FOREWORD: I, HashiriyaGDB, am submitting this Initial D facfic on behalf of Midnight Dorifuta, the author of this fanfic and a fellow user on the Initial D World Forums. The only things I've done to this is correct some (if not all) the typos.

All trademarks are owned by their respective owners.

Chapter 5: Not Quite Out of The Blue

"So, what you're saying is... the 2.6's torque and wide powerband can make it much faster than even my FD?" Keisuke eyed his yellow RX-7 wearily, not quite sure what to say to that. After all - in the end, his FD was still a modern-day marvel of technology, implementing such things as electronic throttle control, sequential twin turbo, and more - in its stock form. And with this RE-Amemiya body kit along with a few other tuning tricks, it was just fierce. And yet a single overhead-cam Starion could make quick work out of it. Keisuke eased himself onto the FD's hood, before reclining back and laying on it, staring up at the early morning's warm-colored sky.

"I guess it makes sense if you have lots of power at a low RPM and can keep the car in a fairly tall gear - it spares you the need to downshift, and then upshift, but how could it make the car that much faster?", he asked Ryousuke, his eyes still fixated on the sky.

"It's his driving style. If it's that kid from Sayama, then he has a bit of an unorthodox driving style that suits the tuning and style of his car. or rather, he's tuned and designed the car to his driving style." Keisuke sat there, blank for a second. Saitama, he thought to himself, If he was from Saitama, then wouldn't we have been challenged if he's that fast? He pondered for a few seconds, trying to envision a scenario. As usual, nothing useful turned up.

"It's aggrovating", he said to Ryousuke, with a bit of a sharp edge to it, "that somebody would sit back and watch someone else do the driving. Whatever happened to pulling out the best drivers to completely obliterate the opposing team? What's the point of holding back, big brother?"

Ryousuke shook his head a bit, now perched again on the guardrail, as he looked out to the town of Haruna in the far distance, catching a glimpse of its profile shadowed by the angle of the sun."Keisuke, do you really thing every racer out there has it in for us, or even cares about these turf wars?"

Keisuke paused again in thought, wondering if what Ryousuke was saying was true. Well, yes, it was a bit silly to think every single street racer on the globe was there to defend his territory and his alone, but still, why wouldn't such a big-shot - or at the very least, someone fast enough to pull away from his FD - come out of the woodwork and shut down a team that was only out for pride and respect? Why wouldn't he confront Project D directly?

-

"It's tough!", Takumi said to himself, fighting the Starion at the corner's exit. He kept the steering wheel dialed in at almost full countersteer as yet again the car wanted to go sideways on the corner's exit, lagging for a split-second and then over-powering him with, well... power. Even though this was one of the wider hairpins on Haruna, it seemed so fierce, now. It was disillusioning Takumi, challenging him in ways that he never imagined. A short distance later, the car's rear finally straightened, although the tires were still squealing with wheelspin for a bit longer. Takumi kept the gas pedal pinned to the floorpan through the series of mild bends after then hairpin, approaching the next 'corner' rather aggressively, and let off only at what eh figured would be the braking point... but instead, got a bit of a nasty suprise.

"Takumi, your speed!", Akiyuki suddenly almost shreiked, taking a look at the speedometer's readout, better than 65 MPH into the corner, higher than Akyiuki knew anyone could approach it. His grip tightened on the "Oh, crap!" handle of his right-side passenger's seat, him bracing for impact as he heard the brakes lock up. He mis-judged the car's acceleration and speed!, he thought to himself, eyes closed tightly. Starion sweetie...

"Shimata! TURN!!!" Takumi had no option in this situation but to brake as hard as possible, to the point of them locking up. He fought as the car wanted to understeer right into the guardrail, then let off the brakes and tried to keep them from locking. All of this happened in almost split seconds, but once again, it was like slow motion to Takumi. His breathing resumed only after all motion had successfully stopped and the car rested only an inch from the guardrail, Akiyuki slowly opening his eyes, staring at Takumi then bewilderedly.

"This car is faster than it feels...", Takumi said, his hands still firmly gripping the wheel. "It has strange power, and that 'kick'...it's a familiar feeling, I just... can't place where..."

"You should be more aware of your speed, Fujiwara...", Akiyuki said, frowning as he observed how close they were to the guardrail. "It's an unfamiliar car, isn't it?

Takumi gave Akiyuki a solemn nod in repliance, staring at the instrument panel, the speedometer reading 0 km/h and the tachometer showing that he once again killed the engine's operation in that slightly dumb stunt.

"...but I apploaud you for not wrecking my car. I was more concerned for her sake than I was for my own, to be perfectly honest", Akiyuki suddenly said. He was even smiling, just a bit. Why was he smiling, might one ask? The answer is fairly simple; because Akiyuki knew he wouldn't be able to save the car at that speed... but this young tofu delivery boy, driving this unfamiliar machine for the first time, did. And if that wasn't respect-worthy, nothing is. At last, after another minute of silence, Akiyuki initiated Takumi once more.

"Keep going, Fujiwara. Whether you're aware of it or not, you're doing better than you was at the start. Let's finish the downhill run, right?"

Takumi nodded once again, as he pressed the clutch pedal in and turned the Starion's key, the engine rumbling to life, eagerly as ever. He notched the slector into 1, and then rolled once again, back up to speed in almost a matter of seconds. Another hairpin was soon upon them, and again, Takumi would struggle with a late-entry, early-exit technique... his usual application, one that was working against him so harshly yet again as the rear wheels kicked out a split second after he stepped on the gas pedal. This pattern continued corner by corner, as he completed the second half of Haruna's downhill course, although, off of the fourth of the famous Five Hairpins, Takumi finally figured it out - what the power surge felt like, that is.

"Shingo's EG6...", Takumi said to himself as he let off the accelerator, the Starion rolling to a lazy stop. "The car feels like Shingo's EG6."

"Shingo's EG6?" Akiyuki fell silent for a second, tapping into his memory banks. But, unfortunately to him, no Shingo he knew, that drove an EG6, at least, ever came up. Which was okay - he knew Takumi has competed in a few street races before the days of Project D, and there was better chances than not that among his opponents was an EG6... Civic SiR.

"Yeah... Shingo Shouji... a disgusting driver who used cheap tricks like taping your hand to the steering wheel to win races. In the middle of the race, he slammed into me to try to crash me, and I ended up spinning out. Coming off of the corner, this Starion car feels like he's tapping the rear a split-second after I step on the gas."

"I.. uhm... see..." Akiyuki was suprised to hear that. Taped to the steering wheel? he asked himself. Now I see why Ryousuke chose him. If he is talented enough to survive not only a race, but also being spun out, with that kind of rediculous limitation, then I can needn't imagine what he can do behind the wheel of his 86. That speed wasn't some sort of illusion, after all. He's everything the legend says and then some.

"Say, Akiyuki... do you mind if I go all-out uphill?", Takumi asked Suzaki, wanting to give the car one more small try.

"Uhm... go right ahead, Fujiwara." Akiyuki was slightly wowed at Fujiwara's persistance. Kid just doesn't give up... what a great trait to posess, he thought to himself, as Takumi performed a simple K-turn, aiming the car back uphill and this time gunning the gas. Who knows, Akiyuki thought to himself, he might actually figure out some of this car on his own if he keeps this up.

-

Keisuke finally stood up as he heard the sound of an engine taking off in the far distance.

"Brother!", he called to Ryousuke, "Do you think it's him!?"

Ryousuke spent a second in thought, then nodded along, standing up and starting torwards his FC. "Yes, it's his car. It has a low shift point."

"So, are we going to follow it?", Keisuke asked, slightly curiously. He figured he already knew the answer, but it was always good to be certain.

"...No.", Ryousuke replied, swiftly and seriously.

No!? What was Ryousuke talking about? Keisuke stood there for a second in sheer confusion, before clenching his fist, taking a instant step forward, his tempered fire lit up once more. "No!? Why not!?"

Ryousuke eyed Keisuke once again, giving his usual looking-down-on-little-brother look, before turning back to his white FC and opening its door. "BEcause it's none of our buisness, Keisuke. If he really wanted with us, he would have confronted us directly. Think about it. He made no appearance when we challenged the Cappucino and the AE86 Levin, so why would he bother with us now that we were well outside of his homeland again?"

"...But, Ryousuke!"

"...no buts, Keisuke. Let's get back home." Ryousuke proceeded to slip into the grey cockpit of his RX-7 and fire up the 13B rotary engine, before pulling away and heading back into Haruna, Keisuke hesitantly following in his FD as they headed back into the town of Haruna, in no rush whatsoever to get back home. In fact, they both needed a refill on gas, and the only gas station they knew of was that little Esso down the street. Luckily, when they pulled in, Iketani was outside, with Yuiichi unlocking the cash register and getting ready for the day.

"Welcome t-... huh?", Iketani said, greeting the two cars in his usual fashion, until who's two cars they were crossed his sleep-couded mind. He watched the two of them pull up beside the pumps, and after a 10 second lapse of being on this planet, Iketani scooted right over, both the Takahashi brothers giving him the same reply; "Fill it up, high octane."

However, Ryousuke pulled ahead of Keisuke, and when Iketani got to him second, he didn't pass on the oppurtunity to question Kouichirou on a simple little subject. Ryousuke figured, it might as well be worth a shot, even if the odds of it happening were little.

"Say, did you by any chance happen to see a green Starion driver around here the past couple of days or so?"

Iketani's reply was a suprise to both Ryousuke, and also to Keisuke, who had been listening into the small conversation.

"Yeah, in fact, he stopped here for gas yesterday night. Why do you ask?"