Dreaming of Akina

Chapter Twenty Four

Driving down the road, noticing that the number of buildings around them decreased as they approached the outskirts of the city and the bottom of Mt Akagi's pass, Bunta felt a lot more anxious than he allowed himself to look while he chased the midnight blue Nissan GT-R.

'F-fujiwara,' a rather frightened Miyazaki said, 'what's going on?'

Bunta chose not to reply his schoolmate's question when he noticed that the traffic light that both Mazda and Nissan had just past was about to turn red.

'Shit,' he muttered slapping his left hand against the steering wheel, letting out a frustrated sigh, unable to believe that his best friend still had failed to recognise the car which was currently following him.

'Fujiwara,' Miyazaki tried again.

'Be quiet,' Bunta ordered him dryly then, making an effort to sound a bit more civil, he added, 'hold on to your seat and don't distract me.'

Miyazaki, more than likely deciding that it was wiser not to argue with his classmate, especially taking into consideration that he had put himself at Bunta's mercy by just climbing into his car so, for this reason, remained as quiet and still as possible while he grasped the seat with both of his hands.

That gesture soon revealed itself to be rather useless for, out of one of the intersecting streets which were ahead of them, both he and Bunta saw a decrepit looking van, the bodywork of which hadn't seen a paintbrush in years. Unfortunately enough, its driver chose to get right in front of the 2000GT, effectively blocking it.

'What the...' Bunta exclaimed.

Glancing at the car's rear view mirrors, he checked for any incoming traffic, happy to see that there were no other cars around. He was about to go past the van when Miyazaki, daring to open his mouth for something other than breathing, pointed out:

'You can't overtake here.'

'Why in the heck not?' Bunta asked then, looking at the double, continuous line which separated both lanes, he answered to his own question. 'It doesn't matter,' he then added as he pressed the accelerator, veering towards the right and passing the van in one swift move.

'Holy crap,' Miyazaki wheezed, 'you're nuts!'

Bunta couldn't repress a smirk when he heard his schoolmate's constant muttering which made it sound as though as he was praying then, deciding that he'd already lost too much time, he applied even more pressure to the accelerator and, at long last, he reached the car park at the bottom of the legendary pass where he saw something which wiped his half smile off his face:

Parked at the side of the road, he saw Yuuichi's Mazda and Ken's Nissan with both young men talking to each other while Fuka, Mitsui another girl stood there, observing the scene with equally worried frowns on their faces.

As it was more than expected, his arrival attracted everyone's attention and he almost laughed when he saw the utterly astounded expression on Yuuichi's face and the no less shocked one of Ken Kogashiwa then, before the surprise effect would wear off, Bunta pulled towards the side of the road too, leaving his car parked right behind the Nissan.

'What in the hell are you doing in here?' Yuuichi asked him.

'What do you want from him?' Bunta asked to Ken instead.

'Nothing that's any of your business,' Ken replied rather rudely.'

'Say that again,' Bunta challenged, squaring his jaw and putting his chest out while he prepared his fists for a fight, feeling almost happy that Ken was doing the same thing too.

'Bunta,' Yuuichi said, 'he just asked me to race him…'

'He's what?' Bunta asked him with a large dose of disbelief imprinted in his voice.

'…and I said yes,' Yuuichi continued, ignoring the bewildered look Bunta was giving him, 'we were about to start…'

'No way,' Bunta interrupted him, 'Yuuichi, there's no…'

'Come with me one second,' Yuuichi cut him off, grabbing him by his arm and dragging him away from everyone's hearing range then, facing Bunta but giving his back to the rest of the group, he said, 'I'm going to race him.'

'Yuuichi…'

'Look Bunta,' he said, 'I know that he's not your favourite person in this world but, I'm a street racer and I've been issued a challenge and, heck, I'm going to take it.'

'Yuuichi…'

'Please,' he continued, 'I really want to race him.'

Bunta stared at his best friend for a couple of seconds which was as much as he needed to see that Yuuichi was being completely serious about this whole affair then, letting out a sigh loaded with all the pent up anxiety and frustration, he said:

'Alright, do it then but, be careful, that guy…'

'I know,' Yuuichi interrupted him smiling in his usual kind-hearted way, 'I'm going to crush him!'

'You do that,' Bunta said returning the grin then, after reaching this agreement, the two friends walked back to where the three cars were parked. There Bunta just leant against his own car's front while he watched his friend making his way to his girlfriend.

'Baby,' Yuuichi said, 'you stay here with the guys, I'll be back in a short while, okay?'

'S-sure,' Fuka replied then, on her tiptoes, she gave him a very quick peck on his cheek, 'for luck,' she added making him smile even more.

'So,' they all heard Ken say, 'are two you done with your strategy meeting?'

'Yes we are,' Yuuichi replied, refusing to acknowledge the sarcasm in Ken's voice.

'Unless,' the Nissan's driver started, looking at Bunta in an almost poisonous way, 'this loser here wants to take your place.'

'No thanks,' Bunta said coolly, 'Yuuichi is more than capable of beating the pants off you on his own.'

Mitsui, Miyazaki and that Nakayama girl couldn't help but to let out an amused chuckle and even Fuka allowed herself to smile at the furious expression which had appeared on Kogashiwa's face.

'We'll see about that,' he said while he went to climb into his car so that he could get ready for the battle.

'Bunta,' Yuuichi muttered before copying his opponent, 'I appreciate what you said but, I don't think it was such a good idea to taunt him like that.'

'Don't worry about it,' Bunta said, 'I meant every word I said. Now, do your best to take the lead at the start and block him all the way to the top. That'll be the only way you'll beat him.'

'You make it sound so easy,' Yuuichi complained but he offered Bunta a reassuring smile as he walked towards his car, getting behind the steering wheel and closing the door with a hand which looked a lot steadier than Bunta had actually expected.

A few moments later, he found himself standing right in front of the two cars, with his left index finger up in the air, starting the countdown, putting his arm down the second he shouted for the two cars to go. Turning round as fast as he could, he saw that Yuuichi had indeed managed to get ahead.

'Good job,' he muttered to himself before he joined the other four people who were animatedly discussing the whole thing.

'This is so cool,' Mitsui said.

'I can now understand why you two are nuts about this,' Miyazaki agreed.

'Me too,' Nakayama added.

Bunta just nodded while he sat back down on top of the cool surface of his car's bonnet, fervently hoping that Yuuichi would manage to win this race for, in all honesty, there were very few other things he wanted to see more than Ken's face once he'd been defeated by yet another Akina boy.

'He's going to be alright, isn't he?' he heard Fuka ask him, her slightly quivering voice betraying just how nervous she was.

'Of course,' Bunta replied with as much firmness as he could muster, despite the fact that he did have some doubts regarding the outcome of this battle, 'he's a great racer, you know?'

'I know,' Fuka said softly, 'but he's not like you.'

Bunta just looked at her not really knowing what to say to that. Meanwhile, further up the road, Yuuichi was doing his very best trying to keep Ken's car behind him, finding it a lot easier than he'd thought it be, feeling rather upset about this for it could only mean one thing:

Ken Kogashiwa was underestimating him.

'You'll pay for this,' Yuuichi said while entering a very sharp and steep left-hander, praying so that his car could cope with the climb it had ahead of itself and feeling grateful that he had chosen to change the Capella's tyres in time for the double date.

The two cars followed each other through a few more corners until, half way through the pass, right when they drove into a hairpin, which had nothing to envy to Akina's five consecutive ones, when Yuuichi saw through his rear view mirror that Kogashiwa was about to attack.

Being very careful that he didn't steer too much out of his line, Yuuichi tried to close the gap the best way he could possibly manage, feeling immensely relieved when he noticed that his opponent seemed to have given up.

'Shit, that was close,' he muttered to himself while he exited the corner, accelerating as he did so in order to prepare the car for the following corner where, for some strange reason and going against his predictions, Ken didn't try to overtake him.

Despite this, an already sweaty Yuuichi refused to let his guard down and, instead, he focused even more on his driving so that he could continue his race, allowing himself to think, for just a fleeting second, that he may actually be able to win this battle.

'Just a few more corners,' he said, speaking to the steering wheel, sounding as though as he was also trying to egg his car on almost as much as he was trying to inject some courage into himself. If only he could remove the ominous fear of facing Bunta after being defeated by Kogashiwa.

No!

He had to stop thinking like this, Yuuichi admonished himself while he climbed around yet another tight left-hander, he needed to remain positive and, above anything else, he needed to clear his mind off useless thoughts.

Already feeling better, he drove the short distance which separated him from the following corner when he noticed that the Nissan's headlights were slightly off to the right, meaning that Kogashiwa was probably preparing himself for another attack.

Yuuichi entered the almost hairpin-like curve when he felt that his car's front left tyre had suddenly lost a lot of its grip, making it very difficult for him to turn the way he needed to and, what was worse, rendering it impossible to block the way for Kogashiwa who, very cleverly, used that chance to try and overtake him.

'No way,' the eighteen year old exclaimed, 'I'm not letting you pass!'

Seizing the steering wheel like if it were his own life, he somehow managed to get the car into the corner and around it, clearing it while remaining still ahead of the Nissan, finding it funny that he almost couldn't hear the car's engine over the furious pounding of his own heartbeat.

He'd never been this much frantic in his whole life.

With only a couple more corners to go before the long stretch of road which was considered as the end of the course, Ken Kogashiwa chose to gamble everything to that very last turn so, in the penultimate one, he limited himself to follow the Mazda around it.

It was then, as both cars finished clearing it that Ken did his move: driving around the Mazda and using the extra speed the aerodynamics gave him, he levelled his GT-R with the Capella and decided to press his luck as he pushed his car into the corner.

Yuuichi realised that there was no way both cars could make it into the narrow space at the same time and, with a pang, he also noticed that Ken had absolutely no intentions whatsoever of moving over to allow him to enter the corner.

'Fuck,' he muttered angrily as he saw himself literally forced to open up the space, watching powerlessly as the midnight blue Nissan drove past him, clearing the corner just a microsecond before he did. Of course, after that and with just a dozen or so meters left, there was no way Yuuichi could try and overtake him again.

He had lost.

Somehow, after being ahead for the whole of the race, Ken Kogashiwa had managed to pass him at the very last corner. Yuuichi felt like he wanted to burst into tears.

Instead, he pulled towards the side of the road, parking his car right behind of the Nissan then, using up every ounce of his determination, he trained his features so that he wouldn't appear as devastated as he felt then, before that façade would just collapse, Yuuichi climbed out of the Capella.

'That was a very interesting race,' Ken said.

To Yuuichi's surprise, the guy sounded genuine enough and that left him speechless.

'Well,' Ken continued, 'I better go now but, before I do, let me tell you one thing.'

'Sure,' Yuuichi managed to say.

'I think you're a much better opponent than that friend of yours,' Ken said making Yuuichi do a double take, 'it's a lot more enjoyable racing with people like you.'

'Yeah right,' he interrupted him with a bitter smirk, 'it's always nicer when you win,' then, putting a hand up to stop Ken from replying to his comment, Yuuichi turned round so that he could walk back towards his car.

'Hey…'

'Listen,' Yuuichi cut him off once again, 'you've proved your point already: I still have much to learn before I can call myself a street racer,' he added, not being able to repress a tiny smile for he had just used the same words Bunta had said right after his first victory in Akina.

Ken said something else but Yuuichi didn't even pay attention to him while he climbed into his car so that he could drive downhill where his girlfriend and friends were waiting for him, probably eager to know about the outcome of the race.

'Where's Kogashiwa?' Bunta asked his best friend the instant he stepped out of his car.

'He left,' Yuuichi replied, 'right after he won the race,' he then added as fast as he could, lowering his gaze to the ground so that he wouldn't have to face Bunta.

'He won,' Bunta said, using a flat tone of voice.

'Yeah,' Yuuichi admitted, still refusing to look up at his friend's face for he was terrified that he'd see a very disappointed expression on it, 'sorry.'

'It's alright,' Fuka intervened, hooking her arm around her boyfriend's while caressing his shoulder with her free hand, 'I'm sure you did your best.'

Yuuichi glanced at her beautiful face seeing that Fuka looked both honest and genuinely impressed, leaving him in marvel because, even though he'd just said he'd lost, she still was proud of him and that proved that she really was as much in love with him as she had declared just a few days before.

'It obviously wasn't enough,' he told her with a frown.

'Yuuichi,' Bunta said, 'if you truly did all you could you should be happy and, you know what's next now, don't you?'

'Yeah,' Yuuichi replied, finally glanced at his friend, seeing that he didn't seem to be disappointed in the slightest, if anything, Bunta looked rather impressed too, 'I have to train myself even harder!'

'That's right,' Bunta said, offering him one of his grins.

'You two are nuts,' Miyazaki commented, getting up from the guardrail where he, Mitsui and Nakayama had been sitting up to then, 'but that was very cool.'

'It was,' Mitsui agreed then, looking at Miyazaki, he added, 'I know of someone who's not going to be taking the piss out of your street racing activities ever again, huh?'

'Definitely,' Miyazaki said, 'after this, I'm actually thinking of getting my driving license too.'

'God help us,' Bunta commented only half-feigning terror and both his remark and his expression made everyone burst out laughing allowing Yuuichi to forget, even if it was only for a short while, all about the bitterness of this new defeat.

A couple of hours later and after dropping everyone else back at their respective homes, both Yuuichi and Bunta were sitting by the lake, silently sipping a can of soda each, with the Toyota and the Mazda parked nearby when, all of a sudden, Bunta chose to break the silence:

'I've got something to tell you.'

'Alright,' Yuuichi said, 'what is it?'

'I'm going to have a go at it,' Bunta replied.

'A go at what?' a very confused Yuuichi asked.

'Don't tell anyone,' Bunta said, 'but I'm going to try and become a professional racer.'

'REALLY?' Yuuichi shouted, jumping up from his sitting position so abruptly that he spilled a good dose of the soda he was supposed to be drinking.

'Yep,' Bunta said, so used to Yuuichi's sudden bursts that he no longer got bothered by them, 'it's still a work in progress but my uncle and I are going to start getting things together right after I finish high school.'

'Oh man!' Yuuichi exclaimed, 'this is so cool!'

'Hey,' Bunta said, 'it's just a project.'

'You'll do it!' Yuuichi squealed, 'I'm sure you will! You're…'

'Yuuichi,' Bunta interrupted him, fearing that his friend would have a nervous breakdown if he didn't calm down soon, 'even getting into one of the amateur leagues my uncle told me about it's going to be very difficult, right now it's still a fifty-fifty thing, maybe not even that…'

'No, no,' Yuuichi insisted, 'you're going to become a professional racer! If you can't, who can, huh?'

'However,' Bunta said, ignoring his friend's question, 'I still have to do one thing before I can focus on preparing the car for the circuit races.'

'And what's that?' a slightly calmer Yuuichi asked.

'I've been thinking about it for a few days and…'

'And?' Yuuichi said, feeling suddenly afraid seeing the evil glint he could see in Bunta's eyes as he smirked.

'I'm going to go back to Irohazaka and challenge Kogashiwa to another race,' he announced.

'Oh no,' Yuuichi said.

'Oh yes,' a smirking Bunta replied.

'Don't you have any mercy for that poor guy?' Yuuichi asked him, even though he already couldn't wait for the race then, instead of answering to the question, Bunta limited himself to let out a very amused chuckle.

To be continued…