Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Fast and Furious characters – and I cannot certify that the drift techniques are right, since I've never drifted myself. The drift action presented here was built on a lot of guesswork, mostly imagination. So if I've made a mistake, please correct me. I especially appreciated the correction on the Skyline engine.

Chapter 6

"Don't do this, Yuri," said Koji, hurrying after her. His advice fell on deaf ears. When Yuri Boswell had made up her mind, there was no turning back. He knew her all too well. But he also knew that she had pretty awful beginner's luck. Before she won her first race, she had sacrificed just about a dozen of his second-hand cars before finally winning the Supra she now drove.

"Yuri!" he tugged at her hand. She whirled around, her eyes ablaze. "Yuri, you can't do this! It's a Skyline he's got over there!"

"So?"

"So? Your Supra's nothing against it!"

"Koji – the punk changed its engine to a V8. How thick can he get?"

"Okay, maybe you're right, but – "

"Koji," she pulled her hand out of his grasp. "I know what I'm doing."

He stared at her for a few seconds, before saying, "I really hope you do. Because that 5-minute walk around the track isn't enough to win against a Skyline." And to show how disappointed he was with her, he shook his head and walked away into the crowd.

"Koji!" she called after him, but he didn't answer, nor did he even turn around to look at her. She bit her lip in frustration; he was her closest friend. They had been through so many ups and downs together, rose to the top of their game together, and now – had she changed?

Before she could make up her mind, Ming suddenly appeared from out of nowhere and slapped her wrist. "Hey, you any confident?"

"I – "

"You're at the starting line and you're suddenly feeling weak?"

She managed a grin. "No."

"Good. 'Cause he's here."

The Skyline revved up the ramp from the second floor and parked beside her Supra. The punk rolled down the window and grinned wolfishly at her. "What are you waiting for, honey?" he hollered. The burgeoning crowd, lining the sides of the track, went wild with excitement. Yuri couldn't tell who they were rooting for.

Her eyes met Ming's. "It's time," he said.

She drew a deep breath. "Okay."

"Good luck." They slapped wrists again and she got into her ride and turned on the engine. The Skyline beside her revved its engine, making the car vibrate with the power of its engine. It drew more screams and cheers and the punk eyed at her with a cocky smile. She rolled her eyes and proceeded to tie her black hair up in a ponytail. She kept her hair in that style whenever she could, and especially during a race.

One of the girls, dressed in a red tube top and tight faded jeans, sashayed to the front line and struck a pose. More clapping and hollering from the spectators. Yuri tightened her grip on the steering wheel.

The girl pointed to her right."Ready?"

"Ready!" the crowd chorused in response.

"Ready?" she turned to her left.

"READY!"

She winked at both drivers before putting up her arms, and bringing them down with a charged-up "GO!"

Sean and Neela had just stepped out of the crowded elevator to the third floor when he heard the sound of brakes being stepped on suddenly, heralding the drifting of two cars: one a metallic-maroon Supra with yellow tribal vinyls and the other a plain black Skyline. Sean turned just in time to catch the Supra make an early turn, followed moments later by the Skyline. The weight of its engine made the Skyline run wide, and probably because its driver wanted to avoid the Supra's nose as well. Both cars were treacherously, dangerously close, and even Sean the experienced drifter held his breath to watch for the outcome of that first-corner drift.

The Skyline's traction control kicked in only moments later than the Supra's, and that made all the difference. The Supra emerged clean out of the corner, its engine accelerating furiously to tackle the straight line in front of it. Sean couldn't help but whistle and nod in approval. At the end of the straight was another turn, and the Supra braked early before, tires screeching with smoke, it drifted.

Yuri was having, almost, the time of her life. The drift at the first corner was awesome: proving that her latest setup worked well with the circuit. She had sacrificed a bit of acceleration for traction control, but it was well worth it. The second corner loomed in front of her, and she gripped the handbrake.

1, 2, 3 –

She turned the steering wheel hard, and feeling the engine on the verge of over-revving, let go of it slightly and caught it once more, to avoid over-steering. The corner was a wide turn and her Supra slid right through it to make a clean cut. Yuri could feel the pressure on her tires, threatening to slip out of her control and straight into the wall, but, as always it did, the traction control saved her drift.

Behind her, the Skyline did not do so well. It came out of the same corner wobbling. She managed a tight smile. The car deserved a better owner. Another corner came up before her, and, using the usual timing, she changed gears, braked hard, yanked the steering wheel to the right, lifted her foot off the gas pedal for only a few seconds before flooring it again.

- 4, 5, 6

She expected the traction control to hit, but it didn't. Her car was nearing the wall, and fast. Come on, traction! Apparently it decided to take a short break. She cringed and waited for the impact –

SCREEEEEECH – the crowd booed at the unimpressive display of pyrotechnics as the spoiler of her Supra chafed against the wall, but amazingly, the car continued moving. She pulled out of the corner with a relieved sigh.

That was close.

Koji caught sight of the sparks flying about as Yuri's spoiler hit the wall. The drag on her car caused the car to lose speed, and it quickly closed the gap on the punk's Skyline. He shook his head. He really hoped she knew what she was doing. Although the Skyline's driver was not very experienced, he knew, at least, how to cut a clean drift on a circuit he knew better than her.

"The Supra looks familiar," a male voice said behind him in Japanese. Eyes widening, he turned around instantly and found its owner.

"Remember me, Koji?" he grinned. "Imiga hasn't forgotten you." He nudged in the direction in which another set of squealing tires could be heard, "nor that Boswell girl."

Koji tried to think of something smart to reply, but he found that it would be wiser for him to keep his mouth shut.

Imiga smirked. "I thought so. You're not so clever, Koji, as her." He pointed to his right. Koji forced himself to look. A group of men, possibly five of them, stood near a pillar. They were all dressed in black leather jackets and wore black shades. Upon seeing him, they simultaneously cracked their fists. Koji gulped, and Imiga laughed.

He leaned closer towards Koji and whispered in his ear, "Tell Yuri that I still want that money," and with a sinister grin, "and I miss her. So much." He straightened up. "I'll be seeing you around."

The final leg! thought Yuri, grinning widely. The ramp up to the rooftop loomed closer several more meters to her right. Behind her, the Skyline was fast catching up. The punk had been impressively consistent all through out the race, never losing sight of him from her rearview mirror.

She made a quick gauge on the distance, and made her move. She changed the gear, pulled on the hand brake and jerked the steering wheel to her right. Her Supra neared the ramp and suddenly Yuri had a feeling in her gut that it wouldn't make the cut. She had approached it too late.

But still…

She held on to the wheel as her car, remarkably, managed to pull off a power slide while ascending the ramp. Her spoiler, once again, took the another toll off the wall, sparks flying. In ten seconds, the climb was over and, as if released from a heavy bondage, Yuri turned the Supra around and did a 360 before properly coming to a halt, smoke rising up around her tires.

She punched the air as she fell back onto her seat. That was unbelievable. She did it! She shook her head to clear her mind and took a few deep breaths before emerging from her ride. She couldn't wait to see the look on Koji's face.

Sean had always appreciated the crowd that usually greeted the winning racer, especially because they knew who the D.K. was and bothered to show him respect. As he and Neela emerged from the elevator and onto the rooftop, the Supra did a little leap out of the ramp and performed a 360 before stopping. He clapped and so did Neela. This racer knew how to please the crowd.

"Come on," said Neela, pulling his hand again for the third time that night. "I wanna see who won!"

Yeah, me too, he thought with a smile, but he didn't care to tell her because she couldn't possibly have heard him through the din of the people cheering for the victor. The spectators saw him coming and made way for him, some grinning and nodding and some saying, "D.K.-san!"

At the front of the crowd, he caught up with Twinky, who was counting money with the utmost glee. "Where did you get that?"

"This? This booty?" Twinky held up his wad of cash. "Bets, man! I bet with thirteen people that the chick would win. And I won! Ha! The bet, of course."

"I wonder who's this girl," said Sean. "Why she ain't out yet?"

"Man, give her a breather, will ya?" winked Twinky.

He laughed, but his good mood rapidly vanished when the door to the Supra opened, and he saw who the chick was. He would recognize his half-sister anywhere.

"I don't believe this," he muttered to himself.

Yuri had never gotten so much reception after winning a race. The next thing she knew she was being surrounded by swarms of people who wanted to high-five her, shake hands with her, take a picture of her and her Supra, and some guys even had the nerve to slip their numbers into her fingers, but she tried to treat them all the same.

Suddenly, the crowd went quiet and she saw the punk coming towards her, looking downcast but stubborn.

"I can't give my car to you."

Boos and insults were thrown at the punk, but, without even thinking, Yuri held up a hand to silence them, and when she realized she had done that she wondered how she got the nerve to do it. In Hokkaido, she could get away with it because she was number one there, but here she was just a newbie.

"Why not?" she asked.

"I spent a lot of money on it," the punk blurted out to more boos. "It's my first ever car! My parents paid for half of its price!"

Yuri narrowed her eyes. "What are you talking about?" That silenced the crowd. "This is the street racing scene, man. You want money, you want respect, you gotta play by the rules. And that means sticking to the deal."

"Yeah!"s and "Show him!"s echoed all through out the crowd.

"But – "

She shook her head slowly. "No, it's too late. You should have thought about it sooner before you agreed to race."

"Please give me a chance!"

"Modifying cars isn't cheap and we both know it," she said quietly, and the crowd hushed, "A lot of money, time and effort went into this ride, and I intend to earn them all back. That's why I race for pink slips, honey. I don't do it for fun."

The crowd clapped and cheered and whistled and hollered. She walked towards him and held out her hand. "I think I've made my point. Keys, please."

"Was that necessary, girl?" said Ming, who approached her after the crowd has somewhat broken up. Yuri pocketed the keys to the Skyline and shrugged. "This is how I do business. It's nothing personal."

He grinned. "You're something, you know?"

She eyed him suspiciously. "Excuse me?"

He leaned against her Supra. "I don't meet many girls like you who play things this tough."

She laughed and copied his position. "It's a survival instinct. I guess I've kinda got myself used to it."

"How?"

She hesitated before answering, "It was really tough, where I started racing. The punks that ruled the scene used to pick on newbies like me, especially those that did business with the yakuza. They think they're so great, you know, like they own everything. I hated that. A lot. I borrowed cars from Koji's junkyard and stuffed all kinds of engines that I assembled together from scraps into them. I kept racing and losing, I nearly gave up." She drew a shaky breath. "But I got my lucky break. One day, Koji and his gang hauled in a toasted Supra with its fine engine in it." She smiled and looked fondly at her ride. "I patched it up, tearing out parts from other cars, gave it a paint job. The very first night I raced it I was practically flying! I never had a better car – it felt so reliable. I knew I could depend on it. That night itself I won a Fairlady from one of the yakuza punks. Boy, were they mad!" She laughed nervously.

"If you've got a Fairlady then why aren't you driving it?" asked Ming. "It's one of the best drift cars around."

"I know – but it's got amazing value – and I needed the money. So I sold it." She smiled. "I sold all the cars I ever won – only this Supra is worth keeping."

"Sentimental value?" he offered with a grin.

She shrugged. "I guess you can say so." She looked around and suddenly remembered something. "Say, Ming – is the gaijin D.K. here, by any chance?"

"You see that one heck of a babe there?" he pointed in a direction. "Wearing the cute little denim skirt? Her name's Neela. Right beside her in the black tee is him."

Her eyes widened. It couldn't be … that American git could drift? "It can't be right!"

He laughed. "Everybody thought so too, at first, you know? They think that drifting should be an all-Japanese affair. But like the Gulf War, they have this weird tendency to get their hands in everything."

"EVERYBODY GET YOUR THING ON THE DANCE FLOOR!" Yuri jumped, startled, wondering what the hell was going on – but it turned out that it was only the voice of the DJ, signaling the start of the party on the rooftop. Furious bass beats pumped out of the speakers sandwiching the DJ and the turntable. Ming laughed. "Girl – the look on your face!"

She blushed. She must have looked like an idiot.

"Relax, honey." He took her hand gently and said, "Wanna dance?"

Author's footnote: Whew! An extra long chapter for me! And I hope that it's just as good as the others. Hopefully the racing scenes were comprehensible – it took a lot of guessing! As always, do review!

And can anybody help me with the summary? I think I need a better one! Thanks y'all!