Disclaimer/Copyright: More of a copyright notice than a disclaimer at this point really. The fic will introduce certain Initial D characters later. The plot and original characters in this story belong to me. Shigeno owns the rest. You know which ones are his. Rating will be PG for now due to adult themes and may shift up later.

Silly as it might sound, I have to stress that all of the following is pure fiction. I am in no way responsible if you somehow attempt to do the same and injure others and/or yourself in the process.

Blah, blah - usual copyright stuff. Not using this for profit, Rhubarb, Rhubarb...

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The Light at The End of The Tunnel
By Kochan

Chapter IV - First Contact

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He was nervous tonight.

His body odor was strong and I could hear the rustle of the handkerchief he used to wipe his balding head.

We weaved through the narrow side streets before merging onto the Usui pass. The rear seat squeaked as he sat upright, calmer now that we'd left Takasaki. His labored, monotone breathing was deafening and boredom was beginning to mount as I took the corners at a third of my normal speed.

I tapped the console to switch the CD player on.

The faceless, yet beautiful Cellist beside me eased her bow across the strings in the darkness. Delicate fingers fluttered and stroked across the narrow neck of the instrument as her soothing music filled the cabin.

But her song was drowned out all too soon by the sudden cry of my long range sensors. I wrenched the steering to the right , the thump and grunt behind me proof that my cargo had neglected to wear his seatbelt. Whatever it was scampered off to the side after we passed.

"Sorry." my apology was expected rather than needed.

"Goddamn Pests...sooner we're rid of them the better." came his muttered curse to confirm my suspicion.

Nagano Snow Monkeys had been common about Karuizawa for as long as I remember. A road reconstruction project destroyed their habitat decades ago and forced them into migration here.

Every so often, you'd hear of a terrified housewife crying about the 'vicious' intruder lurking in her backyard. Bird hunters with shotguns were commissioned to deal with the threats for a paltry five thousand Yen a head. They'd kill one to or two monkeys in a single hunt whilst wounding another six or seven.

The wounded, driven mad with pain would flee through the forest ...often straying onto the roads. Their anguish was something the man behind me could never comprehend.

My rear sensors sounded this time around: A pair of Turbo Skylines on the climb, exhaust and intake drones bearing down on us. Blow off Valves flushed as they passed, then again as they braked for the corner ahead before vanishing.

We entered Karuizawa not long after. I dimmed my lights on entering the carpark of the Chinese Restaurant so as not to attract attention.

There was no note, no tips, no thanks before the door slammed close. All he left was the lingering fog of his tobacco breath and the sweaty reminder of anxiety. My senses welcomed the cool touch and fresh scent of the forest air as the windows slid down.

The audio system beeped: Midnight.

Tsuyoshi should be ready by now.

"We can finally meet up with some other pros!" Thank goodness Tsuyoshi's enthusiasm wasn't infectious.

"We're not pros." I stated.

"Still...lt'll be cool to check out the cars up close and take loads of photos!"

Surely he was kidding...

He patted his pockets and groaned, "Damn! I forgot my camera! Can we head ba..."

"No." the answer rolled off my tongue without thinking. Though we still had time to turn back and just stay home.

But no, we were already there. The soothing scent of dried pine needles filled the cabin as I pulled off the road.

"There's no one here." he sighed. The sensors confirmed as they swept the clearing.

We kept the doors open to let the breeze through the cabin. Twelve-thirty came and went with Tsuyoshi's in-depth preview on the upcoming Formula One Grand Prix. His blabbering was getting louder and more annoying by the moment, a sign that he was bored.

That familiar rumble in the distance was also growing.

"Someone's coming!" Tsuyoshi chattered like a boy at his first Obon festival.

Recognition furrowed my brow as the two Skylines that passed me earlier pulled in. Their six-cylinder engines growled their dominance over the clearing like a pride of lions. As with animals, the leader's car was older, yet more powerful with another hundred horsepower under its bonnet. It was as though they watched us from the darkness, stalking...waiting.

"Let's go introduce ourselves! Maybe they'll let us cruise with them later!" piped my co-driver as he prepared to step out.

"Wait." I caught his arm and leaned my head to the side to listen to them.

"No one's here tonight: I guess we should have headed to Akagi with the others. There's still time for another run though!" I put this one's age under twenty, still a student.

"Maybe, but what the hell's that doing here?" He was older with that lower, matured tone and it was obvious he was referring to my car.

"Another Four-wheel expert from Emperor coming to challenge our older sisters again?" said the younger with a touch of amusement.

Older sisters?

The other one sneered, "You're giving him too much credit. They only use Lancers, not 'shopping carts' like this." I decided I didn't like either of them.

"He couldn't even afford the turbo! Maybe it's his mother's car?"

"Yeah, she cut the springs to lower it so it'd go faster at the supermarkets!" Another chorus of mocking laughter floated our way. Undue insult and ridicule was bad enough, but taking verbal swings at my family was low.

Tsuyoshi chuckled at the laughter, oblivious, "Seems like they don't mind us being here."

My sigh took the explanation with it. Perhaps it was best to leave.

Too late. The light clop of fashionable casual shoes closed in.

"Oi, you two! What business have you got here?" There was the older guy who'd likened my car to a basket on wheels.

"Hi! We were wondering if...ow...um..." Tsuyoshi got the idea as my elbow dug into his side.

"We were just leaving." I said. We hadn't come to be fodder for their jokes.

"Wha? No! We heard that some racers normally meet up here around this time." said Tsuyoshi, obviously not having gotten the idea. I resisted the urge to thump him.

The man stifled a snigger, "Which brings me back to my question: What are you doing here?"

"Well, we were hoping to join you guys!" bubbled the overenthusiastic raccoon beside me.

The laughter wasn't even held back out of courtesy this time. "Sorry, but you're missing a few critical components: Like a car and a clue." his chuckles trailed off with his footsteps. "Oh…and don't mind if we leave first so you don't hold us up on the Usui pass back to Tokyo."

My fists were clenched tight enough to make them tremble. This conversation wasn't over: I for one preferred to let my driving do the talking.

"I don't get it. We've got a car and all. And why mention Tokyo?" asked Tsuyoshi.

"Car's registered to Shigeru's Garage in Meguro." The lions grumbled as they were roused from their slumber before crawling onto the pass. "The guy that came over before: he's in the R33 GTS-T?" I asked.

"Yeah. And I think there's a R34 GT-R there as well." said my co-driver with a combination of awe and fear.

"It's just a GT-T with a RB25 engine." I clicked the seat belt into place. "Also, something tells me they're not 4WD friendly."

He groaned as I flicked the ignition, "We're heading back already? I was hoping..."

"We're leaving alright." Vital signs formed in my mind as that chorus of whines came to life. The clutch seemed lighter and she felt tense as we eased onto the pass. "Just taking the scenic route."

"Ohhhh..." Tsuyoshi wasn't the brightest firefly this side of the river, but he knew enough to figure that the insults weren't going unanswered.

"Front-rear split 30:70." I called. Two-thirds of the torque delivered to the rear wheels would make her more predictable.

His thumb flicked over the laptop. "Done."

"Let's go shopping."

There was no hesitation as her scream climbed to 5500 RPM.

Shigeru had fixed her well. The problem with the fuel pump had been like an unsettling feeling in my own body: hard to pick but harder to ignore.

"Uh...Left hairpin, thirty...twenty...oi..." that squeak at the door handle told me that Tsuyoshi was only just hanging on. He's used to me hitting the brakes some distance back.

Not today.

I shifted down and swung the steering right then a full turn left to unsettle her. She slid her back out and the whine indicating the rear right climbed through the scales to peak at G Sharp as I fed the power in. We'd come within a meter of the guardrail.

My long range sensors caught them two corners later and Tsuyoshi confirmed. "The GT-T's bring up the rear!"

I flashed my lights on closing in to offer the challenge. "He's signaling the leader...and they're pulling away!" his voice was taut with exhilaration.

"Good. It's on." They'd taken the bait.

Their six cylinder engines puffed before whining from load. My own Blow off Valve added a third puff to the chorus as I braked for the corner. My foot hadn't left the pedal for a half second before the sensor scream forced it back.

"Whoa..." echoed my co-driver as the rear of the GT-T loomed a meter in front of us. Not even half pace was enough to tailgate him as he power slid and over corrected through the next few turns. Keeping the pressure up only caused his driving to become more erratic.

The sharp hairpin doubling as a lookout emptying onto another corner was next.

"Distance between them?" I asked.

"About Ten meters!" came the reply.

"Front-Rear Split 40: 60."

"Already done." Tsuyoshi was ahead of me for once. We'd done this corner tens of times though this was the first with another car so close.

My opponent would take the outside and turn in late as he had for every turn. Not that it was bad practice but he just didn't know otherwise. I'd anticipated his braking point. We hit our center pedals and downshifted within the same split second...but I eased off the brakes earlier.

…showtime…

A hard turn of the wheel, jerk of the handbrake and I forced the tail out.

Sensors screeched through the scales and my co-driver cussed like a drunken Yakuza in a cheap Saitama bar. We'd just cleared the guardrail and the GT-T's fender by ten, fifteen centimeters on sliding into the hairpin. She found her feet as I powered out, slipping forward through the turn ahead of my first opponent.

The odor of unburnt High Octane alone was enough to tell me that my second was only meters ahead. This GTS-T boasted two more cylinders, twenty percent more engine capacity and fifty more horsepower than my GC8.

He took the inside with full intention of blocking any passes. I'd ridden the brakes harder, my attack already begun from his left. The rear, then the entire car slid out as I fed her just what she needed to break traction. All four tyres scrabbled for grip and my left sensors cried out of an impending collision. Tsuyoshi's whimper was just audible over the squeal of rubber.

But she pulled herself towards the inside of the corner exit as I'd expected. My opponent slid to the outside, struggling to put his horsepower down to the asphalt. Shifting to third on the straight was the final note to the requiem and we'd pulled away before the next corner.

"Whoa...I swear I could have tapped his window!" breathed Tsuyoshi, tension choking his voice as we shared a chuckle.

The next few corners were ones I took with a subtle grin on my face. Driving was beginning to mean something new to me once again. And try as I did, I couldn't get that one thought out of my head...

...not bad for a shopping trolley...

Author's Notes:

Obon festival: Festival of the Lanterns/Festival of the Dead. Buddhist holiday held to honour one's ancestors in Mid-July to August. Food, dancing, games and fireworks are the highlights of these celebrations.

GTS-T: If you know your cars, you'll know there's technically no such thing as a R33 GTS-T. The car that Makoto mentions is in actual fact a R33 GTS25T with the RB25DET powerplant, modified up to put out more horsepower. In Japanese, they'd probably just term it a R-San-san or the like but I won't go into that here.

GT-T: Younger brother to what would arguably be the best GT-R model to date. 280 HP under the bonnet from a highly tuned RB25DET and sans the ATTESSA and extra torque which makes the GT-R what it is. Often mistaken for a R34 GT-R as it shares the same shell.

One other thing of note. Modern Sti's are equipped with something known as a DCCD (Driver Controlled Center Differential). what this does is allow the driver to switch torque split by way of a dial on the console from 50/50 to 41/59. Makoto's vehicle has a more advanced version of this controlled by a computer (laptop) which allows full Front or Rear torque assignment and anything in between. There's also a situation dependent, automatic mode which lets the computer select how much to allocate between front and rear for performance and traction (Not for drift obviously).

Replies:

Tigereyes: Well...you were the first to read this chapter...even before it was fully formatted might I add :) It's been quite a while between chapters but heh...you know what a big part of that is. I don't regret doing it all...considering what I learnt from doing it though. Till next!

Wild Goose:Hehe...I thought I was too Lot's been happening in the months past. It's been almost a year since I updated this :P Somehow I doubt you'll ever read this...but here we go anyhows.

1) They used a laser like that to map data for computer games like Kaidou Batoru 2. As for Shigeru getting it, he IS connected in ways :) Makoto has a very good set of speakers and a VERY good set of ears. Being blind...you can imagine.

2) Thanks. And that was a big hint on his gender ;)

3) The other way round actually. Sti versions 1-6 were GC8s (Chassis no.). Version 7-8 are GD types :) Makoto was actually looking for a EJ22G block from a 22B but that fell through. However...being a JDM spec 2000 WRX - his car DOES have the EJ207 block which was also used in the Ver 5 and 6 Stis :) Subaru realised that ppl were driving about with Sti Power WRXs (with mild mods) for 2/3rds the price and quickly changed the GDs in 2001 to have the less impressive EJ205 engine instead (which was used in export cars). The block in his car is why it's well tuned at 300HP and easily capable of handling more.

4) Delivered, on time...no questions asked :)

5) Shigeru does know a bit more than he makes out yes :) As for Dora Tekku 77, Bunta is 'almost' perfect. But the one area where Takumi edges him out in is raw talent (Bunta's 9 and Takumi's 10). It's why Takumi picks things up in the blink of an eye. All the other skills can be developed over time though (which is why Bunta scores 10 in all of them).

Thanks again for reviewing almost a year ago :P And I'll have to pop over to check out your GK05 (or whatever you're up to) chapter sometime ;

Ross Riders: Hola...I don't write for reviews, you prob know that by now (otherwise I'd prob post unformatted rubbish every 2 weeks or so) :) The mods I described in the previous chapter don't really go into what's REALLY on the car, but well...one has to scrap detail when they write so as not to bore the reader :) Branding wise, The brakes were nicked off a scrapped Porsche as new Brembos are rather expensive.

Mixed Tyres are a bit of a debate yes. Cost is a fairly big factor in this case as the driver doesn't exactly have 3-4 vans carting 10 sets of tyres about (along with a whole lot of other equipment and parts). It's also something he's gotten accustomed to as he's experimented with discards and figured that this is the best of what's available. Good point to bring up though :)

Thanks for reading once again, and thanks for the review :) Till next

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Well, suffice it to say that I lost the afore mentioned competition in a big way Though I will say that I have posted 4 chapters of other stuff since then (just not on THIS fic) :P Things have changed and I'm hoping to be working in Tokyo as an English teacher within 2-3 months. Here's hoping that the next installment will be out before then though.

Till next chapter/review!