April 13th.
"Wah…Shun you idiot, waking up so early for what? It's a Sunday you know?" a male teen with seemingly messy hair said, while rising from his bed.
"Dude, it's already 9.00am you know? It's never good to wake up at 12.00pm and waste half of your day sleeping," Shun replied back, as he puts on his spectacles. "I'm going out to buy some things, and I'll be late tonight."
"Where the heck are you going? Already yesterday you didn't tell me what takes you so long to come back here after school, and now you're telling me that you'll be late again. I thought you would be speeding on the Shutokou." "Going for drifting practice again, heh?"
"Shhh, don't be too loud. Maybe not, Kyo…depends, because going from here to Saitama would take time," Shun replied, and add, "And there is no way I would catch up with those highway racers, plus it is raining."
"What? Saitama? Are you crazy? That is a bit far…but it's your choice anyway," the person known as Kyo said.
Kyo, whose full name is Kyochirou Watanabe, is a roommate of Shun. Just like the girls, the boys have a mandatory boarding system, where up to 3 persons may stay in the same room. He has a darker skin tone compared to the rest, and he is a little shorter than Shun. His hair looked messy, although that is one of the trends nowadays. For the past few years they has been roommates with each other, and thus shared a lot of experience with each other. Like Shun, Kyo is also interested in cars, in which Shun started by bringing back car magazines that he bought for himself. But then, his primary hobbies are books and mangas, especially Mahou Shoujo Bibulion (Magical Girl Bibulion), a popular manga about girls with magical abilities. Although it is famous, especially in Mahora, nothing much is known about the author, except that someone that goes by the nickname 'Paru' draws it. She is rumoured to be a female student from the girls' middle school in Mahora. Shun has no interest in it though, though Kyo's collection of Mahou Shoujo Bibulion mangas seemed to surpass that of Shun's collection of car magazines, making him an 'otaku' of sorts, although Kyo squarely denies it.
"Alright, I don't have much time to waste. I need to go downtown to see if anything new is out," Shun said to Kyo after he is all dressed up.
"Oh ya, I got something that I want. If the latest issue of Mahou Shoujo Bibulion is out, help me to buy it."
"What? Me again? Don't you know how weird for me to buy those?"
"Ahhh, who cares about it? Everyone's interested in the manga too."
"Whatever. Pay me back later if I bought it." "OK, I go off now…wait, you're in the lacrosse club right? Do the guys train together with the girls?"
"No, although we has get-together sessions to discuss things once in a while. Why?"
"You know a girl or not by the name of Shiina Sakurako? She says she was one of the juniors in the club."
"Let's see…wait, whose name you mentioned? Shi-what? No, not that crazed cheerleader!"
"What's with the big reaction? Is there something wrong?"
"She seemed to be a crazy girl. Most of the guys think so, and stayed away from her whenever she's there. How come you ask this? Something happened between you and her?"
"No, nothing. I'm going off now," Shun said as he goes to the door, opens it and then closes it after he got out of the room.
Minutes later, he was at the car park of the dormitory. It was filled with only a few cars, since most students do not has a license yet. He walks to his Chaser, which is parked to a grey Nissan Skyline 25GT-Turbo (ER34) sedan. The Skyline is Kyo's car, which his parents bought for him. It was stock, except for the Blitz NUR-Spec R exhaust and expensive 18-inch Nismo LM GT4 wheels, plus a suspension drop from Tein springs. According to Kyo, when the car is bought, it already comes with all that. He was among the denizens of people that own a Nissan Skyline, ever since it became popular no thanks to exposure from video games with these cars inside. Shun then proceeds to open the hood of the Chaser. The engine is mostly stock, with a tower bar from TRD being the only noticeable modification, in addition of a ground wire system by Pivot. Like the HKS exhaust, those were among the things that the car has when Shun bought it.
He makes sure that the radiator has plenty of water left. He checks on the engine oil to see whether it is enough or not. Seeing that it was not enough, he goes to open up the boot of the car, and takes out a bottle of engine oil. He fills it into the engine, and then keeps the engine oil back at where it is taken from, and closes the boot. He then enters the car and turns the ignition key. The 1JZ-GTE felt fresh from the addition of engine oil into it. Shun then moves out of the dormitory to downtown to buy some things.
At the bookstore downtown, Shun browses through several car magazines that was available on sale. He spotted one written 'HyperRev Mark II/Chaser/Cresta no.1'. It was still covered in its plastic wrapping, and the cover shows the cars mentioned in the name. He looked at it for a while, and decides to take it. He then move on to the manga section, to search for the manga that Kyo wanted. He had a hard time looking though the rack, due to the enormous amount of manga in even a shelf alone. He finally found the section where the mangas are displayed. Shun then takes out his black-coloured hand phone, flips it open and presses a few buttons. The phone ringed a while, and a voice is heard from the speaker.
"Hello, Shun, it's you! Found the manga?" the voice of Kyo greeted the phone.
"Sort of, but I don't know what is the latest volume," Shun replied.
"Oh, it's volume 10, got it?" Kyo said, stating the volume of the manga.
"Yup, it's there."
"Well, what can I say? Thanks!" Kyo replied upon hearing that "Bye then, can't wait for it," he added, and then cuts the line.
Shun keeps the phone, and takes the manga and then brings it along with the magazine to the counter. There were only a few customers around at that time, so it only takes a few minutes for Shun to make his payment. He brings the books into the car, which is parked at the side of the road. He puts the plastic bag containing the books and drives the car away to the petrol station to fill in since the journey to Saitama will take a long time.
It was afternoon by the time he reaches Saitama prefecture. It was a prefecture that is located in the Kanto region, along with Tochigi, Gunma, Ibaraki, Chiba, Tokyo and Kanagawa. Saitama was rather big, so he refers to a map that he has with him. He was trying to search for a mountain pass. The Tuchizaka mountain pass. After some time, he found a sign that is written 'Tuchizaka' and follows the sign.
He learns about Tuchizaka through people he met in the numerous drifters' BBS in the Internet. It is also there that he learned a thing or two about drifting and sharing tips with them.
A while later, he arrived at the starting point of the road and he slows down the car. He slowly goes through the road, looking at the direction of the turns and such. There was not any traffic at that time, surprisingly. After some time, he reached the end of the road. He turned back drives slowly through the road in the outbound direction. He sees the watch and it already shows 2.00pm. He said, "Alright, time for some lunch," and he goes off to has his lunch at a nearby restaurant in the district.
A while later, he returned to the same road, and instead of slowing down, he proceed to slam the accelerator hard to the floor. Tyre smoke comes from the rear wheels as they spin a little at the sudden surge of power delivery. At every turn, he brakes hard and drifts the rather large Chaser through the tight corners and swings the car left and right in a feint drift motion, using methods he learned from watching videos of drifting that he bought. After the tight turns are cleared, a long tunnel comes. He up-shifts as the needle of the tachometer reaches 7000rpm and then drops a few thousand revolutions back. The sound of the Chaser is heard throughout the tunnel, but he heard something else too. It is then he spots something coming up ahead. Another car that is rear-driven. A white Toyota Corolla Levin GT-Apex (AE86) with black bumpers plus side trim.
Toyota Corolla Levins, along with their almost-identical twin, Toyota Sprinter Truenos, are both rear-wheel drives that first came out in 1983, having 2 different body styles, fastback and coupe'. It was a car that quickly gained reputation for partly its achievement in motor sports, and was one of the best cars to drift with, despite having a considerably less powerful engine, the 4A-GE. Although it only pushes out about 130ps, it was one of the most modern engines of its era, with dual overhead camshafts and fuel injection to begin with. Subsequent evolutions become more powerful, especially when the 20-valve design is introduced in the front-drive AE101 Levins and Truenos. Unfortunately, the AE111 marked the last of the 4A-GE engines. Despite being overlooked most of the time in the 1990s, it suddenly becomes a popular again in the recent years, causing prices to skyrocket to insane limits for a 20-year old car. Add to the fact that aftermarket parts for the car are produced until today, right from the AE86. Katsuhiro Ueo won the D1GP 2002 season, that is last year, in a Trueno pushing out about 180ps through it's 16-valve normally aspirated 4A-GE.
Shun approaches the fastback Levin quickly, and overtakes it when the tunnel almost reaching the end. He does not pay attention to the Levin as he comes to negotiate a rather big turn. After clearing it, he heard something coming up at behind.
It is the Levin just now. Shun knows that the Levin is challenging him for a race judging by how close it is, and he plants his foot on the accelerator to go faster through the high-speed turn to accept it. The Levin follows suit as well, and goes close to Shun.
BGM: Space Boy - Dave Rodgers
A right turn comes up. Shun brakes hard, making a trail of red lights as he does so, downshifts and turns the steering hard, causing the rear wheels to lose traction. He counter-steers the steering, in which the wheels points to the left so the car would not fishtail. The Levin follows suit. A left turn comes and he does the same again, albeit the opposite direction. He uses the length of the Chaser to help him block the Levin, knowing that a Levin is smaller than his car. After that, he negotiated V-shaped right-left-right turn using the feint motion, making sure that his car does not lose the speed too much. He is careful to make sure that he clears the part where a block has been put in place because of a landslide. It was a straight after that, with a few high-speed turns here and there. He makes sure that the Levin do not has space to overtake, knowing that not letting the opponent pass if half of a battle won. He negotiated the right turn at the end of the high-speed turns, and approaches a hairpin to the left. He brake hard, downshifts and uses the E-brake of the Chaser to swing the car's rear to the right. He makes sure that the engine does not lose too many revolutions, knowing that turbo lag will be harmful. After clearing the hairpin, he power over though the next turn and a big right hairpin comes next. He brake hard this time, but the Levin is still right behind him. Suddenly, the Levin moves to the other lane and braked later than Shun, overtaking him. He can see the trail of the red light of the Levin. The Levin loses grip at the rear, and it begins to drift, almost touching the apex of the turn. Realizing that he had made an error in braking a bit earlier, Shun tried to close in to the Levin by pressing the accelerator to gain speed after the turn, but the Levin was clearly faster. Distance is beginning to build up between them after the turn. Shun tried to close in to the Levin on the next straight and sequence of high-speed turns, but the Levin was clearly faster, despite the Chaser having about 280ps. After the next hairpin, Shun decides that he is no match for the driver of the Levin, and slowed down, seeing the Levin disappear into the next hairpin. He then clears the hairpin in a grip fashion, and proceeds slowly. After a while, he sees something parked on the roadside.
BGM fades
It was the AE86 Levin just now.
Shun stops the Chaser behind the Levin, and got out. The whole place was quiet, except for the exhaust sounds of the 2 cars. He begins to look at the Levin as he walks beside it, seeing a person standing at a spot near the Levin. He takes a good look, and realized how well this car is maintained. It sported a TRD-style spoiler at the back, and it was adorned with body kits from presumably TRD, since he has seen it in some magazines. It's wearing 14-inch mesh wheels at all fours with the body only slightly lowered. The Levin sports a carbon fibre hood up front. He was a bit surprised to see that the grille of the Levin has been removed, and the intercooler in the space behind what used to be the grille shocked him. He looked properly at the intercooler, while pushing his spectacles closer to his eyes, thinking he must be seeing illusions. Could it be turbocharged or something? He thinks and speaks in his mind.
"Hmmm, so, you're the one driving that blue JZX100 Chaser?" the man standing at the guardrail speaks, pointing to the Chaser, adding, "You are certainly brave enough to drive one of these. It was something like a Skyline, albeit with rear-wheel drive."
He was a man in his 20's, with his long black hair parted slightly at the left off the centre. He was quite tall, and wears a t-shirt and khaki long pants, with black sport shoes.
"Yes, sir, I do know that, but for me it's fine," Shun speaks back "I know it wasn't perfect, because I just traded my Silvia for this a while ago."
"No, no, I never say that Chasers are a bad choice, it's only surprising that I see one here today. Thought these cars are mostly used in the highways or drifting competitions." "Erm, wait, did you mention Silvia?" the man surprised hearing that.
"Yes, it was an S13 Q's with a turbo-ed CA18DE. I sold it off a while ago do has something different, like the Chaser, since too many people in my are drives either a Silvia, a Skyline, an RX7 or those 4WDs sedans as their sports cars," Shun continued on about the Chaser.
"I see. Drive what you like, it does make a difference." "I have been criticized by certain people because of the Levin, especially by an arrogant guy with a FD3S RX7 from the Akagi Mountains. Proved him wrong on that, although we has never actually finished a race."
"Oh, I see on that…" Shun said, hearing that.
"I can foresee that your car is wobbling a little. Get some sway bars and such. And oh, more power should help. Your Chaser should be as powerful as those Skylines because of the weight of the Chaser, that means about 350ps will help."
"Mine is still on basic modifications, about 284ps from only the HKS exhaust, and I will get more power as I train up. But thanks for the advice though. Felt helpless behind the Levin." "By the way, what is the intercooler doing there?" Shun points to the small intercooler of the Levin.
"Oh that? It's for the supercharger," the man walks off to open the hood of the Levin and points to the supercharger, "There, see that? That made the 4A-GE-to-4A-GZE pushes out about 280ps."
"Wow…a supercharged 4A-GE and 280ps at that, almost the same as my Chaser. No wonder I'm so hopeless behind there. Thought most people go turbo on the engine, read it before."
"I did use a turbocharger before, but changed to the supercharger after a race against this Trueno driven by an 18-year old kid by the name of Fujiwara Takumi who is the best on Mount Haruna. His Trueno is powered by a rare TRD Group A 4A-GE, stroked to 2.0L, pushing out about 240ps and max out at 11000rpm. He was a total genius on the touge. Now he is driving for Project D as the downhill ace, managed by Takahashi Ryosuke, with his brother, Takahashi Keisuke, being the uphill ace. Keisuke was also the FD3S guy I was talking about." "Coming to about being nice, you seemed to be polite, not like those punk heads like those gambling Lancer Evolution drivers." "What's you name anyway?" the man asked.
"Akimoto Shun, from Mahora," Shun answers the question.
"Oh, Akimoto Shun. My name is Akiyama Wataru, from this area." "Care for a smoke?" the man said, as he takes out a cigarette and lights it up.
"No thank you, Wataru-san. I don't smoke, as I'm still schooling."
"Never mind then, no wait…you say that you're still schooling?" the man known as Wataru was a bit surprised at that.
"Yes, 2nd year senior high at Mahora Academy in Mahora City," Shun replied as he pushes up his spectacles.
"Oh, there. Went there a few times to help my aunt on her work, which gets me around," Wataru said, taking out a piece of paper and writes something on it "Anyway, here's the number of my mobile. Give me a call the next time you're here. And ya, I'll be calling you out when I'm in either Tokyo or Mahora City."
"OK, thanks. Hope to be learning a lot from you, Wataru-san," Shun said as he takes the paper from Wataru "Oh, I need to be going back now, my friend is waiting for something from me." "Hope to see you around," he continues as he walks back to his Chaser.
"OK then, sure you need some rest. Know that you could be a busy person from my observations. Remember what I has said."
"Yes, I know," said Shun, as he enters the Chaser.
The blue car then reverses a bit, and then turns around and moves away from the area, with the sound of tyre screeching and exhaust following behind, which slowly fades away. Wataru smiled, as he has never seen someone that behaves almost like himself in the younger days. He throws the cigarette away, and proceeds to drive away in the Levin, following the inbound direction. The mountains provide a spectacular sight with the evening sunset as the backdrop, as the sound of the Levin sends echoes in the mountains.
