Rivalry Stage 1

Act 1: Two's a Company, Three's a Crowd and… Four is Kenta!?

By Amaniblue

AN: Thank you for reading and special thanks to those who reviewed. Yes, Chibi-Aya-chan, I am back. Thank you for the warm welcoming. It has been a long hiatus. This was the first fanfic I have ever written way back when. It's a baby to me. After I neglected it for so long, I'm back to nurturing it with a vengeance.

Further note, I use the Japanese word for brother, aniki, as an endearment from Keisuke to Ryousuke. Yes, I'm forcing my habit of leaving Japanese words away from my writings. It's been tough so far.

Summary of the last act: A month and a half has passed since Takumi joined Project D. Everything seems to be doing well, the crew members accepted him readily. However, an underlying tension seems to be brewing between Ryousuke and Takumi. Keisuke and Takumi are forming a close friendship while Kenta feels threaten by Takumi.

///Redsuns' body shop - the following week Friday, early evening///

"Hey, Fujiwara!" shouted Keisuke.

"Huh?" questioned a dazed Takumi as he was pulled around to face a disgruntled Keisuke.

Pissed off, Keisuke's grip on Takumi's right shoulder tightens upon hearing that daze response. "Quit your daydreaming. I called for you...hell who knows how many times. What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing," shrugged Takumi. Although his typical stoic expression didn't show it, the Hachi-roku driver is a bit annoyed by his friend's grip on his shoulder. It almost hurt. Confused by his friend's behavior and his own response, Takumi raised a hand to scratch the back of his head absently, and then asked, "Did you want something?"

Keisuke's lips stretched even tighter as he assessed his friend. He's doing it again, the blond thought. Takumi have a tendency to either brush aside a topic or brew over it for long periods of time. He didn't like it. This made the younger driver very much harder to read and grab attention of. Still unaccustomed to his friend's tactics, Keisuke finally released his grip on Takumi's shoulder and loosen his lips to release a sniff. He mentally waved away his friend's nondescript demeanor and replied, "Yeah, how 'bout a test run later? You should test out your modifications on the mountain roads."

"Sure. Actually we can go, now. I was just cleaning up." Matter-of-factly, the Hachi-roku driver dropped the small crescent wrench he was holding back into the tool bin, turned toward his Trueno, and lowered the hood with a mighty slam.

Not trusting his brother's new protégé with his recent acquired skills especially after witnessing, according to any redeeming mechanic, the mistreatment of their precious tools, Keisuke raised a quizzical brow at Takumi mockingly, "Are you sure you're up to it? You seem to be pretty out of it lately. I don't know, daydreaming over the engine like that..."

Eyes shining with mirth, Keisuke smirk, shifted his eyes to the Hachi-roku and made reference to the car with a slight tilt of his head towards it. "You sure you know what you're doing?"

At that point, the younger Takahashi lean in closer, raise a fist and playfully rap gently on Takumi's smooth forehead several times then deadpanned, "Hey, are you daydreaming now?"

Not the least bit tempted to take the bait, Takumi rolled his eyes and swatted the offending hand away as he ignored Keisuke's sarcastic humor, and replied, "I just have to wash my hands first, then we can go."

Takumi side step away from Keisuke and walk towards the front of the garage where the employee dressing room and business office are located. He then peeled the oily mechanic jumpsuit off his habitual attire of a white t-shirt and torn up faded blue jeans. After hanging the suit on the nearby rack, Takumi walk over to the sink located a few feet beside an adjacent table and began to wash away the grime on his hands. When he absently reached for a towel and grabbed only air, Takumi frowned at the empty towel bin and began his search for a clean rag near the sink.

A red blur flew towards him from his peripheral vision; Takumi caught it on reflex. The Hachi-roku driver raised a grateful face to the direction of the trajectory as he absently wiped his hands clean. Takumi discovered it was none other then Takahashi Ryousuke who had thrown the much needed towel. His mentor was standing by his laptop on the table nearby. The young driver immediately offers a quick thank you.

Then suddenly out of nowhere.

"Would you mind if I… tag along?" ask Ryousuke hesitantly, albeit entirely unlike his usual direct, commanding, and assured self. Despite being a tad uncomfortable of the awkward moments between them at times, especially lately, Ryousuke hardly showed it as he stated matter-of-factly after he cleared his throat as a cover-up for his awkward start.

"I have several calculations for the new simulation I'm running on the Hachi-roku. The new modifications need to be taken into account. Also, some field results from the Road Dyno should give us a better indication of the Hachi-roku's performance capabilities at other simulated location models."

"Ah," answered a rather perplexed Takumi in response to Ryousuke's lengthy lecture.

Listening to their awkward exchange all the while, Keisuke smiled at the odd picture the two presented. One who talks too much (he would never said that to his brother's face) and the other who barely talks. One who's driven, precise and relentless, while the other is dazed most of the time and dangerously focused at other times. They couldn't be any more different, yet the two are part of a rare few (himself included of course) who could tear down any mountain pass with deadly precision.

The blond driver was sitting lazily on the bonnet of the Hachi-roku before he got up on his feet, excited by the prospect of his brother joining them.

"I call shotgun," stated Keisuke.

Takumi and Ryousuke was enduring a most awkward pause in their exchange (one wouldn't call it a conversation really) and so both readily welcome the interruption upon hearing Keisuke's declaration. Both simultaneously turn to raise grateful eyes at a grinning Keisuke who then stood up nonchalantly with his thumbs hooking on the waist of his favorite green cargo pants.

Keisuke grin from ear to ear, noting their reactions with glee. He was right. The two really didn't know how to talk to one another. Perhaps that was the reason why his brother left his new protégé in his care, with occasional guidance from Ryousuke. Keisuke could have laughed at that. It wasn't a hard task at all. In fact, Takumi absorbs information like a sponge. Scary how he does that, he thought.

Wanting the awkward exchange between his brother and his friend (his source of entertainment these days) to prolong further, Keisuke quickly thought of a plan to goad his brother. So he quickly added in a way to explain his reasons for calling shot gun, "Gas price has gone up lately, you know. One of us has to drive up with him, I rather that person be you, aniki."

Keisuke then dropped his hands and raised it to cross his arms over his chest and lifted his chin arrogantly a fraction in the air, "Besides, I can operate the driver cam and maybe give him a few pointers."

Ryousuke rolled his eyes at his brother's gas price excuse to goad him. He had wanted to talk to Takumi by himself and driving up with the boy would have been a perfect opportunity. Not giving up yet, Ryousuke decided to take the bait.

"Like you need to worry about gas prices, Keisuke. Unfortunately for you, the new Road Dyno is equipped with a transmitter that sends data directly to my laptop. I'm afraid you'll have to play wing man tonight."

"Hell, I can run the thing too," snorted Keisuke in delight. His brother took the bait. Now to reel him in, he thought.

"I'm afraid not, Keisuke. The last time I left my thing with you, it had tire marks on it. Suffice it to say, I do not want the same accident you profess to have happen to occur again."

Ouch, that comment have bite, he thought. His brother should have been a lawyer. He would have made a mince meat of the opponent and win over the jury with his calm demeanor and good looks (it runs in the family). His brother didn't really left him much room to maneuver the situation. Come on! Think!

"Keisuke-sempai, allow me to go with you!"

Nakamura Kenta defiantly stood his ground. Having been one vehicle away, Kenta had kept a constant ear alert to all of Takahashi Keisuke's conversation with the tofu boy. Realizing that the trio was leaving together, Kenta had literally thrown all his equipment to the wind, unsuited, and washed up in record time. There is no way I'm letting tofu boy hog all the attention, thought Kenta.

When Kenta spoke up, Keisuke let out a mental shout of: Yes, victory! He quickly turned to his brother to see his response to that one when the blond said, "Fine by me. But that makes you the wing man."

Despite his reluctance in letting Keisuke win that round, Ryousuke promptly added. "Nakamura, you'll have to mount Cam Angle 3 on your dash. Cam Angle 2 is broken. We'll meet you guys up top."

Kenta was overjoyed when the blond's permission was given, then dismayed that he had to help tofu boy, and then overjoyed again in thinking Keisuke would join him. He quickly ran to the office and grabs the two camcorders for mounting. He double checked the mark camcorders to be number 1 and 3, then went back to his mentor.

Keisuke takes the offered camcorder and remarks absently, "Thanks Kenta, I'll see you up top."

Confused, Kenta asked, "Keisuke-sempai, you're not coming with me?"

Keisuke smirk to himself and said cryptically, "That'll ruin all my fun. Well, see ya."

The blond then headed towards the Hachi-roku leaving Kenta frowning in confusion at the odd remark. Damn it, he thought as he sluggishly setup the recording system in his car.

Ryousuke had the same words on his mind when he saw the infectious grin on Keisuke's face. He knew what that meant immediately. His brother was determined to go with them and nothing that Ryousuke can say or do will change that. He shook his head in disapproval at his younger brother and decided to just go with it. With his laptop in hand, Ryousuke headed for the passenger seat.

"No fair, aniki! I called first on shotgun," whine Keisuke playfully.

Ryousuke couldn't help but to roll his eyes at that one. Now, his brother sounds like a petulant child, which is a strong indication that Keisuke is enjoying his victory a little bit too much.

"I can't observe from the back," stated Ryousuke, pointedly ignoring his brother's doubtful snort.

Keisuke held the victory grin he still wore and turned to look at his friend who was still standing there, dazed. The blond's grin turned into a huge smile. "Come on Takumi! What are standing there for? Let's go!"

During this exchange from the trio, Takumi had been quietly listening. His head shifted from one speaker to another until his mind wandered again. He instantly snapped out of it upon Keisuke's remark. Seeing the knowing look from his friend who seems to be saying, daydreaming again? Takumi's cheeks tinted pink in chagrin and cast his eyes down. Without saying anything else, the young driver quickly walked towards the Hachi-roku, buckled up in the driver seat, and turned the ignition key.

Ryousuke gave the signal to go. Takumi drove out of the shop and sped off towards Mt. Akagi. Kenta quickly finished the setup and drove off in his S14.

///Mt. Akagi///

"Why Keisuke-sempai?" muttered Kenta under his breath yet again. He was still pondering the bond he'd seen forming between his sempai and tofu boy. He felt lonely again. He was never really popular to form many friends. In fact there are only a handful of people he would consider to be close friends with, Keisuke was one of them. Ever since Keisuke had stood up for him against those bullies in Form 1, Kenta had been forever grateful. The blond had look out for him since then and even took Kenta under his wings to join his brother's racing team. It opened up a whole new interest for him and Kenta even learned to relax his guard around people. The team members were very helpful and professional.

Now, as a lone driver speeding up to the meeting point at Mt. Akagi, Kenta had never felt so alone. Apparently he lost sight of the Hachi-roku several kilometers ago. If only I hadn't been stopped by so many damn stop lights. This driving alone and feeling lonely would never happen if it weren't for that tofu boy, his thoughts continued. Vengefully, Kenta seriously debated the ramifications of sabotaging the recording, either by turning off the night vision feature or turning off the camcorder altogether. It could be done very easily.

As he continue to ponder about this, several kilometers behind him, several headlights loomed over the road and hover the expanse from side to side, seemingly towards the same destination.

///TBC – Act 2: Enter the Aoi Ryu (Green Dragons)///