Author's Note: EEEEEE IM SO EXCITED TO WRITE LANA AND KEISUKE'S INTERACTION OMFGGGG 3333

Warning: Probably cringe idk lol

Disclaimer: I don't own Initial D, all rights go to Shuichi Shigeno.

Recap...

"...You were a crybaby?" Lana questioned, ears homed in on that part specifically.

She imagined a tiny grade-schooler Takumi sniffling and big eyes full of tears clutching on a faceless adult's hand, hiccupping and crying out for his parent.

'CUTE!' She couldn't fight down this blush as easily, and her cheeks pinkened from the adorable image.

"...Sort of."

Takumi's cheeks turned a tad bit red, and Lana felt her heart clench for the third time that day.

"I want to pinch your cheeks, adorable young man." She stated with an utterly serious look on her face.

"Uh..."

Takumi and Itsuki both gave her incredulous looks.

Continued...

After sitting through the last few classes of the day, school has finally ended at Shibukawa high school. Lana headed out past the school gates, planning on taking a nice, long nap once she got home. She barely took a few steps off campus before hearing a familiar voice call her name from a few feet behind her.

Turning around, Lana was met with the sight of Itsuki and Takumi walking side by side towards her, a wide grin on Itsuki's face while Takumi looked as sleepy as ever.

"Hey! Whaddya know, we're walking the same way!" Itsuki shouted, beckoning her over with one hand, the other currently holding his magazine.

Lana snorted under her breath. 'What the heck, why not.' And she quickly joined them, walking in the same direction.

"You guys gonna do anything after school?" She asked them, brushing a few long strands away from her eyes.

"Well, we've got work today, so we're heading over to the gas station right now," Itsuki explained, Lana nodding in return.

"Ah, okay. Honestly, I think I'm just gonna go nap. I'm super sleepy right now, and last class almost made me pass out," Lana yawned, covering her mouth. "I'll totally come with you guys tomorrow though, for sure."

"Can't wait! Trust me, you'll get along with Iketani-senpai! He's a little older than us, but he's a pretty cool guy who knows a lot about cars. He even owns a Silvia!" Itsuki raved, peaking Lana's interest in meeting their senpai.

"Sounds like a plan," Lana smiled sleepily, her eyes just as half-lidded as Takumi's at this point.

Itsuki continued to show Lana various cars and models he was interested in as they kept walking down the street, but it wasn't long until Lana had to part ways with the boys. Waving them goodbye, she quickly walked home, wanting to pass out and rest. However, once she got to the door...

"No way!" She exclaimed, jaw dropping as she frantically began feeling herself up and rummaging through her school bag.

"No. NOOOO!" She cried devastatingly, leaning against the door as she slumped down.

"My...My keys..." She sniffled.

"I left them in the house!"

With her only options being to stay and wait long hours until her uncle came home or just to simply go to the gas station, she chose the latter. With a dejected groan and tired legs, she began making her way to the gas station. She passed by it a few times before while her uncle was showing her around the city, however she never stepped foot onto the area on a working day.

It didn't take too long to reach the gas station, but her already tired legs along with her apparent sleepiness made her want to lay down as soon as the place came into view.

As she got closer, she spotted a few guys standing around in blue uniforms with a little red bowtie around their collars and caps on their head.

Itsuki spotted her first, his eyes widening before he turned to Takumi and mouthed something before they both whipped their heads around to see her walking towards them. Suddenly, Itsuki began waving, an excited smile on his face.

Lana felt touched that he seemed so happy to see her, and she couldn't help but flash him a tired smile in return, waving back.

"Lana! What are you doing here? I thought you were gonna take a nap," Itsuki asked as soon as she got close enough.

Lana sighed, her face dropping immediately as she remembered her predicament.

"Yeah, that was the plan. But then I got to the door, and I realized I left my keys on my bed. Inside the house." She sobbed a little just for a touch of dramatics to her story. "It was either I waited until nighttime for my uncle to get home or I walk over here and hang out until then."

"Well, glad to have you here! Right, Takumi?" Itsuki beamed, nudging Takumi.

"Yeah, of course. It's good to see you again, even if it was only about 20 minutes since we last saw you." Takumi nodded, rubbing the back of his neck.

Lana giggled, a blush rising on her cheeks. "You guys always know what to say, don't you?"

"Boys! What's the hold-up? Get back to work," another familiar voice called out. Lana and the guys looked over to see her uncle, Yuichi, step outside of his office to scold the boys. Yuichi stopped as he spotted Lana, a surprised look spreading across his face.

"Lana, what are you doing here? I thought you'd be at home," Yuichi asked, coming over to the group.

Lana sighed, nodding her head. "Yeah, I thought I would be too. I left my keys in the house, so I headed over here instead."

He laughed and patted her shoulder. "Well, I'll be here until around 9 or 10. If you want, I could give you the keys and you can just leave the door open for me."

Lana thought about it for a moment, glancing over at her two new friends and shaking her head. "No, it's alright. Besides, I wanna hang with these guys for a while if that's alright."

Yuichi looked over at his employees with a raised brow before turning back to his niece. "You know these guys?"

"Yeah," Lana nodded. "I met them at school today. They're pretty cool, right guys?"

She turned to them, flashing an award-winning smile.

Takumi and Itsuki felt their cheeks redden at the killer combination of her flattery and her sweet smile.

'...She's pretty!'

"Y-yeah..." They agreed in unison, glancing at each other.

Yuichi took notice of this but let it go, shaking his head. "That's fine, but don't keep them from doing their job, alright?" Lana nodded before her uncle turned to the boys with his hands on his hips. "Where's Iketani?"

"He's busy making a few maintenance repairs," Takumi informed him, thumb pointing behind him towards the back of the station. Glancing over, Lana spotted a taller guy in the same uniform her friends wore hunched over a car, the hood popped open.

Yuichi nodded before he told them he'd be heading back. With a small wave, Lana watched her uncle retreat into his office before turning back to the other guys.

"So, what do you guys do around here?" She asked, looking around at the pumps.

Itsuki leaned against the gas pump before explaining what their usual day looks like. Takumi didn't say much, preferring to stand in silence but occasionally adding onto Itsuki's explanations. Lana understood that it was a simple but still pretty tiring job at times, especially on busy days.

Right after they were done explaining, a car had rolled up to the gas station to get a refuel. Lana waved away the boys, watching as they got on their job, waving the customer away with a bow and a loud, "Thank you!"

They quickly got back to her, forming their little group once again. Takumi wiped the sweat off of his brow as itsuki resumed his leaning against the gas pump.

"So, guys, about what we were discussing earlier..." Itsuki began with a smirk. "I say that Takumi and I buy an eight-six!"

Before either Lana or Takumi could respond, an unknown voice spoke up.

"You guys aiming for an eight-six? That's some good taste."

Lana turned around again, but this time, it was the taller employee from earlier. Presumably Iketani, Takumi and Itsuki's senpai. Lana looked him over and blushed, finding him attractive.

"Hey," Lana spoke up, attracting everyone's attention. "Sorry if this is weird, but you kinda look like a guy I used to date back in America."

Takumi held a hand to his face while Itsuki gawked at her. Iketani, on the other hand, chuckled awkwardly and rubbed his neck.

"Is that so? Sorry, I'm afraid we haven't met before. I'm Koichiro Iketani. And you are...?"

Lana gave him a small smile and immediately felt her face flush in embarrassment, wondering why in the world she even let that sentence leave her lips.

"I'm Lana, sorry about that. I don't know what came over me, haha..." 'OH MY GODDDDD!'

"Oh, hold on! Are you the boss's niece?" Iketani asked, his brows raising in surprise.

"Wait- how do you know that, Iketani-senpai?!" Itsuki exclaimed, not expecting Iketani to immediately guess what he so-badly wanted to reveal.

"Boss was telling me about his niece moving in with him from America. I recognized her name, so I connected the dots," the older man said as-a-matter-of-factly.

"What?! Why didn't he tell me about Lana?" Itsuki whined dejectedly before suddenly perking up. "Hey- wait! Iketani-senpai, do you think Takumi and I should buy an eight-six together?!"

Takumi rubbed his neck, his brows furrowed in slight confusion. "I'm...not really familiar with that "eight-six". What make is it, Mazda?"

The other three looked at each other with the widest eyes possible before they all collapsed together, their eyes quirking upwards and their lips twitching as they held down the urge to laugh.

"Are you serious, Takumi? You wanna drink gasoline or something?" Iketani cackled, swinging an arm around Takumi's neck.

Lana's shoulders shook in restrained laughter as she wiped her eyes full of budding tears. "A Mazda?!" She bursted out into hyena-like laughter, smacking her leg.

"Working at a gas stand and not even knowing of the eight-six! You oughta be ashamed of yourself!" Itsuki cried out, offended as all hell.

Iketani, getting a harsh smack of the generational gap from Takumi's lack of knowledge, educated him on the make of the eight-six, explaining that we were still in early elementary school when the nine-two came out.

"Is it that old?" Takumi blanched, scratching his cheek. "Doesn't sound too good...We've got an old Toyota car we use for the store, too."

'Store?' Lana wondered to herself. 'Family business, maybe?'

Lana didn't get the chance to ask, as Itsuki had already beat her to speaking.

"Don't compare it to that! It may be old, but the eight-six is special!" Itsuki said defensively, scolding Takumi.

She almost felt bad for Takumi, considering he just doesn't have the passion for cars to know anything about them. She was the same way before she gained that passion during sophomore year.

Itsuki turned to Iketani, a sheepish flush on his cheeks as he cheekily grinned.

"If I get an eight-six, can I join your team, Iketani-senpai?" Itsuki simpered. "I've always been looking up to you...To the 'Akina Speedstars'..."

Lana's eyes blinked curiously at this. "'Speedstars'?"

Iketani gave her a smile and nodded, pointing a thumb at himself. "The Akina Speedstars is my street racing team here in Gunma. Our turf is Mount Akina, obviously."

Lana eagerly nodded with stars in her eyes, interest captured by his fascinating reveal.

"That's so cool! You have your own team and everything," she whistled, impressed.

Iketani seemed flattered by this and couldn't help but smirk proudly.

"Hey, Lana. You ever been to Akina pass?" He asked her.

She let out a tiny gasp, hoping he was going to ask what she was hoping he'd ask.

"No, actually! I've been wanting to go, though. I heard a lot of street racing goes on around mountain passes," she replied, trying to not seem too eager.

Iketani nodded and grinned at the three teenagers. "Well, since it's Saturday, everyone should be gathering at Akina tonight. Why don't you guys come along?"

Lana's jaw dropped before a wide and excited smile spread across her face, her eyes lighting up as he made the offer. Honestly, she didn't even care if Iketani wasn't going to give her a ride. If he was inviting her to the mountain pass to witness a mini car meet, she would even be willing to walk all the way up to mountain to catch a glimpse.

"Definitely! That would be amazing, Koichiro-san!" Lana beamed, clasping her hands together.

"Uh...But we don't have a car..." Itsuki said dejectedly, Takumi giving him a side-eye from the right.

"That's no problem, I'll give you guys a lift!" Iketani waved him off, gesturing behind the trio.

Lana whipped around to spot the Nissan Silvia Itsuki mentioned earlier, the S13 shining gorgeously in the sunlight. Itsuki gasped, brightening immediately.

"IN YOUR S13, SENPAI?!"

"THE S13!"

Lana and Itsuki squealed together, high-fiving happily.

"We're totally going! I'm going for sure!" Itsuki exclaimed, breathing heavily as Takumi blanked out beside his two peers.

"Me too! I can't pass up riding in your lovely Silvia!" Lana swooned, a blush appearing on her cheeks as she joined Itsuki's excitement.

She turned to Takumi, her grin still plastered on her face. "You're coming too, right Takumi? You have to!" She pleaded, pressing her hands together tightly as if begging him to join them.

The nonchalant brunette sighed and agreed, his lips quirking a tad bit as his friends rejoiced with a solid smack of another high-five.

A few hours passed, consisting of Lana and the other three guys hanging around and occasionally servicing customers. Lana would, of course, stand by the side as she watched the boys do their jobs, and sometimes her uncle would come out to have a short chat with her while she waited. She had already informed him of the gathering on Akina Pass that she would join his employees in, and since he wanted her to get out more, he easily agreed.

It wasn't long before Itsuki and Takumi were ready to clock out, already changed back into their uniforms.

"Well, we're off, Iketani-senpai!" Itsuki called out, Takumi at his side. "Seeya later, Lana!"

Lana waved back with a smile, repeating the phrase back to each of them.

Iketani nodded at them with a wave. "By the way, I'll pick you guys up at the bus stop at 8 o'clock!"

As soon as they left, Yuichi turned to Lana, passing her the house keys. "Why don't you go ahead and head back? You should probably start getting ready too. You're gonna be freezing in your school uniform."

Lana oh'ed and nodded, placing the house keys in her schoolbag. "Yeah, okay. I'll leave the door unlocked and the keys on the counter. Thanks, uncle!"

She beamed and turned to walk off, waving goodbye to Iketani, getting a wave back in response.

Just as Iketani was about to open his mouth and talk to his boss, Lana quickly turned back and ran over to the men.

"...Uh, where's the bus stop you're picking us up at?"

After getting the directions, Lana quickly headed home, excited to participate in her first sort-of-car-meet in Japan since she arrived. Outfit combinations ran through her head as she really wanted to look cute enough to possibly capture the attention of a street racer. She shivered excitedly as she imagined riding in a sweet ride with her imaginary boyfriend. In a sleek, souped up rx7 maybe? Or even possibly a Subaru! It didn't matter which kind, she just wanted to ride in a beautiful Subaru so badly!

As she continued to speedwalk down the street, she suddenly got a flash to the AE86 in her dream.

"Damn! I never got to tell Takumi or anyone for that matter about my dream! I completely forgot about it until now," she sighed to herself, feeling the urge to tell someone about her weird dream from last night.

It quickly preoccupied her mind along the rest of the way home, only disappearing once she unlocked the door.

It took about an hour until she was completely ready from head to toe, dressed in a cute and trendy outfit that intertwined with her own unique twist.

Her outfit mainly consisted of the clothes she brought over from the states, but she wasn't worried about people thinking she was weird or obviously American from the way she dressed in her baggy skater jeans and tight crop top, complete with a baseball jersey left unbuttoned. A pair of gray Chuck Taylors peeked from beneath the wide pant legs, a true staple of American fashion. A small cross necklace sat atop her collar as well as a rosary left hanging on her chest. Medium-sized hoop earrings hung above her shoulders. Her hair was clipped up, a clump of hair strands fanned behind her head. To finish the look, she did a simple makeup look of eyeliner and a lip combo of liner and gloss, a look she learned from her amigas back home.

Smiling to herself as she gave another once-over in front of the mirror of her room, she grabbed her keys and shoved them in her pocket as well as the tube of lipgloss she used, checking the time and noting that she had 15 minutes to walk to the bus stop. Which was fine, the bus stop was a really short walk away, so she wasn't in a panic as she left the house. The door was unlocked, as promised to her uncle Yuichi for whenever he decided to come home.

After the short walk, Lana met up with Takumi and Itsuki, who had also barely gotten to the bus stop. They chatted a bit about what cars they might see before Takumi and a couple other cars arrived, quickly picking up the trio in the S13 before heading off to Akina.

Lana excitedly sat in the front seat, and although Itsuki complained, Iketani reminded him that ladies should always sit in the front. Lana had no qualms as Itsuki dejectedly made his way to the back seat with Takumi, who was already sitting down and waiting for them to take off.

At first, the ride was smooth and casual. That is- until they began the uphill trek on the pass.

"WAAAAAGH!" Takumi uncharacteristically yelped, clutching for dear life onto the passenger seat where Lana was sitting in front of him.

"SHUT UP TAKUMI! You're disturbing Iketani-senpai!" Itsuki screamed at his best friend, almost matching his volume as they both screamed for different reasons.

"BUT I'M SCARED!" Takumi exclaimed, trembling in his seat.

Lana, on the other hand, was laughing in utter joy and ecstasy, stars in her eyes and wind in her hair as she enjoyed the twists and turns that Iketani made as they accelerated up the mountain, the other Akina Speedstars following closely behind.

Iketani glanced over at the ecstatic girl sitting in his passenger seat, and he couldn't help but catch the happiness radiating off her as he drove, a grin forming on his lips as he turned back to the road.

"Coming up, hairpin in 2nd gear!"

"PLEASE STOOOOP!"

"JUST SHUT UP TAKUMI!"

"WOOHOOOOO!"

Lana had never felt more alive in her life until that moment.

She had no idea that this would be the first of many incredible experiences she would have on Mt. Akina.

...To be continued...