School's about to start in two weeks, so I've got a week to wrap this up before I get smothered by the university crap. That's gonna be fun… I think?

I'd recently bought a Tamiya Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII WRC model kit and tried assembling it (with the intention of making it look like Miyoko's Evo VII) but I had to be my typical impatient self and I broke two small (but important) parts of the rear suspension. I could probably glue it all back together, but… Oh well… I'll see what I can do.

Here's Chapter Thirteen, ready for your reading pleasure.

Follow The Leader

by BoomChish

Chapter Thirteen

Dance Around The World

We managed to find a small restaurant that was open twenty-four hours a day, so we all piled in and the current host/waiter led us to a table large enough to accommodate all who came with us. (To be more specific: Miyoko, Jin, Alex, myself, Takeshi, Shingo, Mako, Sayuki, and even Daiki and Sakai. I'd invited the both of them as well as a gesture of goodwill, and they seemed very good-natured about my generosity)

While waiting for our orders to arrive, we began to chitchat among each other and gradually, several questions pertaining to how our group surfaced among the conversation.

"We'd heard the rumors about how you'd gotten kicked out of Emperor, but we'd never imagined for a second that Kyouichi would actually go so far as to kick you out first. You'd think that he'd kick out some lower-ranked members first," Sayuki pointed out, as she pointed a finger at me.

Daiki made a face. "If what I've heard about Sudou was right, then I for one wouldn't be surprised at all. I heard that Sudou was very skilled while he was in our school, but he was also very determined and had a very strong sense of pride."

"From what I understood, you had a losing streak of four losses after all your wins, right?" Sakai asked me, furrowing his brow. "And these losses were pretty significant, weren't they?" I nodded and he scowled. "Then it's no wonder Sudou took out his frustration on you. To him, each loss was as if he'd lost himself. And with someone with a strong sense of pride as himself, he couldn't take it in good stride, so he had to make someone pay."

"Well, in all fairness, that last loss wasn't really that important, but it was the final straw in Kyouichi's eyes. I mean, my first loss came from Fujiwara - and I don't think anyone's going to defeat that boy legitimately anytime soon, and he's defeated two of the three other people I've also lost against."

Takeshi nodded in understanding. "Takahashi Keisuke was one of them, I'll bet."

My face told him all he needed to know. He sniffed at that. "I came close to beating him on Myougi, but it started to rain… and he drove recklessly behind me. Not quite like Miyoko did - from what I'd heard, you were pretty reckless tonight - but he'd defeated me by a fraction of a meter."

"Well, back then, Takahashi wasn't as skilled as he is today. He's had close to two years of seasoning to get where he is now. Furthermore, you must've raced him before Seiji did, right?" Sakai pointed out.

"Yeah, he did. And obviously his skill kept improving, so when it came time for Keisuke to take on Seiji and subsequently you, he won," Shingo replied before Takeshi could say a word.

Sayuki looked at all my team members, and her gaze finally settled on Jin. "So out of the three Evo VII drivers, you're the only one who hasn't been challenged to race anybody so far, I take it?"

He smiled his devastating smile. "Not as of yet, but am I to take it that you'll be one of those who wish to take me on? Because I'd be more than willing."

She was quick on the dismissal. "I don't know if you'd be ready to take us on, Iwaki. We're not as easy as we look, you know. In the road racing scene, we own Usui."

"I would imagine… But have you two really raced anywhere else other than Usui pass?" Daiki queried, cocking his head slightly to one side. Both Mako and Sayuki stared at him.

"Well… no…" Mako began hesitantly.

He shook his head. "I've no doubt that you're almost indestructible on Usui, but what about elsewhere? Part of attaining your epitome of skill is adaptation, the capacity to adapt your skills to your surroundings. If your surroundings never change, well, neither will your skill level."

"I would think that every single race has different characteristics, which account for different outcomes," Miyoko cut in matter-of-factly. "Take me for example. I've only really practiced driving on Happo, save for that one crazy bout on Enna using Seiji's car. Yet, how could someone like myself, having no real previous skills or victories noted, muster enough… something… to best," here, she made a gesture towards Sakai, "one of the best that Todo Racing School has to offer? Or Alex, for another example. We're about at the same skill level, yet he also emerged victorious against you, another prized student at Todo," she emphasized, gesturing towards the aforementioned people.

"Luck," I murmured, causing everyone to stare at me. "Nothing but sheer luck. In other circumstances, both of you would've been decimated without a second glance. Yet you persevered."

"If luck is the factor in which some lower-skilled players can defeat the higher-skilled folk, then one would have to argue that Fujiwara has an inordinate amount of it. More than any of us are likely to see in our lifetimes," Shingo declared, with a small hint of spite behind his words.

"I agree with you, but only partially," I spoke, my face creasing into a frown. "Yes, Fujiwara does seem to possess a high bout of luck at certain moments, but there's something else about him that's giving him his victories… a specific brand of skill that I don't think any other road racer possesses. No doubt all of us here - save for Alex, Jin and Miyoko, of course - have seen the boy in action and can attest that he's quite remarkable."

"That's high praise, even coming from you, Seiji," Takeshi commented before he let out a sigh, "But I agree with that wholeheartedly. Seeing his races not just against Shingo and myself, but against both Takahashis and other racers - you included - makes you realize that there is more to being a true god of the mountain passes than just car knowledge and decent skill."

"The way you all talk about this Fujiwara kid makes me want to see for myself. But if I'm not mistaken, he drives a - what was it again? A Hachi-Roku? What the hell is a Hachi-Roku anyway?" Alex queried, causing everyone to look at him in confusion and shock.

"A Hachi-Roku is a Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86, hence the hachi-roku part. If I recall correctly, Fujiwara had overhauled his old engine after it blew up during a race against Kyouichi Sudou on Mt. Akagi," here, she looked to me for confirmation. When I nodded, she continued, "Supposedly, it's now a Group-A engine, a TRD AE101." She scratched her chin. "Wonder how he got his hands on it though… that's a racer class engine…"

All of us stared at her in stunned silence for a long moment. Jin finally broke it, when he said, "Miyo, where the hell did you learn all of that?"

She looked at him innocently, then as her face hardened just a bit, she said, "I have my sources."

"Whoever they are, they're remarkably well-informed about the specs of Fujiwara's car. Must be a friend of his, I'll bet," Sakai commented.

I watched Miyoko intently as she merely shrugged and refused to divulge any more information about her friend. No matter, I vowed that I would find out eventually who he or she was. At that moment, the food arrived and the conversation was cut short for some time while we began to devour our meal.

During a brief intercession of all the consumption, Jin suddenly looked at me with a look on confusion and concern intertwined with one another. "Aniki… about what Sudou said before… do you think he's really thinking about challenging us? Or is he going to wait for us to come after him?"

"Jin, I can't be too sure right now on Kyouichi's intentions, okay? But for the meantime, don't let it worry you. Kyouichi won't bother you unless you go around asking for it. Well, not literally, but you know what I mean. If you stay out of his way, chances are, he will too."

"But why does he keep appearing at our practices and our races? Not all, I concede, but the most significant ones, at least. If he's not going to bother us if we don't bother him, like you said, then…"

"He's there to bother me," I answered simply. "One must guess that he's not satisfied with having me expelled from Emperor, even more so that I've gone and formed my own team due to that. It's to pressure me into bringing myself even lower than I'd been after I'd been expelled, that's all."

"He's not a very nice person, if he does that," Sayuki muttered darkly.

"No, he's not. But given the circumstances, I understand it. After all, I used to be his number one lackey; his bitch, if you forgive my language. Because of certain occurrences, he's had to get rid of me. Now who does he have to take my place, to provide him with the undivided loyalty and deference that I used to bestow upon hm?" I replied theoretically. "But because I have my own team and I'm independent of his influence, he feels that he just has to interfere somehow."

Alex made a face and waved his hands. "Dude, you're bringing up one really disturbing image right about now!"

I snorted and tried to reach across Jin to swat Alex with my left hand, but he dodged it fairly quickly. "Get your mind out of the gutter, Stanford! You know what I mean."

The group broke out into laughter, despite it all. Even before I could stop myself, I was laughing too. Besides, it was nice being able to be here at this moment with everyone, forgetting all my problems and just having a good time in general. Didn't have too many of those while with Emperor.

Miyoko was the one who broke through the good mood by saying, "Hey Seiji… out of curiosity… who was the fourth guy you raced, which got Sudou so mad that he kicked you out? Like, I know the first was Fujiwara… And the next two were Takahashi Keisuke, then that guy from Irohazaka in the MR2… Kogashiwa Kai… But who was the fourth?"

I furrowed my brow. "Some no-name guy who drove a Nissan Silvia S14 K Aero. I don't even know who he was. He just showed up, challenged us, I got chosen to race against him, got my ass handed to me, then I got kicked out of Emperor. Just like that."

"I see…" She then went back to eating her food in silence. The others started to bombard me with questions about the mysterious racer, particularly Daiki and Sakai, who felt they were sure that they may have seen him before. But Miyoko remained fairly mum the whole time.

I wonder why, though…

The following day, as Alex took Sparky for his daily walk and Jin was in the midst of taking a shower, I decided to ask Miyoko about her apparent 'sources', even if she was reluctant to reveal that information to me. I was about to knock on her door when I realized it was wide open. I took a hesitant step onto the threshold of her room and saw that she was seated at her computer, her fingers flying across her keyboard. Considering how she'd pause every so often before there would be a furious clacking of the keys, I assumed that she was talking to someone using an Instant Messaging service. Who, I had no clue, but I intended to find out.

I slowly walked up behind her and carefully peered over her shoulder, so as not to alert her to my presence. All I saw was a small MSN conversation window with the name "Kenji" written across the top left corner. I decided it was time to announce my presence.

"Who's Kenji?" I asked calmly.

I had the pleasure of seeing Miyoko let out a shriek of outrage as she quickly minimized the window and wheeled around in her chair, her face a mask of anger. "Don't you know it's impolite to walk into someone else's room without knocking first?!" she shrilled.

I shrugged. "Well, you left your door wide open… so I figured it was free game for anyone. Besides, who's Kenji?"

She made a face, but she responded, albeit a bit stiffly, "Kenji's one of my cousins from my mother's side. Even after my mother and I fell out of touch, I still contact him from time to time, as he contacts me every so often. He lives in the Gunma prefecture. He's also a road racer, although not anywhere near as skilled as you are."

My eyebrows shot up at that. "A road racer, eh? From Gunma? Is he a part of any team?"

"Yes, he is. He's a member of a team from Mt. Akina…" here, she hesitated a bit, "um… the Akina… Strike Stars? No, that's not it… Swift Stars? Oh hell, I'll ask him." And with that, her fingers sailed across her keyboard again. She then waited for his response before she said triumphantly, "Speed Stars! Yes, that was it! The Akina Speed Stars. Ever heard of them, Seiji?"

Heard of them? Now a lot of things were making sense. "No wonder you know so much about Fujiwara and Project D," I mused with a slight smile on my face. "Fujiwara's best friend is a member of the Akina Speed Stars. So I suppose your cousin Kenji has been feeding you information about Fujiwara's exploits?"

"And if he has?" Miyoko's eyes glittered dangerously.

"Nothing wrong with that, Miyoko. I'm just wondering how come you didn't tell this to us before. Furthermore, how come you've never invited him and his team to come watch our practices or our races?"

She shrugged. "Never crossed my mind. But I'll do that the next time we have a practice or a challenge issued to us." She then paused and scratched her head absentmindedly. "I asked him about the guy in the S14 K, and he says he's never heard of anyone like that. Funny though; I mentioned all the other racers we've dealt with, even most of your previous opponents in Emperor, and he's fairly knowledgeable about them. Of course, seeing as he's friends with Fujiwara as well, it's natural that he'd be extremely well-versed in the goings-on of Project D's escapades."

"Out of curiosity, when did you start asking him about information pertaining to Fujiwara?" I queried, watching her expression. It never changed, not even when she spoke.

"To be fair, he was the one who began giving me information about Fujiwara. I never asked him for it until afterwards, when Evo Prime was solidly established. It began when Jin told me that he'd be offering the spare guestroom to you, and when I'd told that much to Kenji, he mentioned that he'd met you before. Then he started rambling on about your match against Fujiwara, then about your other match against Kogashiwa Kai, finally ending with the then-recent news that you'd been kicked out of Emperor."

"I see… Well…" here, I shrugged again and shoved my hands into my pockets. "I just wanted to know who your source was. For a split second, I'd thought that you'd hired a private investigator to go stalk Fujiwara and learn all about his races and his car specs."

Miyoko gave me her patented you're a dumbass, did you know that? look. "For me to do that, I'd have to have hired the investigator something like a year ago, no? Especially since that's when most of the significant races involving Project D and Fujiwara actually occurred. And a year ago, I didn't even know that there was some kid called Fujiwara Takumi who was a god of the mountain passes."

She had me there. "Point taken." I then chuckled lightly. "But I meant it about inviting your cousin - and his whole team - to come watch us someday. You can assure them that I'm nothing like I was back in Emperor."

"Oh, they know," she answered robustly. "I just never got around to inviting them. But since you insist…" She turned back to face her screen and she started to type again. She then paused and turned to face me, a broad smile on her face. "Kenji says he'd love to, and that he'll tell the other Speed Stars. He just says that I should tell him whenever our next race will be."

"That would be whenever someone decides to challenge one of us," I replied.

"And that will be…?"

"The hell if I know…"

Yes, this chapter is race-free. It's mostly reflecting on character development and establishing facts on where everyone currently stands. But it's setting itself up for the next races up and until the final showdown. So don't you fret, it'll just get better and better.

And oh my goodness, what in the world is Kenji doing here? Yes, like Seiji, I always felt that Kenji could use a lot more character development. Or, failing that, at least give the poor man a background, instead of having him just being Iketani's friend and fellow teammate who pops up every so often at the gas station. (we don't even know his family name, for crying out loud!) Considering those meager facts, I decided to toy with it, giving him some sort of a relation between himself and the opulent member of Evo Prime. For obvious reasons, it wouldn't make sense to make Kenji related to either Seiji or Jin, and considering Alex's background, they can't be related, so the only remaining candidate would be Miyoko. And instead of linking the two via Miyoko's father's side, I decided to have him related to her through her mother, who, if you recall, is divorced from her father. I did it this way, because if Kenji was related to Miyoko through the Ieyasu line, then that would mean that he's also an extremely rich little rascal, like her. Though that would explain how come Kenji doesn't appear to have a job, or any other responsibilities aside from hanging around Yuichi's gas station, in addition to properly maintaining a 180SX.

Yes, the Speed Stars will soon make their first appearance in this fic. Does that mean that our famous tofu boy will join them? (silence) Well, you'll just have to wait and see, no?

-BoomChish