Programmed Lives – Fifth Stage

Chapter Thirty Two

As usual, the time Seisuke needed to make a decision was so short that, by the time everyone else's brains had finished processing Misa's shocking revelation, Seisuke had already started making his way to where Ichiro was.

'Hey,' the guy started as he saw Seisuke approaching him with a very serious expression on his face, 'I don't know what she's told you but…' he added pointing at Misa who Seisuke saw, was already following him.

'So, it is true then,' Seisuke said once he made it to the guy, 'you were racing her brother when he died…'

'Yes,' Ichiro replied sounding quite annoyed, 'how many times do I have to tell you?' he asked looking at Misa and at Jiro who, in the mean time had also got there along with the whole of the Golden Arrows and the Tochigi Thunders.

'We just don't believe you!' Misa exclaimed.

'I don't fucking care if you do,' Ichiro said angrily, 'it was an accident! Or at least I think it was, goodness knows…'

'What are you talking about?' Seisuke asked.

'I never saw him crash!' Ichiro exclaimed, 'I've said it one million times and I've already apologised in every way I know,' he continued, looking from Seisuke to Misa and back to Seisuke.

'Do you think that this helps?' Misa said and Seisuke could tell that she was pretty upset, 'all I know is that he was fine in the morning and then we got a call from some hospital in the middle of the night telling us that my brother was dead!'

'I've already said I'm sorry, okay? I simply refuse to say it again,' Ichiro said then, glancing once more at Seisuke, he explained, 'I saw that he was very upset about something and I tried to convince him that he wasn't in the right state of mind to race but he wouldn't listen to anything I said…'

'Why did he come here?' Seisuke asked, thinking that if Misa's brother wanted a race he could have gone somewhere a lot closer to home.

'Because he'd been after a re-match for months,' Ichiro explained, 'I had won our previous race in Momiji Lane and he always insisted that he'd beat me here,' he said pointing at the mountain, 'everyone knows that no one beats me in my mountain but he still wanted to race me here.'

'That's true,' the girl who was with him said.

'Look,' Ichiro continued, 'I lost sight of him half way through the race and by the time I made it to the summit I waited for him for several minutes until I realised that something was wrong.'

'Yes,' the girl said, 'by the time we got there, there wasn't much we could do.'

'We took him to the hospital where they confirmed to us that he was dead and that we needed to get in touch with his relatives,' Ichiro explained.

'You left him there and you never called us!' Misa shouted.

'Yes,' the girl said, 'we did it because we didn't have the faintest idea of who to call.'

'You could have looked inside his wallet, or try to find his phone!' Jiro exclaimed sounding as upset as Misa was.

'Yeah, right,' Ichiro said bitterly, 'what do you freaking think we are? We panicked when we saw his car smashed up against a tree down the freaking cliff. It was a goddamn miracle we managed to get him out of it and into one of our cars.'

'Yes,' the girl said, 'We're really sorry about what happened but, believe me, there was nothing we could…'

'Okay,' Seisuke interrupted her, 'I've heard enough. Let's just race.'

'What?' Misa asked in shock, 'you can't race him!'

'Misa,' Seisuke said getting very serious, 'if you want us to be together, don't start ordering me around…' this made Misa look at him as though as he had just slapped her.

'Now,' Seisuke said looking back at Ichiro, 'can I have my key back?'

'Sure,' Ichiro said handing him the key to the Mazda, 'we're going to practice for an hour before the races start…'

'Good,' Seisuke said and, taking the key from Ichiro, he walked to his RZ-1 followed by Kyosuke and Akito.

'Hey, don't take it personally, my cousin can be very strong headed,' Ryoko said, desperately trying to make a very upset Misa feel better.

'Both brothers are,' Kizuna added as she joined the other two girls, 'I've been with Kyosuke for almost three years and I still wouldn't even dream of telling him what to do.'

'I guess so,' Misa said laughing nervously, 'I'm just not used to having a boyfriend yet.'

'Don't worry, there are ways to make them do what we want,' Ryoko commented smiling at Misa as she linked her arm with the older girl's.

'You should listen to Ryoko,' Kizuna advised, 'she's become quite the expert in all these years dealing with Akito who, by the way, can be even worse than Kyosuke and Seisuke put together.'

'That's right,' Ryoko agreed.

'Thanks girls,' Misa said even though she still felt like crying for this episode had just made her think that Seisuke probably didn't care for her as much as she was beginning to care for him.

After all the pairings for the races had been decided, everyone got back into their cars and, taking it in turns, every one of the racers present there had their chance to drive up and down and back up several times then, the downhillers remained up at the summit while the racers who'd be doing the uphill battles parked their cars back in the car park.

'There you are!' the girl who'd asked Ryoko to drive said seeing Ryoko up the summit talking to Akito, 'I've been looking for you all over the place!'

'Sorry, I've been here most of the time,' Ryoko said.

'So, shall we take our cars down so we can then watch the start of the first of the uphill battles?'

'Okay,' Ryoko said and, seeing Akito getting rather anxious, she added, 'remember that I'm a total newbie so, you've got to take things easy or my boyfriend here will have a heart attack.'

The girl laughed softly giving Akito a knowing look she then nodded and said:

'Don't worry, I promise you'll have both her and her beautiful car waiting for you in one piece.'

'Okay,' Akito said not sounding very convinced and wishing he had Ryoko's two cousins backing him up. Unfortunately, both Takahashi brothers were at the base of the mountain since they were both going to attack the pass going uphill.

'Good, my name's Hayase Atsuko, by the way.'

'Takahashi Ryoko.'

'Well, Ryoko, shall we?'

'Yes,' Ryoko said and, giving Akito a quick kiss, she assured him with an, 'I'll be fine, I promise.'

'Okay,' Akito repeated, still not sounding at all sure and repressing the instinct which wanted him to lock Ryoko up in his car so she wouldn't go anywhere near hers. Then, feeling more apprehensive than ever, he saw as the love of his life climbed into her small red convertible and started its engine.

'Akito,' Kizuna said reminding him that she had been there all the time, 'she'll be fine. Don't worry, I've seen the way she drives and she's quite good.'

'I know,' Akito said without removing his eyes from the car which was now rolling towards an identical model only that this one was painted in canary yellow.

'Hey,' Kizuna started again, 'you should trust her driving a lot more than this. She's a Takahashi after all.'

'I know,' Akito repeated and, listening to Kizuna's words he tried, and failed, to force himself to relax.

'Let's get into your car so we can listen to her,' Kizuna proposed and, a few moments later the two of them watched from the inside of the V-86 as both Mazda convertibles took off at such high speed that Akito found himself grasping the borders of his bucket seat.

Meanwhile, Ryoko was surprised to see that she had actually managed to start the race ahead of Atsuko but, again and since this wasn't an official race maybe the other girl had just wanted to give her some advantage.

For this reason, Ryoko decided not to let her guard down and keep all her attention ahead of her feeling grateful that she had just taken a run with Akito driving her car downhill so he had been able to point to her all the important bits about the road and about what he thought it was the best way to attack every one of the very narrow and tight corners.

She was also grateful for all the tips and tricks she'd learned from everyone in her family and, for the first time in her life, Ryoko felt a tiny bit like a street racer and, if she had to be honest with herself, she actually liked that feeling.

After all, driving was nothing but a very complex choreography and, by following the right steps, she could make the car do whatever she wanted, a bit like the way she could control the skates as they glided on the ice.

When she saw two headlights reflected on her rear view mirror, Ryoko was brought back to reality as she realised that Atsuko, for some reason, was starting to take this as seriously as if it were a real race.

'Oh gosh,' she gasped as she realised that they were going over one hundred kilometres an hour.

'What's wrong?' she then heard Akito's voice, loaded with badly concealed worry, say.

'Nothing, I'm okay,' she reassured him, 'I'm actually having loads of fun,' she added and then she heard a feminine laughter: probably Kizuna's, Ryoko thought with a smile.

Straightening herself in her seat, she reaffirmed her grasp on the steering wheel and as she got very serious, Ryoko threw caution out of the window and decided to floor the accelerator concentrating on her driving with the same intensity she did while preparing herself to do a triple axle.

The result was obvious enough for those lucky ones who saw her drifting through one of the tighter corners of the pass: she managed to keep an admirably precise line all the way from the entry of the corner to its exit, repeating the process as she got to the following corner and to the one after that.

She only had one major scare through the whole race and it happened right after the last corner of the course where there was a more or less straight section of road. There, just as Ryoko was about to open the throttle to make her car go faster, she realised that she could no longer see the headlights of Atsuko's car reflected on the rear view mirror.

'Where's…' she whispered as she searched for the girl's car frantically then, as she looked to the left side of her car, she saw the nose of the canary yellow convertible as Atsuko was trying to overtake.

Trying being the key word for, Ryoko didn't even think twice about what she had to do next: accelerating just enough to make sure she had more than half a car of advantage, she moved the steering wheel towards the right just for a few centimetres only to turn it back to the left as she accelerated even more effectively closing the line that Atsuko was about to follow forcing her to brake and leaving her very startled by the highly aggressive manoeuvre that the so-called newbie driver had just used against her.

Everyone who had been waiting for the two girls at the base of the pass was unable to believe their eyes as they saw that, instead of the yellow convertible they all were expecting, it was the red one which crossed the finish line in first position.

'Hey you! If you're a newbie I'll eat my car's keys!' Atsuko shouted as she jumped out of her car and ran towards Ryoko who had just got out of hers.

'I'm sorry,' Ryoko said with her eyes still wide with the shock of realising that she had won a race: her first one ever.

'You're sorry? You better be: you've just smashed my record!' Atsuko asked scaring Ryoko with her harsh tone of voice.

'That's right,' Ichiro said as he and Ryoko's cousins joined the two girls, 'Atsuko had never lost before…'

'Well done Ryoko,' Kyosuke said patting Ryoko on her shoulder, 'you've made me very proud!'

'I still can't believe it,' Seisuke added, 'our baby cousin's finally decided to become a racer!'

'Are you saying she's never raced before?' Atsuko asked the two brothers who shook their heads, 'ever?'

'It's the first time I see her racing in my whole life,' Kyosuke replied as his younger brother nodded to that.

'Shit,' Atsuko breathed having to lean on Ryoko's car for support and even Ichiro seemed to take pity on her for he put his arms around her shoulders, trying his best to comfort her.

'I'm really sorry,' Ryoko said looking indeed mortified by the whole thing, 'I really don't know what happened to me,' she continued.

'What happened to you is that you got competitive the way a racer does,' Ichiro explained.

'But I'm not a…'

'Rubbish,' Atsuko interrupted her, 'you may not want to be a racer but, hell, you ARE one.'

Seisuke and Kyosuke laughed at the horrified expression Ryoko had on her face then, as the five of them walked back to where everyone else was, Seisuke whispered to his older brother:

'Aniki, I think we should get her a couple of our stickers.'

'You know she'll never let us put them on her car,' Kyosuke said, 'however, maybe after this race she'll change her mind about street racing.'

'Only in your dreams,' Ryoko said startling the two of them, 'besides, Akito would have a nervous breakdown if I were to do this on a regular basis.'

'That's probably true,' Kyosuke agreed, 'I can't wait to see his face when we tell him you've won though.'

'I can,' Ryoko said resolutely then, looking at Seisuke, she asked, 'shouldn't you get ready for your race?'

'Yes ma'am,' Seisuke replied giving her a military salute, 'I can't possibly lose after the stunt you've pulled, can I?'

'Just be careful, okay?' she said getting very serious.

'I will, don't worry,' Seisuke replied and, in a very unusual display of affection, he hugged his cousin, 'I am really proud of you, Ryoko.'

Ryoko was left completely speechless as Seisuke walked towards his white RZ-1 where Misa was waiting for him.

'Seisuke,' the girl started, 'I know you don't want me to…'

'Misa, I am perfectly conscious of what happened here and believe me, I'll keep it in mind while I drive but, you really have to trust me.'

'I do,' Misa said and she knew it was true, 'but if something happened…'

'Nothing will happen and, in the highly unlikely event that it does, I have plenty of people here who'll come to my aid,' Seisuke assured her.

'I'm one of them,' Misa said knowing very well that with that she was practically confessing to him that she had already fallen in love with him.

'Then I'm in very good hands,' Seisuke said grinning at her the way he was beginning to realise she couldn't resist and, predictably enough, she went up on her tiptoes and kissed him.

After that, Seisuke got into his car starting his engine and driving it towards Ichiro's dark red Honda NSX RR NA-1, an identical model to that of Eiji. Ichiro's car looked to be even more heavily modified than Eiji's. Seisuke wasn't afraid of that in the slightest for he was more than confident in the capabilities of his own car which, even being over three years old, it still ran as well as it did the day he first took it out for a spin in the motorsports centre.

'Okay, you know what to do,' Kyosuke said as he walked up to his younger brother's car.

'Yep,' Seisuke said then, looking at Misa he whispered, 'Aniki, keep an eye on her for me, okay?'

'I will, don't worry,' Kyosuke replied repressing the urge to laugh at him for Kyosuke, together with Kizuna, Akito and Ryoko, had realised that if Seisuke wasn't in love with Misa, he was a hair away from it.

After the countdown, the first official race started and Kyosuke had the satisfaction of seeing his younger brother take off in first position.

'Wise move,' Kyosuke heard Masato say.

'Yes,' he agreed then, glancing at a very worried looking Misa, he said, 'this is the best that could happen.'

'Why is that?' she asked.

'Because if he's ahead, Seisuke will just block him all the way up,' Kyosuke replied.

'I don't think so,' Jiro said.

'You don't?' Kyosuke asked.

'Nope,' Jiro replied, 'Ozawa's speciality is the uphill attacks. He's an ace overtaking in his mountain pass…'

'Is he now?' Kyosuke asked.

'Yes,' Misa replied, 'my brother was also very good blocking attacks and Ozawa still managed to overtake him in Momiji Lane.'

'Wow,' Kyosuke said and then, he looked ahead to see his brother and Ichiro disappear around the first corner of the pass. Suddenly Kyosuke felt a lot more worried than he usually was and this new piece of information made him run to his car so he could tell Seisuke about it.

'I know Aniki,' Seisuke said over the radio, 'he's already tried to pass me twice in three corners.'

'Okay, I want you to stop looking at the rear view mirror,' Kyosuke said suddenly remembering something his father had told them once about some battle where Akito's father had raced a professional racer.

'Got it,' Seisuke said and Kyosuke was pleased to see that, once again, his younger brother always obeyed his direct orders, no questions asked.

Following his older brother's advice was a lot harder than it sounded though for he was constantly tempted to see how much of a gap he still had but, using every bit of his determination he kept his eyes firmly on the road ahead of him and it soon became obvious the two main advantages this particular technique had: by not looking at the rear view mirror he could have all of his attention focused on one single point while he no longer felt the angst which seeing a car glued to the rear bumper could make him feel.

They had just driven half of the way through the summit when Seisuke heard the screeching noise typical of when a car went off course and had to brake very suddenly. This made him look at the rear view mirror and then he saw something which made him stop too.

'Shit,' he muttered as he jumped out of the RZ-1, not before grabbing the trusty first aid bag he always carried in his car and, as he approached the dark red Honda a very shaken Ichiro looked at Seisuke and pointing at the guy who he'd just ran over, he practically begged:

'Please tell me he isn't dead.'

To be continued…