It had been a few weeks now since Takumi got his Trueno back in a new engine. However, he had not figured out about the engine and what were missing yet. Mizuki had been watching her cousin's practice each morning and began to grow more impatient at her dumb cousin. She was wondering what was actually in Takumi's head that made him less intelligence than hers. She would never find the answer.
"So how's he progressing?" Nanami asked her best friend, as she stood beside her.
"Same," Mizuki replied, boringly.
"I got an idea!" Nanami said and got into her car.
Mizuki watched her best friend cum Takumi's girlfriend, 'bullying' Takumi again. She sighed boringly and walked back to her S2000. She stopped suddenly when she saw two guys leaning against the guardrail.
"Morning, Mizuki!" Keisuke greeted with a smile.
"Ohayo Gozaimasu!" Mizuki replied in a friendly manner and bowed to both older men.
"Long time no see. How are you? Would you like to have breakfast with us?" Keisuke invited.
Mizuki shook her head and apologized, "Sorry, I have to go back and prepare for my school," She then got into her S2000 and drove off. This was the only way she could escape from the others.
"Aniki... Aniki..." Keisuke called his brother, who was still fixing his eyes on the disappeared S2000. "Are you interested in that S2000 or the girl? I've noticed that you're acting a little strange when you see her. How can I help?" Keisuke smirked, part of him wanted to tell his brother about what he saw a few night ago on Akagi Pass.
"She has a boyfriend," Ryosuke replied, naturally.
"What? Who's that?" Keisuke exclaimed, unbelieving at the answer he heard from his brother.
"Fujiwara Takumi," Ryosuke replied as he pointed at the Hachi-Roku that just drove pass him.
To his surprise, he saw the Celica driving down the hill at the Akina Hachi-Roku's tail. It was unbelievable when he just witnessed that Mizuki drove off in her S2000. Who was in that Celica? He was confused. Besides him, Keisuke was laughing uncontrollably when he heard that assumption from his genius brother.
"What are you laughing at?" Ryosuke asked, annoyingly.
"Aniki, that's impossible! Oh! My god! Don't you know that Mizuki and Takumi are cousins? They grew up together, but it's very common to mistake them for that kind of ah hmm… relationship 'cos they seem to be too close..." Keisuke enlightened his Aniki.
Ryosuke listened in silent, feeling worst after discovering the truth that was different from what he had been assumed so far. He just realized that he had done too much thing that hurt Mizuki's feelings and how could he make it up to her.
"What about the Celica?" Ryosuke asked.
"Airisu is Mizuki's sister. At first, I was surprised when I see how much both of them look alike, but Mizuki is taller and fairer than Airisu. So after sometime I can tell their differences. Anyway, Airisu's left Japan after her parents' funeral. As for Mizuki, I'm not sure why she's here. I heard that she's putting up with her uncle." Keisuke explained.
He stood there dumfounded, cursing within himself for being so conceited and over self-confident in his beliefs. Keisuke was not dumb anyway. He could see Ryosuke's feeling for Mizuki and was curious about the girl who had hurt his brother earlier on. Although he had no evidence that it might be Mizuki, he was now quite certain about his brother's concerns on the girl.
"Who could that be in that Celica if Airisu is not here anymore?" Keisuke suddenly asked.
"It's for me to know and it's for you to find out," Ryosuke replied and walked toward his FC.
Fujiwara's Residence
Nanami was immersed in her thought with all the possible 'candidates' for Mizuki as she was planning a double dating as she announced earlier. In the meanwhile, Mizuki was reading some car magazines in her room, couldn't not be any bothered about what her friend's plan.
"What are you doing, Mickey?" Takumi asked as he walked over to his cousin who was lying on the bed.
"Reading magazine! Can't you see it?" Mizuki replied, without taking her eyes off the pages.
"Do you wanna get out of here and get some fresh air?" Takumi asked in his concern, as Mizuki seldom get out of the house ever since she came back from USA. "You've been staying in you room for the whole weekend. Why not go out for a walk or a spin, whatever you like?"
"That's a good idea!" Mizuki put down the magazine. "I need to get the latest volume of this magazine. I'll go and check it out! By the way, can you send me to the bookshop in Maebashi?"
"Why must you go so far?" Takumi pouted.
"Oh! That the biggest bookstore in Gunma, my dear!" Mizuki smiled.
Takumi nodded as he watched Mizuki took her towel and walked towards the bathroom. He had been worried about his little cousin since she came back. He knew that his father was very concerns about the girl. Mizuki seemed to be too obedient to both of them. There were some changes after the accident which both Bunta and Takumi were not sure if it was a good or a bad sign.
Kinokuniya Bookstore, Maebashi District
Mizuki got out of the Panda Trueno and bent over to have a quick chat with her cousin before entering the store. She walked straight to the automobile magazine section on the second floor.
"... Sorry, I'm not interested. I guess if you were to ask Keisuke, he would love to join you." the tall young man switched off the phone.
"Is he talking about racing team? He sounds like one!" Mizuki thought as she skimmed through the magazine in her hands.
"Excuse me, are you going to buy this magazine? If not, can I have it?" Ryosuke asked.
"Oh! I guess I will. Is this the last copy left?" Mizuki replied as she looked up at Ryosuke. She took another glance at him, recalling that he was the guy who approached her earlier.
"Mizuki," Ryosuke called her name softly.
Mizuki tilted her head as she looked at the man in front of her with a faint smile. She was quite curious to know about this guy. Did they know each other before? It could not be so as she did not have any traces of him in her memories. However, she knew that it was impossible for someone to know her name and looked so familiar with her if he didn't even know her in the first place.
"Err... I'm very sorry that I can't give you this copy because it would be very troublesome for me to go to other bookstore to look for it again. I really appreciate if you understand," Mizuki told Ryosuke as polite as possible.
"It's ok," Ryosuke replied, politely.
Mizuki nodded with a smile. "Are you ok?" she asked as she sensed something wrong from his expression and tone of voice.
"I'm fine," Ryosuke replied as he woke up from his surprise. The history would not repeat itself this time round when he saw that there was no sign of familiarity in Mizuki's eyes. He could only see himself as a stranger to her. He watched her walked over to the cashier and left the store.
Instead of walking to the train station, Mizuki stopped outside the bookstore waiting for Ryosuke. It was her curiosity. She leaned against the lamppost while looking out at the entrance.
Ryosuke slowly walked out of the bookstore fifteen minutes later. He was quite surprised to see the girl waiting for him. Mizuki walked over.
"Can I invite you for a drink?" she asked. "Hmm… I just wanna ask you something… Er… no, should be I think I…"
"Alright," Ryosuke replied, knowing that she was awkwardly trying to explain herself. "I know a nice and quiet café where we can talk," he then led Mizuki to his FC.
Mizuki sat in the white FC, looking around the interior. It seemed very familiar to her, but she could not think of anything related to it. The engine's sound was trying to remind something to her. Her inner self was telling her that she had took a ride in this machine before. Soon the white car pulled over along a quiet street to the café.
... to be continued ...