Chapter 5
"Shall we" Keisuke asked Kyoko as he opened her door.
Kyoko smiled as they both entered the 'Family's' restaurant.
As Keisuke scanned the menu, he couldn't help but wan some answers from Kyoko.
"Do you mind if I ask you something?"
"Yeah sure"
She seemed very at ease and comfortable despite being questioned.
"Are you and your co worker… like yeah know or have you guys…"
Kyoko looked down at her menu and bit her lower lip.
"Okiro… well when I started working at the shop I was seventeen and he was a few years older. He used to drive an FC before that GTR. We did date a little but then something happened. He use to street race and he was the best in this area. Since I was still young my parents didn't really want me out late; so I never got to see him race. The time that I actually did go, I wasn't there long enough to even see him race."
Keisuke tilted his head in confusion.
"Huh?"
"Let me go on. I got to the top of the mountain with my friend; who at the time was the only ride I had. When I went to surprise Okiro that I was there, he wasn't by himself. Okiro had two girls with him; one on each arm. I was so upset I didn't bother to ask any questions. I punched him right in the face and left."
Keisuke looked positively stunned.
"You punched him, not slap?'
"Yeah and he showed up at work the next day with a broken nose."
'Wow' Keisuke thought. For some reason Kyoko throwing punches made her even more attractive that before.
"How is it that you two are so friendly now?"
"He apologized later on. I forgave him eventually; I mean we did have to work together. It's been three years so were over it."
'I don't think he's over you' Keisuke thought as he remembered the way he looked at Kyoko.
"What do you want to do after we eat?"
"Well…I kind of need to do some errands if you don't mind…"
"Of course not"
Keisuke gave her his best smile making Kyoko blush.
"Oh I forgot to ask you, what did your boss say about your schedule?"
If she was off for a while Keisuke could spend some time with her.
"Well with this bandage across my arm I can't really work on cars. Of course the mild concussion doesn't help either. This week I'm off until I get these stitches off. The next week I'll just check customers out at the register. It will be a nice break."
"You're not like other girls are you?" he chucked as he slurped his noodles.
"Oh…" Kyoko blushed embarrassed.
"I guess that's always been both my advantage and disadvantage."
"I don't see the disadvantage"
Again Keisuke saw a flush of crimson grace Kyoko's cheeks.
"I hope everything was good. Will that be all on one check?" asked the waitress.
"Yes" Kyoko said as she pulled out her wallet.
Keisuke touched Kyoko's hand.
"Don't worry I've got it"
"You didn't need to do that" she told Keisuke.
"It's the least I could do, where to next?"
"Thank you and the market is just down this street on the left."
After Keisuke parked, he grabbed them a cart and watched Kyoko pick out her groceries.
'To anyone in this store we'd look like your average couple'
That much was true. If Keisuke thought about how simple it looked on the outside, then it would be easy. Of course he was the complicated one.
Keisuke loaded all the groceries in the trunk of FD and opened Kyoko's door.
"Where to now?" he asked.
"To my apartment, it's down…"
Keisuke cut her off.
"Don't worry I remember"
Even though it had been a month, Keisuke still remembered where she lived.
"Here is my number" Kyoko pointed at her apartment on the second floor.
Keisuke popped the trunk and helped Kyoko carry them to the door.
"Don't mind the mess"
As Keisuke entered the apartment he glanced over the front rooms and couldn't see no flaw.
"Kyoko it's practically spotless"
"You're too nice" she smiled.
Keisuke helped put away the groceries and cleaning supplies.
"Thank you so much for everything Keisuke; I really appreciate it."
"It was no problem. I had a nice time."
Keisuke was leaning against the open door way with Kyoko standing right in front of him. He must have been looking at her differently because she had become shy all of a sudden.
"I guess I'll be seeing you" she said.
"Do you mind if I call you tomorrow?"
This seemed to light up Kyoko's expression.
"Sure. We'll talk tomorrow."
Keisuke jogged down the steps back to his car.
As he drove out he waved Kyoko good bye.
He could still see her at her door through his rearview mirror. Unlike the past times he drove away from her, she didn't look sad. She looked hopeful.
"He's rich and can have any girl he wants; I'm just telling you not to get your hopes up."
"Me and you are never going to work. I like you and I think you're a really beautiful girl, but I can't have a girlfriend right now. I'm sorry."
Kyoko woke up trying to catch her breath. She was practically drenched in sweat.
"Ah…" Kyoko put her hand to the bandage on her head. It was throbbing.
"Ugh 5 o'clock again"
Kyoko hadn't planned to go running this morning; her doctor didn't recommend it.
Of course she would still be asleep if it wasn't for that dream.
'I don't get it' she thought. She and Keisuke were at least friends, so why was she so afraid of that to happen again.
"Hm where'd I put that medicine?"
Kyoko rummaged through her bag until she found the small bottle of pain killers the doctor prescribed for the mornings.
It was still too early for Keisuke to call so Kyoko decided to busy herself with cleaning her apartment.
About an hour later, Kyoko had cleaned her bathroom, bedroom, living room, and folded her laundry.
Kyoko heard her stomach make a light grumbling sound.
'Time for some breakfast'
Kyoko pulled out a large flat pan and set it on the stove. From the fridge she pulled out all the ingredients to make herself some crepes.
The smell of the crepes was heavenly. Placing them aside, Kyoko cut up fresh strawberries and whipped up some cream.
She set her breakfast on the table next to her latest cat magazine and poured herself some coffee.
"Mmm"
Her homemade crepes were delicious. The only crepes she knew were better were her mom's.
Once Kyoko was done indulging in her breakfast, she immediately started cleaning the mess.
Beep-beep
'Huh 7:30, it's still a little early'
Kyoko put her dishes down and dried her check her text message.
It was Keisuke.
It read, "Hey, I wasn't sure if you'd be awake so I didn't want to call. Let me know when you wake up."
"Don't worry you didn't wake me. Go ahead and call whenever." She replied.
She closed her phone and returned to her small pile of dishes.
Kyoko had just finished wiping everything down when her phone started ringing.
"Hello" she answered cheerfully.
"Hey, how are you feeling?"
"I feel fine thanks"
"Well I'm glad. Are you up for maybe watching Project D practice?"
'The chance to see Keisuke drive again' Kyoko thought.
She silently jumped up and down trying to contain her excitement.
"Sure I'd love to"
"Cool. I'll come get you at 1"
"Bye"
Kyoko shut her phone and couldn't contain her excitement anymore. She exploded in a frenzy of jumping and giggling almost like a child. She didn't stop till she reached her shower.
The hot steam of the shower seemed to relax all the aching muscles that had been bruised from the accident. Kyoko noticed more bruises she hadn't seen at the hospital; one on her rib, two large ones on her thigh, and under her bandaged arm were scattered purple bruises and small cuts from the glass.
Kyoko wanted to look cute but she still needed to be comfortable enough that her injuries wouldn't be bothered.
She finally decided on fitted denim shorts and a casual loose fit cotton top.
'Now to deal with all this' she thought as she looked at her hair and the bandage around it.
Kyoko removed the bandage very slowly and began brushing her hair softly without touching the stitches on her scalp. She managed to get it completely straight without hurting herself.
She ran her fingers across the purple bruise on her cheekbone. There was no way make up could hide this. She stuck with her usual make up scheme; eyeliner and mascara.
She checked the mirror and saw that she looked cute enough.
Time seemed to have flown by Kyoko when she noticed it was already 12:30 and Keisuke would be arriving at 1
She quickly wrapped her injured arm and went down stairs to wait for Keisuke.
Only two minutes later she spotted the yellow FD and her heart fluttered.
Keisuke pulled up and rolled down the window.
"Hey I hope you weren't waiting long"
"No not at all"
"Great, hop in and we'll head out to Akagi"
After driving all the way from Saitama, they had finally reached the base of Akagi.
Kyoko was anticipating this drive. Last time they made this drive in the FC, it'd be nice to see him handle his own car this time.
Keisuke was driving casually up the mountain and Kyoko could feel the smoothness of every motion from the shifting, braking, and accelerating. She also noticed the light smile he wore while he was driving.
As they turned the last corner Kyoko spotted Project D. She recognized everyone, the two support vans and their mechanics, Takumi and his eight-six, Ryosuke and his FC, their coordinator and the assistant.
"Hey I see Keisuke!" said an enthused Kenta.
The entire team seemed to be paralyzed to see the very familiar FD driver in the passenger seat of Keisuke's car.
"Ryosuke is that…" before Fumihiro could finish asking, Kyoko was already out of the car.
'They have no idea what's going on' Ryosuke thought as he laughed to himself.