Fran, Takashi, and Haru all left the Accord after Fran had properly parked at the parking lot in the arena. The three of them walked down to the tracks where Fran could already see that everyone present had their eyes on the three of them, mainly Fran.
"Little One!" Mukuro cheered, running up to Fran the second Fran was on the tracks and embracing him. "Are you returning to me?"
"May I?" Fran asked politely, looking at Mukuro's eyes.
"Of course!" Mukuro squealed delightedly and hugged Fran tightly.
"It's nice to have you back," Chrome said, giving Fran a sweet smile.
"Yup! I missed you!" Ken said happily, his whole body vibrating from being so excited.
"He hasn't even been gone a week," Bel sighed and rolled his eyes behind his bangs.
"Oi!" Takashi shouted, walking towards Bel. "I suggest you leave our Fran alone."
"Or what?" Bel questioned, a grin forming on his lips.
"Or you'll have to deal with me," Takashi growled.
When Takashi felt Bel's fist on his chest he almost launched at him but something sharp poked his chest, stopping him. He lifted his hand and felt the keys that the elder held in his hands.
"If you win, I leave your precious kid alone," Bel said, "If you lose, you shut up and mind your own business."
"T-Takashi doesn't know how to race though," Haru stuttered, stepping forward a bit.
Fran rushed passed Haru and went straight towards Takashi, putting a hand on his shoulder and pulling him away from Bel.
"Look, this is between that idiot and me, don't interfere," Fran said, trying to sound angry through his monotone.
"Shut up," Takashi said lowly, giving Fran a strong look, "just tell me what I need to know."
Fran bit his lip and nodded, "First off, those keys are mine, if you fuck my car up I have every right to shove a wrench where it doesn't belong. All you need to do is press on the gas, be ready to hit the brakes when necessary, and go around the curves as neatly as you can."
Takashi nodded and patted Fran's head, giving the boy a reassuring smile before he headed towards the Murcielago, "I'll be fine."
"Liar," Fran grumbled and rubbed his face.
"Will he be okay?" Haru asked, wrapping her arms around one of Fran's.
"I hope so," Fran said, only to reassure Haru.
"Yo, Frog!" Bel called out to Fran, "if anything happens to your friend it's your fault!"
"I swear if you do anything you're going to regret leaving your mother's womb," Fran growled lowly to himself.
"Fran," Spanner said softly.
Fran turned around to see Spanner beckoning him to come over; Fran nodded and pulled Haru towards the seating area, taking a seat in the first row. Spanner handed Fran a pair of headset for him to communicate with Takashi and began to set up the devices.
"Any words of encouragement, Fran?" Takashi asked playfully.
"No matter what, I'll always love you, okay?" Fran said, surprising everyone present at the arena.
A chuckle was heard from Takashi, "Yeah, love you too."
Impatient revving came from Bel's car along with a few curses from the blonde.
"Go," Spanner said, not bothering to properly do the Ready Set.
The two cars quickly left, Takashi a large amount behind Bel after a few seconds. As the two approached the first corner, Takashi began to swerve a bit, sending a wave of panic through Fran. When Takashi made it around the corner, Bel was already heading towards the finish line.
Fran clenched his teeth as Bel crossed the line, going another lap to taunt Takashi who finished a few seconds afterwards.
Both Takashi and Bel left the cars and Fran left the seating area to head towards the two of them. As the two of them began to approach each other, Fran slid in between them, facing Bel.
"It's over, Takashi," Fran said, looking over his shoulder at his friend before looking at Bel, "it's between me and you now."
A feral grin appeared on Bel's face, giving Fran the chills.
"That's the way I want it," Bel said, letting out a small chuckle.
"I'm sorry," Takashi said as he walked towards Fran, wrapping an arm around Fran's waist and pulling him close.
"It's not your fault you suck at racing," Fran said, shrugging and pulling away from Takashi and heading towards Spanner and Mukuro.
"I'm going home, I have homework to do," Fran said looking at the two of them.
"Okay, glad to have you back, Little One," Mukuro said, giving Fran a smile before heading towards Ken and Chrome who were just looking back and forth between Takashi and Bel who were having a stare down.
"I'll see you at home," Spanner said, patting Fran's back and heading towards the garage.
"Let's go," Fran said, taking Haru's hand and pulling her up the stairs.
"Takashi Mochida get over here right now!" Haru shouted angrily as she was pulled away by Fran.
Takashi left his staring match with Bel and began to run to catch up with Haru and Fran who were already at the parking lot.
Fran unlocked the car and looked down to the tracks. He saw Bel looking back up at him and he looked back before getting into his car and driving away.