Dreaming of Akina

Chapter Twenty

On Saturday evening and as they had agreed, Yuuichi went with his Mazda to pick Fuka up from her place and, as soon as she had given him a quick peck on his cheek and had fastened her seatbelt, the young man drove off on his way to the new cafeteria that had just opened on the side of one of Shibukawa's main roads.

'So,' Fuka said, 'you guys aren't planning on racing tonight, are you?'

'Nope,' Yuuichi replied, 'Bunta doesn't feel like it and I don't want to leave you there all alone.'

'I wouldn't be alone,' Fuka pointed out then, seeing the way Yuuichi's head had turned sharply to look at her, she added, 'Bunta and the other guys are there, aren't they?'

'Yeah, I guess,' a not too convinced Yuuichi said before going back to pay attention on the road then, maybe thinking that he wouldn't notice, Fuka let out a very soft chuckle, 'what's so funny?' he asked, trying to keep an even tone of voice, failing miserably.

'You,' she replied sweetly, 'you're very cute when you're jealous.'

'I'm not jealous!' Yuuichi protested.

'You're not?' she then asked, getting suddenly serious.

'Er…' he tried realising that he had just messed up in a very bad way then, for some strange reason, he just couldn't bring himself to say what he wanted and the result was a very heavy silence falling upon them which lasted almost until they finally got to the car park where they saw Bunta's white 2000GT and Masashi's red Fairlady Z.

'You know,' Fuka said, 'I've been doing some thinking…'

Right, Yuuichi thought beginning to panic for if there was something a girl could say to scare a guy was that she had been 'doing some thinking' and maybe because of that, he felt definitely afraid when he asked:

'What about?'

'Us,' she replied making him feel even worse.

'What about us?' Yuuichi managed to choke out of his throat, surprised at himself that he was keeping a reasonably calm tone of voice.

'I mean, now that Seiko and Bunta are no longer together.'

'Do you want us to split up?' Yuuichi asked, feeling grateful they were stopped at the traffic lights just before the entrance of the cafeteria for, had it been otherwise, he would have probably crashed his car against something.

'Do you?' she then asked and that sent poor Yuuichi to such a confounded state that he no longer understood anything anymore.

'Of course not!' he replied nonetheless, 'why would I want to break up with you?'

'I don't know,' Fuka said and, for the first time, he noticed that her voice was trembling quite a lot and that made him take a good look at her, well, as good as the poor lighting coming from the traffic lights allowed him to, he could see that she was frowning and that she looked incredibly worried.

'Fuka,' he said using his most serious tone of voice, 'I like you a lot and I don't want us to break up, okay?'

'Are you sure?'

'One hundred percent,' Yuuichi replied firmly, 'now, don't ever suggest something as stupid as that again, okay?'

'Alright,' Fuka said smiling then, looking at the rear view mirror, she noticed that there were quite a few cars behind them, the drivers of which were using the horns in a vain attempt at trying to get Yuuichi to look at the traffic light that had just turned from red to green.

'Shoot,' he muttered, trying his best to enter the first gear as quickly as possible. He then stole a quick glance at the two very familiar looking cars, hoping that their drivers wouldn't have seen something as embarrassing as that so that he wouldn't have to explain himself.

It turned out that both Bunta and Masashi were inside the cafeteria, enjoying a quiet coffee before Shinobu and a few other members of the Akina Firebolts would join them.

'Hey there,' Yuuichi said taking a seat next to Bunta while Fuka did the same next to Masashi, 'how's it going?' he then asked looking at his best friend.

'Not too bad,' Bunta replied, 'looking forward to watching someone else race though.'

They then remained in silence for a short while until Masashi, probably feeling rather uncomfortable about it, started talking about that night's challenge. Apparently, the driver of the red Subaru Leone who had raced Shinobu in Akina had received a challenge from none other than Makoto Watanabe who, racing with his own Mitsubishi GTO, had a very good chance of winning, at least in Yuuichi's opinion.

'I don't think so,' Shinobu said, coming up to their table followed by a group of four other guys.

'Why not?' Yuuichi asked him.

'Because Shun Mitsuri's never lost in his home course,' Shinobu replied, 'he and his red Leone are an unbeatable pair in Myogi.'

'Are they now?' Bunta asked, not even bothering with hiding the sudden interest the whole thing had sparkled within him. Yuuichi had to make a huge effort not to burst out laughing: his best friend truly was a sucker when it came to challenges…

'We should get going,' Fuka half-whispered, feeling a tiny bit on the awkward side taking into consideration that she was now the only girl among a group of men. If only Seiko was there too, she thought feeling rather depressed. Thankfully, Yuuichi got up and everyone followed the young couple out of the restaurant and to the car park.

'Hey, happy couple,' Masashi teased them, 'you lead us, alright?'

'Yeah,' one of the Firebolts added, 'we don't want you to stop at any love hotel on our way there.'

Feeling supremely embarrassed, both Yuuichi and Fuka hurried to get back into the car and, not really knowing how he'd done it, Yuuichi managed to start the Capella's engine and, even more surprisingly, to roll it out of the car park without stalling it in the process.

'They're only joking,' he hurried to say the minute they were on their way to Myogi.

'I know,' Fuka replied, 'it's okay, I don't mind.'

'Good,' Yuuichi said, letting out a sigh of relief.

'I don't mind…' she repeated making him feel puzzled all over again. Was this a speciality of his girlfriend? To confuse him so much he wasn't capable of producing any coherent thoughts?

'Good,' he repeated too, just in case.

'…going to a love hotel,' she then added in an almost inaudible whisper and, again, it took Yuuichi all of his driving skills to make sure the car didn't swivel itself out of the road. He was so stunned that he didn't even think of how much the guys would take the piss out of him for losing it so badly.

'Er…' he tried then, clearing his throat a couple of times, he said, 'that's…well…if you want…I…'

Geez, he was so pathetic, he thought feeling rather desperate.

'I would prefer going somewhere else, you know, somewhere a bit more romantic but, if we can't…'

'Alright,' Yuuichi somehow managed to say, 'we'll think of something, okay?'

'Sure,' Fuka replied and, once again, the quiet reigned in the car, this time though, Yuuichi's mind was too busy trying to come up with a brilliant plan so that he, at long last, could lose his virginity. He was so distracted about this that only Fuka's warning saved him from skipping the exit they had to take in order to go to Myogi's legendary mountain pass.

Ten minutes later and a couple of cars behind, Bunta's brain was also very busy taking note of every single corner of the road they were now climbing after having left behind the red Subaru Leone which was parked at the base probably waiting for the black GTO to show up.

This pass was very different from Akina, Bunta thought, to begin with, the road seemed to be wider and its tarmac was in a much better condition. It was also a lot scarier since most of it ran along the very edge of the mountain, with a very sharp cliff and an almost flimsy looking guardrail serving as the only protection.

'Not too bad,' he muttered talking to his Toyota's steering wheel, 'not bad at all.'

Soon enough and after a sudden and short downhill section, they reached the mountain top's car park where, to Bunta's amazement, there seemed to be even more cars than at any of the Akina races he'd seen so far.

'Crowded, huh?' Masashi commented once they were all out of their cars, with Yuuichi feeling grateful that everyone was kept busy enough not to comment on his driving or the reason why he was looking so flustered.

'It is,' Bunta replied noncommittally, 'so,' he then added, 'this is an uphill race, huh?'

'Yeah,' Shinobu replied, 'apparently Watanabe requested it.'

It looked as though as he wanted to add something else but then, a sudden commotion made him stop talking so that he could pay attention to whatever was happening.

'It's started!' some guy from the public shouted shaking the small radio he had in his hand as he did so.

'Will you tell us what happens?' Masashi asked him.

'Sure,' the guy replied, 'if I didn't get it wrong, Mitsuri's taken the lead.'

'Of course he has!' someone else, a girl with a ridiculously short skirt said, 'Mitsuri-sama's the best in this road! Everyone knows that.'

The poor thing seemed so excited about the race that no one from the Akina Firebolts had the heart to inform her of the fact that Shinobu there had beaten the pants off her adored Mitsuri-sama just a few weeks before. In any case, it now seemed irrelevant for, according to the mid-point report, the Subaru had a nine seconds lead on the Mitsubishi.

'Watanabe's losing pretty badly,' Yuuichi commented to Bunta, leaning towards him so no one else could hear him, 'he wasn't that bad when he raced you, was he?'

'No,' Bunta replied, 'he's a fair driver. It must be that that girl's right. This Mitsuri fellow must be quite good in here. I wish I could race him…'

Yuuichi just let out a sigh, shaking his head as he did so. If Bunta were anymore predictable he would shave his beautiful hair off. He was about to comment on that when they all saw another horribly familiar car driving towards them.

'Oh shit,' Masashi said while stealing a quick look at Bunta who, obviously enough, had just seen the dark blue Nissan Skyline 2000 GT-R which belonged to who was quickly becoming his worst enemy: Ken Kogashiwa.

'What is he doing in here?' Fuka asked, showing all of her contempt through her voice.

'It can't be helped,' Shinobu replied, 'this is a public road, after all,' he explained then, glancing at Bunta, he asked, 'what are you going to do?'

'Me?' Bunta asked back, 'I don't give a damn about him. As you said, this is a public road so, unless he bothers me…'

Bunta never finished the sentence for the Nissan stopped right next to where they stood and, rolling the window down, Ken Kogashiwa poked his head out of it and, with a very nasty looking smirk on his face, one he probably reserved for Bunta, he said:

'Oh, what a surprise, I didn't think I'd see you again…'

'Why not?' Bunta asked and Yuuichi and the guys couldn't help but to admire the very cool attitude displayed by their friend.

'I thought you would have retired,' Ken replied, 'you know, after our race.'

'Sorry to keep disappointing you,' Bunta said, 'but I won't stop racing till the day I die.'

'That can be arranged,' was Ken's very rude reply. So much so that everyone gasped hearing it. Masashi went even one step further and started making his way towards the Nissan only to be stopped by Bunta who, making a gesture with his hand indicated to him to stay out of it.

'If I didn't know better,' he said, 'I would take that as a threat.'

'You can take it as you will,' Ken countered, 'I don't know you but…'

'Alright,' Bunta replied even though Ken hadn't even had the time to formulate his question, 'let's settle this now, tonight.'

'Bunta…' Yuuichi started.

'Fine by me,' Ken said, 'as soon as the uphill battle ends, I'll be waiting for you there,' he added pointing at a certain point just outside the car park where, Bunta thought, maybe all the downhill races started from. Then, after getting a curt nod from Bunta, Ken just drove off, leaving everyone open-mouthed.

'Bunta,' Yuuichi tried again, 'I thought you didn't want to race…'

'I didn't,' Bunta conceded, 'but I have the feeling that unless I beat him fair and square I'll never see the end of it.'

'Bunta,' Shinobu intervened, 'I'm not sure you should race him.'

'Why not?' Bunta asked him, 'I know I don't know this road very well.'

'You don't know this road very well?' Masashi repeated sarcastically, 'you've never even been here before!' he then exclaimed.

'Not only that,' Shinobu said, 'but I don't think you're so naïve as to think he's going to race you fairly and squarely, are you?'

'I don't care what he does,' Bunta insisted, 'he can try as many dirty tricks as he wants: as long as I keep him firmly behind me I'll be fine.'

With that seemingly flawless reasoning, he beat any of the points any of the guys present there may have been able to come up with so, instead, they tried to concentrate their attention back at the battle which, by the way, was about to reach its end.

In fact, only five minutes later, they first heard then saw the two cars appearing around the corner which led to the short downhill section of the road with the Subaru still holding the lead of the race even though the Mitsubishi seemed to be tailing him.

'It seems like he's lost the gap he had,' Masashi commented, earning himself a glare courtesy of Mitsuri's fangirl making Bunta want to burst out laughing but deciding against it for he thought he would probably get slapped by her if he did so.

Right then, the Subaru had to veer all the way to the left side of the road in order to block what was the Mitsubishi's last and desperate attempt at overtaking him.

'He's fallen for it,' Bunta commented so cryptically that no one understood what he meant until they saw the Mitsubishi pulling towards the right and pushing itself through the gap which the Subaru had left open. Everyone then held their breath as the two cars levelled with each other just a few metres away from the finish line.

'I can't believe this!' the guy holding the radio shouted.

'I can't watch it,' the girl said covering her face with two shaky hands.

'He's won,' Shinobu said and that made the girl start whinnying so badly that he had to put his hand onto her shoulder to make her stop and look up at him, 'Mitsuru's won…'

'He has?' the girl asked then, following Shinobu's finger, she saw that her idol was indeed starting to climb out of his car so that he could go and celebrate his victory with a few of his mates, 'YES!' she shouted then, for no apparent reason, she kissed the poor Shinobu full on his mouth before she started running towards the red Leone.

'Uh-oh,' Masashi said, trying his best not to laugh, 'I know of someone who won't be too impressed about this.'

'Masashi,' Shinobu warned, 'if you, or anyone else for that matter, mention this to Momoko...'

'Hey,' one of the Firebolts hurried to say, 'Shinobu-san, we won't say a word. We promise, don't we?' he then added looking at Masashi intently who, not trusting himself to speak for he was really having trouble containing his mirth, just managed to nod to that.

'I shall get going then,' Bunta announced all of a sudden and those five words managed to kill any humour that anyone had been feeling. Then, all of them including the radio-guy, followed him towards where Mitsuri was and once there, they saw that Ken was also about to ask the local racer for his permission for him and Bunta to race there.

'You two want to race?' Mitsuri asked looking at both Ken and Bunta.

'Yes,' Bunta replied, feeling an almost childish satisfaction that he'd managed to get ahead of his rival, even if it was just by answering first.

'Alright,' Mitsuri said, 'I don't think anyone has anything against it, do you guys?' he then asked talking to the crowd who, predictably enough, expressed their happiness at having an extra race to watch, even if said race was with two relatively unknown drivers.

'I'll go and get my car,' Bunta said talking to Yuuichi, 'what are you guys going to do?'

'We'll start driving down after you two take off,' Shinobu replied instead while Yuuichi express his agreement by nodding to that. He was happy that the Akina Firebolts' leader had already suggested following right after the two cars, just in case that Kogashiwa fellow tried anything funny.

At long last, and with the road once more clear of both people and cars, the Nissan and the Toyota were, for the second time ever, lined up against each other with both racers preparing themselves for the battle.

'Take it easy alright?' Yuuichi told his friend, 'we've just finished…'

'Be quiet,' Bunta interrupted him, pointing at the Nissan with his head then, whispering, he said, 'I don't want him to know what we've done to the car.'

'I get you,' Yuuichi said then, patting him on the shoulder, he walked back to where Fuka was so that the two of them could watch the start of the race and then, as they had agreed, run to their cars so that they could all follow Bunta.

Not even two minutes later, Mitsuri's fangirl placed herself in front of the two cars and, holding a pink handkerchief in her hand, she lifted her arm and started counting down from ten then, instead of shouting the more traditional 'go', she just dropped the piece of cloth onto the ground.

Right then, Bunta floored the accelerator so that he could get ahead of the Nissan in what was the very short but steep uphill part of the road and, for the umpteenth time, he felt immensely grateful for all the hard work his uncle had put into improving the car's performance.

'We can do this,' he said to his Toyota.

Bunta could have sworn that the car's engine had understood him for, right at that instant, and with very little input from his side, the 2000GT seemed to decide to go even faster making its driver smile in the process. He definitely loved this car, he loved racing and he just loved being alive.

Just then, he realised that he wasn't so upset about Seiko's departure anymore and, again, he felt fortunate that he had so many things in his life which prevented him from being depressed for too long.

He simply could not lose this battle, Bunta thought as he entered the first of the downhill corners, drifting all the way through it, noticing with pleasure that the Nissan's headlights were a lot further away he had originally planned.

With a bit of luck, things would stay the same throughout the whole race.

To be continued…