Chapter 18: Scoldings
"Utena! Your FD!" Keisuke said horrified at what he saw. He imagined his own precious FD like this, and it was too much to bear.
"It's okay. It was my favorite car, but I'll live," Utena said. And then, as if she had just remembered something she said, "Oh man, Kaneda's gonna have a field day with this," Utena groaned, staring at her FD as the man pulled the now mangled car off the guardrail with his tow truck.
"Who's Kaneda?" Julius asked her.
"He's a friend of mine. He and three other of my friends are the ones I stayed with, and the ones who helped me fix up the FD to what it is now, or what it was, anyway." Utena smiled. "At least I'm not injured so I can still race."
"But you don't have a car, Utena." Seiya said quizzically. "How can you race without a car?"
"Who said the FD was my only car?" Utena grinned. "I have other cars, but I usually drive the FD because it's my favorite."
"How many other cars do you have?" Kelly asked her.
"Why don't you come with me and see? I have to take the FD to Kaneda and the guys' house tonight."
Miki immediately offered, "I'll drive you over." He was still worried that Utena was still feeling dizzy.
"Alright." Utena went over and gave the tow truck driver the address of the guys' house and went back to the others. "Okay. Let's go."
***
Utena told Miki to park his car in front of the garage door and directed Kelly, Nausicaa, Keisuke, Seiya, Yaten, and Ryosuke to pull up Kelly's and Ryosuke's cars up behind them, followed by Seiya's own car. Kelly and Nausicaa rode together in Kelly's car and the two Takahashi brothers rode together. Julius rode with Miki and Utena and the Kou brothers rode together.
Utena got out of the car just as the front door opened and Chris walked out. "Utena? What happened? Why are all these people here?"
"Oh Chris, these are some.friends of mine," Utena said. She gestured to Miki who climbed out of his car, "That's Miki, my boyfriend."
"Ah, so you finally brought your friends around to check out your cars huh?" Chris stopped short as he turned towards the door. He turned back to Utena. "Wait a minute, where's your car?" Dread filled Chris's face.
"Uh, about the FD. I had a little.trouble at the end of a race," Utena said sheepishly.
Chris groaned, wiping his face with his hand. "What happened?"
"Well, see for yourself," Utena told him and gestured towards the end of the parking lot as the tow truck backed up into the driveway.
"Holy shet!" Chris rushed over to the FD. His eyes were wide and he looked over the once-perfect car.
After a few moments, he got over his shock. "Oh my god Utena. It's finally happened. You've finally wrecked a car. Why did the first car you ever wrecked have to be the FD?"
"You knew it was going to the FD, it's my main car, or was," Utena said, looking at her beloved car, feeling some sadness at the condition it was now in.
"Kaneda's gonna freak," Chris told Utena.
"I know," Utena sighed. "Where is he?"
"In the garage with the others."
"Well, might as well get it over with." Utena headed around the side of the house, taking the side door to the patio that led to the garage.
***
The garage door hummed and started to rise. When there was just enough room for a body to slip through underneath, three people rushed out, faces filled with astonishment.
"What the hell?!?!" Kaneda shouted when he saw the car and let out a stream of curses.
"Dayum Utena. You did a good job in totaling it," Duo, the jokester of the guys, laughed.
"Thanks a lot Duo," Utena said dryly. "That makes me feel a whole lot better.
"Hey, just trying to lighten the mood since Kaneda isn't," Duo grinned.
Trowa, the quiet one of the five walked around the car as the tow truck man unhitched it. He looked over at Utena. "You tried to turn, huh? And it flipped?"
"Yup," Utena replied to the genius and the quietest of the five. She hadn't told them yet how it had happened.
Trowa said, crossing his arms as he studied the FD, "Hm, this is going to be hard to repair."
"Repair?" Keisuke said with raised eyebrows. "The FD doesn't look like it can be repaired."
"Oh it can. Just needs a little work."
"A little?!" Kaneda burst out. He was almost pulling out his hair. "The FD used to be a masterpiece! It had a custom engine, great handling...And now look at it! Damn damn damn!"
***
A few minutes later...
Kaneda sighed, calming down slightly. He looked over at Utena. "I'm not mad at you, Utena. It's just, we worked so hard on the FD after you got it and...and..." Kaneda was at a loss of words. He could only gesture towards the crumpled piece of metal.
"It's all right Kaneda. At least now you guys have something else to work on besides your Celica," Utena said with a smile.
"Yeah you're right, like always." Kaneda sighed. Then, as if he just noticed the new people he asked Utena. "So who are these people Utena?"
"Oh, this is Kelly, Nausicaa, Keisuke, Ryosuke, Seiya, Yaten, my older brother Julius, and my boyfriend Miki." Utena introduced. "Everyone, this is Kaneda, Chris, Trowa, Duo, and DJ."
"Boyfriend?" Kaneda frowned. "Oh well, I should have figured it wouldn't be me." He grinned.
"Damn right Kaneda." Utena returned the grin. She turned back to the Student Council members. "These guys let me crash with them for about a year. They helped me with my cars and stuff."
"Right, and living with Utena isn't easy, lemme tell you," Duo said with a grin. He imitated a stressed out and motherly-type Utena, "'Pick that up! Quick acting immature! Don't leave your stuff lying around! What'll people think when they come over?!'"
Everyone laughed. "All right all right. I admit it. I WAS a little bit like that. But you should have seen their house! The only place that was clean was their garage and-" Utena suddenly stopped and then turned on the guys, one arched eyebrow raised in a frown. Noticing their sheepish looks, especially on Chris's she deliberately crossed her arms over her chest. "All right, let me see the house."
"Uh, that could be a problem. You see, we, uh, haven't had time to clean up because this visit was really unexpected," DJ started to explain quickly. "Usually, it's pretty clean, but Duo and Chris had a water balloon fight in there a little while ago so." DJ trailed off when Utena strode towards the door.
"Ahhh man," Chris groaned as Utena disappeared inside the house. "We're bus- ted."
Curious to see what they were all talking about, Utena's friends trailed after her. The sight, which greeted them, shocked them.
There were all articles of clothing draped over every surface, car magazines piled un-neatly under the coffee table, and some more scattered around the room. From beneath the clothes, they could see empty soda cans, take-out boxes, plates, bowls, silverware, and candy wrappers littering the tables. The couches were covered with more wrinkled clothes and had a collection of Gameboy racecar games strewn across the cushions and even more magazines. There was a Playstation 2 game console plugged into the wide screen TV and racing video games surrounded it, as if they had been in a pile and then had been knocked over.
Keisuke gave a low whistled. "Look's exactly like a multiple bachelor pad."
"Exactly," Utena agreed, her hands on her hips. She sighed. "Oh well. At least they cleaned up a little. It was worse earlier this evening."
"Worse?!" Kelly wrinkled her nose. "It can't possibly get worse than this."
"Uh, you're wrong there," Chris said timidly, as he and the others came in through the door behind them. "It WAS worse."
"I'm guessing you cleaned some of it up, Trowa?" She turned to the dark brown haired guy with mysterious and calculating eyes with a smile in her eyes, but a frown upon her lips.
"Yeah," he replied in his quiet and deep voice and then shrugged. "Had to do something while the guys were working on the FD. They were trying to see if they could go through a day without my help, which they couldn't of course." He smiled.
"And all you got done was...this?" Utena gestured wildly to the room.
"Well, I did clean up, like half of it," Trowa scratched his head, "but then I saw the games on the floor so I got caught up in that. I beat Kaneda's high score though."
"You what?!" Kaneda was wide-eyed. "I was only able to beat Utena's score two months ago, and now you beat my score?! Already?!"
"Al right all right. Enough of that," Utena said. "These guys came to see my cars, not you guys bicker over who should have the high score the longest," she said, and she added with a grin, "which should be me." Before the five young gamers could protest her statement, she gestured to the others, "Come on. They're in the back garage."
Utena led the group down the narrow halfway to the main garage. In the garage, she went over to a keypad along the wall and hit a series of numbers. The "wall" at the back of the garage slowly started to rise.
"Utena! Your FD!" Keisuke said horrified at what he saw. He imagined his own precious FD like this, and it was too much to bear.
"It's okay. It was my favorite car, but I'll live," Utena said. And then, as if she had just remembered something she said, "Oh man, Kaneda's gonna have a field day with this," Utena groaned, staring at her FD as the man pulled the now mangled car off the guardrail with his tow truck.
"Who's Kaneda?" Julius asked her.
"He's a friend of mine. He and three other of my friends are the ones I stayed with, and the ones who helped me fix up the FD to what it is now, or what it was, anyway." Utena smiled. "At least I'm not injured so I can still race."
"But you don't have a car, Utena." Seiya said quizzically. "How can you race without a car?"
"Who said the FD was my only car?" Utena grinned. "I have other cars, but I usually drive the FD because it's my favorite."
"How many other cars do you have?" Kelly asked her.
"Why don't you come with me and see? I have to take the FD to Kaneda and the guys' house tonight."
Miki immediately offered, "I'll drive you over." He was still worried that Utena was still feeling dizzy.
"Alright." Utena went over and gave the tow truck driver the address of the guys' house and went back to the others. "Okay. Let's go."
***
Utena told Miki to park his car in front of the garage door and directed Kelly, Nausicaa, Keisuke, Seiya, Yaten, and Ryosuke to pull up Kelly's and Ryosuke's cars up behind them, followed by Seiya's own car. Kelly and Nausicaa rode together in Kelly's car and the two Takahashi brothers rode together. Julius rode with Miki and Utena and the Kou brothers rode together.
Utena got out of the car just as the front door opened and Chris walked out. "Utena? What happened? Why are all these people here?"
"Oh Chris, these are some.friends of mine," Utena said. She gestured to Miki who climbed out of his car, "That's Miki, my boyfriend."
"Ah, so you finally brought your friends around to check out your cars huh?" Chris stopped short as he turned towards the door. He turned back to Utena. "Wait a minute, where's your car?" Dread filled Chris's face.
"Uh, about the FD. I had a little.trouble at the end of a race," Utena said sheepishly.
Chris groaned, wiping his face with his hand. "What happened?"
"Well, see for yourself," Utena told him and gestured towards the end of the parking lot as the tow truck backed up into the driveway.
"Holy shet!" Chris rushed over to the FD. His eyes were wide and he looked over the once-perfect car.
After a few moments, he got over his shock. "Oh my god Utena. It's finally happened. You've finally wrecked a car. Why did the first car you ever wrecked have to be the FD?"
"You knew it was going to the FD, it's my main car, or was," Utena said, looking at her beloved car, feeling some sadness at the condition it was now in.
"Kaneda's gonna freak," Chris told Utena.
"I know," Utena sighed. "Where is he?"
"In the garage with the others."
"Well, might as well get it over with." Utena headed around the side of the house, taking the side door to the patio that led to the garage.
***
The garage door hummed and started to rise. When there was just enough room for a body to slip through underneath, three people rushed out, faces filled with astonishment.
"What the hell?!?!" Kaneda shouted when he saw the car and let out a stream of curses.
"Dayum Utena. You did a good job in totaling it," Duo, the jokester of the guys, laughed.
"Thanks a lot Duo," Utena said dryly. "That makes me feel a whole lot better.
"Hey, just trying to lighten the mood since Kaneda isn't," Duo grinned.
Trowa, the quiet one of the five walked around the car as the tow truck man unhitched it. He looked over at Utena. "You tried to turn, huh? And it flipped?"
"Yup," Utena replied to the genius and the quietest of the five. She hadn't told them yet how it had happened.
Trowa said, crossing his arms as he studied the FD, "Hm, this is going to be hard to repair."
"Repair?" Keisuke said with raised eyebrows. "The FD doesn't look like it can be repaired."
"Oh it can. Just needs a little work."
"A little?!" Kaneda burst out. He was almost pulling out his hair. "The FD used to be a masterpiece! It had a custom engine, great handling...And now look at it! Damn damn damn!"
***
A few minutes later...
Kaneda sighed, calming down slightly. He looked over at Utena. "I'm not mad at you, Utena. It's just, we worked so hard on the FD after you got it and...and..." Kaneda was at a loss of words. He could only gesture towards the crumpled piece of metal.
"It's all right Kaneda. At least now you guys have something else to work on besides your Celica," Utena said with a smile.
"Yeah you're right, like always." Kaneda sighed. Then, as if he just noticed the new people he asked Utena. "So who are these people Utena?"
"Oh, this is Kelly, Nausicaa, Keisuke, Ryosuke, Seiya, Yaten, my older brother Julius, and my boyfriend Miki." Utena introduced. "Everyone, this is Kaneda, Chris, Trowa, Duo, and DJ."
"Boyfriend?" Kaneda frowned. "Oh well, I should have figured it wouldn't be me." He grinned.
"Damn right Kaneda." Utena returned the grin. She turned back to the Student Council members. "These guys let me crash with them for about a year. They helped me with my cars and stuff."
"Right, and living with Utena isn't easy, lemme tell you," Duo said with a grin. He imitated a stressed out and motherly-type Utena, "'Pick that up! Quick acting immature! Don't leave your stuff lying around! What'll people think when they come over?!'"
Everyone laughed. "All right all right. I admit it. I WAS a little bit like that. But you should have seen their house! The only place that was clean was their garage and-" Utena suddenly stopped and then turned on the guys, one arched eyebrow raised in a frown. Noticing their sheepish looks, especially on Chris's she deliberately crossed her arms over her chest. "All right, let me see the house."
"Uh, that could be a problem. You see, we, uh, haven't had time to clean up because this visit was really unexpected," DJ started to explain quickly. "Usually, it's pretty clean, but Duo and Chris had a water balloon fight in there a little while ago so." DJ trailed off when Utena strode towards the door.
"Ahhh man," Chris groaned as Utena disappeared inside the house. "We're bus- ted."
Curious to see what they were all talking about, Utena's friends trailed after her. The sight, which greeted them, shocked them.
There were all articles of clothing draped over every surface, car magazines piled un-neatly under the coffee table, and some more scattered around the room. From beneath the clothes, they could see empty soda cans, take-out boxes, plates, bowls, silverware, and candy wrappers littering the tables. The couches were covered with more wrinkled clothes and had a collection of Gameboy racecar games strewn across the cushions and even more magazines. There was a Playstation 2 game console plugged into the wide screen TV and racing video games surrounded it, as if they had been in a pile and then had been knocked over.
Keisuke gave a low whistled. "Look's exactly like a multiple bachelor pad."
"Exactly," Utena agreed, her hands on her hips. She sighed. "Oh well. At least they cleaned up a little. It was worse earlier this evening."
"Worse?!" Kelly wrinkled her nose. "It can't possibly get worse than this."
"Uh, you're wrong there," Chris said timidly, as he and the others came in through the door behind them. "It WAS worse."
"I'm guessing you cleaned some of it up, Trowa?" She turned to the dark brown haired guy with mysterious and calculating eyes with a smile in her eyes, but a frown upon her lips.
"Yeah," he replied in his quiet and deep voice and then shrugged. "Had to do something while the guys were working on the FD. They were trying to see if they could go through a day without my help, which they couldn't of course." He smiled.
"And all you got done was...this?" Utena gestured wildly to the room.
"Well, I did clean up, like half of it," Trowa scratched his head, "but then I saw the games on the floor so I got caught up in that. I beat Kaneda's high score though."
"You what?!" Kaneda was wide-eyed. "I was only able to beat Utena's score two months ago, and now you beat my score?! Already?!"
"Al right all right. Enough of that," Utena said. "These guys came to see my cars, not you guys bicker over who should have the high score the longest," she said, and she added with a grin, "which should be me." Before the five young gamers could protest her statement, she gestured to the others, "Come on. They're in the back garage."
Utena led the group down the narrow halfway to the main garage. In the garage, she went over to a keypad along the wall and hit a series of numbers. The "wall" at the back of the garage slowly started to rise.