Act 4
It was Saturday night and a crowd had gathered to see the race between the Tsunamis and Project D. The two teams gathered at the top, including Takumi who made it early for a change. They were huddled together over the hood of the FC waiting to hear Ryosuke's plan of attack.
"The one racing on the downhill is pretty good, but he has some weaknesses. Specifically in cornering," Ryosuke was saying.
"So, ah, who should race this time?" Takumi asked. He hoped it wasn't going to be him. Although Ryosuke said that this guy was good, Takumi knew that he would have no problems beating him with the new engine. "I think Keisuke should drive."
"What? Why me?"
"That's a good point Fujiwara, Keisuke you already have the cornering skills needed but you need to analyze you opponent this time and find out what the problem with his corners are. It will help you later," Ryosuke replied.
"Fine with me, you know how I love a challenge. Besides I have one of the better track records, unlike someone we know," said Keisuke looking at the 32 driver.
"Look brat – "
"Keisuke knock it off and get to the starting line."
After Keisuke had left Ryosuke looked towards the galleries. "Not that many people tonight."
One of the fans looked over at him. "You mean you didn't hear?" he continued when Ryosuke gave him a blank expression. "There is another race tonight on Hikotima pass, you know the one closest to Koto so most of them went over there. Apparently there are a lot of foreign cars involved."
Ryosuke's thoughts were running wild. He totally missed the countdown that started his brother's race.
//Could it be that the girl was part of this team and that they have been hiding themselves from the other groups. This is probably the first time they came out, otherwise word would have gotten out. Even I would have heard of a team made entirely of exotic cars back home if they had come out earlier. I better find out what happened with the other race.//
*******
At Hikotima pass, The Dark Horizons appeared to race the home team, The Pit Vipers. Alex was scowling, //maybe I should show them what a Viper can do.//
Like at the Tsunami's pass, the crowd was about half the size it normally was. Aki had counted on the other race to split up the number of people on the hill. The less witnesses the better. She had heard that the Takahashi brothers from the Redsuns headed that group and she wanted to avoid their attention as much as possible. She looked at her team.
"Ok, we do this fast and powerful. I want them left stunned and speechless."
They all nodded.
"So who's going to race Aki?"
Aki thought. "Vicky should drive."
"What? You want me to be the first? I admit am pleased and all, but why me?"
"You have the quick reflexes required in a corner. On this course there are a lot and most of them are difficult. Just one after another all the way down."
Vicky shook her head.
"Trust me Vicky. Have I ever made you do anything you couldn't handled?"
Vicky looked into Aki's eyes. Something about her ice blue eyes always made Vicky feel that she could take on the world.
"I'll do it."
"Good. Drive like you always do and you'll be fine."
Vicky got into her car and began moving it towards the starting line.
"Don't worry Vic," said Aki looking at the other twin as the race began, "she's going to win."
*******
On the other mountain, Keisuke's race was well underway. Keisuke took an early lead and had been holding his own throughout the race. He went around the corners at speeds his rival couldn't match and eventually lengthened the gap between them. But Keisuke's mind wasn't on the race but on a certain redhead with green eyes. He remembered how she had hid her face when he introduced himself and how she practically ran away from him. No one had ever acted that way towards him, especially girls. He kept remembering her name, Alex, which to him sounded like it should belong on a guy.
While he was trying to work out her peculiar reactions, his unconscious mind began to influence his driving. His hands and feet began to respond automatically to changes in his drifts causing them to become better, sharper. He past Takumi and Nakazato at the half way point. They quickly relayed their observations to Ryosuke at the mountains peak.
"What do you mean he's improved?" Ryosuke was saying over the radio. "How so?"
"The aura around him is much stronger than before," said Nakazato as if that should explain everything.
"But he seems to be occupied," added Takumi.
"What did you see?" asked Ryosuke.
Takumi blushed, no one ever asked his opinion on anything.
"He's improved but his counter steering needs a little work and…." he paused. "The reason he is doing so well is because his mind is on something else. His sub-conscious which is really the part that reacts during the drift has taken over."
"So your saying that he doesn't realize he's doing that well."
"Yah."
Nearing the end of the race, Keisuke finally began to think about the race. He came up on the next corner, too fast and lost the ideal line. The racer behind him got a little closer. Keisuke looked in his rear view mirror.
//When did I get so far ahead of him?//
The goal came up, the car behind made one last attempt to catch up by trying to over power Keisuke's car. However he didn't have a long enough straightaway and Keisuke easily past the finish before his rival, setting a new course record in the process.
//Bro will tell me what I did during that battle. Now that I think about it, that wasn't such a smart thing to do. I could have seriously screwed up by not keeping my mind on the race. I wonder what happened.//
******
Vicky was tense. She was in the lead but was scared of letting the team down if she lost. The guy behind her was fast. He was pushing her faster than she had ever thought of going before. She began to watch the road, with her eyes off the person behind her she began to notice something. All the turns were the same. The only difference was the speed at which to take them. Vicky pushed her speed up a notch. The turns became easier.
//No wonder, I've had problems with this car. The engine must be made purely for speed.//
She pressed the gas pedal harder, and practically shot away from the LanEvo VI behind her. Yet he still managed to keep up with her, barely.
Aki, watching from the top with binoculars, was very happy.
"She finally figured it out. I was hoping this battle would help her."
The rest of the team turned and looked at her.
"What do you mean? You had this planned?" asked Rick.
"Of course. I was a little worried when she was thinking about backing out earlier. I guess you could say I tricked her into it," she said smiling.
Everyone stared at her.
"How long have you been manipulating us?" Alex asked jokingly.
"Ever since I met you," smiled Aki sweetly.
Aki went back to watching the race. The LanEvo had pulled up beside Vicky yet he was still unable to pass her in the end.
"Looks like she won," relayed Aki. "It was close though, probably only a couple of inches. Ok, lets go get her and get out of here."
"Why?" asked Rick still a little peeved that Aki didn't choose him to race.
"There are some people I would like to avoid, for now anyway. It would be better if they didn't meet us just yet." She got into her car. And began to drive down to the base.
******
Ryosuke came down to the base to see his brother and Ryo talking.
"Hey Takahashi. That was a good match."
"Thanks Ryo."
"You know, you're the first person to beat me on my home course. Oh sorry," Ryo's phone began to ring. He answered and a few minutes later put it back in his pocket. "It appears as though challengers are getting lucky today. That was my friend over at Hikotima. Apparently his team was just defeated by a team made up of mostly exotic cars."
That grabbed the attention of both the Takahashi brothers.
"What kind of car raced? What color?" asked Keisuke.
Ryo called his friend back.
"He didn't recognize the make, but that's not surprising, no one looks at those kinds of cars as ones we might face. He said it was a deep green colour."
Keisuke was disappointed, he was hoping that it was Alex's red car.
Ryosuke asked if the team left a name.
"The called themselves Dark Horizons, apparently they left soon after the race. No one knows where they went. Personally I would have expected them to stick around and brag. That's what most people do."
******
Alex had decided to throw a celebration party for Vicky's first win. She managed to drag Rick into town to by drinks while the twins went and bought chips and donuts. Kris and Aki met them all at Koto's peak with garbage bags and paper plates. A few hours later all but Chris and Aki were passed out on the grass.
Aki turned to the African man beside her. "Well shall we take them back to the motel? If you want to take them back, I'll stay here to move their cars and pick up the garbage."
"Sounds good. I'll see you in the morning then. Good night Aki."
"Good night Chris."
As Chris left, Aki finished cleaning up the garbage and became to head to the motel, via the back road. Unfortunately, Aki missed picking up some beer bottles and cigarette butts tossed by Rick.
******
As Keisuke was about to get into his car, Ryosuke came up to him.
"Keisuke, I want to check out Koto pass before we go. I have a hunch we might find something."
"Sure bro, but I'm coming."
Ryosuke just smiled and got into his FC.
They drove to Koto's peak passing by four cars hidden behind a large billboard on the road. Getting out of their cars the brothers began to look around for something. Ryosuke noticed cigarette butts in the grass, the last one burning out just as he reached it.
//Just a little sooner and we might have seen them.// though Ryosuke.
Keisuke walked out of the bushes, "I found some beer cans. Looks like they had a little party."
"Probably celebrating their first win," replied Ryosuke.
They both looked up hearing the sound of an approaching car. A few seconds later a silver (whatever Chris' car is, I'll just call it a Ferrari until I think of a good car) drive though a small gap in the bushes. The car stopped as its headlights illuminated the two figures in the clearing. Before it had a chance to recover the Takahashis jumped in their cars preparing to follow it. Realizing what was going to happen the silver car did a quick J-turn and raced back the way it came.
Following it through the bush, Ryosuke began to see how the trail had remained so well hidden. The back trail was an old logging road that would have connected it to the new highway on the front. The construction was halted before the two roads met, so there was still some undergrowth to drive through before the cars hit the dirt street. Ryosuke caught sight of the silver Ferrari making his way down the path.
//He's good. But he's not the one from the race at Hikotima.//