Komachi knew from a young age how important being social was.

You were either popular, unpopular, or somewhere in between. Throughout most of her life, she found herself in that undefined area between popular and unpopular. People knew her, and she had friends, but there were still others more known and talked about than her, and she was fine with that. She didn't care much about those kinds of things anyway.

That was until she witnessed her brother's time in middle school.

Komachi had always known that her brother wasn't the most popular person, quite the opposite in fact. However, she'd rarely seen it bother him and since he didn't seem to care very much, she figured that he was doing just fine. However, something happened while he was in middle school. She didn't know what happened, but it was drastic enough for him to shift his personality entirely.

Sometimes she couldn't believe it, but Hachiman hadn't always been the cynical, self-loathing person he often came off as. He never seemed to like his circumstances, but never once did he speak out about his isolation and teasing. He seemed content, as if that were his place in the world. As if that was where he belonged.

She disagreed, but still.

Nonetheless, as her older brother went through middle school, he'd begun to grow more quiet, more depressed, more cynical. There was also the subtle comments he gave that let her know just how little he thought of himself.

She didn't understand it much at her age, so she continued being the cute and lovable Komachi she always was, which seemed to help in some ways. But after finally understanding what he went through, she held a lot of respect for her older brother.

Komachi could tell that he never wanted to burden her with what he was going through, that he thought a younger sister shouldn't see their older brother so pathetic and miserable. He never told her what he experienced during those days, but he also didn't do a very good job at hiding how he felt, so she could infer.

She was certain that after seeing the pain he went through, it would be hell if she went through the same thing. It was partially why she respected him so much. Even now, he clung to the ideals he formed during that time, as if it were the natural progression of things. He'd made it through whatever hell he endured and let those experiences shape his personality, while still being a good person. She knew he'd never be the same again, but part of her wondered if the Hachiman she had always known was the one of the present, or the one of the past.

Regardless, Komachi knew she couldn't be as strong as her older brother if she were to experience the same things as him. So, she entered middle school prepared, knowing all the latest trends and what was popular for people her age, not that she ever cared about that kind of thing.

So, two years into middle school, Komachi found herself in her school's most popular social circle and while it was exhausting, it was enough to prevent her from ever having to go through what her older brother went through.

That was until her third year of middle school. For whatever reason, street racing of all things decided to become the coolest thing in not only her school, but in every school around Chiba, and apparently all of Japan to boot.

She had grown complacent, and thought that the status she worked so hard to protect was finally secured.

Wrong.

As she had learned some time ago, her lack of knowledge on the street racing scene, or just cars in general, made her quite an easy target for teasing, which could quickly build up and escalate. Even from the people she considered friends. It only reminded her that even if they were her friends, part of the reason her friends hung around her was because she was the most popular option aside from themselves.

Still, Komachi wouldn't allow herself to lose what she'd worked so hard for, she wouldn't let herself go through what her brother did.

She made her way to her homeroom, hoping that no one decided to point out the fact that she was behind on this year's prevailing trend. Even though she and Hachiman had officially entered the scene with their Silvia, they still had awhile to go before they'd become respected or even acknowledged. That's what she thought, at least.

Upon opening the door, all eyes were on her, immediately sending her into a mental panic. What had she done to warrant everyone's attention? What happened? Was this the start of her becoming an outcast? Was this what it was like for her brother? Her mind began to conjure up the worst possible scenarios before someone interrupted her. She recognized this person as Tohru, one of the girls in her clique.

"Komachi-chan, we saw you on Night Scene's blog! You know Yuigahama-san?" They saw her? Right, she could've guessed that since Zaimokuza was around them the whole night that it was only natural for some clips to have their faces and voices in it. It was then that she really looked at everyone's faces as they stared at her.

It wasn't looks of confusion, disappointment, or pity. These were faces of awe and admiration.

"Y-Yeah, it's not a big deal. My older brother is close to her so we're good friends."

"Ehh?!"

"That's so cool!"

"I'm so jealous.."

"Komachi's always been cool!"

"Then does your older brother have a car?" Another person chimed in as everyone began to swarm around her. She was quickly becoming overwhelmed but she could use this to her advantage. She plastered a confident smile on her face before responding.

"Yeah, we have a Silvia!" She responded to everyone.

"You have a car?!"

"Have you been in a race yet?"

"Are you two gonna join the Free Riders?"

The questions piled on and on, and she found herself feeling hopeful. Maybe it wouldn't be too hard to regain her lost ground after all.

"So what if her older brother has a car? I haven't heard of him so he probably isn't fast." The sudden comment caused a stir between the students.

"Nawaki's always so negative..."

"I heard his brother raced against Isshiki last week and almost won."

This was unexpected for Komachi, she wasn't expecting anyone to challenge her statements, but it made sense that if someone were to do so, it would be the arrogant Nawaki. The other students quieted down and looked at her, waiting for a response.

Her heart was pounding in her chest, and she knew that she couldn't back down. Her mind flickered back to Zaimokuza's lecture, remembering everything he told them, and quickly formulated a response.

"That's arrogant for someone who's older brother can't beat a supercharged Type R." She said, thankful for the person who muttered about his older brother losing against Isshiki. Her face adopted an indifferent expression that was out of character for her as the crowd whispered amongst themselves, some chuckling at her retort. This only caused the arrogant Nawaki to seethe.

"He could still beat your brother's dusty Silvia." He claimed, growing angry. Komachi couldn't let herself get riled up by his less-than-creative comebacks, instead keeping her indifferent demeanor and shrugging.

"Considering he didn't beat a K20A with a supercharger, probably not." He saw Nawaki's eyes light up, smirking as he responded once again.

"The 98' Type R doesn't have a K20A, it has a B16B." He corrected, causing the others to begin to doubt what she knew. This didn't faze her at all, however.

"Congratulations, you know how to read a manual! That's cute. You do know engine swaps are a thing, right? You should look into them if you wanna beat our Silvia." Thankfully she'd seen her brother talk indifferently and with a deadpan for most of her life, so she could now replicate his personality with ease.

The crowd once again chuckled at her response, causing Nawaki to get up from his desk in the back and stomp over to her. She had to admit, he was a bit intimidating since he was taller, but she couldn't lose this, not when fate decided to throw her a bone.

"The Urayasu loop. Midnight this Saturday. Be there with your brother and that piece of crap Silvia, or stay home and admit that you're a liar." He said though gritted teeth.

"I'll be there." Komachi met his eyes with unknown ferocity, finding some anger in his words. Whether it was because he doubted her brother or their Silvia, she didn't know.

Nawaki stomped away, and Komachi made her way to her desk as the crowd began to disperse. The whispers didn't however, and she knew that their upcoming race would become a hot topic throughout the school. She couldn't help but wonder if Hachiman would even agree to race some random person he knew nothing about. She wasn't even sure if the Silvia was okay to race anyway. So he could very well decline, and that'd be the end of it. She hoped that wouldn't happen.

Her clique looked at her with faces of shock and respect.

"When did you decide you were going to get a car?"

"Why didn't you tell us?!"

"When can we see it?"

The questions began to overwhelm her once again and she cut them off by raising both of her hands. "C-Calm down guys, I'll explain everything. Me and my brother have been planning on getting a car for awhile now, and I didn't tell you guys because.." She paused for a moment. "I wanted it to be a surprise!" She settled on saying. Neither of these things were true, but it wasn't like she could tell them the real reason. "As for when you can see it, maybe if you come to the race this Saturday?"

Her friends awed at the fact that she was the first out of them to get a car, and before she knew it, the questions kept piling on.

She had a feeling this was going to be a long day.


"..."

"..."

"You're joking, right?" I said with a raised eyebrow, having just been informed about the race Komachi so kindly scheduled for us. I put away my phone and sat down on the couch.

"I...um..." Komachi did her best to avert her eyes.

"You're not joking." I frowned.

"What else was I supposed to do?!" Komachi threw her hands in the air.

"Maybe not let yourself get provoked into a race! One that you're not even going to be in, by the way! You didn't expect to be the one racing, did you?"

"Of course not! I just thought..." Komachi looked down and began to play with her fingers.

"What?"

"We can't let people think we're slow, right? I mean, isn't that the reason why we bought the Silvia in the first place?" She began to pace around the living room.

I couldn't help but sigh, knowing that she had a point. "Still, accepting a race this early is pretty reckless."

"It shouldn't be impossible. Apparently, he raced against Isshiki recently and lost."

"Well that's not much comfort considering we can't even beat Isshiki right now." As long as his car produced under 250 horsepower, we should have a chance. The Silvia's SR20DET produced a maximum of 247 horsepower, but with the state the car was in currently, it probably produced something around 215 to 230 horsepower.

One thing that was good about our car was the fact that it came turbocharged, although we could add another one if we needed to at some point anyway. Logically, I could see our car being a match for his, even if I had no idea what car this guy drove. I'd have to ask Zaimokuza.

Though the car needed better tires before it was going anywhere. Driving on its currently bald tires would be dangerous not only for me but anyone else that happened to be on the road. Luckily, I ordered a new set of tires the day after Yui's race, having experienced the sudden loss of traction while we were avoiding the police. Needless to say, I didn't want something like that happening again. Especially not with Komachi in the car. Actually, they should be arriving any minute now.

As if on cue, a delivery truck appeared in front of our house, and the driver began to unload the tires, each of them in huge boxes. This seemed to catch Komachi's attention. "Onii-chan, what's that?" She pointed out of the window. I only smirked.

"That's what you're going to be doing for the next hour."

"...huh?"


"That's the last one...am I done yet?" Komachi said exhaustedly, her school uniform dirtied by having to change all four tires on her own, with instruction from me, of course.

Changing a tire was probably the easiest thing someone could do to their car, and something that everyone who had a car should learn how to do. If we were going to be doing something as serious as racing someone then this would only be the beginning of what we'd have to do.

"Finally..." She muttered to herself. Hey, you got yourself into this mess! Though either way, she was going to be the one changing the tires.

I lowered the car with the jack and removed the stands holding up the car. Luckily, our dad happened to have a jack, although I'd never seen him use it before. Komachi went to go change out of her uniform while I put away the tools. Carbon was making progress, slowly but surely.

After putting away the tools, I whipped out my phone and began to dial Zaimokuza. I needed information, hoping this wasn't a lost cause and he didn't own an R34 or something.

"Hachiman! What can I do for you on this fine day? Don't tell me...is Matsunaga finally invading Kyoto?!" This guy...

I sighed from the other side of the phone. "I need information on someone. Do you know any racers with the family name Nawaki in their first year of high school?"

Zaimokuza immediately broke his act. "That's not much to go off of, let me search a bit." This was followed by the clacking of keys on his end, and after a minute or so he finally responded. "Itsuda Nawaki, in his first year at Kaihin High School...has a younger brother that attends Toaru Middle School, is that him?"

Man, Zaimokuza wasted no time. He was surprisingly a very reliable friend. "Yeah, that's Komachi's middle school. How'd you get that info so fast?"

"He's active in Night Scene's forums a lot, so there's a ton of information about him on there." Right, I forgot that Night Scene was more than just a Magazine. I should really start browsing the forums. "What do you wanna know?"

"What can you tell me about the car he drives? Also, what's the Urayasu Loop?" I asked, absentmindedly wondering what was taking Komachi so long.

"Hm, from what I can see here...he owns a 1996 Mitsubishi Eclipse, he hasn't said anything about performance upgrades so I'm assuming he has the standard 4G63T engine in his car." Shit, his car was also turbocharged. From what I know, the Eclipse wasn't far off in terms of horsepower or even the power-to-weight ratio. This race could go any way, and I wasn't experienced so as far as I could tell, I was already at a disadvantage.

Except for one silver lining. The Eclipse was an FWD car, so at the very least, I could provoke him into understeering if the race was close enough. I found myself brought out of my thoughts by Zaimokuza's voice again.

"The Urayasu loop...don't tell me you've already got a race?" Zaimokuza sounded both excited and concerned. I couldn't help but sigh.

"Yeah, Komachi somehow managed to piss off his younger brother and now we have a race on Saturday at midnight. Now explain where I'll be racing, I don't wanna drive too far for a race."

"Fear not, my friend. Urayasu is only a thirty to forty minute drive. The loop starts just past Juntendo University, on the highway on the left side of Kyuedo River. You'll exit on the main road toward Urayasu bridge and then stay South until you pass Tokyo Disneyland. That's the Urayasu loop. I'll send you the route" Zaimokuza finished.

"Thanks. How likely is it for police to get involved?" That was now my main concern.

"The odds aren't in your favor, considering you'll be near Tokyo but because the race is at midnight, it should be about a forty percent chance, and apparently if you go fast enough the police don't even chase you."

"Will you be able to cause a distraction like you did for Yui and Tobe's race?"

"Your race won't be high-profile enough for anyone to want to cause a distraction. But I'll put the date and location of the race on Night Scene's schedule so people can go and watch, that way if you win, you'll be on track to race Isshiki. Speaking of, have bets been arranged?" His last sentence piqued my interest.

"Bets?" I asked.

"Indeed! Bets and payouts are more common among normal street races, as opposed to high-profile ones. Kawasaki is in charge of managing bets and and distributing payouts. Should I request her services?"

I thought to myself for a moment, before responding.

"Yeah. I'll see if I can rile him up on the forums."

"A clever tactic! I'll send you any more details I have, and you can expect to see me at the race so I can get some footage for the magazine."

"Sounds good." I ended the call and headed inside, having a lot of work to do.


A/N: Sorry for the late chapter, I've had a ton of shit happen recently so I haven't had much time to get to any of my stories. I'll start writing another chapter for BHAS likely tomorrow. Also, I could use more friends that are authors so if you're into writing, shoot me a PM!