A/N REVIEWS REVIEWS I WANT MORE REVIEWS :)

Act 21

[The Next Day]

It was early in the morning when Aki woke up to the sound of Alex opening the closet of their hotel room. Glancing at the clock she groaned.

"Alex, what are you doing? This is supposed to be your day off. Everyone else is sleeping in why can't you?" Aki whined.

"Oh just getting you back for all those early morning practices," Alex smiled sweetly. "But seriously, I think I need some new clothes."

Aki stared at her. "And just where are you planning on storing these new clothes? You already taken over all of you closet and most of mine."

"Oh Vicky was nice enough to lend me some space if I bought her some things as well," she replied, but before she could return her attention back to the closet her eye was caught by a small envelope on the dresser. "Well, well, what have we here?" she asked grabbing the envelope.

Aki poked her head out from under the covers. "Oh that. It's an invitation to the Formula 1 race in a few days."

"I notice this is addressed to all of us. Are we going?" Alex asked hopefully.

"I have to go, my sponsors say it is time to show the media I haven't died yet, but you guys don't have to if you don't want to."

"Oh this is great!" Alex practically squealed "Well I so need to find an outfit. You might as well come with me, we can both pick something out."

"Fine. But the stores don't open for another 3 hours so if you don't mind I want to sleep for at least another hour." With that Aki threw the blanket back over her head.

Alex just smiled and grabbed her phone on the way out to her car. //Hmmm, I think we might need some opinions on outfits while we're out. I wonder what Keisuke and Ryosuke are doing today,// she thought as she punched in their number.

***********

Later that morning Aki was sitting outside a small café waiting for Alex. She had a small notebook in front of her with her current theories written down. Sipping her tea, she made a small adjustment to her calculations. Seeing a patch of white from the corner of her eye she glanced up.

"You should really find another hobby," she said to Ryosuke.

He stopped in mid-stride, not expecting to find her at the mall.

"You know some people might call this harassment."

"How was I supposed to know you were here?" Ryosuke asked getting over his initial shock.

"Well what are you doing here then? The amount of times we bump into each other is long past being a coincidence."

"Keisuke asked me to come help him choose a wine for our parents anniversary, how about you?"

"What makes you think I'm here for anything other than a drink?"

"Well the fact that you are carrying only a small notepad instead of your laptop usually indicates you won't be staying in the same place for very long," Ryosuke said with a smirk as Aki glared at him.

At that moment, Alex and Keisuke walked up.

"Well, what a surpri-"

"Don't even start," Aki said before Alex could finish. "I knew you were up to something."

"Well I thought we might need a second opinion. After all, you never like anything I pick out for you," Alex justified.

Aki couldn't say anything to that. She really didn't want to go shopping with Ryosuke, yet she couldn't find a graceful way to ask him to leave.

"Fine. Let's get started then," She replied. //This is going to be torture.//

Keisuke and Alex immediately started walking towards a nearby store, leaving Aki and Ryosuke to follow behind.

"So what is an A-1 corner?" asked Ryosuke after a few moments of awkward silence.

"You were reading my notes!?"

"You were a little busy talking with Alex at the time. I might have glanced over the first page," he replied evenly. "So are you going to tell me or will I have to ask someone else."

"Ask someone else, yeah right. You'll probably go looking through my stuff," Aki muttered under her breath.

"I'm sorry what was that?" Ryosuke asked.

"I said it was a way of classifying corners based on their sharpness and difficulty. It's a general pattern so that I can teach methods of getting around a corner."

"Aki. Come.On." Alex said and she ran up. "I found something you just have to try on."

Alex shoved a set of clothes into Aki's hand and then shoved her into the fitting room. Ryosuke heard a mumbled question followed by a "Trust me" from Alex. He was curious as to what Alex gave her. A few moments later Aki walked out in a skirt and tank top. Ryosuke was stunned. Aki looked amazing. //I wonder why she hides all that under cargo pants and t-shirts.//

"Wow Aki you look fantastic!" Keisuke said admiringly.

"Why thank you monsieur," Aki drawled giving him a curtsy.

*******

The end of the day found the four heading back towards their cars. Aki carried a single small bag while Alex and Keisuke were trying to balance both their purchases between them.

"You know for someone with so much money, you don't spend a lot on yourself," commented Alex looking at Ryosuke's empty hands.

"Why spend money on something you don't need?"

"There is always something you need, though you may not realize it at the time," Alex retorted as she spun around to face him.

"The creed by which all packrats live," Aki noted. Ryosuke chuckled at the comment.

By that point they had reached Aki's car and were putting Alex's things into the trunk. Just before Alex was about to get into the car she turned to Keisuke.

"Keisuke, about that race," Alex hesitated and then blushed.

Aki watched as the two began to fumble for words. //Oh give me a break. Guess I'll have to take charge.//

"Keisuke, she'll race you two weeks from Saturday. After my race with the Emperors," Aki stated getting into her car.

As she drove off, Ryosuke thought to himself, //my race? She's planning to race Kyouichi? I have a bad feeling about this.//