Dreaming of Akina
Chapter Fifty Four
A little over three months after the race which had seen him losing to Keiichi Tsuchiya, Bunta stood in one of the PD3's laboratories with chief engineer Hiroshi Ueda. The two men stared at a half assembled S20 engine as though as they were both waiting for the piece of machinery to tell them what to do next.
'It's useless,' the middle aged man said, 'it's too hot. I'm too tired and, this thing…'
'It's useless,' Bunta finished for him.
'Precisely,' Hiroshi agreed, 'you know what? We should just go home and sleep on it.'
'It's the afternoon,' Bunta pointed out.
'So what?' Hiroshi challenged, 'it simply is too hot to continue working. If it's like that now that's only June, I don't even want to think of what's going to be like in July/August.'
Hiroshi was right, not even the state of the art cooling system which had been recently installed in the PD3 facilities made the extreme heat any more bearable. Even Bunta found that he had to wipe the bridge of his nose every now and then and that was nothing when compared at how bad it was when he had to drive, trapped inside his racing suit and a too tight fitting helmet, in the oven that was his race car.
'Let's do this,' Bunta proposed, 'why don't we go home now. We can meet up here later on, say after dinner so we see if there's anything else we can do?'
The engineer looked at him approvingly and, nodding, he said:
'That sounds like a good plan.'
With that, both men walked outside the building where the intense heat wave hit them mercilessly. Bunta rushed towards his 2000GT, the usual little smile appearing on his face. He really had a lot of guts to show up in a Nissan owned facility with a Toyota knowing that half of the staff admired him for it, the other half were always trying to figure out a way to damage the car without Bunta finding out about it.
Naturally, they were all too scared of Hiroshi Ueda to do anything nasty to Bunta since, for some strange reason, Ueda had taken an instant liking to the younger man making thus sure that no one would even dream of going anywhere near the 2000GT.
'Hey Bunta,' Hiroshi shouted while he climbed into his Nissan S10, 'if we get too tired of playing with that engine, we could always take a look at what's under that bonnet of yours…'
'Nice try,' Bunta joked, 'but not good enough.'
'Ah,' Hiroshi said, 'you're not fun.'
The two of them let out a chuckle and then, Bunta climbed into his Toyota, turning its powerful engine on while he observed the Silvia driving past him. The Nissan was two toned: it's top half was painted beige and the bottom one was a dark shade of chocolate brown. It kind of looked cool and, Bunta knew, was very much in fashion these days to paint the car in two different colours…
'Don't worry,' he said talking to the steering wheel, 'I'm not going to paint you brown.'
Maybe it was his imagination but he could have sworn that the car felt relieved hearing those words. He was probably going insane but he guessed that's what three months living with a woman like Midori would do to anybody.
Thinking about his wife made his smile vanish. Granted, the woman still did her best to be a good enough wife but, lately, she had started trying to get them to socialise with her friends and that's something Bunta simply refused to do.
One thing was being married to her, another one was having to dress up in stupid suits to go and spend supremely boring evenings with people he didn't know and who kept looking at him as though as he were some sort of asylum seeker.
For this reason and knowing that if he went back home at this time of the day he would have to be with her, he decided to drive all the way back to Shibukawa instead, feeling grateful that he had just filled the tank using PD3's pump. One good thing about working for a car make's research team was that he always got free petrol for his car, which, considering the stupidly high prices imposed by the different petrol companies in these difficult years of world-wide crisis, that was very good news indeed.
Speaking of the crisis, Bunta knew that Yuuichi was worried about his family's business and, since with petrol alone the Tachibana's station was probably doomed to closure, he had recently convinced his father to install a brand new, all-automatic car washing machine where people who filled their tanks would get a free wash.
Bunta admired the way Yuuichi was slowly becoming a worthy successor to his father and he knew that Tachibana-san had every intention of handing down the business the moment Yuuichi had a son, which probably explained the reason why he and his wife Fuka were quite eager to get pregnant.
Shaking off the usual nasty feeling he got whenever the subject went anywhere near the B word, Bunta pressed the accelerator so that he could get to Shibukawa as soon as possible and, less than an hour later, he was already entering the Tachibana's petrol station.
'Hey!' Yuuichi exclaimed seeing him there, 'what a surprise!'
'I know,' Bunta said feeling a little embarrassed all of a sudden, 'I got the afternoon off and…well, I just felt like coming to see an old friend.'
'That's awesome, it's been so long since we got to hang out together,' Yuuichi said, 'hey…if you can wait for a minute, I'll go and ask my father if I can take a break myself…'
'Sure,' Bunta replied. Then, he watched his best friend running towards the small building where the one-room office was. He laughed softly at the childish expression Yuuichi had when coming out of it: he smiled widely while making two victory signs with his two hands.
'Let's go,' Yuuichi said, climbing into Bunta's 2000GT.
Bunta laughed again and, shaking his head, he went back to sit behind the wheel. Once there, he assumed the pompous attitude chauffeurs were so famous for and said:
'Where would you like to go?'
'Akina,' Yuuichi quickly replied, 'let's go to the lake.'
Not needing to be told twice, Bunta turned the 2000GT's engine on and started driving towards the only place in the world where he felt at complete peace: the bendy and often impossibly narrow road which lead to the most beautiful lake Bunta had ever seen.
'So,' Yuuichi said once the two of them were sitting on top of the small docking area, with their shoes off and their trousers rolled up their legs, 'how are things going at your new job?'
'It's good,' Bunta replied playing with the water using both of his feet, 'Ueda-san is a nice enough guy. He knows almost as much as Katayama and I know that he's highly respected by the big shots at Nissan so, I'm paying a lot of attention to everything he says.'
'What about Midori?'
'I'd rather not talk about her,' Bunta replied, 'she's becoming a nightmare with all those dinner parties she wants us to attend. I'm lucky that Ueda-san likes working at night, especially now that's this hot.'
'I see,' Yuuichi said. He then remained quiet for a short while trying to rephrase a question he had asked numerous times in these past three months: 'so, that night, in Usui…'
'Oh gosh,' Bunta complained, 'not again.'
'Come on Bunta,' Yuuichi said, 'Masashi and I know that something happened. There was something very fishy in the way you and that kid were behaving.'
'Yuuichi, I've told you…'
'…you've got to keep it a secret,' Yuuichi finished for him, 'I know that. But I also know that you should trust me, after all, haven't I been keeping a HUGE secret for all these months without blabbing it to anyone?'
'You told Fuka-chan,' Bunta pointed out.
'She's my wife,' Yuuichi countered, 'besides, you know that she won't tell anybody either. Now, please…'
'Okay, okay,' Bunta finally surrendered, he got up and, trying to shake off the moist of his feet, he started walking towards the end of the dock, 'I lost,' he muttered, so softly that at first Yuuichi thought that he had heard wrong, 'I lost the race, fair and square.'
Yuuichi didn't know what to say.
'Keiichi doesn't want anyone to know because he thinks it will affect my reputation,' Bunta explained.
'And he's right!' Yuuichi exclaimed all of a sudden, 'can you imagine what people will say if they find out that you got beaten by a mere kid? Kogashiwa will have a field day with this.'
'Yuuichi,' Bunta interrupted, walking back to where his best friend was, 'that kid is amazing. He still has to work a little when it comes to polishing his skills but, he's got what it takes to make it huge in motorsports.'
'You think so?'
'I know so,' Bunta replied, 'no one I've ever raced against pushed me against my own limits more than he did. He's also as crazy as I am.'
Yuuichi let out a snort sounding half way between amused and incredulous.
'Besides,' Bunta continued, 'I'm going to race him here in Akina.'
'Really?'
'Yep,' Bunta replied, 'I called him a few weeks ago and he told me that after our race he's been working triple-time and has even sold his S600 so that he can gather enough money as down payment for the Nissan he's been after. He told me that he will have it by the end of this month and that, after that, he needs a little more time to work on it. I told him that I'm prepared to wait for as long as he needs.'
'You're serious,' Yuuichi asked.
'Never been any more serious,' Bunta replied, 'there's something about this kid that makes me respect him as a rival. I hope that we both will get the chance to compete in a professional race where we'll be able to measure each other on equal terms.'
'You know,' Yuuichi started, using the kind of tone he always used when talking to Bunta about things he knew his best friend didn't want to hear, 'I think that this is exactly what Kogashiwa feels with you. I've been thinking about it and I believe that that's the reason why he insisted so much…'
'I know,' Bunta interrupted him, 'I already knew how Kogashiwa felt but I didn't want him to do me any favours. Besides, if it's our destiny to race each other again, there will be nothing I can do to prevent it. At the end of the day, if we're both involved in motorsports, chances are that we'll end up facing off sooner or later.
Yuuichi thought about it for a while.
'Hey,' he said, 'imagine this: you, Kogashiwa and that kid racing in the same event. Who do you think would win?'
'That's easy,' Bunta replied, 'I would. Losing isn't something I want to experience ever again.'
'I knew you'd say something like that,' a grinning Yuuichi said. Bunta smiled back and went to sit down next to him so that he could get his feet back inside the cool water.
Not too far from there, Eikichi was cleaning one of the tofu-making machines when he heard someone ringing the bell. It had to be an outsider for everyone in Shibukawa knew that the tofu shop's door was always open.
'Come in,' he shouted.
'Er…' a familiar looking guy said, 'excuse my intrusion but, I'm looking for Fujiwara Bunta.'
'Oh,' Eikichi said, 'you're that Yoshida, aren't you?'
'Yes,' Yoshida replied, 'I'm glad you remember me.'
'Of course,' Eikichi said, grabbing a clean cloth so that he could dry his hands while he walked to the living room followed by Yoshida. There, he invited the younger man to sit down and said, 'can I offer you anything to drink?
'No, thank you,' Yoshida replied, 'I've just come to check something with Bunta.'
'He doesn't live here anymore,' Eikichi replied taking his usual seat by the shelves.
'I know that,' Yoshida replied, 'Katayama told me that he's married Midori.'
'That's right,' Eikichi confirmed.
'Katayama also told me something really weird about her, he said Bunta told him she was pregnant.'
'Yes,' Eikichi confirmed, 'Midori-chan's pregnant. For some strange reason, Midori-chan wants to keep it a secret but Bunta felt it was only fair to let Katayama know. But I trust that you…' the old man stopped talking seeing the worried expression on Yoshida's face, 'what's wrong?'
'Er…' Yoshida hesitate, 'I'm not sure how to…well…it's just that…'
Right at that instant, the house's phone started ringing and, Eikichi looked at Yoshida apologetically before getting up to get the phone.
'Fujiwara Tofu Shop,' he then stopped talking while he listened to whoever was calling. Yoshida frowned and, if possible, looked even more worried seeing Eikichi's expression growing more and more concerned. After a few moments, the old man said, 'Midori-chan, don't worry now, I'll try and find Bunta and take him there.'
With that, he placed the receiver back in its hook and, looking at Yoshida, he said:
'Listen, I'm sorry to cut this short but I've got to find my nephew.'
'What's wrong?' Yoshida asked.
'Takashi's had an accident while practicing for his next race,' Eikichi replied, 'he's been taken to the hospital and, judging by what Midori said, things aren't looking too good.'
'Oh crap,' Yoshida said, 'where's Bunta now?'
'Hopefully at work,' Eikichi replied. He then went to get the small black book where he kept all the important numbers and proceeded to dial the one for the PD3. He waited till someone replied and said, 'hello, this is Fujiwara Eikichi, I'm looking for my nephew Bunta. Can I speak to him?'
He went quiet again.
'I see,' Eikichi said, 'no it's okay, I don't want to leave a message. Thanks.'
Hanging up the phone for the second time, he started trying to come up with a list of places where his nephew could be and was about to start searching for the Tachibana's number when he heard two very familiar voices coming inside the shop.
'Bunta!' he said. Eikichi then hurried towards the shop's working area followed by Yoshida.
'Fujiwara-san,' Yuuichi started, smiling happily, 'look who I found!'
'Bunta,' Eikichi repeated, keeping such a grave expression that both Yuuichi and Bunta stopped smiling, 'Midori-chan's just called. Takashi's had an accident and he's been taken to Yokohama University Hospital.'
'Oh shit…' Bunta breathed.
'Yeah,' Eikichi said, 'let's go…'
Hearing the old man's order set everyone in motion and, very soon, two cars were chasing each other: Bunta's 2000GT with Yuuichi onboard and Eikichi's Bellett with a terrified Yoshida grabbing himself to the seat while he tried to remember how to pray.
Needless to say, the two Fujiwaras got to Yokohama in a record-shattering time and both Yoshida and Yuuichi felt only grateful that they had made it in one piece to their destination which, ironically, was nothing but a hospital. Well, at least they were in the right place, in case any of the two started feeling ill.
'That man's crazier than Bunta,' Yoshida told Yuuichi while they followed uncle and nephew to the hospital's admissions desk. Yuuichi just nodded his heartfelt agreement. He had never ridden in Eikichi's Bellett with the old man driving but he could only guess what it had to feel like and it wasn't pretty.
Soon enough they were directed to the waiting room where they found Midori sitting there by herself. Bunta felt sorry for his wife: with all the 'friends' she seemed to have and, in such a difficult moment, she was on her own.
'Midori,' he said, 'where's your father?'
'Bunta!' she yelped, getting up from her seat and jumping into his arms in one single movement. He hugged her instinctively and started patting her hair.
'It'll be fine,' he said, 'Takashi's a strong guy, you'll see.'
'Oh Bunta, I'm so scared,' she sobbed.
'Shush,' Bunta muttered, 'try to calm down. In your condition it isn't good to get so stressed.'
Midori looked at him quickly and, for some reason, she frowned a little only to start smiling. She then hugged him even more tightly and said:
'I knew you cared for me.'
'Of course I care,' Bunta said, 'you're my wife, aren't you?'
She nodded and, at long last, allowed him to take her back to one of the chairs. There, he sat next to her doing his best to ignore the way the other three men were staring at them also because Midori hadn't noticed them yet.
'Has anyone told you what's wrong with your brother?' he asked her.
'No,' Midori replied, 'but apparently he's done something to his legs. Dad was with him and he's now talking to the people who were there, he should be joining us when he's done.'
'Okay,' Bunta said, 'now you need to relax. Do you want me to bring you anything to drink?'
'No,' Midori repeated, 'I don't want you to go anywhere.'
Bunta squeezed her hand reassuringly and, for the first time in a long time, he felt a rush of tenderness for Midori. Once again, he saw just how very much Midori cared for all the members of her family and this kind of made Bunta feel a bit better. If he was sure he would be a disaster as a father, he knew that Midori was going to be a great mum.
A few minutes later, Itachi-san stepped into the waiting room looking anything but worried. What was even more discomforting was the way he smiled seeing Bunta there.
'Oh, great,' he said, 'I'm happy you're here: I have superb news for you.'
'Dad…' Midori started.
'How is Takashi?' Bunta asked. Eikichi, Yuuichi and Yoshida had finally decided to take a seat and do their best to pretend they weren't there.
'He's not well,' Itachi-san replied, 'I just came from talking to one of the doctors and they aren't sure whether he'll be able to walk again.'
Midori gasped loudly while everyone's disgust started to mount: how could that man speak about something so dramatic with such a business-like tone of voice? Bunta found it hard to give it the benefit of the doubt when he asked:
'Isn't it too early to tell?'
'I don't know,' Itachi-san replied, 'I'm not a doctor. At any rate, we have bigger problems. Takashi's team will need a replacement and…'
'Wait a minute!' Bunta exclaimed getting up from his chair. He then took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down, 'can we please not discuss this now?' he added pointing at Midori with his head. The woman had started to weep quietly.
'Why not?' Itachi-san asked, very obviously failing to see the point. Bunta was speechless.
'Er…' Eikichi hesitated, finally deciding to intervene, 'Bunta, I'm sure Itachi-san's worried…'
'Of course I'm worried!' Itachi-san exclaimed, 'do you have any idea of how long it's taken me to get Takashi a decent racing seat?'
'Itachi-san…' Eikichi started, only to get interrupted by Bunta who, looking like he was on the verge of losing it, he hissed:
'Your son is fighting for his life right now. Don't you think that it makes everything else irrelevant?'
'No,' was Itachi-san's shocking reply, 'I've worked too hard in my life to make it to where I am. I'm not going to let anything get on the way. Besides, I came here today to tell you that I've negotiated with Takashi's team to let you drive for them instead. You should be happy.'
'Happy?' Bunta asked incredulously, 'how can I be happy that Takashi can no longer walk? ARE YOU FUCKING MENTAL?'
'Bunta,' Itachi-san warned him, 'you're forgetting your place…'
'ON THE CONTRARY!' Bunta exploded, 'I KNOW MY PLACE VERY WELL AND I KNOW THAT YOU'RE MY BOSS BUT, YOU KNOW WHAT? IF IT WEREN'T BECAUSE MIDORI'S PREGNANT I'D RESIGN HERE AND NOW!'
That made everyone's eyes widen in shock. Those who knew about it were startled to hear Bunta revealing what had been top secret up to that moment, Midori was absolutely flabbergasted and oddly disturbed by the whole thing but, the one whose reaction earned the prize for being the weirdest was Itachi-san's:
The old man stared at Bunta as though as he were replaying the conversation in his brain then, he looked at his own daughter as if she had been the object of some sort of miracle.
'But…Midori…' he stuttered.
Midori remained sitting on her seat, her gaze focused on her lap while she nervously played with her three month old wedding ring. Only then Bunta realised what he had said and was about to open his mouth to try and fix his mistake when Yoshida got up and said something which shook everyone even more:
'Midori, there isn't a baby, is there?'
Bunta nearly cracked his neck due to the speed in which he turned to look at the engineer. He saw that Yoshida was very serious and that made him return his gaze to his wife who simply refused to look at anyone.
'Midori…' he started, his stomach growing cold with panic, 'what…'
'It's true!' she finally shouted, springing from her chair so fast that Bunta almost fell onto his butt.
'What's true?' Itachi-san asked and, right then, Yuuichi thought that if the situation got any more unreal, he would see John Lennon walking into the room asking where the bathroom was, 'Midori...'
'I'M NOT PREGNANT!' the woman finally shouted.
She then sat back and started crying harder than ever. Itachi-san didn't seem like he knew what was going on anymore, Yoshida and Eikichi exchanged a worried look while Yuuichi stared at Bunta who just stood there, completely immobile and with a blank expression on his face.
To be continued…
