Hi, everyone! This is JupiterHalo, back with the final chapter! I'm so sorry that this update took so long; I'm taking summer school classes at the moment, and I really want to do well in them. I've been focusing on them for the majority of the month, and haven't really had time to do any writing. Please forgive me, and enjoy chapter five! Also, please review if you can!

Disclaimer: I don't own "Initial D." I'm just borrowing these characters for a fun little story.

"Words in-between quotes indicate spoken dialogue."
Words in italics indicate thoughts.
>>> indicate scene changes!

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"Let me show you around." Ryousuke opened up the front door for Mako and took her coat.

Mako gaped. "Wow, I never thought that a person could live in such an enormous space! If this is considered a house, I'm living in a shanty."

Ryousuke laughed. "Well, I guess that when your parents own a hospital, you get a few perks." He smiled as Keisuke tromped down the stairs, gnawing on a sandwich. "Ah, Keisuke! I'd like to introduce you to someone."

Keisuke glanced at Mako. "Ih ihs uhusual to shee yuh wih a guh."

Ryousuke rolled his eyes. "Would you care to say that when you don't have food in your mouth?"

Keisuke spit some sandwich bits at him before swallowing. "I said, it's unusual to see you with a girl, Aniki."

"This is Satou Mako, the driver for the Usui team 'Impact Blue.' Mako-chan, I'd like you to meet my brother, Keisuke."

Mako bowed. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Keisuke-san." She smiled at him. "Ryousuke-san has spoken of you often."

Keisuke scratched his head in embarrassment. "'Impact Blue,' huh? How is Sayuki-chan doing?" He asked with a slight blush.

Mako giggled. "She's doing well."

Ryousuke started walking, and motioned for Mako to follow him. "You're standing in the hall right now." He walked down a hallway, gesturing at rooms as he spoke. "Over here is the living room, and here's the dining room." The hallway eventually led them into the kitchen. "Keisuke," he called. "Are Mother and Father going to be home?"

"No!" came the muffled reply. "They're held up at the hospital."

Ryousuke sighed. "As usual." He looked at Mako, and then smiled. "Well, shall we get started?"

>>>

Mako sat across from Ryousuke, who sat next to Keisuke. In just a few short hours, Ryousuke and Mako had made a feast. Working together, they had been able to make enough pasta, meat sauce, bread and salad to feed them for a week. Mako had looked questioningly at Ryousuke as to why they were making so much food. He had shrugged and simply replied "Leftovers for my dinners this week."

Now the three of them sat around talking and laughing. Mako constantly giggled at the stories Ryousuke and Keisuke told her about each other.

After dinner, they retired to the living room with a cake Ryousuke had helpfully "persuaded" Keisuke to go out and buy while he and Mako had made dinner. There was also coffee for Ryousuke and Keisuke, and hot chocolate for Mako. While making small talk and eating the cake in comfortable silence, Mako told Keisuke about Sayuki. She and the Takahashi brothers talked about racing for a while, comparing Akagi with Usui. She also begged them to tell her about their races as members of Project D.

After chatting for a while, Keisuke scarfed down his third slice of cake and jumped up, fishing his keys out of his pocket. "I'm going to go take a few practice runs on Akagi. I probably won't be home until tomorrow morning, so I'll see you after you get back from work, Aniki."

After Keisuke had left, Ryousuke and Mako sat in comfortable silence, sipping their drinks and making small talk. After they had finished, both took all of the plates and utensils to the kitchen. Mako surprised Ryousuke by putting the dishes in the sink, adding water and soap, and began washing them. "Are you sure you don't want me to wash those for you, Mako-chan?"

"No, I'm fine, Ryousuke-san." She smiled at him. "I've always liked washing dishes- I love the feel of the water on my skin." Ryousuke smiled back and grabbed a dishtowel, intent on drying the dishes Mako had washed.

They stood in silence for a while, until Ryousuke turned to her and "Mako-chan, I hope you've had fun. Would you be interested in coming to dinner again… as my girlfriend?"

Mako stopped. This is what she had been waiting for, right? Then why… why couldn't she say yes? She took a deep breath. "Ryousuke-san, I think we need to talk about this." Pulling her hands out of the water and drying them, she took Ryousuke's hand and led him back out to the living room. She sat down on the couch, and he sat in the chair across from her.

"Mako-"

"Ryousuke-"

They both laughed. "You go first," Mako said, her eyes turning serious.

'Mako-chan, I've never felt this way about anyone else. I feel a real connection to you, and I feel happy just seeing you. I would do anything to see you happy." He leaned forward and took her hand gently, holding it in both of his. "I hope that you can find that happiness with me."

Mako said nothing for a long while, looking at her and Ryousuke's hands intertwined. Finally, she looked up at his face. "Ryousuke-san, I am truly flattered that you think of me as such an important person. Your friendship is something I cherish, and I will always love and care about you. However, that love is never going to be anything more than just friendly love."

Ryousuke's face fell. "I see." He cleared his throat and squeezed her hand gently. "Is there someone else?"

Mako slowly nodded. "About a year and a half ago, I met someone. He became very important to me, but through a series of misunderstandings, we lost touch. However, I have never stopped caring for him."

"Do you love him?" The question was soft.

"I honestly don't know how I feel about him, truly." Mako gave a little laugh. "Unfortunately, I didn't see him enough to know. I do know that I want to explore how I feel. Yesterday I went to see him and told him that it would be better if I forgot about him. But seeing him again made me feel how I always felt around him: calm and happy. Seeing him again made me realize that I don't want to forget about him." Mako's eyes filled with tears as she looked at him again. "I'm so sorry, Ryousuke-san. I never wanted to hurt you; I truly wish that I could return your feelings."

Ryousuke said nothing for a long while, turning his head down. Finally, he looked at her and smiled. "I understand, Mako-chan. I won't force your feelings; a true friend doesn't do that."

Mako sighed in relief. "Thank you, Ryousuke-san, for understanding."

He pulled her up gently and walked her to the door. "I think it's time you go tell your special person how you feel about them. I'll be here if you need me, though." He smiled at her again. "I'll see you next week for lunch, at our usual time?"

She nodded and smiled back gratefully. She stepped out the door and walked to her Sil-Eighty. This time, I'm going to make it right.

>>>

Mako parked the Sil-Eighty outside of her house and shut and locked the doors. She walked up the driveway to the pathway leading to her front door, but stopped in surprise. On one of the steps leading to the front door was a bouquet of lilies.

She blinked and picked the flowers up, opening the note that had come with them. All it said was "For Mako."

"I hope you like lilies." A voice came out of the shadows, followed by a man. Mako gasped as she recognized Iketani stepping towards her, smiling.

"Iketani?" She stared in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Mako-chan." His voice turned serious. "You said that we could never start over, but I'm going to prove you wrong. We have the rest of our lives to make up for the past year and a half. I hope you can accept this, because I'm not going to take anything less from you."

After a few moments, Mako smiled. "I'm glad to hear it, Iketani-san." She stepped forward moved to her tiptoes, kissing him on the cheek. He blushed furiously as she said, "Thank you for the flowers, Iketani-san."

He laughed, scratching the back of his head with his hand. "I'm glad that you like them! I got Kenji, Takumi and Itsuki to help me pick some flowers out for you, and we all agreed that they smelled the best."

Mako smiled at that. "Would you like to come in for some tea, Iketani-san? You've come such a long way; I would feel terrible if I couldn't get you to stay and chat for a little while, at least."

He grinned back. "I can't say no to a beautiful lady, now can I?" They turned and walked up the steps together, their hands brushing against each other's.

"How did you find my house, anyway?" Mako asked.

"Well, that's a long story…"

>>>

It's finally done! Sorry that this update took so long; again, life got in the way. Please review if you can! I hope everyone reading this enjoyed the story immensely. As always, my e-mail is in my profile if you need me for anything! Thanks again!

-JupiterHalo