Author's note: I am extremely, absolutely and profusely sorry – I had exams the previous month and will have a very important exam in another month, so I haven't time to update. For those who are still following the story – thanks for being patient!

Chapter 10

Two days after the meeting with Imiga, Yuri received her first assignment. She accepted it without much feeling, no shock registering in her mind, just a dull thud hitting the pits of her stomach. Usually, Yuri was excited about races – her blood would race and her heart skip a nervous beat over the very thought of it. But tonight, nothing mattered to her. Everything seemed to be a very brief and flitting blur. Only Ming lingered longer in her spiritless mind than the other things, even Koji.

Boshi was packed, as usual, but there was a new presence. The scene picked up a new presence in town – a presence that smelt heavily of yakuza and obnoxious sneers at the owners of Truenos and S13s. Mutters and whispers floated all about the parking lot, spreading caution about these newcomers who seemed to consider themselves the king of the scene. Sure they were new, but they looked dangerous enough to be taken seriously.

"Hey Sean!" said Twinky, fighting and winding his way in and out of the crowd as he tried to reach him. Both Sean and Neela looked up from the exposed hood of her car – Neela had installed a new engine and was looking for his approval, and he was about to have his say when Twink interrupted.

"Yeah?"

"You seen the newbies yet?"

Sean laughed. "Twink, these people show up every day. You don't expect me to keep tabs on everyone do ya?"

"Man, as if I don't know da 'duty' and 'burden' of a D.K.," said Twink with a sarcastic twitch of his mouth. "These people are different. They walk around in groups and they got a head. People say that they're, you know - yakuza." Twink waited for an effect.

Sean frowned. "So whaddaya want me ta do about it? Chase them off? Sayin' that this is my turf and put up da 'NO TRESPASSING' sign?" Twink opened his mouth to retort but Sean had shook his head and said, "I don't have a right ta do that, Twink. They can come and go as they please. It's a free country." He returned his attention to Neela's car.

Twink's jaw dropped. "Man – Sean – you can't do this man! Somebody's gonna go home with a black eye and a missing car today for sure! You gotta do something man!"

"Look Twink," said Neela suddenly. She had been quietly observing their conversation, her heart getting more uncomfortable by the second. "Sean's got no problem against them. And they haven't done anything to wrong him. What's the use of picking a fight with them? We'll lose out in the end – they've got more fists than us."

"But Neela, you don't understand – "

"Twink, please," said Sean in a firm tone. "You said it yourself: they're yakuza. They're not scared of D.Ks. I bet they've got a dozen of 'em tightly controlled under their skins."

"Then you want somethin' to happen before you start walkin'?" said Twink bitterly. He threw up his hands and backed away. "Okay – fine. You're the D.K. here."

Sean felt bad at once. "Twink - " he called after him but Neela put her hand on his shoulder. "Sean," she said softly. He turned around to look at her and she could see the pain in his face. "I don't want you to get hurt," she said gently and kissed him on his lips. Sean understood her good intentions, but Twink was partly right. As D.K., he had an obligation to protect the interests of his turf and its 'people'. But he couldn't go picking a fight with the yakuza.

Not without a good, solid reason.

But as people were trying their best to stay away from the new kuza, as they were being secretly nicknamed, some were making them their new best friends. And through it all, Yuri watched slimy offers to drive for them, endured lecherous gazes on her body and tried to ignore Imiga's hand around her waist, keeping him extra close to him as if she was a porcelain doll.

"Hey lady!" said one of Imiga's new acquaintances, someone by the name of Morimoto. Yuri looked blankly at him. He offered her a packet of cigarettes. "One?"

"Keep your fags to yourself," she lashed back out at him.

"Oooo…."s went off all around the black circle. Yuri dared not meet Imiga's eyes. She knew that the smile on his face was now fixed and plastic and his dignity had been slashed at. But he kept iron cool grip over his anger and said with a shrug: "Shou ga nai – this girl ain't as dirty as your girls."

Morimoto laughed and planted a wet kiss on the cheek of his current squeeze, a girl with pink highlights in her hair who looked just about to burst out of her tight green tank top and ultra-short jeans. "You shower every day, don't you?" The girl giggled briefly, but as Morimoto took a long drag on his cigarettes, she noticed that the girl's face flickered miserably for a moment as their eyes locked, but she turned away at once and put on her cheery mask once more.

Yuri couldn't decide which was stuck in worse conditions, herself being instructed to wear something 'that didn't make her look like a nerd' by Imiga just the day before. When she had showed up that night (at his garage first, by instruction again) with a sleeveless and knee-length black dress, Imiga had grabbed a pair of scissors snipped the dress ruthlessly to just halfway down her thighs. Yuri had never been more ashamed, what more that he had done it in front of his gang, but she bit her lip and did not complain, as long as he did no harm to her mother.

The only thing that could possibly worsen the situation was to be spotted by Ming, who right at that moment was dancing about in her miserable mind and made her feel both comforted and pained at the same time. She hadn't seen him in the two days after the meeting with Imiga, nor had she called him. He had tried to call her, and even left messages on her phone saying that he wanted to take her out to dinner, but in her agony she just shut her phone and tried her best to put him out of her mind. But she was failing quite spectacularly.

"Yuri?" came Imiga's voice, whispering huskily into her ear. "Hmm?" she replied without looking at him.

"Yuri…" he murmured again and dropped the slightest of kisses on the nape of her neck. Her reflex action was to jerk away from him, but she fought to stay put, lest she risk his anger. "Look at me, Yuri…"

She did, and his black eyes were shining lazily with desire. She forced a smile. "Yes?"

He tested her with a playful smile but an intense gaze into her eyes. "Something wrong? Somebody on your mind?"

"No," she said simply. "I was just thinking about school. Homework."

"Have you finished them?" his hand brought her closer to him. She cleared her throat as a sign of discomfort and, surprisingly, he backed away. He grinned and twirled a lock of her hair, which she had let loose about her shoulders, and said, "Remember the guy I told you I wanted you to race with?"

"Mmm-hmm," she said nonchalantly.

"He's a D.K., just so you should know," he said. "But not here… D.K. from another hot spot. He's number one on my hit list, just so you should know," he tilted his head and smiled twistedly, sending shivers down her spine. "I asked him here tonight, you know, to play on neutral ground since I can safely say that I am not a Boshi regular."

"But I've driven here before," she said with a frown.

"Ah, but he doesn't need to know that now, does he?" he laughed, a whispery and hoarse laugh. Yuri looked away and scanned the crowd aimlessly.

"Imiga-san!"

Both Imiga and Yuri snapped their heads up in the direction of the voice. It was one of Imiga's sidekicks. "He's here."

Imiga smiled a satisfactory smile and nodded. "Bring him in won't you? I can't wait to start beating him."

"Through me, you mean," said Yuri sarcastically.

"But of course," he replied, stroking her cheek. She stared at him back defiantly but he ignored her defiance. "You will win tonight, won't you?"

"And what if I don't?"

"Say bye-bye to your Supra then," he grinned and kissed her full on her lips. She couldn't find the capability to do anything but just let him drink from her depression.

"Hey there, Imiga-san," said a voice, but this voice was not the sidekick's. Yuri felt a jolt of shock as she pulled away instinctively and turned her eyes away, her heart thudding with panic. She recognised that voice, and she didn't dare look up.

"D.K.-san," replied Imiga in return and he shook hands with the newcomer. "So glad to see you over from Shibuya."

"How can I say no to an invitation to race?"

"Meet your racer for today," said Imiga and tapped Yuri's shoulder. "Yuri, why so shy? Say hello to the D.K. of Shibuya."

Yuri took a deep breath and stood hesitantly. Imiga put an arm around her shoulders and that forced her to look directly at the D.K. he was talking about. "Yuri," said Imiga, "meet Ming. Ming, meet – "

"Yuri," Ming finished for him. Yuri did everything in her power to not run away from the scene as fast as she could. How could he be here? And how could she race him? Not when – oh God – not when he had seen her with Imiga?

Why did her life had to be so complicated?

Note No.2 : Shou ga nai means "I can't help it." Cheers.