Dreaming of Akina

Chapter Thirty Seven

Too late? How could that be? He was only ten minutes late, Bunta thought disconsolately as he stared at his uncle, unable to do anything other than catching his breath up while he started asking himself why on earth his uncle had done nothing to stop Itachi and his daughter from leaving.

'You're lucky they're late too,' he somehow heard Eikichi say.

'W-what?' Bunta stuttered.

'But that's not the point,' his uncle carried on, clearly refusing to repeat what he'd just said, 'Bunta just tell me something, will you?'

Seeing the disappointed expression on Eikichi's face robbed Bunta from the ability to speak so, he only managed to nod in a rather stupid way.

'Is this how you intend to behave?' the older man asked, 'because,' he then added without waiting for his nephew's answer, 'if this is any proof of it, I'd say you're not very serious about becoming a professional racer.'

'NO!' Bunta managed to exclaim, 'that's not true…I…'

'You what?' Eikichi challenged him.

'I had to help Yuuichi, he…'

Once again, the arrival of Itachi and his beautiful daughter Midori prevented Bunta from finishing what he had to say and, in a way, he actually felt grateful for it for he knew that his behaviour, whereas it was completely justified, at least from his point of view, had not been the most professional ever.

'Sorry for the delay,' Itachi said, 'we got held up at the meeting.'

'It's alright,' Eikichi replied, 'it's you who's doing us a favour so, we can't be too picky, can we?'

Itachi-san let out a short but sincere sounding laugh as he looked from Eikichi to Bunta, lingering there for a couple of seconds before glancing back at the older of the two Fujiwara.

'I'm not sure who's doing who a favour,' Itachi sentenced, 'but we'll soon find out. Shall we?'

'Sure,' Eikichi replied.

'Er…' Bunta started, 'I kind of left the car parked somewhere else.'

'Oh,' Itachi said, 'don't worry about it. You can actually leave it where it is.'

'Why?' Eikichi asked, voicing the very question Bunta himself was about to ask, 'won't he need his car for the test?'

'No,' Itachi replied, 'I think that in order to see how good he is, I'll get him to drive the car we've prepared for my son Takashi. It's a true beauty and I'm sure Bunta-kun here will love it.'

Bunta exchanged a very quick glance with his uncle who, in an almost imperceptive manner, asked his nephew to let him handle the situation and, knowing he had little choice in the matter, Bunta decided to oblige.

For this reason, the two Fujiwara found themselves following the Itachi as they made their way back to Itachi-san's car, a shiny, silver Mercedes Benz which, judging by how painfully clean it was, looked like it had just been delivered from the dealership.

'What do you think?' Itachi asked Eikichi while the two older men climbed into the front seats of the car, leaving the back one to Midori and Bunta, 'I'm told this is the first unit they've sold of this particular model in the whole of Kanto.'

'I'm not surprised,' Eikichi commented, 'it looks as expensive as it probably is.'

'Ah,' Itachi laughed, 'you know that I'm never stingy when it comes to cars. Besides, this car's engine is designed in a way that uses up the petrol in a much more efficient manner you know, if petrol keeps getting so pricey, we'll all need cars like this.'

This time, Eikichi didn't add anything to the conversation and, other than offering Itachi a half a smile, he limited himself to keeping his eyes glued to the road they had in front of them while the other man, probably taking the hint, started the car's engine, incorporating it to the incoming traffic as swiftly as he could.

'Itachi-san,' Bunta said breaking the silence which had reigned in the car for quite a few minutes, 'how come you know my uncle?'

'Ah,' Itachi replied, 'that's a long story.'

'A very long one,' Eikichi agreed, using such a tone of voice that it made Bunta understand that, for some obscure reason, he wasn't allowed to ask any more questions.

'Let's just say,' Itachi said nonetheless, 'that if I am who I am today, it's mainly because of your uncle. If it hadn't been for the loan he gave me all those years ago.'

'Itachi,' Eikichi interrupted him in a very definite manner, 'that was a long time ago and you've more than repaid the money I gave you so, let's just forget about the whole thing, alright?'

If Itachi was shocked to hear what it effectively sounded like a direct order, he did his best to hide it behind the kindest of smiles and, instead of remaining quiet, he glanced at Bunta through the rear view mirror and said:

'I'm sure you and Takashi are going to become good friends.'

The old man spent the whole trip to Maebashi talking about what a nice boy his son was and, how very proud Itachi was about the fact that Takashi, after so long going around in circles, had finally found a goal: that of becoming a professional racer.

To Bunta though, the more he heard about his potentially future team-mate, the more he grew convinced that Takashi was nothing more than a spoilt little brat whose latest caprice was to drive cars as fast as he could, not giving a damn about learning anything about them.

Bunta's mind had drifted towards his own beloved Toyota 2000GT when, all of a sudden, he was brought back to reality by a hand which, for some reason, had found its way all the way up to the upper section of his thigh and was now travelling dangerously fast towards an even less decent part of Bunta's anatomy.

'What are…' he whispered furiously while stealing a panicked glance to the two adults he had in front of him, feeling immensely relieved that the two older men were too distracted to notice what was happening less than half a meter away from them.

Instead of stopping, Midori placed her hand on the inside of Bunta's leg and, letting out a very soft, almost inaudible laugh, she looked at him and, winking at him, she mouthed 'I fancy you,' to an utterly shocked Bunta. At this stage he found that he could no longer reason…

'We're almost there,' Itachi said all of a sudden and that, thankfully or sadly, Bunta couldn't figure out which one of the two, Midori removed her hand from his leg and pulled away from him, to go and pretend she was busy staring out of her side's window, '…it's a new track but it's rather small.'

As if he cared about circuits right now.

'It won't matter if it's small,' Eikichi said, 'will it?' he then asked, turning his head round to look at his nephew.

'No,' Bunta chocked out, 'of course not.'

Midori let out a chuckle which promptly became a cough making Bunta realise that his voice sounded unnaturally strained. The cheek of this girl! He thought feeling rather incredulous that such a sweet looking girl, no matter how stupidly beautiful she was, could be quite so bold.

In any case, he almost jumped out of the car the minute Itachi parked it at the very small car park which was placed immediately next to a two kilometres strip of asphalt which looked fairly new. In fact, and like Itachi had told them, everything in these installations was pretty much brand new.

'That's Takashi there,' the old man said pointing at a rather tall guy, about ten centimetres taller than Bunta, who's hair was actually bleached and it looked now a violent shade of yellow. He was wearing a black and white racing suit with quite a few patches on it and was currently talking to a couple of guys in overalls who looked to be some sort of mechanics.

'Father,' the guy said the minute they got to where he was. He then exchanged a quick smile with his older sister before looking at Eikichi first, Bunta after, 'you're late,' Takashi commented looking down at Bunta, 'I was about to start my second stint…'

'That's my fault,' Itachi said, 'I got held up at the meeting but, don't worry, we got the sponsor.'

'Of course we did,' Takashi replied sounding arrogantly sure of himself, 'who wouldn't want to sponsor me?'

Bunta and Eikichi found themselves looking at each other and, almost for the tiniest of moments, they both felt like rolling their eyes up. However, and for the sake of maintaining peace, at least for the time being, they decided to ignore the whole thing.

'So,' Takashi said, 'are we going to test him today?'

'Yes,' Itachi replied.

'Where's your racing suit?' Takashi asked Bunta, still looking down and speaking with a high level of disdain imprinted on his voice.

'I didn't bring one,' Bunta replied, levelling up as much as he could and definitely refusing to show any trace of fear, 'I don't need a suit in order to drive fast,' he added just for good measure.

'Ah,' Midori said, intervening in the conversation before her younger brother could formulate an appropriate reply, 'boys with toys…Takashi, just let him show us what he's got, alright?'

Takashi looked at his sister and, taking a few moments to consider, he ended up smiling at her and, with a gesture of his head, he shrugged his broad shoulders and said:

'Alright Oneesan, since it's you asking...I'll go and get some rest then,' he said then, ignoring Bunta, Eikichi and the two poor mechanics who were still there, Takashi walked away from the group and towards a small light blue van.

Bunta observed as the guy opened the passenger side's door, climbed onto the seat and, closing the door with a little too much energy, Takashi showed just how very displeased of this whole situation he was. Shrugging the negative vibe he'd just got from the guy who could end up being his team mate, Bunta decided to follow his uncle and Itachi-san to the car he'd be using for the test.

'No way,' he muttered before he had time to repress his words.

'You like it?' Itachi asked him, looking from Eikichi to Bunta and back to Eikichi, 'I told you it was a true beauty, didn't I? Believe me: it's taken us ages to get it to perform well enough for the championship.'

As every time Eikichi wanted to keep his thoughts to himself, he just nodded while Bunta tried to regain some resemblance of composure for it had been a total shock to see the black and white coloured car he'd be using for the races, should he happen to pass the test, of course...

'Son,' Itachi started, 'I take you know a bit about the Nissan Skyline, right?'

'Yes, sir, I do,' Bunta replied noncommittally.

'Alright,' Itachi said, 'well, you'll be happy to know that this is a brand new model. It's the KPGC10 GT-R and it's engine…'

'I have a suggestion,' Eikichi interrupted him, 'why don't we let Bunta get to know the car by just driving it, huh?'

Itachi looked taken aback just for the briefest of moments, recovering admiringly fast before nodding a couple of times slowly then, glancing over to Bunta, he said:

'Well, you better go and get ready, Uesugi here will be happy to help you.'

One of the mechanics, a guy who didn't look much older than Bunta himself, took a couple of steps towards him and, offering him a small smile, he pointed with his head the small one floored building where the track had the changing rooms for the drivers and a storage space, probably for the karts or other racing materiel.

'You can get changed in here,' Uesugi said, 'in that locker you should find a few of Takashi-san's spare racing suits.'

'Alright,' Bunta replied. Uesugi offered him a curt not before leaving him alone and, right after that, Bunta sat down heavily onto one of the two long wooden benches that furnished the room. A Skyline. Of all the cars that Japan made, why a Nissan Skyline? If Kogashiwa found out about this he'd have a heart attack…

'Maybe I should tell him,' Bunta muttered to himself, allowing an evil smirk to curve his lips.

Reminding himself that there were people waiting for him, he slipped into the black and white suit he had been given and, putting his trainers back on, he grabbed his school uniform and stuck it badly into one of the empty lockers. It wasn't as if he'd need it ever again so it didn't matter if it got ruined.

Five minutes later, he showed up and was soon guided by Uesugi and the other more senior mechanic towards the car while Itachi and his uncle were engaged in what looked like a very important conversation. Bunta found that he was actually curious to find how his uncle had come to know someone who was clearly as nuts about cars as both Fujiwaras were. This train of thought was promptly interrupted by the sight of Midori walking towards him. Since Takashi was still locked up in the van, the girl probably had nothing better to do and that could only mean one thing…

'You look as good as I thought you'd do in a racing suit,' she said a little more than tartly.

'Thanks,' Bunta managed to reply.

'Well,' she said sticking the index fingernail of her left hand into the edge between two folds of the suit, right on top of Bunta's shoulder, 'try not to crash. I'd hate it if you hurt yourself.'

'Yeah, I wouldn't like that either,' Bunta said.

'Midori-san,' Uesugi interrupted, appearing almost afraid to go anywhere near the girl, 'I'm very sorry but…'

'I know, I know,' Midori said smiling at Uesugi in a way that made Bunta think that the mechanic would get a nose-bleed, 'I'll stay out of the way now', she added, looking highly amused by the whole thing.

Offering Bunta one last all too sweet smile, she went back to where the two adults were. Bunta looked at her back while she walked and, for some reason, he tried to decide whether to feel sorry for a girl who was clearly bored off her mind or worried about his own safety for he knew just how many problems a girl like her could cause to a guy like him.

'Hey,' Uesugi said forcing Bunta to focus on the guy, 'I'd stay away from her if I were you.'

'Yeah,' the other mechanic agreed, using a slightly harsher tone of voice that his colleague, 'Midori-san's off limits. I hope you don't get any funny ideas.'

'Of course not,' Bunta hurried to reply.

'Good,' the mechanic said, 'now, hurry up and show us the reason why Takashi-san had to give up his practice time so you could take this test.'

Bunta nodded and, climbing into the car, he decided two things: he'd definitely stay away from Midori for the girl had trouble written all over her and, unless he was very much mistaken, these two mechanics probably worshipped Takashi.

To Bunta, this meant that he had to do his best. Anything else would not be good enough.

He had to give it to Kogashiwa though, the Nissan's steering wheel felt extremely good under his hands and, for a whole minute, he just stayed there, strapped onto the seat and getting used to the differences between this car and his as quickly as he could.

Seeing Uesugi signalling him to start the car, he did so, and after inserting the first gear, Bunta made the car roll out of the parking area and into the track where, during the first two laps, he just limited himself to get familiar with the course.

At the third though, it was an entirely different thing. He had already guessed the best way to drive this particular car, finding that its engine had been so finely tuned that he could get the best out of it in an almost effortless manner.

In short, this car and he understood each other pretty well.

The track wasn't very long but the bends and the very slight slopes present would have probably made it rather challenging for anyone who hadn't had at least some degree of racing experience. Luckily for Bunta, he had had the best training yet.

Yes, compared to Mt Akina's pass, this was a walk in the park for Bunta and, at the end of the twentieth lap, when he was finally ordered to get out of the track, he met a couple of astonished mechanics and an even more surprised Itachi. Eikichi, as usual, sported the sort of blank expression which annoyed the heck out of Bunta.

'My boy you…' Itachi started saying, only to be rather rudely interrupted by his own son, making Bunta wonder when in the heck had he come out of the van and, even more importantly, why.

'Let me see that,' Takashi ordered to Uesugi, demanding to be handed the small chronographer used to keep the times. The guy checked it himself and, widening his eyes, he went to glare at Bunta and said, 'he's cheated.'

'I have not,' Bunta replied folding his arms onto his chest defensively.

'You must have,' a fuming Takashi insisted, 'there's no way you can have beaten my record.'

'Have I?' Bunta asked now sounding positively surprised.

'No,' Takashi replied, 'that's what I'm saying. There's no way you can have beaten it. It's taken me over a year to beat the previous one and, I seriously think a guy like you can…'

'Enough,' Itachi commanded, interrupting his son by saying, 'Takashi, just like I hoped, Bunta's shown he's a bit better than you. This, instead of making you angry, should make you happy.'

'Happy?' Takashi asked to his father, clearly thinking that his father was beginning to go senile, 'why should I be happy some brat's beaten my record?'

Unfazed by this insult directed to his nephew, Eikichi put a hand up to stop Itachi from answering and, looking at Takashi, he said:

'Because only when you find a worthy challenge you can work on getting better.'

'That's just…'

'Takashi,' Itachi said still smiling but using an almost warning tone of voice, 'what Fujiwara-san has said it's true. You should welcome the competition.'

Looking anything but happy, Takashi glared at Bunta once again before turning round, barking something to Midori who, without having to be ordered twice, went right after her younger brother, turning to glance at Bunta for as long as it took for her to smile apologetically.

'Don't mind him,' Itachi said to Eikichi, 'he's had a very rough week. His girlfriend has just dumped him and...'

'Don't worry, you don't need to explain yourself,' the older Fujiwara replied while Bunta chose to just remain quiet.

'Well,' Itachi started, 'I think I've seen enough for me to say this: kid, you're welcome to join the team whenever you want.'

'Really?' Bunta couldn't help but to ask.

'Yes,' Itachi said, 'I have prepared a draft version of a contract and…'

'Itachi,' Eikichi interrupted him, 'no offence or anything but, I think Bunta needs to think about this for a bit before committing himself to do something as important as this.'

'Uncle…'

'We both need time to think about it,' Eikichi carried on, ignoring Bunta's silent but very obvious protests, 'I hope you'll be kind enough to give us a couple of days before we can give you an answer.'

Itachi, again, tried his best not to look as astounded as he felt but, for some reason, he seemed to be pretty used to Eikichi's unconventional way of doing things so, maybe because of this, he nodded his agreement and said:

'Fair enough Fujiwara-san, you always seem to know what's best so, I'll trust you with this one too.'

'Thanks for this,' Eikichi replied.

'Alright,' Itachi said, 'well, I think I should drive you two back home now.'

'Nah,' Eikichi interrupted him again, 'I've been told by the doctors that I need a bit of exercise so, I think we'll walk to the train station. If I'm not mistaken, there should be one not too far from here.'

'Yes,' Itachi said, 'Maebashi North is just about four kilometres from here.'

'Good,' Eikichi replied then, looking at Bunta, he added, 'now, go and get changed so we can go home.'

Bunta, as he usually did when his uncle was like this, found himself obeying the older man's orders and although he didn't understand half of what was happening right at that moment, Bunta decided that four kilometres were a long enough distance for him to ask every single one of the questions which were beginning to form a whirl in his increasingly confused mind.

To be continued…