Disclaimer: runs over to the edge of the tunnel "I'm telling you! I don't own it!"
Two men in black suits approach with guns "We don't give a damn whether you own it or not, that's for the people to decide! We just gotta bring you in!"
"You'll never take me alive!!! MUHAHAHAHA!" jumps over the edge, into the waterfall/dam thingy…
A/N: I'm really surprised that people are actually reading my story past the first chapter! I just want to explain the first section of this chapter. It's from the perspective of the mystery girl, and it may confuse you because the way she's thinking is dramatically different to the previous three. The first time she was thinking, it was about racing the White Comet of Akagi, therefore she thinks competitively. The second and third time, she is reminiscing, and she tends to get all sentimental and stuff. This chapter, she is in the present, and is thinking about the future, and so therefore she is how she usually is, imaginative, bright and cheery and stuff. Of course, you'll find out more about her personality as the story goes on, it'll get simpler to understand.
Drivers Release
- Chapter Four (hehe!) : Dinner
She pulled to a stop in front of a large two-storey home, looking just as Tsugumi had described. Unfortunately for herself, there were at least five other houses that looked exactly the same. Too bad she had left the address back at her apartment. All she remembered now was Tsugumi's description and the area name.
So here she was, prowling the streets of Akagi like a real estate stalker. Not that real estate can be stalked anyway.
She could, of course, go peek into the carport and look for two RX-7's, but even now she could imagine what her family would think if she had been caught.
First they would be appalled. Appalled, not at the fact that she was looking into carports all over Akagi, but at the fact that she had done it alone, therefore it would mean, at least to her parents, that she had come up with the idea of stealing cars all by herself. Which her parents would soon realize was completely ridiculous after they realized that she owned a BMW. But then full realization would hit them. They would then think that their daughter had had to resort to looking at cars in random carports in order to see something different. Then they would cry and ask if they had done anything wrong to deserve this type of treatment from their only daughter.
She mentally shook herself. Sometimes she could be a little TOO imaginative. First, the sentimentalities, then the crazy scenarios. When would it stop? After all, there was one major thing wrong with the scenario. Her parents were more likely to yell at her than cry.
Of course, the most logical thing to do in this situation would be to call Tsugumi, which would be ok, if her flat mates hadn't wasted her mobile battery with questions of how to manage their apartment. Plus, she had no change to call from a payphone. So now she would have to ask for directions. This seemed like a tight-knit community, they would know the Takahashi's right?
She killed the engine and pulled out her keys. She grabbed her mall backpack and got out of her car. She walked up to the front door and spotted a plaque reading 'Takahashi'.
Oh. Well. That made things easier. Before ringing the doorbell she leaned back, peering through the gloom, toward the carport, and saw two RX-7's. One with an obnoxiously bright color. She smiled - this HAD to be the place - and rung the doorbell.
She waited a few seconds before she heard fast footsteps. Another few seconds passed before a male voice could be heard. Yet another few seconds of silence passed before the door snapped open. She blinked in the sudden radiance of the light and was joyed to see her friend again after so long.
"Tsugumi!"
All the other girl did was pull her into a bear hug. "How was the trip?" she asked.
"Oh, well, nothing eventful happened"
"Oh!" The girl exclaimed, seemingly forgetting herself. "Come in"
She stepped inside, and looking around, instantly spotted a man. Brunette hair, green eyes, and overall, quite good-looking. This accurately fitted the fan girls' description of Takahashi Ryosuke. Not that she needed their descriptions anyway, she'd already seen him once before. She thrust her hands towards him and introduced herself.
"Hello, my name is Sakiyama Yoshi. Please to meet your acquaintance"
She re-assessed him. So. This was the guy all the girls went crazy over. And she guessed the silent/mysterious thing made him even more desirable as a challenge. Maybe she could… no! It was a rule: never be attracted to an opponent, no matter how challenging.
With that thought, she was drawn back to reality. Then she noticed it. Her hand had been in midair for the past few moments. And there he was, just staring. Just what the hell was up with this guy?
---# #---
She stuck out her hand and introduced her self.
"Hello, my name is Sakiyama Yoshi. Please to meet your acquaintance"
Although she looked young, she was quite tall – almost as tall as himself.
Her hair was a natural black, which dropped down to her waist in a plait. It was fairly wispy, as though it had been in the wind for at least an hour. Her build was lanky and slim but she did not look fragile.
Her face however, said different things. Her skin was a pale olive. Her nose and mouth were small and delicate. Her eyes were a deep blue and a round almond shape. They were bright, curious and cheeky which made her look younger than Tsugumi. But there was also a slightly permanent challenging look in them, as though contradicting everyone. It gave her a more independent and unruly air, and that made her look older. Overall, she had a natural, healthy and young beauty that would probably any girl envious.
He felt a sharp pang in his side. He turned to see Keisuke saying 'Hello, have you forgotten something?' with his eyes (which was pretty unusual considering it was always vice versa).
He turned back to the girl, to see with a shock that her hand was still outstretched. He hastily took it.
"Takahashi Ryosuke. Pleased to meet yours"
She grinned charmingly at him. He decided she was very pretty when she did that. Her lips parted to revealed two rows of perfectly round, even and sparkling white teeth. The apples of her cheeks swelled into two round mounds and her eyes sparkled. She looked like a child with a cheeky streak.
He smiled back. It was amazing how much it reminded him of Keisuke when he was younger. Of course, now that Keisuke had grown up, cheekiness had been replaced with raw sex appeal on legs (and wheels) – at least according to the fan girls.
The phone rang and he went to answer it.
---# #---
Keisuke watched as his older brother stared… and stared. He gave Ryosuke 'The Look'. The one that said 'Hello, have you forgotten something?' Cause clearly, he had forgotten something. But that was obvious.
It wasn't like his brother to a) forget his gentlemanly manners, or b) stare at random teenage chicks.
He looked on as his brother shook the girls hand and returned a smile. So, a stare and a smile. It wasn't often that Ryosuke gave girls the pleasure of even one. He wondered what was going on. Sure, she was pretty, but he doubted Ryosuke was attracted to her. He hadn't been attracted to anyone since he got serious about racing and school.
The phone rang and Ryosuke went to get it. He introduced himself.
"Takahashi Keisuke"
"Sakiyama Yoshi" and she flashed another grin at him.
Scratch pretty. She was cuter when she gave a toothy smile. Now he understood why Ryosuke had smiled. She reminded him of himself when he was fifteen and he had wanted something bad.
He was about to start up a conversation with her when a voice rang from the living room.
"What's up, bro?"
---# #---
Tsugumi observed the exchange between Yoshi and her cousins. Although she was slightly apprehensive at Ryosuke's staring, she was even more surprised when he smiled.
"Come on," she said to Yoshi, "I'll show you your room"
---# #---
Yoshi glanced around her room. It was simple, with a single bed in the corner, a bedside table beside it, and window above the bedside table. Against the wall opposite the bed there was a stand-up mirror and an empty tallboy.
Simple, but it would suffice.
She set her bag on the bed. Her keys, however, remained protectively in the pocket of her designer trousers. She followed Tsugumi back down the stairs. As she stepped of the last landing, she heard her friend's name being called out.
"Wait here" Tsugumi said as she walked away.
So Yoshi waited. But she had always been a curious one…
---# #---
"What is it?" Tsugumi asked as she reached her cousins.
"We can't go to the restaurant," Ryosuke stated quite simply.
"We can't?"
"We can't" Keisuke clarified for her. "Our reservations were double-booked and ours was the second-booking so we got kicked."
"It's a Saturday, so we can't get a table anywhere else" Ryosuke said as Tsugumi turned to him.
Yoshi appeared at Tsugumi's shoulder with an apologetic smile.
"I'm sorry and I couldn't help but overhear your conversation and -" she started, but Tsugumi had interrupted her, horrified.
"Oh no! Yoshi! You're a guest in this house!"
"And I'd feel horrible if I didn't repay you somehow" she said lightly.
"No!" Tsugumi cried out. She turned to Ryosuke, exasperated. "Tell her she can't cook! Not for us!"
But before Ryosuke could open his mouth to say something, Keisuke had stepped in front of him, staring directly at their guest with a measuring look.
"You can cook?"
Yoshi smiled. "Pretty much, yeah"
"Are you good?"
"No-one's died yet"
Keisuke looked at her thoughtfully and Ryosuke took the chance to speak.
"Miss Sakiyama -" he began.
"Call me Yoshi," she said with a polite smile.
"Yoshi, I don't think I can allow you to cook. You are, after all, a guest in this house."
"Oh, but I insist. Don't worry, if you let me make dinner, it will not be a reflection on your ability to host." Was it just him or was the hint of a challenge more pronounced now?
"I think we should give Yoshi a chance to make us dinner for tonight" said Keisuke, who was never really into hostly kind-of manners. If she wanted to do it, why not let her? It couldn't any worse than Ryosuke's, Tsugumi's or his own cooking. If cooking it would be called. It was more like a mass-homicidal attempt on an atomic scale.
Yoshi threw him a grateful grin.
"You sure you wouldn't mind?" Tsugumi asked. It was clear that she was in two minds about the issue.
Yoshi shook her head then turned to the eldest of the three imploringly. He sighed.
"If it's OK with Tsugumi and Keisuke then go ahead."
The girl's grin broadened and she turned to his cousin to lead her into the kitchen.
---# #---
Yoshi looked around the dining kitchen.
"Nice place," she said to Tsugumi and she began opening the cupboards. She took a few oils and spices out before taking some meat and vegetables from the fridge.
If she wanted to get on the good side of the Takahashi Brothers of the Rotary Engine, she had better work fast.
"Tsugumi, chop these up for me will you? And dice these… then skin these… no not that way, this way…"
---# #---
Fifteen minutes later, Keisuke wandered into the room, drawn by the smell of food. He looked at the dishes already on the table with longing.
"Yoshi, how much longer?" he moaned.
The girl, slightly sweating from the heat in the kitchen, looked up and grinned. "Umm… " She looked into a pan. "A few more minutes- "
"Keisuke" he supplied.
She smiled. "Keisuke" Then seeing his look of pure hunger on his face, she wiped her hands on a tea towel, grabbed a pair of chopsticks and held a piece of beef up to his face. "Do you mind trying this for me?"
A look of pure happiness lit up Keisuke's face before taking the meat, practically nipping off the ends of the chopsticks in the process.
As his taste buds got over the shock of the heat, flavors exploded in his mouth. It was sweet, but slightly salty at the same time. It had a hint of spiciness and the sauce was incredibly thick and creamy.
Still chewing, trying to soak up as much flavor as possible, he grinned. "Very nice, but I've never eaten something like this before"
"You probably wouldn't have. It's a Vietnamese dish"
"Vietnamese? Where did you learn how to make it?"
"My mother"
"Oh, so your mother's Vietnamese?"
"Err… no. Both my grandfathers are Japanese"
Keisuke was about to reply when Yoshi took the lid off a pan, revealing a smoking fish. She hastily dusted the fish with something, which resulted in copious amounts of steam. Then, quickly, she poured the fish and sauce onto a waiting plate. She looked up at Keisuke.
"Do you mind calling your brother down?"
"Not at all"
Keisuke ran up the stairs and burst into Ryosuke's room. "Bro, come down! Quick, hurry up!" Keisuke said urgently.
"Why? Did something happen?" Flashes of fire consuming the kitchen took over Ryosuke mind. A rumble brought him back to reality.
"God bro, anyone would've thought that someone as skinny as you would be hungry"
"For your information, we're the same size"
"Yeah, exactly, and I'm starved"
Ryosuke watched his little brother practically skipped into the dining. As soon as he hit the bottom step, he knew why.
The smell of food. After five days of near-starvation-ness.
As Ryosuke sat down, Keisuke had already begun making his steady way through the vegetables, beef and fish.
"Come eat, Mr. Takahashi" she grinned. He heard Tsugumi and Keisuke snort and choke into their bowls of rice.
"I think I'll just go by Ryosuke" he replied, and he helped himself to some of the beef. "This is foreign," he said, half to himself, half to everyone else.
"Yoshi is part Vietnamese" Keisuke told Ryosuke knowledgeably.
"Really?"
"Yes," Yoshi said "I learnt my Japanese off my paternal grandfather"
"You didn't learn it over here? With your parents?" asked Ryosuke.
"No, I was born in Vietnam and my parents thought it would be best to stay there until I was old enough to start school"
"So you lived with…"
"My grandparents. But one parent would frequently visit me with my brother"
"Wow… " said Keisuke. "What's it like moving to another country?"
"It was actually quite fun. I had many more cousins to play with, and an older brother… but it's a lot more different when you're older"
"And you would know how…?"
"I was transferred to an American primary school when I was nine for about a year, then to Australia for a year in a Selective school. Then after I graduated I went to London for a course on Fine Arts, and a second course on Visual Communications majoring in photography. I finished both courses in Tokyo though, and my job requires me to go overseas a lot"
Silence met this answer. Tsugumi, who was close to Yoshi, continued to eat.
"Exactly how old are you?" Keisuke choked out. Then he realized he had just asked the #2 question in 'The Unofficial Book of Things Never to Ask Girls' (#1 being 'Have you gained weight?') and instantly regretted it. Yoshi, however, just laughed it off.
"I'm turning twenty-two in April" she replied.
"I just turned twenty-two in February!" said Keisuke happily; glad she wasn't offended by his question.
"You transferred to America when you were just nine, your parents let you?" Ryosuke asked, interested.
"My mother always wanted me to travel, so, in a way, she was fine with it. Except for the fact I wasn't even out of primary yet. So that's when I approached my grandfather – the one that lives here – with the idea. He had always thought I was more than I was, and he continually nagged my mother about it. She grudgingly hired an au paire to take care of me. After my friends heard I was going overseas, they wanted to go as well. Being the spoilt children we were, we always got our way," she laughed.
"Woah… so even as a child you got to go travel heaps" Keisuke said enviously.
"I guess it was because of the way I was brought up. I lived in a pretty tough place where there were plenty of thieves and people willing to kidnap and sell you. I learned how to take care of myself pretty quickly. Being the daughter of the son that lived so far away, my grandparents doted on me. So I grew a habit of always getting what I wanted. Fortunately, I was also a 'mild, sweet child' – or so they say – so I wasn't too demanding. I did have a quite a mischievous streak, though, so… " she laughed, " but when I wanted something, I wanted something"
"You said that your job requires you to go traveling. Would you say going overseas as a child was practice?"
"Mm… kind of. I developed a versatile and open personality, which is perfect for my job. But I wouldn't say that I went to foreign places as a young child just to practice for later life. I just liked learning and seeing new things"
"What exactly do you work as?" Keisuke asked, perplexed. Ryosuke shot him a mildly irritated look. Hadn't she just named her course?
"A professional fashion photographer. To be more specific, I work in the advertisement field"
"What other fields can there be?"
"You can also work for a magazine. Although it doesn't pay nearly as much, it really just depends on what you want, or what suits you"
"But if magazine work doesn't pay nearly as much as advertising, why would anybody work as that?" Keisuke asked.
"Hm… magazines pay around twenty-five thousand yen (1 yen = 1 Aust. Cent, so that would be roughly, $250) for about half a days work, but you're only needed for around two days a week, which leaves you free to do other work. Magazine work is for those who want a stable, non-hectic work life.
Advertising is hectic. At least during peak-weeks. Basically the four weeks before change of seasons. All the designers are racing to get their catalogues and stuff done. At those times, I work all week with long hours and I get paid roughly twice as much as I usually do, and I usually get paid three times as much as a magazine worker. But then, that's only sixteen weeks per year. The rest of the year I work two to four days a week, so I have tonnes of free time. There's also the odd week where I get to go overseas and go to fashion shows. I only work for the one studio, though, no stalking A-list celebs or anything. But I do get the occasional offer to work part-time for a fashion mag…"
"So what do magazine workers get paid and what do you get paid in a year?"
Yoshi blushed faintly. She bit the corner of her bottom lip, calculating.
"A full-time magazine worker could make around seven to twelve million, but I make more than twenty-three million a year"
"Cool, your parents must be happy with that"
"Err… well, that could be debatable"
"Oh? How?" Ryosuke asked, intrigued. It struck him as surprising how this perfect, pretty and spoilt girl could manage to disappoint her parents.
"Well, I just wouldn't necessarily say they were both happy. My dad is happy – he only ever wanted me to go to uni, get a job and be able to take care of myself. My uncle was ecstatic about my current position. He's a photographer as well, and was my mentor. My mother, however, wanted me to go to uni and get a 'respectable' job, then get married and give her at least two grandchildren. And for a while, I actually tried. I did a semester in medical science, but it was so flat compared to what I do now"
Keisuke looked at her in amazement.
"You did medicine?" he asked in disbelief.
"Only for so long" she said lightly.
"How do you find the time to do all this?!"
"Oh, err… I have a tendency to do more than one thing at once"
"Did you know Ryosuke is about to finish medical science?"
"Really?" she turned to Ryosuke in polite interest.
"Yes, same as our parents" he said in a tone that invited no conversation.
"What do you do, Keisuke?" she politely inquired.
"Various courses" he replied, waving his hand as though to prove it wasn't anything important.
"Yoshi, so you stopped medicine, how did your mother react?" Ryosuke asked, fearing a lapse in conversation.
Yoshi looked thoughtful. "I honestly have no idea. Sometimes I'd love to know what she's thinking, but I think there were conflicting emotions. On the one hand she'd always had this idea that I'd have a position that would command respect. Therefore she wouldn't have to worry about me getting through life. Like, as a lawyer, or a neurological surgeon. But on the other hand there was her duty as a mother just to be happy for me, and to worry for me no matter what. I think she knew she had lost her young, pliable daughter when I told her I was moving out -"
"You moved out?" Keisuke cried out incredulously. "At TWENTY-ONE?!"
"Nineteen turning twenty actually. It was so quiet around the house without my brother – he moved out with his girlfriend at twenty-four. My mother was driving me crazy with this ideal life she had planned out for me. So I told them at dinner one night that I was moving out. To cut a long story short, my mum reluctantly let me go – I swear she was on the verge of disowning me, but she couldn't possibly otherwise she'd never have grandchildren – and my three best friends decided to come along for the ride. So now I'm living in a four-bedroom apartment, whose building is owned by one of my best friends' dad, so the rents pretty easy on my account. But anyway, moving in with me was like a gigantic relief to all my friends' parents – I think that's why the rent so cheap for me –and pretty much a godsend for my friends"
"Why was it a relief to the parents?" Ryosuke asked. Keisuke shot him an 'isn't it obvious look?'
"Maybe 'cause they wanted to be free?"
"Actually no. They were quite reluctant to let their daughters go. But, out of all of us, I was the most responsible. Basically, the only capable of taking care of myself and three other spoilt brats. I could cook -" Keisuke nodded understandably, "- I could clean. All that housewife stuff my mother had forced me to learn when she started thinking I was ready to get married. But anyway, before I left I told my mother I didn't regret dropping out of med-school. Then I promised I'd visit at least once a week since I had so much time off. At which point she got the idea that I'd be managing the restaurant when she retires"
"Restaurant?" Keisuke asked, with dawning realization.
"Err yeah, my parents own two restaurants and they manage one of them. Best in Tokyo"
"Tokyo?"
"Um, yes, I live there"
"Oh." A few seconds passed. "So you came to Akagi just to visit Tsugumi?"
Tsugumi, who had been quiet thus far, shot Keisuke an irritated look.
"Err, well… um… not really. Not just for Tsugumi" Yoshi glanced nervously at Tsugumi, hoping she had not offended her friend. "I came down to manage a photo studio. You see, the head there had recently passed away, so my employer sent me to oversee everything until he finds another suitable head. So I few nights ago I called Tsugumi to set up a date with her and she invited me to stay a night or two"
"But you said a few months, where will you be staying after this?" Ryosuke had inquired.
"Oh, well my employer has arranged a small hotel suite for me"
"Oh" said Keisuke, crestfallen. It was obvious he had been looking forward to more restaurant-quality food. "So you came just 'cause your boss told you to?"
Yoshi gave an embarrassed grin.
"Um, well actually, there are two reasons why I came. The main was because he threatened to take away all my overseas jobs for the next two years if I didn't do it. But the deciding factor was, well, because… " she looked up and stared directly at Ryosuke. With the levelness and challenge of the stare, he couldn't help but feel a little intimidated. The next few words nearly killed him through asphyxiation.
"I'd like to challenge the White Comet of Akagi to a battle"
---# #---
A/N2: YAY! jumps for job Anyway, school is starting day after tomorrow… so its gonna be a goodbye for a while!! And lots of this is guesswork. The photographer stuff is how it works over here in my country. And about the yen thing, I didn't know what currency to use, so yea. You might have to convert your dollar to the Australian dollar then do all this calculating. gets a headache due to all the thinking r/r please!