Okay, here's the third chapter. Not really much intro needed, just read and see.

Disclaimer: I don't own… aaaaaahhhh, just skip back a chapter or two and you'll find it!

Follow The Leader

by BoomChish

Chapter Three

No One Sleep In (Nikko)

After I'd moved all my stuff into the spare bedroom in Miyoko's house, the four of us immediately began discussing issues pertaining to their racing team, Evo Prime. First order of business was finding a safe place for practicing. Even though Irohazaka was the closest mountain pass to our current location, being the Emperor stronghold automatically made it out of the question.

That didn't leave much else. I wasn't very familiar with other mountain passes, and the only three I was familiar with were Momiji, which was the home course of the Seven Star Leafs; Enna Pass, the citadel of the Todo Racing School; and of course, Irohazaka.

"There's got to be some place around here that no team has claimed, aniki," Jin protested when I'd told him that I was fresh out of ideas. Alex merely nodded vigorously, while Miyoko remained silent, typing away at her laptop. She always seemed to be busy at her laptop. If it weren't for her harsh and commanding attitude, I'd say she'd be something like Ryousuke Takahashi. Come to think of it, she's more of a cross between Kyouichi and Takahashi… in a female body.

"Well, to be frank, it doesn't matter if you've claimed a mountain pass for your team, Jin. You have to be able to defend it from intruders. If you can't do that, you can't really call the mountain pass yours," I explained as honestly as I possibly could. Which was true, in a way. I couldn't defend Irohazaka for the life of me, which was why Kyouichi threw me out. I'd ruined Emperor's name with my shoddy skills. And yet… I was to train these novices to become worthy enough to rival Emperor?

Miyoko suddenly shot out a word. "Happogahara."

All three of us stared at her. "What?"

"Happogahara. It's a mountain pass a little farther away from Irohazaka, but to my knowledge, no team has claimed it yet. Project D's Fujiwara had a race there once… against some diminishing rally racer known as Tomoyuki Tachi. Back then, the road was still under construction, so neither racer had been there before. We could practice there."

Of course. How could I have forgotten. It was Kyouichi who'd gone to Ryousuke Takahashi and had warned him about Tomoyuki and his skill as a rally racer. They had both attended Todo Racing School at the same time. But I had my own questions to ask.

"That may be all fine, but how technical of a course is it?" I inquired.

"See for yourself." She turned around her laptop to show me the map displayed on her screen. Happogahara was a narrow pass with lots of fast consecutive turns, as well as a few extremely sharp hairpins. A road racer's paradise. It was more than perfect. But something bothered me.

"How did you know about the race between Project D and Tomoyuki Tachi? I heard that it was kept extremely low key, in consideration of Tachi's fame as a rally racer."

Miyoko gave me her trademark You're a dumbass, did you know that? look. "I have my sources, and I refuse to divulge them." And she had a point. Being the daughter of Hiroji Ieyasu, she was bound to have access to information far beyond our normal scope.

"You think we can check it out now?" Alex asked hopefully.

I stood up. "Sure, why not? Shall we all go in separate cars, or all in one?"

"I'd rather take my own car," Alex spoke.

Miyoko shook her head. "I've got some work to do. You boys can go on by yourselves. I'll check it out on my own later." She made to rise, but my look bore into her.

"I think all of us should go together as a team," I spoke quietly, so as not to arouse her anger. I'd learned quite fast that if Miyoko was opposed, she was apt to lose her temper very quickly. The way I often did whenever someone opposed me, but as team leader of these newbies, I knew I'd have to at least make an effort to control myself. Particularly around Miyoko, whose temper was the same as mine, if not shorter. How the other guys got along with her so easily is beyond me; it seemed like she was purposely trying to make my life difficult.

Jin turned to face Miyoko. "C'mon Miyo… couldn't you just set it aside for now and come with us? I'm sure we won't be long, and the instant we return home, you can go off and do whatever it is you have to do and we won't bother you. We swear upon it. Isn't that right?" he asked, glancing at both Alex and I.

"Absolutely," we both agreed, nodding our heads.

She appeared to mull it over until she finally acquiesced. Well, that was one obstacle overcome. Now for the question of how many cars we'd take…

"Well, all four may be a bit excessive… How about we go in two cars? I know that Seiji will most likely be one of the drivers, but who'll be the other one?" Alex questioned.

"You said you wanted to take your own car… so obviously, you can take your own car if you want to," Jin pointed out matter-of-factly. "And I'll go with you, then. Miyoko can go with Seiji."

Oh, sure. Leave me with the witch. I think Jin secretly wants me dead. Miyoko merely raised her eyebrows at the suggestion, then snapped her laptop shut before she stood up. "I'll just put this away for now. I'll be down shortly."

For the most part, Miyoko remained silent throughout our entire trip to Happogahara. We approached the route from the beginning of the inbound section and I noted through my rearview mirror that Alex and Jin had managed to keep up the pace behind me. But then, of course, I wasn't going as fast as I normally would, so there's something else to consider.

"Seems empty," I commented, hoping to start a conversation.

She merely wrinkled her nose and said nothing. Well, at least I tried. I merely frowned as I drove on, the silence almost deafening.

"How fast are your reflexes?" she suddenly blurted out. Her words were so sudden that I was stunned momentarily.

"Uhh… pretty fast… fast enough to react if a car comes out of nowhere in the opposite direction… why?" She had to be up to something. Why else would she ask such a question.

The answer I'd anticipated came soon enough. "Good. Drive as you would if you were racing someone." It was a command, short and simple.

I'm sure the confusion registered on my face. "I beg your pardon? In broad daylight?!"

"Just do it," she replied, quietly, coldly and firmly. She had to be insane. Most road racers never race in the daytime, simply because the risk of running into another motorist is just too high. I tried one more time to convince her otherwise. "It's daytime… there may be cops about, and I don't want to hurt-"

"I said do it!" she ordered sharply. Her voice had risen.

Okay… but don't say I didn't warn you…

I pressed down on the accelerator and watched the red needle on my tachometer shoot up. As soon as it redlined, I geared up and literally sped forward, away from Alex and Jin, who, I imagine, were wondering what the hell had come over me. I stole a quick glance at Miyoko and saw that she'd already gripped onto the handle above her door with her left hand for support. Her right hand lay nestled calmly on her thigh. And her face registered nothing.

The turns came fast and sudden. Being careful not to brake too hard or turn the wheel excessively, I let go of the gas and turned just enough to allow my Evo to slide just enough into the first turn, then I immediately set myself up for the counter. Miyoko still didn't say a word; she merely sat there and watched the corners approach with an impassive expression dominating her features.

I dropped gears when a series of sharp consecutive hairpins came up. I knew that my entry speed was slower than possibly some other racers who've attempted it before, but I wanted to make sure that I could clear it as safely as I could without going too slow, lest I wanted Miyoko to call me a wuss. Hell, she'd probably call me one anyway, no matter what I do. I glanced at my rearview mirror once during the whole run. Not a sign of Alex or Jin anywhere. I must've left them trailing in my dust.

It went on for a few more minutes until I finally saw the final stretch, which I knew to be the end of the inbound pass and the beginning of the outbound route. There, I pulled off to the side and slowed down. There was a long bout of silence that ensued. Miyoko never moved, or said anything, so I decided to start the conversation. "So… what did you think?"

"So that's what Alex, Jin and I have to achieve?" she queried.

"In short, yes… Preferably, if you can do better than that, I'd be happier. But I can't ask for everything, can't I?"

She mulled over my words, then let out a sigh. "I've got my work cut out for me…"

Good thing you've noticed. Just then, I heard the approaching roar of Alex's engine as his Evo pulled up behind mine. I stepped out of my car and waited for them. Miyoko did the same.

"Jesus, what the hell was that?! You just ran off like the devil was after you!" Alex exclaimed angrily as he and Jin emerged from the Evo VII. "And in broad daylight too! You're damn lucky there weren't any other cars around, or cops for that matter!"

Jin was considerably less belligerent, especially when he saw both Miyoko's expression and mine. He narrowed his eyes a bit, then spoke the key words: "It was Miyo who told you to drive fast like that, am I right?" When he saw me acquiesce with a nod, he shook his head, then addressed her. "That was a gutsy thing you did. Foolish and extremely dangerous, but gutsy. It's a good thing my aniki's skilled enough to tackle those corners at that speed, otherwise both of you could've been hurt. And I would not have liked to see either of you get hurt."

She merely scowled for a second before she let out a sigh of defeat and bowed her head. "You're right; I'm sorry. I just wanted an idea of what skill level we should achieve in order to be considered highly skilled. And right now, there's no better way than to ride shotgun in a former road racer's car as he takes on a highly technical pass, no?"

Me? Highly skilled? I guess she was trying to be nice. Either that or she didn't know my one real weakness… Kyouichi often told me that I had a lot of skills when it came to road racing. My only real fault was the fact that I'm extremely impatient and I tend to lose my temper easily while I'm behind the wheel. And if I had little to no control over my temper while racing, my skills were rendered moot, because my temper would get the best of me and cloud my judgement.

Alex had suitably calmed down as he glanced at Jin, then Miyoko and finally rested his gaze on me. With genuine admiration, he said, "Seriously though, that was insane! I could barely take the turns unless I dropped down to first gear! How did you do that?"

All three of them were waiting for my response, so I decided to be honest. "You have to know your car and trust your car first before you can push yourself to the limit. After you've achieved that, learning the other skills, like drifting, is merely a small step up from child's play."

It felt somewhat odd hearing all those words of wisdom coming out of my mouth. Because of my brash nature, Kyouichi often said I was an idiot, a dumbass, or anything remotely derogatory that was meant to convey my simple-mindedness. Of course, Kyouichi was the leader of Emperor, and you didn't get very far by contradicting the leader without any solid backing. But then… in this instance, I'm the team leader… so they're relying on me for words of wisdom. And when it all boiled down… I hadn't a single clue on how to train three newbies in the ways of road racing…

Oh God, what have I gotten myself into?

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And so ends Chapter Three…

I deliberately chose Happogahara as a track because from what I know; it's in Tochigi, so it's not very far for them; the other familiar courses are all home courses for other teams; and based on my knowledge of the course from Arcade Stage and Battle Gear 3, the course is technical enough to pose a challenge for the racers of Evo Prime. I could've made my own track, but I wanted to keep it real to the actual scenery of Tochigi, which is why I chose an existing track.

I don't think I've omitted anything, but if I do, don't hesitate to mention it. I'm fairly open-minded :)

-BoomChish