Chapter 5: A Day Out With The Veterans

April 20th.

"Hey Shun, someone by the name of Akiyama Wataru called over, asking for you. I told him you're at work. He asked me to ask you to call him back," Kyo said to Shun, who just returned from work.

"Thanks, Kyo for that," Shun said as he goes to the telephone in their room, knowing that he is unable to reach him because the hand phone was off during work.

Shun dials a number on the telephone, and a voice greets him as soon as the line is connected, "Akiyama Wataru here. Oh, it's you, Shun. Wonder if you're free tomorrow, since it's a Sunday," Wataru said to Shun. "I will be in Mahora throughout this week to sort out some things."

"Well, I should be free tomorrow. Where and when shall I meet you?"

"At the train station, somewhere around 11.00am. And yes, bring your Chaser along. I could help you with modifications, since I know a good workshop in Mahora," Wataru added.

"OK, thanks very much for your help. It's time that this car undergo some changes."

"If that is set, see you then tomorrow. Good night then," Wataru replied, as the line is cut after that.

"Who's that Shun? He sounds like someone not from here," Kyo asks, curious about the person that Shun called, after Shun put down the handset.

"Oh, just a friend. Be going out tomorrow, got some work to do."

"What work?"

"Well, you'll see something soon. Just wait for it."

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"Ahhh…shopping in Harajuku is going to be fun!" Misa exclaims.

"True! I want to buy so many things! And I want to sing karaoke too! All at Harajuku today!" Sakurako adds.

"Go on, I shall sit aside and see what you people waste your money on," Madoka said.

As they walked to the station to take the train from Mahora to Harajuku, they spotted a blue-coloured JZX100 Chaser parked outside the station. A bespectacled teenage boy with black off-centre parting hair that is quite long, presumed to be about 17-years old, was standing beside it. Sakurako looked on at him, which stirs up Misa and Madoka's curiosity.

"Hey Sakurako, is that the guy? And that is the car? Sure it looked normal, compared to Takahata-sensei's convertible." "Hey, his name is something like Akimoto Shun, right? Well then…" "Shall we do it, Madoka?"

"He does look sort of handsome. Not bad, Sakurako." "Well, if you want it then, Misa, let's get it on." "Aki…"

"What you 2 are trying to do?" said Sakurako, whose face turns red all of sudden, pulls them into the entrance of the train station.

"Who called me just now?" Shun turns his head back to see what was there, but there is nothing in front of the entrance that is significant. He proceeds to look back onto the direction he is looking just now. He tries to clear his mind, as he has been worrying that some girl may suddenly appear out of nowhere and confess to him, especially if what Lingshen has said is true. He continues standing behind the Chaser while looking at his watch. A while later, a Levin appeared. It is Wataru's supercharged Levin, coming to a stop in front of Shun's Chaser. There were some people looking at the direction of the Levin, since one seldom appears in Mahora, at least these days.

"Sorry, I'm late. Have to wait for my younger sister," Wataru says as he steps out of the Levin, with a girl coming out from the passenger seat. "This is Kazumi, my younger sister. Don't get involved with her though, as she is trouble and has already broken the heart of a friend of someone I knew."

"What did you say, bro?" "So, you're Shun right? Nice to meet you," Kazumi says as she bow to Shun, with Shun doing the same.

"Nice to meet you too," Shun replied in a low tone, as he usually stammers in front of girls, especially the ones he did not know.

"Should we get going then? It will be a short trip from here, takes only minutes. Follow me behind my Levin," Wataru says not to waste too much time. He goes back into the Levin alone, with Kazumi going into the train station, to go shopping in Harajuku by herself.

Shun moves into the Chaser, and starts the engine. "Well buddy, time to get you something," Shun says as he drives the Chaser away, following behind Wataru's Levin.

Minutes later, they arrived in front of a big workshop in the industrial district. The cars were parked next to each other next to an S15 Silvia.

"Wow, never knew there was such a big workshop around here," Shun remarked, as he steps out of the Chaser, with Wataru stepping out of the Levin.

The workshop is housed within a large building sporting sign written 'Garage Defender', with a glass display showing numerous performance parts from any brands. There was several modified cars parked outside the building, each and every car is different and unique. Shun looks at the cars in amazement, because most of these cars are from Mahora, yet he has never seen any of them.

"OK, let's get in. I'll introduce you to someone." "Oh ya, by the way, if you want to do exterior stuff, you can go to the shop next door," Wataru continued.

As they walked into the building, Shun observes the ambience in the workshop. He sees that everyone was busy with the cars, which the people inside are working on. As they walked on, numerous sounds can be heard, from dyno testing a car to some knocking. It was about minutes when they reach a door of an office. Wataru proceeds to open the door, and a voice greeted them,

"Hey Wataru, nice to see you again after so long!" said a fat man, presumably in his 30's, that is sitting behind the table in the room, with a man with grey hair.

Shun looked around. There were numerous posters of cars pasted on the walls, and numerous books on a sofa. The room was quite neat, unlike outside that is quite messy. The fat man then said,

"Hmmm, you seem to be bringing your sister here too? And this teenager is…"

"Akimoto Shun, my friend from around here." "Well Shun, the fat man is Matsumoto Kenichi, or Ken for short. The one with grey hair is Koga Hajime. Ken is the manager of this workshop, while Hajime is the one that is in charge of the other shop that does exterior stuff."

"Well, nice to meet you two," Shun says as he bows to the 2 men.

"Hmm, what do you drive, young men?" the man known as Hajime asks.

"Toyota Chaser. A JZX100 Tourer V, zenki model."

"Oh, that. Doing VIP tuning?" Hajime said, while rubbing his chin.

"No. Going for some other things first," Shun replied, as he pushes up his spectacles.

"Haha, you Hajime, always asking people whether they will go VIP or not. Never mind him, boy, he's always like that," Ken, the fat man, said.

Wataru then says, "Well, we has to help him sort out his Chaser. To not to waste time, let's get it on."

He closes the door, as the 4 persons in the office begin to discuss about something.

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Hakone, 8.00pm.

As Shun sits on the passenger seat of the Levin, Wataru was driving the Levin at high speed. As the Levin approaches a right turn, Wataru quickly slam the brake pedal, with a trail of red light coming from behind the Levin. He quickly presses the clutch with his left foot, and goes a gear down, and switches the position of his right foot to the pedal after releasing the clutch at the same time. The Levin begins to drift after the rear wheels lose traction, and Shun can feel the amount of G-force the car is making, causing him to hold on to his handlebar tightly. The ancient Levin drifts through the turn with ease, with its front bumper centimetres away from the apex of the turn on the right. The sound of tyre screeches fills the cabin. After clearing the turn, the Levin is back in position, with its tail barely clearing the guardrail on the left. Shun looks on with amazement as he observes how the driver of the Levin he is in handles the car with such level of concentration and ease. Even more amazing that he is driving a car that is about 20 years old. The whine of the supercharger can be heard loudly as the car accelerates again.

After a while, the car is parked at a car park located beside the road.

"Your skills is amazing…and that is with the Levin…" Shun stammered, after coming out of the Levin. "I wonder what will happen if you're in some other car…"

"It's nothing though, as I don't win every time," Wataru replied, trying to stop Shun from praising him. "There are people who are better than me." "Plus I will stick with the Levin no matter what, although I felt some limit."

"Speaking of limit, have you ever felt something like that?" Shun asks, curious to find out more from Wataru.

"Hmmm, actually I have answered this before. Yes, somehow I will, but I knew there is always room for improvement."

They chatted on before Wataru struck on something.

"Hmmm, if you want to be based on a touge, where would it be?"

"I don't know, because there simply isn't any near my place."

"Well, want to be based in the Saitama prefecture? Don't worry; you don't have to be always there. Just that you come when you got time."

"Well, let me think about it first, as I'm not always free."

"Yeah, guess you're right, as you're still studying. Plus, your Chaser has been left with them for a few days. We are already aiming for about 350-360ps, so, we'll wait and see how it turns out." "Strange though that you know quite a lot about engines and such. When I talked with that Trueno kid, he was almost in a daze at the beginning. Luckily he improved as time goes by."

"Erm…well, I do mess with engines once in a while, at the Engineering Department of the Academy." "Plus I've done some research before that."

"Oh, good then. You should have at least some knowledge to mess with cars." "Oh, another thing. What's with you and the boss of the nikuman stall that you introduced to me this afternoon?" Wataru asks, wanting to know why Shun was exasperated with the boss of the stall earlier in the afternoon, before they get Kazumi to a hotel after she returned from her shopping spree, in which they hit Hakone right after.

"Oh, she? She was a girl from the Mahora girls' middle high, obsessed with science. You can say that she'll sell her soul to the devil in the name of science. Plus, she is a mad scientist, and bothers me a lot these days. And do you notice the robot?"

"That robot? Never figured out that I'll run into one. Thought that my eyes are wrong or something until you pointed it out," they both laughed, and Wataru asks again, "But then, the girl did mention about someone having a crush on you or something."

"Crap, she's at it again. Well, how to say it, it's a long story…"

"Well, listen to me. Don't go and break the heart of that girl. You know, something like this will affect a girl greatly, even if we do not realize it. I know all this because I has a younger sister."

"Yes, yes, I know. No need to worry about that," Shun replied, knowing that going on will not bring any benefits.

They chat on, and stepped into the Levin, and moved off from Hakone to return to Mahora.

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Note:

This chapter supposedly happens on the same day when the 3 cheerleaders went shopping in Harajuku one day and they see a 'date' going on.

The Toyota Chaser has been sent for modifications, so it won't appear in a while.