and Emily went to their respective classes.
The two members of the Akagi Timber Wolves met on their home course for night of practice down and up the mountain pass. Emily joined them and just stayed behind the blue FD as best as possible.
"So Emily, think you can race for us after watching me all night?" Akari laughed as the three people met in the top parking area.
"Not unless you ride along Akari, I'm just a rookie," Emily replied honestly.
"Well how about you ride with one of us first, and watch what we do," David said as he climbed out of the Chevelle.
"If we do it that way I'm riding with you David, and Akari can drive in front of us so I can watch the result of what you do with the wheel and pedals."
"We'll have to do that when we only have two cars out here, I don't think it's a good idea to leave either car up here," Akari said as she leaned against her FD.
"You can leave the Chevelle here with us if you trust us not to peak under the hood that is," A kind voice said in Japanese from behind the group.
"Fumihiro it's not you I'm worried about peaking, it's Matsumoto and Tomiguchi I'm worried about," David responded in Japanese without even facing the man who spoke to him, "What's Project D doing up here anyway, I thought Wednesday was our day for practice."
"Project D isn't, I came up here to get some practice of my own in, Tomiguchi is only here as a time keeper," Fumihiro replied as he walked into David's field of vision.
"Well that's not much comfort it still leaves Tomiguchi with my car," David laughed as he shook the dark haired man's hand.
"Hiroshi Fumihiro, this is Emily Davidson my girlfriend," he added in English pointing to the blonde girl next to him.
"It's nice to meet you Emily," the taller man bowing his head slightly.
David turned into the translator as Tomiguchi introduced himself and began asking questions about David's racing back in the states. The small group spent a few minutes talking before Fumihiro promised not to leave the Chevelle alone with Tomiguchi.
Emily climbed into the S15's passenger seat as David slid into its driver seat.
"Emily this could get a lot faster than your used to, we're going downhill and sliding all over the place, if it gets too much, just say the word, David will signal me and we'll stop," Akari said through the open window of the S15.
"I'll be fine, and I have confidence in my man," Emily replied without a trace of fear or worry in her voice.
The brown haired girl tapped the door a couple times before walking over to her FD and climbing into the driver's seat and taking off down the hill with a bright orange S15 close on its back bumper.
"They're on their way down, David left the Chevelle up here and is driving an S15," Fumihiro said into a cell phone, "No it's just a training thing for his girlfriend, but you should still be able to learn a few things."
On the course David noticed that the team was being followed. He signaled Akari to slow down by flashing the headlights. She complied and the blonde flew passed her followed shortly by a white FC with a Red Suns sticker on the back quarter panel.
"Oh shit, this just got fun," Akari said to herself as she picked up her pace again and fell into the line of cars behind the FC, "Wow, this guy is fast as hell, I'm pushing as hard as I can, and I can barely keep up, forget about passing," She added as she watched the FC slide through corner after corner behind the S15.
Once they reached the bottom of the course Emily had a grin from ear to ear on her face and David was struggling to breathe properly. Akari came into the lower parking lot a short time after the other two cars and stepped into Emily trying to hold an infuriated David back from going off his rocker.
"Ryosuke, why not just ask to see what I can do," David shouted as he broke loose of his girlfriend's hold.
"Because he thought if he asked he would see only what you wanted him to, and he wanted to see everything. Isn't that right Ryosuke?" Akari asked seemingly unaffected by the whole ordeal.
"That's right Akari, and this was also a good opportunity to see what you could do as well," Ryosuke said as he climbed back into his FC, before driving off leaving a stunned Akari and a still furious David standing in the parking area.
"Let's go," David said in a low tone as he jumped in the driver's seat of the S15.
"I'll ride with Akari on the way up okay?" Emily asked seeming to watch her tone very carefully.
"Sure, the uphill is her thing, you'll learn a few things from her," David said just before burning the back tires of the S15 and flying up the Akagi mountain road.
"We better go if we want to catch up," Akari said as she jumped into her FD.
Emily quickly got in and watched every move Akari made as she made her way back to the top parking lot. The women never caught the S15 until they got back to the top, only managing to spot its taillights a few times as they went up.
David reached the top of the Akagi pass and noted that as promised Fumihiro and Tomiguchi were still both there; he breathed a sigh of relief knowing that his car wasn't left with the Project D mechanic.
"David, I'm sorry for the deception, but it was Ryosuke's idea, he thought," the tall dark haired man was cut off by the Chevelle's door slamming and its engine roaring to life.
David rolled the window down momentarily to ask that they watch the S15 till Emily got back before leaving tracks out of the parking lot and on to the main road as he left.
"He's pissed, and Ryosuke wanted it that way, but this seems a little much even to me," Fumihiro said quietly with the long haired bleach blonde man nodding his agreement.
David passed his partner's FD about ten seconds after leaving the top parking lot but his head was so fogged up he didn't think anything of it. The pair got to the top lot and Emily rushed to thank the two men watching her car as she jumped in and drove off directly behind the blue FD.
The two cars pulled into the drive at David's house seeing the marina 1970 Chevelle was parked in its proper place as if it had never left. But they also noticed a black Mercedes CLK 500 parked on the lift and a pair of feet sticking out from underneath it.
"Who does this car belong to David?" Emily asked in broken Japanese while walking over to the car.
"It's mine, but I'm not David Ms. Davidson," a gray haired man responded in English while getting out from under the car.
"You must be David's boss, Mr. Yokama," Emily said sticking a hand out, "Where is David?" she finally asked.
"He went in to change cloths before coming out to give me a hand," Yokama said as he showed the young woman his dirty hands.
"Mr. Yokama, unlike my father, I don't mind a little grease under my nails," Emily said still holding out a hand.
"Better just shake her hand boss, she won't put it down till you do," David said as he walked back into the garage in a work shirt and jeans.
The men went back to work on the Mercedes as if the run in on Akagi never happened, and the two ladies went inside to stay out of their way.
"David took that run down Akagi with Ryosuke pretty badly, but he got over it quick," Akari said from the entrance into the garage.
"No he hasn't David doesn't get over anything very easily, but he knows very well how to hide being upset," Emily said as she walked up behind the younger girl.
"Well, I've seen him aggravated before, and I think I've seen him angry but this seemed a whole new level of pissed tonight," the brown haired girl said as she walked back into the house, "Listen, I'm going to head home, it's late and I have an early class, I'll be around call me if things bad with him tonight," she added walking out the front door.
David and Mr. Yokama watched as the blue FD took off out of the driveway and Emily pulled her S15 into the garage.
"Mr. Crandon I thank you for your help with the tune up, I'll bring my other car over tomorrow after work," Mr. Yokama said as he started towards the Mercedes.
"Mr. Yokama, have you ever had someone trail you down the mountain without telling you, someone you would be racing later on?" The blonde asked stopping the older man.
"Just once, a fellow called Bunta Fujiwara, but the only reason he was tailing me he was coming off morning deliveries while I was practicing late," Mr. Yokama said with a slight chuckle, "We raced later that following Saturday, he beat the pants off me in that 86."
"I know Takumi still drives that car, any tips to use against it?" David asked as the other man got in the Mercedes that was sitting on the lift.
"Yeah, stay behind him until the last possible second, then blow his doors off, if the kid is anything like his father that's the only way to win, and with your Chevelle over there it shouldn't be hard," the older man said pulling off the lift before leaving tread marks on the driveway.
The Saturday of the Red Suns race came and went real fast, the Timber Wolves set course records on both the uphill and downhill. David took the lead out of the gates and finished with enough time to do his 180 at the bottom of the course. Akari pushed ahead at the last corner by taking the inside and blocking the rest of the way to the line.
"Alright I think we're ready for Project D, all we have to do is figure out where and when, I want Emily to be here so it needs to be soon," David said as the parking lot emptied out after the races.
"I think we need at least a week to find a proper course, Ryosuke has already said they won't race us in Akina or Akagi, so maybe Myogi or Iroha," Akari said as she leaned on her FD.
"What about one of those other courses they went to with Project D?" Emily asked as she walked to David's side.
"I think we should stay local, that way they take Gunma back from us," David said with a slight hint of anger in his tone.