Chapter 13- The racing test Part 1
the next day
Practices for the team were still being held in Myogi. Ryousuke had reminded the whole team that the slopes of Myogi weren't that steep and the curves weren't sharp. This was their next target or lesson, to drive downhill and uphill at such type of mountain pass. So there they were, listening to Ryousuke's continuous teaching in which the techniques were a lot different from what they've already learned
When they were done, Ryousuke called onto Sayuki and Kazumi. Since they were driving for the first time after his teachings, he had to make sure that they clearly understand.
"so, Sayuki-chan, Kazumi-chan…did you two understand everything?"
"of course we did, Ryousuke! Didn't we, Kazumi?"
Kazumi nodded at her
"well then, let me see how well you girls drive. Stay at the back of the line when we go down. Okay? I'll have to watch you closely"
"you'll be tailing us?" Kazumi asked
"not really tailing, just following you closely"
Outside this group, Keisuke called out to Takumi.
"hey, do you get to speak to Yuki-chan?"
"huh? Um…sometimes. Why?"
"if you ever find out when she's leaving, inform me A.S.A.P"
"I already know when she's leaving…" Takumi said nonchalantly
"really? When?"
"next week, Friday"
"next week? Oh no…but its already Saturday!"
"yeah…" Takumi said, then he looked at Keisuke seriously "its about your Aniki, isn't it?"
"yes…and I'm so worried that he'll make another mistake…"
"why? Did he let her go before?"
"sort of…he really didn't—" he cut himself off. Then he said "how'd you know?"
"its just a guess…"
"oh, good…I thought you knew…cause if you did, my Aniki will REALLY get disappointed…"
"okay" Takumi said
They remained silent for a while then Keisuke spoke
"Takumi, I'll be needing your help…"
"huh? Why again?"
"well…for one thing, you can think like my Aniki so I guess you can help him when he will encounter a problem and together, we can talk him out of things…"
"alrighty then. When will you need me?"
"next week, Friday…most probably after practices"
"next week, Friday at the Takahashi Residence, check!" Takumi said
"okay team!" Ryousuke called out. The whole team looked at him. "you ready to tackle Myogi?"
"YES!" the team shouted
"well then let's go! Nakazato, you lead…"
"…me?" Nakazato replied in disbelief
"yes, you. I believe that you're the leader of the Night Kids, am I correct? So, you must be very familiar with this course…"
"right…that's true"
"okay. This is the line up. So Shingo follows you. Then Kenta, Mako, Wataru Takumi, Keisuke, Kazumi then finally Sayuki."
This is the play: I've sorted you people according to the driver behind you. What you have to do is to try to do your best in preventing the person at your back to get pass you…the person at the back will taunt the person in front of him/her…so the key point here is concentration. If you lose this, surely you'll get overtaken. If the person in front of you loses concentration, please don't hesitate to overtake. You will only taunt, okay? Overtake only if concentration is lost. Though I'm an exception so I might pass through you guys because I'll be observing you…We've been training for a long time now so this is a…well, its similar to a test…"
The team murmured among themselves then kept quiet once more after a few seconds.
"Anyway, when we get to the bottom, we reverse places so that Sayuki's in front…"
Sayuki almost fell over
"and Nakazato's at the back, but don't rest yet" He said, seeing Nakazato's relieved look "cause, I'll be at your back"
Nakazato's features twisted into a worried look
"c'mon, let's go guys!" Ryousuke urged "let's get MOVING!"
The whole team got the hint so they all climbed into their cars and started their engines. They waited for Nakazato to lead then they followed, keeping in mind who's the person in front and at their back, more on the latter for they will be the one's to pressure them.
So they started on their very first test.