Curse of the Devil Z

Kazumi Asakura decides to check on her cousin Akio Asakura. When she learns he drives a blue Nissan Fairlady Z S30 that's tainted with a dark past, Kazumi becomes concerned for him, while Negi senses a dark and frightening presence within the car. Takes place after the Mahora Festival.

Disclaimer: Maho Sensei Negima is property of Ken Akamatsu and all related publishers. Wangan Midnight is property of Michiharu Kusunoki, Kodanshita, OB Planning, and Namco.

Chapter 4: Those Who Pursue the Devil Z Part 1

(Sunday night, downtown Tokyo)

"Mou! Otousan no baka!"

It was not exactly Yuna Akashi's day. She was looking forward to spending more quality time with her father, Professor Akashi. Following an embarrassing incident where she thought her father was getting it on with a new woman and realizing later on she was a friend of the family, Yuna decided to spend as much time with her father as she could during the summer break. Right after the meeting with the woman, Donnet McGuiness, Yuna and her dad continued on their impromptu date, eventually ending up having dinner at a family restaurant.

Then when she thought things were going get better, they didn't.

While waiting for their dinner to be served, Professor Akashi got an urgent call on his cellphone, and had to leave early. So as not to have the dinner wasted, he suggested Yuna stay and enjoy her dinner, leaving sufficient cash to cover the tab. Before he left, he recalled that a "distant cousin" of Yuna happened to be in the area, and called him to keep her company. After he left, Yuna was simply dismayed.

"Ugh! You're really hopless, dad."

As she waited for dinner to be served, she wondered if something, anything, just might happen, and when nothing did, she just sighed loudly.

"AAAAAGHHHH! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH EVERYTHING!?!?!?" yelled Yuna, startling the other patrons. It agitated her that she was all alone out in the middle of nowhere with nothing interesting to do. For once she truely missed her friends from Mahora.

"(Sigh!) If Makie was here things would not be boring that's for sure."

It was almost as if an hour had passed. As she pondered on what else could go wrong, she heard the door of the restaurant open. She looked up and saw who just came in.

'Hmm? Who's that stud? Is that my distant cousin?' thought Yuna, as she eyed a young man with brown wavy hair and had the appearance of a young rock singer. He looked around, then spotted Yuna and walked towards her table.

"Is that you Yuna-chan?" replied the young man.

"Ah, eto, yeah it's me."

"Nice to see you. Your dad called me to keep you company. Um, may I?" he asked, pointing at the empty seat.

Yuna hesitated at first, then just nodded.

"Thanks" said the young man as he sat down.

"So, um, cousin, um," Yuna started.

"Oh, pardon me. I'm Keiichiro Aizawa. Nice to meet you." said the man.

"Hmm, Keiichiro. Can't seem to recall you from any family gatherings."

"Can't say I blame ya. I've been growing up away from Mahora district, going places at times."

"Yeah yeah."

"Um, is something wrong?"

"Ugh! It's just that my stupid dad had to vanish just when we were gonna have fun." pouted Yuna.

"Well, at least you still have your dad around to be with. You should consider yourself lucky."

"And why should I?"

"I lost my dad years ago. Car accident."

Yuna fell silent. "Oh." she murmured, starting to feel sad.

"Hey it's cool. I'm managing. Oh did I remind you of something?" asked Keiichiro. "Oh darn it I forgot, your mother..."

"Nahh, it's alright." said Yuna. "So what brings you here? Sightseeing?"

"You might say that." replied Keiichiro. "Actually I'm tuning my car."

"Oh?" piped Yuna. "You into racing or something."

"Yes actually, ever since my father was killed. He died during one streetrace when he collided with a drunk driver. Since then, I've wanted to be better than him."

"Woa."

"But these days, I'm racing against a car a friend of mine is driving."

"What's that?"

"Have you heard of the Devil Z?"

Yuna looked upwards while thinking. "Hmm, nope can't say I have."

"They say it's the fastest thing on the highway. Every night my friend takes to the Wangan Expressway and just blazes along."

"Okay, so you want to beat that thing."

"Exactly."

"Well, I guess you're not bad. So what about your car? Is it fast?"

"Hehe I call it the Monster Machine."

Yuna sweatdropped. "Um, okay."

"Maybe if you got a look at it..."

"Hmm, alright. Got nothing else to do anyway."

"Alright then."

They were interrupted by the waiter who served their dinner.

(30 minutes later)

After having dinner and paying the tab, Yuna and Keiichiro went out the door and headed towards the parking area. They approached a white Toyota Supra RZ.

"Well, here she is, the Monster Machine."

"Wow. This looks cool!"

"Pretty little thing isn't she?" said Keiichiro as he unlocked the doors. Then the pair got in the car and buckled up as Keiichiro started the engine, then pulled out of the parking area and drove off through the city streets.

"So how fast does this thing go?" asked a curious Yuna.

"Good question" replied Keiichiro. "Perhaps you'd like to see for yourself?"

(BGM: Love to Rise in the Summer Morning)

"Eh?" piped Yuna. "You're going to..."

They approached an exit ramp, and entered the Wangan Highway. Without warning, Keiichiro shifted gears and stepped on it.

"WAAAHHH!!!!" yelled Yuna as the car lurched forward. Yuna gasped and just tried to get a hold of herself as Keiichiro pushed the Supra along the Wangan Freeway. Soon the car reached 300km/h, passing every other vehicle as if going through an obstacle course, much to Yuna's chargin.

"Having fun yet?" asked Keiichiro sarcastically.

"Says you!" snapped Yuna. "Are you gonna get us both killed!?"

"Don't worry, that hasn't happened yet."

"Yeah right!"

Keiichiro chuckled, then fell silent. "Oh man..."

"What now?"

"It's here." said Keiichiro cryptically.

"What is?" asked Yuna.

"Blackbird"

"Black what?"

"That black car there" said Keiichiro, pointing to the black Porshe they were slowly approaching.

"Wow" murmured Yuna as she took a good look at the car, inwardly admitting it was really sleek looking. As the Supra reached the rear of the Porsche, Yuna tried to look at the passengers, and thought she saw someone familiar. "Hmm? Where have I seen her before?"

"Eh?" remarked Keiichiro. "You know her? Want a better look?" he asked rhetorically as he speed up a bit and manovered towards the right side of the Porsche.

"EHHH!?!? AKO!?" shouted Yuna in surprise. Likewise, Ako, the passenger in the Porsche, looked towards the Supra and was just as surprised to see Yuna on board.

"Friend of yours?"

"Yeah, classmate in fact."

"At this time of night? She's probably being taken home. I guess the Blackbird's driver is not in a mood to race today. Damn."

"EH!?!? You race here!?"

"Yeah, usually. But not tonight. A friend clued me as to whether or not Shima-sensei, the guy who's behind the wheel there in the Blackbird, is up for a race or not. And for tonight, he's not." said Keiichiro. As if on cue, the Blackbird peels off an exit ramp and drives away.

"Woa! You could read him or something?"

"Comes with the territory. Anyway, I think I'll have some fun."

"Wha- what do you mean... YAAAAA!!!" yells Yuna as Keiichiro guns it again, weaving his way around several slower vehicles. After a few hair raising minutes of wildriding, Keiichiro finally eases up and goes up the next exit ramp.

(end BGM)

"Mou! That made me carsick!" ranted Yuna.

"Heheh you did ask how fast my car could go." joked Keiichiro.

"Not in all the TRAFFIC!" snapped Yuna. "And what would have happened if you misjudged one of those slower cars and hit it eh?"

"Okay okay! I'm sorry I scared you. I just couldn't resist."

"Just get me back home!"

"Yeah, sure. Your dad's gonna kill me if he finds out I took you joyriding like a maniac."

"Whatever!"

"At least you're not bored anymore, are you?"

"Hmmph!" snorted Yuna, though inwardly she admitted Keiichiro was right. The ride, while scary, was quite an exciting one, and she forgot about her boredom blues.

(the Akashis' apartment, 40 minutes later)

"Haaahhhh! It's good to be home!" said Yuna, almost collapsing on top of the dining table. As soon as Keiichiro got Yuna back to her apartment, she got off quickly, gave Keiichiro a quick glare, then rushed into her apartment not caring if he would stay over or not, slamming the door behind her. In truth she wasn't particularly mad at Keiichiro. She thought he was a nice looking and fun guy. She just wasn't prepared for the wild ride in his car and was really shaken from it. She decided to apologize to him next time provided he'd drive more carefully if he took her on another ride.

After showering and changing into pajamas, she went to bed. Before sleeping, she wondered what was the deal with all these cars running about: Keiichiro's "Monster Machine", the Devil Z Keiichiro spoke about, and the Blackbird Ako was riding in.

"Hmm, perhaps I'll ask Ako about that car tomorrow morning" murmured Yuna before dozing off.

-TBC

A/N: The idea of bringing Yuna in contact with Keiichiro and his Supra RZ came from a fanart showing Yuna in Toyota/Panasonic overalls, which I thought was really cool.