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Initial D World - Discussion Board / Forums > Initial D Fanfiction > [FANFIC] Initial D: Heikou Sen Pass FIVE
Posted by: Rudy Jul 3 2008, 10:46 PM
Initial D: Heikou Sen [prologue]
Monday, September 8th, 2014. Lake Akina, Japan
Once upon a time, somebody told somebody else that Tokyo, the electro-lit epicenter of modern Japanese culture, techology, and commerce was the greatest place to watch illegal street racing activities. Rumors of the "Midnight Club" and "King of Speed" would circle around internet forums, many people showcasing and boasting their 'latest and greatest' rides. It was an incredible competition of wits, horsepower, tuning ability. They said it was the greatest 'off-track' racing action in the world.
Obviously, that somebody never ventured outside of Tokyo City.
Out in the vast rural Japanese mountains, lie many small villages, towns and cities. These populaces are connected by a string of highways that cut smoothly and evenly through the bases of the mountains, forged by mankind himself, but some of the more isolated areas and locations can only be accessed via winding along arterial routes that twist and bend along the natural contours of these mountains. Here, you could say, is where it really goes down. Here, the driver is 65 to 90 percent of the element. It doesn't matter if you have a spakin'-new R35 GT-R with dual clutches and hundreds of electronic gizmos. That means absolutely jack if you can't properly negotiate the curvature of these asphalt avenues, and you might just find yourself spanked silly by some local in a slightly overboosted 180SX. Downhill, at least.
One young man almost became the shining example of this theory. His name was Takumi Fujiwara, and in his incredibly short career as a street racing semi-legend, he garnered tons of respect. While the machine he raced, the Mazda RX-7 Spirit R Type A was just a little bit dated, his clunky AE86 Trueno hatchback, with nearly stock engine, whipped the living piss out of up-and-coming driver Keisuke Takahashi, of the famous Akagi Red Suns. That early summer night was one to remember, and the only of its kind. While another outside team approached the driver, he promptly declined.
See, racing was never his intention - he was just doing a favor for one of his few friends, Iketani, and earning himself a full tank of gas to take his girlfriend out. Hey, at over 100 yen a liter, every extra bit counts. The legend kind of faded away, though Keisuke's elder brother Ryousuke did keep an eye on him. And sure enough, every night, the young kid's run down the mountain - to deliver tofu, of all reasons - continued. Ryosuke would challenge him soon, because he swore he saw something in Fujiwara worth noting, but for now, Akina was still pretty much a nothing-town on the map for Japan's 'touge elite'. But that was going to change soon, and fast.
Mountain Highway 33, Akina, Japan
It was just another mostly-quiet morning in Akina, as darkness still had a full cloak over the amazing landscape of this relatively undeveloped town. Per usual, a loud, ratty and rusty old AE86 Trueno had just thundered up the mountain at break-neck speed. While the car certainly didn't look that great, it was mechanically intact. Amazingly, it was, as usual, carrying a full load of tofu on the way up, delivering it to Hotel Akina. Nobody ever explored the mystery, but the car managed to drift with tofu in the back, without breaking it. It was an almost godly skill that few had ever witnessed. One man had occasionally observed him. In an unmarked, old-school Mazda RX-7, model FC3S Infini, he would often arrive around just this time, just parking at a scenic overlook and watching the boy run, taking notes, observing. The silence before the downhill blast was broken this morning by that same RX-7 as well. Today, the driver, clad in aviators and wearing a very formal white outfit, looking fit for a marriage ceremony, decided he was going to take notes of the AE86's final acceleration on the downhill stretch following the last corner of Akina Pass' brutal downhill gauntlet. But what he would witness coming from the direction of Akina Village would prod a brand-new point of interest, and something he'd never seen in his life before.
He heard the engine approaching from a distance, and pondered. "Fujiwara's AE86? He's a little late... No... wait, who is that?" Listening intently, his ears and eyes focused on the approaching car. Whatever it was, it was powerful. Very much so. Shooting down the straightaway at speeds in excess of 200 km/h, a fearsome roar of a high-strung turbo I4, unmuffled and brutal, echoed off the mountainside, the driver grabbing for fifth gear as he raced by the observer. The speed was nothing short of amazing, and the FC driver had a pretty good look at the vehicle - yet still couldn't make heads or tails of the primer-black rat rod that became of this hatchback. It was the spitting image of an AE86, yet was not the car. He observed as the driver laid on the brakes and the rear tires locked up. "He needs to adjust his brake pressure distribution", he thought out loud, as the car started to swing sideways.
He feared the worst, assuming the overcooked corner approach would lead to disasterous results. Somehow the driver caught the motion, and corrected the car just before barely clearing Akina's first corner. An incredible feat... or a healthy dose of beginner's luck? What happened just out of eyeshot was even more amazing, however. The AE86 was taking the hard outside line, and so was its twin. Gasping, the AE86 driver was able to neatly tuck his car in mid-corner, the two cars barely trading side-mirror paint. It was a tactic unlike any other the twin car driver had ever witnessed, truly unique to this person. With only inches seperating the two cars, the AE86 cleanly sneaked by, not a moment too late, leaving the other car spellbound in its wake.
Although he tried his hardest to control it, the newcomer's vehicle was completely out of control. On the plus side it was the same kind of spin that followed another white-knuckle moment just months ago, a harmless spin-out committed by Keisuke Takahashi of the Akagi Red Suns which was triggered by another stupendous maneuver that only the AE86 of Takumi Fujiwara could pull off without wrecking. He locked all four brakes and slid to an abrupt halt, stalling his engine. After a moment's pass, he slowly climbed out of the primer-black car and closed the door, clicking on his LED flashlight to pierce through the darkness and stare good and hard at the pavement. He paced around the corner, observing his tire tracks vs. the ones of the mysterious hatchback that he nearly ran into. "There's no doubt about it", he thought aloud. "I don't know too much about attacking corners, but he changed his line in the middle of a drift... incredible. No, I'd say impossible but the evidence is sitting right here and laughing in my face!"
It was like some kind of sci-fi movie that merely replaced supernatural creatures with supernatural driving ability. He didn't know what the car was and guessed it either being an old Celica Supra or another of his make, but he knew that there was no way that he could replicate this end result. Was this expert throttle control at work? Two-footed driving? A signature steering kick? Perhaps a little of all of the above? He could feel the paralyzing aura that eminated from the car that he almost wrecked. The residual aftershock appeared to still be there as if the downhill driver set the entire road ablaze. Collapsing onto his knees, he traced his hand along a small patch of pavement that was grazed by the panda hatchback's tires. Not a ghost at all... this guy and car's completely for real. His moment of shock was interrupted as his ears picked up on the unmistakable popcorn machine burble of an idling 13B rotary approaching. Yeah, the old-school RX-7 sound, he thought to himself, his eyes focusing on the blinding white-blue headlights. The sound tuned 7's made before the fart-cannon era. Tasteful. Tasty, even.
The driver that climbed out of the ghost-white cockpit was equally impressive. On a whim, the black car's driver was able to will himself to a proper stance, observing the car's driver. Not a cop, no. A spectator? Well hell, sitting there like a monkey would do no good. Might as well ask and see.
"Who are you?", he asked the sunglassed-cloaked figure quite plainly.
After a moment's hesitation the mysterious figure replied, adjusting his darkly-tinted aviators. "That is the question I was about to ask you. I'm also wondering what you're doing here at this time in the morning."
The black hatchback driver grinned. "No harm in revealing my identity... I'm new here. Matsuda Masato. Well, I dealt my hand. Now it's time you show yours."
The man chuckled for a moment, before shaking his head. "Before I state my name, I must thank you." Getting an odd look from Matsuda, he then continued, "First, thanks to you I now know exactly how Keisuke looked the first time Takumi Fujiwara beat him on this course. And secondly, your aura and attitude are also nearly identical to my younger brother. A bit of 'jaded enthusiasm', as I used to call it."
Matsuda cut him off. "Flattery will get you nowhere with me, and there's not much I have to offer. So what's your name and how do you play your game, mystery man?"
The slightly older man chuckled. "Not very good with breaking the ice, are you? Ryousuke Takahashi is my name. To be honest, considering the effort put into your car it is suprising that you don't know my name or my face one way or the other."
Matsuda shrugged, his attitude still glowing. "Mama said never talk to strangers. And didn't I tell you I'm new to the perfecture? This is my first week in town. I just found this road. Why, you some kinda popular hotshot or something?"
Ryousuke shook his head. "Hardly a 'hotshot'. I am merely the downhill driver for the Akagi Red Suns team, and my focus up until 5 months ago was to break every touge record in Japan. Not to sound vain, but I really do have quite a number of fans. Even people in this quiet area knew about me when our team first rolled in."
Matsuda grinned again. "I give you credit for using an S4 or an S5 FC, and not slapping a cannon on it. That car's a work of art, sir. But seriously, how far did you expect it to go with your car's age working against you? The Z32, the JZA80, the R34... all capable of well over 500 horsepower, lest we not forget the incredible new GT-R. It was only a matter of time. If you're going to break records, you better have some serious ammunition. And that 15-year-old FC just doesn't cut the mustard anymore." A small pause. "Without a 20B, anyway. And I know that engine sure as hell doesn't have three triangles spinning in its block. Betcha 10,000 yen."
Ryousuke blinked, took a second to compose his thoughts, then calmly responded, "I did say 'touge'... the cars and horsepower figures you're conjuring up are well into wangan territory. Especially that '20B' remark."
Matsuda rested his hands on his hips, frowning in slight disapproval. "Well Mr. Cool-and-Collected, what's the freaking difference?"
Another mild pause, before Ryousuke shook his head. "I take it you spent the majority of your life in Tokyo. From what I can tell, wangan is exactly the style or racing you grew up around. Long straightaways and high-speed corners. But you want to know what touge is? Well, touge is..." Ryousuke made a little look-around motion, pretending that he never saw any of Akina's downhill in real life, before shrugging at Matsuda. "...this."
"Oh, really!?", Matsuda exclaimed. These twisty, tight roads? Why, what kind of speed could possibly be built on such a windy path? There's hardly room to take the optimal line, not to mention oncoming traffic...
"Absolutely", Ryousuke shrugged. "There's an entire culture dedicated to it, too. Some think it's more of a test of driving than actual circuit racing is. And some argue the best part is not needing much more than 300 horsepower to dominate the downhill. True, my FC is making more than that but sometimes it does more harm than help."
"I've got a question for you. What exactly were you doing here anyway, Ryousuke? Judging by your approach, you had one vantage point or another. You can't possibly tell me you were also just driving by."
Ryousuke nodded. "You're right. I was originally watching Takumi Fujiwara make his daily tofu delivery pass. Although he only raced one opponent, it was my younger brother and he was humiliated by Takumi's skill. That mildly-tuned 150-horsepower AE86 bested a highly-tuned FD3S."
"A near-stock AE86!? A Levin Trueno!?"
"I didn't believe it either, until I watched him defeat Keisuke a second time, this time during an official time trial. It's true. Either that will help ease some of the tension you were feeling earlier, or multiply it."
Matsuda's face went pale. It took a moment to click but when the pieces aligned in his brain, everything came crashing down like a pile of seven brick. Touge... downhill... that car... His ghost-white expression soon disappear, his cheeks reddening in frustration and his fist clenching. So this is what that cryptic old bastard meant. 'I'm sure in these rural areas you'll find... an interesting form of motorsport'. Yeah, now I get it. I can't believe it, but it's staring me down! This is just like the old days. I thought you were insane, Dad, but I guess insanity is viral.
Ryousue blinked. "Something wrong?"
Matsuda shook his head briskly. "N-n-n... nothing. Nothing concerning you anyway. Personal business. If you'll excuse me, I gotta head back home. Tomorrow's my first day of school here. Better get what sleep I can." Shoving back into his car, Matsuda pulled a smoky 180 and abruptly took off, rounding the final downhill corner before speeding down the half-mile straight and back into town.
"???" Ryousuke sighed in confusion, before gliding back into the pristine grey interior or his FC. The Presto Pop-o-Matic idle was still alive and well, and Ryousuke calmly prodded the accelerator a few times, listing to the well-tuned 13BT sing in solitude. I get the feeling that this won't be the first time we cross paths, Masato-san., he calmly thought. In many ways, you're a lot like my brother. And it seems you're quick to learn. At the very least, you know cars in a basic level. Things have certainly taken a turn for the interesting.
In the early morning air, Ryousuke Takahashi decided to do his own uphill-downhill attack in the FC. He's watched the AE86 from so many angles, and could percieve its invisible line as he traced the corners. The perfectly-timed downshifts and artistic brake dancing that ensued were like a trademark of his. "The time is near, Takumi Fujiwara", he thought aloud as he hugged the apex before shooting swiftly through the Five Hairpins, naturally adjusting his curve and almost grazing the guardrail on exit in perfect neutral-steer. Soon, it will be cold. Before it gets cold, I'll challenge you personally. Will you be ready?
...To Be Continued.
Posted by: Meteor Jul 3 2008, 11:07 PM
So you're rebooting your last fic. . .
Good start = Me want MOAR!
However. . Spelling mistakes (and one missing word).
Shooting down the straightaway at speeds in excess of 200 km/h, a fearsome roar of a high-strung turbo I4, unmuffled and brutal, echoed off the mountainside, the driver grabbing for fifth gear as the raced by observer. The speed was nothing short of amazing, and the FC driver had a pretty good look at the vehicle - yet still couldn't make heads or tails of the primer-black rat rod that became of this hatchback. It was the spitting image of an AE86, yet was not the car.
Posted by: red comet 7 Jul 3 2008, 11:12 PM
SOOO......MANY......FAN FICS!!!!!!!
QUOTE (Meteor @ Today at 3:07 AM)
Yes, sir. The modernizations are still there, the concept of Matthew - now Matsuda Masato is still there, the whole Night Kids Race Never Happened thing is still there... there's just a lot less American influence.
Fear not, the 1996 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport is still Masato's dream car. He's just, less frustratingly gaijin. I'm really trying hard to nail the 'pure' audience of Initial D Fanfiction while maintaining my out-there and flamboyant nature, but it's a b*tch.
Still, I'll give this a go. If I don't see the kind of response I'm hoping for by Chapter 5, I'll terminate it permanently and just put the pen down altogether and focus on Drift City/roleplaying on WBS.
7, any other thoughts?
Edit: Meteor, I meant to type 'spitting image'. American slang, yo.
i'm liking the the time frame of this one actually.
Thanks. I'll begin writing a fresh Chapter 1 tomorrow after the 4th. <3 We'll see where it goes.
Expect the Speed Stars to be a little bit more of a force, Kenji to be an actual worker at the local Esso, and Iketani to not suck quite as badly as he first did.
Posted by: Meteor Jul 4 2008, 01:41 AM
If I don't see the kind of response I'm hoping for by Chapter 5, I'll terminate it permanently and just put the pen down altogether and focus on Drift City/roleplaying on WBS.
Just curious. What is the kind of response you're looking for?
Or would you rather not say?
Posted by: Hannah Jul 4 2008, 10:05 AM
I agree, this revamped chapter is much better... Save for the typing errors. Unbelievable how you can misspell the name of your very own character, several times no less. XD
I also like the small inside jokes and how you portrayed Ryousuke in this story. As well as Masato. I like Masato's attitude better now.
Posted by: Rudy Jul 4 2008, 10:31 AM
Well TBH I'm seeking to appeal to those who enjoy 'purer' ID fanfics. While even I don't have a solid grasp of that concept just yet a few select audience members - namely Wing_0, Red Comet 7, THX_howeverhtef**kyounumberit and of course mah boi Nomake Wan - do. And I don't want to cross those boundary lines.
Posted by: wing_0 Jul 4 2008, 11:06 AM
It's hard to judge from the prologue, but it looks interesting. I wonder what will be Matsuda's reaction to seeing proper touge racing. I'm interested how it'll develop further, a non-gaijin fic is something pretty unDoriish. Actually I did initially think it's a Tsukihime/Melty Blood crossover (my mind made me read the title as Kohaku Heikou), but well... it still seems interesting. Keep it up. ^^
QUOTE (wing_0 @ Today at 3:06 PM)
Ask Paula. I requested her translate "Parallel Lines" to Japanese. I assume her translation is accurate. :sweat:
Posted by: Sanae Jul 4 2008, 11:26 AM
QUOTE (Reiji Dorifuta @ Today at 9:09 PM)
Eto....if by 'lines' you meant speech ones, then the translation is correct.
However, if by 'lines' you meant physical lines as in two cars travelling in parallel lines, then the words you need are "heikou sen" (併行線).
At any rate, I do like your story and I certainly hope you'll continue it.
EDIT: Added the kanji in case you want to look it up.
Posted by: twitchykun Jul 4 2008, 12:36 PM
if you don't continue this, i'll out-touge you.
Posted by: Drew Jul 6 2008, 06:44 PM
^Yeah, don't pull another effing Carbon canyon on us and lose interest by chapter 8, alright?
And yeah, the rewrite is a lot better than the first one. Keep it up and don't go too effing crazy, got it?
Posted by: Nomake Wan Jul 25 2008, 02:05 AM
QUOTE (Turbo_Levin_13 @ Jul 6 2008, 07:44 PM)
f**king agreed. If you pull that bullshit one more time, I swear to god I'll never read anything you write until the end of time.
This one is GREAT so far.
Posted by: Dave Rodgers Jul 25 2008, 06:09 AM
Ease up on the adjectives, Ace. I know you're trying to sound better than the usual fanfic writers, but you're smacking us over the head with some ponderous writing here.
It was just another mostly-quiet morning in Akina, as darkness still had a full cloak over the amazing landscape of this relatively undeveloped town.
Reworked.
It was quiet in the early hours.� The sun had yet to rise, and so the town of Akina slumbered amidst the untouched countryside.
Instead of slamming my readers over the head with factual detail like a documentary, I leave the undeveloped nature of the town to be implied with my words. It is, of course, quiet, not 'mostly' quiet or "slightly" quiet - too many descriptors before your adjectives make for a very ponderous read.
It is decent at best, but could do with a little work.
Posted by: red comet 7 Jul 25 2008, 09:44 AM
umm where be the chapter two?
I'm on it!
just kidding
Even I'm not that huge an asshole to finish someone's fic.
Posted by: Rudy Jul 26 2008, 07:46 PM
Pass 1 - Moon Over the Castle
September 13th, 2010. 9:01 AM
The start of a new school year. Not exactly what Matsuda Masato was looking forward to after his enjoyable summer off, but it was nessecary. It was a decision that boiled down to his homeroom teacher agreeing with the principal's decision to hold him back due to poor attendance. It should have been his graduating year, last year - Late June would be the best time of his life as it would offer him a chance to finally break away from the boring school life and take his desire to become a master car tuner head-on... but it was shot down by him skimping on classes to - surprise, surprise! - go out and get up in tuners' businesses. At first, he was viewed as a young nusiance, but oh, how he could dream on about how far he's come in these 12 short...
"Matsuda! Pay attention, class is in session!� his math-class teacher scolded him. "Yeah, yeah,� he replied in monotone, giving the teacher a bit of a bored look as he glanced on his page - giving a quick glance at the chalkboard, listening to the teacher quiz him and - surprisingly - easily figure the equation out. Math... how boring, he thought to himself. If there was anything more boring than math than it would be his required Japanese classes - though he showed genuine interest in English. Math class was just a waste of brain power that he already developed. Scribbling in a few more educated-guess answers on his sheet, he flipped the page and continued his sketch of a race-prepped 2JZ-GTE. His eyes glimmered a bit as he began shading parts of the induction system, occasionally checking the front of the class to make sure he wouldn't be caught and nonchalantly filling in a few more answers by ear. Math was the driving force behind mechanics, so of course it was important for him to understand it to get into the nitty-gritty details of engine building - bore and stroke, compression ratio, mechanical clearances and so on. Especially considering his greed for boosting cars; that turbocharged kick was like an addiction - in that respect, he seriously needed to grow up. But hey, you're only young once.
After 30 awful minutes, Math class was over and he promptly headed to his locker to check his cell phone before art class. One missed call, the single-color LCD informed him. Matsuda dialed *86 and then his voicemail PIN, his facial expression progressing from a very mild look of boredom to a wide smile almost instantly. Grinning, he hit the call end button, lightly exclaiming "Yosh!" in victory. It was loud enough to draw a few looks - and a few laughs. One look at his phone was enough to get one of the school's more cocky jocks started on him, catching glimpse of his cellular phone. "Hahaha, what kind of phone is that?� the big-shot mocked. "A RakuRaku? Hahaha, aren't you a little big to be carrying a phone designed for little kids?" That wiped the grin off of Matsuda's face real quick, a slightly frustrated eye-twitch following a beaming response at the Jock. "Who cares what kind of phone it is? It makes calls, that's all cell phones are meant for." "That's all cell phones are meant for," the jock mocked. "Gimme a break! I'll bet you're just to broke afford a real phone!" The kids were laughing along, but Matsuda was less than amused. I'll bet... he thought to himself, confirming it and then beginning to laugh. Apparently that fished out exactly the reaction that Matsuda was expecting - the cocky bastard who was trying to show Masato up was upset. "What's so funny, eh? Lauging at yourself?" Shaking his head and closing his locker, then tucking his phone away, Matsuda chuckled. "Well, I just think it's incredibly funny..." Matsuda pointed a confident finger at the jock - who now seemed to have some of his 'posse' baside him - and explained plainly, "That I don't recall seeing you carrying your own cell phone this morning!"
Nail on the head - the jock's reaction was priceless enough to explain the rest. Masato guessed right; the jock was fuming. "Why, you bastard! Are you trying to make fun of me!?" Matsuda laughed hard, knowing he got him where he wanted him. Still grinning and enjoying a satisfying victory, Matsuda closed in with his sharp wit for the finishing blow. "Actually, I hate to disappoint you, but... by first mocking me for the phone I own and then letting your body language tell everybody here that you DON'T have a phone of your own, you effectively made fun of yourself. Great job, I couldn't have done better myself!" Judging from the jock's attitude, Matsuda effectively pissed him off good and might be asking for a beating, but he wasn't afraid of some half-ass Gunma bully. Again, as expected, Masato had one example of a very dumb attitude coming straight at him. "Omae... We'll see who's laughing when I kick your ass!" The jock wound up and took a haymaker swing at Masato but was shocked when he seemingly vanished - in reality he elegantly slid aside, and had his knee in the jerk's chest before he knew what was happening. Stunned, wide-eyed and gasping for breath, his friends took on the defensive. There were four of them; a typical 'club' setting. "Why, you! Nobody embarasses Tomo and gets away with it!" They ganged up on Matsuda and tried to jump him again, but this newcomer was just too much. His sharp, trained reflexes dodged and deflected every fist thrown at him, delivering proper payback with accurately aimed strikes. In less than 15 seconds, Tomo's friends were on the ground next to him. "Yo... you bastard... I'll get you for this...� Tomo gasped, trying to crawl to Matsuda, only to be kicked face-first to the ground lightly.
Matsuda looked around at the stunned audience before him and then re-opened his locker, grabbing his cell phone out and waving it at the audience. "Does anybody else here have a problem with my ketai?" The crowd quickly broke up and returned to their daily activities, forgetting they saw the fight. "Feh... freaking losers...� he muttered to himself, tucking his phone away and moving on to more important activities. He didn't like to call himself cocky, but idiocy and ignorance were his two largest pet peeves. In other words, abuse of intelligence - he had absolutely no problem with the weak of mind, but a major issue with those who used their brain power in very unproductive ways. Jocks and bullies, valley girls and scene boys. All of them were perfectly normal, yet chose to be retarded. Only marijuana and other heavy-drug users pissed him off more. Enough of the dumb shit, Masato was thoroughly happy to hear that voicemail message waiting for him. The rough context of it was that he finally had a full-time job for him waiting in Akina. All he had to do was show up later and it was in the bag.
10:33 PM - Mt. Akina
An ever-composed Ryousuke Takahashi stood calmly in wait for the two cars to arrive at their destination. Away from the crowds and galleries of tonight's race, he deliberately chose this vantage point to his preference - bringing only Keisuke, Kenta, and Fumihiro with him. They even drove there in an unmarked Redsuns van, trying to stress the idea of remaining low-key.
"Ryousuke, why here?,� Keisuke grumbled. "All we'll be able to see is who finishes first. We won't see any action at all from this place!"
Blinking and giving Keisuke a slightly-sarcastic blank stare, he clicked on his Cobra two-way radio and started scanning channels for anything. "Is that so?,� he asked his younger brother as static gave way to excited chatter crackling in.
�This is the 9th corner, the Left Hand of Death! Nakazato's R33 is coming in fast! He's on the bra- ...LOOK OUT, HE'S COMING RIGHT FOR THE BARRIER!� Silence proceeded this exclamation, a very long 10 seconds before the radio erupted in more hysterical talk. "This is the 9th corner, Nakazato's huge lead just got sliced in half! He locked all four wheels mid-corner and nearly crashed his new R33!"
Ryousuke chuckled at the upset, slowly shaking his head before glancing at his younger brother. With a very small grin, he asked Keisuke, "Can you tell me from the radio what's different about his new car?"
Keisuke took a moment to weigh the possibilities, before shaking his head. "I guess his brakes are too touchy?" Kenta - in a slight gimmer of intelligence - chimed in. "Oh, I know, Ryousuke! His new car doesn't have ABS, correct? It was just like when I took ABS off of my Silvia! The first time I ran down Akagi, I nearly crashed."
Ryousuke nodded to Kenta. "Keisuke, I forgive you for not knowing what ABS is since you never drove a car with it. Basically it's a system that pulsates the brake pressure in order to keep the wheels from locking up. Nakazato's old R32 had ABS, but judging from them mentioning that he locked 'all four' up... No, he couldn't not know, could he?"
Isolated in the noisy cabin of his new GT-R, cold sweat trickled down Takeshi Nakazato's forehead. His lips were bleeding from being bit down on so hard. "Shimatta...,� he muttered, his mind confused. What the fsck!? This car doesn't have ABS!? How is that possible? This is the Skyline GT-R, the top dog of all sports cars! It has the best technology, and that drives its track victories. It's a GT-R, how can it [i]not have ABS!?"
When Iketani glided through the corner, he observed the smoke, the crowd, and the tire marks. He... he locked up his tires!? No way..., he thought to himself, nearly seeing a mirage of the GT-R's taillighta ahead. Did he really!? Iketani grinned a bit as he used the early S13's light body to his advantage, the dated car's agility gleaming as he nailed corner after corner. If he's that reckless with his car, then I might just stand a chance! Who cares if I'm 150 horsepower down on him!? This is Akina we're racing on - home of the Speed Stars! Only Takumi knows it better than me! I won't let you embarass me!
Nakazato continued to fight with the GT-R through the corners, traumatized by the car's lack of something that he considered to be very basic and essential to the GT-R's unstoppable behavior. Without it, the GT-R was no more of a car than his dated S14 was - and the S14 in his eyes was a mere shell of the GT-R, lacking two cylinders, two driven wheels, and lots of technology. GT-R was the future... and this one's stuck in the past! Sure, it felt snappier and more lively than any R he ever sat in, but what kind of blasphemy was thought over in the braking system? Why didn't this car have ABS?
"Damn, that's pretty dangerous. And you're telling me that stuff like this goes down every weekend night?" Matsuda Masato just witnessed the GT-R nearly wrecking, but moments later as he saw the Silvia flying through, he grinned a bit. "Though I gotta hand it to you, your friend's a pretty good driver. Nothing incredible, but pretty dang good."
Kenji nodded in response. "Yeah, he's actually a little better than me. He insisted on not tuning his Silvia before the race. At first I was nervous, but... I believe in Iketani. He's schooled by the best. If anybody can do it, it's him."
Matsuda nodded as he watched the two vehicles race down Akina. "That beastly GT-R... seems so out of place down this tight road." Yes, this touge racing is actually very exciting. A true test of skill, car and driver - who'da thunk it!? Matsuda continued to listen to the shrill of the RB26, almost in awe at the high-pitched wail that emanated from the car's Trust exhaust. While the Silvia S13 was holding a generally higher speed, the R did have the advantage of some serious horsepower. Rounding the hairpin, the two cars disappeared from sight, the next status report coming from the long stretch following the hairpin.
"This is the fourteenth corner, the final hairpin before the Consecutive Hairpins! Nakazato's recovery from the near-wreck was excellent, but the Silvia is maintaining a 10-car distance from the GT-R! He's holding a higher speed compared to the last round! Nakazato is maintaining the lead but the green Speed Stars S13 refuses to back off! On the corner exit, he's less than half a meter from the guardrail! Nakazato is also braking very early and lightly! Did something happen to his brakes?" The radio crackled out again, before falling silent in Ryousuke Takahashi's hand.
"So, are you still sure that nothing exciting will happen once they reach the final corner?"
Keisuke scoffed, giving the guardrail a light kick and staring it down in frustration. "What the fsck. Is my skill level that low that even the half-assed Speed Stars are capable of defeating a driver that I lost to?"
"Don't kid yourself, Keisuke. The Speed Stars have come a long way since you raced them. Don't take yourself too lightly. On top of that, Nakazato is fighting with an unfamiliar car that lacks something important to his driving style; anti-lock braking, that is. On top of that this is a downhill race on dry pavement. Many of the GT-R's weaknesses are exploited where the conditions of your race against him were conveniently cloaked. You have a lot of learning to do, but don't compare this race to yours. Akina - downhill and dry, even - is much different from Akagi."
"If you say so, Ryousuke... I still don't get it. With all of that thinking of yours it baffles me that you have time to drive the way you do."
"I could say the opposite for you. If you took your raw talent and combined it with some forethought, you could be five times the driver that you are today."
Keisuke laughed. "I don't know how to do that, but I'll trust your word."
Ryousuke switched over to a different radio channel. He also had a few other Redsuns come over in his father's Mazda Premacy, borrowing the car to help remain low-key. "Hairpin Corners, what's your status?"
"This is the first hairpin, we're in position."
"Second hairpin, checking in."
"Third hairpin is ready and waiting."
"Fourth hairpin, awaiting the cars."
Ryousuke nodded. "Roger. The cars should be arriving any second, tell me the exact details as they pass through."
God damn it, Takeshi thought to himself. He's still back there! I can see a flash of his headlights in my rearview at the entry of every corner. Has he picked up his pace? A bit of a nervous wreck he was, but he was still holding his own through every corner's exit. The GT-R's seemingly unsteady behavior was evaporating the confidence inside him, but he remained determined to hold a strong lead over the S13. He didn't just want to beat the Speed Stars - he wanted to destroy them! Just nosing ahead wasn't enough - Nakazato sought to prove to Shingo and his new teammate just how strong he and his car really was. No matter what the cost - he wouldn't make the same mistake he did and lose control at the finish like he did last time, but he would definitely humiliate those pathetic Akina Speed Stars!
Unfortunately, Iketani Kouichirou had different plans. Just maintain a steady pace, Iketani. Go 95%, and stick with what works. Your real Ace is just moments ahead. The CA18DET growled with anger, propelling the welterweight S13 down Akina with blazing speed and precision. Takumi - I'm sorry for being such a burden and asking for you to drive me again and again, but without your help I'd never get this far on my own. You've taught me well - I can hold my own! He still wasn't a challenge compared to Fujiwara, but more than enough to put Nakazato in his place. That's right. I'm going to show the entire world that Akina is still home to some of the greatest street drivers in Japan! The legendary Celicas, 2000GT's, Zs, Silvias, Cosmoses and RX-3's that made Gunma famous back in the day won't be disappointed by the modern-day racers! Tonight, the Legend of Akina lives! Takumi... I'm going to try that special technique you showed me. May your luck be with me...
Ryousuke could faintly hear the sounds of the RB26 and CA18 dogfighting from just a few thousand feet away. The way the sound echoed off the mountainside made it easy to hear the screeching tires and screaming engines. Once again, the radio broke out in frantic chatter. The guy on the opposite end sounded very startled. "T-t-this is the first hairpin! The two cars just drove by and... Remember the way the AE86 cornered? You know, at a higher speed than humanly possible!? Well, the Speed Stars S13 made the same noise and is doing the same thing! I can't believe my eyes."
A five second pause. Ryousuke's usually firmly-placed jaw came unhinged, the senior Takahashi just staring at his brother in disbelief, and his brother murmuring back, �I-I-Impossible...�
"This is the second hairpin!!! The Silvia's speed is unbelievable! He's riding the deep inside and closing in on Nakazato! The gap is less than 25 meters now! The cornering is like a Formula 1 car! What's going on!?"
"THIRD HAIRPIN! I... I can't believe what I just saw! The intense speed of the S13 is closing in fast on the Night Kids R33! What's going on, this is like a repeat of the AE86 vs. FD race! "
Matsuda stared at Kenji, speechless. "How is that�� he started, before Kenji instantaneously responded with a bit of a hysterical laugh, before shaking his head and grinning.
"Iketani... you crazy bastard, so you're doing that? You must have a death wish... but keep it up, we might just win."
"This is the fourth hairpin, the S13 has caught up to the R33! The corner exit speed of the S13 is higher than the GT-R's! The Skyline's acceleration is better but the straightaway is only long enough for Nakazato to close the door on the S13! They're going bumper-to-bumper down the straightaway! After the high-speed corners, it's anybody's game!" Ryousuke remained silent as he heard the two cars approaching.
From the finish line, an actual 'line' was promptly spray-painted in washable paint across the road. The quiet green-haired girl looked to Shingo in a quizzical manner, Shingo nodding back. "Yes, that's good, Ciel. Is the slow-motion camera ready?" She silently nodded, her golden eyes now glaring at the entrance to the corder, the two cars' headlights illuminating the mountainside wall.
"You know, there's a chance that Nakazato might not win."
"Ciel, if you don't have anything educated to say than don't speak,� he responded, with a snarky grin.
"Let's bet then,� she replied. "If Nakazato wins I get to be your slave for exactly 24 hours, and will do anything you ask me to do, with no parts of my body off-limits. If he loses you owe me an all-expenses-paid trip to Pizza Hut, with no spending limit on food or drinks."
Shingo laughed. "Sounds like a deal to me, lady,� he grinned. But that grin faded as he realized the two cars were approaching the corner's exit - with Nakazato on the outside and Iketani on the inside!
Nakazato freaked out approaching the last corner when his mirror nearly blinded him with the headlights of the Silvia S13. He was so focused on not locking the brakes through the tight hairpins and through the second-to-last corner that he was oblivious to the green Silvia, and its yellow Akina Speed Stars sticker tacked on its metallic hood closing in on him. But now at the final corner, Nakazato panicked. Fighting the steering wheel he tried to speed through the corner, but his overstressed tires just couldn't hold it any more! He understeered to the outside and tried to follow through. Damn you, how could you catch up like that!? I can't believe it! I'm not going to let my reputation be soiled by some half-ass Speed Stars!
Iketani, with all his focus, concentration and drive charged in hard. You wore your tires thin trying to run away, but this is where the fight is decided! Being this close behind you at the end clears our team of 'fraud' status, but it isn't enough! You caused so many hardships for our team by spreading those rumors, Nakazato... the payback starts here! Iketani nosed in, crawling beside the exhausted R33 at the last possible second. This is what the speed stars are really made of!
Ryousuke could only grin as he saw that the race really would come down to the line.
"IKETANII!!"
"NAKAZATOO!!"
Posted by: Hannah Jul 26 2008, 08:06 PM
初コメントGET!!
[First comment GET]
*shriek*
This is the best of Heiko Sen I've seen thus far. I really hope you continue this story for a long time. This brings out the best of Iketani, and you really do an awesome job of it!!
MOAR PLZ
Posted by: twitchykun Jul 26 2008, 08:14 PM
damnit Dori. How long are you gonna keep me waiting?
Posted by: Meteor Jul 26 2008, 08:54 PM
Awesome update Dori.
Who'll win?! Iketani?! Nakazato?!
QUOTE (Paula-tan)
BTW. .
Iketani, with all his focus, concentration and drive charged in hard. You wore your tires thin trying to run away, but this is where the fight is decided! Being this close behind you at the end clears mour team of 'fraud' status, but it isn't enough! You caused so many hardships for our team by spreading those rumors, Nakazato... the payback starts here! Iketani nosed in, crawling beside the exhausted R33 at the last possible second. This is what the speed stars are really made of~!
Just thought I'd point that out.
Posted by: wing_0 Jul 27 2008, 01:28 AM
So that part made it to the final chapter... yay! Race scene is top notch, comprehensive and interesting, you've came a long way, Dori. Iketani's character got developed in a curious way too, can't wait to see how it'll affect later story arcs.
Posted by: Nomake Wan Aug 12 2008, 05:54 AM
I did my edit of chapter one. There were a bunch of things I wanted to change but figured were the right of the author (Cobra radios, *86 voicemail, observers interchanging Skyline/R33/GT-R on the radio for the description of Nakazato's car, etc), so I left them alone. The one thing that I know is a factor of the author which I changed is 'Zetto'. Dori, there's no car called a Zetto. It's not a Fairlady Zetto, Dori. 'Zetto' is how the Japanese pronounce the letter 'Z'. It's a Fairlady Z. A Z. The chapter has been edited to correct this mistake.
Posted by: Rudy Aug 19 2008, 02:48 PM
Ah, thanks for the cliffnotes. Chapter 2 writing in progress. Estimated 75% complete. Will e-mail new chapter when it's finished.
Posted by: Nomake Wan Oct 17 2008, 03:37 AM
I just finished the editing work on Chapter 2, which to be honest, I enjoyed. It lost me a bit near the end because I don't know a damn thing about bikes, but it kept my attention enough to be enjoyable. Not to mention, Ciel is just such a wonderful character to have. Not particularly important, but a delicious dose of comedic relief. That, and the whole thing about completely changing the direction of the Initial D storyline from the beginning is an amazing concept which really deserves the exploration it's getting from Heikou Sen.
Now then. On with the posting, shall we?
Posted by: Rudy Oct 17 2008, 03:53 AM
Pass 2 - Virtual Insanity
Pizza Hut Japan 0525 - Akina, Gunma - 12:01 AM
"Good thing this place is open 24 hours", Ciel Eilde grinned. A disgruntled Shingo Shouji scoffed, reluctantly accepting his defeat against her little bet.
"Just shut up and stuff your face with that stuffed-crust pie, will you!? As if 12 slices wasn't enough already!"
Nakazato had to have a chuckle at that in spite of his loss, amazed at his new friend's eating habits. "I have to admit, you do seem to have a bottomless stomach, Ciel. But then again you only eat once a week, so it all balances out."
Ciel smirked. "I have my own quirks."
Shingo turned to face Nakazato, shaking his head in disapproval. "I don't understand, Takeshi. It's not like you to lose your balls at the last second and back off the accelerator."
"..." Nakazato glanced down at his soda glass, taking in a long sigh before slowly clearing his mind. "I guess I had a flashback moment..." Yes. How could I ever forget that day? I nearly lost my life. That green S13 that Iketani drove... looked just like mine... Still only 19 years old, Nakazato was a youngster at Myogi's ins and outs when he was challenged by an outsider's R32 Skyline. He was cocky about his ability to beat the driver because his Silvia while dated was still 2 years newer than the original GT-R32. The race was incredibly intense, setting the then-current course record. Night Kids was in its infancy, Shingo then driving an EG6 Civic SiR, not unlike his current ride. Back then of course, neither Shingo nor Nakazato had the money to imagine such things.
Nor did Nakazato have the sense to know his SR20-powered Silvia's limits. Newer, lighter, and theoretically more powerful than a stock GT-R per kilo the Silvia was the favorite, but corner after corner the GT-R hung on. The white Skyline driver's behavior behind the wheel was composed; Nakazato was all over the place. The Silvia slid and skipped along where the massive GT-R hunkered down and gripped away - eventually passing the S13 kouki by the third checkpoint. Nakazato's pride was on the line; the Night Kids were a legendary, undefeated team with accolades of also staying within 15 seconds of the local motorcycle racers. Considering those boys ran Honda RC51's, Suzuki GSXR1000's and Yamaha R1's, those figures were quite impressive. That pride was what drove Nakazato to run at 120 percent and struggle to keep up with the ghostly white Skyline. On the last series of corners though, that arrogance of overstressing the car's limits lead to near-tragedy. Running one corner too hot in a last-ditch attempt to pass caused the stressed S13 to drift up mid-corner. Nakazato thought he passed the GT-R, but his rear end clipped the nose of the R32 who was refusing to ease off and regain his lead mid-corner. From there time seemed to slow.
Nakazato had the displeasure of watching his world collapse around him. Like an old-fashioned film, he felt like an observer on the outside looking in, his steering and brake inputs useless. His entire body went numb as the guardrail closed in, collapsed under the inertial force of his 1,300 kilogram car, and he witnessed what he believed was his own demise. It nearly was, too. His concussion was nearly lethal, and many bones were broken when the car landed at the bottom of that 25 meter drop into the tree line. He was a lucky bastard, and after months of recovery he was quite timid of the pass - but Shingo talked him into facing his fears, and confronting those fears started with hunting that same 1989-model Skyline GT-R and driving it. But all of that was in the past - or so he thought. But an internal defense mechanism that rooted itself within Nakazato after two fierce crashes kicked in and made him back off from making the same maneuver that wrecked him twice. Even though Iketani wasn't drifting up-course, and Nakazato was on the outside line... "Maybe I'm starting to change then, Shingo. Perhaps for the better."
"Pfft. I hardly call losing 'changing for the better'." Nakazato shrugged. "That's the difference between you and me, then. I tried the entire race to drive somewhat more safety than I usually do. Especially without the ABS at my aid, which was a major issue."
"Takeshi has a point, you know. While his past five official races were 3/5 in wins, they were also 2/5 in wrecks. With those kinds of odds, who the hell would want to hire you?" Ciel looked to Shingo with an inquisitive expression on her face, a bit of cheese from the pizza slice melting down a bit. She quickly finished up that bit of melty cheese before setting the slice back down on her plate. "I'm out of soda", she grinned. Oh, yes, Ciel was enjoying every last bit of her victory as she flagged down the waiter for her fifth jug of soda.
"More than that, what kind of GT-R doesn't sport anti-lock brakes!? I'm not surprised that you didn't know, Nakazato, but was it disconnected or something?� Shingo scoffed. "Talk about embarrassing. I've never seen such a joke being played then when I heard you were going to eat guardrail thanks to some locked brakes."
"The N1," Nakazato blatantly declared.
"N1? What model of GT-R is that?"
"The GT-R N1 is a model I Googled while scouring the Internet for GT-R variations. From what I understand it's a bare-bones racecar of a GT-R... over 50 kilos lighter than a standard GT-R and lacking many real-world features such as air-conditioning, a radio, power windows or locks or ABS. It's like an Evo RS, in a sense."
"Except the Evo will never hope of touching the GT-R's incredible all-weather handling..."
"That's why my GT-R was so cheap. It had nothing. All car. And I kind of enjoyed that, but... I never pushed the car as hard as I did last night. Its limits are incredibly high... it puts my old V-Spec to shame. Also, the N1 only came in white... mine was repainted a dark grey."
Shingo grinned. "You gotta admit though, the dark-yet-not-black paint blends perfectly with the carbon-fiber hood and trunklid."
Nakazato shrugged. "Actually, I'm not partial to that at all. I might have those parts painted soon."
"Whatever. So the N1 is a race car without a roll cage. I guess that explains its incredible... response."
Nakazato nodded. "This one was also treated to a healthy dose of modern turbocharging technology. The old parallel twins were replaced by an intermediate-single. Every part of this car was fine-tuned to cooperate with the other. On top of that, it was lightened to 1,350 kilos. I do believe it's the fastest GT-R in Japan when it comes to stock-appearing downhill machines under 400 horsepower. It just... needs a better driver."
"No, you just need to learn how to brake without ABS... like I did," Shingo noted. "You do that, and you might not need to use the rain as a weapon against the RedSuns."
"..." He does have a point, Nakazato thought to himself. People were saying that I was cheating by placing his FR in a disadvantageous environment...
"Takeshi. You need to get your act together and fight! Just because we lost against the Speed Stars doesn't wipe us off the map!" Shingo slammed his fist down on the table, staring his partner in racing down. "Think about it! Akina is to the Speed Stars what Myogi is to us! And on top of that... the Silvia pulled the same crazy move that that Panda Trueno did against Keisuke Takahashi."
"But I defeated Keisuke Taka-", Nakazato began.
"Uphill, in the rain, in an AWD car with 450 horsepower," Shingo promptly cut off.
"...that's true."
"You don't give yourself enough credit! Now you know what kind of car you're really driving, put it to use! Come on Takeshi, this was like the first time you spun out your Silvia and ate guardrail. If you expect to be an acknowledged racer, you need to be confident about yourself! Accidents happen! Learn to get over them while working to avoid wrecks! Accidents are a part of racing... you need to accept that as much as you need to prevent them from happening. If you're fearful of wrecking, you'll never win! But if you think you'll never wreck, you will. It's a balance and you need to find it."
"Shingo, you're a lot more mature then I expected from you," Ciel noted, before gobbling down her last slice. "I'm done," she declared. Four stuffed-crust pizza pies, five jugs of soda, 35 minutes. Guinness World Record? Who knows.
"I learned how to be mature after I wrecked my old EG6. You could say I grew up."
Ciel ran a hand through her jade green hair before eyeing Shingo's Toyota Vitz rental car parked beside Nakazato's viscious-by-comparison GT-R33. "Speaking of your R, where is it?"
Nakazato grinned. "Ah, I took it to Spoon Sports after I got my pay raise. They're charging me a lot extra for working on a car they've never dealt with before, but it's thoroughly worth it. Heh heh..." Shingo pulled out his iPhone and glanced briefly at in-progress pictures that were mailed to his e-mail. "It will probably be the only one of its kind. This car has cost me so much from the initial purchase to legalization to where it is now, but it's so worth it... the spirit of FF cars is alive and well, and soon I'll prove it in style."
"You sure you don't need to use the bathroom?" Nakazato innocently inquired.
"I'll be good for the next few hours," Ciel casually mused.
Next Morning...
"That was a great job, Iketani. You've improved a lot since the Red Suns first appeared here." A familiar sight was before Kouichirou's eyes; the same young, sleepy-headed Takumi that he knew for nearly a year. But the Takumi he viewed as just another spacehead was long a part of his memories - No, Takumi was now a senpai to Iketani in spite of his younger age. He marveled at the young driver's incredible ability to wheel the AE86, and longed to match his skill level. Without Takumi, he would probably just be another grease monkey who could double as a getaway driver. But Takumi inspired him; even in a rusted-out AE86 that originally looked like its rot would cause it to fall apart that was older than Iketani himself, Takumi was able to lay waste to the legendary RX-7 Spirit R. Of course, the course layout helped him a bit with its interestingly-designed drainage ditches, but the ultimate deciding factor was the intuition and agility that Fujiwara bared behind the wheel of his AE86. He belonged there, more than anybody ever to pilot one of those - spare perhaps Keiichi Tsuchiya.
"Thanks, Takumi. Coming from you, it really means something." Iketani couldn't help but smile warmly in response. He felt the victory was a well-earned one. Now assessing his Silvia's condition, he noticed the tire wear on the inside sidewall was pretty extreme thanks to the gutter-cornering. "Jeez, it looks like I rode on flats", he sighed. Well, his Advans were damaged but still holding air which was good for now, but that and the curb rash he got on his OE's only added insult to the injury to those beat-up things. "I'd only use this cornering technique during emergencies. It's murder on my tires!"
Kenji's eyes were averted from the rim damage when from out in the distance, he heard a very abnormal engine sound. It sounded like a cross between a sport-bike and a GT500 V8 that ran in the Supras. "The hell's that?� Kenji asked Iketani, squinting to try to view the approaching bike in the distance.
"...CBR600? Not bad...� Iketani mouthed - more or less thinking aloud.
"Iketani, you can tell what kind of bike it is just by listening to it?" Takumi was a little bit shocked - Iketani usually didn't know too much about anything but Nissan cars, but he never pinned a specific model just by sound alone.
"Yeah - well, you know how I'm into Nissans, right? I'm into bikes three times as much. I guess with an old retired bike racer as a father, it kind of rubs off. Hahaha!" Iketani blushed a bit; he was actually a bit embarrassed about just how much time he spent helping his father tune bikes as a young kid - the only motorcycles he knew little about were Harleys (Except for the VRSC), Ducatis, and Triumphs (Except the Speed Triple).
They turned back to witness the bike pulling into the Esso parking lot - only for Iketani to tighten up and stutter a bit. "Wh... what!?" His eyes were glaring over the metallic lines of the sport machine - the exposed engine, the minimalistic light package, and the tucked 'shorty' muffler. "That's an F4i alright, but..." The frame was modified to have a lower seat. And the bodywork was all but gone - it was a completely naked bike. "It's a CBR600F4i with full home-done 'cafe' conversion..."
"Indeed it is!� the helmeted rider exclaimed. "You must be Iketani Kouichirou. I heard alot about you from Kenji. That was... very impressive driving for an amateur in an old Silvia."
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Iketani felt slightly insulted at the stranger's asterisk-laden comment.
"It means that you were trying your hardest not to wreck. You intentionally braked early, maintained a cautious line, and never got close to the guardrail. Typical amateur driving - but your technique was spot-on!"
What's he talking about!? I was driving at my limit, Iketani thought to himself. Any harder, and I might have wrecked...
"I'm not saying you were bad - hell, you're better than me on four wheels - but I used to watch a lot of GT racing, and your driving style is closer to the rookies than it is the veterans. That's all."
"Well anyway, who are you and what are you here for?" Iketani seemed determined to cut the bench-racing nonsense and get to the chase.
"Actually... I'm your new partner. Yuichi hired me as the new OBD-II and general engine and transmission overhauling specialist. Now you guys'll have absolutely no problem dealing with post-1995 cars. Name's Matsuda by the way. Matsuda Masato." Removing his backpack, he promptly unzipped it and yanked out a black box. On it, in English, was branded a shiny Snap-On emblem. "Only buy American when you can�when it comes to car parts; they make the best stuff! It's hella expensive to import, but will never fail you."
"What is it?� Iketani asked.
"It's an engine code reader and transmission code reader. Considering modern engines are ran by electronics, it's essential."
"Weird, I didn't know we were starting to get more involved in auto mechanics. We were more or less a 'basic service' joint", Kenji wondered aloud.
Matsuda shrugged. "Times change. Either way, it's good to see a Silvia driver holding up the S-chassis front. I'm going to go inside and ask the manager if there's any cars already lined up for to to wrap my nose around. Later, you guys."
In the manager's office, Yuichi warmly greeted Matsuda. "I heard about your father. So you're the son of the legendary Akiyuki Suzaki, eh? Why'd you change your name?"
Matsuda stared Yuichi down a bit coldly. "With all due respect, sir." His left fist tightened a little, Matsuda forcing an emotional thought or two down. "That's not really any of your business, now is it? I came here to exhibit myself as myself. As in I'm here to show you how good Matsuda Masato is - not how good Akiyuki Suzaki's son is. Understand?" His look was quite serious. His posture was borderline hostile.
Yuichi for a moment took it as insulting, before his old wisdom kicked in. There must be bad blood between them, then... if that's the case, then why did the old legend go out of his way to call me up and let me know my choice to hire him was a great one? He sounded like he loved his son... "Okay, I'm sorry, Matsuda. I won't talk about your father."
Like pulling a handbrake 180*, his attitude flipped back in the time it took for him to mutter his next sentence. "Thanks. I don't need that shitty, rich bastard's help to prove myself in the world. I can do it just fine on my own." The anger in his eyes faded, giving way to a gleam of excitement as he remembered his code reader. "Oh! That's right, I wanted to show you this!" Flipping through his backpack, he quickly yanked out a piece of paper, fully laminated. It had what looked like a certificate on it. "Here!"
"Hm? Tokyo Community College?" Donning his reading glasses, Yuichi read the paper aloud. "This diploma hereby certifies Matsuda Masato in recognition of the highest standard held by the Japanese Society of Automotive Engineers. J-SAE acknowledges his superior knowledge and skill level in the automotive technical field and understanding OBD-II functionality and diagnosis. He has reached Level 3 certification, the fourth-highest standard in the Tokyo prefecture and fifth in the country. Nissan Motors Japan Limited, in association with J-SAE recognizes Masato as highly diligent in diagnosis, repair and restoration of all major drivetrain components. Signed, xxx ...July 5th, 2008." Yuichi gazed at Matusda with wide eyes, astonished. "You mean, during Summer Break, you...!?"
"Are now in a class of only 12% of all auto mechanics and technicians in Japan. Considering I failed my senior year and had to repeat, I had to do something to make up for it." A very self-complimenting grin filled Matsuda's face. "In spite of my limited mathematical knowledge, I was able to pull off the month-long course."
"Not bad. You're at the same level as Iketani in spite of being 6 years younger. But why didn't you graduate during your senior year?" Yuichi was kind of curious - a kid this intelligent should've breezed through the final year of school.
"Eh, just some bullshit. Don't worry about it. So, where do we start?"
Yuichi guided Matsuda into the garage and showed him a troublesome Nissan Quest minivan whose CEL wouldn't disappear. It also had a misfire on the #4 cylinder, in spite of the spark plugs being changed and the injectors clean. "Right, I'll be right on it!", Matsuda exclaimed. Yuichi couldn't help but laugh at his excitement. "Ah, youth...� he thought aloud. "How precious it really is."
Later that evening...
"So our next target is Irohazaka? That's what I interpreted from that cryptic bastard of a brother's words..." Alone in the cockpit of his yellow Spirit R Type A, the epitome of RX-7 performance, Keisuke Takahashi had put all of his concentration and focus into the machine that he piloted. Punching the throttle down, the 13B rotary whined with excitement as he began charging up Akagi's uphill. A brisk tap to the brakes and the nose dove down slightly, scrubbing off just enough speed to throttle it through Akagi's famous sweepers near the bottom. But his eyes caught a subtle glimpse of a single headlight charging right his way. "...A bike!? What the fusck. This isn't Myogi, b*tch. Bikes don't belong here; get the hell out of my rearview!" Keisuke was originally just going to do a mild attack, but he decided now was a great time to have someone choke on his tire smoke.
The bike answered by crawling its way closer and closer to Keisuke's rearview through the sweepers, further agitating the less mature of the two Takahashi brothers. "Why, you! So you do want to race, eh? Okay - let's see if you can keep up with THIS!" A tight hairpin was up next, and Keisuke withdrew from his usual 'code' of not double-laning and used every inch of the tarmac to his advantage. Engaging in a breathtaking four-wheel drift, the RX-7 sailed through the corner with the throttle cracked wide open. The hornets-next buzz of the FD was so dramatically different from Ryousuke's FC - a clear differential in exhaust tuning and design. The large fart-can belched out flames as he lifted for the next corner entry, keeping the car wide.
In his rearview, Keisuke saw the bike was just about on his ass now. Damn it! I know sportbikes are very fast uphill, but this is humiliating! I'm running at 90% and he's brushing it right off! How could he remain so confident at these speeds!? Although Akagi was tableglass-smooth compared to a lot of nearby mountain roads, there were still traction differences since part of the road was freshly paved and other parts weren't. An uphill straightaway was up next. Keisuke growled in aggravation. God DAMN it Ryousuke, did you have to turn down the boost so early!? My FD feels so freaking slow up the uphill! Although it was Keisuke's nature to try the block maneuver, it only worked for so long. Prior to the next hairpin the bike lined up on the inside of Keisuke. Takahashi nervously laid on the brakes early on the corner entry - he didn't wish to down the rider. But Keisuke freaked when he saw what the bike did next.
Kicking up tire smoke, the rider laid on the rear brake, kicking the tail sideways! Fusck, he's going to drop it right in front of me! He's out of control! But Keisuke's shocked expression precluded absolute disbelief as the rider just stood on the gas, the bike drifting at a 45* lean. "I-I-Impossible!" The bike was drifting through the corner as if it had four wheels! On the corner's exit, the bike straightened out and rocketed away up the next straightaway, leaving a nervous-wreck of Keisuke behind it. In the few seconds that he heard the bike's screamer exhaust, part of his brain registered that he was revving that bastard to nearly 17 grand. "Ho... how'd he...?"
Keisuke shook his head, refusing to swallow the reality that just passed by him. That move. I only saw it once... and it wasn't on one of those naked bikes. It was two years ago when I was still in Tokyo, and watched somebody pulling stunts on a V-Rod... ridden by one of those damned Yankees. I thought it was luck, but... Keisuke brushed the thought quickly off of his shoulders.
"Like hell it's that punk Matsuda." Starting the stalled FD back up, Keisuke decided it was time to RTB. The Emperor rematch was up next, and like hell he was going to throw it away thanks to some stress getting on his mind.
Posted by: Meteor Oct 17 2008, 05:43 AM
The wait was entirely worth it. That is all.
There was a little formatting error in the FD VS bike battle though. At one point, both Keisuke's thoughts and the narration were in italics.
Fixed. Thanks Meteor. And Nomake is the best. <3
Posted by: Hannah Oct 17 2008, 09:43 AM
Not bad, not bad...
Considering you BUGGED and BUGGED me to read it.. *blush* in that certain way you did.. *cough* t..tonikaku.. It's an awesome read, and I can't wait for more HeiSen to be written.. it's such a flow of satisfaction, like a scent from the past that one yearns for.. You did a good job, Reiji-sama. <3
>.>
Y..you're lucky I felt it was necessary to post after such a long time. Damn lucky. Don't get used to it.
Posted by: wing_0 Oct 17 2008, 12:27 PM
Dang, it sure took the two of you a bit... but I'm glad it's out ^^ I see some interesting character development here (Nakazato), and bikes are quite an interesting idea. The race scene's pretty well done too. As for the biker... I sure wonder where the heck did I here that name at... XD
Btw, Shingo and an iPhone? I think he'd wreck it in no time, but well... your choice.
Posted by: Nomake Wan Oct 17 2008, 02:32 PM
The delay was my fault, and I honestly didn't check the BBCODE tags as carefully as I should have. Glad it was fixed.
Posted by: Drew Oct 17 2008, 03:13 PM
Excellent update, Dori!
Now only if I could get my fics back up & running; I just lost the files for both like a week ago.
Posted by: Rudy Dec 26 2008, 01:04 PM
Here's a sneak preview of the next car to appear in the fanfic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4w4Ep2LgoYU
Posted by: Hannah Dec 27 2008, 05:40 AM
QUOTE (Midnight Drifter @ Yesterday at 4:04 PM)
.....Ooooh...
I think me likeys.. <3
But... in Japan?? *grin*
This is going.. to be EPIC.
Posted by: Meteor Dec 27 2008, 08:32 AM
^Seconded
[GRATUITOUS JAPANESE]SUGOI! KORE WO KUDASAI![/GRATUITOUS JAPANESE]
Posted by: Rudy Mar 7 2009, 02:53 PM
Posted by: Meteor Mar 8 2009, 02:22 AM
That's one nice cover for the next chapter. Did you make it?
I sure hope this great story gets updated soon.
Posted by: Twister1 Mar 12 2009, 05:25 AM
does not seem as bad history but it is as if something is missing for the rest is perfect
Posted by: Hannah May 9 2009, 08:03 PM
I made the cover, actually..
I'd like to do better, but Im still waiting on Drifter to find his muse and his manuscript. ^^;;
Posted by: Hannah Jun 14 2009, 01:28 PM
post another chapter!!! omfgggg
Posted by: Meteor Jun 15 2009, 09:25 AM
I was looking forward to a new chapter when I saw a new post in this thread. . .
But anyway; sincerely seconded. It's been a long time, and I'd really like to see more chapters.
Posted by: kyonpalm Mar 18 2010, 12:12 AM
Perfectly done.[/post]
Though I should say more, I guess.
This one had me deep into the story as much as On The Unbeaten Path, and had me begging for more by the end. WHY U DO DIS TO US DRIFTA???
Anyway, the writing followed the feel of Initial D surprisingly well, considering how distant it was in other stories such as Unbeaten Path.
Just another amazing story that I could never put down, so to speak.
Also this made me LOL:
QUOTE (Nomake)
Posted by: Hannah Mar 18 2010, 12:54 PM
....OH MY GODDDDDDDDDDDD
YOU MOTHERFU--- AUUUGHHH!!!
I can't even remember when I drew that damned chapter illustration!! Drifter, you jerk!! POST ANOTHER CHAPTER, YOU ASS!!! T_T
Posted by: Rudy Nov 11 2010, 01:28 AM
Pass 3 � Shut Up and Drive
October 1st, 2010 � 325 Akina Rd, Gunma, Japan.
A small puff of smoke rose from where Takeshi Nakazato was standing, perched against the guardrail exiting the scenic overlook. He was re-living a moment from just a year ago where he was reclined in his R32 listening to the radio as the brash and fiery Keisuke Takahashi was dueling against some obscure outsider in a piece of shit Sprinter from God-knows-how-long ago. The car was wearing QQ Historic plates, for f!ck's sake. Illegally too, Nakazato noted, since Historic vehicles were, under Gunma perfectual law, only to be used for driving to car shows and on Sundays.
Well, he thought to himself, that 86 only DID seem to appear out of Akina on Sundays. That odd, frighteningly calm and airheaded driver didn't seem to have much of a life. As Takeshi took another drag of his Marlboro Light, he pivoted to the left, eyes on Akina's first and second-longest straightaway. He eyed his digital watch; it read 4:13 AM, usually right around the time that the rusty, ratty piece of shit, complete with mismatched factory steel rims, would come a-charging up the mountain.
The car's actual owner � no way it could actually be the kid � cheaped out on wheels, but the Goodyear Eagle LS's the car was wearing were decent enough. He only witnessed the AE86 once, and it was a while back, but he was convinced his imagination was playing tricks on him; there was no way a car like that could drift in snow like there was that day, right? Especially a RWD, known for its instability in the white stuff. He wanted to see it again, in person, with no crowds and nobody to interrupt his observation.
The silence was shattered with the crackle of a perfectly-timed downshift, a hiccup of rich tuning causing the exhaust fireball. Nakazato's face lit up, first revealing a smirk, then a wide grin. He could feel his legs tensing and his heartrate increasing. "Yes, there's no questioning that sound... it's a 4A-GE engine, just like the one I owned when I was 16! 7,500 RPM upshift, 500 RPM into the redline, 100 RPM before the limiter... with an open intake to boot." He stared down the mountain road, waiting impatiently for the glow of the headlights; and with nary a delay, the AE86 shot out of the corner into the short straight and past Nakazato.
He stared down the black-and-white tofumobile as it rounded the corner. Its soft, elegant motions seemed to blur into the next corner as the car's taillights disappeared, the movements of the body and tires only being summed up as, 'fluid'. Nakazato dropped his cigarette and hopped into his N1, wanting to see why Fujiwara always showed up so early in the morning.
"Alright, Tofu boy... it's time me and you had a little competition on the uphill. Skill is nothing when you're battling the vertical laws of nature... my R will catch up to you easily and that's where I'll be able to watch your incredible technique!" With a twist of the fingers and a stab of the throttle, the RB26DET howled to life, barking a few times as he pinged the revs off the 5,000 RPM secondary-limiter before dumping the clutch, all four tires chirping as the R violently launched into the early-dawn glow.
As Takeshi slammed the gearshift into 2nd, 3rd and soon just into 4th gear, watching his speedometer needle reach almost 120 up Akina's long final stretch - which was now the beginning straight going uphill, he grinned smugly. "No 110-horsepower hatchback stands a chance against a modified Godzilla. I'm already at the Eight-Six's top speed on flat land... going uphill!" He dug into the brakes, the four-piston calipers clamming hard onto the front discs, heating them to a near crimson glow as he rounded Akina's first hard left. Down to 3rd, then 2nd, he watched his speed drop down to nearly 45, his tires begging for mercy as he rolled onto the gas for the short straight. His engine growled and hissed upshifting into 3rd, Nakazato throwing the car into a hard right-hand bend.
Although the high-winding RB was practically lugging at 4,500 RPM through the next corner, it still had enough torque to charge out of the corner with aggression. Takeshi downshifted for Akina's first hairpin, and even though it wasn't one of the Famous Four, it still took a somewhat precise line due to the road's crown shape. If he went a little too far to the outside, he'd be thrown into the wall. He floored the gas into the next short straight, getting a tiny glimpse of Fujiwara's taillights entering the next corner. Takeshi's concentration stalled for a moment when he swore he saw a car tucked into the bushes with a reflective sticker on its bumper, but he just shook it off as morning syndrome and kept charging on. Takeshi was a man on a mission; he wanted to see the AE86's incredible technique up close and personal, and he wasn't about to hold back any of the GT-R's 450 ponies in his pursuit of Akina's Ghost.
That's when he caught the flash of purple HID headlights beginning to follow him in his rearview. "Seems like I'm not the only person who's admiring Fujiwara this morning... too bad you won't get a better view than my back bumper!" Nakazato heel-toed his car into the winding corners, ready to make haste out of each consecutive curve. Matting down the gas pedal coming out of the turn, Nakazato reached for 3rd again, then fourth up Akina's longest straightaway. "They said such a short final drive is bad for Interperfecture cruising... but who cares, when it's perfect for mountain passes?" His eyes darted back to his rearview momentarily, a bit surprised to see the car that was over 500 feet behind him just two corners ago had halved its distance and was starting to close in on him in spite of the uphill grade.
"Tch... you've got power too, huh? I wonder what kind of car you are... maybe a newer 34, or a Twin-Turbo Supra? Definitely modified, if you can catch up to a 450HP R so easily... But I've been up Akina a couple of times, you won't be able to hang with me through the next four hairpins!" Takeshi felt very confident about navigating these hairpins in particular - after losing to the likes of an S13 Silvia, he drove this one part of the course 14 times. His GT-R plowed into the hairpin, but he was able to kick out the tail before the exit. Staying in 2nd gear the entire time, he let the ponies do the talking - though the hatchback in front of him started gaining serious ground. "...what the hell!?" By the exit of the fourth corner, the AE86 was nowhere to be found. "How'd he... gain so fast!?"
His concentration stalled and he almost lost control of his car entering the next 90-degree right hander. Cresting the hill, he let off the gas. What the phuck..., he thinks to himself. The downslope half of Akina has a steep grade, which puts a huge handicap on the Eight-Six, but... as soon as he enters the technical part, he evades me so easily. Just how many times has he driven this course!? Is there some kind of racing line he knows that I'm not following!? His mind is quickly derailed when the car that was following him suddenly startles him by blinding his rearview with a dazzling display of flashing red and blue lights, and an extremely loud siren to go with it. "Shit... it's the police!? What are they doing on a road like this?" Nakazato's anxiety starts so skyrocket; was she the one that clocked him going over 80 up that short stretch... in a 35 zone? Before he could answer that, the vehicle behind him rammed into his GT-R, enough to snap him out of his own thoughts.
A female voice chimed in on the siren's built-in loudspeaker: "PULL OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD NOW, OR ANY AND ALL FORCE NESSECARY WILL BE USED TO STOP YOU." Takeshi was white as a ghost. Even though he wanted to run from this overzealous traffic cop, he knew he couldn't escape - and didn't want to test and see just how far this psychotrooper would go. He threw on his hazards and eased his car to the side of the road, Takeshi then being blinded by two bright, powerful spotlights attatched to the mirrors of the car. The voice commanded his obedience. "TURN YOUR ENGINE OFF AND REMOVE THE KEY FROM THE IGNITION. ROLL DOWN YOUR WINDOW AND PLACE THE KEYS ON THE ROOF OF YOUR CAR.... SLOWLY. THEN PLACE BOTH HANDS FIRMLY AGAINST THE WINDSHIELD."
Unable to think of any other kind of plan, Nakazato followed her instruction to a tee. He heard somebody climbing out of the vehicle behind him, her identity completely masked by the cop car's overwhelming light array. "Open the driver's side door with your left hand and exit the vehicle facing your current heading!" The lady screamed, sounding like a bit of a drill sergeant in the making. Takeshi exited his vehicle from the left, closing his driver's door with his entire body shaking. Phuck, phuck, phuck, I'm so f**ked... is the new 30-over law already in effect!? She's super pissed! "Close the door with your right hand ONLY and walk toward the sound of my voice, keeping your current heading!" His legs jelly, Nakazato replied with the best of a backward stumble as he could, his face covered in sweat.
"Stop right there!" The female cop commanded. "Now place your hands behind your head and lean forward against the trunk of your car." Nakazato hesitated for a moment, biting his lip. Holy shit, this is really happening, she's really going to arrest me! "DO IT BEFORE I PHUCKING TAZE YOU AND DO IT FOR YOU!" Nakazato flinched and put his hands in a sit up position and threw himself against the clean, uncluttered trunk lid of his car. "Hold your position there, punk... or else", the woman sneered. Nakazato was struggling to fight back tears, he never encountered a cop - much less one this angry - on such a remote road before, and the worst ticket he ever got was for having his front windows tinted.... illegal in Myogi. Now he was having his hands pulled down and cuffed together - it was all overwhelming to him.
"Mr. Nakazato, you're being placed under arrest for having a serious lack of taste and driving a second-rate outdated GT car", the voice cracked, "You big, dumb son of a biitch~" Takeshi froze. No... no wonder that voice sounded so familiar... it's! "Miyuki!? WHAT THE HELL MIYUKI, COME ON~!" Miyuki threw her little brother around to face him and stuck out her tongue.
"Silly little brother. What the hell are you doing at this time of the morning so far away from home? Did you plan on catching a sunrise or something over Lake Akina?" She teased Takeshi, twirling her baton around like it was a toy.
Nakazato hissed at his big sister. "God damn it, just get me out of these cuffs already! Come on!" He wasn't amused with Miyuki's sense of humor.
"Aw, but you look so cute like that. I'll bet you need a big, tough girl to protect you from bad things..." She giggles, as she grabbed the key from her workbelt and undid Takeshi's handcuffs, placing them back in their holster. "Fine, fine, I'll pay nice... but seriously, what brings you to this part of Gunma. Akina Village isn't exactly... hoppin', if you know what I mean."
Nakazato blinked in a moment of blank confusion. "...what about that Eight-Six that was leading me?" His question was met with an unsettlingly equal amount of deadpan inquiry.
"Eight-Six? You mean that hero car from that 15-year-old manga, 'Touge Legend', where this kid drives an old Trueno as a parcel delivery driver and ends up becoming a GT Championship racer?" Miyuki looked 100% serious.
"Well, yeah, it's the same car model, funnily enough... but how about the one that sped past you before I passed you?" Takeshi tilted his head a bit.
"...What are you talking about, Takeshi? You were the only car on the road for like 30 minutes. I was goofing off on Hai!Book playing Tougeville when you showed up. I was only hanging out here because I didn't feel like doing any paperwork at the Trooper Barracks."
Takeshi was trying to process two things at once in his mind; for one, if she's supposed to be a Perfectural Trooper, then how much worse are city and county cops and two, more importantly, was he just seeing things? That Eight-Six sounded pretty damn authentic... how could Miyuki not see or hear it?
"Uh, right..." Takeshi groaned. "Well, you can go back to Hai!Book and play your street racing game. I think I'm going to go home... I feel a little bit sick."
Miyuki burst out laughing, pointing at her little brother and shoving lightly against him, practically squishing her unnaturally giant (for Japanese standards, anyways) breasts against his shoulders. "What, did I make you practically want to pee yourself? Silly otouto. Go home and get some sleep. You're up way too late for an upstanding, law obiding citizen... right?" She winked at him, backing towards her car. She climbed turned all of the emergency lights off and left only the car's headlights on, before backing up slowly. He heard the interceptor's engine growl in a brutal, organic tone - even louder than his RB26DET, before the car violently lurched forward and launched brutally, in classic AWD fashion. Its twin circular LED taillights, lighting-quick shifts and 7,500 RPM redline were dead and easy giveaways to the beast as Miyuki vanished into the early morning, her car sneezing at each shift to the tune of an atmospheric blow-off valve.
"...What the hell!? Her patrol car is a modified R35 Skyline GT-R!? How did she manage to get THAT paid for!?" No wonder she caught up to me so easily; she's in another league altogether, mechanically speaking! Jesus, even with all that emergency equipment..." Nakazato shuffled back into the cockpit of his own GT-R, albeit an 'inferior' R33 model of the glory days of 90's tuning, his mind overwhelmed with so many thoughts. Some of them about his sister, but most of them about Fujiwara's AE86. Maybe she couldn't hear it because of the stock exhaust and the fact she daydreams a lot? I know I wasn't chasing a freaking ghost. Ghost cars don't have rust holes on them... right?
7:30 AM...
Matsuda Masato was the first to pull into the lot of the Exxon gas station to start the daily tasks. As his ratty S12 came to a stop and the tired CA18E engine dieseled to a halt, he sighed. "I gotta take you out shopping, baby... some cosmetic surgery and a heart transplant are going to be mandated..." Fretting as he closed his door and locked the car up, he grabbed his toolkit and marched into the garage. He made it as far as the door before looking at the note.
"Sorry Matsuda, I hate to trouble you with this car,
but the local Toyota dealer sent it here because they
couldn't figure out the problem? Could you give it a shot?
They've replaced all of the computers, and it still gives a
hardware error or something. Good luck with it, you'll make
a killing in labor on this one!"
His eyes widened. "Hardware error? Oh no..." As he raised the garage door and was greeted by a pair of clear, reflective taillights that surrounded a tall and aerodynamically focused greenhouse... because the body of the car sure lacked any design inspiration. "Oh noo... NOOOO!" He slammed the garage door down behind him, glaring at the electrified abomination of automotive history, the evil monster that seeks blood in killing the internal combustion engine, while promoting outsourcing from places like China for battery material. The wicked, the wreched, the wildly sinister and gag-inducingly vile pile of one bad engineering decision after another. It could only be... "A BRAND NEW PHUCKING PRIUS, MAN!? A PHUCKING PRIUS! GOD, TODAY'S GOING TO SUCK!"
Matsuda counted to 10, took a deep sigh, and then calmly proceeded to enter the Prius and press the car's 'power on' button, only to see a display of the outline of an engine on the car's LCD information center - in the outline, two X's for eyes and a frown drawn beneath them. "Stupid technological crap... I'm going to make you drive normally you like it or not, you stillborn piece of shit."
7:20 PM...
Iketani poked his nose into the garage of the gas station, looking at the maze of wires that was the Prius' lifeblood strwen about the vehicle's floor. "Oi, Matsuda, you haven't taken anything but bathroom breaks since you clocked in. How about we swing over to Five Guys for some American fine-dining and give this a rest?" Matsuda crawled out from underneath the passenger's kick panel and eyed Kouichirou. "Nah, they close at 11, I'll wait until 10 or something if I wanna go there. Besides, I think I nailed the problem. It's the intermittent windshield speed control module."
Iketani cocked his head to the left. "The what module?"
Matsuda chuckled. "Now you'll learn why I hate the Prius - other than the fact it's a hybrid, anyways. See, there's a computer that reads the vehicle speed from the vehicle speed module - one of 11 computers that take this value into account. It's all networked in case one unit fails completely, but..."
Matsuda used his hands to point out a rough idea of where everything would be as Iketani peered into the soap bar on wheels, curious. "The problem is, the intermittent windshield speed control module was sending a signal of 77 MPH to the wipers, and also relaying that information to the transmission computer. The transmission computer then misinterpereted that information as only the driver's front wheel reading 77 MPH and the other 3 reading 0 MPH, which sent a signal to the stability control computer to apply the brakes. Meanwhile, the stability control computer relayed to the engine computer that the car was traveling at 77 MPH and skidding out of control, so the engine computer cut all ignition and put the engine into 'compression' cycle by altering the VVT-i's timing, meanwhile disabling the VEHICLE START function since the car was already moving. The ECU then sent another signal to the transmission that the car was moving too fast for the electric motor to operate, and...."
Judging by the glaze forming over Iketani's eyes, it was obvious that he was losing him. "In other words, Iketani-senpai, the windshield wiper computer tricked the rest of the car into thinking it was doing a one-wheel handstand at Interperfecture speeds." Iketani chuckled, shaking his head. "Yeah, now I can see why my father hates hybrids so adamantly. Just one little miscalculation and the whole car goes bonkers. But look at the bright side, 'new car defect' labor is 12,500 yen an hour and you make a 15% cut on labor on top of your hourly pay. If you finish by 10, you'll have 12 hours of straight labor on this car and a pretty fat paycheck at the end of the week. It's worth it, right?"
Matsuda's eyes trailed off into staring at a random corner of the garage. "Yeah, I guess..." he muttered, not caring as much about the money bonus but more about the fact that this was a NEW car sitting in this old ran-down garage, which means only one thing... How the hell did somebody already find out where I was to shove more complicated crap in my face? Nothin' against the boss... but Yuiichi said earlier during lunch that the dealer contacted him with the service contract, not the other way around. I guess it's impossible to keep my head low 'round these parts...
Posted by: Hannah Nov 11 2010, 06:44 AM
Well, not to bash on the proofreader, but I spy 1 typo and 1 grammar error.
Now, on to the story - Hai!Book? Tougeville?! I ROFFLED SO HARD XD XD XD Well, I guess it's the next step up to playing Solitaire or MaJongg.
All in all, it was well written and a very nice surprise for having waited OVER A YEAR FOR ONE STINKIN' CHAPTER. I enjoyed it, a good read. Wanna know more about the mystery behind the 86, I like the new character Miyuki [although I definitely want to draw a ver.2 to that horrendous-looking chapter art. ugh!] and lolPrius. Just lol. XD
Posted by: Nomake Wan Nov 11 2010, 12:24 PM
QUOTE (Kogal Moon @ 5 hours, 40 minutes ago)
CBF re-reading the whole thing, where are they?
EDIT: Nevermind, got it. Argh, right at the end. Balls.
Posted by: Hannah Nov 11 2010, 01:29 PM
Both at the end, but I already pointed that out over IMs. Drifter will fix it when he gets home.
Posted by: wing_0 Nov 11 2010, 03:10 PM
Woah, it's alive! Nice update, I like the pacing. Miyuki's a pretty interesting character and the way Nakazato acts around her is pretty funny ^^. I don't exactly understand why Miyuki called Nakazato "Takahashi" and why he didn't react to that . Keep it up and hopefully ch4 will come in less than a year .
Posted by: Bumpercam Nov 11 2010, 05:18 PM
Uh... I recall reading this in ffn.net for awhile. The name 'Suzaki' kept grating into my nerves, so I went on and read other fics. Other than that one thing, it's actually pretty good. Better than all those high school AUs. Keep it coming!
Posted by: Rudy Nov 11 2010, 07:45 PM
QUOTE (wing_0 @ 4 hours, 35 minutes ago)
Probably because the author is sick and hung over and didn't notice until now.
Thanks for the fanfare guys... I should have OUP and Carbon Expressway done by the end of the month, once I've figured out how to... merge things together.
Posted by: kyonpalm Nov 25 2010, 05:25 AM
I'm so glad to see an update to this story. Even more glad to see the writing's just as good as I remember it.
Very entertaining, and
I can totally picture Nakazato having a sister like that.
Eagerly waiting for more.
Posted by: Rudy Dec 5 2010, 10:18 PM
I'd just like the other fan and Jersey Boy to chime in on this thread before I move any further forward with it.
Posted by: Rudy Sep 3 2013, 01:12 AM
Fuck me? Well Fuck Drew, Too. I do what I want!
Wow... 1002 days for me to break this funk. Sorry guys. But better late than never, right? And since it took a while... I tried to give some substance.
Behold.
Pass 4 � Rabbit in Your Headlights
Vrrrrrrrooooo-sch-rroooo-sch-ch-ch-brup!
Next Sunday Morning
00:20, Akagi Mountain Rd., Akagi...
Matsuda Masato felt fear rising up him as he skittishly fought to mainain control of his car. The conditions on this lonely little stretch of blacktop snaking its way through the prefecture had phased from clear to overcast to a downright storm right as the high-school senior reached the mountain pass, but he'd be damned to resign his fate to simply driving home after all this time. But if this wasn't a trial by fire for the young boy, than nothing was. Masato sawed back and fourth on the steering wheel desparately trying to stabilize the back end of the car, the rear of his S12 Silvia dancing and swerving from being overpowered in these slippery conditions.
It's like trying to ride a snake that's coiled up and ready to strike... one wrong move and it's all over...
Down every short straight leading into each progressive corner, it was a battle to keep his car pointed in the right direction. Matsuda's breaths were shallow and swift, his heart pounding. Every instinct within him was telling him to cease this madness at once, but his pounding heart was calling out for him to stand his ground, show this halfass little touge who's boss. He'd already claimed victory against it once � albeit in dry conditions. The only difference between now and then was his ass was a little lower to the ground, he had about 3 times the amount of power and twice as many wheels to attempt to send that power to the ground and he wasn't leaning.
But this new Akagi, this was a beast. Not only was it wet, it was misty in certain corners. Not White Demon-grade misty a la that fabled Hakone road outside of Tokyo, but visibility was next to nil. He charged into every single corner not having a clue where the center line on the road was and relying only on the reflectors of the guardrails, inside and out, to give him an idea of where to turn � much less trying to apex. But he was midway through the downhill now � or at least it felt like midway and the course was beginning to smooth out. Hell, he was finally able to get his car into fourth gear! It's just you, me and the elements, Akagi... And I'm going to beat you no matter what the elements are. I want this feeling, I want more of it! And I'm going to take what I can get.
One small problem with Matsuda's little phophecy; for one, he wasn't alone. In fact, as he finished clearing the second round of mild twists and bends that Akagi kept throwing at the primer-black relic, he just happened to be interrupting what was an isolated moment of pondering shared between two kin. Like a janitor barging in on a philosophical discussion between two astronomers in a planetarium. Nestled snugly in a scenic overlook and cloaked in a fog of humidity and darkness, the prominent bright-yellow RX-7 FD of the Akagi Red Suns as effectively inconspicuous in the background.
�Brother, I just don't understand. When we first started racing together, you gave me and Kenta three simple rules to follow; one, to maintain a constant course time every single time we drive this road. Two, practice as often as possible, at least twice a week and 5 runs both ways per visit minimum. And lastly... between the months of April and November, unless the ambient temperature at the top of the mountain was below 35 degrees, to practice regardless of rain or shine.� Keisuke's eyes narrowed slightly towards his elder brother, carefully studying his reaction as he spoke. �But since I lost to the Night Kids, every single event that even had a 50% chance of rain you've either turned down or postponed the challenge. If you want us to be truly unstoppable, then shouldn't we be facing off no matter the weather?�
Ryousuke grinned at Keisuke's question. �I have to say, I'm impressed on how much more mind study you've put into your driving strategy. Perhaps we do stand a chance at salvaging our title and becoming Fastest in Kanto.� Ryousuke then paused and closed his eyes to take a moment to carefully think about exactly how he would word his direct response. He had the words in his head before they even got here because Ryousuke had a hunch that Keisuke would be reaching that level of strategy and asking him the question he just did, but wanted to make sure they came out okay before he opened his lips. Yes, exactly like that. �So we're here to discuss why we don't race in the rain anymore? Alright... in that case, you're probably wondering why I asked you to stop at this scenic overlook, considering we could have had this conversation from the comfort of our own home.� As expected by Keisuke's reaction, the younger Takahashi was about to lead into that question and Ryousuke beat him to the punch. �That race almost ended here.�
Keisuke took a moment to look out at the poorly-lit pavement of Akagi Mountain Rd; the corner they were positioned to observe was a sharp left-hander when headed uphill that lead to a series of mild transitions just prior to the second checkpoint. There was nothing abnormal about the corner itself; the road had no more crown than usual, in fact it was pretty flat, and as long as you got your braking point right you'd be fine. Keisuke was confused by his brother's notion, and wasn't shy to inquire to the elder Takahashi. �What are you talking about?�
Ryousuke chuckled softly, cracking the passenger-side window to get some air as he was about to light up a smoke. �That night that you and Nakazato raced was a lot like this. It was a steady rainfall for the most part but in typical mountainous climate fashion had moments of a total downpour. This particular corner was where I chose to spectate the race from. As you may recall, the GT-R has put some serious distance on you by now. That holeshot start he got on you pretty much sealed your fate.�
Keisuke grimaced. �Don't remind me of that, it was my most embarassing moment as a Red Sun. Losing on my own course, almost decidedly within the first � mile...�
�It's painful, but it happened. Anyways, did you notice that you got a pretty serious run on Nakazato following this corner? You gained almost 75% of the distance you lost in the first section of the course, and was able to carry that momentum all the way up to Nakazato's rear bumper and hang on for at least an honorable loss. You could have passed him but he was blocking you once you closed in and the rainy conditions made it too risky to try a chance overtake.�
Keisuke's eyes widened as he reminisced the scenario and reviewed it more analytically than he first did, now being of a more sound mind and not being clouded by a bruised ego. �That's right! I got a killer run on him in this section! I initially thought it was just Nakazato's unfamiliarity with the course and overbraking, or perhaps my use of the FD's more agile chassis to maintain full throttle the entire section of sweepers or maybe a combination of both; but even at that, it was still an unusually strong comeback. Come to think of it, Nakazato was actually driving slower in the end. I don't even think he was flooring it � or did his turbo malfunction or something?�
Alright, Keisuke's able to think outside of the box and rationalize past encounters on a deeper level than he could just months ago, but I suppose the sheer lack of experience hasn't opened his eyes to the smaller details just yet. But this is progress, nonetheless. �Keisuke, it's raining worse than usual right now, a lot worse. Just as it was the night you raced his R33. What happens when you've got that much water pouring onto the road?�
A moment of pause, before a typical layman response. �It flows into the drainage ditches on either side of the road.�
Close, Keisuke. You almost have it. Ryousuke took a small drag on the cigarette he had fished out of his pocket in the course of their conversation and smiled. �And what if, say, there was a sudden blockage? Or the flow of water temporarily overpowered the capacity of the drainage?�
Keisuke's eyes widened a little bit at the realization and stared again down at the corner, noticing that the entire mid-section of the corner was now a mirror reflection of the flickering street-lamp above it. �You end up with standing water covering the entire lane!�
�Bingo.� A dim glow in the distance coming from the downhill straightaway started growing larger and brighter as a lonely little subcompact commuter chugged its way up the mountainside in the brutal conditions. Ryousuke pointed at the uphill entrance of the corner where the car was... casually... getting nearer and nearer to. �Just watch how much water this kei car throws up as it crosses the river that the road's turned into.�
�If that car ever makes it here. Jeez, talk about taking a Sunday drive. Hurry up, geezer!� Keisuke barked at the car as it seemed to be making a slow motion action-replay approach to the corner.
�At the speeds that guy is traveling at, the pressure of the tires pressing down on the roadway will force the water around the tread blocks and out the water chutes on the sides of a typical passenger-car tire. Essentially, no added danger element whatsoever. But if you had aggressive summer tires geared towards dry traction or significantly worn-down tires and were traveling at racing speeds, that inch or so of water would be more like a sheet of- Is that Kenta I hear!?�
Lit cigarette falling right out of his lip and landing on the car's soaked floormats, Ryousuke's expression suddenly snaps from calm and contemplative to downright serious, perhaps even panicked as he picks up the exhaust note of a turbo 4 cylinder, likely Nissan, charging towards the corner from the opposite direction, barrelling downhill at suicidal speeds.
Keisuke's expression also tenses up as the sound of the car grows nearer and nearer. �No, Kenta's out in the boonies, some happo-ga-something-or-another place watching a midnight duel.� Fear striking into the young Takahashi's eyes as him and Ryousuke form the same conclusion to what's about to happen. �Oh, shit...� mutters Keisuke, under his breath.
�Like a sheet of ice... Good god, he's ALREADY out of control...� Ryousuke points, panicked, at the black car skating towards the corner's entrance. �This can only end well!� Ryousuke feels powerless to what certain tragedy he knows is about to strike.
Matsuda's wipers were going at full tilt but he still couldn't see a damn thing out of his windshield. His speedometer reading speeds well north of 60mph, he was beginning to feel the car 'float'... or was his mind just playing tricks on him? Nah, it was just him. The car isn't floating, aero lift wasn't an issue at such pedestrian speeds. He saw a warning sign for a sharp right-hand bend coming up and decided now was a good time to test the brakes as the road surface flattened out. He moved to the right lane right before the 'river', to set up for an early apex... and just as he was about to put pressure to the pedal, he felt first the chilling sensation of his steering wheel go completely numb, and then his brakes lock up underneath his feet.
What the...
As time seemed to slow to a mete standstill, Matsuda's thoughts raced faster than his car could ever manage to without the help of nitro methane fuel. He sawed quickly at the steering wheel in either direction, and it did nothing.
Oh, God, don't tell me... oh shit...
And then came the insult to injury, as the off-white beam of halogen headlights coming directly at him seared into his retinas, engraving an immediate and haunting reminder of his own mortality glaring into his soul and freezing his spine from the inside out as this nightmare just made a sharp right directly onto Elm Street.
I'm... hydroplaning... oh fuck me... am I going to die like this... here... now!?
Matsuda did the only four things that seemed to make sense to him at the moment, simultaneously � pop the clutch, wrench the steering wheel to the right, pull on the handbrake like he's never done it before and pray that there was a God, any God out there to help him.
*tap*
Kenta Nakamura tapped the 'send' key on his phone with glee, using the power of the information superhighway and basic text letters to convey the overwhelming emotion sweeping over him to his teammate Keisuke.
O man! this race is amazin! theyre door 2
door. its like when u an aniki do your parallel
drft but they're racin a ded heat! U should c
its unblevable!
Yes, door-to-door action was indeed happening on this incredibly-technical, incredibly-windy circuit of ups and downs. It was between two cars. Both vehicles weighed less than 2,500 pounds. Both cars had turbocharged engines putting out roughly 300 horsepower, give or take, and both drivers were known for redefining pushing the limits of their platforms... although one more famous than the other. Much, much more famous. The electricity crackling in the air from the excitement of the race was greater than any lightning Mother Nature could conjure up � a thunderstorm couldn't hold a candle to this audience tonight. The static of the radios was shattered by the blare of an excited announcer voice calling the race as the two cars charged uphill around the tight hairpin and then through Happogahara's famous tunnel straight � switching positions almost every corner.
�And Dom gets a nose in on Smiley, coming around the hairpin, but breaks loose on the corner exit! Smiley gets the jump on Dom and he switches from the inside to the outside. Dom late brakes going into the follow up hairpin and noses in on Smiley's real estate, forcing Smiley to brake harder and hug the inside. They both exit the corner noses even, side-by-side on the way down the short straight heading into the sweeper! This is incredible, I've never seen racing like this until tonight! The DC2 has its hands full with the S30, and vice versa!�
Yes, an S30Z. A 1974 Fairlady 260Z to be exact, with its powerplant exchanged for an 'evolutionary' L28 turbo from the early-80's S130 Fairlady 280ZX. And a DC2. An Integra Type R with... a big-ass turbocharger among other mods. Both cars have been highly refined but they couldn't be more different other than basic stats. The Z, a rear-wheel drive sports car with a long hood and classic GT proportions � the Integra, a FWD pocket rocket with the wheels pushed to the corners in comparison to the much older Z-car. The race started in a dead heat and neither car had managed to get more than a car length on the other. It was like watching two heavyweight boxers trade a flurry of fast blows than a samurai match. Each successful blow put only a negligent edge against the other car, and each mistake the other driver made was insignificant, only losing inches on the opponent.
To the casual observer though, nobody was making any mistakes. Because they were freaking flying. Approaching the third checkpoint, the current pace would have Todou's 'unofficial street' record for outbound races broken by 5, maybe even 6 seconds. The inbound record was already shattered by a similar margin and in a similar manner between Todou inbound specialist Daiki �Dice� Ninomiya in his yellow �Screamer� EK9 Civic Type-R and the opposing crew's other 'Tier 1' driver, Kyon Nakajima in his grey NC1A �Big Bore� Roadster. The first race had the audience raving, this match was just icing on the cake.
The two cars appeared to be a blur of red and white as they charged hard through the switchbacks, neither car yielding an inch. As for the drivers, this was about as close as it gets to heaven behind the wheel for both of them. Neither one of them were thinking about what they were doing. Both of them were driving on sheer instinct � so out-of-character for either of the Todou drivers, but the gentleman standing near the finish line had a very perplexed look on his face. This was his first time back to the streets in a while, and all of that theory of faint braking and progressive lines just seemed to be thrown out the window.
But yet, the times they were kicking out were amazing. The more seasoned driver, becoming more irritated at the mere thought of how something so irrational could be occuring drowned out the noise of the crowd and listened to his own thoughts � a type of self-induced hypnosis/meditation/detachment from reality that many racers claim is the key to having a 'right mind' before climbing behind the wheel on any given race day.
He envisioned the cars as they cars as they tackled turn after turn, getting himself behind the wheel of Sakai's turbo Integra. He was almost to read the car through his thoughts, feeling every twitch of the chassis and micro-responding to the car's every throttle, steering or braking need. It was herky-jerky and unorthodox, but almost in a 80's Formula 1 type of way. It had to consume so much concentration, literally every ounce of their brainpower being directed at nothing more than the car, the chassis and the controls. If something was going wrong with the car itself, either one of them, the driver would likely end up blowing the engine since they were too focused on the car itself and 'zoned in' to periodically check the vitals.
Fortunately, as the two racers blow right through the final checkpoint, both cars appear and sound quite happy � not nearly as happy as the fans, and even perhaps the drivers � but in proper order. Hissing. Popping. Burbling. Belching fire occasionally on downshifts. The two cars continued this high-speed tango, blazing through the famous left-right-left successions that made Happogahara so notorious as a �rhythm killer� since no two turns were exactly alike but many were extremely similar. No, that was irrelevant.
All Dominic Wanger could hear, feel, think or experience was what was directly before him in the exact moment. He was living now by the millisecond, sensing and reacting to every little bit of feedback and 'noise' he felt through the thin-rimmed wooden steering wheel of 60's sports-car heritage, every ounce of pressure the brake pedal returned to him as he pressed down it with varying levels of force approaching and through the corners. He heard the visceral growl of the inline-6 engine as it surged repeatedly to and from its 6,500 RPM redline, could almost feel the gears directly mesh together with engine speed as he blipped his shifts. Nothing seemed out of order. Everything felt so right, so perfect. He just needed to go faster.
As for Sakai... same story, slightly different soundtrack. Instead of a deadpan-determined stare, Sakai was wearing his signature �Smiley� face. An angry, barky 4-cylinder being wound up to 8K time and time again, a more rubbery gearshift being fed through a cable linkage as opposed to the Z's direct linkage but � everything else was the same. He wasn't even concerned with winning anymore. He just wanted to go faster. No, FASTER! Milking every bit of traction he could for every millisecond that the tires offered traction. There was no more understeer than normal, he wore the front tires just fine in this blitz just as his rival didn't over-wear the rears. Faster, he must go. At this point, he wasn't sure if he was hallucinating but as they neared almost 100 mph before diving deep into final corner, he could almost swear he was suddenly and fully aware of the air streams the cars were cutting through the troposphere. Suddenly, he zipped past a white line � and the surreality wore off as he eased off the accelerator, letting his stallion breathe after being ran so hard. Did he finish first? Did it even matter? Regardless of the outcome, he thought to himself, this was a personal victory and the best race he's ever run.
As for Dom � same story, different satisfied customer. Although Dom finally started to grin after the affects of the hyper-adrenaline rush. That was one hell of a race. He didn't know what exactly got into him, but it felt good � downright euphoric. He finally understood and realized for the first time in his life exactly what it meant to be 'one with your machine'. He laughed, almost manically for a breif moment. A 'steering wheel'? Nonsense � tonight, this lacquered wooden ring was an extension of my own arms. He found his opening in the gallery area where Kyon and his other teammates were waiting � Kyon's Miata seeming to smile at him with pride. Or was it just the usual dorky-looking grin that the NC1A usually wore? The crowd around was just going so wild, he couldn't even hear his engine idling over it anymore. Everybody was up in arms, celebrating. It was then that Dom also realized that both of his fender mirrors were missing � and his fenders themselves were sort of knackered up and 'laced' with white paint. Looks like there was a bit of contact here and there after all. Not like he ever felt the car getting knocked out of balance on purpose. Guess 'rubbin's racin' after all. Although with everyone cheering both at Dom and also at the driver of the other car, he just had to ask his team leader the all important question. �So... Pierre. Did I win?�
The traumatized Masato finds himself facing certain death for both himself and the oncoming motorist � yet, for some reason, reality has been reduced to a mere state of suspended animation. It's like the speed of everything has been reduced to 1/20h the normal speed. Okay. I don't know why, but all of a sudden, everything is... slow... I need to use this... whatever it is to stay alive!
As every hair on Matsuda's body stood on its edge, he used this terrifyingly slow moment of impending death to assess everything that was going on. There was an oncoming car that was practically grinding inner guardrail and completely and totally committed to the inside line. His car was perpendicular about 6 feet away and... appeared to be rotating? Matsuda used that nanosecond to 'feel' the wheel again... there was feedback. Back to the poor Daihatsu Mira that was being dealt a terrible fate thus far, only 5 � feet away now. What to do, what to do � release the handbrake and let the rear wheels spin free. Get the steering wheel to opposite lock pronto, full left angle.
The Mira is now only 4 feet away, but his S12 has some really good rotation going . Okay, gun the throttle and jam that fucker into reverse. Matsuda has 2,000 RPM, enough to spin backwards. Mira is 2 feet away � it won't be a fatal collision because he's almost cleared it, but he doesn't want to take the nose off of that kei car. All Matsuda can do now is maintain his course... Mira is 1 foot away, but now both cars are facing nearly the same direction and Masato is looking at the direction he just came from � and the huge wake of water he chaos has kicked up.
Stay in reverse, stay in reverse, maintain the steering lock and the spin... It's now occurred to Masato that he's successfully cleared the Mira, though he did send up a small shower of sparks by his left-rear quarter scraping the inside guardrail � not like it mattered. Also, somehow that lake he ran into scrubbed a ton of speed off. Speaking of speed, things are quickly returning to their speed. Car's spinning - 1st gear and throttle! Matsuda cranks the wheel until his front tires are straight and applies half-throttle, slowing the spin down significantly. The outer guardrail's quickly closing in on him, but reality is returning to normal speed. Matsuda braces himself for impact... *crunch, grind, scrape* Okay, that was a mildly jarring impact but nothing that will incapacitate the car; a fender bender, if even that. It also stopped his spin, he's now stable on the corner exit. Does everything still feel right? He applies the gas and discovers the car's still tracking straight. No grinding noises, no pull in either direction. Must have clipped the quarter panel, probably lost the bumper... Okay dumbass, that's your cue to slow the fuck down maybe just two or three notches and not push every corner to the limit � just bring her home in one piece and assess the damage.
The perspective of the Takahashi Brothers was extremely different however. They both clenched their eyes shut, wanting to save their optical receptacles from a gruesome sight. But what they were expecting to hear, the terrible thunder of two masses of steel, plastic, flesh and bones colliding at over 100 MPH combined speed was... exponentially less dramatic.
*scrape... crunch, grind, scrape*
Both Keisuke and Ryousuke opened their eyes just in time to see the remaining spark trails from where the S12 made contact from the inside guardrail, manage to completely spin around the micro-hatch, and only mildly pound the outer guardrail as the rear bumper cover flew off the back of the S12 in a rather comical fashion as the car itself regained its composure and continued an albeit somewhat more reserved charge down the AMR.
And the hatchback? Completely untouched! Although the hazards were now blinking, the rest of the car was completely and totally spared from any carnage.
There were only a handful of times, if that, between the two brothers' lives that an event would render both them equally slack-jawed and equally and utterly speechless. This was the most recent example of such an event occurring. Only a second or two passed before the car that just managed the seemingly impossible task of not exploding into that hatchback registered in Ryousuke's brain. Without any self-awareness whatsoever, he just mouthed the name out. �Matsuda Masato...�
Ryousuke then heard the sound of his brother's fist pounding on the dashboard, followed by angry growling coming from the same vicinity. It appeared to be Japanese, just with a real thick Tokyo accent. �Dat punk n**** bitch Masato!? The fuck that n**** think he doing in this bitch almost killing people on OUR fuckin' home turf? I'mma run dat n**** down!� Yep... the Yakuza in Keiskue was just streaming from his mouth. Keisuke was livid.
Then came the click of the starter relay, and the whir of the starter motor... whirring... and whirring... and the smell of unburned gasoline starting to seep into the cabin. Oh, right... that issue the elder Takahashi brother thought to himself. �Keisuke, when you turned the ignition off, did you turn it all the way back to the accessory position, or left it at run?�
Keisuke, snapped out of his 'Kuza Moment', blinked for a moment to think, and then responded blankly back, �I set it to run... why?�
�Keisuke... remember what I said before we left about the front injector sticking partially open... and how the R-E Amemiya ECU will continuously run the fuel pump to maintain pressure even if there's no RPM pickup?�
�Oh... don't tell me.�
�Keisuke, you're not running anybody down. You flooded the engine.�
�GOD DAMN IT!!!�
�You get the spark plug wrench from behind your seat and pop the hatch. I'll get the ether and with any luck we'll be able to get this car up and running before we end up looking like one of those As-Teen-On-TV shammy towels.�
Just before Keisuke popped the hatch, 2 messages came through Keisuke's phone at once, the phone buzzing in his pocket and him then pulling it out. The first txt was the one Kenta initially sent, plus a follow up, just sent.
best race ever! unbelievable finish
todo juku won by only 3 inches
they passed each other at least
ten times! a miracle performance
Keisuke just laughed out loud, before showing the message to his aniki. Ryousuke laughed as well, in relief and agreement. "A miracle performance indeed."
Posted by: wing_0 Sep 3 2013, 07:49 AM
Nice comback, Dori! Loved the writing and how you kept the action going. The attention to detail was nice too and Kenta's texts were an interesting addition. Hope the next installment comes after a shorter pause
Posted by: Hannah Sep 3 2013, 10:01 AM
Enjoyed this chapter, its hard to believe you poured this out in only one night!! Please keep it up, I want to see more and I hope your muse comes out more often!
Speaking of muses, i would like to know if any other fanfics are going to be updated this year?
[ Post made via Mobile Device ]
Posted by: Meteor Sep 3 2013, 04:54 PM
>Dominic Wanger
>1974 Fairlady 260Z
Once again, I'm seeing what you did there.
Daiki �Dice� Ninomiya
This could've been a little less TP though.
Anyway, glad to see you writing again and great to see this fic finally getting an update. The Mira-avoiding scene was a little confusing at first (had trouble figuring out the relative starting positions of both cars, including the S12's angle to the road), but it ultimately made complete sense after a little rereading. And the sudden switches to present tense here and there were something I'm not used to, but in this case I couldn't actually find them wrong even if I did find them a little jarring. As for typos, I've only spotted two so far.
This was his first time back to the streets in a while, and all of that theory of faint braking and progressive lines just seemed to be thrown out the window.
Mira is 1 foot away, but now both cars are facing nearly the same direction and Masato is looking at the direction he just came from � and the huge wake of water he chaos has kicked up.
Talking more about the chapter itself though: I liked it. It was a good way of bringing this fic back, and its showing you're clearly still set to write in top form. Your writing style still makes for good reading, the chapter was interesting throughout whether there were cars driving around or just people talking to each other, the short race scene here was nicely done, and the whole thing is simply a worthy new chapter to Heikou Sen.
And boy was the English representation of Keisuke's kuza speak amusing to read.
Again, I'm glad to see this fic updated and just like before, I'm still looking forward to more. You're definitely still capable of continuing to write this story well, so I know this still very promising story isn't going to disappoint. Keep on writing. I really want to see what you've got in store for us with this one.
I know mine will be.
Pass 5 � Of Foreign Friends or Foes
September 15th... � 11:58, Town of Yoshioka
�Bah, another slow day...� Kenji couldn't help but find himself dying a slow death of boredom as the minutes seemed to grind on at the Esso station he worked at. With Iketani taking lunch, Takumi in school, and Matsuda also doing school, there was little he could do to pass the time. Kenji stared at his 180SX, which was covered in dirty residue from not having been washed in weeks. He fiddled about in his pocket before pulling out his smartphone, checking the weather. The next 5 days showed nothing but sunshine; therefore, he made an unapproved executive decision to wash his 180SX and polish it. Great way to pass an hour, he figured. He walked over to the office to check 'conditions' � and as expected, Yuiichi was hunched over on the customer couch, a newspaper covering his face as he snored. Kenji grinned � the boss wouldn't even know if he washed his car on company time. And since his hearing wasn't the best, the exhaust on Kenji's car wouldn't wake him either.
�Yosh...� he grinned, sneaking over to his hatchback and summoning the SR20DE to life. He slipped the gearshift into 1 and pulled out from his parking spot to the automated machine. Inserting his form of payment and pressing a few buttons, he quickly exited his car and shut the door behind him so he could witness the action from a third-person perspective. There was a certain magic to the way these machines operated, and he loved observing them scrubbing all the dirt and grime off cars in real time � but only if the car being washed was his, of course. Yes, it was lazier than a hose and bucket wash, but unless he wanted to get crazy with multiple buckets, brushes and towels, it was also a more effective approach to automotive cleanliness. He smiled and sighed as the machinery worked its magic, taking weeks of neglect clean off and revealing his year-old repaint in all of its white glory.
Just then, Kenji's ears perked as he heard the sound of tuned exhaust approaching the gas station. Well, more like a pack of tuned exhaust � and a curious combination as well. All of the vehicles parked neatly up to a good portion of the gas pumps that were furthest from the office. There was no drama to these cars, no revving � just an air of conservatism to the way they fell into formation before killing their engines. �Damn, 6 customers at once?� As Kenji left his 180SX to the car wash's devices, he couldn't help but notice more peculiar details about the cars � for one, they were all left hand drive, which had to be a pain in this country. And two of the cars was definitely were US imports. Adjusting his hat, he got within conversation distance of all the drivers as they sequentially exited their vehicles. �Hi, welcome to Esso, how can I help you today?� He put on his best political-incumbent-seeking-reelection smile as they all quickly placed their fuel orders one-by-one.
�Fill her up, high test, card's on the roof.�
�What he said.�
�What she said.�
�Likewise.�
�Full tank of Ethanol 85, card's on my roof.�
�Same thing, my card's on the trunk though.�
Another peculiar thing; save for the pair that looked like brother and sister, these people appeared to be straight up gaijin. Well, Kenji had his work cut out for him as the crowd thankfully moves towards the vending machines and not the office. The last thing he wanted to do, after all, was juggle oil changes or something similar to that on 6 different cars constricted to 2 service bays AND work the pumps. He breathed a sigh of relief, though his ears couldn't help but intercept the conversation between the two Asian-ethnic customers.
�You think Andre's out here?�
�You know better than that, of course he's out here. He probably got here before we did.�
�This is near the Akina pass, right? I'll bet he's either running the mountain road right now or sweet-talking the female cop that pulled him over for speeding.�
�Don't be naive, Pierre. There's a ton of traffic this time of day. Running the pass would be suicidal if you tried to pass all those slow-moving cars. The speed limit in this country can be ridiculous at times!�
�Well, nevermind him then � isn't this that gas station where that tofu shop Corolla is supposed to be?�
�Yes, but it's not called a Corolla GT-S, it's called a Sprinter TRUENO. For all we know, all that street racer talk is just a myth, an urban legend.�
�Come on Leanne, did you see some of the cars driving around here? Sure, they're old beat-up cars not much better than some of ours, but the mufflers, stickers, lightly lowered suspensions and wheels � there's definitely a street racing culture in this town. Kyon, what do you think?�
�I think that even if there is one, there's no damn AE86 around here. Come on, the car is 30 years old. It couldn't hold a candle to other cars on the mountain unless it had an engine swap or some kind of power adder, and the legend is that it has a stock engine. I'm calling it a myth. The pass is real, but the car isn't.�
�See, Pierre? Even Kyon doesn't believe it.�
�Whatever, sis. Well, let's at least get out to the lake and check this road out. I hear the four hairpins are insane.�
By now Keiji had already started fueling the Corolla � which looked unlike any Corolla he'd ever seen in person, only on the Internet � and the Fairlady Z, and was about to put the nozzle into the fuel filler of the Roadster... which strangely said 'MX-5 Miata' on the back of it.Maybe Miata was the version they called with this weird fastback roof that the car had. After processing that card he then moved to another oddity, a Honda Accord which looked nothing like the home-market Accord. Even this normally pedestrian car had some modifications going for it, he realized, before he caught a glimpse of the decal on the 2-door Accord's rear quarter window: �Chin Dynasty.� ...tacky... he thought to himself as he initiated the fueling process on that car as well, before noticing two of the drivers had broken off from the main group and were eyeballing his 180SX.
�Well Ken, at least the Speed Stars are a thing... maybe there's hope. But that 240 doesn't look like much from where I stand.�
�Yeah, still has the factory exhaust tip even. It looks like the only thing he invested money in are the wheels � and he's still using solid factory-size brake rotors on four-lug hubs!�
�Well, maybe he isn't as hardcore about it as those people in Happogahara. You know, I heard somewhere in Kanto there's a group of racers that drive exclusively Lan Evos... mostly older ones, like 4's and 5's.�
�Sounds like something right up your alley. I wonder what they'll think when they see you driving from the left side of the car. That will be something not to miss.�
�Hahaha, yeah... or maybe when they smell my exhaust. I heard E85 hasn't exactly caught on as a fuel choice of tuners here in Japan. And those Todou Juku people, their cars reeked of leaded fuel too. They're risking a huge fine driving those cars on the street.�
�But I dunno about all this, Chris. Do you really think we should even be out here doing this?�
�Why not? Pierre and Leanne struck gold, and we've all been friends for years. This is like a street racer's fantasy to come out to Japan and see where touge-style racing was born and meet real Japanese drift heroes, don't you think?�
�True, but it's not our money that got us here... it's theirs.�
�Remember � they invited us. All four of us. And honestly, how cool is it to rep the stars in stripes in a pair of corn-fed Mitsubishis?�
Ah, yes... the Mitsubishis... Kenji thought to himself, grinning. Of all the cars here, I think these two are the most battle-ready, though I still prefer the Fairlady.. The two cars in question would be the GTO VR-4, which was wearing a badge that said '3000GT' and also the Evolution IX. It was amazing how clean the rear bumpers on these cars were, compared at least to the rest of the cars. No soot or exhaust residue at all � and of course that was thanks to the fact their cars were effectively only running on 15% gasoline. Though Kenji did find it disheartening to once again hear his 180SX being criticized, especially by outsiders, he sighed. It can't be helped, I guess... he sulked as he finally got the nozzle into the last car. My 180SX has been such a lemon... the previous owner trashed it and I've spent all my money replacing practically everything in it. And I haven't even turbocharged it yet...
Like clockwork, the Corolla's nozzle clicked off and he moseyed back over to it and did his typical fuel attendant stuff as well, cleaning the windows after the gas cap was screwed back on and the fuel door was shut. By now the car's driver had returned to it, chuckling. �Wow, hey, thanks, I didn't even ask for you to do the windows!�
Kenji glowed with a professional smile. �It's part of my job, sir.�
Pierre, the owner, reached into his pocket and pulled out a few hundred-yen bills. �Here. It's my thanks.�
Kenji nervously waved his hand back at him, shaking his head. �I'm sorry, I can't accept tips from anyone. Company policy. I appreciate the sentiment though.�
Pierre stared blankly back at him, before putting his money back away. �Uh... sure. I'll tell you, full service is awesome. I can't believe you're the only one who's doing this. Don't you have any help?�
Kenji nodded, as he finished on the Corolla's window and moved onto taking care of the Miata... Roadster. �There's usually two of us, but between 11 and 12 only one. We each take half hour lunch breaks in that time- speaking of which!� Kenji's head turned and caught a glimpse of Iketani's Silvia, right on time. Phew, I didn't want to keep these customers waiting... He watched as Iketani parked his car near the garage and punched his old-fashioned time cars, before adjusting his hat and jumping in to assist with Kenji.
�Hey, Kenji, do you really move so slow that 6 cars can back up when I'm not helping you? Haha.�
�Hey, stuff it pal, they all pulled in at once!�
Iketani and Kenji then heard one of the observers finally get around to checking Iketani's Silvia out and making quite the obvious statement. �Hey, look, Pierre! He also has a Speed Stars sticker!�
Kenji and Iketani had to put business before socializing with the small crowd, so they did just that, double-teaming on the fire engine red Fairlady Z and Accord Coupe. �Street racers, huh?� Iketani mused to his co-worker, as quietly as he could.
�Yeah. Chin Dynasty, apparently. Ever heard of this team? As you can see, all the cars are left-hand drive with brand new registration plates.�
�Pretty strange, Kenji. What are they here for?�
�The same thing that every street racer comes to our gas station for. Fujiwara-san.�
�I wish people would give up already... Fujiwara-san isn't going to race anybody. Why can't Akina be known for the Speed Stars? We're the best this part of Gunma has to offer! It's frustrating. Even after beating the Night Kids, I don't see anyone asking to see my driving technique.�
�You're just going to have to accept the fact that nobody will recognize the work we put into our driving. Fujiwara-san will always take the glory, even if he isn't an active driver anymore. Deal with it. At least we have a mite of reputation now...�
Leaving another pair of sparkling windshields in their wake, Iketani and Kenji make their way to the pair of Mitsubishis, although each of them would be stopped by the owner of the respective cars looked them dead in the eye, arms folded. �So,� the man standing next to the Evolution said, �The Legend of Akina's Eight-Six is real, isn't it?�
�Yeah, sure seems like it� the 3000GT driver responded. �And it also sounds like you two know it, judging from the jealousy in your voices. Do tell us more...�
By now, the two gas station attendants realized the entire crowd had surrounded them. They bought what little time they could as they finished their official duties, before Iketani cleared his throat. There was only one thing he felt he could do; act like he knew what he was doing. �You guys are all in the same group, right? That means one of you must be the leader.�
The Chinese man of the group walked right up to Iketani, borderlining on invading personal space. �That would be me. Pierre Chin, leader of Chin Dynasty.�
�Chin... dynasty... you know that was a thing, right?� Iketani cocked an eyebrow.
�I know � but it's catchy. And it has my name in it, so my name is easier to remember!� Pierre grinned.
�Right, well, Pierre, we've never heard of you guys before. My name is Iketani Kouichirou, and I'm the leader of the Akina Speed Stars.�
�...�
Silence overtook the crowd, until Iketani couldn't take it anymore.
�What? What!?�
�And that's... your car...� Pierre said, in a slightly condescending tone.
�Yes,� Iketani snapped back, �That's my not-front-wheel-drive, not a sedan, not a four-door, well balanced drift machine.�
Pierre took the dig in stride. �Very well � I must ask, what can a car like that be capable of?�
�Well, just yesterday night, I defeated a Skyline GT-R R33 on the Akina Downhill.�
�Really? In that? The quarter panels of the Silvia were partially crushed in, and the entire body appeared as if it was ready to fall apart from excessive abuse.
Pierre's criticisms of Iketani's battered, yes, but well constructed S13 were getting on his last nerve. �Look, just because the bodywork is trashed and the bumpers are held on with zip ties doesn't mean I don't love my car. Maybe if you looked a little closer you'd see the hundreds of thousands of Yen I've poured into this car over the past 2 years � like the brakes and suspension work. If you really want to meet Akina's AE86, which is literally rotting apart from the inside out, you're definitely gaining yourself any points.
See all those scratches? They're from scraping the guardrail. The dents are from taking corner entry a bit too hot. I give it 110% every time I go out there, and sometimes, giving 110% means you're 110% into the wall. There's no sense in spending a ton of money fixing bodywork if I know it's not going to stay pristine for even a week. Okay!?�
Pierre nodded in silence, before carefully constructing his response. �My apologies, Iketani. I never looked at it that way. It's just strange, because that 240 hatch that your co-worker has looks immaculate, so I thought this car was just rough and beat-up.�
�That's because his 180SX has had so many mechanical failures that the money he does try to save into at least putting decent bolt-in brakes so he can safely race downhill for starters ends up going into things like a broken rear axle, transmission, or whatever. Even the engine failed on him, and it was while cruising on a toll road, not racing. Only now does he almost have enough money to start trying to improve his car's safety and performance to an acceptable level to race with.�
During Iketani's rant, Kenji found the time to get in his 180SX and park it next to Iketani's Silvia, now that the car wash process was complete. He soon re-joined his teammate and co-worker at the tail end of his rant to catch Pierre's response.
�It sounds like you take what you do extremely seriously, Iketani.�
�That doesn't even begin to describe it. I live and breathe these streets. I budget half of my dispensable income into fuel and tires and the rest goes into maintenance and upgrades for my Silvia. I'm proud of the car I've built � regardless of exterior appearance.� Talking about his car actually made him feel better about both himself and his car, his pride in his beloved S13 shining through. �I've built a fine racing machine, perfectly configured for Akina's downhill pass. We're inseparable.�
Pierre was impressed with Iketani's loyalty to his car. It reminded him of his own Corolla sedan. Sure, it might not be the ideal car for charging the mountain pass with, but it was just perfect for him. He felt a connection between himself and Iketani, a connection that could never happened with those pro-schmo racers out in Switchback-land, as he liked to call Happogahara's steering-pump-torturing course. �So you're the downhill driver. Who else is in your team? That Fujiwara-san person, I presume, but wasn't he the downhill ace, not the uphill driver?�
�Well, that's just the thing,� Iketani sighed, �We're not a big team. We don't have an uphill ace yet. In fact, the only two serious drivers are me and Kenji. Fujiwara-san isn't part of the team. Keisuke Takahashi of the Akagi Red Suns made a call-out to him and Fujiwara-san accepted and beat his famous FD3S, but it was a personal matter, not him driving for the Speed Stars.�
�Seriously?� Pierre asked, bewildered.
�That's right. Fujiwara-san works here after school, but he doesn't race anybody. All he does is deliver tofu. A while back, the R33 driver I beat challenged him to a race, and he declined. The Speed Stars is more of a car club � there's other Nissan owners, but all they do is spectate and exhibition drift.�
�That's... shocking...� Pierre mused, �Do you guys have any idea how popular he is? When we first came to Japan, we actually thought he might not even exist. And now that you mention the Red Suns, we know for a fact the story is true. It's a shame, he probably won't want to race.�
Iketani shook his head. �There ain't a thing in this world that will get him into racing. He saw beating Keisuke as more of a chore than anything else. His skill is unmatched. He's undefeatable. But all he'll ever do now is perpetuate the myths before fading into obscurity. He doesn't even want to be a Speed Star.�
Pierre frowned. This definitely was not what he was expecting to hear. 'Fujiwara-san' sounded like such an interesting and exciting person, but alas, at the way things were going, the only glimpse he might ever catch of the fabled driver would be on one of his tofu runs, if he even still did them. �Say, I know none of us are naturalized or anything, and in fact, I'm not sure if we'll stay in Japan very long, but we still want to experience the thrill of street racing across the country. Would you like to have a match with us?�
Iketani blinked. Him being challenged to another race so quickly? But his Silvia... �I'm sorry, that's not possible.�
Pierre was beside himself at Iketani's answer. �But... why not? It sounds like a win-win for both of us. You get to do what you do best, and we get to race an actual down-home type of racing team.�
Iketani's gaze back at Pierre was one of pure sadness. �Well, this is humiliating, but there's no sense in hiding the truth. My Silvia has taken so much abuse. She's starting to run rough while cold, and the oil pressure is reading lower than usual... the engine's getting worn out and it's about time for a rebuild.
On top of that, I think I damaged the suspension during the race against the Night Kids' GT-R. I'm fairly certain that if I participate in another time attack, I will break this poor car � and I only have enough money to fix one thing at a time. And right now that one thing is tires, because mine are nearly bald and it's getting very dangerous to drive even normally in the rain.�
�Oh...� Pierre could relate. Oh, could he relate. Before that one thing changed in his life, he could barely afford to put gas in his Corolla. But he had a solution. He glanced over to his sister, with an indecidive look. �Should I, sis?�
Leanne nodded back to him. �Go right ahead. He sounds like he deserves it.�
Iketani blinked... �Deserves what?� Before he could look back to Pierre, he felt something being pressed against his hand. �What's this?� He grabbed the item; it was a rubber-band wound roll of 10,000 yen bills � perhaps a hundred of them or even two! �Hey, wait, I didn't ask for charity!�
Pierre chuckled. �No, but your car did. You should have enough money to restore the car's condition, mechanically and cosmetically. I don't want you to lose a race because of an aerodynamic disadvantage.� His warm, generous smile was so odd and peculiar.
Iketani didn't know how to take it � but he took it. Definitely going to ask the bank if these bills are real before spending any of it, he thought to himself. �Man, at this rate, I can easily have the car fixed up in three weeks or less! Thank you!�
Pierre pointed behind him in the general direction of where Mt. Akina was. Lucky for him, his wild guess was about spot-on without any visual aid. �I will only let you keep that money then, if we meet 3 Saturdays from now, and you race one of my drivers on the downhill. Do you accept these conditions?�
Iketani laughed at Kenji's unhinged jaw. �Hey, any left over money will go to your 180SX! We can start shaping you up into a real street racer yourself!� Iketani put the money away, before acknowledging Pierre. �I absolutely agree. I can't wait to see which one of these cars it'll be.�
Pierre chuckled again. �Even I don't know at this point. Best of wishes getting the Silvia fixed up. And don't worry about paying me back. Consider it an economic stimulus package for racing.� And with that, he and the rest of his teammates got into their cars and drove off casually, leaving the Esso station customer-less once again.
Kenji scratched the back of his head at the whole ordeal. �Well, this is going to be one hell of a status update.�
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Damn it, this isn't working! ..Oh, it's not facebook.
Welp, you get the picture. Another great chapter with enough content to leave you wondering who the hell are these people and what's a friggin chin dynasty?
That interchange of events was definitely interesting and you definitely captured Iketani and Kenji quite well. Keep it up. Since you have the time, I hope you have the muse this weekend. I expect to see more greatness out of you, Rudy.
Posted by: Tuskano Nov 23 2014, 04:00 PM
QUOTE (Rudy @ Today, 4:55 AM)
�Well, this is going to be one hell of a status update.�
Heck yea it was!
Great chapter! Looking forward to the future adventures of those Chin Dynasty peeps!
Posted by: wing_0 Dec 2 2014, 02:12 PM
Nice update, I liked how it pushed things forward. For a second I expected Iketani to reject the cash due to company policy, but then again - stimulus package Any details on Pierre's Corolla? Is it a plain Euro or US Corolla, or something more special?
It's a base model 2005 USDM Corolla LE in beige. As ordinary as ordinary gets, save for the 16" work equips.
At least on the outside...
Posted by: Meteor Dec 25 2014, 03:34 PM
First, the usual bit of proofreading.
And two of the cars was definitely were US imports.
"was" should be taken out here.
By now Keiji had already started fueling the Corolla � which looked unlike any Corolla he'd ever seen in person
You mean Kenji. I momentarily thought we were dealing with a different character here.
... which strangely said 'MX-5 Miata' on the back of it.Maybe Miata was the version they called with this weird fastback roof that the car had.
Missing a space before the "Maybe Miata" part.
He watched as Iketani parked his car near the garage and punched his old-fashioned time cars, before adjusting his hat and jumping in to assist with Kenji.
"time card(s)" misspelled here as "time cars".
Iketani and Kenji make their way to the pair of Mitsubishis, although each of them would be stopped by the owner of the respective cars looked them dead in the eye, arms folded.
The different parts of this sentence aren't fitting together well grammatically. One way of fixing this would be to simply change "looked" to "looking". Also, "owner" should probably be changed to plural here.
If you really want to meet Akina's AE86, which is literally rotting apart from the inside out, you're definitely gaining yourself any points.
missing a "not" in the "definitely gaining" part.
That's because his 180SX has had so many mechanical failures that the money he does try to save into at least putting decent bolt-in brakes
Maybe a "putting on" here.
He felt a connection between himself and Iketani, a connection that could never happened with those pro-schmo racers out in Switchback-land, as he liked to call Happogahara's steering-pump-torturing course.
"could never have happened". (nice description of Switchback-land by the way)
But he had a solution. He glanced over to his sister, with an indecidive look. �Should I, sis?�
"indecisive".
And now for the part where I talk about the chapter itself. I found this to be a good update as usual and an interesting set-up chapter. I liked the focus on the Speed Stars, the little look at how each of the two main drivers are trying to get by given the nature of their respective cars and finances, how the Speed Stars interacted with these new foreign racers, the dialogue, the general writing... I'm not exactly leaving much out at this rate am I?
It wasn't a chapter with super-exciting mountain pass action, but what it does bring is still welcome, and was still executed just as well. I know I enjoyed reading it all the way, and I'm quite looking forward to seeing where these new plot threads lead in the chapters to come. Same for all the plot threads from the previous chapters too. More chapters and more quality writing please.
And regarding Hibiscus' ponderings (assuming she was pondering) of what the heck a Chin Dynasty is.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_dynasty
It's basically a pun on that. Yes, the Q is actually a ch/ch-ish sound.