Golden Arrows

Chapter Eleven

Not wanting to make him wait, Akito attacked Kyosuke as soon as the two of them reached the chicane with such an aggressive and intensive pressing that it made it so difficult for Kyosuke to hold on to his first position while they covered the short straight section of the S shape that he almost wished he hadn't challenged Akito quite so openly.

Yet another attack came right after surprising Kyosuke for he'd been expecting Akito to go towards the more favourable outside part of the track. Instead, Akito insisted on pushing his car through the inside, leaving Kyosuke with no option but to keep as close as possible to the inner side of the course.

Unfortunately, that also made him miss the ideal entry point for the wide right-hander and that allowed for Akito to veer outwards and try and use some of the extra speed he had to overtake him there. Kyosuke, once again, did his best to close the door managing to clear the corner a hair before Akito did.

'Geez, he's persistent,' Kizuna complained frowning while she watched the action.

'You've got no idea,' Ryoko said smiling proudly.

'Hey,' Kizuna said, 'who are you rooting for? That's your cousin there.'

'Yes,' Ryoko replied calmly, 'but Akito is my boyfriend and Kyosuke has enough support from you, hasn't he?'

That muted Kizuna who chose to watch the rest of the race in silence which turned to be a good idea since things got only faster. Adding onto the furious dogfight for the first position, Junya was doing his best to try and overtake Seisuke, unfortunately for him, the younger of the Takahashi brothers was well known for his super-strong blocking skills and the fact that Akito had once again managed to pass him had only made him all the more determined to hold on to his third place.

Kazuya was also attached to Izawa's kart but the Vera driver was putting up a very admirable fight which, on top of the small vibration coming from one of the tyres, the suspension of which had probably been damaged during the little excursion courtesy of Junya, it all made Kazuya settle for the last place swearing that he'd made Junya pay for it during one of the Golden Arrows many training sessions.

Meanwhile this happened, Kyosuke had his hands full trying to cope with Akito's constant pressure and while they covered the zigzag-like sector, he watched while Akito made kept moving his kart from right to left, trying to find a gap while doing his best to confuse Kyosuke. The Golden Arrows leader knew that unless he stopped paying attention to that, he'd grow distracted and then Akito would use that chance to pass him.

While negotiating the last corner before the straight, Kyosuke decided to take a deep breath, in preparation for what was the penultimate lap. He only needed to hold on for two more laps and victory would be his.

Naturally, Akito had other intentions and while they cruised down the straight, he decided to adopt an entirely different strategy and, instead of attacking Kyosuke as the guy probably expected him to do, he decided to remain firmly behind him for at least half a lap, also because he too needed a little breather so that he could rest his tired arms a little.

'What is he doing now?' Kyosuke asked himself seeing that Akito was no longer attacking.

Fighting the urge to look behind him, he thought of increasing his speed a bit but then decided against it for it would make Akito think that he was afraid and, in racing, just like in every sport, it was important to show the opponent a confident and fearless attitude. This was what made Kyosuke be ready for an attack at every one of the spots where Akito had tried to overtake him during the previous lap.

But nothing happened.

Not until the start of the zigzag-like part of the track. There Akito literally glued himself to Kyosuke's kart to the point where the older guy actually felt a little bump coming from behind his kart. That made him think that Akito would now stage his final attack and, in preparation, he braced himself against it.

But nothing happened there either.

The two karts followed each other into the wide left-hander and, there, when Kyosuke was about to turn round to see what Akito was doing, the younger racer pulled the same stunt he'd done with Seisuke only that, this time and seeing how Kyosuke was currently veering out towards the exit of the corner, Akito decided to go to the outside of the track placing both of the right-side tyres out of the tarmac.

There, some of the legendary Fujiwara luck made it possible that the short grass which covered parts of the track was still a little wet from the light rain which had fallen during the morning. That made the kart glide forward much faster than it should have been possible and, in a few moments, Akito was level with Kyosuke.

The two karts then covered the straight side-by-side crossing the starting line together.

With only one lap to go, Kyosuke knew that if Akito passed him now, it would be the end of the race so, knowing fully well that Akito would probably veer inwards to get into the entry of the corner, Kyosuke cut his way, forcing him to keep going outwards. Predictably enough, Kyosuke saw that Akito simply chose a different line to negotiate the corner and, in the end, they exited the corner still pretty much level.

The chicane would be an entirely different business and, Kyosuke knew that there would be no way for the two of them to enter it at the same time, regardless of the racing line they took. For this reason, and seeing how his kart was still a few centimetres ahead, he launched it into the first half of the S hoping that Akito would not want to push him out of the way.

Akito did no such thing and, in what was an oddly conservative move, he limited himself to get back behind Kyosuke's kart so that they could cover the chicane without crashing into each other. Then, at the wide right-hander, Kyosuke saw that Akito went inwards and, once again placing his kart's tyres outside the track, this time it was he who forced Kyosuke to stay out of the way.

That made it possible for Akito to clear the corner just ahead of Kyosuke and that's all he needed to get into the zigzag part of the track before Kyosuke did, giving the older guy with no choice but to watch him get away from him. It was then when Kyosuke noticed that something was weird with Akito's kart which moved a lot more sluggishly than it should have.

The impression only increased when he saw Akito entering the last corner of the race but, not having the time to think about it, Kyosuke decided to copy what Akito had done before and, placing the tyres outside the corner, he felt the kart speeding because of the wet grass and, once he saw his kart level with Akito's, he decided to get back into the tarmac crossing his kart just in front of Akito's, thanking his lucky star that the younger guy was wise enough to slow down, at least temporarily.

Knowing that Akito would not give up until the very end of the race, Kyosuke floored the accelerator making the engine push the little kart all the way to the finish line. Predictably, Akito did the same exact thing levelling his kart with Kyosuke's and for a few long instants, both Kizuna and Ryoko held their breaths waiting for the moment when both karts crossed the finish line practically at the same time.

'Who's won?' Ryoko asked Kizuna almost expecting the older girl to know.

'No idea,' she replied feeling very confused, 'I think it's a…'

She didn't finish the sentence for, right at that moment, Ryoko started running towards Akito's kart which had stopped next to Kyosuke while the two racers waited for Seisuke and Junya to cross the finish line too. To his credit, Junya had never stopped trying to catch up with Seisuke till the very end giving up only when the younger guy crossed the finish line in third place forcing him to settle with the fourth.

'Who's won?' Seisuke asked the instant he parked his kart, removing his helmet while he joined his older brother and his best friend. Junya walked after him with a dark expression on his face.

'I think it was a tie,' Kyosuke informed them then, for some reason, he started walking towards Akito's kart and was about to crouch next to it when Akito hurried to stop him by planting himself in between Kyosuke and his kart, 'Akito,' the Golden Arrows leader said, 'what are you doing?'

'Er…'

'You've done something to your kart,' it wasn't a question.

'Er…I…'

'What have you done?' Junya came asking, using a rather threatening tone of voice.

'I haven't…'

'Move over Akito,' Kyosuke ordered him, speaking with such a serious expression that Akito, very reluctantly, took a couple of steps away from his kart. Kyosuke started inspecting the little vehicle and, after a few instants, just when they were joined by the newly arrived Izawa and Kazuya, he found something taped underneath Akito's seat: three five-kilos disks normally used to weight down the karts for training purposes.

'What is…' Seisuke started.

'Well,' Kyosuke interrupted him, 'at least that explains the reason why you couldn't overtake me and the reason why your kart looked sluggish. What I want to know is the reason why you put those things in there.'

'I…'

'You arrogant little…'

'Junya,' a very serious Kazuya said stopping his cousin, 'let him explain himself.'

Kizuna and Ryoko remained quiet while Akito, looking like he wanted to be anywhere but there, scratched the back of his head then, glancing at Kyosuke with an almost afraid expression on his young face, he said:

'I…I wasn't sure if Junya-san would agree to giving me a handicap, and…'

'And you decided to put the weights there,' Kyosuke finished the explanation for him.

'Yeah,' Akito said, 'I'm really sorry, I swear, I wasn't trying to look down on you or anything besides, I'm a lot lighter than you guys are so it wasn't very much of a handicap in the first place and…'

'Great,' Seisuke interrupted him but his expression was no longer serious, 'not only you beat the crap out of us in a heavy ass kart but you're also calling us fat.'

'Why don't you punch us too, while you're at it?' Kazuya added with an amused smirk on his face.

'You're not mad?' Akito asked glancing at Kyosuke.

'No,' Kyosuke said, 'if anything…'

'I am!' Junya exclaimed, 'that kid needs someone to teach him a lesson!'

'Junya,' Kyosuke stopped him.

'Leave him alone!' Ryoko intervened, 'why do you always pick on him?' she demanded.

'Because someone has to!' Junya replied, 'the way you all spoil him…'

He never got to finish the sentence for, right at that moment, Takumi came down to the track looking like he'd been waiting for Akito somewhere. His face was definitely not pleased and that made Kyosuke check his watch, they had been there for just over an hour and a quarter.

'Akito,' Takumi said, 'just how long are you going to keep me waiting for you?'

'Sorry Dad,' Akito said, 'I just need to…'

'Go and get changed,' Kyosuke told him, 'we'll put your kart away for you.'

'I'm really sorry,' Akito said, 'I…'

'Akito!' Takumi exclaimed, 'now!'

Looking mortified by the whole thing, he exchanged a quick look with everyone there noticing how Kyosuke had his usual serious expression, Kazuya and Seisuke were just their usual relaxed selves and Izawa was just looking at him in awe. Junya still looking pissed off while Kizuna was looking at him in a sisterly kind of way. Ryoko took his hand and, smiling at him, she said:

'Let's go, I'll stay with your Dad while you get changed.'

'Thanks,' Akito said, he looked at Kyosuke and, looking sorry again, he asked, 'I'll see you soon?'

'Sure,' Kyosuke said then, smiling a little, he said, 'next time we'll race with cars and no handicaps.'

'But I…'

'Don't worry,' he said, 'we're not mad, okay?'

Akito nodded and said:

'So we'll race again, right?'

'Of course we will,' Kyosuke assured him, 'if you get in that F3 team, we'll have a celebration race, okay?'

Smiling and with his face lit up like a Christmas Tree, Akito nodded once then, he started running towards the building where the changing rooms were. Ryoko said a quick 'bye' to everyone before she made her way to where Takumi was, somehow convincing him to walk back to the parking area with her so that they could wait for Akito in the car.

'Junya,' Kyosuke said the instant they were gone, 'you need to ease off on Akito.'

'What…'

'I know you probably have his best interests at heart,' Kyosuke continued, 'but, as you can see, Akito's father is doing an excellent job at keeping Akito's ego in check, so try and be a bit nicer to him, okay?'

'You saw what he did!' Junya exclaimed, 'I hate the way that punk looks down on us.'

'He doesn't do that,' Seisuke defended his best friend, 'he was just trying to be fair.'

'That's right,' Kazuya said, 'unlike some people I know,' he added glaring at his cousin, 'Akito knows what fair play is. After all, who was the genius who suggested a karting race against the freaking national champ?'

Junya refused to answer.

'Besides,' Kyosuke said, 'what you see as us spoiling Akito, we see it as merely trying to make sure he still has some fun in his life.'

'What's that supposed to mean?' Junya asked.

'Try and think about it,' Seisuke prompted, 'Akito spends hours every day training by himself; if he's not in the gym doing power training, he's doing laps with his car and he's always on his own. That kid needs a little bit of fun sometimes or he'll snap.'

'What…'

'Junya,' Kazuya interrupted him, 'he might not be your favourite person but we're not asking you to become his best friend, that's what Kyosuke and Seisuke are here for. That said, I'm sure you can bring yourself to be civil with him and not the total ass you are.'

Junya glared at his cousin then, without uttering a single word, he walked back to his kart getting onboard and driving off leaving everyone behind. They knew that he was probably going to go home without saying anything to anyone but, as things were, no one really cared about trying to stop him.

'I've got to go too,' Seisuke said.

'I'll go with you then,' Kazuya added then, glancing at Kyosuke, he said, 'I'll call Ikeda and tell him about our solution, I'll let you know what he says, okay?'

'Alright,' Kyosuke replied.

With half of the Golden Arrows gone, Izawa glanced at Kizuna and, smiling at her, he said:

'Can I walk you to your car?'

'Er…' she hesitated then, shaking her head, she said, 'I need to have a quick word with Kyosuke.'

'Ah,' Izawa gasped looking very disappointed.

'It's about one of the lectures,' Kizuna hurried to say, 'you know that we go to the same college…'

'Yes,' Izawa interrupted her, 'you don't need to explain.'

Kizuna remained silent while Kyosuke gave her a worried look.

'Anyway,' a slightly embarrassed Izawa said, 'I'll better go too, thank you for letting me use the kart.'

'No problem,' Kyosuke replied.

With that, Izawa climbed back into the small vehicle and, driving off, he followed the same path which both Seisuke and Kazuya had covered in order to get their karts back into the deposit where they were kept. Kyosuke watched him leave and, only when he and Kizuna were on their own, he turned to say:

'Why did you lie to him?'

'Er…'

'If you do that,' Kyosuke continued, 'he'll get the wrong idea about us, you know?'

Kizuna stared at him looking slightly shocked and flustered. She started thinking of what Ryoko had told her in the apartment and about the decision she had reached during the race based on what the younger girl had said but right now, seeing Kyosuke's serious expression made her think that maybe Ryoko had got it all wrong.

'Kyosuke…'

'Did you like the apartment?' he asked her instead.

'Yes,' she replied feeling disoriented, 'but I…'

'I'm sorry,' Kyosuke said, 'I tried telling Ryoko not to stress you about it but it's kind of hard to make her change her mind once she's made it up. Just for the record though, I happen to agree with her and…'

'Kyosuke,' she stopped him, 'it's okay, it's a very good deal and I can hardly say no.'

'What are you saying?' Kyosuke asked her.

'This is what I'm saying,' she replied showing him the key to the apartment, 'Ryoko gave it to me and told me to move there as soon as I want. I was thinking of moving some of my stuff from the dorm tonight if that's okay with you.'

'Of course it is,' Kyosuke said, this time his lips curved upward a little.

'Good,' Kizuna said.

The two of them remained quiet again and, this time, Kyosuke had the distinct impression that Kizuna was trying to figure out how to tell him something which, apparently, she found very difficult to say. He waited for a bit, trying not to do anything which would ruin the moment.

'We should put the karts back,' was what she finally said.

'What?' Kyosuke asked her.

'The karts,' she said, 'we need to…'

'Is that what you wanted to tell me?' he asked looking very incredulous.

'Er…'

'Kizuna,' he started.

'No,' she said shaking her head, 'don't say it.'

'Say what?' Kyosuke asked.

Kizuna tried to walk towards Akito's kart when Kyosuke stopped her by grabbing one of her arms effectively turning her around so that she would face him. She was tall enough for him not to tower over her too much but it still was a bit intimidating for Kizuna to have Kyosuke standing so close to her.

'Kizuna,' he said, 'what am I supposed to say?'

'I don't know.'

'I think you do,' he accused her, 'because unless you're blind…'

'No!' she exclaimed, 'I…'

'I like you,' Kyosuke finally said, 'I like you a lot.'

'Kyosuke no…'

'No what?' he asked her harshly.

'I…'

'Listen, I wasn't even going to tell you,' he confessed, 'but I just don't think I can keep this to myself anymore, not when I keep getting the impression that you feel the same way about me.'

'Kyosuke,' she said with a shaky voice.

'Because you do like me, don't you?' Kyosuke pressed on.

'I…'

'Look,' he said forcing himself to calm down a bit, 'I know that you're not interested in dating anyone…'

'Who told you that?' Kizuna asked him, 'did Izawa…'

'No,' Kyosuke interrupted her then, since he was being so honest, he decided to go all the way, 'I overheard you telling him when he asked you out.'

'You did?' Kizuna asked him raising her eyebrows in surprise. He just nodded and seeing that made her ask, 'how much did you hear?'

'Not a lot,' he replied, 'just that you wanted to focus on your studies and that you weren't interested in dating anyone at the moment.'

'Oh,' she gasped.

'You know,' Kyosuke said looking miserable, 'that night, I was actually going to ask you out myself.'

'Kyosuke…'

'It's a good thing I didn't, huh?' he asked with a sad smile on his face.

'Kyosuke…'

'Look,' he said, 'I'm not trying to ruin anything for you, but I really need to know if we…'

'Kyosuke,' she repeated this time raising her voice a little, 'what I told Izawa still stands. I really don't think I can be in a relationship right now. You know that I have to work very hard if I'm to achieve my dream and I can't allow anyone to distract me from it.'

'I wouldn't…'

'You would,' she countered, 'you already do.'

'What?'

'Kyosuke,' she said, 'you're right: I do like you, more than I can bring myself to admit and it's scary how much time I spend thinking about you. I simply can't imagine how it would work out if we started seeing each other, not to mention the fact that I'll go back to the US the minute I graduate.'

Kyosuke stared at her and, for the first time, he realised that she was only there on a temporary basis.

'You understand that, right?' she insisted.

'No,' he said honestly, 'I don't understand why you don't want to allow yourself to be happy.'

'What?'

'Look,' Kyosuke said, 'it's what Seisuke and I were saying about Akito earlier: he too has a huge dream, probably bigger than ours and he's working so hard towards that aim that he hardly has time to be a normal fifteen year old kid. Which is why I think it's so important that he has fun every now and then, if he focuses too much on his dream, he'll miss out the best of life and he won't get those years back.'

'What are you saying?' Kizuna asked.

'I'm saying that if you're all work and no play then you'll lead a pretty miserable existence.'

'That's not…'

'It's true, and you know it,' Kyosuke insisted, 'I think you're just afraid of letting yourself show that sometimes you're not as strong as you want us all to believe and the reason why I think that it's because I feel the same way you do but, unlike you, I acknowledge that there are things I can't do by myself.'

'Kyosuke…'

'I'll give you time if that's what you need,' he said, 'but don't tell me you'll just bury your feelings because I don't think I'll be able to stand it. I care about you too much to see you hurting yourself that way.'

'Kyosuke…'

'Don't worry,' he said, 'up until you make your mind up, we'll be friends. I'm not like Seisuke or Akito, I can easily separate my heart from my head and, right now, if that's what you want, I'll think with my head.'

Kizuna looked at him and, right then, she realised just how lucky she was. Because of this, she said:

'I just need to figure some stuff out.'

'I know you do,' Kyosuke said gently.

'Can I ask you something?' she said.

'Of course,' Kyosuke replied.

'How can you always be so rational?' she asked him.

'I don't know,' he said, 'to be honest, I don't really like that side of my personality, sometimes I wish I could let myself go but I know most people would freak out if I did. Besides, I think there are enough madmen in our team so at least one of us needs to be the voice of reason.'

'That's true,' Kizuna said with a small smile.

'It's hard being me,' Kyosuke added trying to make a joke.

'It is,' she replied looking at him seriously then, sounding equally serious she said, 'thank you.'

'What for?' he asked her.

'For many things,' she replied.

He just shrugged and then, pointing at the two karts which were still there, he said:

'Fancy a little race?'

'Oh no,' she replied, 'I prefer racing with real cars.'

'I have a confession to make,' he said with a small smile, 'so do I.'

Kizuna let out a soft chuckle, then, walking towards Akito's kart, she sat on it and turned the engine on and waited till Kyosuke did the same. She then followed him towards the hangar-like deposit where they left the tiny vehicles, parking them right next to the four used by the rest of the Golden Arrows.

'Thanks for the help,' he said while they closed the heavy metallic gate.

'You're welcome,' Kizuna replied.

'Let's go,' Kyosuke said.

'Go? Where?' a confused Kizuna asked him.

'To your dorm,' he explained, 'don't you want to move to the new apartment today?'

'Yes but…'

'I'd like to give you a hand,' he said.

'You don't need to…'

'Let me rephrase that:' he interrupted her, 'I want to give you a hand.'

'Your cousin isn't the only Takahashi who never takes a "no" as an answer, is she?' she asked him smiling.

Kyosuke didn't reply, instead, he just smiled back at her and, with that he started walking towards the parking area, somehow trusting that Kizuna would follow him. She shook her head and, letting out a long sigh, started walking after the Golden Arrows leader trying not to think of what she was getting herself into.

Right now, she just felt very lucky.

On Friday evening and as they had agreed with Masato's group, the six Golden Arrows plus the other four guys met up at the base of Mt Akagi for their first joint meeting ever. Kyosuke was about to discuss the terms of their merger when, right at that moment, the saw two cars, a white Honda Civic Type R which was a slightly older version of the one driven by Kazuya and a brand new Subaru Impreza GR painted in black.

'Who are they?' Seisuke asked his older brother.

'No idea,' Kyosuke replied.

'We'll soon find out,' Kazuya added.

All ten people there watched while the two cars made their way into the parking area and, stopping nearby, they saw two guys in their early to mid twenties climbing out of the cars and walking towards them looking like they had just found what they were looking for.

'Hello,' said the guy driving the Civic, 'my name is Hirota Yasuo.'

'And I'm Matsushita Jin,' the other guy said, 'we're both from Karuizawa.'

'Hello,' Kyosuke said trying to sound friendly enough.

'We've been looking for you,' Jin said, 'you're the Golden Arrows, aren't you?'

'Yes,' Kyosuke replied politely.

'Brilliant,' Yasuo said, 'we're from the Nagano Alliance and we'd like to invite you to a gathering in Mt Usui.'

To be continued…