Chapter Five: Lover's Spat…

Jin folded his arms as he waited for Rina's SW20 to smoothly drift down a long sweeping corner of Ikaoia's downhill. The screeching of Rina's rear tires echoed into the air as the bright yellow Toyota slid around the corner, heading for the corner that Jin was standing at. Well not at, otherwise he would have been run over by his girlfriend. Jin was standing behind the guardrail, leaning on it as a bench, as many touge racers had before him as he looked at the road waiting for his girlfriend to round the bend. The headlights of the SW20 could be seen reflecting off the trees of the oncoming corner before the car itself rounded the turn. The SW20 in all of its obnoxious yellow glory rounded the corner, drifting smoothly but narrowly as the nose of the car almost pointed the car at the inside of the turn. Rina piloted her car with a controlled, but yet chaotic style that Jin had only seen in the young female touge racer. The roaring of her MR2's engine filled Jin's ears as he looked at the car coming around the corner. Rina exited the corner with a nice exit speed, her taillights fading into the darkness as she headed down another straightaway.

Jin looked down at one of the stopwatches that was around his neck, Rina had passed by Jin about point three five seconds faster than she had the last three times coming down the course tonight. Smiling at the small increase, Jin again looked up as he heard the loud whine of a blow off valve and the roar of another engine heading toward him. Knowing that it must have been Taihosi's S14, Jin looked again up the road as one of his best friends headed toward the same corner. Again, headlights reflected off the trees as the black S14 rounded the corner in a much wider drift than Rina's had been. The rear tires of the Nissan chirped as the car slid around the corner, taking up a bit of both lanes as he headed around the corner heading in the same direction that Rina had been seconds before. Jin tapped the guardrail with his fingers a bit as he closed his eyes, thinking back over the drift he had just seen. Taihosi's drifting had never been as narrow as Rina's or his own, but an advantage of the wide-angle drifts that the black S14 committed to was that it made it harder for opponents to pass the racer as they were heading down the hill.

Minutes later, his cell phone rang as Rina called counting down as her car ran through the finish line at the bottom of the course, minutes later. Jin stopped the first watch and reported to Rina, her time before hanging up. Seconds later, the phone rang again as Taihosi reported the same thing before Jin told him his time and then asked for a pick up as the two racers were to come back up the hill. Alpha Redline had been running Ikaoia nonstop for the past two days preparing for tomorrow's battle. Jin shared his experience with his two friends and they tried to use the information the best they could as they committed their downhill runs. Jin was glad to see the improvement in his friends and in himself, however small it may have been. But was it enough to take on Firestorm Flash tomorrow? Only time would tell…

A flash of headlights interrupted Jin's thinking as Rina's SW20 could be seen slowly driving up the hill. The yellow car slowly came to a stop as the young driver waved her boyfriend over to it. Jin smiled as he hopped over the guardrail, tapping it once for good luck before heading over to the mid-engine car. Rina smiled as Jin, leaning in through the window a bit, gave her a quick kiss on the lips before running in front of the car and getting in through the passenger side. "It was a good time, one of your best." Jin said as the headlights of the S14 of Taihosi could be seen coming up behind them. Rina quickly put the car in gear and headed up to the top of the hill. Jin looked at the road ahead as the two cars leisurely rounded curve after curve. "So Jin, what's the battle plan for tomorrow?" Rina asked him as she drove smoothly around another corner. "Well I assume that only one of us is going to be running tomorrow, but you never know. I guess I'm going to wait to see what Firestone Flash when we meet tomorrow before I decide whose going to run." Jin said as he leaned back in his seat a bit, resting momentarily before they arrived at the top of the mountain. Jin looked at his FC3S that was sitting there, almost looking eager to see its driver as Rina drove up to it, parking next to it.

Rina looked over at Jin who was gazing at his own car. "So are you two going to make one more run tonight?" she asked meaning Jin and his FC. Taihosi's S14 parked on the other side of Jin's car before Jin nodded and looked at Taihosi who hadn't gotten out of his car. "Hey man, don't get out. Let's have a friendly battle down the hill, just to sign off the evening. Sound like fun?" Jin said tapping on the hood of his friend's car who just looked at him with a confused look on his face. It was rare for Jin to just ask for a friendly bout. He was normally so competitive. "Nah man, I think I'm going to call it a night." Taihosi said as a small yawn slipped past his lips. Rina's eyes perked put a bit as Taihosi declined his friend's challenge. "Hey Jin, I'll race you. Sounds like fun!" Rina said as she winked a bit at the two men. Jin and Taihosi looked at each other a bit before Taihosi smiled and ran over to the street yelling. "I've got the countdown!" The three of them laughed because who else was going to do it.

Rina giggled a bit more as she got back into her SW20, slowly backing up before heading to the starting line. Jin leaned against his FC looking at his two friends for a moment, just taking it all in before heading into the cockpit of his own car. Jin slid his key into the ignition and turned it toward the start position, but not yet turning the rotary on, just turning on the power so that the lights flipped up and the gauges lit up. Jin buckled himself into the seat using the four point harnesses and took a deep breath in through his nose, just relaxing as his hand slid over to the key again, turning on the engine. The whine of the rotary filled the air around Jin as the young racer revved the engine twice, his eyes closed as he just listened. The honking of Rina's SW20 brought Jin back to reality as he opened his eyes and put the car into gear heading toward the starting line.

Taihosi smiled a bit as he waved the two cars forward a bit making sure that they were lined up perfectly before the start of the race. "Remember guys, just a friendly battle… 10 seconds to the start…9…8…" Taihosi continued counting down as the two cars revved a bit. Rina quickly looked over her gauges while listening to the countdown, her hands gripping the steering wheel. Jin on the other hand, didn't check for anything. He just listened to the revs of the 13B engine. Everything sounded fine to him for quick battle like this.

"3…2…1…GO!!!" Taihosi said as he lowered his hand. The tires screeched as the two cars rocketed off toward the road, side by side. The golden SW20 keeping pace with the crimson FC3S, the engines roaring and whining as the two racers headed up the straightaway. Spinning in place, Taihosi turned around as the two cars headed up the straight. A slight left was the first corner they were going to encounter and the only one that Taihosi was going to see them battle on. Rina took a slight lead as the two cars headed around the corner, gripping smoothly as the downhill battle began. Behind the wheel of the SW20, Rina was glad to see that she had taken the small lead over Jin. The FC driver was known for his aggressive pursuing however, so she knew that this lead wouldn't be easy to hold.

Jin looked at the tail end of the SW20 in front of him. The roaring of the MR2's engine almost entering Jin's cockpit as he watched his girlfriend head down the hill. The MR2 had a better grip on the road because of the mid-engine design which made it easier for Rina to grip the corner as they had rounded it, so Jin wasn't surprised that she jumped ahead of him. Shifting from third to fourth, the young racer pursued her quickly, accelerating quickly as the next corner started to come up on them. The two drivers quickly started braking and downshifting rounding the next right handed corner, the road starting to slope downward as the two cars picked up speed around the corner. Jin's and Rina's techniques were fairly similar as the two cars started drifting almost in tandem. Both either drifted with very high speed, yet narrow lines or gripped corners wide when they were attempting to overtake another car The screeching of their tires once again filling the air as Rina's SW20 increased the gap from Jin just a small tad, the superior cornering of the midship besting Jin's FC.

Rina smiled quickly glancing her rearview mirror looking at Jin's FC3S falling back slowly as they exited the corner. The MR2 and FC headed down a long straight, leading into a tunnel, light wafting over the two cars. "Oh come on babe, I know you can drive faster than that…" Rina said quietly to herself as she looked ahead again, her feet dancing over the pedals as the tunneled road started to curve. The SW20 gracefully slid around the corner, smoke from her tires billowed up into the air fogging Jin's vision some as he leaned on the accelerator.

Jin's FC whined loudly, the sound of the engine filling the tunnel along with the SW20's. Lights from the tunnel's overhead continued to rush over the cars as Jin's hand caressed the shifter; bringing the car quickly from fourth to third, the engine roaring in response to its driver's request. The FC slowly started to gain on the SW20 as the two cars exited the corner; the only lights brightening the course then were the headlights and taillights from the two touge warriors. The course would start to contort and twist, continuing with low-gear corners as the two forged ahead. Screeching tires and the flashing of brake lights were the only signs of the duel that was taking place on the downhill of Mount Ikaoia

Several corners later, Rina still held her slight lead over Jin as they entered the mid-point of the course. The yellow MR2 sharply cornered into a narrow hairpin, quickly taking the inside line as Jin's FC cornered wide, trying to overtake in a high speed pass on the outside line. The shorter distance of the inner line gave Rina enough space to keep Jin at bay, but the FC3S was slowly closing the gap. Rina bit her lip a small bit as she quickly tapped her left foot on the brake to negate some of the understeer she was experiencing as her MR2 rounded another narrow left hand corner. The female racer looking in her rear view in Jin's headlights filled the mirror. Quickly jerking the wheel a small bit, Rina shook the rear end out of the SW20, starting a drift very early as the two cars crossed over a small bridge which dipped down a bit as it twisted into another hairpin corner. Rina drew it a sharp breath as the corner came up on her rather quickly, sliding the MR2 within inches of pitching the mid engine car off the road. Her tires screeched loudly as they kicked up dust and dirt that had been lying on the side of the road by the forested area. Rina quickly held onto the wheel as the dust disrupted traction in her tires causing the car to act irregularly. Jin's eyes widened as he noticed the odd movements that the SW20 was making as its tires ran into the dirt a bit. Quickly applying the brakes for a millisecond, Jin decelerated enough to allow him not to run to the yellow Toyota. "Her tires keep running into the dirt, slowing her down. If I'm going to pass her, it should be now before she slows down too much and I can't avoid a collision" Jin said to himself quickly reacting. Shifting the wheel into point toward to inside of the corner, Jin started to turn in, slowly passing Rina as they exited the corner, her little relationship with the dirt causing her to exit the corner wider than she had planned giving Jin a nice opening to overtake her. The 13B rotary engine whined louder as the cars approached redline. Inches apart, the FC started to pull away from the MR2 accelerating as the two rushed down the hill. As much as Rina tried she couldn't seem to decrease the gap between Jin and his FC and her MR2. As the two rushed over another bridge, Jin's FC was ahead by at least a car length as both racers applied their brakes, their tires screaming around another corner as the lights of the car brightened the road which seconds later faded into darkness.

Moments later

Jin and Rina leaned up against their cars, looking at each other panting a bit as they talked back over the battle that had just transpired. Jin had beaten Rina by about a second and a half, but the battle had been a struggle for them both. Jin smiled over at Rina as he walked over to her SW20, its rear end lightly coated in dirt. Putting his arm around her waist, Jin looked into Rina's eyes as she smiled back at him. The two were silent for minutes as they regained their breath. The headlights from Taihosi's S14 coming down the hill broke their lock on each other as Taihosi got out and looked at the two racers. "So?" Taihosi asked as Rina pointed at Jin, who nodded at Taihosi. "I'm tired. Just completely spent…" Jin said to his teammates. "I think we should take tomorrow morning off. Not doing any racing work until it's time to go to the battle meeting. It should do us some good to relax a bit…" Rina said to the two young men who nodded in agreement. The three of them walked to their cars and the trio headed away from Ikaoia and back into the city.

ColeIketani: Yeah well, I figured I would try and work on writing a battle before the serious showdown took place. Tell me what you think 