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Chapter Two: Ignition
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"And so as you can see here, exceeding in the preliminary portion of the exam requires..."
Asuo scribbled down his notes next to Thomas in the Medical conference room who was practically dying of boredom in his seat. He was praying for something interesting to happen to him when finally, it did.
Someone passed a note to him which came from a crumpled up piece of paper than landed on his notebook. Thomas uncrumpled it as he was beyond bored with the lecture and turned it around to read it.
This is from the guy sitting behind you with the blue jacket. That your FC sitting outside with the crystal white paint job? Think it's my dad's. I could've asked you after the lecture but I already know half this stuff anyway.
Thomas finished reading the note and scribbled down below it.
Yeah it's mine. My dad's friend gave it to me for my 18th birthday. Why do you ask?
Thomas turned behind him to see a stern-looking black-haired young man with cold blue eyes taking notes like the rest of the conference of medical school hopefuls. He looked up at Thomas with a nod before Thomas handed him the note.
A few seconds later and Thomas uncrumpled the next piece of paper.
My name's Takahashi Satoru. My father gave you that car. Just bored of the lecture is all. Feel like chatting for a second later?
Satoru read the note Thomas passed back to him without even looking at him.
Sure.
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Asuo and Thomas walked outside the Lecture Hall seeing Satoru leaning on a lampost. "Afternoon." Thomas mumbled.
"Good afternoon gentlemen." Satoru brushed off lint from his blue jacket.
Thomas gestured to his silent friend. "This is my good friend Hinata Asuo. I'm Thomas Friedland."
"Charmed." Satoru calmly shook Thomas' and Asuo's hands. He flicked his nose towards the white Mazda FC3S that was positively glittering parked nearby. "Yours huh?"
"Yup, had it for a few months," Thomas said. "I like it all right."
"I wanted a 2020 NSX, but my dad wouldn't let me race, said it was against the law, and too dangerous nowadays with how powerful cars get." Satoru shrugged.
Thomas raised an eyebrow as Asuo listened quietly as always. "You're into racing?"
"Big time." Satoru sighed. "Unfortunately no one's into it nowadays, been banned for a long time here in Gunma. My dad said he was part of the racing scene on the local mountain tracks."
Thomas pressed his lips together tightly. "Really? Never would've guessed that."
"What do you two have planned for tonight?" Satoru withdrew a pack of gum to chew on, not even offering some to Asuo or Thomas.
Thomas rubbed his chin. "Not much. Just was gonna drive Asuo to his aunt's to stay the night there, and then I have to drive back home to downtown Saitama to catch my friend's soccer match."
"You're from Saitama? Tell you what, don't take the main road, it's much too packed at this hour." Satoru checked his phone for the time. "Take the pass by the lake down towards the Stone Steps. From there it's smooth sailing avoiding the traffic on the highway."
"Thanks but I don't really know these roads that well. I'm not in Gunma much." Thomas admitted.
"Okay, your time, your loss." Satoru put his phone away. "Your dad make you go to this stupid thing too?"
"Mhm." Thomas nodded. "Except Asuo here, I don't know why he's doing it, his dad's a surgeon but he's letting him do what he wants."
"Yeah so why are you doing it?" Satoru asked the light brown haired teen.
Asuo shrugged.
"Hm." Satoru had a look on his face that showed he had no reason to ask Asuo anything else. He pushed off the lampost with his foot. "Well, it was nice talking to you guys, but I have to be home see ya."
"Have a good night." Thomas said as Satoru waved them both good-bye. "Tch!" Thomas scoffed as Satoru walked away. "What was that guy's deal? Said he wanted to chat but then doesn't even want to keep in touch? I could use an actual study partner when I get to med."
Asuo gave him an expressive look which was rare for him.
"Oh, oh man I didn't mean it like that." Thomas frowned.
As Thomas frantically tried to apologize, Satoru opened the driver's door to his BMW looking at the American. 'Why am I jealous that he got the FC instead of me? I don't even know him at all or his father but I still feel jealous of him for having it.'
Shaking his head, the Takahashi drove away.
Thomas drove along the well-lit streets of downtown Shibukawa towards the lake. "God," Thomas scoffed again. "That was random."
Asuo glanced at the FCs side view mirror for a moment and then at the road ahead blankly.
"Come on man, it's been two weeks and you still won't talk to me, which is weird even for you. What's going on?"
Asuo didn't respond again.
Thomas groaned loudly. "He raised a good question. Why did you come out here instead of staying back home with Hiro at the ice rink? I mean, med school's optional for you man."
Asuo clenched his jaw, swallowing his words.
"You don't have any pressure at all to sign up for it. Why take on the stress? I mean, you have the grades for it, but still."
Asuo turned to Thomas slowly. "I have more pressure than anyone else on me," he said.
"What do you mean?" Thomas had never paid closer attention to what his friend said until now.
Asuo stayed silent again for a moment before muttering. "Mariko said the only way her father would let her date me would be if I became a surgeon like her."
Thomas took a second to register this. "A-Are you serious?"
Asuo nodded.
"Wow." Thomas shook his head. "That is just, wow."
"I know." Asuo sighed and stayed silent again.
Thomas refused to give his opinion as he knew it wasn't his place, eventually dropping off Asuo without so much as a word.
Thomas took a call from Hiro as he turned towards the mountain pass by Lake Haruna. "Moshi-moshi. You're on speakerphone."
"Hey Thomas, how was the med conference?"
"Shitty." he sighed as he kept driving towards the Togue. "God it was such a waste of time I can't believe Dad made me do it. How's Danny doing on the ice?"
Hiro watched from the bleachers, seeing Senna laugh very loudly as Danny kept crashing everywhere and complaining vocally that he didn't want to get injured for the upcoming soccer game. "Pretty badly. Luckily there's no one out here this late besides us, and Danny's match starts in like a half hour so we got time."
"Dang dude, what time is it?" asked Thomas.
"Mm." The blonde Takahashi sipped from his soda can and read his phone's time. "It's only 10 o'clock. Say man, what advice do you have for me about Atara-chan?" the hotheaded teen watched the blonde beauty twirl around the ice perfectly making Danny wave a hand as she taunted him. "You two get along well."
"U-Uh, we do?" Thomas asked slowly.
Hiro chuckled over the phone and put his soda can down. "No I'm just kidding, if I need advice about girls I'll talk to Dan."
Thomas rolled his eyes. 'Classic Hiro.'
Thomas saw the exits leading from Shibukawa towards the mountain road. "Okay I gotta go in a second man, I always pay attention when I'm driving downhill. Just one thing, I spoke to a guy over here in Gunma named Takahashi Satoru? He related to you?"
"Satoru? Yeah, he's my cousin, total stick in the mud, really weird too." Hiro snickered. "Why, was he at the conference too with you and Asuo?"
"Huh, y-yeah he was. Just the name stuck with me and I just remembered you two share the same last name. Anyway, gotta go man." Thomas said.
"See ya at the match man." Hiro hung up and stood up off the bleachers to join his friends on the ice rink.
Thomas yawned. "Wow, I'm tired."
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Another teen was also out very late. Seiichi tipped his cap as he passed his tofu delivery to the couple inside their motel room. "Thank you for your business!"
The man smiled back and held a hand out to refuse his change from Seiichi. Seiichi walked back towards his car and hopped in, keying the ignition to the AE86 as the pop up headlights flipped up.
Seiichi started backing out while looking over his shoulder. He changed gears to drive towards back down the mountain towards his home over the tofu shop. Seiichi pressed the gas before slowing down to move around the turn as he began going down the mountain pass.
Thomas drove down the mountain slowly before sluggishly making a turn around a hairpin. When he did so he saw Seiichi's AE86 at the end of the straight and thought.
'Huh, it's a hatchback, looks about as old as this car. It's probably going to be going pretty slow, I should pass it.'
Thomas signaled and flashed his headlights to signal to Seiichi that he wanted to pass him.
Seiichi looked in his rearview mirror to see this as the AE86's bell chirped. "Someone else is on the road. Why're they signaling to me?" the Fujiwara mumbled.
Thomas pressed the FC's gas, boosting up the rotary engine as it spooled with power.
Seiichi saw Thomas move to the left, trying to pass him. Whether it was his teenage competitiveness or lack of inhibition, Seiichi pressed the gas too and moved to the left to block Thomas from passing him.
"What did I just do?" Seiichi asked himself in shock seeing Thomas' headlights glow in his rearview mirror.
Thomas felt anger boil. "D-Did he just block me?" Just as instinctively as Seiichi, Thomas changed gears. "Okay buddy, I have my best friend's soccer match to get to."
Seiichi tightened his grip on his steering wheel as both cars accelerated down the hill. "Okay man, I have no idea what we're doing here but let's go." he triggered his own headlights and Thomas' eyes widened.
They both accelerated and sped down the straight together. The incoming left hairpin approached and both boys took a deep breath together. Their hands moved on their own, moving to their gear sticks, shifting after they braked, backing up together, and swinging the back of their cars around the turn.
Thomas gasped after the car swung around after coming out of the tight turn, nearly shaking in his street. "The hell was that?"
Seiichi started to sweat, his heart pounding out of his chest as the entire way down Thomas started looking for space to pass, Seiichi blocking him the whole way down.
Thomas stood up straighter in his seat and yelled. "Even if I die, I have to pass this car!"
'This is what I was missing from my life! The thrill of the mountain pass!'
Seiichi entered the turn first, Thomas hot on his tail as the two teens practiced the same move they executed ten seconds prior, slipping around the right curve with the front of their cars nearly kissing the guardrail.
There was an immediate left turn afterwards, the two cars, FC3S and AE86 painting the night's sky red as they made their tires screech through the drift.
Leaves flew by as both cars zoomed down the pass together. Both cars swung from side to side as Thomas and Seiichi made their dance, coming millimeters from death as they flew around corners drifting, their hearts pounding and their sweat glistening as they drifted.
Seiichi shifted gears coming out of the turn, getting the rhythm of the race as he upshifted and followed Thomas' acceleration. Suddenly, Thomas saw it, in a certain part of his mind, lines formed and he executed the perfect plan of attack.
There was an upcoming right-hand turn which Thomas decided to move. Having no idea what he was doing but trying all the same, Thomas shifted twice and pressed the gas before braking suddenly as he drifted with Seiichi.
The white FC pressed right up next to Seiichi's Panda Trueno as they twin drifted together, slipping together through the drift side to side before the FC found space on the inside and Thomas accelerated before Seiichi could react, both cars next to each other as they flew down the long straight away.
Both headlights from the cars shone on a couple passionately kissing at the bottom of the straightaway behind the guardrail on their car.
"Shinichi?" the girl looked to her boyfriend who pulled away from her feeling lights on his face.
"The hell?" he asked seeing Thomas and Seiichi drive down the straight. "A-Are they racing?" he pulled his phone out of his pocket as quickly as he could and began recording much to his and his girlfriend's surprise.
Not knowing they were being recorded, Thomas and Seiichi gassed down the long part of the straight away.
"Come oooonn!" Thomas said losing all control as he pushed his FC past its limits.
The RPMs on his car flicked upwards into 8000s range, the rotary engine in his hood whirring so loudly the whole mountain heard it as it hummed in unison with Seiichi's old A-block.
Seiichi and Thomas felt their tongues go numb in unison as they slipped into another drift as the FC attacked from the outside both cars going faster than they had ever driven downhill.
Adrenaline pumped through their veins as their blood surged like a rushing river. Thomas and Seiichi could think of nothing else but passing each other as they shifted, braked, and counter steered with nothing but instincts into the critical turn.
Their tires screeched together in harmony, echoing throughout the mountain.
The couple watching the two drift through the turn held their breath as both Thomas and Seiichi kept sweating and held their eyes lasered in on the space they needed to occupy to pass. Their cars held, zeroing in on the jump to pass each other before suddenly, Seiichi's car fishtailed as his front tire slipped grip.
Thomas zoomed ahead as it was all caught on camera that he was able to pass Seiichi's 86. The FC flew off into the night towards Saitama as Seiichi watched it run off into a right-hand hairpin turn ahead of him. There, Seiichi finally saw what was this sudden car that raced him.
A crystal white FC that shone whiter than a full moon.
And there in that moment, in that S-hairpin turn as the FC tore up the asphalt, Seiichi's mind took a mental image of the car that had defeated him in beginning its drift.
Seiichi stopped his car and got out, leaning on the right side of his car seeing the headlights of the FC act as little lamps that got dimmer the farther away it got. He sighed and gave a smile. "One day, one day."
He was all sunshine and rainbows until before he got back in his car there was a stupified couple and Seiichi realized they had recorded the entire event seeing the boy's phone. "Aw shit...Dad's gonna kick my ass," he said when realized his mistake.
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