Millennium D - Vol. 3: New Wheels

8:30AM. August 5, 2000.

Takumi was sitting in an MR2 Spyder. He was driving- no, flying it around town. He went up, down, and even did a couple of barrel rolls. He felt the cool evening breeze rush through his hair. Blue flames shot out of its single exhaust pipe. It felt like a rocketship, pushing him into his seat from all the g-forces he was experiencing. Then, he got an idea; he pulled the handbrake back, turned the wheel hard, and slid into a mid-air drift. Suddenly, the little roadster tilted upside down, and he fell right out. He didn't scream. In fact, he wasn't even scared - he felt great. He curled up, braced for impact… And woke up in bed.

Natsuki was busy snoozing away in his arms; she fit right into them. All he could hear was her gentle, steady breaths, and the tweeting of the birds outside. Takumi opened his eyes and saw her, resting her head upon his chest with her arms wrapped around his body. A few locks of her brown hair covered parts of her face. She looked as calm and serene as ever, lost in dreams of her own. He bent over and gave her a little kiss on her forehead. The sweet, fresh smell of her shampoo filled his nostrils as he did so. She let out a little moan in response, and inhaled very dramatically, followed by her turning around and stretching herself out, then yawning. "Good morning, Natsuki…", Takumi mumbled, patting her on the head. She turned to face him again, a smile on her face. "Morning, Taku-chan…", she replied with ever-so-slightly more energy. "Did you sleep well? I sure did~...", she crooned, closing her eyes and nuzzling her head against his chin. "Yeah… I did. It keeps getting better every night-", Takumi uttered, before a yawn escaped his lips. "I dreamt of… flying… in an MR2." Natsuki giggled, intrigued by his words. "Wow, you really love that car, don't ya?" "Yeah, I actually kinda do…", Takumi responded, still seemingly half-asleep. He sat himself up and stretched.

Following some lazy cuddles and kisses, they both got up and put their underwear on, and went to set themselves up for the day. Once Takumi was finished, he headed downstairs. His arms and legs were still a little shaky from last night, but at least he could walk, albeit in similar fashion to a toddler. A sweet, warm smell filled his nostrils as he made it to the ground floor. He followed the scent, which led him to a well-lit, modern kitchen. Jake and Suzuka were busy cooking breakfast. "Yo Takumi!", Jake exclaimed. Suzuka followed suit, greeting him with a little salute. Takumi nodded back at them, and walked inside. "Morning guys… what are you cooking?" "Sausages and scrambled eggs!", Suzuka replied, as she put some on a pan to fry. "You're gonna love this.", she continued, moving the pan back and forth, rolling the sausages around. Takumi felt his stomach rumble; it looked so tasty. "We take turns cooking every day, when we're not eating out.", Jake explained, plating the eggs. "Ooh, that's cool. I can try cooking too… but all I know is tofu dishes.", Takumi replied, his eyes fixed firmly on the food, trying to stop himself from drooling. "That's okay! Tofu's great!" Suzuka replied. "Also, you're in luck! Big car meet downtown today. Wanna come with us?", she offered. Without even thinking, Takumi nodded. If the cars parked in the garage were so cool, he was definitely excited to see more like them. Suddenly, he felt a pair of hands on his shoulders, followed by a little kiss on the back of his neck. "And then we'll take you car shopping! Hopefully we'll find an MR2 Spyder.", he heard Natsuki say. "Oh really? That's great..!", he exclaimed with a smile. "I'm starting to forget how to drive.", he said jokingly. "There's a Toyota-Lexus dealership downtown too, that's where Jake got his SC400!" Suzuka explained, gently squeezing Jake's shoulder. "Ah..! Yeah, that's true.", he followed up.

Once everybody had gotten up and eaten their breakfast together, it was time to go. While everybody was heading to the garage, he was just about to hitch a ride in Natsuki's Civic as he did yesterday, but curiosity struck him. What was a German car like to ride in..?

"Hey, Fujio-san? Can I take your car?" Takumi asked, standing next to the bright yellow hatchback. Fujio was already inside, putting his harnesses on. "Hm? Oh, for sure! Hop in!", he replied, leaning over and pushing the passenger door open for him. Takumi gripped the roofline and awkwardly made his way inside, falling down onto the seat. "Easy there." quipped Fujio. "Someday you'll get used to how low our cars are." "Ah… okay."

The first half of the day went by pretty quickly for Takumi. He had the time of his life at the car meet - although he was used to seeing multiple crews and racers congregating on the top of a mountain pass to race, he had never witnessed such a huge gathering of different cars. But first of all, this was all in broad daylight; back in Japan, every race he attended happened in the dead of night. Secondly, although he found that some were avid racers, none of them were here to actually race - it seemed everybody here just wanted to have fun and talk about cars. He expected a very tense atmosphere, given the number of people that were attending, but the reality was everything but. Everybody seemed to be very relaxed. What struck him most was the insane variety of cars that came along. Of course, Japanese imports took up the majority; there were Civics, Eclipses, IS300s, Lancers, and many, many more. He was drawn to one car in particular - a Honda Integra DC2 with a bizarre front-end conversion, which he learned was called the "Cali Type-R". But there were cars he had never seen before, too, particularly European and American cars. There were BMWs, Audis, Volkswagens, as well as Ford Focuses and Chevrolet Cavaliers. He was in awe; he grew up thinking that American cars were always big, heavy and boxy. But the ones he saw here all seemed just as compact and agile as everything else around them. There were even a couple of super-sports cars that turned up, particularly a Porsche 911 Turbo and a Lamborghini Diablo. While his father kept convincing him that the 86 would easily beat cars of that class, he still found himself to be deeply attracted to them, admiring their beautiful, muscular designs. Hell, they even looked fast standing still.

Four hours flew by. Takumi had spoken to so many different car owners at the meet, even he was surprised - normally he kept to himself around other racers. After everybody went and got a quick bite at a local fast-food joint, Natsuki elected to take him to the Toyota dealership, while the others headed back onto campus to attend lectures. It didn't take long; Takumi stared out the window as he usually did. But this time, he was anxious. In a good way, of course; he was finally going to buy himself a car. He felt a tingle of excitement rush down his spine as they parked in front of a large, modern building. Once they were inside, a well-dressed salesman greeted them with a big grin on his face. "Welcome to Toyota! How can we help you today?", he asked Takumi, giving him a handshake. "H-hello. Uhh… are there any performance cars available?", he asked meekly. "Right this way! We have plenty of 'em in stock!" replied the salesman, leading them further inside the dealership. Takumi noticed a Celica and a Camry Solara Coupe, but he wasn't interested in any of them. "Hey, Takumi-kun, I think this is it!", he heard Natsuki call him, as she quickly held his hand and led him over to a turntable. Once his eyes fell on what was parked on top of it, he felt his heart skip a beat.

And there it was. "This is our brand-new MR2 Spyder!", he heard the salesman explain to him. "It's the lightest car to wear the MR2 name; it weighs just under a ton!", he continued, as Takumi walked around the little coupe. It was so much smaller up close - that means less weight to lug around. "It's powered by a 1.8-liter inline-4 that produces 138 horsepower. Doesn't seem like much, but… it's enough for a car of this size!"

"Hey, Sir… mind if I sit inside?" Takumi requested. He was dying to just get behind the wheel of a car again. Not only that, this was his dream car. "Why, of course! Step right in.", the salesman replied, opening the door - this time, it was the driver's side. Takumi made his way in and sat down, putting on the seatbelt and placing his hands on the wheel. It was a very simple interior, just like the 86. It was boxier than he thought, contrasting heavily with the curvy exterior. But it had all that he needed; a steering wheel, some pedals, and a manual shift lever. He also appreciated the fact that this was the hardtop version, too; he didn't like the thought of the wind blowing in his face while he was driving. "What do you think, Takumi-kun? I think this car suits you!" Natsuki proclaimed. "Yup! The Spyder just so happens to be pretty popular among you kids.", the salesman reckoned. "Yeah… I like this one. I like it a lot, actually.", Takumi mused.

Within a few minutes, the car was sold. Takumi stayed inside the car the whole time; he didn't even turn a wheel on it yet, but he was already addicted. "See ya outside, Takumi-kun! Let's go back to our place.", said Natsuki as she headed out back to her Civic. The turntable was lowered, so Takumi was able to move his car out of the building. He took the keys, stuck them in the ignition and turned them. The 1ZZ-FE roared to life. He felt his foot pressing on the pedal, revving it a little. As he did so, memories of driving the AE86 flooded back into his mind. He couldn't help but smile - after years of delivering tofu, he was finally able to spend his hard-earned cash on something he liked. He slowly made his way out onto the road, but out of nowhere, his racing instincts came back. He floored the pedal, ripped the handbrake and pulled a little donut. Natsuki noticed and laughed, having never seen her boyfriend getting this excited before.

Takumi had the time of his life, driving his new whip for the first time. It wasn't that powerful, but he felt that this was all the speed he needed. After all, he was grinning like an idiot; no other car he drove made him feel like this. Having been driving it since he was in his early teens, he was desensitized to the 86's characteristics, only seeing it as a tool. And don't even get him started on the Impreza. He felt a genuine connection between himself and his Spyder.

He rolled up behind Natsuki's Civic at a stoplight, as they were joined by what looked like a crew of other tuners, which surrounded them from behind, revving their engines. Seems like they were looking for a race. He revved his engine back at them. He rolled his head around and relaxed his shoulders. He felt adrenaline coursing through his veins. His eyes were fixed firmly on the road ahead. This was it - his first race in months.

The light turned green, and they were all off. Natsuki got a good start, jumping ahead of the rest of the pack. She was quickly joined by an Eclipse, which drafted her from behind, trying to catch a slipstream. She, too, was heavily focused - her top priority was to shake these punks off. Meanwhile, Takumi had a Sentra, an Integra and a Civic hatchback for company. As the road straightened out, the Integra was pulling away further and further to join the pair at the front, as Takumi began to feel the disadvantage of having a weak engine. He could already feel the poor thing straining itself just to try and keep up. However, he still managed to keep the Sentra and the Civic behind him, fighting as hard as he could. Natsuki noticed the Spyder disappearing further and further behind in her rearview mirrors. She wasn't about to leave her friend behind. She braked, right until she was back in front of Takumi. He felt his car gain a bit more speed as he trailed behind the bright pink Honda, realizing that this was due to him having less drag to deal with. He felt a slight push of momentum, as he watched the speedometer climb. He fixed his eyes on the Integra in front, and with a deep breath, he broke himself out of the tow, and used the extra momentum he gained to pull an overtake. As they reached the end of the road, the mysterious crew pulled away, and Takumi took a deep breath. He never raced so many different drivers at once before. He was even more surprised at the fact that, with a bit of help, he was able to beat a couple of tuners with a bone-stock car. "Definitely needs a lot of work, though… I can't race on such straight roads with this much power.", he thought to himself, as he headed home.

"Holy crap dude, niiiice!", exclaimed Satoshi, as he walked around Takumi's new car. He arrived home with Naoko, since they finished their lectures for the day. "Sweet ride you got yourself right there, Takumi.", Naoko added, as she did the same. "Might just be the lightest car we have parked in our garage." "Yeah… it's not very powerful though.", Takumi admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "Hey, Takumi-kun… it's not that bad… after all, it's stock!", Natsuki consoled him, as she put her arm on his shoulder. "Exactly! You know, with a stronger engine under that hood, some new suspension and tires, and a bit of extra aero, you can beat anything.", Satoshi encouraged, gesturing around the car. "It's a new car, too! We can fiddle with the electronics a little, maybe squeeze some extra power out of it if ya need it.", quipped Naoko. As the other three were discussing mods, an idea popped into Takumi's head. The 86 he used to drive was naturally aspirated. His dad's Impreza was turbocharged. But there was just one type of induction he had never tried before. Wataru Akiyama's AE86 came to mind. "Hey, guys… do you think a supercharger would work on this car?", Takumi asked meekly. Everyone went silent, as their eyes widened in surprise. "Dude… that's a GREAT IDEA!", Naoko exclaimed. "We can easily get into the low 200s, maybe even the high 300s with one of those bolted on!" "Yeah! You get close to no lag, too! It suits your style perfectly, Takumi-kun!", Natsuki added excitedly, holding onto Takumi. "Let's do it, guys! We're going parts shopping tomorrow! Oh, right! Natsuki-san can also add some of her art onto it!", Satoshi continued. "W-wait… Natsuki… art..? Wha-..?", Takumi blurted. Naoko and Natsuki shared a giggle together. "She's an art student. She did the decals for all of our cars!", Naoko explained. "I think I'm getting a few ideas already~...", Natsuki piped, smiling smugly.

Takumi could barely sleep that night in his new room. He stared up at the ceiling, as he let his imagination run wild. He wondered what his MR2 would end up looking like by the end of the build; he imagined it with a curvy widebody kit like the ones he saw at the meet, complete with a black hood. He wanted that "panda" look. He remembered Wataru explaining the benefits of a supercharger to him back when he was still a solo racer, racing under the name of his father's tofu shop. "On top of having no lag, it also provides good linear acceleration.", he heard Wataru tell him. He even remembered Keisuke telling him about his race with Wataru's supercharged Levin. If the Levin didn't spin out, it would've easily beaten out the RX-7. Takumi thought to himself, "If even a car as boxy as the Levin could beat a purpose-built sports car like the RX-7, imagine how quick the MR2 would be with one of those…"

I do not own any property from Initial D, nor do I make any money from the writing of this story.

All characters and situations, created by Shuichi Shigeno, Rob Cohen, Gary Scott Thompson, Erik Bergquist and David Ayer are taken from Initial D (1995-2013) © Kodansha Ltd., The Fast And The Furious (2001) and Redline (early screenplay draft; 2000) © Universal City Studios LLC

This story is released under the GPL/CC BY: verbatim copying and distribution of this entire work are permitted worldwide, without royalty, in any medium, provided attribution is preserved.