Dreaming of Akina

Chapter Ten

A fully dressed Bunta was lying on his bed, thinking of what had happened immediately after the race as he stared at the ceiling while the room started filling itself with light as the sun rose for a brand new day. Even though he didn't think he deserved any of it, he had liked hearing everyone's cheers as they congratulated him and while they praised his extraordinary driving skills.

Ha! Extraordinary driving skills, my foot, Bunta thought remembering all the mistakes he'd made during the race. He'd even aquaplaned! Gosh, if Eikichi ever found out about that, he'd never hear the end of it!

'I've got to keep on practicing,' Bunta muttered to himself and, with that, he got back up thinking that he had to hurry up before the roads would dry up from all the rain which had kept on falling throughout the night, he just grabbed his Toyota's keys and started running down the stairs.

'Hey there,' Eikichi said seeing his nephew walking past the living room where he was reading the previous day's newspaper, 'you're late: I just came back from doing the deliveries.'

'I know, sorry,' Bunta replied quickly, 'I'll come tomorrow, I promise.'

'Hey Bunta,' Eikichi said and, this time, his tone of voice made Bunta stop right before he could sit down to put his shoes on.

'What's up?' Bunta asked without turning round to face him.

'Come here one second,' Eikichi replied and, very slowly, Bunta made his way into the living room.

'Yes?' Bunta asked, leaning against the door frame.

'I've heard you won last night,' Eikichi replied, 'well done.'

'Er…' Bunta started, wondering two things: how on earth had he found out about the race to begin with and, more importantly, was he taking the piss with that 'well done' of his?

'If you're asking yourself how come I know about the race, I have my own sources of information,' Eikichi said, replying to Bunta's unasked question, yet again freaking the poor teenager out for he really didn't know how his uncle kept doing that.

'Er…' Bunta repeated.

'Like I said,' Eikichi interrupted him, 'I'm pleased to know that you've done well enough to win this race but, there's something I'd like you to keep in mind.'

'And that is?' Bunta finally managed to ask.

'Go again through everything you've done during the race and try to identify the mistakes you've made then, try to see if you could do something to prevent them from happening in the future.'

'I was going to do that right now,' Bunta said shaking his car keys and that, for some reason, made Eikichi smile happily.

'I'm very impressed,' he said and, this time, Bunta noticed that his uncle was being one hundred percent sincere, 'keep in mind something else, will you?'

'Alright…'

'The day you will stop finding mistakes in your driving, do everyone a favour and quit racing,' Eikichi said.

'What? Why?' Bunta asked raising his eyebrows in surprise.

'Because,' Eikichi replied, 'the day you get so arrogant as to think you're perfect, you'll become a danger to yourself and to whoever happens to be racing with you.'

Bunta simply didn't know what to say, except that, as usual, his uncle seemed to know what he was talking about and, again as always, he made perfect sense.

'Alright,' he repeated, 'I'll keep both things in mind.'

'Good,' Eikichi replied, 'now you better be off,' he added then, glancing at the clock which hung from a nearby wall, he said, 'you only have about an hour before the road will start filling itself with cars, use it well.'

'I will,' Bunta said and, with that, Eikichi re-started reading his one day old newspaper as the teenager went to put his shoes on while thinking about everything his uncle had told him.

It was a real pity that his uncle and his father had never made peace, Bunta thought while climbing into his car and turning its engine on, he could only begin to imagine how freaking good his driving would be if, on top of the advice he got from his father when he was teaching him how to drive, he'd also got that of his uncle…

'Oh well,' Bunta muttered to himself, no point wondering about something impossible, besides, his uncle was right: if he wanted to get better, he had to do all the work himself.

With a pang, he realised that it had been the first time in quite a few days that he'd thought about his father and that made him think that he wasn't missing him anywhere near as much as he thought he would. Was it because of Eikichi?

He also asked to himself if it was normal that he'd moved on with his life so quickly then, not finding a good answer to any of those two questions, he decided to think about this later on for, right now, he had a mountain pass to attack.

A few hours later and only when he was happy with the work he'd done up in Mt Akina, Bunta drove his Toyota to Nitta-san's repair shop where he'd been working for just under ten days and, as he parked his car, he saw that Masashi was there too.

'Hello champ,' the older guy greeted him shaking a wrench he had in his hand.

'Hi,' Bunta replied while he climbed out of his 2000GT, 'what are you doing here? Isn't Sunday your day off?'

'Yep,' Masashi said, 'but shouldn't I say the same thing about you? I thought you only worked here during the weekdays…'

'I know,' Bunta replied, 'I was…hey, I asked you first,' he protested.

'Ah,' Masashi chuckled, 'we've just finished working on an engine and we needed to reassemble it into the car because its owner wants to pick it up tomorrow morning.'

'I see…'

'Hey,' Masashi added, 'do you want to give us a hand?'

'Sure,' Bunta replied nodding. He then followed Masashi inside the garage where they found a short guy in his late thirties called Taki who'd been working at the repairs shop since forever and who was now preparing everything they needed to put the engine back into the empty bay of a beautiful, shiny blue Subaru Leone, the bonnet cover of which was currently leaning against one of the walls.

'Hi there,' Taki said, 'coming to help us out?'

'I'll try,' Bunta replied with a grin.

'Alright,' Taki said, 'while you do, we can explain to you what we've done with the engine and why, if that's okay with you.'

'Of course,' Bunta replied, 'I'm all ears…'

Soon enough, all three of them were busy with the numerous wires, tubes and all the countless other parts which were needed to make sure an engine worked properly. Bunta was having so much fun that he simply didn't see himself doing anything else but messing around with cars for the rest of his life…

'Hello there,' they heard Shinichiro Nitta say from the garage's entrance while they were busy cleaning all the tools they've used.

'Hi,' Bunta said to him.

'How is it going?' Shinichiro asked, this time looking at the sempai Taki.

'Remarkably well,' the guy replied, 'the kid seems to be a natural when it comes to mechanics.'

That made Shinichiro smile at Bunta in an almost fatherly way and then, glancing back at Taki, he nodded once and said:

'He's a Fujiwara: he's bound to be good with cars…'

This last remark made Bunta feel so embarrassed that he failed to notice the very astounded look which had appeared on both Masashi's and Taki's faces.

'You've got him in your pocket,' Masashi commented to Bunta as they started making their way back to their cars.

'Who?' Bunta asked looking confused.

'The boss,' Masashi replied, 'he never pays compliments so easily. It's probably because he was your father's best…'

'Hey,' Bunta exclaimed, frowning angrily, 'is that what you all think?'

'What?'

'You all think I got this job because of who my father was, don't you?' Bunta asked him, now sounding definitely upset.

'N-no…' Masashi started.

'Bullshit,' Bunta interrupted him, 'I know you do. But that's precisely why I want to learn as much as I can and as fast as possible.'

'Bunta I…'

'I've had it with depending on other people,' Bunta said, 'I want to learn as much as I can about cars so I can start doing things my own way.'

'Bunta,' Masashi tried again, 'you are already surprisingly good,' he added, 'honestly, I haven't met anyone who could do what you do…'

'And what is that?' Bunta asked, forcing himself to calm down.

'We just tell you something once and you apply it immediately,' Masashi explained, 'you sometimes manage to even improve what we've done, it's rather scary, you know?'

'What did I do?' Bunta asked sounding genuinely confused.

'Earlier on,' Masashi replied, 'when we were working with that engine and we were telling you about the way it was supposed to be wired, you suggested us a different way of doing it which turned out to be a lot better than what we had in mind.'

'But...'

'It's scary to think that you're probably doing it out of sheer instinct instead of knowledge,' Masashi said.

'I don't know, I just…'

'You just don't know how to explain why you do what you do,' Masashi finished for him.

'Yeah,' Bunta admitted scratching his cheek like he always did every time he was nervous or embarrassed about something.

'I think you're a freaking genius,' Masashi concluded before he started climbing into his car, 'and I'm grateful to know that you're in my side. I'd hate to think of what would happen if you were one of our rivals.'

Bunta just nodded to that as he too got into his Toyota because, once again, he didn't really know what to say. A genius, Masashi had said; what an exaggeration, the teenager thought while he turned the engine on so they could drive up Mt Akina where Yuuichi and a few of the Akina Firebolts were waiting for them.

Fifteen minutes later, Bunta parked his car next to his schoolmate's Capella noticing that its driver was busy chatting with the Firebolts' leader.

'Hey,' Shinobu said seeing both Masashi and Bunta climbing out of their cars, 'about bloody time you showed up,' he then added looking at Bunta.

'Why?' Bunta asked him.

'Why, he asks,' another guy, Shinobu's best friend, said sarcastically, 'care to tell him?'

'Yep,' Shinobu replied with a smirk, 'Bunta, after the stunt you pulled last night, there are quite a few people who'd do anything to race you…'

'Really?' Bunta asked with such an incredulous tone of voice that it earned him a smack on the back of his head, courtesy of Yuuichi.

'Of course, you idiot!' Yuuichi said, 'did you know that those two Mitsubishi drivers are quite famous?'

'No, I didn't,' Bunta replied, 'but I've already told that Watanabe guy that I want to race them again, this time in their home course.'

'In Mt Akagi?' Shinobu asked him with a frown.

'Yep,' Bunta replied, 'why, is that a problem?'

'Not really,' Masashi replied, 'except that you've never even been there.'

'Not a problem,' Bunta said dismissingly, 'I'll go there a few days before the race so I can get some practice.'

'Bunta,' Shinobu said, 'Akagi's configuration has very little to do with Akina's. It'll take you more than a few days to get used to it. Believe me, I've been there quite a few times and I still get pretty freaked out of how steep its downhill is.'

'Really?' Bunta repeated, this time sounding very much interested, provoking a fit of laughter from everyone.

'You're too much,' Masashi sentenced then, looking at his team leader, he said, 'Shinobu-san, I think we'd better let him do whatever he wants.'

'Yeah,' Shinobu agreed, 'it's not like we can do anything to stop him. After all, he's not even one of us yet.'

'Speaking of which...' Shinobu's best friend said.

'Shall we get some practice?' Bunta asked, interrupting the older guy and, before he even got a reply, he started walking back to his 2000GT.

'Yuuichi…' Masashi started as they all observed Bunta while he climbed into his car.

'No, no,' Yuuichi said putting both of his hands up, 'don't even look at me. From the little I know of him, the more you guys insist, the less he's going to be willing to join.'

'What an arrogant bastard,' one of the Firebolts said.

'It's not that,' Shinobu contradicted him, 'I think it's more a question of being stubborn.'

He clearly wanted to add something else but then, seeing that Bunta was already driving downhill, he shook his head and started making his way to his own car leaving everyone with no option but to follow him suit.

The day after, and as they had finished what had to be the most boring maths lesson ever, Bunta sat on top of Yuuichi's desk and was about to say something when Yuuichi looked at him and said:

'You really should tell them about our plans.'

'What?' Bunta asked him.

'You know what I mean,' Yuuichi replied getting even more serious, 'last night, with the guys, you really put me in a very uncomfortable position.'

'Why?'

'Because I don't know if you want to tell them about our plans to race in every course on our own, without being a member of any of the teams…'

'Ah, that,' Bunta said.

'Yes, that,' Yuuichi confirmed, 'listen, is not that I don't feel grateful that you've included me in those plans but, Masashi-san and the rest of the guys know that I've been dying to become a member of their team for quite a long time and they're getting a bit more than suspicious that I don't want to put press you into making your mind up.'

Bunta looked at him and laughed softly.

'They know you too well,' he added.

'It's not funny,' Yuuichi complained, 'I think we should tell them.'

'Soon,' Bunta promised him, 'for now, we've got other things to worry about.'

'Other things?' Yuuichi asked, looking rather puzzled.

'Yes, like our date, for instance,' he replied and that caused for quite a few of their classmates, especially the male ones, to stare at the two boys with a fairly disgusted expression on their faces, 'with Fuka-chan and Seiko-chan, remember?' Bunta added speaking loud enough so everyone could hear him. That, funnily enough, made all of their classmates to let out a sigh of relief at the very same time.

'I've got everything planned,' Yuuichi said.

'Really?' Bunta asked, 'because I kind of had an idea…'

'You've had an idea?' Yuuichi asked not bothering to hide how scared he was at the prospect.

'Yep,' Bunta replied nonetheless, 'what do you say if we take the girls to Tokyo?'

'What?' Yuuichi exclaimed, 'are you nuts?' he then asked then, knowing the answer to that question all too well, he added, 'Bunta, that's going to cost us a fortune.'

'Why?' Bunta asked him.

'Come on,' Yuuichi said, 'think of how much petrol we'll have to use to get to Tokyo, not to mention the fact that the girls will expect us to pay for whatever we do, be it dinner or a drink or going to see a movie.'

'Who said anything about that?' Bunta asked.

'What do you want to do then?' Yuuichi asked, 'because we can't take them to Tokyo and not take them out for dinner or something like that. And be sure that they'll want to go to Shibuya where everything is horribly expensive.'

'Again,' Bunta said, 'who said anything about going to Shibuya?'

'Alright,' Yuuichi conceded sounding rather exasperated, 'what exactly are you plans?'

'Do you remember what I told you about the race I won just before I moved here?' Bunta asked.

'Yes,' Yuuichi replied, 'what about it?'

'I've been thinking of going back to Tokyo so I could try and find those two guys,' Bunta replied.

'But,' Yuuichi started, 'weren't you going to wait until you got a lot better?'

'I was,' Bunta agreed, 'however, I've been thinking that it's already been over a month and I'm afraid that if I let any more time go by, they won't remember me.'

'Yeah, right,' Yuuichi said with a tone of voice which indicated how unlikely he thought that would be.

'In any case,' Bunta continued, 'I kind of want to see Tokyo again.'

'Hey,' Yuuichi interrupted him, 'I don't think it's such a bad plan, if we went on our own that is,' he added.

'Why is that?' Bunta asked him.

'Because I don't know if the girls will like that, I mean, going all the way to Tokyo not to go and see Shibuya and all the other cool places…'

'But they like street racing, don't they?' Bunta asked.

'No,' Yuuichi replied shaking his head, 'they like street racers.'

'Ah,' Bunta gasped then, he grinned and said, 'well, from what I remember, there were quite a few of them there...'

'That's not good,' Yuuichi said, 'I thought you wanted us to score with them,' he added with a frown on his face.

'Of course I do,' Bunta replied, 'but think about this: who are they going to be getting there with?'

'Us,' Yuuichi replied.'

'That's right,' Bunta said widening his grin, 'and who do they have to go back to Shibukawa with?'

'Us,' Yuuichi replied.

'There you go,' Bunta said then, seeing that the History teacher had already entered the classroom, meaning that their ten minute break was over, he got off Yuuichi's desk and rushed to his as fast as he could.

On Friday evening and as they had agreed with the two girls, Bunta and Yuuichi drove both of their cars to Seiko-chan's house where she and Fuka-chan would be waiting for them.

'Crap,' Bunta said while they walked to the house's front door, 'I didn't know we had to meet the parents…'

'We don't,' Yuuichi said, 'we've got to say a quick hi to them.'

'Okay,' Bunta conceded, 'but no more than a couple of minutes, alright?'

'Don't worry, we won't be as long as that,' Yuuichi assured him as he knocked onto the door then, after an instant, they heard as someone opened the door: a small girl who didn't even look a day older than fifteen.

'Who are you?' she asked with a frown on her face, which only deepened seeing Bunta who was standing just by Yuuichi's side, 'what do you want?' she asked too.

'Er…' Yuuichi hesitated, 'we're here to…'

He didn't even finish the sentence for the girl, looking like she had figured it out, interrupted him by saying:

'I'll go and tell them you're here.'

After that, she turned round so quickly that she sent both of her thick and long plaits flying then, she walked back into the house leaving both boys standing outside. Despite that, Bunta and Yuuichi clearly heard as she shouted:

'Seiko, the two losers you were waiting for are here!'

Bunta and Yuuichi stared at each other unable to believe what they had just heard and were still trying to decide whether to start laughing or not when Seiko and her friend Fuka finally showed up.

'Hi,' Seiko said looking very embarrassed, 'sorry about my little sister, she's a bit…'

'She's a living nightmare,' Fuka interrupted her, 'she even uses your first name instead of the honorific, if I did that with my older brother he would get very pissed off.'

'It's alright,' Bunta finally said, 'let's just go, okay?'

'Alright,' Seiko said and, without even asking where they were going, Fuka just made her way to Yuuichi's car making it very obvious to Bunta who his companion for this trip was going to be.

Not that he minded though, Seiko was looking better than ever with a very short light brown sleeveless dress which had a very wide dark brown leather belt hanging off her hips, a couple of high heeled dark brown boots completed the whole thing making the girl look incredibly sexy.

This was definitely going to be a night to remember, he thought as he climbed behind the steering wheel of his 2000GT.

To be continued…