After Hiroto's incident with the turntable and Aya. He was more careful to not make himself feel embarrassed. He hadn't minded Aya again, until something in the Bunbunmaru Newspaper said something about the railway.

"She says I'm the slowest engine in the whole railway!" yelled Hiroto angrily.

"That's impossible!"

"So that's how Aya was going to pay you back after the Scarlet Controller chewed her out." said his driver.

Hiroto spent the rest of the day trying to figure out how to pay her back. Until he mentioned it to Ran.

"Well one of the engines I saw when I was away said he had a race with a bus." said Ran.

"So maybe I could race Aya!" Hiroto replied.

"I don't know, tengu are known for their speed and Aya says that she's the fastest." Ran said.

But Hiroto mentioned it to the Scarlet Controller, who then mentioned it to Nitori.

"I don't know. If Hiroto were to go faster, we'd need better coal than what we have." said Nitori.

"What kind of coal we need?" asked the Scarlet Controller.

"Anthracite." said Nitori.

"Why not let Yukari gap away a truck full of that stuff and give it to Hiroto?"

"We could."

Soon Nitori told Hiroto the news.

"The race is on. But I need to give you a different kind of coal if you going to have a chance at beating her." said Nitori.

So Hiroto was loaded with a tender full of anthracite coal, the race was due at 7:00 in morning. The starting line was the Moriya shrine and the two were to race the entire length of the mainline to the Hakurei shrine.

The youkai and engine were side by side. Aya was told not to fly and to just run the entire way. Hiroto's fire was burning nicely. Sanae held her gohei up high.

"Ready."

"I'll beat you." said Aya.

"Get set."

"Not if I beat you first." said Hiroto.

"GO!"

Aya ran off and Hiroto's driver threw the regulator as high as it would allow. Aya had a fast headstart but Hiroto quickly began to pick up speed. Just for purposes of research, he was pulling a coach with Nitori and a special machine to track speed.

"Come along. Come along." said Hiroto as he pumped his pistons like never before.

Hiroto threw all caution out the window as moved as fast as the rails would allow. It wasn't long before he reached his maximum speed. That was when he saw Aya and he screamed.

"RAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Hiroto's speed suddenly shot upward.

"60...68...72...78...81." said Nitori, tracking his speed.

Hiroto felt his cylinders go hot, he suddenly passed Aya, but Aya wouldn't have it and she ran faster.

"91...92...93...94...95..." said Nitori.

The two were quickly approaching the final stretch to the Hakurei shrine station. The two were neck and neck.

"101...102...103...105..." said Nitori.

Hiroto screamed again and blasted forward.

"110...115...120..."

Aya's legs were moving so fast, they looked almost like they stopped moving.

"125...126...127...128" said Nitori, then Hiroto broke a speed record.

"130!" exclaimed Nitori.

Hiroto almost felt like the metal in his cylinders were melting and he felt a pain in his pistons. That was when the two crossed the finish line. Another tengu, Momiji Inubashiri took the picture...it was a tie. Aya stopped running and almost fell. But Hiroto didn't, his driver applied the breaks, but Hiroto kept going forward. His wheels made a horrible screeching sound as sparks flew from his wheels. Hiroto driver tried the handbrake, but that didn't work. The loop line was ahead and Hiroto was still going too fast. His driver and fireman jumped clear as Hiroto went onto the bend and fell beside the track. The coach he was pulling had luckily had only a minor derailment.

A breakdown crew came to clean up the accident.

"Oh dear." said Nitori to Hiroto.

"You've braked so hard, your wheels went flat. Your also going to need to go to the works anyway, so you can have your cylinders checked."

"Thanks Nitori." said a tired Hiroto.

The race was a tie, both went over the finish line at the same time. But Hiroto had beat a world record, even thought it meant fusing together his pistons and cylinders and warping parts of his firebox and boiler from the heat. Nitori and the Scarlet Controller agreed to never have a race like this ever again. It was a hot debate over how Hiroto overcame his maximum speed, Nitori said it was the anthracite coal, the Scarlet Controller said it was Yukari's power over fate, but Hiroto's driver said it was something else.

"I believe Hiroto broke the record. Through his own ego, he didn't want to be beaten in a test of speed. Therefore, I think he broke it out of sheer willpower." she said.

But no one is still sure how he broke it and I don't think anyone will know, do you?