Well I'm back finally, better to be late than never and better to conserve your energy to use on something you like than waste it on something slap-dashed together in a hurry.

Originally this chapter was going to be much different, but due to unforseen reviews and annoyances I decided to change it and much of the stories ending and final message.

Such is life.

Begin the Begin.

"So this is where you've been hiding yourself the past few months Sainz-kun." Showing the confidence only a graduate possessed, Sudou Kyouichi strolled into the garage area of the notorious Todou Firm tuning shop. He found what he was told to suspect; a blue SW20, newly repaired and receiving a final service at the hands of both Sainz himself and the young, recently graduated Sakai from the Todou Juku, who also happened to be a fulltime mechanic at the firm. Accompanying the pair, though only managing to be a hindrance was Ieyasu Miyoko. She was siddling around Sainz and Sakai, directing a torrent of questions and opinions towards the pair about their months of solid and industrious work.

And what a time it had been.

Emperor Prime was no more and to reduce the copious amounts of tension in the team, Kyouichi had been forced to use his connections to move Miyoko into custody of Todou Juku. Let them deal with the brat, hell it might do her some good. The Emperor team leader eyed Nicolas as he shuffled slightly to the side, allowing her more space. Might do him some good too.

Kyouichi was not going to think about Seiji and Miyoko. That could wait. A long time.

Miyoko wasn't the only departing member in the last few months either, Satake, one of the oldest and… well oldest really… members of the team had also been removed from the roster. With much more force.

"I'm interested Sainz-san. Why did you have the turbocharger removed and replaced with a supercharger? Won't that produce less horsepower?" The question was valid, for someone of Miyoko's level… younger drivers did tend to pursue horsepower somewhat narrow-mindedly. But even so Kyouichi was interested to see how Sainz would answer the question. He wasn't the most notorious people-person in the world.

"From what Sakai and Kyouichi tell me, you were once a member of Evo Prime; Happogahara's home team. You should know well enough then that the top end performance of a sizable turbo becomes a disadvantage on a tight and treacherous course, short of installing a rally anti-lag system there is really no way to combat that. A supercharger provides steady response and better bottom-end torque than the turbo, meaning that the ability to take and exit corners improves. With Kai's level of driving, on most of the courses in the area, a supercharger is a definite advantage. On Happogahara, if you haven't felt the disadvantages of a turbo car, then you obviously haven't reached a high level of skill." Ouch.

Kyouichi was torn between smirking at finally seeing the Princess Ieyasu put in her place and quietly moving out of the soon to be warzone. No one talked to Miyoko like that without some form of retribution. Not even Seiji. Especially not Seiji, Kyouichi mused.

A diffusing chuckle echoed through the workshop as the mop of hair attached to Sakai appeared from underneath the car.

"Trust Sainz-san to have high expectations of the current students… he knows firsthand the level of driver that the school is capable of producing. You and Daiki are lucky to have the skills of a World Rally Championship competitor to learn from!"

His voice was perfectly modulated for a genuine expression of awe and it certainly stole some of the thunder from Miyoko's expression as she was reminded of just how much she stood to learn with her new team. Sakai was a born diplomat. Clever little bugger too.

It had been Sakai that had put all the pieces together after all.

News of Kai's accident had travelled fast to the other teams and it had been sitting at the carpark of the Todou Firm two weeks after the event that Sakai had taken the pieces of information everyone had seen and heard and painted them into a picture that even a racer could understand.

"Ohna Takuya says that, from their description, the white Evo 5 and 6 sound like the REVS team from Tsuchisaka."

"An Evo 6? It's definitely not on of Emperor's members then, there hasn't been an Evo 6 on our team since that arrogant bastard Hiro, the Evo 5 though is common enough around these parts."

"Ryosuke just confirmed it, the leader of the REVS team has to be Kanamaeda Hiroki… his appearance and car match the description I gave him and his dirty tactics gave him away in the Project D race."

"But what motive would he have to go after Kai or Takeshi, neither of them have raced him and from what Ohna tells me they wouldn't have had anything strong enough to come after him over."

"Perhaps then."

"Perhaps then it had nothing to do with Five Fire Flame at all. Sudou-san tells us that both the oil and the Evo 6 are trademarks of this Kanamaeda character. We also know that he was at one stage an Emperor driver. Rather than involving Kogashiwa's team, it seems more likely that the motive for the attack was aimed at Emperor itself."

"Why not before now? It has been years since he left."

"I wondered at that too Sudou-san. Perhaps, rather than acting immediately for personal revenge they did so at someone's insistence. Perhaps someone that knew them. Someone with a grudge for Emperor that could not actually do the deed themselves. It would have probably been someone that knows the Emperor routine well. They couldn't have poured the oil if every team member was going to hit it. The smartest thing to do was remember the routine for that night and see if anyone held a grudge with those people."

"A grudge? The only people who have reason to dislike each other are Emperor members, thanks to Seiji"

A date, a kick… countless snide comments and arguments.

"Satake."

"Satake. He has reason to hate Miyoko-chan for what happened before the race on Usui and he has the connection to Kanamaeda as he is an original Emperor member."

"Seiji!"

"Sainz-san!"

That had been the start of one of the most conflict filled periods in history for the racers of Tochigi. Nicolas Sainz had all but disappeared, rumour had him popping up all over the place. Word spread about his attack on the Tsuchisaka pass, destroying the REVS team and the course record, set years ago by Project D. He had also appeared on Usui and Happogahara again smashing the course records with little trouble. Then as quickly as he has appeared he was gone again.

Seiji had also been rather active. With his fists mostly, but surprisingly it had also been Seiji talking to Kogashiwa the most… even driving him to the wrecking yard to inspect his car after the accident. That had started his whole problem. Kai and Miyoko did not get along. In fact they were one step off loathing each other.

Poor Seiji. He finally does something nice and it bites him in the behind.

"Sakai, did you check the settings on the shocks? And the gearbox and diff oil?"

The new Todou graduate nodded politely. It was incredible how oiled the machine of the Todou Firm was. With a slight smile, he turned his back on the three younger drivers and hit the speed dial on his mobile phone. Making sure he was out of earshot he passed tonight's information on to a colleague. This was going to be a rare treat all in all, and Enna was certainly going to be crowded. Jin and Alex were already there amusing themselves and the locals with their antics and Five Fire Flame were confirmed.

Among others.

"Kai is on his way, the shakedown begins tonight on Enna. We'll both drive it and see where it can be improved. Who knows," Nicolas made a slight motion with his head. "We might even see Kogashiwa battle again."

Kogashiwa Kai watched as his new car launched to attack the downhill in the capable hands of Nicolas Sainz. His skill showed as he slotted through the gears on the initial straight. Even so, a WRC driver couldn't overcome to excitement burning through every pore of his body. This new car was vicious… amazing on so many levels!

Kai's father Ken had incredible aptitude in setting up a car's suspension but never before had the SW20 been so agile, the steering as responsive. The car would move almost perfectly as Kai put it through it's paces. And the traction was just superb! The tires would push the car forward almost immediately when the accelerator was depressed.

That was just the suspension set-up! The new power output was slightly more than it had been as a turbo and the bottom end torque was insane, maybe even equal to the corner exit of a 4WD LanEvo. There was only one way to find out. He turned to Rina, slinging his arm around her with a smile. She held a walkie-talkie in her hands, keeping her in contact with both Dysuke and Takuya.

Those two! Whatever tension had marred the friendship between himself and their resident drifter of the team and dissolved with the crash.When Kai had been released from medical care they had embraced as brothers. Takuya… boy that guy was an genius, not only was he a great racer, but it was Takuya that had gone Nicolas to Tsuchisaka, and it was Takuya that had begun the united project to rebuild the MR2.

This was his team, his family, his people, even that brooding gaijin and he wasn't going to let them down again. Just as his mind threatened to take him away on a ride a garbled voice shot through the radio and brought him back to earth.

"Wow, I can't believe the cornering speed of the SW… if he keeps this pace up, he might even beat Tomo-san's downhill record."

"Kai, you there? Sainz is taking a similar line to your's, but his reactions are much quicker… I think you've got the hang of the car and by the look on everyone's face I think you might be able to steal a quick battle tonight!"

"This is the finish-line, Sainz didn't beat the course record but he came less than a second from it! That's on his first run! He's heading back up at a slower pace, but the galleries are cheering for more action!"

Rina had to move the radio away from her and Kai's nuzzled heads as a high-pitched cheer came over the airwaves along with shouting. Damn Speedstars. Kai almost wished Rina wasn't related to Mako. The Usui racer had almost, sort of, had a thing with their new Spanish ace, there were plenty of juicy rumours spread about them, but once the SW20 went into the Todou Firm he focused solely on that, and she had later been spotted with some Speedstar guy.

Well, them's the brakes.

Kai smiled as his, HIS, not his father's SW20 appeared at a relaxed pace, the new carbon aero parts making the car that much more graceful. Nothing could dampen his mood tonight. Not a damn thing. He had his car, his friends, his justice over those Evo driving bastards and a mountain full of people with their attention directed solely at him!

As Nicolas exited the car Kai noticed a small smile playing around his face as he habitually tugged on his ponytail. He handed the keys to Kai and nodded his head slightly in satisfaction.

"It's a good car Kogashiwa, I'll have to tweak the suspension a bit more… but overall... it's great. What you need is a tough test to completely get the new characteristics burned in your head. A run with Takuya or even a battle with one of the Todou Juku members."

Almost immediately Kai's eyebrow rose and his eyes shot across the gallery to one of the current students. Before his accident it would have been a bitter look, sinister almost… but now it was just amused and confident. Rina and Sainz both noticed the look and at least one of them couldn't repress a chuckle.

"I'll go organise it. Rina, pass word down to the spotters on the corners. Tell them that there's going to be a realrace tonight."

The pair stood slightly removed from the rest of the gathered spectators, experience and skill separating them. When it came to racing on the streets, these where the young lords of the mountains, almost insurmountable in every aspect.

"Did you see his driving? Perfect braking control, textbook line taking and supreme chassis control. "

"And yet so apathetic, his driving style has regressed, he lacks motivation."

"And can we do anything about that?"

"Perhaps we can, Kyouichi. Perhaps we can."

I love reviews, but as always... something with thought means one thousand times some fairy uniform praise.