Programmed Lives – Third Stage

Chapter Seventeen

The three kids and Takumi followed Keisuke all the way to what looked to be the main building of the motor sports Centre where, Takumi supposed, Keisuke managed the entire structure from.

It was kind of weird to think of Keisuke as a responsible adult who was in charge of an organisation such as this one, with employees and a clientele to deal with. He had known, through magazines and the sports TV channels that Keisuke had gone from the GT500 to win, first the Japanese Rallying title and then, racing with an international team, he'd won several trophies in both rallies and touring car races.

Takahashi Keisuke had definitely made it big in the racing industry and Takumi couldn't help but to feel slightly jealous of him. But, like he'd already decided, it was too late for this kind of regrets. He had to look ahead now and, in front of him he could only see Akito. Takumi would fight so his son could make his dreams come true.

If Akito's dreams had anything to do with racing and the Takahashi could help him achieve his targets, Takumi was prepared to accept the Takahashi's help once again.

'Wow!' he heard Akito exclaim glued to one of the two huge displays that ran along the corridor inside the building.

'What is it Akito?' Takumi said walking towards his son.

'That's you, isn't it?' Akito asked pointing at a framed picture that was behind the glass. Takumi looked at it and saw that it was the very first picture the Kirin Takahashi Racing Team had had taken. It was from the day when they had got their uniforms and racing suits, the day their FD3S had received the number 86, a number the team would keep until they dissolved at the end of that tragic GT500 season.

'Yeah, it's me,' Takumi said fighting to keep his voice stable. Seeing all the happy, much younger faces staring at him from the picture had moved him a lot more than he'd expected.

'Wow, how old were you in that picture?' his son asked, completely oblivious of his father's inner turmoil.

'Twenty one,' Takumi replied and his son gasped again, 'what's up now?' Takumi asked.

'That…that's Mum, isn't it?' Akito asked now pointing at a different picture, the one from the beginning of their last GT500 season, just a few months before Minami's death.

Takumi heard Keisuke taking a sharp intake of breath.

'Yes Akito, that's your mother,' Takumi said and, for some reason, the faint ache he normally felt was a bit weaker than usual.

'Guys, I've got an idea,' Keisuke said suddenly and speaking to his nephews, 'why don't you two show Akito around the school so his father and I can talk…'

'Yeah, this way we can have a rematch,' Seisuke said talking to Akito.

'Er…Seisuke, if I were you, I'd forget about the rematch,' Keisuke said frowning at his nephew.

'Why? Do you think I can lose again?' Seisuke asked looking at his uncle as if he'd just said something ridiculously impossible.

Keisuke looked at Takumi and, with a smirk, he said:

'Judging by personal experience, I'd say yes…'

Takumi had to make an effort not to start laughing seeing poor Seisuke's face.

'Come this way,' Kyosuke said talking to Akito, saving what was left of his younger brother's dignity in the process.

'Try to stay out of trouble,' Takumi said to his son.

'Can't promise you that,' Akito said cheekily before following the two Takahashi brothers.

'He's a bit of a handful, isn't he?' Keisuke asked Takumi once the two adults were left by themselves.

'You have no idea,' Takumi said nodding.

'That's why I'm so happy now that I had a little girl,' Keisuke said smiling.

'You didn't say that when you first found out,' Takumi said and, for an instant, the two men looked at each other both feeling as though as time had taken a leap backwards.

'This way,' Keisuke said after a short but very uncomfortable silence.

Takumi followed Keisuke to his office, a simply but elegantly furnished room, where on one of the walls, Keisuke had all his trophies on display.

'The most important ones are here,' he said pointing at two cups that were on top of some sort of wooden podium. Looking at them, Takumi saw that they were the two GT300 and GT500 championship cups that the Kirin Takahashi Racing team had won.

'I'm very impressed,' Takumi said looking around the office, ignoring the way Keisuke was looking at him.

'Yeah, well, I had to do something so this prefecture could do something for those like us who want to have a future in racing,' Keisuke explained.

'So, you've founded a school,' Takumi said taking a seat near Keisuke's desk while the older man just leant against it facing Takumi.

'Yeah, it was Kyoko's idea, Aniki and I just financed it,' Keisuke explained, 'the thing is, she said that in order to make racing safer for kids was to take them out of the streets and teach them to drive like a professional racer in a controlled environment.'

'You're against street racing now?' Takumi asked raising his eyebrows in surprise.

'No! Absolutely not,' Keisuke said shaking his head rather vigorously, 'I just think that, by removing the amateurs from the roads, we can keep them free for those who can drive seriously well…'

'Ah, I see,' Takumi said.

'Yeah, also, we have space here for those who are still too young to drive legally but that want to start driving nonetheless,' Keisuke said.

'Like my son,' Takumi added.

'Exactly,' Keisuke replied.

'So, what do you want from him?' Takumi asked deciding to go straight to the point.

'Well, if you agree, I'd like for you to take him here whenever you can, so he can drive the karts and hone his skills while he's still young. Once he'll be a bit older, we also have regular cars, just slightly modified, so he'll be able to learn the different driving techniques even before he'll get his driving license…'

'He can do that too by driving down Mt Akina,' Takumi commented.

'Yeah, but here he can do it legally and, on top of that, he'll have good instructors who'll correct his mistakes without having to risk his life like you did,' Keisuke countered.

'I don't know, I found my father's method to be a really good one,' Takumi said.

'I'm not saying your father's method was bad, it's just that what we do here is a bit more, how can I put it…orthodox,' Keisuke said.

Takumi laughed softly making Keisuke look at him inquisitively.

'You remind me a lot of your older brother,' Takumi commented and Keisuke looked startled for a second.

'Thanks, I can only take that as a huge compliment,' Keisuke said with a wide smile.

'How's he doing these days?' Takumi asked.

'He's great. Both he and Akiko are now managing most of the hospital's affairs. Dad's actually gone on holidays this year with Mum, it's the first time they go away on a trip that has nothing to do with business since their honeymoon,' Keisuke said.

'And what about your wife and daughter? Her name was Ryoko, wasn't it?'

'Yeah, Kyoko works here with me, she's one of our best instructors. Ryoko's as beautiful as I feared she'd be and, thankfully, she's still not too fascinated by cars.'

'Thankfully?' Takumi asked looking confused for he'd thought Keisuke couldn't wait to teach his precious girl all the techniques he'd mastered throughout his years as a professional driver.

'Yeah, she's into ice skating,' Keisuke explained looking so happy that Takumi couldn't repress a chuckle.

'That was surely a surprise for you, wasn't it?'

'Yeah, especially for Kyoko, to think that she was worried I'd discriminate my daughter when it came to teach her to drive and now, she's not even interested!' Keisuke said laughing softly.

'Maybe she'll change her mind when she'll grow up. She's not much older than Akito, is she?'

'No, she was only just over a month old when…well, when Akito was born,' Keisuke said realising just in time what he had been about to say.

'Er…I think I better get going then,' Takumi said being his turn to break the uncomfortable silence that had, once again formed between the two men.

'Already? Don't you want to see the Centre?' Keisuke said frowning.

'I really should go,' Takumi said.

'Please, it'll just take a few more minutes, besides you haven't given me your answer yet,' Keisuke said.

'I'll think about it,' Takumi said.

'Fair enough,' Keisuke said then, getting up from his desk, he said, 'let's go and find the boys.'

Takumi just nodded and followed Keisuke out of his office and, after exiting the building, they found all three boys kneeling by one of the karts with Kyosuke busy explaining to Akito about the different mechanical parts of the vehicle. Keisuke and Takumi were almost sorry to interrupt him for it really looked hilarious to see them like that.

'They remind me of us when we first met and Aniki gave us his lectures,' Keisuke commented looking at the three boys fondly.

'Yeah, well, they're a lot younger than we were back then,' Takumi said.

'Yeah, if we accomplished so much starting so late, imagine what these three can do together with so much time in their hands,' Keisuke said making Takumi think that the whole thing's sole target was just to do that: form some sort of Project D, junior version.

'Dad!' Akito said seeing his father walk towards him.

'Having fun, kiddo?' Takumi asked tousling his son's hair.

'Yep, listen, Kyosuke and Seisuke have told me that they're having a family barbeque for Children's Day and they've asked me if we'd like to join them.'

'Akito…' Takumi started.

'That's a fantastic idea,' Keisuke said and both of his nephews were happy to see that their adored uncle agreed with them.

'Please, Daddy,' Akito said with the cute little face that reminded Takumi so much of when Minami used her emotional blackmail to get her way with him, a tactic that, by the way, always worked.

'Won't we be a bother?' Takumi said talking to Keisuke who immediately shook his head.

'Absolutely not, Aniki and the rest of the family will be very happy to see you Takumi and, of course, they'll be thrilled to see the lad you've become,' Keisuke said looking at Akito.

Takumi looked at Keisuke, then he turned his gaze to his son and, giving in, he said:

'Alright, we'll need to call Grandpa.'

'You still live with your father?' Keisuke asked Takumi.

'Yes, I do,' Takumi said a bit too defensively.

'Ah, alright,' Keisuke said almost apologetically then, talking to his nephews, he said, 'put those karts back in the garage and get ready. If we're late for lunch your mum will kill me…'

Soon enough, Takumi found himself driving with his son towards the Takahashi residence following Keisuke's brand new yellow Mazda SE3P R3 Version. Apparently, and as Keisuke himself had explained to him, the legendary FD was carefully kept at their garage for special exhibitions and, for whenever Keisuke felt like going up and down Mt Akagi.

'I can't believe you're still driving the AE86,' he said as they parked in front of the house's garage.

'Yeah, it's still running pretty well for a car that's over twenty years old,' Takumi said patting the Toyota's bonnet.

'I bet it is, that has never been a normal car,' Keisuke said as he started walking towards Ryosuke's house's entrance. Takumi looked at the house noticing that it hadn't changed at all, except for the fact that it was now connected to the house next door.

'We built the connection so we could go from one house to the other without going outside,' Keisuke explained seeing where Takumi was looking at.

'Ah, I see,' and Takumi didn't have time to add anything else for, at this precise moment, the house's main door opened to reveal a slightly older looking Ryosuke.

'Aniki, I brought with me two surprises,' Keisuke said happily.

Ryosuke looked at Takumi and, predictably enough, did a double take.

'Takumi, I can't believe it!' he exclaimed marvelled to see his former driver standing at his doorstep, then, looking a bit further down, he said, 'and you must be Akito-kun.'

Akito nodded with his eyes open as wide as they went and Takumi could tell that he was as much in awe seeing Ryosuke as he'd been himself the first time he'd met with Akagi's White Comet.

'Wow, Keisuke, this is a surprise,' Ryosuke said and he could not have looked any more pleased.

'Dad, I'm going to teach Akito-kun about mechanics,' Kyosuke announced talking to his father.

'Are you?' Ryosuke asked his son looking amused.

'Yep,' Kyosuke said.

'And what are you going to teach him?' Ryosuke asked his other son who was unusually quiet.

'Er…I'm hungry, is lunch ready yet?' Seisuke asked and then he ran into the house.

'He got beaten by Akito-kun with the karts,' Keisuke explained to his older brother as the three adults entered the house followed by Akito and Kyosuke.

'Really?' Ryosuke asked laughing softly, 'are you already that good?' he asked talking to Akito.

'Seisuke was caught unprepared,' Kyosuke said defending his younger brother making his father stop and turn to his son.

'Kyosuke, what do I always say?'

The boy looked at his father before looking down at the floor.

'A good racer is always ready for a challenger,' Kyosuke recited with the tone of someone who's been lectured many times on the subject.

'Exactly,' Ryosuke said patting his son's shoulder.

'Takumi! It really is you! I thought Seisuke was joking!' Kyoko said running towards Takumi and, after hugging him, she turned to Akito and, after looking at him for a bit, she hugged him too.

'You're just as good looking as I knew you'd be!' Kyoko said pinching Akito's cheek in a way that made even Takumi feel rather embarrassed.

'Hello Takumi,' Akiko said with her usual, kind smile that Takumi remembered so well. Behind her, he saw a very pretty little girl.

'Come on Ryoko, don't be shy,' Kyoko said talking to her daughter, 'This is Fujiwara Takumi, a very good friend of ours and this boy is his son Akito. He's more or less your age, you know?' she said as the girl finally got out from behind her aunt.

'Hello,' she said and her timid expression only made her look cuter.

'Hello Ryoko-chan,' Takumi said waving at the little girl with his hand. He then looked at Akito who looked completely mesmerised, 'hey, don't be rude, say something…' he said to his son.

'Er…hi,' he said in a completely uncharacteristic shy tone of voice.

'Shall we all go to the garden?' Akiko then suggested breaking the awkward moment and, while everybody followed Ryosuke's wife, Takumi found himself hoping that he had got it wrong for it looked to him like his son was having his first crush ever.

On Keisuke's daughter, no less.

To be continued…