First Gear: 'Idols'

It was a calm summer evening; the sun had tucked itself in between the blanket of the horizon while the gentle breeze had continued to flow through the ambience at Mt. Eagles, situated along the outskirts of a sophisticated and resourcefully advanced multicultural region. The mountain pass in at its color maintained its lush environment, with trees nearly covering every edge and corner from the outside perspective. The roads were dry at that moment and at that time of the evening it was also virtually empty.

The road was empty, until a white S13 K's strolled along the downhill at moderate pace, on its way over to the highways below, which lead on to the metropolitan area. The S13 seemed next to stock, with black 17' RS Watanabe rims and a 'OneVia' conversion on its front bumper. There were little chibi ornaments hanging down from the mirror, as well as on the dashboard and rear window, as the driver continued along with some fast-paced music such as 'Gamble Rumble' by Move.

(' bring it back yo, rock'en roll!')

The S13 OneVia marched down at around 65kph along the mildly curved sections of Mt. Eagles. The driver seemed neither hesitant, nor careless about the slightly increasing speed of the vehicle after each corner had been completed.

( 'life goes on manzoku shiteta sukoshi no kibou dake de')

After a slightly tighter corner was in sight, the S13 continued onward as it kept its ongoing pace and cleared through with only inches away from the guardrails. The driver did not seem hesitant about which lane the vehicle had kept on swerving to.

( 'mattereba dare ka ga mirai kimete kureteita
(just get you back and bring it back on)' )

The driver of the white OneVia behaved on the mountain like a road-racer. One who takes behind the wheel of a car without fear or concern for one's life and plunges into one of the most dangerous and illegal aspect of the motor sport culture. Courageous as they are, road-racers not only put their licenses at risk, but also their very lives. Street racing is a game at the very edge of the car-racing scene, and at the very edge is exactly where the OneVia driver was.

( 'nante chiisai jibun nan darou? bust it up!
(here we go, 1, 2) move it up and break it!' )

The vehicle had begun to increase its speed. Tires then screeched and a whiff of smoke had shrugged off the lane's exit. The driver steered gently as the car glided right next to the sharpest point of the curve as the rear had slightly jolted outward. A split second later, the vehicle had set back into its normal direction and continued at almost the same speed.

( 'ima sugu yume made hashirou' )

The OneVia hissed wildly and boasted its agility coming down lower along the final sections of Mt. Eagles. The car strolled through the streets in a humble and careful-looking manner, though its vague inside-outside lines make it seem almost like a slot-car.

( 'Gamble, you gatta chance to make a Rumble!
GIRI GIRI no SUTEEJI (oh yeah!)' )

The driver seemed to have displayed a variety of braking and throttle-loss techniques, though at times the driving was rather sloppy and moves were all over the place. It was definitely unsafe.

( 'Gamble, you gatta dive in to a scramble!
ichi MIRI mo mayowazu (check it out come on!)')

The turbocharged S13 K's had not only displayed its performance on the touge-attack, but its driver had also shown a sign of potential, even though there had been several close calls and near-misses. But that was the very beauty of a new and fresh road racer.

( 'mamoru beki MONO nante jitsu ha sonna ni nai
(give it up yo! give it up yo!)
sukoshi dake tsuyogatte kake mashou zenbu play the game!')

Though the night seemed rather young, the S13 and its driver had left the grace of Mt. Eagles and made their way along the routes leading toward the city…

The fast-food restaurant near the downtown section of the town was neither lively, nor empty. The atmosphere suited a typical relaxing Friday evening, as Aiko sat along the outdoor tables with her meal and bag full of workbooks and magazines as well as a small shopping bag with clothes and music CDs. She sat patiently and happily on the seat as she munched on, finally being able to have a meal after a long boring day at work.

Aiko was a young 21-year-old Japanese social worker who spent her days with errands and paperwork as well as her studies. With her long light-brown hair, dark brown eyes and a light complexion, she is a pretty young woman among those innocent-looking girls. She has a nice figure, though pretty her face may be, it may stand out a little as she looked like a girl from the country rather than the towns. Though as innocent and distant as her image may be, she definitely could not be classified as one of the quiet girls.

A moment later, a young man had come to join her. He approached Aiko and greeted her casually, "Hi, can I join you?"
"Sure," replied Aiko, looking up to her close friend along the neighborhood, Kazuhiko.

He sat with Aiko, placing his meal on the table calmly as he began to eat at a moderate pace. Kazuhiko met Aiko at a career expo several months ago, and since then, he had been struggling to stop her from driving other people insane, including himself. However, as careful and righteous he may be, Kazuhiko is responsible for taking Aiko to watch illegal street races from time to time and eventually had her become interested in cars and motor sport to this day. At late nights, he would take Aiko and her brother, Hiroshi in his Altezza and drive up to Mt. Eagles to watch the action.

"How was your day?" asked Kazuhiko.
Aiko swallowed some fries and began to mumble, "Oh, it was so crappy, I cracked my nail on my desk drawer today! And plus, the guy at the clinic started hitting on me, my foolish brother took the car again and…"

"Oh, forget I asked…" shrugged Kazuhiko, looking elsewhere in boredom. "What's in there? What'd you end up getting?"
"Mm… nothing much, just a few shirts, a bangle and the new Minako-chan album…" said Aiko, as she took out her shopping bag for Kazuhiko.
He looked around and noticed a few magazines kept in her other bag. Much to his surprise, they were car magazines.

"Why do you have those?" wondered Kazuhiko, reaching for the car magazines.
They were different magazines, but they all seem to have the same feature on their cover.
"Aw man, you can't be serious. You're obsessed!" continued Kazuhiko.

Aiko giggled, "He's so cute!" and she took a sip from her soda.
The magazines featured the same car and the same person. Kazuhiko remembers the day Aiko showed him her room, which was full of posters and pictures of Emperor Fu Huo and his white NSX-R all over the place.

"…Weirdo!" teased Kazuhiko.

PLOT COURSE A

"I hate to break it to you, but there are rumors going around that Emperor Fu Huo was seen dating your favorite singer!" mentioned Kazuhiko.
"Ah… you just had to rub it in, didn't you?" complained Aiko.
"Well, I'm just saying what I heard."
"Grr…"
"I don't blame him… Minako-chan is very beautiful, not to mention her awesome voice," commented Kazuhiko. Though Aiko felt that he was just saying that to rattle her on. "You're thinking of competing with her?"
"Aw…"
/PLOT COURSE A

PLOT COURSE B

"Oh be quiet! Some day, I will ride with Fu Huo inside his NSX-R and we'll go cruising all over the region! You're just jealous!" dreamed Aiko.

"He hardly races along this area… I doubt you'll even get to see him in action. But I think I might know a friend who knows him and…" paused Kazuhiko.
"R-really?" Aiko's eyes lit up in excitement. "Tell him I want to meet him! Please, I want to meet him!" she grabbed Kazuhiko playfully by the collar and demanded on.

Oh man, I shouldn't have mentioned it… "Uh… he's really busy nowadays… uh, I'm not really sure if…" excused Kazuhiko.
"You're lying!"
"Okay, okay, I have a friend named Alex, and he's with the Rotary Alliance, which is under the U.R, so he might know the Emperor, calm down…"

Aiko smiled in excitement, though Kazuhiko shook his head and felt pity on her. He continued, "Don't worry, I promise you some day that you'll meet Fu Huo."
/PLOT COURSE B

A few moments later, Aiko slowly reached for her phone from her bag as it continued to vibrate constantly. She knew exactly who it was and rightfully so, she had then a grumpy look on her face as she picked up her phone and answered, "Hello. Well it's about time!"

"Sorry, sis. I've taken the car out tonight. If you're gonna wait for me, I'll be very late and…" excused Hiroshi over the phone.
"Aw…! You're lucky! Kazu is here; he can give me a lift home. Where are you anyway?"
"I just came from the Eagles exit, sorry," apologized Hiroshi. "No battles on tonight."
"Oh don't tell me you were looking for a race? You fool," scolded Aiko. "Anyways, I'll see you back home."

Aiko irritably closed up her handset and tucked it in her bag. She glanced at Kazuhiko with her pitiful, puppy-eye look and said nothing. Kazuhiko noticed the sorry look on Aiko's face and wondered, "Why are you looking at me like that?" he said, pretending not to have heard her phone conversation. "You want something don't you? Let me guess… you want a lift home?"
"Please?" asked Aiko in a silly tone.
"Oh, okay, okay… hop in," replied Kazuhiko. "You're lucky I'm not busy tonight,"

As the route at Mt. Eagles was already seemingly empty, there had seemed to be an individual that had remained along a nearby inn just along the tourist area of the mountain pass. The inn was rather small and not as easy to come across, with a dark paneled rooftop that seemed more like a monument-like theme surrounded by trees and bush that overlooked the downhill on the opposite side of facing the city. The inn was especially welcome to oncoming travelers, sightseeing, and secretly, road racers.

Parked along near the inn was a high-performance vehicle often seen in more powerful and upper class street racing. It was a white Supra MkIV equipped with a TRD body kit and a stock spoiler. The driver was a young man dressed in white trousers and a neat black shirt. He had a medium build and neatly groomed with short spikey hair as he rested next to his vehicle.

Yin Hoshino stared at the forest-covered road, breaking himself from the study of Mt. Eagles' complex twists and bends that continued to challenge every other driver he had seen, including the likes of him.
Who was that? I've seen it many times before…

Although it might have been a mere S13 Silvia, Yin had only distinctively noticed one that was white with a One-Via conversion and had girly ornaments along the windows. He was a caring and confident young fellow, who enjoys battles as well as most other road racers do. Though he has yet to awaken the deeply buried specialty that lies within him and waits to be unleashed.

I'm a little tired… I want to go home and call Aiko but… I think it's a little late…

Yin lazily hopped into his vehicle, buckled up and slowly drove out of the inn and continued down along the road downhill. The Supra cruised along the rest of the sections at moderate speed, as Yin focused his remaining effort forward. Although he was slightly fatigued, he also alerted himself in case of any other on-coming drivers try and pass him. It had been something that he had been used to, as Yin remembers defeating hordes of Civics, 180SXs and Corollas among others who have tried to oppose him.

Just as Yin had expected, another car had then followed behind him. He did not seem to alter his speed as he continued to listen to some fast-paced music like 'Supersonic Fire' from his Initial D Battle Stage soundtrack.

('Ooh… Oh, Ooh… Oh, supersonic…')

Yin increased his speed only slightly, taking into account that his fuel tank was not much to last, and neither were his tires. It would be a waste, he thought. He knows he could outrun the car easily, but his fatigue had somewhat challenged his concentration.

('Ooh… Oh, Ooh… Oh, supersonic…')

Yin had suddenly had another idea in mind – he had let the vehicle behind him pass him, and then he would tail it behind and observe. The vehicle seemed to be able to keep up with him for such time. He left of the throttle temporarily, allowing the car behind to pass him freely. Much to his surprise, it was a car he had not often seen among the locals before - a red Z32 Fairlady. Yin continued closely behind the Z32, without using his vehicles true limit, though he had also noticed that the Z32 driver was also in the same situation. The driver did not seem to throttle fully.

('Ooh-oh, supersonic fire!')

Yin had then questioned himself about how his night was going to end. At first he had thought it would have been a typical outrun, though the driver in front had started playing games with him. Okay fine, if you won't go, then I'll just leave you behind!
The Supra's power chomped along the straightaway, just leaving the Mt. Eagles route, though Yin had glanced at his rear mirror and noticed the Z32 turn into another route.
That's the route to the hotel… The driver has to be foreign…!

Yin had continued along into the town to fill up and finally reach home…

The next day saw another typical Saturday morning, as Aiko stepped out of her house in her baby-blue pajamas and sandals at around 7:30AM, only to catch her brother out on the driveway revving her car without permission. She lazily walked up to her S13 and knocked on the window grumpily.
Hiroshi hesitantly rolled down the window, as he glanced at his sister's face with a rather guilty look.

"Not only did you wake everybody up, but you're also about to snatch my ride!" said Aiko.
"I'm sorry, I was just going to see if it still runs… after last night. You see, I couldn't help it, I was going to go to the…" Hiroshi tried to explain, but Aiko had cut him off and squealed, "No excuses! Why don't you get your own car? You had the audacity to make me ask Kazu to bring me home!"
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry…!"
"Where were you going anyway?"
"To fill some gas…"
"Oh yeah right…"
"It's true!"

The neighbors from next door had then begun to complain and yell at the siblings for their bickering outside. It really was a typical Saturday morning after all. As the morning sun had soon shined, soft wind tickled along Aiko's cheeks as she squinted along the horizon and stared at the town.
"What is our plan today, sis?" asked Hiroshi calmly.
Aiko turned to him and responded, remembering just what she had in mind that day, "We're going to the shopping center today, remember?"
"Oh yeah… Kouda Minako is having a autograph signing at the local shopping center today to promote her new album, 'Route M'. She's giving out free copies and…" once again, Aiko had interrupted Hiroshi and blurted, "Free copies? But… I just bought Route M yesterday!"

Hiroshi laughed at Aiko teasingly. Though he had realized that in order to catch Minako Kouda, they would have to arrive rather early. The shopping center would surely be flooded with fans, as Hiroshi had anticipated.
Several moments later, Aiko had rushed back into the house, noticing her parents were awake and stepped into her room. She put on a pair of jeans and a neat black shirt and came to join her brother outside.

"I'll drive," suggested Aiko. And rightfully so, she took control of her own car, making it Hiroshi's turn to sit and behave on the passenger's seat.
She reversed slowly and carefully out of the driveway in her One-Via and crept along down the street into the main road. Aiko was a careful driver on public areas, though little things could often trigger her attention and cause certain questionable behavior that usually puts her license at risk. She was usually rather clumsy, even though she had been driving for years.

The One-Via had headed off to the nearby gas station. Aiko parked near the servos, as Hiroshi stepped out and made his way over to the convenience store to buy some goods.
Wasting no time, the siblings had left after they have finished their business and made their way on their journey into the city.

Strangely, the gas station was seemingly crowded. An unusual number of vehicles littered the area – around almost a dozen of them were parked along the lanes and near the servos. These cars had appeared to have some kind of theme. They consisted of a few RX-3's, three Eunos Cosmo's, around two Savanna RX-7 FC3S's, an RX-8, and in the middle of them all seemed to be a rather distinctive RX-7 FD3S Bathurst R. It was the only FD3S model among all those rotary-equipped vehicles that lay along the ambience of the gas station. It had been sprayed a bright sunburst yellow, with a B Spec kit, though with an A Spec II rear spoiler. It was the car of the Mt. Eagles Rotary Alliance's Chief Representative, Sir Alex Mach of the United Racers. He stood leaning on his vehicle, wearing some tinted yellow specs, dark gray jeans, a black polo shirt and a denim jacket. He was a rather young man, who had short, neatly trimmed spiky hair and a medium-sized build.

Alex held a little flyer in his hand and continued to stare at it. Though he had already made up his mind about his plans for the night, he needed something to make his plans for the day. And the flyer that presented information about the local pop singer was just what he had in mind…

"Hitomi…" called out Alex.
A young dark haired woman dressed in blue jeans and white shirt approached from the RX-8 and had responded to Alex, "Yes…?"
"Mt. Eagles is on for sure tonight. But for the time being, you and the others can kick back and…"
"…wait a sec," paused Hitomi.
"What is it?"
"Just to let you know about the other FD3S driver that you have invited to the alliance…"
"It's okay, I already know. I see he declined my offer…"
"Do you think he'll show up tonight?"
"I just don't know… Anyways, I'm gonna go to town for a while. I'll see you all tonight," confirmed Alex.

The Sir Alex had then patiently stepped into his RX-7 FD3S and drove away from the station, heading off into town. He cruised along the freeway, focusing on the road as he reminded himself of what Yin had told him. He said that the Z32 had a team sticker, though he wasn't able to catch good view of it properly… Hmm… which team do I know of has a Z32 in their fleet?
Alex had then remembered the local board meeting that he had attended a couple of weeks ago. He remembered sitting along the conference room, each team leader from each team in the local area were present, while they had a small loud speaker in the middle of the large meeting table, where the boss, LFD had communicated from, as he was not physically present at the meeting.

Sir Alex was seated next to Master Hiei of CDK and Emperor Fu Huo of Zui Hou R, whom gathered along with the rest of the representatives from different other areas.

"As you may have already figured, this season's Infinity league has almost arrived. We need some top level drivers from both in and outside the U.R this time," began LFD from the loud speaker. "As usual, all team leaders are invited to participate. The cups will resume as follows; starting from the Compact Series next month…"

"Count me out," said Master Ekim, "I'm on for the Classics Cup,"
"I can't enter either," claimed Sir Alex, looking at the others at the table.

Master Hiei and Emperor Fu Huo looked at each other for a moment, and later on responded.
"I might have a participant from my team who drives compact style," claimed Hiei.
"Aoki should have a few of them too," hunched Fu Huo. "However, our compact division did poorly last year. Most of Zui Hou R's strength lies along the Track Specials and Grand Touring Titles… Plus, recruitment for the new D Unit is progressed rather slowly…"

Alex knew that each of his colleagues had their own specialties. Fu Huo's style is usually a little bit of everything, Hiei had won the Rally title the previous year, Ekim has been the reigning the Classics all the way down from the founding of the project.

Fu Huo smiled and looked at Alex, "Perhaps I might find somebody to take you on at the Asian manufacturers division."
The Pacific Muscle Cup was Alex's preferred conditions. This league featured large varieties of competitions, though consisted mostly of Japanese-tuned vehicles. However, Alex has not always been lucky in the project, though he still holds and impressive overall record. Devoting himself only to his rotary-style car engine, the Pacific division was probably the only category he would fit into.

There were other sub-categories for other drivers to enter. A racer can enter in more than one event, and may also use the same car for each event if they wish. Master Ekim had entered with multiple vehicles at the previous phase of last season's project and had entered in Classics, Convertibles, and Compacts. Other events, such as the Infinity and Ultimate leagues demand the fastest and most unbelievable technology taken in only specialized courses along the region.

Alex remembered seeing LFD demonstrate the Infinity league's unrestricted features and flew in the unstoppable mountain climber, Escudo, which had been forbidden in any other league. This season, Sir Alex would once again challenge himself to gain the Pacific title. He saw himself at the highest podium, standing at number one with only him and his FD3S.

I'd like to see Hitomi do well in her SE3P… Maybe we could change Hiei and Fu Huo from being in the spotlight all the time…

The RX-7 traveled further along the road as Alex continued to plan for his benefits on the new season.
He exhaled and accelerated his vehicle along slowly out of the freeway and made his way along the flyover leading into the metropolitan area…

Several moments later, Aiko and Hiroshi had arrived at the shopping center. It was around 9:45AM and the mall was packed along the ground floor, littering with crowds as the security and crowd controllers slowly brought order to the area. Aiko stood hot and frustrated near the back of the line as she waited with her brother to get to the end just to meet with the singer.
She could barely see her, as many of those taller than her were in the way. Suddenly, she heard a voice from the group of people. It was a familiar voice that she had picked up apart from the rest, which called out to her, "Hey, Aiko, what're you doing here?"

That's gotta be Kazuhiko!
Aiko turned to her side and spotted Kazuhiko on the other side who was far ahead of her in the line.
"Hey!" Aiko gave a playful frown and called out to him, "How come you didn't invite me to come?"

Kazuhiko realized that Aiko was jealous of him being so far ahead of her in line. Though he could not make up a good excuse in time to tell her. Instead, he tried changing the subject, "Hey, let's go to Mt. Eagles tonight. Take Hiroshi too, 'we' are all gonna be there,"
"Who's we?"
"Just come!"