Disclaimer: I don't own Slam Dunk or Initial D! I'm just borrowing the characters from their authors Inoue Takehiko and Shigeno Shuichi. ^_~
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Chapter 7 - The Racer Awaken, But Soon Sleep Once More
Surprisingly, Kenji and Tsuki did make it to Akina in time for her uncle's birthday dinner. They arrived in front of Fujiwara Tofu Shop at 6:00pm, right on the dot. But on the way to Akina, Tsuki's Skyline was filled with Kenji's screams.
*~*~*~*~* Flashback *~*~*~*~*
"You're going too fast Tsuki! Slow down!" Kenji shouted over the roar of the N1's engine.
Tsuki ignored Kenji and continue to push the engine further into the red zone on third gear, and in a split-second, she felt the turbo kicked in, sending the car to surge forward with high speed. She glanced at the speedometer, which showed the car traveling at 160kmh. She smiled and continued pressing the accelerator.
"Tsuki!!! Slow down!!! Too fast!!!" Screamed a horrified Kenji.
"Watch out, the car in front is too close!" "Hit the brakes, you're too close to that car!" "Hit the brakes!!!" "No, no, no!!! Too close!!!"
Those were the type of screams (you got the idea) that can be heard from Kenji as soon as they got home and changed cars after they've freshen up. Although feeling rather irritated by Kenji's screams, Tsuki ignored him as they weaved in and out of traffic on the way until they got to Akina.
*~*~*~*~* End Flashback *~*~*~*~*
Tsuki pulled the hand break and flashed a smile at Kenji. "We're here. That wasn't that bad, was it?"
A rather green Kenji was grasping for breath and he turned to glare at Tsuki. "Fujima Tsuki! You are a crazy driver!"
Tsuki looked back at Kenji innocently. "What? I'm not a crazy driver. I'm a very cautious and skilled driver. Also, I got us here just in time."
Kenji snorted and got out of the car. Tsuki followed him, grabbing the present from the back seat as she got out.
Tsuki noticed two cars parked opposite to theirs in front of the shop. It was a white Mazda RX-7 FC Savannah and a yellow RX-7 FD3S Enfini (for those who don't know, FC is the model before the FD), both with 'Redsuns' stickers stuck onto the tail end of the vehicles.
Tsuki thought the two cars looked very familiar, then she remembered: So, the renowned Rotary Brothers of the Akagi Redsuns are here. Wonder why…
(Akagi is another town/city in the Gunma prefecture. The title 'Rotary Brothers' was given because they both drove rotary engine powered RX-7s. As for those of you out there who are quite knowledgeable about sport cars, please excuse this bragging of mine~ =^.^=)
The knocked on the tofu shop's door and waited until someone opened it.
"Sorry we're closed." Said a rather sleepy sounding voice.
"Takumi-nii chan, is that you? It's Tsuki." Tsuki called out.
The shop's door immediately opened showing a sleepy looking boy about Tsuki and Kenji's age, who is around the same height as Kenji.
Tsuki shoved the present package into Kenji's arm and threw herself at the sleepy boy, hugging him. "Takumi-nii chan! I've missed you so much."
The sleepy boy, Fujiwara Takumi was startled by Tsuki, but soon smiled and hugged his cousin back. "Tsuki-chan, I've missed you too."
The two parted and smiled happily at each other.
"You guys forgetting about me?" Kenji said in a sourish tone.
Takumi and Tsuki both looked at Kenji, and laughed at his face.
Takumi patted Kenji friendlily on the shoulder, "Great to see you again Kenji."
Kenji smiled, "Likewise, Takumi."
"Hey, let's go in, and get going, I'm starved! Hope you haven't forget that I just finished playing a game not long ago." Tsuki hurried her two cousins into the shop.
Fujiwara Takumi was the son of Fujiwara Bunta, who was Tsuki's mother, Fujiwara Yukino's older brother. The tofu shop was the Fujiwara's family business, and the Fujiwaras live above the shop for convenience and economical sake.
Tsuki skipped into the living area behind the tofu shop gleefully and hugged her Uncle Bunta who was seated on the tatami as soon as she saw him, totally ignoring the two handsome young men sitting next to her uncle.
"Happy birthday ojisan. And I've missed you."
Fujiwara Bunta smiled lovingly (the way the elders do to younger family members) at Tsuki hugging her in return. "Hey kitty cat, hope you've been behaving yourself and not troubling Shuichi and Kazumi."
"Ojisan! How can you say that about me, your sweet niece!?" Exclaimed a pouting Tsuki after releasing herself and her uncle from their hug.
Everyone in the cozy living room, including the Rotary Brothers laughed at the look Tsuki had on her face, to which she pouted some more.
Kenji was sympathetic enough to break the embarrassing situation apart for Tsuki. "Happy birthday ojisan. This is just a little something Tsuki and I got for you, hope you like it."
Bunta took the nicely wrapped present from Kenji, "Thank you, the both of you." He then eyed Tsuki suspiciously, "It's not another crystal piece again, I hope?"
Tsuki smiled, "No, it's not this time. I remembered you don't like crystal that much ojisan, so we got you something else this time."
Bunta raised an eyebrow in question and disbelieve, since Tsuki's always buying crystal figurines for her own collection and as presents to others. So Bunta turned to Kenji for confirmation, "She telling the truth?" Kenji nodded.
Bunta unwrapped the sapphire blue wrapping paper to show a black box with the words 'momo design' written in silver on top. Opening the box, a watch is shown sitting in its center. It was a limited edition watch from momo design. Bunta took it out and tried it on his left wrist, the watch fitted perfectly.
"You two shouldn't have spent so much on getting this watch." Bunta said as he took the watch off and replaced it back in the box carefully.
"Ojisan, it's not as expensive as you think." Tsuki said in a sweet, sweet voice trying to convince her uncle to accept the gift.
Bunta sighed, he can never get on the winning end when Tsuki put on her sweet face. In fact, how can anyone say no to such an angelic face. So, he took the watch out of the box again and wore it.
"Happy now, kitty cat?" Bunta smiled at Tsuki. He thought: She looks so much like Yukino.
Tsuki beamed at Bunta.
A soft cough was heard from one of the two brothers, trying to tell everyone that they're not invisible (:P).
"Oops." Takumi blurted and smiled apologetically at the brothers. "Tsuki, Kenji, I'd like you to meet the Takahashi brothers, Ryosuke and Keisuke."
Tsuki and Kenji both turned to looked at the brothers. "Doumo yoroshiku." And, began introduced themselves.
"Watashi wa Fujima Kenji, and this is my itoko Tsuki-chan desu." Kenji bowing slightly at the Takahashi brothers as he introduced himself and Tsuki.
The older of the brothers, Ryosuke bowed slightly in return with a polite smile. "Watashi wa Takahashi Ryosuke." Pointing to his brother beside him, "This is my itoto Keisuke."
"So…" Tsuki started with a knowing tone, looking at the Takahashi brothers. "You two are the famous Rotary Brothers of the Akagi Redsuns. I've heard a lot about you."
Both brothers looked at Tsuki with new found interest (not the romantic type!). Being the hot-headed person he was, Keisuke spoke, "Have you? Not many people are familiar with my brother and me, unless they're street racers or professional racers. So, since you know about us, you must be into racing as well then, right?"
Tsuki grinned, "Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not a racer at all. However, I do read a lot of car magazines, so being familiar with the term 'Rotary Brothers' is understandable."
"Sou ka." Keisuke replied.
Tsuki nodded. Before anyone had a chance to say anything else, Ryosuke spoke calmly. "But with that car of yours, you can't say that you don't know anything about racing."
(Most racers or those who are obsessed with cars, they can differentiate between cars just by listening to the engine's sound or the exhaust system.)
Tsuki frowned a little and thought: Uh oh…I'm cornered.
"So I guess what I've heard is true then, Takahashi Ryosuke is as good as people said when it's concerned with analyzing cars." She said with a slightly teasing tone.
Ryosuke just smiled, not the least bit irritated with her tone of voice. "Thank you for your compliment, especially a compliment coming from such a beautiful girl."
Tsuki grumbled a little under her breath.
"OK. The final note is, I don't race." She said with a shrug, giving in a little.
"But you do know how to race, am I correct?" Ryosuke continued to press a little.
"I do know the techniques. And for reasons I don't want to discuss, I don't race." She finally blurted out.
"What!? You know all the techniques and you don't race? You don't know what you're missing!" Keisuke cried with disbelieve.
Everyone turned to look at the flustered Keisuke then burst out laughing.
Tsuki replied Keisuke with little laughs in between lines, "Ano…hehe…I think…hehe…you're overreacting…Keisuke-san…hehehe…"
Keisuke pouted. "No, I'm not! How can you not make use of your skills?" He said disapprovingly.
Tsuki shrugged. "I'm not like you Keisuke-san. I can see that you take your driving very seriously and make it your number one priority. But for me, it isn't and it'll never be."
Keisuke opened his mouth to retort some more, but before he could do so, Ryosuke interjected. "Calm down Keisuke. Tsuki-chan has her reasons, and I can see that she hasn't the heart of a racer."
"Aniki! But…"
Ryosuke just shook his head at Keisuke, and Keisuke zipped his lips from there on.
"Ahem. Should we go now? I'm getting hungry." Bunta said, easing the air a little.
Tsuki jumped up from her seat pulling Bunta on the way. "Yeah, let's go! I'm hungry too, in fact I'm starving." She cried.
Kenji got up. "You're always starving Tsuki." He said teasingly.
Tsuki stuck her tongue out at Kenji in annoyance with him. "You can walk back to Kanagawa later."
Kenji immediately acted as if he's in relieve, "Oh, thank kami-sama! I don't have to endure your crazy driving again."
Tsuki kicked Kenji playfully in revenge for what he said and ignored him. Bunta looked at the cousin pair shaking his head with a smile plastered on his face.
After dinner, Tsuki and Kenji sent Takumi and Bunta home. The Takahashi brothers also followed them back to the tofu shop.
"Fujiwara, it's time to go." Keisuke called out from his car.
Takumi nodded and went to his car, the infamous Akina 86, a white Toyota Trueno AE86.
Tsuki, being the curious cat that she is asked, "Where are you guys going?"
"Akina Mountain pass. We have a training meet there tonight, you want to come along?" Ryosuke asked invitingly.
Tsuki thought about it for a bit and nodded. "Sure, why not? Love to see Project D in action."
(Project D is the street racing team that Ryosuke formed with the best racers in the Gunma area.)
"OK, let's go then." Keisuke said excitedly. "Oh, Tsuki-chan, catch me if you can!" His yellow FD sped off on that.
Tsuki accepted the challenge and before Kenji, who was sitting in the passenger seat said no, she shifted into first gear and sped off behind Keisuke.
"You think your FD can out-class my N1 huh? We'll see about that!" She mumbled and she put more pressure on the accelerator and shifted into higher gear. Once again, Kenji was screaming his heart out at Tsuki telling her to stop, but she ignored him as before. So, the only thing Kenji can do was close his eyes and no look to minimize his worries.
Whilst at the back, Ryosuke had a thoughtful smile on his face. "Let's see how responsive the N1 is. GTR-34 N1…I will dissect you fully by the end of this night." With that, Ryosuke sped off following the two cars in front, and Takumi also followed suit.
As they reached the Akina mountain pass, Keisuke looked at his rear view mirror to check that Tsuki was following him. He smiled slyly and accelerated as he lowered to second gear. The yellow FD sped forward and was into drift position on the first turn.
Tsuki's N1 followed Keisuke's FD. She smiled confidently: You think you can out-run me? Better think again Takahashi Keisuke.
She lowered into second gear and spun the wheels into drift position, stepping hard on the accelerator. The N1 sailed out of the corner smoothly and caught up to the FD as it exited the corner.
Keisuke was rather surprised with the move Tsuki just threw: She's not bad. Alright, see if you can catch me when I go all out.
He stepped harder on the accelerator and the rpm needle went into the red zone. A blast of fire was let out from the FD's exhaust pipe as the FD surged forward in greater speed.
Tsuki took that as a challenge from Keisuke. "Hang on tight Kenji-nii chan, I'm going all out from here on."
Kenji gripped the hand grip tighter still with his eyes closed. Praying silently: Oh please let this be over soon.
Tsuki rev the engine more as she accelerated. The turbo kicked in and the ETS system of the N1 distributed the increased force and speed evenly through the four tires. She tailed Keisuke closely before over-taking him as they entered the third last corner of the pass.
Keisuke was wide-eyed with shock. He couldn't believe that he was beaten by a girl, further more, it's by a car he disliked most, a Skyline GTR!
For Ryosuke who was following them both from behind, he was surprised by the result too. He had expected Tsuki to be a good driver, but never expected her to be this good. Not many people could do what she did just now, especially sliding out to overtake Keisuke at that third last corner at such an unusual angle.
He smiled to himself as he thought the situation over: Glad that she's not in an opposing team, if not, we'd have a really hard time dealing with her. But from what I just saw, she must've had professional training before. Better ask Takumi about this cousin of his later.
When they reach the top of the Akina mountain pass, Takumi introduced Tsuki and Kenji to the other members of Project D, and the Akina Speedstar's members. Nakazato Takashi, a member of the Project D team and the leader of the Myougi NightKids was extremely impressed with Tsuki's N1 since he himself drove a black Skyline GTR-32. But Keisuke was pouting all night due to the lost to Tsuki from his little friendly challenge to her (hehehe…).
As the night deepened, Tsuki and Kenji bit their farewells to Project D and SpeedStars. Before they left Akina, some of the racers told Tsuki that they'll go and watch her play in the finals.
The drive home back to Kanagawa was a leisurely one, therefore Kenji did not scream like before for that leg of the journey. One thing Kenji learnt that night was, Tsuki was a hell of a good driver since she can match it against the best drivers in Gunma, and probably the whole of Japan. That really made him wonder why she was repressing the driving skills, because he really thought that she'd make it into the professional racing circle effortlessly…
akane の tea house…
I know this chapter has nothing to do with basketball or SD, but I thought it'd be interesting to add in a little "side-dish" to the "main-dish". Hehehe…
And for those of you out there who are familiar with Initial D and Keisuke fans, sorry about the little upset I put Keisuke through in the fic…(runs and duck from rotten tomatoes and eggs ^_^;)
Anyways…I can assure you that I'll go back to basketball again in the following chapters, but the Initial D characters will also pop up now and then in future chapters.
Cheers~ =^.^=