I cannot apologize more for the lengthy lack of updates, since I started university for the first time earlier last month and I've had my hands full with readings and studying and the like. But now that I have my new baby (my beautiful Dell Inspiron 1000), I can update from the comfort of the classroom/library/other location within the school.

Here's Chapter Sixteen!

Follow The Leader

by BoomChish

Chapter Sixteen

Beat Of The Rising Sun

Even though it had been months since I'd hung out with Kyouichi, I was still aware of his regular routine. On Sunday afternoons, he liked going to Irohazaka alone, just to mull over certain events. I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to confront him over what had happened last night.

As I got into my car and made my way to Irohazaka, I thought about the brief years I'd spent as a member of Kyouichi's power-Evo team, the Irohazaka Emperors. After Kyouichi had retired from the rally scene and started Emperor, I had pretty much become his closest friend - if one could use such a term for our odd relationship - and confidant. Whenever something or someone had wronged him, I ended up hearing about it, or if something could stand for improvement, be it for me or someone else, I'd hear about it anyway. And believe it or not, on certain occasions, when he was bored, he would call me up and we would both drive around the area together and talk. Nothing immoral or anything like that, just as friends. In a way, he and I were very close.

Which was what made my expulsion from Emperor all that harsher when he tossed me aside after my loss to Jin's school friend. And now, aside from that, he'd actually had the audacity to stand idly by and let his teammates - people who used to look to me, despite my shortcomings - beat up on my little brother. As if overnight, I and anyone associated with me were nothing more than rats from the gutter.

The very thought of it alone was enough to enrage me. But I knew that I had to try my best not to completely lose my temper and go ballistic. Because by doing that, I would only be reducing myself to their level. And as the leader of Evo Prime, I was better than that. I had to be. For the sake of my brother, Alex and Miyoko, if for nothing else.

As I drove up to the summit of Irohazaka, I was glad (and somewhat relieved) to see that Kyouichi was alone. For obvious reasons, I knew that if the rest of Emperor were there, I'd be in very great danger. If they had no scruples in beating up Jin, then they wouldn't hesitate to do the same to me.

He was watching me with cold, calculating eyes as I pulled up behind his black Evo III and killed the engine before I stepped out of my car, my face benign.

"I thought you'd be with your teammates at Happo, helping them train to become better racers," he spoke flippantly.

"You know why I'm here," I replied, my voice flat.

He cocked an eyebrow insolently, then shrugged. "Your brother, I suppose."

'I suppose'? My temper flared. "And you have nothing to say for yourself?"

Kyouichi merely shrugged. "Why? I'm not the one who beat him up, you know."

"I know that! This is not about you harming my brother; it's about your team members harming my brother, and you not stopping them! I've seen some pretty low things in my lifetime, but that was worse than low; it was despicable!"

He let out a drawn-out sigh. "So you're angry at the fact that your brother insulted my team members, rousing them to lose control and physically attack him. That's understandable. After all, he is your blood sibling. Just a theoretical question if I may, Seiji? What if it hadn't been your brother? What if it was, per se… your gwai lo friend? Or what about Ieyasu-chan? Would you still be here, complaining to me about the greatest injustice in the world?"

I shook my head in disgust. "I don't believe you. You've fallen so far beyond the team leader you used to be… Never before in my life have I seen such negligence of human respect - coming from you, of all people. It doesn't matter who it was. The fact of the matter is that your team members harmed another human being for no real reason other than a heated verbal exchange. It doesn't matter whether the victim was my brother, or any of my other teammates. Hell, it wouldn't matter if the victim was some cocky little guttersnipe who thought himself better than you were! It's still wrong to attack somebody for something that trivial, and even more wrong of you as a team leader to allow that sort of behaviour!"

"Seiji, Seiji, Seiji…" Kyouichi murmured as he began to pace around, the corners of his mouth curling into a devious smile. "You seem to be so full of righteous indignation at this moment… I've never seen you like this before, and it astounds me." He then fixed me with a direct stare. "Tell me… do you actually think that you're a better team leader than I am?"

I balled my hands into tight fists. "I don't think I'm a better team leader than you are - I know I'm a better team leader! It doesn't matter if my teammates aren't the most skilled road racers in the prefecture; at least they see me as more than just a leader, but more as a family member! I do my best to teach them how to improve, all while keeping them in check. And they respect me for it!"

Kyouichi threw his head back and let out a short laugh. "Such poetry!" Then he straightened himself and glared at me again, his devious smile still plastered on his face. "Well then… if you think that you're better than me, then how about we settle this with a race? Me against you, any track you choose. Excluding Irohazaka, since that will be too easy for both of us; and Happogahara, since that's your newfound home course. Well, what do you say?"

I eyed him warily, especially since I knew I stood a slim chance of winning against him, but I did want to prove myself to him, so I said, "Which track did you have in mind?"

Kyouichi stretched out his arms. "Anywhere. You decide."

I thought for a moment. He was right, Irohazaka was obviously too easy for both of us. And on Happogahara, I had the distinct advantage. Not that it mattered, since he could easily squash me if he went against me with his full potential. Same thing applied for Enna Pass, in which he had the advantage. I thought about the mountain passes in Gunma; but I remembered that he'd been to nearly all of them when Emperor had gone for their attempt to conquer all the mountain passes in the prefecture.

Nearly all of them…

I looked at him squarely in the eye and said, quite succinctly. "Let's have it on Mt. Usui, in Gunma. You know where that is, right?"

He narrowed his eyes at me. "Usui? Why there?"

It was my turn to shrug. "Neither of us have been there yet. If you recall, it was Satake who was supposed to scout the area first, and he came back, claiming that there was no one worthy enough to race there, remember?" A part of me really wanted to spill the whole story about how Satake had gotten his butt handed to him by Impact Blue, but I figured I'd keep that to myself until the actual race, when he'd be sure to be in attendance. After all, I had to see how Kyouichi would react to that, and what he would do about it.

"So I take it neither of us are to venture on Usui until the actual race… let's say… a week from today?"

I nodded. "A week seems fine to me. And as for the no-practice clause, I'm all for it."

He sniffed derisively. "So it's settled then. Mt. Usui next Sunday night. Don't be late." With that, he got into his Evo, started the engine and drove off. I stood there for a while, watching him leave as I inhaled sharply to gather my wits about me. Then I went to my own Evo and decided to head on home to update the others on what was happening.

---

None of them were pleased with the news. It was fair to say that they were quite upset, so much so that Miyoko insisted upon calling Mako and Sayuki to come over and help devise a battle strategy against Kyouichi. I'd protested, pointing out the no-practice rule, but she dismissed it, saying, "Hey, to my knowledge, Kyouichi doesn't know that we're friends with the champions of Usui. As long as you don't physically show yourself on Usui before the actual race, he has no reason to believe that you've had any practice with the course."

"It's still not fair," I pointed out.

"It's not fair that they beat up on Jin, now, is it?" Alex retaliated angrily. Miyoko nodded in agreement, and I sadly had to agree with them as well. My brother never did anything to deserve that treatment, and yet, he fell victim to it.

Jin wasn't in the room with us. He felt extremely embarrassed when he'd learned that Miyoko had invited over Impact Blue for a conference concerning my race against Kyouichi. I guess he was ashamed of showing himself, even though he had nothing to be ashamed of. I was sure that Mako and Sayuki would understand and maybe sympathize with his current state, though unfortunate it may be.

They arrived at around half past noon, Sparky barking and wagging his tail affectionately as he greeted the two ladies from Impact Blue when they stepped into the house. Both of them petted the large Labrador affectionately. "He's so adorable. Whose dog is he?" Sayuki commented as Sparky happily submitted to her petting.

"Sparky's my dog. I brought him with me when I came here from America. He was just a puppy back then. But either way, it's nice seeing you two again."

"Nice seeing you guys again. Nice house you got here," Mako spoke as she looked around.

"Thanks. I'm glad you like it," Miyoko replied as she smiled thinly.

I made a face, and Sayuki caught it right away. She hustled all of us into the living room. "Okay, you called us here because Seiji got challenged to a race against Kyouichi, right? And the race would be held on Usui, if I recall correctly?"

"Uh… that's right," I agreed as I sat down on the couch. Miyoko and Alex sat next to me, as Mako and Sayuki sat down across from us on the divan. Sparky wagged his tail, then settled down at Alex's feet. Sayuki folded her arms across her chest and looked squarely at me. "Okay, so what encouraged you to choose Usui as a mountain pass?"

"It's the only mountain pass I'm sure that Kyouichi hasn't visited. He deliberately passed over it because Satake told him that there was no one worthy enough to race there, thus making it useless to go there. He obviously didn't mention you two, especially since you royally kicked his butt."

Mako made a face. "At least we crushed his pride. Because we worked hard to prove ourselves as the best on Usui." She then looked over at the others, then looked concerned. "Hey, where's Jin?"

"Well… he's a bit embarrassed to show himself after he'd gotten beaten up by Emperor. We told him there was nothing to be ashamed of, but… well, we can't force him to change his mind," Alex admitted ruefully.

Sayuki shook her head, then faced me again. "Here's the thing; why don't you just go and practice on Usui? That'll give you an edge against Sudou. Since he's never been there, he'll have to react on reflex, whereas you'll already have a feel for the course."

I shook my head this time. "I can't. Kyouichi and I specifically agreed on not practicing on the course we'd be racing on. Especially since Irohazaka and Happogahara were already excluded considering they are our respective home courses. And the other mountain passes, I was sure that Kyouichi had already driven on them." Seeing their confused looks, I added, "So what can you tell me about Usui? What's so difficult about it?"

The two ladies of Impact Blue exchanged glances. "Mt. Usui's mountain pass is very difficult because it's a very narrow two-way road. In addition to it being extremely narrow, the curves come out of nowhere back and forth. It's basically just one continuous drift. You'll need extreme control of your vehicle while racing, because if you're not careful, you could end up hitting the wall, or the guardrail."

I narrowed my eyes as they were explaining their mountain pass. Kyouichi had been trained in the way of the rally and mostly practiced on Irohazaka, which was a one-way road. Meaning he never really had to take on the challenge of racing someone with the possibility of an incoming car. Which is why some of his drifts weren't tight enough, because he kept leaving enough leeway to steer free if in the case a car came out of nowhere.

"Wait a minute… Is that why you two race together? Sayuki-chan, you navigate and point out the faults of the road and the turns so that all Mako-chan has to do is focus on driving. Is that why you are unbeatable on Usui?"

"Oh, we've been defeated," Sayuki spoke robustly. "By the one boy who can defeat us all… Fujiwara Takumi. But you probably knew that, right?"

I should have known… "Oh well… I don't think anyone will defeat that boy anytime soon. But as for you two… You must be proud of yourselves, being the champions of Usui and all…"

Mako frowned as Sayuki snorted derisively. "Well, we worked hard at perfecting our driving. Most of the other road racers on Usui just show off their half-assed moves to the girls in the galleries. If they took half that time in actually practicing some real drifting, maybe they'd be able to stand up to us."

"I doubt it… if Usui is as dangerous as you say it is." I was starting to get excited. It was a while since I've seriously raced. And even moreso, I was racing for my family pride and the pride of my team, which made it all the more exciting. "Do you know where I can find a map of Usui?"

Miyoko had been furiously typing on her laptop. "Here. This is what Usui looks like." She pointed to her screen and I looked at it. It was a long, widing road with a lot of sharp curves. Definitely something worth racing Kyouichi on.

I turned the laptop around and showed the screen to Mako and Sayuki. "What can you tell me about this curve here?" I pointed to it on the screen, a large, round curve near one end.

Mako smiled as she saw me point to it and decided to answer. "That… is C-121, the single most longest drift on Usui. If you enter the curve too fast, you'll oversteer like crazy, if you enter the curve too slow, you'll lose too much speed upon exit. Sayuki and I have achieved the fastest speed entering C-121, which is part of the reason why we're indestructible on the course."

I thought about it for a second. If C-121 were as lengthy as they described it to be, then I did have a distinct advantage against Kyouichi, even without actually actually racing on the track before our race. And as far as I was concerned right now, Miyoko was right; as long as I kept to my side of the bargain of not racing on Usui before the race, I had nothing to be ashamed of.

Sayuki was about to speak, but a noise interrupted us. Jin stepped into the room, looking around sheepishly. The bruises on his face had began to go down, but the purplish tinge was still there. He looked like he hadn't slept a wink in days.

"Sorry I'm late…" he mumbled as he came into the room. Mako looked quietly shocked while Sayuki stared at him. "I just had to try and fix myself up, to be more presentable…"

"What are you apologizing for?" she demanded. "You didn't do anything wrong… except maybe try and take on Emperor by yourself. You shouldn't be ashamed of your appearance, Jin. Sure, the bruises may have marred your bishounen look from before, but it's not something easy to hide. As long as you didn't inherently do something to deserve it, then you should be proud that you can still stand and face the world with a face like that."

"Exactly what I said," I agreed as Jin took a seat on the armchair.

Mako was still looking at him in shock. "How… how did they do that to you?"

Jin made a face. "Very easily… I was stupid enough to mock Satake for not having defeated you back when Emperor first came to Gunma, and he and a friend of his just lit into me. Just like that."

She made a face. "And so you went to confront Sudou for what he did to your brother and he subsequently challenged you to a battle?" she queried, looking at me. I nodded my head solemnly.

Mako raised her eyebrows. "I'm surprised Sudou was willing to accept that the race be on an unfamiliar track. I would've thought that'd he'd insist for it to be on Irohazaka right away."

"Well, he gave me the option to choose, so I chose Usui. I figured it would be a good choice… what do you think?"

"It's an excellent choice. But there are a few things you need to take into consideration, since your car is 4WD and not FR, like our SilEighty. You may have a disadvantage taking the same line we take when we drive on Usui."

"I'll just have to adapt," I replied stolidly.

"All right…" Mako began. "Here's some things you'll need to know about racing on Usui…"

---

It was late in the evening when both ladies of Impact Blue left. Jin had returned to hibernating in his room to recover from his bruises, Alex went to feed Sparky and Miyoko and I were seated at the kitchen counter, sipping tea.

"Seiji, aren't you worried at all about this race?" Miyoko asked me. Lately, she'd been asking me too many questions about my car's condition. She normally didn't care for car modifications, so it was surprising to see her so concerned.

"Maybe a bit, since Kyouichi is obviously more skilled than I am. But otherwise, I'm not afraid. Why do you ask?"

She stared absently at the fridge magnets before she looked at me again. "Call me paranoid… but I think we should all get roll cages installed in our cars. Or, if not all of us, at least in yours. For your race against Kyouichi."

I nearly choked on the tea that I'd gulped down. "What? I don't need a roll cage, Miyoko. I've raced on more treacherous tracks than Usui and escaped without a single scratch. I can handle it."

Miyoko reached out and gripped my hand fiercely. I winced at the force behind her squeeze and saw the fear in her eyes. "Seiji, I mean it. I don't want anything to happen to you. I think it'd be safer if you had a roll cage. I think it'd be safer for all of us to have a roll cage in our cars."

"Miyoko, why do you think we should get roll cages? What makes you so unsure that I can protect myself behind the wheel of my car?"

She looked like she was about to cry. "I just don't want anything to happen to you, Seiji. Anything can happen, especially on a narrow mountain pass like Usui. If Kyouichi's teammates are willing to hurt Jin without any thought for the consequences, what makes you so sure they won't try to sabotage your race and try to hurt you?"

As much as I knew she was being paranoid, I knew that she had a point. These were people who had looked up to me for a long time. If they were willing, without any shame or thought of the consequences, to beat up on my little brother for defending himself, then who's to say that they won't do the same to me while I'm racing Kyouichi?

I looked at her squarely in the eye. "But my race against Kyouichi is this coming Sunday. You mean to tell me that you can get roll cages installed in all our cars before this Sunday?"

Her face turned smug. "You're forgetting who I am, Seiji dear."

Right. Miyoko Ieyasu can do whatever she wants if she's got the income for it. "I've already spoken to my mechanic. He says he can have it done tomorrow, if you'd like. I just told him to hold off until I had the confirmation from you."

"You've been thinking about this for a while now, haven't you?" I queried suspiciously.

"Ever since I got into that car crash because of Shingo, yes," she admitted.

I let out a snort. "I still think you're a bit paranoid," here, I squeezed her hand back, "but if it'll make you feel better, I'll get the roll cage installed. What do you say?"

Miyoko let out a sigh of relief. "Okay, good. I'll go and tell him that it's all been settled. Does tomorrow sound okay?"

"Fine, but how will I get to work while my car is getting the roll cage installed?"

"You can use mine. I can get a ride to school with Alex," she explained as she simply placed her car keys in the palm of my hand. I simply sat there, my eyebrows raised as I stared down at her keys in my hand, which had, among other things, a small Maneki Neko keychain on it. Well. Girls will be girls.

"Thanks a lot, Miyoko. And don't you guys worry; I'll do my best."

She smiled, her eyes twinkling. "I never have to worry about you doing your best, Seiji. That's why the team always looks up to you, even when you're at your dumbest." She ducked sideways to avoid my hand as I swatted at her in indignation.

"Hey, I'm not that dumb, woman!" I exclaimed, while laughing at her. I knew she was joking.

But it was nice to know that she cared that much about me.

Emperor was never like that.

The challenge has been made and what better place to hold it than Impact Blue's own home course of Usui? A narrow course that spans a wide area, a two-way lane, countless corners zigzagging one after the other and the infamous C-121. Plus, neither Seiji or Kyouichi have been on Usui (according to my knowledge of the anime and manga), so it's almost too perfect. It would've probably made sense to have them race on Irohazaka, but I wanted someplace less predictable. I could've used Momiji line, but that would require having to drag in Seven Star Reaf, as with the Northwest Saitama All-Stars for Shomaru and the Evo guys on Tsuchizaka. And I just have no reason to use them in the story at all, so I might as well put it on Usui.

For those of you who don't know, the Maneki Neko is that white cat with one paw raised up, as if it's waving. It's supposed to signify prosperity and good luck, and was also the inspiration for Hello Kitty, which is why Miyoko has a small Maneki Neko keychain along with her keys. It's sort of like her good-luck charm. I thought of using Hello Kitty, or some of the other ones, (Keroppi, Pocchaco, Badtz-Maru, Kogepan or even Chibimaru) but that would be almost too girly-girl for Miyoko to have on her keychain.

The big race comes up next. Can you feel the tension?

-BoomChish