Chapter 54

During the first five laps of the championship race in Fuji, Gavin did everything short of making the Takahashi Racing Team's NSX fly off the track as he made his way into the lead position. Once he got there Takeshi Kanzaki's racing partner in the blue SC430 got into second and started pushing Gavin to go faster to help him maintain the lead, but still feigned attacks once in a while to make it look like he wanted the lead spot.

Back in the GT300 pack Nika had some very surprising, yet very welcome, help from a GT-R that started in fifth. The red and white machine was obviously acting as a shield that moved up a position each time Nika did but never made a move to attack the FD as she moved towards the lead.

Over in the private box that David's company had paid for, David Crandon, Raiden Sasaki and the GP2 driving instructor from the school had started talking about the possibility of the Takahashi Racing SchoolTeam putting a GP2 team in the grid someday.

"I wouldn't mind being a team manager if Takahashi-san said we were going to. Hell I'd love to get back into the racing world as more than a teacher," the driver said with a chuckle.

"GP2 is pretty expensive, not to mention it's an international racing scene, I don't think Takahashi-san wants to put that much money into something like that anytime soon," Raiden replied with a more logical tone.

"Ryosuke-san will probably make that call when faced with the first class at the end of a couple years' training like he did with this team," David said with a small smirk, "I wouldn't be surprised if he has you recruit the drivers like he had Keisuke and Takumi."

"Where would we go? Leagues like Formula Renault or F3 where most of the drivers are just starting their professional careers?" the GP2 driver asked with a joking tone.

"Well I doubt he'd want mountain racers with no seat time in an open wheeler," Raiden said putting a real stop to the short joke.

"I don't doubt that given enough time Ryosuke-san could put together a team for GP2, if he wanted to that is," David said with a chuckle, "I mean seriously, he's got two Super GT championship teams in just over two years of training."

"That had a lot to do with the talent at the wheel Crandon-kun," Hikaru Sasaki said with a proud tone from his place on the couch.

"That's true, I can honestly say that Keisuke-san and Takumi-san managed to recruit the absolute best of the mountains for this," the GP2 driver said with a chuckle, "I had too much fun driving in that little race we had at the school last week, just watching all of them was a blast."

"Well as far as that GP2 team, I've already told Ryosuke that all he has to do is call, I'll help sponsor it," Raiden said with a chuckle at his father's shocked face, "What? It's good publicity," he added looking Hikaru in the eye.

"It may be good publicity, but how can you be sure it's a risk worth taking with all that money?" the older man replied without missing a step.

"Because according to Crandon-san, even with the fact that his company has paid for had every racing car the school owns built, the sponsorship is well paid off in profits for his company despite the fact they're only on the car's quarter panels," Raiden replied with a triumphant smirk.

"It's true Sasaki-san, I even got a very unexpected raise thanks to this team," David admitted, "Plus most of the lower employees back home are getting bigger Christmas bonuses and raises of their own this year."

"And even if the GP2 team is half as good as this one has been, they stand one hell of a chance in the championship of their year," the GP2 driver added with a chuckle, "With me and my mechanic as their teachers they'll be just as good or better than this team."

The older man stared at the three younger men for a few moments before he just shrugged and went back to watching the race where his daughter in-law had finally made it to the lead and her GT-R shield had started to allow the gap to open while he blocked everyone else. Down in the pit box Yuki was atop the observation tower with Izumi watching the race on the monitors.

"Taniguchi-chan, is there some reason that the GT-R is letting Sasaki-chan get so far away?" the lady doctor asked pointing to the car on the monitor.

"I don't really know, Nika-san and Tatsuo-san don't really socialize with other GT300 teams like Gavin-san and Reiko-san do," Izumi replied with a shrug, "All I can say for sure is his team manager is probably very angry with him right now."

"That's an understatement, Izumi-chan," Kyoko said taking her attention away from the telemetry coming from the FD, "That team will take second place in the championship if they win this race, so he should be all over her but instead he's holding second."

"Why would he do that? He could be fired for doing that," the auburn haired woman said sounding a little concerned.

"He better have a hell of a reason that's all I can say for him right now," the dirty blonde replied with a shrug before turning her attention back to the telemetry screen for the FD.

"So if he's disobeying orders, what do you think his teammate will do?" Yuki asked looking at Izumi, who at the moment looked excited to see Nika take the lead of the GT300 category.

"I don't really know, this completely blindsided us so I can't imagine what his team manager is screaming into that driver's ear right now," the auburn haired woman replied sounding very much like Kyoko had.

As the race went on Gavin and the blue SC430 that belonged to Takeshi Kanzaki's team were almost a full two seconds ahead of the pack. Nika and her shield had moved away from the GT300 pack as well but the red and white GT-R still refused to get any closer than it was and it was driving Nika's instincts nutswild.

"Takumi-san, I don't know why but I don't think he's going to attack me at all," the brown haired woman said looking in the rear view mirror of the FD.

"Keep your guard up, he's likely to be playing a mind game to make it easier," Takumi's voice replied through her radio.

Nika steeled herself against the wheel and started into the braking point of the tenth corner. She flew through the tight right handed Dunlop corner as fast as the FD would carry her, letting momentum carry her through the following left hander. She could just make out Gavin's NSX heading through the fourteenth corner as she cleared the twelfth, so she decided to do what she'd done in Suzuka in her debut race when she reached the sixteenth corner. The FD's engine screamed as she began to chase the impossible target through the long front straight.

"Gavin-kun, Nika-chan is chasing you again," Keisuke's voice rang in his left ear while the music he had in his right continued to play.

"Rodger that, you want me to lay on it?" the buzz cut blonde asked while checking his rear view mirror.

"No, stay at the pace you're on till you come in, you should be able to pit and get Reiko in the car and back out without losing a position," the spiky blonde haired man replied seriously.

Gavin returned to his muttered singing as he made his way through the last few laps of his season as he continued to open the gap a tiny bit at a time. Nika made the absolute best of her last few laps of the season to not only catch, but pass several of the GT500 cars that stood between her and the overall lead spot. When the two cars came into the pits their shield cars came in right behind them well ahead of their respective packs.

Reiko and Takeshi Kanzaki were well on their way out of pit lane when their opponents got into their boxes. Coming out of pit lane Takeshi and his blue SC430 dove to the inner most line of the first corner and drove ahead of the Takahashi Racing Team's NSX taking the lead for the first time in the race, making Gavin fume a bit while he stood just outside of the pit box itself.

On the course Reiko was so pissed she didn't realize that this was Takeshi's way of helping her. The brown haired man had noticed the woman's ability to mimic what the driver ahead of her was doing. He stuck the SC430 to the very best lines and drove the car for everything it had as they made their way through the third and fourth corners at nearly suicidal speeds causing the gap over the field to increase incredibly fast.

"Reiko, he's going to let you by so be ready," Gavin's voice rang through her radio as the two cars cleared the left handed hairpin that was Fuji's sixth corner.

"I figured as much, now husband or not shut up," Reiko said with a hint of fear in her tone as the two cars moved as one through the next three long open corners.

It took three laps for Takeshi to find a good spot for Reiko to slip by without looking suspicious to his own team. When they reached the sixth corner he let the SC430 slide off its line at just the right moment for Reiko to fly by on the inside. Once Reiko was in the lead her pace slowed slightly and her lines got a little rougher as she regained her ability to think straight while she came down from the adrenaline that had built up in her system.

"Okay Reiko, you've got the lead, Takeshi won't take the lead back but he'll probably start feigning attacks so make it look pretty for his sake," Gavin chuckled from his new place as his wife's radio man as the NSX and the SC430 continued on their way.

"Yeah, any warnings would be nice just so you know," Reiko's voice replied calmly.

A few laps after Reiko took the lead, Takeshi started to notice that the NSX's lines were getting worse as the race went on. Gavin could see it on his monitor as well and he was wondering what Takeshi would do to help out an already very tired Reiko. To both the buzz cut blonde and his wife's surprise, the SC430 used its first 'failed attack' to correct Reiko's line before slipping back in behind her and pushing her up to a better speed.

"He's got more skill than I thought," Keisuke muttered as he watched on the monitor.

"What did he do exactly?" Izumi asked just as the second of Takeshi's 'attacks' corrected another mistake Reiko had made in her lines.

"Kanzaki-kun is using Reiko-chan's instinct to avoid a crash to push her into a proper racing line," Ryosuke answered calmly, "It's a skill one has to practice a great deal in order to master, even more to make it look like a failed attack like this."

"Isn't that insanely dangerous? I mean what if Reiko doesn't fall for it? He could actually hit her right?" Mikio's wife asked with a slightly panicky tone as her eyes went from the monitor to the men and then to the track.

"She'll be fine, she's already figured it out for herself," Gavin said pointing out the fact that the tenth, eleventh and twelfth corners went without a correction from Takeshi, "Now that she's leveled out from the adrenaline rush from those three flying laps she's able to think again."

"Keep your eyes on your wife Gavin-san!" the auburn haired woman shouted making everyone laugh.

"I can multitask," the buzz cut blonde replied with a chuckle before he turned back to the monitors.

About ten laps into the second half of the race, Tatsuo had not only lost the human shield that Nika had, but he had been under near constant attack from the red and white GT-R since he'd made his way back into second place three laps before. At every possible moment the GT-R would find some way to either level with or at least attempt to pass the FD. While flying through the fifth and sixth corners Tatsuo had managed to open enough of a gap to breathe easy through the three long open corners that followed the hairpin. When he reached the tenth corner the GT-R closed the gap and while attempting to pass slid off the best line allowing Tatsuo to keep his lead for the moment. Going into the eleventh corner Tatsuo made the slightest mistake because of a puddle that somehow managed to stay on the track throughout the whole race. The GT-R and the FD flew into the twelfth corner side by side; the GT-R's driver chickened out at the last millisecond and Tatsuo regained the lead.

"Geez seven corners and three near passes, he's got to be wearing out by now right?" Tatsuo asked himself as the two cars came into the main straight after two more failed attempts at a pass.

Up in the private box everyone's parents were on their feet as the NSX and the SC430 battled it out in GT500, not one of them knowing about the arrangement between the four drivers of the two cars, and the FD and the GT-R battled it out in GT300. Gavin's mother had nearly lost her voice while cheering for her son in the first half of the race and Raiden's wife had been nearly as enthusiastic as she had been so they were off in a corner talking quietly among themselves when Helen noticed Nika's step mother sitting well away from her husband who was currently cheering for his son in-law.

"Mahara-san, aren't you going to cheer for Nika-chan's team?" the graying blonde woman asked with a kind tone.

"Nope, I'm not even sure why I came right now to be honest," the woman replied sounding a little sad.

"I thought you came to cheer her on in her last race of the season," Helen said with a chuckle as she sat next to Nika's step mother.

"Look, I came here to talk to her, she wanted nothing to do with me so I guess I should have just left, but for some reason I can't make myself get up and leave."

"Because you do actually care about what happens to her, despite how you came into her life."

"You know about all that then?"

"I know that you married her father just after she turned sixteen, that's what I know, both your husband and my son have been rather tight lipped about Nika."

"Then you didn't hear about the fact that the reason Nika moved out was because she bought her car when she got her license and I flipped out for two days straight so she locked her bedroom door to get away from me, I shouted even more at her before she screamed she was leaving and not coming back." Nika's step-mother said with a regret filled tone, "I don't know how I'm going to fix this but it's really hurting Toshiyuki even though it doesn't show."

"Your husband still talks to his daughter so I'm guessing that you mean that he doesn't actually get to see her as often as he'd like," Helen replied calmly.

"No he sees her every weekend and a few times a week, but never with me around. Nika just doesn't care to try and fix a relationship that never existed to her."

"Give it some time, she may come around yet," the graying blonde replied before standing up and leaving the other woman to her own devices.

The race was coming into its last lap and Reiko was leaving Takeshi behind a bit at each corner having modified her lines to be just a little better than the ones he'd guided her to before. The NSX was nearly flying as she maneuvered through each corner at the fastest possible speed to be safe. Gavin had long turned the radio back over to Keisuke who was guiding her every move through the last lap.

Tatsuo had finally managed to shake the GT-R off his tail about halfway through his stint and was now chasing down and passing a few of the GT500 cars that had come across his path just to have a little fun. The FD came into the straight for its last lap of the season at near record breaking speeds. The GT-R was still within a second of the FD but the gap would have made attacking in a corner suicide and impossible in the straights.

The NSX crossed the finish line with half a car between its back bumper and the SC430's front bumper, but the gap between it and the car in third was nearly three seconds. The FD came across the finish line with a five second gap over a black Toyota Supra that had managed to steal second in the last corner, putting the GT-R into third and well away from the championship standings.

"Gavin-kun, Nika-chan, get ready to meet the press with your teammates, Tatsuo-kun and Reiko-chan will go straight to victory lane in the cars," Ryosuke said holding the talk button on his radio to be sure the two current drivers heard him.

As Gavin and Tatsuo ran towards victory lane, Kumiko Kanzaki and the second driver of the SC430 met them halfway there and they walked the rest of the way together. Keisuke and Takumi had the two halves of the team start packing everything they could since the cars wouldn't be back in the paddock until either way late that night or early the next morning.

After the podium ceremony and the championship trophies were presented to both Takahashi Racing teams, Gavin, Reiko, Tatsuo and Nika were all shuffled off the stage and into a press conference.

"Gavin-kun, how does it feel to win, not only your rookie championship, but the one you won alongside your wife?" A journalist asked over the shouting crowd of other journalists.

"It feels pretty surreal right now, but if it's all still real in the morning I'll let you know," the buzz cut blonde replied causing laughter to fill the room for a short time.

"Nika-san, what happened with the red and white GT-R that was acting as a shield for you?" another person asked.

"I have absolutely no idea, but it was a pretty welcome surprise," the brown haired woman replied with a smile.

"So Kanzaki-san, you're second place again, and third in the championship standings this season. How does your team feel about that?"

"I don't think we're going to give up on getting a third championship, but for this season I think we lost it to the more talented team," the brown haired man replied calmly despite his team's press officer going nuts in the back of the room.

"So will this loss of the championship affect your friendship with the Reynolds in any way? Or the offer you made Gavin-kun to take your seat that we've all heard about this weekend?"

"I hope it won't affect our friendship, especially considering I wouldn't have wanted to lose to anyone else," Takeshi replied with a chuckle, "And the offer will be unaffected by these events, if anything it solidifies my choice with the higher ups of the team."

After about twenty minutes of nonstop questions the drivers of all the teams were allowed to leave the press conference and went through the huge crowd of people who wanted their autographs and pictures with them. Gavin and Tatsuo, much to the displeasure of their wives, got a few kisses from several female fans.

By the time Gavin and Reiko were able to make it back to their paddock they barely had any time to change before Takeshi and Kumiko showed up in the motor home for their usual after race dinner. This time all they could talk about was the race and how impressed Gavin had been with Takeshi's plan to help Reiko out.

When they got back to the paddock Takeshi congratulated Gavin and Reiko on winning the championship before leaving the Takahashi Racing Team's paddock for the last time ever. The drivers of the team sat in the silence of the motor home just enjoying the quiet after such a hectic evening. Reiko and Gavin were the first to make their way to bed before Nika and Tatsuo followed, all of them ignoring the fact that none of them had seen their families since before race day.

The next day they arrived back at the school early in the morning, the shock having finally worn off for most of the team somewhere around three in the morning when they were getting ready to leave so they could get everything unpacked and back in their proper places. Gavin and Reiko were shocked to see Reiko and Tatsuo's parents, brother and sister in-law standing by the door with every member of the Gunma mountain teams, the Emperors team from Irohazaka, and Gavin's parents along with Jessica Samford and her family. Nika wasn't surprised to see her father standing in the small group but she was a little shocked to see her step-mother wasn't there after showing up at the race. Mikio's parents were deep in conversation with Raiden while Kitamura was talking among the teams as though he were a member of all of them.

The small party that started on the school's front steps didn't last long when Ryosuke had the car haulers back up to the school's main entrance and ordered Gavin into the Super GT NSX.

"What's going on?" Jessica asked as the hauler opened up and Gavin climbed into the NSX.

"No idea," Reiko answered as they all moved out of the way.

Keisuke and Takumi removed the pillar from the double doors at the school's entrance way and Tatsuo figured out what was going on. It took the ramp stopping at the top of the short flight of stairs that led to the entrance for it to hit the rest of the team that the Super GT cars were going to be the display for the main entrance to the school. Gavin slowly backed the car off the ramp with Keisuke guiding him from behind and Takumi up front. The FD followed with Tatsuo at the wheel and once both cars were where Ryosuke wanted them he placed each trophy for the championship on the appropriate hood.

"You've earned the right to come back here and teach, but I hope you don't for at least two seasons because there is too much talent to waste among all of you," the brown haired doctor said with a calm, low nod to his team.

"Ryosuke, I have an announcement to make," Kyoko said before everyone could get too emotional, "You're going to be an uncle."

"WHAT!?" Keisuke's voice echoed through the huge lobby making everyone jump back in shock before the news sunk in.

"Kyoko-san, you're pregnant?" Reiko asked seeing as no one else could find their words.

The dirty blonde haired woman nodded excitedly and that seemed to snap Natsuki, Izumi and Reiko the rest of the way out of their shock as they ran and hugged the woman. Keisuke still stood rather dumbfounded with his jaw hanging open a little, causing Takumi to chuckle and push his fellow teacher's jaw closed.

"Kyoko, really? You're not joking or anything?" the spiky blonde haired man asked sounding like the shock hadn't worn off.

"Yes Keisuke, you're going to be a father by next summer," Kyoko replied excitedly just before being swept off her feet in a hug from her husband.

Keisuke stayed on his high until the real party started to celebrate the championship. Ryosuke and David had arranged everything the night before, there was champagne from the race officials that was getting opened, but before things got too far out of hand Tatsuo tapped his glass a couple times to get everyone's attention.

"I know that it's not customary for a driver to toast after a win, but I don't care," the black haired man said with a chuckle, "To the team of mechanics and the pit crew, we wouldn't have this championship if not for them."

"And to the men behind the whole thing, Ryosuke Takahashi and David Crandon," Gavin added with a serious tone.

"I have something that requires me and Nika to go outside for a bit, if you'd like you can follow," Tatsuo said once everyone had taken their drink at the toasts.

Nika followed her husband as he led her to the guardrail of the school's private circuit, everyone else followed behind them and Gavin went and opened the gate that allowed outside cars onto the circuit. The sound of an engine firing brought everyone's attention to the maintenance bay where Tatsuo was pulling the arctic white 1972 S30Z out of the track. Nika felt her eyes begin to water as the car came closer to the group at a slow crawl. Tatsuo gave the engine a few revs, letting the S20 engine sing its own melody before he shut it down and climbed out of the driver's seat.

"Nika, she's all yours," the black haired man said holding the keys out to his wife.

"And no you can't take it to the mountains like your Z33," Gavin added with a joking tone, earning himself a playful backhand to his chest from Reiko.

Nika stood silent for a minute or two simply staring at the keys dangling from her husband's hand before she leapt into his chest and hugged him so tight he actually started to turn blue. She walked around the car a few times after releasing Tatsuo from the bear hug and took in every detail.

"I want to know everything there is to know about this car," the brown haired woman finally said with a wide smile as she stood by the car's driver's door.

"We can get to that later, for now we should go back inside and finish this party," Gavin said with a chuckle when everyone agreed with him making Nika pout.

It was nearly dinnertime before anyone thought about leaving. Steven and Helen Reynolds and Jessica Samford's family were the first to actually leave since they had an early flight and none of them were anywhere near packed. Eventually no one but the Takahashi Racing Team itself was left at the school; none of them seemed willing to leave so early in the day.

"I think I'm taking Takeshi-san's offer to take his seat next season," Gavin said as he sat on the NSX next to the trophy, "It's the best offer I've gotten and Reiko's not particularly interested in any of hers."

"You're sure about this then?" Kyoko asked as she stared dead at Reiko.

"As sure as we can be, Gavin did try to talk me into that 300 seat I was offered but I don't think it's a good fit for me so I'll just take on the tester spot behind Gavin," Reiko replied with a smile when Gavin's eyes shot over to hers.

"What about you Tatsuo-san? Have you and Nika-san figured out what you'll be doing next season?" Izumi asked hoping to hear they'd taken at least one offer of the many they had.

"We're meeting with a team manager that's willing to put us in a car together in GT300 again, but I'm not sure if we're going to take it yet or not," Tatsuo replied getting a nod of agreement from Nika, "If we do take it, it's probably going to take a while to get used to driving something that's not a rotary."

"And Nika here just got used to the FD," Gavin teased earning him a one finger salute from Nika.

"Well at least you've gotten offers for next season, you've earned every one of them, but for now enjoy the time off," Keisuke said with a chuckle as he hugged his wife, still really excited about being a father.

It was close to nine o'clock at night when the rest of the team decided it was time to go home. Gavin and Reiko climbed into his FD, Nika and Tatsuo got into the two Zs that would go home with them that night while Mikio and Izumi got into his Lan-Evo VI. Ryosuke and Yuki Nakahara stood on the top step and watched as all four cars tore out of the parking lot the same way they had the first day of classes nearly three years before.