Chapter 14
A month moved pretty slowly for the Akagi Timber Wolves team. Akari and David spent as much time as they could in Usui pass, practicing at night with the Sil80 duo, David tuned both cars with Akari's help. Emily spent the time practicing techniques with the Akagi RedSuns and Sayuki riding along giving her tips when she was in Usui with David and Akari.
"David I'll be at Usui to watch the race, don't disappoint me," Mr. Yokama said as they walked out of the building together on the day of the race.
"Be at C121, that's where the excitement will be on the downhill run," David said as he climbed into the S15.
"Where is the Chevelle today?"
"Resting at home, I locked down my settings for the race last night so I figured I'd take Emily to her class and drive this to work today," David responded before driving out of the parking garage.
At seven o'clock Akari met with David and Emily to drive to Usui pass, David's boss also met them at the house in his 280Z.
"I haven't driven this car in a while, but I don't think I've lost my touch," the gray haired man laughed while David went over the car.
"It's well kept, right now I don't have time for a full inspection, we have to go, where is Mrs. Yokama?" David said walking back towards his Chevelle.
"She isn't coming, she had a book club meeting," the oldest man there responded as he climbed into the 280Z.
The four cars drove straight to Usui pass for the biggest challenge the Akagi Timber Wolves had faced yet.
Once at Usui pass they saw a large crowd of people gathered at every safe corner of the pass. David, Akari and Emily drove up leaving the bright red 280Z at the C121 hairpin where the largest crowd so far had gathered.
When they reached the top of the pass they saw both drivers of Project D standing by their cars and the four support vans the David had seen at the last challenge he went to. David noticed that Emily looked more nervous than usual at this kind of event, even though she had met most of these people.
"Ryosuke, I see you brought your FC, I like the changes," David said pointing out the new carbon fiber hood and fixed headlights on the front and the spoiler on the back.
"David, the Chevelle looks better then when we first met, what happened?" Ryosuke said sounding genuinely curious.
"Had to repaint it, someone scratched it while we were in Akina last month," David said before adding, "It wasn't me," when he noticed Keisuke looking at him.
Keisuke laughed at David's reaction to the look before telling Ryosuke that the road was clear and the cars were ready to go.
"We'll do the downhill first, I want to chase first," David said stunning both Keisuke and Takumi, "The power difference would make all the difference on this course so I'm just trying to be fair."
Ryosuke nodded and the two FDs and the support van for Keisuke's car made their way to the bottom of the pass.
When they got the all clear from the bottom, Takumi and David lined the 86 and the Chevelle up on the non official start line.
"Okay, we're using Usui rules here, the official start is that first corner, after that the race is on," Fumihiro said speaking to both drivers who nodded their understanding.
"David Crandon, the American," David said politely as possible.
"Takumi Fujiwara of Project D," Takumi said bowing slightly to the older man, "I won't hold anything back, I hope you don't either." He added before climbing into his beloved 86
David simply nodded before climbing into his Chevelle. The tension around the two cars seemed to double as Fumihiro started the countdown. Ryosuke watched the cars carefully noticing that David's aura as a racer had gotten almost as bright and as strong as Takumi's.
Emily walked over to Ryosuke just after the two cars took off towards the official starting point.
"Ryosuke, I think this one is a tossup, what about you?" She asked in English trying not to sound as nervous as she felt.
"You have no reason to be nervous Ms. Davidson, David is an excellent drifter, he's gotten much stronger since the night I drove with him down Akagi," Ryosuke replied calmly.
On the course, even though they had only gone through a few corners David had already noticed a major change in Takumi's driving style and the way his car moved.
'They lightened the car, must be the back hatch, the thing rolls on the suspension less then that night in Akina,' David thought as he matched the 86 drift for drift.
"This is insane, I've never seen either of these cars move this fast," someone shouted in to a phone as the two cars blew passed the crowd matching each other's drift.
David noticed his tire's slipping a little more than they should have been so early in the race. Then he noticed that Takumi's car was moving away from him an inch at a time.
'Alright, these tires are shot so I'll make that work for me,' David thought as he pushed the Chevelle closer to the 86's bumper.
Takumi was given no instruction for this race other than to run it his way, and he was running full throttle and he couldn't shake the monster of a car that was tailing him.
'C121, he's going to try something there,' Takumi thought as they approached the hardest place on the course.
The crowd at the entrance to C121 watched in awe as the two cars came into the corner with Project D's 86 in front. The man reported that Takumi was in front, but was interrupted by someone shouting that the Chevelle came out of C121 first.
"Ryosuke, Takumi was passed in C121, how is that possible?" Fumihiro asked ignoring the blonde haired woman standing close by.
Takumi sat watching the Chevelle pulling away from him as he thought about what happened. He had watched the Chevelle moving to the outside, but nothing else seemed to register after that moment.
'What the hell was that?' he asked himself as the image of the large blue machine disappeared from his passenger mirror and reappear in the driver's mirror of the 86 played through his mind.
David was leading the race and still sweating bullets because of what he had done on instinct alone.
David was trailing the 86 by less than half a car, so he floored the accelerator and allowed the gap to close before readjusting his line mid-corner he slid around the back bumper of the 86 leaving just centimeters between the two cars. Once he cleared the 86 he just floored the pedal and prayed the car would hang on, and it did.
Mr. Yokama along with the entire crowd knew David had won now that he could just go all out, but it was still shocking to see such a kamikaze style move in the C121 hairpin. He could hear muttering calling that move cheating, but before he could say anything someone else did it for him.
"The 86 was passed clean, the American used his horsepower in a place where it meant everything," A deep bass voice said silencing the voices around him.
Mr. Yokama and saw a tallish man with a white bandana being stared at with a combination of anger and agreement from the different people in the crowd.
"The man is right, it was a clean pass using an outside line and a ton of luck," Mr. Yokama agreed not caring he was agreeing with a total stranger.
The two men stood side by side continuing to listen to reports of the race.
"I'm Kyoichi Sudo of the Emperor team in Nikko-Irohazaka," Kyoichi said before pointing to a pony tailed man, "That's Seji Iwaki, we've both been beaten by the 86, so it's tough to think anyone can beat him, my question is why back us?"
"The American happens to be one of my company's managers, but I agreed because even in the old days that move would have been considered a clean pass."
"The 86 is still on the American's back bumper, they picked up the pace too, they'll break Usui's course record by nearly ten second's at this pace," someone shouted for the entire crowd to hear.
On the course David was starting to get nervous about how this underpowered 86 was keeping up with his car. Everything he tried to go faster just seemed to pull the 86 into going just as fast. As the two cars flew through corner after corner David's concentration was beginning to falter somewhat.
"That's it, I've got no more to give," David said through gritted teeth as he swung the car wide to block the entire road, after the corner he reached up and twisted the mirror away from his sight line.
Takumi in the 86 noticed a change in the style of David's driving.
'Crap, he's gotten comfortable with this amount of pressure, and the line is coming up fast,' Takumi thought as he watched the Chevelle start opening the gap little by little.
He stepped up his pace to at least try and keep the gap from opening any more before the end of the race.
A black R32 was waiting at one of the final corners of the course next to it a red EG6.
"This race ended at C121, the American has more flat out power, and with the course nearly level it will be hard for 86 to even keep up," a short haired man said as they listened to the two cars coming closer.
"Come now Takeshi, you know what we both said about the 86, and look at us, I wrecked and you got beat pretty badly," the long haired man standing next to the other said.
"Shingo, we also got be beat by the American," Takeshi said before noticing how close the other man was, "Would you back off man, people might get the idea we like each other."
The Chevelle flew passed the two men with the 86 only a step behind it with its headlights down. Both engines roaring louder than they normally would. David knew his engine could give no more but the sound of the Group A engine seeming to have no end to its limits scared him.
'Damn, where is that line, my concentration is blown even though I can't see him I can hear that monster, and I know he's driving blind cause his lights aren't on my dash anymore, what is this guy,' David screamed in his mind as he cleared the final corner of the course and spotted the cheering crowd, "Finally," he said exhaling loudly.
The Chevelle crossed the finish line in first place with no room to spin like he normally would he just let the car coast down before stopping far enough away from the uphill starting line. David sat in his driver's seat ignoring the death glare from Keisuke and Kenta were giving him and his car.
"David, are you alright," he heard Akari's voice calling through the window.
He just nodded his response as his body came down from the massive adrenaline rush that had built up during the race. He noticed that even Keisuke and the members of Project D were beginning to look worried, so he stepped slowly out of the car his heart still pounding through his ribs.
"Damn, we thought you had a heart attack for a second there," Keisuke said with a half joking tone.
"I may have, I'm not even sure how I'm upright at this moment," David laughed, even though his racing partner still looked very worried.
"There is an Orange S15, a bright red 280Z and Ryosuke's FC following the Project D van, they just passed the next to last corner, after that the road is clear," someone spouted through the radio Tomiguchi had in his hand.
"David-san, can I speak with you?" Takumi asked nervously.
The two men walked to a spot where the crowds were no longer paying attention to them but the uphill start.
"What's up Takumi-kun?" David said even though he hated being formal with someone he considered a friend.
"I wanted to know if you were holding back, I won't tell if you were," Takumi said sounding more serious than before.
"I made a promise to you and Ryosuke both that I would not hold back during my race with you, I never break my promises even when it goes against what I believe in," David said trying not to laugh, "You were on my tail the whole way down, and if you had just a little more course you may have passed me again, I had nothing left to give and the car was screaming at me to stop the madness."
David finally broke down and let out a chuckle that lead to both of the men laughing as if the race had never happened.
"Takumi-kun!" a voice called out from the crowd.
A girl with short brown hair, wearing a short skirt and t-shirt walked out of the crowd.
"Natsuki!" Takumi stammered, "What are you doing here, I thought you were still in Tokyo."
Before David could understand why Takumi looked insanely freaked out a black haired girl ran out of the crowd, completely ignoring the other girl, and jumped into Takumi's chest.
"Ummm, I'm going to go now, I hear the S15 coming in," David said trying to get out of such an awkward situation.
David left Takumi to the two girls to meet up with his girlfriend and boss and watch Akari's start to the uphill.
"David that was fantastic work at C121, passing on the outside is impossible but you pulled it off somehow, what was in your head?" Mr. Yokama asked as the blonde walked over to the pair.
Emily jumped into her boyfriend's arms and awarded him with a kiss for his win before David could even answer the question his boss had asked.
"The only thing in my head during the pass was prayers that my tires wouldn't let me down," David laughed as Emily turned around in his arms to face his boss.
The three waited for the start of the uphill race. After the two cars took off Ryosuke watched with slight amusement seeing Takumi trying to get out of his situation with the two girls that had show up at the race. David watched the road, and Emily talked about things with Mr. Yokama.
"David, shouldn't you go help Takumi?" Emily asked after a report from the C121 that the two cars could be heard.
"Not yet, I want to see what Akari does at C121," David said with a devilish grin.
Emily scoffed a little at the idea of leaving Takumi to hang, so she walked over to the three people while David watched Takumi get even more freaked out.
"Takumi, why don't you introduce your two friends," Emily said with a friendly tone.
"This is Natsuki Mogi, she and I dated in high school," Takumi said as he gestured to the brown haired girl in the mini skirt, "And this is my girlfriend Mika Uehara," he finished while gesturing at the long haired girl in slacks.
"My name is Emily Davidson, I'm the American's girlfriend, I'm curious why you look so freaked out Takumi," Emily said trying not to laugh.
Takumi finally relaxed realizing that none of the ladies present were going to try and kill him.
On the course Akari was out in front for the first run and at C121 she powered through in full drift just to keep the yellow FD firmly behind her.
'Damn, this guy is incredible, I can't get away from him at all,' Akari thought as she flew through the corner after C121.
Fumihiro called the bottom of the course with the news of a second run of the uphill, and that the two drivers were on their way back down.
"I have an idea for Akari to use, I want an honest opinion if it will work boss," David said as the crowd and teams waited for the drivers to return to the bottom.
"Alright, let's hear it then," the gray haired man responded sounding serious, more so then he normally would.
"Akari knows my car almost as well as her own from all the time she's driven in front of and behind it, if she puts the image of my car in front of her instead of the FD, do you think she could pick up her times and get away from this guy?" David asked as Emily walked up behind them.
"It could work, she has followed you up and down this pass, so she knows how it would react, try it and see," his boss responded as the two cars came back into the lot.
David walked over to the car and explained what he wanted his brown haired partner to do. She agreed and told him that she would go all out on this run. As the blonde walked away from the blue FD he noticed tucked away in the corner of the lower lot that a black FD was sitting quietly out of sight.
"I wonder who that belongs to, can't believe I missed it," David said quietly to himself as he walking towards Ryosuke. "Hey Ryosuke, who does that black FD over there belong to?"
"It belongs to a girl who's fallen for my brother, her name is Kyoko Iwase and he did ask her not to come to these events after the Saitama prefecture, but she's been hiding out on course sides and such even during practice, I'm surprised he hasn't noticed yet," Ryosuke responded with his usual calm tone.
"Look there is something I want to talk about, come to my place in a couple days and we'll talk it over," David said walking away without a response.
On the course Akari was now chasing the FD and out in front of it the image of David's Chevelle and she figured out that Keisuke was holding back for the sake of his tires. She also figured out just how to pass him and catch that Chevelle. At the C121 hair pin she made her first move in a three stage attack.
Both cars drifted through the corner and Akari floored the gas putting the two cars mirror to mirror. As they came to the exit she launched the full brunt of the attack, she slipped a little closer to Keisuke's door and letting his car break the wind resistance. Coming out of the corner this made her slightly faster and able to come out of C121 side by side, putting her on the inside of the next corner, and in perfect Kyoichi Sudo style, she used that to her advantage, by waiting a half second longer to brake she was able slip in front and block the next corner.
'They're both out of their damn minds,' Keisuke thought as he forced his car to go faster in order to keep up with Akari's blue FD.
Keisuke couldn't figure out what Akari was chasing but the pace had doubled and she was still getting away from him an inch at a time through the corners. The spiky haired man was getting angry, his Aniki had not given him any advice, and he was losing.
"WHY CAN'T I KEEP UP?" Keisuke shouted as he floored the accelerator forgetting all about tire control.
Akari noticed his change in pace, but she was still chasing an invisible opponent, her partner's car, the 1970 Chevelle that she still couldn't catch going uphill.
When they reached the top of the pass everyone was shocked to see the blue FD leading the way into the parking area where the barricade for blocking the road during the snow season stood.
"I understand, get everyone down here as soon as you can, we're done here," Ryosuke said into his phone.
"Your partner passed Keisuke, I don't know what you told her before the second run, but it worked," Ryosuke said walking to his FC.
"Hey Ryosuke, you and me on the Downhill after they get back down, you win I tell you what I told her," David said trying to get him into the race.
"No deal, your tires are shot, you wouldn't make it back up, much less down," Ryosuke said laughing at David's insulted reaction.
David knew Ryosuke was right, half way through the course the tires he had on the Chevelle were ready to shred themselves to pieces, but he hated having that pointed out to him in such a blunt manner.
Three days after the Project D race against the Timber Wolves where both Takumi and Keisuke lost, one to sheer power and luck and the other to pure last minute strategy, the news was still as active as the day after it had happened.
"So you asked me here to talk about something," Ryosuke said as he walked into David's garage to find him under the Chevelle.
"Yeah, let's go inside where it's a little cooler, I just finished up here anyway," David said sliding out from under the marina blue machine.
Once inside David washed his hands and got a cold soda out of his refrigerator and gave it to Ryosuke.
"Listen, the reason I asked you here is because you're drivers are fantastic and so are you, around the time I go back to the states there is a massive street racing tournament that my team and I take part in, it spans the race scene of three counties within the state," David paused to let that sink in, "I want you and Project D to bring Akari and your rides along with you to take part in this shindig too."
David didn't see any reaction to the proposal for about two minutes while Ryosuke sat and thought things over.
"Alright, let me talk to my team and we'll let you know," The brown haired man said standing up.
"Take your time you've got just over a year to let me know something," David said calmly as they walked to the front door. "Can I ask you one more favor? Take me down Akagi all out."
"Name when," Ryosuke replied as he climbed into the FC and drove away.
A few days later David sent Emily home with news of his defeat of Project D and an engagement ring that he knew would piss her father off to no end.
A month later David and the Chevelle faced off with Ryosuke and his FC at the top of Mt. Akagi's mountain pass.
"So this is what you want?" Ryosuke asked as they stood between his 1990 Mazda RX-7 and David's 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle.
"Yeah, no holding back, I loose I want it to be real," the blonde replied as he climbed into his marina blue machine.
Ryosuke passed his jacket on to Keisuke and climbed into the white FC. Both machines came to life with their own distinct growls, the Chevelle's loud and angry, while the FC was quieter and steady as Keisuke stepped between the two cars to start the count down.
"Five, Four, Three, Two, One... GO!" the spiky blonde haired man shouted over the roar of the engines.
The two machines flew down the first stretch, David taking the quick lead as they approached the first corner. The cars nearly parallel drifted through the corner. Ryosuke tried edging the Chevelle towards the outside, but was met with David's now famous fearless side as the Chevelle moved closer to the cars nose in order to block.
"Smart move," the brown haired man muttered as he fell behind the Chevelle again.
Through the first half of the course it was more parallel drifts and blocked pass attempts from Ryosuke, but when they hit the second half of the course David made an error and went too wide through the corner allowing Ryosuke to pass him easily.
"Crap, that was stupid, I should know better," The blonde man chastised himself as he moved the Chevelle's nose towards the FC's bumper.
Through the second half the race was neck and neck, David tried and failed several times to pass, but he would have to brake before he could get by.
"Damn, corners are too close for a power pass, looks like corners are my way in," David said as they came to the next hairpin.
The Chevelle flew into the corner chewing on the FC's tail lights before slipping to the inside and hooking the front right tire on the edge of the pavement letting the nose scrap against the guard rail.
"Damn it, that's another repaint," the blonde said as he once again took the lead of the race, "Now all I have to worry about is the last straight."
As they approached the finish the rear tires of the Chevelle lost traction, this time David managed to keep it off the guard rail but still lost a lot of speed which allowed the FC to pull along side of the marina blue machine. The race ended in a side by side finish that broke David's current downhill record.
"You know, I'm not sure what to make of a draw like this," David said climbing out of the 1970 Chevelle.
"Think of it as matching the reigning record holder," Ryosuke responded with a clam tone.