Afternote: Well folks, the third addition to Around the Lakeside is here. It is kind of a short chapter but it leads to events that will happen in the next one. This takes place a few days after Kyle's car broke down. Anyways, that's enough of me talking. Enjoy the chapter; there is more to come soon~!

Nagisano ~Around the Lakeside~

Chapter 3: The Rainy Resurrection

The sound of an alarm could be heard going off. It was about 3am. Stefani grabbed her cell phone and stopped the alarm. After waking herself up, she threw on a t-shirt, blue jeans, and some boots. Stefani recently had the crate in her garage hauled to the shop where Kyle's RX-7 was. Kyle had it towed to his boss's shop a few days after it broke. Stefani knew Aoi would want to help Kyle so she decided to go upstairs and wake her up.

Upon walking to the couch where the blonde haired girl was sleeping, Stefani gently shook her in attempt to wake her up. Aoi stirred a few times so Stefani whispered to her.

"Sweet heart, wake up."

Aoi finally opened her eyes and yawned.

"Why are we getting up at this ungodly hour?" Aoi asked while rubbing her eyes.

"You wanted to help Kyle, right? Well, that's what we are doing."

"Yes, what do I need to do?"

"Throw some clothes on, wear some shoes that you don't care about, and come downstairs," Stefani ruffled Aoi's hair and walked downstairs. After going outside to start the car and let it warm up, she went back into the living room and waited for Aoi. After five minutes, she came downstairs looking slightly more awake than before. She had on a green t-shirt, some dark jean shorts, and some black tennis shoes.

"Ready, Aoi?" Stefani asked

"Yeah but where are we going."

Stefani then remembered she never told Aoi where they were going.

"Hop in the car, I'll tell you as we ride," Stefani opened the door for Aoi and they both walked outside.

After the two got into the Integra and buckled up, Stefani put the car in first gear and set out towards their destination.

After getting a bit ways down the road, Stefani finally spoke up. "Alright, so we are going to the shop where Kyle's car is. The shop is owned by Kyle's boss and one of my husband's old friends."

Aoi looked confused. "You have a husband?"

"Yes I did, but he passed away many years ago. Before I met your father," Stefani had gotten over the sadness that was brought upon her when Douglas passed. But at the same time, bringing him up almost brought a tear to her eye.

Aoi frowned, "Oh… If you don't mind me asking, what happened to him?"

"He had a long fight with cancer. He was honorably discharged from the military a few years before we got married. But back in the early 90's, he finally passed. He was a great man. I love him so much, but I know he is in a better place now."

"That's sad. He was real lucky to have you, Stefani," Aoi said, almost in the same tone as Satomi.

"Thank you dear. Anyways, it's a hour drive from the house to the shop so we are gonna have to haul some ass if I want to make breakfast later." Stefani gave the car some gas, but also made sure she wasn't going too fast.

The rest of the drive was relatively quiet other than hearing the hum of the car's exhaust. As the ladies pulled up, it began to rain so Stefani grabbed an umbrella to share with Aoi. They walked into the building quickly so their shoes wouldn't get muddy. The door was already unlocked so Stefani decided to just go inside. A familiar figure then emerged from the back of the shop. It was a tall mid aged man. He had short brown hair, brown eyes, and his skin was pale.

"Nice to see you again, Stefani," he reached out his right hand for the blue haired lady to shake.

"It's been a minute, Josiah," she shook his hand and smiled at him.

Stefani then introduced Aoi and Jo to each other. "Before I forget, Aoi, this Is Jo. Jo, this is Aoi."

"Nice to meet you, sir," Aoi shook Jo's hand.

"Same here, Aoi." Jo replied to her.

While watching the two shake hands, Stefani thought to herself.

Come to think of it, Aoi is a very polite girl. I remember she mentioned something to Satomi about being a lady. But truth be told, her personality is perfect the way it is. Perfectly balanced between tomboy and lady.

Jo then ushered the ladies to the large bay in the shop. "Anyways, come on over and I'll show you the progress Ken and I have made. Don't worry about wearing a mask, It ain't like the CDC is watching us every second of the day."

Upon entering the shop bay, the progress made exceeded Stefani's expectations. The RX-7 was back on the ground. However, the hood, running gear, exhaust, and fuel tank had been removed. Where the engine once was, a tall young man with bright blonde hair was cleaning.

"To this day, I still don't understand how ya'll pull engines so fucking fast!" Stefani was wide eyed at the sight before her. She knew Douglas was good at this type of thing, but Jo was on a completely different level.

"For family and close friends I call family, I do my best work. And Ken is great help as well," Jo smiled at Ken who had finished cleaning.

"That is very much appreciated. How bad was it damaged?" Stefani looked over to the engine that had been removed. It had definitely shown its wear.

"It looks as if someone purposely poured varnish in the gas. Half of the apex seals are shot. We are gonna have to put new fuel lines in as well as a new tank." Jo said, showing me the heavily damaged fuel lines.

"I don't think Kyle is that dumb. Could someone have sabotaged him?" Aoi narrowed her eyes, thinking.

"It is possible, but we can discuss that at another time," Stefani replied.

Stefani then saw that her crate hadn't been opened, "Now then, thanks for getting the crate here safely. Have ya'll seen the engine you'll be putting in, boys?"

"No, but we will in a second." Jo said, grabbing a pry bar to open the crate. The top of the crate had been screwed shut before he had picked it up days before.

He walked over to the crate with Ken. Aoi and Stefani followed as he began to pry the lid off. Once the lid was removed, his eyes widened. In the crate sat a Mazda 20B 3-rotor engine. Despite the fact that the engine lacked a turbo, it looked menacing.

Seeing his priceless expression, Stefani decided to explain. "Kyle's dad gave this engine to Douglas to put in his car. But sadly, Douglas passed away before he could do anything with it. It had been sitting in my garage since then so I figured I'd let Kyle have it. His dad did find it after all."

Stefani knew that Jo wouldn't have expected her, of all people, to have this beast put into Kyle's car. "This is a semi-racing engine! It likely has about 500 horsepower. You want us to put this in the RX-7!?"

Stefani nodded to them.

"You've lost your mind."

Stefani only smirked hearing that remark from Jo.

"Very well, we will start here in a few minutes. It looks like we have everything we will need to put the engine in the car with minimal body modifications. We will have to locate some fuel lines as well." Jo said.

"Is Kyle seriously going to drive this thing? I don't know much about cars but isn't that engine kind of… dangerous?" Aoi asked.

Stefani put a hand on Aoi's shoulder, "We will be the first to test it out. Jo knows a place where we can. This will be our surprise to Kyle."

Aoi lightly smiled, "Okay Stefani, I trust you since you know about cars."

The blue haired lady chuckled, "I don't know much, some of Douglas's knowledge just stuck with me."

Then Aoi had a random question hit her, "Stefani, where did you get the idea to surprise Kyle?"

"Satomi told me about how in her book a similar thing happened. Plus, I know you'd want to make Kyle's dream come true. But honestly, you already have." Stefani thought Aoi was already an amazing girlfriend and Kyle was very lucky to have her. But she wanted to help her anyways.

After thanking Jo and Ken, Aoi and Stefani got into the Integra and started back towards the house. It was raining heavily now; the clock read 4:09. While driving toward the house, Stefani noticed that someone had been following her and Aoi for quite some time. It was dark so she couldn't exactly tell who or what it was. Aoi had fallen asleep after a bit so Stefani didn't want to disturb her. Stefani eased the accelerator to see if the car wanted to pass, only for it to ride her bumper. This started to get on her nerves so Stefani made some room so they could pass. The car finally started to pass so she looked to see what kind it was. At the same time Stefani looked over, a boy with curly, dark blonde hair stared her down as he passed. She could now see his car was a purple Camaro; one from the 90's that looked like a catfish. Just seeing one of those cars made Stefani want to throw up.

What a douche. If he pulls that stunt again, he'll get an ass whooping he won't forget.

Oddly enough, none of this was enough to wake the sleeping blonde girl up. Stefani made sure to keep the ride as smooth as possible so Aoi could sleep peacefully.

Once the ladies finally pulled into the driveway, Stefani shut the car off and walked to the other side. She shook Aoi's shoulder gently until she woke back up.

"We're home already?" Aoi yawned while waking herself up.

"Yes, dear. You dozed off so I made sure not to wake you up"

"I understand. Since we're back home, I'm going to go back to sleep now." Aoi said drowsily.

Aoi then walked back into the house, Stefani followed after her after locking her car.

Lord I'm tired. I need to stop getting up so early if I want to keep a decent sleep schedule.

Now that that was said and done, Stefani decided to let Aoi be the one to surprise Kyle with his new RX-7.

It was 5:10 now so Stefani decided to go back to sleep for a couple of hours. She had a whole day ahead of her.

Many hours later…

The afternoon sky in Georgia was gray, the air was warm, and it was slightly sprinkling. But, the peacefulness was soon disturbed by a high-pitched whine that could be heard in the distance. A Champagne RX-7 convertible without a hood tore up the back roads at a rapid speed. In the driver's seat was Stefani. She and Aoi and returned to Jo's shop to test it after it was put back together. Stefani decided she would test drive it due to the others cowering at the sound of the engine. As Stefani rowed the gears in the car, she couldn't help but to get chills.

To think that Kyle will be driving this beast, let's just hope he doesn't slam himself into a guardrail.

After Stefani pulled back up to Jo's shop, she stepped out of the driver side of the car. Jo, Ken, and Aoi ran to the car after Stefani got out.

"How is it?" the three asked.

"It's getting better," Stefani replied. "I think the suspension needs to be adjusted so it can keep up with the engine."

"It's that good?" Ken asked.

"Yes it is, but a few things need to be done to it before it's road worthy. A prime example being a hood," Stefani replied, pointing to the open engine bay. The car was running and driving, but the final touches needed to be put on.

"I think we have a hood in the yard that will fit. I'll have to look after Kyle gets off of work though." Jo replied.

"If ya'll do, keep the hood that was on Kyle's car and swap us the new one," Stefani replied without a second thought.

"Is that all that is left?" Aoi asked.

"After adjusting the suspension then that's it for now," Stefani replied.

"Good deal, let's pull it back into the shop and find a hood after everything is finalized." Jo said to Ken while hopping into the RX-7. Jo went to open the bay to the shop.

"Thanks for everything, boys. It means a lot to me," Stefani smiled at Jo and Ken.

"Not a problem at all, Stef," Jo replied while pulling the RX-7 into the shop.

Stefani then looked to Aoi, "By the way Aoi, I decided that you'll be the one to surprise Kyle with his new RX-7 when it's ready in a few days."

Aoi was surprised. She had never driven Kyle's car, let alone with the new engine.

"W-Why me? You did most of the work," Aoi stuttered.

"Well you drive me up here today, and you woke up at 3am to go with me the first time. Just consider it me trying to help you get closer to Kyle," Stefani winked at Aoi.

"Thanks, I'll just have to explain to the others of what is going on," Aoi replied.

"We both can do that as soon as we get back," Stefani replied, holding the car door open for Aoi.

As the two ladies headed back to Stefani's house, Aoi was felling very giddy. Imagining the Kyle's reaction of when she would show up with his car made her blush. She couldn't wait for that special day to come.