Programmed Lives – Second Stage
Chapter Eight
This couldn't be happening, Ryosuke thought after hearing the news. Everything was going so well and now this…
'How did they get in?' he heard Keisuke ask.
'This is the weird bit, it doesn't look as though anyone broke in and entered. The door was locked, exactly as I left it last night,' Fumihiro explained sounding every bit as disconsolate as Ryosuke felt.
'Alright, let's keep a cool head about this. Gather all the team here,' Ryosuke ordered.
Fumihiro called everyone and Ryosuke realised that two people were missing.
'Fujiwara, where is your father?' Ryosuke asked noticing that Takumi's old man wasn't there.
'He went to do the deliveries this morning and by the time I woke up, I guess he had just gone to sleep because his car was parked outside, he'll probably show up later,' Takumi explained and Ryosuke just nodded.
'And Kenta?' he asked to the guys.
'I haven't seen him since last night when we left for your house Ryosuke,' Matsumoto said.
'I've just given him a call Aniki, he's not answering to his mobile,' Keisuke added.
'And his car is here,' one of the guys said.
'Where?' Ryosuke asked.
'I've seen it parked just outside the circuit.'
'He does have the keys for the garage,' Fumihiro added sombrely.
To everyone's horror, it was becoming clearer to everyone that Kenta must have taken the car, but there was no one feeling more upset than Keisuke, after all, Kenta had been his protégé ever since the younger man had joined the Red Suns.
'I'll go and look for him Aniki,' Keisuke said.
'Alright, can I have some volunteers to help my brother looking for Kenta?' Ryosuke asked and everyone offered themselves to help with the search. Then, speaking to his brother, he said:
'Keisuke, if we don't find him within the next hour I'll have to report the theft to the police.'
Keisuke didn't say anything. He couldn't believe it. Keisuke knew that Kenta had been a bit upset the previous day but again, Kenta was known for being a rather sensitive guy and, therefore, Keisuke hadn't given too much importance to it.
He now wished he had paid more attention to Kenta and, he hoped that his friend hadn't done anything stupid like crashing the car for, if he did, there would be no hope in hell for the team to get another car made in time for the championship, much less a car as good as that one.
'Aniki, you stay here, if I find him I'll give you a call.'
'Alright,' Ryosuke said.
Keisuke had been driving around the area surrounding the circuit with his FD for almost half an hour when he saw something strange at a nearby park.
There was a bump covered by a small blanket lying on one of the park's benches and, at first, Keisuke thought it was a poor homeless guy trying to get some sleep, then, he saw some bleached, straight hair pocking out the blanket. That kind of hair could only belong to his friend Kenta.
Parking the FD he walked towards the bench.
'Kenta, hey Kenta, wake up!' Keisuke said shaking him by the shoulder.
Kenta woke up with a start and mumbled:
'Keisuke-san…'
'What are you doing here man?' Keisuke asked him putting his hands on his hips.
'I didn't feel like going home,' Kenta explained his voice sounding as miserable as he looked.
'Kenta, where's the car?' Keisuke said deciding to go straight to the point.
'I left the S14 parked outside the circuit,' Kenta repeated looking confused.
'Who's talking about the S14? I mean our FD mate, where is it?' Keisuke asked and, his tone of voice became so menacing that made Kenta stand up.
'I really don't know what you're talking about Keisuke-san,' Kenta said now looking positively terrified.
'Don't try to fool me Kenta, we know you've taken it!' Keisuke warned him.
'WHAT?' Kenta shouted springing up from the bench taking Keisuke by surprise.
'The car's gone and…' Keisuke started and Kenta, for the first time in his life, interrupted the man who he almost worshipped:
'And you think I've taken it?'
Keisuke had never seen him like that before: Kenta looked positively livid with fury.
'I…'
'FUCK OFF!' Kenta shouted turning round and starting to run.
It took Keisuke just a few instants to react and run after Kenta and it took him even less than that for the FD's driver to catch him.
Taking him roughly by his arm, Keisuke turned Kenta round so he would face him.
'You piece of…' Keisuke shouted but stopped seeing that Kenta's eyes were full of tears, 'Kenta…'
Kenta tried, in vain, to remove his arm from Keisuke's grasp. Finally, Keisuke felt his friend going limp as he forced himself to relax.
'Alright, so, you didn't take the car,' Keisuke said.
Kenta shook his head, still unable to speak.
'Then, what's wrong with you?' Keisuke asked, letting go of Kenta's arm and replacing his angry look with a concerned one.
Kenta looked at him for a short while and Keisuke could sense the battle within him. Whatever it was it was pretty clear that Kenta had a lot of trouble talking about it.
'I'm tired,' he finally said.
'Tired?' Keisuke asked suddenly confused.
'No one gives a damn about me,' Kenta explained miserably.
'Hey, that's not true,' Keisuke said.
'It is,' Kenta insisted then, he lowered himself to the ground so he could sit down cross-legged.
'Why do you think so?' Keisuke said sitting down by his side.
'Because it's true. When I met you, all I ever wanted to do was to become a driver as good as you and it was the happiest day of my life when Ryosuke-san allowed me to join the Red Suns. I thought that my dream of being a great street racer could actually come true…'
'It still can,' Keisuke said but Kenta shook his head.
'No, I've reached my limits. It's not a question of money or getting a better car. It's just that I'm not good enough.'
'That's bullshit, Kenta.'
'Keisuke-san, you're kind to me as always,' Kenta said with a sad smile then, he added, 'but I know that I'm never going to be as good as you or Fujiwara. I thought though that by joining Project D first and now this team I would still be able to race but, so far, I have never had a chance…'
Keisuke finally saw where Kenta was trying to get to.
'Kenta, I'm not going to lie to you: you're probably never going to take part in an official GT300 race but you can still race on the streets where the real fun is and, besides, we need you in the team, don't you think we don't appreciate the work you do?'
'Yeah right, running errands, ordering parts, what an important job!' Kenta laughed bitterly.
'Kenta, I'm going to tell you something Aniki told me once: never underestimate the seemingly unimportant people, or something like that...'
'What?' Kenta said clearly not understanding.
'I'll put it this way: if you didn't get all those errands done, the mechanics wouldn't have the parts we need, the car wouldn't run and we couldn't drive it and, without drivers to manage, Fumihiro and Aniki couldn't do their jobs either. So, in my opinion, what you do it's essential for the smooth running of our team…'
'You think so?' Kenta said, his eyes shining and not because of the recently shed tears.
'I know so,' Keisuke said with one of his best smiles, 'boy, what would I do without the coffee you get me first thing in the morning? I'd go and crash the car all the time…'
Keisuke's laughter ended up being contagious and Kenta started laughing too.
'The thing is,' Keisuke said getting serious again, 'if you haven't stolen the car, who has?'
'I don't know,' Kenta said looking suddenly worried.
'Either way, we need to go back to the circuit, Aniki needs to go and report the theft to the police.'
Kenta nodded and, getting up, he put his hand forth and offered it to Keisuke.
'Thanks,' Keisuke said taking Kenta's hand and allowing him to help him up.
They walked quietly for a few seconds and then Kenta broke the silence:
'Keisuke-san, I'm sorry for swearing at you.'
Keisuke looked at him and said:
'Nah, forget it. Besides, I quite like that wild side of yours. You should use it more often, mind you, not against me or I'd have to hurt you…'
'I'd never dream of it,' Kenta said looking rather scared.
When they arrived at the circuit they saw two things:
One, the car was back.
Two, everyone seemed as though as they were about to faint with either surprise, relief or a mix of the two.
'What's going on?' Keisuke asked his brother.
'You won't believe this,' Ryosuke said still looking very much astonished.
'Try me,' Keisuke said, ready to believe anything Ryosuke told him. Even that the car had been taken by some alien race.
'Fujiwara-san took the car. Apparently he wanted to "go for a spin" and has given us a list of things that, according to him, need to be changed in the car to make it even faster.'
'What?' Keisuke asked now looking even more astounded than his brother. Kenta limited himself to remain open-mouthed and unable to speak.
'Yeah, he said that since we asked him to be an advisor, he was just doing his job,' Fumihiro said shaking his head in profound disbelief.
'Where's he now?'
'The motorhome, he said he was tired and went to get some sleep,' Ryosuke replied.
Keisuke didn't know what to say to that.
'That shitty old man,' Takumi said, clearly still angry at his father, while walking towards them, 'I'm so sorry Ryosuke-san.'
'Don't worry Takumi, it's not your fault, and besides, the things he's suggesting make a lot of sense to me. We're going to try them,' Ryosuke said patting a mortified looking Takumi on his shoulder.
So, after the team had recovered from this latest shock, the mechanics started implementing the changes Bunta had suggested and, to everyone's surprise, the car did perform a whole lot better.
'So I was right, wasn't I?' Bunta said coming into the team's garage still yawning.
'Yes, you were Fujiwara-san,' Ryosuke said but, for the sake of the team's mental health, was forced to add, 'Fujiwara-san, we're all extremely happy to have you here, we really are but, in the future, should you want to take the car for another spin and you can do so whenever you want, you should please try to need to warn us beforehand, alright?'
'Whatever,' he said and then walked away.
Ryosuke shook his head while Fumihiro commented after witnessing the entire exchange:
'He's nuts.'
Ryosuke silently agreed but, with a smile, he said:
'But he's a genius.'
'Look who's talking,' Fumihiro said grinning back at his long time friend.
Ryosuke was trying to come up with something to say when his mobile phone started ringing.
'Ryosuke here,' he said answering and, whatever he was hearing, was bad enough to wipe the smile off his face, 'don't worry, I'll be with you as soon as I can...'
'What's up?' Fumihiro said as soon as Ryosuke pressed the button to finish the call.
Ryosuke gave him a very grave look before replying:
'I need to go to the hospital: Akiko's father's had a heart attack…'
To be continued…
