kk, im attempting my Initial D fic again
i suck at intros so just on with it...
Disclaimer: I don't own Initial D, or any of the cars...as of yet...
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Chapter 2, We Have Contact
It was late in the afternoon, the same day as our confrontation with Project D. Alex, Chris, and I were working in the shop finishing putting the last decals on some fancy rich boy's '94 Jaguar XJ220. Well, Chris and Alex were. I was stuck with some other stuck-up rich boy's 2000 Shelby Series One convertible and taking orders for custom rims from some old guy who obviously used money and nice cars to win over girls (I hate those kinds of people).
The owner of the Jaguar came to the counter to pay for the job. Despite being part of the higher upper class, he wasn't as stuck up as most were. He was actually one of our preferred customers. His name was Fukumoto Sonosuke, just about to turn 20 years old.
"Hey, Sonosuke, how are you today?"
"Fine, thanks. You guys did an awesome job, as usual. Thanks."
"You're welcome. The total amount will be...15,000 yen please (approx: $129 USD)."
"...Here you go, thanks for the good job, Jacob. I'll be seeing you later."
With that done, Sonosuke drove out of the shop drawing attention from the pedestrians and stopping traffic as well with his newly decaled Jaguar. I smiled a bit as he drove off until the old, ugly, rich fart slammed his hand on the counter. He looked very livid.
"You little punks! How can you charge me 35,000 yen (approx: $300 USD) for these rims!"
"Well...for one, they weren't standard, they're custom. Two, the materials we needed to make the rims with weren't exactly cheap. Oh, and you also said use the best money could buy. Well, we did. Considering how much trouble our shop had to go through to make these, the price is pretty cheap."
The old man stared dumbly at me and back at his car. I think he liked the rims enough to pay the amount then. Besides, we were actually cutting him a break, the materials were extremely expensive and had to be imported from across the continent. The old bastard was lucky we were selling them to him at all.
So he paid his charges and drove off, laughing like a maniac. I sighed and decided to close shop, it was getting late. The Shelby would have to wait until tomorrow.
"Chris, Alex, we're closing!"
11:15 P.M.
I looked around for the Project D website and found it among some Project D fan sites. It was amazing, really. The website even had detailed grids on the mountain roads and showed what cars the racing teams used.
"This is gonna be fun..."
I quickly wrote down the names of the mountains the teams were known to call their home course and mountains they frequented often. As soon as I got the addresses and other info, I woke Chris and Alex to visit the Todou Racing Firm in mount Happogahara. At the prospect of racing a well reknown team, they woke up pretty fast.
"Come on, let's go."
At Happogahara-
At the base of mount Happogahara, Daiki and Sakai sat on the hoods of their cars, a hatchback Civic EK9 Type R and Honda Intergra Type R rear mount turbo, and discussed some things about the many possible lines in Happogahara and what the departure of Tachi Tomoyuki, the pro racer, might mean for them.
"Come on, even without Tomoyuki-san, we're still a formidable foe, Daiki."
"Yea, I know, Sakai. But still, what if a new team like Project D is out there? Our reputation will be flushed down the drain."
"Maybe, but you still have to keep in mind, there's always going to be someone better out there. There's no reason to fret, when the time comes for us to race someone who just might beat us, we'll just race harder than before."
"Yea..-"
Daiki was cut off by a familiar engine sound. The project EK9 that belonged to the owner of Todou Racing Firm turned the final corner of Happogahara's downhill and stopped in front of the other cars.
"Otenja...(Boss)"
"Hey, kids. What's the cause of this slacking off?"
"Oh, that, I was just reassuring Daiki about racing other teams even though Tomo-san left us to return to the pro-circuit."
"Good, good. You two will need that pep talk. One of our contacts in town mentioned something about three cars heading for Happogahara with team stickers. It looks like we'll have a new challenge soon enough."
"Is that so...Do we have any info on this team?"
"Very little. I checked for their team name, Blue Moon Syndicate on the internet and found a website made by their team leader. They drive an FC, RX-8, and Levin 86. Apparently they're an up and coming team just fresh out of the grind, so there's no real info on them or their styles. It'd be a good opportunity for you, Daiki, to get over you fear."
Daiki looked towards town, as if he were looking for the team approaching the mountain.
"Hmm..."
Happogahara's Peak-
We got to the top after nearly hitting guardrails left and right. Happogahara was a dizzying road, even if you're driving normally. When we reached the top, we saw two racers waiting for us.
We idled our cars and stepped out to confront the racers.
"Hi, we're the racing team Blue Moon Syndicate from the Gunma prefecture. If it'd be feasible, we'd like to race the Todou Firm in a week's time."
Sakai, I think, replied.
"That's just fine. A week from today is fine for us, right, Daiki?"
"...Huh? Oh! Right, yea, we're fine with that."
I bowed,
"Arigatou-godaima (I probably spelt it incorrectly). And would it be alright if we practice during that week? You know, to get a feel for the course?"
"Of course, we plan to give you every opportunity to get acquainted with the course. We don't want to have any unfair advantages."
"Again, thanks. Alright, team, let's go!"
With that over with, we drove down the mountain.
Daiki didn't seem very happy though.
"Sakai-san, I don't feel that good about this. I don't like the vibe I get from those guys."
"Why? You think they'll be hard to beat?"
"Not so much as that, it's kinda like...I don't know what expect, ever since I lost to that 86 from Akina, I don't know what to think anymore."
"Hmm..."
"Daiki, this is something you need to experience."
"Huh?"
"Otenja.."
"Daiki, the reason Tomo came back to us was because he didn't feel very good about his races as well. I made him race Project D because it was the only way to get him over it. You're going to race the Blue Moon Syndicate to tackle the same problem."
"But, otenja, I don't know what to expect from this."
"That's the point. Don't expect anything just yet. Just race and you will see. And for this race, you will use our project EK9, understand?"
"...Alright, I'll take the offer this time. I'll start now."
"..."
He watched Daiki speed off in the project car and saw Sakai in the Integra chase after him. He smiled and lit a cigarette while looking over the guardrail at the faint headlights turning corners and the sound of squealing tires grabbing the asphalt for traction.
"Heh...Daiki, you don't know it, but this will help you improve, maybe to Tomo's level. Maybe higher. For now-"
Daiki grunted as he strained with the heavy steering through a sharp corner and tried to keep the rear from sliding too much. Tomo's drive settings were difficult to manuever in.
The boss breathed out smoke.
"-try not to concentrate too hard."
With me-
"Crap!"
I swerved my car hard and heard the metallic screeching of my car's fender scratching the guardrail. The result being I oversteered in the wrong direction and had to pull up the e-brake to correct my angle and slowly made my way through the turn.
'I don't get it.'
I braked severely into a corner so I wouldn't smack into the wall.
'What makes this course so different from Akina's slope?'
I shifted down into 3rd gear from 5th to slow down more and induce greater oversteer to make it through the sequential hair-pins similar to Akina's.
'I don't get it! The distance is the same but the feel is so foreign! I just don't get it!
"What's so different about Happogahara!"
The Next Day-
I lied down on the bed in my room in the motel. We had decided to camp out in the town at the base of mount Happogahara. I felt lost, I didn't know what to think, Happogahara was so...different.
"Maybe it's just cuz I'm not used to it, yea. Should be."
"You know, talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity."
I looked to the door and saw Chris standing there, car keys in hand.
"Alex and I are gonna go check out the mountain pass again, gonna come?"
I shook my head, resignedly.
"Nah, think I'll scope it out later. Remember to look for any thing that might help you gain an advantage, or at least keep up with your opponent."
"Uhhuh, but I still think you should practice too and take your own advice. We'll be back in time for lunch."
With that, they were gone.
About an hour later I left for mount Happogahara and parked my car in a shady area and walked up the path. As I walked up the winding road, I took notice of several indications of many cars that have hit the guard rails and took particular notice of those areas. At the corner where I had scratched the guardrail with my fender I held up my hands as if holding a steering wheel and mentally imagined myself driving. I tried to figure out what was wrong with my style and finally understood. This corner was narrow but the entrance to the apex was pretty wide, giving a chance to take a variety of lines. I had simply stuck to the guardrail and oversteered and tried to power my way through the corner.
"Now that won't work at all. Let's see...I could try the faint drift...or deviate from it to a faint power slide. But I oversteer too much...maybe if I turned the steering wheel a few yards before the initial apex but not too much but just enough to induce minor slide angle and banked the car at the very center of the apex...yea..it just might work."
And it carried on like that for the next five days. I did my best to engrave how the course was set up into my mind and make it simple instinct and common sense.
On the day before our race against the Todou Firm, I was in for a pleasant surprise.
"Hey! Jacob, over here!"
I turned to see who spoke to me and to my surprise I saw,
"Sonosuke! What are you doing here?"
"I was looking for you in your shop but you weren't there so I asked around. People told me you went to mount Happogahara to challenge the locals. I came here to cheer you on."
"Heh, thanks, I think I'll need it. I'm still not sure I can beat these guys just yet. I feel really anxious, you know? Like I can't seem to get a grip or stay in one spot. I don't know how to deal with this pressure. I don't get how other racing teams deal with it."
"Hmm...that is a problem. But how about I let you drive my Jaguar around the mountain for a bit to relieve the stress?"
"Really! You'd trust me to drive your very expensive Jaguar around?"
"Sure!"
Less than a minute later, I found myself flooring the Jaguar around corners and roaring across straightaways. I vaguely heard Sonosuke screaming for his mother but it blended in with the wind flying by. I flew right through the corners without hesitation and before I knew it I had reached the peak of the mountain, turned around, and headed right back down in record time.
Although Sonosuke looked as if he had peed about a gallon of urine down his pants, he was smiling when he got out of the car.
"Did you notice anything while you were driving, Jacob?"
"Uh..."
"Nevermind, I"ll explain. When you driving up and down Happogahara, you were having fun, right? And while you were having fun, you drove faster than anyone I've ever seen driving before. All those difficulties you kept complaining about disappeared and you drove better because you were enjoying it."
"...Ohhh, I get it now! I drive better if I don't fret about stuff and just drive normally, have fun! Thanks again, Sonosuke. Guess I'll have to give you a discount the next time you visit our shop, huh?"
"Yea, you better. Hah."
We both shared a good natured laugh and I waved goodbye to Sonosuke who was looking for a motel to stay at while he waited to join the gallery and watch the race take place.
That night I drove back to Happogahara and sped up the mountain pass again. Only this time, I had no fear or anxiety. As I drifted through corners I once thought were difficult, I felt at peace and I felt myself getting more and more excited. I couldn't wait for tomorrow night to come.
The Next Night, 11:00 P.M.
"We're starting the race in thirty minutes, make sure all the settings are in place and everything is fine."
"Aww man...How come I don't get to race?"
"Alex, deal with it. I'm racing the EK9 to the bottom and Chris is taking on the Integra-R to the top. You'll get to race the next team we go up against, deal?"
"...Deal. Let's get this thing started!"
With Todou
Daiki watched the opposing racers prepping for their race. He hadn't completely gotten over his fear complex but had made a record time traveling down the mountain. He was going to hold nothing back and take down the enemy.
He walked over to the EK9 and sat in the driver's seat and toyed around with the now lightened steering and shifter.
Sakai stood with his arms crossed and looked at the gallery that had shown up. There were many people laughing and anticipating a good race. Some people were making bets as well as to who would win in the races. Sakai was interested in that as well.
He wondered why someone would race in an 86 Levin that was clearly on it's last legs. He had seen the Levin at a local shop on a lift and saw the undercarriage, differential, steering column, and the driveshaft. He wasn't quite sure about the differential, but the steering seemed rusted and the driveshaft yoke looked as if it were about to fall apart.
He really had to wonder what was going through the Levin's driver's mind. He respected 86's in general. How could he not when Tomoyuki was beaten by an 86? But that 86 had been very driveable and seemed to be in top condition with much attention to specific parts care. This Levin he was going to race seemed to be beaten up and scrounged from a junkyard despite how nice it looked on the outside.
He had even watched the Levin's practice run and saw that the driver simply plowed through the corners with no apparent care for the proper line or tire management. It just didn't make sense to him how the 86 driver came close to breaking the old record with that driving style and discordant line usage.
'Still...'
He had to wonder what the Levin's secret was to making such fast times with the reckless driving. There was nothing special about his driving. Sure, the Levin was equipped with a turbo-charger and seemed to have a nicely tuned 4AGE that sounded like it had the Toyota VVT-I valve system, but even so, an 86 with an old 4AGE had it's limits, no matter what was done to it. No logic made sense in the driving that the Levin was doing. Whatever it was, it was something Sakai was frightened of.
"The race is about to begin! Will the Levin and Integra-R report to the start line! The Integra-R will be leading the first heat!"
Daiki came over and clapped his hand on Sakai's shoulder, but Sakai couldn't hear any of the words Daiki was saying. He was too focused on what mode of attack he would use on the Levin.
'One way or another, I'm gonna figure you out. And then, I'll beat you.'
"The race is starting! Five seconds to go! Four! Three! Two! One! GO!"
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Author's Notes: I didnt have any bursts of inspiration for this fic until just when I started to type this chapter. But near the beginning of if I got a splitting headache but still kept typing on. so if there are any mistakes, you know where they came from. this was the best I could do for now. until next time
reviews would be nice, Onegai?