III

40: The Fastest in Tochigi

III

The white FC and the blue Sileighty were parked nearby Lake Akina. On the paddock with paddleboats lining either side, I was speaking with Mako.

"So your dream is to become a professional racer in the Tokyo circuit?"

Mako bowed her head. "Yes."

"That's an admirable dream," I said before turning to watch the sun's reflection in Lake Akina. "One I highly admire."

"And what about you Ryosuke? What is your dream?"

I chuckled as Mako walked up right next to me. "My dream? I've been trying to come up with one for some time now. But my dream is to become the fastest downhill racer in the entire world. I want to drive faster and faster until there's no one who can claim they're faster than me."

"I always wondered why though. You're an incredible driver," said Mako. "But you came from a wealthy family, and you already started a career in medicine. Why risk that just to become a racer?"

I spoke honestly. "There are many reasons why actually. But the biggest is that if I can prove that rotary engines are the best, it sends a message about my philosophy on life. My fastest racer theory isn't just about driving, it's about the drive to succeed and innovate."

"But still," Mako said. "You've already become a legend in the racing community. What is there left to accomplish?"

"A lot actually. I plan on taking the Akagi Red Suns to become the best drivers in the Kanto region. After I do that, I'll disband them and retire forever from racing. The rotary engine will be famously praised, and I can focus on becoming a doctor." I explained a bit further. "The problem is I don't have much time. I have a year at most before I graduate from medical school and allow everyone else to move on to other projects."

"But I had a question. What about Usui? What about us? Will the Red Suns race me? Will you?"

I chuckled. "I've thought about that for quite some time as well. At least for now, we can't. Usui remains the only mountain technically left in Gunma to which I haven't planned an expedition. But there is one request I have for you, one that will take some time to prepare for. A challenge you won't be ready for until around the Red Suns disband."

Mako nodded quietly.

"After you enter the K2 circuit before the new Millenium, which some are calling one of the fastest racing leagues made in motorsports for some time. You will reach a point where you can rematch Takumi Fujiwara. And if you play your cards right, you can win."

"But why would I go back to street racing?"

"You and Keisuke will be competing almost weekly against each other. But the only driver who's ever truly beaten you besides him is Akina's 86. Comparing the growth in both your driving styles, you won't just beat him. You'll force him to re-evaluate himself, just as he must've done after I raced him." Knowing she had more questions, I sighed. "I understand this is a lot to take in. Philosophies on life and what might happen months from now. But there is a reason why I wanted to speak to you."

"Alright." Mako's expression changed from curious to attentive again.

"Until the Red Suns have finished our races in Kanagawa. I will still be extremely busy with racing. I want to keep dating you Mako, but I just want you to know how important running the Red Suns is to me. It will be one of the biggest things I ever do in my entire life."

Mako smiled. "Well, I understand. I always knew how important your team was to you Ryosuke."

"Thank you," I said.

III

"Hey, big brother." Keisuke knocked on my door. "You got a minute?"

"I do indeed." I turned in my desk chair to speak to him.

Keisuke walked into my room. "So I was wondering after your practice run on Myogi last night. Why're you using grip so much now?"

"Well simply put," I said. "Grip racing is faster than drift. However, on some roads like the mountain passes here in Gunma, drift can get the job done if you know how to do it well enough. Takumi Fujiwara is the best example of this."

Keisuke nodded. "Huh."

"Don't get me wrong. Grip isn't perfect. The top three downhillers in Kanto in my opinion are all drift-based, however, they all integrate grip into their styles to some degree."

"Who are these guys?"

"We won't race them for some time."

Keisuke snorted. "Please. You probably have files on them already, and had their research planned ahead of time."

I sighed knowing how accurate his assessment was. "Well, I only needed one of their files for our Gunma sweep just out of curiosity. But the top three downhillers are as follows, the first is Bunta Fujiwara, then Doctor Toshiya Joshima, and lastly Shinji Inui. Bunta Fujiwara has already long since retired from racing, and Doctor Joshima is nearing his retirement as well."

"A bunch of old guys then huh? You should chop 'em up like a steak at a barbeque."

I smiled. "Shinji Inui is currently 15."

"What!?" Keisuke almost laughed in surprise. "A fifteen-year-old kid is the third-best downhiller in Kanto?"

"Like I said, we won't race any of them for months."

"But if you're using grip to improve your driving," Keisuke said. "Shouldn't I do the same?"

"You already have to a necessary extent," I said. "Your uphill cornering is very solid. You have mixed both sliding the car around the turn as well as maintaining its complete balance throughout. Drift isn't useless, but your style is still superior."

"So then where can I improve?"

I removed Keisuke's file from my desk drawer. As he looked it over I spoke to him. "Your times are quite strong. In my opinion, the only weak part of your driving was your use of the accelerator. But you have long since corrected this. For now I want you to do one thing the moment our races in Tochigi are finished."

"All ears Ryosuke."

"I'm going to use all of winter to train all of you as hard as possible. We're going to use every single mountain we've cleared in both Tochigi and here at home in Gunma. By the time it's all over, you will all be significantly faster."

"But the snow makes the road impossible to race on."

I nodded. "For normal drivers yes. It will be hard at first, like you said, nearly impossible. But by the end, your reflexes will be so sharp you will be ready for Saitama, Ibaraki, and especially Kanagawa. The snow is dangerous, and it does indeed make for the best way to learn how to race."

Keisuke sighed. "Weren't we going to train tonight?"

I picked up the keys to the FC. "We were yes."

III

On Irohazaka, a few of the Emperors were chatting by the guardrail.

As soon as they heard a rotary engine approach, they turned.

"Wait a minute, is that?"

"Sure is. Number one overrated driver of all time." Seiji knew who it was. "Took him long enough."

Ryosuke's white FC was flying down the straight at top speed, the 13B-T whirring loudly.

As they saw the corner approach, Seiji watched as the FC backed up before tackling the hairpin from the best line possible. The resulting corner was cleared so quickly, Seiji's eyes widened.

'This is the first time we've ever seen this damn guy actually train here. Six days before the race too. And he's driving like he already knows every scrap of rubber we've left on the entire course.'

As Ryosuke continued on his already excellent pace, he began to clear hairpins that normally would've been impossible to maintain the kind of speed he was reaching for most other drivers.

Takihiro announced it to the other Red Suns on the pass while seeing the white FC approach. "Ryosuke's already at the first checkpoint!"

His tires screeching loudly, Ryosuke stabilized the car perfectly while using only the steering and brakes to clear another sharp hairpin turn.

Takihiro beeped his walkie. "That's nearly a forty-second clear time for section one. If Ryosuke's was going any faster he'd probably go airborne I swear!"

Kenta spoke to him by Keisuke's side. "Wait so Ryosuke wants us to train in the winter?"

Keisuke nodded. "According to him. It's gonna be the hardest training we've ever gotten. Should make us all a lot better drivers."

"Man do I need it," admitted Takihiro. "My S13's been begging for an engine swap. Already have the money put together to get an SR20 instead of my old CA18."

Keisuke chuckled quietly. "Your problem isn't your car Taki. It's you. In the right hands, your S13 could be a monster on the downhill."

"You calling me slow?" asked Takihiro.

Kenta laughed. "Of course he is man! You're the slowest- Ow!"

Kenta was interrupted when Keisuke nudged him in the ribs. "Like I was saying. You're a good driver Taki, you just need some more practice and you'll be great. You're not that far behind Kenta and Aisuke."

"Our downhill aces. Other than Ryosuke I guess." Takihiro frowned as he muttered somewhat sadly.

III

Hitting each rev and gear point so perfectly that Ryosuke might as well have been shifting when and if the FC was able to ask him to, Ryosuke's gearstick work was impeccable. He needed to be hitting the gas and brake pedals, the clutch, the steering, and the shifter so well that if he failed in the use of one of them even by a little he lost time in the constant hairpins of Iroha's downhill.

Thus, his corners were as fast as possible, being more than 15 kilometers per hour faster than the normally recorded speeds on Irohazaka's slower early corners.

Zipping past an Emperor team member in his white FC, the Evo driver raised his walkie. "He's still going just as fast as before guys. If not faster." by the time he finished his sentence, the FC had long since cleared the hairpin at the bottom of the straight.

He then heard Kyoichi's voice. "Can you tell me about his technique? See any weaknesses?"

A bit surprised to hear his leader's voice for once on the walkies, the Emperor spoke slowly. "Um. Well, I wish I could tell you but he was just going so fast that I could barely see this guy. Much less tell you anything about his driving."

"Are you sure?"

"Wish I was kidding Kyoichi. But the only way you could read this guy is if you were close enough to be racing him. He's just that fast."

III

Ignoring the members of his own team as well as Kyoichi's, Ryosuke's pace was only getting better as he progressed. Corners that normally would've taken hours of practice to properly clear at all much less at the speed he was on he finished in split seconds.

The rev limit of the FC near the red line, Ryosuke hit the clutch and then the brakes, flicking the rear of the FC as aggressively but quickly as possible around the guardrail.

So sure of his ability he cleared the guardrail by less than a centimeter, Ryosuke almost made the FC jump around the turn from how short and sharp Irohazaka's corners were.

Knowing he was quickly approaching Iroha's fourth section, Ryosuke changed gears to account for the difference in speed he would reach. His braking style changing instantly, Ryosuke went from sliding the car to gripping the car during the entire turn.

Upshifting, Ryosuke held the steering wheel tightly before steering hard to the left and then slightly to the right to stabilize the car's grip run with countersteering.

The 13B-Ts whirring loudly together, Ryosuke pushed his FC harder as he accelerated downhill.

Ignoring the strain the constant S hairpins were putting on every bit of his ability, Ryosuke remained focused. Shifting with the palm of his hand, Ryosuke instantly steered hard to the left as the FC gripped the inside of the turn and cleared the curve in fractions of a second.

As the FC flew downhill, any nearby leaves and grass flew in Ryosuke's direction.

The FC's tires screeching loudly as he cleared the hairpin turn, Ryosuke was remaining as close to the inside of the curve as possible to not lose any time.

Flying past checkpoint three, the white FC now was well past its full speed on the downhill.

Braking for the oncoming corner, Ryosuke quickly downshifted before using the steering to use a four-wheel drift. Even using a technique he knew to be inferior, Ryosuke's cornering was more than satisfactory for the time he was going for.

Screeching out of the last part of the S hairpin, pressed the accelerator, getting ready for the high-speed section.

Already prepared mentally for the pacing cliff jump equivalent that was going from slow speed turns to the fastest in the entire course, Ryosuke approached the curves quickly.

Peeling out of a sharp L turn almost instantly, Ryosuke accelerated seeing the sharp right hairpin approach. Waiting until the last possible moment to brake, Ryosuke's corner was far faster than any of his previous turns. As he tackled the S hairpins remaining in complete control of the FC even at his speed, Ryosuke's shifting, braking, and turning was in perfect rhythm with the intensity of Irohazaka's downhill.

Guiding the car quickly around the second to last corner in the high-speed section, Ryosuke was already visualizing how quickly he would have to accelerate to reach the finish line.

As the white FC flew out of the high-speed section, Ryosuke was already going into fourth gear to clear the bridge connecting the corners to the long straights near Irohazaka's finish line.

By the time he had passed the finish line, Aisuke had to read his stopwatch multiple times before announcing Ryosuke's times. "Um. That's a two-fifty with three quarters."

"You're kidding right?" Takihiro said through his walkie.

"It's Ryosuke man. Doesn't matter if the course record was, we all know he's gonna break it. A matter of fact, he already broke the last one."

III

As some of the Red Suns mechanics outfitted the FC with new tires, Keisuke and I spoke.

"So these Lan Evo guys. Really think they can be a problem if you're running as fast as you were tonight?"

"I don't think they will be. I know they will be," I said. "Sudo's Lan Evo may not be perfect, but it is very strong in all aspects. A lighter frame than most other cars, good all-wheel drive and turbo, and his engine might be one of the best I've seen for a long time."

"Can't be much better than ours."

"Well if there was an engine around that could beat ours, it might be Kyoichi Sudo's. The 4G63T is designed from top to bottom for efficiency. Everything from the compression ratios, crankshaft, valves, every single part of the engine is reliable, responsive, and very powerful. But it's not just a torque horse either, it is very smooth in its pressure displacement, delivering exactly 1997 CCs of excellent standard pressure. A driver with Kyoichi Sudo's level of skill more than knows how to take advantage of every part of his Evo III's power."

Keisuke was still confused. "But if this guy's so good. How come we haven't heard of him that much?"

"Because he's being really smart about not letting us see what he or his team can do. Sudo was faced with a very binary decision when he must've learned we were getting ready to challenge Tochigi. He had to either go all out on aggression and offense by trying to sweep Gunma instantly. Or he had to play as defensively as possible and not let anyone else but him know what his Evo or his team were capable of."

"Last question I swear. Then how have you been able to develop such a good readout of both Iroha and his car?"

"Just by looking at the way it moves and the way it sounds I can tell what Sudo's done to it. He's improved the OEM, CPU, Boost, and every part of his 4G63T's flow and pressure systems. In other words, even if I spent all the money in the world and got Tomiguchi's entire team to improve his engine as much as they could, those 16 valves would run the exact same."

Keisuke just looked at me with a blank stare of shock while I kept explaining. "To summarize, each piston fires in a sequence that puts anything made by Nissan and Honda to shame. But it's not even the car that worries me. It's the driver. Kyoichi Sudo has accomplished more or less the same as I have in the pro circuit. I'll be driving a driver that matches me equally in every way, and counters me as much as I do him. A rotary against a piston engine, FR against AWD, N/A against turbo, and street racing versus professional driving technique. But still."

"...Still. Still what?"

"This is all talk. Until the night of the race. You won't see how evenly matched we both will be."

Breaking Keisuke's stunned silence at how well I was able to read Sudo without ever seeing him race, Tomiguchi spoke to him. "The FD is all ready to go for the uphill. All systems are fine."

"What? Oh, sure."

III

Seiji watched the way Keisuke flew uphill in his yellow FD3S just a bit farther down the mountain from Irohazaka's downhill. Both rotaries in the 13B-REW were hissing as if Keisuke was trying to shake Team Emperor with the power of his engine.

Not far behind him, Yakuma was in his white Supra, his 2JZ-GTE engine seeming to perform more or less on the same level as Keisuke's FD. Even though it was clear the Supra had far more raw horsepower, it appeared as though the FD was still faster on the uphill.

'What the hell is up with that FD's traction and horsepower?' Seiji calmly watched Keisuke corner at the top of the straight. 'His buddy's 2JZ is the only engine I could admit to even be close to our 4G63T in terms of performance. Even then it's like comparing a baby rattle to a bazooka for a weapon. But at seemingly full power on the hill climb, the FD is faster, way faster. How? In a lower than garbage rotary? With an FR!?'

Seiji grunted quietly. "Kh! Damn!"

'Even with a better engine and drivetrain. Kyoichi was right about this guy. I can't underestimate him as just a rich kid who has too many fangirls swooning over him to know anything about racing. The driver brought out that car's power, not the other way around. This race is gonna be harder than I thought. It only takes about two minutes or so to clear our uphill section, but I still think I can win this in half that much time.'

Seiji looked over every inch of his beloved white Evo IV CN9A. 'Even if it's not as weak as I thought. No FD can hold a candle to the pride of WRC and professional racing. We're gonna destroy these Red Suns next week.'

III

Takihiro and Aisuke were smoking together in one of Irohazaka's galleries as Kenta and Daito trained on the downhill together.

"So man, what're you thinking? Easy win or not next week?" asked Takihiro.

"Don't talk about crap like that." Aisuke scoffed. "Gunma might've been easy for us. But that was only 'cause Ryosuke was much more accustomed to roads at home to build strategies."

"You bad-mouthing our leader Kano? Our undisputed ace?"

Aisuke shook his head. "Of course not. But from the sound of it, Ryosuke was making this Kyoichi Sudo guy have the equivalent of a pro-WRC team just hiding behind closed doors who was waiting until next week at our battle to show his true teeth. If Ryosuke's found a team leader who's smart enough to play him at his own game, this won't be easy at all. That's what I'm saying."

Yakuma entered the gallery in his white Supra.

"Mito!" Takihiro chortled. "Come on, have a cigarette with us."

As Aisuke offered him one, the uphiller declined. "No thanks."

"So what do you think? Aisuke and I have been talking about these Emperor guys."

Yakuma shrugged. "They just bug me a little. Everyone who practiced tonight saw them just sitting in the galleries. Watching us. Using their own stopwatches to time us. Sounds like that would be our job you know? They're the ones who got a read on us tonight, not the other way around. They saw our tuning, our driving style, our technique. Meanwhile, all we saw was their home course."

While Takihiro just frowned quietly, Aisuke agreed. "That's what I'm saying man. They're the first team we met that we could honestly say are smart." he swallowed, clearly not wanting his teammates to know how worried he was.

"You look a little hot under the collar for someone driving a 180 as well-tuned as yours." joked Yakuma.

While Takihiro laughed loudly, Aisuke crossed his arms. "Dude I have no idea why anyone called you Usui's Doom. That's way too badass a nickname for someone who spends all their time outside of Suns stuff just smoothing out their bowtie."

"Hey, you're dedicated to the team too. We all are."

"I'm not trying to insult you." Aisuke raised a hand. "I'm just saying I'm not as nervous about these Evo guys as you are."

"Then what's really got you so anxious? Haven't seen you this on edge since Keisuke laughed at the idea of you getting a perm." Takihiro said.

"Honestly. This seems like the first real test outside of Gunma we've had. From the moment we started training together, it was clear to anyone who could see that we were the fastest drivers with the fastest cars in the entire prefecture. Haven't seen a team this calm when we arrived. We went from the Akina Speed Stars going pale at the sight of us, to people just studying us quietly from behind the guardrail." explained Aisuke.

"Yeah. It does feel a lot different." Yakuma said. "Maybe you're right. We've gotten so used to people claiming we're so awesome, meanwhile, we haven't met a single team with our kind of." he snapped his fingers twice. "You know."

"Energy?" Takihiro raised both his hands cluelessly.

"That works," Aisuke said. "I don't know. Maybe Ryosuke and Keisuke all beat these guys really well and I'm getting nervous for no reason."

"You're not." Yakuma said. "Don't get me wrong. Just by looking at these guys I can tell they're not weak at all. Not like anyone we've seen so far. Even that weird tofu kid looked like he was out of place. But we're gonna win this, Ryosuke hasn't let us down yet."

Aisuke turned to Takihiro. "If we spar with these guys prior to Ryosuke's race with them. I want you to represent us on the downhill. Not me."

"What?" Takihiro flicked his cigarette away. "But you're way better than me. Hell, we all know you're even better than Kenta!"

Aisuke looked at Yakuma who merely shrugged. "He always seemed a bit more inexperienced."

"Sorry guys." Aisuke sighed. "People only called me Gunma's fastest when racing was so disorganized people could barely find meets. Been a while for me since I've had a good race."

As Takihiro opened his mouth, he heard the unmistakable purr of engines.

"Emperors. Look sharp boys."

Three Evo drivers were approaching from uphill, and all it took was a small nod from Yakuma to try and calm his friend. "You can wipe the floor these guys if we raced," Yakuma said. "I promise you Aisuke."

Takihiro stepped forward when the Evos stopped.

Out of them stepped three calm-looking young men all wearing regular clothes, only a few wearing anything remotely related to Mitsubishi racing.

Takihiro studied them calmly. 'Gunma's racers typically all had Nismo fan gear. These guys all look completely different.'

"You need something?" Takihiro said calmly.

"Got bored." the one with short hair said. "Been wondering when you were thinking of leaving."

Knowing Takihiro would likely insult him, Yakuma stepped in. "We only had a few more laps left. We were just leaving."

"Good," he said before something caught his eye. He picked up Takihiro's cigarette that he flicked away carelessly. "What is this?"

"Satake don't-"

"Shove it, Ren." Satake put the cigarette away in his jacket pocket. "This is the kind of disrespect we get for letting you use our mountain tonight?"

"At least we actually raced." Takihiro snorted.

Yakuma again had to damage control. "We're sorry about the cig man. We were just having a quick chat."

"Fuckin' nerve." Satake said as his friend 'Ren' reluctantly nodded. "Here in Tochigi we don't bite the hands that feed us."

"This is a public road. You haven't fed us a thing." Aisuke crossed his arms. "Maybe you don't know who I am."

Chuckling, Satake smiled. "Haven't had the pleasure no."

"My name is Aisuke Kano. I've been Nismo's top driver for the past five years. Why don't you guys get whatever it is off your chests and get outta here." Aisuke surprised Yakuma with how fearlessly he spoke.

"Nismo?" Satake laughed again. "No offense. But your top car lately has been complete dogshit."

"The GT-R R33 was a mistake. I promise you, the next one won't be as weak."

Satake waved his hands from side to side. "Oh sorry Mr. Nismo king. But for all this talk of GT-Rs, I couldn't help but notice your 180 sucks ass. It might've been a good car when it came out, but now I wouldn't pay someone to race me in it."

"It was good and still is good. I helped transition street racing from its first years into the region-wide phenomenon we all know it as today. I promise you, Myogi's Silver Bullet is not a day weaker." Aisuke said confidently. "I was Myogi's fastest back in the day. And I've only gotten better."

"Then it's a shame your car isn't silver anymore. Shit name anyway, probably for an equally shit driver. Must've been as terrible a driver as everyone else in Gunma was back then are you are now." Satake said. Before Aisuke could say anything, Satake interrupted him. "Hope that fine piece of ass your leader Ryosuke Takahashi's been wearing on his arm for the past year shows up next week. We'll see how quickly she changes camps when she sees what real racers can do on the downhill."

Laughing with the other Emperors arrogantly, Satake drew Takihiro's cigarette from his jacket pocket and flicked it onto Aisuke's 180SX.

"Nismo driver. Pah, what a joke." Satake kept laughing with his friends. "Come on guys let's get-"

Aisuke had already jumped over the guardrail and punched Satake in the face before he finished his sentence. The moment Satake reeled back from getting hit, Aisuke was beating him another blow to the eye.

While everyone else there reacted, the two fought quickly. Desperately trying to defend himself, Satake grappled Aisuke haphazardly in an attempt to avoid being struck again. With a random but effective headbutt driving him back, Satake hit Aisuke in the chin as the two tumbled over the guardrail and onto the ground.

As Takihiro and Yakuma pulled Aisuke apart and Ren and the other Emperor driver pulled Satake back.

Pushing Ren away, Satake spoke. "I don't care what Kyoichi says. I'm gonna beat your ass on the downhill! No piece of shit Nismo garbage can stand up to me and my Evo IV!"

"Try me." Aisuke rubbed the bruise that had formed on his chin.

Quickly getting in his car, the Evos drove downhill, respecting the one-way road that was their home course.

Yakuma turned to Aisuke. "You should've let him walk away. Now Ryosuke has every right to suspend you to avoid bad blood."

Takihiro nodded. "Yeah dude you gave that asshole a black eye and a bloody lip. If we weren't here you would've beaten his ass."

"He was nothing but talk."

III

As the mechanics and the rest of the team prepared to leave Irohazaka for the night, I watched as three of our drivers approached our makeshift headquarters for the night between the uphill and downhill sections of Irohazaka.

Our silver S13, white Supra and Type X 180 all parked in front of us.

When I saw the looks on their faces and the bruise on Aisuke's face, I knew what had happened.

"Ryosuke we-" Takihiro said before Keisuke cut him off.

"Unbelievable!" said Keisuke. "A week before the biggest race we've had in months and you all pull some shit like this?"

"Look who's talking." Kenta peeped before Keisuke gave him a death glare that made him grow pale.

I sighed waving the rest of the team away. "All of you go back home. We've had enough practice for tonight to get what we needed." I saw Aisuke walk back towards his 180. "Not you. We have to have a talk."

As everyone left, I waited until they were well out of earshot before responding. "Ryosuke they were talking crap about you, and your girlfriend. And you-"

"You're still racing with us next week Aisuke. I hope you realize that I'm not doing it to reward this kind of behavior. It's to teach you a lesson in manners."

"What?"

"The worse punishment would be to let you not actually settle this between you and whichever Emperor driver it was. I'll help you win this. But it won't make it much easier."

Aisuke nodded. "That's fair."

"What I don't understand is why you did this. Taki probably, Yakuma's as nice a person as anyone could be. But you've never had this kind of problem in this past."

"I've been worried Ryosuke. For a while," he said. "Ever since I saw you race that 86. I realized how far you've come since the race you and I had when you convinced me to join the Suns. I don't honestly feel that much better a driver."

I crossed my arms. "Aisuke. You're equally as skilled as Kenta, if not more. You're easily our third-best driver. What has you so nervous?"

"This race next week. I don't know if I'm ready for it."

"Hm. See think about the race you and I had. Think about what was going through your head. Then ask yourself what kind of driver you're facing next week will be like."

With a statement as logical as that, Aisuke nodded. "That was three years ago."

"Good point. However, you've grown as well. You've trained with us on the Red Suns, rather well I might add. But I see why you're as nervous about next week. More nervous than any one of us."

"You do?"

I smiled. "The races you've had up until now only compare to the ones you've had back when all of us drove on our own. Long before the Red Suns. Everything back home in Gunma felt familiar, and the real races you've had were long ago and I heavily agree with you."

"But. You're not mad?"

"Why should I be? These are the best drivers Tochigi has other than the legendary Todo School, driving one of the best cars in the world market. I'm surprised you're the only person besides Keisuke who's worried at all."

"So that's it then."

I shook my head. "I just need this person's name. If you got it."

"Satake."

I chuckled. "Yes. According to my file, you'll win this. Just go home and rest Aisuke. I want you training with Taki on the downhill tomorrow."

"Thanks, Ryosuke. But I have one more question before I go. What's up with Taki? He's the worst without a doubt out of all of us, but he's not bad either. Does he have the potential to grow further or is this all we'll see of him?"

I laughed quietly again. "After this winter training, I have planned, Takihiro will be by far the one who gets the most out of it. If I'm right, he'll be a completely different driver."

"Will he beat me?"

I knew that Aisuke knew that I knew the answer to this beyond a shadow of a doubt. But I still didn't want to tell him.

I opened the driver's side door of the FC. "Focus on your race next week Aisuke. You'll win, but it will seriously test you."

III

The moment I got home I got to work. It was about 11 PM, but I knew I could still reach out to a few fellow Red Suns before they went to bed.

After a few phone calls, both Yakuma and Takihiro told me that Aisuke was just reacting to the disrespect the Emperor driver showed them. He had every right, throwing a cigarette over someone's car is something only Keisuke in his most arrogant part of his racing career did.

I would've set an example for the rest of the team by ignoring this. But then again if it was me in Aisuke's place I don't think this Satake guy would've dared even get out of his car or even drive towards me looking for trouble. Even if he did, I honestly would've ignored him.

It took me ten minutes to come up with a simulation to beat Satake Ito of the Emperors. He wasn't bad by any measure, but Aisuke was just a better driver. The difference in car ability would certainly determine the outcome, the problem was that even a really well-tuned 180 was only a little bit worse than a stock Evo IV. With the scales tipped in the Emperor's favor, simulation knowledge would hand Aisuke the win.

Keisuke entered my room without knocking. "Hey Ryosuke."

"Why the change?" I asked. "You used to knock before."

"Oh sorry. Long night, also what Taki and Aisuke pulled has me a bit. Mad."

Smiling at the reminder of old Keisuke, I spoke. "What is it?"

"So is Aisuke suspended?"

I answered Keisuke by handing him the recently printed simulation sheet including everything Aisuke would need to beat Ito.

"Um." Keisuke put the folder down. "Honestly this is pretty unfair. You suspended me the moment I got into a fight. But you reward Aisuke instead?"

"No, I'm punishing him."

"Sure doesn't seem like it."

I explained. "Aisuke will be setting the bar very high with a victory for us. Suspending him would send the right message to the team, however, Aisuke's not in his right state of mind. Winning this will put him on the right path back to his old self. Their race would set expectations for both you and I as well as the Emperors for how to perform. Think of their race as the stage setter for everyone watching."

"Sure but still. I mean I get that no one can remember the last time someone called him Myogi's Silver Bullet or whatever." Keisuke shrugged. "But the next time Taki or anyone else gets in a fight. They'll just think, hey, Ryosuke won't do anything."

"They won't," I said. "It is pretty clear I'm only doing this to help Aisuke. He didn't start it according to what I heard. If anyone else does something like this again, however, even if they were nervous for another reason, I would instantly suspend him. Aisuke only earned this free pass because he typically never would've done this."

Before Keisuke said anything else, I spoke. "Get some rest Keisuke. Let me handle the Emperors."

"He talked crap about Mako. Some pretty nasty things man."

"As I always say Keisuke. Talk is just that, talk." I said as Keisuke began to leave.

"I think we did well tonight. But yeah, I'm tired."

III

The rest of the week was somewhat of a blur to me.

Med school was again just tedious, my race with Kyoichi Sudo was all that was on my mind. It would be very challenging, and while I did everything I could to win as I did against Takumi, the training was different.

While my race with Takumi was a battle of sheer speed and cornering ability, my battle with Sudo would be dependent on things like technical knowledge, timing, and above all how well attuned to Irohazaka we were.

On Akina, the skill level of the course was much lower however the speed ceiling was far higher than Irohazaka's. To be fast on Irohazaka, and especially as fast as possible, I needed to spend hours grinding in the Abyss to make sure I understand every turn, no matter how slight the change in curvature of the road or wideness of the corner, backward and forwards. Akina was much different, only by understanding the turns just properly enough a little bit, I rapidly increase my speed.

However the Gamer let me learn Irohazaka's turns in a third of as much time as I would've normally. Had I raced Kyoichi without it, it was going to be much more likely that he would win. I had no idea how Takumi "tied" Kyoichi in the anime because he was just a stellar driver defending his home course.

Performance Group A Toyota engine or not, Takumi should've lost that race.

The week moved by so fast that by the time I realized it was October 12th it was the morning before the race.

As customary with Red Suns rules, every crew member and driver reported into Fumihiro's autobody shop for all their cars to undergo mandatory inspections. Everyone passed thankfully, but it took all morning.

Fumihiro looked up from his clipboard at my FC knowing the rest of the team was long gone. "That just leaves you Ryosuke. Everything seems in order, but are you sure you can beat this Evo III? And on his home course? Well tuned only begins to describe Sudo's car, not to mention the driver."

"I've done my research," I promised. "In terms of performance, my FC and the Evo are on purely equal ground. It's the driving ability that will decide our race or to be more specific, our course knowledge."

"But Sudo probably has more knowledge of Irohazaka than anyone else," Fumihiro said. "Even his own team. Even you."

Not for someone who's seen every bit of the anime no.

"Don't worry Fumihiro. This race won't be anything like you're expecting."

Smiling, Fumihiro spoke putting his clipboard under his arm. "After actually finding an opponent left in Gunma who could race you. As well as one driving an 86. My expectations have long since changed."

"I don't like playing the do you remember game. But has it begun to make sense why I was so insistent on driving an FC when I raced before the Red Suns? It was the first thing you asked me after all."

Chuckling, Fumihiro sighed. "You do have some stellar memory." Fumihiro nodded. "But certainly. It has, yes. It's part of your entire philosophy on street racing. Back when everyone called you the White Comet of Akagi, you just didn't care. You wanted people to take in the fact that the fastest driver in Gunma's history was only using a rotary. An FC no less."

"Precisely. Each new driver I beat, each new car, just adds to my fastest driver theory. To become the fastest racer, or even the fastest driver at all, or the best of any sort. You have to understand very clearly what you're doing and what everyone else is doing better or worse. Pistons have been the primary way cars of any kind, let alone racing cars used. If I can prove rotaries are the best in the world, people will re-evaluate their entire outlook on motorsports."

Fumihiro crossed his arms. "It does make sense. Being in all those magazines is just pointless if, like you say, you don't add anything of value in terms of discussion to the sport of racing."

"Again Fumihiro you're spot on," I said.

"You're a very meticulous guy. I mean, the most meticulous I know. But Keisuke is the complete opposite." Fumihiro said. "Why place Keisuke in trust of your entire life's work? You've dedicated yourself to racing more than your medical career, which is saying a lot. This fastest racer theory of yours probably won't be completed until after all of us on the Red Suns are disbanded and the team is finished. That's a lot you're trusting Keisuke with."

"You're right. In terms of completing the theory, Keisuke will complete it on the K2, and we will both do so on Kanagawa's public roads." I said. "But Keisuke will perform as needed."

Fumihiro looked at me. "Are you sure?"

"I've never been more sure of anything as I am in trusting my own brother. He might be hot-headed, and before he was as arrogant a street racer as they come. But beneath all the Rotary Brother talk, and the magazines and the talk in general. Keisuke is the best driver I have ever met, and he will one day be the best professional racer in the entire world."

Fumihiro chuckled. "That's not saying much. I mean. It is. But competing for years in the K2 would do that to anyone."

"Don't tell Keisuke. I know I tell you this often, but his head for lack of a better word explode."

"Imagine what Kenta would say," added Fumihiro.

I checked my watch, it was 3:14 PM. I only had a few hours before nightfall and the two-and-a-half-hour drive from Akagi to Iroha.

The race between Kyoichi and I was scheduled at 10 PM exactly. But assuming we'd need to hash out some details, I'd need to be there at 8:30 at the latest.

III

The number of people on Irohazaka that night was staggering.

The race between Ryosuke and Takumi on Akina had nearly half as many people as there were on Irohazaka's entire mountain. There was barely any space in the galleries to move much less see the track.

Fans of Keisuke and Ryosuke as well as drivers from all over Gunma and Tochigi had come to watch the first team rumored to actually give the Akagi Red Suns a run for their money have a proper race in months.

Iketani closed the door to his S13 behind the guardrail as Kenji, Itsuki, and Takumi piled out of his car. "Sorry about making you all carpool with me. I hope you understand how many people there would be here."

"You don't have to tell us..." Kenji said. "The Rotary brothers sure are popular. The name Takahashi rings more bells than any other nowadays."

Itsuki laughed. "Hard to believe Gunma's fastest are going to become Tochigi's fastest tonight!" he pulled a fist down. "God I'm psyched! The Red Suns are just so badass."

Iketani would've protested to this before remembering what happened when the Red Suns came to Akina.

Takumi said nothing looking to the track.

'Ever since I lost to him. I felt like the only thing I care about now is making sure Ryosuke doesn't lose to anyone but me. But why do I care this much about a race I'm not even in?'

Itsuki turned to Takumi. "So who do you think is gonna win man?"

"What do I know? The road seemed really weird, like something you'd see on a professional track much less a public road." Takumi shrugged. "I don't know. The road seems like it'll be the real challenge for Ryosuke and whoever he's racing."

Itsuki sighed. "How could you not know this? Ryosuke's racing the undisputed best driver in all of Tochigi tonight. Irohazaka's Emperor! Kyoichi Sudo! Haven't you been paying attention at all to anything we've said this entire week?"

"Not really."

At the finish line, Impact Blue arrived.

After leaving the Sileighty's passenger side, Sayuki spoke. "Good place huh? Sure you need to know how your boyfriend does tonight even though the race will already have been decided at this point."

Mako blushed knowing how many people were in earshot.

"Damn, talk about a couple of babes..." someone at the finish line muttered to their friend.

III

"So many goddamn people here tonight." Seiji felt like kicking something. "How's the eye Satake?"

The driver just shrugged while Kyoichi watched Seiji pace back and forth. "Can you settle down? The Takahashi brothers will eat us alive if they see you this nervous."

"Just accepting a race on our turf like this. It just has me mad as hell!"

"Then just focus Seiji. Take that anger out on the track when you're racing against the FD."

Seiji turned to Kyoichi. "And the FC?"

"Let me handle Ryosuke Takahashi. I said this before. White Comet or not. He's just a guy in a rotary."

Headlights appeared as someone at the starting line called out. "Hey it's the Red Suns!"

Seiji balled his fists.

"Ryosuke we love you!"

"Keisuke! Over here!"

Seiji was grinding his teeth at this. "Godamn rotary brothers. Goddamn rotaries. Goddamn team. Goddamnit all!"

The sound of rotary engines accompanied by the very well-tuned engines of the rest of the Red Suns followed.

One by one, all of the Akagi Red Suns stopped their cars in front of Team Emperor.

III

When I stepped out of the FC, the rest of the team followed.

Dozens and dozens of people were watching me exit the white FC and lead my team forward.

I knew everyone had been talking. The rivalry that had grown between Kyoichi and I, the fistfight that broke out between our teams. It had to be settled tonight.

Even though there were dozens of people there, the peak of Irohazaka was as silent as a crypt.

The first to break the silence was me. "Thank you for coming tonight."

"You guys were early." Kyoichi checked his watch. "About two and a half hours early."

"We had business to settle."

"Business yes." Kyoichi crossed his arms. "Your teammate attacked one of mine."

"They need to settle it on the downhill. Right here and right now. What do you say?"

Everyone began muttering.

Kyoichi chuckled quietly. "Fine."

I walked forward, the silence that followed reminded me heavily of when I approached Takumi on Akina's peak to speak to him.

It was so quiet other sounds crept in. Crickets chirped quietly in the forest beside Irohazaka's peak.

I crossed my arms as well as I stood alone in the road between our cars and Kyoichi's.

Even though Kyoichi had his entire team with him, from the look on his face, he could tell only I was speaking with him and to him. I had isolated him completely with just the look on my face.

"I want you to know something before we begin tonight. The bad blood that our teams have. I want you and I to have none of that. I respect you very heavily as a driver and as a man."

"That's why you didn't suspend the driver of your 180? I did the same with Satake."

"Kyoichi."

I extended my hand forward.

Dozens of eyes were on both of us, on the hand I extended to Kyoichi.

"May the best drivers win tonight."

Instead of a quip, Kyoichi studied my hand quietly for a moment. Then he shook it, having a much stronger grip than I was anticipating. "May the best drivers win. I respect that."