A/N: Ok in chapter 1 I messed up on Hitomis car. It's a Mazda RX-7 not a Honda. Sorry for the mix up. I was thinking about a different car when I was writing. I can be such a ditz sometimes. Any ways here's a special thanks to the people who reviewed my story!

Kida Satsuki

Missing White Wings 15

Archangel Rhaspody

Anizamara

Laloner

Thank you for your encouraging reviews! passes out Van voodoo dolls to them Hehe!!

I don't own escaflowne. pats a voodoo doll of Van

Chapter 2 the race

Darkness envelopes the metropolis called Clair as the day time people go to sleep. The city is dark for a second until a blaze of light emits from the racers area signaling the start of the races. Hitomi watches unenthused as the races before hers start up and finish. She had avoided Van all afternoon while she cleaned up her Angel and chatted with her fellow racers.

Soon it was time for her race. She gracefully seats herself in the drivers' seat and replaces her hat and sunglasses with the helmet. Turning the key, the engine roars to life and sends shock waves across the area as Hitomi glides it over to the starting line. This was a two lap race around a three block radius.

Pulling up to the line she feels another vibration enter her body as the black skyline pulls up on her left. She turns her head slightly and sees Van looking at her with that sexy smirk of his. Damn! Why does he have to look so sexy? Hitomi growls to herself before pulling her attention to the women standing in front of them holding up a shirt.

Breathing in deeply, Hitomi calms her soul and lets it ride on the vibrations of her babies' engine. Watching the girl intently, Hitomi flexes her hands over the steering wheel and hits the gas as the shirt goes down. Her back tires spin and smoke comes up behind her as the torque makes the front of the car lift slightly before jetting off down the road.

Feeling a presence to her left, she knew it was Van. So he had caught up to her had he? Well we'll just see about that. Hitomi knew this track very well and, unlike Van, she knew where all the pot holes were. Seeing one in particular emerge in front of her, Hitomi swerves and cuts off Van forcing him to slow down so as not to hit her car.

The first turn was coming up and Hitomi takes it as sharp as she can with Van right on her tail. Damn he's good. She thinks as she straightens out the car and floors it once again. This road was busier and she had to swerve in and out of cars quickly and so she didn't notice Van pull up beside her and then swerve towards her bumping her slightly. So he wanted to play that way did he? She thought savagely and turns her wheel so her car butts up against his. They were side by side down the road until the next turn came. Pulling on her emergency brake, Hitomi skids around the sharp turn and hauls ass down the street again.

She could barely keep ahead of Van and the crowded intersection up front makes her screech on brakes and swerve to the sidewalk. It was an accident at the intersection and to her horror there were police vehicles all around it. "Fuck!" She yells as the police see the racers and dispatch a car to track them. She had never had any trouble with cops before and a new feeling entered her body. Fear. Fear at being caught and taken back to her parents where she would remain forever.

No. She wouldn't let that happen. She keeps up the race and Van doesn't even slow down as he keeps up with her. They managed to keep ahead of the cops but she was still neck and neck with Van and this was the last stretch. She could see the lights at the end of the road where the finish line was. Suddenly she hears a blazing from Vans car and he takes off at an incredible speed. Blue fire came out of the large exhaust pipe and she snarles at him. Fuck! He used nitrous! Where did he get that? She couldn't even find that in the entire northern continent! He races past the finish line with Hitomi two seconds behind him but the fun wasn't over yet. The cops had stayed with them and their sirens were blaring even louder.

Van slows down and she looks at him fearfully. She didn't want to get caught. Even though she lost. He makes a sign that pointed to himself and then to her. She nodded in understanding and makes a sharp left turn again this time following Van. Even though he hadn't been in town long it looked like he knew where he was going. Gulping down her growing anxiety as the cops pull nearer to her car she focuses on the black car in front of her.

His right blinker flashes for a second before going out and he swerves right into a narrow alley way that seemed hidden in shadow. She swerves also and is satisfied to hear the crunch of metal as the cop cars didn't clear the turn as well as she did. Van slows down and then turns left into a building with a small garage that went underground. Where are we? Hitomi had never been here before and she didn't even know what side of town she was on.

Van parks and Hitomi pulls up beside him. In the distance she could hear the cop cars idle and car doors slamming. They must've caught the other racers. She felt sorry for them but shook her head firmly. That was just one of the risks in racing. Of course…she would've been caught too if it hadn't been for Van. She sighs and gets out of the car slowly. She slowly takes off her helmet and faces Van. Since he had won there was no point in hiding any longer.

Her green eyes pierce through his blood red orbs searching them like she did with all the filthy nobles at her parents' house. His eyes were shining with triumph and smugness and that damned smirk was back again. "Well? Where are we?" Hitomi says to break the silence. In truth, she had been a little self conscious of him staring at her so openly. She had never shown her face out like this. Even if it was for just one person.

"This is the place that I'm staying at until I go back to the Southern Continent." He says still looking at her closely. "You're Hitomi Kanzaki." He says and his smirk grows wider as she blanches at him knowing who she was already. "How do you know that?" She says trying to regain her composure.

"Easy. My dad is in charge of foreign affairs with the northern continent and he has been arguing with your father ever since he banned all types of cars. You know…in the southern continent, people drive whatever car they want. Without having to hide it." Van says slowly and Hitomi picks up a hidden meaning to his words. "What are you saying exactly?" She says narrowing her eyes at him. What was he up to?

He chuckles and runs a hand through his hair. "Nothing. I'm just thinking of ways to get you to come back with me." Hitomis eyes bug out at him. Damn he sure was straight forward about everything. "Why?" She asks as she follows him up some stairs and through a door.

Van glances over his shoulder and smiles. "Because I want you to be my partner. You're the best racer I know even though I beat you and that was only because I had nitrous equipped. The southern continent is a lot more free then here I've noticed." He rummages through the fridge giving Hitomi some time to glance around. It was a one bedroom apartment but it was spacious and really clean too she noticed. Car posters scattered the walls and she walks over to a large cabinet to find dozens of model cars.

"Wow. Did you take your whole house with you or something?" She asks amazed at all the stuff he had. "Pretty much." He says with a laugh as he pops open a corona and hands one to her while taking a long swig off his. "What kind of alcohol is this? I've never heard of corona." She says as she examines it before sipping it. The liquid burns slightly as it rolls down her throat and she was hooked. "Wow this is good!" She smiles up at Van who was giving her a funny look.

"They don't sell Corona here? Damn and I'm almost out of the stuff I brought with me." He swears loudly making her laugh. It felt great to laugh so freely. She never laughed at her house. Van watches her with an amused look on his face. "Corona is the most popular beer in the southern continent. It has a little more alcohol then other brands so maybe that's why the north doesn't import it. ( a/n: I don't know if that's true or not I'm just making it up).

"That makes sense." Hitomi takes a long swig of her beer and then turns her attention back to the models. They were so cool looking. She'd never seen anything like them in any of the stores. She started to feel envious of Van and how he lived around such carefree people. She wanted to be like that too.

"When are you going back home?" Hitomi says off handedly as she keeps her attention on the models. Van walks to a large couch and plops down on it. "Whenever you're ready to come back with me." He states and Hitomi turns to look at him noting how his face was for once serious. "Really?" She raises a delicate eyebrow and he nods as his trademark smirk graces his lips once again.

Sighing she walks over to him and sits down next to him so their knees touch. "I was going to move out after I got some more racing money tonight but since I didn't win…I don't have enough money to move out. The housing around here is really awful." Hitomi mutters and downs the rest of her beer. Van gets up and grabs two more handing one to her.

He didn't say anything and she suddenly felt tears spring up into her eyes. Why the hell was she getting so emotional now? She thinks and turns her head away from Van so he wouldn't see the tears. "I'll give you the money right now if you'll come home with me and race with me." Van says after thinking for awhile. Hitomi gasps and looks at him forgetting the tears for a second. "Really?" She whispers. No one had ever done something like this for her. Of course…no one really knew her either.

Van looks at her and his smirk turns to a little frown as he notices Hitomis eyes flooded with tears. "Hey what's wrong babe?" He says in a gentle voice that didn't seem right for him. He trails an arm around her shoulders her pulls her to him so she could lay her head on his hard chest. "It's just that…no one has ever done something like this for me before. I mean I don't even know you and you just found out who I was only twenty minutes ago and you're offering all this to me." She bites her lip trying not to sob.

"It's nothing really. It's just easy for me to trust people, that's all." He says with a chuckle and he wraps his arm tightly around her. "You're really something you know that?" Van sighs and leans back into the soft cushions of the couch. "Why is that?" Hitomi sniffles and looks up at him with wide eyes.

Hmm. Van makes a noise and looks down at her. She couldn't decipher his expression at all. "My intention was to get you here, get you drunk, fuck you and then leave you tomorrow morning back to my home but I can't do that. When I saw you take off your helmet I was at a lose for words." Van pauses and takes another swig of beer.

"You are the sexiest woman I've ever laid eyes on and you also are the best racer I've ever seen too." He laughs and Hitomis cheeks grow warm at such an open compliment. He really didn't beat around the bush did he?

"So I thought about it and I decided to wait here until I could convince you to come back to the Southern Continent with me." Hitomi downs her second beer and Van laughs again starting to get up. "No I'll get it." Hitomi says in a rush as she springs up and heads to the kitchen.

Hitomi grabs two more beers and turns around watching Van as he kicks off his shoes and throws off his shirt. Hitomi almost dropped the bottles. She'd never seen such a toned chest before. He didn't have rock hard abs or huge pecks but it was muscled enough to look sexy.

He turns to her and that dammed smirk was back as he leans back again. She was really starting to like that smirk. She smiles at him and saunters back over to him putting down the beers and also taking her shoes off. She felt safe around Van and her mind was already made up on going with him back to his home.

Slipping off the light jacket she was wearing she shivers as his warm hand goes up her shirt and around her waist pulling her back to him again. She sighs relaxing almost immediately against him sipping on her third beer. "You know…I'm surprised that I've warmed up to you so fast. I usually don't trust people this easily." Hitomi says listening the Vans heart beat. "It's a gift I guess." Van laughs and then sighs resting his chin on her head.

"So…if you do decide to come with me won't your parents be mad?" He says and he feels her stiffen under him. "No they won't. You see…my dad is this huge drug lord and my mom is always gone with other men. They don't really notice I'm there." The words were out so fast Hitomi couldn't believe she'd said such a personal thing. The alcohol must be going to her head. She thinks shaking her head trying to get her thoughts together.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't bore you with details of my jacked up parents." Hitomi mutters as she sits up. "Not a problem." Van says and pulls her back against him. Her head was buzzing as she downs the third beer. "You sure know how to chug beer." He says with a laugh as she smiles up at him. She had never really drunk before because her parents wouldn't allow it and now she felt totally carefree.

The world seemed to stop as she looked up into those two blood red eyes. "Hmmm you know what…you're pretty cute yourself." She slurs as she sits up. "Are you okay?" He asks as she rocks back and forth when she tries to stand up. "I'm wonderful baby! My head is so clear of worries and I feel happy for the first time in years." Hitomi giggles uncontrollably as she looks down at Van. Damn he's so fucking hot! I want him so bad. These thoughts make Hitomi giggle even more as she bends and sits on Vans lap with her thighs straddling his legs.

A/N: for those of you who don't want to read the sex scene then this is the end of chapter 2. sorry! I did warn there would be sexual situations but this scene is a lot more explicit then the site will allow to show so if you want to read the sex scene email me at and i'll send you it. It's really good. wink wink