Golden Arrows
Chapter Forty Eight
On Saturday May 28th 2022 at exactly eighteen hundred hours, Operation Cheer Akito Up started.
Kyosuke parked his RZ-1 right in front of the Fujiwara residence in Shibukawa while Seisuke found a parking space for his Mazda nearby in the quiet suburban street where their best friend lived and soon, the two brothers, their cousin Ryoko and Kizuna found themselves at the front door of the two floor house. There, Ryoko rang the bell.
'Coming!' they heard Natsuki's voice.
She opened the door expecting to find only Ryoko and her surprise finding all four of them was obvious.
'Good evening, Natsuki-san,' said a smiling Ryoko.
'Hello Ryoko-chan,' Natsuki replied, 'and everyone else too.'
'We're sorry for intruding,' Kyosuke said, 'but we'd like to see Akito, if you don't mind.'
'No,' Natsuki hurried to say, 'of course not. Please do come in, I'll go and tell him you're here.'
The four of them stepped into the house pausing only to remove their shoes and, walking into the living room, they found little Haruko there watching TV while her father Takumi read the evening paper.
'Hey guys,' the man said, 'I didn't know you'd be coming.'
'Neither did we,' Kyosuke replied with a small smile, 'we're being spontaneous.'
'You?' Takumi asked him raising an eyebrow, 'spontaneous?'
'It's been known to happen,' Kyosuke said provoking a chuckle in his three companions.
Just then, Natsuki reappeared with Akito and all hilarity died when they saw his expression. He looked like he'd been though hell and back and hadn't enjoyed the experience. Ryoko was the first to find her voice.
'Hi baby,' she said.
'Hey,' Akito replied then, glancing at everyone else, he smiled a little and said, 'are you staying for dinner?'
'That's the idea,' Seisuke said.
'If it's not too much trouble,' Kizuna added.
'Of course not,' Natsuki said then, looking at her husband, she added, 'shall we order some sushi?'
Takumi nodded and said:
'Why not?'
'Sushi?' Haruko asked, the word finally getting her attention away from the TV.
'Yes,' Natsuki replied, 'why don't you come with me to the kitchen so we can choose what to order?'
The girl sprang up with admirable agility and soon both mother and daughter were gone while Takumi reassumed his reading. Akito shook his head once before he pointed at the cream coloured sofa and said:
'Please sit down, I'll go and get us something to drink.'
Complying with the request, Kyosuke, Seisuke and Kizuna sat down while Ryoko followed Akito to the kitchen so that she could help her boyfriend carry the six glasses of iced tea. They brought the tray back to the living room and after Akito offered one of the glasses to his father, he set the tray down onto the living room's low table and, taking a seat on his grandfather's favourite armchair, he waited for someone to speak.
'So,' Kyosuke started, 'how are you doing?'
'Not great,' Akito replied honestly.
'We thought so,' Seisuke said.
'That's why you're here, right?' Akito asked them gently.
'Yeah,' Kyosuke replied.
'Thanks,' Akito said smiling gratefully, 'I've had a very crappy day.'
'We saw that,' Kizuna said, 'which is why we'd like to ask you if there's anything we can do to help you.'
Akito looked at the older girl for a bit then, he glanced quickly at his girlfriend and her two cousins.
'There is,' he answered.
'Name it,' Seisuke said eagerly.
'Is there anything we could do to distract me for a bit?' Akito asked, 'I'm willing to do anything you like.'
'Anything?' Ryoko asked him.
'Anything,' Akito confirmed.
'In that case,' she said, 'there's something we could do which I'm sure it would take your mind off things for a bit. Mind you, it does require driving there and we'll need the entire day but I'm sure it'll be worth it.'
'Baby cousin,' Seisuke said, 'what's in your mind?'
'Disneyland,' Ryoko replied then, noticing Kyosuke's frown, she added, 'Kizuna's never been there, has she?'
'No, I haven't,' the girl replied.
'But you would like to go, wouldn't you?' Ryoko asked her intently.
'Of course,' Kizuna replied, 'who doesn't want to go to Disneyland?'
Kyosuke looked down in between his slippers.
'Alright,' Seisuke said, 'it's decided then. When is that going to happen?'
'The sooner the better,' Ryoko replied, 'right Akito?'
'Yes please,' the young racer replied.
'I take you approve of the plan then,' Kyosuke asked him looking only a little desperate.
'Yes,' Akito replied, he glanced at Ryoko and smiled at her, 'it's a wonderful idea, just what I needed.'
The girl's grin became even wider.
'Alright,' she said, 'we'll go this Saturday, is that alright Takumi-san?'
'Yeah, of course,' the man replied looking a little flustered.
'Great,' Ryoko said, 'why don't you invite Kaori along?' she then asked Seisuke, 'then we'd be three couples.'
'Yep, I'll do that,' Seisuke agreed.
Just then, Natsuki and Haruko arrived saying that the sushi would be there shortly and that, combined with the fact that his friends where there and that they had come up with a great plan, made it possible for Akito to go to bed and get up the next morning feeling like he could, after all, go back to the Twin Ring Motegi and face the press without feeling like running away as fast as he could.
Thanks to that Akito was able to start Sunday's race with the peace of mind he needed to cover the twenty eight laps and even though he failed to win the race, finishing a very decent fourth place, he was rather pleased when his Team Manager patted him on his shoulder and told him that he'd done a great job, that he was very happy with the weekend's results and they could all go home and get some well deserved rest.
The following Saturday, very early in the morning, Akito climbed into the passenger seat of Kyosuke's RZ-1 so that they could drive back to Maebashi where Kizuna and Ryoko waited for them in the 350Z at the usual petrol station located by the entrance of the Kan'Etsu Expressway. Seisuke and Kaori arrived there a couple of minutes later and soon all three cars were on their way to Urayasu, in the Chiba Prefecture.
'Kyosuke,' Akito said while they travelled and after checking that the car's radio was turned off.
'Yes?'
'You're not exactly into theme parks, are you?' Akito asked him.
'Not really,' Kyosuke said honestly, 'but it's okay, it'll be fun.'
'Thank you for doing this for me,' Akito said sounding very serious.
'Don't mention it,' Kyosuke replied then, he added, 'is there any attraction you're looking forward to?'
Akito thought about it and said:
'Yes, there is. I'd love to ride on the Space Mountain and then there's the Big Thunder Mountain and the Splash Mountain and…'
Kyosuke let out a soft chuckle and said:
'Alright, we'll go and see all of those mountains, okay?'
Seeing Akito's smile made him think that maybe this trip to Disneyland had not been such a terrible idea and that, surprisingly enough, Akito could still bring himself to enjoy things like the kid he was supposed to be.
Determined to keep that happy expression on Akito's face for the entire day, Kyosuke was more than prepared to put up with being dragged around the immense theme park, with Seisuke and Akito fully intended on trying every single ride at least once while Ryoko and Kaori got lost in the myriad of shops scattered throughout the whole area, both looking like they were having a hard time to decide which one to go and see first. Kizuna was also enjoying herself but Kyosuke noticed that his girlfriend was happy just watching everyone messing around.
'Tired?' he asked her after they'd left Seisuke and Akito by the Space Jets to go and grab some coffee.
'Not really,' Kizuna replied, 'this place is amazing.'
'It is,' Kyosuke said, 'don't tell anyone but I'm actually having fun.'
'Your secret is safe with me,' Kizuna said winking an eye at him.
It wasn't until very late that day that they made it back to Shibukawa where they decided to stop by one of the fast food stores to grab something to eat before they would drive Akito back home. All three couples were sitting at one of the booths when Akito, picking distractedly at his chips, spoke up and said:
'Guys, I've made my mind up.'
'Regarding what?' Ryoko asked him.
'Racing,' Akito replied.
'What about it?' Kyosuke asked.
'The reason I needed this trip,' Akito replied, 'it's because I was feeling very confused but I'm not anymore.'
'Okay,' Seisuke said, 'I am now so, if you please…'
'You see,' Akito explained, 'when I found out about Guelfi-san's death, my grandfather and my father told me something but I didn't really understand what it meant until today. The thing is, they're right, motorsports are dangerous and one needs to accept that risk in order to keep on racing. I've been thinking that if Guelfi-san were in my shoes, he wouldn't have had any of the doubts I've been having. He would have carried on doing his job while forgetting about other stuff. That is exactly what I've decided I'll do.'
'What doubts did you have?' Kyosuke asked him.
'You weren't thinking of quitting, were you?' Seisuke added.
'I don't know,' Akito replied, 'like I said, my head was a mess and I didn't know what to do anymore.'
'But you do now, don't you?' Ryoko asked him.
'I do,' Akito confirmed, 'and it's all thanks to you guys. I'm very lucky I have such good friends.'
'Hey,' Seisuke said trying to hide his own embarrassment, 'what can we say? We're just super-cool!'
'Especially you,' Kaori said half teasing him, half sounding serious.
They all started laughing at that and by the time they all went back home, they knew that the crisis was over and that Akito would just do what he did best: driving insanely fast without worrying about the rest.
A week after their trip to Disneyland, Seisuke drove his RZ-1 to the base of Mt Akagi's pass where he found most of the Golden Arrows already there doing their best to keep Shinji distracted while he waited for Junya and Kyosuke to come back by throwing wild speculations regarding the young man's future new car.
'I say it's an S17,' Yuta voted feeling proud of his own car.
'Nah,' Eiji said, 'it's got to be a Honda, probably a Civic.'
'You're both wrong,' Shuji said, 'I'm sure it'll be a Subaru.'
'Yeah,' Tatsuya agreed, 'a GR more than likely.'
'Rubbish,' Masato said with a dismissive gesture, 'it'll be a Toyota, right Izawa?'
'Of course,' the man replied.
'I don't know,' Seisuke said, 'Aniki was the one who helped Junya choose, it could be a Mazda.'
'Or a Mitsubishi,' Kei added.
'Shinji-chan,' Shige said passing his arm around the kid's shoulders, 'which car would you prefer?'
'I don't know,' Shinji replied feeling a little overwhelmed, 'anything would…'
Just then they first heard then saw Kyosuke's famous RZ-1 and, behind it, they saw Junya driving a brand new, second generation Honda Beat painted in yellow. The first generation of this kei-car had been the B in the Japanese kei-car ABC together with the Mazda AZ-1 and the Suzuki Cappuccino. The new version looked a bit like a mini Civic cabriolet and the one Junya had just parked in front of them had a hard top covering it.
'Wow,' was all that Shinji was able to say.
'That's uber-cool!' Shige said forcing Shinji to walk with him towards the new car.
'See?' Eiji said with an air of superiority, 'I told you it was a Honda.'
Everyone quickly gathered around the new car and soon Junya climbed out of it looking for Shinji.
'Here,' he said giving him the key, 'what do you think?'
'Think?' Shinji asked as if he thought that it was impossible for him to think right now, 'I'm…'
'I think he likes it,' Yuta said.
'Of course he does,' Shige agreed.
'It's a really nice car,' Seisuke commented admiring the small but agile looking roadster.
'And I think it'll suit him well,' Kei observed talking to Shinji.
'That's right,' Masato agreed.
'It might not win in a drag race,' Izawa said, 'but I'm sure that for the mountains it'll be perfect.'
'It is perfect,' Shinji finally managed to say, 'I…I love it.'
'I knew you would,' Junya said.
'We've done some work to it,' Kyosuke explained, 'so it'll be a bit faster than the normal version. We've reinforced the suspensions as well as adding some stabilisers to improve its handling. The engine is a nought point seven but we've tuned it up to give up to ninety five horsepower. Its top speed right now is about one hundred and sixty five and like the Civic is an FF so it'll be fairly easy to take it around the corners.'
'Don't take our word for it,' Junya said to an astonished Shinji, 'get in and have a go.'
'What?' Shinji said, 'are you sure? I…'
'The car's yours,' Junya said, 'you do want to get used to it pretty quickly, don't you?'
'Of course,' Shinji said, 'it's just that…'
'Say Junya,' Kyosuke interrupted him, 'do you mind if I ask Shinji to take me up Mt Akagi in his new car?'
'What?' Shinji asked, 'Kyosuke-san…'
'Sure,' Junya replied.
'I…'
'I'm sure you'll do great,' Kyosuke interrupted him again.
'Oh…alright,' Shinji said not sounding very sure of himself, 'please don't expect too much,' he asked him.
Kyosuke didn't say anything to that and, instead, he walked around the Beat and went to get onboard.
'Come on,' Junya said, 'show him what you've learned in these past three months.'
Slowly at first, Shinji made his way to the driver's side of the car and, climbing into it, he spent a few minutes looking at the dashboard where he could see the two digital dials, the speedometer and the rev-counter and three other gauges for water temperature, oil pressure and battery charge. There was also a very expensive looking hi-fi system complete with a mini LCD screen where he could see the sat-nav.
'What do you think?' Kyosuke asked him.
'I'm speechless,' Shinji said.
'Come on,' Junya said talking from outside the car, 'try and turn it on.'
Shinji inserted the key into the ignition and soon he heard the engine's explosive power coming alive.
'Wow!' he and a few of the Arrows gasped at the same time.
It sounded like music.
Eager to see what it felt to actually drive it, Shinji hurried to adjust the mirrors and the height of his seat, which wasn't of the bucket kind but extremely comfortable nevertheless. He then fastened his seat belt and waited for Kyosuke to fasten his too. Then, pressing the clutch with almost religious respect, he entered the first gear, released the handbrake and an instant later, they were off, leaving the car park and eleven of the Golden Arrows behind.
Mindful that Kyosuke would probably watch everything he did, Shinji drove the car with extreme care, trying to make his movements as fluid as possible while he took the car around the corners of the gentle slope which was the first part of the Mt Akagi Pass. He knew that he wasn't going very fast but it didn't matter.
'That's a good line,' Kyosuke commented gently.
'Thanks,' Shinji said.
'But you're going a little too wide at the exit,' Kyosuke said, 'you need to enter the corner a little slower and accelerate just as you're reaching the mid-point sticking to the apex as much as you can. This way you'll exit much faster without going too wide and you'll cut a few tenths of a second per corner.'
Shinji frowned a bit hearing this warning. Wasn't the same thing Akito had tried to tell him at the Centre?
'Kyosuke-san…' he started.
'Yes?'
'No, nothing,' Shinji said changing his mind while he carried on driving uphill.
'Is there anything that's worrying you?' Kyosuke asked him.
'No,' he lied, 'I'm just…this car is great,' he said.
'It is,' Kyosuke agreed, 'when we saw it, Junya and I thought that it would be perfect for you as a first car.'
'What was your first car?' Shinji asked him.
'The one I have now,' Kyosuke replied, 'but I learned the basics with one of the karts at the Centre.'
'How old were you?' Shinji asked him.
'Five-ish,' Kyosuke replied, 'Seisuke and Akito also started driving karts at that age.'
'Fujiwara-kun too?' Shinji asked sounding surprised.
'Oh yes,' Kyosuke said smiling at the memory, 'that punk overtook Seisuke in his second time onboard a kart when he was just five and a half. Seisuke had been driving karts for nearly two years when that happened.'
Shinji didn't say anything to that, instead, he asked:
'So you've been driving for a long time, haven't you?'
'Most of my life,' Kyosuke replied.
'That's why you're so good,' Shinji dared to say.
'Not really,' Kyosuke replied, 'sure, experience is an important factor but what really makes the difference is learning by seeing what other, more experienced drivers do. Try and figure out how they do what they do and then, once you're confident you can do it too, keep on practicing until you master that technique. Also, it's important that you don't focus on a single driver but to try and learn from different sources, everyone uses different techniques and you need to pick the ones which suit your own driving style.'
'How am I supposed to know which ones suit me best?' Shinji asked him.
'That's easy enough to understand,' Kyosuke replied, 'if you feel comfortable doing something, then it means that it suits your style. If you feel like you're forcing yourself too much, then it's better if you don't do it.'
'Ah, okay,' Shinji replied he looked like he wanted to add something else but he changed his mind again.
'Alright,' Kyosuke said, 'now this is the fun part so, concentrate a bit and make this baby go a little faster.'
Complying with the order, Shinji applied more pressure to the accelerator making the Beat go faster as they reached the steeper part of Mt Akagi's Pass. He found that by increasing the speed he got a better response from the car itself making the ride a smoother one which, in turn, encouraged Shinji to drive even faster.
They soon made it to the summit with Shinji listening to the numerous pieces of advice Kyosuke was giving him as they went back downhill. Some of them were things that he'd already heard from Junya while the older man taught him how to drive, others were new things he'd never known they could be done and others still were in direct contradiction with Junya's teachings. Those made Shinji feel very confused.
As he made it back into the car park, he started thinking that maybe, just maybe, Junya was wrong about a number of things and it was with that unsettling notion that he stopped the car. Shinji didn't have the time to mull things over for he saw the members of the Golden Arrows quickly surrounding his new Honda Beat and seeing that Kyosuke was climbing out of it, Shinji followed suit and found himself right next to Junya.
'So,' the older man asked, 'how was it?'
'Perfect,' Shinji replied trying to sound normal, 'just perfect.'
'I'm happy to hear that,' Junya said with a smile.
'I'll never be able to thank you enough,' Shinji said.
'Don't worry about it,' Junya said.
While everyone was busy admiring the new car and talking about it with its proud owner, Kyosuke made his way to his RZ-1 and took a couple of the Golden Arrows stickers from the glove compartment then, he walked back to the group and asked everyone for their attention:
'After seeing Shinji's driving and considering what he and his machine can potentially achieve, I believe we should accept Sakura Shinji as the newest member of our team, 'Kyosuke said, 'so, what do you guys think?'
'Of course!' a few of them exclaimed while others just nodded.
'Any objections?' Kyosuke asked.
As predicted, no one spoke and handing the stickers to Shinji, Kyosuke smiled at him and said:
'Welcome to the team.'
With trembling hands, Shinji took the Golden Arrows decals looking at them as if he was about to burst into tears and, everyone was about to celebrate his addition to the team when Junya spoke up and said:
'Okay, now that this is settled, there's one thing I need to say.'
'What is it?' Kyosuke asked noticing the pleading look Shinji seemed to be giving him.
'Kyosuke,' Junya said, 'I want to challenge you to a race.'
This statement was followed by a sepulchral silence and while everyone sported expressions with different degrees of astonishment, Kei shook his head and Shinji looked a little upset, as if he felt somewhat disappointed in Junya for stealing his one and only moment of glory making such an unreasonable request.
'So,' Junya said, 'what do you say?'
'I say no,' was Kyosuke's surprising reply.
'No?' Junya asked looking shocked.
'No,' Kyosuke repeated calmly.
'Why not?' Junya asked him raising his voice a little.
'Because I don't accept challenges from any of you,' Kyosuke replied.
'Why not?' Junya repeated.
'Because I don't see any of you as a rival,' Kyosuke said without a trace of arrogance in his voice.
'Who do you see as your rival, then?' Junya demanded.
Kyosuke refused to answer to that question.
'Oh, come on!' Junya exclaimed now sounding definitely upset, 'don't tell me that it's that brat again!'
'Hey…' Seisuke started.
'You're exactly right,' Kyosuke said making a gesture to stop his brother, or any of the other guys, from intervening in the conversation, 'as a matter of fact, it is Akito the one I see as my biggest rival.'
'Why?' Junya nearly cried, 'I beat that brat myself, how can he be your biggest rival?'
Kyosuke glared at Seisuke who was very obviously about to reveal something that had to remain a secret.
'I have news for you,' Junya continued, 'that brat doesn't see you as a rival.'
'I know that,' Kyosuke said a soft smile appearing on his face.
'But then…'
'That's the reason why he'll have to beat me if he wants to become a member of our team,' Kyosuke said.
'So you'll race him!' Junya exclaimed.
'Of course I will,' Kyosuke said.
'But then why don't you race me again?' Junya said.
'Because you're already a member of my team, Junya,' Kyosuke said still trying to be patient.
'That's bullshit and you know it,' Junya shouted.
'You're free to see it that way,' Kyosuke offered.
'Alright,' Junya said, 'so if we aren't your rivals, what are we? And why did you ask me to be part of this team?'
'Above all,' Kyosuke said, 'we are a group of friends and the reason why I asked you to become a member of this team was because I genuinely think you are a great driver. I saw you had enormous potential and I wanted to see if, given the chance, you could get even better. I'm glad to say that my assessment was correct.'
'But…'
'Junya,' Kyosuke interrupted him, 'I see you as a friend and I'd like to think you see me as your friend too. Now, as a friend, I want to ask you what is it that you want? Do you want to be in the Golden Arrows or not?'
Junya remained silent as if he were thinking about it when Shinji looked at him and said:
'Junya-san, if you aren't part of this team, then I don't want to be part of it either.'
A startled Junya stared at Shinji finally noticing the way the kid seemed to be silently begging him to be reasonable. He glanced back at Kyosuke who was still waiting for his answer but before he spoke, he looked at the other members of the Golden Arrows who were holding their breath to see what he said next then, returning his gaze to Kyosuke, he choose his next words very carefully and he said:
'Would you still want me in the team if I said I won't always agree with the things you do?'
'Of course,' Kyosuke said, 'I don't expect everyone to always agree with me, that's unrealistic.'
Junya looked at him for a while longer then, nodding once, he said:
'Alright, I'll stay in the team.'
For now, he mentally added.
While everyone let out a sigh of relief and they all got ready to start celebrating Shinji's addition to the team, in Junya's mind he started trying to come up with an alternative plan. So, Kyosuke saw that brat as his rival? Okay, if he had to properly beat the brat first in order to be acknowledged as a rival too, then he'd be more than happy to do it. Comforted by this thought, Junya finally smiled and decided to join in the celebration.
To be continued…
