Sorry for keeping you all waiting for so long. After DKW's review, I had to admit that he was right about Shingo and his antics, so I had to change it quite up a bit. Hope you like it!

… because I'm not too proud of this chapter myself… =

Follow The Leader

by BoomChish

Chapter Eight

Dogfight

When I'd returned to Miyoko's hospital room, Alex and Jin were already there. They stared at me as I stepped into the room. Miyoko, on the other hand, was sound asleep. I watched her for a moment before I approached the guys.

"What happened, aniki? Did you find out how she ended up in this situation?"

"Yes, I did. And you're not going to like it," I spoke in a low voice. Alex and Jin leaned in closer to hear what I had to say on the matter. As I relayed the whole story, adding what I'd figured out about the Night Kids, their expressions went from confusion to shock to complete outrage.

"The bastards… I can't believe they'd stoop so low as to do this to one of us! We never did anything to them!" Alex exclaimed hotly.

Jin looked at me. "Wait… Aniki, do you think that what happened to Miyo could be some sort of revenge exacted on you for humiliating them when you were in Emperor?"

At that, I had to shake my head. It was impossible. "It's way too late to avenge themselves for that. It was nearly a year ago, if not two. If it was revenge, it would've been done a long time ago. Furthermore, how the hell could the Night Kids have found out about Evo Prime? It's not like we're exactly all that well known in Tochigi, much less Gunma. And the Night Kids are homebased on Mt. Myougi, in Gunma."

"Well, how did Emperor find out about us?" Alex retorted.

It took all of my self-restraint not to call him an idiot. "It's obvious… I'm Evo Prime's leader. I used to be a member of Emperor. I highly doubt that anything I do that involves the road-racing scene is going to escape Kyouichi's knowledge. And I know that Kyouichi has absolutely no connections to the Night Kids, so he couldn't have told them."

"But what if someone else did?" he persisted.

"Well, wouldn't they have attacked me and sent me to the hospital instead of Miyoko? It doesn't make sense why they'd attack her, especially since she hasn't done anything to them."

Jin was thoughtful. "It must've been just a random attack… that Night Kids guy must've been going for a joyride on Happo, saw Miyoko on the road, pegged her driving style for a racer's and decided to jerk around with her. It could also be entirely possible that having her crash and having her hospitalized wasn't on his agenda."

"Whether it was or it wasn't isn't the point!" Alex raged. "No one does this to one of us and gets away with it!" he growled harshly. At least he felt the same way I did about the situation. He fixed me with a direct glare, his blue eyes blazing. "We're going to Myougi, aren't we? To make them pay?"

"We're not going anywhere. I'm going to Myougi. Alone. You two need to stay here with her," I replied as quietly and firmly as possible. The last thing I wanted was to place them in danger as well. I couldn't care less what happened to me, but I wouldn't stand it if something happened to Alex and my brother at the same time while I did something stupid. And let's face it; going alone to Myougi to face the whole Night Kids team to find out who harmed Miyoko was a stupid idea. But it was something that absolutely needed to be done.

I wasn't about to allow something like this to happen to anyone else.

Jin looked absolutely shocked. "Aniki! Are you sure? Those Night Kids'll all jump you if you go alone! At least if we're there, you'd stand a chance of surviving and making it out of there in one piece."

I shook my head. "I may not know the team leader of the Night Kids well, nor will he like having come horning in on his territory accusing one of his teammates of hurting one of mine, but I know he wouldn't send them to attack me for nothing. Especially not if he finds out exactly who his teammate injured and hospitalized."

Alex had to let out a snort of laughter at that. "He's got a point, Jin. If the name of Ieyasu is enough to evoke shock and wonder in Kyouichi Sudou, then it'll be enough to evoke fear in whoever it was who was stupid enough to do this to Miyoko." Almost as if fearful that she'd heard us, Alex glanced over at Miyoko's bed. She still slept on peacefully, unaware of our discussion. "Hey, does Miyoko know what you're about to do?"

"No. As a matter of fact, she wanted to take on the Night Kid guy who'd done this to her. But as team leader of Evo Prime, I'll go deal with them, as it is my duty. Besides, she's in no condition to go anywhere right now. It's best we let her recover first before telling her anything. Can I trust you guys with this?" I asked, hoping that they won't spill the story to her. The last thing I need is to return and have her yelling in my face for exacting revenge in her stead.

Both of them nodded. "We won't tell her. And good luck! Show 'em what Evo Prime is made of!"

---

The whole time that I drove to Myougi, I kept thinking about the Myougi mountain pass. It'd been well over a year since I'd last been there. I doubt anything drastic had changed about the track, but the last time I'd driven on it, I raced on the uphill. No doubt if I had to challenge the Civic, it'd be on the downhill, because in my Evo, I'd completely dominate it on the uphill. Also, I thought back to the other drivers in the Night Kids… I didn't remember any of the other cars… all I remembered was the black GT-R. But I came this far… it was too late to turn back now.

When I'd approached the top of the mountain pass, I could see a large amount of cars gathered, as well as a lot of people. Amid the blackness of the night, I could see the black GT-R like a shadow in the dark. I was aware of their stares of shock and anger as I drove up. But I didn't care. Right now, what mattered most was finding whoever it was who owned the red Civic.

As I parked my car in the middle of the road and got out, I saw everyone glaring at me with open disdain. I immediately recognized Takeshi Nakazato, the leader of the Night Kids, who eyed me with open distaste before he slowly approached me. Next to him was some younger lout, with longish shoulder length hair and a petulant look on his face. He stayed when Nakazato approached, though.

"Seiji Iwaki… what are you doing here? Isn't it enough that you've destroyed us with Emperor nearly two years ago?" Nakazato was saying.

"It would've remained at that… if it weren't for one of your louts going all the way to Happogahara and deliberately hospitalizing one of my teammates," I answered in a low voice.

The man with the shoulder length hair scoffed. "But I thought Irohazaka was the stronghold of Emperor, not Happogahara. Unless you guys changed home turfs."

Nakazato didn't even bother to turn and look at his teammate as he addressed him, "Shut up, Shingo." Still facing me, he said, "What makes you say it was one of us who hospitalized your teammate?"

"From what my teammate told me, she'd been run off the road by someone driving a red Honda Civic SiRII with a Night Kids sticker. There's only one Night Kids team that I know of, and it's this one."

Takeshi narrowed his eyes, then this time, he turned to face the guy with the longish hair, the guy he'd called Shingo. "Is what he says true, Shingo? Did you go to Tochigi today and run someone off the road?"

Shingo shrugged selflessly. "So what if I did? He cut me off while I was driving around! Besides, the red Evo I'd heckled didn't have an Emperor sticker, so I don't see why he cares so much." He then sneered at me. "Unless it's a new member."

I could feel my grip on my temper giving way. "It's not a new member, it's a new team. The person you'd so fondly run into a guardrail and sent to the hospital was Miyoko Ieyasu and she's a member of my new racing team, Evo Prime! And you have no remorse for what you've done?!"

Shingo barely raised an eyebrow, but Nakazato looked sufficiently shocked. At the name, of course. "Did you say Miyoko Ieyasu? The daughter of Hiroji Ieyasu?" He then turned to face Shingo again and addressed him, this time with cold fury, "You idiot! Do you realize what could happen to you if Ieyasu finds out you were deliberately responsible for sending his daughter to the hospital?"

The one called Shingo barely bat an eye. "It's not like either of them can prove it was me, anyway. Why should I be worried? Besides," here he looked at me with a look of open insolence, "if she's one of your teammates, then I'd say she should've seen it coming. She deserved it."

I totally lost it. "Why, you arrogant, cold-hearted son of a bitch!" I raged as I lunged at him. I could've sworn that had I gotten my hands on him, I'd have beaten him into a bloody pulp, but Nakazato held me back. And with good reason; I was fully ready to destroy the little maggot.

"Iwaki, calm down!" he shouted before I'd managed to contain some of my anger. Not all, but just enough to prevent me from trying to kill that smug bastard. He looked at me, then at Shingo, before he spoke, "Look, beating him up isn't going to change anything, and if anything, you'll probably be jailed for assault. Even though he was the direct cause of Ieyasu-chan's hospitalization. How about this; you and Shingo have one straight race. A downhill battle. If you win, I'll let you have one punch to his sorry face."

"Hey! Takeshi, what the hell?!" Shingo cried out indignantly. "No way!"

Takeshi shot him a deadly glance before he continued. "If you lose, you leave and Shingo goes off scot-free. Also, since his car is severely underpowered, he'll take the lead in the beginning. You'll have to pass him before the finish line, or you lose."

It was grossly unfair, considering Shingo's home course advantage, but in a way, it balanced out since my car was grossly overpowered compared to his. However, Nakazato wasn't done, "Also… Shingo strictly adheres to one style of racing… it's called the Gum Tape Death Match. Ever heard of it?"

I didn't like the sound of it. "What is it?" But I was determined to win, no matter what. Even if I had to comply with their retarded stipulations.

"Your right hand is taped to your steering wheel. Your left hand is free for gear shifting. If the gum tape comes off before the end of the race, you lose. Will that suffice?"

One hand taped to the steering wheel… What the hell? No one could possibly win against him under those stipulations! He'd obviously mastered it. The moment I'd thought of it, I immediately had to dismiss it from my mind. Of course someone had won against him. None other than Fujiwara Takumi. And if he could do it, then there's a high chance that I could too. And I would do it. For Miyoko, if nothing else.

"Fine," I answered curtly. "But I also have one condition. If I win," here, I pointed a finger at Shingo, "you'd better not show your face around Happogahara again, or else I will beat the stuffing out of you. And that, I promise!"

Shingo scoffed. "If you win."

And I am going to win. You'll see about that. I nodded once to Takeshi, who clapped his hands once and the road cleared almost instantaneously as the other racers scrambled to move their vehicles aside. I brought my car up to the beginning of the starting line. Shingo brought his red Honda Civic SiRII next to my Evo and then tossed me a roll of duct tape. "Remember, if it falls off during the race, you lose."

I knew I would make sure that it wouldn't. Above all, I was determined to win at their game. No one would ever make a fool out of me ever again. Least of all these little maggots whom I've smashed before when I was a part of Emperor. If I was able to do it back then, I should be able to do it again now. I wrapped the tape around my hand and the steering wheel and tried to flex my hand. It felt awkward. Takeshi passed by to see if the tape was set properly. He checked it carefully, then nodded and gave the thumbs-up sign to Shingo and the others. It made me suddenly wonder… what exact disadvantages would I have with this tape on my hand?

Nakazato was speaking. "You'll both start slowly and then at a certain point, Shingo will flash his lights, meaning the race will start. Then he'll speed up and you'll have to take off after him. Remember, if the tape comes off, for either of you, you lose. If you win, you get to throw one punch to Shingo's face and he's forbidden to go anywhere near your team. If you lose, he goes off free. Ready?"

I attempted to flex my hand again and nodded. No way was I going to let this little twit win! Not after what he'd done to Miyoko! I wouldn't give him that satisfaction of going off scot-free.

I watched carefully as Shingo started off at a slow pace. I fell into line behind him and slowly followed him towards the downhill path. Then, without warning, he flashed his lights twice before he took off. Almost immediately, I shifted up and took off after him. All was well until I'd encountered the first corner. As I turned to execute a drift, I'd suddenly noticed why the gum tape was an impediment… it restricted the turning of the wheel! I could only turn it so far before my arm would start to hurt from twisting it in the wrong direction.

The sonofabitch! He knew all along that having your right hand taped to the wheel would severely restrict the turning capabilities of the driver! Without a doubt, he knew how to manipulate his vehicle effectively with the handicap. And also without a doubt, he knew that others didn't.

This was going to be harder than I'd thought…

I took a deep breath and stared at the road ahead of me. Shingo was still visible in front of me, but he was slowly getting away. I knew that I couldn't allow that twit to get away. It would do me ill right now to become angry, so I took another deep breath. Kyouichi's repeated words of wisdom returned to me at that moment, "Stay calm, Seiji. A common mistake not to think clearly enough. Your skills are exceptional, but they mean nothing if you can't stay calm on the road."

One thing I knew was that if I'd let him get away, I'd lose for sure. Another thing I knew was that if I'd lost my temper, I'd be prone to resorting to his dirty tricks. Above all, I knew I couldn't allow that, even though the temptation was sorely inviting.

What else was it that Miyoko had told me about what he'd done? "He started to drive behind me tapping my bumper, so I tried to move out of the way, but he followed me and kept tapping me… So finally, I slowed down enough to let him pass. Then he swerved in front of me, and suddenly braked, forcing me to brake as well. I kept trying to pass him, but it kept swerving in front of me, braking suddenly…" I ground my teeth and stepped a bit harder on the accelerator. I wasn't about to let him win, especially not with his dirty tricks.

I started to catch up to his rear bumper. I was about no more than five meters away from him when I suddenly saw his brake lights turn on. So, you think you can brake in my face, like you did with Miyoko? Well, good luck! Within that split second that I saw his brake lights go on, my reflexes kicked into motion and I swerved out of the way, accelerating as fast as my Evo could go. I pulled up alongside him and claimed the inside track. When the next turn approached, I made sure to shift the weight just enough to allow my car to slide into the corner, allowing me to turn just enough without having to turn the wheel all the way to the other side.

I kept my eye on my blind side while watching the road, making sure that Shingo didn't spring out of nowhere, all while trying to conserve my tires as I attacked the twists and turns of Myougi. When I came to think about it, Myougi wasn't all that different from Happogahara. It just had less sharp hairpins and a lot more small constant turns here and there. I knew that he was right behind me, but I also knew that as long as I kept a reasonable distance, he wouldn't be able to tap my bumper. As the turns kept coming out of nowhere, I suddenly saw the flash of an incoming car. I moved out of the way and turned into the next corner as best as I could. As far as I knew, Shingo should have been right behind me, but the moment I heard tires squealing behind me and a crash, I knew that something had gone totally wrong.

I quickly turned the car around and drove back up Myougi and saw a Nissan Cube off to the side, along with Shingo's car dented up against the guardrail. Oh shit… When I'd intended to make him pay for what he'd done to Miyoko, this wasn't what I'd had in mind!

I quickly tore off the duct tape as best as I could and quickly got out of my Evo to see if he was alright. The other driver wasn't severely injured either, but he was scared to hell. I didn't blame him; so was I. Oh dear God, please don't tell me he's dead. I made it to the door on the driver's side and yanked it open. Fortunately, Shingo's airbag had deployed before he could crash through the windshield, and his seatbelt was still fastened. However, his hand was still taped to the steering wheel and I could only imagine the pain he was experiencing right now. Very carefully, I removed the duct tape from his hand and released his seat belt. "Hey Shingo… are you okay?"

"Nnn… ow… damnit, it hurts…" he mumbled as he tried to move, but when his arm dropped down to rest at his side, he let out a loud yelp of pain. I recoiled and winced at the sound, and I imagined the other driver did too.

"Can you move your arm?" I asked. When he shook his head, I tried to carefully help him out of the car without moving his arm too much. "It might be broken. Let me take you to the hospital."

He let me help him out of his car, but beyond that, he wouldn't let me go near him. He just stared at me with a half-humiliated half-angry look. "Why the hell are you helping me?"

I shrugged helplessly. "Look, I can't help but feel partially responsible, okay? The least I could do is take you to the nearest hospital so that you can get your arm fixed up. Otherwise it may set wrong and you'll incur more damage in the long run. Would you want to jeopardize your racing career simply because you don't want my help?"

Shingo remained hesitant, but he eventually acquiesced. I nodded, then turned to the other driver, addressing him. "Hey you… are you heading up Mt. Myougi?"

"Me? Uh… yeah… I'm supposed to meet someone there. Why?"

"Think you could do me a favor? I have a… friend… at the top of the pass… He drives a black R32 and his name is Takeshi Nakazato. Could you tell him for me that Shingo here had a small accident and that I'll be taking him to the hospital?"

"Uh… sure thing." He then nodded, got back into his Cube and drove off. I then turned to Shingo and indicated for him to follow me. He refused any assistance in getting into the passenger side of my Evo, but he seemed to handle things well with one arm.

The drive down was mostly in silence, until Shingo broke it. "Okay, tell me something, Iwaki. First off, you came to Myougi with the intent of kicking my ass because of what I did to your teammate, and now because I've been in a freak accident, you want to help me out? I would've thought that you'd wanted to see me get hurt this badly."

I let out a sigh. "It was not my intention for you to get hurt this badly. If I think about it, in comparison to what happened to you, Miyoko got off easy. Besides, I just want to make one thing clear; contrary to what most people think, I'm an ass, not an asshole. I run my mouth off a lot, but I'd never willingly try to get someone killed. That's just dishonorable." I'd meant for that comment to sting, and it did. Shingo remained quiet for a long while.

When he spoke again, it was more deferential, "You mentioned something about a new team… Evo Prime, I believe… If I'm not prying, what happened with Emperor?"

I knew he'd mock me for this, but I didn't care. The past was past and all I cared about was the future. "I got kicked out for losing one too many times."

The mocking laughter I was expecting came. Shingo threw his head back and whooped, but stopped when the pain shot through him again. He then tried to calm down and saw that I wasn't laughing at all. But I wasn't mad either, and that was what bothered him. "Hey… you're not angry… Why not?"

"Because I don't care about Emperor anymore. Hell, when I think about it, it sucked being one of Kyouichi Sudou's lackeys. I very much prefer being my own boss. As it is, I'm the team leader of my new team, Evo Prime. The others look up to me, and I get the respect that I never got while in Emperor."

Shingo appeared thoughtful. "Hm… Sometimes I wish I had my own team… I mean, God knows that Takeshi sucks as a team leader for the Night Kids. I could be a much better leader than he is!"

"Well… you know, being a team leader is a big responsibility… You become responsible for overseeing your team's progression in skills. If you simply leave them to their own devices and don't watch them improve, you may very well become the sole defender of your team's honor and that's a hard thing to do. You'd have to have godlike skills to pull off something of that caliber."

"Or be like Fujiwara," Shingo suggested.

I scoffed at that. "I don't think either of us will ever become like Fujiwara, no matter how hard we try. There's a reason why Takahashi didn't seek us out for Project D. But hey, we can keep trying, at least."

"Yeah…" We both sighed in unison, then we fell silent.

Finally, Shingo spoke again; "You know something, Iwaki? You're not so bad once you get to know you better. I guess we all misjudged you."

I raised my eyebrows. "Whoa, don't get all softie on me, now. I'm still the same idiot I used to be. Just that now, I've got more important things on hand than picking arguments with other people. Actually," I added, as an afterthought, "Kyouichi was right about me; I do need to stop and think before I speak. It's worked wonders these days, especially with my teammates. They're not exactly all deferential to my authority, you know. Well, except my brother, but then, considering I'm six years his senior, he's always listened to what I had to say. Even if it was the dumbest thing in the world."

He gave me a sidelong glance. "Your brother is in your team too? You guys must be like a family instead of a team or something… or a lower-level Project D."

I shrugged and grinned weakly. "I'll take that as a compliment, I guess. No, they actually appointed me as leader because I had the most racing experience out of all of them. The rest of them are pretty new to the whole road-racing notion. Come to think of it, we're more like a mini-Emperor. After all, we all drive Evos, although they drive the new Evo VII and I have my old Evo IV."

Shingo absorbed that last bit of information in silence. His next comment seemed hesitant, almost fearful. "You don't think Ieyasu will sue me for what I did, will she?"

That's a good question. "Well, I can't really talk for her. That's up to her. Actually, tell me something, Shingo… When you ran into Miyoko on Happo, why'd you start to toy around with her on the road and have her get into an accident? I heard that when you'd jerked around with Fujiwara's loud-mouthed fish-lipped friend and got him hospitalized, he came after you with full venom and taught you one hell of a lesson. What made you revert?"

He was taken aback by that question, but he thought it through before he replied with an earnest, "You know… if I think about it really far, I can't really come up with a plausible reason… except… Well… You get really furious when someone cuts you off on the road, right? Well, that's what she did to me on Happo! And you know better than I do that Happogahara is one hell of a narrow ride! I can't explain what got over me then, but I really felt that I had to get her back. Of course, I had no idea who she was, or whether she was connected to anyone I'd met previously."

I made a face. "As much as I acknowledge your attempt at direct honesty, I'm finding it somewhat hard to give you sympathy for that. Didn't you say before - and I quote: "if she's one of your teammates, then I'd say she should've seen it coming. She deserved it." No offense, but a comment like that pretty much destroys your credibility."

I could tell my insistent prodding was taking his toll on his tactfulness, but he was in my car and I was the one behind the wheel, so unless he wanted to get to a hospital safely, he'd have to try. "Well, as much as I acknowledge your attempt at being nice, I'd really thought that no matter what the outcome of our race had been, you'd have gone and slugged me across my sorry face. I also had no idea that you'd be this nice to me, especially after what I did and said."

"Fair enough. Well, put it this way… I'll try my best to convince Miyoko that she's been avenged. Just between you and me though, she wanted to take a shot at you herself, and trust me… when she's pissed off; she's a nuclear warhead with a detonation malfunction. I don't think she'd have been anywhere near as honorable as I was in the race. For that matter, I don't think any of my teammates would've been nearly as honorable as I was."

"In that case, I guess I should be thankful you're the one who came." He nodded once and fell into silence again. The next he spoke, it was serious, "Are you planning on going after Emperor once your teammates gain enough skill?"

"No, of course not. I just wanted to sever all my ties from Emperor completely, but still be able to enjoy road racing. In all honesty, I had retired after leaving Emperor, but my brother and his friends convinced me to come back as their leader. And…" here, I hesitated, lest I wanted to sound more pansy-ish than usual, but I tossed my concerns aside and said, "Well, being with Evo Prime makes me happy. They're all a crazy but entertaining sort to be around, despite their being six to eight years younger than me."

"No kidding… You guys really are like a family. That's pretty cool," Shingo answered honestly.

And when I thought about it… he was right.

And I liked the feeling…

---

Well… yeah… That's why I'm not too proud of this chapter myself. It's a bit too cliché, the way I made Shingo lose.

I'd meant it when I said that this chapter was going to be the one which begins the cementing of Seiji as Evo Prime's leader. Considering his attitudes while he was a part of Emperor, you can see that now, since he's his own leader, he takes on a new sense of responsibility and doesn't act as asinine to other racers, particularly since he doesn't want to sully the reputation of his team with others. I always perceived Emperor as the badass team with no cares whatsoever, that as long as they won legitimately, they could look down upon whoever the hell they wanted. I'm trying to play the fact that Seiji seems somewhat ashamed of having been a part of that; because he's a leader of a new team, he doesn't want his past with Emperor to interfere with his achievements with Evo Prime.

Hence why when Shingo's accident occurs, he turns around and helps him out, because an injured person is still an injured person, no matter what he did. It also helps Shingo to (hopefully) finally realize the error of his actions; he'd left Miyoko alone when she'd gotten into the accident, but even though Seiji came to Myougi with the intent of beating Shingo to a bloody pulp, he still helps him when he gets injured.

This ties in with why I'd let Takeshi allow the race between Shingo and Seiji to happen. Despite Takeshi's disgust and outrage at Shingo having pulled yet another stunt like causing Miyoko's accident, he's still bitter about the loss he'd experienced at Seiji's hands when he was still an Emperor. I mean, think about it: Seiji went all the way to Myougi - alone - to take on Shingo, and he's still got that cut in half upside-down Night Kids sticker on his back wing. Of course when Takeshi sees it, he's seething inside. He doesn't need a reminder like that to be shoved in his face, no matter what Seiji's intentions are.

Yes, the story's taking on a sappy note. If you think this is sappy, the next chapter's got enough syrupy goodness to cover your family's pancakes for a week. But I believe it's essential to develop further the story for the upcoming events.

-BoomChish-