Act 10

Keisuke drove behind Rick as they both headed to the peak of Akagi, in order to study his car. Keisuke recognized it as the one he and Ryosuke had seen before they began casing Aki on Komotiri pass. He picked up his cell to call his brother but the line wouldn't go through. Keisuke wasn't that disturbed. Ryosuke would probably stop him if he knew. They wasted no time getting started when they got to the peak. Keisuke quickly pulled up his car beside Rick and signaled him to start. Rick smiled and dropped his hand. They were off.

Keisuke quickly took the lead, which Rick wasn't too happy about but he still managed to keep up until the half way marker. Keisuke looked back.

//That guy has a good car, that's the only thing helping him. I guess all that boasting was bullshit. He can't even keep up with me in the corners.//

Keisuke pushed the pace and watched as Rick slipped just a little farther behind. Yet during the next straightaway he pulled back in behind the FD.

//He's faster on the straights but it's taking him more time to catch up, especially on the sharp corners.//

********

Rick started the race off by dropping his hand. By the half way point, Keisuke was still in front and Rick was having more trouble keeping up with him.

//Shit. Here I boasted and that *boy* is better than me.// he thought flooring the pedal to catch Keisuke on the straight.

//I can't let the team find out or I would be the laughing stock.//

He chuckled.

//But if I create a little accident, no one has to know that I was losing. This is perfect. The next corner? No, preferably a high speed corner.//

Rick began plotting. He didn't care about skill anymore, he just needed to stay close to Keisuke until he made his move.

********

Aki got onto her bike and followed. She stayed behind them at a good distance.

//What is Rick thinking?//

She passed under a sign reading : Akagi Pass next exit.

//Of course, a race. That moron. He didn't even think that Keisuke might have a significant advantage racing on his home course. But he probably thought the engine would compensate. Well Rick, your chances of winning just went down to zero.//

She turned off the highway at the next exit and continued to the pass. She reached the base as the race began at the peak.

"Did two cars go by here?" she asked two guys hanging out at the base.

They nodded.

"Thanks, and by the way," she said looking thoughtfully up the road, "could you call a tow truck for me?"

After they agreed, she continued up the hill.

//They probably started racing already.//

*********

Ryosuke wasn't too far behind the group heading towards Akagi and he managed to make hit the base a few minutes after Aki.

//They probably started racing already. Should I stop them? Keisuke won't be happy if I do, but that was a rash thing he did.//

He looked ahead of him.

//A motorcyclist? Where have I seen that bike before?// Ryosuke easily caught up and stayed right behind it. //Not even phased by me being so close. The racer from Kotomiri pass. He's a little far from home.//

Then he heard the sounds of the race coming. Both he and the biker picked up their pace.

*******

Aki noticed headlights behind her.

//The white FC. How did he know?//

She snorted. //Of course he knew. His brother probably told him or that S14 kid.//

The FC caught up to her. No surprise, the car was better balanced around the corners. Aki began to hear the sounds of approaching cars, and the crunch of a car as it hit the guardrail. She sped up and noticed Rick's Porsche fly past.

//There's Rick meaning that Keisuke's car crashed.// she signaled to Ryosuke. //I hope he'll take the hint and stop Rick while I go check on his little brother.//

She continued up the road and saw Keisuke's FD.

*********

Keisuke entered the next corner at a steep angle, trying for a better exit speed, when Rick made his move. The Porsche rammed into the FD's back bumper causing it to go into a spin. Rick them passed and managed to hit the front fender as it came around. Keisuke braced himself. The fender hit with enough force to cause his car to roll. Keisuke's life flashed before his eyes. The force of the roll eventually landed the car back on four wheels yet the momentum had smashed the front into the guardrail further down the road. Rick drove on without a second glance. Keisuke slowly got out of his car and sat down on the pavement.

********

Aki saw the FD. It was a total wreck. The headlights on the bike illuminated Keisuke sitting by the driver side door. He looked towards the light blinking.

//Good if he can see me and move, he's not in any critical condition.//

She got off her bike and grabbed the first aid kit from under her seat. Walking over to him, she flips up her visor and bends down to examine his injuries. She looked at the cut across his forehead. It was bleeding pretty badly, but from personal experience she knew that scalp wounds often looked worse then they were.

"Can you look at me?" she asked after bandaging the cut. "Focus on my finger."

She moved her finger back and forth as Keisuke followed it with his eyes. Aki kept watching his looking at the pupil dilation.

"Good, no concussion. You're lucky, that FD of yours was so well made. Many cars wouldn't have been able to handle that kind of a crash.

"Yeah, whatever."

Aki could hear the anger and pain in his voice. Most of it came from the anger over his car.

"I may not understand how you feel about your car, but it will be taken care of. I promise," Aki said, her voice hard and sincere. So much so that he believed her.

Aki stood back up and stretched out her hand.

"Can you stand?"

With her help, Keisuke made it onto his feet and over to her bike. As she was putting the first aid kit back, two sets of headlights appeared. It was Rick with Ryosuke practically herding him up the road.

//So he did block Rick's escape. That makes it easier on me.//

Rick pulled to a stop and got out of his car. Keisuke saw him and stormed over. He nailed Rick in the face and sent him reeling back against his car. Ryosuke pulled him off and dragged him towards his FC. Rick got up holding a broken nose to see a very pissed Aki in front of him. She calmly takes off her helmet and places it on the hood of the Porsche.

******

"Keisuke are you alright?" asked Ryosuke worriedly.

"Yeah bro I'm fine." Ryosuke just looked at the bandage on Keisuke's forehead. "I'm serious, bro. I really am fine. The biker patched it up when she got here."

They both turned to look at Aki who was now talking to Rick.

"I can't believe it. He's actually scared of her," smiled Keisuke.

"Keisuke, why id you come here to race?" asked Ryosuke a little peeved, now that he knew his brother wasn't hurt.

"Because he was bragging how he'd beaten us and how he was the leader of the Dark Horizons when we know for a fact that she is," Keisuke replied pointing back at Aki.

Ryosuke was silent as he watched Aki pull Rick off the hood of his car. Placing her helmet on the ground she took out a pocketknife and popped open the hood. A few seconds later she closed it and headed towards the Takahashis with her helmet in hand while Rick raced back and tried to fix whatever she had done to the engine.

*******

Aki placed her helmet on the hood of his car before she even acknowledged his existence.

"Rick, that wasn't nice," she said in a flat voice.

He began to get scared. She had never spoken to anyone this way before, but then again she never had any reason to be this angry.

"Let me guess. Keisuke Takahashi overheard you bragging and called you on it. To try and save face you accepted a race that you knew I was against, just hoping that because I was distracted at the club, that I wouldn't find out."

Rick tried to interrupt.

"I don't want to hear it. When you saw you were losing you resorted to cheating. Remember what I said in the diner?"

Rick nodded, his head bowed in shame.

"I'm invoking that right now. You are off the team and your car officially belongs to me. So get off my car," she said angrily.

Rick found himself being pulled off the car by the front of his shirt and he watched helplessly, the implications still not sinking in, as Aki began to cut wires in the engine.

Closing the knife, Aki shut the hood, picked her helmet off the ground and walked over the Takahashis. Before she had reached them she called back to Rick.

"I'd step away from that car, if I were you. It could become extremely hazardous to your health."

She continued walking to the white FC. Behind her, Rick's car began to smoke. The brothers were broken out of their shock by Aki's apology.

"I'm sorry for Rick's actions. I can assure you that the rest of my group does not act this way."

"So you're Aki." Aki was a little shocked that he knew her name.

"And you're the one that was being harassed at the bar," she smiled.

He smiled back. "And you were the one that was dancing."

Aki blushed. "I was hoping no one had seen that."

Just then a tow truck came around the corner.

She jumped up to the driver's window and handed him a card "Hey! I need the FD taken to this address."

Walking back to Keisuke she handed him a card.

"If you want you car come to this garage and I'll have it fixed for you."

Behind her Rick's car burst into flame. She looked back and smiled. "Well, all's well that ends well."

Jumping on her bike she followed the tow truck to the garage.

After she left, Keisuke and Ryosuke walked over to Rick who was looking at the remains of his car. The flames had finally stopped burning leaving a burnt oils smell in the air.

Ryosuke looked over Rick's shoulder. "May I take a look?"

Rick turned and nodded. "It's not like it matters now. Not even my dad can get me out of this mess."

"Your dad?" asked Keisuke, feeling almost sorry for the guy. He might have his car damaged but Aki had wrecked Rick's car beyond repair as punishment.

"Yeah my dad's the CEO for Ferrari. He and some other major labels all hired Aki to train racers for formula one."

Ryosuke looked up. "Hired to train?"

"Yeah, back in America, she is the best. Although she never formally raced, she beat every racer she came across. She's also the one that designed and built this engine. I think it was supposed to be a prototype of some sort."

Ryosuke looked back at the engine. Although wrecked, he had never seen a design even remotely like this. "I know it's not a typical engine, but are you sure she built it? This kind of expertise takes years of experience."

"Yeah she built it. She has been around engines and mechanics before she could walk. Her mother used to be a pit crew mechanic. The one in my car is one of her C-series." Rick continued at Keisuke's confused look. "She designed three types : A, B and C; A being the most powerful. As far as I know only her FC has that engine."

//That explains her car's unnatural speed.// Ryosuke thought to himself.

"Do you mind if I take the engine?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Just have them take it here," said Ryosuke handing him an address. "Do you need a ride?" he continued about to get into his FC with Keisuke.

"No I'll just wait for the tow truck."

Ryosuke shrugged, got into his car and drove down the mountain.

"Bro, let's go to Aki's garage now."

"No Keisuke, I'm taking you to the hospital first to be checked out."

"It can wait until morning, your car will be fine."

Keisuke sighed. "Fine. It's not like they're going to skip the country or anything."