Programmed Lives – Third Stage

Epilogue

Gunma – Spring 2020

Akito looked around himself as he got ready to start the race. He knew his kart was the best in the whole grid for he had had the best possible team of mechanics and test drivers working on it non-stop until they had all decided that the kart was up to their standards.

The fourteen year old smiled for he knew very well how extremely high those standards were for his father, Takumi Fujiwara, his grandfather Bunta and the original set of Takahashi brothers, Ryosuke and Keisuke.

All four men were there ready to help in the highly unlikely case anything went wrong with the kart. Akito knew that, sitting somewhere at the grandstand were the rest of his family and all of their friends.

He envied his friend Kyosuke for he had just passed his driving test and was now able to drive road cars legally. Akito knew that Kyosuke would wait until his brother Seisuke would get his driving license so the two of them could form a street racing team together. The two had already chosen its name: the Golden Arrows.

Akito hoped that, when he got his license, he'd be allowed to join them too.

As the race started, Akito didn't have time to think of anything anymore other than focus on the empty track ahead of him. His kart, of course, was on pole position and he started the race slamming onto the accelerator pedal as to leave as much space between his vehicle and the one behind him.

Driving the kart was fun, he could do pretty much whatever he wanted with it and, as he steered to take a right turn, he felt the pull from the G-forces. He loved that sensation almost as much as he loved driving.

Happy to see that the kart was responding to his touch as he liked it, he decided to push it even more and, by the time they finished the fourth lap out of the twenty this race lasted, he had nobody behind him and he had already reached the kart in last position.

'Sorry mate, but I have to do it,' he muttered to himself as he overtook the kart in front of him, effectively eliminating him from the race.

Fifteen more karts to go, he thought and, even if he knew it would be impossible to overtake all sixteen karts, his grandfather Bunta had always insisted that, in order to win, one had to believe that there was nothing impossible, just challenges that were a bit harder than the others.

With five laps to go, he saw his father making a sign with his hand asking him to take it easy. This made Akito smirk. Typical of his father to do that: telling him to take it easy as he was enjoying himself.

However, Akito knew better than to think that his father really meant that. Takumi knew his son well and he knew that, by asking him to slow down, Akito would do the exact opposite.

In fact, as he crossed the finish line, Fujiwara Akito had managed to eliminate five more of his opponents while putting a whole forty five seconds between him and the kart immediately behind him.

'Mum, Dad! I've done it! I've won the Junior Championship!' the boy screamed as he jumped out of his kart.

'I am so very happy for you,' Natsuki said hugging him as Akito saw his father and grandfather smiling at him proudly.

'One day, I'll win the Junior Championship too,' Haruko, Akito's six year old sister, said.

'Of course you will,' Akito said smiling at the little girl.

'Well done mate,' Kyosuke said throwing a friendly punch at him.

'Yeah, that was very impressive,' Seisuke said agreeing with his brother.

Akito smile got even wider as he saw her walking up to him:

'I'm very happy for you,' Ryoko said smiling the way that made Akito's heart go crazy.

'Er…thanks,' he managed to say.

'What's going on in here?' Keisuke said seeing the way his precious daughter and Takumi's son were looking at each other.

'Nothing,' Akito hurried to say while visibly swallowing. Ryoko just blushed quite violently and looked down at the ground.

'Ah no! No way!' Keisuke exclaimed making everybody look his way, 'Ryoko, anyone but him!' he shouted pointing at Akito.

'Dad,' a mortified looking Ryoko said.

'Takumi, I'm warning you: if your son goes anywhere near my daughter I won't be responsible of my actions,' Keisuke said shaking his finger as he pointed it towards his former team mate.

Everyone laughed out loud. Well, everyone except three people: Akito looked as though as he wanted to disappear, Ryoko was glaring at her father while Keisuke was doing the same but looking at Takumi's son.

A few hours later, it was the first hours of the morning as the sound of screeching tyres disrupted the peace in Mt Akina.

An old Subaru GC8 was making it all the way down from the summit drifting through every single corner of the mountain pass. Going at a nearly suicidal speed, the car got to the bottom of the pass in no time at all and, as it reached the area where the city started, its driver decided to stop.

'So, how did I do?' Akito asked from behind the wheel of the Subaru.

'Not bad, your technique's improving,' Takumi said from the passenger side.

'And?' Akito said frowning for he had noticed that his father wasn't entirely happy.

'Well, when I was your age, I used to make it in half the time. And I was driving the AE86.'

Akito felt like crying: he had done his very best, taking risks he usually never took because he had been trying to impress his father and now this…

Taking a deep breath which fuelled him with brand new determination, he said:

'Alright, let's go back up and try again.'

Takumi smiled briefly before saying:

'Alright, let's do it, but be careful if you hit grandpa's car he's going to kill you.'

'I know Dad, I know,' Akito said, 'why don't you two let me drive the AE86 instead?'

Takumi looked at his son for a while before shaking his head.

'You're still too young for that car, you would end up crashing it and then I'd kill you,' Takumi said.

'I get it,' Akito said pouting as he restarted the GC8.

Akito promised to himself that, before he would get his driving license, he would drive Mt Akina's downhill with his father's AE86 and would beat his father's record with it.

See you next stage...